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Post by Duragizer on Apr 14, 2018 18:15:56 GMT -5
EXT. SPACE
The Slipstream drops out of hyperspace. They have arrived in a solar system consisting of a single red giant with a pair of gas giants.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
Consulting the maps, Anakin charts a course which will take the ship diagonally across the system, past the two gas giants to the Kuiper belt. Coordinates laid in, Dahlia sets the ship on autopilot.
DAHLIA: Five hours to the next hyperroute….
ANAKIN: Mmm-hmm.
DAHLIA: Five tedious hours. (beat) Want to watch Juo Deltar Faces Gamblor the Terrible?
ANAKIN: I'll be right along.
Rising, Dahlia leave the cockpit. Anakin watches her out of the corner of his eye.
PRE VIZSLA: Quite a striking woman.
ANAKIN: Our hostess caught your eye, Pre?
PRE VIZSLA: No more than she's caught yours. (beat) I'd wager far less.
ANAKIN: Something you'd like to share with the class, Vizsla?
PRE VIZSLA: You're an open book to me, and I needn't the Force to read it. The cadence of your voice when you speak to her; the way your eyes dart to the side when you make eye contact; the edge in your very body language — they all signify you're attracted to this girl. Quite strongly attracted.
ANAKIN: I've always had an eye for beautiful women.
PRE VIZSLA: This is above than an appreciation for art.
ANAKIN: Since you know seemingly everything about me, you know I have a girlfriend, that I'm faithful to her.
PRE VIZSLA: As faithful as Zul was to me?
ANAKIN: (frowns) Don't dare compare our relationships. 'Shira and I have had two years together, and that came off three years of friendship. Zul was a priestess pacifist before you drafted her into your terrorist cell. You wanted her for a battle dog? Don't be surprised she bit the hand that bled her.
Finished with Vizsla, Anakin leaps out of his seat and crosses over to the hatch.
PRE VIZSLA: Every man's a dog in his own right, and he'll sniff out every bitch in heat if so allowed.
Anakin turns to face Vizsla.
PRE VIZSLA: (cont'd) The question is will this b*tch allow you, and to what purpose?
INT. SLIPSTREAM/LOUNGE
Dahlia is decked out on the lounge sofa, watching through the opening credits of her holovid when Anakin enters the chamber.
DAHLIA: (pats cushion beside her) Take a seat.
Anakin takes the proffered cushion.
DAHLIA: Like Juo Deltar?
ANAKIN: One of my favs.
Minutes pass. Anakin tries keeping his attention on the projection, but Dahlia's main interests lie elsewhere; giving Anakin a sly smile, the Pantoran rests a hand on his leg.
ANAKIN: (perturbed) Dahlia….
DAHLIA: (strokes his leg) I don’t know what you know about Pantorans, but long hours confined in enclosed spaces tend to make us … anxious.
ANAKIN: (takes her hand away) Dahlia, I’m sorry. (beat) I’m spoken for.
DAHLIA: (smile fades) Oh….
ANAKIN: It’s my fault. I should have told you.
DAHLIA: Don’t sweat it.
EXT. SPACE — ASTEROID
As the Slipstream passes by the first gas giant, the ship moves within range of its only moon, a large potato-shaped asteroid quarter the size of a terrestrial planet. Unfortunately for the crew, the asteroid isn’t only an asteroid; it’s the home base for a group of pirates.
As the Slipstream moves past the asteroid, a squadron of mixed starfighters emerges from hidden ports and moves in an attack formation for the CR60 corvette.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/LOUNGE
The first plasma bursts impact upon the ship’s hull as Anakin and Dahlia are watching the movie. The lounge rattling, the two leap up from the sofa, quick to leave for the cockpit.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
Anakin and Dahlia enter the cockpit. Dahlia crosses over to the controls and quickly throws up the Slipstream’s shields. Another salvo of white plasmafire impacts upon the ship, but the shields protect it from damage this time. A pair of starfighters pass over the viewport.
DAHLIA: Pirates.
ANAKIN: You recognize their markings?
DAHLIA: Does it matter?
ANAKIN: No.
Dahlia disengages the autopilot and takes back control of her ship.
EXT. SPACE
Try as she might, Dahlia cannot outrun the pirate fighters.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
DAHLIA: (grimaces) Stang! Can’t shake them! (beat) How are you at the guns?
ANAKIN: Good.
DAHLIA: Excellent. Take them.
ANAKIN: I think I'll take the helm.
DAHLIA: (chuckles humourlessly) No one pilots the Slipstream but me.
ANAKIN: It’s a wonder you’ve lived this long.
Taking Dahlia by the scruff of her jumpsuit, the former Jedi hefts her up out of the chair.
DAHLIA: Hey!
ANAKIN: Listen. I’m a damned good shot, but I’m an even better pilot. Want to raise our chances for survival? Do as I say!
Anakin pushes Dahlia away. Righting herself, she stands there a moment, glowering at him.
DAHLIA: Goddamn, you make me hot.
Dahlia sprints out of the cockpit, leaving Anakin to take the helm.
EXT. SPACE
The pirates continue pummeling the Slipstream. The corvette’s shields hold, but they’re beginning to weaken in various spots.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/STARBOARD GUN WELL
Slipping inside the gun well, Dahlia situates herself in her seat, activating the turbolaser batteries. As the targeting computer comes online, she begins drawing a bead on their attackers.
EXT. SPACE
With the Slipstream twisting and turning to avoid the pirates’ plasmafire, the pirates keeping to them tight like ticks, Dahlia gets a lock on one of the starfighters and pulls the trigger. White laser beams strike home with devastating force, obliterating the fighter with a flash of vaporized metal, fuel, and oxygen.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/STARBOARD GUN WELL
DAHLIA: Yes!
EXT. SPACE — RINGED GAS GIANT
The Slipstream’s course has finally taken it within range of the system’s second gas giant: a large cerulean sphere encircled by a thick series of rings.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
Slipping a radio headset over his ears, Anakin opens the comm to Dahlia.
ANAKIN: Dahlia?
INT. SLIPSTREAM/STARBOARD GUN WELL
Dahlia is fighting to lock on a fighter when Anakin’s tinny voice pipes in through her headset. After blowing another enemy away, she scrambles to slip the headset on.
DAHLIA: Akira, what’s up?
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
ANAKIN: We’re within range of the second gas giant. It has a system of rings. I’m going to take us through. With any luck, we’ll shake these pirates and continue on our merry way.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/STARBOARD GUN WELL
DAHLIA: (shocked) Did some of those blasts seep through the shields and into your brain‽ We can’t possibly make it!
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
ANAKIN: I have a good feeling about this.
Focusing all attention on the improbably difficult task ahead, Anakin steers the Slipstream head-on into the rings.
EXT. SPACE — RING SYSTEM
Entering the ring system, the Slipstream is immediately surrounded by rocky and icy debris — some pieces small as sand grains, others as large as boulders. There's not much space between the largest fragments, but Anakin manages to maneuver through. The pirates aren’t so lucky. Though their starfighters are far smaller and maneuverable than the corvette, their pilots’ skill isn’t equivalent to Anakin’s; most of them are dashed to pieces.
Figuring the debris will finish the Slipstream — and them — off before they can reach the corvette, the surviving pirates abandon the chase. As the pirate fighters turn back, the Slipstream emerges out the other side of the debris field.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
ANAKIN: (grins) All too easy.
Dahlia enters the cockpit. She strides up to Anakin. As he turns around to greet her, she slaps him hard across the face.
DAHLIA: (enraged) Don’t you ever endanger me or my ship like that again!
She then grabs him by the front of his shirt and pulls him to her, kissing him fiercely on the mouth.
DAHLIA: (sighs) We both needed that.
Coming down off their mutual adrenaline high, the two partners relax. Letting Dahlia return to the pilot’s chair, Anakin almost leisurely sets about correcting the ship’s course.
A light begins flashing on Dahlia’s console.
ANAKIN: What’s that?
DAHLIA: It looks like your hotshot piloting cost us some damage, flyboy. The hyperdrive’s offline.
ANAKIN: (frowns) Is it bad?
DAHLIA: If it is, it’ll take us a whole lot longer than five hours to leave this system. (stands up) C’mon.
Rising from his seat, Anakin follows Dahlia out of the cockpit.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/AIRLOCK
Entering the airlock, Dahlia directs Anakin to a series of lockers. Opening one, she reveals a spacesuit stored within. Opening another, she reveals a second, identical suit.
DAHLIA: Slip it on.
ANAKIN: We have to go outside?
DAHLIA: (unstraps hydrospanner on leg) Yeah, we do. CR60 hyperdrives can only be accessed from outside. (beat) Well?
ANAKIN: (swallows audibly) I’ve never been very comfortable in vacuum.
DAHLIA: (takes out suit) You’ll just have to man up and grow a pair.
As Dahlia suits up, Anakin decides to take her advice. Manning up, growing a pair, he slips into his spacesuit.
Once Dahlia has finished, she picks up her hydrospanner and stashes it in her locker. Securing the locker, she points to a toolbox hanging on the bulkhead. Anakin retrieves it.
DAHLIA: Check me.
Turning around, Dahlia lets Anakin look her over to make certain her suit’s fastened tight and in prime condition. Giving her the okay sign, he turns around to let her do the same. With Anakin checking out, Dahlia depressurizes the airlock and opens the hatch, affording them both a direct, firsthand view of outer space's star-spangled eternal night.
EXT. SPACE — SLIPSTREAM
Situated over the Slipstream’s engines, their suits' tractor boots keeping them from floating free, the man and woman are busy repairing the damage done to the hyperdrive’s connections.
DAHLIA: Hydrospanner.
Taking the hydrospanner from the toolbox, Anakin hands it to her. Taking it, she begins loosening something.
ANAKIN: Why do you always wear it?
DAHLIA: Excuse me?
ANAKIN: That hydrospanner, the one on your thigh. Why do you always carry it?
DAHLIA: Would you believe a girl likes to be prepared for any eventuality?
ANAKIN: If that’s the answer….
DAHLIA: Truth be told, the thing’s broken, busted, hasn’t worked in years. The most use I get out of it is as a paperweight.
ANAKIN: A good luck charm, then?
DAHLIA: You’re not far off. (beat) It’s the last gift I received from my father before he died. (beat) The central heater had been in need of replacing for months, but of course you can’t remove a defunct central heater without a hydrospanner. We were between hydrospanners at the time. I kept nagging Dad, “Pick up a hydrospanner. We need a hydrospanner. You want the old heater out? The new heater in? Buy a hydrospanner.” Of course he listened. Took him two weeks before he finally listened, but he went out and bought that hydrospanner. (glum) Two weeks after, a faulty seal on a plasma torch went and he went with it.
ANAKIN: I’m sorry.
DAHLIA: Sorry for what? It wasn’t your fault. (sniffles)
ANAKIN: You loved him very much.
DAHLIA: And he loved me very much — probably too much. (laughs) How’s your pop?
ANAKIN: Having a drink with yours right about now. (beat) Gangsters.
DAHLIA: What sort of man was he?
ANAKIN: He didn't have the strongest sense of humour, but he had a good heart and he always did right by me, my mom and sister. (beat) I still miss him.
DAHLIA: You never stop missing them. You're always afraid that somehow you will, that the passage of time'll blunt your memory of them, but it never does. They're with you forever.
They stand still and silent, eyes intent on each other.
DAHLIA: Repairs are almost complete. Help me finish up, okay?
ANAKIN: Okay.
They resume their work.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/AIRLOCK
Returning inside, Anakin and Dahlia slip out of their spacesuits and return them to their lockers. Standing there, they face one another, eye-to-eye.
ANAKIN: My name — my real name — is Anakin. Anakin Skywalker.
DAHLIA: Welcome aboard the Slipstream, Anakin.
Those tense words spoken, the two come together. Taking Dahlia’s blue face in his hands, Anakin brings her lips to his. Opening her mouth, Dahlia lets his tongue inside, allowing it to swim and dance with hers. Driving Anakin against the bulkhead, Dahlia pulls the front of his shirt open. She then unzips the front of her jumpsuit, revealing nothing worn beneath it.
Easing her out of the sleeves of her jumpsuit, Anakin exposes the thick network of ugly scars which run along the left side of her torso down her hip.
ANAKIN: (shocked) Dahlia! Those scars —!
DAHLIA: Shut up and kark me.
Dahlia opens his fly. Anakin forgets all about the scars.
INT. MIRIAL — BRANNRID MEDICAL CENTRE/DR. REYEM’S OFFICE — DAY
Nashira has made it to Mirial and the Brannrid Medical Centre. There, Dr. Reyem has given the young woman the news about Anakin.
NASHIRA: (outraged) You can’t find him‽ What are you saying‽
As the doctor begins explaining the matter, ‘Shira suddenly doubles over. Her outrage is immediately tempered with sudden confusion.
DR. REYEM: Miss DuQuesne, are you alright?
NASHIRA: (frowns) I … I ...
With dismay, Nashira raises a hand to her mouth. Her eyes grow moist.
DR. REYEM: (concerned) Are you okay?
Though not consciously aware of what has transpired, Nashira knows in her heart of hearts that Anakin has betrayed her for another. She breaks down, CRYING.
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Post by Duragizer on Apr 15, 2018 19:25:39 GMT -5
INT. GEONOSIS — SANDCRAWLER/PRISON AREA — NIGHT
Time has passed since the Condawni were captured and brought to this place, and their numbers have thinned considerably.
One of the Condawni sits in a dark corner, apart from the others. Dangerously emaciated, coated in grime, he looks like a resin-soaked mummy which has been stripped of its wrappings. Suffering from a compound fracture to his left ankle, he CRIES with great agony.
CONDAWNI WOMAN: (enraged) By the stars, just shut up! Just shut up!
Attacking the poor man, the woman throttles him to death. Darth holds his hands down over Mitra’s ears, keeping her face turned away, so she doesn’t have to witness this.
The hatch into the compartment opens and four raiders enter. One of the raiders levels his speargun at the hysterical woman and pulls the trigger. The woman falls atop her victim, dead.
RAIDER #1: We'll be having two for dinner tonight.
RAIDER #2: Him? But he’s already gone half-bad.
RAIDER #1: All the more reason to be done with ‘im. Don’t need ‘im spoilin’ the other meat.
The raiders go to the dead Condawni. Taking up their legs, they drag the bodies out of the compartment.
RAIDER #2: (to Condawni) Now y’all can have some peace and quiet!
The raider laughs, then he and his comrades leave the prison area, securing the hatch behind them as they go.
The raiders gone, the cries of pain and rage gone, Darth takes his hands from Mitra’s ears.
MITRA: (sad) Darth?
DARTH: What up?
MITRA: Tell me the rest of The Maverick Moon.
DARTH: I can’t. I lost the datapad.
MITRA: Please.
DARTH: Alright. I’ll try to remember how it goes. (beat) Suddenly Deak Starkiller broke through the magnetic field. He found himself in a shaky orbit around the maverick moon. “Prepare to fire the zukonium rays!” Deak shouted to A-2. “We’ll have to get out of here in a split second!” (beat) The zukonium rays were aimed at the centre of the moon. Deak squeezed down on the firing lever. (beat) It was a direct hit! The impact of the exploding moon sent Deak’s plane reeling out of control. A-2’s lights blinked on and off as his circuits blew. Desperately Deak tried to regain control. But he didn’t have to worry. The Force was with him. The special power he could not explain protected him and steered him free from danger. (beat) When Deak and A-2 returned to the hangar, the entire population of the Academy was there to greet them with yells and cheers. Happiest of all were their good friends Princess Zara and C-3. (beat) Princess Zara placed a medal of honour around Deak’s neck. “Now we can get back to work,” said Deak, feeling a little embarrassed. “I’m glad that you and the Planetary Pioneers will be able to continue your work,” said Zara. “But I’m even happier that you are alive and safe.” (beat) And that’s the end.
MITRA: (smiles) Good ending.
DARTH: Sure is.
MITRA: You think there’s a Force protecting us, Darth?
A tear runs from Darth’s eye. He quickly wipes it away.
DARTH: Yes.
EXT. ABAFAR — PONS ORA — DR. EVAZAN’S COSMETIC SURGERY — DAY
On the remote Outer Rim planet Abafar, in a corner of dusty Pons Ora, is Dr. Evazan's Cosmetic Surgery, a small, decrepit clinic.
INT. DR. EVAZAN'S COSMETIC SURGERY/OPERATING ROOM — DAY
Within the dingy operating room, working under a single overhead light, DR. CORNELIUS EVAZAN is busy at work. His patient recently lost an arm, and the good doctor has seen fit to replace it with a bionic prosthesis.
DR. EVAZAN: (finishes making final connections) There, finished. Good as new.
Evazan steps back, allowing Llomon to sit up. There on his right arm, grafted just above where his original elbow used to be, is a large blaster cannon.
LLOMON: It's heavy. (flexes elbow) It's sluggish.
DR. EVAZAN: The nerves in your arm haven't fully integrated with the neural interface. Give it time. Before long it'll feel as much a part of you as your old arm did.
LLOMON: (flexes elbow) I want to test it.
DR. EVAZAN: Follow me.
EXT. DR. EVAZAN'S COSMETIC SURGERY/FIRING RANGE — DAY
Evazan takes the Trandoshan out behind his clinic, where a modest firing range has been erected. A number of inactive 'droids have been lined up, dressed and positioned to vaguely resemble intimidating thugs, bounty hunters, and police officers. Bringing forth his new limb, Llomon targets the 'droids and opens fire, blasting them all to smithereens with superheated white plasma balls.
DR. EVAZAN: (grins) Satisfied?
INT. SLIPSTREAM/DAHLIA'S QUARTERS
Within Dahlia's quarters, Anakin sits at a round dining table, dressed in clean, pressed, nice clothes. Leaving the kitchenette, Dahlia — wearing a simple but pretty red dress — comes to the table bearing two plates laden with thick nerf steaks and scalloped tubers. Setting Anakin's plate down in front of him, she takes hers across to her side of the table.
DAHLIA: Nerf steaks. Scalloped tubers. I always keep good food on-board, but eat it only on very special occasions. (beat) Try your steak. I hope it's how you wanted it. Medium well, right?
ANAKIN: (takes bite of steak) Medium well, exactly.
DAHLIA: (grins) Excellent. (takes bite of steak) Mmm. Myself, I love it rare. Can't eat it any other way.
Dahlia, ravenous, sets about shovelling food in her mouth. Anakin isn't feeling nearly so peckish.
DAHLIA: (frowns) Something wrong with the grub?
ANAKIN: No, nothing's wrong. It's perfect. The best I've eaten since ... Orron III.
DAHLIA: (sighs) You're thinking about Nashira. (beat) Anakin, long-distance relationships ... they never work out. Couples make vows of everlasting love, promise faithfully to remain true forever and always, forsaking all others ... but they're just romantic lies they tell themselves. Sooner, later, they find themselves drawn to other people ... falling in love with other people. They move on. (rests hand on Anakin's) It's natural, healthy. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
ANAKIN: You don't understand. We share a rapport, a bond. Through the Force, we feel what the other feels. Pleasure ... and pain. (beat) Right now I feel her inside me. Her heart is breaking and she doesn't know why. (beat) But I do.
DAHLIA: (smiles) I believe you. I believe you and Nashira do share a deep, intimate connection. It's beautiful. You and Nashira will be in each other's hearts always. But you do feel the connection we have, don't you?
ANAKIN: I do.
DAHLIA: It may not be as strong as yours and Nashira's, but give it time. The slender sapling becomes the sturdy oak with time.
ANAKIN: But here and now, we suffer. (beat) Would you have me make love to you again, knowing Nashira will feel what I feel, knowing how deep it will hurt her?
DAHLIA: No. My appetites are strong, but not that strong. (beat) I'm willing to wait however long it takes for the two of you to reprioritize your feelings.
ANAKIN: (facepalms) It was a mistake. What we did was a mistake.
DAHLIA: (shakes head) It wasn't a mistake.
ANAKIN: It was a mistake! It was my mistake! I should've known better! I love 'Shira!
Leaving her chair, Dahlia walks over to Anakin. Resting her hands on his shoulders, she begins massaging them.
DAHLIA: Right now, this ship is hurtling toward the resting place of the ancient Sith. Once we arrive, if you find what you seek, you will gain power beyond measure. But with that power comes a price. You will become an enemy of the Jedi. Your poster will be plastered on every civilized world throughout the Empire. Police will seek to capture you. Bounty hunters will try to claim the price on your head. You will be a fugitive, always on the run, never able to sleep another peaceful sleep. (beat) Do you believe Nashira loves you enough to give up her normal, comfortable life to run with you in the night, world-to-world, never resting, never stopping, in constant danger? Do you really want her to? (turns his face to hers) I will run with you, all the days of your life.
They kiss.
INT. GEONOSIS — SANDCRAWLER/PRISON AREA — NIGHT
Darth and Mitra are asleep in each other's arms when the hatch opens and the four same raiders from before enter.
RAIDER #1: (points at Darth and Mitra) The kids.
Two of the raiders grab Darth and Mitra and hoist them up. Jolted out of their uneasy sleep, the kids begin kicking and screaming.
INT. SANDCRAWLER/CONTROL ROOM — NIGHT
Shiiid stands before Chlorian, examining him closely as if he were a particularly interesting bug under a magnifying glass. Chlorian, still strapped into the rack, appears weak and weary. Of course, it shouldn't come as much surprise; aside from the fact that he hasn't eaten a thing since long before his capture, his left hand has been severed.
ELIK SHIIID: You're hungry, aren't you, Chlorian? How long's it been since you had yourself a bite? Before we made you at home, I'd wager. How long? A week? Much longer?
Chlorian GROANS.
ELIK SHIIID: You can't say we didn't offer you a hand. (laughs)
CHLORIAN: You're mad.
Chlorian's stomach RUMBLES.
ELIK SHIIID: (rubs Chlorian's belly) Not as mad as your stomach! (laughs) Governor, I consider myself a moral man. Now, a moral man couldn't very well go around killing his fellow sapient and roasting him on a spit were all his bolts screwed in place, could he? Could he? He'd have to be cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs to even consider such things. (pokes Chlorian in gut) You've considered such things before, haven't you, Chlorian Vader? Out there on the hardpan, forcing yourself to swallow down lichen scrapings, you couldn't help but look at your bestest friend this side of the Known Galaxy and conceptualize how easy the flesh of his bicep would go down your voracious throat. I know you have. I know. What I want to know is whether or not those thoughts came from a man who is moral.
Before Chlorian can give any sort of answer, the raiders with the children arrive.
RAIDER #1: We'll be havin' sucklin' brat tonight!
Chlorian is horrified when he sees Darth and Mitra held in the greasy arms of the raiders.
CHLORIAN: No! No!
The raiders carry the children to the barbecue, where the coals are already hot.
CHLORIAN: Shiiid, stop them! Call them off! Call them off!
ELIK SHIIID: (frowns) But why? They'll be so tender.
CHLORIAN: They're mine! They're mine!
ELIK SHIIID: (waves hand) Pshaw! I know you have no children living in-system.
CHLORIAN: Darth is my son!
Chlorian makes eye contact with Darth.
CHLORIAN: Darth is my son….
ELIK SHIIID: (grins) A bastard, you say?
Leaving Chlorian, Shiiid hops on over to the raider holding Darth. Leaning in close, he studies the boy's features.
ELIK SHIIID: Not the strongest resemblance. Must take after his mother. (faces Chlorian) You ever take him to a smashball game?
CHLORIAN: He didn't know I was his father. (beat) I never told him.
ELIK SHIIID: That answers my question. (pinches Darth's cheek) Let's open them up and throw 'em on the grill.
Drawing a knife from his belt, Shiiid raises it to Darth's throat.
CHLORIAN: You can't! You can't! Please!
ELIK SHIIID: Geonosis never was a place for children. It's best we snuff them out to prevent them any further torment.
CHLORIAN: Darth's a mechanic!
Shiiid rests the blade against Darth's throat but doesn't draw it across.
ELIK SHIIID: Mechanic?
CHLORIAN: He's good with tools! He can take things apart, put them together! He modified his own skimboard! He can help you with the repairs to your sandcrawler!
ELIK SHIIID: The devil you say?
CHLORIAN: He can! I swear he can! Just leave them both alone!
The Zabrak takes the blade from the boy's throat.
ELIK SHIIID: (taps blade against head) How does this sound: We'll put him to work on our vehicles and tools, first — our damaged stuff. If he shows a penchant for fixing things mechanical, we'll spare his hide and put him to work on the sandcrawler engines. Does that sound sweet?
CHLORIAN: It does! It does!
ELIK SHIIID: (smiles) A deal it is then.
Leaving Darth, Shiiid walks over to Mitra. What he had planned to do to Darth he does do to her — without hesitation. Both Darth and Chlorian, son and father, begin SCREAMING wildly, thrashing against their restraints/captors, violently seeking to free themselves, to exact retribution against these murderers. They cannot.
ELIK SHIIID: The girl had nothing to offer. Now she does.
CHLORIAN: (enraged) I'll kill you, Shiiid! By the gods, I swear you'll die by that very same knife!
ELIK SHIIID: There are no gods on Geonosis.
INT. BATTLEMOON/LUH-3417’S OFFICE
Lu is at her desk, busy going over paperwork, when her door BUZZES.
LUH-3417: Enter.
The door slides open and SN — that is, SN-2249 — enters.
LUH-3417: What may I do for you, Commander?
SN-2249: The athas, Admiral. They seek an audience with you.
LUH-3417: Inform them I shall be there presently.
SN-2249: (nods) As you like.
INT. BATTLEMOON/HOLOPROJECTION CHAMBER
A door slides open, allowing Lu entrance into the dark, spacious holoprojection chamber. As the door slides shut, she strides over to the small round platform set in the centre of the floor. As she steps atop it, holographic images of the THIRTEEN MEMBERS OF THE ATHAN DIRECTORATE manifest in a circle around her, all larger than life. The hologram of ATHA PRIME, slightly larger than those of the lesser athas, faces Lu. Clad in his customary robes of iridescent shimmersilk, he looks upon her with hard eyes.
ATHA PRIME: LUH-3417.
LUH-3417: (bows) Milord.
ATHA PRIME: Ready your forces. The invasion of Geonosis commences in nine days.
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Post by Duragizer on Apr 17, 2018 1:28:43 GMT -5
INT. SLIPSTREAM/ANAKIN'S QUARTERS
Anakin is seated upon the floor. Cross-legged, eyes closed, he is in deep meditation.
There is a RAP, RAP, RAP at the door.
ANAKIN: Enter.
The door opens and Dahlia enters.
DAHLIA: We are two minutes away from the Horuset system.
Opening his eyes, Anakin rises to his full height. Dahlia's yellow eyes intent upon him, he leaves the quarters.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
Entering the cockpit, Dahlia slips down behind the controls and disengages the hyperdrive.
EXT. SPACE — KORRIBAN
The Slipstream emerges into realspace. Right within view of the craft is the lonely planet of Korriban itself.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
Dahlia studies Korriban with keen interest. Like Tatooine and Geonosis, black-and-gray Korriban appears to be a barren desert planet; no substantial vegetation or bodies of water can be seen from this vantage point.
EXT. SPACE — KORRIBAN
The Slipstream makes its descent run for the planet.
EXT. SPACE — BATTLEMOON
Far enough away from the battlemoon to avoid being registered on it sensors, the Troia's Steed drops out of hyperspace.
INT. TROIA'S STEED/AIRLOCK
Obi-Wan and the Berals are donning their white clone jumpsuits when Tarkin enters the airlock. Upon his arrival, they stand ramrod straight, all attention on their commanding officer.
LT. CMDR. TARKIN: You have the datacard?
From his utility belt, Sev withdraws a black-and-red datacard.
LT. CMDR. TARKIN: Excellent. Remember: You slip aboard covertly, head directly for the Overbridge, and once there upload the virus into their central computer. Do this correctly, draw no attention to yourselves, and you should be in-and-out within the span of fifty minutes. Are you all clear on what must be done?
The four Jedi nod.
LT. CMDR. TARKIN: Good. (beat) Synchronize chronometres. Synchronize ... now.
All five Imperials synchronize their chronos. Thus the real grunt work begins.
EXT. KORRIBAN — VALLEY OF THE SLEEPING KINGS — DAY
Passing through a system of storm clouds, the Slipstream emerges over the Valley of the Sleeping Kings, that place where the thousands of Sith monarchs and their loyal vassals repose. Though still awe-inspiring in their greatness, the magnificent stone tombs and statues of the ancient Sith have fallen into disrepair in the five-thousand millennia which have passed since the fall of their Empire.
Coming to hover over the great paved road which runs through the Valley, the Slipstream touches down and powers down.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/ARMORY — DAY
Inside the ship's armory, Anakin is equipping himself for the trial ahead. Taking a black suit of light armour out of a locker, he dons it. Covering his entire body from the neck down, the armour is form-fitting and flexible, made to accommodate the wearer's natural speed and agility without compromising protection. While it isn't strong enough to withstand anything as strong as direct blasterfire, it should keep him safe from whatever hazards may roam this desolate planet. He then equips himself with twin blaster pistols, a blaster rifle, several power packs, and a vibroblade.
DAHLIA: (O.C.) Black is your colour.
Anakin turns to Dahlia.
DAHLIA: (grins) Sexy and dangerous.
ANAKIN: (smiles) Blue remains yours.
DAHLIA: (pouts) Frigid and glum?
ANAKIN: Calming and confident.
DAHLIA: (twists strand of hair around finger) Guilty as charged.
They move in close.
DAHLIA: (rests hands on Anakin's chest) You certain I shouldn't come along?
ANAKIN: Creatures once roamed the Valley, protected the tombs ... tuk'ata, Sith hounds. I don't know if any still exist, but if they do ... I can't risk your life. The Slipstream's the safest place you can be.
Though crestfallen, Dahlia understands.
EXT. VALLEY OF THE SLEEPING KINGS — SLIPSTREAM — DAY
As Anakin emerges, he turns to Dahlia who stands in the ship's open hatch.
ANAKIN: If I'm not back in four hours, leave.
Dahlia frowns.
ANAKIN: No arguments. Four hours.
Reluctant, she nods her assent. Satisfied, Anakin turns and sets off down the road, the apparition of the Mandalorian Knight silently accompanying him once more.
EXT. SPACE — BATTLEMOON
As the Troia's Steed moves on approach for the battlemoon, it appears to fade from existence as its cloak is deployed, rendered fully invisible to all eyes and sensors.
CUT TO
An airlock hatch opening in the emptiness of space.
Dressed in spacesuits, Obi-Wan and the Berals step out. Firing their suits' thrusters, they're propelled towards the battlemoon. Upon coming to the surface of the battlemoon, they engage their tractor boots, allowing them to adhere to the metallic surface. Walking along the face of the battlemoon as if it were a miniature planetoid, they soon come across a maintenance hatch leading inside. Opening the hatch, they slip through.
INT. BATTLEMOON/AIRLOCK
Now inside the battlemoon and out of vacuum, they ditch their spacesuits and stow them out of sight. Obi-Wan then takes out a small holoprojector and activates it; a spherical map of the directions to the Overbridge is displayed.
EXT. KORRIBAN — VALLEY OF THE SLEEPING KINGS — ROAD — DAY
Here in the Valley of the Sleeping Kings, there is perfect silence. Aside from Anakin's footfalls upon the stone road and the odd crackle of thunder that reverberates through the air, there isn't a single sound to break the monotonous quiet. The effect is peculiar, eerie, and most unsettling.
EXT. VALLEY OF THE SLEEPING KINGS — GREAT TEMPLE — DAY
Anakin and Vizsla reach the rear end of the Valley and with it the Sith hopeful's destination. Before him rises the Great Temple, the grand mausoleum he saw in the vision conjured by Nykres Eikhan. As it was in his vision, a carved effigy of a Lettow male frames the entrance into the temple, its stone arms extended. Here, though, the braziers in its hands lie dead, cold as the Lettow who sleep beyond.
ANAKIN: You're not accompanying me?
PRE VIZSLA: I have done what the Force willed of me, which was bring you here. What you go to face, you must alone. (beat) The Force be with you, Anakin Skywalker.
Unholstering one of his blaster pistols, Anakin cautiously heads inside. As he disappears beyond the dark entrance, Vizsla dematerializes.
INT. GREAT TEMPLE/ANTECHAMBER — DAY
Anakin soon comes to the antechamber of the Great Temple’s burial chamber. The roof of the antechamber caved in a long time ago, leaving great boulders covered in layers of dust and cobwebs upon the floor. Making his way across the chamber, stepping across or between the boulders, Anakin comes across the shattered fragments of a large crystal in amongst the debris in the centre of the chamber. Unable to discern the crystal's original purpose, he proceeds onward.
INT. GREAT TEMPLE/BURIAL CHAMBER — DAY
Anakin enters the burial chamber. The chamber is rectangular, several metres across with a high ceiling — easily vaster than Eikhan's tomb on Xuthltan or the atrium in the temple on Thule. Along both the left and right sides of the tomb are large, high thrones which bear the bodies of all the Lords and Ladies of the Sith who reigned in the final age of the Sith Empire. Past the thrones, at the far end of the chamber, are two peculiar objects: a large tetrahedral crystal and a cyclopean statue of a hooded figure, a sceptre held in its right hand and an orb in its left. Anakin examines the thrones and the bodies seated upon them closely. Carved from obsidian, adorned with pairs of counchant tuk'ata statues which rest on secondary levels below the Sith, the thrones are identical in colour, size, and shape; only the unique crests adorning the face of each individual throne — the personal crests of the Lords they bear aloft — distinguish them. As for the bodies themselves, they all belong to the Lettow race, though decay and desiccation have removed most distinguishing characteristics from their features.
Stopping in the exact centre of the chamber, Anakin holsters his blaster. Unslinging his rifle, his eyes dart left and right at the two rows of thrones. He presents the rifle to the mummies.
ANAKIN: (chants in Sith)
Slowly, Anakin rests the blaster rifle at his feet. He then removes his gunbelt and presents it to the mummies.
ANAKIN: (chants in Sith)
He places the belt with pistols and vibroblade down with the rifle.
ANAKIN: (chants in Sith)
The former Jedi then slowly kneels down. Clenching his hands into fists, he places them against his forehead, the base of his palms pressed together.
ANAKIN: (chants in Sith)
He then takes his fists away from his forehead, unclenching them.
ANAKIN: (chants in Sith)
The rite completed, he slowly stands back up.
ANAKIN: I am Anakin Skywalker. I am a former Jedi Knight, outcast from that which you knew as the Galactic Republic. I have come before you, the Dark Lords of the Sith, seeking an audience. I beseech thee — lend me your ear!
Anakin waits. All is still, all is silent. The tall braziers lining the chamber remain dark, the mummies naught but empty, lifeless shells. Still he waits and waits and waits. Several minutes pass, then he gives up.
ANAKIN: (crestfallen) Nothing. It's been too long. There's nothing for me here.
As he goes to retrieve his weapons, the braziers spontaneously ignite. Orange torchlight fills the Great Temple for the first time in five-thousand years. Forgetting his weapons, Anakin stands straight, eyes darting from throne to throne.
DARK LORD #1: (O.S.) Jedi….
A baleful glow begins resonating within the empty sockets of the mummies. The sleepers have awakened. The Dark Lords live again.
DARK LORD #2: (O.S.) Jedi!
ANAKIN: I —
DARK LORD #3: (O.S.; angry) The hated enemy! Jedi!
ANAKIN: I am no longer Jedi!
DARK LORD #4: (O.S.) Its tongue clicks with deception! Cut it from its mouth before it poisons the air with further lies!
ANAKIN: (frantic) Please! Hear me!
The disembodied voices of the Dark Lords continue railing against the former Jedi, raining venomous curses and threats upon him. Finally, from out of one of the mummies emanates AN AMORPHOUS BLUE SPIRIT. Assuming vaguely humanoid form, it rises to the ceiling, looming over the thrones beneath it.
DARK LORD #5: Enough!
The other spirits fall silent.
The glowing blue spirit comes to hover over Anakin. It takes on a more defined shape: the form of a wizened Lettow male wearing long hair, clad in voluminous robes and a horned helmet.
ANAKIN: (afraid) W-whom do I address?
DARK LORD #5: In life I was Marka Ragnos, last of the true Lords of the Sith to reign before the fall of the Sith Empire. (beat) You court danger invading this, our inner sanctum, Jedi. Do you believe you can challenge us here?
ANAKIN: I have come for knowledge, not battle.
MARKA RAGNOS (DARK LORD #5): You are Jedi.
ANAKIN: I am Jedi no longer. I have turned from that path.
MARKA RAGNOS: Explain.
ANAKIN: I became Jedi under false pretenses. I was ignorant of the history between they and the Sith, ignorant of the genocide perpetrated against your people. Once the truth was made known to me, I left my master.
MARKA RAGNOS: Thus you have come to Korriban, yearning for the honour we bestowed but once before to the Jedi Exar Kun. Yet your blood burns without his passion; you have not the heart of a Sith born.
ANAKIN: (passionate) My heart beats for my people! My blood burns for the peace, freedom, justice, and security of my Empire!
MARKA RAGNOS: From the Republic your Empire sprang?
ANAKIN: It did.
MARKA RAGNOS: Then you have sought our counsel in vain. The scion of our enemy is our enemy also.
ANAKIN: Two-hundred generations separate yours and mine. Sons do not rightly bear the sins of their fathers — nor their grandfathers.
MARKA RAGNOS: The memories of the dead are long. Bygone transgressions remain fresh as hot milk, splinters in our mind's eye.
ANAKIN: Then temper your wrath with honour. The Sith knew honour, didn't they?
MARKA RAGNOS: We knew it.
ANAKIN: Then consider it now, for a million worlds are at stake. They are endangered by an agent of the dark side.
MARKA RAGNOS: (contemptuous) A man after our own heart, perhaps.
ANAKIN: (frowns) An evil man — I know not who — covets the throne of the Empire. If he takes it, his reign will be terrible. Billions will die, trillions more will suffer under his heel. I need to stop him. I need the power to stop him. You are the only ones who hold that power. Share it with me!
The Dark Lords begin chittering among themselves. Though Ragnos does not pitch in, he listens to their thoughts with rapt attention.
MARKA RAGNOS: (to Anakin) Your weapons.
Anakin's brow furrows ever so slightly.
MARKA RAGNOS: (con't) You will need them.
Ragnos then dissipates. As he vanishes, the eyes of the tuk'ata statues open, all glowing a dreadful red. Rising from their reclining positions, it becomes clear that they were never statues at all. They are real tuk'ata and they will not suffer Anakin's presence in the chamber of their masters gladly.
INT. BATTLEMOON/LUH-3417’S CABIN
Lu is in her cabin. in full armour minus her helmet, which she holds in her two hands. As she prepares to slip the helmet on, her door BUZZES.
LUH-3417: (turns to door) Come.
The door opens and Thex enters the cabin. He, too, has put on his armour and accountrements sans helmet, which rests tucked beneath his arm.
LUH-3417: (approaches THX-1138) Our ascension is almost at hand. You feel it?
THX-1138: Yes.
LUH-3417: After we’ve seized command of the Autonomy, what shall be our first order of business?
THX-1138: The re-engineering of these sterile bodies. Then we will make love — love and a child.
They share a passionate kiss.
INT. BATTLEMOON — MONTAGE
The Jedi head on towards the Overbridge. They pass several beige-and-white-garbed clones on the way, but none see through their disguises.
INT. BATTLEMOON/OVERBRIDGE
The Jedi enter the Overbridge. The major flaw in the bold Imperial plan is now uncovered. The Jedi may have disguised themselves as clones, but not these clones. These clones, bred to fulfill different duties than those clones the Jedi have patterned themselves after, were grown from different templates. The intruders stand out like sore thumbs and the clones, accustomed to the strict uniformity of their regulated lives, immediately take notice of their presence.
Coming down from the command platform, SN-2249 confronts them.
SN-2249: You are not assigned to the Overbridge. Explain your presence here.
OBI-WAN: We’re maintenance.
SN-2249: No maintenance checks have been scheduled. Furthermore, you are not maintenance models.
TEYF BERAL: We're new models!
JANO BERAL: Yes! Model BRLs!
SN-2249: (frowns) You are defective. I will report this to the admiral.
As SN-2249 turns to report the “defective clones” to Lu, Obi-Wan raises his hand.
OBI-WAN: We are maintenance.
SN-2249: You are maintenance.
OBI-WAN: A faulty transistor has been detected in one of the crew pit terminals. We’re here to replace it.
SN-2249: A faulty transistor has been detected in one of the crew pit terminals. You're here to replace it.
OBI-WAN: Return to your post and let us carry out our duties.
SN-2249: I shall return to my post. Carry out your duties.
INT. BATTLEMOON/OVERBRIDGE/CREW PIT
As the overseer returns to the command platform, the Jedi enter the crew pit. The other clones, also having been affected by the Jedi's mind trick, pay them no heed as they crowd in around one of the terminals. Taking out his datacard, Sev slips it into a disc drive.
INT. KORRIBAN — GREAT TEMPLE/BURIAL CHAMBER — DAY
Like the rakghouls on Xuthltan, the tuk'ata are the products of Sith alchemy. Vaguely caninoid, the tuk'ata are oversized blue-black beasts, equipped with wicked claws, teeth, and crowns of poisonous stingers. While the bite and scratch of the tuk'ata isn't as insidious as that of the rakghoul, the creatures themselves are just as vicious — and far swifter.
The dozens of Sith hounds converge on Anakin. Having retrieved his twin blasters, Anakin is already hard at working mowing down the beasts, dispatching as many as he can in a hail of white blasterfire, but many of the tuk'ata — quick and cunning — slither out of his line of fire before he can even bring the barrels in line.
Working together, four of the tuk'ata charge Anakin in tandem, each approaching from different angles. Anakin manages to shoot down two of the beasts and send the third flying with a roundhouse kick, but the fourth takes him down, driving him to the floor and sending the blasters skittering across the floor. Bearing its teeth wide, the tuk'ata lunges for the ex-Jedi's throat. Bringing his forearm up, Anakin gets it between the beast's jaws and his jugular. The hound's three rows of teeth bury themselves deep in his forearm, breaking the skin and drawing pain, but the tough fabric of the light armour provides enough protection to keep the force of the tuk'ata's jaws from crushing bone. Anakin draws out his vibroblade and buries it deep in the beast's gullet.
Drawing himself back to his feet, cradling his injured arm close to his chest, bloody vibroblade clutched tightly in his other hand, Anakin is ready to continue fighting the tuk'ata. The tuk'ata, surrounding him on all sides and still legion in number, are all too ready to continue.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) That will suffice.
Hearing the Dark Lord's voice, the tuk'ata slowly back away from Anakin. Red eyes still thirsty for blood, the Sith hounds slink away into the shadows.
MARKA RAGNOS: That was the trial of skill and tenacity. You have passed it, Skywalker.
ANAKIN: Then I have proven myself? You will train me in the ways of the Sith?
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) You have proven worthy to proceed. It was but the first trial.
Before Anakin can begin an argument, the floor opens up beneath him, casting him into a deep abyss.
INT. BATTLEMOON/OVERBRIDGE/CREW PIT
The Jedi stand by the terminal, waiting for the virus upload to finish.
OBI-WAN: It shouldn't be long now….
INT. BATTLEMOON/LUH-3417’S OFFICE
Thex and Lu are seated in her office.
LUH-3417: Something’s amiss.
INT. BATTLEMOON/OVERBRIDGE/CREW PIT
Information begins scrolling across the terminal screen.
OBI-WAN: (grins) The shutdown codes are being transmitted! The generators are powering down!
INT. BATTLEMOON/LUH-3417’S OFFICE
THX-1138: Something's in the mainframe.
LUH-3417: (alarmed) Infection!
INT. BATTLEMOON/OVERBRIDGE
Emerging onto the command platform, Lu looks down over the Overbridge. Eyes centering on the crew pit, she spies the unfamiliar faces crammed in around the terminal.
LUH-3417: (points at Jedi) Stop them!
INT. BATTLEMOON/OVERBRIDGE/CREW PIT
The interdiction zone nullified, the virus proceeds onto its second directive. In microseconds it erases the battlemoon’s operating system, causing all systems — including those responsible for illumination and artificial gravity — to shut down permanently.
SEV BERAL: Now to return to the Troia's Steed.
Taking advantage of the zero g environment, the Jedi leap right up out of the crew pit. Activating their tractor boots, taking out their lightsabers, they make a break for it.
CUT TO
Lu and Thex floating above the command platform.
Activating their own tractor boots, they return to the deck.
LUH-3417: (contemptuous) Jedi….
INT. KORRIBAN — GREAT TEMPLE/SHAFT — DAY
Anakin collapses into a dark shaft. Aligned diagonally, the shaft propels Anakin downward at a steep angle. Throwing out his arms and legs, Anakin tries to stop or slow his descent, but the steep angle combined with the slick texture of the stone allows him no grip to purchase; he continues his downward slide unimpeded.
INT. OUBLIETTE/TUNNEL OF FORKING PATHS — DAY
Anakin finally emerges. Rising, he finds himself in a narrow tunnel. While the walls of the tunnel, lit with wall sconces, are of brown stone, the floor is coated in a uniformly black, perfectly non-reflective substance; it gives the unsettling impression one is situated over an empty void.
Setting forward, Anakin soon comes to a fork in the tunnel. Two paths are set before him, left and right, with no distinctions between the two, nothing to indicate which path is the one to take. He chooses the one on the right. Three steps along this new path, Anakin finding the floor has disappeared beneath him. Twisting around, he manages to snare the edge, preventing a plummet which almost certainly would've led to his demise. Clawing his way back up, Anakin goes back and makes the left turn.
Very soon the young man comes to another fork in the path. This time there are three paths to choose from. Cautiously, Anakin inches his way through the forward path. When it becomes apparent that there's no bottomless pit this way, Anakin sighs with relief and presses on. The former Jedi doesn't get to revel in his relief, for he soon comes to a dead end. As he comes to the dead end, a stone door begins sliding down to seal the tunnel behind him. Opening himself to the Force, Anakin draws on it to boost his speed. Moving faster than any average Human could hope to move, he barely makes it under the stone door.
Returning to where he was, Anakin stands there a moment, working to figure out which of the remaining paths to take. If he makes the wrong choice, he could fall victim to any number of booby traps. He then understands what he must do. Closing his eyes, he opens himself to the Force. Reaching out with his extra senses, he feels his way through both paths, seeking to intuit the safe route. His feelings telling him to go right, he goes right.
Anakin repeats this process five more times, each time coming to yet another fork with yet another extra path to choose from. Using the Force, he chooses the correct path each and every time until he finally makes it to the exit.
INT. OUBLIETTE/ANTECHAMBER — DAY
Exiting the tunnel of forking paths, Anakin finds himself within an antechamber. Beyond the antechamber is a large, complex labyrinth.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) You have passed the trial of intelligence and intuition. (beat) Now for this, your final trial.
On the other side of the antechamber directly opposite Anakin, a hidden door opens. As it is slowly drawn upward, thick mist billows out from a secret chamber.
ANAKIN: (afraid) No….
Mist rolls out and spreads itself thin across the stone floor as the occupant of the chamber emerges. Seven feet tall, clad in chitinous black organic armour, the creature is humanoid, its original species and sex indeterminate. Its pallid cheeks have been slit open, the flesh peeled back to give it an everlasting Glasgow smile. Likewise its eyelids have been slit open and pinned back, allowing the piercing blue eyes to roll around their sockets in perpetual surprise. Opening its mouth of yellow teeth, it sticks its tongue out; barbed wire has been woven into the maroon flesh. Reaching for a belt it has secured about its waist, the thing uncoils it. But it isn't a belt; it is a serpentine creature, black-green in colour, the mouth of its spade-shaped head filled with needle teeth. HISSING, the DAEMON OF THE LABYRINTH takes its first slow, laborious, thundering step towards Anakin.
Reaching to his side, Anakin goes to unholster a blaster. Then he remembers that all his weapons have been lost to him, including the vibroblade. Realizing he will have to depend on his skills alone to survive, Anakin dashes past the Daemon — avoiding a stream of venom projected from the serpent’s fangs — and into the labyrinth. Allowing the serpent weapon to coil around its left forearm, the Daemon gives chase.
INT. BATTLEMOON/CORRIDOR #1
Obi-Wan, Sev, and the two Beral apprentices race through the corridor, passing several clones who float aimlessly about them.
SEV BERAL: Do you suppose the battlemoon's complement of starfighters are still operational?
OBI-WAN: I do.
SEV BERAL: Then it's vital we rendezvous with the Steed before we run out the clock. It would dishearten me greatly to lose our only mode of transport from this place.
OBI-WAN: You and I both, Sev.
INT. BATTLEMOON/CORRIDOR #2
Lu and Thex, accompanied by a squad of shocktroopers, stride through the corridor on the hunt for the fleeing Jedi.
LUH-3417: (into comlink) They are headed toward Airlock 43. Stop them!
INT. BATTLEMOON/CORRIDOR #1
A SQUAD OF CLONE SHOCKTROOPERS appears at the opposite end of the corridor from the Jedi.
SHOCKTROOPER COMMANDER: Halt!
Taking his lightsaber — Anakin’s former lightsaber — Obi-Wan engages the cyan blade. Following suit, Sev triggers the alizarin blade of his own weapon. As the shocktroopers begin firing upon them, the two knights use their sabers to block and parry the blue blaster bolts.
OBI-WAN: Jano! Thermal detonator!
Reaching into a pouch on his utility belt, Jano fishes out a thermal detonator and arms it.
OBI-WAN: Now!
The young Duros tosses the detonator to the shocktroopers. The four Jedi leap across into an adjoining corridor as the weapon detonates. With a massive BOOM and an even more massive fireball, the clones are flash-fried, their suits of armour reduced to twisted lumps of blackened plasteel.
INT. BATTLEMOON/CORRIDOR #3
LUH-3417: (into comlink) CT-7567, come in. CT-7567, do you read me? (to THX-1138) I’ve lost him.
THX-1138: We can still cut them off. This way.
Thex heads into another corridor. Lu and the shocktroopers follow.
INT. KORRIBAN — OUBLIETTE/LABYRINTH — DAY
Anakin continues his hasty passage through the labyrinth. Several times he has come across dead ends, forcing him to turn back and retrace his steps, more than a few times coming narrowly close to crossing paths with the Daemon of the Labyrinth. He tries using the Force to navigate the maze, and it has bought him some measure of success, but with the Daemon hounding him he has found it difficult to concentrate.
Coming to another dead end, Anakin sighs with exasperation. Quickly turning around, he comes face-to-disfigured-face with the Daemon.
ANAKIN: AH!
The serpent weapon uncoils from around the Daemon's forearm and slithers back into its hand, where it flattens and stiffens into an organic sword. Anakin dives between the Daemon’s legs as it tries taking his head off. Twisting around, the Daemon flips the serpent weapon over, pointing it head-first at Anakin. Opening its mouth, the serpent projects another stream of venom. Splashing against the young man's back, it begins eating through the armour. Turning a corner, Anakin hurriedly presses up against a wall. Dragging his back along it, he hopes to clean the worst of the corrosive fluid away. Where the venom touches the wall, the stone starts dissolving.
Coming around the corner, the Daemon heads toward him. Looking about for a weapon, Anakin quickly spots a large, loose stone lying on the hard floor. Picking it up, he rubs it into a dissolving spot on the wall, then hurls it with pinpoint accuracy into the Daemon's face. With a solid THWACK, the Daemon SCREAMS with more pain than the impact alone could bring. The Daemon momentarily standing in place, violently wiping its melting face, Anakin takes the opportunity to put as much distance as he can between himself and it.
INT. BATTLEMOON/CORRIDOR #4
The Jedi are closing in on the airlock.
TEYF BERAL: Y'know, taking a ship across to the Steed would be a much better plan than going back out there in suits.
JANO BERAL: Not to mention safer.
OBI-WAN: Alas, Cartan ships are not easily commandeered.
Halfway through the corridor, they stop. LUH-3417, THX-1138, and the shocktrooper squad stand before the Jedi, cutting them off. The two admirals step forward.
LUH-3417: It has been a long while since I danced with Jedi.
Unveiling her lightsaber, Lu triggers the white blade. Thex does likewise.
OBI-WAN: Be forwarned: I'm an adroit waltzer.
SEV BERAL: And I am a master at the flamenco.
The four Jedi ignite their lightsabers.
INT. KORRIBAN — OUBLIETTE/LABYRINTH — DAY
Anakin finally comes to the end of the labyrinth. Instead of finding an exit, he finds a large stone platform with a short stone column atop it. Furrowing his brow, Anakin approaches the platform. On the platform, before the column, are situated two curious objects: a Sith warblade, embedded deep in a large block of stone, and a crystal sarcophagus containing the body of a Lettow child. Climbing atop the platform, Anakin takes a look at the warblade. A single-handed sword, the shaft of the blade is onyx black, marked with Sith runes. Taking the hilt, Anakin tries pulling the warblade free, but it refuses to budge. Abandoning the effort, he turns his attention to the sarcophagus. A Lettow child indeed lies within — a boy, about seven years old. Skin pale gray, features uncorrupted, he looks asleep, not dead.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) The child before you has not gone on to the Force. He has lain in death-like slumber these five millennia. If need be, he will lie five more until the Sith are born anew.
ANAKIN: (shocked) You put him in here with that thing‽
Speaking of the devil, that very thing arrives. The venom having dissolved half its face and one of its eyes, it looks even more gruesome than when it emerged from its stasis. GROWLING, it lurches toward the platform.
ANAKIN: Stop it!
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) I will not.
ANAKIN: It'll harm the boy!
Leaping off the platform, Anakin charges the Daemon. Taking a running leap, he tries tackling the Daemon, but the Daemon merely tosses him over its head, sending him hard into a stone wall. Unveiling its serpent weapon, the Daemon slashes down, but Anakin rolls out of the way in time to avoid bisection; the serpentine blade cuts deep into stone only.
INT. BATTLEMOON/CORRIDOR #4
The shocktroopers all lie dead upon the deck. The cybernetically augmented, genetically enhanced clones alone face the Jedi now. Lu concentrates on Obi-Wan and Sev while Thex concentrates on the apprentices.
Making a lunge, Jano tries skewering Thex on his cerulean blade, but the ATJA parries the move. Kicking the lightsaber out of the Duros’ hand, he strikes with his white blade, cutting clean through the apprentice’s left knee. Without a leg to stand on, Jano collapses. Teyf comes to his cousin’s aid. Coming in behind Thex, he beheads the clone with one downward stroke.
LUH-3417: (screaming) Thex!
The one person she cared about in this life taken from her, Lu loses it. Ramming her shoulder hard into Obi-Wan, she drives him hard into a wall, where he bounces off and collapses to the deck in a daze. Turning on Sev, she attacks with heavy, brutal blows. Blade of white hammering against blade of red, the ATJA forces the Durosian Jedi back. Driving the point of her lightsaber through his shoulder, cutting up through it, she removes Sev from the fight. SHRIEKING like a harpy, she turns upon her lover's slayer. Teyf brings up his blue blade to ward off the enraged clone, but it does no good. Cutting his arms off at the elbows, she then bisects him.
With the SNAP-HISSES of two lightsabers igniting in tandem, Lu turns to face Obi-Wan. He stands there, both Anakin’s and Sev’s lightsabers in hand.
INT. KORRIBAN — OUBLIETTE/LABYRINTH — DAY
Anakin kicks the Daemon hard in the wounded side of its face twice. The second kick sends the abomination reeling. Taking the serpent weapon in hand, Anakin pulls it free of the stone, intending to use it against the Daemon. Once in the Human's grasp, the serpent reverts to its natural shape and snaps at Anakin. Panicked, Anakin tosses it at the Daemon.
A previously hidden doorway set in the wall over the stone column slides open. This is the exit.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) You are free to leave, to return to the craft which bore you here and depart Korriban forever.
Retrieving the serpent weapon, the Daemon configures it into a razor-edged whip. Snapping it, the creature slashes open the front of Anakin’s suit. Dashing away from the Daemon, Anakin returns to the platform.
ANAKIN: The child —
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) The Daemon of the Labyrinth will saite its bloodlust.
ANAKIN: (shocked) You'd let the last of your own die like this‽
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) You would spare the boy? Take up the warblade.
ANAKIN: I can't move it!
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) The Blade of the Saarai-Kaar will yield to the one who keeps the truth.
ANAKIN: (nonplussed) Keeps the truth‽
Anakin grasps the hilt, pulling and jostling to loosen the sword. It will not loosen the slightest.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) The truth of the Force!
The Daemon approaches the platform. Anakin tries kicking it in the face again, but it grabs him by the ankle before his boot can connect. Yanking Anakin off his feet, the Daemon drags the former Jedi off the platform. It then kicks him in the back, hurtling him across the floor.
INT. BATTLEMOON/CORRIDOR #4
Alone, Obi-Wan fights the clone. Blades of cyan and alizarin at hand, he attacks, blocks, and counterattacks, but the nine Corellian hells hath no fury like an ATJA scorned. Striking with her lightsaber, Lu relentlessly beats the Jedi down. Twisting Sev’s saber out of his left hand, knocking Anakin’s out of his right, Lu kicks Obi-Wan’s legs out from under him.
LUH-3417: Give my regards to oblivion.
As she rears her blade back to deliver the death blow, Sev comes up behind her. Fallen Teyf's lightsaber in hand, the Durosian Jedi runs her through on the cerulean blade.
LUH-3417: ...
His strength spent, the Durosian knight releases the hilt, disengaging the saber and allowing the clone to collapse.
SEV BERAL: (weak) Jano….
The Durosian Jedi Knight falls atop Lu.
Rising, retrieving both Anakin’s and Sev’s lightsabers, Obi-Wan goes to help the maimed but extant Jano Beral.
INT. KORRIBAN — OUBLIETTE/LABYRINTH — DAY
ANAKIN: (coughs up blood) Truth of the Force. (beat) The light is passive….
In pain, Anakin stands back up.
ANAKIN: (cont'd) Less than that ... it is languid ... anemic.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) Yes!
ANAKIN: There must be action ... passion ... strength!
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) The dark side is beyond good and evil. It is the will to power, the means of imposing your design upon the universe! What be your design?
ANAKIN: A universe brought to order.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) The Daemon — does it fit your design?
ANAKIN: No.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) Then submit to your righteous hatred! Bring order to the chaos!
Opening himself up the Force — the dark Force — Anakin forces his pain to recede. Renewed, he springs over the Daemon, somersaulting through the air to land on the platform behind the monster. Grasping the warblade, Anakin pulls it free of the block, the runes on the blade resonating a fierce blue as the dark side flows through it. The Daemon leaps atop the platform, the serpent weapon shifting to its sword form. Swinging the alchemically forged warblade, Anakin easily cleaves through the serpentine weapon. As the remaining end of the serpent weapon goes flaccid in the Daemon's hand, quite dead, Anakin lops off that hand. As the Daemon SCREAMS — a most inhuman, unholy sound — Anakin flips the sword around. Baring his teeth, Anakin drives the hilt into the Daemon's face — through its face. The Daemon of the Labyrinth finally vanquished, Anakin pulls the hilt free, allowing the beast's lifeless bulk to collapse backward off the platform.
Raising the warblade, Anakin examines the runes.
MARKA RAGNOS: (O.S.) Saarai-kaar. Keeper of the truth.
With those disembodied words, a bright flash of violet light fills the chamber, consuming Anakin.
INT. BATTLEMOON/CORRIDOR #4
LUH-3417 lies upon the deck, the cooling form of Sev Beral atop her. Though mortally wounded, she’s not yet dead. Removing her helmet, she tosses it aside. Lying almost within reach, mercifully still in its helmet, is THX-1138’s severed head.
LUH-3417: Someone else will carry the torch, lover. (beat) Someone always does.
As she expires, the white glow of her artificial eyes recedes, leaving cold, obsidian orbs in their sockets.
EXT. SPACE — BATTLEMOON
Obi-Wan and Jano return to the vacuum of outer space. As the ronin Jedi radios the Troia’s Steed, the bulk freighter decloaks. Firing their suit thrusters, the Jedi rocket up and away, leaving the surface of the battlemoon behind as the Steed comes to pick them up.
INT. TROIA'S STEED/AIRLOCK
The Jedi enter the ship.
OBI-WAN: (removes helmet) Take us away from here!
LT. CMDR. TARKIN: Easily, Knight Kenobi.
EXT. SPACE — BATTLEMOON
Turning around, the Troia's Steed departs.
INT. KORRIBAN — GREAT TEMPLE/BURIAL CHAMBER — DAY
Anakin finds himself back in the Great Temple. The wraiths of the Lords and Ladies surround him now; like anthropomorphic shadows they surround him. Standing within the circle of Sith ghosts with Anakin, aglow with pale blue luminescence, is the spirit of Marka Ragnos.
MARKA RAGNOS: You have passed the trials of skill and tenacity, of intelligence and intuition, and of honour and passion. You have proven to have the heart of a Sith born. You are worthy of our tutelage. (beat) Step forward, acolyte.
Anakin approaches Marka Ragnos. Planting the tip of his warblade into the floor, Anakin kneels on one knee before the ancient spirit.
MARKA RAGNOS: Anakin Skywalker, by the right of the council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Dark Lord …
Reaching out, Marka Ragnos places his ghostly hand upon the crown of Anakin’s head. As the spirit holds it there, Anakin grimaces with pain, the sound of flesh searing accompanying the grimace. The moment is brief, and Ragnos soon takes his hand away. Branded upon Anakin’s forehead, the red glow already receding from it, is his own personal crest: an arrowhead within a circle.
MARKA RAGNOS: (cont’d) Knight of the Empire.
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Post by Duragizer on Apr 17, 2018 22:56:00 GMT -5
SPACE — MONTAGE
Receiving word of the interdiction zone's nullification, the thousands of Imperial ships stationed on the zone's former boundaries jump to hyperspace.
EXT. VALLEY OF THE SLEEPING KINGS — SLIPSTREAM — SUNSET
Anakin has returned to the Slipstream. The Blade of the Saarai-Kaar tucked under his arm, he signals Dahlia who sits at the cockpit viewport. In moments the boarding ramp lowers and Dahlia climbs out.
DAHLIA: (grins) You found it. You found them.
Anakin starts to return her grin, then he sees the blaster she has held on him. With a CHOOM, a white blaster bolt burns into Anakin's shoulder.
ANAKIN: ARGH!
Dahlia advances, firing the blaster. This time Anakin is on his guard; bringing the warblade to bear, he blocks each of the plasma bolts. As Dahlia comes in too close, Anakin slices through the blaster. Taking a wary step back, casting the useless gun aside, the Pantoran pulls the hydrospanner strapped to her thigh free. With a BUZZ, a humming blade of dark blue plasma extends from its socket.
ANAKIN: (shocked) You're Jedi‽
DAHLIA: No, but Daddy was.
Bringing the blade around, the blue-skinned woman strikes. The Sith brings the warblade up at a downward angle, blocking the lightsaber. He then makes a strike for her forearm, hoping to disarm her, but she parries the attack.
DAHLIA: (cont'd) He taught me to mask my Force-sensitivity. He taught me many things.
Fast and agile, Dahlia attacks with a flurry of motion, feinting and striking at Anakin with such ferocity that were she facing a non-sensitive swordsman, he would be lying in pieces on the ground already. Though Anakin is far from incompetent himself, he isn't accustomed to duelling one-handed or with a blade with actual weight. As such his blocks and attacks are sluggish and unbalanced.
DAHLIA: (cont'd) Daddy taught me all about the Sith. He used to regale me with tales of their exploits, of the wealth of their empire, of the magicks they wielded.
Dahlia lands a glancing blow to Anakin's left thigh. Distracted by the pain, Anakin fails to prevent her from kicking him square in the chest, knocking him flat on his back.
DAHLIA: (cont'd) Daddy desired the power of the Sith. Oh, how he dreamed to see the Force through their eyes, to master the arts deemed unnatural by Jedi ages past. He knew amongst the thousands of worlds that once made up the Sith Empire, at least one must have escaped plunder — a virgin bastion of Sith wisdom.
Bringing her saber down, Dahlia tries skewering Anakin. Rolling out of the way, the Sith springs up, lunging at the dark Jedi. Crossing blades, their eyes connect.
DAHLIA: (cont'd) Together we would venture out into the Sith Worlds. For months at a time we just wandered the stars, the ancient hyperlanes, following up any rumours or old legends which promised us our El Dorado. We never came close once. (beat) After Daddy's passing, I abandoned hope of ever finding our lost world; I consigned it to the dustbin of childhood myths and dreams. Then you came along — with your dazzling aura and haunted eyes, on a mysterious quest for unknown Korriban. Korriban: a name which never come up in our searches, a name which promised the Galaxy itself. I knew right then you were the key to everything.
Grimacing, Anakin pushes against Dahlia, forcing her back. Parrying one of her lunges, Anakin ripostes, opening her cheek up.
ANAKIN: (sneers) You used me. Everything you said to me, everything we shared together — it was all done to get you here. You never cared for me; I was your meal ticket.
DAHLIA: My feelings for you are real. I could never feign those.
ANAKIN: So you love me. You just covet my title more.
DAHLIA: (shrugs) There can only be one Dark Lord — or Lady — at a time.
The battle is renewed. Fueled by his rage at Dahlia’s gross abuse of his affections, Anakin no longer flounders in his use of the Sith weapon. Lunges are parried, ripostes made. The sounds of superheated plasma kissing nigh-indestructible crystal reverberate through the still valley.
DAHLIA: Just relinquish your title, Anakin. Give it up to me and we can go home together.
ANAKIN: You haven't earned it. You do not deserve it.
DAHLIA: (heartbroken) So be it, Dark Lord.
Stepping back, blue face hard, Dahlia transitions her lightsaber to her left hand. As she strikes, bringing her dark blue blade down, Anakin dodges. Slashing upward, he severs the Pantoran's left arm at the shoulder.
DAHLIA: AAAAHHHH!!!!!!
Clutching her bleeding shoulder, Dahlia collapses to one knee. Grimacing, her gaze falls on her severed arm and the converted hydrospanner still held by her left hand. The Dark Lord brings his boot down hard on that hand, crushing it and the lightsaber beneath his heel.
ANAKIN: The forbidden power you have long desired is here. Have a taste.
Seething with rage, the Dark Lord of the Sith takes Dahlia's hair in his hand. Dread sweeping over her, Dahlia can do nothing as he pulls her to him.
INT. GEONOSIS — SANDCRAWLER — MONTAGE
Having proven himself an excellent mechanic, Shiiid has put Darth to work repairing the systems of the sandcrawler as promised. But Darth has other plans; he’s going to use this opportunity to destroy the sandcrawler, killing everyone — the raiders and their captives, himself included.
In a week's time, Darth secures materials he can use to fashion makeshift detonators. Once he has assembled the detonators, he sets about planting them in the vital areas of the sandcrawler, taking care to avoid detection.
INT. GEONOSIS — SANDCRAWLER/ENGINEERING STATION — DAY
Crammed in a tight space too small for any adult to squeeze into, Darth plants the final detonator. Worming his way back out, the boy fishes out the ‘droid caller he rewired to serve as a remote trigger. Closing his eyes, he presses the ignition switch.
Darth overestimated the destructive capability of his jury-rigged detonators. Instead of setting off a series of tremendous explosions powerful enough to obliterate the sandcrawler and set the surrounding camp ablaze, several less cataclysmic but still very deadly fires have been ignited. A blaze quickly breaks out in the engineering station, right in the tight space Darth was. Feeding off the gritty old oil saturating the area, it spreads fast. Air filling with greasy black smoke faster than Darth can get to safety, the boy swoons, rapidly succumbing to asphyxiation.
EXT. MEADOW — DAY (VISION)
Opening his eyes, Darth finds himself in a meadow.
Standing up, the boy takes his strange new surroundings in. In stark contrast to dry, barren Geonosis, bright green grass sprouts from the ground here as far as the eye can see, with large white clouds in the electric blue sky overhead. In the distance a metropolis of iridescent crystal rises from the earth, sunlight filtering through it to dazzling effect. Music — the most beautiful, melodic, uplifting Darth has ever heard — wafts up from the city, filling the air with its harmony.
SHMI WARKA: (O.C.) Beautiful, isn't it?
Spinning around, Darth finds his long-departed mother standing a ways behind him. Dressed in blue and white robes, holding cherubic Mitra in her arms, all the weight she once bore on her shoulders has been lifted. She looks radiant, a matron of matrons.
SHMI WARKA: (smiles) Hello, love.
Eyes heavy with tears, Darth runs up them. Lowering Mitra to the ground, Shmi takes her son in her arms as they come together, sweeping him around in a joyous embrace.
DARTH: (crying) Mom! Mom!
Mother and son kiss. Neither wants to leave the other’s arms.
DARTH: I’m sorry! I'm so sorry! It’s my fault you’re both dead! I couldn't save you! I couldn’t save either of you! Forgive me! Please forgive me!
MITRA: (kisses Darth on cheek) Don't be sad, Darth; I'm not. I’m back with my mommy and daddy again. We all live together in the big city.
SHMI WARKA: You have shouldered much guilt needlessly, son. Let it go.
Darth BAWLS, letting all the sadness and grief and shame he has let build in his system finally out.
DARTH: (wipes tears away) W-where are we?
SHMI WARKA: Beyond the thousand natural shocks flesh is heir to.
DARTH: Are gramps and gram here?
SHMI WARKA: They're all here, all our ancestors. They are as they were in youth, at peace and content.
DARTH: I want to meet them all!
SHMI WARKA: And you will — when your time has come.
DARTH: (confused) My time? What do you mean? I'm here now, aren't I?
SHMI WARKA: (shakes head) Your pain was too great; I had to bring you here, to offer hope. But you cannot stay. You must live your life first.
DARTH: (voice breaks) What life?
SHMI WARKA: (runs fingers through his hair) A friend is coming, Darth. He will free you and take you far from Geonosis. You only have to hold on a little longer.
DARTH: But I want to be with you.
SHMI WARKA: (kisses his forehead) Have faith. You will see me again.
INT. GEONOSIS — SANDCRAWLER/ENGINEERING STATION — DAY
Darth regains consciousness. The other mechanics managed to extinguish the fire, with one of them performing CPR to resuscitate the young boy.
EXT. ORRON III — DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — DAY
Finishing their work for the day, Nemec and Corin return inside.
Not two minutes later, a speeder bike pulls up to the homestead. Cutting power to the engines, Llomon hops off and approaches the front door.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/ENTRANCE HALL — DAY
As the two DuQuesnes argue over who will get to take a shower first — Corin having shot down Nemec's suggestion they take a shower together — a KNOCK is heard at the door. Going to the door, Nemec opens it a crack. Llomon stands there, his bionic blaster cannon out of sight.
NEMEC: Anything I can help you with, mister?
LLOMON: Anakin Skywalker.
NEMEC: I'm afraid he's not here.
LLOMON: Where is he?
NEMEC: I can't answer that.
The Trandoshan darts his tongue out, getting a taste of the air.
NEMEC: Do you have a message for him? I'll get it to him if I can.
LLOMON: That won't be necessary.
As the Trandoshan turns to leave, Nemec closes and locks the door. Facing Corin, her gives her a quizzical look.
CORIN: What was that about?
Nemec shrugs. It's the last thing he ever does. A plasma ball plows through the door, blasting it to splinters, and right through Nemec. His body hurtled forward, Corin is driven to the floor with his bulk atop her. As Llomon steps through the door, the muzzle of his blaster cannon steaming, she SCREAMS. Pulling herself out from under Nemec's corpse, Corin turns to bolt. Llomon discharges another plasma blast, taking her right leg off below the knee.
CORIN: YYYEEEAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!
Moving in on the crippled woman as she tries crawling away, the Trandoshan plants his foot on her back, holding her in place. Taking aim, he fires a third shot at point-blank range, ending her struggles.
LLOMON: (cont'd) I don't mind the wait.
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Post by Duragizer on Apr 18, 2018 17:47:49 GMT -5
EXT. SPACE — TOWNOWI — MONTAGE
The Cartan fleet surrounds Townowi, a veritable shell surrounding the crystalline planet.
Dropping out of hyperspace — consisting of several thousand Star Defenders, Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers, and countless other battleships, cruisers, and escorts — is nearly the entire Imperial Navy. Converging upon the clone ships, they unleash enough firepower to slag a world. The Cartans return fire, but are sorely outnumbered.
The entire battle lasts an hour. Once the guns of the Imperial ships finally fall silent, all that remains of the Cartan fleet is a debris field orbiting Townowi.
INT. GEONOSIS — SANDCRAWLER/CONTROL ROOM — DAY
A pair of raiders drag Darth in, taking him to Shiiid. The Zabrak sits in his customary chair, none too happy.
ELIK SHIIID: I gave you a chance, Darth — an opportunity to become one of us, to put our food in your belly. But you do this to us! Fires! Fires everywhere! The sandcrawler will never run! Never ever never!
Darth sneaks a glance at Chlorian. He is still in the rack. Both his arms are gone now, along with an ear and a leg. If he was dangerously emaciated before, now he looks absolutely skeletal. Were it not for the signs of his breathing, no one could be blamed for thinking him dead.
ELIK SHIIID: You look at your father? Your father is the side dish! You will be the main course! (to a raider) Fire up the grill!
EXT. GEONOSIS — CONDAWN — DAY
A formation of fifteen Imperial attack shuttles pass over the cityscape of Condawn, the shuttle Seraphim taking point. The city, its streets filled with trash, debris, and bones, is empty of anything else.
INT. SERAPHIM/COCKPIT — DAY
COPILOT: No life readings.
The shuttle departs, leaving Condawn alone, a monument to its own passing.
EXT. RAIDER CAMP — DAY
The shuttle passes over the raider camp.
INT. SERAPHIM/COCKPIT — DAY
COPILOT: I’m registering serious life-signs!
EXT. RAIDER CAMP — DAY
With the arrival of the shuttles, many of the raiders scurry out from under their tents and take off into the open desert.
INT. SERAPHIM/MAIN CABIN — DAY
Obi-Wan is seated with a squad of Imperial troopers. His face, back to its old self, is unreadable.
As the Seraphim touches down, the Jedi and troopers under his command rise. The hatch opening, they file out into the desert.
EXT. RAIDER CAMP — DAY
The troopers spread out, moving into the camp. While most of the raiders continue running away, some choose to stay and fight the Imperials, costing most of them their lives in the process.
IMPERIAL TROOPER #1: Why are they attacking us? Can’t they tell we’re the good guys?
OBI-WAN: They’re too far gone to tell much of anything.
EXT. RAIDER CAMP — SANDCRAWLER — DAY
As the Jedi and his men close in on the sandcrawler, several raiders guarding the entrance open fire with their blasters. Whipping out his lightsaber, Obi-Wan engages the cyan blade and parries the white blaster bolts. Raising their blasters, the troopers mow down the crazed raiders before they can cause real harm.
The Imperials proceed inside the derelict land vehicle.
INT. SANDCRAWLER/PRISON AREA — DAY
Obi-Wan and his men enter the compartment housing the few remaining Condawni captives. The sight and smell of the starved creatures within assault them with equal force.
OBI-WAN: (grimaces) Attend to them.
IMPERIAL TROOPER #2: Yes sir!
The Jedi leaves.
INT. SANDCRAWLER/CONTROL ROOM — DAY
The grill of the barbecue is hot and ready. Darth, strapped into the rack with his dying father, is just about to be lowered onto the red hot coals when Obi-Wan and four troopers burst inside.
ELIK SHIIID: (surprised) WHA!
The troopers gun the raiders down. Dancing about like a spastic marionette as the red bolts bore through him, Shiiid dies in most satisfying fashion.
Striding up to the rack, Obi-Wan cuts Darth free of his restraints.
OBI-WAN: Are you alright, son?
DARTH: (shocked) Y-yeah.
As Darth steps down from the rack, Obi-Wan leans in close to Chlorian. He rests a hand on the older man’s prominent ribs.
DARTH: (worried) How is he?
OBI-WAN: (shakes head) It won’t be long now.
Darth returns to Chlorian.
DARTH: Chlorian.
Chlorian stirs, sunken eyes cracking open ever so slightly.
CHLORIAN VADER: Daaaahhhhhh….
DARTH: Yes, it's me. (beat) I need to know — am I your son?
CHLORIAN: (brittle) You ... are.
DARTH: (crying) Darth Vader does sound better than Darth Warka, doesn't it?
For the first time, for the last time, through a veil of tears, the Vaders share a smile.
EXT. SPACE — GEONOSIS
Leaving the benighted desert of Geonosis, the attack shuttles head for open space.
INT. SERAPHIM/MAIN CABIN
Darth sits in the shuttle with Obi-Wan and the troopers.
DARTH: (eyes Obi-Wan’s lightsaber) You’re a Jedi Knight, aren’t you?
OBI-WAN: (half-smiles) What makes you think that?
DARTH: Your lasersword. Only Jedis carry that kind of weapon.
OBI-WAN: Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him.
DARTH: I don’t think so. No one can kill a Jedi.
OBI-WAN: (pensive) I wish that were so.
EXT. SPACE — ORRON III — ORBITAL STATION
The Slipstream drops out of hyperspace and heads for the orbital station. As privately owned craft are disallowed on Orron III, Anakin will have to park his new ship there and ride a shuttle down to the surface.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/COCKPIT
Receiving permission to dock, Anakin takes the Slipstream through the docking bay entrance. As the corvette slips inside, Anakin looks to the copilot's chair. Dahlia, once-lovely hair crudely shorn to the scalp, eyes haunted, averts her gaze.
EXT. SPACE — ORRON III
Several minutes later, another ship — a passenger liner — exits hyperspace from another direction. Unlike the Slipstream, this ship will be allowed to land on Orron III.
INT. PASSENGER LINER/PASSENGER DECK
Nashira looks out her window. She can spot the orbital station in the distance — the station and the speck that is a shuttle leaving the station.
INT. SHUTTLE/PASSENGER CAB
Anakin sits in the passenger cab. Dressed in a new suit of black light armour, a black cloak clasped around his shoulders, he keeps a long, thin carrying case laid across his knees.
EXT. ORRON III — SPACEPORT/TARMAC — DAY
Disembarking from her liner, Nashira heads for the spaceport proper. As it was when she left Orron III, she wears the purple cloak across her shoulders, this time with a black synth-leather jumpsuit.
CUT TO
Anakin leaving his shuttle.
Carrying case slung over his shoulder, he heads for the spaceport proper.
INT. SPACEPORT/TERMINAL — DAY
Nashira gets to the checkpoint. Examining her and her bags for weapons, the Espos find nothing suspicious. The Espos wave her through.
In moments, it's Anakin's turn to proceed through the checkpoint.
ESPO #1: (passes scanner over case) Let's see what you have here, friend.
Another Espo stepping forward, Anakin unslings the case and hands it to him. The second Espo taking the case, the first releases the catches and flips the lip up. There's a clarinet nestled inside.
ESPO #2: Hang up your lightsaber to join a band, eh, Jedi?
As the Espo seals the case, hiding the Sith warblade from sight once more, Anakin gives him a humourless grin.
Once past the checkpoint, Anakin and Nashira finally spot each other. Mouths falling agape, they run up to one another. Standing there, they gaze into one another's eyes. They both know what transpired. They both know it is now in the past.
Dropping their bags and carrying case, they embrace.
EXT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — SUNSET
Anakin and Nashira arrive at the homestead as the sun begins setting. They don’t need the unfamiliar speeder bike parked out front to sense there is something deathly off.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/ENTRANCE HALL — SUNSET
Stepping through the demolished door, they find the remains of Nashira's parents. Putting her hands to her mouth, Nashira collapses to her knees, stifling a scream. Eyes widening, Anakin steps past the bodies, deeper into the house.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/LIVING AREA — SUNSET
Entering the room, Anakin finds Llomon sitting in an airchair. The Trandoshan, enjoying a glass of absinthe, greets Anakin with a reptilian grin. Anakin instinctively brings up the carrying case as Llomon opens fire. The superheated plasma burns right through the case but is dispersed against the Sith sword within, saving Anakin's life. Nevertheless, the kinetic energy of the blast sends him into a wall.
Finishing his absinthe, Llomon rises from the chair, ready to finish the Sith off when Nashira enters. As the Trandoshan turns on her, Anakin takes up the remains of the case and the sword within and throws them in the bounty hunter's face. The weight knocking him off-kilter, his blast passes over Nashira's head, punching a hole in the ceiling over her instead. Anakin rushes Llomon, tackling him, giving Nashira the opportunity to bolt from the room.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD — WORKSHED — SUNSET
Flinging the door open, Nashira dashes inside, right for the gun cabinet. When she tries to open the cabinet doors, she finds them locked. Swearing under her breath, she begins looking about the workshed for something to break the cabinet open with.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/LIVING AREA — SUNSET
Anakin lays into the Trandoshan, punching him hard in the face again and again and again. Starting to bleed profusely from nose and mouth, Llomon swats the Human away with the side of his blaster cannon. Standing up, Llomon takes a swipe at Anakin with his claws. Blocking the attack, the Sith seizes the arm in a strong hold and, spinning the bounty hunter around once, throws him headlong into a couch. His large bulk pushing him right through the couch, the Trandoshan continues on to crash into a table.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD — WORKSHED — SUNSET
A mattock in hand, Nashira hammers at the doors of the gun cabinet. Breaking one of them open, she reaches inside and fishes out a blaster rifle. Shoving a power pack into the weapon, she takes off back for the house.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/KITCHEN — SUNSET
Crashing through a wall together, the Sith and bounty hunter now find themselves in the kitchen.
Picking up a skillet, Anakin drives it into Llomon's gut then up into his chin, knocking the Trandoshan reeling. Quickly finding his wits, the Trandoshan pulls a large butcher knife from a knife holder and, with blinding speed, sends it flying at Anakin. Using the skillet as an ersatz racket, the Sith knocks it away from him. The Sith then pitches the skillet at the Trandoshan, hoping to brain him, but the bounty hunter blasts it before it can connect.
LLOMON: (translator damaged; in Dosh & Basic) Now you die.
Before Llomon can cut Anakin down, Nashira bursts in the kitchen, blaster in hand. Taking aim, she opens fire. Blaster bolts raining all around him, striking his own blaster cannon, Llomon takes aim at Nashira and triggers it. Severely compromised in Nashira’s attack, the cannon releases a diffused bolt lacking much of the destructive force it once dealt. Nevertheless, striking Nashira's abdomen, the plasma burns through the material of her jumpsuit, charring the flesh beneath. Releasing a sharp CRY of pain, she collapses.
ANAKIN: (enraged) RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Taking a running leap, Anakin throws his leg out to take Llomon's head off. Ducking, the bounty hunter avoids having his cranium crushed into the drywall. Punching Anakin in the face, knocking him to his knees, the Trandoshan prepares to bludgeon the Sith with his malfunctioning blaster cannon. Anakin is quick to recover, though, and delivers a quick flurry of punches to the bounty hunter's gut before the reptilian can land the blow. The wind driven from him, Llomon staggers out of the kitchen.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/LIVING AREA — SUNSET
Returning to the living area, the Sith fetches the damaged carrying case. Retrieving the black warblade, he turns to finish this battle.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/HALLWAY — SUNSET
The Dark Lord of the Sith bearing down on him, Llomon brings his cannon to bear. As the white bolts are released, Anakin positions the blade between them and himself, blocking them. Forced to retreat, Llomon continues firing on the Sith, but the Human blocks each of the attacks. Moving right up to the bounty hunter, Anakin brings his warblade down on the blaster cannon, severing it from the Trandoshan’s arm with a shower of sparks.
LLOMON: (in Dosh) No!
Backhanding Llomon, Anakin sends the large Trandoshan sprawling. Planting his warblade in the floor, the Dark Lord seizes the Trandoshan's throat and lifts him up singlehanded.
ANAKIN: (angry) Who are you? (roaring) Answer me!
LLOMON: (choking) Llomon ... bounty hunter….
ANAKIN: Bounty hunter‽ Who sent you? (squeezes) Who sent you‽
LLOMON: (choking) Jukassa!
ANAKIN: (nonplussed) He hired you to do this‽
LLOMON: (choking; in Dosh & Basic) He hired me ... to take you out.
ANAKIN: Then why did you kill the DuQuesnes‽
LLOMON: (choking) They were in the way….
Anakin's face darkens with ever-mounting rage.
ANAKIN: Murderous vermin….
The Sith tightens his fingers around Llomon's throat. CHOKING horribly, the Trandoshan claws at Anakin's wrist with his remaining hand, drawing blood; the Human doesn't feel it at all.
ANAKIN: (crying) They were parents to me. I loved them. (roaring) I loved them!
The Dark Lord of the Sith snaps Llomon's neck. Spasming once, the Trandoshan falls limp. Face livid with rage and contempt, Anakin hurls the lifeless form into a wall, allowing it to slump to the floor, neck bent at an awkward angle.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/KITCHEN — SUNSET
Anakin returns to Nashira. Crouching over her, he takes her chin in his hand tenderly. At his touch, her eyes open.
NASHIRA: (grimaces) It hurts….
Anakin places a hand over the horrible burn. Closing his eyes, he concentrates. In seconds the blisters shrink and the charred flesh regains its natural colour. She is healed.
Taking Nashira's hand, Anakin helps her to her feet.
INT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/NEMEC & CORIN'S BED CHAMBER — SUNSET
Anakin has brought Corin and Nemec's bodies to their bedroom. Together on the bed, a clean sheet has been lain over their forms.
Lit torch in hand, the Dark Lord sets the bed ablaze.
EXT. DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD — COURTYARD — SUNSET
Leaving the DuQuesne house, Anakin and Nashira climb on Llomon's speeder bike. Kicking the engines to life, he takes them away from the homestead as cleansing fire builds to consume it.
EXT. HIGHWAY — SUNSET
As Anakin and Nashira ride together on the bike, she with her arms wrapped tight around his torso for dear life, the wind blows through their hair, catching Nashira's dark purple cloak and billowing it out behind her. They go headlong into the approaching night.
INT. CORUSCANT — JEDI TEMPLE/SIRI'S FLAT/COMM BOOTH — DAY
COMM: There are zero messages.
Obi-Wan deactivates the comm. His face creases with worry.
INT. JEDI TEMPLE/SIRI'S FLAT/LIVING AREA — DAY
Siri is seated at the caf table, drinking tea from a mug, when her husband emerges from the comm booth.
OBI-WAN: The DuQuesnes still haven't responded.
Obi-Wan joins his wife at the table.
SIRI: (rests hand on Obi-Wan's) You mustn't worry so. These things happen. Maybe the Corporate Sector Authority abolished home comm services. I certainly wouldn't put something untoward like that past them. (beat) I'm sure we'll get through to Corin and Nemec eventually.
OBI-WAN: Anakin's out there somewhere. It's imperative I find him.
SIRI: And I know you will.
They exchange a loving kiss.
SIRI: Obi ...
OBI-WAN: Yes, love?
SIRI: Let’s check in on him.
OBI-WAN: You sure?
SIRI: (grins) It couldn’t hurt. C’mon.
They leave the caf table.
INT. JEDI TEMPLE/SIRI'S FLAT/DARTH'S ROOM — DAY
Darth is busy soldering connections on a circuit board when a KNOCK is heard at the door.
SIRI: (O.S.) Is it alright if we come inside, Darth?
DARTH: Sure.
The door opens and Obi-Wan and Siri step inside. As the two adults look the room over, they find several pieces of mechanical equipment — some whole, most disassembled — taking up an entire side of the room.
OBI-WAN: Do you think you have enough parts, Darth?
DARTH: (smiles) Get me a functioning hyperdrive, then we’ll talk.
Obi-Wan musses Darth’s hair while Siri plants a kiss on their new son’s cheek.
EXT. SPACE — KORRIBAN
The Slipstream streaks toward Korriban.
EXT. KORRIBAN — VALLEY OF THE SLEEPING KINGS — SLIPSTREAM — DAY
Anakin, Nashira, and Dahlia exit the ship. As soon as they are out in the open, the atmosphere of the valley falls upon the two women — thick and oppressive.
INT. GREAT TEMPLE/BURIAL CHAMBER — DAY
With the women close by his side, Anakin enters the burial chamber. Eyeing the robed-and-armoured mummies seated upon the high obsidian thrones, Nashira and Dahlia shiver palpably.
Stopping in the centre of the chamber, the Dark Lord of the Sith gets down on one knee.
ANAKIN: What is thy bidding, my masters?
As the shadows of the dead Lords rise high above their preserved bodies, the unseen eyes of the awesome and terrifying spectres investigate the women keenly. Nashira and Dahlia both cower.
IRIS OUT
End titles
17/04/2018
S. D. G.
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Post by Duragizer on Apr 18, 2018 19:15:01 GMT -5
The following's my cast list for Knight of the Empire. As with my TND list, this cast list is of actors who could've conceivably been cast back when the actual prequels were filmed — in this case, 2000.
 CHRISTIAN BALE as ANAKIN SKYWALKER  AMY ADAMS as NASHIRA DUQUESNE  CAMERON BRIGHT as DARTH VADER  LAURIE HOLDEN as LUH-3417  JOHN SCHNEIDER as THX-1138  DEAN STOCKWELL as SN-5241/SN-2249  BOB GUNTON as CHLORIAN VADER  PERNILLA AUGUST as SHMI WARKA  JOY TANNER as DAHLIA KARIN  TEMUERA MORRISON as CMDR. JANGO CODY  MARY-LYNN RAJSKUB as KATHE NAAD  JANE FONDA as CORIN DUQUESNE  ROBERT REDFORD as NEMEC DUQUESNE  JEREMY IRONS as MARKA RAGNOS  WAYNE PYGRAM as LT. CMDR. WILHUFF TARKIN  KEEGAN CONNOR TRACY as NYKRES EIKHAN  BRUCE BOXLEITNER as SUPREME CHANCELLOR VANTOS COLL  ALICE COOPER as KARYON ADDER  DOUG JONES as LUDO KRESSH  DAVID LYNCH as CARNIE  MARJORIE MONAGHAN as CMDR. SHERIDAN JEFFREYS  ADRIAN PASDAR as NAGA SADOW  GREGORY PECK as EMPEROR COS DASHIT  RAY WISE as ATHA PRIME |
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Post by Duragizer on Apr 27, 2018 1:21:32 GMT -5
Here is some insight into the creative process for this screenplay.
THE SITHTo put it succinctly, I don't like how the Sith have been portrayed since 1999. First of all, they're 2 dimensional villains at the best of times, with little depth or motivation beyond a lust for power. Second, I just hate their boring, cliched aesthetic, with the all-black clothes, red lightsabers, and predominately pale skin. Years ago, not long after I began my prequel rewrite, I read the entire Tales of the Jedi comic series for the first time. Developed by Tom Veitch & Kevin J. Anderson prior to TPM's release, the storylines of these comics are set 4000-5000 years before SW '77 and quite prominently feature the Sith. As envisioned by Veitch/Anderson, the Sith were more than "reverse Jedi"; they were evil wizards who specialized in alchemy and black magic. While not without their flaws, I much prefer Veitch & Anderson's Sith over Lucas' and the Sith of later writers'. When it came time to reveal the Sith in KOTE, I drew inspiration from TOTJ. I tried recapturing as best I could the imagery from the comics in my descriptions.      From the get-go, I wanted to add depth to the Sith philosophy. I didn't want the Sith to be wholly evil or their perception of the Force inferior to the Jedi's. To that end, I incorporated the Pius Dea Crusades into their backstory to explain how and why they embraced the dark side. Furthermore, I wanted to make the Jedi & Sith as distinct from one another as possible without losing the duality between them. This is why the Sith of my universe by-and-large do not wield lightsabers, and why I chose to make the Sith & Jedi sister religions instead of a Christianity/Satanism analogue. THE CLONES Clone shocktrooper.  Clone diplomat.  Artificially Tailored Jedi Analogue. When I was a kid, I assumed the clones of the eponymous wars were villains. Apparently I'm not the only one who figured this. In his novel The Last Command, Timothy Zahn made mention of "clonemasters", the enigmatic figures who created the clones, and it was implied they weren't the good guys. Before that, Kenner had planned a toyline which would've featured Atha Prime, "the architect of the Clone Wars", as the main villain. Of course, Attack of the Clones came out and steamrolled over such notions, replacing them with mini-Jangos who fought heroically for the Republic. When I first started developing my PT rewrite, I planned on there being only one Clone War, instigated by alien invaders from a neighbouring galaxy against the Republic. As my canon expanded and evolved — as I grew more interested in mixing/matching different ideas/visions of the Clone Wars together — I amended my plans and came up with what you've read in these last two scripts. In earlier drafts, LUH-3417, THX-1138, and all their ilk had been Force-sensitive clones, cultured from the DNA of Force adepts captured and killed during the war. Eventually, the idea of Force-sensitivity being a quality which could be cloned soured for me, and so I amended the characters into ATJAs — clones genetically and bionically enhanced to physically match trained Jedi, but with no Force-sensitivity whatsoever. As for the lightsabers used by the ATJAs, they utilize the same technology used in Jedi lightsabers, but unlike Jedi lightsabers — which are powered by Force-attuned Adegan crystals — ATJA lightsabers are fueled by mundane power cells, which means they have to be recharged periodically. SHIPS  The Slipstream is the very ship above.  One of the fighter types utilized by the Cartan Autonomy is the T-Wing fighter. The T-Wing is based on this ship, the Z-95 Headhunter. I decided not to use the "Z-95" name because as a precursor to the X-Wing, I feel this ship should be belong to the Alphabet-Wing lineage.   The battlemoon is based on this Death Star concept art. "LHYT SPEED"? WHAT‽This is something I should've mentioned after I finished serializing TND, but I forgot.  "Lhyt" is a unit of speed, named after the Lhyt, the first hyperspace-capable vessel built by Humans. "Lhyt speed" is equivalent to the top speed of the Lhyt, which is a magnitude beyond the speed of light. Starships of the OT era can achieve velocities up to 6 times greater than lhyt speed, and that is pretty damn fast; a ship could cross a galactic quadrant in 13 months going that fast (presuming they could travel from Point A to Point Z in one stretch without having to drop out of hyperspace for course correction, which is impossible). I came up with the above to explain this, a speed which would otherwise be too low for convenient interstellar travel. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2018 9:18:16 GMT -5
Nicely done and well played --- Duragizer, I would see this movie in a heartbeat! |
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