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In Shadow Fall, the second book in the Alphabet Squadron trilogy, author Alexander Freed continues the story of Alphabet Squadron’s pursuit of the elite Imperial TIE fighter squadron, Shadow Wing. It’s a chaotic time for both Rebels and Imperials trying to find their place in the galaxy after the fall of the Empire and there’s a lot to learn about characters from both sides, especially those who are holding onto secrets from their past. To celebrate the release of the latest novel in the series, StarWars.com spoke with Freed about his experience writing his first canon Star Wars sequel and taking a closer look at the pilots of Alphabet Squadron.

Spoiler warning: Light spoilers ahead!

StarWars.com: How much time has gone by between the end of Alphabet Squadron and the beginning

On May 21, 1980, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back made its theatrical debut. To celebrate the classic film’s landmark 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Empire at 40,” a special series of interviews, editorial features, and listicles.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back gave us a slew of iconic new vehicles, from the mechanical stomping AT-AT to the elegantly gliding cloud car. Let’s take a look at these new additions to the galactic fleet.

Executor Star Dreadnought

Coming in at 19 kilometers long with 5,000 turbolasers, an ion cannon and a class 1 hyperdrive, this terrifying floating city dwarfed the imposing Imperial Star Destroyer (ISD) II (which also debuted in Empire), essentially relegating them to escort vessels as it jumped into rebellious systems across the galaxy. Serving as the command ship of Darth Vader

The selection of toys celebrating the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back this year has been impressive. Most impressive. But there’s even more to come.

During a special livestream fan event earlier today, Hasbro gave us our first look at some new action figures and toys coming from the Black Series, The Vintage Collection, and more. And although these won’t be available until later this year, feast your eyes on the first photos and details on how to pre-order the full collection!

Star Wars: The Black Series

The immaculately detailed six-inch action figure line will continue to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back with additions including Boba Fett, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, an Imperial Snowtrooper on Hoth, and Luke Skywalker in Dagobah fatigues. Action

You may know Darren Hayes from his work as a member of chart-topping duo Savage Garden. You may know him from his solo career. But however you know him, you probably know Darren is a huge Star Wars fan. His Twitter is full of Star Wars talk. He once auditioned for a role in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. And he’s even taken inspiration from Luke Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine in equal measure for stage costumes and sets. And as a huge fan of the sequel trilogy — and with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker recently hitting Disney+, Digital, 4K Ultra HD, and Blu-ray — we thought it was time for a chat.

StarWars.com: How did your Star Wars fandom start?

Darren Hayes: I’m an original trilogy kid.

One never knows when inspiration will strike. For EA’s Motive Studios, the concept for the recently-revealed space combat game Star Wars: Squadrons came at a rather surprising time: while working on another Star Wars game.

“There are a ton of Star Wars fans at Motive, myself included, with a lot of desire to create our own adventures in this universe. This project is one example where that desire resulted in something new springing to life,” Ian Frazier, creative director at Motive, tells StarWars.com. “Back when the team was working on the single-player campaign for Star Wars Battlefront II, they were having a great time with the space missions in particular, and it sparked an idea. Three of the devs — James Clement, Pat Lalonde, and Steve Masters — waxed nostalgic about

We’ve had our S-foils locked in attack position since we saw the announcement for the new first-person space combat game Star Wars: Squadrons, available October 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and via virtual reality (VR) on PlayStation 4 and PC. And today we got our first look inside the actual gameplay with an all-new trailer for the video game.

A unified squadron is the key to victory, and we can’t wait to jump in the cockpit with the dedicated pilots from Vanguard Squadron and Titan Squadron, two elite crews on opposite sides of the conflict during an original story set in the final days of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the New Republic after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

Here are