Greetings, good travelers! Rejoice! We’ve made it to the end of these endnotes at last.
It only took ten years.
(What is this all about? You can catch up with that by viewing Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of this series.)
Yes, indeed. I realized just as this year was closing out that I actually finished writing SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story a full decade ago! Where did the time go? Well, the pandemic stole two years from us, and much else that’s good. The rest was all just sneaky Father Time.
I look back on this novella now, and I think about what an outlandish venture it was. Truly, something that could only have been born out of youthful exuberance and naïveté. I remember when, around the age of 18, I once told my father (in Spanish), “My plan is to write a Star Wars book.” Ten years went by, and I was doing exactly that. But I never imagined the complexity of the impossible opportunity that would befall me. Because it ended up being not just a chance to fulfill that plan (in fact, I’d already done that in some form prior), but to write an official Star Wars story where I would literally be in the story. Well, my official Star Wars alter ego Halagad Ventor would, at any rate, starring side by side with those larger-than-life characters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. I’d once proclaimed in an interview, “I eat, breathe, and am Star Wars.” And, lo and behold, I now was.
But how in the galaxy was I supposed to write a science-fiction quasi-roman á clef? I’d seen it done badly before, and the specter of Gary Stu hung over me. What’s more, how was I going to write a literary story—in the vein of my belletristic heroes Borges and Dante—in a commercial fiction space? I still recalled when my university mentor, convinced I would become a Dantista, scoffed (lightly, sympathetically), “Star Wars? You’re too good for that.” But, for reasons beyond my ken, I was compelled to show that this galaxy far, far away, as it had evolved over decades from contributions by hundreds of different storytellers, and which I had for the greater part of my life lovingly memorized, was no mere dismissive diversion.
At last, only a work of art can honor a work of art.
I had my storytelling models within the Star Wars family, too. Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. Dark Empire by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett by Daniel Keys Moran. New Jedi Order: Traitor by Matthew Woodring Stover.
But this was only the stylistic side of things. I also had a reputation to uphold. Whatever my personal literary aspirations, what had made me a fan favorite was a brand as the most continuity-smithingest Star Wars writer that ever was (pace SWFAers). I realized, with a hint of dread, that I needed to go to the gravity well one more time. To reach into my magic hat and pull out one more labyrinthine cross-section of references to hundreds of different Star Wars stories: bizarre stuff no one remembered, impossible contradictions no one else could resolve, and to make it all seem like no big thing—just another day at the space office.
That was, after all, what led to the idea for SkyeWalkers in the first place.
So, enjoy this little glimpse behind the curtain into the web of allusions I had to give a heads-up to Lucasfilm about during the approvals process for this story.
40 (page 75) He had read reports that some clone troopers displayed symptoms of claustrophobia in cramped quarters: “In the novel Republic Commando: Hard Contact, clone commandos are deliberately depicted as susceptible to claustrophobia, and attribute the phenomenon to Jango’s genetics. However, the novel Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor explicitly states, ‘No clone spawned in Kaminoan pods and raised in crèche school could even comprehend the concept of claustrophobia, much less suffer from it,’ pg. 38. So some clone troopers suffer from claustrophobia (possibly exclusively clone commandos) and some don’t.”
41 (page 75) Something in Jango Fett’s DNA: “DNA is an ‘earthy’ term, but it appears in many Star Wars sources, including Medstar: Battle Surgeons and Crosscurrent.”
42 (page 81) Blood eaters: “The Oskan blood eater was introduced in the rpg supplement Creatures of the Galaxy.” [That’s those red monsters on the SkyeWalkers cover above by talented artist David Rabbitte—ed.]
43 (page 81) ….like the Galactic Standard letter “o”—Osk, Obi-Wan thought absently: “The aurebesh font for the letter ‘osk’ (i.e. ‘o’) is meant to be seen here, hence the monster’s full proper name.” [Osk | Wookieepedia—ed.]
44 (page 94) Kharys sealed her mind shut form the possibility of all thought: “That is, in fact, meant to be ‘seel,’ as in the falconry practice, and not ‘seal.’” [This suggestion did not take.—ed.]
45 (page 102) The Accelerated Transgenic Heuristic Abhorers: savant abominations synthesized to seek in lust and destroy with relish: “Information on the Arkanian Revolution from the Essential Guide to Droids is here expanded upon, adding the element of the Abhorers.”
46 (page 103) The Arkanian techno-lords, perverse experimenters all, are the ones that elevated my intelligence quotient to obscene heights with their noological implants: “Arkanian techno-lords are first mentioned in the Dark Nest series.”
47 (page 106) Surely, I could then flash-pump my memories into this creature: “Flash pumping is described in the Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook.”
48 (page 107) And so, I have aided his Confederate stooges in contriving the corrosive stone mite and blue virus plagues: “The New Essential Chronology states that the Separatists created the stone mites with the help of the Arkanians. Zeta Magnus technically qualifies, as he was created by them and has their genetic material.”
49 (page 107) …provided his cyborg supreme commander with samples of my mutagenic 3L4U1H7 serum: “As seen in the Clone Wars micro-series, and elaborated upon in Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous, Grievous uses a mutational serum to transform the warriors of Nelvaan into monsters.” [Overt THX-1138 Easter eggs had been done to death in Star Wars stories by this time, so this was my undercover version, using his sweetheart LUH-3417 instead—ed.]
50 (page 107) …and granted Count Dooku access to my Wayland facility for his dashta tissues and shadow army: “The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook suggests that the cloning facility in Mount Tantiss on Wayland predated the Clone Wars ‘and the Emperor merely expanded the facility … the control components and fragments of the various computer systems have shown that the cloning facility was considerably older than the technology present in other areas of the mountain.’ The origins of the cloned Morgukai Shadow Army, which features in the Republic comics, and the dashta eel cloning experiments, mentioned in The Cestus Deception, have never been explained, hence their inclusion here.”
51 (page 107) After all, I still control my accelerated GeNode chamber, safely secreted within the Dantooine ruins: “A cloning facility of indeterminate origin appears on Dantooine in Galaxy of Fear: Clones.”
52 (page 107) …my orbital mines, cloaked with primitive N’Gai technology, merely a means to an end: “According to ‘The Forgotten War’ on StarWars.com, the Nagai (and their ‘primitive cloaking technology’) were hiding in the Unknown Regions at this time. The species is referred to as ‘N’Gai’ in the Essential Guide to Characters and ‘Evil Never Dies’ on StarWars.com.”
53 (page 108) Inch by inch: “Even though metric measurements are the standard in the Star Wars universe, reference to English measurements such as ‘Inches’ and ‘miles’ have appeared in various sources, such as the Marvel comics and Dark Empire, and more recently in the Clone Wars TV show, in episodes such as ‘Jedi Crash’ and ‘The Deserter.’ I think their use here for dramatic effect is, especially as an idiomatic phrase, forgivable.”
54 (page 135) …my expertise in genetic replication standards, even the Jedis’ own abandoned techniques, allow me to generate a fully viable drone within days: “The idea that clones can be grown within days was first introduced in the novel The Last Command, where Spaarti cloning technology is said to be able to grow a clone in as little as 20 days. Any faster tends to lead to a mental instability called ‘clone madness.’ Galaxy of Fear: Clones introduces an unknown process called ‘rapid cloning’ that is even faster: ‘some sort of quick cloning method that allowed him to grow clones not in years, or even months or days, but hours!’ pg. 95.”
55 (page 142) Blue-Tark: “The tactical droid’s full alphanumeric designation is TB-1U4.”
56 (page 143) Tark Squad! This is Commander Skywalker! The Chosen One. The Son of the S—: “Anakin is playing on a Thyrsian belief here. According to the recently published Galaxy at War sourcebook, ‘More than a century before the rise of the Empire, Thyrsian culture became fixated on Force lore, particularly the prophecy that the galaxy’s savior would be known as “the son of suns.” The Sith Order, still in hiding after the Battle of Ruusan, played on the Thyrsian belief that they were the subjects of this prophecy, and encouraged the Sun Guards to follow twisted Sith readings of Jedi orthodoxy.’”
57 (page 145) But just like a nightmare, or the object of Xenu’s paradox: “A paronomasia on the philosopher Zeno’s paradox, of course, in which swift-footed Achilles can never overcome the mathematically infinitely divisible distance to catch a dawdling tortoise ahead of him.” [Some sexy rhetorical gymnastics here. Hubba hubba.—ed.]
58 (page 151) …Anakin rolled away from the concentric rings bearing down on him … slashing his lightsaber two-handed through the paralyzing waves: “This sequence takes its inspiration from a similar scene in the novel Darksaber, where A New Hope-style stun rings and a lightsaber interact in a similar fashion. The military-grade distinction is meant to explain why other works occasionally depict Jedis’ lightsabers deflecting stun blasts generally resembling regular blaster bolts in illustration or description.”
59 (page 151) The Senate Bureau of Intelligence insisted the Confederacy was developing scores of superweapons, including a battle droid answer to the Republic’s covert-ops commandos: “Droid commandos are introduced in the Clone Wars TV episode, ‘Rookies.’”
60 (page 151) …but some believed the Separatists had plans to grow their own clone army: “Later in the war, the Separatists would clone their own Morgukai Shadow Army from Nikto warriors in the Republic comics.”
61 (page 151) Dooku’s uncanny omnipresence and elusiveness since the war began had spawned murmurs of the existence of a “Clone Dooku”: “This is a reference to a comment about a clone of Dooku in Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, referring back to the events of the videogame New Droid Army. Between the Battle of Geonosis but before The Clone Wars film, Dooku engages the Jedi on multiple occasions. Just counting his encounters with Obi-Wan and/or Anakin, there is the duel on Geonosis (Attack of the Clones), and encounters on Raxus Prime (Clone Wars videogame) and Null (Legacy of the Jedi), while he also fights Tholme and Sora Bulq on Bakura shortly after the war starts.”
62 (page 175) I promise you, when this war’s over … I’ll find a way to have you trained as a Jedi: “This scene between Kharys and Anakin (and the preceding) is based upon information established in ‘Aliens in the Empire II’ on StarWars.com: ‘Anakin was kind to Kharys during his visit, pointing out her Force potential to Obi-Wan. However, Kenobi and Ventor both agreed she was too old for training. Unconvinced, Anakin promised Kharys he'd find a way to have her trained when the Clone Wars were over.’ As seen in Star Wars Annual #1, Anakin will return after the Clone Wars, as Darth Vader, to train Kharys.” ~ Abel G. Peña
