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Post by Duragizer on Jan 26, 2018 23:48:29 GMT -5
This is my third attempt at rewriting Episode I. My first attempt, back in 2008, was little more than a touched-up version of Lucas' script for The Phantom Menace; I abandoned work on it before it was finished. My second attempt, created a year later, was a more robust rewrite, but it still hewed closely to Lucas' story. This version, on the other hand, is a breed apart, with very few elements lifted from TPM; there is no Naboo, no Padme, no Gungans, no Neimoidians, no Darth Maul or Sidious in this screenplay.
I first wrote TND over a seven-month period, from December 2013 to June 2014. In the years since, I've gone back to it periodically, revising it, improving it little-by-little. What follows is the latest and last draft of TND, the very best version I can craft.
TND, along with the following episodes in my prequel trilogy rewrite, was written to preserve continuity with the original trilogy, so it doesn't spoil any of the OT's plot twists. While there are references and shout-outs to Expanded Universe material, I tried to write my story with the casual fan in mind to keep it accessible. That said, I do use EU-derived lingo and species names in my script; I will provide links to the more unfamiliar terms so as not to leave any non-EU readers in the dark.
Finally, it should be noted that I am something of a lapsed SW fan. A number of elements which most SW fans love/are okay with about the SW Universe — elements I used to either love/be okay with — no longer resonate with me or actively bother me. As such, my PT doesn't exist in a black-and-white world where the heroes are perfectly heroic and the villains utterly villainous; my PT exists in a more morally complex world, where the line between light and dark isn't often clearly delineated. This is in keeping with my own philosophies on life, but it may alienate more purist fans.
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Post by Duragizer on Jan 27, 2018 0:19:25 GMT -5
TITLE CARD: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
A vast sea of stars serves as the main backdrop for the main title, followed by a roll up, which crawls up into infinity.
STAR WARS
THE NEW DAWN
Cast into war, the inefficient Galactic Republic is no more. In its place now stands the Galactic Empire, a more formidable power for a less certain time.
Yet nefarious forces continue to plague the Galaxy. The MANDALORIAN DEATH WATCH — a fanatical branch of the enemy defeated in the First Clone War — has been orchestrating raids all along the Outer Rim.
In the wake of these attacks, the Jedi of Coruscant have assigned one of their knights to investigate and uncover the underlying plan of the Mandalorians….
PAN UP
To reveal the underside of the water world designated Arkania Colony 382, its oceans alive with a preternatural cyan glow.
Suddenly the Radiant VII — a Consular-class cruiser — comes streaming past at high velocity, its trajectory taking it beneath the hulking blue ocean planet. Behind it, hot on its heels, is a pair of Jehavey'ir-type assault ships. The twin ships fire upon the smaller Imperial craft, unleashing a torrent of intense orange turbolaserfire. The Radiant VII reciprocates, firing green turbolaser beams at the Mandalorians.
INT. RADIANT VII/COCKPIT
CAPTAIN MAOI MADAKOR and LIEUTENANT ANTIDAR WILLIAMS, the two crew members of the Radiant VII currently manning the cockpit, struggle to simultaneously fend off the attacking assault ships while trying to coax more speed from the small ship's engines.
CAPT. MADAKOR: I can feel them breathing up my skirt, Lieutenant. Can't you coax more speed from the engines?
LT. WILLIAMS: Sublights are burning at maximum, Captain. Had I time, I could bypass the safety protocols, give us a boost ...
CAPT. MADAKOR: (sighs) But time's a commodity we're running short on. (beat) How long 'til we can make the jump to lhyt-speed?
LT. WILLIAMS: The navicomp will have the coordinates in five minutes.
EXT. SPACE — AC-382
The Radiant VII's turbolaserfire strikes each of the assault ships, but each blast is effortlessly repelled by the larger crafts' deflector shields without leaving the slightest damage. Moving in like foreboding birds of prey, the Mandalorian ships unleash salvoes of orange turbolaserfire upon the space cruiser. The energized beams hit the cruiser's engines, obliterating one of the engines completely while instantly crippling the other.
INT. RADIANT VII/COCKPIT
The Radiant VII rattles violently, throwing the captain and the lieutenant forward in their seats.
INT. RADIANT VII/SALON POD
The interior of the salon pod is spacious, furnished with glamorous accoutrements. Inhabiting the pod, standing at the far end, is a tall NEAR-HUMAN WOMAN in voluminous crimson robes, SIX HUMAN WOMEN in close-fitting black uniforms, and a BLUE ASTROMECH 'DROID. Though each of the six black-garbed women are attractive in their own right, the beauty of the near-Human woman — with her long green-white hair, glittering porcelain-white skin, and radiant green-gold eyes — puts theirs to complete shame.
When the reverberations of the blast hits the pod, both the Human women and the 'droid rock on their foundations, threatening to topple over. The unearthly beautiful woman in red, however, her eyes closed and her hands clasped tight around the chain of a crystal medallion in prayer, remains perfectly still, unaffected by the turbulent vibrations.
EXT. SPACE — RADIANT VII
With the Radiant VII dead in the water, one of the assault ships easily slides up alongside the star cruiser. Like an insectile proboscis, a mechanized airlock extends out from the assault ship and clamps down on the outer hull of the cruiser.
INT. RADIANT VII/SALON POD
Hearing the groans and feeling the shudders of the ship as it is forcibly joined with the assault ship, the Human women look up towards the ceiling of the pod, gazing about as if in search of the source of the invading phenomena.
The near-Human woman — the beautiful priestess — brings her prayer to a close, securing the medallion around her neck.
PRIESTESS: (in Seboutrexi, subtitled) It's beginning….
One of the six Human women — a handsome woman with broad shoulders — takes a step away from her compatriots, approaching the priestess. This woman is ZIYAL D'UKAT, a Mistryl Shadow Guard and the team leader of the other five black-garbed women.
ZIYAL D’UKAT: (subtitled) We can't save you from the Mandalorians. There are only six of us against their entire crew.
PRIESTESS: (subtitled) You've done what you can, Ziyal D'ukat. Consider our bargain complete.
ZIYAL D’UKAT: (subtitled) I don't want to see you taken by them. You should escape while there's still time.
PRIESTESS: (turns to D'ukat; subtitled) Where would I go? (waves arm to the planet sitting out beyond the pod's viewport) The planet out there is a world of empty oceans and we're light-years away from any inhabited system. (beat) There is nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide.
ZIYAL D’UKAT: (subtitled) You've never been a prisoner of Mandalorians — I have. I know from first-hand experience how they treat captives in their custody. (beat) Please, reconsider.
PRIESTESS: (rests hand atop astromech; subtitled) This is the only course of action left open to me.
Realizing that she cannot deter the priestess from her decision, the Shadow Guard chooses to end the conversation.
PRIESTESS: (subtitled) Artoo, begin recording….
INT. RADIANT VII/COCKPIT
Madakor and Williams, having regained their senses, are busy undoing the restraints of their seats when a loud HISSING sound begins issuing through the sealed doors leading into the cockpit.
CAPT. MADAKOR: (twists seat around; stands up) They're coming through! Get ready.
Before she can finish her order, the cockpit doors disappear in a terrific explosion, the bulkheads of the cockpit lighting up with bright yellow light and the air filling with acrid black smoke. As the two officers clear their blasters from their holsters, DOZENS OF MANDALORIAN WARRIORS — each clad in the silver-and-blue armour of the Death Watch — come pouring in, cutting them down instantly with a hail of yellow blasterfire.
INT. RADIANT VII/UPPER DECK
Dropping in through a hole cut in the hull above, dozens upon dozens of Mandalorian Death Watchmen invade the small cruiser. Spreading out into all available areas of the ship, they cut down all crew members they come across with their blasters.
INT. RADIANT VII/'DROID HOLD
Inside the small, dark, cramped 'droid hold, a number of 'droids lay strewn about its confines, all either deactivated or in low-power modes. As the door to the hold slides open, casting bright light into its interior, one of these 'droids — a GOLDEN PROTOCOL 'DROID — immediately comes to life.
C-3PO: (erratic) Oh, my! Oh, goodness!
The golden 'droid rises to his feet, turning towards the humanoid silhouette filling the open doorway.
C-3PO: Oh, dear me — it isn't Donic Day already, is it?
The owner of the silhouette steps inside; it is a Death Watchman, a blaster rifle in his hands.
C-3PO: No, wait —!
The Mandalorian levels his blaster at Threepio and presses the trigger. A bolt of yellow plasma lances out, hits the 'droid's shoulder plating, then ricochets back, hitting the Mandalorian square in the face and knocking him back and off his feet.
Cautious, Threepio takes a few steps toward the fallen warrior. Looking him over, he comes to the conclusion that the Mandalorian is stone dead.
C-3PO: This is no life for a protocol 'droid. I deserve far better than this.
Stepping past the dead Mandalorian, Threepio leaves the 'droid hold for the corridor beyond, eyes on the lookout for more Mandalorians.
INT. RADIANT VII/SALON POD
The priestess stands before Artoo, reciting her message.
Loud BANGS suddenly begin reverberating through the pod doors. The Mistryl Shadow Guards turn toward the source of the sounds, growing tense with anticipation as they unsheathe their vibroswords.
ZIYAL D’UKAT: (to priestess; subtitled) They're coming through!
Finishing her message, the priestess places a hand on Artoo and he stops recording.
With a terrible SQUEAL of grinding metal, the doors of the salon pod are forced open. As MANDALORIAN KNIGHTS step through, it is apparent that they differ in some respect to the other Death Watchmen aboard the ship; unlike their brethren, they wear blue-and-gray robes over their armour and wield wicked vibroswords in place of blasters.
Leaping forward, the six Mistryls engage the Mandalorian Knights, the vibrating blades of their technological swords clashing against those of the helmeted warriors. One of the Mistryls gains immediate advantage over her Mandalorian sparring partner, knocking the blade of his vibrosword away and delivering a blow which cuts through his neck and the chain of a platinum medallion surrounding it. Her victory is short lived, however, as another knight manages to evade her defenses and thrusts the point of his sword into her side, fatally running her through.
Turning away from Artoo, the priestess can do nothing but look on with horror as the Mandalorian Knights quickly begin overwhelming the formidable Shadow Guards, cutting them down with full brutality and no mercy.
INT. RADIANT VII/CORRIDOR
C-3PO makes his way along the corridor, eyeing the twisted bodies of the slaughtered crew members strewn about.
INT. RADIANT VII/SALON POD
The priestess sits against the far bulkhead of the pod, trembling in a ball under the transparisteel viewport, weeping with fear and disgust as Artoo stands beside her, trying to provide consolation the best he can. Ten Mandalorian Knights stand inside the pod, the bloody corpses of the Mistryl women and their own slain underfoot, their hidden eyes focused on the beautiful priestess cowering before them.
MANDALORIAN AIDE: (in Mando'a, subtitled) The Force Hound approaches!
Snapping to attention, the knights spread out, clearing the way for TWO MORE MANDALORIANS as they step inside the pod. While the first Mandalorian to enter is just another average blue-and-gray robed Mandalorian Knight, the SECOND is distinguished by the unique aquamarine robe he wears over his armour along with the trident symbol emblazoned over the visor of his helmet. He regards first the other Mandalorians then the dead before walking over to the priestess.
PRIESTESS: (looks up at Mandalorian, face twisted with hatred) Butcher! Murderer!
FORCE HOUND: I'm sorry, but it was an unfortunate necessity.
PRIESTESS: (enraged) This was a necessity‽ (beat) They were civilian crew members; they didn't have a chance against you! You could have spared them!
FORCE HOUND: I know you cannot understand. Someday, perhaps, you will. (offers her his hand) It is time to come with us.
Her face still contorted with hate, the priestess seizes the Mandalorian's hand in a hard grip. Fearing an attack, the other knights ready their weapons.
FORCE HOUND: (to other Mandalorians; in Mando'a, subtitled) Sheathe your blades. She won't harm me.
As the Force Hound pulls the priestess to her feet, Threepio steps into the open doorway.
C-3PO: (in Seboutrexi) Mistress, I —
Alerted to his presence, the Mandalorians spin around to face him.
C-3PO: Perhaps this isn't —
Before the golden 'droid can finish his statement, one of the knights lunges forward, ramming the blade of his vibrosword through Threepio's mechanical torso. Pulling the protocol 'droid in through the doorway, the Mandalorian Knight twists the blade then forces it upward, cutting out and through Threepio's shoulder. Uttering a senseless litany made of a combination of astromech mechanical language and Huttese, See-Threepio collapses to the deck, twitching violently as his damages flash with electricity.
FORCE HOUND: (annoyed; in Mando'a, subtitled) It was a protocol 'droid.
Without any further words, the Force Hound steps forward, dragging the priestess behind him as he leaves for the open doorway. As he steps out, the other Mandalorian Knights gather their dead then follow after him, leaving Artoo alone with the bodies of the slain Mistryls and the damaged form of See-Threepio.
EXT. SPACE — AC-382
Disengaging and retracting its extendible airlock, the Mandalorian assault ship releases the Radiant VII. As the small Consular-class cruiser drifts away, the engines both of the assault ship and its counterpart blaze to life and they rocket forward, casting their large shadows upon the derelict ship as they cruise over it. Before them, waiting in the distance like a stern parent, is the looming form of a Lictor-class dungeon ship.
Passing beyond the Radiant VII, a turbolaser cannon on one of the Jehavey'irs comes alive and swivels into position, opening fire upon the small ship. A single turbolaser blast hits the cruiser, blowing it apart into three separate pieces.
After the assault ships have rendezvoused with the dungeon ship and together made the jump into hyperspace, the remains of the Radiant VII begin falling toward AC-382. Entering the atmosphere, the fragments start to glow with intense white hot heat.
EXT. AC-382 — TERRAFORMING STATION C31 — EVENING
A terraforming station rises up from the black ocean of the near-empty water planet. Large and conical in shape — with various red, orange, and white light fixtures aglow upon its surface — the station looks like an immense artificial island.
INT. TERRAFORMING STATION C31/GAME ROOM — EVENING
Inside the small, cramped, sparsely-stocked, dim-lit game room, TWO INDIVIDUALS sit around a dejarik table. With one diminutive and the other a behemoth, they are clearly unrelated by blood. Nevertheless, their physical characteristics bear witness to the fact that they are both the results of hideous genetic experimentations. The tall one — MAC 73239 — is a Human/Wookiee hybrid, his entire body save for his fingers, chest, and upper face covered in thick black-brown fur, while the short one — NOR 747 — is a Chadra-Fan/Lannik hybrid, with the body of the former but the long, downturned ears of the latter. Both are currently engrossed with the holographic creatures that are playing across the illuminated game board.
As a holographic creature resembling three conjoined trees with six tentacles entangles a creature which resembles a legless spider with bat wings and pulls it down to its death, Nor begins hooting and hollering with joy, apparently the winner in this game. Mac, for his part, nonchalantly pours his mug of iridescent black-green ale on the dejarik board, causing the board to explode in a shower of sparks and smoke.
MAC 73239: Cheating bastard.
NOR 747: Hey!
INT. TERRAFORMING STATION C31/SURVEILLANCE ROOM — EVENING
Inside the small, cramped, sparsely-stocked, dim-lit surveillance room, four beings — BLAI 7, GAR 79, CLA 75, and CHI 537 — sit before large banks of computer monitors, all of which display readings for various equipment in operation aboard the station or monitor various locations in and outside of the station itself. Like Mac and Nor, these four creatures are the results of renegade scientists' attempts to create hybrids between genetically unrelated species through gene splicing experiments.
The four beings, consumed with boredom, almost miss the bright streak of light which flashes across one of the monitors, coursing down from the black sky outside to splash down in the dark waters right outside the station.
GAR 79: Hey, what was that‽
CHI 537: What was what?
GAR 79: That thing that flashed across Screen #68!
CHI 537: I didn't see a blessed thing. Play it back.
Punching a command into his keyboard, Gar rewinds and replays the footage of the flaming trail hitting the black water.
BLAI 7: It's got heavy metal content. It could be a large meteorite.
CLA 75: Readings are all wrong for it to be a natural meteorite. It's clearly of artificial origin.
GAR 79: (sighs) Great — space junk. With our luck, it'll be some Type 0 radioactive bleeder. (to BLAI 7) Get Mac and Nor on it right away.
Without a word, Blai acknowledges with a single nod of his misshapen secondary head.
INT. TERRAFORMING STATION C31/GAME ROOM — EVENING
Still caught up in their argument over the botched dejarik game, Mac and Nor fail to notice when BENN 4647 — a bizarre looking Devaronian/Twi'lek hybrid with mottled blue-and-bronze skin — opens the door and enters the murky room.
BENN 4647: (coughs into hand) Ahem….
Noticing Benn for the first time, Nor and Mac stop their riotous bickering and turn toward him.
BENN 4647: (cont'd) You're needed outside. Space junk 45.8 degrees off the starboard side of the sixteenth pylon.
NOR 747: Can't this wait? We're in a very important discussion right now!
BENN 4647: (shrugs) Do you want a repeat of what happened sixteen months ago with the ninth configurator?
Realizing that they have an important job to do and that it would be unwise to postpone doing it, the two companions sigh dejectedly and saunter off past the blue-bronze hybrid and out of the game room to attend to their duty.
EXT. OCEAN — EVENING
A small submersible cuts through the inky black depths of AC-382's ocean waters. Looking like a large, gray eye sporting a pair of oversized crab-like claws, it is a comical sight to behold.
INT. SUBMERSIBLE/COCKPIT — EVENING
MAC 73239: (into headset) We're approaching the junk.
EXT. OCEAN — EVENING
As the submersible moves closer to its destination, a thick mechanical pole reaching up from the unseen ocean depths below and stretching to the unseen surface above fades into existence. There, wedged tight between the main body of the pole and a projected array of sensory filaments, is the large piece of space junk — the only large fragment of the Radiant VII — to survive its fall from the heavens to this planet of unending ocean.
INT. SUBMERSIBLE/COCKPIT — EVENING
NOR 747: (to MAC 73239) What do you think it is?
MAC 73239: Beats me. Whatever it was, it's Hutt pizza now. (into headset) I'm readying the arms. It's in there, but it should slide out easy enough with a little TLC.
EXT. OCEAN PYLON 16 — EVENING
The arms of the submersible come to life. Moving forward, they clamp onto projections on the fragment's surface. Once the grip is secure, the arms begin retracting. As they do, though, the fragment refuses to come with them, stubbornly glued in place between the main body of the pylon and the sensory filaments.
INT. SUBMERSIBLE/COCKPIT — EVENING
MAC 73239: (licks lips) Sonuvablaster doesn't want to come loose.
NOR 747: (enters command into control panel) Powering up reserves.
EXT. OCEAN — PYLON 16 — EVENING
With the extra juice flowing through its engines, the submersible manages to work the ship fragment out of its prison of metal. Once it's freed, though, the weight of the thing begins to pull the smaller form of the submersible down with it toward the ocean floor far below.
INT. SUBMERSIBLE/COCKPIT — EVENING
MAC 73239: (panicked) More power, Nor! Hurry up! The backup arms, too! C'mon! C'mon!
EXT. OCEAN — PYLON 16 — EVENING
Concealed hatches on either side of the submersible slide open and a pair of second arms — smaller and with somewhat more delicate instrumentation than that of their larger cousins — slide out. Clamping down on the fragment along with their larger twins, the backup arms provide enough leverage for the submersible to overpower the weight of the fragment and stop the descent to the dark depths below.
INT. SUBMERSIBLE/COCKPIT — EVENING
MAC 73239: (sighs) I was getting worried there.
NOR 747: The damned thing's pretty heavy. Don't you think we should let the sucker sink and call it a day?
MAC 73239: And take the chance that it'll get tangled back up in the pylon again, deeper down? Hell with that! I'm bringing it topside where it can be disposed of properly!
EXT. OCEAN — PYLON 16 — EVENING
With the ship's fragment balanced in its four arms like the Known Galaxy's strangest baby, the submersible begins making the slow ascent back to the surface.
EXT. TERRAFORMING STATION C31/SOUTH DOCK — EVENING
The submersible and fragment now topside and secure, Mac and Nor climb up out of the hatch, climbing the rails which take them up onto the dock where other members of their crew are waiting to greet them. FU 247 — a large, burly hybrid between a Human and some unidentifiable cetaceous being — walks up to the two while six of her men run up to examine the fragment now docked with the submersible.
FU 247: What is that thing?
MAC 73239: That's up to you to find out and us not to give a damn about.
FU 247's crew goes to work cutting a hole in the side of the fragment as Mac and Nor disinterestedly leave to find a dry dejarik board. NORWE 4426 — an ugly, gaunt Pau'an/Zabrak hybrid — rubs his boney chin in hard thought as he examines the pitted surface of the fragment.
NORWE 4426: It looks like a near-intact segment of a Consular-class cruiser — the salon pod itself, to be precise.
FU 247: Good. Maybe there's something of value intact inside.
After a few moments the crew finishes cutting the hole through. WIN 3697 — a strangely attractive Amani/Ithorian hybrid — peers inside. Within the dark confines of the pod, Artoo's lights come to life, causing her to reer backward with startlement. Rocking back and forth in the shadow, the short astromech unit begins BLORTING and WARBLING frantically.
WIN 3697: (turns to Fu) Fu, I don't know if it's valuable or not, but there's something inside I think you should take a look at….
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Post by Duragizer on Jan 27, 2018 23:04:54 GMT -5
EXT. CORUSCANT — GALACTIC CITY — ENTERTAINMENT STREET — EVENING
Entertainment Street — with its smoggy air, rundown buildings, flickering lights, and disreputable-looking characters — lies at the heart of the world-city's seedy underbelly, far from the well-maintained, gleaming chrome centres of civilization that serve as the planet's public face to the rest of the Empire.
A TALL WOMAN — her features hidden beneath the folds of a deep red, hooded cloak — makes her way along Entertainment Street, passing several alien lowlifes, panhandling 'droids, and upper class slummers along the way. Soon she comes to her destination: a grime-stained establishment with a dim blue neon sign identifying it mundanely as "XED'S CANTINA".
As she steps forward, a scantily clad prostitute standing beside the entrance — her body too heavily endowed to be natural — reaches out, stopping her with a touch on the shoulder.
PROSTITUTE: How's it hangin', babe? Keen on a little slap 'n' tickle?
HOODED WOMAN: (regards woman) I doubt you're my type.
PROSTITUTE: I'm everybody's type.
As she says those words, the exotically beautiful woman changes her shape; muscles, bones, skin and hair lengthening and contracting, she transforms into a scantily-clad man with a muscular physique and trim goatee.
HOODED WOMAN: Maybe another night.
With that the hooded woman steps past the shapeshifter, entering the cantina like a shadow merging with a greater darkness.
PROSTITUTE: (gives rude hand gesture) Your loss, girly-girl!
INT. XED'S CANTINA — EVENING
The hooded woman enters the cantina. Looking about the dingy interior, she sees a number of clientele — all seedy and grungy like the people outside — lounging around, nursing drinks and talking in hushed tones at the bar or in booths. Silent, she moves forward across the room toward the bar, her cloak trailing behind her like flowing dark blood.
As she stops before the grimy bar counter, Xed — the large, unwashed Besalisk owner of this establishment — turns toward her, wiping a pair of dirty mugs with a pair of dirty rags in a pair of dirty hands.
HOODED WOMAN: I'm here to see Dep T'rot.
XED: Dep T'rot, Dep T'rot…. (spits brown phlegm into mug) Never heard o' no Dep T'rot.
The hooded woman reaches into her cloak. Pulling out some credits, she tosses them on the counter before the bartender.
XED: (scoops up credits) Now that I t'ink 'bout it, he might be out back. (beat) Ya know whatta knockout t'ose Rhuvian fizzes can be.
HOODED WOMAN: For him or for you?
XED: I make it a religion neva to sample my own juice, baby. (beat) Not while the sign's lit, anyways.
HOODED WOMAN: (turns to leave) Always a pleasure, Xed.
XED: Don't be a stranger, Tachi.
EXT. GALACTIC CITY — ENTERTAINMENT STREET — XED'S CANTINA — ALLEY — EVENING
Exiting the cantina, the hooded woman makes her way around the building, slipping into the alley behind. As she makes her way down the dark alley, TWO SHAPES come out from the shadows behind her, blocking off the dim light coming in from the street. Spinning around, she finds herself face-to-face with a tall, gaunt Balosar and a squat, fat, mutant Yuzzum.
VISS UTHAR: Hey, baby — wanna have some deathsticks?
DENN JIIDET: Maybe wanna have my deathstick….
Without any further word, the two lowlifes unsheathe small vibroblades. Their eyes and grins alive with salacious intent, they begin approaching the hooded woman. She shrinks back, fear evident on her shadow-obscured face.
Just as they reach her, her expression shifts to one of hard determination and she explodes into action. Throwing out her leg, she kicks Jiidet in his furry gut, sending the inordinately large Yuzzum crashing into an alley wall with a heavy WOOF of expelled air. Ducking as Uthar slashes at her with his vibroblade, she reaches for her side and unclips a cylindrical metal rod. Gripping it hard, she springs back up and punches the Balosar in the face, using the metal weapon to reinforce her blow. Spitting teeth, Uthar goes down.
Just as the Balosar hits the pavement, though, Jiidet recovers and attacks, grabbing the woman by the hem of her dark red cloak. As he spins her around, the cloak comes loose and she goes sailing into a heap of trash, the metal cylinder flying from her grasp. Chucking with sinister glee, the Yuzzum retrieves his fallen vibroblade. Flipping and twisting it around his fingers, he charges the dazed woman. Just as he reaches her and pulls his knife back to deliver the killing blow, she jumps up onto her feet and springs into the air, somersaulting over Jiidet as his momentum sends him crashing into the pile of trash. Landing behind the sprawled-out Yuzzum, she cartwheels across the pavement toward the cylinder, sweeping it up in her hand as she passes over it. Springing back up onto her feet, she grips the cylinder with both hands as the Yuzzum climbs to his feet and charges, slashing his vibroblade through the air maniacally.
The woman presses a stud set into the side of the cylinder and a blade of yellow plasma erupts from its top with a sharp SNAP-HISS. Startled by this dazzling weapon, the Yuzzum stops mid-slash, stumbling as his momentum carries him forward toward the glowing blade. Pivoting to her right, the woman throws her left leg out, knocking Jiidet backward onto the pavement with a high kick to the chin. Fully in control of the situation now, she strides forward, placing the tip of the blade under the Yuzzum's chin.
HOODED WOMAN: Perhaps you'd like to try my deathstick.
No longer obscured beneath the heavy red cloak, we can see that this woman is Human, twenty-eight years old, pretty, with shoulder-length ash blond hair and piercing gray eyes. Judging by the exotic weapon she wields and the loose charcoal coveralls and black boots, belt, and outer tunic she wears, she is a Jedi — a knight of the Coruscanti sect.
HOODED WOMAN: Get the hell out of here.
Removing the thrumming blade from Jiidet's hairy throat, the Jedi takes a step back. Wasting no time, the Yuzzum scrambles to his feet and takes off, leaving his unconscious accomplice behind.
DEP T'ROT: (in Kubazian, subtitled) Impressive, Siri. Very, very impressive.
With a sigh, SIRI TACHI deactivates her lightsaber. Clipping it back on her belt, she turns around, where Dep T'rot — a tall Kubaz — stands behind her, his dark black cloak helping to blend him into the alley shadows.
SIRI (HOODED WOMAN): So are you. I didn't even know you were back here.
DEP T'ROT: (subtitled) You can take the Kubaz out of the Jedi, but you can't take the Jedi out of the Kubaz. (beat) I have what you've come for.
Reaching under his dark cloak, the Kubaz pulls out a datacard. Retrieving her deep red cloak, Siri fastens the blood-red material around her neck as she steps up to him.
SIRI: (takes card) What's on it?
DEP T'ROT: (subtitled) Read it.
Pulling out a datapad, Siri slips the datacard into it and calls up it's stored information.
SIRI: (reading) Consular-class cruiser Radiant VII carrying Zul Danann ... high priestess of the Meketrex ... attacked en-route to Vuldronaii, throne world of the Sebouillia ... fragments of ship found by terraformers on AC-382, uninhabited water planet ... no survivors. (looks up at Dep T'rot) And you're sure Mandalorians were involved?
DEP T'ROT: (subtitled) It fits their M.O. Small, lightly-defended ship, attacked out in the Outer Rim far from any heavily populated world….
SIRI: (deactivates datapad) I'll check up on it.
Turning around, Siri begins making her way out of the alley.
DEP T'ROT: (subtitled) Aren't you forgetting something?
SIRI: (turns to him) Don't worry. Your fee has already been deposited into your account.
DEP T'ROT: (subtitled) That isn't what I'm talking about.
SIRI: (rolls eyes) What are you talking about, then?
DEP T'ROT: (subtitled) Aren't you going to say "thank you"?
Her face freezes. She wasn't expecting him to say anything like that.
DEP T'ROT: (subtitled) Well?
SIRI: (stoney) Thank you….
No longer comfortable with the Kubaz, she hurries along on her way, leaving the black-clad ex-Jedi alone in the dark, dirty alley.
INT. NYAX/ZUL'S CELL
The near-Human Meketrex high priestess — ZUL DANANN — sits alone within the confines of a dark and dirty detention cell aboard the Mandalorian dungeon ship known as the Nyax. Dirty and disheveled, no longer the perfect picture of perfect beauty she was before, she sits hunched over the solid metal door of her cell.
ZUL (PRIESTESS): (enraged; in Seboutrexi, subtitled) Gods!
Bearing her teeth like an animal, the humiliated priestess balls her hand up into a fist and punches the door hard. Grimacing with the pain that comes as a result, she pulls away and turns her back to the door, fuming. After a few moments, she reaches into her robes and pulls out her medallion. Clasping it tight, she begins praying.
Before she can conclude her prayer, the loud, harsh sound of the locks of her cell door disengaging rings out through the cramped spaces of her cell. Spinning around, her eyes go wide with fear as the door slides open and a PAIR OF ARMOURED DEATH WATCHMEN enter.
MANDALORIAN #1: (to companion; in Mando'a) A pretty little thing, ain't she?
MANDALORIAN #2: (in Mando'a) I'll say.
Approaching Zul, crouching down in front of her, the second Mandalorian takes her hair in one gauntleted hand, feeling it. Petrified with terror, she begins trembling at his touch.
MANDALORIAN #2: (in Mando'a) Quite the prize, ain'tcha? A true green-haired sweetness. (leans in close) You look close to Human. You compatible with baseline? Ever made it with a real Man? Would you like to try?
Emerging from her fearful rigidity, she begins slapping at the Mandalorian, all in a fruitless attempt to ward him away.
MANDALORIAN #2: (laughs; in Mando'a) We'll find out after your date with the coffin!
His fist tightening around Zul's hair, the Mandalorian forcibly pulls her up by it.
INT. NYAX/CELL BLOCK
Laughing maniacally, the two Mandalorians drag the defenseless Meketrex priestess from her cell into the dank, moist corridor of the cell block. Resealing the cell door, they begin hauling her along the corridor.
Futilely trying to pull free of her tormentors, Zul SCREAMS. The cries merely reverberate along the nooks and crannies of the cell block, mixing with the tortured sounds of other prisoners imprisoned within the dungeon ship.
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Post by Duragizer on Jan 29, 2018 23:15:30 GMT -5
EXT. SPACE — AC-382
As the twin blue-green suns of AC-382 dip behind their child planet, casting the side farthest away from them in darkness, a small arrowhead-shaped Delta 7 Aethersprite-class starfighter — painted silver-and-white with a ring-shaped hyperdrive apparatus affixed to its body — exits the realm of hyperspace. Detaching from its hyperdrive ring, the Jedi starfighter's sublight engines blaze to life, taking it on a downward course for the water world below.
EXT. AC-382 — TERRAFORMING STATION C31/DOCKING PLATFORM — DAY
Opening the canopy of her landed starfighter, Siri lifts herself up and out of the craft, stepping out onto the platform. A heavy rainstorm rages all around the terraforming station, drenching everything and everyone left out in the open. She brings the hood of her red cloak up over her head as the canopy of her ship closes.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: (O.S.) Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?
Turning toward the source of the voice, Siri spies an ARKANIAN FEMALE standing a ways away from her on the platform. Tall and slender, the Arkanian sports the long white hair, milky eyes, and four-fingered hands distinctive of her species; she is not a genetically engineered hybrid like the others manning the station.
SIRI: (approaches Arkanian) I take it storms like these are common on your world.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: This isn't my world. (beat) But we have our fair share of sunny days. (gestures to station entrance) Please, come this way.
Regarding the aloof Arkanian with a raised eyebrow, the Jedi Knight follows her into Terraforming Station C31.
INT. TERRAFORMING STATION C31/CORRIDOR - DAY
As Siri and the Arkanian make their way along the antiseptic metal corridors of the station, the Jedi can't help but to notice all the strange hybrid creatures which make their way to-and-fro about them.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: You've taken notice of our rather particular crew, haven't you?
SIRI: Yes, yes, I have. (beat) I don't claim to be an expert on xenobiology, but —
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: They are genetically engineered organisms, hybrids customized for ... specific functions.
SIRI: Warfare, you mean.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: (smiles wryily) These specimens were rejected, deemed unfit for their tailored purpose. We could've had them exterminated, but we decided instead to put them to work on the outlying colonies.
SIRI: Ever obediant, never questioning. The perfect slave workforce.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: (turns to regard her) They're no more slaves than that R2 unit aboard your craft. (beat) Besides, since AC-382's appropriation by the Empire, they receive the wages they're due.
As they pass out of the corridor, a Human/Ranat janitor currently engaged in cleaning the floor stops to give Siri a short once-over. Once she has disappeared from view, he returns to his work.
INT. TERRAFORMING STATION C31/WALK-IN FREEZER — DAY
The door to a nearly empty, ice-encrusted walk-in freezer slides open, allowing Siri and the Arkanian overseer inside. Striding further into the freezer, Siri spots six Human-shaped bodies on the floor, each wrapped in plastic sheeting and laid out in neat rows.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: These were all the cadavers we discovered aboard the pod. None of them appear to be Mandalorian.
SIRI: Mandalorians never abandon their dead.
Approaching one of the bodies, the Jedi bends low and reaches for it, unraveling the sheeting around its head to reveal the naked face and shoulders of Ziyal D’ukat herself. For one who died by violence, she looks surprisingly serene in death.
SIRI: (frowns) Where are her affects?
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: We removed them for inspection.
SIRI: You shouldn't have done that.
Rising to her full height, Siri turns away from the dead Mistryl to face the Arkanian.
SIRI: Where did you take them?
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: They have been taken to a storage room. Trust me, the belongings of each individual body have been placed in their own separate containers.
SIRI: I want to see them at once.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: (nods) Of course.
Pressing a button on a panel in the wall, the door slides open, allowing the two women to exit the frozen chamber.
INT. TERRAFORMING STATION C31/STORAGE ROOM — DAY
The door to the storage room slides open and the Arkanian woman leads Siri inside. Throughout the room, strewn about the floor and in piles stacked to the ceiling, are various crates and storage containers holding various parts and supplies.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: I'm the only one who has had access to this room since the artifacts were brought in. No one else has been in here.
SIRI: I assume you have security records to corroborate your story.
Replying silently with only a half-smile, the overseer takes Siri over to the far corner of the room, which has been cordoned off with red tape. There in a small pile — along with the deactivated forms of Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio — are seven identically shaped-and-sized containers.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: You'll find everything is in its place. Nothing has been misplaced or lost.
SIRI: (points at 'droids) The ship's only known survivors, I presume?
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: After a fashion. The astromech is in prime condition; it has merely been powered down. The protocol 'droid, on the other hand, has been critically damaged, possibly in an altercation with the Mandalorians. (beat) We thought of having it shipped away for repairs, but then we figured it is evidence and you wouldn't want us tampering with it….
SIRI: (looks containers over) There were only six bodies stored in the freezer; there are seven containers here.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: Naturally, not all the items we found could be correlated with an individual body, so we set them apart. (beat) The container housing them has been clearly marked with a "7".
Locating the container marked with the digit for "7", Siri grabs hold of it and pulls it away from the others. Carrying it off, she lays it down atop the surface of a large, table-sized crate. Breaking the seal, she opens the container and begins going through its contents, laying each and every artifact out on top of the crate after she finishes examining it. Soon she stops, brow furrowing at a particular object lying at the bottom of the container: a platinum medallion on a broken chain.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: (frowns) Is something the matter?
Reaching into the container, Siri pulls out the medallion. Placing it in her hand so the surface bearing a small, ice-blue crystal in its centre faces upward, she grips it tight then passes her other hand slowly over it. From the heart of the crystal, a small three-dimensional holographic projection of a planet flashes into existence. With concentration, Siri makes the planet change shape, transforming it into another planet. After eight more such transformations, each into a different planet, the medallion returns to the projection of the first world it started with.
ARKANIAN OVERSEER: It's some sort of holoprojector.
SIRI: (shakes head) Oh, no, it's not just a holoprojector — not at all.
Relaxing her concentration, Siri allows the crystal at the heart of the medallion to go dead, the projected planet winking out of existence.
INT. CORUSCANT — JEDI TEMPLE/COUNCIL CHAMBERS — TWILIGHT
Within a stately room located at the apex of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, twelve Jedi masters — MACE WINDU; MICAH GIIETT; KI-ADI-MUNDI; PLO KOON; SAESEE TIIN; EVEN PIELL; YARAEL POOF; OPPO RANCISIS; YADDLE; EETH KOTH; ADI GALLIA; and DEPA BILLABA — sit in seats arranged about in a semi-circular formation. Though dressed in uniforms nearly identical to Siri's, they also sport large, heavy black cloaks indicative of Jedi masters of the Coruscanti Order.
A holographic projection of Siri rises from the floor within the Council's semi-circle, standing at attention before the masters. Due to the great distance separating Coruscant and AC-382, the hologram cannot exist in high resolution. As such it is completely monochromatic, with pronounced scanlines, flickering constantly as the reception verges on failure.
SIRI: Greetings, Masters. (to Adi Gallia) Mistress.
ADI GALLIA: (smiles) Hello, Siri.
MACE WINDU: (stern) We take it you've found something of importance?
SIRI: (nods) T'rot's information was correct; the Mandalorians attacked and destroyed a Consular-class cruiser in orbit above Arkania Colony 382. Several Mandalorian artifacts survived intact aboard the ship's salon pod when it fell to the planet and was recovered by the crew of Terraforming Station C31.
YADDLE: Able were you to uncover the motivations behind the attack?
SIRI: No, but I think I know who was behind it and where they'll strike next.
Reaching into her tunic, Siri withdraws the platinum medallion and holds it out for the Jedi masters to look upon.
MICAH GIIETT: Isn't that —?
KI-ADI-MUNDI: It's a Jedi meditation device!
SIRI: (nods) An initiate's tool for helping to focus one's concentration in the Force — a child's plaything.
MACE WINDU: Are you sure it belonged to the Mandalorians?
In response, Siri turns the medallion over. There, stamped into the back, is the symbol of the Mandalorian Death Watch.
SIRI: This isn't a keepsake, a spoil of war. It was manufactured by the Death Watch itself.
ADI GALLIA: This can only mean one thing.
EVEN PIELL: A fallen Jedi has joined the ranks of the Death Watch.
OPPO RANCISIS: More than that; they're training Mandalorians to use the Force.
MACE WINDU: You said you knew where they'll strike next?
SIRI: (nods) When activated, the meditation device projects holographic images of ten planets — nine of which have each been attacked by the Mandalorians, each in the order they're displayed on the device.
Bringing up the medallion, Siri activates it. Cycling through the planets, she comes to the ninth: the water world AC-382 itself.
SIRI: This is AC-382, the last planet we know the Mandalorians staged an attack around.
Siri switches to the next and last planet encoded into the meditation device: a barren desert planet with no apparent surface water.
SIRI: This is the next and final planet on the list: a world located on the outskirts of Hutt Space — Tatooine.
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Post by Duragizer on Jan 30, 2018 22:14:22 GMT -5
INT. PASSENGER LINER/PASSENGER DECK
Several passengers sit in their seats aboard a passenger liner currently passing through the extradimensional corridors of hyperspace. One of these passengers is a thirty-year-old Human male, clean-shaven, his platinum blond hair cropped short except for a pair of braids which hang down from his temples, and dressed in all-black clothes. This man, OBI-WAN KENOBI, is fast asleep.
ZOOM IN
On Obi-Wan's sleeping face. As the camera moves in closer, we see that his slumber is fitful, uncomfortable. As his brow furrows and the muscles of his face begin to twitch, the dim sound of lightsabers clashing — sounds from the depths of his dreaming mind — can be heard.
As the ship is rocked by sudden turbulence, the young man starts awake from his slumber, breathing heavily with his eyes wide open and his forehead moist with perspiration. As he looks about his surroundings, trying to recall where he is, the deck's intercom crackles to life.
PILOT: (O.S.) We have dropped out of hyperspace and are now on approach for the planet. We will be making the descent momentarily.
Gaining control over his breathing, Obi-Wan wipes the sweat from his brow.
EXT. SPACE — TATOOINE
The passenger liner flies toward Tatooine, appearing to shrink to the size of a gnat as it passes before the looming form of the desert planet.
EXT. TATOOINE — MOS EISLEY — DOCKING BAY 94 — DAY
The passenger liner descends from the sky, coming low over the spaceport city of Mos Eisley, where it slips down through the open maw of Docking Bay 94.
INT. MOS EISLEY — DOCKING BAY 94 — DAY
Having landed and with its loading ramp extended, the passenger liner disgorges its load of passengers. Obi-Wan, in a long, black overcoat with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, makes his way with the other travellers out of the docking bay to the greater city beyond.
EXT. MOS EISLEY — DOCKING BAY 94 — DAY
Standing out on the curb beyond the docking bay, Obi-Wan looks to his left and then to his right, surveying the streets for something or someone of importance. When he fails to find what he's looking for, he sighs with disappointment then proceeds to walk on, resigned to find his way to his destination alone.
EXT. MOS EISLEY — STREET — MARKETPLACE — DAY
Obi-Wan eventually finds his way to a bustling marketplace where several food stalls have been erected to serve the hungry masses of this portion of the city. His stomach grumbling, the young man decides to partake of the available cuisine and walks up to a vendor serving some kind of deep fried meat on a stick.
VENDOR: What can I do for ya today?
OBI-WAN: (eyes food) Is the bantha tongue fresh?
VENDOR: As fresh as my wife's mouth every time she finds me with her mother.
OBI-WAN: I'll have one tongue-on-a-stick, then.
VENDOR: That'll be seven truguts.
As Obi-Wan reaches into his coat for the money, an UGLY DUG strides up to a burly, stillsuited Gungan over at another stall. Visibly intoxicated and angry, the Dug spits at the Gungan's feet.
UGLY DUG: You! Chuba!
BURLY GUNGAN: (turns to regard Dug) Me'sa?
UGLY DUG: Yes — yousa!
BURLY GUNGAN: What do u'sa want?
UGLY DUG: (pushes face up in Gungan's) I don't like you.
BURLY GUNGAN: That isn't me'sa problem. Be going.
UGLY DUG: (pokes Gungan in chest) I don't like you, you toadfaced worrt! You smell like a nexu's wet s***ch!
BURLY GUNGAN: (pushes Sebulba's wrist away) Leave, barbarian. Your insults will put u'sa down.
UGLY DUG: Try me, grub!
The Dug violently pushes the Gungan, causing the frog-like amphibian to fall back and crash into a stall of fried roach candies, tipping several trays of the candies over. Enraged, the burly Gungan unsheathes a knife. Grinning with bloodlust, the ugly Dug pulls out a blaster.
Without hesitation, Obi-Wan strides up to the two combatants and, stepping between them, pulls each weapon from their hands. The two non-Humans turn to regard the man, dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
OBI-WAN: (pockets weapons) I'm sure you can resolve your differences without needless violence.
UGLY DUG: (incredulous) What do you think you are doing‽
BURLY GUNGAN: (sneers) Give me back my weapon!
OBI-WAN: Knowing how you intend to use it, why should I?
UGLY DUG: (gives Obi-Wan evil eye) Don't you know who you are dealing with‽
OBI-WAN: Two individuals who have better things to do with their time than kill each other over absolutely nothing.
UGLY DUG: (gives Obi-Wan once-over) Kill each other over absolutely nothing, eh? (beat) Maybe I wanna kill you over absolutely nothing!
Without warning the Dug jumps forward, pushing Obi-Wan hard. Unprepared for the assault, the young man stumbles backward.
UGLY DUG: Where's your talk now, peacemaker? Can't you muster it up‽
The Dug pushes Obi-Wan again. This time the strength behind the attack is enough to make the man nearly topple, causing him to drop his duffel bag.
UGLY DUG: (spits on ground) I'll teach you to stick your ugly simian nose in my business.
Planting himself firmly on the ground, the Dug rears back, preparing to deliver Obi-Wan a powerful kick with his arm-like legs. As he kicks out, though, the Human pivots, avoiding the blow effortlessly, and takes hold of the Dug's feet. Bracing himself, Obi-Wan spins the Dug around then releases him. With a shrill cry of fear, the ugly Dug flies into a food stall, shattering it and bringing splintered wood and hot stew down upon himself.
As the Dug lies there, mewling like a wounded cub, Obi-Wan walks up to him. Reaching into the waistband of his trousers, he pulls out the Dug's blaster.
OBI-WAN: (removes blaster's power pack) Here is your weapon back, my friend. (drops powerless blaster on ground between Dug's sprawled legs) Try to find more worthy battles to use it in.
Without any further word, Obi-Wan turns his back to the Dug and walks off. The Dug, groaning, sits up. Looking after the departing Human, his features contort with hate.
UGLY DUG: You'd better watch your back, Human, 'cause this isn't over! One way or another, I'll find you and pay you back for this! Count on it!
Refusing to pay the Dug any further mind, Obi-Wan returns to the burly Gungan's side. As with the Dug and his blaster, the young man withdraws the Gungan's knife and hands it to him.
OBI-WAN: The message I gave him goes for you, too. Use this for a worthy cause or don't use it at all. Am I making myself clear?
Taking the knife, the Gungan nods, his face creased with contemplation.
BURLY GUNGAN: I will heed u'sa advice.
Silently, Obi-Wan goes and retrieves his duffel bag then begins walking off. As he passes by the smashed stall, he tosses a bag of truguts to the unfortunate vendor.
OBI-WAN: Sorry for the damages. I hope this'll pay for the repairs.
The vendor finds himself without a word to say and merely pockets the money, his eyes fixed on the young man as he continues on his way, all the weight of the worlds seemingly pressing down on his shoulders.
EXT. DESERT — SUNSET
Obi-Wan, at the controls of a rented landspeeder, races over sand and low dunes. Small animals scamper to get out of the way as the hovercraft passes toward them.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — SUNSET
As he approaches a moisture farmstead erected in the middle of flat hardpan, Obi-Wan pulls back on the speeder's controls, cutting power to the vehicle's engines. As he glides to a stop a ways away from the small igloo-shaped rock entrance to an underground dwelling, he hoists up his duffel bag and climbs out of the speeder. Standing there, the man surveys his surroundings, taking the sight of the familiar farmstead in with a wistful expression on his face.
As he looks over toward a lone moisture vaporator in the distance, TWO YOUNG BOYS and a MAN — ghosts from the past — fade into existence beside it. They are BEN KENOBI and OWEN LARS as young children — twelve and nine, respectively — with their father CLIEGG LARS. The two boys are at work repairing the vaporator, Cliegg standing over them, content merely to watch over them but ready to step in if they need an extra hand.
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: (squatting down low beside vaporator) Okay, Owen, I'm ready to bolt this sucker back in place. Hand me a 12 mm.
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (crouched next to Ben) 12 mm?
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: (flustered) Yes, 12 mm. Hurry up, would ya?
Reaching into a bag full of assorted bolts, young Owen scrambles around inside until he finds a bolt of the right size. Pulling it out, he hands it to Ben.
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: (places bolt in place under vaporator) Alright, now hand over the hydrospanner.
Owen picks the hydrospanner up off the ground beside Ben and hands it to his older stepbrother. Placing the hydrospanner against the bolt, he tries driving it into place.
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: Dammit! It won't go in!
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Move over, Ben, and let me try.
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: Oh, be quiet and stay where you are! I know what I'm doing!
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (looks up at Cliegg) Dad….
CLIEGG: Ben, give your brother a chance.
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: (frowns) He's not my brother and you're not my father.
CLIEGG: (facepalms) Alright, boy, now you've really pushed my buttons. Back the hell away from there right now before I give your ass a bareknuckled thrashing!
Fuming but in no mood to receive a bareknuckled assthrashing, young Ben puts down his tools and steps away from the vaporator. Grinning, Owen takes Ben's place, sticking his tongue out at his older stepbrother.
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: (glowers) He's just a kid. What does he known about vaporators, anyway?
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (examines side of vaporator) Here's the problem, you laserbrain! You need a 16 mm bolt for this panel, not 12!
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: (furrows brow) What?
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Bend down and take a look!
Crouching down beside Owen, Ben looks at the panel his stepbrother is now working on.
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (smug) See? 16 mm!
Able to see that his stepbrother is right but unwilling to admit it, Ben silently picks up the bag of bolts and fishes out a 16 mm bolt, handing it to Owen angrily. Owen takes it and puts it into place.
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (holds out hand) Hydrospanner.
Sulking, Ben hands Owen the hydrospanner. Owen takes the tool and places it against the bolt.
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Hey, Ben ...
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: (moody) What?
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: You want to screw it in?
Ben looks down at his younger stepbrother who is now offering him the hydrospanner. Turning his nose up at him, the older boy crosses his arms across his chest in defiance.
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: I'm not your grease monkey.
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Oh, c'mon! Don't be such a sore loser!
Turning back to regard Owen, Ben sees that the younger boy is now wagging the hydrospanner at him, teasing him with the prospect of using it. Sighing loudly, Ben gives in to the temptation.
12-YEAR-OLD BEN: Okay, fine!
Grinning, Owen scoots over so that Ben can join him by the open panel. Once Ben is there beside him, Owen hands him the bolt and hydrospanner. Taking them, Ben starts driving the bolt into place.
9-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Hey, wait! You're using too much —
Before Owen can finish his warning, Ben drives the bolt in too far, punching through the panel, through the machinery beyond it, and into a storage tank. Before the two boys can do anything, a cascade of pressurized water comes shooting out into their faces, dousing them.
CLIEGG: (alarmed) Ah, dammit! Look what you've done! (beat) I'm taking this out of your allowances!
The boys, for their part, merely laugh, finding the ordeal nothing short of funny.
The three spectres of the past fade away and we return to Obi-Wan in the present. Turning away from the vaporator, he finds Owen — now a grown 27-year-old man who is almost the spitting image of his father — standing before the entrance into the underground homestead. Dressed in the sand-coloured clothes of a moisture farmer, Owen regards his stepbrother gravely.
OBI-WAN: Hello, Owen.
OWEN: It's been awhile. (beat) You're a long way from the Empire.
OBI-WAN: I told you I was coming home.
OWEN: Yes, I know. (beat) Look, I've got some errands to run. You go inside and I'll be with you later.
OBI-WAN: I can come with you if you'd like — give you a hand.
OWEN: (shakes head) No, no, forget it. Just go on inside and make yourself at home.
Without anything further to say, the grown up Owen leaves to do what he has to do. Obi-Wan, for his part, simply stands there, watching the man he grew up with as a boy saunter away into the approaching night.
INT. LARS HOMESTEAD/LIVING AREA — SUNSET
Obi-Wan steps through the doorway into the living area of the Lars homestead, where he immediately notices that he isn't alone. Seated before a low-set table is BERU SKYWALKER, a pretty 23-year-old woman with sandy brown hair.
OBI-WAN: Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't expect to find anyone down here.
BERU: (stands up; smiles) You must be Owen's brother, Ben. I'm Beru, his girlfriend.
The young girl holds out her hand. Obi-Wan takes it, shaking it lightly.
OBI-WAN: Beru Skywalker? Kane Skywalker's girl?
BERU: The very same.
OBI-WAN: I met your father once at Anchorhead. I don't think I was much younger than you are now. (grins) He made quite the impression on me.
BERU: (laughs) He tends to do that.
Beru returns to her seat. Obi-Wan joins her on the opposite side of the table.
OBI-WAN: You live with Owen?
BERU: (nods) I moved in a few months after we started courting, shortly after Jadzia —
Upon the mention of his mother's name, Obi-Wan's face grows hard, his expression dark.
BERU: (places hand on Obi-Wan's) Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot —
OBI-WAN: That I was her son. It's alright. (beat) Owen was outside when I arrived but he told me he had places to be. Do you know where he'd be going this close to sundown?
Beru's expression goes stern.
BERU: Probably off to run an errand for Watto.
OBI-WAN: The Toydarian junk dealer?
BERU: (nods) I needn't remind you Cliegg had a gambling problem.
OBI-WAN: (sullen) It was the main reason I left.
BERU: (cont'd) A few years after you left for the Empire, Cliegg fell so far into debt that he had to ask Watto for a loan. Watto gave it and Cliegg was okay for awhile. Of course, now he was left in debt to Watto. (beat) He fought so hard. He kicked gambling, y'know. He worked himself to the bone to square things with Watto. It was too much for him, far too much….
OBI-WAN: Owen told me as much in the last message he sent me.
A tear runs from Beru's eye. Noticing it, she wipes it away.
BERU: Once he was gone, Owen and your mother had to take up the slack. Jadzia couldn't take it ... just couldn't take it. (beat) Oh, God!
Unable to hold back the overwhelming sadness, Beru begins sobbing into her hands. Her display of emotion proving too much for him to handle, Obi-Wan weeps alongside her.
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Post by Duragizer on Jan 31, 2018 20:51:41 GMT -5
INT. NYAX/TORTURE CHAMBER
The Nyax's torture chamber is a large chamber, filled with cruel and foreboding instruments of torture. Gloomy as it is within, it is hard to make out the various living forms which have been subjected to these devices, but their cries and moans of anguish can be plainly heard.
Standing before one of the many devices of torture — a coffin-like encasement — are the Force Hound and the dungeon master MARQUS DESAAD. Unlike most of the Death Watchmen, DeSaad wears neither the polished armour of his brethren nor even the elegant blue-and-gray robes of the Mandalorian Knights. He instead wears a heavy cape of dark gray sackcloth over armour so worn and dull that most of the paint has flaked off.
FORCE HOUND: (in Mando'a, subtitled) Open it.
MARQUS DESAAD: (subtitled) As you wish, milord.
The dungeon master presses a release on the encasement and it splits open, revealing the prone form of the Meketrex high priestess, Zul. Heavy drugged, she is unable to keep herself from collapsing to the deck in a heap.
ZUL: (weary) No more ... no more.
FORCE HOUND: Give me what I want and it will end.
ZUL: What? What do you want?
FORCE HOUND: Tell me who you are.
ZUL: (coughing) What?
FORCE HOUND: Tell me who you are.
Regaining some of her strength, Zul pushes herself up into a sitting position, half-leaning against the deck with her arms to brace her.
ZUL: (coughing) I am Zul Danann, daughter of Gon and Tantz Danann. I serve the Gods of Light and Darkness as Their intermediary to my people, the Meketrex of Sloar.
FORCE HOUND: You have power, don't you? Power beyond that of mere mortals.
ZUL: I am empowered by the Breath of the Gods. Through Their grace I am able to pierce the veils of reality and glimpse the worlds as they really are.
FORCE HOUND: You can see through space, through time, into the hearts and minds of living souls throughout the Galaxy.
ZUL: (nods) Yes.
FORCE HOUND: You could also move mountains, stop the rotation of planets, or even darken a star if you so wished.
ZUL: (shakes head) The Meketrex use their power to commune with the universe and the realities beyond, not to bend them to their will. (beat) That is a privilege granted to the Sebouillia alone.
FORCE HOUND: The Sebouillia were one with the Meketrex in ages past, weren't they?
ZUL: Before the Great Division of 14,019 we were one people, harnessing and communing with the Breath as we wished.
FORCE HOUND: Until a select few among you chose to take the power you wielded to subjugate the masses, to force them into submission under penalty of torment and death.
ZUL: It isn't that simple. Trying to commune with the worlds while also trying to influence them went against nature itself. It drove us to madness; it tore our planet apart.
FORCE HOUND: A convenient lie. Here is an honest truth: Harness the Breath, use it as a weapon, and you can kill me where I stand.
ZUL: (outraged) What‽
FORCE HOUND: (cont'd) Reach out with the Breath and kill me. Kill the man beside me. Kill every Mandalorian alive on this ship. Break your bonds and escape! The power is within you. Use it!
ZUL: No!
Enraged, the Force Hound throws out his hand, clenching his fingers. The near-Human woman begins grasping at her throat, choking as an invisible force cuts off her air supply.
FORCE HOUND: Reach out and break my hold! Shatter my bones! Crush my heart! Boil my blood!
The Force Hound continues his hold for long seconds, bringing the priestess to the brink. Finally he relaxes his hold, allowing her to suck in a deep breath of air.
FORCE HOUND: (yelling) What are you waiting for‽ Loose your wrath! Strike me down!
ZUL: (coughing) Never!
FORCE HOUND: Then your torment will continue — later. (turns to pair of Mandalorian guards standing away from centre of activity; in Mando'a, subtitled) Return her to her cell.
Responding immediately, the two Mandalorians walk up to Zul and lift her to her feet. As they escort the Meketrex priestess from the premises, the Force Hound looks after them, his breath heavy with restrained frustration.
INT. TATOOINE — LARS HOMESTEAD/OBI-WAN'S OLD BED CHAMBER — EVENING
Stepping inside his old room, Obi-Wan finds that beyond a bed, a sofa, and a single table, the area is almost bare of accoutrements. It is obvious that most of Obi-Wan's old belongings have either been sold or put into storage.
Sighing, Obi-Wan places his duffel bag on a chair then makes his way over to the bed. Sitting down on it, he turns his back to the open door.
OWEN: (O.C.) I assumed you weren't coming back, so I gave your stuff away.
Turning around, Obi-Wan finds his stepbrother standing there in the open doorway.
OWEN: (cont'd) Figured you Jedi aren't into physical attachments, anyway.
OBI-WAN: (stands up) That depends on the Jedi.
OWEN: You met Beru?
OBI-WAN: (nods) Yes. (beat) She really is a lovely girl, Owen. Congratulations.
OWEN: (steps into room) Save your congratulations for the wedding.
OBI-WAN: (surprised) You're getting married?
OWEN: (smiles) Maybe one day, in the future, once we've everything sorted out.
OBI-WAN: She told me of the debt to Watto.
OWEN: (loses smile) Just forget about it.
OBI-WAN: (approaches Owen) Owen, I want to help you.
OWEN: (throws up hands) I don't need you getting mixed up in things which don't concern you.
OBI-WAN: (incredulous) Don't concern me‽ I'm your brother, Owen; I think this concerns me!
OWEN: (angry) What are you doing here, anyway? You write us off and then you think you can just come back —
OBI-WAN: I never wrote you off!
OWEN: No, you just packed up and left so you could play at being a grand wizard master, leaving us in the real world to rot on this backwater cesspool.
OBI-WAN: I had to leave, Owen, don't you understand? As much as I loved you, as much as I loved Cliegg, I couldn't stand slaving away on this farm day in and day out knowing that any profit we made would be immediately thrown away on some poorly placed bet or fixed sabacc game. I couldn't stand to watch him whittle his life — your life — all our lives away on nothing anymore.
OWEN: So you just abandoned us. Mighty fine trade-off I must say.
OBI-WAN: (angry) Goddammit, Owen! I kept in touch!
OWEN: Five messages in six years.
OBI-WAN: (shakes head) Training with Master Yoda kept me away from civilization most of the time, and then with the war ... (beat) When I found out Dad had died — that Mum had died — I wanted to come to their funerals. Believe me, I did.
OWEN: But you didn't.
OBI-WAN: It was too late.
A moment of silence passes between the two brothers.
OWEN: So why now, after all this time?
OBI-WAN: (crying) I lost someone ... a friend I had come to know as a second brother. (beat) I came back ... because I don't know if I can handle it anymore. I don't know if I can continue as a Jedi.
OWEN: (runs hand through hair) I'm sorry — really, I am — but I can't be the loving brother who's standing by as a shoulder to cry on. I have my own sorrows.
Finished with Obi-Wan, Owen turns around and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.
Taking in a deep, shuddering breath, Obi-Wan walks over to the barren table. Removing his overcoat, he reveals a lightsaber clipped to his belt. Tossing the coat onto the sofa, he unclips the lightsaber then holds it up before him, examining it before carefully setting it down atop the table.
INT. NYAX/TORTURE CHAMBER
Zul stands against a metal rack, her wrists and ankles secured to prevent escape. With wicked-looking electrodes secured to her joints and extremities, the beautiful priestess can do nothing but scream as volt after volt of searing electricity courses through her body. Surrounding her, bearing witness to this cruel torture, are several heavily armed security 'droids and four Mandalorians: two knights, Marqus DeSaad, and the Force Hound himself.
FORCE HOUND: (in Mando'a, subtitled) She's had enough. Let her down.
MARQUS DESAAD: (subtitled) As you wish, milord.
Pressing a few buttons and turning a dial set into his control panel, the Mandalorian dungeon master cuts the power to the electrodes. Finally free of the pain, Zul collapses into semi-unconsciousness. Moving over to the rack, the two knights open the shackles, allowing the Meketrex high priestess to collapse into their arms.
FORCE HOUND: (subtitled) Return the girl to her cell.
The knights nod once in acknowledgement. Hefting the loose form of the beautiful woman up so as to get a firmer hold of her, they begin half-carrying, half-dragging her off. The Force Hound, his features hidden behind his Mandalorian helmet, watches them as they leave.
INT. NYAX/CELL BLOCK
The two Mandalorians guide Zul down the corridor of her cell block. Having regained some of her wits, she is now able to support some of her own weight.
INT. NYAX/ZUL'S CELL
The door to the cell slides open and the Mandalorian Knights push Zul inside, allowing the disheveled near-Human girl to unceremoniously collapse to the filthy floor in a heap. The door slides closed and the intricate locks engage, leaving Zul there on the floor in near-pitch darkness.
MANDALORIAN #2: (O.C.) Hello there, sweetness.
Hearing the voice, Zul slowly pushes herself up into a sitting position, looking toward the source of the voice.
ZUL: (scared) Who's that? Who's there?
A figure steps out of the deep corner of the cell into the scant light at the centre, revealing himself to be one of the two Mandalorians who first escorted her to the torture chamber.
MANDALORIAN #2: You wouldn't believe how long I've been waiting here. I was afraid you weren't coming back.
The Mandalorian takes a threatening step forward. In fear, Zul scuttles back away from him.
ZUL: Stay away from me….
MANDALORIAN #2: Oh, come now, sweetness. Don't be like that. Let's be friends.
Reaching upward, the Mandalorian removes his helmet. Underneath the cauliflower ears, slightly twisted nose, and light scars, the Mandalorian is a bona fide pretty boy with light blond hair and piercing blue eyes.
MANDALORIAN #2: See now? I'm not a harsh sight, am I?
Zul scurries back further, pressing herself up against the far bulkhead to get as far away from him as possible.
MANDALORIAN #2: (frowns) Enough of that. I want to be friends so we're gonna be friends — good friends.
Tossing the helmet aside, the Mandalorian unsheathes a vibroblade.
INT. NYAX/CELL BLOCK
As the screams of the high priestess of the Meketrex begin pouring through the bulkheads outside her cell, the Force Hound appears, standing by the locked door. He scrutinizes the sealed cell door, his mind full of thought, before walking off to leave the Mandalorian within to quench his sadism.
EXT. SPACE — AC-382
A box-shaped cargo shuttle leaves the atmosphere of Arkania Colony 382, flying past the derelict hyperspace ring of Siri Tachi's starfighter as it heads for open space.
INT. SHUTTLE/CARGO BAY
Siri, the hood of her deep red robe pulled up over her head, sits atop a crate in the otherwise empty cargo hold of the cargo-hauling shuttle. There, palmed in her outstretched hand, is an activate holoprojector displaying the blue-white image of her mistress, Adi Gallia.
ADI GALLIA: (cont'd) And we'll dispatch an acolyte to retrieve your starfighter and bring it back to Coruscant.
SIRI: (nods) Thank you, Mistress. (beat) All the paperwork's in order?
ADI GALLIA: (nods) Each and every document has been scrutinized and gone over a thousand times to be sure nothing is vague and everything is legitimate. You should have no trouble with the local authorities once you reach Tatooine.
SIRI: I still feel uneasy about all this.
ADI GALLIA: Look inside yourself, Siri. Find your centre. There you will find the living Force. Let it flow through you and soothe you and erase all doubt from your mind.
SIRI: (unconvinced) I'll try.
ADI GALLIA: May the Force be with you, Siri.
SIRI: And with you, Mistress.
Departing with a smile, the holographic Jedi mistress winks out of existence, leaving Siri alone with her uneasy thoughts.
EXT. SPACE
The shuttle soon comes in reach of the Lightning Warrior, a Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser. Emblazoned on the side of the Dreadnought is the design of an intricate, downturned gold triangle: the Crest of Alderaan, indicating that the ship belongs to the Alderaanian Fleet.
Sidling up with the bow of the heavy cruiser, the small shuttle slips into the craft's docking bay.
INT. LIGHTNING WARRIOR/DOCKING BAY
Gliding into the bay, the cargo shuttle touches down atop the polished metal plating of the deck. There in the bay, waiting for the ship, is a TALL, BROAD-SHOULDERED MAN in his late thirties with a full head of thick, black hair. This man, clad in the crisp gray uniform and decorated with the insignia of an Imperial naval captain, is BAIL PRESTOR ORGANA, the Prince of Alderaan himself.
The side hatch of the shuttle opens and Siri steps out. Tossing a fold of her cloak back, she approaches the captain.
SIRI: Capt. Organa?
BAIL: (smiles) Call me Bail.
SIRI: If it's all the same to you, Captain, I would prefer to address you by your rank.
BAIL: (shrugs) If that's what you prefer….
SIRI: Thank you, Captain.
BAIL: (gestures to doors leading out of docking bay) Shall we?
Siri nods with affirmation. Together they walk off for the wider regions of the ship.
SIRI: I have to say I'm astonished to find a ship of the Alderaanian Fleet so far out from the Core Worlds. The Outer Rim territories are far beyond your usual patrol range, aren't they?
BAIL: After my promotion to captain, I felt like getting as far away from the war as possible, so I requested an assignment which would take me out of the thick of things. I was assigned a tour of duty patrolling the border regions between Imperial and Hutt space. (beat) It sure beats having to deal with Neimoidian mercenaries and dark Jedi conspiracies.
INT. LIGHTNING WARRIOR/TURBOLIFT
Siri and Bail now stand within a turbolift on ascent to a higher deck.
BAIL: So from what little information I've received, you've been having problems with Mandalorian raiders along the Southeastern Border. Can you give me any more details?
SIRI: There isn't much more I can tell you. From what we gathered from what witnesses there are, a Mandalorian dungeon ship with an escort of two-to-five assault ships has been attacking civilian vessels and backwater settlements — Imperial and non-Imperial alike — taking whom they wish while slaughtering everyone else. We haven't been able to determine a motive.
BAIL: Maybe there isn't a motive. The Mandalorians of old were berserker warriors, fighting for the sheer pleasure of it. It isn't hard to imagine them reverting, especially following the collapse of Mandalore.
SIRI: I don't believe that, Captain, not for a second. (beat) There's a dark design at work here; I just have to piece it together.
INT. LIGHTNING WARRIOR/BRIDGE
A door slides open and Siri and Organa step out into the bridge where several officers are moving with activity, preparing the ship for the journey ahead. A TALL, OLIVE-SKINNED WOMAN rises from the command chair and walks over to the newcomers.
BAIL: (to Siri) Ms. Tachi, this is Cmdr. Raia Vaness, my first officer and trusted confidante. (to Vaness) Raia, this is Siri Tachi, Jedi Knight on loan from Coruscant.
CMDR. VANESS: (bows head to Siri) It is a pleasure to meet you, Knight Tachi.
SIRI: (returns bow) Likewise, Commander.
BAIL: (to Vaness) Are we ready to go?
CMDR. VANESS: Just give the word, Captain.
Moving away from Siri and Vaness, Bail walks over to the command chair. Sitting down, he turns toward the ship's helmsman, a LEAN, YELLOW-SKINNED NEAR-DUROS.
BAIL: Set a course for Tatooine, Lt. Solo.
LT. SOLO: Yes sir.
The near-Duros helmsman submits the coordinates for Tatooine into the Lightning Warrior's navicomputer. Once the course has been charted, he pulls back a lever, engaging the hyperdrive.
EXT. SPACE
The form of the Dreadnought elongates then shoots forward with a blur of pseudomotion, punching through the fabric of realspace into the extradimensional maelstrom of hyperspace.
INT. NYAX/ZUL'S CELL
Within the confines of her cell, Zul lies cowering in a heap on the floor in the centre of the room, clutching her torn robes about her lacerated body as she sobs uncontrollably. The Mandalorian who assaulted her is long gone.
The cell doors unlock and the door slides open. Zul barely turns to regard the Force Hound as he steps inside, a set of clean tan coveralls folded against his arm.
FORCE HOUND: Your journey is almost over. We'll be reaching our destination within the hour. (holds out coveralls) Here, you need these. Please take them.
Zul merely looks upon the Mandalorian, her eyes burning with hate.
ZUL: Why have you done this to me?
Walking up to her, the Force Hound crouches down on one knee before her. Setting the folded coveralls down, he reaches out to her, touching her cheek gingerly. The priestess, her face bruised, flinches upon contact.
FORCE HOUND: (voice breaking) I don't want to do this to you; I have to do this to you.
ZUL: (grinds her teeth) Why?
FORCE HOUND: (strokes her hair) From birth you were taught to believe — as have so many others before you — that what you call the Breath is divided into distinct halves, at war with itself. (beat) This is a lie, perpetrated by fools who — too afraid to embrace the great potential within themselves — would also deny that right to others, using fear to poison their minds against any evidence contrary to their dogma. (beat) There is no distinct dividing line between the light and dark sides. They blur together because they are one — a unified Force.
With gentleness the Force Hound takes the high priestess by her shoulders and draws her to him, embracing her.
FORCE HOUND: (crying) In order to open your eyes to the truth I must break you — force you into the abyss so that you may embrace it. Only then, with both sides of the Force as your ally, can you be made whole.
ZUL: And if I don't break?
FORCE HOUND: Then I will have failed and I will have to live with the horror of knowing that what I did to you, I did for nothing.
Slowly, the Mandalorian releases the Meketrex priestess.
Standing up, he walks over to the door and opens it.
ZUL: You don't have to worry, Mandalorian.
The Force Hound turns to face her. Her eyes glowing with rage, she bears her teeth at him.
ZUL: (cont'd) You've broken me.
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Post by Duragizer on Feb 1, 2018 23:18:24 GMT -5
EXT. TATOOINE — LARS HOMESTEAD/COURTYARD — DAY
Obi-Wan, Owen, and Beru stand together outside the entrance to the Lars homestead. With his duffel bag slung over his shoulder once again, it is apparent that Obi-Wan is leaving.
OBI-WAN: (hugs Beru) It was nice meeting you, Beru. I wish I could stay longer but I have business I must be getting to.
BERU: (punches Obi-Wan playfully in chin) Don't be such a stranger in the future, Ben, okay?
OBI-WAN: (smiles) I'll see what I can do.
Turning away from Beru, Obi-Wan regards his stepbrother. The two look upon each other, expressions stern.
OBI-WAN: Goodbye, Owen.
OWEN: Ben.
With that Obi-Wan leaves the couple, walking towards his landspeeder. Once he has reached the vehicle, he hops in and engages the engines. Making a U-turn, the Jedi Knight takes off, leaving the homestead behind.
EXT. DESERT — DAY
Sometime later, Obi-Wan stands alone in the desert, perched atop a large boulder. Off in the distance, far enough away so that Obi-Wan cannot be seen but not so far that Obi-Wan cannot see it, is the Lars homestead. Looking down and behind him, the Jedi spies his speeder down below, parked in between the large boulder and another smaller boulder; loaded in the back seat of the vehicle are three-days worth of supplies.
EXT. DESERT — BOULDER — TWILIGHT
Hours have passed and Obi-Wan is still on the lookout atop the boulder. Now seated and eating a protein bar, he looks out at the homestead through a pair of macrobinoculars.
OBI-WAN'S P.O.V. — LARS HOMESTEAD
Stepping out of the entrance, Owen makes his way across the courtyard. Passing by the nearest vaporators, he makes his way to the outskirts of the property where a parked landspeeder is waiting for him.
CUT TO
Obi-Wan adjusting his macrobinoculars as he finishes his protein bar.
OBI-WAN'S P.O.V. — PARKED LANDSPEEDER
Zooming in, we can now see the details of the speeder driver. It is a KID dressed in the light off-white clothes of a moisture farmer; tall and lean with dark black hair, he is around fifteen years of age. As Owen jumps into the passenger seat, the kid brings the speeder's engines to life and takes off.
CUT TO
Obi-Wan bringing down his macrobinoculars, making haste to climb down the side of the boulder to his parked speeder.
Reaching the bottom, he runs over and jumps inside. Tossing the macrobinoculars beside him, he brings the vehicle to life and, gunning the engines, shoots out from between the boulders with a burst of high speed. An expression of grim determination on his face, Obi-Wan tries to keep a safe distance away from the other speeder to avoid detection without losing sight it.
EXT. ANCHORHEAD — EVENING
Sometime later, after the light from the twin suns of Tatooine has completely disappeared, Owen's speeder enters the settlement of Anchorhead, Obi-Wan's tailing behind at a discreet distance. The first speeder soon comes to a stop at Docking Bay 32, Anchorhead's only starship harbour. Obi-Wan parks his speeder on the other side of the street a building behind.
Climbing out of the speeder, Owen and his driver enter the dark depths of the docking bay. Ten minutes later, a medium-size starship — a G9 Rigger freighter — ascends from the docking bay. Climbing upward, it speeds for open space, soon disappearing among the countless nighttime stars.
EXT. ANCHORHEAD — STREET EVENING
An hour later, the freighter returns from its trip into outer space. Obi-Wan, still parked and waiting, watches as the freighter makes its descent, slipping back inside Docking Bay 32 without attracting undue attention to itself.
After a few minutes pass, Owen and his accomplice exit the bay, returning to their speeder. Instead of returning to the path which brought them into Anchorhead, however, they instead head down a street which takes them deeper into the settlement. Starting his own engines, Obi-Wan follows after them.
EXT. ANCHORHEAD — STREET — WATTO'S SHOP — EVENING
Within a few minutes, Owen's speeder comes to a stop outside a junk shop. The large, currently unlit sign installed above the main entrance reads "WATTO'S SHOP".
Parking a fair ways away behind them, Obi-Wan narrows his eyes as Owen and the boy climb out and slip into the shop. Shutting down the speeder's engines, Obi-Wan climbs up and out of the vehicle. Making sure that no one is watching him, he quietly follows after the pair.
INT. WATTO'S SHOP/MAIN ROOM — EVENING
Like a thief in the night, Obi-Wan slips inside the dark junk shop. Looking about him, he notices the many items of machinery laid in piles and placed on shelves within the grungy interior. Closing his overcoat, he begins making his way deeper into the shop. Soon he comes to the far end of the room, which opens out into a smaller office room in the back.
INT. WATTO'S SHOP/OFFICE — EVENING
Peering into the office, making sure he cannot be seen, the knight sees Owen and the kid at a desk with WATTO, the flying blue Toydarian owner of the shop.
WATTO: (points down at datapad resting on desktop; irate) Whatta's this? This is a payment, you say? Payment‽ Bah! I wouldn't have been able to make a down payment for my mother's funeral with this!
OWEN: We can't help it, Watto. Ever since Ash-It Eeyoo Naim's business started up, the suppliers haven't been eagre to fly with us.
WATTO: Excuses, excuses! Bah! (beat) It's-a time, I think, that I got a cut of the profits thee are bringing in on your moisture work.
OWEN: (alarmed) Watto, no! We're barely getting by on what we make already!
WATTO: Thee think I give a Ranat's rear if thee get by? I don't-a. I want what's due to me. I've been more than fair waiting for thee to pay off your debt.
KID: (irate) You're paying interest, you old bird; that's being fair?
WATTO: I was at a low point when I loaned to Cliegg Lars — rest his soul — as thee well know. I took a big loss pitying the fool. That's why there's-a interest. (pushes face up in front of the boy's) I want-a cut of the farm, boy — that or a cut of your momma and sista's fine, soft flesh. How's that bargain for you, eh?
KID: (enraged) You lousy piece of —!
The black-haired boy strikes out, fingers twisted into claws for Watto’s throat. Owen grabs him, wrestling him away from the Toydarian.
OWEN: Kid, no! Calm down! You're gonna get us in trouble! Cut it out!
KID: (struggles against Owen's grip) Stupid rotten — (to Owen) Let me go, dammit!
OWEN: Stop! Stop it!
The kid squirms for another several seconds. Finally he stops, letting out a deep breath. Slowly, Owen releases him.
KID: Okay ... I'm okay now. (beat) Let's get out of here. I don't want to stand in this dump a minute longer.
The spice-hauling partners leave the Toydarian’s desk, moving on their way out of the room. Watto follows them with angry eyes.
WATTO: You've made your decision, then….
INT. WATTO'S SHOP/MAIN ROOM — EVENING
As the two spice haulers cross the room, Obi-Wan flees into the shadows of the shop to avoid getting caught. Crouching down behind the skeleton of a protocol 'droid, he watches as they make their way to the shop's entrance, slipping outside into the quiet night.
EXT. ANCHORHEAD — WATTO'S SHOP — EVENING
Owen and the boy walk over to their speeder. As Owen jumps in the passenger seat, the younger man just stands there on his side of the vehicle, looking down at the moisture farmer.
OWEN: (noticing kid's stare) What? Let's go already.
KID: (frowns) You never stand up to him, Owen. He walks all over you and you take it like a Power Converter!
OWEN: (frowns) What would you like me to do about it, kid? Put a blaster bolt between his baby blues?
KID: Maybe.
OWEN: We can't all be blessed with your brand of assertiveness, Mr. Anakin Skywalker.
Sighing, Beru's younger brother, ANAKIN SKYWALKER, decides to give up the discussion. Hopping into the speeder, he brings the engines to life.
ANAKIN (KID): This deal's getting worse all the time.
Punching the controls, Anakin takes off, racing up the street like a mynock out of Hell.
A few seconds later, Obi-Wan steps out of Watto's shop. Looking to his right, he spots the speeder in the distance as it turns and disappears around a corner.
EXT. DESERT — BOULDERS — EVENING
Some time has passed and Obi-Wan has returned to the two large boulders in the desert beyond the Lars homestead. Laid out in the front seat, his arms crossed behind his head, he looks up into the night sky, gazing at the three moons glowing a pure white amongst the stars.
Reaching under the collar of his shirt, the Jedi Knight pulls out an aquamarine crystal on a fine platinum-and-gold chain. Holding it up before his eyes, he's drawn in as the moonlight plays through the facets of the crystal, making it glow from within as if alive with its own cyan fire.
EXT. NABU — MANSION/BALCONY — EVENING (FLASHBACK)
In another place, in another time, Obi-Wan, still the same age he is today, stands on a balcony overlooking a beautiful pond with a LOVELY GIRL in ornate robes by his side. This world, Nabu, like Tatooine, has three moons, the light of which plays upon the liquid surface of the pond like white fire.
LOVELY GIRL: Obi-Wan?
OBI-WAN: Yes, Princess?
LOVELY GIRL: Give me your hand.
OBI-WAN: (frowns) What do you have in mind?
LOVELY GIRL: (giggles) Just give me your hand.
With a shrug, the Jedi holds out his right hand. The girl, a fourteen-year-old beauty with long, curly, dark brown hair and deep brown eyes, reaches around her neck and unfastens a gold chain bearing an aquamarine crystal. Placing the beautiful crystal in his palm, she closes his fingers around it.
OBI-WAN: (surprised) Amidala, what —?
AMIDALA (LOVELY GIRL): (smiles) A gift, Obi-Wan.
OBI-WAN: (looks down at crystal) This crystal has been in your family for generations. I can't accept this.
AMIDALA: (touches Obi-Wan's cheek) I don't need it to remember them, Obi-Wan. (beat) Wear it to remember me.
Taking his hand once again, the beautiful young woman known as Amidala brings it up to her face, kisses it then rests the side of her face upon it, her lips spread in a smile of contentment. Obi-Wan, touched by her display of affection, returns her smile.
Without warning, a row of blade-like metal teeth suddenly erupt from Amidala's mouth. Rearing back, she opens her violated mouth and, with a cat-like HISS, buries her inhuman teeth in his hand.
OBI-WAN: YYYEEEAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!
EXT. DESERT — BOULDERS — EVENING
Obi-Wan, here and now, comes suddenly awake, his right hand red with his own blood.
Bringing his wounded hand up close to his face, he looks up to find a robed-and-masked TUSKEN RAIDER standing before him atop the hood of his speeder, a bloody gaffi stick in his hands. With the Tusken Raider, surrounding the vehicle, are SEVEN OTHER TUSKENS.
As the Sand Person brings his gaffi stick down for a killing blow, Obi-Wan springs into action, somersaulting out of the seat and the speeder, spinning through the air to land on the ground right behind the nearest Tusken. As this Tusken spins around, swiping at Obi-Wan with his weapon, the Jedi ducks then punches the Sand Person in the face, throwing the creature forward into the speeder, knocking him out instantly.
Backing away from the Tuskens, Obi-Wan reaches for his lightsaber with his unwounded hand. Closing in together, the remaining Tuskens move in on Obi-Wan, their gaffi sticks ready for battle. Bringing forth the weapon, the Jedi Knight presses the button set into the pommel and a bright azure blade springs into existence with a sharp SNAP-HISS. As a Sand Person charges, the knight swings his lightsaber, cutting into the creature's shoulder. As two Sand People swing at the Jedi, he dodges backward, allowing their blows to connect with each other instead. As the two Tuskens fall to the ground unconscious, another decides to attack the Jedi. Slashing with his lightsaber, Obi-Wan cuts the warrior's right arm and head off.
Quickly dispatching two warriors, Obi-Wan finds himself facing the last Tusken Raider. In unison, the combatants charge one another. The butt of the gaffi stick passes over the knight's head harmlessly, but the azure blade makes direct contact with the Sand Person's face. His head from the nose-up detaching from the rest of his body, the Tusken drops to the ground.
Deactivating his plasma sword, Obi-Wan looks about the carnage surrounding him. Five of the Tusken Raiders are dead, the other three unconscious.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2018 10:57:53 GMT -5
Enjoying these stories and thanks for sharing them.
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Post by Duragizer on Feb 2, 2018 19:32:26 GMT -5
EXT. SPACE
The Nyax and its contingent of assault ships drop out of hyperspace.
INT. NYAX/CELL BLOCK
The Force Hound strides through the corridors. The Death Watchman who wounded Zul accompanies him.
FORCE HOUND: (in Mando'a, subtitled) What is your name, warrior?
The lesser Mandalorian, overwhelmed by the Force-sensitive warrior's aura of formidable menace, involuntarily flinches.
MANDALORIAN #2: D-Dus Ubbs.
They continue in silence. After long, uncomfortable seconds, they come to the door of Zul's cell.
FORCE HOUND: (subtitled) You have served me well, haven't you, Dus Ubbs? Relinquished all question, all remorse.
DUS UBBS (MANDALORIAN #2): (subtitled) Yes, milord.
FORCE HOUND: (subtitled; cont'd) For the cause? For the glory of the Mandalorian people?
DUS UBBS: (subtitled; anxious) Nothing else.
The Force Hound nods, apparently pleased with this answer.
FORCE HOUND: (subtitled) And you would relinquish your life? For our lost honour restored?
DUS UBBS: (subtitled) Of course, Lord. Without question.
FORCE HOUND: (in Mando'a, subtitled) Remove your helmet. There should be nothing hidden between the condemned and their executioner.
Ubbs obeys. The helmet lifted free, the beat-up-but-handsome face of the Death Watchman is revealed.
FORCE HOUND: (subtitled) You are quite a fetching man. You must have lovers.
Ubbs grins awkwardly, unconvincingly.
FORCE HOUND: Sons? Daughters?
Ubbs shakes his head. There is shame underlying the gesture.
FORCE HOUND: Pity fate did not gift you such an honour.
INT. NYAX/ZUL'S CELL
Zul sits in the far corner of the cell, hugging her knees to her chest. Clad in the coveralls the Force Hound gave her, she is a fair sight better than when we saw her last, though her haunted eyes are still dark with bruises and unpleasant memories.
With audible clicks the cell door is unlocked. Turning to regard it, Zul watches the door slide open and Dus Ubbs step inside. Stepping toward the girl, the Death Watchman unholsters his blaster.
DUS UBBS: (smiles weakly) Sorry, sweetness.
Dus Ubbs takes aim. When he goes to pull the trigger, he finds he cannot.
DUS UBBS: (frowns) Huh?
The priestess, her eyes wide with murderous intent, concentrates. In accordance with Zul's will, against Ubbs' own, his gun hand is drawn towards himself. Startled, he grabs the possessed limb, struggling against it.
DUS UBBS: (concerned) You doing this‽
Eyes and lips twitching, Zul forces Ubbs to shove the blaster barrel under his chin. Ubbs gets the palm of his free hand pinned between chin and gun.
DUS UBBS: (panicked) Sweet-
The trigger is pulled. Dus Ubbs' hand, along with much of his cranium, is hollowed out with superhot plasma. His body, going limp, collapses to the floor.
EXT. SPACE
The dungeon and assault ships pass through the void of space, an infinitude of white stars glowing before them.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2018 19:53:15 GMT -5
Enjoying these stories and thanks for doing an excellent job and your description, background, and attention to details are all outstanding here.
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Post by Duragizer on Feb 3, 2018 20:24:56 GMT -5
EXT. ANCHORHEAD — WATTO'S SHOP — DAY
Obi-Wan stands before the entrance into Watto's Shop, looking up at the unlit sign with no expression on his face. The shop, and the area surrounding it, looks far grimier in the daylight than they did in the darkness of evening. Looking down, the Jedi opens his left hand; seated in his palm is the aquamarine crystal. Closing his eyes tight with distress, he steps forward.
INT. WATTO'S SHOP/MAIN ROOM — DAY
Watto is hovering about his shop taking inventory of parts when Obi-Wan enters.
WATTO: Back already? Can't — (looks up, notices new arrival is not someone he knows) Ah! (beat) I don't open for another two hours. Whatta thee want?
OBI-WAN: (approaches Watto) I'm here on business, Watto.
WATTO: (waves hand dismissively) I don't talk to solicitors during business hours. Call me later and we'll make an appointment.
OBI-WAN: Personal business.
Hearing the edge in the Human's voice, the Toydarian decides to deactivate and set aside his datapad, focusing all his attention on the man instead.
WATTO: (flies up to Jedi) I'll tell thee whatta I told the other one: I didn't touch that girl.
OBI-WAN: This is about Owen Lars.
WATTO: (relieved) Oh, him. (beat) Whatta ya got to tell me?
OBI-WAN: I know he owes a large sum of money. I'm here on his behalf to settle the score.
WATTO: (narrows eyes) And who the hell are you, that thee care? (beat) You look-a kinda familiar. I know you, don't I?
OBI-WAN: I am Ben Kenobi, Owen's brother.
WATTO: Ah, yes — little Benji! I thought I recognized you! (chuckles) You can pay me off, eh? You, the brother of a water farmer! And I'm sure you struck it rich out there, out on the moons of Iego, what with such fancy clothes you wear! Ha! (beat) I like a good joke. For that one, I'll bring your brother's debt down-a 10%.
OBI-WAN: I'm serious, Watto.
WATTO: (suddenly angry) So am I. Get out!
Deciding now is the time to act, Obi-Wan brings out the crystal, dangling it by its glittering platinum-and-gold chain before the Toydarian's large eyes. The Toydarian, the blue-green facets of the jewel reflecting in his eyes, is instantly entranced, his mouth dropping agape in wonderment.
WATTO: (Amazed) Is that —?
OBI-WAN: A corusca gem. Of the finest quality.
Taking the jewel, Watto reaches into his tool belt and retrieves a mechanical eyepiece. Activating it, he places it against his eye and manually adjusts the telescoping lens, placing the crystal before his line of sight.
WATTO: By the goddess' bulge! Corusca!
OBI-WAN: I believe it is enough to settle my brother's debt.
WATTO: (lowers eyepiece) Boy, this is enough to settle the debt of every brother!
OBI-WAN: (satisfied) Then our business is concluded.
Turning his back to the Toydarian, the Jedi begins to leave.
WATTO: (face grows dark) Je-veldt! I forgot….
OBI-WAN: (halts) What?
WATTO: Your brother and his friend got on my bad side. I sent Sebulba and Craetorius to teach 'em a lesson.
OBI-WAN: (turns around; approaches Watto) Sebulba and Craetorius?
WATTO: My boys, my ... personal negotiators.
OBI-WAN: (frowns) Enforcers.
WATTO: (shrugs) If I had-a known thee were coming, I would've let bygones be bygones and called it all off. (beat) They've been gone-a half hour. They'll hit the Skywalkers first.
Obi-Wan takes off in a dead run, bolting out of the shop with what is almost preternatural speed. The Jedi gone, Watto turns to regard the aquamarine corusca gem.
WATTO: (overjoyed) I have-a good feeling about this! (kisses jewel)
EXT. DESERT — DAY
Obi-Wan steers his landspeeder over the hot desert landscape, pushing his engines to their outer limits.
EXT. SKYWALKER HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
Obi-Wan arrives at the Skywalker homestead. Pulling up to the front, he finds two people — a gray-bearded man and an elderly woman — dead on the ground, the victims of blasterfire. From the homestead's entrance billows a thick cloud of greasy black smoke.
Wasting no time, the Jedi Knight pulls away from the Skywalker homestead, speeding away for the home of his brother and his brother's girlfriend.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
Outside the Lars homestead, Owen and Beru have come to greet a pair of visitors: her brother Anakin and their mother NELLITH. Nellith, a once-beautiful woman who has grown handsome after twenty-three years under the harsh suns of Tatooine, has magenta hair and fuchsia eyes, indicating that she is a Zeltron/Human hybrid.
BERU: (hugs Anakin then Nellith) Oh, Nik, Mom, it's so good to see you!
ANAKIN: (grins) Long time no see, huh, sis?
BERU: (rolls eyes with exaggeration) Too long. (beat) Where's Dad?
NELLITH: I'm sorry, baby, but he couldn't make it. (to Owen) You know how Kane is; there's always too much work to do around the farm.
EXT. DESERT — DAY
Five swoop bikes shoot across the landscape. This is Watto's GANG OF ENFORCERS, led by CRAETORIUS and SEBULBA. Craetorius is a horrifically disfigured Zeltron and Sebulba, as we can now see, is the very same Dug Obi-Wan confronted and disgraced on his first day back on Tatooine.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
ANAKIN: Is lunch ready?
OWEN: (grins) Dewback ribs sound good to you, kid?
ANAKIN: (ecstatic) Right on!
As the pair of four go to step inside, the five swoop riders arrive. Alerted by the whine of the bikes, the four moisture farmers turn to regard these new arrivals. Without any apparent urgency, Watto's men casually climb down from their swoop bikes.
As Craetorius strides up to them, hands on his gunbelt, Anakin slowly begins reaching around behind him.
OWEN: What do you want?
CRAETORIUS: (draws blaster) Watto's come to collect his due.
With mind numbing speed, Anakin pulls out a hidden blaster and fires. The bolt strikes the Zeltron's weapon just as he pulls the trigger, knocking his aim off just enough so that the blaster bolt blasts Owen in the shoulder instead of through the throat. With a cry of intense pain, the moisture farmer staggers backward, falling upon the stone facade of the homestead entrance.
ANAKIN: (to others) Go, grab Owen! Get inside!
As Nellith and Beru grab Owen and scurry away inside, the boy turns toward the five swoop gangsters. Dodging a round of blasterfire, he fires off another shot, catching one of them right between the eyes. When another swoop rider blasts the gun out of his hand, Anakin quickly grabs a large rock lying with reach and throws it with pinpoint accuracy at his attacker, knocking her out and over.
With the element of surprise gone and he no longer in possession of a weapon, Anakin finds himself surrounded, outnumbered, and outgunned.
SEBULBA: Stupid move, dirt farmer.
CRAETORIUS: (unholsters second blaster) I would've killed you fast, boy. But now — now you're gonna burn.
Stepping toward Anakin, the Zeltron nonchalantly adjusts the setting on his blaster. Anakin, afraid but determined to protect his loved ones at any cost, braces himself before the entrance into the Lars home, shielding it off from the attackers.
As Craetorius levels his blaster at Anakin, a sneer twisting his burn-scarred lips, Obi-Wan steps out into the open, unlit lightsaber ready in his bandaged right hand. Immediately captivated by the aura of this intense blond man, each of the swoop gangsters turn away from Anakin to face him.
OBI-WAN: I suggest you leave now before I am forced to teach you your manners.
SEBULBA: (recognizes Obi-Wan) You!
CRAETORIUS: You know this fellow, Sebulba?
SEBULBA: Know him‽ (spits on ground) This chuba-lover has a blaster bolt in wait for him, and my name's all over it!
CRAETORIUS: (to Obi-Wan) Lars owes Watto money. He's been loose with his payments, (nods to Anakin) and the boyfriend's been loose with his tongue, so now he's gonna take the farm — the farm and the ladies, too.
OBI-WAN: The women are not yours to take.
CRAETORIUS: Now that ain't true, is it? See, Watto's got the influence to do whatever he wants, so he gets whatever he wants. Girls have a way of making moolah and Watto can take advantage of that. (beat) The girlfriend's gonna do some hard, sweaty work to put some peggats in the old bird's account. The mother too. She's going to seed, sure, but she's got some bounce left in her.
OBI-WAN: The debt's been paid. I finalized it with Watto myself.
CRAETORIUS: Is that so, now? (clucks tongue) See, that might be true — probably is. The problem is when I'm put to work on a job, I always follow that job through.
OBI-WAN: I see that there's little point trying to dissuade you. You're obviously set in your ways.
CRAETORIUS: Quite right, stranger….
The Zeltron pulls his blaster on Obi-Wan, aiming the barrel at Obi-Wan's face. Before he can pull back the trigger, the Jedi's blade blazes to life and the Zeltron's arm and throat are slashed away with one swift stroke. Stepping in to take his fallen partner's place, Sebulba opens fire on Obi-Wan, but the knight deflects each and every white bolt back at the Dug, cutting him down with his own blasterfire.
OBI-WAN: (dual-toned) Leave this farm — now!
Terrified by the Jedi's inhuman voice and incredible prowess with his saber, the remaining thugs toss down their weapons and retreat with panic to their swoops. The vehicles roar to life and the gangsters move off, zooming away from the Lars homestead and quickly disappearing into the landscape.
Deactivating his lightsaber, Obi-Wan turns to regard Anakin, who simply stands there frozen, amazed by the feats he just witnessed. Beru, Nellith, and Owen — clutching his wounded shoulder — exit the house, attracted by all the commotion.
BERU: Ben! (turns to Anakin) Nik, are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?
ANAKIN: (snaps out of trance) What? Oh, no. No, Beru, I'm fine ... just fine.
BERU: (to Obi-Wan) Ben, how about you? Are you okay?
OBI-WAN: (smiles) I'm alright.
As Beru turns back to regard her brother, Owen — stepping past his girlfriend, her brother, and their mother — approaches Obi-Wan. Noticing the bodies of Sebulba and Craetorius, he is astonished — astonished and enraged.
OWEN: What have you done‽ You'll bring disaster down on our heads! Oh stars, the trouble you'll bring us — the trouble!
OBI-WAN: (clips lightsaber to belt) You were in trouble to begin with.
OWEN: (holding back worst of his rage) Damn fool. (beat) You're gonna kill us! We're all gonna die because of you!
Anakin slowly approaches the two fallen adversaries, peering down at their dead bodies.
ANAKIN: Owen's right, mister. Watto's not going to be happy about this.
OWEN: (yelling) That's it, Anakin! Tell him! Tell this ... tell him what's he's done to us!
OBI-WAN: I've dealt with Watto.
OWEN: (taken aback) Huh? What‽
OBI-WAN: I traded in a precious gift for your lives and livelihood. Your debt — Dad's debt — has been settled.
Without any further elaboration, Obi-Wan steps away from his stepbrother. Walking up to the others, he puts his hand on Beru's shoulder, his eyes grave.
BERU: (looks up at Jedi) Ben, what is it?
OBI-WAN: I'm not happy to be the one to tell you this, but I have bad news. (glances to Anakin then Nellith) Perhaps we should take this inside.
Silently, they slip inside. Owen, taking one last look at the two dead bodies of Sebulba and Craetorius, follows after them.
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Post by Duragizer on Feb 4, 2018 20:13:32 GMT -5
EXT. SPACE — TATOOINE
The Lightning Warrior drops out of hyperspace, its trajectory carrying it towards the mottled orange globe of Tatooine.
INT. LIGHTNING WARRIOR/BRIDGE
CMDR. VANESS: (scrunches nose up at sight of the ugly desert planet filling viewscreen) I can't imagine the Hutts assigning a patrol on duty to defend this worthless rock.
As those words pass her lips, a ship appears on the viewscreen, leaving the atmosphere of the planet on an intercept course. As the craft grows larger in the viewscreen, it becomes apparent that the ship is an ungainly Xiytiar-class transport. Though outfitted with some modified weapons systems, the bulky cargo ship is nowhere near the match for a Dreadnought like the Lightning Warrior.
COMM OFFICER #1: We're being hailed, sir.
BAIL: Patch them through.
The view of the cargo transport before the orange orb of Tatooine disappears from the viewscreen, instantly replaced by the image of a GREEN NIKTO COMMANDER.
NIKTO COMMANDER: I am Wahr Blarh, commander of the defense fleet of Tatooine. State your identity and business in this system.
BAIL: I am Capt. Bail Organa of the Imperial Navy. We're to establish a temporary military presence in this system.
CMDR. BLARH (NIKTO COMMANDER): (sighs) The Tatoo system is not Imperial territory, Captain.
BAIL: Ours isn't strictly an Imperial concern, though, is it, Commander? From what I've been made aware, your side of the border hasn't been all that safe from Mandalorian raids, either. (beat) Besides, our two governments have already made arrangements.
CMDR. BLARH: (sighs) I have been ordered to provide you with any assistance you may need if you require it. Should you or any of your crew find yourselves in need to go planetside, please register with us first; unauthorized Imperials are not welcome on Tatooine.
BAIL: Thank you, Commander. We'll keep that in mind.
Without any farewell, the Nikto discontinues the transmission, restoring the image of the cargo ship to the viewscreen.
BAIL: (turns to Vaness) Well, that went well.
Vaness in response merely smirks.
EXT. TATOOINE — SKYWALKER HOMESTEAD — GRAVESITE — SUNSET
Obi-Wan, Owen, Anakin, Nellith, and Beru stand before a fresh grave, the simple tombstone placed at the head of it identifying the occupant as Kane Skywalker. The faces of all five mourners, in sharp contrast to the fiery light of the setting suns, are grim and dark.
NELLITH: (cont'd) You were the most loving husband a woman could have, Kane, and I thank you. (beat) Until we're reunited in God's light, goodbye, dearheart.
Eyes brimming with bitter tears but with a smile inspired by sweet memories on her lips, Nellith walks up to the gravestone. Kissing the tips of her fingers, she presses them on the warm stone. As tears fall from onto the fresh earth of the plot, the handsome magenta-haired woman returns to her daughter's side.
Leaving the others, Anakin walks up to the grave and kneels down on one leg before it.
ANAKIN: I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. Maybe if I'd been here I could have stopped them or distracted them somehow, given you and poor Jira the chance to escape. (beat) You were always there to love and support me, to teach me wrong from right. (beat) I don't know how, Dad, but I'll find a way to give your death meaning. I won't let you be forgotten.
With that, Anakin's speech and the funeral both come to an end. Silently, the members of the Lars and Skywalker families move off towards their landspeeder. Only Obi-Wan remains behind, looking upon the grave with deep contemplation. Owen, noticing his brother lagging behind, leaves the others to join him.
OBI-WAN: I never knew Kane Skywalker all that well, but I know their pain. (beat) Time will heal their wounds, but scars will remain.
Owen laughs sardonically.
OBI-WAN: (frowns) Something amusing in what I said?
OWEN: I'm sorry ... it's not funny. (beat) I built you Jedi up to be lobotomized meat-droids; it's something to see you're Human after all.
OBI-WAN: Jedi may verge on the superhuman, but that doesn't change who we are at the core. We feel as much as anyone. (beat) What will happen with Nellith and Anakin?
OWEN: There's nowhere else for them to go; they'll stay with Beru and me. I suppose we'll sell the farm. I certainly can't run it, not without some hired hands, and it'll be some while before we can afford any. (beat) You never got around to telling me how you settled our score with Watto. How'd you accomplish a minor miracle like that?
OBI-WAN: I gave him a corusca gem.
OWEN: (astonished) A corusca gem‽ Where in heaven's name did you get your mitts on a corusca gem‽
OBI-WAN: It was a gift from Amidala Naberrie, the Princess of Nabu. We'd ... formed a bond of sorts during my time there. When it came time to part ways, she gave it to me.
OWEN: Why didn't you stay with her?
OBI-WAN: The consort of a queen? (shakes head) Jedi are forbidden from ruling others. (beat) Gifting the gem to me was her way of keeping us together. If we couldn't be one in the flesh, we could be in spirit.
OWEN: What are you going to do now? Are you going back to Yoda?
OBI-WAN: Yoda couldn't help me. (beat) I suppose I'll drift around until I find what I'm looking for.
OWEN: Ben.
OBI-WAN: Yes?
OWEN: Beru and I can start getting ahead, now, with Nellith and Anakin to help us out, but it'll be a while before they get over this. Why don't you stick around — at least until they're back on their feet.
Turning to regard Owen, Obi-Wan gives him the first truly happy smile he's had to give in a long time.
OBI-WAN: I left you alone once and look where it got you. It seems you can't do anything right without your big brother to help you along.
Grinning broadly, Owen uses one hand to trap Obi-Wan in a headlock, using the other to give the Jedi a vigorous noogie. Laughing broadly, the two brothers go off together to join the others at the speeder.
INT. LARS HOMESTEAD/DINING AREA — EVENING
The combined families of the Larses and Skywalkers sit together around a dining table, finishing off a modest supper.
OBI-WAN: (to Beru) That was a delicious meal, Beru. My compliments to the chef.
ANAKIN: Yeah, sis. Excellent meal, like always.
BERU: (beams) Thanks.
Once the food has been cleared from their plates, Nellith stands up and begins collecting the used dishes.
BERU: Mom, let me do that.
OWEN: Yes, please sit down. We'll take care of it.
NELLITH: Oh, shush. You don't want to make me feel like a freeloader, do you?
OWEN: Don't say that, Nellith. You're family and a part of the household now.
NELLITH: Still, just this one time, I want to do it. I've got to, to ...
Nellith starts crying again. Standing up, Anakin goes to assist her, taking the plates and utensils from her arms.
ANAKIN: We'll take care of the dishes, Mom. You go to bed.
NELLITH: (wipes tears away) Alright, Ani, alright. (kisses Anakin on cheek) Goodnight.
ANAKIN: (returns kiss) Goodnight, Mom.
Once Nellith has given her farewells to each of the others in the room and leaves, all four of them proceed to collect the dishes and tidy the table up.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — EVENING
Sometime later, Obi-Wan sits upon the ground outside the homestead, his legs crossed and his back turned to the entrance. His eyes closed, his face is tranquil, without burden. Sitting there, he doesn't seem to notice as Anakin silently steps outside, crossing his arms across his chest as he leans back against the stone entrance to look upon the Jedi.
OBI-WAN: (opens eyes) Hello, Anakin.
ANAKIN: You heard me?
OBI-WAN: (stands up; turns to Anakin) Not exactly, no.
ANAKIN: I like going outside at night when I want to get away from things, too. With the stars and moons out so bright, it helps make me feel like I'm in tune with something larger — nature, I guess.
OBI-WAN: I understand what you mean, Anakin, perfectly. (beat) Did you want something?
ANAKIN: What are you?
OBI-WAN: Pardon?
ANAKIN: What are you, exactly? A 'borg? A spice freak? I saw how you dealt with Sebulba and Craetorius; no normal Human can do what you did.
OBI-WAN: (laughs) I'm no cyborg, Nik, and I've never injested a gram of spice in my life. What you saw was perfectly natural.
ANAKIN: (furrows brow) You've received genetic enhancements.
OBI-WAN: No genetic enhancements, Nik. What I have is something I was born with.
ANAKIN: You're a mutant, then!
OBI-WAN: (sighs) Have you heard of the Jedi, Anakin?
ANAKIN: Jedi? Those nanotech-enhanced monks?
OBI-WAN: Not quite. Jedi aren't enhanced by nanotech.
ANAKIN: Nebar Foxis told me —
OBI-WAN: (interrupts) You shouldn't take what Nebar has to say about the Jedi at face value. He has a way of changing his stories each time he tells them. (beat) When you come out here to look at the stars, you feel like you're in touch with nature itself. That is what you just told me, correct?
ANAKIN: Yes, so?
OBI-WAN: I am in touch with nature, Anakin. Not figuratively, but literally — through the Force.
ANAKIN: Force?
OBI-WAN: The Force — in lieu of a better descriptor — is the soul of the universe. We all exist within it, a part of it.
ANAKIN: (smirks) Some hokey religious stuff.
OBI-WAN: (shrugs) If that's what you want to call it.
ANAKIN: (rolls eyes) Get real.
OBI-WAN: Nik, hold out your hand.
ANAKIN: Huh?
OBI-WAN: Just hold out your hand, like this.
The Jedi holds up his hand, fingers out and palm facing outward. Tentative, Anakin mimes his gesture.
OBI-WAN: Now close your eyes and empty your mind.
ANAKIN: What?
OBI-WAN: Just do it, Anakin. (beat) As my master would say: "Your eyes you will close, your mind you will empty. In that state which brings you in touch with the greater reality surrounding you, you will go."
Shrugging, the boy does what is asked of him. Smiling with contentment, Obi-Wan brings his hand up close to Anakin's until they almost but not quite touch. He then closes his eyes, returning to the meditative trance he was in earlier.
Standing there together, eyes both closed and hands nearly touching, nothing seems to be happening; all is still and silent. As the seconds pass, something non-visual finally begins happening. Anakin's brow first furrows, then his head tilts as if in search of the source of some faint, nebulous sound. Finally his eyes shoot open and he exhales loudly.
ANAKIN: (amazed) What was that‽
OBI-WAN: What do you think?
ANAKIN: (shivers) The Force?
OBI-WAN: (nods) All life is born with a connection to the Force, but only some of us are gifted with the potential to actively perceive and touch it. You and I are among those few.
ANAKIN: And you knew I was like you?
OBI-WAN: (nods) I sensed you were strong with the Force from the moment we met.
ANAKIN: But I've never —
OBI-WAN: Force-sensitivity isn't automatically apparent. It takes time and effort to hone your connection, to harness the Force's power.
ANAKIN: Power like parrying blaster bolts and speaking in two voices at once?
OBI-WAN: Among many others. (beat) Too many others.
His expression going grave, Obi-Wan ends the conversation there. Silent, the Jedi walks past Anakin on his way back inside. Anakin quickly reaches out, grabbing him by the shoulder.
ANAKIN: You can teach me, can't you?
OBI-WAN: (brushes hand off) No.
ANAKIN: (frowns) Why not?
OBI-WAN: It's not my place. I'm no teacher.
ANAKIN: If you've told me this much, then you can tell me more!
OBI-WAN: (shakes head) Just forget I said anything.
ANAKIN: (angry) Forget‽ You can't just open my eyes and expect me to forget shape and colour!
OBI-WAN: As someone who has seen far more than you ever have and — stars willing — ever will, believe me when I say that shape and colour are not all they're cracked up to be.
Without another word, Obi-Wan leaves Anakin, stepping through the entrance and down into the household. Anakin remains motionless, watching the Jedi Knight leave. He then turns toward the horizon, looking up into the sky of bright stars and moons, fuming with a silent frustration he cannot rid himself of.
EXT. SWAMP WORLD — CAVE — DAY (DREAM)
Obi-Wan stands looking into the mouth of a dark, foreboding cave with thick ground mist swirling about his ankles.
Here, Obi-Wan is only about sixteen years old, clad in a simple tan flight suit, with a head of shaggy blond hair. Standing beside the Jedi apprentice is a very tall humanoid figure clad in a black, hooded robe which conceals all but his pale green hands.
16-YEAR-OLD BEN: (turns to figure) What's in there?
The figure responds by silently lifting an arm and pointing with one long finger toward the cave.
Tentative, Ben steps away from the dark figure towards the cave. Coming up to the mouth he stops, cautiously peering about the dark interior for hidden dangers. When he has satisfied himself that there are no immediate threats to his person, he slowly slips inside.
INT. CAVE — DAY (DREAM)
Ben makes his way along the length of the cave's interior, taking care to avoid tripping in the overgrown vegetation which runs along the walls and floor. Soon he stops, his eyes growing wide. At the end of the cave stands a figure with thick, dark hair tied up in a topknot. The figure — clad in the gray uniform of a Coruscanti Jedi apprentice — has its back turned to Ben.
16-YEAR-OLD BEN: (approaches figure; gingerly rests hand on its shoulder) Qui-Gon?
Suddenly the figure spins around, revealing itself to be a young Human male, approximately twenty-five years old. His skin gray and eyes glassy, the apprentice is plainly dead.
QUI-GON: (echoing) Obi-Wan….
The cadaver's eyeballs roll up into his head and a sticky, yellow ichor oozes out from under them, running down his cheeks. His black lips part and a centipede slides out of his mouth. An arm wielding a ruby-bladed saberstaff then bursts through the corpse's chest, filling the air with ripe, black decay.
INT. TATOOINE — LARS HOMESTEAD/OBI-WAN'S BED CHAMBER — DAY
Obi-Wan bolts upright in bed, breathing rapidly with his face wet with heavy perspiration. Awake, he is no longer in the dark cave on the swamp planet with the apparition of the enigmatic Qui-Gon, but that is no cause for comfort; from outside can be heard the shouts of Owen and Anakin, the hollering of Tusken Raiders, and the screams of blasterfire.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
Owen and Anakin, blasters firing, fight desperately to repel a RAIDING PARTY OF TUSKEN RAIDERS. The Tuskens, HOLLERING and HOOTING, gallop in a circle around the entrance to the homestead, shaking gaffi sticks and blaster rifles above their heads in a show of intimidation.
INT. LARS HOMESTEAD/OBI-WAN'S BED CHAMBER — DAY
Having hurriedly dressed himself, Obi-Wan grabs his lightsaber and rushes out the door.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
OWEN: (to Anakin) My pack's running low!
ANAKIN: (quickly pulls fresh power pack from satchel at his side) Here!
The young black-haired man tosses the fresh pack to Owen, who catches it easily. As he hurries to replace the old pack in his blaster, five Sand People dismount their banthas and come charging. Unable to snap the power pack in in time, Owen can do nothing but use the blaster rifle as a shield as one of the Tuskens comes at him, raining down blows with his gaffi stick.
INT. LARS HOMESTEAD/ENTRANCE — DAY
As Obi-Wan reaches the sealed entrance that will take him up to the surface above the homestead, he finds Beru and Nellith crouched down in defensive positions, blasters in hand.
OBI-WAN: What's happening?
NELLITH: Tuskens!
BERU: They came out of nowhere and just started circling the house, hollering and shooting at us!
With desperation evident in his eyes, Obi-Wan crosses to the door, opening it.
OBI-WAN: (to Nellith) Do you have another blaster?
Nellith nods.
OBI-WAN: Then give me the one you have.
Nellith tosses the blaster to Obi-Wan, who catches it effortlessly.
BERU: Be careful, Ben.
Saluting her with his lightsaber, Obi-Wan runs out the door, sealing it behind him.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
Owen and Anakin fight on bravely, with Anakin taking out every Sand Person he can find in the scope of his blaster rifle while Owen uses his powerless weapon as a club to keep the others at bay. With half the Tusken Raiders having dismounted their banthas, however, the two moisture farmers are sorely outnumbered.
Having taken all the damage it can, Owen's rifle snaps in two as a Sand Person gives it one, strong whack with his gaffi stick. Suddenly defenseless, Owen can do nothing as the Tusken swings the gaffi through the air, hitting him in the head with the butt of the weapon and knocking him out cold.
As Owen collapses to the ground, Obi-Wan comes bursting out from the dome entrance, the azure blade of his saber engaged in his left hand with the cold blaster gripped in his right. Sighting the Tusken who took out his brother, he aims the blaster and shoots the warrior in the head before he can deliver a killing blow to the unconscious moisture farmer.
ANAKIN: (sees Obi-Wan) Ben!
Together, Obi-Wan and Anakin press their counterattack against the Tusken Raiders. With his skills as a Jedi at his command, Obi-Wan makes significant progress against the desert warriors, cutting them down in droves with both his lightsaber and the blaster. Anakin, with the blaster rifle and a smaller blaster pistol, covers him, firing upon each and every Tusken who escapes the Jedi's offense to attack him in turn.
In the end, though, the numbers of the Sand People prove to be too overwhelming a force even for a Jedi to overcome. Four of the last six remaining Tuskens gang up on him, pulling the Jedi to the ground and knocking him out. When Anakin rushes to offer his aid, the other two turn on him; one of them hurls a shuriken, which strikes the boy in the shoulder and cuts into the underlying flesh and bone, knocking him head-over-heels to the sandy ground.
With all three men down for the count, the six Tusken Raiders turn their attention to the entrance dome leading down into the underground homestead. With fierce determination, they break through the locked door and file inside. Blaster bolts ring out from within and the pained grunts and cries of injured Sand People follow.
After several moments, four of the Sand People come out, Nellith and Beru struggling in the arms of two of them. As they come to one of the banthas, the Tuskens grab some metal cable and proceed to tie the two women up with it. Once that is done, the two women are tossed up onto one of the banthas and secured into place. The remaining Tusken Raiders then tie their banthas together and take their place atop their mounts.
With cries of victory, the Tuskens take off in a gallop with their captives toward the horizon. They disappear into the distance as a fierce wind begins to pick up, scouring the sand and erasing the tracks the banthas leave behind.
CUT TO
An hour or so later.
Obi-Wan returns to consciousness and pushes himself up into a sitting position, groaning with the effort. Looking about him he tries to locate his lightsaber but cannot find it; one of the Tuskens has obviously taken it.
Rising to his feet, the Jedi makes his way over to Anakin; with the blades of the shuriken embedded in his flesh, the boy is in very bad shape.
OBI-WAN: (pained) Dammit, Anakin….
Having regained consciousness as well, Owen slowly walks over to Obi-Wan and Anakin, rubbing his bruised head.
OWEN: (concerned) How is he? Is he okay?
OBI-WAN: He's losing a lot of blood. (strips his shirt off and crumples it up, placing it around the wound and pressing down on it) We have to get him medical attention immediately. Bring the speeder around.
OWEN: Yeah, sure. Just — (freezes) Beru! Oh stars, I forgot about them!
With new matters of importance on his mind, Owen takes off in a run for the entrance into the homestead.
INT. LARS HOMESTEAD/ENTRANCE — DAY
Stepping through the entrance into the home, Owen begins searching through the house for Beru and Nellith. While he finds the bodies of the two Tuskens they managed to kill before being captured, Beru and Nellith themselves are nowhere to be found.
Consumed with fear and rage, the moisture farmer falls to his knees, releasing a mindless, animalistic ROAR as he clenches his fists into tight, hard balls.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
Having brought the Lars landspeeder out of the garage himself, Obi-Wan, carrying the still form of Anakin in his arms, walks up to the vehicle. Climbing inside, he lays the unconscious boy down in the back seat carefully. Just as he climbs back out of the speeder, Owen comes at him, grabbing the Jedi by the shoulders and dragging him down to the ground.
OWEN: (panicked) They took them, Ben! They took them! They took Nellith! They took Beru! They took them!
Rage starting to well up within him once again, the moisture farmer starts shaking Obi-Wan by the shoulders.
OWEN: (enraged) What were you doing when those monsters took them, you bastard‽ Why weren't you protecting them‽ Answer me, goddamn you!
Without a word, Obi-Wan slaps Owen hard in the face.
OWEN: (releases Obi-Wan and collapses; sobbing) Oh God, Ben! They took her! They took her! What are they going to do to her? What‽
Pulling Owen up into a sitting position, the Jedi slaps him hard in the face again.
OBI-WAN: (firm) Snap out of it, Owen! Get a hold of yourself now!
Sobbing, Owen begins to get a hold of himself.
OBI-WAN: (cont'd) Nik has been badly injured. We have to get him to Anchorhead immediately. If we don't, he'll die. Do you understand?
OWEN: (nods) Yes, yes, I understand.
OBI-WAN: Alright. (beat) I've bandaged the wound as best I can and placed him in the speeder. You have to be the one to take him to Anchorhead.
OWEN: But what about Beru, about Nellith?
OBI-WAN: With that attack you sustained, you're in no condition to track down those Tuskens. (beat) I'll find Beru and Nellith.
OWEN: But they took your weapon!
OBI-WAN: The lightsaber is a tool, nothing more. I don't need it to be a Jedi.
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Post by Duragizer on Feb 5, 2018 18:31:59 GMT -5
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
Two landspeeders comes to life and zoom off in opposite directions. The first is the Lars family speeder, with Owen at the controls and Anakin injured in the backseat, headed off to Anchorhead; the second is the rented landspeeder of Obi-Wan, who is headed out into the deep desert, on the search for the Tusken Raiders who kidnapped Nellith and Beru.
EXT. DESERT — MONTAGE
Obi-Wan makes his way deeper into the barren, empty desert on his landspeeder. Every now and then he stops and gets out, taking short treks out into the sand to look about his surroundings with a pair of macrobinoculars. Though the wind has all but erased the bantha tracks, he occasionally finds a trace of the Tuskens' passage, allowing him to narrow down his search and continue.
Hours pass and the twin suns begin to set. Obi-Wan, in his speeder, passes beyond the mundane track of desert and enters the Jundland Wastes — the vast, rocky area of caverns and canyons which the Tusken Raiders — among various other dangerous beasts — call home.
EXT. JUNDLAND WASTES — TWILIGHT
Eventually Obi-Wan finds his way to the end of a narrow valley which opens out into open air; beyond, far to the bottom, lies a large stretch of flat, open rock. Unable to proceed any further in the landspeeder, the Jedi parks his vehicle and shuts it down, climbing out.
Walking to the edge of the valley, Obi-Wan pulls out his set of macrobinoculars and begins surveying the plain of desolate rock.
OBI-WAN'S P.O.V. — TUSKEN RAIDER CAMP
Out on the rocky plain is a large Tusken camp, complete with tents and burning campfires.
CUT TO
Obi-Wan as he puts the macrobinoculars down.
Returning to the speeder, he retrieves some of his supplies: two large blaster pistols, a blaster rifle, and a satchel of power packs. Holstering the blasters and slinging the rifle behind his back, He begins making his way down the face of the cliff on his long trek toward the camp in the distance.
EXT. TUSKEN RAIDER CAMP — TWILIGHT
In the centre of the camp, Nellith and Beru have been tied to a large, wooden rack. Surrounding them is the LEADER OF THE TRIBE — a tall, intimidating warrior wearing a headdress made of varicoloured wires — and his immediate family members, all of whom look upon the women as visitors to a zoo would look upon the animals therein.
The Tusken leader beckons to one of the other Tuskens — a son, perhaps — who walks over to the older, taller Sand Person. grunting and growling, the leader points down at the younger warrior's belt, upon which dangles Obi-Wan's lightsaber. Responding with his own series of hoots and groans, the younger Tusken unhooks the weapon and hands it to his elder. Turning the metallic cylinder over in his hands, the leader tries and fails to make out its purpose. Grunting, the other Sand Person shows him how to hold the saber and then gestures toward the activation stud on the pommel. Upon pressing the button, the blue blade shoots out with a sharp SNAP-HISS. Startled, the tribal leader drops the weapon, honking aggressive Tusken expletives. The younger Tusken, incredibly amused, replies with what passes for laughter among the Sand People.
CUT TO
Obi-Wan as he reaches the camp.
Avoiding the sentries posted at watch, the Jedi silently slips in between tents, cautiously making his way into the camp.
CUT TO
The Tusken tribal leader and the rest of his family surrounding Beru and Nellith.
Picking the lightsaber back up, the Tusken leader reactivates it; now that he knows what to expect from the weapon, he has no fear of it. Turning toward the two women, he approaches them, the glowing azure blade held out before him menacingly.
BERU: (panicked) Oh, please! Oh, please! Oh, please no! No! No! No, please! Please, don't hurt us! Don't —!
The Sand Person brings the tip of the lightsaber close to Nellith's forehead.
CUT TO
Obi-Wan, standing behind one of the tents which overlook the tribal leader and his family members surrounding Nellith and Beru. His face twisted with desperation, he throws out a hand.
CUT TO
The Tusken Raider leader as he prepares to mutilate Nellith's face.
Suddenly, from the other end of the camp, the ferocious BELLOW of a large and powerful krayt dragon sounds out with deafening force. Alarmed by the blood-freezing sound, the tribal leader, his family members, and the other Sand People turn toward the apparent source of the sound. Pointing forward toward where the krayt is believed to be, the leader orders his people to take up arms against the invader. hooting and hollering, the Tuskens pour forth to combat the dragon, their leader alongside them, Obi-Wan's stolen lightsaber raised above his head.
Once the Sand People have left the area, Obi-Wan steps out of hiding and hurries over to Beru and Nellith. Pulling out a knife, he begins cutting through the straps holding them to the rack.
OBI-WAN: (concerned) Are you alright, Nellith?
NELLITH: Yes.
Obi-Wan cuts through the final bonds and the women are free. The women follow the Jedi out of the camp.
CUT TO
The Sand People returning, having found no sign of the krayt dragon they plainly heard.
Coming back to the centre of the camp, the Tusken leader and his family find the rack empty, the two captive women gone. Enraged, the tribal leader roars a command and, with two of his sons joining his side, takes off after the escapees.
CUT TO
Obi-Wan and the women making their way away from the Tusken camp.
As soon as they leave their camp, the Tusken tribal leader and his sons immediately notice the Jedi with the women. Honking out a battle cry, he charges them, lightsaber swinging and his warriors right beside him.
OBI-WAN: I'll hold them off! Go!
Obeying, Beru and Nellith take off in a run for the faraway valley.
Facing the approaching Tuskens, the Jedi Knight pulls out his blasters. As the Sand People approach, he fires. The shot from the blaster in his left hand catches one of the leader's sons in the hip, the shot from the blaster in his right catches the other in the leg; both shots take them out of the fight.
Hollering in anger, the Tusken leader swings the blue lightsaber. Obi-Wan jumps back, but the blade slashes through one of his blasters, destroying it. Bringing up the remaining blaster, he fires, but the white bolt merely grazes the Tusken's side, leaving him alive and still hungry for blood. Roaring, the Tusken kicks the blaster out of the Jedi's hand then takes another swing at the Human.
Crouching down, Obi-Wan springs into the air, somersaulting over the Tusken and landing behind him. Throwing out his hands, he uses the powers granted him through the Force to reinforce his strength, shoving the Tusken warrior violently forward. Hollering in surprise and terror, the Tusken flies through the air ungracefully, dropping the Jedi weapon in his hand before finally hitting the hard ground with enough force to knock him unconscious.
Collecting the intact blaster and his lightsaber, Obi-Wan runs off to rejoin Beru and Nellith.
EXT. JUNDLAND WASTES — EVENING
Obi-Wan — with Beru and Nellith beside and behind him — steers his landspeeder over the rocky terrain of the Jundland Wastes.
Suddenly, a mechanical cough issues forth from the vehicle and the repulsorlifts go dead. Without antigravity to suspend it, the landspeeder collapses to the ground, hitting the ground with a strong, jarring THUD.
BERU: (weary) What now?
Wordlessly, Obi-Wan hops out of the speeder and walks over to the engines in back. Looking them over, he recoils as oily black smoke billows out in his face.
OBI-WAN: (coughs) I don't think we'll be going any further in this speeder.
BERU: (looks back over shoulder at Jedi; frowns) Are you sure?
OBI-WAN: (waving smoke away) I can't fix something like this, not out here. (beat) We'll have to continue on foot.
BERU: (climbs out of speeder; approaches Obi-Wan) We can't hike through the Jundland Wastes! The farm's two, three weeks away! Heatstroke will do us in inside of one!
OBI-WAN: (rests hands on her shoulders) Beru, we can make it.
BERU: But water —
OBI-WAN: I brought three full canteens with me, plus a portable vaporator unit. If we're careful and we're smart, we can stretch our water to last those three weeks. If all else fails, there're caches of water in the deeper caverns. We won't die out here.
Resigned, Beru sighs. Silent, the three individuals proceed to retrieve as many supplies as they can carry with them from the speeder. Then, exchanging glances, they start about on their trek through the desert on foot.
EXT. JUNDLAND WASTES — MONTAGE
Time passes. Working together, Obi-Wan, Nellith, and Beru manage to cover ground, trekking only at night, holing up in caves to rest during the day. As the days roll into weeks, though, they grow wearier and wearier, their bodies growing gaunt from the lack of food and adequate water.
EXT. DESERT — SUNSET
After more than two weeks, the trio finally crosses the boundary separating the rocky Jundland Wastes from the flat, sandier desert. A fierce sandstorm has picked up, however, and they have no cave or hollow in which to secret themselves from the gritty gale.
As the wind blows stronger and the sand begins accumulating around them, Nellith is the first to falter and then collapse, Beru quickly following after her. The only one remaining conscious, Obi-Wan turns and heads back to the two women, unwilling to abandon them. He can do nothing to help them, though, and in moments he, too, succumbs to the sandstorm. Moments pass. Soon the three travellers are nearly completely buried beneath the sand.
A low DRONE begins barely resounding through the thick air, drawing Obi-Wan out of his semi-conscious fugue. Looking upward, he watches as a familiar G9 Rigger freighter descends from the brown sky over them. As the freighter touches down, the main hatch lowers and Owen climbs out. Running over to Obi-Wan, he helps the knight up. Quickly, the Jedi and the moisture farmer help the two women to their feet. Together with the girls, they climb aboard the ship.
INT. FREIGHTER/COCKPIT — SUNSET
Entering the dingy cockpit of the freighter, the three desert-weary travellers collapse to their knees on the deck. The pilot of the ship — Anakin, his shoulder wound covered in a bacta patch — rises from the pilot's chair, a pair of canteens in his hand.
OBI-WAN: (frowns) Nik?
ANAKIN: (tosses canteens to Owen) Welcome aboard the Twilight.
OWEN: (hands canteens to Obi-Wan and Nellith) Don't drink too much; you'll get sick. (to Anakin) Get us the hell out of here!
Getting back into his seat, Anakin closes the hatch and proceeds to bring the craft back up.
BERU: How did you find us?
Anakin doesn't answer right away. After a moment passes, he turns around to look behind him, making direct eye contact with Obi-Wan.
ANAKIN: I brought myself in touch with the greater reality surrounding me.
EXT. SANDSTORM — SUNSET
As the Twilight climbs higher into the sky, the winds of the sandstorm intensify immensely and the freighter begins rattling with incredible turbulence.
INT. TWILIGHT/COCKPIT — SUNSET
NELLITH: What's happening?
ANAKIN: The sandstorm's growing stronger. I don't think —
Before he can finish his sentence, he looks directly out the viewport, freezing at what he sees before him.
OWEN: Nik, what is it?
ANAKIN: (eyes wide) Oh, shi—!
EXT. SANDSTORM — SUNSET
Without any warning whatsoever, three immense tornados of swirling sand-filled air have taken shape in the path beyond the spice freighter. Though there is some room between the sand twisters to allow passage, the immense size and force of the combined swirling vortices will make such passage incredibly difficult.
INT. TWILIGHT/COCKPIT — SUNSET
Standing up, Obi-Wan leaves Owen and the women and sidles up beside Anakin, looking out the viewport at the titanic twisters.
OBI-WAN: You can do this, Anakin.
ANAKIN: (incredulous) Are you crazy‽ In case you haven't noticed, the Twilight is an old, slow spice freighter long overdue for the scrap heap, not a T-2 Skyhopper! She's not exactly built for navigating sand twisters!
OBI-WAN: You can do it, Anakin, if you put your mind to it.
ANAKIN: Tell me how and I'll try.
OBI-WAN: You'll do.
ANAKIN: (frustrated) Yeah, yeah! Just tell me!
OBI-WAN: First close your eyes, then relax.
ANAKIN: (laughs scornfully) That'll be easy!
OBI-WAN: (frustrated) Dammit, Anakin!
ANAKIN: Alright, alright! I'm relaxing! (closes eyes)
OBI-WAN: Good. (beat) Visualize yourself reaching out to the twisters and into the spaces between them. (beat) In your mind's eye, find all the possible pathways. Explore them all, then abandon all but the surest. Then fly on through.
His face oddly serene amidst this chaos, Anakin responds to Obi-Wan's commands and pushes the controls of the ship forward.
EXT. SANDSTORM — SUNSET
The Twilight surges forward, banking left then plummeting into the space between the two left-most twisters. Entering the rending wind currents, the ship twists first left then right, falling headlong towards the central tornado.
INT. TWILIGHT/COCKPIT — SUNSET
OWEN: Stars...!
EXT. SANDSTORM — SUNSET
Just when it seems that the freighter is going to get swept up into the twister, it instead twists around it, corkscrewing around to the top, where it is then thrown upward, clear of the tornado triplets' reach.
INT. TWILIGHT/COCKPIT — SUNSET
OBI-WAN: (pats Anakin on back; smiles) Good work, Anakin. I told you you could do it.
Turning to look up at the Jedi, Anakin grins, pleased with his piloting and Obi-Wan's praise.
OBI-WAN: (cont'd) Now get us up over this storm and head on for home.
As Anakin does as he's told, Obi-Wan joins the others.
OWEN: What just happened? How'd he do that?
OBI-WAN: (serious) Don't you know?
Owen returns Obi-Wan's serious expression. He knows exactly.
EXT. SKY — SUNSET
Breaking through the top of the sandstorm, the Twilight emerges into the clear darkening sky of Tatooine, the indigo light of the setting suns gleaming off its hull as it rockets toward home.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2018 19:55:02 GMT -5
The last story is just great and I think that's the best one that I read so far ... it's was very descriptive and loved the sand, the storm, and everything else.
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Post by Duragizer on Feb 6, 2018 22:21:34 GMT -5
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — SUNSET
Descending from the sky, the Twilight comes in over the Lars homestead, touching down on the ground just beyond the outlying moisture vaporators. Once the freighter is firmly down on terra firma, the hatch pops open and lowers, allowing the Larses and Skywalkers to climb out into the open air.
BERU: (puts arm around Nellith's shoulder) It'll be nice to have a good, long shower again, won't it, Mom?
NELLITH: (laughs lightly) I'd settle for a tall, cool glass of bantha milk.
Stepping up behind the two girls, Anakin places his hands on their shoulders.
ANAKIN: (grins) I think both can be arranged.
Together, the Skywalkers walk off toward the homestead, leaving Obi-Wan and Owen alone together by the Twilight.
OWEN: How long have you known Anakin was ... (trails off)
OBI-WAN: Like me?
Owen nods.
OBI-WAN: (cont'd) I knew almost immediately.
OWEN: When did you tell him?
OBI-WAN: After Kane's funeral.
OWEN: Why?
OBI-WAN: (runs hand through hair) I don't know.
OWEN: (cocks eyebrow) You don't know?
OBI-WAN: I honestly don't know why I told him. (beat) I regretted it right after.
OWEN: But what's done is done.
OBI-WAN: (rests hands on Owen's shoulder) Owen, nothing has to change.
OWEN: (smirks) I know Nik too well to believe that, Ben. (beat) Now that you've opened his eyes to a greater universe, he won't be content as a moisture farmer. (beat) He's like you in that regard.
OBI-WAN: I can't train him, Owen. You know that.
OWEN: But you can take him to someone who can, can't you?
(beat) Just do me one favour.
OBI-WAN: Name it.
OWEN: Don't bring him into the war. Take him to Yoda's planet or the Rishi Maze if you have to. He's my best friend, Ben; I don't want him killed or harvested fighting those godless vatheads. You understand me?
OBI-WAN: I understand, Owen. I won't pressure him to join the fight. You must understand that if Anakin chooses to join of his own free will, I cannot stop him.
OWEN: Just put as much distance between him and war as you can. (turns to look at Anakin with the women in the distance) Lord willing, it'll be over by the time any damn fool notions of defending the Galaxy from the Clonemasters enter his head.
INT. LARS HOMESTEAD/LIVING AREA — SUNSET
As Owen and Obi-Wan enter the living area of the Lars homestead, they find Anakin sitting on a sofa, checking his healing wound under the bacta patch.
ANAKIN: (reseals patch) The girls are in the 'freshers getting cleaned up.
OBI-WAN: Then it can wait.
ANAKIN: (cocks eyebrow) What can wait?
Neither Obi-Wan nor Owen say anything, merely taking seats within the room. After several minutes pass, Nellith and Beru both enter the room — clean, refreshed, and radiant in fresh new clothes.
BERU: (beams) Stars, it feels so good to be clean after all that time in the Wastes!
Rising to his feet, Owen glances at Anakin, Nellith, and Beru.
OWEN: Nik, Beru, Nellith ... Ben has something he has to say.
Crossing over to the sofa, Beru and Nellith both sit down beside Anakin.
NELLITH: What is it, Ben? What have you to say?
As Owen retakes his seat, Obi-Wan stands up.
OBI-WAN: When I arrived here, I made a discovery — an incredible discovery none of you save Owen and Anakin know about. (beat) Anakin, like me, is Force-sensitive. Like me, he has the power to perceive and harness the Force.
Hearing this, Nellith and Beru turn to regard the black-haired youth. While Nellith doesn't seem to know how to react, Beru's eyes are virtually popping from their sockets with the revelation.
BERU: Force-sensitive‽ When did this happen‽
ANAKIN: Ben told me it's something I was born with.
OWEN: (to Nellith) The Force —
NELLITH: (interrupts with raised hand) I know what the Force is, Owen. (turns to Obi-Wan) When did you reveal this to my son?
OBI-WAN: The night of your husband's funeral. (beat) I regretted telling your son about his abilities. I was hoping any interest in the Force would pass if I left it alone.
NELLITH: Uh-huh.
OBI-WAN: I can't ignore your son's need anymore. While I personally can't teach him, I know many others who —
NELLITH: (interrupts) Alright.
In a state of shock, Nellith just sits there, absorbed in her own little world. Realizing she won't be able to hear anything he has to say for a while, the Jedi ends the discussion there.
ANAKIN: I thought you didn't want me to become a Jedi.
OBI-WAN: (sits down) I opened your door to a much larger world; I have to be the one who helps you through it.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
Anakin, Obi-Wan, Nellith, Owen, and Beru stand together outside the entrance dome the next day, each exchanging their farewells.
BERU: (cont'd) I wish you could stay, Nik, but it's your decision and I want you to know I support you all the way.
ANAKIN: Thanks, Beru. I always could count on you. (tears up) I'm gonna miss you.
BERU: (smiles through tears) It'll be hard getting used to you not being around. (beat) Goodbye, Anakin.
Anakin and Beru embrace, drawing together in a tight hug.
ANAKIN: You take care of Owen now, hear? Without me around, you'll be the only one around to keep that anger of his in check.
BERU: (laughs) Now you're projecting.
As Anakin breaks away from his sister, he turns to Nellith. She immediately wraps him in a tight hug.
NELLITH: Oh, Ani! (kisses his cheek) I'll miss you so!
ANAKIN: (embarrassed) Mom, I told you I didn't want you calling me that anymore. "Ani" is a little kid's name.
NELLITH: (laughs) Whatever you say, Nik. (kisses his forehead) Whatever you say. Just don't to forget to communiqué.
ANAKIN: I won't.
The mother and her son part.
OWEN: (smirks) Tatooine won't be the same without you, kid. Good luck, though. You'll need it.
Grinning ear-to-ear, Anakin flashes his friend a thumb's up.
OWEN: (turns to Obi-Wan, expression growing serious) Well, it's time to say goodbye again, isn't it?
OBI-WAN: Yes, it is. (beat) It's not going to be like the last time, is it?
OWEN: (shakes head) No, Ben, it isn't.
Without another word, Owen embraces Obi-Wan in a strong hug, patting him roughly on the back.
OWEN: (crying) I'll be seeing you, brother.
OBI-WAN: (returns embrace; smiles) And I you, brother.
Once Owen and Obi-Wan separate, the Jedi and his young ward stride over towards the Twilight, which is sitting in wait for them with its hatch lowered.
ANAKIN: (stops and turns to face others) Once I become a Jedi, I'll come back for you! I'll find a beautiful, water-rich world full of flowering plants and I'll take you there to live with me! I promise!
Owen, Nellith, and Beru wave farewell to Anakin and he waves back. Then — turning around without a look back — he and Obi-Wan make their way to the Twilight.
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