Home of Everything Mandokarla

Update! The fic is OFFICIALLY HAPPENING NOW on AO3. The username is coyacoonadillo

[darthrevaan]

So I’ve recently been writing a search-the-galaxy sort of fic for Star Wars, and realized I needed very desperately needed to know about one very important thing:

Hyperspace Travel

Specifically, hyperspace travel times. 

To help me I found this lovely resource; Black Cat’s Star Wars Hyperspace Travel Times Page. This page contains pretty much everything I think you need to know about hyperspace travel times, at least to make your fic vaguely realistic. It’s a fairly short read, but I’ll summarize the version I use here.

The table above shows base travel times between regions. The original page describes how these travel times are affected by two factors; the speed of the hyperdrive and the location of the destination. 

Speed of Hyperdrive basically means if your ship is more high tech/high quality/newer, it might have a faster hyperdrive. The base travel time assumes a x1 multiplier, so a faster hyperdrive might be only a x0.5 multiplier (halving the travel time, I believe), while if your ship is older/cheaper etc., it might have a slower hyperdrive, e.g. a x2 where the time would therefore be doubled. (I’ll freely admit I don’t use this variation much so I may be misunderstanding it slightly).  

Location of destination is what the top map is for, and basically why I’m making this post instead of just linking you to the page. If your start point is in the same region (e.g. Mid Rim to Mid Rim) or in the same quadrant as the destination, the travel time is halved from the base travel time. The original page describes the quadrants as being delineated by “two perpendicular lines cut through the centre of the Deep Core” , but references a book which is unnamed and has no map. So, I made my own, which is the top picture. It is by no means official, but I figure there can’t be too many ways to cut two lines through the centre of the Deep Core, so I’m probably not far wrong. (HERE is a much bigger version of the top map).

Generally I tend to stick to the Base Travel Times table (pictured), rather than the Specific Travel Times table which is also on the original page, because they have discrepancies and the former covers a much wider scope, so is easier to use. The original page also describes a calculation you can do yourself to figure out travel times, but I’ll freely admit I’m too lazy for that xD

The source the original page cites is “various pages on Wookieepedia”, so I guess it can’t be too far wrong. 

Of course, if you want, feel free to just ignore hyperspace travel times. I can think of one memorable instance when TCW does, and that’s only one xD

(P.S. The observant perusing the larger version of the top map might notice one marker/planet name that looks different. That’s the one I added in, and is therefore completely unofficial. First person to spot it and drop me an ask can have…something xD) 

[wooliewarrior-roman-orin]

Just thought I’d also point out how far away Roman’s little hideout on Kamar is; top right hand corner! 

[awkwardtimezone]

UGH HYPERSPACE RP JUST GOT SO MUCH EASIER

[marble-guts]

Here’s a link I use to determine travel times. It gives you a Nav Computer– you click two points, put in the skill of the pilot, the hyperdrive multiplier, and it gives you how long it would take.

[pep-no]

Awesome resource, thanks!

[queenkevari]

I think he’s a little bit tilted to the left, but whatever. This is Dekk Corrodan, leader of the I-don’t-know-so-pretend-this-is-something-meaningful squad, a special forces team based on the planet Faxten. Other members of the team (Fik Ellory, Bavis Yaxol, and Gidge Radden) will follow this, including the head sketches. I might actually post those next, they’re quite funny.

I should explain real quick: as of now, Karta Kotra (my main character, see Mandokarla) has 3 main “life story arcs” thought out. First, as a child, then, a…let’s just say conflict in her mid-late teens, and an adult career in mercenary work. This is in the adult arc. She starts out trying to make a few credits by capturing petty criminals in the lower levels of Coruscant, then moves to more and more difficult targets, earning almost a steady paycheck from the Coruscant Security Force. She earns a reputation, she begins collecting bounties for private clients. After a while, the Special Forces branch of the I-haven’t-decided-yet-but-maybe-Coruscanti military approaches her and asks her to assist a certain team (*coughcough*). THEN SHE MEETS THESE FINE FELLOWS.

ANYWAY I was going for the squad stereotypes, like, tiny and young medic, large guy with the big gun, tall and skinny tech person, and the “perfect” leader. Those of you attracted to military types, wait till you see his face (hopefully you’ll have some imagination in store to overlook sketching errors). 

I tried to do something fun with his armor and deviate from my usual Mandalorian Shock style, so these overlapping plates and weird helmet were fun. 

I know I probably won’t get an answer, but any reccommended squad names? I’m thinking Gamma

?

[submit-your-oc-deactivated20180]

Imagine your OC story

but as a musical

[stereomomo]

//Ponders deeply

[karta-kotra]

Hello yes it is i Bones.

Would anyone object to me posting chapters then adding the images in later because I’m so much farther along in writing than I am in images…so… yeah. Comments/suggestions?

[karta-kotra]

Taking the lack of complaint thus far as an okay, so the second chapter is up here and the third underway.

[karta-kotra]

Hello yes it is i Bones.

Would anyone object to me posting chapters then adding the images in later because I'm so much farther along in writing than I am in images...so... yeah. Comments/suggestions?

[karta-kotra]

oh look first picture for the actual fic heh heh. Neon colors and sketchy everything because reasons and expedience.

what's chronological order i've never heard of it we are starting right in the middle of her adulthood and no one can stop me

[karta-kotra]

Should I provide some first draft out of context Mandokarla? I should. 

“Sir, I have the file here if you’d like to look over it.”

“Not right now.” Captain Dekk Corrodan brushed off the hovering assistant like a fly as he made his way down the hallway, muttering something about how Intel only wants to give you information when you really don’t need it. “I just want to know which hangar I need to go to.”

 “Hangar beta six delta,” the assistant said, clutching the ever-present paperwork to his chest. “Take a left after the mess—”

“I know where it is,” Corrodan grumbled, picking up the pace.

The workers and soldiers in the hall made way, some for the insignia on Corrodan jacket and some for the man on a mission.

Arriving in Hangar B6D, the sight of a non-military standard vessel, apparently some kind of cargo ship outfitted with custom weaponry and defenses, drew his attention. He strode across the room, dodging personnel and carts of equipment, and stopped at the crew surrounding the ship.

The chief of the crew glanced up, then saluted. “Captain Corrodan. Sir, you need to sign off on—”

“Fine, fine.” He scribbled a signature haphazardly on the flimsy then looked up as the door of the ship opened with a burst of steam from old hydraulics.

The pilot stepped out, clad in violet plate armor and helmet with a handprint painted on above a T-shaped visor. She took her helmet off and unwound her braid which had been packed neatly inside and surveyed the hangar, helmet secured in the crook of her arm.

Corrodan grabbed the crew chief by the shoulder and growled “What’s the game here?”

The crew chief, obviously taken aback, whispered, “What do you mean, sir?”

“What does the commander think he’s doing? Giving me a kriffing Mandalorian woman as a special advisor? Is he out of his mind?”

Shuffling his stack of flimsies, presumably reports of cargo and personnel, of course, the crew chief replied, “I’m sorry, sir, I only work on ships in the hangar. I don’t have an answer.”

The pilot gave a short whistle and from inside the ship a colorful bird flew out to land on her offered shoulder. Once the bird was situated, she looked around, then approached Corrodan and the chief.

“Alright, boys,” she said with a bright smile. “You two seem to be the highest-ranking pair around. I need to speak to a Captain Dekk Corrodan?”

“That’s me.”

“Karta Kotra, at your service,” she said with a little half-bow. “Where to?” She asked, resettling the helmet against her hip. From where he stood, Corrodan could see the blue glow of a complex-looking HUD. This woman was well equipped.

With a  glance back at the crew chief’s flimsies, he said, “You appear to be registered and check out fine. I guess you need to meet the team.”

“You’re just a bundle of joy. Lead on, then.”

A maze of hallways and scores of confused and interested looks later, Corrodan stopped in front of a door.

“Inside this door are the barracks of Spec Ops squad seven two. Each operative has their own bunk as well as storage for personal belongings. You will be given the option of having a more private bunk given the,” he paused and thought for a moment, “extenuating circumstances.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she said as she pushed past him to open the door.

Inside, three men barely glanced up from various tasks, mostly centered around caring for and cleaning weapons and armor.

“Hey, Corrodan! Yaxol busted his chestplate and needs to get it repaired,” said one man, almost a boy, as he lovingly oiled the barrel and trigger mechanisms of an E-web cannon almost as big as he was. Finally looking up from the weapon, he grinned and asked, “Hey, is that the new advisor? Guys, we got a visitor!”

Corrodan tried to look as nonchalant as possible as he introduced the woman in the violet armor. “Men, this is our new special advisor and combatant, Karta Kotra of...” He looked at Karta for verification.

“Mandalore. Karta Kotra, be’ad Jaze Kotra, pleasure to meet you all,” she said with a wide grin. “Oh, and this is Turii,” she added, gesturing towards the bird.

[queenkevari]

REALLY OLD sketch of the Kotra family. In case my handwriting is too crappy to read, from left to right we have Zulu, Ghett, Jaze, Aden, Echo, Karta, and Turii. And yes, they all have the same poor taste in clothing. 

Jaze is Aden’s older brother. Jaze is more responsible and stable in general, and pretty much heads the family and the family business (tihaar and other fruit products from an orchard). Aden is more easygoing and gets most of his income from mercenary work. The two were orphaned in wartime and adopted by a Mandalorian (no name as of yet) acting as a mercenary during said war. Fun fact, Aden stumbled across Echo shortly after the latter lost a hind leg and middle foot to an explosion, and the brothers were found with him. Both have spent time in military service, Jaze primarily as a pilot and Aden primarily as a designated marksman/sniper. They’re both stocky and on the shorter side, but Aden is slightly taller and has darker and messier hair than his brother (and occasionally some whiskers ;) ).

Ghett was adopted by Jaze as a young boy while serving in a war with his brother. Aden found him, but he had enough self-knowledge to realize his own lack of responsibility, so he brought him to Jaze. History repeats itself, y’know? Ghett, sharing no blood with Jaze and Aden, of course looks nothing like them. He’s taller and lankier than both, even though he’s much younger. Ghett is responsible (for a young human male), but easygoing. Trained in piloting by his father (talking about Jaze here) and sharpshooting by Ba’vodu Aden, he does his best to take care of the farmstead when he can, but learns the fine art of mercenary work and bounty hunting with Aden.

Zulu…doesn’t really have much of a backstory yet, but he’s mcuh younger than Echo and he’s Ghett’s strill (as much as Ghett is Zulu’s human).

Karta is the youngest (human) of the bunch and also the only redhead. She has no soul. I don’t want to share much of her story with y’all, but she gets trained in a lot of things by a lot of people. And you know. Turii.

These guys are a very close-knit family.

[queenkevari]

I have no idea if I’ve mentioned these two on tumblr yet, but this is Rroove and Mrrvah, the Togorian blacksmiths. I haven’t had a chance to explore the species’ anatomy or the personalities/backstories of these characters, but I’ll recap the best I can.

In Togorian culture, males and females live separately due to the males’ preference for a nomadic and warlike lifestyle (but they tend to remain on Togoria) and the females’ preference for more stability and comfort (which led to scientific innovation). Mrrvah wanted to leave the planet and find a new place to settle, and convinced Rroove to join her. They came to a compromise by settling in a small town (if you can call it that) in the forests of Mandalore, and became blacksmiths specializing in beskar. 

[queenkevari]

Yes, adult Karta gets an awesome trenchcoat and uses perspective. ;)

Anyways, I was planning Mandokarla unchronologically (again) and was working on adult Karta. You would think that I’d work on little Karta since I have to illustrate that before anybody can understand adult Karta the way I’d like them to. Yes, adult Karta sometimes wears an awesome trenchcoat over her armor and yes, that thing dangling from the left side of her belt is supposed to be a beskad sheath.

Also, the text on the drawing is pretty much me making fun of Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol physics via Karta.

[queenkevari]

I don’t draw happy Karta enough, so I drew Karta with her boys. :) I learned some stuff about my colored pencils; namely, Jaze’s silvered-blondeness is ridiculously difficult to achieve. 

This is one of those times I love drawing Ghett. He thinks (at this age) that he’s too cool for spontaneous group hugs.

I did try to be productive with this and nail down some details. Karta’s hair is definitely more red than ginger and Ghett has much finer features than Jaze and Aden. Hopefully y’all will be able to tell Ghett and Aden apart by eye color, build, and said features. Oh, and Aden’s got a scar across his eye and a jacked-up nose (like Jaze) whereas Ghett’s got a nose scar (that I forgot to draw…again). Other things that I screwed up include Karta’s facial expression and face. She’s supposed to be laughing but looks like she’s in pain, and her face, though it’s supposed to be rounder than most of my characters’, has too pointy of a chin and too round of cheeks. 

Props to JoeHogan for reintroducing me to Clone Wars-style cartoon hair. It makes Karta’s hair way easier to manage.

One thing that I love about sketchcards is that you can try out so many things and not worry about screwing up a major project, because they’re like 5” max. 

(Oh, btw…I’ve been writing songs for Mandokarla…and they suck are completely boss. Are you excited?)

[queenkevari]

Okay, so I’m posting these out of order, because this was my first sketchcard. This is MUCH closer to Karta’s face shape than this tragedy of art, but this is adult!Karta and the other was late-teens!Karta. And yes, this is WAY too busy for a sketchcard.

[queenkevari]

Young!Jaze was a boss (not that old!Jaze isn’t…) :) And if you can’t tell, I’m still figuring out my poor colored pencils, so his sigils aren’t as visible as I’d like. He’s got the Kotra clan symbol on each shoulder and “wings” on his chestplates because he’s a pilot. 

[coyacoonadillo]

I need to post my sketches like this more often. It makes me feel accomplished :)

Anywho, sketch of the day. This is the ShriekHawk Squadron (working name because I can’t come up with anything better and this works nicely). In case my handwriting is too crappy, from left to right they are Bavis Yaxoll, Fik Ellory, Dekk Corrodan, Gidge Radden, and Karta Kotra.

So, Corrodan is the leader of the squad, buuuut I haven’t decided on his rank yet. Sergeant maybe? Ellory is the lanky designated marksman/technician. Even when they’re not wearing helmets he’s got these augmented glasses/goggles…you know what? Think Google Glass with tinting and an antenna. Gidge is the youngest and, in my far from humble opinion, adorable medic with a giant gun. More like a shoulder-mounted E-Web than an E-11, if you know what I mean. Karta is the only “member” of the squadron that isn’t technically part of the military at all, but is a mercenary “non-civilian advisor”. Basically she’s a member of a spec ops team and reports only to the leader of that team and has no responsibility to follow orders from anyone higher up than Corrodan. In effect, she works for Corrodan as a member of the Shriek Hawks but is paid by the military. #merc perks

So I should get around to the reasoning behind the name Shriek Hawks. Shadow Company Third Platoon Shriek Squad. Then along came miss Kotra and the ever present Turii (forgot to draw him in…oops) and the Mandalorian custom of jaig eyes, and they opted for the squad name/nickname Shriek Hawks (even though Turii’s a Songhawk). Oh well. A+ for effort.

What should I be doing? Planning Mandokarla from the beginning. What am I doing? Planning Karta’s adventures as an adult :)

Sorry again for the bad picture quality and sketchiness. I took a photo of a sketch with my phone in subpar light.

[queenkevari]

IM SO SORRY I POSTED THIS TO THE WRONG BLOG HERE YA GO.