Dark Empire (audio)

The Dark Empire audio drama was a full cast audio adaption of Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars: Dark Empire comic book series. It was adapted by John Whitman from the source material by Tom Veitch. It was directed by Arthur G. Insana and featured parts of composer John Williams's classic score along with authentic stereo sound effects. The adaptation was originally released in the form of two cassettes in 1994 by Time Warner Audio Publishing, and later in the form of two CD-ROMs in 1997 by HighBridge Audio.

Publisher's summary

Six years after the Battle of Endor (from Return of the Jedi), the fight for freedom rages on. While Luke Skywalker delves deeper into the mysteries of the Force, Han Solo and Princess Leia, now married, struggle to protect their twin children from danger. Darth Vader is dead, but a reborn Empire—guided by a mysterious new leader—strikes back against the Rebel Alliance. But the Rebels discover that their greatest foe may be their closest friend: Luke Skywalker!

Opening Crawl

Dark Empire Following the deaths of Darth Vader and the Emperor and the destruction of the second Death Star, the Rebel Alliance proclaimed a NEW REPUBLIC over three-fourths of the galaxy. But without the thousands of Jedi knights who formed the backbone of the Old Republic, the new confederation was a precarious one. Long years of struggle followed, during which, Imperial factions consolidated control over a fourth of the galaxy. Whole systems became fortresses bristling with firepower. Then, five years after the battle of Endor, the infamous Grand Admiral Thrawn mounted a terrible assault nearly bringing the fledgling Republic to it's knees. Ultimately, Thrawn was defeated, but within days of his downfall, surviving members of the Emperor's ruling circle staged a stunning assault on the Emperor's throne world, a planet called CORUSCANT, and that vital system once again fell under Imperial control. It looked certain that a new empire was about to emerge from the ashes of the old. That very possibility triggered a ferocious civil war among the numerous Imperial factions. Who would sit in the Emperor's throne? Who had the right? And the might? Meanwhile, the Rebels were quick to seize the opportunity to sow confusion among the feuding Imperials, using two captured Star Destroyers to conduct hit-and-run sorties into the war zone. One such raid, over the raging Imperial City battleground ended in disaster. The Alliance Star Destroyer, Liberator, commanded by Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian crash-landed on the planet's surface. As out story opens, Princess Leia and her husband, Han Solo, have left their two children in safekeeping and together with the Wookie Chewbacca, and the protocol droid C3P0 are on a daring mission to rescue their fallen comrades...

Differences from the comic

• Overall expanding on the dialogue.
• General Dodana is replaced with Admiral Ackbar.
• Two scenes of Luke exploring the Imperial Palace and coming across a hologram of The Emperor.
• Han and Leia view holographic pictures of their children, Jacen and Jaina.
• Boba Fett does not fight the Millennium Falcon over Byss.
• There is no mention of Slave II.
• Han does not shoot Luke's hand off.
• The Emperor does not destroy Leia's newly gifted lightsaber.

Credits

By type

Cast

Crew

Uncredited

Cast

John Cygan as Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles and Darth Vader Joe Hacker as Han Solo, Boba Fett and Lo Khan Ann Patricio as Princess Leia and Mon Mothma Nick Jameson as Emperor Palpatine and Titus Klev Jim Ward as C-3PO Glynnis Talken as Salla Zend and Vima-Da-Boda Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian

Crew

Audioplay by John Whitman Music by John Williams Produced and directed by Arthur G. Insana

Appearances

By type

Characters	Creatures	Droid models	Events	Locations
Organizations and titles	Sentient species	Vehicles and vessels	Weapons and technology	Miscellanea

Characters

Gial Ackbar Wedge Antilles Bodo Baas (Appears in holocron) Ashka Boda (Indirect mention only) Vima-Da-Boda Brick C-3PO Lando Calrissian Boba Fett Gammack (First appearance) Lo Khan Mon Mothma Shug Ninx Palpatine Ulic Qel-Droma (Mentioned only) R2-D2 Slag Anakin Solo (Mentioned only) Han Solo Jacen Solo (Appears in hologram) Jaina Solo (Appears in hologram) Leia Organa Solo Mako Spince Luke Skywalker Darth Vader (Vision) Salla Zend

Creatures

Nek

Droid models

3PO-series protocol droid R2-series astromech droid

Events

Battle of Pinnacle Base Duel on Byss Battle of Calamari

Locations

Coruscant Mon Calamari Nar Shaddaa Sisk (Mentioned only)

Organizations and titles

Galactic Empire Imperial Dungeoneer Imperial Sentinel Shadow Hand Fleet New Republic C fire team (First appearance) C fire 4 (First appearance) Green Squadron (New Republic) Third Battalion

Sentient species

Human Krevaaki (Appears in holocron) Mon Calamari

Vehicles and vessels

Evac shuttle (First appearance) Star Cruiser Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Defiance Star Destroyer Super Star Destroyer Allegiance-class battlecruiser (as "Imperial-class" and "Super Star Destroyer") Allegiance Eclipse-class dreadnought Eclipse Starlight Intruder World Devastator Silencer-4 (First mentioned) Silencer-5 (First mentioned) Silencer-6 (First mentioned)

Weapons and technology

Imperial Hyperspace Security Net

Miscellanea

The Book of Anger Cho mai Dun Möch Force harmony Force storm Gamorrean Two-Step Ionize Jedi artifact Throat Tràkata

External links

• Sights and Sounds of Dark Empire on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
• Dark Empire on HighBridgeAudio.com

In other languages

• español