Before - Legends The Sith Hunters - 7/22/16 - September 15, 2016....

Had to hide the names and play a guessing game with your readers, no?



Good to see the Jedi pull out all the stops after Darth Maul's discovery. At least they have the priorities right.

And the Supreme Chancellor's secret code is hilarious!

 

Yeah, I can't think after the way Yoda and Windu talked at the end of Episode One that the Jedi sat on their hands and waited ten years to deal with the newest Sithian threat, rather loosely, in Episode Two. In that meantime as well there had to be a sudden fostering of tension between Palpatine and the Jedi Order that was hinted just a tad in Episode Two but was clearly obvious by Episode Three: suppose something happened in the ten years between 'Phantom' and 'Clones'?

Some of it occurs in 'The Sith Hunters', which occurs between Episode One and Episode Two. When Palpy is not busy making up codes for the fools in the Republic to use, or busy slowly gaining his power, he's surprisingly up to a lot of no good on his own. However, as the story unfolds, Darth Sidious is on the verge of losing everything he has worked so hard for, only this time the cause of the chaos is from a unlikely source.

Sometimes its not the outcome its the way there that's entertaining as hell.

FORWARD! I want to start this soon, but I would like folks to catch up.

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GESSAHOLIC DATABASE

SITH HUNTERS - Making their first mention in the story 'Nothing Else Matters', the Sith Hunters were a dedicated, sizable group of Jedi lead by Hetfield Ulrich directed by then Grand Jedi Master Dor-Li Nimh to eliminate for the good the Sith a thousand years ago. The original Sith Hunters were 25 - Knights strong including their leader, but much of the original membership changed considerably due to members falling out of favor of the Sith Hunters primary mission; some of the members became Dark Jedi, to which their former allies had to slay them. The original Sith Hunter mission came to a bad end when the group confronted Darth Bane on the territory planet known as Naboo on the star charts, which in that horrible confrontation only Hetfield Ulrich survived, but his wounds too severe Ulrich would enter a coma, and eventually die.

It was the Sith Hunters who found the First Sith Maiden, the then-girl child Luna Mystery, after they had severely battered her parent's Sith ship. In the process of attacking the ship, parts of it crushed young Luna's legs, pressing Ulrich to remove them.

 

FORWARD! And this will be a catch up weekend. I might extend it to the 15th, we'll see.

 

AND UP!

I will start this on Thursday, January 15, as early as possible for those who exist in the future.

FORWARD!

 

A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY....

 

THE SITH HUNTERS





ACT I ? The Bait




CHAPTER 1.0

Fifteen Years After the End of The Sith Maiden; Four Years After The End of Star Wars: Episode One: The Phantom Menace

In the long ago past of his life, every time the Sith Master Darth Sidious had returned to Korriban he had found the Sithian home world to be just as dead as the first day his gray, young, foolish eyes saw it for the first time. It had been a purely desolate place, made so by two Masters of the Dark Side of the Force that had gone too far in proving who was the better; resulting in the ruination of a world and the end of the rule of the Sith over the known galaxy more than a thousand years ago. A place of gray yet nearly cloudless skies, of flowerless brush and grassless plains, of drained and shallow lakes and dead streams of motionless water, of pale cracked dust that sustained nothing, of wild temperature spikes of desert heat waves, brisk autumn walks, bitter springs and snow-less winters. A planet that had only offered a place to hide the Sith, to plot their vengeance, to plan for their return to power, a place to harden and harden more the Dark Apprentices. A fall back location to where the Sith, for more than a thousand years, had sat and waited, and waited, and waited for their time again, a time of rule and ruin. Now, the planet Korriban had apparently decided that the time for its rebirth -- seemingly tied in with the reemergence of galactic awareness of the Sith under Sidious ? had been put off long enough.

It had been four long years since Master Sidious had been to Korriban, and before then his returns to Korriban had been fewer and farther apart. Each visit bore evidence of the planet?s Dark rival, but nothing compared to the last four years. From the high, rail-less platform atop of the ancient structure known as the Suel, based deep within the range of the Misa Mountains, he could see it all under the sunny sky of the mountain spring day. A gray grass had grown across the world, wilder vegetation overtaking the dead forests, with deeper snows that covered the mountain tops and waters that filled the empty crevices on and under the planet so much the Sith Order no longer had to rely on off-world water supplies. The climates were rationally seasonal, the air smelled alive, and all of it possessed an energy that had never been felt by any Force Sensitive being in recent memory. It just seemed as if this lone part of Korriban, like Sidious, was feeding off of the Darkness that was slowly expanding throughout the galaxy, and growing stronger and more resilient every day. The rebirth of Korriban, the rebirth of Sithian rule, was happening at the same time.

Darth Sidious hardly cared if any part of Korriban was alive again; he had more important things to do. He had been very busy resuscitating the political career he had lost years before in the pursuit of gaining the Dark Hope of the Sith, whose very birth and existence assured the Master of the Dark Side of the Force his rule of the galaxy was certain and guaranteed. After defeating many upstarts to his position of destiny he knew to be his, Sidious never obtained the Dark Hope, but he had learned that he did not really need her. All she was to him was a reference to his power, and for nearly fifteen years he only saw the Dark Hope as nothing else.

Giving up his political career was not necessarily a foolish move; how else could Darth Sidious have dealt with the likes of the Force-sensitive race the Vhinech, their Dark Side leader Magus Prophet, and Dark Spirit Darth Rune in his quest to rule the universe. However Darth Rune had returned from the dead and had done significant damage to the entire Sith Order in Sidious? absence, and much of those assets linked to the political career of his alter ego Dace Palpatine had been affected. It did not help that Palpatine?s career had begun on the blessings of the Rapier Clan Dynasty of Naboo; as a relief representative, he was an understudy to and the eventually successor to Senator B

 

Wow, a lot of great developments, Casper.

I think they need to be on the look out for Sidious though.

 

Thanks, Sara: that was a quick response. The anticipation was too much, I guess.

I was thinking of trying to get more Sidious into the product, more than in the previous three stories, but he's too much a 'to the point' character that one cannot drag him along. Besides, based on his preferred position at the moment, there is little he can do by himself.

Depending how you look at it, it's both brilliant and unfortunate for Sidious/Palpatine. In the previous volumes of the Gessa Saga he had to be that Sith that had to do things in order to be successful, a 'done right, do it yourself' kind of guy; I like to call it Captain Kirk's Syndrome.

When he died while fighting Faith/Darth Rune in The Sith Maiden and came back, that's when he realized how really fragile his position is in destiny; the first few near death experiences had taught him nothing. It's made him a little fearful (fear is an emotion of the dark side after all). After rebuilding the Sith Order after Rune had wrecked it, Sidious had to become the wise captain that stayed behind and let others do his dirty work, better known as Picarditis.

In that context, it's brilliant because it keeps him alive, and parts of his plan are executed based on the outcomes; unfortunate because if it fails he can't get his hands on the throats who failed him, they would be dead already. But it calls into question the importance of who his pawns are and what they do and don't do to allow him to succeed.

MOre soon!

 

Picarditis??!!



Interesting post. What's so urgent that needs to be communicated so urgently? Hmm.

Nice interaction between Dooku and Sidious.

 

LOL! Well, how else to explain it: Picard was kinda the smart one, but come on: Kirk knew ratings gold was to go on the planet and his ongoing mission to find trouble, or Orion slave girls.

And thanks to quick responses, we will now conclude the urgent chapter, which tests people's memories about the Gessa Saga as a whole, but 'Prologue Three: The Pulpit Bullies' in specific parts.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE TO NEWBIES: The use of BOLD texting is used for the purpose of when the Sith draw upon the Dark Side greatly, so it's like a cue to the reader that the Sith in question is building up their power. It's something I started using in The Dark Hope. Pretty much it's just for effect, so I apologize in advance for those who print the story out and lose black ink over the use of BOLD.

Italics I really didn't use much in TDH, but by The Fading Light it has become a standard for me. It started for me from the Star Wars books, where they Italic the names of ships or show a recording of something. In some (not all) SW books I've read, and in some other books I've read, unique languages spoken between English (Or what passes as Universal Basic in SW) and foreign language, the language in question is italicize to emphasize the differences. And no: I am not a language expert, so pronunciation is beside the point.

You will see references to the Old E'sithorpian religion, which is my construct so take it for what it is.

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CHAPTER 1.1

It was the combination of the scent of the black rose and the walk to Dark Ridge Point that brought back a lot of things Darth Sidious truly wanted to forget. Episodes in his life that featured his failures; some of the failures had cut him personally far deeper than others. He never could truly forget them for there were still links to that past that were here in the present, but the last thing he wanted to do was review them in any way unless he and he alone felt it was necessary. Now, like any other time in his opinion was not a good time. Then again it had been fourteen long years since the Daughters of the Dark Side, the dead spirits of the Maidens of the Sith, and their omnipresent Great Father had spoken to him.

A thousand years ago, when it was believed the Sith were thought ended for good, the remains of the Sith Order had went into hiding and began the preparations for revenge. The plot of revenge was to occur with two fronts: the return of the Sith Lords, and an entity of great Dark Side power, which both had been predicted in a Jedi prophecy known as the Enlightenments; a great many predictions made by a sick, dying, and fallen Jedi thousands and thousands of years ago. The birth of such an entity, known in the Enlightenments as the Dark Hope of the Sith, marked the beginning of the Age of Darkness, a period of time in which the Sith not only take over and rule the galaxy but bring about the total end of the Jedi.

It was ironic then that the Sith who had the knowledge of such a Dark Age had been the leader of the Jedi Order and the one most responsible for nearly causing the extinction of the Sith race. The Grand Jedi Master Dor-Li Nimh had fallen in love with one of the last true Sith of the original race, a young woman named Luna Mystery, and had taken steps to protect her from his fellow Jedi. After an attempt on their lives by the Jedi was defeated with the help of the true Darth Bane ? and Luna?s true brother ? Dor-Li Nimh became Darth Nefarious and swore to repay the Sith by striking vengeance against his former friends, and to do so through the slow, long process of the Dark Hope prophecy. To ensure a good start, Nefarious had impregnated Luna Mystery, and then sacrificed himself and a Luna imposter to let the Jedi Order believe the Sith were finally finished.

It had been determined by the end of the five thousand year old Sith War that the Sith were dangerous because of numbers, however each generation was losing the great Dark Side abili

 

FORWARD....and no: despite what people are saying I did not get in a fight with Ryan Seacreast (and won).

 

Interesting!

 

Thanks, Delight: I was hoping to make it so.

Again, dealing with what is known to happening I had to make the lead up to it interesting, which I had established in The Fading Light. As the dark side grows stronger, and the Force tilts imbalanced towards it, those who have either embraced the dark side, or come from a dark heritage, grow stronger.

Thus, as an E'oqerst would explain in the Nature of the Sith, there is growing desire, which raises their need to gain power, which will spurn competition. As Darth Nefarious warned Sidious in The Sith Maiden, and as Sidious remembered in Chapter One here, the destiny is his so long as he has that will, drive, desire, and ambition to own it, but there will be others that will seek Sidious' throne. Of course Sidious has realized that, but his focus of challenge has always been that either Naressa or Juna would challenge him.

As much as Sidious' death and then return to life in TSM made him paranoid, driven a bit more by fear than rage, it has also given him narrow vision. This is based on the concept that the strongest of Dark entities will grow stronger as the Force favors the Darkness, but he has neglected the upstarts who would benefit the most, upgrading their position in the universe whether they know it or not: most will be those who aide Sidious in his rule; few will not.

It's the latter that Sidious, and Juna for that matter, should worry most about.

More soon.....FORWARD.......droid beanings?

 

I really liked Sidious' feelings and pov through out the post. Great update!

 

Thanks, Sara: at the very least, when I have Sidious/Palpatine, it will be from his point of view. Everything he hopes for hinges more on what he does than what others do, and thus we have to know what he's thinking more than what he is saying. After all, he can't reveal who he is now, can he?

And we begin the next chapter in unfamiliar territory.....and as you will read, it's four months after Sidious' return to Korriban, and someone's nunas have come home to roost.....

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CHAPTER 2.0

Four Months Later

?Oh hooray.?

With that, the Honorable Senator of Chandiss Prime Bly Coaxial, the Chairman of the Special Republic Senate Committee on Naboo Reconstruction Oversight, threw his harden order ball at the vocally sarcastic chamber droid with as much strength as he could will behind the throw. The fist-sized lead ore, used to being meetings to order, knocked a good size dent into the automation?s head, knocking the bi-pedal droid off its feet. It would have been a terrible sight to bare witness to, an embarrassing event for any elected public official to have lost any form of control over their emotion, an outburst that would question anyone?s sanity. Bly Coaxial did not care: there was absolutely no one else, and really nothing else that could witness it, in the room. For the sake of ending all debate in the matter: he was now officially all alone.

?You go to hell, too, you mouthy rust bucket!? Coaxial?s shout echoed considerably around the modest-size chamber located just under the Senate Rotunda, but neither shout nor outburst was enough to leave the room. As Coaxial gathered his data cards, data docs, his notes, and whatever else was there that was his or not, this very moment represented the very sum of his political career; a career filled with great promise and rhetoric that almost came to an end in the primaries four months ago, and was two months away from being over for good.

Finished with his upset packing, Coaxial stormed out of the empty chamber without telling the Senate, as required by law, that he had adjourned for the day. It did not matter really: the chamber droid had been broken, there was no staff or aides there like there should have been to help him in the proceedings, and open his exit none of the required Republic Guard patrols were present to notify the security channels about his departure. The ultimate slap in the face: Coaxial had to be the one to turn off the lights. There was no worse insult in all the Senate, but Coaxial had all but given up. He skipped taking his seat in the main Senate chamber and just spent the rest of the afternoon walking wondering what had gone wrong.

Gone was the young firebrand that had spoken about the social injustice brought upon by the most wealthy of Republic citizens, and had won his Chandiss Prime seat on the promise that he would get the number one violator of the people: the Rapier Clan Dynasty of Naboo. That election, so soon after the infamous Shut Down incident that involved the products produced by Rapier Technologies, saw an infusion of new Senators and their Representatives that promised so much change by ending the monopolies, the high profiteers, and to go after all responsible for the Shut Down and make them pay, and pay some more, and pay after that!

Gone was the young man, who suffered through the initial debates over his cause and continued to investigate Juna Rapier Angelleia long after the settlements had been reached, and the legal proceedings waned. He had gotten older sooner, got heavier quickly, ended his marriage abruptly, and he had thought his knowledge of this one particular subject helped him carry a conversation of importance in the Senate. It did so long as the first committee he had chaired was relevant, but it too aged as badly as Coaxial had.

Gone was the Senator?s influence, the friends that agreed with him. The colleagues that had been voted in at the same time he did slowly began to vanish from his side and from his sight. They lost their seats. They lost their interest in the comm

 

4WARD! MORE SOONS!

 

Trouble afoot.....but we first enter a unique political strategy.



CHAPTER 2.1

The Consulate District, not very far from the Senate House, housed many of the off-Coruscant elected and appointed officials and contained the majority of the Republic?s embassies. The stronger systems, much like the individually powerful political figures, has their own places elsewhere out of identity, pride, and the fact that it made it impossible for spies and saboteurs and assassins to cause problems for them from ?next door? as it were. And it made it easier for them to do all those things if need be and not be an immediate suspect. The many elected officials, as a matter of selfish simplicity, had their offices in the same building: Lo?Dain Tower. Coaxial exited the air taxi at the midlevel of the building, needing only to go one more floor up to reach Onidas Grim?s office. The hallways and corridors and recesses were filled with busy people, which some of them Coaxial knew were affectionately called the ?paying beggars?: influential, spending lobbyists buying an election officials ?time?. Coaxial used to have those paying beggars waiting for him outside of the office building he worked out of; sadly, very few now in the Lo?Dain hallways acknowledged him with just a curt, quick nod. Even the lobbyist knew his career was over; spending money on him would be a waste.

Throughout the halls of the complex were monitors that had continuous feeds of the HoloNet News Network on; since there were no holographic nodes, the images were presented in a two dimension format. Many, including the lobbyists, suddenly stopped to read the information on the monitors; Coaxial found a spot in the crowd and watched with some interest. The banner under the female Twi?lek reporter read ?BREAKING NEWS: RAPIER TECH FAMILIES KIDNAPPED!?

The reporter was speaking, saying ??twenty-seven people, consisting of Rapier Technologies? employees and their families, were on a year-long climate survey of the planet Geintaude, an uninhabited world that is a part of the Royal Nubian States but very close to the space under the influence of the Trade Federation. According to sources within Theed on the planet Naboo Rapier Technologies had lost contact with the survey team over twelve hours ago, and then six hours later they had received a message from the kidnappers stating their ransom demands. The details of the demands are unknown, and Queen Amidala has remained silent on this issue. Asked if the Trade Federation was likely involved, the source in Theed said it was ?likely?. Calls to the various Trade Federation outlets have not been answered. To repeat?.?

People either moved or did not move; those who moved were reacting quickly to the news, forming the information into their advantage. Coaxial shook his head and took the lift to the next floor. In the lift, the reporting continued; on the screen now, talking to the reporter, was a quick-fire expert that was on paid standby for H.N.N.?

??.there didn?t seem to be a reason for a need of an armed presence. This planet, Geintaude, is a full day?s distance from the Nubian-Trade Federation border and several days from any known Trade Federation military bases??

The lift opened and Coaxial just shook his head again. He heard other tidbit as he approached the bare, no-one-there hall that lead to Grim?s office; the sounds fading in and out as he walked by the monitors:

??.only as little as ten years ago a millionaire on data doc could buy Rapier Technologies, that?s how bad they?.Juna Rapier, their majority owner, pulled the stock?.after the invasion of Naboo, Queen Amidala lead the people to reclaim their freedom, but it was the former Queen Angelleia, Miss Rapier that is, who rebuilt Naboo?.this kidnapping coming just after a report had come out that?.Technologies had made their first billion dollars in profit in fifteen years?.?

Coaxial stopped just outside the closed door to the next lobby and straightened himself out by looking at the mirror that had been purposely set outside the offices of the Honorable Senator of

 

Very interesting, that 'open' concept. It's like Tweeter being on all the time.

What is Grim up to? He's playing the innocent-politician part very well! Sounds like another politician, doesn't it?

 

Hehehe.....if you only knew....


Later in the story, Palpatine - and he hates it every time it he thinks it - has to fall back on some of the things Bendian Rapier supposedly 'taught' him about politics in the Republic Senate, or more importantly 'The Game'. Bottom line, Palpy himself reflects on the fact there two different types of the same player of 'The Game': does who play and does who don't. That's why, at the beginning of 'Prologue Three: The Pulpit Bullies' the forewarned says one is playing 'The Game' even if they are not actively or consciously aware they are, or when they believe they are not.

By that, in the last passage, you actually see the examples of that.

FORWARNED! The Game is being played.....

 

CHAPTER 2.2

After attending to some personal time in the bathroom not long after Bly Coaxial had left, Grim emerged from the private fresher station and said out the door, ?Pen, why don?t you call it a day??

As she got up the door behind her opened and Grim said to the boys, ?Yeah, you all can go. I?ll call you if I need you.?

?Okay, Onidas,? said Grosse happily; his hairs bristled. ?Remember, we got the new ongoing drive to transmit and record while we?re away, but please turn it off when you?re done.?

?I won?t forget. Good night guys.? Grim saw them out and locked the door behind them. Alone he went back to his desk and shut off the main monitor again; there was no news on the kidnapping, so there was no point in wasting power. He sat down and called up the commentary program to the Grim Show. He looked into the monitor, which had a transceiver device that broadcasted his image and spoke to the audience.

?My friends, is it a good thing or a bad thing when the day begins like any other, but ends so differently you don?t even recognize it? Of course it?s open to interpretation, all of it, but I think you know what I am talking about here. Bly Coaxial is a political rival, we don?t agree on anything in the arena of politics, but I found in him, as it is in me, that ability to separate politics from life. Or, at least I thought he had that ability. Looking back now, I see he didn?t. His career had become his whole life, and his career had been going after the Rapier Clan of Naboo. Therefore, his whole life was going after the Rapier Clan. And I?m afraid his life is over.

?Personally, I do not see why the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic is torturing him. Sure, Bly had made his bed, but Dace Palpatine supplied the mattress, the pillows, hell the blanket. I think Bly could have reinvented himself if the drug of political destruction hadn?t been given to him by the Chancellor. I see no difference between this and when the Trade Federation had given the Vhinech Order the very weapons to fight against them over twenty years ago.

?If you truly believe in the sanctity of life, especially your own, don?t buy into these vices. You can ruin so many lives, or worse you can ruin your own. I learned in the Republic Navy that you may be as good as the sailor next to you, but he?s relying on you too. We can?t work if we can?t get along. That is why I am Bly Coaxial?s friend and I will continue to be. I just wished I knew how to help him without compromise what principals he does have left. I guess all I can do is just be there for him. Unlike Chancellor Palpatine, I?m not going to let Coaxial suck space vacuum.

?Thank you for watching again. And again, I?ll try to read your comments and views. Next week?s schedule will be posted in two days time. Again, thank you?and good night.?

Grim shut off the feed, turned the main monitor on for news and noise purposes, and poured himself another cup of caffe. The news still had little information on the hostage situation, but he needed the sound to go over today?s events. Indeed, Coaxial had put himself in the position he was in: he believed in people being responsible for their actions. Indeed, Coaxial was very wrong to go after Rapier a second time, even if it hadn?t been offered; it made no sense to go after someone offering charity after such a terrible catastrophe like an invasion; the Trade Federation did not spare any expense on dealing out misery. And Rapier had lost quite a bit in the invasion as well; it should scare the hell out of people that one of the largest privately owned structures in the universe, Rapier Manor, was physically ? physically, all of it! -- stolen from its home world.

Sipping his caffe, Onidas Grim hoped Palpatine?s men had still monitored his Grim Show, and he damned hoped the Nubian heard every word, and prayed he understood all the hidden attacks against him. He also knew Palpatine?s office was going to get slammed by a metric ton of messages by everyone that saw the broadcast, questioning him why he condoned torture. That was not the actually text, bu

 

Oh, how grim, that Game.

I like Grim's introspection about 'just knowing'. Good post.

 

No matter how one does carry themselves, they are playing 'the Game', whether they like it or not, whether they know it or not. Go with it, and play the rules; Master it and make the rules; ignore it, and watch the players make you obey their rules.

It's time.............it's time to play 'The Game'.


Force help us all.


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CHAPTER 3.0

Onidas Grim was correct: the hostages and hostage-takers had gone to Breslin.

Located just within the recognized boundaries of the Outer Rim, Breslin was a naturally uninhabited world that had become a waste planet for many worlds within a day?s travel at light speed for many centuries. The world had no sovereignty, and was so off the beaten trail it had become the preverbal dirty little secret for those who had claimed their recycling programs would save their world; this was the place where they could hide the evidence. It was also a place where living scum went to hide with the rest of the garbage.

Besides the fact Breslin was out of the way with no authority to speak of, long term exposure to breathing the air produced euphoria similar to drug intoxication; it was produced by the plants that had been affected by the bacteria, the germs, and the toxins that had saturated the planet. The common moniker amongst those in the ?Fringe? was ?getting warped on Breslin?. However the smart entities never lingered long enough on the world to become too stupid.

The Fringe was everywhere on the world if one just looked. Look hard enough to find something specifically and one would find smugglers, slavers, the occasional pirates and bounty hunters either looking for work or were tracking their work, and the lowest of the low the information brokers, weapon traders, narcotics suppliers, pleasure providers, and anyone willing to do anything in order to survive. Tripping over the villainy here was as easy as tripping over the disorganized trash.

Garbage scowls from the neighboring systems still ran to the planet and blindly dropped their bundles on Breslin; often with bad results for those on the ground since the ships were automated and following a set in program; one learned to pay good attention to the sky. On this night, on what was the northeastern continent of Breslin, the few around in the mountains of twisted metal, garbage, plastic and other artificial junk took note of a growing sound from above. Some with experience in war had bad memories that were triggered off in their clear or poisoned mind and dove for cover. Their fears this night were not unfounded; the ground shook, but only after a very unusual thud, and not the expected explosion, had came just before it.

Those who paid attention never saw what fell, but guessed where they thought the new garbage had apparently landed. Eventually they began to follow a strange phenomenon: some of the metals in the trash pile slowly moved and drifted towards a uniform location. The ?citizenry? just followed the moving, metallic trash ? trash following trash. The groups, there were many coming from different directions, found the source of their curiosities. They watched in awe as a large, purely black, orb-shaped obelisk slowly rose from its side in the slight crater it had made in the ground. It stopped rising when it reached standing height. The large base becoming a rounded, smaller end at the top, those close enough to see it made many phallus jokes about it.

Just as suddenly as it stopped moving, the obelisk began to hum, and eventually it then began to hum louder. The select metals around the obelisk took off flying, speeding towards the object without thinking regard; other metals were going away. People ? aliens as well as Humans ? dove for cover again to avoid getting killed by the flying large and small shrapnel. Someone took note that the thing was obviously some kind of electromagnet. Others still thought it could be a bomb, but whatever it was to them the smooth object with no markings or claims of interest on it was just something they thought they could scrap.

FLOOP!

 

Nice description of your typical unidentified-flying-object!

Inspired by many 1950s' tv series, no doubt! One can see classic sci-fi imagery in that passage. Nice homage, and not grim at all.

 

Thanks, I do what I can to keep that piece of Americana in existence; the corny B-rated movie; compared to modern films and every independent film in existence, they often wipe the floor with them.

I think that's where I got the 'trash chasing trash' phrase; I think from the original 'The Blob' movie starring Steve McQueen. It could have been also from 'West Side Story', but (ahem) I was required to watch that in music class in junior high, I swear it!

Speaking of homage to sci-fi and such....on a somewhat related subject....

Nine very long years ago (9 years, really?), I injected some horror into the SW universe with the Gessa Saga (and seriously, I have not strayed away from it) starting with The Dark Hope. Not everyone was thrilled by the idea, but since I wasn't necessarily going over the top, the 'powers who will' at the time let it pass. BUT, I did get my emails from them and they told me that 'it's not SW', 'you should go by the books because the books are the Board STANDARD','you'll never see it in the books', 'your time here will be short because of it'. And then when the Vong series came out, which I think its near to what I was doing, they still insisted that they would never, ever see anything at my 'just barely acceptable level' in any SW book. 'Ever!'

[image=http://www.geocities.com/thesithmaiden/aninterestingdiscovery.gif]
(me, 2003)

[image=http://www.starwars.com/img/vault/books/news01262009/cover_bg.jpg]
(StarWars.com, 2009)



Vindication: is it wrong to gloat when you have proven others wrong?

 

So now that I have been Vindicated (see my previous post with images), it's time to get off the stump and back in front of the keyboard. Introduction is in order....


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CHAPTER 3.1

Meanwhile, a kilometer away where others did not care for the sudden arrival of falling objects, a Clawdite named Roe shifted his form over and over again to kill the boredom of the moment, waiting for several ?appointments? to arrive to take some very valuable stuff off of him. Roe was some would call a premium seller: he sold ? and sold only ? information and weapons of the highest quality, or he found things so obscure they were very expensive. He was constantly on the move, making it difficult for anyone to just simply contact him, which was why he was not a millionaire by this time.

Then again, Roe had a system of supply and demand that made it very difficult for others to simply track him down and stop him. First off, Roe dealt exclusively with planetary governments and treaty-bound organizations and the occasional bureaucrat with something sexy to sell in information; they supplied him with the goods, dumping it on him for a small fee or no fee at all. Then Roe cleverly advertises what he has in a couple of select political periodicals and quarterlies based on what he had; sometimes he made arrangements to beam his ?catalogue? throughout the Unknown Territories just to see who would show interest ? but as always they had to be a government. Once a potential buyer showed they had the brains to figure out the riddle in the advertisement and respond accordingly, Roe would finally make the meeting arrangements.

This was the first time he had been on Breslin, and he had two government clients on his schedule. He chose governments ? specifically dealing with government employees ? because there was not a market for what he was doing: governments unknowingly selling to other governments. Perhaps the politicians did know, but since the Hutts and other gang lords had no stake in it, and money was being made, what did Roe care? He worked alone and kept all the profits: the perfect life in his opinion. He only accepted hard currency, the only true intangible of wealth.

Finally he sensed someone coming. Roe changed his appearance, becoming a square-jawed, dark skinned Human male; both clients tonight would be Human. One of them was a representative from a planet way off the charts, while another had claimed to be a spokesman for Senator Di Nox of Refifio. Both had a common interest in one item in particular on Roe?s person, but since he could not make a copy of such an unusual form of data storage ? a blue paper wafer with tiny holes punched in it ? Roe instituted his most dangerous sale?s rule: first come, first served.

The Human that had appeared at the meeting place scared Roe almost immediately. The male was hairless on his head, had really cold blue eyes, and was very big; the old clothes on him barely hid the heavy physique under it. Having studied the Human species extensively, Roe knew this guy was physically dangerous. The Human noted him and stopped walking.

?Hello, my friend, you?re right on time,? said Roe. ?Tell me, is it raining??

It was not raining: it was the agreed upon code to acknowledge that he was the buyer. Stoically, the customer said, ?Only when I wear my rain gear.?

?Good!? Roe shook off his nervousness and rubbed his hands together. ?Do you have the payment??

Usually the customers demanded to see the merchandise first, or make the transaction all at once. The Human dropped the large sack he had been carrying by its closure in his right hand; it landed with a hard, metallic thud. He stepped back to let Roe have a look in the bag. Roe took him up on the offer. His Clawdite eyes feasted on the unprocessed gold ore inside.

Remembering himself, Roe said, ?Okay, now-.? He tried to pick up the bag, and settled for dragging it; without question, the very quiet Human was very strong. ?Okay, now, ahem, let me get you your purchases.?

Roe liked to put on a bit of s