#Sith Conglomerate Empire

[earlequations]

[sithfox]

can i hear about "of course you have my body but now you have my soul" and/or "the crown hangs heavy on either side" 👀

of course!

the crown hangs heavy is my Separatist!Clones/Sith!Quinlan AU. Dooku takes a different approach to starting the war - instead of getting the corporations and conglomerates on his side, he focuses on wealthy mid-rim planets that feel neglected. Fox is Commander of the Serennian Guard, aka Dooku's personal security team, which puts him in very close contact with Quinlan, who is undercover and trying to figure out if Dooku has ulterior motives. This snippet is from a scene where Fox has just witnessed Quinlan dispatch an assassin with his bare hands:

"Would you like to spar sometime, sir?” Fox works hard to keep his voice even. “It would be an honor to try myself against you.”

General Vos’ eyes drag down Fox’s body as a slow smirk spreads over his features. “It would be my pleasure, Commander.” He just about purrs Fox’s title, and in that moment Fox knows he’s fucked.

of course you have my body started as a few snippets for August of Whump and rapidly expanded into an omegaverse Sith/Mandalorian Empires romance novel. We're going full harlequin with this one, y'all. I'm having a lot of fun digging into the worldbuilding aspect of the omegaverse and how the different empires would view Alphas vs Betas vs Omegas, which I think is a surprise to absolutely no one lol. This snippet is from Aayla and Fox's first meeting.

"No, I haven't. I—I'm still settling in to my place here," Fox says delicately. "I don't want to overreach."

Aayla smiles, sharp. "Then I'll ask for you. Quin's a sucker for sisters—I'm his, despite the difference in species."

Fox deliberates for a moment. "How did you meet? If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, Tyrannus was meeting with some low-level Hutt over a violation of the Empire's borders, and he brought Quin along as a learning experience. I was a slave there, barely two years old and already in training to be a dancer—I was a curiosity, you see, as a female alpha, and twi'lek culture does not allow for female alphas or male omegas in polite society." Fox sucks in a breath—he knew slavery was common among the Hutt's empire, but to hear it spoken of so cavalierly was uncomfortable. "It's one of my first memories—meeting Quin's eyes and knowing he would be my friend, my brother. He asked the Hutt for me, they said no, and he got a bit upset. Tyrannus said to deal with it as he saw fit.

"Eleven years old, and he slaughtered them. Blood everywhere, Fox, it was beautiful—" The Twi'lek's eyes gleam in the low light. "And then he knelt down and offered me a home. I'd follow him to hell if he asked."

[legitimatesatanspawn]

You know, why DIDN'T Dooku go legit religious schism in the wake of Qui-Gon's death? He had every reason to and every means to build up a legit thing against the Jedi Order without going full corrupted Sith.

I know it was all the Sith 1000 Year Revenge Plan and Force As A Drama-Maker but...

Imagine a full change of the Prequels where instead of the Clone Wars being between Jedi-led Republic army with a clone slave child army vs a Sith and assorted alien money conglomerate eeeevil side with soulless droid armies... imagine instead it's Jedi versus Jedi.

The Centralists/Loyalists who are dogmatic and believe (legit or sunken cost style) that the Jedi should serve the galaxy via the Senate.

The Protestant/Separatists who are disenchanted with the Coruscanti setup and how a sort-of religious order intended to do good and help people has become the Republic's attack dogs sent to "negotiate".

This coincidentally (not, it's Sidious) happens along the same time as the Clone War itself. At first the Jedi aren't part of it on either side but the Centralists are compelled via Senate orders to help bolster the army to keep losses down. The Protestants are more varied but some pick up the CIS's side because the Republic is refusing to let them secede (for good or ill) and is sending armies to their worlds. Both sides are still... mostly... Light, and this causes them to be so sure they're in the right even as things spiral.

Hell maybe both sides get in on the cloning action to keep the numbers of their own people from dying. THAT makes it the Clone Wars. With Kamino as war profiteers dealing to both sides more directly/visibly, with them having a secondary planet making the CIS clones.

And THIS causes the Jedi Order to be viewed as warmongers. Not merely the image of them leading the armies and somehow taking every single blame for everything going wrong. But because the Jedi are painted as having a civil war and are "dragging" the galaxy down with them.

Ironically this also makes Darth Vader, as one of the few apparently known remaining members of "that old religion" known as being one of the Loyalist Jedi who stayed with the Republic even as it became the Empire. ... in spite of him not being dogmatic or loyal to the Jedi Order's beliefs.

[certified-anakinfucker]

tagged by @kiwikipedia and @inquisitorius-sin-bin (thank yall <3)

Rules: Write the latest line from each of your wips (or post where you last left off in your art) and tag as many people as there are wips you are working on.

The aftermath could always be worse.

“darrviolence <3” — Darrash taking out a small problem of the Empire, the way he did would on Hutta. (He’s on Nar Shaddaa; it’s more than justified.) Kaliyo ….. is afraid for her life. And for once I wrote a LOT

it really isn’t that hard, not as hard as SOME people made it seem (ahem, thanaton)

“instigator ghosts” / “Instigation” — Yechnically the LAST line is just my copy-pasted Whumptober prompt I planned but never filled. But the last one I specifically wrote was just shit-talking Thanaton. imagine being named Teneb Kel. Rukota my love,,,,,, this is Kem’s influence I swear.

Hunter has no true name.

They have always been known as Hunter, and always will be.

“Righteous Violence” — basically my obligatory everything-went-so-wrong au. everything went LEFT. i haven’t written any of it yet but hoowee,,,,,, i’m excited to see how fucked up it gets

When he woke up, a young Dathomirian Zabrak was sitting beside him in the grasses and offered him a sealed container of water - he learned their name was Klaprika Vranai, and they too were a runaway from the Sith Academy.

“The Balmorran Change of Heart” — Balmorra has asserted herself as the planet I’ve become obsessed w in the most painstaking way, so naturally I had to bring back the World Story conglomerate fic about what the Imps and Reps get up to. Something something first and last taste of war, something something indiscrimination of violence, blah blah blah. This part was about my baby Ffon <3

Upon being informed that Darrash was the new Commander and he was to become a Lieutenant, the Rattataki shorted out a circuit breaker in glee.

“Acknowledged & Understood.” Darrash’s lovely canon (mine) storyline, this part specifically being where he claws his way back from hell and finds the Alliance, where Eikutyr (SW) and Anas (JK) eventually hand the reins to him - much to the dismay of Dilieth (JC). But Rukota (SI) is more than gleeful about it.

No, that wasn’t good enough; he needed his hands clasped together.

“dont put nealev in charge” / MOFF HUNTING SEASONNNNNNN this is the part where Darrash once again decides that violence IS the answer against grave injustices not only against himself but also the Empire. Darrash loves it when Moffs step out of live because he loves hunting them for sport.

I think that’s all my wips that I intend to work on rn or else I’d be here for weeks UM . Six tags….. @kemendin @calamity-aims @chiafett @purgetrooperfox @spaceydragons @ermakeys :)

[abysskeeper]

How has been Trick's relationship with the Empire? As far as I've gotten, she got sold into Imp Slavery before being picked by the Jedi, which does grant a very good cause to hate them without quarter, but also she has made friends on the other side, plus her experience on the Alliance must have tempered any lingering passions against it? Where does she stand now?

Oh, this is a fun question, if not a little disappointing of an answer. Thanks though!

Remember how I said I enjoyed desperately, spitefully hopeful stories? Yeah. So Trick was born into slavery, which is sort of an important distinction because, while her two older brothers and her parents remembered a life beyond Dromund Kaas, she never knew anything else before she escaped as a young teen. Despite that...Trick never really hated the Empire as a whole. Her abusers? Yes. The systemic oppression that allowed this to happen to her? Yes. But the Empire as a whole? No.

Or, at least by the time she joined the Order, she mellowed into a much more balanced viewpoint. For one, she absolutely refuses to be another round in a cycle of hate and violence--this is sometimes to her detriment, but in this case it actually gives her a bit of clarity in not seeing the Empire as one huge conglomerate and instead considering the individuals within it.

For two, she's aware that many of those individuals were in similar circumstances to her, and are either just as trapped in an oppressive society as she was, or wound up broken when they broke their own chains (and she cannot blame anyone for falling to the Dark Side in that environment).

And for three, she takes a much more balanced approach to the Light and Dark debate of the Force, and holds steady to the belief that one can't exist without the other. Thus, she doesn't want to see the Empire destroyed so much as she wants to see it change (because yeah...she does genuinely hate the whole slavery and conquering angle). Besides, she readily acknowledges the Empire has its merits, the same way the Republic has its faults.

So, by the time she hits the Alliance, her views are already pretty mild towards the Empire and they remain that way. The Alliance is everything she's ever wanted (Nadia's return and seeing the Alliance is like...the most canon conversation ever for Trick) and the Imperials who are with her are obviously the kind of people she always knew were in the Empire and wanted to see changes happen for anyways. Her true ire has always been towards the Hutts, and her falling out with the Republic during KOTET gives her way more grief than the Empire ever does.

Though, it should be noted that her friends on the other side (not counting the canon divergence @gothamcityneedsme and I have going on) consist of my canon BH Hayden, whom she met on Nar Shaddaa right after her escape (so well before he was a hunter and she was a Jedi), and who holds absolutely zero loyalty to the Empire or to the Mandalorians, and my sometimes canon Inquisitor/otherwise Sith assassin Raz, who was a fellow slave and who holds...surprisingly similar ideals regarding the Empire and its need for change.

The only Imperial she really befriended after becoming a Jedi was Lana, and their closeness kind of just proved to her how the whole divide and wishing for the Empire's destruction was pointless in the first place.

[this-acuteneurosis]

Follow up question: wouldn’t an excellent way to effe up Palpatine’s plans be to neutralize Count Dooku? I mean, she probably couldn’t kill him, but offering him a way back to the light side and bringing his knowledge to the Jedi would certainly minimize loss of life, and Anakin is currently in an extremely stable position close to Obi-wan and his mother. It seems like the perfect way to wrap up Sidious quickly, and without Sith plots, fixing everything gets a lot easier. So why wouldn’t she at least make a token effort to do that?

So, there are two assumptions at work here. One, that removing Dooku as Palpatine's tool would destabilize Palpatine's plans at this point. And two, that Leia would assume that.

Neither of those really fit into how I've developed this story.

One thing I may not have made clear enough in Like Fire is how bad the New Republic was doing when Leia ran off to the past. I did hint at it, and I sort of assumed that regardless of what canon/EU you prefer most people were coming to the story with some understanding of how many scars were left across the galaxy because of the years of neglect the Republic and the Empire fostered.

Palpatine held the seat of power, but there were plenty of people ready to jump in and try and fill it if they ever got the chance.

Leia is fighting that, and her perspective on winning is to get the Republic to turn on Palpatine. Kinda like Padmé did in TPM when she screwed up the Trade Federation blockade nonsense by making peace with the Gungans. Only on a much larger scale.

Leia is stuck in a past where she doesn't really know what's going on, just what the end results could be. One of her ultimate goals is to kill Palpatine because eventually she will lose patience with him and also they need him not in the government.

The problem is murdering or arresting him out of his seat of power undoes none of the other stuff he's set in motion, even if Dooku isn't conveniently keeping things rolling on the other side. The Separatists and Republic both have armies, both are under the influence of monopolistic conglomerates that function like oligarchies on a galactic scale and would profit from an ongoing war, and everyone is scared of each other.

If Leia can get the Senate to turn on Palpatine, she's more than won. If she has to, she'll get rid of him herself first. But she's in a bad position to do that. She's not a Jedi, has no traceable history, and is working for Naboo. If she takes violent action, it looks like a coup planned by Padmé. If she gets him arrested, she would need the Jedi and Naboo to lie and claim that Leia was their plant to unearth the Sith (which she has no guarantee they would be willing to do, especially where it concerns the Jedi) or she ends up looking like a Separatist spy. If she points other people too neatly in the right direction, she has to explain how she knows this stuff, and there are limits to how much she can lie (and she could still end up looking like a plant/spy).

And yes, the solution to that could be telling the truth. But, uh, she's not gonna do that. Not voluntarily. And isn't going to rely on a plan that requires it.

There's also the difficulty of how would she get Dooku to give up being a Sith. She knows exactly what Vader's motive was and she knows how close Luke still came to dying before Vader relented. She has nothing similar to offer Dooku and if it required as much risk as Luke took?

Leia's not taking those odds. There's too much at stake for that.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Reading about the Obi Wan Kenobi show makes me SO MAD because it negates a buch of shit from A New Hope!

"I haven't gone by the name Obi Wan since well before you were born," except that time when you were ten and I blew my cover and went on a whirlwind adventure into the heart of the Empire, but I'm not gonna tell you about that

"Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars," which implies Leia has never met Obi Wam before because he's been in exile since she was born, but NOOOO, she knows him personally because sure, why not. "You saved my life from kidnappers who somehow knew to use me as bait to draw you out of hiding, even though nobody knows I'm Padme's daughter, not even me"

"I sense something... a presence I haven't felt since-" and "when I left you I was but the learner, but now I am the master," both of which imply Vader hasn't seen Obi Wan since Mustafar, but NOOOO AGAIN, they met up and fought less than a decade prior, because reasons! Sorta takes the gravitas out of their "we meet again" moment.

How does the Empire not know Kenobi is on Tatooine? How does it take them another 9 years to find him again when he's in contact with the Organas and a bunch of surviving Jedi? They were on the same planet, within spitting distance of him, and they didn't feel his presence?!? What are the inquisitors even there for? And how do they exist if there can be only two sith at a time? Where are all the force users coming from?

Nothing is sacred! Disney has to tear down the original trilogy to fit into their retcons instead of writing new shit that is consistent with what came before. It's like they're mad they didn't get to create the originals, so they're trying to discredit them so future fans will like their content better.

It's pointless to act shocked at a company I've already written off; this is the norm for them. I'm holding true to my boycott, and I'm not gonna watch a single second of any of their shows or movies ever again. If anything, I'm the one who looks foolish for giving a shit about a 45 year old franchise written by a hack and now owned by a soulless corporate conglomerate.

I don't even have the energy to be mad...

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Ithorian

The Ithorians, a sentient species from the planet Ithor. They also had at least one settlement on the planet Takobo, known as Hammertown. They were commonly called "Hammerheads" by less sensitive beings because of their long, curving neck and T-shaped head. They found this nickname offensive.

The Ithorians worshipped Mother Jungle, and long ago vowed never to desecrate their planet. Once they discovered repulsorlift technology, the Ithorians built expansive "herdships" floating in the skies above their homeworld. The species migrated to these platforms, ensuring that Ithor would remain pristine forever. These herdships eventually were given the ability to travel interstellar distances. The Ithorian people were led by their high priest. First contact with the Republic occurred in 12,000 BBY.

Abroad, Ithorians integrated well with the Galactic community. Their own language was incredibly beautiful, yet difficult to learn, as the Ithorians had twin mouths on opposite sides of their necks. Fortunately, they could speak Basic, albeit with a strange accent. Many ithorians also used translation devices such as the ithorian translator, which was usualy mounted on top of their elongated neck. Each Ithorian herd was presided over by a Force-sensitive individual who served as both a priest and healer.

The Ithorians were crucial to the efforts to restore many planets that had been devastated by the Mandalorian and Jedi Civil Wars. One notable example was Telos IV, whose reconstruction was minutely directed and supervised by Chodo Habat and his herd.

Around the time of the Cold War, a proxy conflict between the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic, it was discovered that the previously unknown species responsible for building the technological wonder that were the Heffrin Aqueducts on the planet Heffrin, were in fact early Ithorian explorers. This led to great debate among the Ithorian culture.

Ithorian society maintained its peaceful nature by exiling those who had a tendency towards violence and aggression. Two such exiles were the Moomo brothers, Dob and Del, who worked for the Galactic Republic as hired muscle, although they were less than competent in their efforts. An exile named Momaw Nadon was present in the Mos Eisley cantina shortly before the Battle of Yavin.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Ithor was destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong as part of their invasion plan. They chose to destroy this planet, even though it was a lush jungle world, because one of the trees' pollen could cause their Vonduun Crab Armor to expand rapidly, killing the Warrior. Many years after the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Leia Organa Solo convinced Chief of State Cal Omas to allow the Ithorians to resettle on the planet Borao in the Inner Rim over RePlanetHab, a large reconstruction conglomerate. Other Ithorians settled on Öetrago, Upell and Felucia.

Ithorians worshipped the "Mother Jungle," a spiritual entity embodying the lush, tropical ecology of their world, Ithor. They were generally devoted environmentalists, staunch herbivores, and complete pacifists, devoting much time to contemplating their ecology, studying plants and their uses and the overall respecting of all living things. Most Ithorians hardly set foot on their own planet, instead living in floating cities above their world called herdships. Only three of their continents had been explored and harvested, the other two remain untouched by Ithorian hands. This demonstrated their extreme belief in the protection and sustaining of their environment which was apparent through their "Law of Life."

The Ithorians practiced a communal form of government. Each herdship was autonomous and self-supporting. However once every Ithorian season (about five standard years), the herds gathered for a Herd meet, a grand gathering above the surface of their world, where the herd ships would join each other in a festival and regal ceremony. Within Ithorian society, there were a priestly group known as nature priests who communed with the "Mother Jungle" and had a deeper connection to the Ithorian homeworld. Within the trading guilds themselves, Merchantates were present who dealt with business matters.

The Ithorian's curious and gregarious nature meant that many found their way off-planet via their floating herdship's space-worthy counterparts. Many became galactic traders, traveling the stars either independently or as part of their herdship. They would only resort to violence if threatened, and they were more likely to use their sonic bellow than a weapon. Because of their mild demeanor, most Ithorians avoided war in general, although the Rebel Alliance did boast a few among its ranks. Their pacifistic nature meant that they refused to touch things that came as a result of bloodshed. When dealing with others, Ithorians were always supremely polite. They were very conversational and had profound respect for the views of others. Though often described as likable and friendly, many sentients found them altogether dull. Even when they had disagreements, Ithorians were unlikely to discuss their grievances with anyone unless the offending party was present. To do otherwise was considered rude.

In Ithorian mythology Trinta was the realm of demons. The Ithorians named the planet Trinta after this realm because they disliked the planet.

Ithorians had two mouths and four throats, allowing them to speak in stereo. Female Ithorians had two humps on the back of their head, while males had only one. They had glossy, usually brown flesh.Their reflexes and coordination were somewhat slower than that of average humanoids.

In addition to allowing them to speak their unique stereophonic language, the Ithorians' four throats also had the ability to violently expel air, resulting in a deafening and potentially concussive scream. Although even common Ithorians possessed this strange talent, those with Force training, such as Jedi Master Roron Corobb, could push enough power into their sonic bellow to shatter iron and shred plasteel. Despite this fact, most Ithorians went their entire lives without ever resorting to violence, and so the ability remained relatively ambiguous.

Ithorian youths were known as "pupa," and were commonly glassy-eyed, appendageless and limber, until they metamorphosized. After the molt, Ithorians lost an aural flap and every locomotion tube, gained lumps, craters in their craniums and an appetite for ant-flies. An adult Ithorian could father several thousand offspring.

They stood roughly between 1.8 to 2.3 meters or 5.9 to 7.5 feet from eyestalk to toe and weighs 90 kilograms or 198 pounds.

Ithorians age at the following stages:

1- 13 Child

14 - 17 Young Adult

18 - 44 Adult

45 - 69 Middle Age

70 - 84 Old

Examples of Names: Fandomar, Momaw, Oraltor, Tomia, Trangle, Umwaw.

Ithorians were commonly named after creatures on their planet, such as the Flen and Gillom. Many females were named after the Cellwan, Haali, Ivuur, Oovei, Vonnuvi, and Wimmel; many males were named after the Boolon, Murr, Neelig, and Waawat. Aamaw, meaning "firelight", was also a very common name.

Languages: Ithorians can read and write both Basic and Ithor. When they speak the languages, they speak in a stereophonic voice.

[kylowrens]

Pas De Deux

Read on AO3

Summary: You are the empress of the planet Khagdra and the ruler of the Cosmic Concord, an up and coming alliance prepared to take down the Resistance and the First Order, as you see yourself as the ideal leader of the galaxy. You're willing to do anything for the throne, even defeat the mighty Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. But will he let you destroy everything he's built?

Words: 2500

Rating: Explicit (LOTS OF VIOLENCE AND VIOLENT SEX)

Characters: Kylo Ren x Reader 

A/N: Hey guys! This is my very first Kylo fic and I hope y’all enjoy what I intend to be a very harrowing enemies to lovers slow burn with lots of kinky sex and violence HAHA

You were a woman of thunder.

And he happened to be a man made of fire.

What an incendiary duel of magic.

You were the empress of your home planet Khagdra and ruler of the Cosmic Concord, a rising intergalactic conglomeration that lain on neither sides of the war- the Resistance was sloppy with its efforts and the First Order was something you considered to be pathetically archaic within the realms of what it aspired to be. With various nations conjuring up your planet, Khagdra was an empire within itself.

You anticipated for today to be diplomatic at best as you prepared to meet with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren over the usage of the Wayfinder, an object intended to guide its users to the hidden planet Exegol- oh how wrong you were. Your planet hailed the containment of the coveted object and word spread across the galaxy, far enough to catch the attention of the Supreme Leader himself. You assumed the Supreme Leader wanted the Wayfinder to take advantage of the secret Sith planet, while you wanted to destroy it.

You felt searing pain, then nothing, in your upper left arm as a side of the crossguard on his lightsaber, sparking erratically, dug into your flesh.

Your mouth filled with saliva and you gritted through the pleasurable pain. A rose-gold helmet concealed your identity and voice from the beautiful man in front of you, the modulator allowing your groan to emanate in an electronic, gender-neutral hum. The heavy rain of your desert oceanic home planet soaked through your dark red noble dress and cape that were embedded with intricate, bronze and gold designs. Your lightsaber, glowing golden in its righteous majesty, pressed against the masked man’s crimson sword as your arms were raised up and back over your head. You heaved forward, sending his saber and body fumbling backwards.

Chuckling, you spun your saber effortlessly as a taunt, an invitation. Kylo huffed, slightly hunched over as he stomped towards you, the rain gliding off his helmet. He swung towards you and you nimbly bent backwards to evade the blade’s heat. Twirling, you regained balance and squeezed the gash on your arm firmly, riling yourself up with rage and a thirst for glory. You managed to glide the tip of your blade along his side; he growled in response and turned sharply towards you. His brute strength only proved the rumors true- he was a champion amongst men.

Kylo’s second mistake was pressing that frenetic excuse of a saber into your arm- the first, was assuming your people were weak. Once his Upsilon-class command shuttle landed, he and his troop of First Order soldiers prodded an innocent family while on their way to your palace. The news quickly made its way to your throne and you knew immediately this battle would be far from effortless. Your own troops of fighters, called novawarriors, quickly stormed into warfare, warding off countless First Order stormtroopers with electric double-sided spears.

Kylo did a number on various lives of your warriors as he waited for you at the foot of your palace, which was cushioned by bouquets of tropical trees all around. This not only enraged you, but fancied your interest as well. The life and lore of the mighty Kylo Ren were things almost of myth, as you only heard of him through word of mouth. He was said to rest his helmet on the ashes of those who came in his way, and he was so ruthless, that he took his own father’s life. The idea of him waiting for you to become one with the others who now serve as a resting place for his helmet thrilled you to no end.

Your train of thought was interrupted by another might of heat and pain, this time surging through your shoulder. You yelped and aimed your lightsaber towards him, only for him to block it with his own. He leaned forward and gained power over you, his figure looming above your frame like a malevolent shadow. You were agile and quick on your feet, especially compared to his large stature and extreme height, but his brute strength was close to getting the best of you. You heaved over to the side and balance grew within your feet.

You sensed him all around you, a ferocious haze blanketing you- you could feel his anger as it reflected the state of his lightsaber. He was curious about who you were, yet wrath overcame his curiosity. His energy was so strong that you felt whatever he felt; in that moment, his wrath became yours.Your heart raced and your hands trembled as blood dripped off your body. You were not allowing this man to overcome you, regardless of his achievements.

You swung your sword and missed.

You missed again as he leaned back.

With one stomp forward, you were able to graze him. He growled once again as he attempted to hit you, missing as you leapt high and backwards with the help of the Force.

“My goodness, Supreme Leader,” you purred through the helmet. “I must admit, this is quite the introduction.”

At first, he didn’t say anything. He raised his lightsaber and pointed it at you. “Identify yourself at once.” his voice was low. You chuckled softly at the sound of raindrops hitting against your helmets, pellets tapping against metal.

You turned your lightsaber off and clasped it onto a specialized belt on the side of your dress. You raised the helmet off your head, allowing your tucked hair to flow freely and quickly become soaked by the rain. You glanced at the masked man with mischievous eyes, eyelashes fluttering and the slightest upwards curve of your lip apparent. Despite your confidence, you ached to know the face under the mask. With the mask on, he oozed a domineering, cold, and relentless identity.

The sound of his flickering saber filled the rain-heavy air. If it weren’t for the slight movement of his shoulders, you would have assumed he was frozen.

“I am your demise.”

Thunder cracked in the sky behind you and water spilled over your cheeks. You blinked against the heavy rain to discern any reaction from Kylo.

“Is that so?” he asked rhetorically, his saber still aimed at you.

“Do you doubt me?” you raised your voice.

Kylo shut his lightsaber off and trekked towards you menacingly. You walked backwards cautiously until your back hit the cement wall of one of your military bases. He looked down at you- you stood your ground and looked up, staring at your reflection in his mask. His helmet, which appeared to be previously broken, was forged with blaring red seams.

You suddenly felt a dull and blunt pain against your neck, the walls of your throat closing in on itself. Tears welled up and an incessant ringing made itself present in your ears. You managed to cough out one choke as Kylo used the Force to constrict your neck and tilt your head even higher.

“Yes, in fact, I do,” he replied. “I have far beyond the means to destroy everything you have built here, which isn’t much to begin with.”

You mustered up the strength to kick him in the shin- you weren’t sure if it hurt him or not, as he released the Force on your neck and replaced it with a leather-clad hand. A surge of excitement surged through you, especially in your fingertips and belly.

You wadded saliva up in your mouth and spit it at his face. It glided down his mask with various rain droplets. You were confident in the congregation you led- you were a descendant in a line of generations of independent leaders, a princess in a dynasty destined for greatness.  

“That’s your mistake,” you said in a hushed tone on account of the heavy tightening of your throat. “Your First Order does not have much to offer either, Supreme Leader. Perhaps your organization would be run better under the guise of one who knows how to rule.”

“I’m very surprised a ruler such as yourself would be so foolish with her words.” he released you from his grip and you coughed more until your breathing was stable.

“I only speak the truth.”

“You are blinded by your own arrogance, then,” he spat. “I suggest you give me the Wayfinder while your kingdom is in one piece, empress.”

You scoffed loudly. “No.”

“Alright,” Kylo began. “But when I find it after tearing your planet to shreds, the only demise that will be happening is yours.”

“An empty promise made by an empty head,” you rolled your eyes, straining your neck to look up at him.  “You’ll never find it. I’d rather die than give you such a thing.”

“I can arrange that.”

“I’d love to see you try.” you taunted, much to your own dismay; Kylo sought out to your little tease and grabbed the hair at the top of your head and slammed it against the cement wall. A painful pressure filled your skull for a brief moment, and the ringing came back. His fist gripped your hair so tightly you almost felt your scalp peeling away from your head.

He released your head and slid a gloved hand to your neck, pressing down on it with great strength. In one fell swoop you no longer were standing, but pinned against the stone ground. You blinked furiously against the rain. He raised his free hand and allowed it to hover over your face. You felt the Force waver around you, but not once did it infiltrate your head. Blood pounded in your ears and your vision blurred. The world around you sounded muddled. He did this for a moment too long, then tried again to no avail.

You looked at him with confused eyes, and slowly rolled them up and back in an attempt to view the war that sweltered on, though to you, it was upside down. Palm trees engulfed in flames as stormtroopers blasted at novawarriors. There was a slight comfort in knowing that they were also in this battle. Light spilled over your face for a second as lightning burnt the sky. Your attention snapped back to Kylo as he slammed your head against the ground once again, your brain throbbing with a searing pain and vision lagging so much you could have sworn you saw two Supreme Leaders.

“I can’t get into your head,” he stated. “Why?”

Your eyes rolled backwards and your head lolled until Kylo held it in place with his hands, which made your head feel small in comparison. “Good,” you said dizzily.

“Answer me.”

“I’m not- I’m not, quite sure,” you said politely, though your words were delivered with labor.  “I feel you all around me, your anger, your confusion. All of it.”

“No such thing is possible.”

“Your spirit is so strong, and yet you still haven’t killed me yet,” a smile creeped onto your face. “What, do you like playing with your food?”

You paused, then your smile grew wider. “Your thoughts say yes,” you said amusingly. “That makes this all so much more fun.”

Kylo glanced over to your exposed gashed shoulder that peaked through torn cloth. He gripped onto it and squeezed, causing you to yelp and arch your back against the agonizing pain. Blood gushed out of the open wound as you wriggled against his grasp. Tears pricked your eyes and you prayed to the Maker that he would let go.

“I believe you and I have contradicting views on what ‘fun’ is,” his voice was aggressive through the modulator.

“I-I disagree,” your tongue was drenched with saliva as you spoke. You waited long enough for the initial pain to subside and drone to a monotonous level of sharp stinging. It almost hurt so much, that it felt good, especially with his hand providing so much pressure. You discreetly flexed your hand and used the Force to pierce his head with psionic pain. He groaned and released your shoulder, to your relief. He gripped the sides of his helmet and slightly hunched over.

“Are you not amused, Supreme Leader?” you teased. At this point, the term “Supreme Leader” dripped out of your mouth as though it were an insult. One hand directed pain to Kylo, and your other inconspicuously reached for your lightsaber. You ignited it, immediately calling for your adversary to do the same.

You took the first step and glided your saber across his chest, slicing his tunic in a diagonal line. A monstrous roar bellowed from his helmet and for a moment you were afraid. He huffed and brought his lightsaber down upon you, which you missed. As both of you fought, tattered and on the brink of breakage, your complementary movements with one another mimicked that of a dance of two partners, each step coinciding with the next, and then the next after that, a mirror of two enemies.

You twirled backwards only to have him step forward, only for him to lean back as you launched forward in perfect harmony. It was clear at this point that it was impossible for either of you to best one another.

“No,” Kylo said as he twirled his lightsaber. “Not until I have what I want.”

“Sorry to ruin your day, then,” you smirked. You paused to watch him and listen to his thoughts. He was furious and convinced the Wayfinder was hidden in your palace. He was a beautiful monster hidden behind a mask, and you ached to see what face was under it. You hoped it would be attractive, at the very least. “You’re wrong, by the way.”

“What?” he barked, snapping his head.

“It’s nowhere near my palace,” you adjusted your grip on your lightsaber. “You’re wrong.”

“Get out of my head,” you could tell he was gritting his teeth. He stormed over to you, looking down at you once again. You gasped as you suddenly felt that familiar piercing, crushing pain at your windpipe. You squeaked and grasped at your neck. “You value your life, do you not?”

You scanned his appearance with desperate eyes for any sign of humanity- none. You nodded the best as you could, but all that showed up was a subtle head movement.

“That’s what I thought,” his invisible grip on your neck tightened then released you. You inhaled deeply and coughed, doubling over and falling onto your hands and knees. He enjoyed the sight, much to your surprise. “Do not mistake your breathing as of now as my sparing of your life. Your time will come.”

Kylo shut off his lightsaber and paced away from you and towards his stormtroopers, which surprisingly did a number against your own men. In the blurred, far distance, you noticed more trees were now on fire, as well as several small buildings. You rested your head on the wet ground as you watched his figure grew smaller the further he walked. You shut your eyes against the raging world around you, rage coursing through you and raindrops confusing with your now running tears.

[eternal-ahsoka]

Star Wars x Newsies

Chapter Three: The Bottom line

Sheev Palpatine sat in his luxurious chair behind his sprawling desk in his decadent office. He watched attentively as the gold glimmer of day faded into the darkness of night - his favorite transition. It was more entertaining than any soap opera the HoloNet would ever produce, and more fulfilling than the satisfaction one feels at the end of a long day of work.

At least, he thought it was. He’d never experienced the sensation.

Besides, it wasn’t every day he was able to watch the beauty of the shadow unfold before him as his barber gently scolded any of his loose hairs.

Oh wait.

Yes it was.

Besides being the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Palpatine had what his associates called “a secret side hustle.” He wasn’t sure what “side hustle” meant - it sounded entirely too Outer Rim-ish for his taste - but he supposed it perfectly described his clandestine activities.

He was the Dark Lord of the Sith - Darth Sidious.

Oh, wait, no. That was at 9:00. It was only 7:30. He had issued the “comlink me only after sunset only please” mandate to Count Dooku and General Grievous last week, so he could move his staff meeting up.

He was the owner of the Tatooine World.

And the Coruscant Register. And the Corellia Chronicle. And the HoloNet, of course. The Naboo Sun had somehow escaped him, strangely enough. It was his home planet, after all. But it did not worry him; what chance did an insignificant little paper from an insignificant little planet have against his media conglomerate?

It suddenly occurred to him - he should call it his media empire. Palpatine’s Media Empire. Ooh, how he liked the sound of that. Note to self, he thought, change the name on official media conglomerate stationary.

“Gentlemen,” he began, “we need to sell more papers.  There's an answer right before your eyes, but you're just not thinking this through. Nunzio knows, when he's cutting my hair - trim a bit here, and then trim a bit there - just a modest adjustment can fatten the bottom line...”

“We could lay off a few reporters...” Said one staff member.

“How about a few pay cuts?” Said another.

“We could lower the price of the World...”

“Bankrupting me even faster! Let me try again. Shaving is tricky: the razor should float. Shave me too close and you may slit my throat. Its the simplest solutions that bolster the bottom line.”

“I know! We’ll raise the price for the newsies!”

“My thoughts exactly. Give me a week, and I’ll train them to be like an army that’s marching to war!” Except, he didn’t need them to actually be one. He already had a pretty significant army at his disposal. “When there's dirt on our shoes, boys, for god's sake, relax! Why throw them out? All we need is some wax. Listen well to these barbershop lessons, for they'll see you through...”

He trailed off, suddenly turning his back to his staff and glancing out of the clari-crystalline and up into the galaxy, towards the Outer Rim.

He decided he should wait to change the stationary. For if all went according to plan, he would soon be removing the Media part from the conglomerate’s new name.

Palpatine’s Empire.

The taste was too sweet for him to resist.

“The power of the press, yes - once again is mine!” He suppressed an evil cackle. “Just a few common cents, gents - that’s the bottom line!”

[dreamerinsilico]

the obligatory “I just saw Rise of Skywalker” post

TLDR: My very low expectations were met.  I didn’t consider it a waste of two hours.

Spoiler-free overview: It had some genuinely good, often funny banter, and a few character moments and narrative beats I thought were good at least in theory, if not necessary in implementation.  

A lot of good actors did their best with a lot of bad writing.  Structurally, I thought the way the ending resolved worked, if you accept the premise of the conflict.  Unfortunately, the premise of the conflict was ridiculous from so many different angles I was rolling my eyes every few minutes.  

JJ Abrams really needs to learn that not every fucking scene needs to be some flavor of highlights reel-worthy bombastic - it cheapens every actual Big Moment when the music and the cinematography and the delivery of the dialogue is trying to communicate “big moment” in every scene.

Spoiler-ridden rambling below the cut:

It speaks to the overall ridiculousness of the film that both my absolute favorite and least favorite things about it are minor details.  :P

My favorite: When Our Heroes asked Hux why he turned on the First Order, I stage-whispered to my brother, “Because Kylo Ren is a dick!” right before Hux said almost exactly that.  It was just such a perfect “...and we all know I’m that petty” detail, but it also really.... it stood out hardcore to me as an anomaly in the Star Wars saga, being basically the one and only case of one character’s shitty treatment of another having direct, major consequences!  There’s plenty of friendship-based loyalty in Star Wars, and obviously a few big turncloak cases (Anakin, Anakin/Vader again, Kylo/Ben) where it was about the person’s loyalty to someone(s) on the other side, but Hux betrays the First Order strictly because Kylo Ren is an asshole and he’s fed up.  (Contrary to every other Empire/First Order character who gets abused by a Sith on the regular.)  A+, most believable thing in all of Star Wars.

My least favorite: FORCEGHOST!LUKE GAVE REY LEIA’S LIGHTSABER, WHICH WAS GREEN, AND WAS LIKE ‘YOU’LL TAKE BOTH OF THESE TO SITH PLANET’ (yes, good, setting up the eleventh-hour Rey-Ben alliance, symbolically appropriate, I like it) AND THEN WHEN SHE WAS FACING PALPATINE AND BEN WAS COMING TO HELP BOTH THE FUCKING LIGHTSABERS WERE BLUE!  IS THIS FINAL-SEASON-OF-GOT-THERE’S-APPARENTLY-STARBUCKS-IN-WESTEROS LEVEL CARELESSNESS, OR DID SOMEONE ACTUALLY THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA FOR SOME UN-FUCKING-FATHOMABLE REASON?!?!?!

*clears throat*  Anyway.  I may have walked out of the theater ranting about that one.

Okay, next on the docket, the Reylo in the room:

It is not and has never been my ship, but in a big-picture sense I don’t actually hate it, and I definitely don’t hate the way their final scene went down.  However, any actual satisfaction I might have taken in their arc is inevitably hamstrung by the fact that Kylo Ren does not, in my opinion, have one good line of dialogue in any movie he’s in, and his characterization has been actively cruel and unsympathetic the whole series, except for a very few moments with Rey, and most of the time with her he’s still being a condescending prick.  “I’m going to find you, and I’m going to turn you to the dark side.”  My dude.  Maybe say literally anything other than that, if your goal is to actually change her mind.  

I actually like (*coughs*  love, more and more obsessively), on a big-picture level, the whole “bonding with your nemesis” thing, as a trope.  But the nemesis needs to have some redeeming qualities other than the ability to look sad and tortured.  With better writing in general, and an antagonist with any actual depth/substance, it could have worked, and worked well.�� As it is, I find I’m not mad at it as a thing, but like... what a damn shame.  It could have been great; instead it’s hollow and incredibly under-realized.  Incredibly.  Even setting aside the fact that the set-up was hamfistedly awful (I’m talking about their interactions in the previous movies and this one, where he spends all his time telling her what she Has To Do, Inevitably, and she spends all her time telling him to fuck off), shouldn’t she... have some kind of reaction to his death?  Like, any reaction?  Contemplation after the fact?  Acknowledgement that someone she had a Force connection to so strong they could communicate telepathically wherever they were is now dead?  But no, we’re cutting to triumphant music and the Resistance winning and Rey’s back in the X-wing and Ben Solo will not be mentioned again.

All of it is so damn hollow I’m peripherally kind of amazed at how riled up people seem to have gotten about it.  I just can’t summon an emotion stronger than exasperation.

I can summon an emotion stronger than exasperation for the way the script played Finn’s implied romantic love for Rey for laughs.  Finn Deserved Better; Disney is Terrible.  I’m so glad John Boyega is apparently telling them to piss off regarding future opportunities for him to be disrespected.  

<333 Poe and Finn’s “bickering married couple” dynamic, which apparently both actors have been intentionally playing up to the extent that they were able.  

Rey’s internal conflict, while beautifully acted by Daisy Ridley, did not make any damn sense, just like it didn’t make sense in TLJ.  Of course I get that one of the central themes is birth versus who you choose to be, but like.... she’s never once done anything that should make her or anyone else worry that she’s going to suddenly become a megalomaniacal Sith Lord.  As my brother pointed out, if they’d actually had her accidentally kill Chewie, as we were very briefly lead to believe, that might have lent it some credence.  But as it stands, her fear of herself just feels... completely inappropriate and unreasonable, given that aside from a few short outbursts that had no lasting consequences, she’s never deviated from the compassionate, generous person everyone except Kylo Ren (and Luke, I guess, in parts of TLJ) knows her to be.

I could spend another few thousand words talking about how nothing about Palpatine being Back or the Final Order existing and having planet-cracking weapons on every one of their enormous fleet out in a hidden system no one knows how to get to makes no fucking sense, but let’s just... leave it at that.  I’d rather not.  

It was a typical Disney conglomerate soulless cash-grab that had some entertaining bits, and some bits that could have been fantastic had anyone with power actually cared about telling a cohesive story rather than relying almost entirely on dramatic music and the actors’ facial expressions to make people feel things.

(PS: Where the heck did that yellow lightsaber come from?)

[figuresinthecity]

SON OF XOL 

CHAPTER I: THE FATE OF TRAITORS

In space ...

Dozens of star destroyers and imperial fighters surrounded the small planet of Ryloth, the ships marauded like scavengers waiting their prey to succumb in order to devour it. Kendal Ozzel waited on the bridge of The Tremulator, admiring the space,  self confident having a face of pride. His uniform was impeccable, shiny boots and freshly cut hair, What occasion merited such care? Well, no other than the visit of the Emperor of the Galaxy.

Ozzel had an exacerbated confidence, nevertheless he was a rough military man specially when he compared with more sophisticated minds like Wilhuff Tarkin. His presence was unbearable in the eyes of his counterparts. However, there were those who, like his protector, the Grand General Cassio Tagge, found him as an agreeable companion, Ozzel´s anecdotes of how he had dealt with hundreds of aboriginal populations were funny stories for the Grand General. Kendall's military methods were abundant in tricks and cruelties, lacking an intelligent strategy: he liked to corner his targets, to announce himself at a far distance to create panic, and at the end to bomb without mercy or reparation. This was the reason why when Military Intelligence handed the mission to pacify Ryloth to the Grand General, he picked Ozzel with no hesitation.

Ryloth presented all the characteristics of Kendal's previous missions, it was a planet of inferior and unruly aliens, who could be subdued by the industrious power of imperial armament. According to the report prepared by Intelligence, the Free Ryloth Movement had become a stone in the shoe for the imperial elite, trading and extracting natural resources from the planet had become an almost impossible operation, costly and inefficient. The saboteurs and local bandits supported by the Movement surpassed the imperial forces, their tricks were creative and made the imperial officials look ridiculous. The Imperial Ruling Council had determined that it was enough, and for this reason the Military Intelligence was  infiltrated into the Movement in order to know its operation and reveal who was its leader. Lately it was confirmed that Cham Syndulla was the leader of the insurrection, and that he and his subordinates did not have a single operation base from which they directed their movement, instead they rotated their headquarters from time to time among sympathetic cities and towns. It was necessary to cut some heads and to offer some bribes to get the schedule of rotation of the movement's headquarters, so once its veracity was confirm, the mission was granted to the Grand General.

The plan developed by Tagge and Ozzel was described as effective: They would use all the means at their disposal to destroy the villages and towns that supported Syndulla, starting with those located in the Lor'Ak canyon, where Syndulla and his men would meet. The canyon became the main target of the attacks. Ozzel would have no mercy against the bandit who had repeatedly ridiculed the Imperial forces.

That was a morning like few, a light drizzle had fallen on the canyon during the early morning, the sun caressed the houses and buildings erected on the walls of the geographical feature. Suddenly, the light was extinguished obstructed by the imperial destroyers that immediately dropped seismic charges on the gorge destroying without mercy the beautiful city of Lor'Ak. For the Imperials it was an accurate blow, just the night before the Libertarian Movement had established itself in the city. After the attack they sent several droids and probes and discovered that in effect, there was no survivor left; during the following months hundreds of villages and Twi'lek settlements suffered the same fate as the beautiful city of Lor'Ak.

At the same time that those cities were destroyed, another one was built, taking advantage of the peace time and the economic boost brought with it. Their ambitious plan was to complete a new capital in less than seven months, Mirha Free Taa, head of her clan and the government of the planet, completed several political changes she initiated previously, and in her new position as Imperial Consul she was allowed to authorize the attacks on the rural population that supported her enemies. The planet began a period of exports of valuable raw materials and also of citizens who sought refuge outside the system. The influence of these exiles was revealed in the Senate, where several groups of prominent senators and politicians who protested against the actions of the local government, asking for the prosecution of Casio Tagge and Kendal Ozzel, sadly there was little the senate could do, the imperial peace had been imposed and its results were noticed.

The commotion that Ryloth caused the last months throughout the Galaxy, showed that the Empire did not vacillate in its effort to have absolute control. Curiously, Ozzel's strategy had worked perfectly, he and Tagge were in the highest esteem for the emperor, however they were viewed with suspicion by those military men whose long careers came from a family tradition of service in the armed forces.

For years these dynasties had remained hidden or entangled among local politicians, however when the war broke out, they showed that old tactics would no longer serve and, because of this,  they were uneasy with such personalities as Tagge and Ozzel. One of the heirs of these families was the young lieutenant Garca, son of the legendary Admiral Nema Holst, the lieutenant had a pale skin of sickly tone, his hair was dark brown and was a promise graduated from the Imperial Academy of Carida. Holst had been taught the importance of honoring his surname, it was part of his DNA to follow orders without questioning them, he perfectly understood that the main objective of the army was to pacify the galaxy, although he and his family were not entirely happy with the regime, they needed to maintain their position, the war changed everything, including his relationship with his father, who hoped him to reach a prominent position in government.

However, there were obstacles for the career of young Garca, two of them were the Grand General and  the Admiral Ozzel, "A couple of undisciplined upstairs" as they were described by Admiral Holst. It was not a surprise that Casio Tagge had reached such high position thanks to the help of his uncle, the ultra-billionaire Herenyus Tagge, the great patriarch and head of Tagge & Co. and all the companies that derived from this conglomerate. Added to this, Tagge had a military talent that was despised by the most faithful followers of the old school. Admiral Nema was a respected man and had taken advantage of his influence and contacts in COMPNOR and the Imperial Security Bureau to place his son inside The Tremulator. Garca quickly proved his value using his intelligence and skills in many occasions, this made him to soon grow in the hierarchy of the bridge becoming the second in command. Lieutenant Holst was impeccable, strict with the crew and himself.

The Emperor's visit forced him to be a perfectionist. He walked into the bridge of The Tremulator and approached to the Admiral.

- Sir, The Avenger, accompanied by two more destroyers, is about to come from hyperspace. The Emperor is here.

Ozzel turned to the young man with a look of happiness. "Excellent Captain, you know how to proceed, we just have to wait for General Tagge's signal.

Holst nodded to turn around and retire.

Suddenly the three destroyers appeared.

–Sir, a transmission from the Avenger...– Holst announced.

–All right, captain, transmit.

With little interference the image of Cassio Tagge appeared.

–Admiral Ozzel, is everything ready?– Tagge looked dominant to the Admiral's eyes.

–Of course sir, preparations have been made... – Ozzel  answered without delay.

–Very good Admiral, everything must be perfect– The sinister figure of Tagge disappeared from the holoprojector.

Kendal did not want to show his concern, but he could not help thinking about the worst of scenarios, that some detail went wrong during the ceremony causing the anger not only of the Great General, but of the Emperor himself.

...

Outside the royal cabins of the Avenger, Tagge waited escorted by two officers, the door opened and then the impeccable and imposing royal guards emerged, wearing their crimson uniform and opening the way for the monarch. The Emperor's black robes were sober in comparison to those worn by his entourage of dignitaries who walked solemnly behind him. His hood showed a bit of his mouth and his gray hands coming out of his sleeves. The emperor's appearance was more of a living corpse and less of a man, Tagge wondered how a man could have aged so much, was this consequence of his heroic encounter with the Jedi?

-General Tagge- Palpatine exclaimed calling Casio.

- Majesty, we have reached the Ryloth system, and we are orbiting the planet Twi'lek IV, so we will take a shuttle that will take us to the city of Zoura where our friends are waiting for us.

Palpatine grimaced –Ah, be careful General, not all of them are our friends.– Palpatine replied in a dark tone, the Sith could feel the discomfort of Tagge –You have always been a precious element in the military arm of the empire, your subordinates have succeeded in eliminating the Twi'lek resistance, however we have enemies even among those who seem to share our ideals.

The behavior of the old man was strange, however Tagge thought that he suffered delusions of persecution, and that very likely, he had an obsession with the power that always kept him alert. They continued their walk, to Tagge was impressed by how the emperor maintained a firm walk despite of his age, beyond his physical appearance, the monarch maintained an enviable integrity.

The group advanced through the corridors of the destroyer until  they finally arrived at the hangar where the shuttle Supreme was waiting; next to the ramp was waiting a group of six red sentinels, and among them Ciroh Kaal, captain of the royal guard, who would closely escort the Emperor. Kaal did not like to leave things to chance, and he knew that there were great risks on this visit, after all it was not the first time that the  Emperor’s life was put in risk in the system.

You could feel the optimism about this visit, however Kaal did not share such vision, and preferred to be alert, security protocols created by him established that there should be a change of guard each time the emperor changed transportation, which was why , once palpatine ascended to the ferry, the custody relay was given. Kaal was methodical, he thought deeply before making any decision or making any move, which was why being relatively young he reached such a high position. His years of service with the emperor had made him more suspicious, and he maintained a strict discipline within his subordinates whom he trained in person. The captain was a mystery to both the Emperor and Lord Vader, since his recruitment had shown a rare ability: He had almost absolute control over his thoughts and emotions which made it almost impossible to decipher, skill that seemed dangerous  but at the same time precious to make him a red guard.

The shuttle took off, on board Palpatine felt how the force was intensely moved as a stream that inevitably approaches the edge to fall.

...

On the bridge of The Tremulator, Holst addressed Ozzel

–Sir, the Supreme is on its way to the surface of the planet.

–Good Captain, execute Holy Relic.– The admiral looked him in the eye.

–Immediately, Sir–Holst gave a signal and the order was replicated to the controls, who were responsible for transmitting it to the other ships of the fleet for execution according to security protocols.

In Zoura ...

The walled citadel was an architectural feat, work of the recently deceased Cahi Fel, favorite architect of the emperor and who would have commissioned among many other works of great importance, the adaptations of the imperial palace, the creation of an imperial cluster and the design of the great opera Imperialis. Cahi Fel understood perfectly the aesthetics of the new order: straight lines, sloping walls, symmetry and order, in addition to its rigid functionality, his style resulted in monumental designs that caused impact. With the project of Zoura, Fel transmitted the message of the empire: dominate the nature and perpetuate order.

The main esplanade of the city was at the south, in its center stood a monolith of amazing proportions where the remains of the clones who fought against the separatist invaders had been deposited. The monument incorporated the rudimentary use of local materials with strict imperial geometry, it was built in dark granite, the monument was a cube-shaped mausoleum, surrounded by smaller cubes where the remains of some other fundamental figures were kept.

Towards the north of the esplanade were the main gates of the city and its wall, behind it the governmental and consular imperial buildings stood like sinister giants.

The esplanade was plenty of imperial troopers, in order to avoid any attack several AT-ST walkers surrounded the area, among the most prominent guests were high imperial dignitaries, dressed in sober but luxurious robes contrasted with the impeccable uniforms of the high military officials. The imperial troops flanked what would become the emperor's path to the central monolith and in  the same scene but out of focus but were the Twi’lek natives who were relegated as second class citizens.

Mirha Free Taa was one of the few of her race who were among the distinguished guests, among whom were senators and representatives of other systems, Free Taa wished to use this visit in her favor, she had prepared a whole tour by the new city, she wanted to use her new ally making propaganda to legitimize her government.

The Free Taa wished to reconcile with the Emperor, the mismatches between Orn and Palpatine had left them in abandonment and drifting on a planet they hated. Mirha was willing to do anything to please the empire, after all her clan allowed the empire to bomb the Lor'Ak cannon and its multiple villages, it was her who allowed the annihilation and enslavement of thousands of Twi'leks families. Now, after years of failed strategies Mirha and her family had a safe place in the empire.

The local audience was anxious, for the first time in they would be able to see with their own eyes the supreme ruler of the galaxy, Mirha and her entourage were talking with the Grand Vizier of the Empire: Mas Amedda, another sombre and haughty character, the Vizier used a simple tunic, the majestic cloaks, the high shoulder pads, and the starched sleeves were left behind; his attire, though modest, was luxurious, elaborated in purple velvet with grenade-colored piping, as had become fashionable among the great bureaucrats of the regime; but Amedda did not need much to look impressive, his height and shining antlers were enough to stand out from the rest. Mirha, recently named imperial consul, had an outfit that emulated that of the imperial dignitaries, although the manufacture of her tunic was more rudimentary, she wore discreet monochromatic brocades, –an interesting choice– thought Amedda, he could easily guessed that her clothes were made of some old garments recycled from the golden times of the Free Taa clan, adapted for the occasion, this pretension seemed amusing to the chagrian because he knew perfectly the Emperor’s plans for the Twi'lek: slavery or genocide. However Mirha had an excessive optimism, which was why she seemed silly and boring to the Grand Vizier, who inwardly begged for someone to interrupt her dull talk.    

–I hope not to interrupt your talk, Grand Vizier- Said a voice, quickly recognized by the Chagrian and who drew a perverse smile on his face.

–What a splendid accompaniment! The very Great Moff Wilhuff Tarkin who graces us with his presence! - Said sarcastically the big blue man; who was indeed grateful because his prayers were heard.

–Governor ...- said a little nervous Mirha-. It's really a pleasure to have you here at Ryloth, what an honor to have such a celebrity.

–Such a celebrity undoubtedly Consul Free Taa–. Again the Chagrian added with complete sarcasm –You are facing one of our most skilled strategists, who have been entrusted with tasks beyond the ordinary, and who has been successful in ALMOST in all, however one can only wonder if the Governor shall ever fail?– The provocation fell directly on Tarkin as alcohol in a wound, of course the Consul as the rest of the Galaxy had no idea, but Amedda referred to no other than the commissioning of the super battle station; Palpatine was not happy, and although his power was increasingly consolidated, the Senate was difficult to control and constantly distracted him from his quest for the dark side, which was why on more than one occasion his anger had fallen to Tarkin.

The governor kept his composure, it was not the time to generate an altercation with the Grand Vizier, after all who was in debt to the emperor was not the Chagrian.

–Of course we have not yet failed Vizier, we have overcome difficulties again and again, however I am confident that we will reach our goals with patience, but it is clear that not everyone opts for the road of obstacles and some simply prefer to be lackeys before showing their effectiveness –The grimace of happiness collapsed from the face of Amedda, since Palpatine was elected Chancellor very few understood why he had kept him in such an important position, many believed that it was due only to Amedda’s swore of fealty to the triumphant senator of Naboo . The Chagrian could only contain himself and clench his fists, meanwhile he was plotting a more painful response than the one infringed then he was interrupted by the excited voice of the Consul.

–Look! He has arrived! The Emperor is here!

Amedda and Tarkin turned to look each other with a face of complacency and mockery, it was fun to see such ingenuity.

From among the clouds the escorted six-fighter imperial shuttle could be seen approaching with its outstretched wings; on the ground everyone took their positions, Tarkin joined the rest of the governors and high-ranking military while the Grand Vizir joined the Consul with a pair of Twi'lek children who were carrying an offering.

The shuttle retracted its wings, the escort fighters were integrated with those that patrolled the city. Finally the ship landed, not without first turning off its noisy engines, and exhaling steam from its exhaustion points, the ramp descended and from it came out one by one the crimson guards who took their place on each side of the road, the last to descend was Captain Kaal who after seeing that everything was in order gave a discrete signal to the Emperor to leave the ship. Out of the steam came the hooded man, his tunic moving at the rhythm of his leisurely pace, the dark lord was again stepping on Ryloth.

Mirha and Amedda approached, the first with a faltering tone bowed.

–Majesty.

–Consult Free Taa, it seems that your efforts have taken effect, now, finally after so many years Ryloth has been pacified–. Palpatine, gave a smile to the Twi'lek, which gave Mirha some confidence.

–Of course, Majesty, it has been a shared effort and now we see the benefits of having received the help of the Empire –the Consul answered complacently.

Palpatine gave a sign and the small party began its way to the monolith, in front of them the native children, and behind Tagge and Amedda accompanied by other imperial dignitaries.

Palpatine resumed –Our help comes at a cost, especially after the indecisions of your family; I only hope that your policies are aligned to the interests of the galaxy –The old man was categorical, he knew exactly what he wanted from Ryloth: his raw materials and his workmanship, his design of a peaceful galaxy extended to more than one super battle station, wanted absolute control and use all the necessary infrastructure to subdue those who were inferior to him.

–We understand, my lord, the empire can have in us its most faithful ally.

–Excellent –The response of Free Taa pleased Palpatine –I understand that finally the libertarian movement has been suppressed, tell me how did you dealt with those who supported the rebels? –Palpatine knew all about the actions taken on Ryloth but sadistically he wished to hear it from Mirha's mouth.

–We have continued the bombings over hundreds of villages that supported Syndulla and his movement my lord, I have also given the order to execute those suspected of being sympathizers of our enemies–. Mirha responded not without having some remorse for the genocide of his people.

–Good –Palpatine smiled with pleasure, then transfigured. –However, I remember that Syndulla's death has not been confirmed.

Mirha went into nervousness.

– My lord, it's true, his remains were not found but ...

Palpatine confronted her –They must find his body, until then you and your regime will not be safe, act more effectively Consul Free Taa, you must be thorough, otherwise we shall not support your government, and you and your family will remain at the mercy of your people.

–We will not rest until you find his body, my lord –Mirha answered categorically.

The dark lord had accomplished his task, made Mirha feel uncomfortable with his presence, that remained below, docile and submissive, the Twi'lek was then kept silent. On the other hand Sidious felt that vertigo in the force approaching with greater power, the definitive moment was near. In front of them the pair of infants Twi'lek marked the step taking the arrangement made with roots and native flowers that would be placed at the foot of the monolith.

Ciroh Kaal remained alert, inside his helmet he watched everything, in front of him, his master and around, everything seemed to be serene, he felt the same sensation of when entering the cave of a Jabor, one of the most infamous creatures of the galaxy who waited in dark places to attack his prey at the least expected time, it was said that this monster feeds on fear and could perceive it from a distance, Kaal kept calm, in his mind the old phrase "Conquer your mind and you shall conquer the universe." resonated.

Intimidating stood the monolith, Palpatine and his entourage arrived to at its feet, the Twi'lek children placed the offering, a gentle wind caressed the Emperor's tunics, who looked at the audience, the vertigo in the force stopped for a moment, as if the cosmos would wait to hear what the monarch had to say.

Our conviction has shown once again that our project of a united galaxy in peace is supreme, today our commitment has been rewarded. Stability and order have been brought to Ryloth thanks to the efforts of our military forces.

Forces that we honor with this monument, commemoration of those who sacrificed themselves for the ideal of a single galaxy under a single power. Brave heroes who fought against those who tried to divide us, I am celebrating an anniversary of the liberation of Ryloth, here rest the remains of the clones that served during the war, this is the reward for those who are faithful to our ideal: the glory of existing forever in the memory of the citizens of the galaxy.

Ryloth has joined our project, now that she lives in peace, she fully shares our goal and our design of the galaxy. Ryloth will be a reminder to our enemies that our conviction will crush those who are against us, thus it shall be the fate of traitors.

Cham Syndulla, was never a rival to our power, was once a participant in our vision, but his ambitions led him to betray us, his punishment must be exemplary, as well as that of those who supported him.

Our determination will never be overshadowed by the shadow of those who are disloyal.

The ovation among the attendants of the imperial elite was tremendous, however bitterness could only be felt among the Twi’lek people.

-Excellent speech, Majesty!- Mirha said excitedly, Palpatine looked at her with disgust. He was congratulated by several imperial dignitaries and officials, all of them wanted to praise the tyrant; Palpatine, was used to that, since the times of the republic, he knew perfectly the maneuvers of the hypocrites who sought his favor.

After taking distance from the Consul and his entourage, the old man decided to continue his way down the podium to greet some of the military who were present. Palpatine enjoyed even more the adulation of his generals, admirals and governors, he was a master of manipulating them, making them compete in order to get his favor.

The emperor sinisterly continued his way to the shuttle, he did not intend to remain on that disgusting planet, he suddenly spotted Tarkin.

–Grand Moff –He said in a dark voice, when he was approaching to the governor.

–Majesty –Tarkin bowed.

The emperor made a sign with his hand indicating to his guards that he wished to have privacy, they made a formation getting closer to them, in order to separate the others. Tarkin then accompanied the Emperor to the shuttle.

–I wonder Governor, are we ever going to finish our project? – The dark lord said impatiently.

–My Lord, you know, we do not repair in our efforts to release to the empire its best and most efficient weapon.

–It is true Governor, however, I must urge you to double your efforts, there are reckless and uncontrollable Senators, who constantly conspire against us.

Tarkin pondered the Emperor's comment and deftly formulated an answer.

–My lord, I assure you as soon as we have concluded the battle station the Senate will no longer be a concern for you… –If there was something that Palpatine liked about Tarkin, it was that his answers were prompt and concise, he hated the hesitation, which was why he had great respect for the governor –...However, if you allow me, my lord, I would like to make you a question.

–Tell me, Governor, what do you want to know?–Palpatine turned to Tarkin.

–This  is very risky visit, and if there are conspiracies as you said, why to expose yourself to some attack?

–You are intelligent Governor, I was waiting for you to ask this question ...-

Tarkin raised his chin.

–Our enemies are skilled, but we should not make them feel that we fear them– Both continued their way.

–My lord, is there any information I do not know?– Tarkin did not like this type of games played by Emperor, the visit had not had the consent of the Security Bureau, even Wullf Yularen thought it was unnecessary to attend the opening of Zoura.

Palpatine on the other hand knew Tarkin very well, he knew that if there was something that bothered any of the prominent military men of the empire, it was not being properly inform about his plans, he only shared his information with Lord Vader or the Great Vizir who were his best confidants.

–It is better for you governor, it is not always good to know everything– The old man said while he was smiling.

–But my lord but I can't avoid being worried about about his safety- Wilhuff was sincere.

–Ah, of course, your position like that of many others, would hang by a thread if I was removed, however I would let you know governor, that we are in the middle of a conspiracy...– Palpatine detected Tarkin would have something to say.

–But Sir, if there’s danger why do you wish to expose yourself? Specially in this planet, it has not yet being confirmed the dead of Cham Syndulla.

Palpatine felt true fear in Tarkin, whom he had taken by surprise.

–You’re right Wilhuff, however you should not being worried about Syndulla, but rather you should put speed in the project commended to you. My friend right now, you and I walk into trap.

Ciroh Kaal listened to the last part of the conversation and could not help shuddering, Sidious immediately felt the shudder of Kaal, and was happy about it, but not only the captain had entered into stress, but the governor himself.

–If we are going into a trap, how could this conspiracy have been detected my Lord? Why is not Lord Vader here? –The Great Moff was uneasily.

–Easy Governor, you are about to see it...–

After he saying that Kaal was distracted by a metallic shine that came from the forest, when he realised what was it he shouted.

–¡Majesty, drop!– The captain tried to get the monarch when the shuttle was impacted by a projectile and then exploited.

The strength of the impact pull them several feet backwards, then the alert sounded around the square.

Amongst the multitude the turmoil started, several blasters were heard around while troopers broke formation in order to contain civilians and try to capture those who had guns.

Chaos was spread in the city, ciroh and his men stood surrounding the monarch, soon the engines of a tie fighter were heard coming closer. The red guards, took a defense position, meanwhile Palpatine in the floor was confused. 

Several months ago, during his meditations in the dark side, it was revealed to him an imminent danger, the dark lord since then tried to discover the nature of such thread, it was during a dark rumination that he discovered in a dream a baffling scene: in some rarely known space chaos and destruction was everywhere, yet he was unable to move, surrounding him were his red guards when suddenly a figure emerged from the smoke, it was Ciroh Kaal, whom without his helmet was holding his vibrospear, preparing himself to strike his victim.

For Sidious this dream was disconcerting, however he did not feel such attack being planned by Vader, due his absence in that dream showed him that his apprentice could even be a victim in this plot, if the red guard was involved in this strike, the conspiracy could come from the hight circle of the government. Nevertheless, who were involved? And when would they give their blow?

The Dark Lord was suspicious about Janus Greejatus and other prominent members of COMPNOR, specially because they were pretty insistent on him attending to the inauguration of Zoura City, and even though Tagge briefings on the Ryloth campaign were optimistic about its success, Wulf Yularen and Harus Ison, supported by the Grand Vizier Ammeda were opposed to the imperial visit.

Palpatine then commanded Vader to investigate and find any irregularity that could compromise his security during the visit, and to locate the conspirators. Once Vader located all anomalies he worked next to Tagge in order to frustrate the imminent regicide.

However Sidious was almost sickly suspicious about his guards, nevertheless Military Intelligence never found any lead that indicated them that captain Kaal was involved in the conspiracy, Kaal’s routine had been impeccable. Anyway Palpatine didn’t trust him, though he was unable to read the captain’s thoughts, he opted to keep him near.

The tie fighter was getting closer, Kaal and his men were in defensive position, then the fire from the fighter knocked down one by one four guards. Kaal could feel it was the end, he was ready to sacrifice himself for the Emperor. Inside the fighter’s cavin the polot was ready to shot against Ciroh, suddenly the ship was shot down by a short-range torpedo from a AT-ST.

–¡Protect the Emperor!– Cassio Tagge approached yelling from behind, followed by several troopers.

Palpatine made a sign to Tagge.

–Majesty, please let us help you– Kaal said trying to help the old man to stand up, Tagge did the same.  

–¡Ahh!– Palpatine screamed with no success getting up.

–My lord, are you okay?– Tagge asked with genuine concern.

The emperor was hurt on his right leg, it was difficult for him to stand straightly on his feet.

–Bring the medical shuttle immediately!– Tagge ordered to one of his officers, who asked the ship by the interlink.

–How is the Governor?– The old man asked in order to divert attention from him.

Another officer, touched Tarkin’s neck.

–He’s unconscious, majesty – The officer replied.

–Bring a medical capsule–Tagge commanded –Is everything in order, majesty? –He asked looking directly to Palpatine’s eyes, the emperor nodded.

Straight away a second shuttle landed, from it several imperial paramedics emerged the monarch was seated in a floating chair, while Tarkin was put in the medical capsule and prepared to board the ship.

From amongst the senators and imperial dignitaries, an injured Mas Amedda approached.

–My Lord, We must go– the Vizier diligently said –General Tagge, send right away all the dignitaries back to Coruscant, and take care of the Consul, there must be consequences.

The paramedics pushed the chair into the ship followed by the red guards and the Grand Vizier.

The Shuttle’s door was closed, and after it took off it was followed by six fighters. Soon several Shuttles landed in the square picking all the honor guests. Mirha was confused, she was looking to the emptiness, her faith was written and she knew it. Several troopers surrounded her and an officer made a sign for them to take her, Tagge followed them, he was instructed to make justice and he was aware of what was coming for the planet, after all he was the executor of the imperial will.

In space...

Palpatine was furious, submerged in his dark thoughts, he had had few clarity during the attempt against his life, his frustration was such that his pain was eclipsed by the storm of ideas coming in his min: What had happened? Whas that a joke from the dark side?, all his visions pointed to Ciroh Kaal as a traitor, yet reality had been different. While his leg was examined by the medical droid, the old man did not stop looking at Captain Kaal.

–Master, what is your desire? – Amedda approached and ask.

–We must go back to the capital, we must have our eyes wide open and watch those who surround us, traitors are everywhere –Palpatine answered feeling pain.

Ammeda bowed, and went to the pilot’s cabin.

In the command bridge of the Tremulator, Kendall saw how the shuttle followed by the fighters arrived to The Avenger, powerless and wrathful he was reflecting on what he did wrong, we was waiting in any moment the wrath of General Tagge.

–Sir...– Holst nervously interrupted –the Emperor is going back to Coruscant.

Ozzel nodded without losing sight of the scene in the space, his illusion of being promoted to Grand Almiral was lost, outside the destroyers took off to hiperspace.

The admiral needed to act quickly, otherwise it could be the end of his naval career. His revenge would be focused in the Twi’lek, thus they should feel his anger and would then be crashed with no mercy.

–No one is allowed in or out the system!– The admiral yelled with resolution.

[tehlaen]

Day 8: “Magnetic Interference” (Morality)

Day 8 of the 30 Day Star Wars OC Challenge from @smuggler-captain that I’m doing with @lessdenied! Previous posts are tagged with #30dayswchallenge.

This is a bit of a deviation from the listed thing; the prompt for Day 8 is “Morality,” but I already touched on that a fair amount in previous entries. Instead, I decided to share a bit of fic that show-don’t-tells Teh’s morality in action. 

(Also, I’m a day late and possibly a little rambly, thanks to the mind-fogging effects of head colds and the cold meds meant to make them bearable. So, ya know, be kind!)

The system didn’t even have a name, so far as Teh’laen could recall. Just a seemingly random sequence of letters and numbers that some bored surveyor had assigned it before hurrying to put the unremarkable collection of mostly stationary rocks behind them. Pretty much described every spacer’s feelings on it, she reflected. It was conveniently located just off the major hyperlanes that connected Hutt Space and the portions of the Galaxy still occupied by the reeling Sith Empire. Aside from its location and a seemingly endless supply of asteroids full of useful, if common, minerals, it had absolutely nothing else to recommend it. Ships dropped out of hyperspace, fueled up and resupplied, then put the ugly little system out of sight and out of mind.

Teh’laen hated it, but it was a reliable source of income for her, so once again, she found herself cruising through at a leisurely pace, one eye fixed on the long-range sensors. A couple of passenger liners. Tiny mining pods and their motherships—some belonging to conglomerates, others operated by wildcat miners. A heavy cargo hauler looked promising at first; she swung around, paralleling the transport at a distance that could be considered mildly suspicious, but not outright hostile.

“Essix, peek in the window; let’s see if they’re carrying anything good.”

The droid toodled an acknowledgement and went to work. The comm panel lit up as Essix, through the subspace array, spat out an electronic handshake. The other ship’s transponder answered automatically; unless the crew was particularly astute, they probably wouldn’t even have noticed that their ship’s computers were being pinged. Essix used the handshake to piggyback on the signal to slice into the ship’s mainframe.

Teh had paid out the nose for Essix’s slicing module—top-of-the-line, military-grade, the kind of thing that made planetary governments both envious and deeply uneasy. It had cost a small fortune, but it’d proven a worthy investment time and again. (And, if she was being honest, she couldn’t say no to Essix and adored spoiling the little rustbucket.) Bypassing the cargo ship’s firewall was child’s play, and data began streaming across a secondary monitor as Essix plundered their quarry’s files.

Teh’s lips curled down in a frown. Agricultural products, medical supplies, some heavy construction equipment and prefab structures...Its manifest was chock full of goods that were neither especially portable nor valuable, and certainly not at the ratio necessary to justify the risk and effort… or, for that matter, the ethical implications of stealing food, medicine and building supplies from people who probably needed it.

With a sigh, Teh’laen peeled off, increasing speed to clear the hauler’s comfort zone. If she wasn’t going to steal from them, there was no reason to hang out uncomfortably close and make the crew nervous.

Her wandering flightpath took her through the farther reaches of the system--close enough to scan ships dropping out of hyperspace, but not so close she had to worry about getting run over by some mega-transport like an insect on a speeder’s windscreen.

Her control board lit up and Essix bleated a warning; another ship apparently had had the same idea as she had and was prowling the vicinity.

Active scans, but no intrusion. Good.

Since they’d already been rude enough to hit the Yime’Dizoh with active scans--the spacecraft equivalent  of bracketing her with a spotlight and scrutinizing her with macrobinoculars--she felt no compunction against returning the favor.

A three-dimensional mockup of the other craft sprang into existence, the results of her scans highlighted with orange and red arrows. Heavy weapons, reinforced shields, plenty of cargo capacity… She had a sinking feeling in her gut, and a glance at the ship’s registry confirmed it: It belonged to the Labor Alliance, the largest consortium of slavers in this region of space.

Both Teh’laen and the slavers altered their course in an unspoken, apparently mutual decision to leave each other be. Under other circumstances, this sort of detente could have been construed as professional courtesy; on those occasions when she and another thief had bumped into one another while targeting the same mark (a situation that occurred more often than one might think), they almost always came to a similar arrangement and went their separate ways.

By now, the slavers would have had time to make their own assessment of Teh’laen’s ship and its decidedly atypical outfitting, and they had likely come to the (accurate) conclusion that she was a pirate, engaged in similar activities to theirs. She suspected that they let her be as part of that unspoken professional courtesy... In the Twi’lek’s experience, slavers often saw themselves as pirates specializing in a very particular commodity; their counterparts rarely appreciated the comparison, and Teh was most definitely among those who resented any such equivalence. Thief, sure; slaver, never.

On Teh’s part, at least, the decision not to attack was purely pragmatic; she relished the idea of erasing a few slavers from existence. But the two ships were probably evenly matched, which made the potential conflict decidedly not to her liking.

“Essix, keep an eye on them; lemme know if they do anything interesting.”

The droid chirped an affirmative, and a little halo surrounded its blip on her sensor readout as Essix tagged it.

Another ship dropped out of hyperspace and Teh glanced at the sensor readout. What she saw elicited a grimace: a decrepit medium freighter, with weak shields and engines that looked to have been cobbled together in a junkyard.

“Faithful of Bezhil, huh? I dunno what a ‘Bezhil’ is.” She glanced at Essix questioningly, and the droid chirped in agreement. He, apparently, had no idea either. “Alright, this is almost certainly a waste of time, but check it anyway.”

Essix repeated his feat, slicing into the Faithful of Bezhil’s computers effortlessly. The manifest scrolled across her screen; as expected, nothing but passengers.

“I’m going to assume that they’re not passengers worth robbing,” Teh said dryly as she looked at Essix. “Nobody would choose to travel on that piece of junk if they could afford not to.”

A strobing flash out of the corner of her eye drew her attention to the sensor readout; the icon representing the slaver ship had changed course and was set to intercept the Faithful.

Oh, shit.

Teh’laen chewed on her bottom lip as the slavers came up on their target’s stern and roared past with barely five hundred meters separating them. The pilot of the passenger ship goosed the throttle, and it lurched forward. Even an idiot could tell that there was no way the Faithful could outrun the slavers; even with its burst of speed, it crawled like a drunken Hutt in comparison to the raider that had it in its sights.

The slaver vessel pulled up in a lazy loop, then dove at the passenger ship, laser cannons blazing. Hard light chewed through the weak shields like a blowtorch through butter.

“Unidentified ship, this is the passenger ship Faithful of Bezhil!” Teh cursed as the panicked shout of the transport’s pilot blared through her earpiece. “Please, we are unarmed, break off your attack!”

Unsurprisingly, their pleas did not have the desired effect; a second strafing run, this time with ion cannons, left the transport drifting, its vital systems disabled or destroyed. Its subspace comm array, at least, was still functional: “I repeat, we are unarmed! We are transporting religious pilgrims on a holy voyage, we have no valuables to steal!”

Teh’laen glanced at her comm panel. The stricken vessel was broadcasting on an open channel--either because the pilot had flailed at their console in a panic, or as a calculated ploy to beg assistance from any vessels within comm range.

If they’re betting on charity in this part of space, they are sadly mistaken, Teh’laen thought to herself. And yet…

She sighed and brought the Yime’Dizoh around in a lazy loop. Essix trilled a question at her, and she didn’t bother glancing over as she answered. “Yeah, I know. Just be ready.”

With its shields and engines disabled, the pilgrims’ ship floated, helpless, as the slavers grappled and docked at the port airlock. Teh kept her eyes on the controls and the holographic mockup of the slaver ship and steadfastly refused to contemplate what was happening aboard the Faithful.

The Yime’Dizoh orbited the two joined vessels, just out of weapons range of the slaver ship.  Coupled to its quarry like this, it couldn’t bring most of its armament to bear even if Teh’laen’s vessel was in range, though a couple of turrets tracked her as she flew past.

Her scanners swept the attackers and she started to formulate a plan of attack. Slavers were a predictable bunch, and this crew was apparently no different. The raider’s shields and weaponry were top of the line, but the people making the purchasing decisions didn’t bother to consider less straightforward angles of attack. The ship’s electronic-warfare and countermeasures suite was hopelessly, hilariously outdated by modern standards.

Teh’laen’s lips parted in a predatory grin, baring gleaming, sharply pointed teeth. “Essix? Let’s have some fun.”

As expected, Teh’laen and Essix quite enjoyed what followed, and the slavers--likewise according to Teh’s expectations--most definitely did not. With the Yime’Dizoh docked to the Faithful’s starboard airlock and thus shielded from the slavers’ weapons by the transport’s bulk, and with unfettered access to the slavers’ electronic systems, the confrontation was over in a matter of minutes.

Seated in her ship’s lounge, booted feet kicked up on the holotable and munching contentedly on a slice of beto melon she’d found in the galley, Teh’laen’s fingers flicked casually over the simulated control panel that Essix projected for her. Opening and closing the correct blast doors in the correct sequence shot most of the slavers out into vacuum before they even realized what was happening. By the time a couple of the brighter slavers--contradiction in terms, that--caught on, they were cut off from their ship. One grabbed a hostage, hauling him by his long, braided hair through the corridors, trusting that his unseen assailant wouldn’t space both attacker and victim. Which, Teh had to admit, was true.

That said, she reflected, if one were counting on a hostage to save one’s life, best to keep that hostage close and not drag them along a corridor with one’s arm outstretched. Particularly when a slicer had control of the blast doors and hatchways.

When she’d finished, the only trace of the slavers still aboard the pilgrim ship was a length of the late hostage-taker’s arm, severed just above the elbow. The hostage was having a fit; but, she thought to herself, better to be having a fit on this side of the airlock.

Teh’laen rose to feet, double-checking the charge on her blaster as she strolled to her ship’s airlock. “C’mon, Essix, let’s go clean up.”

The droid toodled at her derisively and she smirked. “Not literally. These poor fools want the blood mopped up, they can do it themselves.”

The Faithful of Bezhil was a mess. Passengers from more than a dozen different species sat, slumped or lay about in varying states of distress. Their clothes were rough, almost certainly hand-made, and their possessions were few and strictly of sentimental value.

“Vow of poverty, I guess,” she remarked dryly to no one in particular as she picked her way carefully among the pilgrims. They looked up at her with expressions ranging from guarded optimism to gratitude to mortal terror to near reverence, and it was the last that she found most discomfiting.

None of them had any symbols indicating rank, and since their clothes were uniformly shabby, she couldn’t even rely on the otherwise universal rule of “better clothes, higher status.”

She sighed and opened her arms, careful not to accidentally point the blaster held loosely in her right hand at any of the already traumatized passengers. “Anybody want to tell me who’s in charge or what the hell’s going on here?”

Faces turned in the direction of an old Zabrak, the tattoos on his face faded with age and the horns atop his head weathered and chipped. He gave Teh’laen a warm smile and stepped forward, holding out both of his hands to take hers.

She didn’t oblige, instead planting her left hand on her hip and letting her right arm dangle by her side, blaster pointed at the floor. “You in charge?” she asked coolly, one eyebrow arched.

He smiled and Teh’laen’s eyes tightened. “Our deity, the Great Consciousness Bezhil, is who’s ‘in charge’ here, Captain, as They are in all aspects of our lives.”

Fucking great. A sermon. No good deed, huh?

Teh’laen holstered her weapon with perhaps more force than was necessary and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fantastic. So can I talk to Bezhil? Or is there someone a little more corporeal that I can have a little chat with.”

A startled murmur rose from the Zabrak’s congregation and Teh set her jaw. Showing more sense than she would have thought, he bowed his head politely. “I suppose that would be me. My name is Hagen and I lead this group of adherents.”

Teh’laen glanced about, scanning faces, then returned her gaze to Hagen. “Okay. That answers my first question. My second question, though, still stands.”

The beneficent smile on the old man’s lips faded somewhat. “I apologize, Captain. What question was that?”

She sighed heavily. “What the hell is going on here? More to the point, what the hell were you thinking, traipsing through one of the most dangerous regions of space in a ship that, if I hadn’t personally seen it drop out of hyperspace, I would have mistaken for space junk?”

His smile grew again, and Teh’laen couldn’t fully keep the scowl off her own face. “Ah. As I said, we are pilgrims. This,” he waved around, indicating his flock and their vessel, “is but a test of our faith. In search of the enlightenment that will make us one with The Great Consciousness Bezhil, we travel the stars, trusting in Them to watch over us and provide what we need.”

“Right,” she replied dryly.

“Because we rely strictly on Their largesse, we do not keep any but the most rudimentary supplies on hand. Truth be told, I am not certain why those pirates attacked us; as we tried several times to explain, both before and after they boarded our humble ship, we have nothing of value to steal.”

“Idiot,” Teh ground out between her teeth.

Hagen looked at her with eyes wide, and shocked gasps came from the pilgrims closest to them. “I beg your pardon?”

“They weren’t pirates, you stupid bastards.” Her voice was less a recrimination than a dejected sigh, disappointed in their naivete. “They were slavers. They weren’t after credits or jewelry. You’re all poor, but the one thing they want, you possess in abundance.”

An expression of horror dawned on Hagen’s face and dozens of voices began to shout over one another. Teh’laen stood there, arms crossed, until the cacophony diminished.

The group’s leader recovered his  composure first, and he bowed his head toward her. “Then we are doubly grateful for your assistance, Captain. Truly, Bezhil has rewarded our faith with protection.”

The Lethan Twi’lek shifted her weight from one foot to the other, losing patience. “Maybe next time you should ask Bezhil for blaster cannons, deflector shields and engines that actually work.”

Hagen’s smile turned almost to a smirk, and Teh’s hands tightened on her arms to keep herself from reaching out and slapping it off his face. “No need, Captain. They sent us you.”

That does it.

Teh’laen lunged forward, grabbing the shoulders of Hagen’s roughspun tunic and bunching the fabric up in her fists. “Are you stupid?” she spat. “Your god didn’t send me. I’m a pirate. The only reason they took your ship instead of me is because you’re poor and don’t have anything I feel like taking from you.”

The look of panic on his face set off a guilty twinge in the back of her mind, but she didn’t let it show on her face. Good. Maybe he’ll realize that he can’t count on someone coming along to save him and his friends.

She released her grip and took a step back, then turned in a slow circle to take in the other pilgrims. “I scanned the damage to your ship; it’ll take a day or more to get your engines operational, and at least that long for shields. If it’s even possible to repair this thing. I’m not sticking around that long. I’ll be leaving in a little under two hours; anyone wants a ride, I suggest you be at the starboard airlock before I return. Only what you can carry. Though,” she added after a moment, “I guess that shouldn’t be a problem--vow of poverty and all.”

The quiet ripple of laughter heartened her, and she looked at Hagen. “Anyone injured?”

He shook his head. “Not seriously. We have medicine enough to treat them.”

“Good. I’ll be back.”

The slavers had been busy.

Teh’laen focused on the task. She refused to count the beings crammed into the hold, or speculate at their ages, or think about their injuries beyond what sort of treatment they’d require and whether she could provide it.

The controls for the shockcollars affixed to their necks was a closed circuit, not linked into the ship’s other systems, but once she and Essix had physical access to it, the droid’s slicing protocols made quick work of them.

Her voice was softer, but still briskly professional, as she swept her eyes over the freed slaves. “I’ll be leaving shortly. If you’d rather not stick around, you can get a ride to some place with a medical facility, maybe even a Republic embassy. I can’t promise th….”

She trailed off as she spotted a Devaronian near the very back. Something was off about him; Teh’laen’s eyes narrowed to slits of amethyst and she pushed through the crowd to face him. He cringed and shied away from her.

Too clean. That was it. She grabbed one of the Devaronian’s horns with one hand, wrenching his head around so that her other hand could pull down the neck of his freshly-laundered shirt.

“No shockcollar, hmm?” Her scarlet lips, pressed into a thin line, paled to a sickly pink.

“N-no, they j-j-just captured me!”

“Uh huh.”  Teh let go of him and he straightened his shirt, looking around warily at the freed slaves starting to press in upon them.

A small vibroblade dropped into her palm with a flick of her wrist, and she reached up and rent the fabric from navel to collarbone.

The Devaronian clutched the ruined cloth around him, trying desperately--and futilely--to conceal the tattoos that marked him as a proud member of the Labor Alliance.

Teh’laen regarded him coolly. The former captives watched their former captor with bloodlust, but they glanced at the tall Twi’lek before they made any move.

She shifted her weight to one hip, holding one elbow in the palm of her hand as she inspected her nails with studied indifference.

“Hm.”

Nearly a hundred eyes stared at her.

“I’m leaving shortly,” she remarked offhandedly, then turned for the hatch. “Make it fast.”

[libertarianbarbarian]

United State Wars Troopers

United Starwars Troopers

   Facts:

- https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Galactic_Empire/Legends#Government_and_politics

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Loyalist

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Galactic_Republic#Organization

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sector_Governance_Decree

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Delegation_of_2,000

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Petition_of_2,000

 -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers#Militarism

 - https://www.amazon.com/Expanded-Universe-Worlds-Robert-Heinlein/product-reviews/0441218830?pageNumber=2

  OPED WARNING

“My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days, a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop the Fire Nation.” Oh yeah, I’m going to get that dorky with it today!

So, here’s the spiel, we’re divided as ever. The left hates the right, liberals hate “nazis”, or “fascists”, or “racists” …or whatever the hell it is now and days. But there’s something to be said about coming together. I’m sorry but no matter what news source you look at whether it be CNN, or Newsmax…or Fox News, then you’re inevitably going to come up with one conclusion. We’re divided. The only real thing that you’re going to see is the source of the division from network to network.

I know, I know, you’re tired about hearing all of this bullshit by now. Got it, and I am too damn it…but hear me out on this one. This is classically, no comically standard procedure, and probably something that all of us have seen before. One look at my FACTS section and you’ll know where I’m going with this. I personally thought about it for a moment and started laughing my ass off about the whole thing myself!

So yeah, Star Wars, and Starship Troopers. Something everyone knows, and probably loves to hell. Well if you take a close look at everything you start to see a pattern. Back when “Lucasfilms” came out with the prequels of the series that everyone, except my goofy ass, hated they tried to explain how the galaxy was as fucked as it was. Back in the beginning of everything, regarding the prequels, it was kind of calm and had the normal shenanigans going on in politics. You know, a little corruption here, a lobbyist there, special interests for specific politicians popping up all over the place, normal stuff.

Well the biggest thing that popped up was the clone wars. I understand that it didn’t really kick off until episode II but stick with me on this. There was major upheaval. One man, spoiler alert…if you didn’t already know, Senator Palpatine rose through the ranks to prominence. In the background he was manipulating something that they call “the outer rim”, or a special group of planets in the galaxy that weren’t part of the “Galactic Republic”. Think of like a foreign interest’s type of thing. Not to long after that war broke out between a group in “the outer rim” and the “Galactic Republic” called the clone wars.

Yes, we’ve got little Anakin Skywalker, emotional little shit bag, and Padme Amidala as the protagonist’s along with young Obi-Wan Kenobi. There’s something to be said about the main political shit going on around the same time and the division it caused amongst the masses though. Basically while the “Clone Wars” were going on you still had senators going “rabble rabble” in one big hall that represented their planet and then Senator Palpatine inching his ass in to the Supreme Chancellor spot…or I guess their version of a president? Anyways slowly but surely, he started to use the war itself as a springboard to slowly limit the powers of the individual citizens, then BAM! Out comes the “Galactic Empire” that we’re all familiar with and the still evermore moody Anakin Skywalker now Darth Vader.

Ok, I think we’re all caught up now. The reason why I say that there was a major division going on here that made me laugh is that this all sounds vaguely familiar. Right now, as it is, we have a group of elites in Washington D.C. that are pretty much dictating what and who we are as individuals along with what we say socially. Take a look at the news I’ll wait. Are you back yet?

Alright, the real big thing that I looked in to as hard as I could was what the main doctrine of the Galactic Republic had as its backbone. I couldn’t find it exactly so I had to pull some crime show forensic shit to figure out what the hell was going on, and why was it so easy for that form of government to be broken up. Well looking at it they did have a “constitution”, but from everything I could find it was basically weak as hell. Point one for America right there.

It was nothing during a time of war for Palpatine to just waltz right in and declare himself the Supreme Chancellor. He still had to divide the senate and get them to argue amongst each other. Cause a little chaos here, question the morals of a specific candidate. Ahem…call in to question the freaking Supreme Chancellor Valurum, the guy before him. There ya go, bad guy in office for the movies to continue.

The part that really started to get me laughing though was the way everything was set up after I started to do my research for this blog. They had almost the exact same set up we did. “Office of the Chancellor”, “Galactic Senate”, “Judicial Department”. If you ask me that kind of sounds like the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Well I think that one might be a draw…maybe. Hold up, all the power was easily transferable to the Galactic Senate, because red tape. Yup, they put out all this shit that pretty much made it easy for them to grab power from anyone and everyone they wanted to through bureaucracy. As a matter of fact, Palpatine our good old Sith buddy here added more on to it.

One thing that I’m pretty sure everyone else knows, even though we’ve got a shit ton of red tape going through our own government here it’s damn near impossible to do that from any one of our three branches. They try, they always do, but because of the constitution of the United States of America, ahem, “You will fail!” I’m sorry that was just way to damn easy not to do.

So to say that we’re close to but not quiet like the Star Wars franchise is kind of funny. Yes, we are. We’re not exactly like space traveling ninjas that can do some pretty cool looking Dragon Ball Z stuff, nor are our two governmental systems EXACTLY alike, but we have something that they have and it’s political officials causing both division and derision with in our own society.

Palpatine isn’t just one specific person with in our own in real life society. Hell no! Instead he’s an amalgamation of several different things and groups we have going on right now. Social justice warriors, the ones that want to sit there and tell you that we have to accept the what is told to us by their community because no matter the situation they are right and we are wrong and that’s the way we’ve set it up for, I don’t know, millennia now. There’s the politicians that placate to the exact same kind of bullshit that’s been reiterated by the social justice warriors and those who are from the opposite that lets be honest here kind of issue the same rhetoric and year after year slowly increase government power and their paychecks.

There’s also, and you know I don’t like these folks here, big tech. I’m all for a company growing in the free market. I’m all for it becoming a big conglomerate of sorts. What I’m not for is that company monopolizing the market that it’s in, nor am I for that company not obeying the laws of its country of origin. Oh! Yeah almost forgot, here’s the liberal in me if you want to put it that way, I’m also not for these companies blatantly censoring those of a creed, race, political choice, religion, or country of origin. We should all have freedom of speech and be willing to accept the consequences of our actions no matter what caused them. All of those factors and groups are our Palpatine.

One thing that my ass is definitely going to talk about here is the Galactic Republic a little more. If you take a deeper dive in to the Star Wars franchise, you’ll notice something as well. Doing research about the whole Galactic Republic, and then the Galactic Empire there was a promise that further divided people. The promise of safety.

Granted everyone wants to be safe. Hell, I want to be safe, but there’s something to be said about HOW you are safe. Call me heated now because damn this is going to be a touchy one. Are you anymore safer if you relinquish how you are safe? Are you any safer in your very free mind if you have someone forcibly tell you how to be safe? I’m sorry but my answer is always going to be no. As should yours. The Galactic Republic, much like our own government, slowly eroded its own power through bureaucratic policy after bureaucratic policy. Even in the movies you can blatantly see them do this in the few scenes that they hold in the movies. Hell, one of the most famous movie quotes is “So this is how liberty dies…with thunderous applause.”

I’m sorry but there’s always one sure fire way to be able to get people to commit to that, make them afraid then divide them. We see it play out plenty of times a day here in our own country. The news reports things out of context, or completely false on both sides. Legislatures and other government officials will add more laws to try and cover up what we as a nation had as one of our founding documents. Then the radicals from either side will sit there and either fight against it with their utmost or tell the general population that there needs to be more.

It’s not right. Now there is a flipside to this coin. Militarism. And here’s the little gobblety goop that caused me to take pause and add in Starship Troopers to this whole mess. This whole series started off as a book that was written by Robert A. Heinlein. Don’t ask, I don’t know how to seriously pronounce his name. But I’m pretty sure that not many of my readers will know who the hell that is. I’m pretty sure that my readers would know more about the comical movie that was made in the nineties. I sure as hell didn’t know that there was a book written before the movie.

Now I say “Militarism” because that’s pretty much what Starship Troopers is all about. And it sure as hell mirrors other things that are going on now and days as well. The left has been militarized to form groups like “Antifa”. The right now has groups that won’t start a fight, nor are they racist, but sure as hell will finish a fight like “The Proud Boys”. Don’t get me wrong I have no issues with the proud boys, however I don’t think that their answer is quiet the right one. Some of the things that both groups do that could end up looking like some engagement on “Klendathu”.

Basically, though, in the 1950’s this writer Robert A. Heinlein wrote a sci-fi critique of what he believed was wrong with the U.S. at the time. He’d been stated for “glorified the military…Specifically the P.B.I., Poor Bloody Infantry, the mudfoot who places his frail body between his loved home and the wars desolation-but is rarely appreciated…he has the toughest job of all and should be honored.” Cool so he’s a fan of the military right? Well not so fast there. I, as a veteran of the Army, wouldn’t stand for the bullshit in the movies that he put out.

You’re only a citizen if you’ve served two years in the Starship Troopers military. Only citizens can vote. Only citizens have the right to apply for a license to procreate with their partner. I’m sorry but that would be more towards the right side of things. I can’t name a single military veteran that would actually be cool with that. Yeah democrats getting into our highest position in the executive offices would absolutely mean budget cuts. Oh, and that means that they end up drawing back on forces or start kicking out soldiers for the simplest or pettiest of reasons. No that’s not a way to go ahead and start doing things either.

See the thing about Heilein here is that he had a very crazy view on things. He looked at the way that the U.S. was at the time and thought “hey we need to hand out more ass whoopin’s.” I’m sorry what? Yes, that’s right, the guy who wrote Starship Troopers thought that there wasn’t enough corporal and capital punishment now and days.

Now if you said something like all around I might could get around that if we were talking a little less harsh corporal punishments than used to be passed around back in the day. The women suffrage movement should have been an example for just women, but for everyone. We don’t need a repeat of the “rule of thumb” for the next poor soul that fucks up in a way that’s irredeemable to their partner. No, I’m down with corporal punishment if it’s with less severe crimes than the big ones. You know rape, child molestation, man slaughter, stuff like that. I think that we can all agree that child molestation needs to be more punishable than “three squares and a cot”.

But one thing that we’ve shied away from what we use to be, and it caused us as a nation. I’m not suggesting that we all of a sudden put Rico on the stocks and start whipping him. It was negligible homicide, and he didn’t know what he was doing leave the poor kid alone. No, if you really want to keep people together first you have to start with a set of minds that things need to be more punishable than they are. Go ahead and call the child molester out and sentence him to death. It’s been proven that its more cost effective to our jail system anyways, and who in their right or left mind wouldn’t want to protect their own children?

No people, one less murderer is still one less murderer. Make sure there’s a time period where they do a more in-depth investigation to make sure that we’ve got the right guy. Make sure that there weren’t any false allegations handed forward against the person you say is a child molester. But if you’re caught selling drugs to someone that you know are illegal and could get the person addicted then you should absolutely not be a seamstress getting that “three squares and a cot”. No hell no, but the person’s ass to work, make them take responsibility for what they did. Put their ass to work like we use to with chain gangs, there’s plenty of substantive materials that we could use the jail systems help on producing.

Of course, the libertarian in me is going to cry out…right…about…now! There’s something to be said though about repealing other things away. No direct profit for any given company in regard to the labor put for by the “chain gang”. Give the profit nation wide to those we put to labor, have them reap some sort of reward. You commit to A form of corporal punishment and rehabilitate them at the same time. Win, win.

Now that I’m off of my little pulpit there’s something that goes back to topic here. In Starship Troopers there’s one agreement that I can make with author. Some conflicts have to be resolved by force. One thing that I will absolutely agree and disagree with at the same time. We didn’t need to go to Iraq, but we did need to go to Afghanistan. There were terrorists that were wreaking havoc on the whole of Afghanistan and in order for those people to chose for themselves what and who they want to be we needed to weed that shit out. No, we didn’t go there to do that originally. Yes, we went there to get Osama Bin Laden. But it was something that once we found we couldn’t stand for as a nation.

So yes, I agree that if we have an incursion against us, like 9/11, then we have to retaliate just like we did or what happened in Pearl Harbor. But when we find further injustice and the people cry out, well fuck if they ask us for aide then it’s our responsibility to answer. Hell, no should we be looking for “WMD’s”. We all figured out what the ploy was there real quick. Yes, they had a dictator that was gassing them pretty much every day. But the responsibility belongs to those countries around them to take refugee’s and protect them.

So, there’s absolutely an answer to all this division we have…and yeah, we see it all the time in our media. We have to sit on our high horse as a nation and as a people and first cut the division bullshit and then stop being like “Star Wars” or “Starship Troopers” and agree to disagree. I parrot this bullshit all day long and damn near every freaking blog. We need the third party, libertarians, to go ahead and help things along so that the two warring political parties we have right now don’t divide and conquer us. We see this all the time in our movies and books. We have a choice, do we still want looting, rioting, and others reaching across the isle to call each other names and censor them…Or do we want to be like Palpatine and start the first “Galactic Empire” and make everyone fear us?

[mexican-browser]

Star Wars Shower Thoughts to Phantom your Menace:

•The quality of education must be amazing for so many characters to be able to understand and communicate in multiple alien languages

•A number of sentients have looked at the Jedi and Sith and figured they were both insane cults to avoid at all costs

•There must be a very well-off conglomerate of plumbing corporations that cater to the toileting needs of so many different aliens, they could have afforded to sit out the Clone Wars rather than join the Separatist Council from how much they were making

•Stormtroopers probably have whole lives and stories to tell that we will never know about because they’re cannon fodder mooks

•The Rebels have probably committed war crimes and covered the more egregious ones up after they won

•A whole-ass Star Destroyer must have cost the annual GDP of Canada to make, and yet the Empire could afford to build fleets of them, so they clearly could have afforded hand-railing in the Death Star laser tunnel

•Darth Vader’s heavy breathing is probably because he’s so tired at this point of everything, or because it’s just hard for him to breath in that suit

•Programming must be a nightmare given the advanced nature of droids.

[dragonflyfilm-blog]

Star Wars Art from a Modern Point of View

Since the late eighteen-hundreds film has brought creativity and adventure to society. It has allowed audiences to escape their troubles for a brief time and live the adventures of other characters. During the Great Depression, film was one of the few successful industries because of its ability to depict new perspectives through imagination. “Movies not only can tell us something of how the cultures from which they arise understand themselves, but they equally creatively engage with the way their audience come to understand themselves and thus shape what and how they see” (Brode & Deyneka, 2012, p. 65). More specifically during the seventies, society struggled with the war in Vietnam, Watergate, and an unstable economy. Thus, America needed hope, enter Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Brode & Deyneka, 2012). In 1977, writer and director, George Lucas introduced the world to Star Wars; one of the greatest inspirational stories of the cinematic world. He created new and imaginative worlds with influential characters that illustrated real life issues through classic motifs; such as good versus evil, faith, power, and destiny. Legendary mythologist, writer, and mentor to Lucas, Joseph Campbell stated, “It has always been the prime function of mythology to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those other constant human fantasies that tend to tie it back” (Brode & Deyneka, 2012, p. 36).

There has been endless inspiration through the themes created in Star Wars. Many artists have been encouraged and inspired to interpret these themes and create something in their own understanding. One of these inspired artists is Scott Harben. Five years ago, I was introduced to the world of comic cons, I have traveled the United States and have had amazing opportunities to meet countless celebrities and artists, and make lifetime friends. In my travels, I had the honor of meeting Star Wars artist, Scott Harben. He captures the dramatic and realistic emotions and adventures of many favorite characters from Star Wars. I have collected many of his art pieces and have had the privilege to spend time with Scott to better understand why he paints what he does and what inspires him.

Before I emerge into my interview with Scott Harben, I would like to give you a better understanding into the creative process of George Lucas and his hope for what Star Wars would influence in inspiring artists.  In many cultures to date, Star Wars has been interpreted as overwhelmingly religious. However, Lucas had a different agenda for its significance. He collected the common issues represented through religion, and echoes them in a modern concept to aid people in understanding that there is a greater mystery out there. Since the very first movie, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, released in 1977 the famous quote “May the Force be with You” demonstrates one of the stories’ most important theme of spiritual belief. “The Force is a conglomeration of beliefs that viewers of any religious background can associate with, a faith in a higher purpose or energy that cuts across dogma by incorporating Western and Eastern spirituality” (Brode & Deyneka, 2012, p. 39). In the ways of The Force, Star Wars has been used in many cultures as an example to better explain their own religion. In retrospect, Lucas believed all religions as the same; it’s just they are being viewed in different perspectives. He describes religion as a vessel for faith. It helps keep us together, as a society, in maintain stability, or balance (The Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas and Bill Moyers, 1999). The correlation of faith and its aid in keeping society balanced relates the struggle between the two sides of The Force. Lucas was inspired by a plethora of cultures and beliefs, which brought life to characters like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Through these characters, he illustrates an antagonistic balance between Jedi and Sith and their faith in a correlation of beliefs known as The Force. He created “The Force” to awaken a certain spirituality in his young viewers. He wanted them to interpret it more as a god than a specific religion (The Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas and Bill Moyers, 1999). There are two sides of practicing The Force; those who follow the Jedi Creed, the light side, and those who choose the way of the Sith, the dark side. Lucas designs the light side and the dark side through the emotions of compassion and greed; although they offset one another, the goal is to balance them out. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi defines The Force as “… an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together” (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, 1977). To better understand the significance of each side, it is important to further dissect each code of belief. Jedi follow the code of “There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force” (Wallace, 2012, p. 5-6). Jedi are viewed as peacekeepers or negotiators who follow a certain moral code that can be aesthetically pleasing in accordance with the “good guys”. They are known to help discover hidden agendas in any dispute. In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Yoda, the wisest Jedi of them all, is teaching Luke Skywalker the ways of The Force and states, “A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never for attack”. This demonstrates how Jedi believe in clearing ones’ mind of aggression and anger and using harmonious understandings to protect. Continuing his teachings to Luke Skywalker, Yoda quotes, “…my ally is the force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it. Makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we…” (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, 1977). George Lucas illustrates Jedi as civilized spiritual beings, or angels, that are there to protect the innocent.

Opposite the Jedi is the Sith Empire who follow the creed “Peace is a lie. There is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The force shall free me” (Wallace, 2016, p. 47). The Sith are conquerors who have a deviant nature that make them appear as the “bad guys”. The two most famous Sith characters in Star Wars are Darth Vader and Darth Maul. Even though both are interpreted as “evil”, Lucas had very different connotations for both characters. He created the image of the Sith, Darth Maul through representations of evil that were found in various religions; such as Christianity, Hindu, and Greek Mythology. Part of his inspiration for the character was taken from elements in the world renown, Dante’s Inferno. In accordance to his findings, Lucas discovered most representations of evil, or Satan, were depicted with horns; thus, Darth Maul has red/black skin and horns (The Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas and Bill Moyers, 1999). Darth Maul was created as an alien but could be viewed as human, unlike the composite of a man, Darth Vader. Lucas wanted Darth Maul to be more human, so the audience could identify him as the evil within each of us. However, Lucas wanted a different emotion for Darth Vader, a half man and half machine. Although Darth Vader represents evil, Lucas created him to stand for power. In the Sith creed, power is one of the most significant elements. “… Through power I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken…” In the father-son struggle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker the essence of power is characterized through redemption. Darth Vader sought redemption from his son, Luke Skywalker. Experiencing the adventure through this relationship, some might favor Luke because of his “good guy” persona. Nevertheless, in the end, Darth Vader is the ultimate father figure, the all-powerful (The Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas and Bill Moyers, 1999). In understanding the different undertones for two significant Sith characters, one can conclude that Sith use their passion and hatred to gain power by whatever means necessary. These antagonistic sides depict a certain good versus evil theme that relate to one common denominator, The Force. George Lucas wanted to demonstrate to his viewers that everything surroundings us, light and dark; good and evil are all necessary in comprehending that there is a greater mystery out there and they all need to coexist to have balance.

George Lucas incorporated specific color schemes throughout Star Wars. Red is a color known to represent aggression, passion, victory, and power. These are typical characteristics of the Sith. Blue is known to represent peace, harmony, serenity, and trust; typical characteristics of the Jedi. These colors are even illustrated by lightsabers, weapons used by Sith and Jedi. In the society of Star Wars lightsabers were considered a weapon of elegance and stature while blasters used by other significant characters, like Han Solo, were considered random and clumsy (Brode & Deyneka, 2012). The history of lightsabers begins with kyber crystals, an element that is considered a living life force. In Jedi lightsabers, the natural color of the kyber crystals is blue or green. The crystals act as the heart of the lightsaber which focuses the force from the Jedi. They assemble for “The Gathering” where young Jedi students overcome their weakest characteristic; like fear or selflessness, to collect their kyber crystal which creates their lightsaber (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, 2012). As for the Sith, their process in collecting the crystals for their lightsabers consisted of pouring their anger into the kyber crystal causing it to bleed, creating a red color which symbolizes passion, hatred, and aggression (Soule, 2017).

In the video The Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas and Bill Moyers, (1999) Bill Moyers asks George Lucas what he feels different cultures will take from Star Wars. Lucas replies, “One of the main things in the film is having organisms realize that they must live together. And they must live together for mutual advantage. Not just humans, but all living things and everything in the galaxy is part of a greater whole”. Both Jedi and Sith alike demonstrate opposite sides of good versus evil through the light and dark side of the force however, subliminally balancing each other out.

Now that you have a better understanding of George Lucas’ inspiration of the world phenomenon of Star Wars, you can better interpret the inspiration it has on artists worldwide today. In all my Scott Harben collections, each painting has its own story and I have had the privilege of spending time with Scott to better understand where he draws his inspiration from and how he is influenced from the creativity of George Lucas’ Star Wars universe. I began our interview by relaying that George Lucas highlights several themes in Star Wars like evil versus good, power, and destiny.

Do you relate to those themes when you are creating your Star Wars art pieces? In addition, if you are inspired by these themes, do you incorporate your own interpretations into your work?

Thematically I lean to the darker moods. I feel the tension of that imagery is something I am attached to. Dark characters of darker moments in the life of the heroes is far more interesting and it draws the audience into the journey. I have always enjoyed creating work with Darth Vader and Darth Maul as they were the most interesting characters. A good bad guy believes he is in the right and that their motivations are just.

George Lucas illustrates different color schemes for different characters and settings. For example, red is used to characterize evil such as Darth Vader and Darth Maul; when blue and green are used to symbolize good characters like Luke Skywalker and Yoda. Do you take these schemes into consideration when creating a Star Wars piece? If so, why? Do you ever change it up with your own interpretation?

Absolutely.  These are basic illustrative tools.  You can look at old master paintings and see this.  Pixar uses this heavily in all their films. My work has though, a small amount of color, I only use about 4 colors in each.  This keeps the tone and feel focused on the action and or character.

Do your past experiences reflect in your artwork? 

To some extent. Influentially speaking.  Artists who have influenced my work I pay homage to.  Frank Frazetta for example was my influence for my Cyborg Maul.

What is your creative process when drawing or painting?

I study the character or moment that I want to depict.  I then look for the most interesting way to create tension.  The characters should always look like they are about to snap or that they are in the midst of action. I either do a series of thumbnails or a photoshoot of figure reference.  I then do a digital mockup if it’s going to be a traditional painting or if digital it begins the painting process.  I create a palette of color based on my feeling about the piece then start the main work. Always do the characters first then the background last.

All your Star Wars pieces are designed around the Fibonacci sequence. Is there a reason behind the inspiration? Is there any other artistic element incorporated within your work?

I feel one of the traditional methods of composition, the rule of thirds, is too predictable.  The Fibonacci is organic.  It is a mathematical constant however it allows for a more natural flow of the viewers eye over the image. I adhere to what I teach, Cinematic Storytelling.  It reasons that once you know what the human eye looks for when viewing and image, whether still or motion, it becomes far easier to tell a story.

I really enjoyed talking with Scott about Star Wars and how it influences his work. While you see various works of art through different mediums, seldom do you get to hear insight from the artist themselves. In each of his art pieces he incorporates the Fibonacci sequence to help draw attention to certain aspects of the characters he has created. I found it interesting that he enjoys drawing dark characters and moments from the films and that he states, “a good bad guy believes he is in the right and that their motivations are just.” This relates to George Lucas perspective of balance between good and evil. When each side is really dissected in its own understanding; neither one is evil nor good, its just a different perspective of belief. Jedi and Sith both have their own outlook on how to achieve success in the same way that various artists can draw the same themes from different points of view. This enables a multitude of interpretations based on the same character and thus gives us the freedom of enjoying something from different aspects whether it be from colors, lighting, or feelings.

 References

Brode, D., & Deyneka, L. (Eds.). (2012). Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars: An Anthology. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Kurtz, G (Producer), & Kershner, I. (Director). (1980). Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back [Motion picture]. United States: Lucas Film

Kurtz, G. (Producer), & Lucas, G. (Director). (1977). Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope [Motion picture]. United States: Lucas Film.

McCallum, R. (Producer), & Lucas, G. (Director). (1999). Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace [Motion picture]. United States: Lucas Film.

Moeller, H. (2012). The Philosophy of the Daodejing. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

The Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas and Bill Moyers [Video file]. (1999). Retrieved November 30, 2017, from https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=106247&xtid=9102

Sayre, Henry M., (2016). A World of Art.  Retrieved from https://daveschool.instructure.com/courses/537/external_tools/222

Soule, C. (2017). Star Wars: Darth Vader [Cartoon]. New York City, NY: Marvel Comics

Taylor, C. (Writer), & Dunlevy, K. (Director). (2012). The Gathering [Television series episode]. Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Burbank, CA: Cartoon Network.

Wallace, D. (2012). Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books LLC.

Wallace, D. (2012). The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books LLC.

All the photos posted are done by Scott Harben, please visit his webpage for incredibly aesthetic artwork. 

http://www.harbenpictures.com/concept-art/bg4ncuqu38cfnolxtx3n8gat43zdqq