Shalla Nelprin.

Only the pilots active in the squdron at the end of Solo Command were given biographies. Compiling these bios was relatively painless. Shalla's didn't stand out so I ended up saving her for last. When her turn came again, all I found myself doing was flipping through the pages of the Wraith novels.

Nothing. I couldn't conjure up more than a couple general lines. But being that the other Wraiths had actual background stories, I didn't think it fair that Shalla be left out. So I e-mailed my Editor with the problem. His reply was quick and concise: "Ask the authour." I could almost see that he must have been rolling his eyes when he typed that. But to this newcomer of "Camelot", going up to one of the "Knights of the Round Table" and actually asking him a favour hadn't even invaded my mind.

It's not that I was intimidated or thought myself unworthy. I'm a writer afterall and speaking with an authour is hardly something to shy away from. I guess it was more just being realistic. Aaron Allston had no clue who I was. The only e-mail I knew of was the one on his website... which could be used by anyone. I had a fast-approaching deadline and there was no other alternative. So I e-mailed Mr. Allston, hoping that my subject heading "Question concerninng Wraith Squadron for a Star Wars Gamer article" would actually be seen (because e-mail programs tend to cut-off long subject headers).

With everything I'd heard about Aaron, I shouldn't have been that surprised that not only did he respond that same day, but he gave me an excellent chunk of Shalla's backstory from his note that had not been seen or published anywhere at the time.

Getting that e-mail was much more of a rush for the writer in me than fo the Star Wars fan. Being spoken to as a respected colleague of the official Star Wars community was inspiring. The collaberation also made me feel like I was a part of my chosen craft.

After finishing the bios, I still had to address certain elements that were not yet a part of the Star Wars RPG. I call them the !BAM! of an RPG article, and for this one they included establishing brief backgrounds and stats for things like races, equipment, and special abilities. The majority of the info (like for the Thakwaash) came from Aaron Allston's website. But translating the species and Imperial "Humanization" into game mechanics was where my creativity, skills as a gamer and game developer, and Star Wars Fanboy was really allowed to shine.

This ends Part II. In the final installment: Star Wars Math?! NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!