Now we all know what a blaster is. A  really cool weapon that fires out  blaster bolts from a  power cell.  It is the most common weapon used in the Galaxy. The oldest known type of blaster was used by some kind of old droid. The model is not known but it was  employed by the Rakatan Inifinite Empire. That weapon was actualy considered the best and up-to-date when it was made.

Other then that the oldest blaster by far was the tripple Blaster. It worked by using three separate blasters connected to the system,and fired at a target. However by the rise of the Empire these weapons had become extreamly rare. Prior to this weapon beam tubes were used.They consisted of backpacks with a hose coming out of the side. All of the equipment that was used to create the blaster beam in the backpack and was fired out of the hose. By the time the Empire had rosen to power the blaster in itself was the most commonly used weapon. Not only did the military use  the blaster but also by civilians as well for protection. Places such on Tattooine over in the Cantina were these items were supposadly not allowed. Actually,  it was commonly  shoutd out “No blasters” when a fight broke out. Not that anyone ever listened to begin with

The known HK (Hunter Killer) droids have stopped being made.  Apparently the newest unit HK-77 was recalled because it was short circuiting whenever it accessed it’s advanced programming on rifles.  After the HK Corporation fixed the faulty programming, it did a full diagnostic’s check on the Droid.  Apparently, the Droid’s were unsafe near children, targeting them for being potential threats.

HK-Series Assassin Droid’s were Assassin droids designed to look and speak like Protocol Droid.  Having the same language function as a Protocol droid, they doubled as such.  The HK Droids took pride in what they did.  Some even developed personalities that were Sociopathic or sadistic.  Others never really thought Independently and were usually just Protocol Droids.

Assassin Droids were made illegal to purchase in large quantities a long time ago.  People looking to buy Assassin droids can still buy them for Personal use, mainly only buying one or two. The HK models are one of the oldest Models still in use, the first called HK-01.

HK-01 was more of a prototype, to see if there were any logistical errors.  There was, HK-01 had developed his own personality and became self aware and tried to start a Droid Rebellion.  He “fixed” droids so that they would attack sentient “meatbags” (the HK’s word for Human or Sentient life) on sight.  The Old Republic put it down, although it lasted for some time.

The next model was was HK-24.  Most of these models were purchased by Adascorp to find and retrieve a man by the name of Gorman Vandrayk (a mechanic on the run with a fugitive) and used for security personnel on the ship Arkanian Legacy.  The HK-24 model seemed to be fine, and only reason it was replaced was for improvements.

The next model was  HK-47.  This model was the most famous model, since it did many things that benefited the galaxy.  This droid was constructed for hunting a certain religious sect that doesn’t exist anymore, it helped protect the Old Republic, but it also tried to take over the Galaxy, starting with Mustafar a few years ago.   HK-47 had a few personality traits and flaws that weren’t common in other HK droids.  He loved to kill, almost to excessive tendencies, The Droid also thought he was vastly superior to all other Droids and all other life forms, and another odd trait that now all HK Units seem to share was his speech.  He would add a label onto all his sentences.  This model was mistaken for a Protocol droid the most, so much in fact that he called his Assassination programs, his “Assassination Protocols” .  This model also described love and some other words falsely, saying that love was shooting someone in the knee caps with a sniper rifle.

The next model was HK-50, the exact thing as HK-47 just more having more programs and a self destruct sequence.  Another HK model was made called the HK-51, nearly identical to HK-50 only more adept at killing members of a certain religious cult
The HK model should have ended exclusively there.  However, HK-47 had survived 3000 years on Mustafar.  He created 3 other Models,  HK-58 Aurek, HK-58 Besh, and HK-77, each one designed to do something else.

This would be one species that is probably the most intresting by far. The Gen’Dai were a seemingly immortal species with distributed nervous and vascular systems.  They Lacked  the vulnerable vital organs that most races needed to survive.  These included the brain, lungs and naturally the heart.  The species was even known  to take  major hits that would kill most anything else  and survive. Among one thing they could survive was total dismemberment. So unles someone could vaporise them  they would live. Though many of the species if taken that hard of a hit it eould be a while before they could get up and fight. They would go into hibernation until the major injuries would heal or be regenerated.

Now no one knows were the homeworld is or was. It had been lost a long time ago. It’s also not stated wether they live on one planet another. That information seems to have been lost. Most of this species are non-aggressive save one name that comes up in the history chronicles.  The average years of life that a Gen’Dai can live is up to four-thousand years. Some can even live and have been known to live up to seven-thousand years making them look  as if they are immortal. Because of this as they age, their minds would weaken and would be left open for mental diseases. Another intresting fact is due to the nature of their nervous systems, they had very good senses, and are able to feel a Human‘s heartbeat from ranges of up to 200 meters.

The most well known Gen’Dai was the bounty hunter and CIS commander, Durge. One of his more intresting  quotes gives a little more on how he looked at the universe.

 

“I was once buried alive—for 60 years! If that didn’t kill me… if the Sith and the Mandalorians and the Bloodboilers of Kragis couldn’t kill me—then you won’t kill me!“―Durge

 

 

Durge was a bounty hunter in the galaxy for a good number of years. Two thousand years to be more precise. Durge was able to survive several near-death situations  due to his species regeneration and his armor that was highly enhanced. But that’s getting ahead  so we need to start from his early life and work on how he became involved in several major wars and made a name for himself.

 

In his early life Durge was in great Physical shape but he also had a natural aggression uncharacteristic of the Gen’Dai species. When he had watched some bounty hunters in action this had  filled him with love or a lust for the hunt. He would then one day leave his tribe and had ventured out to be trained under various bounty hunters. It wasn’t until he met the Madalorian training master Jaing, who taught him everything  he needed to know in the feild of the madalorian combat and tactics skills.

 

At some point, Durge was  approached by a doctor  who offered to complement their bodies and armor suits with advanced cybernetics. Durge traveled to his  lab on an unknown planet, where he was  introduced to a woman who  who had been disabled to the point where she needed cybernetic enhancements to function. The female had talked Durge into taking in the same technology that kept her alive. Jaing was also there with Durge and both decided to take the risk and let them have it done. Thinking that it would make them more powerfull in battle the risk as a whole was worth it to them.After recovering, Durge and Jaing tested out their new abilities in a sparring match.As they were battling, a group of Mandalorians loyal to Ung Kusp attacked. The doctor that had initially brought them to the lab ordered them to fight the Mandalorians to pay back the debt they owed.In the middle of the battle Jaing was taken out and thought dead by a thermal detonator.Durge, thinking that his friend was dead had left to chase after the remaining Mandalorians, more specific Mandalore himself. After he had left the doctor had gone to Jang who was now dying and revealed to him that the whole point of them being there was to spark a war with the Sith and all the Mandalorian clans.

 

Further exploits

Durge fought for the Sith in the New Sith War. He faced  several Jedi in combat and learned  their techniques. Durge then became experienced at killing them. In order to avoid the Jedi reprisals, he  went into hiding after the Sith’s defeat at the Seventh Battle of Ruusan.

 He however, did continue  to hunt under a series of aliases and false names, earning the ire of the Bloodboilers of Kragis. Yet his most fateful mission came in 100 BB. Durge was hired to kill the then-Mandalore. Durge compleated the mission , but was captured by the Mandalorians and tortured. In the amount of time they had him the torture  slowly drove him past the edge and into insanity. Durge eventually was able to escape his captors but it took alot of time to regenerate. Nearly a century, and sixty of the years he spent buried underground.

Once he resurfaced, Durge ended up hired by count Dooku to go hunt down Boba Fett. iIs search ended up with him on Tattooine a couple months down the road. By that time Durge ended up taking another bounty by Jabba Desilijic Tiure. He eventually met up with Fett and tried to kill him. Not suceeding as the young man escaped he went back to Jabba and found out that the Hutt had assigned Fett to the same bounty he was on! After knocking Fetts helmet off Jabba halted the fight. Jabba, wanting to give Fett a short lead on the bounty gave Durge another task to hunt down combat archanids, while the young hunter left. In the end they both met up as Durge had quickly took care of the first task.The chase led them both into the heart of Libkath’s operations. After a long  fight, Fett fired at an air tank, blowing up both Durge and Libkath. Needless to say Fett became his number one on his list afterwards.

“I will sharpen my teeth upon this boy’s bones!” ―Durge, referring to Boba Fett 

Not long after that blast he was back to work. This time he was paired up with Asajj Ventress on one of Naboo’s moons. They tested a new chemical that became very effective on killing Gungans and thus then started to plan for a full scale effort against the Gungans on Naboo. Soon after a strike team with Jedi Obi-wan, Anakin, Glaive and  Zule Xiss arrived to invistigate. Durge, who was very eager to battle Jedi again revealed himself to the Jedi and even clubbed Obi-wan down with his magna bolas. Durge continued to attack the three other Jedi despite having been stabbed in the gut with a Lightsaber. Seconds later he was shot in the eye by one of the clones and was forced to call Ventress in for backup. As she fought Obi-wan he was preparing to to shoot the Jedi in the head when he was attacked by one of the other Jedi and sustained yet again another Lightsaber wound. Ventress then ordered him to flee and make sure that the swamp gas plan went as planned. Yet when he got back he saw the shuttles meant to bear the toxin destroyed. Angered that the plan was foiled by the clone Mandalorian Alpha-17 he threw him into the fire. Anakin Skywalker then  hit him from the side with his own magna bolas. Shocked and injured, Durge fled the battle, vowing to kill Skywalker later down the road.

 

“You know, it’s been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I’ll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I’m going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it’s a damn good week.” ―Durge 

 

 

After that defeat both Ventress and Durge knew the Jedi would want to find the source of the swamp gas. So they set up a trap on volcanic planet Queyta. To lure in the Jedi they used the antidote for the gas to lure them into an abandoned factory on a lava river, filled with Skakoans. The Skakoans were strapped with explosives and they thought that whatever the Jedi threw at them they could kill between them and the creatures in the lava. The Jedi did show up and as soon as they were known  Durge shot one of the Skakoans, causing a mass explosion and severely damaging the factory, sending it sinking into the lava. One of the Jedi used the force to absorb most of the explosion and took her own life to do it. In the end only one Jedi remained, Obi-Wan who had the antidote…

 

Near the end of the Clone Wars Durge was able to Lure Obi-Wan and Anakin into a trap in the Karthakk system.Kenobi was  searching for  Ventress, whom Anakin had defeated earlier in the war. Near the planet Maramere, Durge took a large number of battle droids and  killed the entire crew of a ship. Kenobi was then lead  into believing he would encounter Ventress on the ship.

 Both the Jedi  Boarding the ship,where  they started to head towards the bridge, where they were almost blown up by a thermal detonator. Obi-wan took a hard hit fromt he explosion and then  Durge immediately appeared,attacking the wounded Jedi. He was stopped by Anakin , who used the Force to impale Durge on hundreds of jagged metal pieces. He  shrugged this off as if it wasn’t a big deal , but was electrocuted from behind by Kenobi. Durge then started  to trigger some of the many explosive devices with which he had placed all over the ship.As Obi-wan ran off to look for clues to Ventress’s whereabouts Anakin started to fight Durge one on one.

Durge naturally was stronger then Anakin and overtook him. Yet he was severly hurt  when the Jedi  used the Force and sent  a large amount of the explosives at the Gen’Dai. One of the explosions took of his helmet and that sent him over the edge and into a dark fury. Anakin used just that and ended up forcing Durge into an escape pod. Again, using the force he was able to jetoson the pod and guide it into the Maramere’s star and thus defeated  Durge. 

 

 

Now it wasn’t clear but some say that durge hadn’t really died. 1.5 ABY a group of scientists were were assigned to “Project Durge,” an attempt to repair a grievously injured being. The scientistswern’t told any information as to the origins of the life form. One of the scientists  was astounded at the way the being was recovering once they had started to put the thing back together. Sccess fufilled as they  revived “Project Durge,” yet they couldn’t restore it to what it looked like before. They then equiped the being with a suit of heavy battle armor. “Project Durge” eventually escaped  and started collecting bounties once more. After beating one of Boba Fett’s associates to a bounty, the bounty hunter  ordered his associate to track down “Project Durge” and destroy it. Doing as he was orderd he defeated “Durge” on Naboo. Boba though had a feeling that he hadn’t seen the last of Durge.

 

 

So have we trule seen the last of this Gen’Dai? Agreeing with Fett I am sure somewhere out there the bounty hunter lays in wait. Probably regenerating and waiting for the perfect time to come back to his blood lust for killing. All I can say is that these are intresting creatures  and god willing no one in the VE ever has to face them. Taking in all read here it would take a lot of fire power to even kill on of these guys. Making an enemy from one such as Durge wouldn’t be a good idea…..

The Vast Empire has put a bounty out on Han Solo, a Smuggler with known ties to the Rebels. His ship is a YT-1300, heavily modified. We now know that he has compartments in his ship big enough for people to hide in, so be on your guard Bounty Hunters.

Ship’s Name: Millennium Falcon

Partners/Accomplices:
Chewbacca, a Wookiee smuggler,
Lando Calrissian
Past History:
Worked for Jabba the Hutt (Fired)
Pilot for the Ylesian Dream
Used to be an Imperial Pilot (take caution in the skies)
Smuggler (Started on Nar Shaddaa, worked for Jiliac the Hutt and Jabba The Hutt
Han Solo stopped an invasion at Serpico. The Imperial Army tried destroying Serpico by smashing another planet into it to destroy the local Wookiee population, Han evacuated the Wookiees and got away safely. There was only 1 casualty, his faithful friend Chewbacca.

Reward for Dead: 10,000 Credits
Reward for Alive: 50,000 Credits

There is a new game coming for the Xbox 360 called The Force Unleashed. As some of us may know, the game takes place before A New Hope, and after Revenge of the Sith. The Main Protagonist is Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice (Currently Unnamed) as Vaders secret apprentice you do tasks for him, and you progress through your training.

The thing about this new Apprentice is, the training is different. They’re calling him a Force Wrecking Ball, he is what would have happened if Luke had joined with Vader. They took Luke and reversed him practically every way and got this Secret Apprentice. Throughout the game you are accompanied by at least 2 characters, they are not in your party, but you will interact with them. They are Juno Eclipse (Your Pilot and possible Lover) and Proxy (Your run of the mill fun, adventure loving, State of the Art droid that can use holograms to cloak himself)

Throughout the game you visit exotic locations like Kashyyyk, Raxus Prime, Felucia, and a TIE Construction Facility. We all know what these locations are, so they don’t need an explanation, but maybe two possible antagonists do. These antagonists are Shaak Ti and Maris Brood. Shaak Ti, as we all know, is a famous Clone Wars Era Jedi, throughout the entire game you try and hunt her down (along with other Jedi) and kill her. Maris Brood is another Jedi, though not fully trained, who you will come across and meet. Not sure if you succeed in killing either of them, but I’m sure we’ll all have fun experiencing the hunt.

This game also is using a new way of programming Physics into the game. Wood splinters, instead of always breaking the same, metal dents like metal, everything breaks the way it should. Also the AI is much smarter, Stormtroopers try to survive instead of throw themselves at you wave after wave and not change at all. They adapt.

The game comes out in the Spring of 2008. Can’t wait for it.

The Toshi Station Power Convertersâ„¢ have hit the top of the Vast Empire Music Charts with their hit single, “Yellow AT-AT,” and are steadily climbing on the Galactic charts. The VET has managed to gain rights to show this hit for our valued readers…

On the planet where I was born
Lived a man who sailed the stars
And he told us of his life
In the duty of Imperial marines

So we sailed up to the stars
Till we found the ground of ice
And we lived beneath the stars
In our yellow AT-AT

We all live in a yellow AT-AT
Yellow AT-AT, yellow AT-AT
We all live in a yellow AT-AT
Yellow AT-AT, yellow AT-AT

And our friends are all on board
Many more of them live next door
And the band begins to play

We all live in a yellow AT-AT
Yellow AT-AT, yellow AT-AT
We all live in a yellow AT-AT
Yellow AT-AT, yellow AT-AT

[Full speed ahead, Mr. Veers, full speed ahead!
Full speed over here, sir!
Action station! Action station!
Aye, aye, sir, fire!
Heaven! Heaven!]

As we live a life of ease (A life of ease)
Everyone of us (Everyone of us) has all we need (Has all we need)
Sky of blue (Sky of blue) and ground of ice (Ground of ice)
In our yellow (In our yellow) AT-AT (AT-AT, ha, ha)

We all live in a yellow AT-AT
Yellow AT-AT, yellow AT-AT
We all live in a yellow AT-AT
Yellow AT-AT, yellow AT-AT
We all live in a yellow AT-AT
Yellow AT-AT, yellow AT-AT
We all live in a yellow AT-AT
Yellow AT-AT, yellow AT-AT

At first it was like one of those never ending drops, an all encompassing blackness that seems to swallow up the light- “Then we brought in the big lights…” says Naru Slove, planetary researcher on the surface of the small planet in the Rheagent system; since the discovery of these caves by Colonel Emanci Ameer and his colleagues on board the Terin VII, Daylid has become the center of interest in the planetary research community. If theories hold true, Daylid’s caves, thought to be some milenia or older in age, could hold the key to understanding cultures and species from planets well before records were being kept, primarily in the Wild Space sector.

Slove and his team entered the massive cave system, thought to span fifty kilometers or more, two days ago; initial speculation that the caves are actually ancient irrigation channels was and still is difficult to discern, however. The light absorption of the atmosphere in the tunnels is especially high and the sides of the cave have yet to be seen from the ground level; the diameter of the tunnels was determined from estimates on board the Terin VII. “Once we have a strong enough light source we’ll be able to take much better images of the caverns…” While the initial images of the landings site have yet to be officially sent out, Slove describes the caves as, undoubtedly, massive, hemispherical ducts underneath what is now known as the “Ameer Steppe.” Not only are they estimated to be massive in diameter, he says, but they are also far taller than could have been anticipated; the exact measurements from the breakthrough point were at some fifteen hundred meters high. Furthermore, unlike the expectations set out by the researchers before entering the caves, the interior is far less arid than the exterior; the ground floor is actually a damp, clay-like substance. When mining exploration was considered in years gone past, initial digs had a difficult time breaking through the permafrost and evidence of strong mining had been weak at best; however, the damp interior suggest another possibility: current life on Daylid. “If this is true,” says Slove,” then we’ve got something bigger on our hands than we’d expected.” While no life of any kind has been seen, though bacteria is most certainly present in the moist interior of the tunnels, the researchers are curious to find if any life could have survived on the barren planet without being noticed.

As of yet, the researchers have been unable to travel beyond two hundred meters from their initial drop site below the massive hole in the tunnels; in fact, they have spent very little time inside the caves themselves for fear of cave collapse. However, specialized droids have been deployed and will return with soil from further into the caves as well as night-vision recording of its findings. Structural analysis will continue in the days to come before researchers can actually determine whether or not the caves are safe to enter. “The real research is when you can put your hand in the dirt and sense what the planet’s been up to for a milenia- I can’t wait…” The crews will have to be underway within the next two weeks; however, as the blizzard season is fast approaching and research could be delayed by another seven planetary months if a strong entrance can not be developed into the cave system. In the meantime, the researchers will set up camp and await their droid reconnaissance teams. Slove grins as he adds- “Now all we have to do is figure out what the natives must have done for fun around here. I certainly hope it wasn’t becoming extinct.”

–T’si Ryder

Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide is a hardcover supplement to the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game, written by Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey, John Jackson Miller, and Abel G. Peña.

Quote:

“Make the jump to lightspeed 4,000 years before the Battle of Yavin to a time when Jedi Knights and Sith Lords clashed in galactic conflict. This campaign guide offers both players and Gamemasters a wide array of new options that can be used to craft a unique roleplaying game experience. As the galaxy plunges into one war after another, the forces of the Republic, along with their Jedi allies, struggle to protect themselves from hordes of invading Mandalorians, tyrannical Sith lords, and traitorous allies on every front.

Featuring new game material drawn from a variety of sources, and including characters, weapons, vehicles, and droids, this book presents an entire campaign during violent days of the Old Republic. This book also contains new Force powers, Force techniques, and Force secrets for Jedi and Sith characters, as well as new options for characters of all classes. Players can take advantage of new talents, feats, and other options to play a Mandalorian neo-crusader, a Republic soldier battling against the forces of Darth Revan and Darth Malak, or a Jedi in exile on the run from the Sith.”

And unfortuanately that is about all the information I can gather for you at this time, but as soon as I can collect more details, you will be alerted immediately. You can check out the amazon.com listing for the book and advance order it here.

On a related note, Knights of the Old Republic Booster Pack for the Star Wars miniatures game will be released at about the same time (August 8, 2008) with 7 new figures per pack at $14.99 (USD) per pack, so keep an eye out for those as well!

In the last week, the Vast Empire Imperial Navy’s Star Fighter Squadrons have begun something new. A competition, titled Last Man Standing had begun. This competition involves three types of stories; Last Man Standing Stories, Squadron Stories, and Personal Stories. The Squadron Story is whatever story their squadron is currently in, counting for One and a Half Points. The Personal Story, a side story about a character or the adventure of characters, counts for one point. The Last Man Standing Story, so far the most interesting of the three story types, places the pilots in a non-winnable situation. In the situation;  while the pilots are out in space, with the First Vast Imperial Fleet, doing flight maneuvers they are interrupted by a massive New Republic Fleet that jumps in and gives no mercy attacking all Vast Empire Targets in the system. Both squadrons scramble to regroup and attempt to survive while they watch their fleet burn. Even the power of the Modified Super Star Destroyer ‘Atrus’ could not stand up to the power and numbers of the New Republic fleet, and floats in space disabled.

Each squadron has taken a different approach to survival. Viper Squadron, the “Captain’s Own” has been surviving while capital ships burn along side them. Now with the arrival of an Allied Carrack Cruiser, three of their fighters broke off and are attempting to defend the Atrus. While in Nazgul, the situation is a little different. They have been doing their story, but keeping track of friendly targets alive and dead, along with hostiles alive and dead.

As for the scoring area of this competition, it is a tough fight going back and fourth between which squadron is in the lead; sometimes even, it is close to ties. The current score, at the time of writing this article, is Ninety-Nine points for viper and seventy points for Nazgul. They are both very active in their stories, but with active members, come the exact opposite. Non-active member does also play a role in the story. Once a pilot is selected to be “killed” in the Last man-standing story, they have twenty-four hours to “write their death”. Once they are eliminated, they can only post on their squadron’s story and personal stories. Both squadrons have begun to take losses in pilots, but their resolve will keep them going in the competition. The rewards are too great to lose. The rewards for taking the win are what everyone has been waiting for. The chance to upgrade their fighter craft. From the junky, TIE fighter, to a newer fighter selected by the VEN-HC.

No date is set yet for when the competition ends, but also no definite winner can be determined. It will all come down to the last few points before the end.

Crisis on the moon of Endor 

——————————— 

The Ewoks located on the moon of Endor are at risk. Their trees are being cut down and the wood used by the republic for Vantansee furniture. 

The Big Sale on Vantansee products ends next week. For further information please contact your nearest store. 

The Ewoks are losing there homes. Some tribes are forced to live on ground level were they are eaten by larger woodland animals. How long must they endure this sort of treatment. when will the republic lumberjacks be stopped? Unless something is done the Ewoks face extinction. 

For only ten Republic Credits a month you can help save these Ewoks. For a further Ten credits we will send you some footage of the crisis. 

For another ten credits we will send you some more footage of Ewoks falling out of there homes in the trees. Funny stuff….. You can prevent this from happening. Just send your name and first payment to the newly founded PACE (Protection Against the Cruelty to Ewoks). 

 

When we questioned to there spokesman, here’s what he had to say. 

“The Ewoks can’t defend themselves. All they have against those machines are twigs and sticks. How can you look at them being cut from their trees and laugh?” 

We were able to answer this question with a vote from the public. The favored answer was, “Sit back, grab some popcorn and laugh,” with 86 percent of the voters choosing this answer. 

5 percent said they recorded it and watched it over and over. 

And 9 percent said they thought it was horrible and were going to take action. 

Also the new PACE is now supported by the Vast Empire. It seems the planet does not only provide vast amounts of wood but other resources. Apparently the removing of these resources is also harming the Ewoks. Should they be stopped that would be one less source of materials for the Republic. Of course we can’t be sure but it seems the most logical reason for their support of the PACE…. right?                                                                               

                                                                                    [Message Ends Abruptly]

 

                                             [We are suffering]

                                             [Thecnical difficulties..]

                                              [em… Everythings ok]