The Red Star [Last Update: 28 Jan 02]

Just thought I'd let you know, I like this story so much that I voted for it for Best Vignette in the fanfiction awards.

And I'm hoping for more from such a talented author!

 

I voted for this fic too, Delight!

 

This is a great short fic.

FORWARD FOR THE MASSES!

 

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

TRS went to page 2, and went to the awards? Holy bicycle wheel!!!

I have to confess (and this I really confess) that I did NOT visit the awards page. I don't know what to say except that I feel rather silly and shocked now.

Absolutely stunned.

Thanks from the bottom of my cardiac organ.

On a A Minor note, Chapter 1 and 2 of "Nine Billion Faces" are done. I'm going to finish the entire thing before posting it (so that I can tweek the beginnings if the ending doesn't fit). I'm afraid to say that the continuation to TRS is much more prosaic and much less lyrical than its prologue.

Hopefully by Christmas. Hopefully. Hopefully.

 

I always write my things out before I post them, too. I always invariably get to the end and have to change something at the beginning.

In a way, I wish I hadn't visited the awards thread, but on the other hand, I like to show my favourite writers how much they mean to me, even if they don't win. But you came in a three-way tie for Best Vignette, so that wasn't too bad.

I'll be looking forward to your new story around Christmas time, then!

 

Nine Billion Faces? Sounds very interesting. Can't wait to read it.

 

FORWARD! A reminder that greatness, in spite of it's age, should never be forgotten.

 

Thank you, Casper!

Here, to celebrate the year 2002, is a short one-poster that I wrote a few days ago as a rant against Darth Real Life (go figure).

---

CAIUS

I met Caius Julius on my twenty fifth birthday quite by accident.

I didn't plan to be in the University's Careers Centre, but Misra Tanakai, my best friend at the University of Alderaan, had a major 'panic day' coming up the next day, and she was desperate to do research on that terrifying consulting monolith, KPI. Being a nice friend, and more than interested myself to arm myself with information other than hearsay, I agreed to her plea for help. It had turned out to be a long day, with occasional tussles at the booths as desperate candidates jostled for an extra byte of superficial knowledge that would convince their prospective employers of their worth. We were in the process of being kicked out of the Careers Centre at closing time when I saw him, moving slowly away from the ancient Centre building towards River Ikys flowing sluggishly around the bend.

He was tall, with a mop of unruly black hair and tired grey eyes obscured by a long bang that he would flick over his forehead ever so often. The winter coat he wore did not hide his thin and slightly hunched frame. He walked furtively, as though he was trying to disappear into the very air of faint despair surrounding him.

I couldn't take my eyes off him: this was nothing like the brave and vocal leader of the Seventh Crèche, that dashing example of a good Initiate that all members of the Crèche aspired to. He left the Crèche at ten, and I never saw him again, until now. There was a sudden burst of recognition and he seemed to shrink in his coat as his eyes met mine across the crowded courtyard.

I touched Misra's elbow. "I need to go into town to get some stuff. Don't wait for me for Hall."

Misra flashed a look of annoyance at me, although I could feel her secret relief that she would be free of me for dinner this evening. She would probably be chewing on those vile energy bars in her room, trying to cram yet another case study question into her head. "If you're not going to Hall then I'm not going to Hall. Too many things to do." She patted her thick notepad solicitously.

"Don't eat those energy bars. Eat a proper meal, for health's sake."

She shoved me affectionately and turned away. "Go away, you busybody."

"Good luck for tomorrow, if I don't see you until then."

"Thanks, Sol. I'll need it."

"And get some sleep!" I called after her.

"Yes, 'Mother'!" she shouted back at me, and promptly walked away.

Caius, too, had started to walk away. I swung my scarf around my neck quickly and ran to follow. I caught up with him as we made the first bend around the corner. We did not speak, however, until we crossed from the pavement onto the partly iced-over towpath along the riverbank.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Fine, fine. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. A surprise to see you here."

The look on his face told me that it was the wrong thing to say. I kept silent and kept walking.

We stopped on the Bridge of Moans to admire Ikys glinting under the midwinter moon. There was a crazy trio trying to punt their way along the sluggish green waters, the lamp on the punt shaking wildly with each stroke. The three undergraduates were yelling their heads off, obviously drunk. A brief tussle emerged among them as we watched, and two of them pushed the punter into the freezing waters, bringing the pole with him in a huge splash.

We sighed simultaneously at such idiotic behaviour.

Many bells began to toll from as many spires as the Colleges summoned their students to Hall.

"Are you studying here?" he asked, flicking the bang away from his face yet again.

"Yes." The howl of wind joined the resounding clamour of perfect fourths and augmented fifths. A chill stole past my coat to touch my heart. It wasn't the danger sense, but it was something similar. Disobedience? I could not tell. Time was moving too qui

 

That was interesting. I didn't understand all the abbreviations, though, such as KPI and CWAP. Knowledge Placement Institute? Sorry, I really have to admit I was a bit lost there. I was strongly reminded of Oxford even though I only know it from "Gaudy Night". The part about the different Creches made me wonder if they were different groups of children all the same age, or different ages, and why this Baryl should have a personal vendetta against the Seventh Creche. And why should the Academic people at the Temple scream at Caius? Did I remember correctly that Solace was a Jedi but also a sleeper, so to speak, someone sent out into the real world to live as a mundane but still benefitting from Jedi training, the Force, and the Temple? This really makes me want more.

As for Nine Billion Faces, as anxious as I am to read it, I'm afraid that you will get stuck if you start posting without at least having a good idea of the middle part, so my advice would be to keep labouring at it until it's as good as finished and then start posting. I'd really hate to get involved with a story only to see it stop in the middle because you've written yourself into a corner or got writer's block or some other dire thing.

 

Oh, Jane, you are so close... about the location, I mean.

As for the abbreviations, I serious can't remember what CWAP is either. KPI, however, will make an entrance in 9GFaces. Think McKinsey or BCG in Real Life if you want a comparison. The thing about unresolved childhood history is that, even though you and I don't have a clue as to what they are talking about, Solace and Caius do, and they frankly aren't going to bother explaining these things to us mundanes.



I might do little 'filler' stories about these two in between 9GFaces, if inspiration strikes.

Oh, 9G: 9 Giga = 9x10^9 = 9 billion in case you are wondering.

 

LIke it and love it.

I'm with Jane Jinn: hince why there is so much time/space between TDH and TFL (and will be for TSM). It's the middle, the meat of the story sandwich, that drives us mad. You could hold off on posting until you write it up or get the premises together and work on it as you post the beginning; works for me, when I do Nadja shorts or when I have done non-prewritten work before.

But go with your gut.

FORWARD!

 

a DELIGHT Production

Nine Billion Faces

[screen fades to black]

[POV fades into a pair of huge bells tolling, a mournful sound. Zooms out through archway to external shot of abandoned husk of the Council Spire, then of the Jedi Temple ruins on Coruscant.]

[Solace Gonville (voice-over)] Today we mourn them whom we have lost. Our Nation. Our Pride. Our Honour.

[POV fades to white. Music piped in: A treble sings angelically but sorrowfully. POV establishes on the back of a girl's head against white background. POV moves around slowly to her face.]

[Darth Vader (voice-over)] Her name is Amidala of Naboo.

[POV shot stops directly before the child's face. She is Leia Organa. She looks surprised.]

[POV re-establishes on a crowd of recording devices being shoved into the face of Bail Organa. He is in the midst of being accosted by reporters.]

[Unnamed Man (voice-over)]: The petition is merely a token gesture by Vader to placate the doves in the Royal Houses. House Organa will fall. It broke the most important rule of succession and it will be destroyed.

[POV re-establishes on Bail Organa and Leia Organa, both standing, staring at each other across a courtroom. Darth Vader is standing behind Leia Organa. POV moves slowly as they speak to capture Bail Organa's back and Leia Organa's face clearly.]

[Bail Organa]: Then you have decided.

[Leia Organa]: If only you had treated me less like a political heir and more like a daughter.

[Bail Organa]: Then you leave me with no choice.

[Leia Organa]: It is you who have no choice in this matter.

[Bail Organa (smiles sadly)]: We shall see.

[POV stops at oblique back shot of Bail Organa. He holds a folder at his side. POV zooms in to read the very small engraved title: Order of the Jedi Knights Genetics Records: Leia Skywalker / Mater: Amidala of Naboo / Pater: Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. 24990-203. ]

[POV cuts to a posh room bathed in sunshine. Darth Vader and Leia Organa are sitting on a low couch. Darth Vader is reading from a large book. Leia Organa listens to him with a look of entrapment on her face.]

[Unnamed Man (voice-over)]: My men know. We aren't happy.

[POV cuts to a stark, empty hall. Leia Organa stands awkwardly with a lit red lightsabre in her hands. Standing behind her, Darth Vader is guiding her motions slowly with both his hands on hers.]

[Unnamed Man (voice-over)]: We want vengeance.

[POV cuts to a chessboard with only a few game pieces surviving. One large hand in a black gauntlet moves a white piece. A small hand then moves a black piece to take another white piece. The hand then topples the tallest white piece.]

[Unnamed Man (voice-over)]: And we want it now!

[POV re-establishes on a close-up on Solace Gonville.]

[Solace Gonville]: I came here to warn you of the dangers to the girl. I didn't come here to smear blood on their graves!

[POV re-establishes on Leia Organa and Solace Gonville walking down a garden path on a lovely morning. Suddenly Gonville picks up a large twig off the ground and swings it towards Leia. Leia grabs the twig with preternatural quickness. They both laugh with gaiety.]

[Yoda (voice-over)]: It is a brave path you are taking. Foolish, but brave.

[POV re-establishes on Bail Antilles, standing in the hollow of an annular-shaped table. He is staring hard at Palpatine who is sitting at the Head of the table. Along the curve of the table sit many Senators.]

[Bail Antilles]: The World Government of Alderaan hereby formally launches its protest against the current appointment of the warlord Darth Vader as Head of the Imperial Armed Forces. This liar, betrayer and fratricidal traitor of his own people has no moral credibility to lead our defences.

[POV re-establishes on Darth Vader and Leia Organa standing on the observation deck of a Star Destroyer. Darth Vader is staring out into de

 

Whoa...this sounds like a bumpy ride!

 

Awesome! I can't wait for it! Totally Awesome!

 

OH WOW! What a trailer!! You gotta go post this over on the trailer thread in resources when you get close to posting the main story!

Excellent post back there, too. Your writing really makes me think, but I love it. Your universe is so intricate and given a depth that naturally creates the intrigue.

I really like your use of the term "mundanes" for non-Force sensitives. Is that your own term, or one from the books? Is it okay if I use it some time?

 

Thanks, guys. I'm feeling quite itchy about the trailer, because there are always fears that things in the trailer might not make it into the final thing... (A major plot-line has been changed because the character had screamed, "This is not the way I behave!" and made me discard Ending Ver1.0 for Ver2.0.) But it's great fun to write...hope you had fun reading it.

I'm seriously planning to post without complete the darn thing off for the fear that if I wait for it to finish, I won't get it out before AoTC, and that simply wouldn't do. The temptation to tweak things in 'hindsight' of events in AoTC will be too great.

Di Lee: The term "mundane" is inspired by (actually pinched from) the TV series [whisper]Babylon 5[/whisper]. So yes, use it if you will. And if you think the Jedi term is derogatory, you should hear what the Sith calls them...

 

Here it is in all its terrible glory:Nine Billion Faces

 

Completely off-the-cuff posting without proofreading, and completely senseless.

---

CAIUS

It was a slow day at school. I?d returned from lectures that afternoon with a weekend and a massive paper on Correlative Inflation According to the Post-Ante-Nouve-Loks Theory. If that hadn?t been enough to spoil this lovely spring day, I had to do Personality Profiles for my current/future supervisor and Ashcroft & Linden, the investment bank that I was to report to after graduation under our people?s secret initiative to infiltrate the real world outside the temple. The Profiles were for the three other recruits into my department at A&L. The project had been sitting in my drawer for quite some time now, and still I did not fell comfortable touching it. Deadlines were coming up, however. It made things interesting, not the least to mention all the extra socialising that I had to do.

All these went out of the airlock when I saw the thin note on scraggy paper among the stack of junk I had retrieved from my pigeon hole moments earlier. It was as though the constant barrage of people and noise around me in the Porters? Lodge had suddenly ceased. Without knowing quite exactly why I shoved everything back into my pigeon hole and ran out of college.

And so I found Caius sitting by the riverbank next to the Bridge of Moans, looking still gaunt and vulnerable. He was feeding a duck and its brood of ducklings with bits from his sandwich. There was quite a crowd basking in the warm afternoon sun by the riverbank, chewing on a strange diet of picnic fare and recommended reading while watching excited tourists in punts gawk at the architectural wonders of ancient Ikys and studious students blink in the bright sunlight. The ducks scattered at my approach. He looked up at me, smiled as I sat down on the lush lawn next to him. He was evaporating misty despair and quiet resignation, yet a core of hard determination shone through the shroud like a bright flame in the grey. Like a lone Knight standing proudly in the middle of a hostile battlefield, determined to fight to the death.

That imagery was so Caius, I decided there and then.

?Do you know what I am most afraid most??

?What??

?That I will never have the chance to be who I want myself to be,? was Caius?s reply.

I looked at him, not quite knowing what to say. I knew then what had happened to him. Again.

?I bet that?s a thought that never occurred to you,? he said into the slight pause that followed.

?Which thought??

?Both. And don?t give me that speech about fear. Being fearful and being afraid are two different things. You?ve walked that path before you for far too long.? I almost stood up to leave. I did not come here to listen to him insult me. His hand shot up, caught the edge of my blouse. ?Please,? he said. ?Don?t say to me you haven?t thought about it.?

?This has nothing to do with me.? I sat down again. ?Didn?t feel like contacting an old colleague until you have to leave again, eh?? I accused him.

His lips twitched in something looking like a grimace. ?I?m sorry. I didn?t want to bother you.?

That almost hurt. I gave a short, disbelieving laugh. ?Bother? What do you take me for? The Crèche sticks together, remember??

?And so does scum.?

?Funny.?

I swatted a spring insect away from me. ?What makes you think you can?t be the person you want to be??

He laughed rather bitterly at that. Was he blaming the Force? The Temple? Himself? The wider society? I could not tell.

?What do you want?? I asked. He hadn?t been terribly obvious, but I knew he wanted someone to confront him with that question. He was literally begging for a confessor, and I was it. Never mind that we were almost strangers. In a strange, mundane land, kin and kith was all.

?To be happy,? he answered with disarming clarity. Then, more realistically, as though he had had this conversation with himself too many times, ?but being happy doesn?t bring home the cash. Or at least I haven?t found something t

 

Off-the-cuff and senseless? Does this mean this is not part of a greater story? I liked it, anyway. I liked the way that Solace couldn't be the person that Caius wanted to turn to in order to hear "It's going to be all right", and the way that she said that they were who they were. The Creche sticks together. I liked the way she wanted to help him, but didn't know how yet. Caius doesn't seem to fit in anywhere yet; will he find his place in life one day before he gets killed?

 

Not bad at all; the rawness of the body may not be totally enlightening, but I did enjoy reading it. It gives us a little more perspective on the characters and the developement direction you will be taking them in. Good stuff.

 

Thanks, guys.

 

Up, because our morose lead is going to make an appearance pretty soon!

 

FORWARD!

 

This is brilliant. Delight, you are a MASTER...

 

Thank you for the kind praise.

And to quote my favourite Han Solo phrase, "sometimes I amaze even myself"...

*dodges rotten tomatoes*



P.S. The morose lead made an appearance in Interlude I of the Nine Billion Faces. Sorry, folks.

24 jan 2003 It's locked!