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anghraine · 5 years ago

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“the jedi and the sith lord” - chapter three

Very belatedly, an update!

Last chapter:

“Why should I believe that?”

“Search your feelings,” said Vader, and through everything, the words fell into the same cadence as Obi-Wan’s, Yoda’s. Any Jedi’s, she guessed, and nearly shivered. Was he a Jedi, still? “The Force will tell you it is true.”

“The Force!” Lucy nearly screamed with laughter. “I don’t feel anything! You—you’ve cut me off from the Force, you’re—”

“You are a Skywalker,” Vader said sharply. “Nothing can block the Force from you.”

This chapter:

Tuvié’s hand returned to Lucy’s arm and she gently led her into the practice room, pointing out various raised platforms that could be remotely moved about the room, and a sealed equipment cabinet. Lucy paused in front of it, once again trying to reach out for the Force, sense anything that might be of use. But she felt not even the tiniest glimmer, and could nearly have screamed in fury.

Anger is a path to the Dark Side. Anger is a path to the Dark Side. Anger is a path to the Dark Side.

chapters: The Adventures of Lucy Skywalker– prologue, chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine, chapter ten; The Imperial Menace–chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven; The Jedi and the Sith Lord—chapter one, chapter two.

Lucy tried to meditate. She really did.

Everyone had told her that the Force would always be with her—Ben, Yoda, even Vader. But she couldn’t feel it. She couldn’t feel anything beyond a heavy miasma that pulsed in erratic, intense surges.

The Dark Side. She knew it. And she refused to touch that, no matter what Darth Vader said or did. She still remembered her failure in the cave, the future that awaited her on that path. She couldn’t ever allow herself to follow Vader’s footsteps.

Here, though, the Dark Side blotted out everything but its own power. No matter how much Lucy tried to clear her mind, and settle her racing thoughts into peace and passivity, the Force that she knew remained out of reach. It might as well have not existed, for all she felt of it.

She had no connection to the Force. She had no weapon. She couldn’t see.

She was afraid.

Her rational mind knew that for the danger it was. Fear must be suppressed, sealed away into some deep pocket of her mind where it could do no harm. Otherwise, it would consume her thoughts and decisions, drawing her inexorably towards the Dark Side, whatever her intentions. Fear existed only to be conquered. She knew that.

Yet when she woke the next day, a blinded, disarmed, cut-off prisoner in Darth Vader’s fortress, she lay frozen in place under the blankets. Every instinct urged her to scramble for a place to hide, like some hunted animal.

Her own voice haunted her. I’m not afraid!

You will be, Yoda had told her. Had he known this was coming? Surely not. Surely—

There was no place to hide, she reminded herself. And whatever she might have lost, she hadn’t died. She had to keep going, just like yesterday.

Lucy breathed deeply, as Yoda had taught her, letting that first burst of terror subside. She still felt frightened, her hands shaking until she forced them into stillness, but she could think. That was her only chance.

Sitting up, she strained to sense anything, even without the Force. The air felt cool on her skin, and a little stale. That made sense; it seemed doubtful that anyone had stayed here—been trapped here—at all recently. Unless Vader habitually kept prisoners in comfortable bedrooms, anyway. But she thought she caught a quiet sound now, something metallic, like a very low whirr.

“Tisix? Tuvié?” said Lucy, tossing the blankets aside. “Is that you?”

The whirr intensified. “Good morning, Miss Lucy! Are you prepared for activity?”

Lucy, immediately wary, said, “It depends on the activity.”

“Why, that is exactly what I think!” said Tuvié, moving a little further away. Something slid open on the opposite side of the room. “Hmm. Let’s not damage anything.”

Lucy wasn’t about to make promises on that front.

“Yes,” Tuvié went on, “I think this one will do nicely! If you’re careful, of course, but I’m sure you will be.”

What was she even going on about? Had Vader sent her to prepare Lucy for combat? Doomed combat, without a weapon or the Force—

Tuvié clattered back over.

“Miss Lucy, raise your arms.”

Lucy hesitated, then obeyed, bracing herself for whatever might follow. With no further warning, Tuvié pulled Lucy’s nightdress up over her head and tossed it aside.

Lucy jerked away. “What the—”

“Please keep your arms up,” said Tuvié. “It’s the best way.”

For a second, Lucy stayed still, arms wrapped about herself and every nerve on alert. But her flesh shivered in the air, and she couldn’t see—ha!—a way out.

“Miss Lucy—”

“All right,” Lucy said, and lifted her arms again.

Soft material fluttered over her skin as Tuvié lowered something over Lucy’s arms and let it drop down to her waist, then shook it out until the bottom rustled against the floor. Another dress?

Irrepressibly, Lucy thought of Leia helping her dress after she’d blown up the Death Star. They’d gone through Leia’s finery together, looked at their reflections together, talked at times and fallen into comfortable silence at others. She’d never known anyone who understood her the way that Leia did. Anyone who cared the way Leia did, for all her sharp edges. Even Han—that was different, and all tangled up with Leia, anyway. Or it had been, before Lucy left them—but she’d had to! And now Han was all but dead, and Leia might be anywhere at all, assuming that Vader hadn’t lied about her escape. If he really hadn’t, then … then Lucy was glad, more than glad, to be separated from her. Glad Leia was somewhere safe.

She just missed her.

“Here we go,” said Tuvié brightly, pulling one of Lucy’s arms down into a satiny sleeve, then following with the other.

“Umph—”

More material brushed the underside of Lucy’s chin. A high collar, tightening about her throat as Tuvié buttoned up the back of the dress. She took two gulping breaths of air that felt like they might be her last—but nothing happened, except that Tuvié made a satisfied click before pulling another article of clothing around Lucy’s shoulders and over her arms. A sort of pointed short robe. Lucy brushed a finger over the material of the robe, little beads jangling against her wrist with the motion of her hand.

“Very nice, if I do say so myself,” said Tuvié. She sounded immensely pleased with herself.

“I guess this was Senator Amidala’s, too?” Lucy asked. She felt less like the Jedi prisoner of a Sith Lord and more like some sort of doll for Vader’s droid.

She’d often seen droids treated as glorified dolls; now it seemed the tables had turned.

“Oh, yes,” Tuvié said happily. “It all is. We couldn’t find anything else here—not anything appropriate for your size and, hm, situation. The colours used to be more vibrant, I think, but they’re still quite pleasing. It does show when one uses quality materials, doesn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” said Lucy, laying her palms against the thick skirts. They were stiff and slightly pleated. What would Aunt Beru think?

She had no idea. She didn’t know what Beru would think of almost anything she’d done, or Owen either. There was so much she hadn’t known about them, that she’d never know, thanks to the Empire. Vader might not have personally killed them, as he had her father, but—

“—I was constructed too recently to have ever seen her with my own optics,” Tuvié was saying, “but it seems quite typical for the senator. From all I have observed, she had very refined tastes. And she was small, like you, so you’re quite lucky!”

“Lucky,” said Lucy blankly.

She thought of her uncle and aunt’s bones, and Obi-Wan, and her visions of Han’s and Leia’s suffering, and that terrible moment of choice when she’d turned over her father’s lightsaber. But she also thought of Biggs, and how little this imprisonment resembled Leia’s on the Death Star, and of Alderaan and the dead she’d left behind on her way to Dagobah.

“Imagine if you were tall for your species,” said Tuvié. “It would be a disaster! I’d wager my right arm that the Maker never thought of that.”

“I’m not going to take you up on that one,” Lucy told her. “What activity were you thinking about?”

“Oh! Well, you’re still recovering, of course, but I thought I might escort you around the castle. Even if you can’t see anything, I can describe it to you. Surely that would be more interesting than sitting here until Lord Vader returns?”

“He’s not here?” Lucy said, hardly daring to clutch at relief. “Really?”

“There was trouble with some foolish admirals,” said Tuvié. “He told us that he had to manage it personally. He was most displeased, if you ask me.”

“I bet he was,” said Lucy. “But wouldn’t he be even angrier if he found out you let me roam around his castle?”

Tuvié patted her shoulder with that oddly fleshy hand. “No indeed! I asked him myself, and he said you could go anywhere in the castle you liked, as long as I watch over you.”

This seemed extremely suspicious. “You’re sure?”

“Quite sure,” Tuvié said. “Most organics can be terribly duplicitous—no offense to you, Miss Lucy. But Lord Vader always means what he says. And there’s no danger here, I assure you.”

Lucy gave a strangled laugh.

“But if there were,” added Tuvié, “I am more than capable of handling it. So you’ll be quite safe! Unless you’d rather stay here?”

Lucy hesitated another moment, then shook her head. “No. Let’s go, Tuvié.”

Tuvié had somehow dredged up a pair of soft shoes that fit Lucy exactly. She helped Lucy put them on, and with that, they headed out of Lucy’s personal prison, into the wider one.

As Tuvié guided her about the castle, she described everything in a detail that Lucy might have appreciated, had she been able to listen more closely. But she was busy counting and memorizing steps from one room to another, trying to create a map in her mind. Tuvié didn’t seem to notice her distraction, even though Lucy’s preoccupation had her stumbling over her own feet more than once.

At one point, she even fell down, scraping her palms on the stone floor and blushing with a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. Tuvié had released her arm to turn towards a training room of some kind, explaining its many features while Lucy tried to remember if she’d gone forty-three or forty-seven steps from the last room, and without the Force to guide her steps, some unevenness in the floor tripped her up.

“Am dkadha!” she said.

“Oh! Miss Lucy, I’m so sorry!” cried Tuvié, helping her to her feet.

“It’s not your fault,” Lucy told her wearily. “Let’s keep going.”

“Well—if you’re sure—”

Anger is a path to the Dark Side. Anger is a path to the Dark Side. Anger is a path to the Dark Side.

“That word,” said Tuvié.

Lucy gave up. “What?”

“The one you said a few minutes ago, when you fell down.”

She wasn’t going to be embarrassed about swearing in front of Vader’s droid. Really, she shouldn’t even have been embarrassed about falling down in front of her. Tuvié just made it easy to forget that she was Vader’s droid. Still, Lucy felt her cheeks flush again.

“What about it?” Lucy said.

For several seconds, Tuvié fell uncharacteristically silent. Then she said,

“I’m not familiar with it.”

“You wouldn’t be,” said Lucy.

“I am familiar with over one hundred million forms of communication,” said Tuvié stiffly.

“I didn’t mean … of course you are,” Lucy hurried to say. “But I’ve never met a droid who knew my family’s language—”

It had struck her after the award ceremony at Massassi, when she wandered alone in the hills for a little while, that except out of her own mouth, she would never hear her ancestors’ language again. Shmi’s people had been slaughtered, and Shmi herself enslaved and tortured to death. She’d taught Alsaraic to Beru before she died, and Owen picked up some along the way, but the Empire had burned them both down to their bones. Beru faithfully taught it to Lucy in turn and Anakin knew it from the cradle he never had, but Darth Vader murdered him long ago.

Alsaraic was gone, and the Alsarai with it. At least, she thought so, until months later, when she muttered to herself in Alsaraic and Threepio responded in it, his accent better than hers. She’d nearly burst into tears. And now, Threepio was—he’d be all right. He had to be. Even Vader said he was.

“—except one,” she finished.

“They must have exceptional programming,” said Tuvié.

Lucy actually found herself smiling, and didn’t know whether she should regret it. “Yes, rather.”

“Still, no one could be better than the Maker,” Tuvié said. “I don’t see why he didn’t program me with it.”

Lucy replied, “Threepio—my droid friend—is pretty old, I think. He must have been programmed by someone who knew Alsaraic back then, or had records, but Vader wouldn’t.”

“Why not?” said Tuvié.

“My people are dead,” Lucy said shortly. “It’s just me. Vader wouldn’t have access to it.”

“Hmm,” Tuvié said, sounding doubtful. “Perhaps not. But that means my knowledge banks are incomplete.”

Lucy squinted around the room. Was some of the darkness a shade lighter than the rest? She couldn’t be sure.

“You will be here for some time, though!” Tuvié said more brightly. “Won’t you?”

Everything looked black again.

“I suppose so,” said Lucy.

“Then you could expand my knowledge!”

Lucy turned to stare in the direction of Tuvié’s voice. “Do you mean—you want me to teach you my family’s language?”

Absolutely not.

“It would be a great favour, I know,” said Tuvié. “But I would very much appreciate the addition to my banks.”

Lucy opened her mouth to say no. However much she feared the total eradication of Alsaraic, however much she’d miss being able to speak and hear it, it was not something to be shared with just anyone. Certainly not someone she could trust as little as a droid programmed by Darth Vader and loyal to him. Yet something kept her from absolute refusal.

“I’m not much of a teacher,” she said at last. “Well, which room is next?”

Normally, it would take more than a walk around a castle to tire Lucy out. Certainly, it would have on Dagobah. But her legs felt weak and rubbery by the time her stomach started growling.

“Are you ill?” Tuvié cried.

“Yes,” said Lucy, “but mostly, I’m hungry.”

“Oh! Of course! Organics require refuelling as well,” she said. “I don’t know how I always forget these things. But the kitchen droids will be so pleased.”

Without further explanation, she tugged Lucy into a new room, one that felt vaguely more spacious than most of those they’d explored so far. The air, too, seemed different—fresher, though even colder. She could hear a low murmur of machinery.

“There you are!” said Tuvié.

Something made a metallic scraping sound.

“I am,” Ellex replied. “What do you want? Is the girl causing problems?”

Lucy stiffened.

“Oh, no, no,” Tuvié rushed to say, “it’s only that she requires sustenance. Would you mind guarding her while I speak to the kitchen droids? I’m sure they’ll enjoy the chance to—”

“I have more important tasks than observing a small organic,” Ellex told her.

“I am quite sure that the Maker would disagree,” said Tuvié, as cheerfully as ever.

Apart from the quiet sounds of Ellex’s and Tuvié’s machinery, the room fell into total silence. Then Ellex said,

“Fine. Just be quick about it.”

Tuvié’s presence made Lucy feel absurdly weak and useless. Her absence was still worse. When her steps receded and a door slammed closed, Lucy felt her heart pound, her will alone keeping her legs and hands from trembling. Alone with a disgruntled super battle droid, she dared not move, just held herself as ready as she could for whatever might come.

For several minutes, Ellex neither did nor said anything. Lucy briefly considered trying to say something to her, but after a moment’s thought, gave up on it. Then the droid remarked,

“For some reason, Lord Vader values your life.”

Lucy scowled. “I know.”

“Therefore,” Ellex went on, “you needn’t concern yourself with my ending it. I will only kill you if Lord Vader changes his mind.”

“That’s very reassuring,” said Lucy.

“Yes, I thought it would be,” Ellex replied.

Despite herself, Lucy did relax a little. She knew she couldn’t take Ellex on in her current state, so she thought she might as well accept the droid’s word that she intended no harm (yet). It was hard not to wonder, though, if she stood next to her eventual executioner, or if Vader would do the job himself, as he had with her father. Or perhaps she’d survive somehow, as a perpetual prisoner, or, in some miraculous scenario, an escapee. She didn’t quite let herself hope for the latter, but if the opportunity came—she’d be ready.

After a few minutes of silence, Tuvié returned, immediately scolding Ellex for not helping Lucy to a chair. Lucy didn’t bother attending to Ellex’s prickly response, instead trying not to welcome Tuvié’s light grip on her arm as she led her several feet away and guided her into a chair. Lucy reached out, her fingers brushing a wide, flat surface. A table, made of some glossily smooth material. Not metal, Lucy didn’t think.

She stretched further, but she couldn’t reach any of the other edges of the table; it must be large.

“Lord Vader hosts guests here,” Tuvié said helpfully.

“I thought he didn’t have guests,” said Lucy.

“Well, not guests-guests—none of them stay for more than a few hours. Admirals and moffs and the like who have business with Lord Vader that he prefers to handle in private.”

Lucy paused, then asked, “Speaking of Vader, where is he? How long will he be away?”

“That’s no concern of yours,” said Ellex.

“It’s hardly a secret!” Tuvié returned. “You needn’t worry, Miss Lucy; he’s just dealing with some admirals who gave him trouble. Admiral Varti, I think, and … Jerrod? Something like that. He said it would only be a few hours, and that was three hours ago.”

Lucy took a deep breath. He’d be back any time now, then.

“Jerjerrod,” Ellex said. “An incompetent waste of space, if you ask me. Lord Vader should lop off his head and be done with it.”

“How uncivilized,” said Tuvié. “Anyway, he’s a cousin to some grand moff or another. It’d be a disaster.”

Ellex gave a dismissive clank. “If that’s quite all—”

“Yes, I can manage perfectly well,” Tuvié told her.

With that, Ellex marched away. Lucy waited until the door slammed shut behind her, then took a steadying breath. It was impossible not to feel the strain in her muscles easing out with just Tuvié.

I can’t trust her, Lucy reminded herself. I can’t trust any of them.

“Dreadful, isn’t she?” Tuvié remarked. “Very impressive, of course—but no manners at all!”

Lucy gave a short nod.

Tuvié chatted lightly for several more minutes. Then, the door slid open again, and what sounded like a veritable army of droids clattered in the room.

“F-2VA, you requested a luncheon for this human?” one of them said in a deep, resonant sort of voice. “We have prepared a feast!”

“A what?” said Lucy.

“She’s not human,” Tuvié said, “but—”

This drew even more of Lucy’s attention. “What? Of course I’m a human!”

“Your genetic code is hardly distinguishable, to be sure,” Tuvié said soothingly. “That looks most satisfactory, Arren.”

The droid, or another one, gave a loud whirr. A loud clamour of metallic footsteps drew nearer—Lucy instinctively braced herself for danger—and then something clinked on the table before her. The clink was joined by several others: four, five, six. Before Lucy could respond, someone reached past her, and suddenly, a combination of savoury smells wafted to her nose. She was, she realized, ravenous.

“I—”

“This should sustain you, humanoid,” boomed Arren. “We hope you enjoy it.”

“I’m sure I will,” Lucy said automatically. Her stomach gave a loud growl. “Uh, thank you?”

“It—was—our—pleasure. We do not often have the opportunity to exercise our abilities.”

“Right,” said Lucy.

She reached out cautiously, her fingers touching the edge of a plate. It was only then that she reached a horrifying realization: she didn’t know how to eat without her eyesight. Were there even utensils?

As she fumbled cautiously, Tuvié’s familiar grasp took hold of her wrist, and directed her slightly to the side, where Lucy could feel a fork. She awkwardly took it in hand.

She’d have rather figured it out alone, or at least with only Tuvié. The cooking droids seemed to be waiting for her judgment, however, so—guided by Tuvié—she managed to break off a small piece of whatever was on the plate in front of her and stab it. Cautiously, she lifted it to her lips and took a bite.

A rich, lightly spiced flavour filled her mouth. It was some sort of meat, but the most delicious meat she’d ever had, and so soft that it all but melted on her tongue. Lucy closed her eyes.

“Is it satisfactory?” Arren asked.

Lucy swallowed. “Uh—yeah. More than satisfactory.”

“Very well. We will now depart, having excelled at our function!”

“Goodbye,” said Lucy weakly.

Once the cooking droids left, Lucy scooted closer to the table, irrationally anxious about spoiling a dead woman’s dress, then abandoned nearly all restraint. She ate through three dishes of combined meat, vegetables, and bread, all cooked as perfectly as the first, slowing just enough to avoid indigestion, and stopping just short of making herself sick.

Lucy set down the fork.

“Do you feel better?” Tuvié asked, sounding more than usually solicitous. “There’s more if you need it.”

“I think I’ll explode if I eat anything more,” said Lucy.

“Oh! Lord Vader would be most displeased,” Tuvié replied. Lucy wasn’t sure if she was joking or not. “We’ll leave the rest to be preserved for dinner.”

Vader would certainly have returned by then. Lucy’s brief sense of well-being fled, though she did her best to avoid betraying it to Tuvié. As they walked out of the dining hall, she asked,

“Why did you say I’m not human?”

“Tisix analyzed your genetic code,” said Tuvié. “It falls slightly out of the parameters of variability among humans. Very slightly, to be sure.”

That’s impossible, Lucy almost said. But she supposed she really didn’t know anything about her mother. For all Lucy knew, she could have been a member of some compatible species rather than purely human. The idea had never crossed her mind, however, and unsettled her in some odd way.

“My mother was nonhuman?” she said, more to herself than the droid.

“I wouldn’t think so,” said Tuvié. “Well, where to next?”

“I’d like to rest,” Lucy said firmly. Maybe, despite all evidence to the contrary, she’d be able to touch the Force now.

Tuvié took her back to the bedchamber, and for a good hour, Lucy sat cross-legged on the bed, trying to meditate under Tuvié’s eye. If she had eyes. As soon as Lucy attempted to reach out to the Force, she felt the Dark Side’s suffocating embrace. She inhaled, tamping down her frustration and fears, but only the miasma rippled about her.

Until—something glimmered on the furthest edges of her awareness. Just for a moment, a flicker of peace touching her before slipping beyond her senses, but it was something. She hardly dared hope that it was the Light Side, and tried again. Now, she felt nothing. But when she finally managed to sink into a steady calm, she felt the flicker again before it slid entirely away.

Lucy opened her eyes, feeling as exhausted as she had after Yoda sent her racing through the swamp and all its obstacles.

“You’re perspiring,” said Tuvié, sounding puzzled. “But you didn’t do anything, and the temperature is normative. Is it the carbon-sickness?”

“No,” Lucy said, offering no further explanation. She doubted Tuvié would understand even if she did feel like betraying her efforts. “I just need some sleep. Will you be watching me?”

“Of course,” Tuvié replied. “Nothing will happen to you under my guard!”

Lucy sighed. But despite the creepiness of trying to sleep under the observation of one of Vader’s droids, she was tired enough, and Tuvié inoffensive enough, that she soon drifted off.

In her dreams, Lucy could see. She blinked, refusing to cry, and peered around. Nothing seemed familiar. She stood in a desert city, not on on Tatooine—at least, not one she recognized, and when she craned her head back, she saw only one sun. She seemed to be in a major market of some kind, people bustling all around, some of them jostling her as they moved from stall to stall, weighing fruit and examining glass ornaments. It struck her as cleaner than any of the towns she knew on Tatooine, in a way she couldn’t quite pin down. There was a power in this place, slippery but unmistakable; the Force was strong here.

Lucy shivered and glanced down. She was wearing a dress passed down from Beru, a thin brown one meant for Tatooine’s scalding daytime hours. But this place was cold.

Something, she couldn’t have said what, drove her onwards. As she walked, she reached out to the Force, letting herself drift with its eddies until it suffused her. She felt welcomed, and yet grieved—an odd sense of loss.

As she made her way through the crowds, they seemed to shift in and out of her sight. Not because of her eyesight itself, but because—because—

It’s not real, she thought.

Then her eyes fell on a man, dark-robed and slightly turned away. He seemed real. And he seemed to be looking around, looking for something, and yet—not.

She didn’t understand. Lucy repressed a burst of aggravation at it all, the Force drifting from her.

No. Don’t leave. Please, don’t leave me.

The man tilted his head. Lucy moved forward, just able to make out a bit of red among the layers of his robe, and—

Darkness fell.

Lucy opened her eyes, to nothing. The man was gone, the Force, every bit of colour and comfort. Then she felt hands on her shoulders, shaking her.

“Miss Lucy? Miss Lucy!”

“Tuvié?” she asked groggily. “What is it?”

“I’m so sorry to wake you,” said Tuvié. “But it’s Lord Vader. He wants to see you.” She paused. “Now.”

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grimmywrites · 4 years ago

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So, about Infinite Darkness...

I’m gonna try to be as succinct as I can (I failed) about all the problems I had with it, but my list is pretty long... Yes, this has spoilers. Let me state upfront: if you’re not a hardcore RE fan, you can skip the show. Below I’ll tell you why.

Story: What a mess. Honestly, they turned me off right at the beginning with all the military stuff. It’s the same reason people didn’t like Chris’ campaign in 6; didn’t they learn anything from that? So, the story wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever seen. Honestly, it had more plot holes than anything and so many points where I went: “I don’t care about this.” Again, it was a jumbled mess. Capcom, hire me and I’ll do better, I swear. Let’s just sum it up by saying it’s a rehash of things we’ve seen SEVERAL times in the series before. If you’re gonna do it AGAIN let’s make the story unique and interesting. Oh, there are shady people in the military that want to use bioweapons in war? Okay, we’ve known that since the first game. We’ve seen it time and time again. Look to re8′s ending for example: the BSAA are now starting to use engineered soldiers - THAT was a reveal that was far more interesting. The way it was addressed and overcome in this show was just... so lackluster. Ultimately, it just felt like this entire thing didn’t need to happen. It changed nothing, it impacted nothing, and I’m aware that it really couldn’t since it was after re4 and before re5. There was just no lasting point and all the ‘themes’ (if you can call them that) made absolutely no sense, but I guess I’ll get into that with the characters? Pacing: Absolutely god awful. One minute we’re in the White House fighting zombies then I blink and it’s over and I’m like: Oh, we’re done? Another we’re in a sub and then I blink. Oh, that’s over, too. Also, the creators must’ve taken a page from the last couple of seasons of Game of Thrones (which is an abysmal idea, don’t fucking do that) because with a few cuts here and there we went from Guam to China back to DC. Guess everybody learned how to teleport so they got exactly where we needed them to for the “climax”. Let’s talk about that climax: There was none. Let’s look at Degeneration and Damnation (no I won’t talk about Vendetta). Both had their weaknesses but Leon and the climaxes were BADASS. Leon doing parkour in Degeneration? Leon going against Lickers and the huge Tyrants in Damnation? Those were amazing scenes. He did a few cool things here and there but nothing that got more of a laugh out of me. My man is coming off re4 where he rampaged through a village, a castle, and an island of mutated creatures to save one girl. C’mon now. Characters: By now (if anybody is even reading this rant), you’ve noticed that I’ve talked a lot about Leon. But what about Claire? Yeah, they lied to us about them working together. She got sidelined again. A lot of people are upset about this -- and yeah, it sucks because I do love Claire. Leon has just happened to be my favorite since 1998 so I wasn’t as heartbroken. That doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed, I’m just not very surprised. Leon - My main problem with Leon is Nick, his voice actor. I’m so sorry for all those who like him, but he just isn’t good enough for me. Paul Mercier (re4, Degeneration, Darkside Chronicles) and Matt Mercer (Damnation, Re6, Vendetta) would have been more appropriate. Nick tries his best, but he’s just too soft sounding to be post-re4 Leon. This is a man who is quipping one-liners left and right a couple of years ago. Now he’s barely smiling and doesn’t feel confident at all, and I think a lot of that is because of his portrayal. There are times where the lines hit, but more often than not they fall flat. I never felt that way with Paul who is my favorite Leon or Matt who gave emotional performances every time. Also, his decision at the end? I can understand it, but explain to Claire! Claire - I like Stephanie as Claire, I have no problems with her. She makes her sound tough and ready to do what she thinks is right. Unfortunately, the story completely sidelines her and makes her role obsolete. Everything she uncovers (because that’s her role apparently, just there to Nancy Drew) is already told to us through flashbacks and other characters. Why even have her? Was it just to show us WHY her and Leon don’t talk often? A waste. Shen Mei - I don’t care. I felt nothing for her. They tried really hard, but they just failed to flesh these new characters out and when her time was up I once again went: Oh? That’s it, then. ‘Kay. I think I laughed a bit, sorry girl. Her whole plotline was to get that chip in Leon’s hand, nothing more. Jason - I don’t care. A character I thought I felt sorry for with his ptsd but nope. Once his story unfolded - messily, I might add (I hate the REPEATED flashback shit. Tell me once and stop teasing me.) I just went... okay, what the hell is your plan? To spread fear? ‘Kay. It was dumb and made no sense. What, he wants everyone to feel terror so they know? It needed to be clarified. It’s like they couldn’t figure out more synonyms for fear and terror. So, what? It helps keep Leon from going public with the chip and that information? Because he knows it’ll just cause mass hysteria? And then you’ve got Claire’s side - she’s not an agent and she believes the people have a right to know. They’re both right, but there’s no goddamn communication between ANYONE in this show. I just felt exhausted by it, nothing else. Not to mention it’s useless angst because of the plot of Degeneration. Wilson - Our bad guy. Let’s just sum up really quickly in case people were confused by the plot: He was putting infected soldiers into war zones so that even after they died they’d kill anybody involved, then he’d bomb the area and clean up the evidence. These soldiers didn’t show any symptoms because they had inhibitors that kept the virus at bay until they died, so they had to take regular shots to stay human. He’s the one who gets the zombies into the white house so that he could blame it on China and get the US into a war with them. That way he could send in his soldiers and infect the populace. From there, he’s the only one with the cure so he could rake in LOTS of money selling it to the world. AKA: he wants to use the US military to infect everyone so he can make a profit. He gets infected by Jason and gets away... then meets up with someone who gives him an inhibitor. This someone is working for Tricell, the big bads of re5 who work under Wesker. So it leads right into the fifth game. That’s all he is, a tie in and yet another example of someone in power trying to profit off the viruses of the RE world. Honestly, nobody else is worth mentioning. Animation: They’re getting better at it. Leon and Claire looked especially pretty, but there’s still a stiffness here and an issue with everyone’s mouths while they talk. I want to praise how different SOME of the characters look - the president and his aides all look appropriately aged and grizzled and distinct. Same with Jason. Other characters (side characters mainly) kinda look generic. Shen Mei for example isn’t very distinct. I mean, her grandpa and brother (both one scene wonders) were more realistic looking than she was. Even Claire - they gave her a bigger nose and made her look more in line with her Revelations 2 model (thank god I love that model). Movement was pretty fluid, I wish we’d seen more fighting and cool action -- though not to the extent of Vendetta. Maybe that’s what they were trying to avoid, but it didn’t make it any fun to watch. Enemies: This is the last thing I’ll comment on. The zombies were fine - they always are. I heard a ton of reused sounds from remake2, as well, but I thought of it as an Easter Egg more than anything. They looked good, their gore was good, all set there. Problem was, they were basically the only bad guys. That’s a huge fucking disappointment. I know people recognize this series as ‘the one with the zombies’ but that’s not true. Every game (save 7) had MULTIPLE enemy types all created through bio engineering. In this show we see three types. THREE. Zombies. Zombie rats - a one-scene wonder that Leon dispatches fast and easy. I’ll admit, they looked cool but there was nothing else to them. “They’re a bioweapon” and then Leon fries them all with some electricity and we’re done. Jason’s mutated form. Okay, I have to admit, I really loved his design. He was cool, I liked that he could talk and emote. But, other than that? He didn’t DO anything cool. He mutated once and hopped around a lot. That’s it. I mean, a bioweapon that keeps his mental capacities? C’MON! We could’ve done so much more with him. Again, this goes back to why the climax was so bad -- he and Leon didn’t fight. One jumped, the other ran around to catch up and fired a few bullets and a rocket at him. Then he used an acid bath to finish the job. (Also, explain to me WHY he mutated into a tyrant-like creature while everyone else with that specific virus was another form of zombie? We see Jun (Shen’s brother) mutating almost crystal-like at one point but... what? You leave them off for a while and they turn into crystal zombies? Make it make sense.) I’m sure there’s more to say, but honestly, unless you’re a hardcore RE fan like me, I’d say you can skip it. It wasn’t a fun ride, there weren’t any stakes, it wasn’t emotional... it just... was. I will end on one good note that made me smile, though: I loved seeing the Ashley Easter Egg.

#resident evil infinite darkness #resident evil: infinite darkness #resident evil #my opinion #Leon S. Kennedy #leon kenney #claire redfield

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thefairyletters · 4 years ago

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Do you think sakura will make Anbu? I've read from somewhere that it is a ranking above jounin and others say that it's just a group of ninja who does dirty work for the village.

Sakura awoke her Byakugo/Yin seal, an S-class jutsu, at the age of 17 and it took her three years to master the technique against over a decade of Tsunade. Yin seal is considered the pinnacle of chakra control and mark of the legendary medical ninja. So, already at 17, Sakura was the top medical ninja, second only to Tsunade. Something Shizune, who was the first apprentice to Tsunade, a great medical ninja in her own right but failed to awaken.

Therefore, as a medical ninja, Sakura is exceptional and one of the very best.

As a fighter, Sakura is shown to possess monstrous strength which is a great defence technique and combat skill in combination with Taijutsu. At 15, Sakura, even if with Chiyo's assistance, managed to battle Sasori, an S-class nukenin, and destroyed all of his puppets. Chiyo may have helped control Sakura's movements – pulling her in and out of the range – but it was all Sakura who fought him head-on. She was in the frontline, took the brunt of attacks and retaliated harder. She showed incredible analytical abilities and observation skills, which is important in a fight with any ninja who ranks higher than you and odds are stacked against you.

During the war, Sakura punched Kaguya in the head, something which doesn't seem like a big deal at first glance except it is a big deal because she was in Kaguya's teeny tiny blindspot that allowed her to punch the goddess, a blindspot Sakura noticed and pounced upon to weaken Kaguya's guard that led to her sealing. She was opportunistic and smart enough to one-up a goddess who can see everything – well, almost, because she clearly didn't see Sakura's fist coming.

In fights against powerful people you're assigned to kill, or when you're undercover and gathering intel, or in cases where you are outnumbered and need to escape, you are forced to use your brain first and foremost before you use your powers regardless of whether or not you're powerful enough to take the opponent. Sakura has got that brain – she thinks before she jumps. She is analytical and has good observation skills. She was the smartest kunoichi of her generation during her academy years, which she continues to remain. She can survive.

To summarize, Sakura's got:

Top-notch medical ninjutsu skills

Jutsu that can pull her from the brink of death and give her tremendous amount of chakra to use

Brute strength that acts as an incredible defence and offence attack

A resourceful mind that zeroes on openings and make great strategic plans

A summon contract that can be used to protect her/comrades from any kind of attack, used as an offensive counterattack in the battlefield, and used to gather/deliver intel

With that said, Sakura would have no problem in joining the ranks of ANBU if it's about the power or intelligence factor. Even without all her strengths, if she only has her medical skills, basic combat skills and intelligence in her arsenal, she can still make it to ANBU.

But what is ANBU?

(Based on what I've seen in canon and read in numerous fanfictions)

ANBU, also known as ANBU Black Ops which means 'Darkside', is a special branch division comprising of soldiers who work for the Hokage, directly under Hokage, and not directly for the village. This means the operatives in this division do not bring money into the village for their services. The Hokage pays them for their services. These members are grouped into squads with squad captains assigned to each team. Each member has an alias they go by in the division for the anonymity sake.

The difference between a normal shinobi and an ANBU operative is that a third party (not Hokage) pay the normal shinobi (which means these shinobi are the source of income in the village) whereas an ANBU operative would be assigned a mission by the Hokage (who will pay for the mission) that usually reflects the corrupted side of the village – that means, these assigned missions usually involve elimination of the threats to the village, gathering intel from other villages, infiltration into enemy village, and collecting/removing/ridding of bodies. The reason why ANBU operatives have masks is to preserve their identity so that they could not be traced back to their villages should any operative gets caught in action. ANBU members are the real cannon fodder of the village. They are disposable to the village which is why they need to be exceptional shinobi so that they don't get caught. 'If you don't keep up, you'll be left behind.' Meaning: teamwork is important but importance of each member is not above the mission itself.

Therefore, an ANBU member must:

• Be ruthless

• Be able to forget their ideals

• Be able to follow orders effectively

• Prioritize mission above everything else

• Not run on emotions

So, the questions comes:

Is Sakura Haruno exceptional enough to be appointed into ANBU Ops? Yes.

But for all her strengths and abilities, canon!Sakura couldn't make it to ANBU Black Ops NOT BECAUSE she is not worthy of becoming an ANBU member, BUT BECAUSE that goes against everything Sakura believes in. She's a medical ninja who prioritizes life above everything, she is not a shinobi who can leave behind a comrade, she's not someone who can follow orders if it means leaving one of their own behind, she's someone who is always high on emotions, and most importantly she reins tight on her ideals.

In fact, Sasuke is the only team 7 member who can pull ANBU effortlessly. Both Naruto and Sakura are too emotionally volatile to pull that off. Unless it's happening in some other AU where Sakura has an ulterior motive to join ANBU/ROOT (say, infiltrating ROOT under the orders of Hokage to take down Danzo) I can't see Sakura pulling ANBU without losing her character or undergoing trauma.

ANBU sounds like a glamorous profession, except, it's not, at all. It's a bloody business where you need to be emotionally restrained, at all times. I can't remember a single character who joined ANBU because they loved being in ANBU. They joined it to cope (Tenzo/Sai), by force (Itachi || it isn't made clear why Itachi joined ANBU but given his personality, there's a good chance that it was Fugaku who wanted him to join ANBU for the clan), or to escape their reality (Kakashi). It isn't a beautiful place to be.

If Sakura joins ANBU, she will most likely quit it within a month on her own accord because she simply doesn't like it. Regardless, she will be highly demanded the missions by ANBU squad captains, so if she has to join in a mission, she will do it when her schedule is open and it will be as the squad medic.

Besides that, if Sakura joins ANBU, it will only be alongside her genin teammates in one team, with Kakashi as the squad Captain, Sakura as the squad medic, Naruto as the backup, and Sasuke as the second-in-command. In fact, team 7 members will only join ANBU if they will be in it together.

I hope this answers your question.

#anbu sakura #bamf sakura #i like anbu sakura but only if it is in non mass au #or perhaps time travel au #team 7 #sakura haruno #naruto anbu #anbu adds to trauma #it's bad for mental health #sakura runs a mental health hospital #do you think she will support this kind of business?

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short-wooloo · 2 years ago

Text

Some things I forgot

Poe, like John, Oscar Isaac was treated poorly, and isn't interested in coming back (unless he needs money), and he's right to feel so, I would not expect Poe to actually appear, but I hope we could get some kind of mention of "Chancellor Dameron" in the film, basically alluding to Poe filling the role Leia would have in Lucas' sequel trilogy, rebuilding the republic and becoming Chancellor (a story to be told in animation or novels)

Kix, I want Kix to be the temple doctor, get Temura to play old man Kix

Villains, I forgot to say who I would want as villains

Way I see it there are a few options

Brakiss, I think he or someone like him would be well suited for this movie, given that the film is about Rey rebuilding and protecting the Jedi Order, and Brakiss' whole thing in legends is that he built a dark jedi academy to destroy the Jedi, it's a nice little mirrors thing,

Brakiss is also unique amongst the "new Jedi students turned to the dark side" characters we can pull from legends in that he was a spy, he didn't fall to the dark side (plus we did the student turns to the dark plot/character with kylo ren), Brakiss was already working for the dark, he was a spy sent to the academy to learn Luke's secrets, but Luke discovered this and tried to turn Brakiss from the dark, but Brakiss fled and later resurfaced as the leader of the shadow academy

Talon

a reworking of her at least, if you don't already know, Darth Talon was considered as a villain for the sequel trilogy in George Lucas' draft and in the early drafts of the Force Awakens, and given how much SW loves reusing concept art and unused ideas, I think this could be very possible, maybe we could even see Krayt brought in with her (but not as sith, they would probably be a new kind of dark siders)

Lumiya

Like Brakiss, she has a pre-existing legends reason to put her in conflict with efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order (honestly you could probably do both of them and have them team up), namely her grudge against Luke, of course here Luke is dead, so her vengeance is redirected at Luke's legacy, trying to destroy Rey and the new Jedi to get at him, having her be the villain also allows for more talks between Ghost Luke and Rey, where the former can explain to Rey and the audience who Lumiya is and what his history with her is

Of course, Talon and Lumiya are not mutually exlcusive, you could possibly use both, Lumiya's whole thing is trying to revive/keep the sith going, and the plans for Talon in both the Lucas sequels and the TFA prototype was that she would be an apprentice serving some kind of dark side/sith master, I think that could work

Guavian Death gang Jedi Killer

If you don't already know, the Guavian Death Gang enforcer comes from an unused design for a "Jedi Killer" character who eventually evolved into Kylo Ren, and I think it could be brought back, like maybe a darksider has arisen as the leader of the Guavian Death gang, who I think could work as great villains for the post-ROS era, they have a distinctive design, they're a criminal organization so they'd be naturally at odds with the Jedi, and with the fall of the first order its plausible that they could have risen to actual power in its wake, snatching up forst order resources as it collapsed

Sev'rance Tann

the left-field option, I'll admit, there's really no realistic chance of the movie using her, so this is pure wishful thinking on my part, but damnit I love her and its my dream to see her return

if you don't know, Sev'rance Tann comes from the RTS game Galactic Battlegrounds (specifically the AOTC expansion), she's the leader character/protagonist of the separatist campaign, basically she was a Chiss apprentice of Dooku's and Grievous predecessor as supreme commander of the droid armies (she dies at the end of the Republic campaign, chronologically a month into the war), and also was possibly associated with Thrawn

naturally she'd need a fair deal of re imagining to fit in a post sequels setting but I think she's workable (especially given how she's a Chiss dark jedi and the chiss have their whole "sky-walkers" force sensitive navigators), particularly if you go with her being connected to Thrawn since he's about to appear in a big way, maybe she's taken over the leftovers of the first order, maybe she and the Chiss have decided that they need to control the galaxy directly to keep it in order, or we could preserve her legends characterization, she's a surviving separatist commander (with accompanying droid army) who seeks to continue Dooku's work

My thoughts on the announcement of a new SW film about Rey and rebuilding the Jedi Order

First off...

VINDICAAAAAATIOOOOOOON!

Turns out all of those click bait YouTube videos about how the sequels would be erased/rebooted/retconned out were lying out of their asses and just saying what people wanted to hear because youtube's algorithm favors negativity

In any case, here are the things I want to see in the movie

Bisexual Rey, let her being the successor to Obi-Wan's Bi energy

Rose, see above

Millennium Falcon in Jedi colors, I want to see the old girl refurbished and given a new coat of paint with the Jedi emblem, and Chewbacca is in this movie as the Jedi chauffeur

speaking of returning characters, R2 and 3P0, gotta have em, no arguments allowed,

Ghost Luke, get Mark Hamill back as Luke in the spirit guide role

(also have something where Luke acknowledges/approves of Rey taking on the Skywalker name so people will shut up about that)

Acknowledge Finn as a Jedi in some way, I know John Boyega is rightfully done with the franchise over how he was treated, so how about instead we get so mention of him in the film, a passing mention of "Master Finn" or "Finn is off on a mission with his Padawan"

X-Wings, Jedi edition, I love Jedi starfighters, so I want Rey and the new Jedi to have their own model of X-Wing, built and designed for Jedi pilots

Return of that classic Jedi fashion style, specifically in Rey's case I want her to have robes like Ep I Obi-Wan

Jedi babies, show me the Younglings

Jedi Momma Rey

given that the official description for the movie involves Rey defending the rebuilding Jedi Order, I expect to see Rey protecting the younglings

similar note, but there's something I hope for the plot, Rey is obviously the main character, but maybe there's a pack of Jedi Padawans as the supporting characters

and for my most left-field, "unlikely to happen but god it would be amazing" thing I want to happen...

Old Master Reva

have Reva return, now in her 80s, as a Jedi Master and advisor to Rey, maybe she can be the Creche-Master watching over the younglings

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darth-schism · 4 years ago

Text

Evidence to Suggest that Luke was NOT all that he seemed in TLJ

Luke Skywalker may have isolated himself because of his guilt/depression. But I also believe he did it for practical reasons, and that his “totally given up” act, was just that, an act. Evidence for this Head-cannon/interpretive take:

1. He made a map to his location

Not only that, but it was so specific, it was literally called “The Map to Skywalker.” The only way it would have gotten a name as tailored as that is if someone else had found him before Rey, or, if he told people about it himself. In any event, to whatever varying degree, Luke wanted to be found and/or influence the galaxy around him.

One piece of the map was tossed around to all sorts of corners of the galaxy, while the rest of it was entrusted to R2D2.

2. This was a deliberate combo to serve two different purposes

- Keep Snoke distracted: The entirety of TFA was Kylo and Snoke obsessing over Luke’s location. Their preoccupation with it was evident and, instead of letting them focus on relentlessly attacking the New Republic, Luke gave them a reason to go on wild goose chases. Consider that Snoke doesn’t go ‘all in’ on trying to destroy the Resistance until after he realizes he lost the race to get to Skywalker. Which shows just how much stock he had put into that singular Jedi. What’s more, even if they had succeeded, they’d only have a useless fraction with no reference as to where in the galaxy Luke’s secret location actually was.

- Meanwhile, R2D2 would also play the role of a “given up/powered down” hero: But we see that, soon as the coast is clear, and some plot heroes arrive with the map, he assessed the situation, turned on, and sent them right to Skywalker. I think it’s safe to say that R2D2 was merely in ‘sleep mode,’ as opposed to ‘shut down.’ However, despite all this, the element of being powered down/unassuming was still crucial because...

3. Snoke made it abundantly clear that when he found Skywalker, he’d blow up the entire landmass he was found, or even theorized to be, on

Luke would never put a population of innocents at risk of complete annihilation just because someone might to recognize him at a local market. So it’s no wonder he chose a place as isolated as he did (On top of that, considering his critical stance towards the Jedi Order by 28ish ABY, it wouldn’t necessarily be a heartbreak to him if the island did end up getting destroyed, or one to anyone else really, because of how obscure/unknown it was...or so he convinced himself).

4. He was picking his battles

If Luke Skywalker wanted to be found. Then why was he so dismissive of Rey? There’s no solid evidence here (aside from the whole existence of the map scheme), but I think there’s good reason to believe that Luke’s instant stand-offish behavior is one of caution and assessment not dissimilar how how Yoda and Kenobi put up an initial façade when they were discovered in exile (but more on that later). In any event, this approach would give him the means to offer personalized help to those who ended up on his doorstep. It honestly didn’t take Luke long to go from tossing his father’s lightsaber, to offering Rey the three lessons she needed to understand the force better. Although I believe Rey’s visit to Luke was far different than what others had probably been but (again) more on that later.

5. He was able leave anytime he wanted

The very clear image of Luke’s submerged X-Wing in the ocean painted a picture of cut ties, and a “no going back” stance. However, it wasn’t the first time that starfighter had been at the bottom of a water bed, and clearly it wasn’t the last. I’m inclined to believe that this is another part of Luke’s deliberate presentation of a hero who had lost all hope. But all speculation aside, there was nothing to physically stop Luke from leaving that island whenever he wanted. There’s nothing to say that he didn’t break form/character operate to find a way to undermine Snoke further.

6. He was actively protecting others close to him

There was a reason Luke getting Grogu at the end of Season 2 of The Mandalorian caused such a stir in Disney, and caused Kennedy to go for Faverau’s throat. All “who’s idea was who’s” arguments aside. At the end of the day it created two possible outcomes for this element of the Star Wars franchise: Either Grogu died in Kylo’s attack. Or there were survivors. Since killing the money making Baby Yoda isn’t necessarily on Disney’s to do list, it’s a reasonable bet that he survives the slaughter (unless he’s returned to Din’s side before Kylo goes ballistic, in which case he avoids it all together). But even if that does happen, this theory still holds a little water). Luke lying low, and operating in secret may have been the only way he was keeping himself, the galaxies citizens, and his few remaining students from getting hit with an orbital strike.

7. He was never fully disconnected from the force.

Perhaps, somewhat disconnected, but it’s clear that Luke hasn’t cut himself off from the force as much as he, perhaps, wanted to admit. Luke is still able to effortlessly summon a weapon, keep control of the duel between himself and Rey, and gently lower his body to the ground when he loses his footing. Despite his stance on using/taking ownership of the force in TLJ, it seems as though Luke kept just enough around so that he could still fight. This theory is more optimistically minded than some of the others, but I still can’t help but think that Luke kept these reserves of power ready, because he already had to use them more than once during his supposed isolation.

8. Rey’s visit was different than the others who had come before.

“You went straight into the Dark. It offered you something you needed, and you didn’t even try to stop yourself.”

“I've seen this raw strength only once before, in Ben Solo. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now.”

Other plot heroes/adventurers may have come, gone, or even convinced Luke to help them in secret. So assuming all, or even some, of the above is true, then that means Luke wasn’t just pushing to dismiss Rey, but also disillusion her. I think this is because Rey wasn’t there to get help with a specific mission, rescue, etc, but there to have Luke become the public symbol of hope again. And we’ve already listed the reasons why this couldn’t happen. On top of that, this push was done in a way that directly conflicted with all the “none theorized” reasons Luke had isolated himself. Luke knew he couldn’t accommodate this. He sensed the darkness in Rey. He sensed her connection to Kylo. In many ways his lessons also doubled as a means to properly evaluate Rey, and confirm his suspicions. In any event, all of this brought up an element of his isolation that no one else knew. He already had the, half truth, story as to what happened to his temple well rehearsed. But it was Rey’s visit that dragged out his greatest regret, which was his near attempt to take Ben’s life, due to both the mind bending fear Snoke had manipulated into palce, and the hypocritical, and self destructive Jedi philosophies that had been drilled in to his head. This was the final straw that made him want to destroy the Jedi texts. But it was also the push he needed to find inner peace, and think of the means to make one last public appearance, without endangering anyone.

9. In no interpretation is Luke an attempt child killer

This is more of a bonus point in nature. I think so many people were caught off guard by the narrative choice Luke undertook in this part of the film, that it painted the whole ordeal in a far more unfavorable light than it actually was. For starters: Ben was no child. He was 23 years old when he fell to the darkside. Luke was saw the images of planetary destruction, and the deaths of friends and family alike at the hands of an adult. But even at that, Luke’s ligthsaber had already lowered, and his face expressing that of shame and sadness, when Ben glances over, and decides to take up his lightsaber, and make the first strike. Luke doesn’t even ignite his lightsaber in response until after Ben swings it. The influence Snoke had over Ben, and the mental attack he lured Luke into suffering, to make this moment come to pass cannot be understated.

- This also means that Luke’s isolation lasted only 7 years. Not twenty, not even 10. Just 7. Which is less than half the time both Yoda and Obi Wan imposed on themselves.

10. He was following in the footsteps of his masters

I think Luke’s response to trauma is a little unfair in some ways. Obi Wan and Yoda witnessed genocide, and imposed exile on themselves for twenty years. Now, in film, we know that Obi Wan, while playing the part of a delusional hermit, worked to protect Luke as he grew up on Tatooine, and that Yoda, playing the part of a silly swamp kook, did...something...on Dagobah (?), waited for Luke to grow up so he could train him for a few weeks at most (?).

Those are two pretty limited things, and yet they don’t catch near as much flack for “abandoning the galaxy to the Empire” as TLJ Luke does, after he also witnessed slaughter, and went into isolation for only 7 years. But, of course, we know Obi Wan did more during his time in the desert, and that Yoda did more during his time in the swamp. So why can’t Luke have also done more while on his island? Everything about the parallels here point to Luke, despite his own misgivings, applying what he learned from his master. All three Jedi isolated themselves because of their personal tragedies. All three greatly reduced their presence in the galaxy. But all three had no choice, and all three still did what they could despite their circumstances.

11. Luke may have been overcome with grief. But he hadn’t truly changed

Now, I fully admit that this is a very optimistic way of looking at things. But some of these points also have more weight to them than others. I also cannot stress enough that even though I think some of what Luke was doing was an act, I also know it was equally proportional to the very real, emotional reasons, and struggles he faced. I also definitely do NOT think Kennedy/Johnson meant for any of these possible theories to have any validity to them. But with how they are presented, they also can’t be disproven.

If Favreau doesn’t formally put the sequels in it’s own little pocket universe, then I really hope he takes the opportunity to make something like ^the above^ happen. It could easily be established in one to two episodes in a live action show. Lots of things could be done to make the sequels a more bearable set of movies to watch. And as much as I’m worried that hoping for this is simply too optimistic, at least now there is a justifiable interpretive take that has both in film evidence to support, and a lack of otherwise to refute.

At the end of the day (and as usual) the important part here is to see that Luke hadn’t given up. Struggling, disillusioned, forced into a tough spot, willingly keeping himself scarce, etc. All bearable. But knowing he hadn’t given up is super important to the character and fanbase, so hopefully we get something that makes that cannon. In any facet really.

AND IT WOULD GET MARK HAMILL BACK ON SET GODAMNIT! XD

*Reblogged with new gifs and information

#star wars #the last jedi #tlj #mark hamill #luke skywalker #the mandalorion spoilers #the mandalorian season 2

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lo-55 · 4 years ago

Text

Tilt The Hourglass Ch. 3

Maul was at Orsis for six months when the inevitable finally occurred.

He felt it.

The dark shadow that haunted his nightmares, the cold hands left so many scars on his skin. It was his childhood ruined, his future stolen. His brother dead in his arms and every pain he’d ever endured.

Sidious had come to Orsis.

Maul ended up with his back on the ground, looking up at Daleen of all people. He wasn’t sure which of them was more surprised that she’d actually flipped him.

He could only barely focus on her and Kilindi offering him a hand up. He could sense his master growing closer.

It was the feeling of old wound preparing to open, a sickness creeping back into his lungs. The clarity that he’d felt when he returned dimmed with it, leaving shadows at the corners of his eyes.

Maul swallowed thickly and stood again, taking his position in the ring opposite of Daleen.

She looked uncertain, but when he nodded at her she threw a punch and ducked the kick he aimed at her head in return.

Maul didn’t go easy on her. He was not a kind person, and he would not do her the disservice of mercy. If it came to a real fight no one else would hold out on her. So he wouldn’t either, for her own survival if nothing else.

That said, he did not break her arm when he caught her third punch, only twisted it enough for her wince before he let her go. He was not a fan of self control, and he had always chafed at the shackles of patience and secrecy that sith were forced to be subservient to, but the years had made him good at it.

He knew how to hide. He’d survived for eighteen (nineteen? Twenty?) years after the Empire rose and he was forced to go underground. He had gotten good at hiding and slipping away, and killing anyone who got too close to him.

‘The Shadow’ indeed.

He could not hide from Sidious here. Here he had to bow his head and scrape and suffer when the man finally deigned him worthy of his tutelage.

It’s a near thing to keep his lip from curling and his sharp teeth baring at Daleen, who’s done nothing to earn his wrath besides tease him goodnaturedly.

He bows out of the training as soon as Trezza appears on a balcony, with Sidious at his side.

Master. Maul forced himself to think. In case his thoughts are too loud. In case they’re too quiet and Sidious goes listening closer. My master is here.

He tasted bile and swallowed it down as he came to a stop in front of the pair. He could remember easily how deeply he was expected to bow when Sidious came for him, and at what angle. It would not save him a beating, and he was hurt for his successes as much as his failure’s, but he would not go knocking for punishment.

The Force hummed around him, shadows flickering further in his vision. Sidious always loomed so high above him.

Full grown Maul would be taller than him. That didn’t change the fact that Sidious’ shadow always fell on him.

He kept his hand from clenching and his face carefully blank.

“Master,” he said respectfully, and offered no other pleasantries. He was not raised to offer small talk. ‘How was your flight?’ ‘Did you enjoy the view?’ ‘I hope you’re well.’.

“My boy,” his master’s voice lacked the sickly sweet sound it took on when he was a senator. Here he was merely a wealthy merchant, who was putting a hefty investment in his future body guard. “I trust your studies have been going well.”

Maul’s gaze darted momentarily to Trezza. He had punishment them for their truancy, and praised them for taking first in class, one each. He in combat, Kilindi in survival, and Daleen in espionage. Had he told Sidious of their wandering? Even if he hadn’t, the man probably already knew.

Anxiety spiked, and he twirled the incident and the compitition around in his mind, letting it fall into a mist over the darkest secrets. Those stayed in a little ball, sucked into a iron sphere at the center of his being. So deep in the shadows they’d never be found. So far from the surface Maul started to forget them.

He held them there while he nodded, slowly. “They have, master.”

“Good, good. Come along. I have need of you this weekend.”

Sidious motioned for him to come forward. Maul obeyed without hesitation. He could not see his Master’s eyes, not through the high tech goggles he wore as a blind mind. Sidious said he could see shapes and colors and little else. He moved his long stick back and forth before him, letting it clack along obstacles in their path and avoiding him.

Sidious always had been an excellent actor. Maul, still a child, had much yet to learn from him.

The pair of them walked the long halls of the facility in silence until they came out on a landing pad where Sidious’ small ship was sitting. The two boarded.

Maul cast a glance around him and was startled to see the remnants of the spider legged droid that had raised him sitting in the corner. It wasn’t moving. It was still destroyed, just as it had been when he’d last seen it.

Maul knew better than to ask, and Sidious offered him no information.

They took off. A droid piloted the ship, one Maul recognized as well. It had served Sidious as long as Maul had known him. Sidious told him once, ten years in the future, that the droid had belonged to his own master before him. Maul had never seen the sith master in person. For much of his life he hadn’t even known he existed. The rule of two was supposed to be absolute.

The existence of Plageius should have cemented inside Maul that Sidious didn’t really see him as an apprentice, but a placeholder. He had a new one as soon as Maul fell into that foul shaft, and as soon as he could he replaced that one, too, with a more powerful apprentice.

Maul had tried to warn Dooku. Had tried to recruit him and-

His mind swirled, tamping the thoughts under a rug and replacing them with musings far safer. His practice in the yard this morning. A misstep he’d made that had cost him a clean fight. Mistakes he’d made in a slicing test earlier that week that he needed to amend.

“Would you like to know where we are going?” Sidious asked. He took his vision goggles off and set them on a shelf nearby. The cane went with them. His elaborate senate robes were handing beside it. Two disguises, and a dark lord stood before Maul.

Maul chewed on his words before he voiced them.

“I will go where you require, master.”

“Is that all?” Sidious looked at him, his brows raised. One day they would be silver, and his rust colored hair would grey.

Any answer would have been wrong, so Maul had answered wrong.

“It would be good to know, so I might prepare. But regardless I will succeed at any tast you would have of me.”

“You assume it is a task for you?”

Maul flinched when Sidious raised his hand, but didn’t dare try to block that harsh lightning when it struck. Only the smallest hiss of a cry came from his mouth when he dropped to the ground convulsing.

The pain lanced through his body and whited out his mind momentarily.

Maul looked up at him from the floor, trying to catch his breath. Anger and pain coursed through him in time with the frantic beating in his chest.

“I ap-pologize,” he bit out. Blood filled his mouth. He’d bit his lip at some point.

I should know to keep from biting my own tongue by now.

Sidious didn’t bother to respond to that. He motioned for Maul to rise, which he did with a small struggle. His hands were shaking minutely.

“We go now to Kalakar Six. There is a group of darksiders there. The Prophets of the Darkside. Kill no one unless ordered. While I discuss important matters with their High Priestess you will train in the lands outside their settlement. A pair of assassin droids will hunt you through the terrain.”

Maul bowed shakily. He grit his sharp teeth together. Was he just a dog on a leash to his master?

A foolish question. Of course he was. An attack dog to be set upon his enemies, with his sharp teeth.

Had he ever been anything more to the man?

“Yes, master,” Maul said simply.

Sidious went to the pilots chair, and left Maul to try to remember where he would be expected to sit. Had it really been so long since he’d seen his master?

Of it had, it had been-

He sat on the bunk in the back of the small compartment.

This wasn’t one of Sidious’ luxury ships, nor was it meant for battle, although Maul could still see where weapons had been added and shields upgraded. It wasn’t a bad ship. It would take them safely from one place to the other, and should they need neither of the pair inside was helpless.

When they landed on Kalakar Six there was a small contingency of locals waiting for them. Humans, most of them, led by a dwarf.

Maul stayed behind his master, not hiding but certainly trying to avoid bringing attention to himself. He kept his dark hood pulled up over his head, but that didn’t stop the eyes of the other darksiders from landing upon him.

He stayed in his masters shadow until Sidious dismissed him to run off into the lava fields, with two assassin droids on his tail. They were programmed not to kill him, but to maim him.

He’d had enough time in his body that he wasn’t tripping over his own limbs. Shorter and weaker than he was used to, and legs that could break and not be pieced back together easily.

With a frown set firmly on his face Maul made his way into the smoldering heat, the dark side swirling around him like a familiar cloak he’d worn all his life.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Things stayed that way for well over a year.

Every few months Sidious would come for him, and take Maul off world for some horrible, grueling training. Maul would lock up his memories as hard as he could and hide it under more recent feelings and emotions the way he’d learned on Malachor.

He had to keep Sidious from learning what he knew.

It meant that every time the man was to visit Maul was a bundle of nerves that nothing could unwind, and when he returned he was bitter, full of spite, covered in injuries and more relieved than he could ever properly voice.

Somewhere in the second year since his return, his third year at the academy, he had stopped sleeping in the barracks.

It wasn’t a conscious decision, it wasn't even his decision.

He came back from a venture with his master. A return to Malachor had put him to the biggest test yet. He’d had to suffer, and relive the death of every sith that come before him. He had lived the battle through the eyes of all that had perished there, their ashes burning in his nose, mouth, and lungs.

Their anger filled him and twisted into a familiar hate that skittered through his skin before it sang in his veins.

Sidious had offered him a single word of praise, and beat him soundly.

By the time they landed again on Orsis everything hurt. He knew his ribs were broken, and he was bruised everywhere at once. One of his eyes was swollen nearly shut. He’d been given no bacta. The pain would be good for him, Sidious claimed.

He walked stiffly from the ship to the doors of the academy, and was met in the hallway by Kilindi and Daleen.

Kilindi had taken one look at him and frowned.

“I killed my masters,” she said quietly.

Maul grimaced. “Don’t.”

She didn’t argue. “The boys, those Rodian friends of yours? They were planning on causing trouble tonight. Come stay with me.”

“I don’t need your protection,” he snapped. His temper was already frayed. He’d spent the entire time shoving down everything he was, wallowing in foreign anger and choking on pain. Now that the hiding was done he felt cracked and raw and other peoples feelings were twisting against him. Anger in the training hall, fear in the computer labs, lust from one of the higher dorms and some of the teachers were drinking. The girls worry brushed against him, soft fingers against open wounds.

“I know you don’t need it,” Kilindi frowned at him. “But I don’t like to see you hurt, Maul. You’re my friend.”

“Our friend,” Daleen cut in. She came to Maul’s side and lay a very careful hand on his shoulder. His lip curled in a snarl. He wasn’t weak. He didn’t need her to treat him like he was glass. He was durasteel and fire and-

“It will make us feel better if you stay with us,” Daleen cut him from his thoughts. She squeezed his shoulder. “Humor a girl, won’t you?”

Through the rawness their warmth shone through.

Maul nearly choked. He’d never felt-

“Okay.”

His voice sounded hoarse. Like he’d been screaming. He probably had been.

The girls made their way to Kilindi’s room, in the far hallway. Maul let them lead him there.

The halls felt longer that night, and darker too. It was not in a way that comforted him, though he was a creature born of shadow and hate.

Kilindi’s calloused hands helped him pull off his tunic while Daleen fetched a bacta pack. Maul didn’t fight either of them. He let the pair smear the cold, sickly sweet smelling goo across his chest and back. Even though it was hard to see where he’d been injured through the intricate patterns on his skin, the girls found where it hurt without being told.

Kilindi had a good suite here. She was Trezza’s ward, of course.

Her bed was wide and fluffy, and a desk near it held her personal things. Holo’s, data pads, and even pieces of flimsy she liked to fold into complex animals and intriguing shapes. She had a talent for the arts. There was a couch against another wall too.

In one corner she had a big soaking tub under a faucet, instead of the common showers that the rest of them used. Her wardrobe was open, and her uniforms were crammed, crumpled, into the bottom of it instead of hung up neatly. A pair of night vision goggles dangled from one of the hooks in it.

There was a tank of fish in the other corner. It was barely big enough for the little silver things that swam inside of it, and it cast an odd glow through the room.

When the bacta was applied and covered he rose to go to the barracks, but was instead herded to the couch.

He humored the girls, as Daleen asked.

Maul lay on the couch while the girls lay on the bed, and the lights went out. Maul watched the fish swim through their dark light, silver flickering forward and back as the darkness closed in on him. The bacta warmed on his skin. The girls breathed easier.

He closed his eyes and let their steady presence sooth him enough to sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sidious came again.

He had a castle on the planet.

Maul was summoned to it frequently, and he knew the long passages better than even Sidious did yet. In the years to come he would spend much time here. Weekends, and entire months on occasion, toiling away for scraps of approval or praise and taking any punishment as a lesson, even when he didn’t know what he was being taught besides how to shore up his anger and fear.

He was already rather good at that.

Maul didn’t need to follow the droid that had fetched him from the academy but he did all the same. It’s metal gleamed faintly in the light from high arches of glass. It had been cleaned recently.

Maul chewed on the fact that Sidious took more care with droids than he ever had with his apprentice, and treated them more cordially to boot.

Maul took the bitterness in his chest and wrapped it around the little piece of him he’d started to store Kilindi’s strength and Daleen’s cleverness inside of.

Not for the first time he thought of the jedi. Jinn and Kenobi, Skywalker and Tano. They’d had such faith in eachother. So much trust and care. They would fight and die and kill for one another, even when the other was weak or dying. Years after and he could still remember the look on Kenobi’s face when Jinn dropped to the ground. Blue that burned with rage and grief.

Maul was well aware that as soon as he lost his use Sidious would cast him off, if not kill him outright. He would not lift a finger to protect or avenge him.

Familiar rage welled up inside of his chest.

Jedi called themselves guardians and peace keepers. They preached about kindness, compassion, and protecting the weak, but where had they been when he was being tormented and forged into a tool with no will of his own? Where were they when he was carving his way through warm flesh, screaming for anyone to find him?

Nowhere.

On one hand he could count the number of people who had ever come for him. Savage. Talzin. Rook, Saxon, and through them Almec.

Even now, after he’d gone out of his way to send them a shadowy warning of the dangers to come, they were absent in the face of Sidious’ wrath.

No matter.

He didn’t need defending, certainly not from those as hypocritical and weak as the jedi.

Well.

Some were strong. Young Ezra was a fierce pupil, with a powerful connection to the Force. Lady Tano, while not longer (and not yet) a jedi had still bested him more than once with training from their temple. Skywalker could have bested him as a jedi. There were a handful of dueling masters that even now he itched to pit himself against.

And of course, Kenobi.

He never had managed to beat him.

Not on Naboo. Not during the Clone Wars. Not on Tatooine. A phantom burn hissed through Maul’s chest. Jedi spoke of the dangers of the Darkside, while conveniently glossing over how the light could burn.

The doors swished open in front of him and Maul tucked his thoughts away, behind the swirling darkness and a spiked wall of spite.

He came upon his master at a desk. His master, he repeated it in his mind over and over. The word. A curse and hiss and wound that had never healed.

Would it ever?

“You summoned me?” he asked, his voice low and rough. He’d taken a hit to the throat in training today, and broken the other students wrist for their trouble. They were starting to fear Maul enough that they didn’t want to hurt him for fear of retaliation. Other’s had learned that if they held back he would hurt them worse.

“You’ve been hiding something from me, Maul.”

Ice slithered down his spine. Maul stood straighter, his yellow eyes wide.

“I haven’t-”

A shock of lightning screamed through his nerves and drove him to his knees.

Maul didn’t make a sound. He went limp, slumped over his knees while his mind whited and his vision blurred. His hearts heat harder and harder until they felt like they were going to burst from his chest.

It stopped as soon as it started.

He sucked in frantic breathes.

Sidious ripped into his mind.

Maul howled inwardly, though outwardly he didn’t make a sound. He kept breathing, faster and faster as Sidious clawed into his brain. Sharp, electric tendrils of force raked through his through. Through the darkness and the spite. Through the ashes and the fire.

“Did you think you could really hide anything from me?” Sidious laughed, cold and cruel. He rifled through Maul’s thoughts. He started to fracture in the face of. The shallow sea of darkness was clawed at.

Distantly, Maul realized that Sidious was searching. Tearing through the confines of his thoughts, his wants, his very being. A lesser being (a being less used to pain. A being less cracked. A being less ragged at the edges.) would have cried. No tears fell from his eyes, even as they stared blankly at the ceiling.

A lesser being (A being less expecting to be violated so totally and relentlessly by the man who raised him) would have clawed at his masters hand when it closed around his throat.��

Maul knew better.

Sidious kept dragging through the shallow thoughts on the surface. Each pass screamed with pain and betrayal. Maul smelled ozone. He tasted blood.

Sidious dug deeper. Looking, searching, he was going to find-

Maul broke.

He choked and the shadows spat out the only thing that could protect him.

All at once the pain stopped.

At some point Maul had fallen on his back. The high ceiling looked down on him dispassionately.

“Ah, little apprentice,” Sidious smiled down at him, a sick, cold thing on his face. “You’ve gone and gotten attached to Trezza’s little slave.”

Kilindi. He had given Sidious Kilindi. How could he do that to her-

“Did you think I would allow it? Your only focus can be your training. All that matters is the Grand Plan, and your place in it. You live only to do my bidding. You breath only to kill my enemies. Do you understand?”

Maul croaked weakly at him.

“Of course you do. You’ve always done what I asked. You only think of pleasing me. Isn’t that right?”

The hand that touched his forehead was light. Maul knew better, but he still flinched away from it. Sidious slapped him hard.

“Answer me!”

“Ye-es,” he forced out.

“Good. You can have no distractions. When you return to the school, you will sever your ties to the slave. And kill her. And her little human pet.”

Sidious stepped away from him. Maul’s head rolled when the droid came up beside him.

“I was going to teach you new darkside techniques today, but I felt your disquieted thoughts. I am done with you. You have wasted my time, and that slave girl will pay with her life, and you with it as well.”

The droid dragged him to his feet with unfeeling metal hands. Sidious didn’t look back to watch it drag Maul from the room.

The droid took him all the way back to the small shuttle that had only just brought him from the academy. Or not. Dawn had already arrived. How long had Sidious riffled through his mind before he broke?

He gave him Kilindi. He betrayed her. Again.

The first time he had killed her in Trezza’s office, after killing the headmaster with his own knife. He’d been covered in blood and shadow. She was the last survivor of the Orsis massacre.

Maul looked at Kilindi. She was Staring at him blankly, but she radiated fear like a child in the presence of an enormous monster. He'd never wanted her to fear him. It didn't matter now. He never paused to wonder how his life might have been different if he had not revealed his Force powers to Meltch Krakko. He never paused at all. His only purpose was to serve his master.

Kilindi didn't run. She did try to smile. She said, "I guess you're not interested in the surprise that Daleen and I had for you."

"Not anymore," Maul said. He made it quick. It was only mercy he could offer this girl.

He never hesitated. He never looked back.

Maul stumbled into Kilindi’s room in the dark. Daleen nearly stabbed him in the throat for his troubles. Maul caught her knife and twisted her arm behind her back casually. He could fight children. He could fight full grown adults. He could not fight his master, and he could not let him learn his secrets. The ones that were bigger than girls.

“You need to leave,” he said quietly. His teeth were red with his own blood.

“Maul?” Kilindi was halfway to the blaster she kept under her desk. Her dark eyes were fixed on him. He couldn’t imagine what he looked like.

Less like the monster that had killed her before. For better or worse.

“You need. To. Leave.”

“Why?” Daleen carefully extracted herself from his grasp. His face must have been alarming for her to try to touch his cheek. He caught her wrist.

“My master. He,” Maul swallowed. “Has ordered your death.”

Kilindi paled into a mint green. “He can’t. Trezza-”

“Trezza couldn’t stop him if he tried,” Maul shook his head. “He’s not what he seems, my master. He’s more powerful than you could imagine. Trezza can’t stop him. I can’t stop him. You need to run.”

“What about you?” Kilindi demanded. She was always too smart.

“He will hunt me down no matter how far I go.” All of Maul’s plans were out the window now. “But you he knows less. If you go now, quickly, you might escape with your lives.”

“We can’t leave you,” Daleen argued, her jaw set fiercely.

Maul turned on her, his eyes flashing. “You will leave. Now.” His voice bounced off the walls and around her skull. Daleen swayed.

“We will…”

“I am not letting you get yourself killed!” Kilindi argued, storming up to him. Maul didn’t not waver.

“I will not die,” he said firmly, the very first embers of an idea stirring into a spark. “I am too stubborn.”

He ignored Kilindi’s crushed expression.

“Go,” he said again. He side stepped the door. He knew that Kilindi had the codes for the hanger, and the ships inside. After she’d been stranded on her home planet, and hunted down by the guards for killing her master, she had become almost as paranoid as he was when it came to escape plans.

“Go.”

Kilindi took Daleen’s hand. She threw her arms around Maul. He soaked in her warmth for just a moment, a selfish luxury he allowed himself. He was about to face a horrible fate for her. He had least deserved a hug.

“We will find you again,” Kilindi swore.

Maul nodded to her. The pair disappeared down the hall, on the way to the hangers.

Maul made his way to the small craft landing platform and waited for dawn.

His master found him before it even broke.

#Darth Maul #Maul #time travel #Kilindi Matako #Daleen (Star Wars)#darth sidious #tw; violence mention #tw; violence

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infcinity · 2 years ago

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"the rules of this place aren't the same as they are back home, I'm afraid - leia has already tried to get him removed, but unfortunately, there's nothing we can do unless there's evidence of something he's done," they were sure that he was good at covering his tracks - he'd always been like that, consdiering no one knew he was a sith lord. "despite my reservations about the man, he does seem to do his job here - the president, she's a friend of mine and someone I trust dearly, she makes sure that he stays in line." she wasn't sure how well that had been working, consdering that leia didn't remember anything at the present time. "we're not giving up, we're never giving up - we fough hard back home to have him removed from power, to destoy what he made of the galaxy, and we did it - he was defeated," mon didn't know how easy it would be here, but it was soemthing she woudl keep an eye on. "inquisitors were darkside force users, trained to hunt down what remaining jedi were left in the galaxy," they had never directly interacted with one, but had seen them in passing. "he won't be running this place for long, leia just doesn't remember who she is right now, I'm sure that things will be back to normal soon," mon sighed. "no one is going to end up hurt - and I won't let anything happen to you, I promise that you're safe here,"

"nothing?" they stared back at their friend, trying to fight the frustrated tears that were starting to burn at their eyes. they hated feeling useless, hearing that there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop whatever was going on, whatever might come of this-- "but if the government is corrupt, it shouldn't matter where we are, we should be able to do something about it." they huffed. "then we talk to that one council member. we talk to them, and see what we can all do if we come together. we can't just give up, mon." to just sit back and allow these things to keep happening.. it went against all of kaya's training, against everything that was ingrained in their soul, every order they were ever given. "inquisitors? who the kriff are they?" she stared, almost afraid of to know the answer. "so, what? we're supposed to just sit back and let a sith run this place too? mon please, there has to be something we can do, even with less jedi.. with less senators we know, i don't care if i end up hurt, i just want to make sure he can't hurt anyone else here.."

#mon || interactions #&& kaya #death mention tw

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the-beskar-alchemist · 4 years ago

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Welp.....it's that time again.....a bit delayed, but hey it gave me time to process a little more

Once again, my ramblings are below the cut...

- Well first off I would like the point out that the Crest is flying through space in the first minute, but a few seconds later Din's in the cockpit talking to Grogu and the stars are stationary? Not sure if this was a goof, or......OR.......DID DIN "PULL OVER" PRIOR TO GETTING TO THE PLANET SO HE'D HAVE MORE TIME???? - DIN DJARIN CHUCKLING AT GROGU'S CUTENESS HAS CLEARED MY SKIN, WATERED MY CROPS, AND RESTORED BALANCE TO THE FORCE - Din trying to have a mini-training session while still in flight, like a single-parent helping their child finish some homework in the car before getting to school in the morning, such dad energy - Din trying to convince himself that he's doing the "right" thing by handing the baby off to the Jedi, telling himself that he's not capable of training Grogu properly, baby I wish you could see how badly little green bean wants to stay with you - When Din asked Grogu the first time if he understood what he was saying, it looks like Grogu shrugs, yet ANOTHER thing he picked up from papa Din it seems - DIN "IRON MAN" DJARIN FLYING HIS BOY TO THE "MAGIC ROCK" - "Does this look Jedi to you?" Din you are SUCH a dad - SLAVE 1 INCOMING I REPEAT SLAVE 1 INCOMING.......I always found Boba's ship to be kind of strange, it flies face forward, but lands backwards? Does this mean Boba is basically lying down when he lands, or did I forget something? I mean it looks like the cockpit rotates....? - BOBA MOTHERFUCKING FETT - Boba mentioned Cobb by name, which means he knew Cobb had his armor, now why didn't he try to take it back before? Why track Din across the galaxy to square of with him instead and take it? - Boba was NOT about to fuck with those Whistling Birds, and he knew the best way to "disarm" Din was to make him remove the jetpack so he couldn't fly around to get the angle on him and Fennec. NEVER underestimate Boba Fett. - There's more questions than answers surrounding Fennec, not to mention Boba who appears to have survived the Sarlacc pit with the acid. Fennec SHOULD have bled out by the time Boba found her, instead she was near death......unless Calican's aim was just shit and she was only weakened by the shot. - BOBA FUCKING UP STORMTROOPERS IS MY NEW SEXUALITY - That boulder gave me PS1 Tomb Raider flashbacks - Din honey you REALLY need to learn to shut the doors on the Crest when you're not around it - Some might think Din's being stupid for continuing to try and breach the barrier around the kid but honestly, he's a father desperately trying to get his kid to safety, logic sometimes takes a backseat in that regard. Although I do wonder why he didn't try saying Grogu's name in an attempt to break him out of the trance. - Din trying to be honorable and taking the hits for Fennec so she can escape, I truly do love how he's not the type to waste energy on unnecessary rivalries. He doesn't truly see her as an enemy, just a former bounty he had to forfeit, it's just business. - OKAY I TAKE IT BACK, BOBA FUCKING UP STORMTROOPERS IN THE ARMOR IS MY NEW SEXUALITY......also can we talk about how they started to run away after he used the knee-shot? Boi really did crank his bad bitchness UP once he put on the armor - I know people are being critical of Din's reaction to the Razor Crest being destroyed, but let's be real here: This man compartmentalizes like a MOTHER FUCKER, he can't afford to break down and be upset on a whim, he's got to stay focused on the task at hand, which usually involves a life or death situation. Plus he's surrounded by people he doesn't know/trust well enough to be that vulnerable around them. He's BARELY that vulnerable around Cara and Greef and he's known them for a while. - I swear the Slave 1 looks like the space equivalent of a sarcophagus - Din kept bringing up the integrity of the Creed when Boba told him to return the armor, and then Boba takes the extra step and shows proof of his ownership through the chain code. I feel as though he was trying to convince Din in a way that was more fitting to Mandalorian code, rather than a birthright. Din appears to have already been accepting of Boba's claim on the armor prior to this moment, considering he not longer challenged the claim once the fighting started. I do find it interesting that he didn't bring up the "you do not wear a helmet, you're not Mandalorian" concept. I think this is a sign that he's started to see how differently the Creed can be followed depending on the Mandalorian in question, but the core values are the same. - Boba said his chain code has been in the armor for 25-years, meaning he got the armor right around the time Din probably swore the Creed (??). Din doesn't appear that familiar with Boba's/Jango's name, but I wonder if tales of the Fetts ever surfaced in the covert. - So Din does NOT have the jetpack on while speaking with Cara, I'm hoping it's on Boba's ship at least - Din wants to enlist Mayfield's help to track Gideon's ship, but that would mean Din has to do something for Mayfield, because I highly doubt setting him free is going to be enough. I've already claimed he's going to negotiate both X'ian's and Burg's release as well, but I feel it's going to cost even more than that. - Every time I see the inside of an Imperial ship I want to play Wolfenstein - I honestly don't believe Grogu will go darkside, that would create too much of an arc for a show like this to handle. It would require a level of commitment that I don't think they'll follow through with, so I'm thinking the baby's reaction was purely a child having a supernatural tantrum, venting his frustrations. He could've easily choked the stormtroopers to death, but instead he chooses to toss them like dolls. He doesn't want to do bad things, but when he gets emotional his first instinct is to protect himself and Din. That's not a sign of darkness, that's just self-preservation. - So at first I thought the kid was trying to touch the darksaber, but now I'm thinking he was ignoring the saber and focusing on using the force to hurt Gideon, he continues to lift his hand even after the darksaber is switched off. I'm thinking he DOES recognize the saber in some way, he didn't seem that surprised. - I can't believe they actually had baby-sized shackles on hand, but then again they knew they would be dealing with a force-sensitive baby, better safe than sorry I guess I'm going to remind everyone that Din's calmness in the face of tragedy should NOT be mistaken for nonchalance, nor a lack of trauma, it's just how he powers through terrible situations. Dark!Din is coming, it's going to be Liam Neeson and John Wick COMBINED Only two more episodes to go, until next time! <3

#din djarin #mando #the mandalorian #mandalorian #the mandalorian series #the mandalorian spoilers #the mandalorian s2 #the mandalorian season 2 #the mandalorian series spoilers #grogu #grogu djarin

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starwarsfic · 4 years ago

Text

I.29

Originally posted August 13, 2020

Summary: Dooku knew what Obi-Wan was and decided to share that with at least one of his allies.

Details: Sithspawn!Stewjoni. Geonosis AU.

xxxxxx

When one of his current captors leered at Obi-Wan as he turned in his bonds, he had that familiar dread of a bad feeling.

"I didn't think your kind ever left your planet," Fett commented as though this was some everyday event for him. "That's quite an extensive amount of work you've had, to look so human."

And it was, he knew, from before he was old enough to even know what was going on all the way until he was fully grown. Eyes, ears, teeth, nails, throat, removing spines from his back, placing artificial dummy organs to fool scanners, tattoos of veins and arteries because of how pale his skin could be. It had all served him well through decades of kidnappings and captures, of slavers and darksiders.

He stayed silent, watching the bounty hunter carefully. Had Dooku told him? He must have always known, already a Master when Obi-Wan was reluctantly brought to the Order. Or maybe Qui-Gon had told him, during one of the moments he struggled between accepting what was natural within the Living Force and knowing Obi-Wan wouldn't be safe unless he had another operation, let his body be disfigured in some new way.

"Why did the jetiise have you?"

There was something he couldn't quite place in Fett's tone and without being able to see his face and with the electric shocks keeping him from accessing the Force, he wasn't sure if he would guess right. It almost seemed like Fett was concerned, but that hardly made any sense.

"I'm a Force user powerful enough to be trained." That wasn't anything Fett couldn't have figured out on his own or that Dooku didn't know.

But Fett seemed to scoff at him. "They wouldn't have given you over because of the Force."

For some reason, he was invested in this. There was some need for him to know about Obi-Wan's past. He was a Mandalorian, but Satine had been as well, and he doubted she would have been so interested.

"I nearly died. I had been trapped in a vision, in a coma, for two months before they called the Jedi and gave me into their care."

"And the first thing they did was mutilate a child?"

He wondered if this was the issue that Fett had. "Outside of the very high price I'd be worth on the slave markets, technically it was illegal for them to bring me onto Coruscant...or most other planets where I could have had formal training." When he turned back around to face Fett, he gave him a pointed look. "We're classified as bioweapons first, sentients second."

The first time he'd been called "sithspawn" and realized the other hadn't actually meant it had been quite the revelation.

Another long quiet greeted him and Obi-Wan started mentally working through his possible escapes again.

"That wasn't true, when Stewjon was part of Mandalore."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, though he wasn't facing Fett and the motion was probably lost to all but whoever was monitoring the room. "That's ancient history."

"It doesn't have to be."

As if some door had been shut in his mind and just flung itself open, Obi-Wan realized exactly who "Jango Fett" must be. The supposed Mand'alor, traditionally the sole ruler of Mandalore. Who was taking some major role in what was clearly a plot against the Republic and possibly the Jedi Order itself.

"If you're wanting a political relationship with Stewjon, I assure you its sole Jedi citizen does not have such authority."

He'd gone back thrice in his entire life, more for his safety and the safety of others during certain developmental periods than to reconnect with his culture. They were uncomfortable reminders that he was foreign to them and that even if they reversed everything done to him that could be reversed, he'd never really be Stewjoni in their minds.

Perhaps it was one reason he tried so hard to fit in with the humans around him, memorizing micro-expressions and reactions, mimicking even the emotions he couldn't quite grasp.

"The Jedi will fall," Fett finally stated, such surety in his voice it made Obi-Wan feel cold inside. "And the safety they give you with them." He was moving, now, following Obi-Wan around the room so he could watch his face without interfering with the equipment. "Dooku told you about the Sith. Would you want to be as your ancestors were at the beginning, a slave to them?"

"I suppose this is where you offer me an alternative?"

"The others here aren't the only ones with plans."

xxxxxx

A/N: When I write humanoid aliens I make them really alien lol I've got a lot of Ideas for Stewjon, but in case it wasn't obvious, they're literally sithspawn, as in Sith experimented on them.

ETA: Here's some more detailed headcanons

#character: jango fett #character: obi wan kenobi #verse: sithspawn stewjoni #verse: alternate aotc

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dark-embers · 4 years ago

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Herus

The day after meeting Marten and Liocyon for tea, the small group heading to Herus' estate left for Garlemald. Aryn, Yujin, and Toni were transported largely via airship from Kugane after checking in at the Garlean embassy. The two suns spent at the estate have largely been quiet; despite the raging War of Succession, Herus still has many of his allies - all loyal to Nerva - join them for parties and dinners and tea. Each night, Herus absconds to his personal quarters with Aryn, while Yujin and Toni's chambers are adjacent to the room. Toni is often expected to stand guard for at least part of the evening, while Yujin is occasionally asked to fetch more wine or whatever else the pair require. Tonight makes the first evening meal where Herus and Aryn are alone, the Praefectus finally wanting her all to himself entirely.

Meanwhile, high above the city limits, the sky pirate's redecorated ship floats in the night skies. Marten has successfully navigated them to the border of the capital, with Liocyon's assistance. After days of training under the expatriate's guidance, both sky pirate and Ishgardian are quite familiar with the protocols they will need in order to pose as one of the opposition forces. Flags barring the sigils of Gabranth's House are mixed with those of his allies, pinning the blame for the attack elsewhere.

On the ground, Ivaurault and his 'cohort' make their way through the city at a leisurely pace, so as to not draw too much attention, taking the long way to Herus' estate. Garbed in the armour of the Imperial Legion, they blend into the chaos that plagues the city as the War rages on. A few minor skirmishes occur, with none of the 'cohort' severely injured.

HERUS ESTATE: EXTERIOR

The grounds have a cohort and a half's worth of men patrolling them, with two guards posted at each entrance; there's a main entrance, and a second entrance in the gardens. The rest of the men patrol through the courtyard and the gardens themselves.

The march inside the grounds of the Estate was foreboding enough that most militiamen that saw the advancing squad of Legate's men simply dropped their weapons and fleed. Others knelt down in place, perhaps accepting their timely deaths. Deaths that did not arrive. The head of the retinue, the Ebon Gryphon, was leading the squad rather slowly; halberd churning a massive amount of Darkness that was trailing all betwixt his body and armaments. Without warning, tendrils rose up from the ground against the grounds squad, arcing up too quick for the human eye to register as the sound was like a thunder-clap; straight after the spikes of darkness disoriented anyone near the impact area. The Legatus spoke with a deepened voice, pointing an advancing order to his squad, "Surrender your arms and behold the mercy of your Legatus. Noah van Gabranth stakes claim to you now. Leave your pretender or submit to the will of the IVth Imperial Legion!"

The manipulation of darkness leaves them shaken, especially from a Legatus. The men who are running run faster, but those who have knelt symbolically raise their weapons before placing gunblades, lances, and swords before themselves. These men retract their hands to the tops of their thighs, awaiting approval from the representative of Gabranth. Meanwhile, the few men who did not drop their weapons as they ran are making for the nearest entrance to the estate itself, intent on shoring up the position with the other cohort and a half of men who are present. Communications via magitek start firing, recalling other cohorts from their places around the city - unless someone manages to jam the signal, reinforcements will be imminent.

"Your Praefectus has been deemed ill-fit for his command, conspiring with members of the Eorzean Alliance and attempting to secure trade from neighboring nations to better his station. This cannot go unpunished. Save yourselves from the association of this traitor and join me!" The Legatus' armor began to shift under the deluge of power that erupted from him; the cohort itself shouting Garlean chants as the skies above opened up with IVth Legion airships, the whirring of cannons priming and troops beginning to mount on the sides of cannons. Ivaurault's armor began shifting a darkened hue of crimson, then ebony as the two mixed into a blackened state before he continued on in a hurried pace. The entire city around them was erupting in turmoil and this attack only would draw fuel to a raging fire.

AIRSHIP DECK

The cannons begin their opening salvos, ripping holes into various parts of the estate's cerment walls, creating a number of points for the group to escape - though such appear to be access points for whatever reinforcements 'Gabranth's' cohort may have coming to the forces defending the place. The pirates, out of habit, whoop and howl at each successful shot. Once the escape points have been created, they turn their fire upon the generators that power the estate. Frantically, a pair of men work to circumvent the communications of Herus' forces, following instructions left to them by Liocyon. However, they notice that countermeasures are being made, aiming to cut off magitek and linkpearl frequencies. Expected, but it still causes the pair to panic, and one rushes off to inform Martennan of the loss of communication with the ground teams.

HERUS ESTATE: INTERIOR - DINING ROOM & HALLWAY

Once the cannons start breaking cerment, those within the estate itself become aware of the chaos that is ensuing outside. Armoured men run down the hallway where Toni and one of Herus' men stand guard, shouting about an attack to one another. The guard with the Miqo'te is ordered to stay, along with one of the men from the rushing group, so as to help Herus and his guests make it to the fortified wing of the estate where their chambers are. Looking up from their meal, Herus' expression hardens as the communications channels are jammed. He rises from his chair, moving to help Aryn from hers as he barks orders at 'Yukiko'. "Pull the book entitled 'A Treatise on the Mating Habits of Waterfowl' from the middle bookshelf, Yu!" he roars as he not only helps Aryn up, but picks her up as though she weighs nothing.

There was a momentary stagger as a small shock ran through the estate. The ever quiet demeanor shattered for a moment as he looked up, around the room as if there was a way to see where it had come from. And then the order being barked and he stood straight, bowing his head in submission. As he should to his superior, right? "Y-Yes my Lord." He muttered, quickly moving to the bookcase and searching for the appropriate book. Once found, he quickly pulled it and allowed the rest to happen, stepping back, glancing at Herus as he quickly hoisted Aryn up without... Any problem.

Upon pulling the book, a section of the dinning room wall slides away, revealing a hidden inner passageway. Herus is already charging towards the opening wall, shouting at Yu again. "Push the book back and follow me - be swift or the wall will close on you," he barks, his words dampened by the walls of the passageway.

And so he was quick to do so. The door began to shut and he slipped into the passage way - Being a slim boy was a rather helpful advantage in this particular situation. He watched as the door shut them into the passage way before turning to follow quickly after the pair.

Among the commotion Toni glances to the other guards. The blue haired Miqo'te sizing up the two men a moment. He frowns, "I'm checking on them, shouldn't we be moving though? This place isn't secured a bit." He doesn't wait for a protest as he turns, activating the door to have it open "Hey, let's get mo-...." He pauses "They're gone." he calls back to the other guards(edited)

One of the Garleans motions for Toni and the other guard to follow him, reaching for his gunblade as they start down the hallway. "Standard procedure during an attack. Just follow us," he notes vaguely as his companion starts to follow, also reaching for his sword.

It only takes a moment as the two pass him for him to manipulate his aether to help him blend into the shadows employing a rogue technique. The guards probably wouldn't even notice the absence of the stray as he fades down the hall, heading towards the entrance in hopes of thinning the security forces inside

The two men very much so don't notice the stray slipping away, as they proceed to the checkpoint that's been drilled into them time and again. The assumption is that since he's Aryn's guard, he'll just follow them and do as told. They've a bit of a maze of hallways to pass through before they'll finally notice that Toni's missing, leaving him free range of the estate for a good ten or so minutes.

HERUS ESTATE: EXTERIOR - INTERLUDE

Above the chaos, veiled in shadows, another man watches the chaos, waiting for his cue. Without a sound, the man opens the grate over one of the ventilation shafts, dropping down into the passageway. His feet brace against the walls, allowing for him to silently pull the ventilation grate back into place before he starts to silently spider-crawl his way down to the first junction.(edited)

HERUS ESTATE: EXTERIOR - COURTYARD

The men who offered up their arms to the Legatus fetch their weapons and join the cohort in their pressage towards the doorway. Shots begin to ring out from different positions along the manor itself, gunblades aiming from within something akin to Eorzea's archery slits, falling just short of the men as they make their way to their destination.

With the courtyard breached, the Legatus of the strike team let loose a hand toward rampart guards; the Darkside blast starting off small before it careened into a torrential downpour of darkness-aspected aether. A second weapon was unsheath at his back, a gladius as the tall Garlean made his advance; ripping waves of the aether shooting from his halberd as the strike was a bid for his men to storm the gates. The machina was the extra defensive layer; sets of Magitek Predators ripping through the crumbled gates as they began firing off a series of chainguns that aimed themselves on the battlements.

Most of the men at the ramparts manage to avoid the darkness, shields raising to block the rainfall. Meanwhile, five men burst through the doorway, intent on blocking the incoming assault and stop them from entering the estate itself. Shots begin to be fired from the men, most of them aiming for the 'Legatus' himself.

The bulwark the Legatus provided for his men was more like a phalanx of aether than shielding with his own body. Some of the men were scrambling to get nearest to the wall as the tall Garlean began advancing in an aggressive manner. The shield surrounding him coalesced within his hand, a tack that was changed with the intention that the bullets were ricocheting off his armor and causing him to falter in his steps. In a agile motion, the Garlean took that re-directive shield and impacted the ground at the front, unleashing the torrent in his palm. Waves of the explosive darkness spanned outward until the entire field was radiating such excruciating pain and pins against any and all that moved within the perimeter of the field. It seems as if casualties would be necessary. The Garlean legatus charged forward with his cohort, meeting the battle headon as the war machina charged in forth to assist their liege-lord.

AIRSHIP DECK

The frantic man reaches Martennan, almost forgetting to make the salute that Liocyon had taught them all. Even as his hand is lowering, he blurts out, "Sir! They've cut off not just magitek frequencies, but also linkshell frequencies!"

Lifting a finger to his ear to confirm that his own pearl is disabled as well, Martennan scowls uncharacteristically. "Focus fire on the communications array, there," he barks to the gunners, before indicating two of the pirates positioned nearest to Ivau's contingent. "Except for you two, maintain covering fire for Legatus!"

The two gunners swing their cannons around and line up their shots. The pair seem familiar with shielded assets, as they fire simultaneously to the same spot on the tower, punching through the magitek shielding before the shots rip into the lower part of the tower, creating a chained series of explosions that move upward. With a sickening grinding of metal, the remains of the tower topple onto some of the garden's hedges below.

HERUS ESTATE: INTERIOR - HIDDEN PASSAGES

The massive Garlean rushes through a series of switching passages, occasionally glancing to make sure that 'Yukiko' is keeping up with him. Aryn clings tightly to his shoulders and neck, sometimes squeaking at how close the man comes to slamming them into a wall - though he never does. Before long, he reaches what appears to be a dead end, kicking a particular spot on the wall to open the hidden doorway.

Yujin is following behind as best as he can. He does his best, going down the winding tunnels, watching as Aryn is bustled about over Herus' shoulder. It was slightly disconcerting, but not once did he ever hurt her. And that was a relief. Soon the doorway opened and he followed the pair through into the new room.

It so happens that they have made it to Herus' bedroom. He hits a pressure plate on the wall as soon as Yu's made it into the room, the wall sliding back into place behind him. The massive Garlean sets his Miqo'tess on the bed, before turning to Yujin again. "Over in the jewellery box. Open the lowest drawer, and press the bottom three times," he instructs the 'handmaiden', "there are several vials. Get two of them. Should they manage to breach this room, each of you take them. If I fall, you shall be spared whatever sickening predilections these men have and if I survive, I shall give you both the antidote."

Yujin moved as was instructed until he came to the vials and then was explained their use. He paused for a moment and peered behind him. There was a momentary look of apprehension as he looked to Aryn. Though he did pick a pair up and bring them with him and offered one to the miqo'te. He clearly looked worried about the whole thing. Some comfort would be nice. Probably.

Aryn pats the bed beside her as she takes the vial from Yujin, slipping an arm about the man's shoulders once he's settled. Meanwhile, Herus is putting on one of his pairs of power armour, before he fetches his Bozjan-style gunblade. As the two 'women' rest on the bed, he moves to position himself between them and the doorway, charged bullets at the ready in the gun.

The boy eased down onto the bed and shook his head with a small smile. He leaned into her for a moment and looked up, staring at the back of Herus. And then back to Aryn with a brow quirked. His pocket held his escape, at least. The one-use teleport shard to get him out and away from danger. Unused, as of yet...

HERUS ESTATE: INTERIOR - VENTILATION SHAFTS

Meanwhile, the shadowy figure makes his way through the labyrinthine maze that is the ventilation system, creeping closer and closer to his target's location. From time to time, he sees men running below him, making their way to reinforce their comrades now that the attackers position is clear. He ignores them, as they're not what he's been summoned for, sneaking towards the living quarters of the Praefectus.

HERUS ESTATE: EXTERIOR - COURTYARD

The machina manage to keep the ramparts pinned down with their scattering fire, leaving just the ground forces at the doorway for the phalanx to contend with. When the 'Legatus' charges forward, some of the more dedicated and reckless men charge as well, and soon the forces are colliding just outside the entrance to the manor house itself. A trio of Centuri face off against the 'Legatus' in hopes of taking him out while the rest of the men spread out to combat the incoming cohort; some of them falter when they cross swords with their former comrades that have switched sides.

Lio would step up beside the 'Legatus' drawing his own blade and rushing the one on the far right to try an minimize the amount of people fighting against the Legatus. Not being particularly skilled at combat he would at least try to be enough of a distraction

Two of the Centuri swing too broadly, leaving themselves open to the 'Legatus'' attack; the pair find themselves stabbed by spiked end of the man's halberd, while the third finds his attack blocked by the gladius. One of the stabbed men makes a noise of surprise as he just barely manages to side-step the attack from the 'Legatus'' companion.

The legatus bore down upon the charging resistance, the strike of his hand indicating his men to begin charging in down the door to the manor proper. The machina were already making their maneuvers and providing cover, airships from above providing the lynch pin of the plan. The tall Garlean struck hard into the first guard, sending him up into the sky with the strike from the halberd before he unlatched him free to the floor, sweeping back to strike the other as he made to sweep through the guards like a hot knife through butter. His next attack was well defended against, but not before his left hand dropped the gladius and the coalesce of darkness in his hand careened forth with extraordinary speed in an unaspected Unleash at the third guard as he found himself recovering from the impact of the block.

The unexpected style of attack forces the third Centri back and the man attempts to break for the entrance to the manor before he to ends up as bloodied as his comrades.

AIRSHIP DECK

So far, the ground assault seems to be going well, with much of the courtyard, gardens, and walls ripped apart by cannon fire. With the communications tower down, they don't have to worry too much about picking off incoming reinforcements, leaving the pirates needing some guidance on how to continue playing convincing Garlean airforcemen.

Martennan redirects the pirates' assault now that their communications are restored. "That building there," he indicates on their targeting display, "The garrison, hit that next, then we'll move to the armory." As the pirates set to work he raises a hand to his linkpearl once more, "Toni, it's Marten. Where are you now?" he pings the Miqo'te.

The salvo misses the garrison.

Already committed to their next target, the gunship swings past the garrison to fire on the armory. "Forget it," Marten calls out, "We'll swing back around, keep moving for now."

It's not a direct hit to the armoury, but a partial one, blasting a hole in the corner.

HERUS ESTATE: INTERIOR - FRONT HALLWAY

Toni rounds the corner to the hallway that leads to the front entrance, to find there's about four or five men still inside, using their gunblades to shoot at the incoming assault. Thankfully, the stray remembered to stealth, so they don't see him.

Staying stealthed, Toni looks towards the guards at the entrance, hugging a shadow by the hallway wall. He stays at decent distance, waiting patiently for an opportunity to strike and/or make a diversion

Two of the gunners charge out as a man covered in fading tendrils of darkness makes his way into the area. He heaves himself over to the back wall of the foyer, sitting down hard as the three others step forward a bit and resume firing.

HERUS ESTATE: INTERIOR - HERUS' BEDROOM

Silently, the ventilation shaft's cover is removed and pulled into the passageway, set aside before the shadowed figure drops down into the room. Landing with just the faintest whisper, he slinks along the wall without making a sound. Meanwhile, there's a knock at the door as the pair of guards reports that they've arrived, taking up station to either side. They don't even bother mentioning that the stray had gotten lost, having already made jokes about it as they approached the doorway. Weapons drawn, they ready themselves for when the fighting makes it this far - if it does. Closing her eyes in meditation, Aryn clears her mind of any and all thought aside from comforting her 'handmaiden', gently rubbing Yu's upper arm and holding hands in their laps.

Herus turns to look at Aryn and Yujin, having sensed something was amiss with his Third Eye's talent. Brow knitting beneath his helm, he addresses the Miqo'tess with concern. "Meditation?" he questions through the vocoder of his helm "You have not meditated while on these grounds in decades..." Without opening her eyes, and while continuing to stroke Yu's arm and hold his hand, she murmurs, "Even in the last War, the fighting did not reach your doors while I was present."

Without warning, the shadowy figure suddenly surges forward, his hand closed in a fist that strikes near a seam in Herus' power armour. There's a faint click, and an osmium and duraluminium alloy blade slips out of his arm-sheath so quickly, the Garlean has little time to respond. Ducking low as Herus spins around, the blade retracts, leaving behind a particular poison that had been given to him by his contractor.

Herus lurches forward from the impact, vaguely aware of the poison, but less than concerned about it in the moment. The gunblade swings around, aiming for where the rogue had just been, finding air. At the last second, the Garlean kicks out with his foot, catching the assassin in the stomach and sending him backwards.

The assassin manages to land on his feet, in a low crouch that leaves him just above the floor. Redirecting the kinetic energy of his flight, he pounces forward, the wrist-blade revealing itself mid-charge. The blade is parried with the gunblade with enough force that it snaps from the internal mechanisms, leaving it half-hanging from the man's arm.

Herus brings the blade upward, using both hands for a power strike, making to try and cleave the assassin in two. The man slips between the Garleans wide-spaced stance, rising and throwing a dagger towards the two 'women' on the bed. Much like his first strike, this one connects with its target, burying itself in Aryn's side.

Yujin panicked the moment someone had lunged at Herus. This wasn't part of any plan they'd made. "Lady Aryn--" He spoke up. His voice wavered during the momentary lapse of concentration when the knives were then flung towards them. And one finding it's mark. "FUCK!" He yelled, reaching for the knife and pausing. Can't remove it. Bleeding. "Do something!" He yelled at Herus, quickly trying to stem the bleed with pressure on the wound. He isn't medically trained. He's just doing his best.

Aryn's eyes are rather wide as she starts to pale a little. She is a geomancer, but being caught off-guard and without any of her bells on her. She lowers her hands to help Yujin stem the bleeding, her breath becoming ever more erratic as the minutes tick by.

The rogue disengages and attempts to head back to the ventilation shaft, only to find the massive Garlean suddenly in his way. He takes a shot to his shoulder from the gunblade, causing his left side to jerk back from the impact. As Herus moves forward to press the attack, and the door opens as the two guards hear the gunshot, the rogue seems to vanish into thin air. The guards look about in confusion, as their liege turns to look up at the ventilation shaft - a passageway far to small for a suit of regular armour to fit into, let alone power armour. Ignoring the assassin himself as he barks for the guards to get a perimeter lockdown underway, he begins moving back towards the bed before falling to a knee, gasping for air. Recalling the poison, he panics, tearing off his his helm as he turns for the jewellery box and the range of antidotes there. All the while, his heart races harder and harder.

This was not how this was meant to happen. Yujin watches as Herus starts to rummage through the box and there is a quiet moment where he realizes that the man had been poisoned. Though he could not react in such a way that would put him or her at risk. Though they left and he looked down at Aryn. "How can I help you? What do you need me to do?" Concentrate on her. Make sure she's stable.

HERUS ESTATE: FRONT DOORS

The three gunners advance again, trying to stop the swirling darkness that is the cohort of the IVth's 'Legatus'. The man in the back has mostly shed the darkness, but breathes heavily from the assault as he sits against the wall. And then a familiar guard sprints past Toni, running as fast as his legs can carry him, shouting, "**It's all a distraction! There's an assassin! SEAL THE PERIME--" And then the man notices the shape the forces are in. There's no way they can seal the perimeter with so few men left.

Blue ears flicker to the tidbit of information and noting that there's been an assassination, he makes for Aryn's chambers, hurrying down the hallway having become somewhat familiar with the house in the recent days "Talks going around there's been an assassination, I think the head of the house might be dead already. Going to check on Aryn now" He murmers to his linkpearl, moving quickly(edited)

The screams and frantic yelling cause a commotion at the front of the assault cohort. Already the guards were beginning to falter but the Legatus had heard something that caused his head to jostle upward. The halberd he was using was suddenly taken into both of his hands, splitting the weapon in two as the blades themselves became dual weapons. The Garlean ripped through the hall as the darkness poured off his armor; his movements tracking residual aether through the hall that was causing miniature explosions of the aspected aether. His weapons stabbed through guards en masse as if he were a man possessed; his image becoming distorted as the physical manifestations of dark aether began to coalesce together in some of a shadow. There were two of them now. The visage began mimicking the Legatus' actions as he careened down the hallway, appearing ahead of him; appearing behind him. Clearing a path beyond all recognition.

AIRSHIP DECK

The Crow's Nest notes there's some sort of commotion below, at the front door. As the man shouts down to Marten, reporting the surge in activity as the 'Legatus' seems to make an all-out attack, something that was not in the plan at all.

Hearing the bodyguard's words, Martennan changes tactics. "We've dealt with their artillery, bring us in low, and move to the residential area, there." he directs the helm, before returning to the linkshell. "Ivau, what's happening in the foyer? Toni, when you get to Aryn and Yujin tell them to stay away from the exterior wall. When I say, come to the next room over from hers, to the east." He grips tightly to a rail as his stomach lurches from the rapid descent.

Toni chimes back in, arriving at Aryn's room "You got it, will do" taking a quick glance down the hallway for guards before getting the door to open. He steps inside and frowns, his heart sinking "She's not here..." he says, trying to stay calm "Gonna try the next room."

There was silence on the frequency of the linkpearl for a good while. The sounds Martennan heard was a lot of screaming from an enclosed space. A sound of clashing steal before a gurgle and the harried but enclosed sound of the Ishgardian's voice protruded through, though it sounded exasperated, "An assassin has infiltrated ahead of us...storm the fortress. And join us, immediately! We are adapti-" His voice cut out abruptly as he joined back to back with his corporeal image of darkness, parrying the incoming assault and barricade of guards that were preventing him from entering Herus' quarters. The source of the distress.

Martennan suppresses a shiver at the horrific sounds beamed into his ear. "Already on our way." As the gunship reaches the designated section of the building he counts the windows along the wall to ensure he has the right location. "Target that window there," he instructs the lead gunner, leaning over the pirate's shoulder, "and fire the Dragonkiller. Helm, once he does, take us away from the building enough to tear a hole in the wall as we drag out the harpoon. You two, with me," he goes on, indicating two of the now largely redundant gunners, "be ready to head inside as soon as we're clear."

HERUS ESTATE: CONVERGENCE

There's a loud crash from inside the bedroom as Herus falls sideways as he fumbles through antidote after antidote - none of which seem to be impacting the poison. Crashing to the ground, still clad in most of his power armour, blood starts to pour from his mouth as he gasps for air. Aryn doesn't seem to be faring much better, as she slumps against Yujin, her hands hardly pressing against his and the wound. Outside, the two guards who had tried to block the room from aggressors are staring wide-eyed at the mass of darkness barrelling towards them.

All pretense went out the window now. Yujin was not even trying to be Yukiko anymore. "Gods damned it, Aryn. Stay with me." He hissed, pressing his hands tighter still against the wound. His head turned to look over his shoulder at the door. The pair of guards that were retreating. "Fuck." He managed to get out, eyes trailing then to Herus for a split second, then back to the door. "No, no no..." He mumbled.

The blue Miqo'te quickly moves to the door to the west room of Aryn's chambers, avoiding most of the main hall's commotion. Quickly he gets the door open and hurries inside only to be struck by the sight before him. His eyes are all over the place, taking in everything. His notices the downed Garlean first but as soon as his glance passes to Aryn his heart sinks to a new level "NO!" He yells hurrying to her and Yujin's side. He raises his hands to help stop the bleeding "Gods dammit. What happened?!" he asks rather frustratedly to Yujin "Fuck."

A scream or two was all that was left as the mass of darkness stood in the threshold of Herus' chamber, standing resolute as a presence of aetherial darkness. The legatus treaded through his mirror image, tinged in blood as hands returned back together to create the halberd he had been using prior to the invasion. Upon his stride forward, the image followed in the path of the legatus. There was little word as he advanced on Herus with a maddening furor; a coccoon of darkness entrapping the legatus as multitudes of unleashed aether swarmed out from his hands; graven image beginning to copy the same motions.

Herus can't even scream in pain, already mid-heart attack as the 'legatus' rips his very essence from his being. There's not much left for the tall 'Garlean' to devour, as he almost instantly kills the Praefectus by accelerating the heart attack to an extreme as he rips away the aether.

The massive harpoon easily bursts through the reinforced window, its barbed head splintering a chair and table as it embeds itself in the floor. The gunship sinks as low to the ground as it can and the helmsman pulls away rapidly. The base of the wall pours outward into the garden in a torrent of debris while the gunship veers around unsteadily at the sudden loss of tension on the chain. As soon as the vessel begins to right itself Marten's boots are on the ground, charging through the cloud of dust with the duo of pirates at his heels.

"I- I do not know!" Yujin answered Toni the moment he arrived. "Someone came in through the vents. Went for Herus and poisoned him with a single strike. Then... Throwing daggers..." He motioned down towards Aryn then, "It happened rather quickly. Even Herus was caught off guard."

The legatus descended down like a hellion from the Void, having ripped aetheric energy from the Praefectus in such a display that it almost hung and animated off of the now falling corpse. The graven image of darkness was shifting in and out of focus, where the Garlean could only stand still as his aether began to fizzle off from his hands, darkness waves rippling up, out, and under him as the Abyssal force stay suspended in the air. "PULL THE DAGGER. NOW!" It was a labored plea from under his helmet, already sounding exasperated and at the height of his limitations for the elevated situation. The image began to swarm and expand.

Toni frowns. Breathing heavily with panic amongst seeing Aryn dying before him, pirates breaking through the walls, and a crazed dark elezen shouting commands. Shaking his head he let's out a breath, grasping the throwing dagger "Stay with me..." He murmurs to Aryn, quickly he pulls the blade. He tosses it to the side and covers the wound "WE HAVE TO GO, RIGHT NOW!" he yells "Ivau, call one of your medical units and get them to hurry their arse up and onto the airship!" he looks at Aryn, voice faltering "Everything is gonna be fine..."

Opening the chamber door and leaning his head into the hallway, Martennan cannot help but gag at the carnage left in the wake of Ivau's rampage. Readying his bow he steps out and moves to Aryn's door; it is open, the room empty, but shouts draw him to the next room down. The view from Herus's doorway takes a moment to process. "Herus dead. Oh, very dead, good," recites his inner voice, "Arscelais and Toni alive, better. Aryn and--" "Shit!" he interrupts his thoughts, "The airship's just outside, this way! Toni, can you carry her?"(edited)

As soon as the dagger is tossed aside, the suspended aether arcs towards the unconscious Miqo'tess at a barely controlled speed. The life force of the Praefectus is redirected into her by Ivaurault, covering her in a partial cocoon not unlike what was done to Herus - the difference being that the aether is being given rather than being taken away. Beneath Toni and Yujin's hands, flesh begins to knit back together as the aether is absorbed, just enough to stem the bleeding but not enough fully heal the wound. Her breath starts to stabilise, but her eyes remain closed and she makes no other sound as the last of the aether is absorbed.

"Toni and Ivau, take Aryn on the gunship. The rest of us will leave with Arscelais's men, there's not enough room in that thing for everyone," Martennan instructs.

Toni slips his arms beneath Aryn, picking her up. The wound healing itself giving him pause, but he isn't going to question what must be a good thing. Holding her close he stands up "Yujin, try to keep your hands on that wound" he murmurs, heading towards the hole in the wall "Let's go!" he yells back to Ivau "C'mon stay with me. We're getting out of here" he quietly says amongst the chaos to the Miqo'te in his arms

"Right." He nodded and eased up quickly. His hands near clutched at Aryn's side to keep the pressure on the wound. Though the wound was already gone. He followed along swiftly and made sure that Aryn was as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances.

The aether force burned off of the 'legatus' in ripples of ebony and amethyst that coalesced into a torrent of flame before it is snuffed out. Sounds of infiltration resounded through the manor as chants of, 'Glory to Gabranth', were heralded. Ivaurault balanced himself on his halberd; was that his blood or others? It could have honestly been both. "N-no. The plan. Yu takes her away. Now, before the fighting ramps up once again. I do not have the proper strength...go now!"

Toni frowns, glancing between down at Aryn and then looking to Yujin "You're call. Airship if we have to, crystal if you can." he says,"But if you're teleporting us, get to it" he frowns "and Ivau, don't die!" he calls back

"Right, right," he shakes his head to himself, "Yujin, Toni, go. Don't worry, we'll look after Arscelais. See you soon," He moves to the larger man's side. "Ivau, can you walk?"

"You do not have to tell me twice." He answered simply, pulling the crystal from his pocket and clutching it tight. And without much more of a whimper, the trio of Aryn, Yujin and Toni were teleported away.

"For now...I am growing fatigued." His voice sounded strained and he had still been entrapped within the armor. On first glance, he was scattered with blood from the resistant Praefectus guards but there were some visible indents in the armored suit. "Let them go, and we will depart the way we came in. We need be far from here when the -actual- Legatus arrives."

He sighs and adjusts his directions again, turning instead to the pirates over whom he at least has an inkling of authority. "Never mind. You two back to the gunship, meet at the planned rendezvous point. I'll escort Lord Arscelais back to the entrance."

The 'legatus' ignored most of the real Garleans scurrying and fleeing for their lives, using Martennan mostly as a brace as he began to guide his steps with his halberd. A few of the cohort had survived; four souls of the twelve he had set out with. They were already recuperating on the airship, a few bodies that were able to be salvaged covered with linen to present back home to grieving families. Ivaurault slumped along Martennan, for the deck of the ship could not come soon enough. By the time they had reached their exit, the Ishgardian fell to the deck, wrought with exhaustion.

Epilogue

The Xaela were quite surprised when the trio appeared at their aetheryte; they'd been given warning that a crystal might teleport people to them in distress, but there was no mention of need of medical attention. There's a flurry of activity as the Oronir and Buduga guide over to the triage tent, finishing up the work that Ivaurault started. However, even after all their healing, Aryn remains unconscious, seeming to hover right upon the edge of death...

#ffxiv #xiv #final fantasy xiv #dark embers #embers alliance #masterpiece #i'm never dm'ing again #this is my magnum opus

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mneiai · 4 years ago

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When one of his current captors leered at Obi-Wan as he turned in his bonds, he had that familiar dread of a bad feeling.

"I didn't think your kind ever left your planet," Fett commented as though this was some everyday event for him. "That's quite an extensive amount of work you've had, to look so human."

"Why did the jetiise have you?"

"I'm a Force user powerful enough to be trained." That wasn't anything Fett couldn't have figured out on his own or that Dooku didn't know.

But Fett seemed to scoff at him. "They wouldn't have given you over because of the Force."

"I nearly died. I had been trapped in a vision, in a coma, for two months before they called the Jedi and gave me into their care."

"And the first thing they did was mutilate a child?"

The first time he'd been called "sithspawn" and realized the other hadn't actually meant it had been quite the revelation.

Another long quiet greeted him and Obi-Wan started mentally working through his possible escapes again.

"That wasn't true, when Stewjon was part of Mandalore."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, though he wasn't facing Fett and the motion was probably lost to all but whoever was monitoring the room. "That's ancient history."

"It doesn't have to be."

As if some door had been shut in his mind and just flung itself open, Obi-Wan realized exactly who "Jango Fett" must be. The supposed Mand'alor, traditionally the sole ruler Mandalore. Who was taking some major role in what was clearly a plot against the Republic and possibly the Jedi Order itself.

"If you're wanting a political relationship with Stewjon, I assure you its sole Jedi citizen does not have such authority."

Perhaps it was one reason he tried so hard to fit in with the humans around him, memorizing micro-expressions and reactions, mimicking even the emotions he couldn't quite grasp.

"I suppose this is where you offer me an alternative?"

"The others here aren't the only ones with plans."

#obi wan kenobi #jango fett #star wars fic #my stuff

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warsofasoiaf · 5 years ago

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What is your opinion of KOTOR 2? Favorite things about it, least favorite things about it, characters, etc.

Alright, it’s time for another video game review, so an early reminder, spoilers abound for both KOTOR1 and KOTOR2. There’s a cut of course. Overall, I thought it was a phenomenally well-written game and one of the greatest pieces of media to exist in the Stars Wars universe (although I haven’t read any of the Expanded Universe books so keep that in mind), and as is the usual case for Obsidian particularly in this era, developer constraints created a beautiful mess.

Before we can talk about KOTOR we need to talk a little bit about Star Wars and what it meant as a film. The original Star Wars isn’t a very creative story, it’s largely a conventional Hero’s Journey. It’s a pastiche of early adventure stories in a science fiction setting, but with the added benefit of video and sound effects to really make it come to life in a way that was only possible in the imagination of readers. This gave the series a wide deal of appeal. Folks who grew up on the 1950′s Flash Gordon serials or WW2 dogfight films could see a film with those things they loved from their childhood with a high budget to bring those things to life. Science fiction fans could visually see elements of their favorite books brought to life on the silver screen. Fans of movies can appreciate the cutting-edge (for the time, although I love me some practical effects in film) effects and the unfamiliar elements of science fiction with the familiar trappings of an adventure tale.

KOTOR was something similar for the video game industry, particularly for the fans of Baldur’s Gate. The ability to create a Jedi character and go on a journey like the Bhaalspawn did in Baldur’s Gate was something that appealed to a significant number of RPG fans, and the critical success of the Baldur’s Gate series brought a lot of money and prestige to Bioware. Fans of RPGs and Star Wars got to see their medium and interact with it in a whole new light. Much like A New Hope, KOTOR1 was largely a traditional story where Darth Malak is an evil guy without much in the way of redemptive qualities. The two major wrinkles were that you could play as a Sith and have some moments of true player cruelty like ordering Zaalbar to kill Mission, but this makes sense for an RPG, having no player choice in a game really makes you lose the lightside/darkside dynamic. Of course, the bigger and more interesting drift from a traditional Star Wars story was the Revan twist. This took advantage of both the slower pace of games to spend time with your PC and form a connection, and the nature of Western RPG’s where the player envisions themselves partially as their avatar onscreen to make the reveal hit home. Ultimately though, the Star Wars morality was upheld. The Jedi were the unequivocal good guys, the Sith were the unequivocal bad guys.

KOTOR2 decided to put the Force under the microscope. It had started in 2003, so Episode II had already come out, and this idea of the prophecy of Anakin bringing balance to the Force, and what we knew of the Jedi in the original Star Wars trilogy who were reduced to hermits hiding on the fringes of society, really gave the impetus to examine this idea of the balance of the Force as not necessarily benevolent. It’s not evil, per say, it’s just indifferent to the people that die to make it happen. So the game became a self-critical examination of the core structures of the Star Wars universe. The Sith are usually thought of as the bad guys, and a lot of that holds true, domination, subjugation, power, betrayal, all that nasty stuff aren’t really conducive to most conceptions of goodness, but are the Jedi good? Does their passivity lead to injustice and terror being wrought on others because the Jedi failed to act. That was the question behind the Jedi involvement in the Mandalorian Wars, was the Exile correct in going off to fight them or were the Jedi Council who forbade them correct? As befits the folks who wrote Planescape: Torment, the game has two journeys, one through the game world and the plot that unfolds and another more deeply introspective.

I’ll put the things I don’t like about KOTOR2 first because the list is small but it is worth noting. The game is very clearly a rushed product and it shows. The cut content shows a great deal of lost potential, and the bugs could make the game at times completely unplayable. The game suffered from the accelerated development, having barely half the development time, and you can see where the seams show. The UI is clunky and gets cluttered when you have to manage items. Level design is similarly a nuisance, as they are big sprawling expanses without a lot of content in them. Part of that is a necessity to the mechanics, smaller levels would have other encounter designs being agro’d into it, but the levels are still expansive, empty, and a slog to get through. The Peragus mining facility is too large by half, and there’s a lot of backtracking in these levels. Since side quests encourage finding a doodad or killing a few key figures scattered around a map, that means a lot of trekking through these big levels to find one particular item or enemy locked in a corner somewhere. That can be very tedious, particularly on repeat playthroughs. At times, it feels like legging your way through a swamp to get to the next piece of delicious content.

Which is a good segue into talking what I like about the game, because its writing and characters are superb. The character companions are twists of classic Star Wars archetypes. Atton is the scoundrel Han Solo non-Force user type, but ends up having a disturbingly dark backstory where he was a Sith interrogator and feared his own Force-sensitive nature. Bao-Dur is a man haunted by the weapon of mass destruction he created, a tech-head who ends up hating his most momentous creation but feels the need to use it yet again. Canderous has become the new Mandalore and is desperately trying to revitalize his dying culture because he’s been so broken by Revan’s departure. The Wookie life-debt is so toxic that it breaks Hanharr and Mira in their own ways. Visas is a Sith whose will is shattered. Each of these characters are fundamentally broken (save for the droids, unless you count the physical need to reassemble HK-47 as broken), and the Exile draws them to him or her. Through discovering more about them and resolving it, the Exile awakens the characters’ connection to the Force, oddly ironic since the Exile is cut off from the Force and is only rediscovering it. Like most Bioware RPG’s, you the player through your character guide the growth of these characters and form a relationship with them, or use them for your own ends.

Kreia, of course, deserves her own paragraph. Kreia is the Star Wars Ravel Puzzlewell, an embittered woman who wants to destroy the cosmic chains of the universe and loves the player character in a deeply obsessive way, one that’s played completely straight in how it makes the player uncomfortable. She is deeply resentful of the Force and wants to destroy it, and through the Exile, who managed to cut themselves off so utterly completely in a unique way, she sees the path. Of course, the reason why the Exile cut themselves off was the mass death at Malachor V was so overwhelming that he or she would have otherwise died. Of course, her obsession and overriding mission cares little for the Exile’s own pain, and so the manipulations begin, using you to lure out and destroy the Jedi and the Sith, and in the end, you disappoint her, either because you don’t learn her lessons or she discovers that the only reason you were the way you were was because you were afraid. She still is obsessed over you, though, and so when you finally confront her, she obliges that affection to explain everything, unusually honest for a woman whose Sith name is evocative of the word betrayal. And fortunately, she allows something that most monologue villains don’t allow, a means by which to tell her she’s full of shit. Certainly, it’s a little weaker coming from her as an option to you rather than the player character saying it themselves, but I think it’s stronger, since so much of the ending had to be cut anyway it reinforces the ambiguity of it, that the ending is what you believe. Personal belief has always been important for the Exile and Kreia/Traya, and letting that transfer to the player is, while perhaps not the most ideal, completely valid given how rushed the development was.

The other Sith Lords are fascinating concepts of evil and personal belief as well as well, and really show the Dark Side of the force in a parasitic, corrupt sense and the horrible ends of taking belief to its extreme. Darth Sion is the Lord of Pain. He cannot die but he feels pain constantly, making eternal life not a blessing but a torture, though in it he found a twisted source of enlightenment. His pain fuels his anger and hatred (key ingredients of the Dark Side) and so he persists solely through the Dark Side. Darth Nihilus, on the other hand, had his body obliterated by the Mass Shadow Generator, and so persisted as a wound in the Force, consuming Force energy to feed his relentless hunger. He is not a human anymore but a force of endless consumption that cannot be satiated, this hunger pain pushes him past his own mortal existence but which can only consume, not live. This perfectly illustrates the Dark Side concept of pursuit of power even past the point of sustainability, for Nihilus will continue consuming until all existence has been eaten.

The game is dark and moody, as you explore a shattered galaxy. In the original game, the search led to the Star Forge and the revelation that you the player was Revan. The sequel shows that there was no grand conspiracy; the act of Malachor built Nihilus and Sion and the player themselves was something that you did. It was not a conspiracy of Jedi but rather the after-effects of a particular action, much the way Lonesome Road had the Courier’s delivery of the package to Hopeville to be something that destroyed Ulysses even though you never met him. The Mass Shadow Generator was meant to save the galaxy from the Mandalorians but birthed a new, more powerful tragedy. Bao-Dur even wonders if the subjugation of the people under the Mandalorians was better than the power of the Mass Shadow Generator, a powerful moment ordered by just a mere single Jedi, built by a mere tech specialist. In true Planescape fashion, a personal apocalypse is a galactic apocalypse and vice-versa. Torment lingers over this game, in the broken characters, in a parallel journey both outward and inward. In many ways KOTOR2 was Planescape: Torment in the Star Wars universe, albeit with its own personal flair.

Alright, that’s a good review. I can do character analyses of some of the major characters if you want.

Thanks for the question, Messanger.

#star wars #knights of the old republic 2 #video game reviews

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bluerosesburnblue · 5 years ago

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Hi Liz have you seen the new addition to SR theory where they say that Kairi is a Chirity I would like to hear your thoughts on that because as soon as I saw the post it just gave me a migraine, tbh I think the whole SR theory is nothing more than a bunch of crap. I love hearing your opinion, anyway the whole theory is just trying to push parallels that I think are nothing more than just that. How Kairi became a chirity to help them cross the world line. I'm sorry it probably makes no sense.

I sure have! I know exactly what you’re getting at, don’t worry. I’ve got a few people who alert me of this kind of stuff when it happens so I’ve got stuff prepared already

The whole update is just full of cherry-picked moments, misrepresented facts, and conclusion jumping. And it’s short. So let’s get into why, exactly, it’s a terrible argument

The new post starts off with a recap of something covered in the theory document itself, namely how the KH3 Dive uses imagery from the KH1 intro, which they use in the document to claim that the light is Riku. Now, I already covered this in my debunk posts, but since making those, @qazawsxs2 has brought to my attention a little parallel that the theory writers conveniently leave out. Corroborating what I claimed about the Darksides near-universally representing Sora’s darkness, it turn out that the way the Darkside is introduced in KH3 is framed exactly the same way that it’s introduced in KH1 Dive, where it was unquestionably related to Sora’s darkness. They keep trying to push that the Darkside is related to Kairi through a non-perfect parallel to the KH1 opening, while ignoring what the Darkside is a perfect parallel to. Post proving this: here.

The writer of that post goes on to claim that they’re not saying that Kairi is the Darkside and like… I’m sorry, can you really blame anyone for thinking that’s what you were saying when all they did was apply the same logic you used to prove that the Light was Riku to the Darkside argument? The theory, in no uncertain terms, states that because that Light is where Riku was in the KH3 opening that it is Riku’s light guiding Sora. It’s not a stretch to come to the conclusion that you’re implying that the Darkside is Kairi when the document itself brings up the Riku = Light argument and the only transition to Kairi is:

“And who is it that greets Sora when he breaches the water? In KH3, we get [the Darkside]. In KH1 we get… Kairi.” (pg. 93)

Either the Light is Riku and the Darkside is Kairi, or the Light is only kind of related to Riku and the Darkside is only kind of related to Kairi. You cannot say that your argument applies to only one of those scenarios when you use the same argument to frame both

And again, all of the proposed explanations in the document for the Darkside/Kairi connection state that the Darkside is Kairi in some way:

“So, is this Kairi’s heart? Trapped in The Final World, the brink of death where they all were but a hop skip moment ago? Is she within a pseudo Heartless, like a guise? Is it a possible Xion situation by means of a forced fight to pay a supposed “price” for world hopping in an attempt to save her friends?” (pg. 97)

So, yes, they absolutely did claim that the Darkside was Kairi and now saying that all they were claiming is that there was a connection reeks of backpedaling. And that’s just the start of how disingenuous this post is

The post then goes on to point out the similarity between Sora waking up in The Final World and Sora waking up at the start of KH1. And, sure, I’ll give them that it might be an intentional parallel. It’s not as similar as the callbacks to the KH1 Intro and Darkside are since none of the camera angles are the same, but that absolutely could be an intentional animation parallel

Aaaaaand that’s about as far as the parallel actually goes! Here’s where the pretty blatant cherry-picking starts.

First off, the scenes of Sora waking up aren’t actually as similar as they claim. In KH1, it’s exactly as it is in that post: we see the sun shining, then we cut directly to Sora’s eyes fluttering open… he sits up, looks around, and then lays right back down, but jolts up when Kairi leans over him

In KH3, though, we see then sun shining (which is more zoomed-in than in KH1), and then we get a wide shot of The Final World with Sora’s spectral body. The camera does a closer pan of Sora’s spectral body so that we can see how messed up he is. Then his eyes flutter open when it reaches his face (more zoomed-out than in KH1). He sits up and looks around, using absolutely none of the same camera angles as in KH1 and with the camera using first-person shots way less (if at all, the only one I spotted might not have even been first-person given how The Final World is). Sora then struggles to his feet on his own, world title card appears, and then you get an entire damn walking around gameplay segment before Chirithy even shows up, descending from the sky

So you can already see that a certain theory writer just blatantly cherry-picked the three seconds that you could claim are even mildly similar while cutting out basically 95% of both scenes to try and force a parallel

They then go on to try and make a name parallel. Kairi contains the character “kai,” which is one of the alternate pronunciations for χ that Xehanort references, and they state that, yes, he uses the same character for the alternate pronunciation in Japanese as Kairi’s name does (while the English version subtitles it as “kye”). This could be intentional, yes. Kairi is one of the Seven Princesses of Heart, stated to hold the power necessary to forge the χ-Blade. But you know what they didn’t prove?

That the “chi” in “Chirithy” is related to the same symbol. Because while, yes, Chirithy does contain “chi,” which is how they subtitled the χ in Kingdom Hearts χ [chi], that’s a parallel that only exists in English, just like how the Kairi parallel only exists in Japanese. The “chi” in Chirithy is never pronounced like either of the given pronunciations of χ in either Japanese or English, and it doesn’t use the same characters as the KHχ title does in Japanese

They don’t even give any proof that the “chi” in Chirithy is supposed to stand for the χ. They can’t because if they did they’d have to acknowledge that it isn’t. The claim that both Kairi and Chirithy have the χ in their names only works if you’re relying on “common knowledge” that Chirithy’s name is derived from it, which there is absolutely no evidence of

Hyperbole has no place in an argument, so they shoot their own foot by stating that “THIS IS NOT NOTHING” in all caps about Kairi’s hood

And then they claim that Chirithy and Kairi share a symbol: the star. Technically false. Stars are a symbol of Light in KH. They have been since KH1 where the literal stars represented the light of the worlds. The past Keyblade wielders tasked with defending the Light were given Starlight Keyblades in KHχ, the BBS trio chats about it in the opening when they’re stargazing (which, btw, contains a more obvious parallel to Sora waking up in KH1 with Ven and Aqua than the Final World ever does), and most importantly:

A star-like symbol represents particles of Light in KHχ, called Lux

Which, by the way, is what Chirithy’s symbol actually is. It’s just an all-white Lux sigil. Which makes sense, since they’re supposed to help their wielders collect it

Kairi and Chirithy both have star-based sigils, but only because they’re both derived from Light. Kairi’s being because she’s a Princess with a heart of pure light, Chirithy because they’re intended to help their wielders collect fragments of it. Their symbols aren’t the same, but are simply derived from the same series-wide symbol. A symbol that specifically represents light

Also, they don’t even put any proof that Kairi’s symbol even is a star in that post. If you’re trying to prove a parallel, you’ve gotta put both versions in there. This is the second time it’s happened in that one post alone

And then they end on Sora telling Kairi in KH1 that he dreamed about a “huge, black THING” swallowing him up and then dying via Demon Tornado. Which, like… okay? What are you even trying to say? That because Sora dreamed about dying in the Darkness and saw Kairi, then actually died in the Darkness and saw Chirithy that it’s an intentional parallel? No. Those aren’t even the same Heartless, the scenes aren’t staged the same way, that’s not… that’s not even a parallel unless you stretch your definition of “parallel” like a taffy puller makes candy. It’s not even the first or only time Sora has been swallowed up by Darkness! If this is an intentional parallel, then they all are. Yes, even that time it happened because Maleficent was saving them in KH2. Kairi was secretly a box of ice cream all along. Good job, you figured out Kingdom Hearts

The only connection that Kairi and Chirithy have is that he tells Sora that Kairi’s holding him together, and even then he doesn’t say her name

You say that the theory is trying to push parallels as something more than parallels, and while I agree, it’s way more than that. They’re misrepresenting canon to try and make parallels that fit their interpretation, parallels that don’t actually exist, and then use them as evidence while conveniently forgetting that while a parallel can hint towards something, it is not always proof in and of itself. That’s their big failing here. There’s a reason I called their evidence “forged” at one point

It’s because they made it all up

#liz debunks the sr theory #thanks for the ask!#i'm very flattered that you like my analyses enough to ask me my thoughts on this!#anon asks #liz answers #oh good god tumblr's doing something fucking dumb and it botched the formatting #whyyyyyyyyy?

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khdiscussions · 6 years ago

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Huge Breakdown: Sleeping Realms Theory

Tl:dr, I still don’t like the theory, and my rebuttal had almost zero points proven otherwise and you can read the whole thing below of my liveblogging.

The fact that they call Riku’s act an “Act of true love” first of all makes me believe this is meant to sell canon SoRiku and I’m already unimpressed. It shows biased phrasing and takes away from any credibility this theory could ever have with anybody who isn’t a SoRiku shipper because it is ultimately pushing that Sora and Riku are going to be romantically involved and as somebody who really needs to edit her ship list and remove SoRiku...no.

...Okay so the Ultimania already proved this wrong I don’t even have to go through the rest.

Before I go into it, I can see how from just reading their summary, you can fall into the trap, however, the Realm of Sleep and Dreaming Worlds are ultimately the same thing. You cannot enter the Realm of Sleep without Dreaming Worlds unless you are coming to the brink between it and death. As such, it would still require every world Sora visits to be a Dreaming World, and thus have fallen into darkness. Since we know this isn’t the case, my “Alpha Timeline” and “Beta Timeline” labels are fully and 100% accurate. Even the way they describe it “World Line” implies and Alpha and Beta Timeline. If we ignore that KHUx is confirmed to be taking place in data still, the world lines cannot be in the same timeline, as they’d be two separate universes. Meaning the events of Alpha Timeline and Beta Timeline are two separate entities and cannot be condensed into the same Realm.

Meaning even if this is Beta Timeline, Alpha Timeline and anything that happened in it are factually irrelevant, because when Sora and co. slip into the alternate Worldline, because essentially the events of it don’t come to pass or matter. If this was real parallel worlds split, then even if Sora is now inhabiting the mind of his Beta Timeline counterpart (which for the record, he should have his memories if he’s the one who brought them all back) there still needs to be a Beta Riku, a Beta Kairi, etc, otherwise there wouldn’t be Xehanort attacking and even then.

If this is a separate worldline then that still wouldn’t be counted as the same timeline, however. Which the Ultimania directly argues against in its pages when things occur in a single timeline, but I digress.

Other things I find directly wrong as conflicting with power is Sora directly states in KH3 that it was Kairi’s faith in him and her light (her powers alone) that helped him hold his form. Not the PoH’s.

“Riku’s strength comes from his love for Sora”

Actually, in that scene they’re talking about how Riku wants to rescue Aqua, and that’s his desire to “protect what matters.” This is a line that has been paralleled in several games from Riku (most notably in which is Kingdom Hearts 3D) and given the line makes him flashback to Terra, it’s likely that his strength is actually being explained as coming from protecting the people he cared about. Aqua, who gave him the chance to escape the RoD (who he’s trying to protect), Terra, who gave him the Keyblade in the first place, and Sora and Kairi, his two best friends.

When facing the same way, there are also several difference in KH3D’s and KH3′s hair that stand out. They aren’t the same and they point that out in the theory. In this case I don’t think it’s similar enough to be of note.

Second, this does not explain how and why Riku dropped and since he is still dropping a) In the Realm of Darkness into a different realm and different World Line and b) Into a completely separate World Line when he should still be alive in the first. At this point, Riku is alive in the Alpha Timeline and would have no idea of his impending death. A drop should not be necessary. So my Riku point questioning why is still valid.

Xigbar cutting out is also a direct easter egg to us, the viewers to keep us from understanding what’s happening, and not what actually occurs in the game.

...I want to quit at the logo having bad graphics gradient being used as evidence but I’ll keep going but this kind of shady business practice would likely cause such an amount in distrust that sales after KH3 would plummet and anybody who buys what is the biggest release of the series to be told it’s only that in technicality has no standards. I’m sorry. If this is actually technically KHII.9 my trust in Square and Disney (especially Disney is important, because you should know I am Disney stan 69 and see them as good) is gone. Just poof, gone. No more. And I wouldn’t want to invest in the next big entry because what if it’s just another lie.

(Nitpick: Nomura said an early world in KH3 would be Twilight Town, not that it would be the very first world. Even then, had 0.2 been packaged with KH3 like initially planned, it’s highly likely it and Olympus would’ve been 2.9 anyways.)

(More nitpicks, the TWEWY explanation does not account for the fact that Joshua actually has power to bring people back to life so long as a shred of their soul exists. It sounds like Shibuya got destroyed and Josh saved what little was left of his friends to take to somewhere they could be safe, not necessarily that the Sleeping Realm in specific called out to him. This is again Nitpicking.)

Ansem Reports foreshadow an old plot twist that’s not even valid. Aqua’s magic is now the source that rescued Kairi, not Xehanort’s experiments sending her away. Kairi being flung out the door is also representative of the events of the Island falling and them losing their safety and shelter. It’s not Kairi herself, but Ansem’s arrival on the islands that Xehanort is talking about.

Everything about this seems like it’s trying to invalidate SoKai with the Paopu fruit scene. She eats the fruit. Maybe if you hadn’t opened with “Riku loves Sora and this is Riku’s act of true love” I’d buy that this is real but as it stands the authors come off as salty that SoKai got a Paopu sharing scene.

Kairi’s death is the release of her heart as Nomura called it directly in the Ultimania. I know this was written before the Ultimania’s release but moving on it’s not a death sequence. Even then her death resembles Xion’s so it’d be more inline with the Replica theory floating around, so not a Dream Eater.

“Kairi is the Darkside in the Dive” No.

Even if Kairi did die, her heart has no darkness, all that would happen is she’d fade into darkness. She cannot physically form any dark entity, let alone one that has always been connected to the darkness in Sora’s heart. And yes I read how they point out that it’s made of water but that’s because it’s literally made from the Final World itself. As for where Kairi’s heart is, canon answers this. It’s waiting for Sora, because the Heartless cannot kill or steal her heart through the Lich. Remember back to KH1? Kairi had lost her heart, but rather than form a Heartless, all we got is a body.

More Ultimania tidbits disproving this, but the Dive to the Heart is meant to take place after the entirety of KH3. This means it’s after Sora leaves to rescue Kairi and has beaten Xehanort.

Kairi being a Chirithy theory my points are still valid on because it doesn’t work. Kairi cannot be a Chirithy because we see her after the drop point in her KH2 outfit. Therefore meaning the cat ears have nothing to do with her after the drop point.

Point on the Dream Portals is accurate and inaccurate. It says they’re ways to travel to other worlds, but everytime they’re used it’s in exactly that way in game. The two pink locations bring Sora closer to the Realm of Light after the Final World, and the second portal takes him into Scala ad Caelum, another world. It ain’t that deep.

More points, Dream Eaters don’t just exist in the Realm of Sleep. Summoning Meow Wow and friends does not matter if they can exist outside of the Realm of Sleep. Scala ad Caelum is implied to be a special world to begin with and I’ll be honest, the Caribbean is probably for ease of gameplay. If anything, I would be more curious in how water in the Realm of Sleep (and memories re:CoM) allows people to walk.

“Gayblade” Your SoRiku bias is showing. (Also Nomura violated a lot of things for rule of cool. You think a gameplay mechanic showing up means something?)

Comparing what happened to Sora and Aqua is very different. Aqua had darkness shoved into her (Nort lite) while Sora actively fell into the deep darkness he was surrounded by. Aqua could’ve emerged from the water, but did not. Sora chased darkness, and fell right in. As for how they saved Aqua in the Alpha Timeline, this wouldn’t have changed? It was Sora using his light to reach Aqua as she fell in the darkness similar to Mickey doing so for her in 0.2, now that she was free of the extra darkness Ansem shoved in her for some fun. It had nothing to do with darkness or sleep.

So we’re talking Toy Story here and his “Not this time” doesn’t add up because if Alpha Timeline is dead and Beta Timeline are a second chance then Xehanort should not have any recollection of the initial timeline/worldline because you still don’t explain why he bothered with following Sora down instead of leaving him to just stay trapped in the Realm of Darkness. There’s no strategic reason to it and Xehanort is a chess master.

“Hey let’s explain shit” Okay first of all the Goofy reference was a way to include the new arc words but without that, the others are all ways to catch up new players so they’d have an idea of what’s going on. There is no in universe reason for it. All of this was excuses for filling in new players. (As for the Unversed: Just because we only see Donald and Goofy at Yen Sid’s Tower does not mean we see what happened to them before they arrived there, jsing. Mickey may have also shown them things. Just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.) Most of the other memory shenanigans are either just springboards for banter or, in Riku’s case, save your energy for the battle against Xehanort ahead.

The Station of Awakening line is pointless since Sora has visited his dive multiple times in the series. As Roxas and as himself in KH2 and KH1 respectively and a final time in 3D when his heart was taken in by Ven’s armor. The Station of Awakening after all, is essentially the stained glass hearts.

Heffalumps stopped only appearing in dreams when they showed up in Winnie the Pooh. Also the promotional material quotes Nomura admitted using because they sounded cool.

Yellow Kingdom Hearts is on KH1′s cover as well. It’s had more appearances. Stands to reason it’s the more official color. Could also be be based on who, what, and how it’s summoned.

Keyholes: Both Scala Ad Caelum (born from Xehanort’s heart and Kingdom Hearts) and the final Keyhole are forged to deal with sleeping. It makes sense they’d be the same.

YMX’s warnings are referencing exactly what KH3D Sora did. No more complicated theory necessary.

Skipping the Disney world synopsis because I know these worlds far too well at this point for my own Disney sanity.

Pulling symbolism from KH1 when KH2 wasn’t even planned by this point is wrong and also Riku being true love and light reeks very much of that SoRiku bias I mentioned. Okay skipping all this it’s literally just SoRiku and I’m not here for that. I’m here for the theory, not “Why Riku is Sora’s true love.”

“Riku and Kairi both helped Sora hang around” Except Riku dies at this point in the timeline. You can’t make an argument he’s alive because his heart is guided over by the Lich. What’s helping Sora hold on has nothing to do with what it is, otherwise he would just be another shapeless star, like Namine, the Nameless Stars, or the rest. It’s Kairi’s life that gives him the form to come back to life. Saving his heart has nothing to do with it and it just reeks of that same ship bias that was why I skipped the whole section on sacrifice. These 70 pages are irrelevant because all they do is take importance away from Kairi completely in the story, meaning she’s fundamentally useless besides a dark force. Which means Kairi literally doesn’t matter and can be written out of the story.

Kairi’s heart being lost is a full stop. Her heart was released at the end of the game. Saying it’s lost in the Lich sequence makes no sense, especially when she’s the one who guides him back in what is, as noted by PhoenixDowner’s translations, one of the more romantically weighted scenes of the game.

Summary of the more recent pages “SoKai is noncanon and you’re just being mislead it’s actually SoRiku that’s canon” and I’m starting to see where that anon came from...you could’ve saved this theory a hundred pages if you ignored the shipper stuff.

Everything in this ending is literally saying “Kairi doesn’t matter” and “Sora doesn’t care about bringing Kairi back” what the actual fuck?

Okay so I see a lot of talk about Sora and Riku being in the Sleeping Realms (which for the record that secret ending does not tease that but okay) but it still doesn’t explain how the events actually happened. The events of the Sleeping Realms are not the true reality. They’re Beta Timeline but if they never leave the Beta Timeline then the Alpha Timeline is still lost and legitimately none of this matters because at some point they have to leave the Sleeping Worlds, because at the end of the day the Realm of Sleep is still a dream. It still doesn’t happen?

Rage Form is Sora harnessing his darkness.

Rikunort is KH1′s Riku’s heart after he fell to darkness traveling to the awaiting vessel in the future. He’s not Data Riku, and the scene cited from Re:coded is actually a Riku memory held within the Journal’s data, not something happening to Data Riku at all.

In conclusion: I don’t think it’s all a garbage SoRiku fanfiction.

But I think way too much effort went into proving SoRiku was canon.

And also most of the holes I poked in the theory are still pretty valid.

And now I also know it’s contradicted by several Ultimania interviews whether the original writers acknowledge it or not.

But whatever, it’s not my cup of tea, you guys can still like it.

#Kingdom Hearts #KH3 #Kingdom Hearts III #KH3 Spoilers

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