Regarding the later years. A) What are shields? B) Halo has Spartans and personal shields? First of all the weaponary used by the Empire would decimate those shields like the covenant weapons do. And Spartans are by no means invincible. C) Actually they could handle the rebels. Just not a Force user (though not a full jedi) with a full technical readout of the Death Star and was a great pilot. And the only reason Luke survived was due to the idiocy of that one tie fighter pilot. Darth would have just killed Luke there and then and sorted Han out.