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A Post-ROTJ Trilogy: What's To Come for the Big Three, And More

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I have scrapped my prequel rewrite idea in favor of an approach that allows me to run off the rails a bit more: a sequel trilogy. I pay no attention to post-ROTJ EU continuity outside of references to it that I have heard on forums and the Kyle Katarn PC game series (Dark Forces II in particular), so I am by no means an EU connoisseur. The only existing elements of Star Wars that would be canon with this are the Original Trilogy films. Any similarities with EU plotlines, settings, characters, or ideas are coincidental.........-ish.

To start things off, I have made the assumption that the Rebels form a government called the New Republic soon after the Empire's defeat at Endor. Its primary opponents are rogue Imperial warlords, isolationist planets, and bloodthirsty collections of pirates, mercenaries, and other cutthroats. Despite a slew of potential threats being present on many fronts, most of the Republic has become peaceful under the new democratic system of government.

Our heroine is Jeni Solo. She is the only child of Leia Organa and Han Solo, born in 4 ABY. Han's death in 8 ABY was the first seed of unrest in Jeni. Though she excelled in her Jedi training at the hands of her uncle and mother, she never could settle into the duty-driven, monastic life Luke had devoted himself to, nor could she stand the thought of spending her life in politics like her mother, Chief of State of the New Republic. Jeni always had a rogue streak about her, partly having to do with the suspicion that her mother was lying to her when she told Jeni that Han died in his sleep.

On the crystal-covered planet of Isis, a meeting with her father figure Lando Calrissian reveals the truth about Han's death. This sets Jeni off on a journey of revenge against those who killed her father, filled with twisted intrigue, shattering revelations, and powerful new allies. But as Master Skywalker is apt to warn Jeni, revenge is one of the many fangs with which the Dark Side can poison the mind of a Jedi...

Twenty years after the Battle of Yavin, the new trilogy of Star Wars begins.

 

How do you folks like the idea? There is more to come if you are interested!

Though it might sound like a petty revenge story now, the story does eventually get to the point where Jeni's actions affect the fate of the galaxy. 

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You have my permission to continue. (Yay!)

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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How many years after 0 BBY/ABY does it take place? Jeni was born in 4 ABY and Han died in 8 ABY, but what is the "present" time-frame for the story?  

-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars.  Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me? 

-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.  

-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten! 

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Episode VII: Revenge of the Jedi, 20 ABY

Episode VIII: The Forbidden Sanctum, 22 ABY

Episode IX: Legacy of the Force, 29 ABY

 

 

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McFlabbergasty said:

Episode VII: Revenge of the Jedi, 20 ABY

Episode VIII: The Forbidden Sanctum, 25 ABY

Episode IX: Legacy of the Force, 27 ABY

 

 

I like the titles.  It's nice to see "Revenge of the Jedi" coming back! 

-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars.  Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me? 

-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.  

-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten! 

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@SWPurist:  I've always held that title in special regard! The film that never was, in a sense. My only gripe is that using such a title here will create the abbreviations "RotJ1" and "RotJ2", which sound more like the names of jet skis than Star Wars films. But it is a nice fit for the story being told in my Ep7 (with young Jeni Solo being the film's vengeful Jedi). I'll post a proper introductory passage soon...

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Somewhat-important retcon: Leia isn't Chief of State until Episodes VIII and IX.

Here is the first part of the film's opening sequence. It cuts off in the middle of the action, which is why it might seem to end abruptly. I'll add more in further posts. 

 

The film opens on a pirate cruiser belonging to the syndicate called the Talon Striders. In an interrogation room on the vessel, Hossk, the Trandoshan leader of the Talon Striders, interrogates Magah, owner of a crystal mine on the planet Isis. Magah pleads for his own life as Hossk beats out of him the reason why he has skimped on protection payments. Just after executing Magah with a blaster pistol, Hossk gives an order to his second-in-command: the Talon Striders are to raid Magah's mine on Isis for any and all crystals.

Cut to the planet Isis. In a subterranean cave, with glittering crystals jutting out at odd angles on all surfaces, Luke Skywalker, stands besides Jeni as she telekinetically pieces together her lightsaber. As the final piece locks into place, Luke congratulates her, telling her that she has taken a great step forward in the path of the Jedi. He is about to knight her with his own lightsaber, when suddenly a tremor reverberates through the walls of the cavern and many crystals are seen shaking. The sounds of blaster fire are heard in the distance.

Two of Hossk's agents, Dagman (a greedy prospector and merchant of the Talon Striders) and Tyrhevius (a tough-as-nails mercenary employed by Hossk), lead a group of Talon Strider mercs into the crystal mines, gunning down any opposition they find and stealing valuable crystals. The pirates use their vibro-weapons to strike down any New Republic troopers in melee range. 

Tyrhevius receives a message on his commlink from Hossk: a New Republic battle group has been dispatched to deal with the Talon Striders. The time has come for the Striders to leave with whatever they have taken. Dagman stuffs his knapsack with valuable crystals when he and Tyrhevius and their escort confront the Skywalkers. Dagman immediately cowers off and runs away while Tyrhevius orders his escort to deal with the threat.

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Interesting.  Very different from the original trilogy films, but still interesting.  I like how people here are daring enough to have their own tales/views about Star Wars.  I have a totally different take on the Prequels which I hold pretty near and dear to my fanboy heart.  I feel people have every right to do the same with the "Sequels" (unmade or not).  Personally, I like to think of the Thrawn Trilogy as the first Sequel Trilogy, Dark Empire as an "optional" second, and something that hasn't quite been officially written yet as the third (i.e. generally what you're writing about and what Lucas's original ST idea was: A story following an aged Luke Skywalker now a Jedi "master" in the vein of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi "passing on the torch" to a few star pupils, presumably the children of Solo and Organa.  

Personally, I think I would have Luke being much more wise and Kenobi-like than any EU work has depicted thus far, trying to combat the seductive nature of the Dark Side creeping over to his pupils and dealing with a Galaxy now seeing little need for Jedi (even moreso than before).  

-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars.  Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me? 

-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.  

-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten! 

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The two Jedi dart about between crystal formations, expertly gunning down pirates with their blaster pistols. The pair enters close combat range. Luke chokes a Duros mercenary with the Force and kicks him at his comrades with a burst of incredible strength, knocking several Striders out cold.

Jeni charges the leader of the pack, deflecting blaster bolts with her lighsaber. She leaps at Tyrhevius, her blade clutched in her right hand, but Tyrhevius swiftly whips out a sonic rifle and fires a full-power burst. Jeni misses her opponent upon landing, clutching her head in deafened agony. Taking advantage of Luke running over to attend to his niece, Tyrhevius beats a hasty retreat.

Soon after, Republic guardsmen enter the area, securing a way for Luke and Jeni to exit the caves.

Later, in Isis' capitol building, Jeni and Luke are healing in the medical center when they are greeted by Lando Calrissian. Being the governor of the Anoat Sector (the area of the galaxy containing Isis), Lando has come to oversee the recovery efforts from the Talon Strider attack. After a warm greeting from his old friend Luke, it is revealed that the Talon Striders have been stepping up their efforts in the sector. Jeni is able to use her developing Force abilities to sense that Luke and Lando have a strangely specific apprehension of the Talon Striders. With recoveries complete, Luke tells the two that he will be on Corellia, where he will continue his own meditations as well as Leia's training in advanced telepathy.

After Luke leaves, Jeni asks Lando if there is anything in particular she ought to know about these bandits. Following careful deliberation, Lando reveals the truth to Jeni. Her father Han did not die in his sleep of Verdanthian Splitroot disease...as her mother Leia had told her twelve years previously. Rather, he and the other three crew members of the Falcon fought against and were all killed by Hossk's Talon Striders.

For a few moments, Jeni is unable to process the gravity of what Lando has told her.

But it is not long before her spirit develops a fiery and vitriolic thirst for revenge, the first tinge of the Dark Side.

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Lando tells her not to pursue the Striders, out of fear that she will encounter the same fate as her father. Jeni nods assent, actually intending to pursue the pirates and destroy them down to a man. Later she goes to the capitol building’s command tower and obtains information regarding the location of one of the Strider vessels. During the battle above Isis, a Republic starfighter had attached a tracking beacon to one of the pirates’ ships shortly before it jumped into hyperspace. It is Jeni’s only lead.

She downloads the information into her droid agent “Zero”, pointing her to the planet Raxus Prime. It is listed as a junkyard planet, mainly used as a refuse bin by other wealthier worlds. Jeni docks Zero into the back of her fighter, a vessel she acquired during her training as a Jedi apprentice, and enters the coordinates for Raxus Prime into the navcomputer. The glint of Isis’ crystal mines can be seen even as her craft breaks atmosphere. She jumps into hyperspace.

Meanwhile, on a lush jungle world, Tyrhevius sets his personal gunship down on a landing pad of a spaceport. Tangled masses of vines and nests of local fauna can be seen on the outside of the structure. The brigand greets his superior Hossk in the master's quarters. The reptiloid boss bares his razor-sharp fangs in elation at the news that his men have obtained a large batch of Isis crystals. He tells Tyrhevius that their long-pursued plan is finally coming to fruition. 

 

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Cut to the planet Raxus Prime. It is a junkyard world. Vast industrial complexes belch noxious gases into the atmosphere, blanketing everything on the surface in dust and soot. Endless tracts of land serve as dumps for scrap metal and obsolete technological artifacts, such as wrecked ships. A fortune can be made in these fields by an opportunistic scavenger with a death wish.
 
A distant cloaked figure watches from a rocky outcropping as Jeni lands her fighter at a spaceport.

She pays the stationmaster a fee and, with Zero trailing close behind, proceeds into the polluted cityscape with her eyes focused on her tracking beacon locator. When she gets to the neighboring port, the one where her target landed his vessel, Jeni observes the Talon Strider merchant, Dagman, leaving his ship with a bag of Isis crystals slung over his shoulder. With his other hand, he examines the coins kept in a pouch slung on his belt. It is obvious that Dagman intends to sell the crystals at a market.
 
Dagman goes to a pair of Weequay security guards at the entrance of a cantina. He mutters something to the two goons which waives the entry fee. Jeni appears from an alleyway and tries to pass by the pair, but they detect her and brandish their vibro-pikes. In the Weequay language, the guards yell an angry curse at her and demand an entry fee. She cannot afford it and tells them that she “knows the boss”. The guards won’t have it; they laugh at Jeni’s attempt at subterfuge. Then they tell her she can come into the pub if she forfeits Zero, an offer she sternly refuses.
 
Jeni decides to take a detour through a field of wreckage. With her lightsaber she cuts a hole through a security fence large enough to allow her and Zero to pass through. They navigate their way through a windswept landscape, their view of the horizon blocked by battered old landspeeders and piles of deactivated droids. After a while she is beheld by a familiar sight. Ruins of a ship with a semi-circular engine section and docking clamps on the front end, complete with a sensor dish extending upwards on the port side. The hull is dotted with dents and blaster marks.

 

Jeni realizes that she has found the remains of the Millenium Falcon.

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How are you folks finding it so far?

This is only a first draft of my outline for ROTJ2; there is some wiggle room in terms of characters and the nitty-gritty of events, but the overall route that I want to take towards the movie's end goal is pretty much already formed. The other two films to come, however, are not quite set in stone beyond a few basic plot points that I want to have happen in them.

The only existing Star Wars element that is completely canon with this trilogy is the OT. I don't want to get ahead too much, but there are certain revelations later in this trilogy that contradict the events of the Lucas PT to the point that those films could not possibly have taken place in the same canon as this trilogy.

Some parts of the EU are "broad strokes" canon with my trilogy. 

Any suggestions or questions would be welcome!

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I have one question and one suggestion.

I'll start with the suggestion. Personally, I kind of find the name "Jeni" - or at least the spelling of "Jeni" - for your protagonist kind of weak. Could you perhaps throw an "H" or another extra letter or two in there, to give it some oomph?

As for the question ... It's kinda silly, but it's one of those things I'm always obsessing over; what colour is Jeni's lightsaber supposed to be? Is it the standard blue/green, or something more exotic?

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Jeni's lightsaber is blue. Primarily to differentiate from her uncle Luke's green lightsaber and the orange lightsaber used by the trilogy's ultimate antagonist.

Leia never uses a lightsaber, though she has substantial Force experience by this point in the series. Her Force-sensitivity manifests itself as telepathy, empathy, and meditation. She takes the "Professor X" approach to her powers.

As for the protagonist's name, I decided on Jeni (at least for the time being) because it sounded "normal", like Luke. Though I see where you are coming from, DuracellEnergizer. Again, like I said, it's open to change! 

Admittedly I was being a little lazy with her name. "Jeni" was my name for Anakin's wife and the mother of twins back when I was attempting a prequel re-write.

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This is mi idea for the Third Trilogy:

With the Third Star Wars Trilogy ( or currently Episodes VII - VIII - IX ), the idea is similar to the Nolan's Batman: to take some of the best ideas from the comics and novels of the Expanded Universe to create a believable, coherent and cohesive story, more dark than the other six episodes, and to end the Star Wars story, starting from the end of the Return of the Jedi. Also, to take up the idea of Lucas of a more "philosophical" trilogy, showing the climax of the war. So, Star Wars would cease to be the story of Anakin to be the story of the Skywalker Saga, making clear their destiny at the Episode IX.

We return to see the big ones: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford at the role of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Han Solo, respectively. However, there are things that have changed from the Expanded Universe: Princess Leia married with Han, but isn't a Luke's apprentice (she has a blue lightsaber as a Luke gift, but don't uses it, and don't uses the Force). Han and Leia only have one 5-10 year-old girl called Jina (probably in honor to Jaina), who is not directly involved in the plot (there is not Jacen or Anakin Solo). Luke hasn't been married (there is no Mara Jade), and hasn't created a Jedi Academy. The training site is Dagobah (where he trained), and hasn't dozens of Jedi apprentices, only two apprentices: one of 30-year (Heath Ledger would have liked to play the role) and one of 20-year, none of them are his sons. Then, Leia has focused on follow the Skywalker family and Luke the Force ways. We see other characters as Chewbacca, Lando or Wedge, and take a new one: Kyle Katarn (but not as a Jedi Knight), and the classic droids C-3PO and R2-D2, the only ones that appear in the nine parts.

Furthermore, Darth Vader and the Emperor have died but the Empire hasn't been defeated. The Alliance creates his own government on the planet Yavin: the New Republic. With a number of planets and large enough allies are ready to retake Coruscant. We can see reviews and cameos in several comics and novels. There is one very specific to the X-Wing series and the recapture of Coruscant. Also, the main antagonist, an Imperial General, is clearly a character inspired on the Admiral Thrawn, but no connection to the Force and with a different ending (as it is confirmed that the General is the main villain of the three films).

Therefore, Episode VII would focus on events near the era of the New Republic. We see how the empire was organized and how they Grand Moffs plan to destroy each other to take the throne of Emperor. The General knows it and allows the Alliance regains Coruscant, with serious difficulties. The victory of the Alliance will allow the New Republic to rise, but with a high cost.

For the Episode VIII could have a closer connection to the era of the New Jedi Order, but replacing the Yuzzhan Vong by the Imperial Fleet and the criminal alliances: bounty hunters and criminals, organized crime leaders, revenge Hutt Clan, practically most of the slag will ally with the Imperial Fleet to destroy several of the Republic worlds (similar to what the Vong). There will be villains everywhere, in the absence of a Sith Lord. There will also be an event taken directly from one of the books of the New Jedi Order. The film promises one of the best early and late in the series, as well as a development eccentric, full of terror and disorder. Moreover, both are promised trilogies connections (eg Luke visits the Jedi Temple), and a direct connection with the Sith War (all one long scene devoted to this).

Finally, the Episode IX will be the final climax, almost 2/4 of the story will take the final fight. And we know the destination and the final resolution of the main characters, Luke, Leia and Han, and discover the Skywalker destiny.

I have drafts but I'm working on developing more scenes and dialogues. Probably when I have been completed, i will expose here.

 

 

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Jedi1 said:

 

snip

 

 

Sounds interesting and thought-out, although it would  be nice to also hear about new character development and motivations instead of just the over-arching political events in the galaxy. The thing about the original trilogy was that even though these momentous events were taking place (the Empire was fighting the Rebels, the Jedi Order was reformed by Luke, etc.), the films themselves generally focused on the characters and their emotions.

 Anyway here's the next part of Revenge of the Jedi...

 

 

Jeni recognizes the ruined ship as her father's from holograms she had seen as a child. She thinks of the times she had asked Leia and Luke about why he never came back, and the intricacy of the lies they had been telling her for twelve years...

Somewhere in the distance, a broken-down piece of machinery rolls off a large pile of junk. There is rustling noise in the sandy mist, accompanied by the sounds of labored breathing.

Jeni climbs onto the ship through a hole blasted in the side of the hull. The ship rests at an angle to the ground, causing her to grab objects in the interior for support as she navigates the vessel's passageways. Jeni pulls out a glowrod to illuminate the nearly pitch-black corridors. Somewhere in the bowels of the ship, Jeni passes by a checkered tabletop and a wall-mounted control panel with numerous view screens. She navigates around a hydrospanner, gold-colored droid plating, and severed wires strewn out across the floor as she forcefully pries open the door to the cockpit. 

Golden-red sunlight pours through the shattered canopy. A significant amount of dust and grit is seen clogging up the controls and piloting chairs. She looks around and, before she knows it, finds herself communing with the Force to glean what happened on the ship in the past. 

In a vision, Jeni sees the last stand of the Millenium Falcon against the Talon Striders. There is damage and disarray throughout the vessel. Five or six of the raiders have boarded the Falcon, trading blaster shots with Han and Chewie. The Wookiee defends Han with savage tenacity. He hurls a Talon Strider against an open electrical conduit, frying him to a crisp. Chewbacca then growls in anger, unleashing a torrent of blasts from his bowcaster, but his thick hide is overwhelmed by a flurry of blaster fire. He dies protecting his ship and his captain.

Han retreats to the cockpit in utter desperation. His DL-44 fire pierces a Twi'lek Strider through the torso, but another tosses a thermal detonator at him, flushing him out from cover. Wounded and helpless, Han's final sight is a Human Talon Strider mercenary's blaster muzzle.

Returning from her vision, Jeni lets out a tear.

It is just then that she hears reptilian growls somewhere on the outside of the ship. Then the click-clack of razor sharp claws rhythmically tapping the Falcon's durasteel outer shell. Jeni pulls out her blaster pistol and climbs through the broken canopy.

Out in the open air of Raxus Prime, Jeni turns around to behold a pair of hungry Massiffs. They have been stalking her since she entered the junkyard.

The nearer of the two big predators leaps at her, unleashing a ghastly roar from its spittle-ridden maw.

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My intention is for this scene to highlight the emotional linchpin of the film, Jeni's quest to avenge Han and his comrades, and to place the audience firmly in her mindset. I suspect this scene would tug at the audience's heartstrings much more than the deaths of Owen and Beru in ANH because before this point we've spent a whole trilogy with Han as a major character.

Just to confirm, Han really is dead. There are still surprises to come in this film, but a revelation of Han being alive is not one of them. Same goes for Chewie and the droids.

So what do you guys think? I'm all ears.

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I think it's really important in any written fic to know at least what the main character looks like. Here's a good approximation of Jeni I found on Google Images. It comes courtesy of a cosplay forum. Source below the image...

 

They even got the lightsaber color right!

 

http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=220275

Posted by user "lynnja".

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Damn you! I thought I was being oh-so original in killing off Han in the first half of Part VII in my own fan-fiction set after RoTJ.

Unlike your story, mine's not realised as a screenplay but instead it's a trilogy of books. Can I just ask you, what made you kill off Han? I did it because I found the character impossible to write for. He just seemed surplus to requirements during/after RoTJ and the Han that we all know and love and died in that carbon slab. Also, it satisfies Harrison Ford's idea that Han should die, which reinforces the feel of TESB, which is that heroes are mortal and are not infallible.

Anyway, great job so far. I like the echoes of the past in Jeni being told a falsehood about her father's death. Like you, I've only taken the films as canon and have disregarded the EU in my own humble efforts.

That's some bad hat, Harry
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You hit the nail on the head, Easterhay. I felt that having all three members of the original trilogy's main character group would have cast an enormous shadow over Jeni. By killing off what is generally agreed to be the most charismatic and memorable of the three OT heroes, I enhance Han's poignancy as a character and provide Jeni a motivation to do what she does in Episode VII, laying a lot of important groundwork for her character development in the following two films.

And I deliberately echoed certain themes and elements of the OT, like the whole thing about the main character being lied to about how their father died. 

Maybe you could post your treatment too, Easterhay! 

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Jeni jumps a chasm to her right. The predator lands in a scrap heap of metal starship parts and old droid wirings; the Jedi lands on one part of the Falcon’s fore docking clamps. The other Massiff drools in hunger, then lets out a snarl of aggression before charging towards her. Jeni unloads several rounds of her blaster pistol on the beast, but these only succeed in aggravating the creature further. The big animal pounces forth and Jeni hurls herself to the other side of the broken sensor dish assembly on the Falcon’s top surface. She quickly ignites her saber as the Massiff bolts towards her, plunging the weapon forward and skewering the beast’s torso on her blade. The slobbering monster lies silent, but its brother claws its way up the side of the ship to pursue Jeni.

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Thanks, McFlabbergasty. And yes, I will put my story up here soon as I've finished chapter one - I was 7,000 words into it and scrapped it because it wasn't dynamic enough.

Keep up the excellent work :)

That's some bad hat, Harry
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One detail I forgot to include: Jeni left Zero to explore the bowels of the ship before she went to investigate the cockpit. 

 

 

Next part coming soon.

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A cloaked humanoid figure is seen making its way up a pile of scrap metal.

The other Massiff has climbed back onto the Falcon’s top surface. It takes a lightning-fast swipe at Jeni with one of its paws, making two large cuts on her arm and forcing her lightsaber away several meters, as well as dropping her down to a crawl. Cradling the wounds of her arm, Jeni hastily makes her way towards her lightsaber, which seems just out of reach on the hard durasteel of the Falcon’s outer hull.  She takes potshots at the foul beast behind her, but these can only buy her time before she can reach the more effective weapon.

The smell of rancid breath reaches Jeni’s nostrils when she is still a few feet away from her lightsaber. She turns around and the beast is almost directly on top of her. Jeni unloads several blaster rounds in the creature’s soft underbelly. The beast is driven back several paces, wincing in pain. Then the Massiff comes back for another charge just as Jeni reaches for her saber.

To her surprise a blaster bolt sears through the air and impacts the creature’s temple, dropping it in an instant.

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What I'm trying to do with these sequels, in addition to telling a cohesive story, is to play with the expectations an audience might have of Star Wars. Certain OT story elements, character archetypes, famous one-liners, and even characters themselves show up in this trilogy but altered in some way.

My hope with in doing this is to ease the audience into the new iteration of Star Wars that I've concocted.

Let's just say the galaxy is heading in a different direction than the one implied by the ending of Return of the Jedi. But audiences generally don't react very well with being hit over the head by the clown hammer right out of the gate.

That's why the plot of Revenge of the Jedi is rooted in immediately-recognizable elements. Everybody knows who Han Solo is and everybody has seen the Millennium Falcon. It is my intention to use that to give Jeni's quest in this movie as much oomph as possible.

As the trilogy goes on, though, I will put in more and more pieces of what all of this is leading to until the big picture is finally clear. Sorry if I am being vague, but I don't want to spoil the fun for my audience. :)