DuracellEnergizer

INT. NYAX/OBI-WAN, ANAKIN, & SIRI'S CELL

Obi-Wan's eyes fly open, and he finds himself back in the cell, blood flowing from his nose. Pinching his nostrils shut to staunch the nosebleed, he turns to his left, where Anakin lies shaking -- his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and his teeth chattering rapidly -- caught in a violent seizure.

OBI-WAN: (alarmed) Lord, Anakin!

Disregarding his own paltry nosebleed, Ben moves quickly, grabbing Nik by his upper right arm while placing his own right hand down over the boy's forehead.

Closing his eyes, the Jedi knight opens himself to the Force, and within moments Anakin's violent tremblings subside, leaving the boy in a peaceful unconsciousness. Once he is certain Anakin is alright, he turns to face Siri, who sits kneeling before him with her hands crossed in her lap, her face completely blank of expression.

OBI-WAN: (wipes blood from under his nose) What the hell just happened!?

Siri doesn't reply. Instead her eyes roll up into her head and she falls face-forward, collapsing with all the grace of a rag doll.

OBI-WAN: Siri!

Scrambling forward toward the female Jedi Knight, Ben pulls her upright, bracing her against him. Pushing her hair out of her face, he turns her head left then right, trying to determine whether she is dead or alive. As her pupils dilate and she continues to breathe, it is apparent that she is alive, though in a deep state of catatonia.

PRE VIZSLA: (O.S.) Don't concern yourself with her, Kenobi. She will be well momentarily.

Obi-Wan turns toward the source of the voice. Pre Vizsla -- clad in full armour -- steps out from the deep shadow at the far end of the cell and walks up to the Jedi.

OBI-WAN: (angry) What did you do to them?

PRE VIZSLA: I merely deactivated certain portions of their brains. It is a relatively simple task to do for one with my skills, and it isn't permanently debilitating -- usually.

OBI-WAN: Restore them!

PRE VIZSLA: Of course.

Without even a gesture, Pre Vizsla follows through on his promise. Siri and Anakin instantly regain full consciousness and awareness, their eyes opening wide in stark terror, their chests heaving with rapid breathing.

OBI-WAN: (to Anakin and Siri both) Are you alright? Are you okay?

ANAKIN: Yes.

SIRI: I'll be fine in a moment.

OBI-WAN: (turns back to Vizsla) Why did you do that?

PRE VIZSLA: Consider it a demonstration or, better yet, a warning. (beat) I know what you're trying to do, Kenobi, and it won't work. Every paltry doctrine you try to instill upon the boy will be shattered with the awesome truth of the Force.

As one, the three Jedi rise to their feet, facing the Force-wielding Mandalorian warrior.

SIRI: You made a mistake coming here alone, Mandalorian. There's three of us and only one of you.

PRE VIZSLA: (laughs) As a revered Jedi master once said: "Size matters not".

Throwing out a hand, Vizsla seizes the three Jedi in an all-encompassing grip, immediately freezing them in place.

PRE VIZSLA: (cont'd) Two knights and a novice are no match for me. It would do you well to remember that, my friends.

Vizsla turns to face the cell door, and it immediately unlocks and slides open, allowing five security 'droids to step inside.

PRE VIZSLA: You're going to take a trip with me, Jedi. There's something I'd have you see.

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

The main door leading in-and-out of the sparring chamber slides open, and Obi-Wan and Siri are violently shoved inside. Just as they right themselves and turn around, the door slides shut and locks. Turning away from the door, they find themselves standing alone in the vast, empty chamber.

SIRI: (to the chamber) Where am we? What are we doing here?

The Jedi wait to receive some sort of response from somewhere in this vast, empty sparring chamber.

INT. NYAX/OBSERVATION DECK

Vizsla enters the observation deck overlooking the sparring chamber, Anakin and the security 'droids behind him. As they step up to the transparisteel observation windows, the Jedi down in the chamber below look up, spotting them.

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

SIRI: (angry) Speak, damn you!

INT. NYAX/OBSERVATION DECK

PRE VIZSLA: You sound frustrated, Mistress Jedi --

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

PRE VIZSLA: (O.C.) (cont'd) -- is there a problem?

SIRI: You tell me!

PRE VIZSLA: (O.C.) Such passion in your voice, Mistress Jedi!

INT. NYAX/OBSERVATION DECK

PRE VIZSLA: (cont'd) You sound almost angry! Anger is not the Jedi way!

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

OBI-WAN: Don't worry, darksider, we can control our anger.

INT. NYAX/OBSERVATION DECK

PRE VIZSLA: Can you now? Can you really?

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

OBI-WAN: Come on down and find out for yourself.

PRE VIZSLA: (O.C.) (laughs) Walk to the centre of the room. I've left a gift there for each of you.

Cautiously, the two Jedi walk away from the main door towards the centre of the chamber. There, sitting upon the floor, are a pair of small lightsabers.

SIRI: (picks the lightsabers up) Neither of these is my weapon.

OBI-WAN: Nor mine.

INT. NYAX/OBSERVATION DECK

PRE VIZSLA: That would make it too easy.

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

PRE VIZSLA: (O.C.) (cont'd) No, they're training sabers, taken from two initiates. (beat) They have no further use for the weapons.

SIRI: (grits her teeth) Monster.

PRE VIZSLA: (O.C.) You misunderstand, Mistress Jedi -- they won't be needing them because they've both grown proficient with weapons worthy of Mandalorian neophytes. Yes, they have grown strong, and will yet grow stronger under the firm guidance of the Mandalorian Death Watch. After all, not all of the children you've brainwashed are incapable of escaping your indoctrination.

SIRI: (regards the training lightsabers) What are we supposed to use these for?

PRE VIZSLA: (O.C.) What else? Defense.

At that, several doors lining the chamber slide open, allowing ten Mandalorian Mandalorian Knights to step inside. In each of the robed figures' hands are long force pikes.

INT. NYAX/OBSERVATION DECK

PRE VIZSLA: Let's see how you fare against my elite warriors, Jedi.

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

The ten Mandalorians begin circling the Jedi, bringing their force pikes to bear. Siri tosses one of the training sabers to Ben and they both engage the pure white blades of their weapons, holding them out before them in defensive stances, muscles tensed and eyes narrowed.

The Mandalorian Knights move in like ravenous sharks, lunging at the Jedi Knights with their weapons. Ben and Siri counterattack, parrying blows and striking at the Knights. The low-powered blades of the training lightsabers are incapable of cutting through the weapons or the warriors, however, leaving the Jedi incapable of doing little more than slowing the Knights down momentarily.

INT. NYAX/OBSERVATION DECK

Moving away from the 'droids guarding him, Anakin steps up to Vizsla. Though the menacing automatons quickly level their blasters at him, the young Jedi initiate pays them no heed.

ANAKIN: Stop this! Let them go!

PRE VIZSLA: (turns to face Nik) Is there a good reason why I should, boy?

ANAKIN: (points down at the battle between the Jedi knights and Mandalorian Knights) It's ten against two! They don't stand a chance!

PRE VIZSLA: Size doesn't matter, boy, remember? (turns back to look down into the sparring chamber) If the Force is truly with them, it will grant them victory over my warriors.

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

In no time at all, the Mandalorian Knights overwhelm the Jedi knights; knocking the training saber out of Siri's hands, they strike out with their pikes, disabling her with powerful shocks to her limbs and torso. Soon she collapses, partially paralysed from the violent electrical shocks. Obi-Wan fares better, and he continues to hold his own for a couple more minutes before he, too, eventually falls.

PRE VIZSLA: (O.C.) That's enough. Power down your weapons and leave them.

INT. NYAX/OBSERVATION DECK

The Mandalorians obey Vizsla's orders automatically and quickly leave the chamber. Once they have all gone, Vizsla turns to regard Anakin, who glowers at him with smouldering hatred.

PRE VIZSLA: (strides up to Anakin) You have something to say to me, boy?

ANAKIN: Bastard! I swear I'll kill you!

PRE VIZSLA: Good -- kill me.

Without warning, Vizsla backhands Anakin across the face, sending the teenager reeling backward into the security 'droids. Before the boy can catch his bearings, the Mandalorian moves up to him, pulling him forward by his shirt before striking him across the face again.

PRE VIZSLA: Open yourself up to the anger -- the hatred -- novice. Embrace the full power of the Force and use it to destroy me.

Vizsla continues to push, pull, and slap Anakin around the observation deck, using violence to drive the boy closer and closer toward the breaking point.

PRE VIZSLA: Come now, child! You swore to kill me! You have the power! Use it!

Vizsla gives Anakin another slap across the face -- his hardest yet. With a sharp crack, Nik's nose breaks.

ANAKIN: (cups his nose in his hands) AAAAHHHH!!!!!!

PRE VIZSLA: (sighs) Pitiful. You talk with strength, but your actions are weak. You are unworthy of the Force that has been bestowed upon you. (beat) I'll make your end quick and painless, boy, though you don't deserve such an easy death.

Balling his right hand up into a fist, Vizsla throws a punch out towards Nik's face. Before the death-dealing blow can connect, however, Anakin throws up his left hand and catches it. Bearing his teeth in an animalistic snarl, he closes his hand over the Mandalorian's, breaking it.

PRE VIZSLA: AAAAHHHH!!!!!!

Anakin wrenches Vizsla's arm back, nearly dislocating the Mandalorian's shoulder, then balls his own right hand up into a fist. Before he can send a Force-reinforced punch into Vizsla's gut, however, one of the 'droids aims its blaster at the Jedi initiate and fires, taking him out with a precisely aimed stun blast.

PRE VIZSLA: (gingerly holding his crushed hand) That was good, boy, very good. You'll be a full-fledged neophyte before the year is out.

INT. NYAX/SPARRING CHAMBER

The door to the sparring chamber slides open, allowing Vizsla along with an escort of four Mandalorian Knights to step inside. Walking up to the two defeated Jedi, Vizsla looks down upon them.

PRE VIZSLA: (to Siri) That was a pathetic display, Jedi. I've seen Force adepts who refuse to even touch a physical weapon put up a better fight than you just did. It's obvious you Coruscanti Jedi rely more on the power of your lightsabers than you do upon the power of the Force. (to Ben) As for you, you fared far better than your comrade here, though you, too, still rely too heavily on physical prowess to assist you in besting your enemies.

SIRI: (stammering) The lightsaber is the life of a Jedi.

PRE VIZSLA: Then it's a life that's going to be cut frightfully short.

OBI-WAN: Then you may as well cut ours now, because neither of us will serve in your slave army.

PRE VIZSLA: In nine hours we reach our destination. We'll see if you can abide by your decision then.

With that, Vizsla turns his back on the debilitated Jedi knights and leaves.

I wonder how a tick infestation could ever get this bad.

SilverWook said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

To be honest, I think Episode VII should be set close to a hundred years after ROTJ rather than a mere thirty. After all, shouldn't people who are part of an advanced interstellar civilization have a better quality of life than people in the real world? Shouldn't they age at a slower rate than we would? 

 That's getting into Star Trek TNG territory though. ;)

Going off of that (lame) episode, it seems that people live longer without the benefit of aging slower in the ST Universe, which isn't what I'm proposing for the Sequel Trilogy.

TheBoost said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

To be honest, I think Episode VII should be set close to a hundred years after ROTJ rather than a mere thirty. After all, shouldn't people who are part of an advanced interstellar civilization have a better quality of life than people in the real world? Shouldn't they age at a slower rate than we would?

So 100 years later it's all the same characters as if it was 30 years later.

Why make the change?

I'm not sure I'm follow you. The storyline wouldn't have to feel like its only thirty years later.

Ben lived on a backwater desert planet, though, where the healthcare probably isn't all that great, so an exception can be made in his case.

Judging by these two videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowSGxim_O8&feature=kp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0JvF9vpqx8

Tom Petty would have made a fine good horror actor.

^That's complete and utter bollocks. =P

Judging by ROTJ, Lucas was already steering the Star Wars film franchise into banality long before the modern EU got on its feet; I don't think a better/smaller/non-existent EU would have necessarily paved the way for a good PT.  

Star Wars and Star Trek are two sides of one coin -- a coin that started off pristine and shiny, but has fallen into a big, steaming cowpie.

Frankly, both franchises could do with some cross-pollination; Star Wars needs more philosophical, human stories, while Star Trek needs to dump the stupid technobabble and human/rubber forehead aliens.

To be honest, I think Episode VII should be set close to a hundred years after ROTJ rather than a mere thirty. After all, shouldn't people who are part of an advanced interstellar civilization have a better quality of life than people in the real world? Shouldn't they age at a slower rate than we would? 

darth_ender said:

I really like Bollux and Blue Max: a droid duo, but very different characters from R2 and 3PO.

I think they're the best part of the Daley books. I only wish they'd been more prominent in Revenge than they were.

I'm currently reading The Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley, and I've finished the first two books and am currently on the third.

Han Solo at Stars' End wasn't all that engaging, though it picked up enough at the end to make it worthwhile, while Han Solo's Revenge was the complete opposite -- the story engaged me at first, but it floundered and fell flat at the end.

Overall, they're decent stories with decent characterization, and they succeed at making the SW Universe feel larger by taking place in regions beyond the Empire. But unless Han Solo and the Lost Legacy proves to be a truly excellent story that makes up for the shortcomings of its predecessors, I won't be keeping my copy of the book.

I browsed a few forums and tried some of their tips, but they did nothing.

Earlier this afternoon, I downloaded an swf file and tried to play it, but it wouldn't open -- apparently, I didn't have Adobe Flash Player installed (this is spite of the fact that on-line Flash content seemed to operate just fine for me).

So, I decided to reinstall Flash. When I tried, however, it kept aborting, giving me the message that "Flash Player failed to register" or something like that.

Well, I figured maybe I should uninstall Flash before reinstalling it, so I did. However, not only did the download fail again, but I was no longer able to view Flash content -- like YouTube videos -- online. Now I started to worry.

So, I spent the next couple of hours reinstalling and re-uninstalling Flash over-and-over again, trying different methods to get it to work. Each attempt failed with the same damn results: "Flash Player failed to register" "ActiveX control failed to register", etc, etc.

So, in the end, I used System Restore to reset the computer back to the way it was before I started monkeying around with the sonuvabitch.

Suffice it to say, not only am I mad as heck, but I'm afraid of what will happen if I need to update my Flash software in the future. 

SilverWook said:

I don't see it as a bad omen. I'm just amused when it appears, as much as I'm amused by appearances of 42.

I was being tongue-in-cheek, you know. =P

SilverWook said:

Yikes! ;)

Bad omens follow me whereever I go. =( 

I don't like myself/Shub-Niggurath

EXT. OGANA MAJOR - CLIFF - DAY (DREAMSCAPE)

On the world of Ogana Major, Obi-Wan and Anakin stand together at the edge of a cliff covered in blue-green grass, the breathtaking view of a roiling sea beyond them; they watch, unblinking, as the midnight blue waves flow and overtake one another under a sky that is half blue with white sun and half silver with rain cloud.

ANAKIN: Where are we?

OBI-WAN: Ogana Major.

ANAKIN: (smiles) This is the rain planet you told me about.

OBI-WAN: I thought you'd like it. (beat) This is only the dry season, though -- when the clouds are at their peak, the rain's so thick you can't see a metre in front of you.

ANAKIN: God, it looks so real! (beat) But it's all in my head, right? You didn't teleport us here through the Force or anything like that.

OBI-WAN: (laughs) It's all in my head, actually. I'm simply sharing it with you through a rapport in the Force.

ANAKIN: Can you do this with anyone?

OBI-WAN: Establishing a rapport is easy if both parties are receptive to one another. If I were to try it with someone who was not receptive -- or not willing -- it would be far harder.

A moment of silence passes between the master and his apprentice.

ANAKIN: (strokes his chin) So, why did you take me -- us -- here, again?

OBI-WAN: I didn't create this dreamscape from my imagination. This is a memory from when I was on this planet -- a moment suspended in time. I recalled the emotions I felt on that day, and I used them to create this illusion.

ANAKIN: I pretty much had that figured out. What's the point you're driving at?

OBI-WAN: Your emotions -- love, excitement, curiosity, amusement, and so on -- are the keys to the Force. By drawing on them, you free yourself and gain the ability to consciously tap into the Force and to call on its power. Without your feelings, you would be like a blind man groping about the darkness in search of a light.

ANAKIN: So without emotion, you can't feel the Force or use it? You can't link up with anyone's mind or create dream worlds within in?

OBI-WAN: Exactly.

ANAKIN: Why?

OBI-WAN: Because the Force is not of the rational world. It cannot be studied, analysed, or quantified. It is a primal energy, a thing of intuition and of the heart, alien to conventional logic and the mind.

ANAKIN: So, feelings are the key. Is that all feelings or only specific ones?

OBI-WAN: Any emotion fuels the Force, but that doesn't mean all should be called upon.

ANAKIN: You mean negative emotions, right? The ones that lead to the dark side?

OBI-WAN: Unbridled anger, hatred, lust, fear -- they are all of the dark side and should never be called upon.

ANAKIN: But it's only natural to feel anger, hatred, lust, and fear. It's a part of what makes us who we are.

OBI-WAN: The key word is unbridled. There is nothing wrong with getting upset with a person who has wronged you or finding yourself aroused by a beautiful woman -- it's only when you give yourself wholly to those emotions, when you cast aside all discretion and restraint for them, that they become of the dark side.

ANAKIN: How do I know when to restrain them? How do I learn how to control them?

OBI-WAN: You know how to use your common sense, don't you? You know when not to eat or drink too much. The same applies to your feelings; know when enough is enough, and stop feeding.

A moment of silence passes between the master and the apprentice.

OBI-WAN: Tell me, Anakin, what do you feel right now? What emotions are stirring within you?

ANAKIN: A lot -- too many.

OBI-WAN: Tell me.

ANAKIN: Anxiety ... confusion ... anger ... trepidation ... longing ... love ... elation ... excitement!

OBI-WAN: Catch hold of all those feelings, Anakin. Reach out with them, reach out to the Force.

ANAKIN: But you told me not to give in to the bad ones.

OBI-WAN: Let them flow out of you, not through you. (beat) Let your emotions flow out of you and into the Force. Let the Force recognize them and you. Let it reach back to touch you.

Closing his eyes, Anakin begins to concentrate on Ben's commands. As he does so, a whirlwind of colours begins to swirl around the two Jedi, growing in size and intensity the longer Anakin concentrates.

As Obi-Wan watches, countless images begin to form within the centre of the vortex -- countless faces of loved ones and enemies, various landscapes from different locations, all drawn from memory or imagination -- and he smiles.

ANAKIN: I can feel it working, Ben! I can feel the Force!

OBI-WAN: That's good, Anakin, that's excellent! The Force is with you now! (beat) Now reach out with the Force! Find your horizons and expand them!

The coloured whirlwind of whirling images reshapes into a perfect sphere and begins to expand outward, overtaking and erasing the dreamscape of Ogana Major as it grows. Soon, the images swirling through the walls of the sphere enhance, growing in clarity and significance, showing people, places, and things beyond Anakin's immediate experience.

Suddenly, without warning, Anakin reels over, grimacing with pain, clutching his head as he collapses to his knees.

OBI-WAN: (alarmed) Anakin!

ANAKIN: (tears streaming down his tightly-shut eyes) God, Ben, what is this?! My mind -- it's being torn apart!

Before the Jedi knight can respond, the sphere bursts like a bubble. Psychic energy lashes out, and with a joint scream, the two Jedi disappear in a sudden flash flood of absolute blackness.

Bingowings said:

That's because you are very young and have you future ahead of you.

My future is as bleak as a Martian winter.

If it weren't for The Simpsons, I'd probably never know who Bob Dole is.

40,000 VHS and Betamax tapes ...

^I'd love to watch the whole movie this way.

LOL

I'm pleased that the EU chose to explain the human and rubber forehead aliens in the SW Universe as being offshoots of humanity who came into existence through evolution/genetic manipulation rather than some stupid pseudoscientific Trekish mumbo jumbo.

While I don't hate them, per se, I'm not fond of the Jabba the Hutt comics that were produced in the '90s. The scenes with Jabba eating full-sized humanoids were just distasteful.