The Value of Proper Intelligence to Any Successful Military Campaign is Not to Be Underestimated

"In the name of the Emperor, I claim this planet as Imperial territory. Surrender and no harm will come to you."

- An Imperial officer, about to be killed

The Value Of Proper Intelligence To Any Successful Military Campaign Is Not To Be Underestimated is a two-page comic that appeared in Star Wars Tales #19 and was later collected in Star Wars Tales Volume 5. It was written by Ken Lizzl, penciled by Lucas Marangon, and lettered by Steve Dutro. The comic tells the story of a small Imperial detachment sent to conquer the rural planet of Gibbela, expecting to meet little resistance, but instead being wiped out by a polymorphic native.

Plot summary
On the planet Gibbela, an agricultural world well off any trade routes, a tiny humanoid native farmer is farming on a plot of land. A small Imperial contingent lands on the farm in a Sentinel-class landing craft, planning on taking over the planet. Several stormtroopers and an officer disembark the shuttle and demand the farmer surrender. However, much to the Imperials' surprise, the farmer transforms into a gigantic clawed beast and kills all of them. The creature shrinks back to its original size and continues its fieldwork, using the remaining armor and weapons of the deceased Imperials as farm equipment. In the future, spacers avoid Gibbela because of its deadly inhabitants.

Development
A short, two-page comic, The Value Of Proper Intelligence To Any Successful Military Campaign Is Not To Be Underestimated first appeared in Dark Horse Comic's Star Wars Tales #19, published on May 14, 2004. It was later collected in Star Wars Tales Volume 5, which was released on February 23, 2005. The comic was written by Ken Lizzl, penciled by Lucas Marangon, and lettered by Steve Dutro.

Continuity
Originally, the canonicity of The Value Of Proper Intelligence To Any Successful Military Campaign Is Not To Be Underestimated was considered ambiguous, or S-canon, because the comic had been published in an issue of Star Wars Tales before Issue #21. However, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, released in December of 2008, referenced the events of Value in their entry on Gibbela, promoting the comic to continuity canon, which consists of all published works recognized as part of the official continuity.

Gibbela farmer


A farmer, this being is a member of Gibbela's native, polymorhphic sentient species that can transform between a small, weaker form, or a larger, clawed, aggressive form. Sometime during the Galactic Civil War, an Imperial squad is dispatched to Gibbela to secure the planet for the Empire, landing on the native's farm. However, when the squad's commanding officer confronts the farmer while the farme is in his smaller form, the native transforms into his larger form, easily killing the entire Imperial squad. Following the brief confontation, the farmer transforms back into his smaller form and used the dead Imperial soldiers' equipment as farming tools.

Imperial officer


An officer in the Imperial Army, he is part of the squad dispatched to the newly discovered planet Gibbela to capture the world for the Empire. After his squad's transport lands on a small farm on Gibbela, the officer and his stormtroopers disembark from their shuttle and confront a small native farming the field nearby, ordering the tiny farmer to surrender. However, unbeknownst to the officer and his men, Gibbela's native species are polymorphs who can double in size and turn into vicious predators. Angered, the small farmer transforms into his larger form, killing the Imperial officer and all his men.

Collections

 * Star Wars Tales Volume 5

Notes and references
The Value of Proper Intelligence to Any Successful Military Campaign is Not to Be Underestimated Bez dobrego wywiadu nie ma udanej kampanii