Battlefront: Twilight Company now has a cover

battlefront-twilight-company700Revealed today at StarWars.com, the cover for Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed. The game tie-in comes out November 3, 2015, in the long drought (ha) between Force Friday and The Force Awakens. As it happens, the novel’s blurb quietly went up a few weeks ago and I never got around to posting about it, so here you go:

The bravest soldiers. The toughest warriors. The ultimate survivors.

Among the stars and across the vast expanses of space, the Galactic Civil War rages. On the battlefields of multiple worlds in the Mid Rim, legions of ruthless stormtroopers—bent on crushing resistance to the Empire wherever it arises—are waging close and brutal combat against an armada of freedom fighters. In the streets and alleys of ravaged cities, the front-line forces of the Rebel Alliance are taking the fight to the enemy, pushing deeper into Imperial territory and grappling with the savage flesh-and-blood realities of war on the ground.

Leading the charge are the soldiers—men and women, human and nonhuman—of the sixty-first mobile infantry, better known as Twilight Company. Hard-bitten, war-weary, and ferociously loyal to one another, the members of this renegade outfit doggedly survive where others perish, and defiance is their most powerful weapon against the deadliest odds. When orders come down for the Rebels to fall back in the face of superior opposition numbers and firepower, Twilight reluctantly complies. Then an unlikely ally radically changes the strategic equation—and gives the Alliance’s hardest-fighting warriors a crucial chance to turn retreat into resurgence.

Orders or not, alone and outgunned but unbowed, Twilight Company locks, loads, and prepares to make its boldest maneuver—trading down-and-dirty battle in the trenches for a game-changing strike at the ultimate target: the very heart of the Empire’s military machine.

There’s also a patch for the company’s members. And don’t forget about Janine K. Spendlove’s short story in the October Insider!

Rebels will return October 14th on Disney XD

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Rebels S2 will begin in earnest on Wednesday, October 14th at 9:30 p.m. with ‘The Lost Commanders’ on Disney XD, Lucasfilm has announced.

Two episodes will debut at NYCC on October 8th, but it’s not clear if XD will show both. (Though given the 9:30 start time, I doubt it.) The releases teases the new season:

The transformative new season resumes with Imperial oppression on Lothal growing stronger and the rebels seeking out new allies and additional resources to sustain their fight against the evil Empire. With the help of Ahsoka Tano, the crew of the Ghost enlists some old friends: ex-clone troopers who fought in the Clone Wars. As the rebels grow in number, so do their enemies. New Inquisitors are dispatched by Darth Vader and sent to crush any threat of rebellion. Through dangerous rescue missions, thrilling space chases, and spectacular lightsaber duels – the bond of our rebel crew will be put to the test like never before.

‘The Lost Commanders’ will feature the return of Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex, Captain Gregor and Commander Wolffe from The Clone Wars. Interestingly, Sarah Michelle Gellar is described as a “star” of the season, which seems a step above a featured player like our previous guest voices. Details on her character are, of course, “forthcoming.”

And finally, a clip:

The Force Awakens: There’s something about Jakku

Sure, we got our big news today in a tiny clip, but here’s the rest of what’s been floating about. Or dropping fast, as the case may be.

battlefront-jakku→ More hints about the Battle of Jakku and the state of the galaxy after Return of the Jedi in EA’s latest missive regarding the Battlefront expansion that drops in early December. By which I basically just mean they mention the New Republic again.

Scott Mendelson calls out the ridiculous box office predictions (yes, they’re getting even higher) for setting the bars so stupid high.

→ Force Friday check-in: Your Target may have a Star Wars crawl on their checking lanes and a remote-controlled BB-8 has been spotted!

→ Spoiler corner: A certain squadron name, and what may lead up to it.

Force Friday to be previewed with live unboxings of The Force Awakens toys on Youtube


tfa-merch-packagingYoutubers from Disney’s Maker Studios will be unboxing The Force Awakens toys live on Force Friday. The official Star Wars Youtube stream will host the events, which will begin with Bratayley in Australia on September 3 at 7:45 a.m. local time (5:45 p.m. EDT on September 2) and finish up with Chris Pirillo in San Francisco at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. EDT) on Thursday.

You can see the full schedule on StarWars.com. Here’s hoping one of them is that working BB-8 toy

Journey to The Force Awakens book previews give us a glimpse into the GFFA 30 years on

Jedi-Bibliothek spotted previews of the four Journey to The Force Awakens books for young readers on iTunes – and they reveal – or confirm – at least a few things about the film. Turns out, the prologues to Moving Target, Smuggler’s Run, and The Weapon of a Jedi are actually set in The Force Awakens era. In Moving Target we get a glimpse of Leia – and a confirmation of her title – and Han tells a story about the Millennium Falcon in Smuggler’s Run. Luke’s situation will have to wait for the movie, though – Weapon of a Jedi features a red-armed C-3PO and Jessika Pava, a pilot with Blue Squadron. (We’ve heard of her before, spoiler-lovers!)

I’ve cropped the Phil Noto art, above, but head to Jedi-Bibliothek for some screenshots and a bit of story. (Including Lost Stars, which, alas, has no such illustration.)

The Journey to the Force Awakens novels will all be out September 4.

Lucasfilm and Target want your Star Wars memories

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Lucasfilm and Target have paired up to create Share the Force, a new site that lets fans add theirs and see others. Mashable has a few celebrity selections, and some cute videos.

I’m a soulless, jaded fan who’s over this kind of thing (or at least rather sick of telling ‘my story’ – it’s just not that exciting,) but it’s a cute idea, and the instant sharing aspect is at least a step above previous efforts that simply vanished into Lucasfilm’s archives.