Primitive binary code


A communications code that utilized combinations of two symbols to represents letters of a language. The symbols could have the form of clicks, either in rapid succession, or silence between them. It was considered obsolete by the time of the Galactic Empire and few remembered it during the Galactic Civil War.

This communications code was considered "primitive" by the time of the Galactic Civil War, suggesting that it had been used during the time of the Old Republic. The concept of using combination of binary symbols to represent letters made this code comparable to the also ancient and obsolete Mandalorian code dadita.

During the Imperial Period, when most droids could understand voice commands, and more advanced codes were the norm, it became obsolete; it was not even taught in the Academy of Carida. One of the few individuals who still remembered the code was farmer Morgan Katarn, who found it a practical wasy to send signals to his simplistic agricultural droids. He also taught it to his son Kyle.

When Katarn led some Sulonese dissidents to Ruusan, far from the Empire, he taught the code to them so that they could use it to safely communicate between themselves and employ as a sort of friend-or-foe identification system. Years later, in 5 ABY, the planet was attacked by the Dark Jedi Jerec and the Vengeance Battle Group; the survivors of the Battle of Fort Nowhere retreated to the ruins of a Jedi temple and Grif Grawley transmitted a message in loop pointing to fifty-six kilometers south of Fort Nowhere, possibly in an attempt to attract more survivors.

Soon after, Katarn's son with Jan Ors in the Moldy Crow arrived on the planet in order to stop Jerec. Scanning the comm channels, Kyle noticed the regular repetition pattern of the clicks and recognised it as the code used by his father. With help from the ship's computer, they translated the message and met with the survivors.

The novella Dark Forces: Jedi Knight mentions a primitive code of alternative binary symbols, whose combinations form letters whose description matches the real-life Morse code. In the novella it is the ship's computer that translates it. In the audio adaptation it is mentioned that Morgan Katarn knew it and utilized it with his old droids, taught it to his son Kyle Katarn, and later to Sulonese colonists.

History


This communications code was considered "primitive" by the time of the Galactic Civil War, suggesting that it had been used during the time of the Old Republic. The concept of using combination of binary symbols to represent letters made this code comparable to the also ancient and obsolete Mandalorian code dadita.

During the Imperial Period, when most droids could understand voice commands, and more advanced codes were the norm, it became obsolete; it was not even taught in the Academy of Carida. One of the few individuals who still remembered the code was farmer Morgan Katarn, who found it a practical wasy to send signals to his simplistic agricultural droids. He also taught it to his son Kyle.

When Katarn led some Sulonese dissidents to Ruusan, far from the Empire, he taught the code to them so that they could use it to safely communicate between themselves and employ as a sort of friend-or-foe identification system. Years later, in 5 ABY, the planet was attacked by the Dark Jedi Jerec and the Vengeance Battle Group; the survivors of the Battle of Fort Nowhere retreated to the ruins of a Jedi temple and Grif Grawley transmitted a message in loop pointing to fifty-six kilometers south of Fort Nowhere, possibly in an attempt to attract more survivors.

Soon after, Katarn's son with Jan Ors in the Moldy Crow arrived on the planet in order to stop Jerec. Scanning the comm channels, Kyle noticed the regular repetition pattern of the clicks and recognised it as the code used by his father. With help from the ship's computer, they translated the message and met with the survivors.

Behind the scenes


The novella Dark Forces: Jedi Knight mentions a primitive code of alternative binary symbols, whose combinations form letters whose description matches the real-life Morse code. In the novella it is the ship's computer that translates it. In the audio adaptation it is mentioned that Morgan Katarn knew it and utilized it with his old droids, taught it to his son Kyle Katarn, and later to Sulonese colonists.

Appearances