#CR90

[alphamecha-mkii]

Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon #18 - CR90 Corvette

[the-bonereaders-library]

a 6 round game of star wars armada. I was commanding a rebel grab bag flying 3 new ships, the mc80, the rebel version of the providence class, and my beloved little mc30, plus admiral akbar on the corvette. I managed to secure a narrow victory against a 6 ship Republic list (those little councilor class ships can pack a punch, especially when there's 3 of them flying around). we also used some of my recently 3d printed obstacles, we had one astroid field and one debris field, and I'll hopefully have a completed set soon

my mc30 was just as amazing as I thought it would be, even if I mispiloted a little. I deployed a little too close, so I had to swing the mc30 wide to the right turn 1 to avoid a collision. I would've wanted it to get to the action sooner and get some better shots in, but having it go wide actually won me the game. I managed to pick off a few small ships early on, but my providence went down turn 3 before getting to activate, and the mc80 went down a few turns later, but it managed to tear into both the victory and acclimator while it was still space worthy. on the last turn, the mc30 swooped behind the acclimator and victory, getting two beautiful close range shots into both of them, taking them both down before evading a hail of fire from the enemy flagship pelta. in the end, had the mc30 had one hull point left, exhausting the last of its defenses to barely hang on, but hang on it did. anakin was no match for akbar, but he put up a good fight. mc30 was definitely the MVP, I want two more of them.

[domonicriley]

Here's another of my Lego Star Wars minis, the CR90 Corvette 'blockade runner'. I'm not as keen on this one, the head doesn't look big enough.

[pedroam-bang]

Star Wars: Squadrons (2020)

[swtechspecs]

Royal House of Alderaan's Modified Corellian Engineering Corporation CR90 Corvette "Tantive IV"

Source: Rebel Alliance Sourcebook (West End Games, 1990)

[sw5w]

The Alderaanian Delegation Reacts to the Vote of No Confidence

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace - Deleted Scene: Bail Organa of Alderaan 00:06

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Holocrons of Fate"

In which things get Force Weird and Maul is the actual worst.

Full disclaimer in the name of honesty, I still think Maul's "resurrection" in TCW was stupid. It will never not be stupid.

That being said, I'm glad they decided, "Well, let's actually do something interesting with him." once they had him.

Making him into a Sisyphean/Tantalus-figure--always reaching, never grasping--adds a layer of depth and tragedy to him. No matter how hard he tries, Maul will never gain what he seeks. When it's within his grasp, he will inevitably self-sabotage or have it slip away from him.

We meet him at a time in his life when he's just lost everything, again. He finds new purpose and motivation in the form of Ezra Bridger figuratively falling into his lap--here's someone to carry on his legacy, that he can mold and teach--but in his eagerness to have him, he irreparably damages any chance the boy would have had to learn from him willingly.

But like Sisyphus pushing at that rock, like Tantalus reaching for the grapes above him, he cannot stop trying.

Probably fitting that his question to the holocrons is an answer to the inevitable existential dread of his own existence.

But I'm getting waaaaaay ahead of myself, he hasn't even shown his ugly face yet.

Instead we drop in on Kanan and Ezra, on a CR90, presumably coming back from a mission they headed up. Ezra's asking after the holocron again, still not quite over his obsessive addiction to it, still hyper-focusing on it as the only good thing that could have possibly come out of the mess at Malachor.

"But if not to get the Sith holocron, why did Master Yoda send us to Malachor?" That's a good question. *stares at writers*

Kanan offers up the idea that is was for "a chance to destroy the Sith." Sure we'll go with that.

Their conversation is interrupted by them coming to their destination, a rendezvous point with another Rebel ship.

Thaaaaaaaaaat Maul has almost completely murderized. This scene is one of the ones that does a really good job subtly showing off Kanan's blindness. Ezra offers commentary for Kanan's benefit throughout, Kanan has a hand out to feel, he mentions the carbon scoring smell and inclines his ear towards the sounds coming from behind a door.

The only survivor can only gasp out about a "red blade... after you." ("you" being very specifically Ezra) and that the Ghost was in danger.

Right so I'd just like to emphasize, for the fandom's sake, Maul murdered an entire Rebel ship looking for Ezra.

Kanan and Ezra assume, naturally, that "red blade" means there's a new Inquisitor after them and rush to contact the Ghost. Whereupon they discover that it's Maul who's threatening them now.

And ooooooh Ezra's piiiiiiiiissed.

"No... I betrayed your friends, but I would have remained loyal to you." *rubs eyes* That's... There's not a significant emotional distinction there for Ezra, you know that right, Maul? Of course you don't.

Back when fandom was Absolutely Certain that Maul was going to successfully abduct Ezra in "Twilight of the Apprentice" there were theories flying around that Sabine would have to ply her Mandalorian connections in order to get information about where he might be hiding, since we knew by then her family had ties to Death Watch. Things didn't happen that way, obviously, but it was still nice to get a nod towards that connection.

Maul proceeds to be the world's worst houseguest, forcing Hera to take him on a "tour" of the ship while he comments snarkily about each room.

Like you have room to talk mister Lived In Literal Garbage For Years.

Anyway this tour seems to be mostly a ruse to look for Kanan's holocron, and Maul very creepily and uncomfortably pulls the information out of Hera's head. (Possibly along with Kanan's real name??? It was never actually elaborated on how Maul knows "Caleb Dume", but it would make the most sense he skimmed it from Hera, to throw her defenses off guard for his stronger mind probe.)

You leave mom alone you cockroach.

I know this is serious but boy I would have LOVED to hear the conversation Kanan and Ezra must have had with Sato when they got back.

"Hey we need to borrow a speeder to go out into the desert past the sensor beacon fence where all the spiders are to visit a giant weird Force Moose and retrieve a Sith Soul Jar because a creepy spike-horned Dark Side nutcase kidnapped everyone else on our crew."

I'm just picturing Sato throwing up his hands all, "Just take whatever you need."

Also amusing: the idea of Ezra trying to describe the Bendu to Kanan later.

I absolutely dig this idea of holocrons creating a Force Convergence powerful enough to grant visions. I'm always in favor of Jedi artifacts being just a little bit weird with the Force. I mean, kyber crystals sing and hum to Jedi, lightsabers are a living extension of the Force moving through them, their temples carry thousands of years of emotions and feelings sticking to the walls, why shouldn't their holocrons be able to join with Sith holocrons to make an oracle?

The Bendu says he's neutral but he's also clearly set up this little test in order to help heal the rift between Kanan and Ezra (and he gives a fond little smile when he can sense their reconciliation).

"Why take his weapon?" "He's got to learn to solve problems without it." *WEEPS IN FINALE FEELINGS REMEMBERING THAT EZRA LEFT HIS LIGHTSABER BEHIND AND RELIED ONLY ON HIS UNIQUE FORCE ABILITY TO CONNECT IN ORDER TO SAVE EVERYONE*

Lol @ Maul trying to blunt force the Jedi holocron open. My dude. My guy. You were the one to point out that Sith holocrons can only be opened by a Sith or one who thinks like them. Follows that Jedi holocrons might operate on the same principle? Maybe?

Not sure what the point is of getting to the engine room quietly given the racket y'all made literally a second ago.

This is actually a new part of the ship we haven't seen before now. It's accessed both by a grate in the floor under the main central ladder and the door at the very back of the cargo hold.

And this is a really clever idea with magnetizing the hold, remembering that Maul's legs are metal. They almost pull off their own rescue here.

Bastard.

Sans his lightsaber, Ezra reaches for his blaster holster instead. Except I think that's empty too, I looked but I didn't see it equipped.

Kanan senses his panic and distress from outside and follows in. This scene reminds me a little bit of when Vision!Kanan showed up in "Path of the Jedi". Not sure why, just kind of does.

Ezra instinctively moves to shield Kanan from the krykna, aww.

Ugh this return to that timid, self-protective pose. :( We haven't seen Ezra shield himself like that in ages and it makes him look so much smaller.

Kanan tells Ezra everything Ezra's been desperate to hear for six months:

It wasn't your fault.

I never blamed you.

Forgive yourself.

<333333333

Haven't talked about the music much but this is a nice rendition of Ezra's theme here for this heartwarming moment.

Ah noooooope I like the krykna EVEN LESS now, wtf is this it's creepy.

Ezra nervous little glances as the krykna uncurl. <3

Ezra passing Kanan's mask into his hand. <3

Bendu's "Once a secret is known, it cannot be unknown." was a lot more ominous in the trailers, ngl.

Kanan showing a remarkable amount of trust in Ezra, leaving the decision on whether to open up the Sith holocron or not up to him. Ezra looks trepidaciously at it a moment and then decides not to, passing it back to Kanan.

(And then he never touched the Dark Side again lol.)

I can't even be mad that Ezra got the first blind joke in. At least he beat Maul to the punch.

Hhggngnghhh I hate him so much this rat bastard trash man. He immediately takes advantage of Kanan's blindness to lead him to an airlock and tries to space him.

EZRA WASN'T EVEN OUT OF SIGHT LONGER THAN A MINUTE OR TWO, MAUL, CAN YOU NOT?!

You actually can survive the void of space very briefly. You have about 15 seconds before you pass out, possibly more if you exhale first.

Uggggggggghhhh this scene makes my skin crawl, Maul is literally fresh off his second attempt to murder Kanan and orders the droids to kill the rest and Ezra is standing there completely unaware of the danger he's in or what Maul's done.

Maul bald-face lies to him and tells him his friends are fine. Just imagining the horror of what would have happened if Kanan hadn't made it back inside, how Ezra would have emerged from the holocron vision only to learn the awful truth that Maul had killed everyone he loved, that he was alone, alone with a deranged murderer who had decided he was his apprentice...

*shudder*

As they prepare to join the holocrons, it's interesting to note that Ezra's wish is a bit Dark Side tinted--he wants the answer on how to destroy the Sith--while Maul's is Light--the vaguely described "hope". Hope for what it's not clear at first. Hope for meaning? Hope for purpose? Hope for another chance to fix what he considers the point at which things went wrong? Commentary from behind the scenes has said that Maul's motivation for revenge against Obi-Wan is primarily rooted in his fixation on his failure at Naboo. "If I can just kill this guy, the person who was there when everything went wrong, it will make it all better."

I think, given that Maul had become self-consciously legacy-minded, thinking about the future he planned to create with Ezra at his side, he turned his mind backwards to unfinished business from the past, messes he still had to clean up, in order to move forward.

And that's why he manipulates the holocron vision to show him Obi-Wan's fate.

This sequence is really pretty.

The music cue that accompanies this moment is not overly bombastic, but rather sly, mysterious, and eerie, high vocals mingling with strings to create an odd balance.

The resignation on Sabine, Hera, and Zeb's faces when the droids point their weapons. :(

Hera's elation when she hears Kanan there. :D The very worried Spacefamily books it to Ezra of course.

Maul doesn't see anything from the vision at first, "Only oblivion!" he says, because the path he's on can only lead him there and urges Ezra to "Go deeper!" It just occurred to me that he's basically doing what his old master Palpatine would try to do in Season Four--piggybacking off Ezra's connection and using him as a conduit to achieve what he wants. He pushes Ezra to look harder because he can't see anything himself.

The brighter burst of blinding light could have just been an effect of Maul and Ezra sinking deeper into the vision but also I like to think Maul manipulated the convergence to try to keep the others away because it swells up right when we hear Hera calling for Ezra.

This bit is so cool, the Force is so loud and present in the room that Kanan's blindness doesn't matter, he can physically see through it even with his ruined eyes. Hera's voice distorts and fades as if it's coming across a large distance even though Kanan only goes a couple steps away. The orchestra rouses with full strings and chorus. The negative film effect makes Kanan, Ezra, and Maul look like celestial figures of pure energy.

THE WAY THIS IS BOTH (LITERALLY) ABOUT THE TWIN SUNS OF TATOOINE AND (FIGURATIVELY) ABOUT LUKE AND LEIA, THE CHILDREN OF THE CHOSEN ONE AND THE TWO MOST KEY PLAYERS IN THE ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION OF THE SITH.

THE WAY ALL THREE OF THEM--LUKE, LEIA, AND EZRA--ARE NARRATIVE "CHOSEN ONES" WITHOUT BEING THE IN-TEXT CHOSEN ONE, HOW THE FORCE STILL PUTS THEM IN KEY PLACES IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY.

THE PATH TO LIRA SAN WILL BE DECIDED BY THE FATE OF THE THREE.

Ezra ultimately trusts Kanan and looks away just before Maul can discern where, exactly, Obi-Wan is. The severed connection explodes outwards, throwing them all across the room, and the holocrons are shattered.

Maul's cackling and crazed body language as he stumbles out to escape make it seem like the knowledge that Obi-Wan's alive has actually driven him insane. It's quite disconcerting.

The Spacefamily surrounding Ezra worriedly. <3 You have to wonder if Kanan is fearing a repeat of Ezra's collapse back in "Gathering Forces", if perhaps for a moment he's a bit too still here.

Oh look the two Most Important People in Ezra's life and narrative journey!

The way Kanan keeps his hand on Ezra's shoulder until the very end. <333333

With a few minor nitpicks (mostly that a few of the mysteries aren't well explained or answered, see Maul's knowledge of Kanan's real name) this is a pretty solid episode, a worthy follow-up to the premiere. We continue to settle Ezra's Dark Side temptations, burying them mostly for good in this episode, though the lingering effects it had on him emotionally will continue well into his characterization, motives, and arc down the line.

Maul is an awful bastard in this and such a good villain. :) He's so much more confident and assured of himself, clear-headed and calculating. 0 for 2 on successfully kidnapping Ezra but his menace will still pervade and influence a lot of Ezra's decisions this season.

I'll talk more about the overall effects and purpose of the holocron arc when we come to its end in "Twin Suns" but for now I'll just enjoy this episode once again, it's great.

[thetruearchmagos]

WIP EXCERPT TAG

Thank you kindly for the Tag, @caxycreations ! Would have answered with something from Steel Clad Coffins, but I've just finished the opening to a scene from this Star Wars fic which I've been working over a while:

And so it begins... "Incoming mass shadows!" The Challenger's Navigators had evidently positioned their behemoth ship just so. Half a second after the report came from the Interdictor, bright specks of light appeared high off and to starboard, like minuscule supernovae. Five bursts in all, and each quickly materialised into five frigates still flaring out their engines wildly into vacuum from the sudden shock of being so violently torn from the unreality of hyperspace. "Turn us about, helm, and bring the main battery to bear!" cried Captain Hains, striding forwards into her bridge and with her crew arrayed in the pits beneath looking every bit the image of an Imperial sailor. The great grey arrowhead swung about in the void in three axes, eventually coming to point it's honed tip straight down towards the stunned flock. Engines roared with all the power they could give, and as the distance closed the word came down from the fire control team. "Targets locked and designated, two Mon-Cals, three CR90s, and a Nebulon-B! All batteries have targets assigned!" "Open fire!"

Tagging @athenswrites @theprissythumbelina @hessdalen-globe @thatndginger @coffeexafterxmidnight and anyone who'd like to partake!

[jbry]

1/500 scale CR90 Corvette (Tantive IV)

Star Wars 3d printed model

This file comes from DanielAlex on Printables. The file comes in several different scales and is extremely well detailed. The 1/500 scale version is about 1 foot long. The model does come with a base but I made my own.

[impossibleprincess35]

[WIP Wednesday - a day late?]

From the next chapter of "Echo" -

Qui-Gon Jinn couldn’t help himself. As they boarded the CR90 corvette ship that Vinor Wren had assured them would take them outside of the Mandalore system and deliver them safely to Thisspias, he could see the disgruntled look on the Duchess of Kalevala’s face. He’d come to learn that she was no complainer, but she was thoroughly unimpressed with their Clan Wren contacts and the state that the ship was in. It was customary for spacecraft to be cleaned, not only because one had a sense of pride in their vessel, but also for practicality’s sake. It was bad form to let fuel residue, dust, and debris from take-offs and landings accumulate, just as it was unsafe to allow things to pile up, unsecured, where ramps and corridors were blocked, and safety compromised. Leaning down near Satine’s ear, the Jedi Master snickered as he muttered, “They must not have known it was your birthday, Your Grace.” To her credit, the nineteen year old never took her eyes off the mess as she murmured dryly, “Knowing how the Wrens feel about me, looks like they did.”

Maybe soon I'll get this finished.

[alphamecha-mkii]

[genericficerblog]

TBB Appreciation Week 2023 Sneak Peak: A surgical redemption: Everyone Lives AU

And now onto my 2nd fic. This one is my Everyone Lives AU involving Tech for @tbb-appreciation-week. I have some written for this one, and it will indirectly involve characters who will show up in my main fic. Here's the preview.

Tech survived his fall on Eriadu. But he lost consciousness when his goggles were knocked off. The next thing he knows, he wakes up in a medical bay on a CR90 Corvette a week later with a Bacta patch on his face and some vision with the improvised goggles he’s wearing. The shock of being alive was nothing compared to the surprises he got when a Bacta Pod was wheeled past his room. Phee Gamora was in it. This was not how he wanted to reunite with her.

Ooooh, what happened to Phee to leave her in a Bacta Pod? And what will Tech have to do to help make things right with Phee? Find out.

[thatawkwardbryce]

AND YOU KNOW WHAT'S EVEN BETTER?! BEFORE ROUGE ONE CAME AND NUKED THE LEGENDS UNIVERSE. IT WAS CANON THAT JAR JAR BINK'S SON KICKED DARTH VADER'S ASS.

IM NOT JOKING.

[count-a-w-k]

Helen walks back into the room with a pair of scrubs in her right hand. “Here, put these on.”

“Thank you.”

Hawken puts on the scrubs while Helen finds a chair in the corner and brings it closer to the table. She sits down and looks at Hawken directly.

“So, tell me, where did it all start for you?”

“OK” he replies. “It all started in a galaxy far far away. I was a member of the rebel alliance. We were on board a CR90 corvette on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan…”

“Stop right there Hawken.” she said. “Why are you quoting Star Wars?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s just that I loved those three movies. Still can’t believe what happened at the end of the Return of the Jedi,” he replies smirking.

“Hawken, I hope you’re going to give me your full life story,” she says.

“OK Helen, I will tell you.” he says as he begins to tell her his story.

I was born on a farm in the year 2000 BC in southern Britain, not far from a quiet coastal area. My mother was named Dele. She gave birth to me and my twin brother during the middle of winter – on what would now be called January 1st. She named me Kin and my brother Arn. Arn was the spitting image of me, but I was left-handed and he was right-handed. That’s how our mother could tell us apart, as we got older.

Throughout the years me and Arn helped out our dear mother on the farm and she taught us a lot about life and farming, as there wasn’t a school to go to in those times. We learnt quite a lot, but the one thing our mother never told us about was where our father was. Every time Arn mentioned it, she just changed the subject or left the room crying. I told Arn to stop asking so many questions but deep down wanted to know who my father really was and wanted to know happened to him just as much as he did.

When our mother started to notice that we were becoming stronger and turning into men, she knew that is would soon be time for us to leave and journey out into the world. Me and my brother wanted to stay at the farm as we were both scared of journeying into the unknown world but, as we both reached twenty years of age, times were starting to change. There were moments when the farm was attacked by strangers or even neighbouring farms, demanding that we hand over our land to them. But we fought them off. Our mother was proud of us, but one day in the summer, we met someone who would change our view on life forever.

“So, who was this person you met then?” asked Helen, looking puzzled

“Our father,” said Hawken in a calm voice.

Helen sat back in the chair in amazement, then leaned forward and asked, “Tell me more about this encounter.”

Well me and my brother were walking along the coastline, discussing our plans for the future of the farm while we were looking around to find a perfect spot for fishing. We didn’t want to be just known for farming, but to expand out and open up a trading place.

“Do you know something Arn, if there weren’t just three of us, we could make this farm bigger.”

“Yeah, but we did well as farmers Kin, why do you want to start fishing?”

“Because we are closer to the coast then the other farms in the area. Plus, there is a new settlement is not far from her.”

“So, you want us to trade with them for all the goods we have got? Sound like a plan.”

“Hey - who’s that in the distance?”

“Where?”

“That person standing there by the cliff edge.”

“I don’t know - let’s go over and greet them.”

“Are you sure Arn?”

“Come on, let’s see who this person is…”

So Arn and I started walking towards the stranger. He was a tall man with white hair, wearing strange clothing. His face was old looking. It was like we had met him before, but didn’t know where. He was looking out to sea, until he turned around noticed us. He looked at us both and smiled. “Hello there, my name is Hawros. I found you at last my sons!”

Both Arn and I had a surprise look on our faces, wondering how could he be our father. Arn spoke nervously to him. “So, you are our father?”

“Yes, my son, I am here to meet you as this is my final day on this world. It won’t be long until I join my fellow Guzilumans in the great beyond,” said Hawros smiling, like he knew something was going to happen to him.

Arn asked him what a Guziluman is, as I was too nervous to speak to him.

“A Guziluman?” repeated Hawros. “Well, I am one of eight Guzilumans who have lived for four thousand years.”

“Four thousand years, but that is impossible to believe,” said Arn with a curious expression.

“This is part of our life span. We have Guzilkion, which translates to human with God like abilities. Each one of us is different with this ability allocated to us. Our nature is to watch and observe the humans, never interfering in their evolution. But if we are provoked by any threat, we defend ourselves without using any unless we have created them ourselves, using the elements from the earth. In the time I have spent living on this world, I have seen so many wonders and I also observed the humans creating new things, to improve their lives. But now my life span is about to end and it’s time for you both to take my place, so you can watch over the humans for the next four thousand years.” Hawros explained to us.

“Now I am going to let you know that there are other Guzilumans that are younger than me out there in this world. I was the leader of the group, but one day I decided to leave them as I was in the final hundred years of my life span. Then I met your mother. She will tell you more about me after I’m gone.”

“But why did you mate with our mother?” Arn asked Hawros curiously.

“Well, Arn, for the final hundred years of our life span, we must seek out and find a female to mate with. So that our race’s bloodline can carry on when we leave this world.”

“But why did you leave our mother,”  Arn pressed, getting very emotional.

“I’m so sorry my son, but it would have been a burden on me to help raise you both. Your mother knew that I was special, so she told me to leave to protect you both as my presence would bring danger to you.”

Arn could not take all of this in, but I intervened in the conversation and asked him more about his group.

“Well my son, they are a nice bunch, but if you don’t meet them you will meet their offspring instead,” Hawros explained. He turned around and looked out to sea. “You know something,” he mused, “this is the last view I’m ever going to see before leaving this beautiful world. But now,” he turned back to us “I must tell you both something; I’m going to give you two, new names. From this day Kin you will be named Hawken, as you Arn you will be known as Andros.”

Me and Arn looked at each other, thinking that our destinies were now going to change in a way that we didn’t expect. Hawros’ body started to shudder “It is time for me to depart this world now. I hope you two will watch over it, as the humans will have a strange future ahead of them.”

Our father turned his head to look at me and Arn before turning back to look out to sea. He closed his eyes, then suddenly his body began to glow, revealing a bright white light covering his entire body. Then, in the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving just a bright white spark in his place. The spark floated and said to me and Arn, “Goodbye my sons and tell your mother I will always love and watch over her.” The spark ascended into the sky disappearing from our sight! Me and my brother stared at each other in disbelief. Now we knew who our father truly was, only for him to  leave to join his fellow Guzilumans in the great beyond.

“I’m wondering how our mother would react to this encounter we just had?” I said to Arn/Andros.

“Well brother,” he replied, “she is going to get a major surprise over this, when we tell her!” We both looked into the sky smiling.

“Let me get this straight,” said Helen curiously. “Your father just shows up, tells you and your brother that you’re both Guzilumans, tells you the brief history of your race, and gives you both new names. Then just dies in front of your eyes. And now you are going to your mother to tell her that you both met your father. You had a weird beginning!”

“Well Helen, there is more to come about my life story,” replied Hawken, “Are you going to ask more questions about my life?”

“Please carry on and sorry for my interruption.” said Helen

Well, as my brother said to me about our mother is going to be surprised about us meeting our father. I said to my brother “Do you think, mother is going to take it lightly or will she be shocked?”

“She is going to be shocked,” he replied, “but I do hope she’s not cooking our evening meal.” So, me and my brother ran home.

When we got there, we saw our mother outside cooking a hog on an open fire. She was 5’6 tall with natural black hair, her face was like a beautiful angel.

“Was she naked?” asked Helen.

“No Helen! We did wear clothes in those days,” replied Hawken.

Andros walked up to her to say that he and I had some good news for her. She looked at us, wondering what we were going to say to her.

“Mother, we only met our father today,” said Andros with a joyful expression.

“Your father! After all these years, he has finally met you two?” our mother responded, shedding a tear.

“Yes. He told us what we truly are. It all makes sense now. But he couldn’t stay very long as he was about to depart into the sky,” Andros explained, getting very emotional. “He finally left this world then!” Our mother replied shedding more tears.

“Mother, how did he meet you?” Andros asked.

“It was in the spring a very long time ago; I was just a young woman living with my family in a small settlement. Your grandfather was the settlement leader and ruled the area as the land was hostile. I was set to marry a warrior from another settlement which I didn’t want. But your grandfather insisted, until that faithful day in the beginning of spring, when your father came to the settlement. He was seeking food and shelter for the night, as he came from a far-off land. Your grandfather didn’t trust him at all, but your grandmother took a shine to him. When he noticed me, I knew he was the one I wanted. He stayed until he was challenged by the warrior I was promised to,” she explained.

“Was it a fight to the death?” Andros asked her.

“No, your father just scared him away with his powers. Your grandfather realised then, that the Gods had sent a powerful warrior to protect us all and dropped his objections to our relationship. But over time your father was challenged by other warriors from further afield. Eventually, as your father became more powerful and famous, the number of challenges increased until we had to leave for the safety of the settlement.

We travelled for many days, eventually settling here and building the farm. In due course, you two were born one mid-winter. Your father left the day you both started walking,” she explained beginning to cry.

“I’m so sorry Mother, for asking,” said Andros shocked. “We are both truly sorry for making you cry dear mother.”

“Its fine, Arn. Now you two help me prepare dinner and then off to bed. We have got a lot of work to do tomorrow,” she said to both of us.

Later that night we heard the front door open while we were trying to sleep. Shortly  thereafter, we heard a scream of terror coming from outside. Me and Andros ran out of our home to see what was going on. Noticing a hay bale on fire, I shouted “ARN, WHERE’S MOTHER?” Arn looked around and noticed our she wasn’t by the open fire. He looked around at the hay bale on fire.

“NO, SHE COULDN’T HAVE, WHY!” Arn shouted in anger.

“Do you think, it’s too late to save her,” I asked, shedding tears from my eyes.

“It is,” said Arn crying too. Our mother decided to kill herself, knowing that she had to let us go from her.

“So why didn’t you both put out the fire?” asked Helen .

“We couldn’t, as we didn’t have a lot of water in the evenings. Also, the nearest stream was three quarters of mile away, so by the time we would have returned, it would have been too late,” replied Hawken, shedding a tear from his left eye.

“Why didn’t you use this Guzilk whatever you call it?” asked Helen.

“Because at that time we didn’t know how to,” Hawken replied looking down at the floor.

“Don’t cry” said Helen. “Just tell me what happened next?”

“OK.”

The next morning. I was finishing digging my mother’s grave while Andros, which was the name I was calling him by now, wrapped her body in her cloak. I looked at him with a sad expression. His was also very sad, but he was trying his best not to cry. He picked up her corpse and brought it to the grave. I stepped out of the grave and we both lowered her body into it. Then I started to put the earth back with my bare hands, while Andros stood watching.

When I had finished, we both knelt on the ground with our heads bowed and I spoke. “Dearest father, wherever your spirit now rests in the sky, we ask you to take our mother’s spirit with you.” Then, suddenly, from the sky, our father’s white spark came down towards us and hovered above our mother’s grave. We looked at it, starting to smile with joy as our father had come back to us. Then from the grave, another white spark appeared and combined with our father’s making it bigger before floating back into the sky, disappearing again as we both watched. We knew that our mother and father would be both happy together wherever they may be. So, me and Andros got up off our knees and headed back inside our home to pack our belongings. As we finished packing, Andros turned to me and said, “Well bother, it’s time we moved on.”

“So, we are just going to abandon our home?”

“Yes, I think another family might move into this place, or it could just be left as it is for the rest of eternity.” So, we both left our home and walked east looking back at the farm.

“This is it.” said Andros “Into the unknown for us both, until we reach the same fate as our father.”

“Yes Andros. Let’s see what’s out there…” I replied. So, we walked off, towards the nearest settlement, which was a day’s walk away.

“So, did you ever go back to your home?” questioned Helen.

“No, me and Andros never did return. We just kept travelling,” replied Hawken. “We wandered around Britain, visiting different settlements, helping on farms and working in some open mines, never settling anywhere for long.

“We even spent about ten years in Scotland noticing clan families fighting each other from afar, but never getting involved. For the first five hundred years, we experienced things we had never dreamt of seeing. It was like we had a purpose, to make sure humanity never did anything stupid. Andros wanted to keep a record of what we got up to, but neither of us could read or write. We didn’t know about it back then, but we could remember what we saw and enjoy seeing the wonders of life until that one day…”

Hawken’s voice drifted into silence, as if he was lost in thought.

“And what happened on that day?” Helen prompted.

I remember that day very well. It was the day my Guzilkion abilities stirred inside me. Me and Andros were ploughing a field on this farm about a day’s walk from a settlement where the town of Chichester is now located. We had almost finished ploughing when in the distance I noticed a tall man with dark hair walking towards me, clutching a large wooden club in his right hand. As he got nearer I saw that he was looking at me angrily, as if I had done something to him, although I didn’t know who he was. I looked into his eyes and they were very red, with no pupils at all. With no further warning he attacked me with his club, knocking me to the ground. Andros leaped to my defence, but was knocked to the ground, breaking his jawbone.

As I lay there cowering in fear, I felt something surge within me – something I had never experienced before. I blinked for a brief second and my body began to vibrate. The stranger swung his club towards me again and, without conscious thought, my left hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, completely stopping him. With a severe stare at my attacker, I rose to my feet, still holding his wrist. My grip tightened until he was forced to drop the club, which fell to the ground.

Instinctively, I pointed my free hand towards the ground. Suddenly the guy started to sink, as if in quicksand. He screamed in terror as he knew he was going to die. As he sank, his eyes seemed o return to normal, then actual flames came out of his mouth, as if something was leaving his body. Now free of possession, the man looked at me in abject terror as the ground swallowed him.

Andros got to his feet, a look of shock on his face, at what he had just witnessed. “Hawken, was that your Guzilkion abilities? Your eyes are like nothing I’ve ever seen before - are you in control?”

“The power! I feel like I could rule the world…” I shivered as I realised what I’d just said. “But it also feels so wrong! What have I done to this man!?” I was suddenly very scared. “How do I stop it?”

“Just close your eyes and relax,” Andros said to me calmly.

Taking a deep breath, I did as he advised, immediately feeling myself return to normal.”

After a few seconds Andros asked “How do you feel now?”

“Normal Andros, just normal!”

“Hawken, what you just did was amazing, but we have to leave, because this man’s body will be discovered, and no one should know it was us.” At this last thought, Andros looked around to see if anyone had seen us.

“OK Andros, let’s go…” I reached to collect my stuff be he interrupted “No Hawken, we will get new belongings. Let’s just get out of here!”

So, we started running, eastwards as it happened. As we went, deep down I was thinking to myself, ‘I must control these powers somehow because I don’t want to kill anyone ever again!’

A little bit further away, we ran straight into this other man, knocking him to the ground. We kept running until this man shouted out us, “STOP RIGHT THERE!” Me and Andros stopped in fear. The man got up off the ground and walked towards us staring at both of us as we stood there shaking.

“Why on earth are you running away?” he asked us.

I looked at him. He had a kind face with grey hair and was wearing the same clothes that my father wore.

“I saw what you two did, especially you,” he nodded to me.

“Who are you?” I said to him.

“My name is Deston,” he said, adding “I used to know your father!” Me and Andros looked each other in amazement.

“Deston?” Helen asked.

“Yes Deston, a kind Guziluman, who would teach me and Andros how to use and control our Guzilkion abilities.” Hawken explained to Helen with a smile on his face.

“Please tell me.” Helen replied, intrigued.

Later that night, the three of us sat round an open fire in a forest, Deston expanding on what little our father had told us about the Guziluman race. He explained in detail that every Guziluman has a lifespan of four thousand years, within the final hundred years of which they must mate with a human to create a new Guziluman. He went into every detail about the Guzilkion abilities that a Guziluman inherits from their father or mother. Our father, for example, could control matter and also influence weak human minds.

Whist he realised that, by now, our father would have reproduced, Deston had been surprised to find two of us.

“Hawken, you appear to have inherited Hawros’ talent to control matter, which suggests that you, Andros, probably have the mind control ability.”

“Why do you say I have controlling matter ability then?” I asked.

“Because of what you did to that poor man, Hawken.”

The memory made me shudder in both fear and shame. Seeing this, Deston said, quietly, “You didn’t have a choice, that man wasn’t in control of his own body,” Deston replied to me.

“So, what was controlling him then?” asked Andros.

“A Flamerite!” Deston replied.

“What are Flamerites?” we asked in unison.

“Fire spirits. They come from fire mountains, in an area far south from here across the great ocean. They take over a human body turning it a puppet,” explained Deston. “Being made of flame, they have a mortal fear of being smothered.” At our slightly confused looks he added “think about how you dowse a fire.”

“So that’s why this Flamerite left that man’s body!” exclaimed Andros, with a burst of insight.

“Indeed. I had been tracking it for months. I’m glad you got rid of it Hawken, but it’s a shame you had to kill that poor man in the process.”

“I wish our father had had time to tell us about them, we might have been able to save the man that I accidently killed,” I said looking at my brother, who looked back at me.

“But my powers had only just awakened in me and I wasn’t myself,” I continued.

“Well Hawken and Andros, I’m here to help teach you both control your Guzilkion abilities,” replied Deston. “In the morning we will all journey towards the south-east coast and travel by boat to another land. There are not a lot of settlements there in the northern part, so we won’t be disturbed. Then both of you will get on with learning to control your Guzilkion abilities. Now get some sleep while I keep watch,” said Deston getting up off the ground. So, me and Andros lay down on the ground, closed our eyes and fell asleep.

The next day, all three of us set off south-east for the coast. As we passed through settlements on our journey, we gathered supplies and new clothing for me and Andros. Then finally, late one evening, we reached the coast where Deston had left his small boat. Deston told us the journey would be treacherous, but if we kept going, we would make it to the new place in a day, so we pushed his boat out into the incoming waves and boarded it. Me and Andros sat down, picked up an oar each, placed them into the water and started to row. As Deston had promised, next evening we finally reached land.

“OK, you two, lets unload and make our way inland. I think we should set up our new home in the forest over there.” Deston told us both. So we unloaded and made our way into the forest, where we made camp. Deston then said he would journey on to look for food, while me and Andros made an open fire to set up camp around. Deston walked off into the forest.

“So, Hawken, do you think this will be our new home from now on?” Andros asked.

“It might be.” I replied, “but the question is how are we going to cut down these trees if we don’t have an axe?”

“I think Deston will explain to us when he gets back with the food, so let’s just gather up some of these twigs and make a fire shall we,” Andros said.

Later on, that evening, as we cooked and then ate the hog Deston killed, he told us what he had planned for us for the next day.

“Right! In the morning we are going to build our new home.”

“How are we going to do that as we don’t have any axes?” Andros asked Deston.

“Well, Andros, your brother is going to do it for us!” Deston replied.

“How?” I said.

“Remember Hawken, you have the ability to control matter,” Deston said to me. I sat back with a curious expression.

“OK you two, it’s time to get some sleep. I will keep watch again.” Deston said to us.

We eventually lay down and fell asleep.

“This is very interesting,” Helen said. “Was it in northern France?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t known as France then. It was an area that hadn’t even been explored by the Gauls yet, so we had the area to ourselves.”

“OK, I understand. Please continue,” Helen replied.

The next day I was standing between the trees with Deston beside me telling me what to do while Andros watched from afar looking forward to seeing how I was going to attempt this.

“Right Hawken, just close your eyes and relax,” Deston instructed while walking around me.

I closed my eyes and listened.

“Raise your left arm out in front of you and keep your palm facing forwards. That’s it – now listen carefully to the sounds around you. When I say begin, you are going to imagine your home in front of you. After that you open your eyes and let your Guzilkion abilities will take over. But remember to stay focused and do not lose yourself to them. Stay in control and if there are any problems I will intervene. Do you understand?” Deston explained.

“Yes,” I said with my eyes remaining closed.

“OK, I’m going to stand next to your brother now and watch you,” Deston replied, walking off.

“OK. Hawken now begin!” Deston called to me from afar.

I carefully imagined my home, as carefully and completely as I could. Then I opened my eyes and suddenly the trees began to change in front of me. It was like I was shaping the wood with my mind. Then, suddenly, unbidden, the image of the burning hay bale my mother had killed herself on came into my mind, breaking my concentration and my construction fell apart. I lowered my arm, shedding a tear from my eye and felt myself break down emotionally. Deston ran over to me.

“Hawken don’t trouble yourself. You were doing well.”

“I can’t do it Deston. I imagined my mother’s death.”

“Hawken, calm yourself, but keep it together.”

“OK, Deston I will try again.” So Deston walked back over to my brother.

“OK, Hawken begin again.”

So, closing my eyes and reaching out my arm, I began again. And this time I made a home.

“Well done, Hawken.” Deston shouted. “Now we won’t freeze tonight.” He laughed. I turned around and I noticed my brother with his eyes wide open and with a shocked look on his face..

“That was so amazing,” he said, “you could reshape the entire land around us, if you increased your ability!”

“Well I think Andros; this could be the beginning of my abilities. But I’m still scared of it,” I replied curiously.

“Hawken, whatever you can do, you make people bow down to you, but for now I think we should not use them in front of the humans, as they won’t understand us, and they might chase us with their burning torches,” Andros cautioned.

“OK you two, let’s pick supplies and head inside,” Deston instructed.

So, we picked the supplies and headed into our new home. As Deston and Andros walked through the door, I turned around and sensed something to the south of our home. I shook my head and walked inside closing the door behind me.

“You created a house out of trees without cutting them down?” Helen was astounded.

“Yes Helen, and that was just the start. My ability to control matter has developed over the thousands of years since. I could turn the whole of New York into a mountain if I wanted to,” Hawken replied. “In fact, I could probably reshape the entire planet.”

“OK. Could you give me a little demonstration?” Helen asked politely.

Hawken looked around the room. “You see that scalpel on the table over there? Bring it to me please.” Helen did as asked. Hawken took the blade in his left hand.

“OK, Helen just watch carefully.” Before Helen’s astonished eyes the scalpel disintegrated into small metal fragments, then reformed into a spoon, then became a dagger and after that a pin, before returning to its original form.

“How in the world did you do that? It’s like magic,” asked Helen, amazed at what she had just seen.

“It’s very hard to explain to you, Helen, but at least now you know what I can do.”

“Your secret will be safe with me,” Helen promised, closely examining the scalpel.

“Come to think of it, I’m surprised no one has walked in on us yet.” Hawken replied.

“Everyone’s on their break at the moment, waiting for the next shift to arrive,” Helen explained almost absently, her attention fully on the scalpel close to her face. Shaking herself back to awareness she added “But I think I should sneak you out of here and take you back to my place so you can tell me more of your life story.”

“How will you sneak me out?”

Helen put the scalpel down and grabbed Hawken’s right hand.

“Let’s go,” said Helen, taking Hawken out of the door.

Meanwhile across the city in a dark room a pale-faced man walks through the door straight to a telephone on a desk, picks up the receiver and carefully dials a number. A second or so later, he says “Hello. I tried to kill him for you, but someone saw me, so I couldn’t finish the job you tasked me with.”

A voice replies “You have disappointed me. Listen to me carefully. Is there a window near you?”

“Yes boss” says the man.

“Well go and jump out of it.” the voice replies. Suddenly, the man becomes possessed and can’t control his body’s reflexes. He drops the receiver and walks to the window. Without stopping he launches himself straight through the glass, falling to his death on the sidewalk below.

On the other end of the phone, in a small office in Moscow, a grey-haired man, puts his phone down laughing his head off!

In an alleyway at the back of the morgue, an exit door opened, and out walked Hawken, still dressed in scrubs and barefoot. From just inside, Helen instructed “Wait here - and I’ll be back in ten minutes with my car.” The door shut behind Hawken, leaving him alone in the alleyway. Looking around, he noticed a homeless man sitting on the ground next to a dumpster.

The man looked at Hawken strangely, as if trying to place him, then; “It’s you isn’t it!” The man is shocked, as if he’d seen a ghost.

“I’m sorry - do I know you?”

“Yeah I remember you, you’re the guy I saw years ago in Vietnam.”

“Vietnam, I remember now. Me and my friend were impersonating reporters.”

“Yeah, you were interviewing my platoon when the Vietcong opened fire on us. I saw you and your friend get shot to pieces. So, we left you there while we advanced under fire.” said the homeless veteran.

“Oh” replied Hawken. “Well, to cut a long story short, I’m what you could call immortal.”

“IMOMRTAL! Oh! Well, I’m glad you survived anyway. What are you doing here then? Are you a doctor?” nodding at the scrubs.

“Err, someone tried to kill me, but failed in their attempt, so that’s why I’m out here.” replied Hawken trying to figure what to do next.

The homeless man got up and walked over to Hawken, offering a handshake.

“All I’ve got to say to you is, it’s great meeting you and whatever happened to you I hope you catch whoever tried to kill you.”

Hawken gripped the man’s hand, returning the shake. “Thank you.” He thought for a second, then went on “I am going to give you a gift to help you, as you look like you need a fresh start in life. You see that pile of old newspapers over there?”

“Yes, what about them?”

“Bring them to me and I will show you something amazing.”

“You’re not going to read to me, are you?” asked the homeless man.

“No, no, no, you will see,” Hawken, laughed in reply.

The veteran walked over to the pile of old newspapers, picked them up and brought them back. At Hawken’s direction he put them on the ground. Hawken kneeled down and placed his left hand on them.

“Just watch”

The newspapers disintegrated into dust and re-emerged as a million American dollars. The homeless man’s eyes opened wide and surprised.

“Are these real?” he asked, breathlessly.

“Yes, they are. They are a gift to you,” replied Hawken

“Thank you very much. You are too kind to do this for me. Also, I won’t tell a living soul who you are,” says the homeless man, about cry.

Suddenly bright lights appeared in the alley, startling them both. They immediately realised that they were a car’s headlights. The driver’s window wound down and Helen leaned out.

“Hawken, get in quickly,” she commanded.

Hawken turned to the homeless man and said his farewells. The veteran hugged Hawken and thanked him. Hawken smiled and got into the front passenger seat of Helen’s car.

“Who is he?” Helen asked.

“Just a man I met in Vietnam years ago,” said Hawken.

“You really have been everywhere, haven’t you!”

“I will tell you more later. Anyway, where are we off to now, Helen?”

“To get you some clothes and then I will take you back to my apartment uptown.”

She reversed her car out of the alley, leaving the homeless man jumping round with joy, as he shouted to the world

“I’m f****ng rich!”

As Helen backed her car into the street a black Mercedes-Benz, which had been parked on a side street, began to follow. Inside was a white man driving and, in the passenger, seat sat a black man. Each wore a black suit, white shirt, black tie and dark sunglasses. The black man picked up a car phone and began dialling. The phone was answered after only a couple of rings.

“This is Agent 72. We are following him with a woman driving. Do you want us to stop the car?”

“No Agent 72, you and Agent 71 follow, watch and observe,” came the reply.

“Understood sir.” Agent 72 put the car phone back in its cradle and the surveillance team continued to follow Hawken and Helen to wherever they were going.

Back in Moscow, the grey-haired man sat in his office looking at the window. His room had a superb view of the Kremlin, and he was once again admiring the beauty of the building when there was a knock at his office door.

“Da?”

The door opened to reveal a tall blonde-haired man. “Comrade Andros?”

Without turning from the window, Andros replied “What is it?”

“We found another one of your kind.”

“Oh? Where?”

“St Petersburg. Do you want us to bring them in?” Petrov replied.

“No, let them go. I know that they are looking for me, but I must remain hidden from them for the time being.” Andros turned back around in his chair.

“Understood, Comrade Andros.” said Petrov.

“Now leave me. I don’t want to be disturbed for the rest of the day.”

Petrov left the office and closed the door behind him, while Andros continued to look out the window, a worried look on his face.

[swtechspecs]

Portside Airlock (exterior detail), CR90 Corvette "Tantive IV"

Source: Incredible Cross-Sections (Dorling Kindersley, 1998)