Awards 2008 Before the Saga Awards Excerpt Thread

Best Non-Human

Auurrr-uuh in The Sky-Fallen by ardavenport


Auurrr-uuh tensed to spring up out of the grass to charge. Her jaws would easily snap the small head off the top. It would be quick. And satisfying.

The sky-fell's head turned and its tiny eyes, the color of twilight sky, locked on hers. She froze.

Auurrr-uuh's legs relaxed as she lifted her head, no longer concerned about surprising her prey. There was no surprise now. No fear. No panic. This sky-fell had defenses under its flimsy coverings. Probably a flame sting. A careless Rrrraaauuff could be killed instantly with a smoking hole through the skull or down the throat before even getting close to their target. Auurrr-uuh had feasted on the flesh of young fools like that.

The confidence she read in this sky-fell promised a quick, lightning-like death if she attacked.

She began to circle the sky-fallen and feigned only mild interest.

The sky-fell returned its attention to the round pod and feigned no interest in her.

The pod was half buried in its blackened hole. Char and ash obscured the usual scents of soil and grass along with the smell of the sky-fell and the stinging tang of the singed pod. The sky-fell prodded the curves of the pod before jumping down into the hole. It pressed its long body to it. Pressed the side of its head to it. It probed with the thin extensions at the ends of its two arms as it slid around the exterior of the pod.

No Rrrraaauuff had ever found a breach in the strange, smooth hardness of the pods unless it was broken in its fall. But sometimes beings came out of them. Dangerous beings. Not just from the flame stings. A rare few Rrrraauuff had died in agony after consuming their kills. Nothing could be done with them except to burn their carcasses to eliminate the poison. But many sky-fell beings were immensely satisfying kills. This one looked to be of that variety.

Auurrr-uuh had never consumed such, but she had heard that they were as satisfying as feasting on a defeated prime. More so, some said.

Continuing to circle, she heard others of her clan coming. The situation would be different.

The first to arrive was Aaauuurrrf, climbing to the top of a rise over the pod. He called out his kill-cry loud enough to feel it tremor through the ground before charging. No warning stare from the sky-fell being would stop Aaauuurrrf's bloodlust. Three other new arrivals, frenzied by the kill-cry, crashed through the grass after him.

The sky-fell leapt out of the hole and up atop the pod, standing high and visible, a deceptively easy target. A line of straight green star fire appeared, extending from the end of one arm. It hummed like a slow flame sting. Very dangerous. But Aaauuurrrf seemed not to see the danger. He leapt up.

The sky-fell cleaved his head in half.

And whirled about, the green star fire spinning.

Three more corpses fell, burned, slashed and dismembered of heads, shoulders and foreclaws. They slid down around the crashed pod.

The green star fire swept the air around the sky-fell, a final warning before it vanished. It tucked a shiny tool under its brown covering. It stared down at Auurrr-uuh, its challenge now made real.

Lifting her head, Auurrr-uuh loudly thrummed of Aaauuurrrf's and the others' stupidity. Of their lack of control. And pathetic deaths. The others who were coming would feed well on the bodies of those who did not learn to master their instincts. She continued to circle the pod and increased the distance between her and it, an acknowledgment of the decisive victory.

Still mounted atop the pod, the sky-fell crouched down, long strands of hair hanging down, touching the exterior of the pod. It wanted what was inside like a hhhrrrufff digger looking for a lair of Uuurrrsssh kitlings.

The sky-fell froze and tensed at a thumping from inside the pod. It probed more closely at a round indentation on one side.

Auurrr-uuh halted her pacing when

 

Best Villain

Erelia Zadros in Attraction by dianethx

Note: Qui-Gon Jinn eats something, making him irresistible to women.


"Half of my cabinet, my daughters and my mother of all people are demanding that you return. The men are calling for blood and the women are... well, let's just say that they are getting more descriptive by the minute," he flushed a deeper purple, "including my eighty year-old mother. I didn't know she even knew about that sort of thing."

Qui-Gon said carefully, "It began shortly after I ate something that your elder daughter, Lady Erelia, made for me. It may be a coincidence..."

"That little... Erelia!"

Cutting off the sound for a moment, I asked, "Master, do you think it was her doing? Something in the chocolate?"

"Most likely. Lady Erelia is a strong-willed young woman and determined to get her way. When I wouldn't submit to her advances, she swore that I'd regret it." Qui-Gon sat there, frowning at the comm. "I didn't think it would come to this, however."

His eyes narrowed in aggravation, the Prime Minister said, "My daughter claims that it was your own fault. That if you had just accepted her proposition, there would have been no problems." But before Qui-Gon could protest, Zadros snapped back, "She has been nothing but trouble ever since she went to Carida for training in food preparation last year."

Erelia's eyes were flashing fire. "How could you? I thought you were on my side."

"You have caused an interplanetary incident. You have possibly ruined a treaty that I spent months setting up and you have almost gotten several people hurt, including a Jedi Master."

Tossing her head, dismissing her father's words, she snapped back, "Qui-Gon had no right to ignore me like he did. I am the daughter of the Prime Minister of Septemus IV. He should have been grateful for my attentions, not pushed me aside like some spoiled brat."

"You will tell Master Jinn how to reverse this situation and allow him to do his duty to our people and the Republic. Do I make myself clear?"

She must have realized that she couldn't talk her way out of this one. "But I.... "

Zadros was adamant, each word clipped. "Do.. I.. make.. myself.. clear?"

She seemed close to tears. I couldn't tell if they were real or not but at least she was being more cooperative. "But I'm not sure he'll like the antidote."

"Just tell him."

"Well, I've used it before. At the parties. It's an attractant and a mild aphrodisiac. There's no real harm and the effects clear up in a couple of hours usually. Besides, most men seem to like it...."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Then he looked up, staring at his daughter with fury in his eyes. "It's not going away, Erelia."

"Well, I did up the dose quite a bit. He's a Jedi and he wasn't very friendly so I thought I'd teach him a lesson." Her chin came up, and she stood there, unrepentant. The tears were gone.

"What's the antidote?"

She smiled at Qui-Gon, her face triumphant and then she said eight little words, eight little words that convinced me that the Force was indeed laughing at us all.

"He has to kiss them.... on the lips."

Would this be my master's fate? Kissing women for the rest of his life? I shuddered at the thought.

I broke into a cold sweat. Somehow it would get back to the Temple and we'd be branded as rogues forever - my woman-mad master and me, the permanently-embarrassed padawan.

The Force was laughing at us again.

I managed to calm down in time to hear Qui-Gon say softly, "Lady Erelia, are you sure that more physical expressions of intimacy aren't required? The reactions of the women were quite strong in some cases."

Lady Erelia's smile was predatory. Apparently eager to make him squirm, she gave a strident laugh. "Are you hoping for more, Qui-Gon? I thought you Jedi were celibate monks or so you would have me believe. Or did you lie about that?"

"Erelia!"

"All right, Father, all

 

Best Ensemble Cast

Attraction by dianethx

Note: Qui-Gon Jinn eats something, making him irresistible to women.



"I follow the will of the Force."

That was probably the worst thing he could have said. There were no masterly eye rolls that I could see, no loud snickers either among the Councilors; Council members would not do such things, at least not during the meetings.

Never mind that he always says that. As far as I knew, he'd probably be saying those words until he joined the Force or even beyond.

Master Windu was furious. I didn't know that he could turn purple, but apparently he could. There was also a vein in his head that began to stand out and his eyes were turning that browny-yellow color again. This was not good.

"Are you saying that your kissing women is the will of the Force?"

If Master Windu's eyes were turning colors, my master's were getting hard as ice. He usually knew when to stop but he wasn't being rational at the moment. At least he wasn't humming that dreadful song.

"Do you think you could get away with this?" Master Windu turned his death glare toward me. "Padawan Kenobi, give us your report on the Septemus IV debacle, starting from the moment Master Jinn ate the drugged food. Leave out nothing. I want every event described in detail, {i]especially{/i] your master's actions."

It was as if the Coruscanti sun was suddenly beating down on my head; I felt sick, the throwing-up-all-over-my-boots kind of sick. They were staring at me - the Masters of the Jedi Council, the wisest of the wise, the ones who decided how the Order would be run, the beings who determined who would succeed and who would fail in their quest to be Jedi Knights.

They were waiting... for me.

"I.... I... " Stammering, I looked around the room, trying to avoid everyone's eyes or feeler-stalks or whatever appendage they were using to stare at me. I didn't know what to do. If I said the wrong thing, Master Qui-Gon would be kicked out of the Order.

"Master Jinn didn't do it on purpose. Lady Erelia was hanging onto him all the time, everywhere we went." I tried to smile but it turned into a queasy grimace. "It happens a lot when we are on missions but my master has always been able to turn the females away with no hard feelings."

"So Master Jinn always has women hanging around him on missions?" Master Windu said sharply.

Blast! Not ten seconds and I've already made things worse. "Ummmm, yes Master, but here at the Temple too, not just missions."

A couple of the Councilors were glaring at Master Qui-Gon although I couldn't figure out how they didn't know. It was kind of obvious. Just following him around for a day or so would have been enough to see the pattern.

"But it's the same when you go with us on missions, too, Master Windu. Sometimes you have more women around you than he does."

There were choked-off sounds in the room, almost as if some of them were about to laugh and thought better of it. I gulped, my face hot with embarrassment.

"I didn't feel any danger, either so I didn't even think about what was going on, just kept looking around for assassination type danger, bombs, that sort of thing." I looked down at my boots. "I'm really sorry, Master. I just didn't think it could get that bad so quickly."

I didn't want to think about how much I'd let him down. "After Master ate the candy, the crowds got really deep and they started pushing. It was all we could do to get away. That's where the chandelier came in. It got Master Qui-Gon out of the crowd and then we ran as fast as we could. We got back to the ship." I gulped again. "That's when we found out that there were only two antidotes, waiting it out or... or..."

I couldn't say it, I just couldn't.

My face was flaming hot so I just nodded when Master Gallia said, "I assume the antidote is kissing the woman affected."

"Yes, Master. Captain Antilles and I lined them up and Master Qui-Gon started giving

 

Best New Author

Dream Story by silverfighter


A/N:This is the result of me deciding to base a story off of a dream I had about two years ago. It's supposed to be as weird and dreamlike as I could possibly make it, sometimes nearly to a ridiculous extent.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are on Kamino when a freak storm wipes out the settlement they're on. After being called to a small orphanage to help the children evacuate, being forced to literally jump over the side and risk the ocean. They are picked up by an old ship manned by a strange crew and even stranger captain who are strict followers of ritualistic traditions.

***

Lightning splits through the air, lighting the night sky a split second before thunder rumbles ominously. The rain pounds on the metal roofing of Akban City, one of the few that remain on the watery world of Kamino. Waves thrash savagely against the supports that keep the city suspended above the water, the white foam occasionally crashing against the window which separates me from the outside world. This is a monster of a storm, stronger then the one before this and the one before that. Perhaps the strongest of all the storms we have experienced during this two month stay.

I turn to my Master, the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn. "I have a very bad feeling about this, Master."

A small smile quirks the edges of the older man's lips. "You say that about every storm, Obi-Wan."

I shake my head, looking out the window again. "Something is going to happen, something bad. I can feel it."

"This is a dangerous storm to be sure." Qui-Gon places a hand on my shoulder. "But the future is always in motion. Don't wor-" He didn't get the chance to finish those words, for a loud, piercing alarm splits through the air. I raise an eyebrow, biting back an "I told you so".

***

The old ship rocks and moans in the rough sea, the wind whistling through the sails and the boards creaking beneath my feet. Ships are not made like this anymore, they haven?t for millennia, so I am surprised that this one so much as exists, much less on Kamino, where monstrous waves and storms have been known to tear apart even the most finely crafted vessel. Much as the storms and sea claimed Akban and all its inhabitants.

My stomach lurches as we travel up the side of a wave, and quickly come crashing back down the other side. I grip the table at which I sit, which is fortunately nailed to the floor, and reach up a hand to steady the rocking of the glowlamp that hangs above my head.

The map that lies before me is old, the parchment yellow and stained. It displays landmasses that were swallowed by an onrushing sea when the polar icecaps of this planet melted. According to the claims of Captain Toneo, some of that land still pokes above the ocean. He is taking us to one of them, one that he says has a spaceport so Qui-Gon and I can get off this planet. Our comlinks were ruined in the storm, so we have no way of calling for help.

The captain is refusing to take us to any of the surviving settlements, but he is not revealing why. For now we will go along with it, but if we travel much longer with no land in sight, something will have to be done.

I pull a newer holographic map towards me. The one glowing dot amidst a vast expanse of dark blue represents our ship, and the glowing cross our destination. Using the key in the right hand corner I estimate three more days of traveling until we reach wherever it is we are going.

Qui-Gon comes below deck hugging a cloak tightly across his body. ?Have you found anything?? he asks quietly.

I shake my head and sigh. ?Nothing. The captain is very meticulous about what he does. If he?s hiding anything, I haven?t found it.? I wave a hand at the maps. ?While not very useful, these maps are interesting.?

Qui-Gon fingers the parchment of the oldest map. ?This one could be centuries old,? he says, then picks up the holographic map. ?This one howeve

 

Best Author

JediNemesis

- From Spindrift:

Flamini held the little piece of flotsam up to the horizon, watching the play of sunlight in the glass and wondering where it had come from. A canister or container, something prosaic; or a fragment of one of the great translucent shells the Eluaha made for their own strange purposes, part dwelling, part submarine, part sculpture.

That thought rang true, and Flamini trusted it.

They littered the ocean bed between the Eluaha cities, abandoned here and there with no pattern or evident purpose to their abandonment; some alone, some in pairs or fours, and - once, glimpsed across a valley - a vast tumbling drift of them, some broken, some whole, lying like beads of a giant?s broken necklace or the splintered eggs of a long-extinct leviathan.

No two Flamini had seen had been quite the same colour, and the shifting play of sunlight through seawater had multiplied the shades into infinity. The smooth-edged shard in his hand was the deep living green of snake scales or gloss-stemmed plants, shot through with shadow where the glass was flawed.

- From Scatha?s Journey:

The King grew older, and the Princess Eanwyth grew older, and three years to the very day after his second banishment, Scatha returned. For three days he rested whilst the court marvelled at his return; and on the evening of the third day he was summoned to the throne room once again.

The King sat in the high throne, with Eanwyth to his left hand and the seat that bore his dead Queen?s emblem to his right; and he fixed Scatha with a straight and icy glare, and bade him ?Speak.?

?Since I left this court,? Scatha said, ?I?ve travelled far and I?ve roamed wide. I?ve run and ridden across the fields of Cynlaed and the gardens of Cerea. I?ve seen ice-fields and oceans, sea-storms and sandstorms and storms of war.?

The King made no reply.

?I?ve seen old worlds, young worlds, the rich and the poor and the fading away.? Scatha said. ?I?ve seen and spoken with more sorts and species than there are stars in space or sands on the seashore, and asked them the question you bade me ask.?

And the King stirred in the depths of his throne, and asked ?And what did they answer you, these people??

?Some said health, some said wealth and some said wisdom,? Scatha went on, ?and some the wielding of power. Some said family, some said friendship; the Alderaani named peace, the Naboo beauty, and the Corellians good living. The Noghri said honour, the Wookiees knowledge and the Bothans security. The Jedi say serenity is most to be sought, and the teachings of the Sith say life unending.?

?Where then lies the truth?? the King asked quietly.

?I can?t speak for any other than myself,? Scatha answered him, ?nor say if the hest of my own heart be right or wrong; all desires are different. But mine is and will be here, unless the Lady Eanwyth wed another in my stead.?

- From Völuspá:

The seeress rose then, offering her hands, and Marben took them and followed as she led downward into the heart of the sanctuary.

There in the centre of the dark cave hung a white light like an unmoving flame, tiny as a star in the distant sky.

The seeress stood before the gateway, and in her voice Marben heard ice and thunder.

These are the words she spoke before the gateway to the world beyond:

?Marben Skywalker son of Maor son of Maen stands beside me.

?He asks that the threads of fate be twisted for his children?s sake, and that until the end of time those of Skywalker name should have the gift.?

And to Marben she said ?There will be a price, and it will be a terrible one, as great and as far-reaching as the doom you would have pronounced.?

Marben said without hesitation ?It will be paid.?

The seeress held out her hand to Marben once more, and as he took it said ?The gateways are closing. Many are already shut.

?They guarded our young race in its cradle, and n

 

Best Collaborative

Gate Crashin' by Jinngerbread and Lithiniel

Carter watched the figure that was inching his way cautiously down the dune toward them and O'Neill regarded the Jedi for a moment longer. "You know anything about him?" he asked.

Kyran shook his head. "No. I've only been to Tatooine once before."

"Tatooine," Jack repeated sullenly. "Why'd it have to be Tatooine?" He ignored Teal'c's snort of derision. The figure was coming closer, and Carter was visibly agitated now. Jack knew what she was sensing -- this man, whoever he was, had a symbiote. Still, he wanted to be absolutely sure. "Carter, he's got a snake in his head, right?"

Samantha nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"What does that mean ?" Kyran asked. "I take it you have run into people like this before?

Teal'c answered this time. "They are called Goa'uld, Kyran Josel. A race of parasites that take human -- and humanoid -- hosts, controlling every action they take and every word they speak. They are evil."

Kyran shivered. "I've never even heard of them. I wonder if there is information in them in the archives."

"They are not from your galaxy, Kyran Josel. They are from ours. Even the Goa'uld have not perfected intergalactic travel," Teal'c returned.

They all fell silent. The man stood before them, panting in the hot sun. His hair was long, matted and dirty. Sand coated his skin, and his clothes were tattered. They had been fine once, long ago, made of richly colored, heavy fabrics. He eyed the five of them; the weapons trained on him, and took a deep breath. "Oh, thank goodness someone finally arrived," he gasped.

The man caught sight of Teal'c and his eyes widened. "Apophis sent you?" he demanded, swallowing hard.

Teal'c frowned. How could this one not know that he was no longer a servant of the Goa'uld Apophis? Every other being in the galaxy seemed to know it; they called him shol'va -- traitor. But Teal'c knew it wasn't a crime to betray a false god. He glanced at the rest of the team, who looked as puzzled as he.

O'Neill finally decided to break the silence. "Who are you?"

The raggedy man eyed the group with a touch of his former imperiousness. "I am called Atum," he said simply.

O'Neill glanced at Jackson and Daniel thought for a moment, searching his vast mental store of Egyptian lore for the reference. "Atum was the creator-god of the Egyptians, at least in some areas. The father of the gods, if you will."

"Oh, ok. God-Father. Great," O'Neill said. "So where are his, you know....Jaffa, slaves, anything? He should have a mothership, too, shouldn't he? Hey, buddy, did you bury your spaceship in the sand?"

"I am," Atum ventured, "a Tok'ra spy. When I was discovered by the System Lords..... I was dumped here and exiled."

"He's lying," Kyran spoke up flatly. He could sense the deceit just as clearly as he could sense the other presence inside the man.

Atum shot the robed man a dark look, and then slowly returned his gaze to the other four. "I assure you, I am not being dishonest. Then again, I'm also the only one not in possession of a weapon. If you leave me here, I will surely die."


Teal'c and Jack exchanged glances. Neither of them particularly cared. Carter wasn't too thrilled with this stranger, but she was slightly more ready to believe his story about being Tok'ra. It was Jackson, however, who finally spoke up. "Y'know, Jack....why don't we take him back to SGC with us? We could easily get the truth out of him there. I mean, we could always call up Apophis....or maybe Ba'al... and see if they back his story up."

"That's probably the best solution we'll get under the circumstances," O'Neill glanced at the others.

Atum's went slightly pale at the mention of Apophis and Ba'al. "Listen, whoever you are..... All right, I was not completely honest before. I was a System Lord. A long time ago. But I've had a lot of time -- alone -- to....consider certain things."

"I bet you