"Heir to the Empire" Part 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Security was checking out docking bay 63

Han and Lando had seen security looking at docking bay 63. When they met Torve, they suspected that it was his ship in there. To confirm, Han used "63" in a phrase to see how Torve would react. It was indeed Torve's ship hiding in bay 63.

Answer: The reverend

Han, Torve, and the dealer were each scanned, but the results were negative, meaning they were not cheating. The reverend, who was not even in the game and called attention to it, was Torve's contact. He had planted the skifter to distract security from Torve, the smuggler with something to actually hide.

Answer: A ride off Abregado-rae

With Torve's ship, the Etherway, stuck in docking bay 63, and security looking for the pilot, Torve was stuck on Abregado-rae. Torve didn't want to take Han to Karrde's secret base, but was stuck otherwise. He agreed to take Han to Karrde as long as he was the only one who got to use the navicomputer. Han would offer to help get the Etherway out of impound as a bargaining chip later, when dealing with Karrde.

Answer: A storage shed on the edge of the base

There was a storage shed with two rooms on the edge of the base, and Artoo was already being held there. It was a quick solution that just had to hold until Han and Lando left. Mara threw Luke in the room without Artoo, and shot the lock controls on the inside. Once he was alone, Luke discovered Artoo was on the other side of the wall, and started working on an escape plan.

Answer: He used the power supply from his hand

Luke lost his right hand during a fight with Darth Vader in "The Empire Strikes Back", and got a mechanical replacement soon after. Six years later, Luke was trapped in a shed on Myrkr. Mara had blasted the lock's controls, but the rest of the wiring was still intact. If he'd had a power supply, he would have been able to trip the lock. Then he remembered that he was carrying a small power supply at all times in his hand.

R2-D2 was in the other room in the shed, but restrained in a collar, and could not help. Practically all of Myrkr was in a Force-damping field from all the Ysalamiri, so Luke didn't have that either.

Answer: Karrde was not searching for Luke Skywalker

Karrde tried to say that he was busy at the time, and unable to look for Skywalker. Thrawn corrected Karrde that the search was still ongoing, and that Luke was probably not yet dead because Jedi could survive longer than regular mortals by using hibernation trances.

Answer: Yes

This subtle moment was actually very important. In the very first chapter, Thrawn told Pelleaon that his troops did not need to understand, merely obey. By doing so, Thrawn lost one pilot, but was able to destroy the New Republic force. Karrde had the same thought, word for word, but repressed it. Instead, he realised Mara deserved to know why he was taking the actions he was, and explained himself. Both Thrawn and Karrde had the same thought, but the way they treated their subordinates was vastly different.

Karrde explained that there was no bounty on Han and Lando, that it would be dishonourable to betray his guests, and that he did not want to rely on Thrawn's generosity if he did turn them over.

Answer: A Skipray blastboat

Karrde had two Skipray blastboats on his base, ready to fly. Once Luke took off in one, Mara jumped in the other to pursue him. They were larger than a single-person starfighter, but not by much, and they filled largely the same role, but with stronger weapons and shields.

The Skipray blastboat was yet another thing Timothy Zahn created for his novel that became a staple in subsequent "Star Wars" Expanded Universe media.

Answer: They flew too close to the trees

Luke was trying to hide from sensors by flying close to the treetops, but was unable to shake Mara. The larger ship did not handle as well as the X-wing he was used to. When he tried some fancy maneuvers to lose Mara, he instead crashed into the trees, and caught Mara with his tail, making her crash too.

Answer: Thrawn sent Imperial troops to find the crashed pilots

Thrawn was becoming suspicious of Karrde, but still maintained a cordial tone. Karrde claimed that the Skipray was taken by a disgruntled employee, and that the other had been sent to chase them. Karrde was sure to not mention that he'd had a prisoner, or Mara's name.

While he tried to refuse Thrawn's help, he had to be careful. When Thrawn insisted, Karrde had to accept, and just hope that the Imperials would not find Luke.

Answer: Joruus C'baoth was a clone

When Han saw Thrawn, it was actually the first time anyone in the New Republic had seen the new Grand Admiral. Han still didn't know his name. He also learned that the Imperials were there for the Ysalamiri and that Karrde had a prisoner he wanted hidden from everyone. Learning about the prisoner prompted Han to explore Karrde's base on his own, once Thrawn was gone.

Answer: Used R2-D2 to communicate with Luke's X-wing

To get a signal back to the base without the Imperials understanding it, they would need some strong encryption. Artoo could encrypt a message, but the only device that would be able to decrypt it would be Luke's X-wing, which was back at the base. Counterpart encryption was not usually done between an X-wing and an astromech, but Artoo hadn't had his memory wiped regularly the way most droids did, and he'd been the only astromech to work with the X-wing for the past five years.

As long as Karrde was clever enough to check the X-wing, they could safely get a message through.

The Imperials were still able to detect the burst of energy, but could not read it.

Answer: Lando found a component of Luke's hand

Han and Lando were able to come out of hiding and said they wanted to go back to the Falcon, but instead they went to the storage shed that had been holding Luke. Lando found a device with the Sibha Habadeet logo printed on it, and recognized it as a bio-electric micrel power supply, the kind used in artificial limbs, such as Luke's right hand. Between the power supply and the tread marks on the floor of an R2 unit, Han and Lando's suspicions were confirmed.

Answer: Mal'ary'ush

"Mal'ary'ush" was a Noghri word that translated to "Lady Vader". Because the Noghri had sworn their oath to Darth Vader, being his daughter also had some weight. While Leia disliked the idea of being related to such a vile man, she would use this newfound influence to undermine Thrawn's hold on Noghri society.

The Taoiseach ("Tee-shock") is the Irish Prime Minister, Ali'i was the highest rank of Hawaiian chiefs, and the Dalek Supreme was the leader of the Daleks from the television series "Doctor Who".

Answer: A lightsaber pendulum

Leia tied one end of a rope to a branch, and the other to her lightsaber. When they had moved far enough away from that point, Leia activated her lightsaber, and dropped it. The Noghri did not understand what was happening until it was too late, and the lightsaber cut through their vehicle, tumbling them into the gloomy depths of Kashyyyk's forest.

Answer: Endor

The forest moon of Endor was seen in "Return of the Jedi", during the battle to destroy the second Death Star. Since there was no longer a secret Imperial construction project there, it did not get much (any) traffic, which is why Leia chose the location for her secret rendezvous with Khabarakh.

Answer: Vornskrs

Karrde had two tame Vornskrs with docked tails. They were apparently much less aggressive than their wild brethren. The Vornskrs apparently hunted their prey through the Force, which explained why the Ysalamiri had developed their Force-damping fields. It was also why Luke and Mara, strong Force users, were constantly attacked while in the forest.

Answer: By killing the Emperor

Mara was formerly the Emperor's Hand, and agent of the Emperor. While Darth Vader was a very visible and blunt instrument of the Emperor's will, Mara was more subtle, and worked behind the scenes. She and Vader were on the same side, but did not trust each other.

She had Force talents, and could feel the Emperor's will from across the galaxy. She always felt a sense of purpose. Her last assignment had been to kill Luke Skywalker, which she had tried to do on Tatooine. She had posed as one of Jabba's dancers, but was not allowed to go on the Sailbarge to ensure Luke died.

When the Emperor died, Mara lost her connection, and her purpose. She assumed Luke had killed the Emperor with the help of Darth Vader. Because her last order had been to kill Luke, and Luke had been responsible for ruining her life, she grew an incredible hatred for the farm boy from Tatooine.

Answer: Luke was a bounty hunter named Jade

Neither Luke nor Mara's identities had yet been revealed to the Imperials, and Karrde had claimed that the first Skipray blastboat had been commandeered by a disgruntled employee. Luke pretended to be a bounty hunter named Jade, and Mara the employee, Senni Kiffu. Mara gave Luke her blaster, but not the powerpack; she still didn't trust him. To hide Luke's well-known features, he had to swab his arms and face with some local flora to cause an itchy allergic reaction.

Answer: He cut a stone archway to fall on it

With minimal lines of communication, Luke had to get creative to tell Karrde's people to not attack until the group was under the stone archway. Luke tripped so he could talk to R2-D2, who then sent a message to C-3PO, who was beside Lando. Lando had to use blaster-point diplomacy to stop Aves from firing prematurely. Lando was wounded for his efforts, but all the good guys made it out alive. Karrde was impressed with Luke's ability to deal with an Imperial Assault Chariot, even without the Force.

Answer: Imperial forces missed a routine report

The Imperials on Myrkr were supposed to check in every 12 hours, but it had been 14 since the last report. Thrawn had already suspected that Luke was on Myrkr, and this confirmed it. It also confirmed that Karrde was working against Thrawn, which meant functionally Karrde was now in the New Republic camp.

Answer: A freighter with an empty hold was acting full

Thrawn had cloaking technology, but was using it in unconventional ways. Instead of hiding a whole ship, he packed a freighter full of TIE Fighters, and cloaked just the contents of the ship. The Freighter could then claim an empty hold, and scans would show the same.

Unfortunately, all that extra mass made the freighter behave differently, which was enough to set off Wedge's danger senses. He had Rogue Squadron flying to check out the freighter when it burst open, unleashing its payload.

Answer: To steal ships

Thrawn was using his stolen mole miners to attack New Republic ships in the repair docks. They would use their plasma torches to cut into the lightly crewed vessels, and then unload their boarding parties. Thrawn's resources were scarce, and he was looking to add ships to his fleet. He had the Spaarti cloning cylinders to create the crews.

Answer: Lando activated the mole miners

Thrawn had stolen the mole miners from Lando's mining operation, and Lando was at the battle in the Millennium Falcon. He remembered the activation codes for his former miners. The mole miners had attached to the bridges of their target ships so the boarding parties could quickly commandeer them.

When Lando broadcast the activation codes, the miners continued to bore through the bridges' vital systems, leaving the ships dead in space. While this damaged all the ships, and set back the New Republic a lot, at least Thrawn was not able to fly away with any of them.

Answer: Admiral Ackbar had been arrested for treason

A large sum of credits from a mysterious source had been transferred to Admiral Ackbar's personal account, and Borsk Fey'lya pounced on the opportunity to remove his political rival. He was so focused on personal gain that he did not realise he was playing right into Thrawn's plan to fracture the New Republic leadership.