Trials of the Force: Episode 3- Destiny's Knights

Jaxx's post #1 - Well, that was certainly an ending that brought many loose ends together. I'm really glad that Arcturus didn't die at the hands of Mephisto or Dulcie and that he and Mazza are reunited. I was not only impressed by Arcturus's sense of power in the universe, but also by his sense selfless love for his friends. Using the thermal detonator would have been effective, but it certainly would not be a fitting end for Arcturus Lynx. He's too great of a character to go in that way. It would be fitting if it was selfless, which it would have been, but it just wouldn't have been fitting if he had been taken out by a thermal detonator blast. It's kinda weird, but you can definitely sense the finality in that post...and yet there's still things hanging over the characters, that maybe they won't even deal with at the end of this series. At any rate, excellent post Jaxx. Your writing has seriously progressed since A Different Rebellion. Looking forward to whatever else you guys have to offer.

excal's post #1 - Holy crap! That was amazing, excal. That was probably the most well-written post I've seen you write, and most definitely one of the best in the entire Trials series. It was revealing, poignant, enlightening, and action-packed. And I think you were right in saying that not many people, if any people at all, have ever done what you did to make Kelli and Jace Jedi Masters. It was original and it worked really really well, especially for this story. Part of me mourns for Tyrus. He was such a well-written character. I really wanted to see him come back to the Light Side. And then I realize that it was basically necessary for him to die and for him to go the way he did. That was really a great post excal. A job well done to you.

Jaxx's post #2 - Jaxx, I look at that post and first say (in regards to the quiz) I was right!!! And then I look at it and realize I can put myself somewhat in all of our heroes shoes, not least of all Arcturus, and say that a) Ewoks: The Battle for Endor scarily enough probably is a not unpopular cult classic and b) that it is very fun to make fun of. One of those movies that's really funny unintentionally. And excal, you are so Jace. And speaking of which, excal, you really do have to see that movie...if not for the stellar performance of Sian Phillips in that movie (no sarcasm intended...except for..."Quick! Pretend you're Sian Phillips!"). Anyways, that was an absolutely hilarious post Jaxx.

excal's post #2 - It's nice to see everyone reuniting at an old familiar place. And I'm glad to see that everyone is having a good time too. Somehow the idea of Jaxx getting Xerxes drunk just really cracked me up. As did Turu still complaining about the sign and Mazza "pacifying" him. To the next post!

KILLER EWOKS TO THE TOP!!!!!!

EDIT - 24 posts to go until 2000! Congratulations, guys!

Beer Beer Beer Bubba o' Beer Beer Beer Bubba o'

OH WHEN WE GET TOGETHER JUST ME AND ALL THE LADS
ALWAYS WE REMEMBER THE GOOD TIMES THAT WERE HAD!

'CAUSE EVERY TIME WE GATHER THERE'S PLENTY OF GOOD CHEER...

Who'd a thought...a Chiss in a bar

THAT CALLS FOR A BUBBA O' Beer Beer Beer Bubba o' Beer Beer Beer

It's about time our heroes got some R & R, though, especially those two guys who're going through the process of creating a new salvage industry for the Ghost Fleet.

<Drunken Scotsman>
So, set 'em up, grasp it firmly, and tilt one back wit' me, dog!

UP till the next post!

Yeah...it's been awhile since I've done that...and I'm on break from work...

But until next time, never forget...

Abraham Lincoln eating a hamburger.

Well all, tomorrow marks my final story post in the Trials of the Force saga. For all I know, it may be my last Fan Fiction post on the boards as I have many other projects I'm working on on the size. So check in tomorrow and see what I've been hinting at- the crowd pleaser post.

excal

Every journey starts with a first step.
Every story has an opening sentence.
And every movie needs to roll the credits.

For Trials of the Force, the story ends in one more post. It started out with a tentative baby step in A Different Rebellion and Dynasty's Dawn. We threw new ideas at you in Hand of Fate and pushed the envelope with the Dark Side with the introduction of two new characters in Destiny's Knights. We had sweeping, epic battles and hard core, mind-bending introspection. The characters grew up, and so did the authors. We pushed them to the brink, and we got pushed just as far. And along the way, we met good friends, made some bad choices, won some battles, lost some comrades, felt the bitterness of defeat and the warmth of the light of winning.

And if you think this was fun, wait until you hear what is really in store for our heroes.

I'd really like to go back and look at the analysis of the characters, but I think I'll talk more about that after Jaxx's post. Looking back, we started writing this back when we were sophomores in high school- before either of us could drive, before either of us had girlfriends, before we got our big break with the Press....it was a lifetime ago. We started this series with the idea of having two friends, two young pirates of Star Wars, off on grand adventures to conclude with a really big party for Han Solo...yeah, go figure. We kept the party, but we lost the Star Wars connection. I don't think in our wildest dreams (back when we were even more naieve than we are now ) that this series would take off and become what it is about to become.

Trials was a story of love, hope, light and dark, friendship, overcoming obstacles and finding balance in life. But most of all, it was about growth. About evolution. And to paraphrase a certain leader of mutants, this story is about to take the next step in its evolution- just as we did when we started this whole journey.

This post is for all of you with us, and those who couldn't make it to the end. We remember you fondly. Without further ado, and with great pleasure, I give you, my final post in the Trials of the Force saga.

Excelsior!
Scott Nap (excal)



The building was in... decent condition, Mazza noted to herself. For a saloon older than the Ghost Fleet, it was a compliment. However, it was geared for one main purpose: throw an excellent party. There were banners that waved with the words VICTORY on them and the bartenders were being woken from their short, evening nap, so that they would remain conscious. They were told the party would undoubtedly drag on to the next morning... late the next morning. They would be having their lunch before going to bed by the get-together?s conclusion.

The service area was packed to the brim with various alcoholic beverages, with an abundant supply of Whiskey, the Pirate?s drink of specialty. Other various drinks included ?Rok Solid Vodka on the Rocks? and ?Whitey?s Brand?, a pure white drink with a ghost named Casper on the logo as a mascot.

In the back room, a man began to put on a brown furry suit in the form of a giant baby Wookie costume. The suit was a replica of the famous character (named ?Darth? Kimball, after its creator, once considered a candidate for the Sith, but chose a career in acting), seen in holovids seen everywhere. The character was the bar?s unofficial mascot and was infamous throughout the land. For those who passed out drunk would suffer a humiliating pose of the baby Wookie squatting over it, pointing and laughing. A picture would be taken, and it would be placed in the pocket of the victim. When the victim came to, he, she, or it would find the image of a baby Wookie squatting over itself and the printed message ?That?ll teach you to be drunk!? and on the back, in small letters: A Joke Paid For By Your Friends. Their sense of humor and your drunken escapades is what keeps us in business!

For those who remained ?dry? for th evening, there were other activities. On the wall, there were 34 pictures of the Jedi Master

?Take no prisoners- I order everyone NOT to leave here sober!?

Unless those orders are in writing, Xerxes might make trouble.

I didn't catch on until almost halfway through, but I went back and read through to make sure I caught every refrence...and bravo on getting in a referrence on just about everybody all in one post! I bow before the Master of the Turn of Phrase!

Stupendous work on wrapping up this saga, guys! It's far from an easy task to wrap up such a rich story! Cheers and Skol(sp?)!

And the story from excal's end comes to a close. Great job my friend. I especially enjoyed all the references made to all the readers. That was a great touch that certainly made me feel even more connected to the story. Not only that, the references made me smile and sometimes chuckle. Excellent work, excal.

To the final post and to 2000!

Hehehehe, yeah. What a way to get everyone in there. And that's a order I would most certainly follow.

Great post. Great job.

The perfect end for the perfect adventure tale. Now we all feel special ! Makes you feel glad to be involved. Good post, good post (again, never has there been a bad post, anyway).

UP to 2000!

_-_MTJ_-_

Awesome way to give props to the readers, Excal. Nice work.

I would have posted earlier, but this thread is giving me a ton of grief. Maybe the moderators don't like it

Anyway, as anxious as I am to see the next post, I'm saddened that this will all soon be over.

NEXT!

I'd post, but I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do it just yet

Give me a few days or so...keep on upping, and show those darn mods that this thread stays at the top!

Rok- Well, it's not really the Master of the Turn Phrase- the MasterS, as both Jaxx and I tried to come up with as many of those little in-jokes as possible. I'll give credit where credit is due- Jaxx really deserves most of the credit for this because he really did most of the work. As for Xerxes, heh, you'll see what happens. Let's just say that the worst actually will come from an old crusty veteran from Hand of Fate doing something NO ONE wants to see, lol.

34- I liked your response to me in person. "DID YOU HAVE TO HAVE PEOPLE THROW DARTS AT ME???"

Casper- As I should officially warn everyone, we of the Trials of the Force authorship do not condone any action inspired by any characters or situations presented in said story. That having been said, I don't doubt that's an order most people wouldn't mind.

Mystic- If you all feel involved now, we did our job right- and you never know what will happen in the future.

Whiskey- I'm saddened too. It was a long run, but it was a blast. And we got to know all of you, so it was worth it.

Mods don't sink threads. Snotboards sink threads...


ONWARD AND UPWARD TO 2000!

And trust me, the last post is a hell of a doozy one

excal

I'll talk to Jaxx and see if he can finally post the conclusion segment. It's been a while since this has been to the top. Let's see this story at the top of the list one last time.

excal

Thought I'd stop by and see the cameo.

Guys, although I never finished it (I plan on it, when time permits), I just want to congratulate you-- since our newbie days you've been working hard (and fifty times harder than me), and it's been so much fun (I'm sure I'm missing out on even more), but it's sad to see TotF over. What a saga...you have my respect forever.

Excal, Jaxx, you're some of the first friends I had on the boards (and you even suffered through my crap-fics. ), so I just want to thank you. And congratulations! I promise, I will finish someday!

And thanks for the cameo. I always wanted an action figure.

Gosh has it been this long?

So sorry for the long delay. Excal, since you haven't contacted me yet, don't worry...no need to tell me I need to post.

I intended, on Sunday, to post. But I had friends come over after work and all pretense of posting was banished. I decided I'd post on Monday. Monday morning I was asked, at work, what I was doing that night. Foolishly, I said, "Not much."

They said, "Oh good! Cause you're doing cover tonight."

So, I worked from 8:30 in the morning til 1 AM. Happy Happy Joy Joy.

Tuesday I worked again, but it was a normal work day. When I got home, I crashed.

Yesterday, my cousin was coming over, so I had to prepare the house and all, because both my parents were working. Sheesh. Whudathunk there'd be so many different things to clean? When my cousin DID come over, she brought a puppy, so most of my time was dedicated to keeping the puppy amused (including walks and such...actually, it wasn't so much of a walk as it was me carrying her).

Anyhoo, as you can see, I definitely intended to post this MUCH sooner, but alas and aleck, didn't get the chance.

-------------------------

This is it. This is the last post for Trials on the boards. We started off with a whimper, and we ended with a bang.

I had no idea that my 7th grade self would turn into this. When I was in 7th grade, writing a story about Sirius and Jenos, it wasn't a Star Wars story, it was just a story. A short, primitive story with characters in it, and lots of explosions and deaths and cheesy dialogue.

9th grade, Scott went to a different school. For some reason, this brought us closer together. (although the people that we were surrounded by in our respective schools forced us closer together anyway)

I told Scott about this little story I had been writing, and I knew he had been writing some equally primitive stuff about Jurassic Park crossed over with some other stuff. He warmed up to the idea about Sirius and Jenos, but contested that he'd like his own characters. We decided we'd write the children of Sirius and Jenos.

Thus, Arcturus Lynx and Jace Pendragon were born. We combined our love of writing with our love of Star Wars and came up with A Different Rebellion and Dynasty's Dawn. The first half of A Different Rebellion was pre-Scott hastily re-written to accompany our new and grander schemes. The first half of A Different Rebellion was the old me; the second half was the newer me. Through Trials of our own, we struggled to finish the two books. Somewhere along the line, we decided we needed a change of pace.

That was right about when we developed a story-line for Hand of Fate. We finished that with astonishing speed, abandoning A Different Rebellion and Dynasty's Dawn in the meanwhile. After Hand of Fate, we returned to our respective stories. Once A Different Rebellion was finished, I had a large head start against excal, so I began Destiny's Knights.

Obviously, as you can see, I wrote a large part of Destiny's Knights, although I couldn't help it. Ideas kept flowing in my head, and my fingers struggled to keep up with those ideas. New characters, new faces were born as I remembered the mistakes I made with the past characters. Hence, Dulcie and Mephisto were born.

Through my writing, I was a knight approaching my destiny, and I have obtained that through this saga. Truly, I can say that the Hands of Fate have guided me to become a Destiny's Knight. This whole thing is just a Dawn of my Dynasty.

This is just the beginning.

-------------------------------

The party was as loud and amusing as they hoped. A book could have been written about this party. There were innumerable scenes and plots and sub plots, worthy of a spy novel.

In one solitary corner sat the most boring of them all. Hrunting and his Tarahumaran faithful sat, deeply engaged in a conversation with Trai?el and Ariel?ena. Apparently, the group was attempting to dissect the cultures and motivations of each other?s species. Many passerbys to the table overheard words such as ?tasty raw meat?, ?the joy o

Stick around!

We're going to wait for everyone's final response before going to our usual questionairre.

So, lay on those last comments, then we'll give you some exciting news, but only after your comments

Um, up?

A pleasant yet poignant post. So all of the heroes are together and having time to kick up their heels and have fun. Well deserved after fighting evil for so long.

Watching Jaxx getting drunk gets more and more amuzing. And somehow, its hard for me to picture the Fab Four playing cards after battling villians for that long of a time.

The thought of little Pendragons and Lynxes running around has to make you smile.

Mazza's speech was, as usual, eloquent and inspirationalAnd of course, the glorious return of Alpha, Omega, and.... Scooter! (I have a special liking for Scooter) was well appreciated by me.

And seeing Vrash again was fun, like it always is.

Congrats, Excal and Jaxx, for writing a series with such an appreciative following. I know this is not the last time we will see our heroes!

For now, up up and away!!!

_-_MTJ_-_

PS- Can it be? I POSTED a REPLY FIRST???? What has the world come to?
And its great seeing the last post end up on page 100. Has a nice ring to it.

A great ending to an equally great story and an incredible saga.

I liked the fact that there was no real fanfare to speak of, no gaudy medal ceremony or anything...just everyone sitting at a table, playing cards like it was just another day. Now THAT, to me, is the mark of a real hero: Someone who just takes it in stride and sees no further than their next hand of cards.

A true tour de force if ever one existed. I'm sad to see this one end, but since everyone's still alive and relatively in one piece, the possibilities are endless, aren't they?

A great final post. Definitely let me know when something new starts.

I had a great, great, great, great, and quite frankly great long post of praise for you two.............until these Boards wouldn't post the (Insert creativity here.............for a while...............) thing!

It went something like you two grew up as writers yadda, yadda, yadda........two contrasting styles like Ditka and Parcells or something to that affect.......

Ah hell, give me a couple of days and some Henikens in me and I'll remember.

Wow MTJ--The first!! Congrats

Whiskey--Thanks. You've always been a very supportive reader through Destiny's Knights. I really appreciate those words. It means a lot

Casper--Aw, that sucks. Perhaps it'll take a baseball bat and some offers that snotboards can't refuse in order for this whole place to work properly

To Two Thousand!

"Scart Britano, the actor who portrayed Han Solo in the ?Han Solo: Smuggler and Rebel? documentary"


Don't asl me why but that line was the one thing that I kept coming back to. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!


Wow, yeah I gotta agree with Whiskey. What better way to end a great Saga than with all the friends sitting around a table at their favorite pub playing cards.

W00T!! And I shall say it again W00T!!

Congratulations guys, you are an inspiration to all the rest of us who are still trying to wrap up sagas of our own! You guys are living proof that it can be done, and that is quite encouraging! ^_~

Thanks for sticking with us guys. We tried our damndest to come up with an ending worthy of what we had created and for you guys to read.

Btw- If you scramble Scart Britano, two names will be completed. Two familiar ones...although I think one name might need to borrow the letter t. Let's say that we decided to throw a lit bit more of ourselves into the story. For the answer, read the words at the bottom of this post backwards.

Anywho, now that the posters are all here (the ones that have access to a comp that is), Bart and I will start working on questionnaires that we hope you'll fill out- it's important, especially considering the next announcement we have.

Until next time! Up up and away!



Ttocs and Tarb - why not? Scart Britano sounds cool enough!

So did you guys, like...do one of those photo face merge machine thingies like you find at carnivals? Did it really come out looking like a young Harrison Ford?

Come on! Who wants 2000? Will it be Jaxx or Excal? I'll be taking bets all night.

In the words of a very wise man.....


YOINK!!!!!


TWOOOOOOO THOUSANNNNNNNNND!!! WOOHOO!!!!!

Fortune befriends the bold, so I guess that means our little decision about posting these stories online turned out alright after all, eh?

I'll be editing this post tomorrow with quotes that, over the years, I found inspiring.

In any case, I'm very proud to have nabbed this. Jaxx and I are very excited and very pleased with this grand adventure we've designed, and our enthusiasm towards your comments has not ceased since our first few posts.


Oh, and as for the imaging thing....we'd probably end up closer to Hayden Christiansen if you morphed Jaxx and I...although...now that I think about it...I can see Harrison Ford circa Raiders...it could happen!

excal