Unchartered Space

Droids: Special Mission

Author: Unknown 

Illustrator: Unknown 

Medium: Picture book

Publication date: 1986

Timeline placement: 15 BBY 

 

I'm putting this book here because it doesn't fit anywhere else. It also doesn't fit here. Like Neutralizing Trigon I, this ambiguously-canon-but-most-likely-unlicensed Spanish tale seems to be a loose adaptation of an episode of the Droids cartoon, albeit one adapted in such a way that it's now incompatible with the actual series.

 

Misión especial, or Special Mission, follows roughly the same plot as "Tail of the Roon Comets," or Escape from the Monster Ship. Mungo Baobab and the droids depart the Baobab Company offices in the Caravel, embarking on a special mission to stop Governor Koong from pillaging Baobab Company trading vessels. Koong's ship, which doesn't appear to be the Monster Ship, or Umboo Lightstation, captures our heroes' vessel using a giant mechanical claw. They're brought on board and locked in the brig, but when the guard opens the door again, Artoo blasts him. Mungo leads a prison break, and the escapees capture Governor Koong and Gaff. Suddenly they're on another ship, apparently one of a fleet that has surrounded Koong's vessel, and they blast it into pieces. Whether or not Koong was still aboard at the time isn't mentioned. Threepio is relieved that they can now relax at the Baobab Company offices.

 

This story can't take place as a separate adventure during the events of the Droids cartoon's Mungo Baobab arc, because the characters remain on Roon throughout those episodes and never have an opportunity to return to Baobab corporate HQ on Manda. It can't take place afterward because Koong captures the Caravel in the first episode of the arc and Mungo doesn't get it back until the final episode, in which Koong dies (spoilers oh my godddd).

 

Our best best for forcing this into the EU timeline would be treating it as a prequel to the Roon arc that depicts a previously unmentioned adventure where Mungo and the droids met Koong and Gaff before their first encounter in the cartoon. Only that doesn't work either, because it's clear from the cartoon that they haven't met before; in fact the plot depends on Koong and Gaff not knowing who they are. There really isn't a good option for taking this as anything other than a very loose abridged adaptation of "Tail of the Roon Comets," which means there was no point in even reading it in the first place. That's 45 seconds I'll never see again! :[

 

The Roon Games 

Writers: Gordon Kent and Peter Sauder (teleplay), Ben Burtt (story)

Medium: Television

Air Date: November 16, 1985

Timeline Placement: 15 BBY

 

Mungo and the droids finally arrive on Roon just in time for the Roon Games, an annual competition between the various planetary provinces. For our purposes, though, it's a relay race between the competitors of Governor Koong's native Tawntoom province and the unconquered rebel province of Umboo, the last region of Roon to resist Koong's rule. For some reason, beating them in the Roon Games will assure the governor's undisputed control of the planet and finally allow him to supply Admiral Screed with the Roonstones he promised to deliver to the Empire.

 

But first, our heroes are shot down by Koong's droid starfighters and crash-land in the Roon wilderness, where they are immediately beset by wild Mudmen, who look like this:

 

 

They are rescued by Auren Yomm, a 15-year-old native girl, and her father, Neil Young. The gang then narrowly avoids being eaten by a shamunaar, aka Brontosaurus. Residents of Umboo province, Auren and Neil Young recruit Mungo and the droids to help them defeat Koong in the big race after his insectoid henchman, Gaff, and his droid, Bun-Dingo (bizarre name for a droid), sabotage the Umboo team's droid and poison one of their racers. 

 

Threepio rides a horse-like rockhopper and passes the relay baton off to Auren, who narrowly avoids being knocked into a pit by Bun-Dingo. Prior to the race, however, Artoo had accidentally spiked the Tawntoom droid's turbo coolant, causing him to lose his balance during the race and topple into the pit himself. Because Gaff had already turned off the pit's anti-gravity in the hope of Auren Yomm falling to her death, Bun-Dingo is destroyed when he smashes into the bottom of the pit, leaving a droid-shaped crater behind. Don't forget, you're watching a cartoon.

 

Apparently out of ideas at this point, Gaff tries reflecting a light into Auren's eyes to blind her, but Artoo dumps his captured pet Mudman onto Gaff's head. The creature splits into several smaller Mudmen who carry Gaff away, allowing Auren to win the race, much to Governor Koong's disbelief and Admiral Screed's displeasure. Auren seems distraught at the thought that Mungo and the droids will use their share of the prize money to repair their ship and leave the planet, but Mungo declares that they're staying until they've found a Roonstone of their very own. Auren promises to help them search. New party member unlocked!

 

This episode got bizarrely complicated for a while. Governor Koong tries to make an alliance with Admiral Screed, who represents the Galactic Empire, by offering him precious Roonstones, but Koong can't obtain the Roonstones until he controls the entirety of the planet Roon, because his governorship is limited to Tawntoom province only, but he effectively controls the whole planet except for Umboo province, so he needs to defeat the Umboo racing team in the Roon Colonial Games, specifically an event called drainsweeper, and sends his henchman Gaff to send his droid Bin-Dungo to pour industrial coolant into the Umboo team's Mupple juice. What is this, the Star Wars prequels? Kind of!

 

Despite the complex political maneuvering, this episode felt mostly like setup for the second half of the Roon arc. Much of it was spent establishing Auren and Neil Young as new supporting characters, so presumably they have a significant role to play in the remaining two episodes. Well, we'll see.