Star Wars Encyclopedia Hardcover - 1998

Excerpt

A-1 Deluxe Floater: A luxury air speeder, it features automated
steering and fine Corellian leather. It is manufactured by Mobquet Swoops
and Speeders. [CCG]

A-3DO: A multitalented service droid owned by Jedi Andur Sunrider,
the robot was a crack mechanic and copilot who witnessed his master's
death at the hands of a criminal gang headed by Great Bogga the Hutt some
4,000 years before the Battle of Yavin. Called ThreeDee for short, the
droid then aided Andur's wife, Nomi, as she reluctantly trained to learn
the ways of the Jedi. [TOJ]

A-9 Vigilance Interceptor: An Imperial starfighter, this short-range
fighter was introduced about six years after the Battle of Endor, soon
after Grand Admiral Thrawn's defeat. The A-9 Vigilance Interceptor gives
up shields and hyperdrive for speed. Faster than TIE interceptors, it's
about equal to the New Republic's A-wing fighters. Imperial forces use its
forward-firing laser cannons for hit-and-run attacks on hardened Republic
installations. However, overall performance is less than hoped for because
of its limited maneuverabil-ity and relatively weak hull. [DE, SWVG]

Aalun, Syron: One of a trio of famous Gand ruetsavii, or observers,
who were sent to observe Rogue Squadron pilot Ooryl Qyrgg's life and
determine his worthiness to become janwuine. The highest possible honor in
the communal Gand society, janwuine involves the right of an individual to
speak of himself in the first person and to use personal pronouns in
conversation. The ruetsavii not only observed Qyrgg's activities but also
participated fully in the squadron as fighter pilots and undercover
operatives. [BW]

Aba: The name young Jacen Solo gave to his Wookiee doll. [CS]

A'baht, General Etahn: Assigned as commander of the New Republic's
Fifth Fleet because of experience leading his native Dornean Navy against
Imperial forces, A'baht had a leathery face that flushed purple and eye
folds that swelled and fanned out. His flagship was the fleet carrier
Intrepid, and he declared the fleet operational following the live-fire
exercise Hammerblow. Defying specific orders from Princess Leia Organa to
stay out of the unexplored Koornacht Cluster, he sent the survey ship
Astrolabe to Doornik-1142, hoping to get good military intelligence.
Yevethan forces, which had been roiling the sector and undertaking
xenophobic extermination campaigns, destroyed the Astrolabe. Ambassador
Nil Spaar, viceroy of the Duskhan League, declared the incident an act of
aggression by the New Republic and prepared to go to war. General A'baht
then led the deployment of the Fifth Fleet to the cluster and blockaded
Doornik-319, where the Yevetha were mounting their forces. When the fleet
came under withering attack, General A'baht was forced to withdraw.
Princess Leia Organa Solo then relieved him of command and substituted her
husband, Han Solo. [BTS]

Abano: A poor farmer on Aruza, he was the father of Manaroo, a
tattooed dancing girl who eventually married the bounty hunter Dengar.
[TBH]

Abbaji: The planet where the famous 100-meter-tall firethorn trees
grow in a single grove of the Irugian Rain Forest. Prince Xizor, head of
the Black Sun criminal organization, was given a 600-year-old dwarf
firethorn tree as a peace offering by a business rival. The tree, less
than half a meter high, had been in the man's family for ten generations
and was considered by Xizor to be one of his most prized possessions.
[SOTE]

abo: Old Imperial slang for native inhabitants of a planet, often
used in a derogatory manner. [SME]

Abrax: An aquamarine cognac with spicy vapors. The best vintages
were produced during the Old Republic. [BW]

Abregado-rae: A manufacturing and trade-oriented planet in the
Abregado system, with a formerly primitive spaceport. Since the birth
ofthe New Republic, the spaceport has cleaned up its act--at least to the
untrained eye. Beneath the spit-shine and polish lies the heart of a
smuggler, a spaceport where the galaxy's uncounted species mingle briefly,
have wild and sometimes fatal flings, then head off again for parts
unknown. An oppressive government allied to the New Republic rules the
planet's population of 40 million. Some nine standard years after the
Battle of Yavin, the leadership cut off all supplies to a clan of
rebellious hill people, which created opportunities for ambitious
smugglers. [HE, HESB, DFR]

Abregado system: A planetary system located in the Borderland
Regions--a militarized zone that separates the New Republic from the
remnants of the Empire--it is controlled by neither but influenced by
both. A vast and complex manufacturing infrastructure links the system's
planets, and the goods produced there are vitally important to the
well-being of the New Republic. [HE, HESB]

Abrion sector: The location of the planet Ukio, one of the top five
producers of foodstuffs in the New Republic. Grand Admiral Thrawn's
capture of Ukio had serious repercussions in the sector. [LC]

Abyssin: This primitive and violent species inhabits the
occasionally fertile planet Byss in the binary star system of Byss and
Abyss. (Byss has the same name as a distant planet that was used as a
retreat by Emperor Palpatine). At about two meters tall, the hulking,
humanoid Abyssin have long limbs and a single large eye dominating
greenish-tan foreheads. Because they heal quickly and can regenerate any
body part, this nomadic race condones a high degree of physical violence,
since the consequences are short lasting. Off-world, they are often hired
as petty thugs. [GG4]

Academy, the: Under the Old Republic, this elite educational and
training institution turned unseasoned youths into highly trained members
of the Exploration, Military, and Merchant Services. Under Emperor
Palpatine, the Academy slowly became a training ground for Imperial
officers, especially Raithal Academy in the Core region. (The Academy's
numerous campuses are spread across the galaxy.) Under the New Republic,
the Academy is rebuilding to regain past glory. [SW, SWR, ISB]

acceleration compensator: A device that generates a type of
artificial gravity and helps neutralize the effects of accelerating to
high speed aboard medium- and larger-sized spacecraft such as the
Millennium Falcon. [HSE]

acceleration straps: These passenger-safety harnesses are usually
built into the seats of spacecraft to restrain passengers during takeoffs,
landings, and violent maneuvers. [SW]

Access Chute: The kilometers-long pathway snakes through a grid of
decaying cities and tall docking towers on the spaceport moon Nar Shaddaa.
Its entrance is masked by a bright advertising holoscreen, and the Chute
leads to the repair facility of an old buddy of Han Solo, Shug Ninx. [DE]

Accuser: See Emancipator

Ackbar, Admiral: Born on the watery world of Mon Calamari, Ackbar
has risen from humble beginnings to become a re-nowned military
strategist. His championing of the Rebel Alliance--after conquering his
own inbred caution--played a major role in the Rebels' defeat of Imperial
forces during the Galactic Civil War. He prefers to personally lead major
assaults, and his troops still affectionately call him Admiral even though
he is now of higher rank. Ackbar, who like other Mon Calamari has
salmon-colored skin, large, bulbous yellow-orange eyes, and webbed hands
and feet, was the leader of Coral Depths City when Imperial forces invaded and nearly destroyed his planet. Ackbar, one of
the first to be enslaved, eventually became an interpreter for Grand Moff
Tarkin. It was from Tarkin that Ackbar first heard rumblings of the
Rebellion--as well as veiled references to a new super weapon that would
crush the Rebels. Ackbar was rescued during a Rebel attempt to assassinate
Tarkin and helped convince his species to actively support the Rebellion.
Among the hardware that the Mon Calamari contributed to the Rebel cause
were strikingly beautiful, organic-looking star cruisers.

Made a commander, Ackbar helped develop the powerful two-pilot B-wing
starfighter. After delivering several prototypes to the Rebels, he was
promoted to Admiral by Alliance leader Mon Mothma. At the Battle of Endor,
Ackbar at first called for a tactical withdrawal. After becoming convinced
that the Rebels could succeed, he committed all of his forces in one of
the bloodiest battles of the Rebellion. In the end, the Rebels destroyed
the second Death Star.

Even after the establishment of the New Republic, remnants of the Empire
and bold criminal gangs mounted major military challenges. The New
Republic later faced an attack led by Grand Admiral Thrawn. In the midst
of the onslaught, Ackbar faced a personal crisis. On the home front,
Ackbar had been named a member of the Provisional Council and the ruling
Inner Council of the New Republic, where he frequently clashed with Borsk
Fey'lya, a Bothan leader. Based on what turned out

to be false "evidence" planted by Thrawn in Ackbar's financial accounts,
the commander was arrested on charges that he had embezzled New Republic
funds. He was cleared in time to lead the New Republic fleet to victory
over Thrawn's forces in the battle at the Bilbringi Shipyards.

Within days of Thrawn's defeat, survivors of the Emperor's ruling circle
and six fleet commanders attacked and recaptured Coruscant, sending the
New Republic fleeing to the fifth moon of Da Soocha. There, Ackbar and the
others planned how to battle the clone of the Emperor Palpatine. After a
few months on the space city of Nespis VIII, New Republic forces regained
Coruscant.

Later, on a diplomatic mission to the windy planet Vortex with Princess
Leia, Ackbar crashed his personal B-wing fighter into the planet's greatest
artistic treasure, the towering crystalline Cathedral of Winds, killing 358
Vors. Later it was discovered that the commander's trusted chief mechanic
had been turned into an Imperial operative and had sabotaged the ship.
Before being cleared, Ackbar had to fend off an attack on Mon Calamari by
the ruthless Admiral Daala.

Ackbar returned to Coruscant and reassumed his role in the New Republic.
He asked Leia's aide, Winter, to join him on a trip to Vortex for a
ceremony marking the rebuilding of the Cathedral of the Winds, and the two
developed a close relationship. [SWCG, RJ, SWSB, SFS, HE, DFR, LC, DS, DA]