The Blue Man Cometh

Mist Encounter

 

Author: Timothy Zahn

Medium: Short story

Publication date: August 1995 in Star Wars Adventure Journal #7

Timeline placement: 19 BBY

 

Our story begins one week after Emperor Palpatine's Declaration of a New Order, an arbitrary date that ruined everything. If you're reading the EU in chronological order, "Mist Encounter" sticks out like a sore thumb among post-Revenge of the Sith stories that were written after Revenge of the Sith existed. Those stories maintain the visual iconography of the recently ended Clone Wars, with the early Empire employing the same or similar vehicle, vessel, and equipment designs that the Republic used during the war. "Mist Encounter," by contrast, clearly came out in the mid-'90s Bantam era, where all Star Wars tie-in material was extrapolated from the narrative tone and design aesthetic of the original trilogy. 

 

The presence of TIE fighters and Victory Star Destroyers isn't a hard continuity error, as there's nothing to say TIEs couldn't have been in service this early and this is the era you'd most expect to see the Empire using the Victory-class. But since they don't show up anywhere else in this time period, it feels weird. The illustrations accompanying the story show OT-era stormtrooper armor when they should still be using the Episode III-era clone trooper design, but the artist also accidentally drew a stormtrooper instead of a TIE pilot so you can take that with a grain of salt.

 

What doesn't fit is the reference to Darth Vader, who we're told has already recruited the Noghri by this point. During the '90s, Star Wars authors were generally restricted from mentioning details about the Clone Wars, but A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (2nd ed.) gave the definitive canon date of the wars' end as 35 BBY. Pre-prequel EU continuity commonly assumed some passage of time between Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side and the duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi that left him in the Vader suit, so Zahn probably wrote "Mist Encounter" with that assumption in mind. Once George Lucas compressed the timeline for the prequels, however, the end of the Clone Wars, the rise of the Empire, the destruction of the Jedi, the birth of Luke and Leia, Anakin's fall, and his maiming by Obi-Wan now all had to take place more or less simultaneously. All of this is to say that in post-prequel EU canon, Vader didn't make his first public appearance (in Republic #78) until two weeks after Revenge of the Sith. We could always choose to throw out that date instead of this one, but the dude just got fished out of a volcano, give him some time to figure out how his robot legs work before you send him off to enslave the Noghri, jeez.

Anyway continuity quibbles aside this story was really good. 4 out of 5 Death Stars.

 

Zahn isn't much of a stylist, but his prose is streets ahead of the tedious sludge you can expect from a Denning, Karpyshyn, or Anderson. More, there's a strong sense of conviction to his writing, a verisimilitude in his depiction of military procedures and engagements. Here's a man who clearly knows his WEG sourcebook lore. For instance, Zahn knows that, contrary to how most authors use them, stormtroopers are not part of the Imperial Army. The Stormtrooper Corps is a distinct military branch with its own chain of command.

 

This is an Imperial Army trooper:

 

You even see General Veers wearing this armor in The Empire Strikes Back, but no one ever wants to use them in stories because they look goofy. Stormtroopers are iconic, which also makes them overused and devalued. Zahn's characters understand that ships and men and materiel don't grow on trees. It takes time and money to build fleets and train soldiers. This approach to the universe can sometimes set Zahn's work at odds with his colleagues', but that's okay. It's called the Expanded Universe for a reason; the world is wide enough for both.

 

Zahn does start to lean into some of his more regrettable habits as an author toward the end of the story, as Thrawn explains his plan to the Imperials and Captain Parck can't stop gushing over how smart and cool he is. We already think that, we read the story! This guy doesn't need to blow Thrawn in front of everyone to drive the point home. 

 

Oh yeah I guess Thrawn is in this story. Welcome to the Empire, (future) Grand Admiral Thrawn. We're all glad to have you back.