DuracellEnergizer

If I ever start a band, “Chewbacca’s Voice and the Lightsaber” is gonna be in the top five choices for the band’s name.

DominicCobb said:

Don’t you already know the story? I know you haven’t seen the film but if you know what happens I can see why it would be predictable.

I know the basic spoilers, but not exactly how they all fit together.

I will say Star Wars is a franchise that works much better on the screen than the page.

I agree with you when it comes to novelizations. Original stories, on the other hand …

No, I haven’t seen it yet. It’s gonna be a while before the movie’s out on DVD, though, and I’m not going to pay to see it in theatres, so this is the next best option.

*sigh* Okay, but if I get a temp ban for this, fur is gonna fly!

I wish people wouldn’t call instrumental pieces “songs”. Songs have lyrics.

I picked up a copy of the TFA novelization from my local library yesterday.

I read chapter 1 last night; it was wholly predictable and meh. I’ll find out if the story gets any more interesting further in later tonight.

TITLE CARD: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …

A vast sea of stars serves as the main backdrop for the main title, followed by a roll up, which crawls up into infinity.

STAR WARS

PLAYERS AND PAWNS

The years prior to the Clone Wars was a time of peace and prosperity for the peoples of the Galactic Republic. Under the watchful eye of the Jedi Knights, crime was kept to a minimum. The criminal underworld was forced to operate in the far outskirts of civilization, allowing the inner worlds of the Republic to thrive.

After decades of war, the peace and prosperity have died along with the Republic. With the Imperial Starfleet and diminished forces of the Jedi dispersed throughout space against the formidable forces of the Athan Supremacy, the worlds of the new Galactic Empire have been left open to the lesser evils of the Galaxy. Various criminal enterprises have swept into countless systems, using overt and covert means of exploitation to illegally further their own ends.

One such enterprise – a private military company known as the Federation Neimoidia – has invaded the peaceful world of Nabu. Having crushed the meagre Nabuan armed forces and all but conquered the world, the Neimoidians seek to depose the royal family and impose a bloodthirsty new regime on the Nabuan populace.

Seeking to preserve their royal bloodline and their chance at retaking the throne, the King and Queen of Nabu race against time to send their children to the Gunga, the beings who live in the aquatic regions of Nabu.

PAN DOWN

From a star-lit sky to the Palace of Theed, which is surrounded by well-cared-for trees and trimmed green grass.

FIFTEEN NABU SOLDIERS are at the palace’s front steps, unloading yellow-green blasterfire upon something before them. The soldiers are quickly cut down by return blasterfire.

A company of BX-SERIES BATTLE 'DROIDS move forward, trampling the dead soldiers underfoot. Bringing a motorized battering ram to bear, they begin pounding away at the heavy front doors.

INT. NABU – PALACE/THRONE ROOM – EVENING

The palace king and queen – RUWEE and JOBAL – tearfully bid farewell to their three children: SOLA, AMIDALA, and OETA. With them are SIXTEEN LOYAL SOLDIERS led by CAPTAIN PANAKA. In his mid fifties, King Ruwee has prematurely gray hair and blue eyes; Queen Jobal, slightly younger, has black hair with intense brown eyes; Sola, who is eighteen, Amidala, who is fourteen, and Oeta, who is ten, share most of the same basic features – straight dark hair and slender builds – though Sola’s and Oeta’s eyes are blue like Jobal’s while Amidala has brown eyes like their mother.

SOLA: Mother, Father, you have to come with us. You don’t have to stay here!

QUEEN JOBAL: It has to be this way. We can’t go with you.

KING RUWEE: We have no choice in the matter.

AMIDALA: We’ve all had visions that never came to pass! Why stake so much on this one? What is any different this time?

KING RUWEE: Your mother’s a Seer. You know she has the ability to glean the true future from the many false ones. (beat) This is our fate.

SOLA: (incredulous) Fate? Fate!?

KING RUWEE: (irate) You’d question it?!

SOLA: (angry) There is no fate but the fate you choose for yourself. If you choose to let them kill you, then you’re fools – both of you!

KING RUWEE: (angry) How dare you --!?

QUEEN JOBAL: (to Ruwee) Dear, please. (beat) I’m sorry, Sola. I know you’ve come to question our faith, the teachings of the Seers … but please, trust me if you can’t trust them. (forlorn) I’ve seen the future. I know.

SOLA: (crying) But how can you know?

Taking a step forward, Jobal places her right hand on Sola’s left shoulder and brings her left hand up to her daughter’s face, gently wiping the tears welling up in her eyes away.

QUEEN JOBAL: You’ll be safe with Governor Nass in Otoh Gunga. With the Federation jamming our communications, a courier has been dispatched to deliver news of the invasion directly to Coruscant. You’ll be safe with the Gunga until the Senate can arrange a rescue.

SOLA: (shakes her head) This isn’t right.

INT. PALACE/ENTRANCE HALL – EVENING

The great front doors to the palace are smashed in. A single armed guard is swiftly mowed down under ochre blasterfire as the battle 'droids surge into the great corridor.

INT. PALACE/THRONE ROOM – EVENING

QUEEN JOBAL: Remember that we love you – all of you. (to Panaka) Capt. Panaka?

CAPT. PANAKA: (snaps to attention) Yes, Your Highness!

QUEEN JOBAL: Take them out back quickly. Time is definitely not on our side.

CAPT. PANAKA: Yes, milady. (to the children) Come children, Princess Sola.

The soldiers firmly grab hold of the children, dragging them away from their parents.

SOLA: (reaches out for her parents) Mother, Father – please!

The soldiers take the three children to a door at the back of the throne room and disappear through it.

KING RUWEE: (takes Jobal’s hand in his) So this is it.

QUEEN RUWEE: Yes, love … it is.

The battle 'droids break into the throne room. The royal couple turns to face the robots as they approach them, blasters levelled their way.

BATTLE 'DROID #1: The carbon offspring – what is their location?

QUEEN JOBAL: They’re gone.

KING RUWEE: You’ll never hurt them.

Before the king and queen can say another word, the automatons open fire, quickly cutting the Humans down.

EXT. PALACE/COURTYARD – EVENING

The children flee the palace through a back door with their bodyguards into a courtyard. On the grass sit two vehicles: a sleek, silver starcruiser – blackened by weapons’ fire and inoperable – and a landspeeder. The children and their bodyguards run toward the protection of the speeder and begin to climb aboard in a hurry. Soldier-for-hire RIC OLIÉ settles in behind the controls.

A lone battle 'droid comes from around the side of the palace, entering the courtyard.

RIC OLIÉ: (points at the BX) Look over there! A battle ‘droid!

Spotting the Nabu, the ‘droid immediately opens fire. Sola is instantly hit in the back and goes down.

AMIDALA: Sola! No, Sola!

As Amidala struggles to lift her elder sister into the cab of the speeder, Panaka roughly pulls the younger girl back. A pendant with a small aquamarine crystal snaps off Sola’s neck, coming away in Amidala’s hand.

CAPT. PANAKA: (to Ric Olié) Go! Let’s go!

Several battle 'droids arrive to assist their comrade, opening fire as the speeder zooms off past the blasted ruin of the royal starcruiser into the safety of the swamp beyond the courtyard.

INT. PALACE/PALPATINE’S OFFICE – EVENING

COSINGA PALPATINE – royal vizier – sits behind his desk, fast asleep in his chair. In what to us would appear to be his early sixties, Palpatine is a rather average-looking fellow with light blond hair and unremarkable features.

The office door is forced open, waking Palpatine as battle 'droids swarm into the room.

VIZIER PALPATINE: (surprised) What!? What is --?!

The lead 'droid seizes Palpatine’s hair in a fist, toppling the chair over and dragging the vizier onto the floor. With a mix of pain and anger, Palpatine begins to curse the robot.

BATTLE 'DROID #2: (turns its blaster on Palpatine) To have this carbon unit intact and functional for interrogation would be optimal, but it is not a prime directive. Continued resistance will be met with termination.

Palpatine backs down and the 'droid commander drags him from the room.

INT. PALACE/THRONE ROOM – EVENING

Two columns of BXs occupy the throne room, standing on either side of the long room, facing each other. Between the two columns crouch TWELVE PALACE SERVANTS, hands behind their heads, guarded by eight armed ‘droids. Surveying the captives, balled fists placed on his hips in a stance of absolute triumph, is the menacing Kaleesh warrior and Federation general QYMAEN JAI SHEELAL.

Sheelal turns his attention away from the captives as the 'droid leader dragging Palpatine enters the chamber from a side door.

GEN. SHEELAL: Ah, we soon shall settle down to business ….

The 'droid leader with its cadre of mechanical soldiers passes through one of the columns, pulling Palpatine down through the room to Sheelal. Once in the presence of the general, the 'droid pushes the vizier to his knees before him.

GEN. SHEELAL: You are Cosinga Palpatine, royal vizier. Of all living on this miserable rock, you surely must know to where the brats were dispatched. (beat) Give to me their destination and I may petition for your release.

VIZIER PALPATINE: Their Highnesses didn’t put me in their confidence; I don’t know where they went and can’t begin to imagine where they could have gone. Regardless, I wouldn’t tell you a thing, you scum!

GEN. SHEELAL: Very well ….

Sheelal smacks the vizier across the face, knocking him back and over.

GEN. SHEELAL: (to Battle 'Droid #2) Send out scouts to the swamps. The children cannot have fled far. You can catch them if you move fast enough!

The commanding battle 'droid bows its head in acknowledgement, proceeding to broadcast Sheelal’s orders to its fellow automatons waiting outside the palace.

Sheelal turns to face the throne room entrance as a T-SERIES TACTICAL 'DROID enters the chamber, a mobile holographic projector following along behind it.

TACTICAL 'DROID #1: Incoming transmission, milord. His Honour Viceroy Nute Gunray wishes to hear a progress report.

GEN. SHEELAL: Patch it through.

A beam of light is projected from the small tripod, forming a blue three-dimensional image of Neimoidian viceroy NUTE GUNRAY and his aide RUNE HAAKO.

NUTE GUNRAY: How goes it, General? Have you dispatched the members of the royal family?

GEN. SHEELAL: All members of House Naberrie are in the process of being tracked down and exterminated. The king and queen with their oldest daughter are among the confirmed dead.

NUTE GUNRAY: (surprised) The other two children aren’t with them?!

GEN. SHEELAL: Those brats escaped.

NUTE GUNRAY: One of the royal couple’s couriers managed to evade our ships and escaped into hyperspace. In a short time agents of the Empire will arrive to retrieve the children. You are to find them and end them before then, General. Am I clear on the matter?

GEN. SHEELAL: My troops are on the task as we speak, Lord.

NUTE GUNRAY: They had better be, General.

The image of Gunray reaches out and touches an off-screen control, causing the hologram to disappear in a flash. Sheelal turns away from the projector, returning his attention to the captive servants on the floor.

I’ve hit a snag with my Knight of the Empire screenplay. While I basically know where I’m going with the rest of the story, I don’t quite yet know how to structure it all yet; Anakin’s part in story is pretty easy to map out, but the stuff dealing with the clone invasion of Geonosis and Obi-Wan’s place in there – I don’t know how to weave all those threads together yet. It’s going to take me some time to work out those details, so I’ll have to take another break from KOTE. *sigh*.

To make up for yet another unwelcome hiatus from my PT re-write, I’ve decided to start posting entries from another SW screenplay I’ve been sporadically working on over the past couple months: Players and Pawns, the first episode in what I’m calling the Nabu Trilogy.

P&P is basically a prequel to The New Dawn, exploring the sequence of events which led Obi-Wan to question his faith in the Jedi way and return to Tatooine. It’s a re-write of my first attempt at a TPM re-write, with Anakin and all the bits on Tatooine excised from the plot to make it its own story. Likewise, Episodes II & III of the Nabu Trilogy are going to be based on plot ideas I’d originally conceived for my original PT re-write before I scrapped it for my current PT.

joefavs said:

Didn’t Kenner come close to doing a toy line at one point that was based around the premise that Tarkin somehow survived the Death Star and came back to cause trouble after ROTJ?

More or less.

Eh, I thought non-pornographic nudity was tolerated in this part of the forum. *shrug*

Nevertheless, I’ll delete it.

He smoked one too many deathsticks and, well, look where it got him.

Warbler said:

This editor uses Markdown syntax, which makes it easy to add formatting like *sigh*, *sigh*, and *sigh*:

• https://*sigh*.com
• https://*sigh*.com
• https://*sigh*.com

Preview this post to see the *sigh*.

For more details, see *sigh*.

*sigh*

hairy_hen said:

Didn’t the last episode of The X-Files actually show Cigarette Man’s body disintegrating in an explosion? How can he come back from that?

I know he’s been apparently dead before and come back, but seriously.

The aliens beamed him out of the explosion. Duh.

Tobar said:

He’s resurrected in the Season 10 comic series as well. The circumstances of which are quite mysterious and intriguing. I’m only a third of the way through the series so far. I’m actually pretty disappointed that it looks like the mini-series disregards the comics. Though I can understand wanting to have the big reveals for the bigger audience. Still, the Season 10 comic series is extremely well done and something I’d definitely recommend.

Eh, I gave 'em a try, they didn’t catch my fancy. Too much of the art was amateurish and I didn’t like how so many dead characters were brought back to life. Plus the writers conflated the alien bounty hunters with the super-soldiers and gave them glowing blue eyes for some reason; that was all just irritating.

(removed by request)

TV’s Frink said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

Judging by the miniseries’ trailer,

!!!POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!!

it doesn’t look like it anymore.

Well that’s dumb.

I tend to agree. Hopefully his resurrection won’t be utterly pointless.

moviefreakedmind said:

I don’t necessarily have a problem with Wesley Crusher, I just found it horribly distracting that he a 15 year-old kid was constantly in the midst of the action and sitting in on board room meetings. I also didn’t like how much of a brilliant genius they made him in every episode.

Wesley was Roddenberry’s Mary Sue. Once you know that, it all makes (out-of-universe) sense.

Judging by the miniseries’ trailer,

!!!POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!!

it doesn’t look like it anymore.

DrCrowTStarwarsreborn said:

I remember watching the last few season as they aired(We had just gotten a fox station for the first time in my area)but to be honest I have no memory of how the series ended, I mean at all so I am expecting to be lost.

Is that strange, the fact that I can so clearly remember watching the series final but I can’t remember one thing that happened in it?

Not too surprising. It was a pretty bland, mediocre finale.

Just to refresh your memory, Mulder was put on trail for killing some guy (who turned out to be an unkillable super-soldier), sentenced to death, then Scully, Doggett, and Reyes helped him escape, with Mulder & Scully both going into hiding at the end.

I say go for it. Even if you end up not caring for the additional/alternate scenes, there’s nothing there which damages the story/characters.

I’m looking forward to it, but I’m not super-excited. I just hope all the loose ends get tied up and Mulder & Scully finally get to live happily ever after.

For me, it’s always been “[Huttese gibberish] Jedi, [Huttese gibberish] Jedi!”

I could never settle for being an extra. Nothing less than a major starring role with top billing could satisfy me.

Not yet.