Chat corner 64: Travel

[annathecrow]

Welcome to this week’s chat corner!

Optional prompt

This week’s optional topic is “travel”. In the galaxy far, far away, our heroes do a lot of moving around, whether it’s running from tomething, running towards something, or maybe simply for work. The modes of transportation seem endless. An ugly beast of burden? A train? A snazzy starfighter? Star Wars has it all.

What are your favorites? If you could choose, what would you like to travel with? Or, narratively, what is your favorite instance of traveling in SW?

Comments

[annathecrow]

Your courtesy Dark Side post link.

[yourlibrarian]

The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the prompt was the motorcycle speeders and, specifically, the inexplicably always empty highway on Lothal where numerous chase scenes have occurred. That seems like a pretty big project to never have any traffic either day or night. You'd think the Empire would figure out that if anyone was ever using it it would always be Rebels.

[annathecrow]

Those speeder bikes (?) are very cool. At least the one that's in Empire Strikes Back and then in Attack of the Clones, the one with the revealed chassis and the little rudder winglets in front. They have such a unique shape.

I mean, the skittle speeder vespas from The Book of Boba Fett are not bad, but they're not speeder bikes.

[cephy]

For whatever reason, I just love the six-legged tanks from Clone Wars XD

[annathecrow]

I had to google which one it is, but that is one big boy! (Or, er, non-gendered piece of machinery.) I like how the designers continued the animal characteristics from the AT-AT and AT-ST, I can clearly see how it's patterned after a frog. Or maybe a chameleon? The eyeball-gun looks a bit ridiculous on some of the 3D models I've found, though XD

[astromech1138]

I was always a big fan of the Tauntaun, but...how did they all learn how to ride them? Who was the Tauntaun wrangler? How were the Tauntauns domesticated? If there isn't a Legends book devoted to this topic, I will be severely disappointed :D

[annathecrow]

oh lol, you have a point! Now I have so many questions. Is tauntaun native to Hoth? That implies a populace of inhabitants who had domesticated it for riding - you generally can't ride a completely wild animal from a species that hasn't been bread for it at least a few generations, that's just not how it works... If it isn't, did the Rebels bring the tauntauns with them? Or perhaps some previous settlers? The wampa didn't mind eating the tauntaun, but then some predators will eat anything... And yes! Who's caring for the tauntauns! That must be an unpleasant job, Han mentions the animal stinks. Are there dedicated tauntaun caretakers? I suppose the actual work might be shared between all the rebels, but there must be at least one or two people who know what's going on. Do Rebels use animals often, or was it just Hoth?

[astromech1138]

lol SEE!!!! I think they are indigenous to Hoth which answers almost no questions and raises so many others! But I guess it fits the theme of SW as a space spaghetti Western -- George had to get them on a "horse" at some point :D

[annathecrow]

"George had to get them on a "horse" at some point" -- oh NO, that just makes it worse! Is the tauntaun a beast of burden that has been used by some previous settlers, abndoned to go feral, then used by the Rebels? Wait, that would actually make sense!

[fleurviolette]

Naboo royal star cruiser. Flying in space in a galaxy far far away seems awesome!

[annathecrow]

Oh, for comfort, definitely this one. And it looks great. There's that one sequence from Ep II where the about-to-explode Naboo cruiser descends to Coruscant through a layer of clouds, and it's just so pretty.