DuracellEnergizer

Padme said:

How do u post photos here? I will show u.

Who cares about U? I’m more interested in what V and W have to say.

CUT TO

The nightside of a planet floating in the depths of outer space. Billions of lights glow on the surface of the planet, creating a web of artificial stars across its continents.

ANAKIN: (V.O.) Where are we?

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Over 28000 years into the past. This is Sith, the birth world of my race.

CUT TO

Eikhan and Anakin standing on the surface of the original Sith homeworld. Though not spectacularly advanced by any means – there are no signs of speeders, starships, interstellar communication, etc. indicative of a starfaring civilization on the planet – neither is it particularly primitive; millions of land vehicles move along a series of roads and freeways spanning the globe, passing thousands of towering skyscrapers which reach for the clouds and the air vehicles which fly above them.

NYKRES EIKHAN: In this age, the Sith have subdued and filled their world, but they still know no unity; hundreds of nation-states span the globe, all controlled by disparate leaders, all in direct competition for control of the planet’s dwindling resources. (beat) This will all change with the coming of King Adas.

CUT TO

To a grand citadel situated deep in the centre of a Sith metropolis. Like a titanic reaching hand, it towers over the other buildings of the sprawling city.

ZOOM IN

On a balcony situated in the citadel’s highest level. Standing upon the balcony, overlooking the city beyond, is an IMMENSE CHARCOAL-SKINNED SITH MALE dressed in turquoise robes with a silver circlet worn upon his head.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) King Adas had a dream: to unite the Sith nations under one government, one rule – his own.

FADE TO

Adas on a wartorn battlefield. Now dressed head-to-toe in ebon-black armour – a spiked helm worn over his head, an alchemically forged battle axe in hand – leads Sith troops armed with automated slugthrowers in battle against Sith of a rival faction, mercilessly mowing down enemy soldiers by the dozens with his crystalline blade.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) A formidable sorcerer-warrior, Adas had the power to make his dream reality.

CUT TO

Adas standing before a jubilant crowd. Still attired in his ebon armour, he has removed the helmet; his hair long and white, skin weathered and wrinkled, he is now an old man. Raising his gauntleted hand before the crowd, he presents them the severed head of a deposed rival.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) It took three-hundred years of ceaseless battle, but Adas triumphed. He ruled unrivalled over Sith – the people and the planet both.

CUT TO

Adas seated in his throne in his citadel. Dressed in turquoise robes and silver circlet, he appears weighed down by both, sickly and weak.

NYKRES: (V.O.) But the fruits of his victory were short-lived.

CUT TO

Adas lying in his deathbed, attended to by his physicians, aides, and friends.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) He died without ever appointing an heir …

CUT TO

A violent riot raging through the streets. Adas’ soldiers try and fail to contain the violence, losing their lives in the process.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.; cont’d) … and his vision of unity died with him. (beat) With the passage of centuries, the Kissai came.

FADE TO

A TRIO OF BLACK-ROBED SITH. Standing before a small assemblage, they preach to the congregation with much passion and flourish, reading from a tome bound in Sith skin and inked in Sith blood.

NYKRES EIKHAN: This priesthood brought with them the word of new gods: the Immortal Gods, living manifestations of the Force itself. (beat) The true nature of the Force was revealed to the people; the Force – that universal energy field which bound the universe together – was absolute darkness, an all-hungry, all-consuming chaos which none – not even the dead – could claim sanctuary from in time. (beat) Ultimate salvation lay only through deification by the Immortal Gods, and they would share their godhood only with those who paid a specific price: lives for life – unending blood sacrifice for eternal existence.

CUT TO

Frightened parishioners talking amongst themselves in hushed, terrified tones.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Swayed by the fearful gospel of the Kissai, the Sith entrusted themselves to the priests for deliverance.

SITH HOMEWORLD – MONTAGE

We see a series of images: the rebuilding of Sith civilization; the advancement of Sith technology; Sith starships leaving for the stars; and mass sacrifices of men, women, and children overseen by the Kissai.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Over the span of millennia, the Sith rebuilt their world; they even sent ships out amongst the stars to colonize new worlds. (beat) It all came at the cost of billions of innocent Sith lives.

FADE TO

Dozens upon dozens of non-Sith starships dropping out of hyperspace near a blue-and-green planet.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Deliverance finally came in the form of the Legions of Lettow.

CUT TO

The ships landing on this world.

As the passengers file out of the ships, we can see that they consist of individuals from several different races; Humans, Duros, Twi’leks, and various other familiar and unfamiliar creatures make up their number. Worn on their belts are archaic lightsabers – lightsabers with externally mounted focusing crystals and energy cords that feed into hip-worn power packs.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Travellers from distant stars, the Lettow had been exiled from their own region of space, banished for their beliefs. Sent out into the unknown, they were meant to perish in the cold void between worlds. Instead they found Korriban, a minor colony situated on the edge of Sith space.

ANAKIN: (V.O.; astonished) They’re Jedi?!

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) That they were.

CUT TO

The Lettow Legionnaires as they enter a village. Making their way through this squalid village, they regard the dozens of Sith which stand or sit about them – clad in filthy rags, suffering from disease or malnutrition – with pity.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The exiles found Korriban a wretched hive of scum, of villainy; the citizens lived in filth and squalor without adequate housing, food, or medicine while their governor lived in great opulence.

CUT TO

A corpulent Kissai seated in the pleasure dome of his citadel. Laden with jewellery and robes of fine silk, he has his harem of beautiful slave girls feed him rich, fatty foods.

CUT TO

The legionnaires as they make their way through a hallway in the Kissai citadel. The pale yellow, nearly colourless blades of their lightsabers engaged, they cut through the citadel’s staff of Massassi warriors.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Finding the situation on Korriban intolerable, the Lettow deposed the governing Kissai …

CUT TO

The Lettow Legionnaires as they drag the fat Kissai out into the open, before a gathering of emaciated, sickly Sith peasants. Forcing the Kissai to his knees, they then behead him. Taking up the headless corpse, the Lettow toss it to the assembled peasants, who strip it of its finery before tossing it in a sacrificial pit of everlasting flame.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.; cont’d) … and assumed control of Korriban, declaring it a world free of the Sith Empire’s tyranny.

CUT TO

The village on Korriban as it undergoes a radical transformation. The streets are cleaned up, the buildings repaired, and the people provided fresh new clothes and plenty of good food to eat.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Over the course of a few short years, the legionnaires established a new and better quality of life on Korriban. (beat) News of this eventually spread to the other worlds in the Sith Empire …

SITH EMPIRE – MONTAGE

We see a series of images of Sith throughout the Empire receiving and reacting to the news of the Lettow Legionnaires on Korriban.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The news even reached the ears of those in the populace who had grown weary of the Kissai and the dark religion they had brought to the Empire.

CUT TO

A group of Kissai standing on a tower on the Sith homeworld, watching a fleet of warships departing for space.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Deciding that the Lettow placed too great a risk to their rule, they dispatched an armada of warships to Korriban.

CUT TO

The Sith armada as it bombards Korriban with energy weapons and thermonuclear weapons, sterilizing the planet of life.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The Kissai had been unwise with their course of action; they only fanned the flames of rebellion.

SITH EMPIRE – MONTAGE

We bear witness as a significant number of Sith dissidents assemble and rise up to oppose the Kissai. Capturing a number of important worlds and claiming a fleet of warships for their own use, they go to war with the Kissai forces.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The Dissidents ultimately won, claiming victory in a final, desperate action.

CUT TO

A Sith captain aboard a Dissident warship.

Resting her hands upon the control crystals, the Dissident captain activates a Force-based weapon which reaches deep into the heart of the Sith sun, wrenching out its core and destabilizing it.

Rapidly collapsing in on itself, the star goes nova, annihilating everything in the system – the world of Sith included.

CUT TO

Ziost, a cold, night-shrouded planet.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) With the Kissai defeated, the Dissident leaders assumed command of the Sith Empire and made Ziost the new throne world.

CUT TO

The Dissident leaders in their council chambers. There are eleven of them; one stands at the centre with the others kneeled in a ring around him, hands planted on the hilts of their swords in obeisance.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) They formed a new system of government to replace the one founded by the Kissai; the Sith Empire would now be ruled by a council of Sith lords and ladies which, in turn, would be ruled by a single appointed Lord or Lady of the Sith.

CUT TO

The Sith Lords as they revamp the Kissai religion, revising the Kissai holy texts and establishing a new priesthood.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The Sith Lords then received new revelation. Whereas the Kissai had preached that the Force was darkness and chaos – the gods covetous and flesh-hungry – the lords revealed that the Force was order as well as chaos, that benevolent gods ruled alongside the evil ones in infinity. This newfound truth established, the Sith Lords entrusted it to a revamped Kissai priesthood to honour and protect.

SITH EMPIRE – MONTAGE

We watch as the Sith Empire goes through a golden age of great prosperity and expansion.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Under the Sith Lords, the Sith Empire entered a golden age; the Empire expanded to encompass several thousand worlds; we experienced prosperity the likes of which we had never experienced before. (beat) But our golden age eventually came to an end; apathy set in; with it, stagnation.

CUT TO

Eikhan and Anakin standing on the surface of a desolate world.

The Sith and the Jedi stand within a sheltered valley, the walls of which have had innumerable temples built into them. Effigies and statues adorn the temples, carved in the likenesses of Sith gods and warriors and guardian beasts.

ANAKIN: Now where are we?

NYKRES EIKHAN: Korriban, thousands of years after the nuclear armageddon. In honour of the fallen Lettow, the Sith Lords made it the Empire’s mausoleum world – the final resting place of the great Lords and Ladies of the Sith and their vassals.

Leaving the pair, we come to focus on a funeral procession. A SOLEMN SITH LORD leads the procession; behind him, six Kissai pallbearers carry aloft the body of a recently deceased Lord; behind them are several other Kissai, mourners, Massassi warriors, and labourers.

ANAKIN: Who died?

NYKRES EIKHAN: Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos.

The processioners end their march before the steps of a grand temple. Lowering the body of Ragnos to the ground, the Kissai step back to allow the Sith Lord – LUDO KRESSH – to step up to it. Bringing forth a horned helmet he has been holding in his hands, he slips it down over the swaddled head of the dead Lord.

LUDO KRESSH: (in Sith, subtitled) Marka Ragnos, great Lord, wear this victory helmet during your battles in the afterlife.

The blessing given, the Kissai take up the body and Kressh leads them up the steps to the Grand Temple’s entrance.

As the Kissai slip inside the tomb, Kressh turns to face the onlooking mourners.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) All hail the memory of Marka Ragnos! His legacy will live for centuries among the Sith people and their rulers!

As this is happening, a Sith yacht descends from the sky. Landing in the valley close to the Grand Temple, it disgorges ANOTHER SITH LORD and his personal Massassi entourage.

ANAKIN: Who’s that?

NYKRES EIKHAN: Naga Sadow – fellow lord and sworn enemy of Ludo Kressh.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) We wait for no man, Sith Lord or slave. (to the Kissai) Let the flames blaze high!

Touching torches to the carved hands of the effigy framing the tomb entrance, the Kissai ignite a pair of braziers, sending great orange flames skyward.

Arriving at the temple steps, Lord Sadow and his Massassi ascend, on approach for Lord Kressh and his entourage.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) I have come to take my place at the funeral of Marka Ragnos.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) Go back, Naga Sadow! You do not belong here!

Silently ordering his Massassi to stay back, Sadow climbs the rest of the steps.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) I belong where I choose to belong, Ludo Kressh!

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled; angry) Your rebellious actions and experiments are a threat to us all! I command here!

The two Sith Lords now stand apart, facing each other, eye-to-eye.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled; cont’d) You would destroy the greatness Marka Ragnos maintained in the Sith Empire when he was Lord! You shame his memory!

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) Marka Ragnos was the Lord and I obeyed him while he lived, as everyone must obey the new Lord of the Sith. By rights, it should be me!

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) Your ways will ruin the Empire, Naga Sadow! Stepping in dangerous waters, unleashing powers you do not understand – powers the Sith Lords do not need to insure our continued dominance here!

NAGA SADOW: (angry; subtitled) The Sith Empire is stagnant! For centuries we have done nothing but wallow in our riches and relive our ancient conquest of these worlds! That is no longer enough!

Reaching to his side, Sadow grasps the hilt of his sword.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) The fate of the Sith Empire must not rest in the hands of a backwards thinker such as you, Kressh.

As Sadow unsheathes his crystalline blade, one of Kressh’s followers hands the other lord his own blade.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) There can be only one Lord of the Sith.

Taking his sword, Sadow plants the tip into the stone beneath his feet. Summoning dark Force energy forth from the enchanted amulets worn upon his hands, he channels it through the sword’s blade, charging it with violet energy.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) I, Naga Sadow, call upon the power of the Sith … (wrenches out the blade and hefts it before him) the power of my royal blood … the power of the Force!

Charging his own sword with dark blue energy, Kressh points it skyward.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) I fight for the Sith Empire, Naga Sadow – you fight for yourself!

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) I fight for the future …

Striking simultaneously, the two Sith Lords cross blades, releasing a blast of violet-blue Force energy.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled; cont’d) … and the future is now!

As the duel rages, another ship – the Starbreaker 12, a ship not of Sith design – pasts overhead, unleashing a great sonic BOOM which resonates through the valley, disrupting the battle and drawing the attention of the Sith.

Passing over Sadow’s yacht, the Starbreaker 12 comes to hover a ways away from the Grand Temple and the Sith multitude. As the mourners approach the alien craft, lines drop down from the main body of the ship, allowing them to anchor the ship in place.

The Starbreaker 12’s hatch opens, allowing two young Humans – brother and sister explorers GAV and JORI DARAGON – out to greet the Sith, big smiles on their innocent faces.

GAV DARAGON: Greetings from the Republic! We come in peace!

JORI DARAGON: We’re interested in setting up a fine trade relationship with your civilization.

With a wave of her hand, Nykres Eikhan causes this vision from the past to dissolve away.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Gav and Jori Daragon were taken into custody, escorted to Ziost and imprisoned until the Sith Lords could glean their true purpose for coming to the Empire. (beat) Naga Sadow saw this as his opportunity to succeed Marka Ragnos as Lord of the Sith and expand the borders of the Sith Empire; he took it.

With another wave of her hand, Eikhan calls up another vision – one of Naga Sadow and his followers leading a series of attacks against his fellow Sith to free the Daragons from captivity and planting evidence to make it look as if the Human siblings are the vanguard of a full-scale Republic invasion of Sith territory.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Using the Daragons as scapegoats, Sadow created the spectre of an outside enemy, an opposing force that would unify us and ignite the Sith Empire into a golden flame again.

As Anakin watches on, we see Naga Sadow lead Jori to the Starbreaker 12 sans Gav. Climbing aboard, she escapes Ziost, en-route for Republic space, unaware that there is a biomechanical tracking device attached to the outer hull.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Thus began the great war between our two empires …

Anakin watches as ancient Sith and Republican ships battle in space and over the surface of worlds; as Jedi Knights – now armed with modern lightsabers – lead troops into pitched, deadly groundside battles against Sith warriors bearing alchemically forged swords and battle axes; as the innocent bystanders on both sides of the conflict die in the senseless anarchy unleashed by Sadow’s greed and ambition.

NYKRES EIKHAN: At first the Sith prevailed – our ships were the fastest, our shields the strongest, our weapons the most destructive. However, our Empire was far smaller than your Republic, and so our superior technology eventually fell before your superior numbers.

Anakin watches as the Republic fleet drives the remnants of the Sith fleet out of Republican territory, back to Sith space.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (turns) It should have ended here – you were the victors, the Sith Empire was in ruin – but you didn’t.

With a great clap of her hands, Eikhan brings them to the surface of another world.

Standing out in an open plain, Anakin watches as Sith – not lords nor vassals nor Kissai nor Massassi but defenseless commonfolk – flee in terror as cloaked figures bear down on them astride large caninoid steeds; these cloaked figures, ignited lightsabers in hand, are Jedi.

ANAKIN: (frowns) No – what is this?

Corralling the Sith like rabbits, the mounted Jedi warriors steer the dozens of Sith adults and children, trampling underfoot those not swift enough to keep pace with their faster companions.

Once the Sith have been driven to a dead end – with no space in where to hide – the Jedi bring their sabers down on them, hacking left and right, massacring them indiscriminately.

ANAKIN: (horrified) No!

Bolting forward, Anakin leaps up and tries to tackle one of the Jedi murderers from his steed, but he passes right through the warrior. Hitting the ground, he rolls then jumps back up, still determined to end the slaughter; as the angry BUZZS of blazing lightsabers mix with the agonized SCREAMS of wounded and dying Sith, he continues trying to stop the violence, all to no avail.

Finally it ends as it must; collapsing to his knees, butchered Sith strewed about the ground like broken toys around him, Anakin Skywalker weeps, sobbing into his palms.

Nykres Eikhan, her face contorted with rage, strides up to Anakin. Grabbing him by the hair, she forces his head up, forcing him to look back upon the bloodshed.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Do you see? Do you finally see?! This is what the Jedi did to my people! Every Sith – every Sith – was hunted down, killed to the last man, the last child. (beat) What is it you Jedi claim to be? Guardians of peace, of justice? Is this peace? Is this justice?! Answer me!

ANAKIN: (outraged) No!

Pulling, the priestess forces Anakin back to his feet.

NYKRES EIKHAN: I am not finished. I showed you to my past; now it is time to see your future. Then – then – you can finally die!

The plain with its massacred Sith and fallen Jedi dissolves away, leaving Eikhan and Anakin standing within the throne room of the Imperial Palace on Coruscant.

It is some time in the near future, and a coronation ceremony is currently being held. A man – Human, slim, but with his facial features inexplicably obscured – sits upon the throne as the grand vizier reads from the Rite of Ascension.

NYKRES EIKHAN: In the years to come, corruption will infect your Empire. More and more senators, seduced by power and wealth, will ally themselves with special interests and corruption will spread to numerous worlds! (beat) Out of that turmoil, this man will rise to power as your new emperor.

Once the reading is finished, the vizier takes the Imperial crown from a servant. Turning to the man on the throne, he lowers the crown onto his head, officially bestowing him the title of Emperor of the Galactic Empire.

NYKRES EIKHAN: He will emerge as a dynamic and pragmatic figure, getting the government to work again. He will fill the heads of the people with grand rhetoric, promising to lead the Empire into a golden age like those of ancient dynasties past.

The vision changes; the grand vizier and the other onlookers disappear, leaving the emperor alone in his throne; the throne room is draped in shadow now, the emperor clad in a black robe which hides his face.

NYKRES EIKHAN: This will be but a pretense. Once secure in his power, he will reveal his true face to the Galaxy. (beat) He will be a most powerful sorcerer, a master of that which you call the dark side.

Anakin sees the robed emperor standing now. Having thrown his hands into the air, they radiate dark blue tendrils of crackling dark side energy.

NYKRES EIKHAN: He will conquer the Jedi. They will serve him.

Anakin and Eikhan now stand within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

The hooded emperor passes between two columns of Jedi Knights, a Jedi master in maroon robes on his left and a Jedi master in ultramarine robes on his right. He inspects the knights, all of whom stand ramrod straight, faces devoid of emotion, their customary charcoal uniforms traded in for militaristic black synth-leather uniforms.

NYKRES EIKHAN: This army of Jedi at his command, your new emperor will have those who refuse to swear their fealty to him hunted down …

We now see these dark Jedi in black synth-leather hunt down those Jedi who refuse to bow to the New Order; following the fugitives to the farthest corners of the Empire and beyond, they cut them down with their blue, green, and yellow lightsabers.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (cont’d) … and this will be only the beginning. The real horror – that is yet to come …

Anakin now sees a flurry of new, evermore disturbing images. Imperial officials have children taken from their parents; Imperial agents force themselves upon helpless women and men; star destroyers bombard defenseless worlds with torrents of green laserfire; battalions of soldiers encased in white plasteel armour swarm forth across the surface of worlds both disloyal and alien, mowing down all whom they find in the scopes of their blaster rifles; a moon-sized battle station targets a beautiful blue globe and unleashes a powerful superlaser, shattering it and killing everyone alive on its surface in one horrendous instant.

ANAKIN: (shakes his head) No! No, no, no, no!

NYKRES EIKHAN: Yes! And you do not have the power to stop it! No Jedi will ever have the power to stop this future from coming to pass!

ANAKIN: There has to be a way to stop this man from becoming emperor!

NYKRES EIKHAN: There are none!

ANAKIN: (turns to Eikhan) The Sith! What about the Sith?!

NYKRES EIKHAN: The Sith are gone, their fire extinguished! You extinguished it!

ANAKIN: No! (grabs Eikhan by the front of her robes) The Sith worlds – do they still exist? Where are they?!

NYKRES EIKHAN: They are all dead and empty, as dead and empty as Korriban!

ANAKIN: Korriban! The Sith Lords interred on Korriban! (beat) Their spirits – do their spirits reside there?!

NYKRES EIKHAN: They sleep in stone as I did, and their power is greater than my own, but they will never aid you – Jedi.

ANAKIN: Tell me how to reach Korriban!

NYKRES EIKHAN: (bears her teeth) I will tell you if you can pry the words from my dying lips!

The Kissai seizes Anakin’s throat in a chokehold, and he reciprocates. The two combatants then struggle there, locked in violent telepathic battle as the mindscape grows distorted, on the verge of collapse.

^Stop being such a cinematic Schrodinger’s cat.

“He who hesitates, masturbates.”

I watched the film adaptation of Odd Thomas a few days ago. It apparently got scathing reviews, but I really liked it. Into my list it goes.

leia isba

Smoking Lizard said:

Are they “lasers” though?

According to Han Solo they are: “That wasn’t a laser blast…something hit us!”

Lasers don’t come in bolt form and they don’t travel slower than the speed of light.

So either the “lasers” in SW aren’t literally lasers (just like most blueprints aren’t literally blue) or light operates under different physical laws in the SW Universe.

Ah yes – Waterworld. That goes on my list, too.

Was the experience anything like this?

joefavs said:

That’s just the worst Sith name in the long, sad, dumb history of bad Sith names.

You’ve apparently never met Darth Scabrous.

Yoda Is Your Father said:

Midi, maxi, it’s all bollocks.

LOL. If I was allowed to have a sock account, I’d use that as my signature.

Thank you for bringing the Dark Knight films into the conversation; I didn’t like them very much*. If TFA’s anything like those movies, perhaps I should do well to steer clear of it.

*The first two, that is. I didn’t bother with The Pretentious Nolan Rises.

EXT. ZIGGURAT – TWILIGHT

Cody and Anakin have brought Vaness to the ziggurat, and the team now sits camped outside of the monument, off a ways to the right from the entrance into the tomb.

Vaness, in the advanced stages of her transformation, is now so weak that she needs Anakin’s assistance to take a drink of water. Lips blue, skin tinted yellow, she can only take two swallows before she begins coughing.

The other three men stand away from the Jedi apprentice and the poor woman.

OBI-WAN: Here they are, Bail, the final symptoms of the plague: yellow skin, blackened lips, paralysis. In three hours, maybe less, she will complete her transformation; Raia Vaness will be consumed by the plague, everything she was lost to the voracious hunger of the rakghoul. Is that what you want to see happen, Bail?

BAIL: Damn you, of course I don’t!

Reaching into Bail’s holster, the Jedi pulls out the blaster.

OBI-WAN: Then put an end to her suffering. Let her die with the dignity she has left.

Bail, torn between the love for his best friend and confidante and the knowledge that he can’t let her leave this life as a profane monstrosity, doesn’t know what to do.

CMDR. CODY: Bail, if you can’t do it …

BAIL: (angry) No! (beat) I’ll do it. Give me the damn blaster.

Obi-Wan hands the blaster to Bail. Accepting the gun, the captain approaches Vaness and Anakin.

BAIL: I’ll take over from here, son.

Nodding, Nik gets up, keeping his hands on Vaness to keep her from toppling over. Bail moves in, taking the young man’s place as he steps away. Vaness’ condition has worsened in the brief time that has passed since we saw her last. Her lips have turned completely black, her skin a solid ghastly yellow.

BAIL: Raia?

Vaness’ eyes crack open. They remain the same rich brown they have always been.

CMDR. VANESS: (weak) Bail?

BAIL: (smiles faintly) I’m told you’re not feeling well.

CMDR. VANESS: (laughs) Not feeling well’s putting it quite mildly.

BAIL: (drops the smile) Raia, what happened to Naad is happening to you. There’s nothing I or any of us can do to stop it.

CMDR. VANESS: (rolls her eyes) I know that. I wasn’t born yesterday, Bail.

BAIL: (tearing up) You know what I have to do.

CMDR. VANESS: (nods) I’ve known before you did.

No longer able to hold back, Bail begins to weep.

CMDR. VANESS: Bail, it’s better this way – better this than to become one of those things.

BAIL: (wipes tears out of his eyes) I know, I know. (beat) I don’t want to lose you.

Mustering up the last of her strength, Raia reaches up to touch Bail’s face.

CMDR. VANESS: You proposed to me once, remember?

BAIL: (nods) I remember.

CMDR. VANESS: I couldn’t return your affections then. (beat) I can now.

She tries to lift her face to Bail’s but she can’t. Instead, he lowers his face to hers. Then, for the first and last time, they share a tender, loving kiss.

CMDR. VANESS: (sighs) Remember me as I was.

Cmdr. Raia Vaness then loses consciousness.

Shuddering, Bail gently lowers Vaness into a reclining position. Rising to his feet, he takes a step back and brings the blaster into firing position.

DARK FORCE’S P.O.V.

At first there is only blackness, then a pinpoint of light appears in the centre of that blackness. That pinpoint quickly widens and grows, overtaken the blackness until there is nothing but a white brilliance. The brilliance then subsides, affording us a view of the dim skylight situated in the ceiling of the Sith tomb directly above the sarcophagus.

Moving, the Dark Force reorients itself. Turning in a circle, it takes in the view of all the open doors; ignoring those leading into the stasis chambers, it focuses in on the doorway leading out into the entrance gallery. Moving forward, the Dark Force leaves the sarcophagus for the gallery.

The Dark Force speeds through the gallery, passing the stock-still statues and the walls of glowing hieroglyphs in a blur of motion, emerging out into the open air of Xuthltan’s approaching night. Turning on its left, the Dark Force spies the five Imperials. Advancing, it closes in on the most vulnerable of their number.

EXT. ZIGGURAT – TWILIGHT

Closing his eyes, Bail prepares to press the trigger which will release the bolt of green plasma that will end Vaness’ life and send her to the Force.

Suddenly, Vaness’ eyes open wide, the irises now a feral yellow. Eyes focusing on the man with the gun before her, she lunges at him with a GROWL. Grabbing his wrist, she pulls him to her then takes hold of his shoulder and twists him around, wrenching his arm from its socket.

BAIL: AAAAHHHH!!!

With a push, the woman that was Raia Vaness sends Bail flying; landing on his dislocated arm, he issues a second cry of agony. Done with Bail, she then lifts herself up with the Force, using it to levitate a couple centimetres above the ground. Lifting up her hands, she then releases a subhuman HOWL.

As Obi-Wan, Nik, and Cmdr. Cody back away from the floating woman in terror, Possessed Vaness turns toward them, eyes blazing, bared white teeth contrasting sharply with her pitch black lips.

POSSESSED VANESS: (dual-toned) Defilers! The death-screams of my children called out to me through the darkness, roused me from my ancient slumber! Now you murderers – you profaners – now you all shall die!

Taking up a spear, Cody is the first to make a move against the possessed woman. As the Journeyman Protector lunges at her, stabbing twice with the spear, she simply dodges, moving left then right faster than he can strike. As he strikes a third time, Possessed Vaness grabs the point of the spear, holding it and him in place.

Igniting his lightsaber, Obi-Wan enters the fray. Dashing forward, he leaps up into the air, over Cody and Possessed Vaness, landing behind her. As the Jedi strikes, though, she catches the blue blade, the superheated plasma failing to burn through her hand. Chanting an incantation, she begins to resonate with a dark violet aura; the lightsaber blade then explodes, hurtling the Jedi away with plasma burns all over his face and hands.

Turning her attention back to the commander, Possessed Vaness pulls the spear to her, bringing Cody close. Tossing the spear aside, she takes the Concordian’s face into her hands and begins clawing at it, gouging bloody furrows into his cheeks, nose, and forehead.

Realizing his lightsaber could be hazardous to use against the possessed woman, Anakin takes up the fallen spear and charges, aiming for her back, but at the last second she spins around and Anakin ends up running Cody through instead. Eyes flinging wide with surprise, he utters only a short CHIRP in response to the length of cold metal running through his abdomen.

Grinning, Possessed Vaness tosses Cody aside, sending him sailing right off the ziggurat to the ground below. Desperate, Anakin reaches to his lightsaber, but she telekinetically pulls it from his belt, calling it to her hand instead. Raising her other hand, she releases a blast of violet energy, knocking Nik off his feet.

As Anakin lies there, fighting to think of what to do next, Possessed Vaness chants another incantation. In response to that arcane recitation, several vines erupt from the stone under and around the apprentice, entwining and thickening around his body to hold him in place. Struggling, he tries to loosen the hold of those conjured vines, but they refuse to slacken.

That horrid grin still plastered across her yellow face, Possessed Vaness glides over to Anakin, raising her free hand towards him; the black nails on that hand elongate and sharpen, forming glistening ebon claws.

Moving up close to the trapped Jedi apprentice, she rests her hand upon his forehead, sinking her black nails beneath the pliant flesh.

ANAKIN: AAAAHHHH!!!

EXT. NYKRE EIKHAN’S MINDSCAPE

Anakin stands in an unsettingly mindscape. A dark sky of violet clouds sits overhead, a thick layer of fog hiding the ground beneath his feet. Before the Jedi stands an attractive red-skinned humanoid woman attired in vermilion and aureolin robes with precious gems beaded in her hair – the very same figure whose bones rested within the jade sarcophagus, the very same figure who appeared in Nashira’s nightmare.

ANAKIN: You … who are you?

RED-SKINNED WOMAN: Nykres Eikhan. When I lived I was a Kissai of the Third Order, archpriestess in the Pearl Cloister of Ch’hodos. I served the Immortal Gods and their appointed Sith Lords until the sundering of the Empire.

ANAKIN: Why have you brought me to this place?

NYKRES EIKHAN (RED-SKINNED WOMAN): You are a young one, aren’t you?

ANAKIN: I’m twenty years old.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Barely a man. And how long have you spent in tutelage to your Jedi master?

ANAKIN: Six years.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (nods) I sense there is much you are ignorant of, much which has been concealed from you, a great many truths.

ANAKIN: I’m no history buff, if that’s what you’re after.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (laughs) Oh, you’re a witty one. How I would have cherished you for a protégé. (grows serious) Unfortunately, that time is past; all I have left is vengeance unfulfilled. You will saite that vengeance, as will your companions. But first I will reveal to you the truth.

ANAKIN: What truth?

NYKRES EIKHAN: The truth of my past and your future.

Taking hold of the folds of her robes, Eikhan sweeps them over Anakin, casting everything into oblivion.

Yoda Is Your Father said:

Can everybody please stop saying ‘Midichlorians’ please?

Would you prefer we talked about maxi-chlorians instead?

imperialscum said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

He can start by finding me a girlfriend, preferably one with natural red hair, blue or green eyes, and no tattoos.

Why don’t you just ask your mom to do it?

Pfft. My mother knows no one. Besides, I wouldn’t want to be set up with any girl she’d deem appropriate, anyway.

Lord Haseo said:

God is nothing but a big pile of apathy. Satan is who you go to when you need something done.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he wasn’t a great big pansy.

Likewise, happy to see you associating with the likes of us again. 😉

He can start by finding me a girlfriend, preferably one with natural red hair, blue or green eyes, and no tattoos.

The likelihood of me ever approaching ST-era comics is meagre at best. I think I’ll just stick with the ST films and novelizations (That’s if I don’t find TFA too abhorant. Otherwise, to Hades with it all.).

I hope that treatment – or at least Arndt’s draft crafted from it – gets leaked soon. I really wanna know what that version of Ep. VII would have been like.

EXT. DESERT – GROVE OF DEAD TREES – EVENING

Using the dead wood surrounding them, the last five remaining members of the team have built a large pyre for the creature that was Kathe Naad. The fire kindled, orange flames climb up the dry wood to lick the mangled, mutated cadaver.

As Vaness stands before the pyre, transfixed as the fire and smoke rise to claim the body lain upon it, Bail, Obi, Nik, and Cody stand off in the distance.

OBI-WAN: The creatures which attacked us … I finally recognize what they were now. They’re rakghouls.

ANAKIN: Rakghouls … I remember reading something about them in the records.

OBI-WAN: They were the products of Sith alchemy. Utterly mindless, their only motivation was their great, ever-present hunger. The Sith Lords made limited use of them during the Great Hyperspace War, before their use became a liability. (beat) The six we encountered must have been secreted away inside the temple, in stasis these past five-thousand years until we desecrated the tomb.

CMDR. CODY: These rakghouls – they could do … this?

OBI-WAN: Therein lies the efficacy of the rakghoul; anyone who survived their attacks with just a bite or a scratch became a rakghoul themselves.

BAIL: That isn’t going to happen to Raia.

OBI-WAN: Bail, I’m sorry …

BAIL: (shakes his head) No. If she was infected, she would have turned already. Naad –

OBI-WAN: (interrupts) Naad transformed faster because her exposure to the rakghoul plague was greater. (beat) It will take Raia longer to succumb to the plague, but she will succumb; it’s only a matter of when.

BAIL: (shakes his head) No … no …

OBI-WAN: All we can do is inform her, allow her to prepare herself for –

BAIL: (angry) No!

Storming away, he leaves the three men. Joining Vaness in front of the pyre, he rests a hand on her shoulder, desperately hoping for the gesture to bring some measure of comfort to them both.

EXT. DESERT – GROVE OF DEAD TREES – DAWN

Another day has come to Xuthltan. Rising with the hidden sun(s), Bail, Cody, Obi-Wan, and Nik get ready to resume their trek.

Vaness, for her part, remains asleep upon the ground.

BAIL: (approaches Vaness) Raia?

Crouching down, Bail gives her a shake. Waking with a groan, she turns over; she looks absolutely peaked.

BAIL: (frowns) Raia, are you feeling okay?

CMDR. VANESS: (nods) Just more tired than usual. I didn’t have that great a sleep; bad dreams.

BAIL: But you’re well to travel?

CMDR. VANESS: (sits up) Of course.

Smiling, the captain gives the commander a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

CUT TO

All four men and last remaining woman as they leave the grove of dead trees and the smouldering remnants of the pyre.

EXT. DESERT – MONTAGE

As the next couple hours pass on by, Vaness grows evermore tired and weary. As she steadily weakens, the others gradually have to take up her portion of the supplies to ease her progress.

EXT. DESERT – ZIGGURAT – DAY

The travellers come to a stop. A kilometre away, the ziggurat looms over the landscape like a slumbering titan from a lost dark age.

Vaness – her usually tan features pale, eyes dark and heavy, forehead slick with sweat – collapses.

BAIL: (alarmed) Raia!

Rushing to her aid, Bail gets down to the ground and takes her into his arms. Afraid of what he’ll find, he puts a hand to her forehead.

BAIL: (voice small) She has a fever.

The others say nothing. There is nothing they can say.

BAIL: (runs his hand through his hair) Jango, how much charge is left in your blaster?

CMDR. CODY: (pulls out his blaster and checks) There’s enough for about twelve shots.

BAIL: Hand it over to me.

CMDR. CODY: (hands the blaster to Bail) Sir?

BAIL: Commander, you and Anakin are going to stay here with Raia; make sure she’s comfortable. Kenobi, you and I are going on to the temple.

OBI-WAN: Bail –

BAIL: There may be more rakghouls lurking about, correct? We’ll have to clear any out if we’re going to make base camp at the temple, right?

OBI-WAN: (resigned) Right.

BAIL: Good to see you agree with me. Let’s go.

EXT. ZIGGURAT – DAY

Arriving at the ziggurat, the captain and the Jedi begin climbing the ramp, headed directly for the Sith tomb. Bail – face grim, hands clenched tightly around the shaft of a spear – takes lead.

INT. ZIGGURAT/ENTRANCE GALLERY – DAY

Bail and Obi appear in the entrance. As the captain goes on ahead, the Jedi activates his lightsaber.

Walking past the Sith statues, the two head on towards the tomb.

BAIL: Just cover me and slice anything that comes for my back.

INT. ZIGGURAT/TOMB

Bail and Obi-Wan enter the tomb. Much is as it was before – except for the six rakghouls which now occupy the chamber, arranged in a circle around the sarcophagus, kneeled like supplicants before it.

Unholstering his borrowed blaster, Bail takes aim and empties three shots into the back of one of the rakghouls, killing it instantly.

BAIL: Salutations from the Galactic Empire!

Alerted to the Human presence, the rakghouls rise and turn, growls low in their yellow throats. Bail gives them no opportunity to do more than that.

Charging, Bail impales one of the beasts, shoots it right through the head, then pulls the spear out just in time to spin around and open up the throat of another rakghoul coming for him. Bringing his blade to bear, Obi-Wan comes to his commanding officer’s aid, slicing the hands and head off another rakghoul.

CUT TO

Sometime later. The rakghouls are all dead and the two Imperials have finished investigating the rakghoul stasis chambers, finding no more hidden within.

OBI-WAN: The chambers are all empty. If there are any rakghouls left, they’re not to be found here.

Bail doesn’t respond. Instead he hefts up his black blood-stained spear and approaches the white jade sarcophagus; ramming the point of the spear under the lid, he begins prying it loose.

BAIL: Help me with this thing.

Joining Bail, the knight adds his weight to the spear. The lid is stubborn, but it soon begins to give way; in moments it pops off, sliding away and hitting the floor with a great big CRASH which breaks it in two.

There, nestled within the confines of the ancient sarcophagus, its arms crossed over its chest, is the mummified remains of a Sith Kissai priestess. The mummy is dressed in faded vermilion and aureolin robes, its stringy black hair beaded with precious gems.

BAIL: Hand me a torch.

Heading over to one of the many sconces lining the walls, Obi-Wan pulls an unlit torch free and brings it to the captain. Taking the torch, he lights it with one shot from his blaster.

BAIL: (raises the torch over the bones) Ashes to ashes.

Bail tosses the torch into the sarcophagus. The rotted clothes and dessicated flesh immediately catch, engulfing the mummy in flame – unnatural green flame. As the ancient corpse is consumed, a gust of wind blows through the tomb, carrying with it a sound not unlike a tortured wail.

BAIL: We’re done here.

Turning away from the violated sarcophagus and its burnt contents, the two men depart the tomb.

Three-way tie between #3, #4, & #5 for me.

Let’s do the time warp again.

TV’s Frink said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

I think there’s another, simpler explanation for why Han believes in the Force: He’s close friends with Luke and he doesn’t believe his friend’s a liar/fraud.

Or his wife…

Luke’s not his wife!

Long, short – it doesn’t matter.