We all here love writing. Theres all diffrent styles. Yet when the piece comes together you want to capture the readers. To make the story pull them into it as if they were that favorite character they are reading about. Many of us do that here with Vast Empire. We place bits and pieces of ourselves into our characters. Writing with a group pulls things together and makes it intresting. Alot of times writers (Or shall I say most times)  take things from other books or life experiences to create stories. It’s much the same with music composers such as John Williams.  It all inspires us in one way or another.

 

Age: 24
Hair : Dark Brown, short to shoulder’s
Eyes: Green
Height: 5’5”
Breasts: 44D
Weight: 150

 
Great.. Why do I always get myself into these situations?

The creaking sounds of the trees didn’t help the young girls mood one bit. It was dark and cold. Even with the moon creeping out from the clouded sky it was making it impossible for her to see the path she was following. For all she knew she was off the path and walking in circles. At least she had a cloak draped over her shoulders and her backpack filled with her cell phone (which didn’t get any signal where she was at), some food, girls needs and a few extra batteries.

“Ugh.. I’m going to kill those guys.. ‘ Let’s go play Jason out in the woods’ . Ugh… I should have stayed at the camp and roasted marsh mellows.”
Rubbing her hand over her face she slapped the head of the flashlight against her dark blue jeans. It flickered and only made Jaina sigh. Her green eyes and dark brown hair was hard to see as her body shivered. God, where was she?

 

———

 

Not far from where the young women was, stood an old man. Dressed in garb one considered for cos play or going to a mi devil convention he watched her through grey sad eyes.
Yes.. its her.. After all these years.. Its the one.. She who will save our land..

The old man made sure he was hidden. Wishing he could go up and explain why she was walking in circles an was off path. He confounded her friends and they were off playing their game. They didn’t even know she was missing. In fact, after he was done, Jaina Mariea wouldn’t exist on this earth anymore. It took him years going through the Vail. Making sure he was on the track. He had found her once and then lost her when her family moved. Yet, the girl was only eleven and too young. Now, now he was sure it was her. She had the stance, the eyes, and her aura glowed golden. She had the power to lead and be a dragon rider of the only Queen egg left. The power to save a world she was suppose to be born into.
“I’m sorry my lady…”

He whispered and uttered a spell. Up ahead a portal opened. Unseen to her. Once she walked in there would be no common back. He only hoped that the Knight of the great Bronze would find her before terror of their land did. He knew the dragons would sense her arrival. But, there was good and bad. A dead root that needed to be chopped. The wind picked up and he watched her walk closer. It was the last spell he could muster and it would kill him. The old man wouldn’t regret it. In a last effort he mustered a spell to give the red ruby ring of the family power to appear in her right pocket before he fell to the ground and took a last look.

“Good luck.. My Daughter….”
With that.. the old man and her true father died. His body vanishing into nothingness.
——
“God I have to be lost…”
She walked on and felt a ripple of something go down her spine. It was almost painful as she stepped into the portal without knowing. There was no blur. Only a slight change of scenery. It was still dark but the trees were different. Something made her feel odd and panic started to fill her. A prickle down her back as she heard a howl in the woods and animals scurry around.
“Ok.. This isn;t working. I need to find a safe place to sleep and then re-trace my steps in the morning..”
Without further speaking she found wood and a place near a large oak tree that held a hole in the bottom she could fit it.. barley. But it would be enough to let he be safe from larger predators.. she hoped. Jains then took her lighter out and started a fire, only to gaze up into the sky as the clouds cleared and she couldn’t recognise any of the constellations.
“That’s odd.. At this time I should be able to see the big dipper and Orion.. huh..”

Thinking she was just tired from the strain and the mean trick her friends played on her she warmed herself by the fire and then climbed inside the tree trunk and fell asleep.

 

 

 

That’s only an example. Everyone has their own ideals and styles. I only hope this helps others on ideas and gives another view for those that are new and those of us that need to look outside the box. While things arn’t perfect, when it all comes together its down to the story and how much everyone enjoys writing.

 

 

What measures your ability as a writer? Is it peoples reaction to your writing? Is it your own reaction? Is it whether or not people want to read it? It’s hard to tell, an ambiguous and subjective question.

A writer should always be aware that criticism will come, that not everyone will enjoy their specific brand of writing. On the same note, however, can one really ignore the opinions of others? To an extent it is important to approach your work with a devil may care attitude. A writer has something they want to say and must find often time controversial ways of saying it. Still, this can become a hindrance, especially in evolving a style. People will give a writer feedback and the writer must decide whether or not it’s of any value.

First one must examine the part of the writing that is being spoken against. Is it plot devices used? Is it the mechanics? Or is it bland characters? Plot devices each writer should take pride in. If you don’t use a plot device that you specially crafted and enjoy then what was the point of using it in the first place? There are times when the plot device is less important than the characters, and it becomes acceptable to use clichés, but it shouldn’t be done at the expense of style and personality. Mechanics can be as simple as a misplaced adjective, or as complex as poorly structured paragraphs. Word choice requires not only knowing the meaning of a word, but also knowledge of connotation, for it at times is more important than definition. Flow, at times, is also more important than detail. Too much detail can muss up and confuse an otherwise fine story. Bland characters should be a writers worst nightmare. One must always be careful to keep their characters interesting and original. It’s not about whether you like your character or not, it’s about whether you’re interested in your character. If one wants to know everything about the character, wants to see how they’d react in different situations. I’ve said before that I do not know how my character (Sniping101) is going to react, he reacts the way he does, for better or for worse. It’s important not to break character, supportive characters should not become sadists, sadist should not become teachers. There are exceptions, where a character will break with their patterns, but these times should have deep psychological impacts. I could write an entire article on characters, and perhaps sometime I shall.

We writers love ourselves, but at the same time we should never give ourselves any slack. Write because you love it. In the end, though, you want to know peoples reactions, you want others to enjoy it. Most of us writers demand that our peers, the people we respect as equals, recognize our writing for the quality we hope is there; all the while beating ourselves up because the post did not meet our own standards. If you post something you are entirely happy with there are only two reasons: Either you aren’t progressing anymore, or it’s the rare occasion that you put your all into it, rewrote time and time again until you feel it’s perfected. We must hold ourselves to the highest of standards. Don’t think that just because you can’t write aswell as your favorite author that you never will. Hold yourself to the same standard as you hold Hemingway, Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson. You may find that you never reach a state where you could compete, but all the while you are still striving to, still trying to improve your writing.

Want to improve? Keep reading. Read things from authors your respect. To paraphrase an author I can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure is famous, “Writing has three stages, first is fumbling around, trying to find your style, the next is emulation, copying the style of other authors, the next is coming through with your own style.” Basically you flounder at first, then you start reading and seeing what you like in another authors style, you end up copying it, trying to make it work with your style, and in the end that helps your own style come through and develop. There is no such thing as a completely original piece, do not worry about that, but at the same time don’t purposely copy others, take their style, learn from it, and toss away what you do not need.

Let me finish with one last piece of advice. Your style is a reflection of yourself. People can dislike many things and be justified, but do not listen to those who want you to change your style. Sometimes that requires other sacrifices, certain groups won’t take you, or perhaps most people don’t like it. If Jack Kerouac had worried about people disliking his style would he of ever written Desolation Angels? It becomes part of you, to betray it is to betray yourself.

Well, that’s all of my quite drunken mumblings. Keep writing, keep trying.

Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber to be Auctioned

“Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn’t allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did.”

“What is it?”

“Your father’s lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.””

―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker

The weapon we all knew and feared is now being auctioned. Mark Hamill wielded the famous weapon in the Star

Wars films “Star Wars A New  Hope,” “Return of the Jedi,” and “The Empire Strikes Back”. The lightsaber will be auctioned off on December 11^th, 2008 among other great things star wars related and not. This weapon was the one that Anakin created himself in the movie and wielded it till his defeat on Mustafar. Anakin Skywalker as we all know was a young boy who was found by Qui-Gon and Obi One Kenobi  on the desert planet of Tatooine.  Anakin had the highest reading of Mid-Chlorines the universe had ever seen.

The young boy was not aloud to train with Qui-Gon but was told to watch carefully. When Qui-Gon was defeated by Darth Maul who was slain by Qui-Gon’s apprentice Obi One, things changed. Now it was up to Obi One to complete the mission of training the promising young boy. Fate tempted Anakin and he was drawn to the Dark Side thinking he would be able to save his own wife. Sadly he was tricked, but to far in to quit.

He ended up slaying all Jedi leaving only few Jedi to escape.  Thus his pregnant wife was traumatized. Anakin was defeated by Obi One at the Battle of Mustafar and was left to burn in the scorching banks of lava. Burned so badly he was barely alive and almost irreparable.  Darth Sidious got to Anakin just in time to save the boy. Alas Anakin’s body was to badly ruined thus a new one was created. A life support system among many other things was built into a black suit and helmet to keep him alive and to allow him to live.

Thus Darth Vader as we know him was born! Vader was the one person that made the universe cringe. He carried out the Emperor’s dirty deeds throughout his whole life. Meanwhile through the surgery of Anakin, his wife was giving birth to two beautiful baby twins. Luke Skywalker and Leia Skywalker were born at last to begin their own legends one day. Sadly Padmé’s life was short lived and the young mother barely got to see her little babies at all.

Anakin had just tried to save her but fate had its own plans. He was to be Darth Vader and his beautiful wife was to die giving birth. Luke was born to fulfill his destiny and bring down his father. Now enough of the story we all know. The original owner of Luke’s lightsaber in real life is the producer of the star wars trilogy Gary Kurtz. The Lightsaber is estimated to catch over 120000 pounds in next months holly wood auction house.

Fun Fact:

Did you know that Luke’s lightsaber was made from and old photography flash gun?

Other things us star wars fans could bid for include a section of the original death star from the first 1977 movie,  and C-3P0’s helmet plus robotic hands worn by the British actor  Anthony Daniels in the awesome 1983 star wars movie “Return of the Jedi.” The fiberglass helmet from the protocol droid C-3P0 is estimated to sell for 53,000 pounds while the section of the death star and the robotic hands are estimated to go for 23,000 pounds.

These are priceless artifacts that any star wars fan would love to get their hands on. We should all take a moment as you read this to honor the great George Lucas and his fine work that shook the world and changed the very place we call home today. If not for him this forum would be nothing and would not even exist neither would the Vast Empire itself. If you haven’t watched the star wars films “Star War  A New Hope,” “Star Wars Return of the Jedi,” or  “Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back,” please go and watch those great films again. Also go and watch the new movies too! All six are great movies.

If you have never watched a Star Wars movie then you are missing out! Get your *** down to a store and buy the movies! You won’t regret it afterwards. Lets honor these movies and the billions of dollars they have brought to our country and the happiness they have brought into our lives. Remember that stuffed chewy doll you had as a kid? Remember that toy lightsaber you used to behead your siblings and parents with? Well we wouldn’t have them if it were not for the hard working film makers, producers, staff, etc.

If you love Star Wars tell someone! Spread the love around, especially to those who have never heard of it. To those who hate star  wars because they sit on their buts and watch star trek all day, well we all know why everyone in the U.S. is overweight now. Seriously though watch a star wars movie whether you’ve seen them or not.

Terrorist’s Strike Fear into Citizens Hearts!

We have new reports in various sectors throughout the empire. Galaxies have been stating that a new rising group of terrorists has been becoming more and more active. The UTAE (United Terrorists Against the Empire) have been slowly but surely been working their way up into our most wanted lists. Not only have they been causing citizens to fear, but also they are growing at a pretty good rate. With the already growing rate and mass gathering of space pirates, criminals and mercenaries, terrorists are all the empire needs right now.

One good thing is that they force nobody to join, but they have other ways of getting their members. Apparently citizens fear them enough that they feel that if they join the group they can keep their families safe. Sadly enough this has worked. To make sure that these newly recruited terrorists don’t just turn on them and run, they place tiny microcomputers into their brains. Yes these are not just microchips but microcomputers without the screen.

These microcomputers literally act as a second hidden brain. The host is literally unaware of their tiny little friends. The computers can be activated and deactivated at will, although not by the hosts will. That in my opinion is that this is just sick and wrong. Plus the computer makes sure that the host can’t know about it being in its brain. Even if you tell them it, the computer will just wipe the memory of it. If the host makes and action in which defies the terrorists then the computer sends an encrypted signal that will bounce around the massive galactic satellites until finally it hits home where it can report to the boss.

Once the boss has the signal he then sends one back out, which then tells the computers to “correct the hosts thinking/actions.” Now I don’t know about you but that’s as close as you get to mind control. These recruits literally have no choice but to do their masters bidding. Now why don’t we just remove these chips? Good question, and the answer is we have tried. Once we open up the poor guy’s (or girl’s/it’s) head and try to remove the damn thing, the little parasite self-destructs! These things are truly a second brain and a bomb all in one. What a good combo!

That’s not only the host’s life lost but also the life of anyone within a few feet around him. It’s also not a very pretty mess to clean up. Even droids have refused to do it. Droids don’t even have feelings or brains, as you can imagine it’s pretty sad when they are the ones refusing to clean up a mess. Now, back to the report. These terrorists claim that they will one day rid the universe of the empire. What makes them so different from the Rebellion? Well the rebellion for one didn’t go around killing people or planting microscopic computers in people’s heads.

Plus these guys don’t help people either. One of their highest goals is also that once they rid the universe of the empire, they want to implant these little computers in everyone’s heads. Sounds like fun doesn’t it? Another thing they don’t have is trained soldiers or Jedi Knights for that matter. So what can we do to stop these fiends? Well currently nothing at the moment. The Galactic Law Enforcement is still looking into it. So far they have found nothing that will help. It’s going to take deep knowledge on how these little parasites work.

We all know it can take a while before the Galactic Law Enforcement get something done, so the empire and their own specially trained secret service have stepped in. They plan to help get rid of the terrorist group before one of our own gets “bugged” as we have come to call it. Currently law enforcement has set up outposts to monitor various galaxies where activity is the highest. They hope to at least catch some of the terrorists without a bug in their head and interrogate them. The outposts have only caught more and more that have been bugged.

On another note a growing debate has been popping up and really heating up some pretty good debates too. The question is: Do we treat those who have been bugged as criminals? Well, although they have been bugged they still have some kind of self-control don’t they? Can they not just fight it somehow? Well it’s hard to tell when the only ones who have been bugged can’t be separated from the parasites and live to tell us if they can fight it or not. My guess is no they can’t. So wouldn’t it be the computer that makes them commit the crimes why not blame the leaders! Spectators rant and rave for hours on the subject and they still end up getting nowhere. The terrorists have bases throughout the empire. Right now the empire has no idea where any of them are but they plan to change that soon.

The terrorists have gone from smuggling drugs, weapons, aliens, people, etc to murder and chaos. They’d stop at nothing to murder an imperial officer or even one among our ranks. A couple weeks ago there was a suspicious crash and the death of an imperial pilot, and the empire has reason to believe it was a suicide bombing ordered by the UTAE. These guys are so committed to uprooting the empire that they will even sacrifice their own members or even murder them in front of other members just for laughs.

They are cruel and very dangerous. If you come into contact with them please contact and imperial officer. There are warrants for several criminals wanted for questioning. If you spot one please notify an imperial officer immediately. As for the warrants official copies of them have been dispatched to all imperial officers and local law enforcements. Here is a local copy for citizens. The official copy is classified and has information only for officials. Pictures will be included with the wanted posters, which have been posted throughout the Galaxy.

Note: These warrants are for planetary ID and for planetary law enforcements that did not obtain a copy that was dispatched. These are to hold law enforcement off until they get their official copy. Citizens do not go after a criminal! Let law enforcement take care of it!!

Imperial Warrant #1:

Name: Alcantor, Gallen
Age: Aprox. 33
Height: 5ft. 11
Weight: 200lbs.
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Jet-black
Wanted: Alive
Details: Alcantor has a peculiar scar below his right eye, and has a tattoo on his left hand. He often visits pubs and bars. He’s skilled with weapons and torture. Was once a medical doctor.

Imperial Warrant #2

Name: Dragor, Dannus
Age: Aprox. 49
Height: 6ft.
Weight: 180lbs.
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Dirty Blonde
Wanted: Alive
Details: Dragor has been known to sit in Strip Clubs for hours. He has pale white skin and no visible scars. He has been known to be charming, sly and intelligent.

Imperial Warrant #3

Name: Ukraius, Talinn
Age: 67
Height: 5ft. 7
Weight: 150lbs.
Eye Color: Pearl Grey
Wanted Alive
Details: Ukraius looks a little younger than his age. He is hard working but has been known to kill when something gets in his way. He has a bad temper that he does a pretty good job suppressing until something annoys him.

Imperial Warrant #4

Name: Valgon, Zen
Age: Aprox. 28
Height: 5ft. 9
Weight: 150lbs.
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Brown
Wanted: Alive
Details: Valgon knows his way around. He is a very good talker able to get people to listen and often agree with him. He has been known to rally hundreds for various causes. He has served as a spokes person for caused throughout several galaxies.
Note: Rewards will be given for capture whether it be rank or promotion or other.

Once again if you see or know anything contact an imperial officer immediately before the situation gets out of hand. Remember these men are highly dangerous. They are skilled in hand-to-hand combat and know how to handle weapons extremely well. Use caution when attempting to confront them. Under no circumstance should anyone besides law enforcement attempt to arrest or confront these men. Should anyone who is not in law enforcement of any official kind attempt it, the empire, its officers, or any other law enforcement assume responsibility.

Should any law enforcement officer or imperial officer arrest one of these men please contact Imperial Headquarters and secure for questioning. These men are not to be harmed unless in a life or death situation. Do not provoke! For any information known about these men please use your local law enforcement number and contact them immediately. Any legitimate information gathered must be reported to an imperial officer immediately; remember we want these men alive and unharmed. They are needed for questioning and again are highly dangerous. Please report it if you see or know anything about them or their whereabouts. Remember you could be the next one to be bugged!

HIMS Unrepentant Vanishes on Routine Escort Mission 

At 03:12 Galactic Standard Time, the Naval Public Relations office released an official statement stating that the Imperial-II Star Destroyer Unrepentant had failed to report in while the cruiser was escorting a convoy of transports to Tadeth, the second such incident in two weeks. After the as of yet unexplained disappearance of the Imperial-I Star Destroyer Krayth Dragon, some claim that a faction is deliberately targeting Imperial ships. Officials urge family members of the crew not to panic, stressing the possibility that the loss of contact is due to a communications network malfunction.

Under the command of Captain Dregson Ferdis, the Unrepentant normally serves as part of the Tadeth defensive fleet, but was reassigned to temporary escort duty three weeks ago due to heighened Republic activity near Imperial hyperspace lanes. Ferdis first joined the Vast Imperial Navy four years ago after defecting from the Republic and served with distinction in the Sixth Fleet before being reassigned.

Admiral Reglan Sarn replied to our holo-call with the following:

“Panic is counter-productive and uncalled for. Transmitter malfunctions are not unknown, and this sort of thing has happened before. I’m sure the Unrepentant will report in soon enough once they’ve fixed the defective equipment. Again, it’s probably nothing serious.”

A complete failure of primary and backup broadcasting equipment on a standard Imperial-II Star Destroyer has a 1 out of 323,000 chance of occurring on any given flight. The Unrepentant and its convoy are expected to arrive in the Tadeth system in approximately three standard hours. (HP)

OOC: Inspired by Deritosuwn’s “The Mericlo”. http://comnet.imperialnetwork.com/topic/11023/

 

A report was sent in to officials in the Council that a group known as the “Refr’kil’ar” an emerging group led by Nokil a hutt, and Sri’wie a Rodarian, and a human who’s name was undisclosed, have reported with CSA that a group of “rouge” storm troopers attacked them and made out with their cargo.
The ships reported to be, a Sienar Fleet System Immobiliser-class picket ship, a demolisher-class star frigate, and several unidentified fighters intercepted them and boarded their ship.

“They just pulled us out of hyper space, and started shooting, it was over fast, all our systems were down in a matter of minutes.” as translated by a Protocol droid.

“What wear the alleged storm troopers wearing?”

“They wore a black and red uniform, but one of them had a New Republic uniform, they probably wore it to give us a sent of the greedy Imperials”

At this comment he was taken back for more questioning, the Human wasn’t willing to talk as much as his partner the hutt was.

“Yes, we were transporting illegal minerals, and some illegal spices, but we expect to be refunded in full for all the items in the cargo manifest.”

We checked the cargo manifest and these were a few of the things on their.”

      CARGO MANIFEST FOR “BREEK NAIK”
Artusain Crystals…………………………………2 crates
 Bacta…………………………………………………15 crates
 Beskar………………………………………………..12 crates
 Blue Milk……………………………………………13 crates
 Bronzium……………………………………………102 crates
 Cortosis………………………………………………. .5 crates
 Death sticks………………………………………….93 crates
 Durasteel……………………………………………1,093 crates
 Kolto…………………………………………………….26 crates
 Membrosia …………………………………………….13 crates
 Phrik……………………………………………………….3 crates
Carsunum………………………………………………….5 crates
Tihar………………………………………………………….12 barrels
Rage……………………………………………………………13 barrels
Uj’ala………………………………………………………….15 barrels
The rest of the manifest was undisclosed, and the hutt argued that many of these substances are not illegal in their intended sale planet, or at all.

High council has ordered deeper investigation on this matter for the manifest’s claim of cortosis and Phrik. The hutt when asked were they had found the cortosis merely said that the were transporting it for a contractor.
 
The ships afore mentioned have not been seen for quite some time, in fact some of them haven’t been seen since 1 B.B.Y . As for the “rouge” troopers high command has accounted for every trooper. The main thought is New Republic involvement. A plot of some sort, Cortosis, Durasteel, Phrik, Death sticks,  Bronzium, Artusain crystals, and even blue milk, indicate that the NR could be planning something against the empire.

The  hutt was taken back for question after it showed the manifest to officials.

When questioned CSA had this to say.

“We aren’t entirely sure that they were attacked, maybe they just wanted some payment.”

“What if they were attacked, what do you make of this?”

“Well if they were attacked, we want to know why, and the question on everyone’s mind is were did they find the cortosis, and the Phrik, and the crystals all very rare substances.”

“I understand that, now what if it was Imperial foul play?”

“Well, we would of course like to set this matter straight, we don’t want a group of diluted minds soiling the good imperial name now do we?”

“What will you do with the prisoners?” at this question the CSA officer got a stiff look in his eye, and ignored the question.

“I said what will you do with the prisoners?”

“Well we will process them and see if they clear out.” he excused himself and walked away.

There may be foul play here but one thing is for sure, the High command has put a lot of priority in this research, it seems, it might be for the cortosis, which as all you know is a highly valuable to the empire, and in the wrong hands can turn out a big disaster.

The 501st Legion of Imperial Stormtroopers has been around before George Lucas was given the rights of the name. Starting out as a small group on Yahoo it would soon spread to all over not only the United Staes, but all over the world. A group that not only has fun going to conventions, but also charity events to help others and even hospital visits for the children. They are in opinion the best in the fandom. Giving back to their community despite others who haggle and think they are no more then children who live in their mother’s basement. Those are far from wrong. While some might, there are those that are in the military who are members. Doctors, nurses, police officers, lawyers and parents who belong to this group.

As the group grew, it had also outgrown the typical use of the yahoo group and formed a proper website; www.501st.com . Also formed were garrisons. Members of 25 or more who supported their area. They all had their own separate websites and named themselves to pull their group closer as a family. Now as time had it there was also outposts. Members not large enough for garrison size, but small enough to be ran on their own. Sometimes, as groups do they split. On one such occasion was the Southern Outpost. They consisted of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Alabama wished to be on their own. Creating conflict for mainly Mississippi, who was in the middle and held only about five members at the time.

The Legion council members wanted Someone to take Mississippi. Being treated as the black sheep per say as the members felt. Tennessee finally took Mississippi to be part of Mid-South Garrison. Still, things wern’t great. Hardly any members in the state made it hard to do anything and most were in TN. So less was even done to make it possible for members to travel. gas of course didn’t help. It wasn’t until 2007 that things started to be pushed by Mississippi members. The split from the original garrison left a bad taste in mouths and they wanted to be independent. With only a hand full of members and being spread out , it was hard to manage a meeting and discuss what to do. There were talks then threw Email and phone and things began to form.

At first a squad was talked about. Having a small number they could become a squad and be attached to the garrison. This, while a nice idea wasn’t what the members truly wanted. To be independent, and show everyone that Mississippi could prevail and become strong was the idea. Not to be latched on to another group, even if it was for support. It also didn’t help that there were pulls in all directions. What they should be called? Designs? Should they be allowed their own board? In the end the groups voted CO managed to get through to the others. The Mississippi outpost was finally formed. It’s motto would be chosen once they were past the six month probation. As for the initial design we decided to be different then the rest. The colors Green and black with a hint of brown.. and use of the Tie Crawler. After the long months of what seemed like agony, the memberships grew and as of October 2008 the members stand at nineteen and will continue to grow and become one of the best they can be! The motto was only recently decided to be ”The Rancor Raiders,”

 

 

 

As well all have heard, this years hurricane season has been a very active one.  The three names for this year that strike out in memory the most are Hanna, Ike, Gustav and Fay.  The most recent, Ike, has been said to be the more dangerous sense Hurricane Katrina three years ago that bashed Lousiania and Mississippi.

  (Hurricane Ike Entering the gulf)

 

 Now we all hear from experts on how dangerous these storms are. The stories from those are plastered onto newspapers, the internet and the news. I can tell you from my own experience that these are not something to mess with.  I am one of the many survivor’s from Hurricane Katrina here on the mississippi coast.  After it hit  you hardly ever heard anything abuot us. It was all about new orleans. Yes, the levies failed. But from lack of taking the proper routs to prevent such a disastor.  These monsters effect everyone.  Gas prices having gone up in the past week from Ike are insane.

 

     

 

These disastors are not something to be “oh well, it dosen’t matter.”  I have heard from many people that arn’t directly effected that they don’t care because it’s not them. It’s silly to think like that when it could be them.  Gas prices effect these monsters just like troop deployments effect the circulation of the american Dollar as well as gas.  It’s on the news everyday. These seasons are no more diffrent, especially when the hurricanes hit land and effect other states. As is Ike right now effecting The Great Lakes region. As is, this is only a perspective form one person. I have been there. Evacuated twice now and came cllose to loosing everything three years ago. Hopefully the rest of this year will be quit for storms. In the end, you can only hope mother nature takes a breather. In the end, you can only hope your ready.

 

 

* Pictures are from Google Images*

 

Recently, I was looking at the roster and I clicked on VEEC just to look at who all was in it. I was looking at it when I noticed something called the Astral Guard. I was curious about it so I asked around and found out that the best person to ask would be Riel Fury.

Hunter: What exactly is the Astral Guard?

Riel Fury: It was a small group of privateers in the pay of the VE that performed things that the VE couldn’t be linked with like piracy, sabotage, etc.

Hunter: Who formed it?

Riel Fury: Me primarily. I got assistance from Fury and Tal on some of the planning stages and a little help from Darkhawk as well.

Hunter: When and why was it formed?

Riel Fury: Ummm…. don’t remember when exactly. The why was we were bored and we thought it’d be cool. It was a handpicked group of members that were going to really focus on good storytelling.

Hunter: Why is it not active?

Riel Fury: Well… RL and laziness got in the way.

Hunter: What plans are in store for it?

Riel Fury: Ummm… none really. I was toying around with bringing it back, but decided against it.

Hunter: Why?

Riel Fury: Mainly because I don’t think the type of person who would excel in that situation are numerous enough in the VE right now.

Hunter: Who would excel in that? And by that, I mean why would they excel? Would they need certain skills?

Riel Fury: Most people need to be browbeaten into posting, or think that their posting is for a certain reason (a la getting promoted, or winning a comp, etc.) and, frankly, not enough people have the writing skill necessary. You have to want to write a good story just to write a good story and while those members are to be found, most of them have so much on their plate that it’s not feasible to get them to do it.

Alright. Now that we know about the Astral Guard, we can hope that it will reopen sometime in the future.

Until next time everybody. Goodnight.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the latest of the Saga, fitting in between Episode II and Episode III. And truth be told, it had a huge name to live up to. Did it? Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations (although that didn’t stop me from seeing it four times on day one… and I’m not a virgin… I swear). I’ll sway from spoilers incase anyone hasn’t had the chance to see the movie and wants to figure out if it’s even worth watching…

The Darkside…

• Story plot… although it’s not really bad at all, it just doesn’t have the appeal that came from the six Episodes… It lacked the… epicness of the Death Stars, and somehow managed to lose the massiveness of the clone force that we saw in Episode II and III.
• The musical score… Perhaps its just me, but the music played a huge role in the success of Star Wars. Without the Imperial March, the Empire loses our fascination. Without Duel of the Fates, the lightsaber duel of Anakin and Obi-Wan is just a clash of sabers… And in Clone Wars… I haven’t heard a single new piece that wow’ed me. The music fits, but that’s about it. Electric guitars and the like… just isn’t Star Wars
• The comedy… seemed cheap. Overusage of the droid humor from Episode I was far too common. I don’t mind a cheap laugh once in a while, but if it’s all the humor that’s there, it just doesn’t appeal… and some of it is too predicable… where’s the ‘who’s scruffy looking?’ type humor? Droids can only fall from heights so many times before it becomes a groaner. And at one point, a droid can’t even get the numbers right that another droid tells him… And I thought they were connected to the same ‘core-system’ … I dunno why they even speak to eachother >.
• Dialogue… I was expecting… more.. even if the movie was aimed at kids…
• The opening crawl… (take a deep breath) … nonexistent… Instead we have a voice getting us up to speed with the events of the Galaxy… ruining a defining opening moment…

• It’s Star Wars…. Let’s face it, it brings out the kid in you. The saga continues, it hasn’t died out at all, and that brings joy to all of us here.
• Action… You’ll find more than plenty of this, and the animated format gives you some things that you might not dream of seeing in a live-action movie of Star Wars.
• Characters…
• You’ll come to love Ahsoka, or your heart has turned hard. She might make you skeptical at first, but she’ll win you over just as she wins Anakin over. She’s still annoying to a point I’ll admit, but I think how she was introduced was below par, and the voice acting left much to be desired. Hopefully in the future they’ll work with her much better than they did here.
• As for Ani, he seems much more mature than in any of the prequels,a breath of fresh air there. And although the character development doesn’t come up to par with the rest of the movies, I couldn’t really find fault with it at all…
• Jaw droppers… There’s only one that truly stands out, and to be honest, nothing can compare to “Luke, I am your Father” so I’m going to be fair and not judge it on an impossible scale… so expect a surprise when you see an AT-TE transport after they get off the first planet and onto another… anything else would ruin the surprise… Of course it could have been done better, but that doesn’t make it less of a jaw-dropper.
• No Jar-Jar or any Gungans for that matter… ’nuff said.
• It’s Star Wars… It bears repeating.