Over the years, I've had a lot of opportunities to create names and codes for various Star Wars games, from the original Rogue Squadron up to Battlefront 1. Sometimes I've created original names, and other times... I've stolen and appropriated from other sources.

Nothing is safe: from names to birthdays to radio stations.

For those of you eagle-eyed students of the EU, here's a partial list of the secret names and their explanations.

Commander Deviss = From the "Guide to the Grand Army", this anonymous clone commander was named for author Karen Traviss. In my upcoming story for Clone Wars Adventures Volume 4, I named a character after her. And then I went and did something sort of nasty to that character. But Karen got her revenge-- responding in kind with a "Lt. LeKauf."

General Tra'avis = More on him later, but this is what got me in trouble in the first place.

Lieutenant Lekauf = From Karen's awesome Vader piece "In His Image" in the Ultimate Vader Guide. Karen felt the need to pay me back a little. She also captured herself a fine fictional hostage, because now whenever she needs to threaten me, she simply says: "Wouldn't want anything to happen to Lt. Lekauf, now would we?"

Sarge (RC-1013) = The brave sergeant from Clone Wars Adventures Vol. 3 is a reference to my birthday. There's also a clone in the "GGAR" whose designation incorporates my wife's birthday. And I can't tell you how many times my kids' and friends' birthdays have popped up as references in the GFFA. Happy Birthday to me. :P

TK-8252 = One of the stormtroopers from Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith gets his call sign from my buddy Kevin Schmitt's old phone extension at LucasArts. For a long time, they only way I could remember his number was to recite the lines from the cutscene: "TK-8252, why aren't you at your post?"

The Nonnah = The crashed ship from the original Rogue Squadron (Nintendo 64-- ancient!) was the name of our texture artist backwards. You get extra points if you played this mission all three ways.

Kasan Moor = The Imperial pilot who defected in Rogue Squadron was named after a local 70's hits radio station (KSAN) and we wanted MORE! So now whenever I think of Imperial flight aces, I also think "Billie Mack was a detective down in Texas..."

"Boss" = Until Karen mentioned casually one day that squaddies often call their leader "boss," the leader of Delta Squad in Republic Commando didn't even have a name. I knew the Deltas would never stand for that. And so he became "Boss."

"Fixer" = Fixer was named after the EU-cut-from-the-movie friend of Luke's who hung out at the Toshi Power Station.

Cort Davin = Remember back when you were a little kid, playing with your Star Wars action figures? Remember inventing new characters to share adventures alongside Luke and company? Well, this ex-Journeyman Protector named in the "GGAR" came from a character my friend created in his childhood. I couldn't help but sneak it in as a tribute to the fun we used to have playing Star Wars in the dirt with our 3 ¾ action figures.

Pixelito = Sebulba's home town is rumored to be a combination of of "Pixar" and "Sausalito." (Sausalito is a town here in Marin, nearby where George lives.)

And the Star Wars: Bounty Hunter video game is absolutely filled with secret references. Nearly all of the bounties and descriptions contain sly references to people and friends of LucasArts. For example, Mill Timmer is a corrupt cop in the Upper City, named after my friend Tim Miller. And violent boss alien Longo Two-Guns is named after the amazingly easy-going Tim Longo (director of Republic Commando.)

So next time you see a clone trooper or hear a code 1013, you'll know I've been there.