Since the Gulf War of 1991, we are getting more and more used to seeing images of war on our TVs, almost in real time, almost as if it all were another Hollywood movie.  Who could forget the images of the nocturnal bombardments of Baghdad, for instance? There are millions of lines written about the role of the media in these conflicts, and countless discussions trying to give an answer to questions like these: Where is the line between the information and the spectacle? Would these wars be the same without the media coverage? Are the media somehow feeding the conflicts, if only offering immediate publicity and fame to every group, organization or government that attempt to reach their goals through violence? Are the news media really impartial? What is true and what is fabricated, by the media or for the media? While we debate all this, sometimes one can somewhat obviate, if not forget, that there are real people losing their homes, being torn from their families, being raped, mutilated and killed, and watching how their friends and relatives suffer and die.

When I started to write this story, I wanted to try, even if only a few persons ever get to read it, to make people's consciences wake up to the horror and tragedy that is actually happening, even now, in this same world we all share.

Why in a Star Wars story?

Well, I've been a Star Wars devotee since I was ten years old. When, in 1977, my parents brought my sisters and me to see Star Wars, they unknowingly created an addict. I've of course seen the movies at least a dozen times each (with the exception of the Episode I, which I don't like that much). I've also read almost every novel or comic-book that I've found in the book stores, and played several of the LucasArts computer games. But the most enjoyable experience for me has been the writing of SW stories for this website, and reading those written by other fans, many of them available in this same place. I was about to start another Wolfshead Squadron point of view story in the days when NATO was performing its campaign on Yugoslavia, in defense of the Kosovo refugees. The term "collateral damage" appeared very often, every time a bomb or a missile hit something that should have never been a military target, and little by little the plot of "Collateral Damage" was formed in my mind.

 I've tried to portray as best as I've been able the Balkans conflicts in the Star Wars universe, doing my best to keep it all consistent with the "official" events and the rest of the Wolfshead Squadron tales. This is not the first time I have tried to translate real events into a Star Wars story (although the intention is completely different), since I did the same in Joan d'Arc. Any resemblance that you might find in "Collateral Damage" with real places or events is probably intentional. Nevertheless, all the characters and situations that appear in this story are the product of my imagination, with the exception of those created by George Lucas first, and several professional writers later, in the context of Star Wars movies, novels, comics and computer games. Of course, I've been constantly influenced by the images I've seen on TV and what I've read in the newspapers about the war in the old Yugoslavia.

Despite all I've said above, my main goal with "Collateral Damage" has been to write a good story, one that not only Star Wars fans but science fiction lovers in general could enjoy. It's up to you to decide if I've done that or not.

Anyway, thank you very much for reading it,