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==Description== |
==Description== |
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[[File:The Kessel Run.jpg|thumb|left|200px|An [[Imperial-class Star Destroyer|''Imperial''-class Star Destroyer]] pursuing a [[YT-1250 freighter|YT-1250]] on the Kessel Run]] |
[[File:The Kessel Run.jpg|thumb|left|200px|An [[Imperial-class Star Destroyer|''Imperial''-class Star Destroyer]] pursuing a [[YT-1250 freighter|YT-1250]] on the Kessel Run]] |
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| − | It took travelers in real space around [[The Maw]] leading them to an uninhabitable—but far easier to navigate—area of space called [[The Pit]], which was an [[asteroid]] cluster encased in a [[nebula]] arm, making [[sensor]]s as well as pilots go virtually blind. Thus there was a high chance that pilots, weary from the long flight through real space, would crash into an asteroid. |
+ | It took travelers in [[real space]] around [[The Maw]] leading them to an uninhabitable—but far easier to navigate—area of space called [[The Pit]], which was an [[asteroid]] cluster encased in a [[nebula]] arm, making [[sensor]]s as well as pilots go virtually blind. Thus there was a high chance that pilots, weary from the long flight through real space, would crash into an asteroid. |
==History== |
==History== |
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| − | The Kessel Run was one of the most heavily used smuggling routes in the [[Galactic Empire]].<ref name="TRG1-58">[[Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, First Edition|''Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game'', First Edition]], p. 58</ref> [[ |
+ | The Kessel Run was one of the most heavily used smuggling routes in the [[Galactic Empire]].<ref name="TRG1-58">[[Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, First Edition|''Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game'', First Edition]], p. 58</ref> [[Han Solo]] claimed that his ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve [[parsec]]s". A parsec is a unit of distance, not time. Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby [[The Maw|Maw]] [[black hole]] cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance. By moving closer to the black holes, Solo managed to cut the distance down to about 11.5 parsecs.{{Fact}} The smuggler [[BoShek]] actually beat Solo's record in his ship, ''[[Infinity]]'', but without cargo to weigh him down. A few months later, Han Solo beat both his own and BoShek's records in a run he made with [[Luke Skywalker]].<ref name="SKR">''[[The Second Kessel Run]]''</ref> |
==Behind the scenes== |
==Behind the scenes== |
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| − | [[File:KesselRun-ABC.png|thumb|200px|Starships flying the Kessel Run.]] |
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| − | |||
| − | ===Historical allusion=== |
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| − | "Kessel" means "kettle" or "cauldron" in German, and is also used to describe a "pocket of encircled military units". The Kessel Run most likely gets its name from the real "Kessel runs" that took place in World War II, during the [[Wikipedia:Battle of Stalingrad#The Soviet counter-offensive: Operation Uranus|Soviet counter-offensive]] in the Battle of Stalingrad. During Operation Uranus, the Soviet army managed to encircle about 250 000 soldiers, primarily Germans and Romanians, outside Stalingrad. To aid the units trapped inside this pocket, the German [[Wikipedia:Luftwaffe|Luftwaffe]] tried to create an "air-bridge" to supply the besieged army and evacuate wounded soldiers out of the pocket. However, the relief effort met with disaster, as a lack of available aircraft, heavy Soviet anti-aircraft fire and Soviet interceptors made the "Kessel runs" unsuccessful, and the supplies that did make it were often useless. |
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| − | |||
In [[A.C. Crispin]]'s ''[[Han Solo Trilogy]]'', the Maw cluster of black holes distorts space and time, so the distance of the run is shortened by flying close to it. Han and Chewie make the time (and distance) while escaping from an Imperial customs ship. |
In [[A.C. Crispin]]'s ''[[Han Solo Trilogy]]'', the Maw cluster of black holes distorts space and time, so the distance of the run is shortened by flying close to it. Han and Chewie make the time (and distance) while escaping from an Imperial customs ship. |
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===Development=== |
===Development=== |
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| − | |||
| ⚫ | |||
<blockquote>"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"<br> |
<blockquote>"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"<br> |
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*''[[Star Wars 2: Six Against the Galaxy]]'' {{Mo}} |
*''[[Star Wars 2: Six Against the Galaxy]]'' {{Mo}} |
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*''[[Star Wars: Rebellion (video game)|Star Wars: Rebellion]]'' {{Mo}} |
*''[[Star Wars: Rebellion (video game)|Star Wars: Rebellion]]'' {{Mo}} |
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| + | *{{FFG|book=Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook|text=''Star Wars: Edge of the Empire'' Core Rulebook|story=Trouble Brewing|stext=''Trouble Brewing''}} |
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*''[[Rebel Force: Target]]'' {{Mo}} |
*''[[Rebel Force: Target]]'' {{Mo}} |
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*''[[Rebel Force: Renegade]]'' {{Mo}} |
*''[[Rebel Force: Renegade]]'' {{Mo}} |
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==Sources== |
==Sources== |
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*''[[Star Wars Official Poster Monthly 16]]'' |
*''[[Star Wars Official Poster Monthly 16]]'' |
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| + | *''[[Star Wars: Adventures in ABC]]'' {{1stp}} |
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*[[Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, First Edition|''Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game'', First Edition]] |
*[[Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, First Edition|''Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game'', First Edition]] |
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*''[[The Jedi Academy Sourcebook]]'' |
*''[[The Jedi Academy Sourcebook]]'' |
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*{{DB|character|siritachi|Siri Tachi}} |
*{{DB|character|siritachi|Siri Tachi}} |
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*''[[The Essential Reader's Companion]]'' |
*''[[The Essential Reader's Companion]]'' |
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| + | *''[[Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook]]'' |
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*''[[Star Wars: Force Collection]]'' {{C|Card: Han Solo (Special)}} |
*''[[Star Wars: Force Collection]]'' {{C|Card: Han Solo (Special)}} |
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*{{InsiderCite|145|Authors of the Expanded Universe: L. Neil Smith}} |
*{{InsiderCite|145|Authors of the Expanded Universe: L. Neil Smith}} |
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Revision as of 16:11, 9 February 2014
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Warning: This infobox has missing parameters: systems, dissolved and unrecognized parameters: hideh, hidea, imageBG
- "You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?…It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs."
- ―Han Solo
The Kessel Run was an 18-parsec route used by smugglers to move glitterstim spice from Kessel to an area south of the Si'Klaata Cluster without getting caught by the Imperial ships that were guarding the movement of spice from Kessel's mines.
Description
An Imperial-class Star Destroyer pursuing a YT-1250 on the Kessel Run
It took travelers in real space around The Maw leading them to an uninhabitable—but far easier to navigate—area of space called The Pit, which was an asteroid cluster encased in a nebula arm, making sensors as well as pilots go virtually blind. Thus there was a high chance that pilots, weary from the long flight through real space, would crash into an asteroid.
History
The Kessel Run was one of the most heavily used smuggling routes in the Galactic Empire.[3] Han Solo claimed that his Millennium Falcon "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs". A parsec is a unit of distance, not time. Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance. By moving closer to the black holes, Solo managed to cut the distance down to about 11.5 parsecs.[source?] The smuggler BoShek actually beat Solo's record in his ship, Infinity, but without cargo to weigh him down. A few months later, Han Solo beat both his own and BoShek's records in a run he made with Luke Skywalker.[2]
Behind the scenes
In A.C. Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy, the Maw cluster of black holes distorts space and time, so the distance of the run is shortened by flying close to it. Han and Chewie make the time (and distance) while escaping from an Imperial customs ship.
Development
In the revised fourth draft of A New Hope in 1976, the description for "Kessel Run" is put as follows:
"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"
Ben reacts to Solo's stupid attempt to impress them with obvious misinformation.
So it implies that the puzzling speech of Han Solo is "misinformation" and not truth, and it has nothing to do with the nature of the Kessel Run in any respect. Han means nothing other than impressing Obi-Wan and Luke with pure boasting. Indeed, even in the final version of the script, the parentheses attached to Han's line state that he is "obviously lying."
In the A New Hope novelization, Han says "standard time units" rather than "parsecs."
In the commentary for Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope DVD, George Lucas mentions that the parsecs are due to the Millennium Falcon's advanced navigational computer rather than its engines, so the navicomputer would calculate much faster routes than other ships could.
Appearances
Sources
- Star Wars Official Poster Monthly 16
- Star Wars: Adventures in ABC (First pictured)
- Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, First Edition
- The Jedi Academy Sourcebook
"Galaxywide NewsNets" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 10- Star Wars Customizable Card Game — [[Unknown set: No set defined!]]
- "Corellian Smuggler" — Shadis 27
- Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised
- "The Unseen Planets of Star Wars" — Star Wars Insider 36
- "Kessel: Hell in Space" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
- "Underworld: A Galaxy of Scum and Villainy" — Star Wars Insider 89
- Underworld Appendix: Swoops, Spice, and Wretched Rogues on Hyperspace (article) (content removed from StarWars.com and unavailable)
- The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide
- Scum and Villainy
- "Han Solo: The Early Years" — Star Wars Insider 106
- The Essential Atlas
- Siri Tachi in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- The Essential Reader's Companion
- Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Han Solo (Special))
- "Authors of the Expanded Universe: L. Neil Smith" — Star Wars Insider 145
