Stuff: Star Wars- Invasion

I've been talking a lot about Star Wars: Legacy on this blog, as it is the most exciting part of the franchise where everything is brand new. But that said I think I should maybe give a little time for some of the other series' currently running on Dark Horse's line. The second story arc has started, and for now I'll take you through the first story - 'Refugees'.

Invasion takes place during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion depicted in the epic 'New Jedi Order' book series. This gives us a chance to see visually what took place in the novels. The story focuses one one family - the Galfridians who are separated by the war and take different paths through the conflict.

Caled is head of the Galfridian family and also the ruler of the world of Artorias. He was a humble man and lived happily with his family, never wearing his crown or giving orders unless he had to. While Artorias was a peaceful world, Caled was a veteran of Hoth and built a secret fortress should the world be invaded. He escaped to there as the Yuuzhan Vong invaded and formed a resistance with other survivors.


Nina is Caled's wife, and Kaye is his daughter and both were captured by the Vong. Kaye killed a Yuuzhan Vong warrior who underestimated her and gained the attention of the commander of the slaveship to which they were brought. Kaye organised a resistance, but Nina was too shut down to help. Kaye rallied the prisoners against the Vong and battled their way through the ship, killing the commander. Nina joined them when she saw an explosion on the planet's surface, realizing it was her husband, alive and well. She bonded with the ship, becoming it's pilot, and taking it to rescue others oppressed by the invaders.

Finn, Caled's son is the most interesting of all because he is one of the ...

New Jedi

Finn Galfridian
Finn is rescued by Luke Skywalker when the New Republic arrives to evacuate Artorias. Luke immediately detects the boy's force ability and takes him for training at Yavin 4, where he befriends the Solo children and learns force techniques such as telekinesis. Soon after training he is called to Rychel to help the evacuation effort, he helps rally the troops and exceeds expectations when he spares the life of a defenseless Yuuzhan Vong warrior. Later he accompanies the Solos on a mission to Nar Shaddaa and retrieves a mysterious holocron containing information on Yuuzhan Vong informants, one of whom is a confidant to his father.

Lar Le'Ung
Master Le'Ung is a Pau'an (a species debuting in Episode III) and a Jedi Master first featured in this series. He is elegant like his race, carrying a cane and wielding an ornate orange-bladed lightsaber. He encouraged Finn during the conflict, but was sadly killed because he could not detect a Yuuzhan Vong warrior sneaking up from behind.




New Ships

Well a lot of these aren't new per-se, they just haven't been visually explored before. So a lot of Vong ships make their Debut here, though they were featured in novels and maybe had a picture in a guidebook somewhere.

Slaveship

A vessel designed to carry large amounts of prisoners from a planet, it descended into low orbit then captives were herded through long tubes into the cells on board. One ship, the T'sam Pah was captured by the slaves on board.


Pythea
This was an exploration ship owned by a Wookie and a Chiss. They encountered the Yuuzhan Vong fleet and attempted to warn the planet. They were boarded but fended off the attack and retaliated by ramming the ship into the fleet, severely damaging a number of ships.


The series also features the Yorik-Vec, and the return of some ships featured in classic games used as evacuation ships including the Bulwark cruiser from Star Wars: Supremacy.

New Species

Ok there aren't really many, but there are a few making their visual debut again in this series.

This race look (and may well be) human, but are much larger in stature. Trained only in the art of war this race was still utterly eradicated by the Yuuzhan Vong. Only one survivor is known, Arbeloa, who aided Kaye in the rebellion on the slaveship, taking the head of it's commander as his prize.


The Chazrach are a slave race brought by the Vong to aid them in conquering the Galaxy. They are mentioned often in the books, but this is the first time they have been seen visually. They are shorter and weaker than the Vong, but come in great number and are utterly subservient to them, making them very dangerous.


Tu-Scart and Sgauru are creatures used as siege weapons by the Vong. As well as being huge and powerful they have reflexes quick enough for them
to snatch a starfighter out of the air and can project fear, weakening the resistance of those who might attack them.



New Planets

Artorias is a key world in the story, being the home of the principal characters. It is founded on peaceful principles, similar to Alderaan and enjoyed prosperity because of this. Unfortunately this made them an easy target for the invaders. While most of the population were either enslaved or evacuated, some fighters remained and formed a resistance, sabotaging the terraforming going on on their world.

Rychel is a world we know little about other than it was unfortunate enough to be on the invasion corridor of the Yuuzhan Vong. The planet had already been subjugated when a daring rescue, led by Luke Skywalker, enabled some of the population to escape, the rest were enslaved or killed.

And this brings me to my new thing, an excuse for me to make a new Star Wars Map!!






















And that's a very rushed look at Invasion, the new arc 'Rescues' is currently hitting comic book stands as I write and the graphic novel of 'Refugees' should be on it's way soon - well worth checking out.