The Empire Strikes Back. The title alone hinted at the grand, the spectacular, on a galactic scale. Would it live up to the hype? Could it possibly be as good as the mighty Star Wars? Out blasted the theme tune and we were off; enveloped for the next two hours in a world a million miles away, of aliens and spaceships and epic struggles of good and evil. I sat spellbound, shovelling popcorn into my chops by the handful, next to my mum.
“What did you think of it?” I asked as we left, in a blissful state of awe at the cinematic marvel we had just experienced.
“I liked the camels.”
The camels. My mother was, of course, referring to the AT-ATs, great four legged walking tanks, commanded by the dark forces of the Empire which we see advancing relentlessly towards Station Echo. The All Terrain Armoured Transport: a fearsome vehicle designed to clear the way for the deployment of ground troops, largely impervious to laser cannon and capable of administering huge firepower. Luke Skywalker succeeds in destroying one using his lightsaber to cut through the underbelly, and tosses in a grenade. Another suffers a cable wrapped around its legs, which brings it crashing to the ground. The remaining AT-ATs cannot be stopped and accomplish their mission, permitting the arrival of Lord Vader.
Although undeniably formidable, they are not the sprightliest of machines, and the stop-motion technique of filming gave a slightly jerky motion which was entirely within keeping of their appearance. It must however, take quite a long time to get to a battle and start blowing up things. It would certainly help traversing the icy plains of Hoth, if they could move a bit faster. Amongst the complicated gears that operate the legs, a lot of time would be saved if they were set to Trot or Gallop, provided that the Empire can spare the extra diesel.
There are one or two other drawbacks also. The weaponry is attached to the command module, the beast’s head. Whilst gaining a huge height advantage over forward facing targets, to fully turn around is somewhat lumbering and takes far longer than the turret of a conventional battle tank. Access and egress: dependant on what sources are to be believed, the AT-AT can be set to an ungainly kneeling position, which still requires a ramp to traverse the remaining distance to ground, or troops can abseil from the body, leaving them vulnerable for the 20m or so drop. And another thing: those great powerful legs really don’t look very flexible. What would happen if it did inadvertently keel over? Nature would have given it a tail, but then the whole thing would probably look slightly ridiculous.
I have a theory: The chief officer in charge of the AT-AT programme, was a Neanderthal, probably favoured wearing a Viking hat with one horn missing and brought a club to all meetings with his technical advisers. His dominant assets were an inch- thick skull and arms like tree-trunks. This would go some way to explain the key features of the AT-AT. It can plod into battle with impunity because it is so heavily armoured, at the cost of speed and manoeuvrability. If the body was smaller and more angled, it would be much less susceptible to enemy fire, but not look nearly so domineering. Caterpillar tracks or hover propulsion would be far more practical than quadrupedal motion, but would not impose nearly such a towering presence. And the vulnerability of the legs? Give it massive guns and we don’t have to worry about the legs.
The shortcomings of the AT-ATs or any other inefficiency of the Star Wars fleet didn’t trouble me in the least at that cinema as a nine year old boy. I was captivated by the landscape, and robots that journeyed through galaxies on their marvellous adventures, and huge space stations carrying the crew of entire cities, and of strange creatures capable of surviving the most inhospitable lands. Just like, in fact, camels.
– Anthony Brum
Please check out my space adventure for middle-grade/ 9-12 year olds- “Imbrium City: Rise of the New Defenders,” available on Kindle now.
Cadet Kiera Austin, young and extraordinarily gifted, is a student of the Stellaris Academy, in the lunar city of Imbrium. Resentful at the choice of her new partner, android Leo Silver, the pair are called to an emergency on a remote outpost of the Moon: a fire, that Kiera suspects was deliberate and is somehow linked with Leo’s past. Driven by a desire to find the truth, Kiera’s investigations arouse the attention of some powerful and very dangerous forces, who will stop at nothing in their pursuit to hunt the cadets down…
