After separating from Ahsoka in the aftermath of Order 66, Rex goes looking for a way to save his brothers from the hell of being nothing more than meat clankers. He comes across a scientist who is on the run from being conscripted into the Imperial bureaucracy, and saves the scientist from being run down because the whole process gives Rex flashbacks to what Fives went through.
It turns out the scientist, a Twi’lek named Doctor Faesta Snamis, has been experimenting with how sound waves influence technology and the Empire wants to utilize her research by turning it toward military applications. Since Faesta, whom Rex takes to calling “Doc”, refuses to see even more destruction wreaked upon the galaxy (and Ryloth in particular, given that it was devastated by the battles fought over it by the Republic and the Confederacy), she’s been running from not just the Empire, but others too who wish to use her work for destructive means. Rex thinks she’s too idealistic, but feels obliged to help her out (it sticks it to the Empire in some small way, practically the only way he’s managed since he and Ahsoka fled Mandalore).
So lots of crazy shit happens and Faesta finds a way to use her research to neutralize the chips in the clones’ minds. They do this on a small scale at first, but then Rex starts getting ideas (boy does he get ideas). He, Faesta, and a crack team of clones who are really fucking pissed off at the Empire for turning them into flesh droids, at the Republic for making them slaves in the first place, and the Sith who have taken over, find a way to hack the Holonet and deliver the knockout punch that deactivates the chips and also manages to deliver a message to the various clone units on what’s happened – the Sith have taken over, etc. They are then encouraged to either get out, or, if they want to do something about it, start tearing the Empire down. A few end up taking the first option, completely traumatized and just can’t take it anymore, but the majority are pissed off enough to want to finish what they started.
Essentially, there is a massive military coup. Palpatine and Vader may be powerful, but even the strongest lions can be brought down by the coordinated attack of a hyena pack (or just insert an appropriate GFFA analogy here). Tarkin is found and shot, field execution style, along with a lot of other leading Imperial figures and leaders.
There are some serious tensions in the aftermath, because the clones are very distrusting of politicians, even the ones with good reputations like Bail Organa and Mon Mothma. As far as many of the clones are concerned, they colluded in keeping the brothers as slaves in a desperate attempt to preserve the Republic, along with the Jedi.
It’s Faesta who steps up and does her best to talk everyone down. She’s always believed in peace, hoped for better times once the war ended, but found herself in even worse straits as time passed. She may not have the deep understanding of being used as fodder like the clones do, but she knows oppression. She and Rex were the ones who found a way to free the clones from their chains. Now she asks them what they really want to do now that their chains are off and the primary culprits are themselves either dead or fettered in chains of their own? Continue the cycle and thus see more blood spilled, blood of their brothers, blood of innocents?
Faesta freely admits that there are no real good answers to the shitty situation they’re in. She just asks that the clones, that everyone, look for answers that don’t involve doing their level best to kill one another.
The story gets left a little open-ended, letting readers decide for themselves how things go. The clones have control at the end, but it’s control by the barrel of a blaster, and hardly sustainable, but they’re just so angry at everyone. Will Faesta’s words be enough to bring peace, when the words of so many others failed?
This is a congratulations to every writer who put some work into their WIP today
You wrote down some words? Congratulations!
You came up with the way to solve that plot point? Congratulations!
You figured out a character’s motivation? Congratulations!
I don’t care if you wrote 2 words or 2 thousand. I don’t care if you’ve been working on this story for a few days or a few years (or even a few decades).
You got something done today? Congratulations, I’m proud of you, and I hope tomorrow you can do some more
Obi-Wan doesn’t know if he’ll forgive the alien with the strange ship, and he knows he’s never going to forget what was supposed to be a two week leave for him and Anakin to settle into things after Qui-Gon’s death.
Especially since he’s spent that last two years having to teach a Padawan without the benefit of Temple support, the Republic, or anything resembling a schedule. They have acquired yet another alien being that is some form of mechanical being, accidentally broke the strange ship (and repaired it again, because this is Anakin), had an unpleasant and too personal encounter with a potential future, and also accidentally acquired a not-dead (not-Jedi) version of Qui-Gon before the idiot could get himself killed by a pissed off Sith Lord who looked terrifyingly like the newly-elected Chancellor Palpatine.
And as far as the Jedi are concerned, they’ve only been gone for half their two-week leave.
At least the Council is willing to accept being handed a stack of hand-written journals on flimsy, introduced to Anakin’s new speeder, and given a brief verbal report on how they have Qui-Gon with them before they let Obi-Wan go have a minor breakdown of moving parts in his fresher. And a nap. In his own bed. Possibly for a week.
Someone accidentally activates an unknown Ancient artifact on Atlantis, which releases some kind of aeresol. McKay has a fit at whoever did it, and goes to shut things down and clean up the mess they made. All seems well until the person who had the accident starts accidentally setting things on fire when they get angry or scared.
Things just go downhill from there, as far as McKay is concerned, when the “weird things happen when feeling strong emotions” starts spreading.
Something something, someone who isn’t one of the main crew figures out this is kinda like using the Force in Star Wars. At least enough that the “and now we meditate and figure out how to be calm and serene and still throw flaming debris at the Wraith with out minds” works.
MCU, in which the Avengers stumble over some well-made fan movies of them (Age of Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War), and are rather horrified by what the directors and writers came up for them. Because that’s not what happened at all, and they really didn’t need to see that.
After making the mistake of watching these movies, first one up is Clint, because dude, this might be even more fucked up than his life is anyway, and where the fuck did they hide his hearing aids, but he’s kinda used to be a human disaster anyway. He brings back a tray full of glasses of vodka, enough for everyone, and larger ones for Steve, Bucky, Thor, Loki, and Pietro, because metabolism reasons.
Because the Avengers are a family, if an often dysfunctional one, and each of them has their way of saying I love you. (Turning people into semi-appropriate animals, building/buying shiny things/companies, threatening/maiming/disposing of whoever has been a credible threat lately, various nicknames, the Goat Avengers, etc.) Clint thinks today is a day for I love you being alcohol and pizza (which gets delivered about the time the shock wears off, and Natasha and Bucky start plotting how to find the directors and writers involved and having a little talk with them).
The Fundraisening hit another milestone! I still have a ways to go before I know the important bills (rent!) are paid, but I’m so grateful that we’re this much closer to survival. Thank you.
(And I have, y’know, a completed Part VII for Fundraisening milestone briberyness. *G*)
October is coming so lets get the fun and spooky writing prompts ready!
Do you want your followers to choose prompts until you get 5 in a row? Or choose a row of 5 prompts for yourself to write over the up coming month? Even if all you want are Halloween flavored story ideas to play with through October, this chart is ready for you.
There's a Mirror on the Wall 