|
|
|
Welcome
to
Nathaniel Reed's
|
 |
:: An ongoing episodic story of fan-fic set after Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and inspired by George Lucas' historical draft concepts ::
FAQs
|
| |
| November 2021 |
| |
Teaser trailers for 'The Book of Boba Fett'
30th November 2021 |
At the beginning of November, teaser material began to be released promoting the forthcoming short TV series, 'The Book of Boba Fett', which will be released by Disney+ from the 29th of December 2021. Fan-site SWNN - with a new look recently released - provided detailed coverage of the videos and other material, while SW.com has its official portal here.
In addition, a twenty minute documentary, entitled 'Under the Helmet : The legacy of Boba Fett', was also published showing a 'potted history' of the bounty hunter, both his in-lore character, as well as his production history. For such a short cameo of a secondary - tertiary ??! - character, the bounty hunter has endured and inspired for over forty years. Again, SWNN gave a commentary on what they thought of the fascinating, revelatory, but slightly frustrating - too short ? No Mandalorian connection ? - documentary.
|
| |
| |
Towards the end of November, a 'BTS sizzle reel' for the upcoming 'Obi Wan Kenobi' TV show was released. Not much video was revealed at this stage, though there were eight pieces of concept art - suggesting Inquisitors [from the REBELS show], rebels, Vader's Castle on Mustafar, and a busy market / urban environment - and a few shots of Ewan sword training.
The SWNN dedicated portal site for 'Obi Wan Kenobi' can be found here.
|
| |
| |
|
The illustrated virtual edition of Episode VII : Plague of Doom continues, and, inside the prison control centre, Commander Kane orders his stormtroopers to release Captain Prue and his troops from the cells !
|
 |
| |
| You can see the VE artwork in the 'Kessel' art gallery as well as in the online illustrated story, and you can discuss this in the forum here ! |
| |
| |
|
My prose writing for virtual edition Episode X 'The Riddle of the Pirates' continues towards its epic climactic batle and conclusion, and this time we join the Jedi team led by Luke......
|
| |
| Nathaniel Reed, 30th November 2021 |
| |
Eight pirates had attacked them. Now there were only four. But, thought Master Skywalker grimly, these four were tenacious, and the surge of the Dark Side of the Force made them blind to danger and as crazy as a cornered nexu.
Luke blocked one strike, then swung his green blade low to block another. No sooner had he done that than the pirate – a tentacle-faced Quarren – was already stabbing and slashing once more. There was no finesse, but with such over-amplified ferocity it didn’t really matter. The green and blue blades crashed together and crackled.
A young equine Yakora was fighting nearby, skillfully holding back several Jedi with an old Bogan lightwhip, its tendrils open and flailing everywhere. Even Luke had to step to one side every now and again to avoid being burnt by a flick of a whip. While the lightwhip presented multiple tendrils, it remained a relatively harmless but injurious weapon ; but once the sum of the energy lashes came together into a single whip, a burning slash could kill.
A burly Devaronian with a chipped horn was also wielding a lightwhip, but reduced to a single strand, as well as slashing and stabbing with a green lightsabre. He was towards the rear, holding off Jedi and baton-wielding commandoes, and preventing anyone from advancing past towards the command centre. Finally, a human bandit completed the last of the defenders, and he wielded a hand blaster and a blue lightsabre. The corridor was fairly wide, but the tightly-packed combat with swords, whips, and batons made for little room to manoeuvre. A commando sat slumped against the wall, motionless, with several burn marks and cuts across his chest.
With a flick of his wrist, Luke sliced off the Quarren’s sword hand, and the lightsabre hilt clattered to the deck. His opponent howled in pain, but, expecting the pirate to retreat, Luke was surprised to find he instead pulled a curved dagger from his belt with his left hand. The close quarters combat meant that the Quarren was already slicing back and forth wthin deadly range. Luke stepped back as best he could, but ran up against a fellow Jedi facing the Yakora. The knife landed a cut across his arm. With no alternative, Luke swept his sword across the knife and the pirate’s chest. As the knife splintered and his green blade cut deep into his opponent, the Quarren jerked back and crashed into the wall.
Luke immediately turned and supported the other Jedi facing the whip-wielding Yakora. He noticed that many had received cuts across their faces and arms and legs, and some were flagging.
He drew upon the Force for sustenance, and engaged the tall pirate. His green sword swept across the multiple tendrils, yellow-orange flashes exploding whenever they connected. As the three Jedi beside him darted in to make quick stabs with their swords, the pirate’s whip lashed back and forth. But faced with four opponents the Yakora was forced to step back, his reverse-jointed legs prancing lightly to keep him out of reach of the blue and green swords. The tendrils were snapped back and forth in defence, flashes of colour on each sword contact obscuring the pirate.
The Devaronian suddenly barked out a command, and took a few steps back, as did the human pirate. The equine Yakora abruptly pivoted fully around on his left hoof, kicking out with his right : one of the Jedi is sent sprawling, and knocking a second Jedi to one side. Luke arced his lightsabre around vertically and managed to catch a glancing blow across the pirate’s back, but then he too had to skip back to avoid the next flick of the whip. Growling with pain, the Yakora’s powerful legs bent and propelled him back in a jump, his hooves landing with a thump on the decking. His lightwhip coalesced into one deadly strand and he slashed out at the invaders who had been facing against his crew mates. A Jedi was struck with the full force of the now-deadly weapon, and he lost his sword arm. As he staggered in pain, the whip returned across his shoulders and he lost his life.
Before the remaining Jedi and commandoes could engage with the Yakora, the pirate leapt past them and joined his comrades at a round glazed intersection. The bandits yelled and goaded and retreated a few more steps.
The Jedi and the support soldiers, incensed by the brazen opponents and the rush of the deadly battle, and with a determined look in their eye, gripped their weapons and advanced.
The Force tugged at Luke and he sensed movement from the right hand corridor. The swirling fog of the Dark Side obscured detail and threat, but he understood it to require caution. He began to call out to his team ahead of him, but just then red cannon fire lanced out, straffing across the observation chamber.
Some of the Jedi were able to turn and deflect the deadly barrage, but the commandoes took the full force and collapsed. A Jedi took a blast in the shoulder, and was spun to the floor in pain. A second wave of fire blasted another Jedi who wasn’t quick enough to block the bolts.
Luke called upon the Force and raced ahead, his green sword pirouetting against another raking of cannon fire. The remaining Jedi joined him in parrying the heavy gunfire.
The Master Jedi nimbly leapt to the side and then he somersaulted forward, closing the space in a blink of an eye, and landed between the two hover-sleds that each carried cannon.
One slash right, one slash left, and both cannon were rendered useless. Their operators drew lightsabres, and jumped off the back of the carts to engage the Jedi.
As Luke clashed blades with a Snivvian bandit, one of his team arrived to connect with the accompanying human pirate.
Behind them, Luke was aware of the dark side swirling, and, even as he fought the pirate, in his mind’s eye he discerned the corridor leading back to the intersection, and a dark oily insidious fog closing in from the periphery.
In the observation chamber, the remaining Jedi and one commando, afire with anger and revenge, pressed the close-quarters attack against the Devaronian, the Yakora, and the human. Although skilled with the sword and highly trained in the Force, the Jedi Knights, untrained from childhood, were still susceptible to emotion, and their duelling blows were driven to kill rather than injure.
Deeper in the corridor, Luke circled and flicked his lightsabre against his opponent’s, and the Snivvian’s sword hand was slashed. The precise and surgical riposte caused the pirate to jerk his hand open, and his sword clattered to the deck. Luke pushed out with his palm, and the pirate thudded hard into the wall and slid to the floor.
The Force pricked at his mind, and he turned to face his team at the intersection.
“No ! Wait !” he called out.
But his warning came too late. From afar, he watched as his team cut down first the human pirate, and then the Yakora. The Devaronian found himself being double amputated, and as he staggered back, several swords ran him through. Luke was shocked and aghast at the sudden darkness teasing and directing and corrupting his students, and the thought came to him that perhaps the raw chaotic ferocity of their surroundings was partly to blame. The kinetic forces outside may be slowly and eternally creative, but in doing so, they were wholly destructive too.
Beside him, the Jedi who had taken on the other gunner, was still engaged in a ferocious lightsabre duel. He sensed the Jedi was losing his discipline and was keen to bring the duel to a permanent end, so Luke raised his hand, and the pirate was also thrown hard against the wall.
“Come on,” urged Luke. “Let’s get back to the others,” he said, nodding with his chin.
They ran back up the corridor and intercepted the remainder of the team. Darkness swirled maniacally about them.
Luke summoned the Force to his voice. “Focus, my friends. Quieten your minds and be calm. Let the Good Side of the Force guide you, not the Dark.” He paused. “Breathe.”
The Jedi and the remaining commando nodded in obedience, and glanced down at the decking to de-focus and control their breathing.
One of the Jedi looked up, his eyes searching for answers.
“Master Skywalker... there’s something about this place... there’s a racing energy... it quickens my blood...”
Luke nodded. “Yes, Monts, you’re right. I think it’s the maelstrom out there,” he gestured with his hand towards the observation windows, “It’s Gensys-Sucal, the proto system, all that chaotic kinetic energy. It’s being destructive all the while it’s being constructive.”
“And we expected the Dark Side to feel cold and deathly,” added Monts with comprehension. “Not this wild and effervescent vitality.”
“Yes, the Dark Side is sly and insidious,” noted the Jedi Master. “Quickly and easily it joins you, and not always when there’s an obvious threat.”
The Force spoke to Luke with further insight. The Jedi Master swept his gaze across his erstwhile Jedi students. All were older than him, for he and his sister were the last of the Jedi prior to the lifting of Anakin’s Curse by Leia.
“Until recently, your opponents were the bogan, Sith-created monsters regenerated from archaic DNA. They were the embodiment of evil and darkness. But now we are being faced with fellow living breathing sentient species who have been seduced by the sly trickery of the Dark Side of the Force. But more to it than that, you are recognising the weaknesses and fallibilities of your foe.... precisely because these failings reside in each and every one of you.”
He shook his head, saying with sombre realisation, “You seek revenge against your own flaws.”
“Then we must be better than that !” replied Monts with feeling.
“No,” the Grand Master responded quietly. “That is just as worse ; that way leads to arrogance. All I ask you to do is recognise it for what it is, and guard against it.”
Monts lowered his gaze and nodded. The other Jedi nodded their affirmation too.
Once Luke was satisfied that his team had become calmer and had re-focused, he pointed up the corridor.
“We still have a job to do. The command centre is that way,” he indicated. “We need to secure it. Come on.”
|
| |
 |
| |
|
|
