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Welcome
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Nathaniel Reed's
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:: An ongoing episodic story of fan-fic set after Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and inspired by George Lucas' historical draft concepts ::
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| June 2020 |
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Latest on the live-action Ahsoka Tano
30th June 2020 |
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As previously reported in April 2020, it looks like fan favourite Ahsoka Tano will indeed be seen in live-action in the upcoming Mandalorian 2 show due for Autumn 2020. Rather than utilising the voice artist Ashley Eckstein, it seems that Rosario Dawson will be playing her. Although her scenes in Mando 2 may be brief, it is believed this will help determine the prospect of a live-action show dedicated to the character. SWNN had this report on her appearance and weapon(s), and noted that she may have swapped her white lightsabre blade [Clone Wars / Rebels series] for a blue one.... which implies duelling scenes !
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Website Games Radar ran a detailed article on the torturous development history of Star Wars Underworld, the live-action TV project that George Lucas was developing, and ultimately shelved, prior to the Disney acquisition. Although much conceptual artwork was created and fifty "larger-than-life" scripts were turned in by a team of international writers, the technology at the time was unable to produce for a TV show with movie production values and the scope and grandeur expected for Star Wars. Since the Disney purchase, it could be said that elements of the gangster and criminal setting have been carried over to The Mandalorian TV show, and therefore it's unlikely that Disney would develop such a similar genre beside the former. However, the article does show how far into the research for the production LFL went.
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Rumours are surfacing of what appears to be in-fighting between LFL and Disney and within LFL itself regarding the future of Star Wars and the fate of the recently released Sequel Trilogy. This Comics fansite outlines ideas bouncing around internally that might mean the official Sequel Trilogy - Episodes VII, VIII, and IX - could get 'sidelined' into a 'Legends' style of EU or 'alternate universe timeline'. This in effect would clean the slate, allowing a new series of films to continue and/or close the Skywalker Saga. Although this sounds very exciting to my ears, I am fully aware that Carrie Fisher is no longer with us, and Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill are aging (not to mention in this current climate of Covid-19 that finds the elderly particulary vulnerable !). The rumours, even if true, do seem very unlikely to amount to anything.
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The illustrated virtual edition of Episode VII : Plague of Doom continues, and for this month I was able to create a piece of art work that I have found daunting since pretty much when we first wrote the scene in December 2007 ! The two droids, See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo have been herded ahead by a conveyor barge to a huge machining factory ! The droids are able to slip to one side and on to a narrow gantry, where they behold the secret and nefarious droid conversion production line culminating in the new aura gas filled probe droids !
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| You can see the VE artwork in the 'Kessel' art gallery as well as in the online illustrated story, and you can discuss this in the forum here ! |
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My prose writing for virtual edition Episode X 'The Riddle of the Pirates' has continued, and over the last few weeks I have fleshed out the ground battle involving Chewie, the Solo twins, their Ithorian friend, and the Ithorian farmers against the Yana-Yurak pirate gang ! It turned out to be a very lengthy scene, but exciting nevertheless !
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| I also indulged artistically, and, as Scott and I once did with our earlier VE episodes, I've created two character studies of Leia and Luke, circa 15 years after Episode VI Return of the Jedi in Episode X The Riddle of the Pirates ! |
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The story as a work-in-progress can be found via the left hand side bar or directly here..... and a sample of the aforementioned scene can be found below....
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.....At the Kashyyykian shuttle the three shield-bearing pirates had engaged Chewbacca. The leader was trading sword blows with the Wookiee, who was also defending himself from laser blasts fired by the other two Rodians ! The three pirates were arrayed in an arc, and Chewbacca, who already sported a nasty looking blaster burn to his left shoulder, was valiantly trying to ensure they didn’t circle around behind him. The shuttle towered above them all, and the Wookiee was aware of two more pirates with lock-picking kit setting up at the entrance hatch towards the rear of the ship.
Chewie swung out with his own sword batting the other lightsabre away, and then a quick flick of his wrist deflected another incoming laser bolt. All three Rodians raised their arm shields, and the right most Rodian’s purple disc crackled white as the blaster bolt glanced off it. The middle Rodian with the blue lightsabre, the leader, slashed his sword left and right, and then jabbed with his shield, before swinging the lightsabre over-arm. Chewie’s green sword met the blue with a scintillating flash, but then had to slip away to block another laser blast ! The Rodians were emboldened by their greater number and pressed forward. Chewie swept his sword out wide, the green tip glancing off all three violet shields with an angry snap, and then the lightsabre was whipped back close to his body to deflect yet another blast from the hand guns.
Above the fight, flashes of gold reflecting off the cockpit canopy indicated the near-hysterical state See-Threepio was in. The protocol droid was flapping his arms in agitation, and his head was turning back and forth to regard the commotion outside and the intercom conversation inside.
“Yes, yes ! Pirates !” wailed Threepio. “At least ten of them, possibly more !”
“Sensors indicate a power surge at the boarding hatch,” informed the pilot-droid from his seat. “This indicates a high probability of an attempted forced access.”
Threepio turned to his companion. “Oh my ! We’re doomed ! They will pull us apart to make new droids with evil intent ! Whatever shall we do ?”
“Update the Ellies !” snapped the pilot.
“Oh, oh, yes, of course, sorry K2-P8,” stammered Threepio. “Err... did you hear that ? The scoundrels are trying to break in ! Oh !”
“Law Enforcement has been dispatched, droid,” came the voice over the intercom. “Sit tight, they will be with you soon. Ellie out.”
Threepio let his arms drop in relief, and he looked out of the cockpit window once more. He saw a flash of movement amongst the bushes and foliage at the base of the trees. Recognising the new arrivals, he wailed in despair again.
“Oh, Mistress Solo will never forgive me !” he moaned.
Below the shuttle, Gana and Corsa burst through the undergrowth at the line of trees. They took one look at the three pirates and threw out their hands. The two blaster-toting Rodians at either side stumbled, but did not fall over. The run and the recent exertion with the netted pirates had sapped their young physical and mental strength.
The two Rodians spun around and hunched down defensively. One barked a command to the other, who pivoted back round to maintain firing potshots at the Wookiee, forcing him to continue deflecting not only the laser sword but also the blaster
fire !
The remaining Rodian raised his handgun and fired towards the children. They dived to either side, rolled, and sprang to their feet, panting heavily. The Rodian turned with the girl, and fired again, and great clods of earth blew into the air as she somersaulted backwards to safety.
“Hey !” shouted Gana angrily, and he pushed out both his hands, and a great dust cloud blew up from the soil and into the Rodian’s face, who fell to the ground, his long fingers clawing at his round eyes. The distraction bought them precious seconds to catch their breath and start to re-focus.
They heard Chewie bark out commands, and the two of them glanced towards the tail of the shuttle. They saw a Snivvian and another Rodian working feverishly at the controls on a crate that was connected up to the entrance hatch with cables that ended with sucker shapes against the hull. Another cable terminated with a box clamped over the external activation controls. They were trying to boot it open ! Without a clear plan, the twins ran towards the brigands. The Rodian glanced up, saw the threat, grabbed his handgun, and fired towards the children. The noise broke the Snivvian’s focus, who spotted the boy racing towards him first. The short hog creature snarled, raised his arms, and leapt to meet the human child, the two crashing together and falling to the ground in a scrap, leaves and soil scattering around them.
Corsa ran past her brother intending to similarly engage the Rodian, but he was able to wildly fire another shot that glanced off the girl’s shoulder. She shrieked in pain and tumbled to the ground, clutching her shoulder. The Rodian grinned evilly, and calmly aimed directly at the girl. A long green finger curled around the trigger and pulled. A single red blast shot out from the end of the barrel... and smashed into a blue lightsabre that flashed into view !
Startled, the Rodian glanced around and stepped back. In front of him was a human woman, middle-aged, with grey-flecked dark brown hair loosely flowing over her shoulders and down her back. She wore a snug-fitting cream tunic and narrow skirt panels over grey under-garments, and her light brown boots were widely and firmly planted amongst the leaves. Her eyes flashed with a fierce determination that said, Do not harm these children.
The Rodian’s eyes widened in shock. Where the blazes had she come from ??!
The woman flicked her lightsabre up high, she stepped in front of the blaster, and then she arced her sword down and through the barrel of the gun. The flash of sparks stunned the Rodian even more and he dropped what remained of the grip and stock. Before he could move, the woman flicked out her palm, and he was sent sailing high into the sky, over the line of trees and into the flames of an out-building.
The Snivvian had punched Gana black and blue and was getting to his feet, his stubby hand drawing his gun from its holster. His back was to the commotion caused by Leia’s interception. As he lifted his blaster to kill the boy in cold blood, a searing heat and pain in his chest prompted him to look down. A sizzling blade of blue energy stuck outwards and in the last few seconds of his life, the Snivvian realised that the new appendage was wholly unnatural. As Gana heaved himself to roll out of the way, the pirate toppled forward, and smacked face down in the dirt and leaves.
Leia took one look at her son and acknowledged the bruises and the bleeding nose. She glanced over her shoulder at Corsa who was kneeling and rubbing at her wound. Both children were wide-eyed at the sight of their mother, their mouths agape. She smiled, deactivated her sword, and with her other hand raised a finger to her lips, turning to face both of them. This was their secret. She leant down and laid her hand on Gana’s cheek. The blood eased to a trickle. She stood, and returned to Corsa. She rested her hand on her daughter’s shoulder and the angry burning welt of scorched flesh calmed to a pink.
On the far side of the shuttle they heard Chewbaaca roar in pain and frustration. A loud dull double thud came from the farmstead clearing, followed by an explosion.
“My darlings, you’ll be fine,” she whispered, and smiled again. “Let me help Chewie, and the others, but please don’t tell them you saw me.”
With that, Leia faded from view. Gana looked over to Corsa, and his sister regarded him back. Their dark eyes were as wide as saucers.
Chewie had managed to drag himself to the nearest landing strut, and sat with his back against it. In addition to the blaster burn on his shoulder, he now endured a similar burn to the side of his head and a cauterised slash to his right thigh. The Rodian with the handgun was slumped on the ground with his right arm a short distance from his body. But the gang leader had continued to expertly gain the upper hand with his one-two attack utilising his own laser sword and the round shield. Battle-scarred experience matched the Wookiee’s strength, drained by the initial multiple attack, and the giant’s Jedi skills ; adrenaline powered the Rodian, and desire for the shuttle.
To his credit, Chewie was matching each lightsabre strike, parrying and blocking, but the Rodian was light on his feet, and followed each jab of his sword with a swipe of his shield. Chewie could barely introduce an attacking move, and the pain from his injuries was distracting him from regaining focus.
The Rodian sensed the end game now, and, gripping his sword handle with both hands, raised his lightsabre high above his head, ready to crash down on the Wookiee. This Jedi will die and the shuttle would be theirs !
The blue shimmer beyond the Wookiee and the landing strut caught his attention. The flicker coalesced into the form of a human woman who held out her right hand towards him, fingers splayed open.
The Rodian was dimly aware that his muscles were frozen and his arms, still above his head, had not yet dropped for the killing blow. Before he could even wriggle and break free of this bizarre paralysis, the woman closed her fingers into a fist, and the pirate leader felt his body be slowly dragged towards the Wookiee, his inert boots scraping the leaves and soil.
In his fog of pain and exhaustion, Chewie recognised that his foe had paused in his attack. With a roar, he jabbed upwards at the unprotected torso, and his humming green sword sizzled as it pierced the Rodian.
As the pirate slumped backwards, Chewie let his right arm drop like a dead weight to the side of him, the lightsabre deactivating. The Wookiee gave a great sigh, and closed his eyes. Behind him the figure disappeared.
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| Nathaniel Reed, 30th June 2020 |
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