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Welcome
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Nathaniel Reed's
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:: An ongoing episodic story of fan-fic set after Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and inspired by George Lucas' historical draft concepts ::
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| May 2024 |
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Glimpses of 'THE ACOLYTE' !
31st May 2024 |
Snippets of 'THE ACOLYTE' have since aired, from trailers to teaser TV spots to cast interviews. We've briefly seen Vernestrah Rwoh's purple lightwhip in action ; we've seen Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca wielding his green lightsabre, and possibly against a fellow Jedi - I wonder if this is the Jedi who succumbs to the witches as his eyes turn black under possession ; and we've had further confirmation (of sorts !) that we will indeed be following two timeframes, or at least being revealed flashbacks.
What may have been a mistake on the part of marketing, and then apparently later embraced by LFL/D, one of the plot twists was revealed that Amandla Sternberg's protagonist, Mae, is actually one of identical twins, the other being Ocha. This clarifies why we have one Sternberg attacking Jedi, and another Sternberg fleeing and saying, "I didn't do it !"
We see a dark warrior / SIth in fearsome helmet and red lightsabre... but we also see the silhouette of a cloaked figure on a coastline, also igniting a red lightsabre. There is much chatter online from fans worried about the dialogue in Episode I advising that "the Sith had been extinct for a millennia" and how 'THE ACOLYTE' might contradict this.... but I'm sure the writers have this covered... and I've even begun to wonder if Yoda (and Mace Windu ?) actually knew more than he was letting on when we chronologically first see him in Episode I !
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Marking May the Fourth, Elliot and I watched Episode I The Phantom Menace at the cinema, and really enjoyed the big screen spectacle ; and a preview of the Mae-Indara fight scene from 'THE ACOLYTE' ; and then the following night we attended a concert of Star Wars music that spanned the nine Saga movies, the Rogue One and Solo movies, as well as 'The Mandalorian' TV show : brilliant !
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The six part animated series 'Tales of the Empire' aired, a sequel of sorts to the 'Tales of the Jedi' series. I've only watched them once, but to my mind they seemed less focused and inferior to the 'Jedi' series. Split into two arcs, one following the new character Morgan Elspeth, a Dathomiri Witch survivor as penned by Dave Filoni for his 'Mandalorian' and 'Ahsoka' shows, and the other following the Jedi padawan Barris Offee as she slips to the Dark Side and briefly becomes an 'Inquisitor' ; I found the latter arc more engaging and better structured in its storytelling.
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| As I did with the progression of the Virtual Edition Episode X, I will post below sections of the prose for Episode XI as I draft it.... |
The bearded shaggy-haired man in generic blue-grey pilot uniform swaggered into Kenny’s bar. Accommodating his eye-patch he glanced widely around just inside the entrance. An over-sized companion in full re-breather kit, baggy leathers and plates and clomping boots stepped up behind him.
Two stormtroopers, on surveillance duty and carrying their blasters across their chests, marched out of the tavern and moved towards the next relaxation establishment. The newcomers shuffled to one side deferentially, and the shorter bearded one glanced away down the street as he did so. The stormtroopers wore the familiar white armoured shell uniform, but with a slightly new design enhancing horizontal black lines across the helmet ; a single black line around the upper plated arms and similar around the thigh supported the motif. The shoulder epaulettes sported a variant of the old Imperial logo too : the six radiating arms now broke out of their black surround, each outlined with a heavy border forming arrow points. The Imperial Remnant aspired to rebirth and regeneration !
As the troopers receded from view, Han and Chewie stepped inside the tavern.
The bar had, unsurprisingly, low key lighting, and a little mist hung in the air from various smoked consumables. The building was predominantly round, about three storeys high, with office and storage rooms leading off at the sides. There were two levels, with the bar at the centre, and a decorative holo art display of scrolling twisting abstract shapes and multi-colours hovering above it. Much of the ambient light glow came from the holo-display, supported by the wall lamps. One quarter of the upper level held an entertainment stage. Booths with privacy dividers lined the walls on both storeys, while tables and chairs filled the remaining floor space. Dotted amongst the tables were single-use gambling pillars for the use of any patrons bored with the quality of the drink and the chat.
True to the droid foreman’s word, the place was populated primarily with space-faring pilots in various but universally recognised uniforms, and some associated crew.
The pilot and his engineer wound their way past the tables and up to the bar. Several bartenders of varying species operated the busy counter. Han gestured to the nearest, a multi-tentacled creature with several visual arrays ; each appendage was preoccupied with its trade, from glasses to bottles to fruit adornments to cloths.
“Two Slipstreams, please,” requested Han, through the bushy beard. His large companion inclined his helmeted head, and added with emphasis, “Small”, the word sounding mechanized from under the vocabulator.
The cephalopod nodded and rotated, reaching to the shelves behind. It drew out a bottle of dark liquid, and as it returned to face the bar, two more tentacles gathered up two small glasses. A glance at the bulky and helmeted companion prompted a fourth tentacle to withdraw a straw from under the counter top, which it then plopped into one of the glasses.
As the glass ware and bottle landed on the bar, Han slid forward a handful of coins. A spare tentacle curled around the coins, and drew them into a belt-bag. The bottle was unscrewed and upended and a thick liquid glooped down into each glass.
Han took the glasses, muttered his thanks, and the two patrons turned around and headed to an empty booth lining the wall. They passed a betting machine that played some sort of starfighter dogfight hologram. The single player, a human pilot dressed in a white shuttler’s uniform, was intently focused on the game, and his body was juking back and forth as his hands played over the steering controls.
The hirsute pilot with the drinking glasses paused and peered over the gamer’s shoulder.
“Lookin’ good,” admired Han.
The player didn’t dare glance at the speaker, but muttered his thanks as his ship dodged another salvo of laserfire.
His thumbs jabbed down on the firing button, and the opponent exploded in a bright orange fireball. The player exhaled, releasing the adrenaline, and rummaged in a pocket for more coins to play another round.
“Reminds me of Nest’s Cloud-Rider gang...” Han muttered.
The shuttle pilot paused, and glanced at his visitor.
“But they were never a patch on Jarrow’s Marauders... Did you ever hear of them ?” Han went on, watching the other man carefully with his one clear eye.
“Jarrow... served... the Hutts well,” the shuttler replied carefully, “and became a rich man.”
“Shame he didn’t spend it... before he was killed by the Pykes,” countered Han.
“The Pykes... are... as honourable... as the Hutts,” came the reply, notably cautiously.
“Blue-Shift ?” Han asked the other softly.
A quick nod, then his own question. “Captain Hux ?”
Han nodded. Then he waved his arm expansively towards an empty booth.
“Do ya wanna discuss game tactics ?” he asked the shuttle pilot more loudly.
The pilot glanced around, licked his lips, and nodded.
Han turned towards the booth, and the shuttler followed, with the suited Chewie towering over them both bringing up the rear.
The three slid either side of the elliptical table and settled in to the cushioned seating.
“So what’s goin’ on, agent ?” asked Han softly and directly, keen to get to the point. “Why call me out to Bastion of all places ?”
The agent leaned forward and addressed the table top.
“Been watchin’ things, just as you asked,” the shuttle pilot began.
“Uh huh.”
“Shuttlin’ back and forth to Imperium, and around their factories. I get to hear some chatter from some scientists. One of ‘em seems unhappy with the work. I see them again later, so I approach this one guy, make up some story, you know how it is, I have a moan, he has a moan, shoulder to cry on, that sorta thing. Turns out he’s not comfortable with the purpose of his job, he’s got a conscience !”
Han gave a snort. “An Imperial with a conscience ?!”
The huge engineer shuffled beside them, and the bulky helmet briefly turned towards the centre of the tavern.
“Yeah, I know, right ? But even though he’s only working on a bit of this project, he’s seen enough to guess what’s going on...”
Just then, a green skinned four armed humanoid with ball-eyes on stalks popping out of a head with a membrane over the centre lurched into view next to the table. Those seated glanced up. The membrane vibrated, and growling voice emanated from it.
“Jayvis ! Where my crets you owe ?”
Han’s agent stared back. “I got’em, Lokuss,” he shrugged. “One fifty, right ?”
The membrane rumbled and snorted.
“Two fifty ! Two fifty now.”
Han dropped his hand to the edge of the booth seat, closer to the palm blaster nestled in the side of his boot.
But the engineer sat up and raised a large three-fingered gloved hand. His trans-vocabulator briefly crackled into life, and a deep growling voice was issued.
“You will get your Two Hundred and Fifty credits later, you don’t need them right now.”
Lokuss’ facial membrane vibrated. “I don’ need ‘em now, I come back later.”
“Move along,” added Chewie, “There’s something interesting happening outside...”
The eye stalks flicked towards the entrance, and then back again. Lokuss pointed at Jayvis with one pincered hand, and gestured to the doorway with another.
“Stuff happenin’ outside, Jayvis,” he said with steely emphasis, “I’m go check...”
And Lokuss turned around and headed straight for the door, desperate to find out what was going on, and ensure he was a part of it.
Jayvis’ mouth opened wide and he turned to look at the engineer, astounded at what he had just witnessed.
Han chuckled quietly, and muttered, “Wish we’d had that back in the day, pal.”
“Less bruises !” the vocabulator growled softly in agreement.
Then Han turned to Jayvis and slapped him on the shoulder, bringing his attention back to him.
“Forget that, he’s gone. Tell me more about this scientist...”
Jayvis re-focussed and nodded.
“Well, his conscience wanted to share, and not to his bosses. He wanted to get the word out.”
“And ?”
“I said I did off-world runs, and knew someone I could trust with his message.”
“Okay, but why trust you ?”
Agent Blue-Shift shrugged.
“Right place, right time ? I was piloting his shuttle, he was having a moan, I made the intercept just in case it paid off... looks like I banked it.”
Han glanced at Chewie, who growled.
“Nothing to chance...” muttered the engineer, and Han nodded his agreement.
“Sounds fishy, pal,” Han said to his agent.
Jayvis leaned back and raised his hands in protest.
“Hey, Hux,” he whispered sharply. “You had told me to keep my eyes out and grab an opportunity.”
Han sighed.
“Okay, any idea what his job is ?”
Jayvis cocked his head to one side apologetically.
“I’m no scientist, boss. But he said something about a hyper-fast inertial catapult. Creating a huge grav-potential.”
Behind the eye patch, Han narrowed his eyes as he wondered what this meant.
“For a space ship ? For a weapon ?” Han glanced again at Chewie’s over-sized rebreather helmet.
“He didn’t say,” replied the agent.
The Wookiee’s vocabulator clicked. “Could be something serious...” he growled softly.
Han nodded.
“And you brought me out here because he wants to meet your ‘friend’ ?”
“Uh huh,” nodded Jayvis, “I can shuttle you down. He’s not allowed off Imperium.”
“Course he isn’t,” growled Han, in agreement. He glanced at his friend and co-pilot.
“I gotta bad feeling about this...”
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| Nathaniel Reed, 31st May 2024 |
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