Star Wars: Legacy: 4: Noob
What is it ? : On the world of Yinchorr, Anson Trask is a new recruit to the Stormtroopers and he is looking for his squad when he accidentally bumps into the Sith Lord, Darth Maleval. His squad sergeant reprimands him, but he quickly realises he is only doing this to protect him from the wrath of the Sith Lord.
He is introduced to his squad who refer to him as Noob, some of them refusing to learn his name as they don't want to get attached as most new recruits die within their first mission.
Their mission comes in and it is to assault the 908th division who has defected from the Krayt Empire to the Fel Empire. The Stormtroopers are not happy about this mission to be killing other Stormtroopers, even ones who have defected.
The Assault goes ahead, and the squad successfully takes gun emplacements on the outskirts of the 908th's fortress. Their commanding officer, Lieutenant Cassel, suggests allowing the 908th to surrender, but Darth Maleval rejects it, and when one of the Stormtroopers attempts to assault him, he throws them into a wall with the Force.
The next day they push their assault, where the Sergeant is seriously wounded and other members of the squad are killed, but their assault is successful. In the aftermath Maleval confronts Lt Cassel with the commander of the 908th, his brother, and demands that he kill him to prove his loyalty.
Cassel refuses and when Maleval moves to kill both of them, the squad attacks, leading to Trask shooting the Sith in the back killing him but the rest of the squad have either been killed or wounded out of action, leaving Trask as the only remaining member of his squad, until another Noob arrives and the two leave together. . . .
High Points : A really nice story breaking away from the main narrative of the series, but showing us of the schism in the Empire, the way that the Sith are just using the Stormtroopers as tools, where they see themselves as servants of order, something far more aligned with Roan Fel who treats his soldiers as honourable warriors.
The troopers in this tale don't turn their back on the Krayt Empire, as following orders is part of their code of honour, yet the do defy orders and kill their Sith commander while continuing to serve. But I won't be shocked to see them defect in a later story.
This is quite a brutal tale, with a number of characters being introduced and fleshed out, and then dying before the end of the issue, it's perhaps one of the most honest portrayals of warfare in Star Wars I've seen.
Low Points : I've always thought that the Sith way was self destructive, and Star Wars itself has often agreed (showing how Admiral Thrawn is such a successful officer by being the exact opposite of the Sith), and while this issue really draws attention to this, it remains a flaw in the story.
Darth Maleval is being evil for the sake of being evil, and that ends up with his own men gunning him down. They've recruited Stormtroopers and trained them to be brave warriors, while expecting to keep them in line through fear.
So what do you really think ? : I really enjoyed this one, with it being the high point of the series so far, which perhaps isn't a good sign when it doesn't include any of the main characters.
The members of Joker Squad seem more relatable, as they're not heroes or major players on the galactic scale, they're just soldiers following orders they don't really agree with. Trask himself is there to honour his father who was a member of the squad before him, and we get background stories for other members of the squad which really humanise them, whereas we have had absolutely nothing for any of the other characters in the series, why are Krayt and Talon Sith? What's Roan Fel's background, he seems honourable but did he rise through the ranks or achieve his power through politics. And who are Deliah and Jariah, he's an ex-pirate, whose dad was a pirate, but we know exactly nothing about Deliah apart from her being a Zeltron.
The excellent story telling in this issue, really highlights the poor story telling in all of the other issues.
Final Words : I honestly wonder if this was intended to be a complete one off, without a plan for the characters introduced to return, especially as I notice they don't return for another 10 issues. Making me think that the issue was well received, and they decided to bring the characters back based on the reception. I find myself looking forward to that, more than the continuing story of Cade.
Score : 9/10
Comments made about this Article!
There are currently no comments for this article, be the first to post in the form below
