TBF, Mags, you have been doing a lot of the heavylifting for the quest, so this will be in good hands.
To be clear to everyone, this is just me burning out on imagination of the quest, since my muse has been hitting me over the head a lot with so many different ideas that I just can't find myself too interested in this.
I'll still hang out here, though, since this still does have a sepcial place in my heart.
I'd like to thank you all for making this a wonderful experience while it lasted.
I'd also like to thank @Magoose, @Fluffy_serpent, and @Martin Noctis for doing so much to help prepare and write this quest. I couldn't have done it without you all.
That begs the question: Can you legally adopt your daughter-in-law? Does it require them to divorce your son? Will the couple legally be registered as siblings?
That begs the question: Can you legally adopt your daughter-in-law? Does it require them to divorce your son? Will the couple legally be registered as siblings?
It wouldn't make sense to do so, given that she still has her mother as well as her husband(us), but I do believe you could but it would be more along the lines of guardianship or a ward. I don't know about how that would affect the marriage legally in the US, but I do know that adopted siblings can marry in Japan so.....
International Box Office: $25,000,000
Lucasfilm Unlimited Profits: $14,500,000
You're not going to lie; you'd been hesitant about releasing this one. Not for any lack of faith in the franchise of course, if anything you'd felt that this was the one that would make even Godzilla fans acknowledge that there was another worthwhile series that could come from the East. And yet, the last couple of months had shaken you; the utter failure of Submersion of Japan had shocked you, and the low returns from The Tale of Zatoichi just added insult to injury. When Toho finally explained the context, and why it seemed that Americans did not get the same love for the film that Japan did, you'd started to feel hope once more that Zatoichi would do better...if not for Universal and their own films being released early and taken much of the interest of the viewers away of course.
Add to that the fact that this is the first entry of the franchise that has a new director in and your concerns were becoming more valid. So it was that when the release date arrived and you decided to go see the movie on its first showing that you were once more left stunned by the huge amount of people just waiting to get a chance to see the next entry!
In the end, you should've had more faith in the fans of the movie. Sure, they may like what Universal, Fox, or even the soon-to-be-gone Warner Studios may have to offer, but they had all been enthralled by the tale of Ittō and his son Daigoro, and they were not going to miss the chance to once more see the stoic father and son duo and their adventures through Japan.
You decided to go to the first showing and found yourself pleasantly surprised that while a bit different (and some may call "lowbrow") when comparing it to the first three films, the story still has much of the charm of the original ones while also adding it's new characteristics that somehow also feel organic to the franchise; from Daigoro's first moments of independence when he runs into trouble yet manages to get out of it on his own, to Ittō's paternal reliability when it comes to protecting his son while also showing signs of mercy while interspersed through the fights during the film.
Overall, the tale of Ittō and Daigoro's journey this time around is one that shocked the viewers in a good way, and left them anxious for more; it's a tale of vengeance of a disgraced woman going after those who wronged her (in a way evoking Lady Snowblood now that you think about it) while Ittō's been charged with finding her and bringing her to justice. Yet at the same time is as always mixed with adventures between those who continuously chase after Ittō and his son, the separation between them as Daigoro goes on entire adventure of his own where he has to avoid those who would chase after his father, and yet when he's cornered and without recourse chooses to fight rather than surrender or say anything incriminating. Ittō's final fight with Gunbei Yagyū and later with Oyuki (The killer he'd been hired to find) in a way also showcases his sense of honor and respect as he understands it; he refuses to kill Gunbei, as he believes that he does not deserve the honor, yet when it comes to Oyuki, he does it quickly so that she may go in peace and granting her honor in the end.
The film really makes you question about the idea of right and wrong, the powerful and those without recourse, as well as justice and what may become of those who find that no other path for them is available to obtain it. You know, it always astonishes you when a movie manages to touch on such kind of issues while also delivering such an amazing story and entertainment for the viewers. The critics also loved the film; finally, Lucasfilm brings something worthy from Japan again, they said, heaping praise upon praise on the film, the actors, the characters, and the overall growth of the franchise. They did not even find any fault with the main antagonist being a woman who unrobes herself to fight, finding it inconsequential to the overall message of the movie.
Both sides however were in tether hooks by the end, and both sides were clamoring for the next installment to be released now rather than later. And you could not blame them; the sight of Ittō asking Daigoro to remove the sword that had stabbed him in the back, and then walking into the night while also pushing the cart with his son in it, left you with a feeling of anxiety that demanded to know what is going to happen, if Ittō will survive, what will happen to Daigoro! You and every single one who has seen the film are waiting for the next one with baited breath!
Toho was of course pleased to see the results, dismissing the previous months as a fluke, and looking over their catalogue of films to see which one could replace the Lone Wolf and Cub franchise once it runs its course. Then again, there are some mavericks in the studio that are suggesting to revive the franchise and start making more films again, seeing that they clearly are superior to the oversized monstrosity that are the Godzilla films. Which of course pissed off that franchise's producers leading to a whole new round of arguments again.
As for you, well, you only need to convince Mike to release the next one faster.
They'd probably ban it if it was as culturally significant for America as it could end up being, considering they'd likely view it as "poisoning the youth with American cosmopolitan capitalist values and ideas." Basically, some of the same shit that happened before the Berlin Wall went up.
Yeah I guess I was a bit too optimistic about the repercussions of Eddie's manipulation, but this being a Magoose Quest I was a bit hopeful and while Hollywood is a shitty place that fucks over countless people on the daily, Carrie being an established celebrity whose loved by the general public made me hope that she would get her just deserts.
Also there is some precedent for Eddie getting cancelled as OTL when he cheated on Debbie and abadoned her and the kids he lost his show, music contracts and basically became irrelevent but he wasn't completely untouchable. I guess that's one downside to living in the 70's and not the 2020's for better or worse. My great hope was just for Eddie to get super cancelled and Universal to have a bumpy couple of months, but I guess we have to settle for fucking them over financially by having the theaters want to play nothing but Star Wars for half a year.
Something similar happened OTL during the filming of Shampoo where she repeatedly warned Warren Beaty to stay the hell away from Carrie but he didn't give a shit and continued to try to coax Carrie into having sex with him. So I guess we have to settle for cutting Eddie out completely and being so successful that even with his second chance he's still irrelevant AF.
Yeah once the Gosling Arc happens Bruce should also pull his weight and shift career focus to be as present for his family as he can. I imagine in the 80's we'll become more active as a producer to have a 9 to 5ish job and work on one, maybe two movies per year until the youngest O'Brian reaches 10.
I was more referring to social fluff of Bruce hanging out with his brother-in-law, not doing cool film stuff. That's part of why I voted for Family way back cause fluff is always nice and fun.
Yeah that's kind of the plan but considering Star Wars has had a shit ton of post-production actions I was curious if we needed to put in similar work for Five Dates.
Yeah that's kind of the plan but considering Star Wars has had a shit ton of post-production actions I was curious if we needed to put in similar work for Five Dates.
Well we didn't have to because the editing and marketing might be all thats needed, and waiting until a little later to market would be better then waiting almost half a year.
Hey @Kaiser Chris can you do a Star Wars omake so we can raise the Culture to be bigger because I want to to have a bigger impact that it makes the world more incline to do advances in tech
I'm personally looking forward to when we get close enough to Togo for them to agree to partner up with us to make, and not just distribute, a Godzilla film. Surely Lucasfilm/ILM can make a better film than the OTL 90's 'Zilla movie.
I'm personally looking forward to when we get close enough to Togo for them to agree to partner up with us to make, and not just distribute, a Godzilla film. Surely Lucasfilm/ILM can make a better film than the OTL 90's 'Zilla movie.
I agree! Personally, i'm thinking Godzilla in Hawaii fighting King Ghidorah. And we can make a King Kong movie as well! Say wahtever you want, but I did like the Reboot King Kong film where they had the whole angle with King Kong being the defender of the people there.
Well we didn't have to because the editing and marketing might be all thats needed, and waiting until a little later to market would be better then waiting almost half a year.
If we release Five Dates after Star Wars then we get a massive AF boost to the Five Dates box office from Star Wars fans. It's been all but confirmed that Star Wars is going to make more than a billion dollars. And how many of those hundreds of millions who may have been indifferent to Bruce and Carrie before will now be excited to see Han and Leia starring in a romance?
Marcia Lucas released a heavy sigh as she came home from the store and noticed her husband George blasting away at the typewriter, her husband having been holed up for the past couple of days in his office at home at work on some new script.
After the spouses were able to start talking with each other instead of at each other again, Marcia was willing to compromise and came around to agreeing with George to increase the scale of the space battles greatly, though she warned that in return she'd have to cut some other major parts of the film. Instead of coming to a decision and then working it out with her, George then talked about the issue with Bruce who surprisingly pushed for a small scale battle as originally intended, arguing it was best for the production timeline and story. Instead of making a hassle with Bruce as he had with her, George agreed easily and got to work with ILM on the small battles, though not getting the large scale World War II in Space scenes he hoped seemed to make George a bit glum and go into his old bad habits of writing to distract from the troubles, though he never once fought with Bruce or questioned him on it.
Sometimes Marcia had to admit that she was jealous of Bruce and the friendship he had with George. He was a young man who knew George for half the time of Marcia's relationship with George, and despite that Bruce could get George to open up very easily and relax, be his true self and be more amneable to other people's suggestions instead of being a stubborn mule on the issue. It was traits that Marcia wished she could share easily with George as his wife, and even with all of that Bruce seemed to have a better go of communicating and romance with Carrie. Once she had confessed her frustration with Bruce, who in return replied that all he ever did was give George the final pushes when he mostly made up his mind and Marcia was always the person he turned to first and trusted the most. Marcia could see the statement in some ways, she just wished it translated to easy domestic bliss.
Feeling that she had been a bit of a hypocrite by not talking with George the past couple of days and allowing him to retreat to old habits, Marcia decided to be more proactive as their relationship had been and confront George head on. She marched into the room, and was surprised when she was met with a smiling and content George who was stretching at his desk. "Hi Marcia, you just got home?" He asked with a chippered tone.
Blinking at the sight and expecting a more depressed George, Marcia was happy that this didn't seem to be the case but pressed on. "Just been back for a few minutes. George, I'm sorry we weren't able to get the battles you wanted-"
"It's fine, you were right." George submitted with no hint of regret or angst, "Yeah it would be cooler to have bigger battles and perhaps better on its own, but it doesn't work with the script and the edits you're going for, it's like two separate movies spliced into one. This flows better and even if it's just starfighters and the Death Star, we can still make an innovative enough battle to make history. You were right all along." George admitted happily.
"Oh...um thanks. When we get to Empire and Revenge, we can always try to go bigger with those movies." Marcia promised.
"That's kind of the plan. Hoth will be Kursk with the Winter War and Endor is going to Leyte Gulf and Normandy."
"So are you working on script rewrites for the sequels?" Marcia asked.
"Nope, actually I'm working on a new episode for that TV anthology series. I just finished, although I've been thinking of changing the name from 'A Galaxy Far, Far Away to 'Star Wars: Legends', less of a mouthful." George informed with Marcia shaking her head in exasperation. "What? Don't like the name?"
"It's not that, it's just that...don't you think it's a bit too early to be focusing on TV series when we haven't finished the post yet. We don't even have a TV division." Marcia pointed out.
George shrugged his shoulders, "I know that. It's not like I want to create the show next year, and if we want everything to be done we'll probably have to wait until after Empire. But I want to get a head start and for Star Wars to have something besides the movies, kindle the fires for the franchise. Besides, if I didn't write this down I'd either lose the idea or just get creatively stale."
"Well what's the new episode about?" Marcia asked.
"It's a space battle between the Rebels and Empire before Yavin, basically one of the Rebellion's first conventional victories like the Battle of the Coral Sea. It's going to be a decent medium sized battle with dozens of ships and hundreds of starfighters, Yavin if the Empire had a fleet and the Rebels weren't down to the scraps of the scraps."
Marcia gave George a pointed look, "So you're having your cake and eating it too?" She teased, as George would have his best movie while also having a great space battle reserved for tv.
"Why not? Here we won't have to split focus on the heroes and adventure and we can hyperfocus on the 'Wars' of Star Wars." George said.
"And you're fine with ILM dedicating so much time and resources towards a TV episode?"
"Well eventually people are going to get VHS copies of Star Wars for home movies so this can serve as a good test for maintaining quality. Besides, if we do a really good job Mike said we could release some of the episodes in theaters so people would be drawn to watch them in the highest quality available."
Marcia rolled her eyes at how Mike Eisner seemed to once again influence George in the pursuit of money, although it wasn't necessarily a bad deal. "Alright, let me see what you got."
Lieutenant Ryoo Naberrie/Ryoo Thule. Female. Human- The protagonist of the episode, Ryoo Thule is a starfighter ace and one of the first X-wing pilots of the Rebel Alliance, paving the way for heroes like Wedge, Biggs and Luke. Ryoo in secret is Ryoo Naberrie, the sister to the current Senator of Naboo Pooja Naberrie, niece of the late and beloved Senator Padme Amidala, and unknowing cousin to Luke and Leia. Ryoo can be brash and impulsive at times, essentially a female Maverick in space. While she does care about her squadmates, she often feels a need to prove herself or strike at the Empire on her own which can get her into trouble. Ryoo has some possible hints of force sensitivity although it is left intentionally vague for the audience to interpret whether or not she does.
Ensign Kaz Falk. Male. Cathar- A close friend of Ryoo and a highly popular member of the B-wing bombers. Kaz is in some respects a reflection of Luke if he had joined the Rebel Alliance before Star Wars. Kaz grew up as a simple farmboy on Cathar who ran away one day to join the Rebellion, inspired after hearing word of their resistance and wanting to do some good in the galaxy. Kaz is the comedic relief who helps bring levity to the Rebels through jokes and wit, though he can be serious when need be. Kaz has an effeciency for bombing and intense passion for explosions as "Art", an opinion that few of his squadmates share though he gets the job done.
Commander Garrus Huxtable. Male. Human- The head of Battlegroup phoenix's starfighter squadrons and Hera's right hand man. Garrus is a Clone Wars veteran who was famous as one of the Republic's leading aces who wasn't a Jedi or Clone and served the galaxy valiantly. After the rise of the Empire, Garrus served the Empire for many years but after a mission where his squadron is ordered to destroy a space station who had harbored a Jedi, killing tens of thousands, he deserts and joins the Rebellion, becoming one if its leading heroes as he did in the Clone Wars, and after Operation Domino one of its last. Garrus is a gruff and wise officer who acts as a mentor to many of the pilots, most especially Ryoo. He is very competent and a highly skilled flyer but very orthodox.
Admiral Hera Syndullla. Female. Twi'lek- The head of Battlegroup Phoenix of the Rebel Alliance, Hera Syndulla is a wise and experienced leader who has been with the Rebellion from the beginning. All of the Rebels look to her leadership with high confidence and trust with Hera being a competent tactician and able to think of strategies on the fly while usually keeping an open ear for her pilots and other members of her crew for suggestions and criticism. Cool and calm, Hera inspires hope in a time of crisis and focuses on the war as a moral fight to save the galaxy. Has a special attachment to her pilots, believes strongly in the Force.
Rear Admiral Vikus Blackwood- Vikus Blackwood is a overweight, sadistic, evil and pompous aristocrat of an officer who is modeled off of Nathaniel Bedford Forrest. Blackwood comes from a prestigious line of Kuati nobility and while he prides himself as a gentleman of the Core and a model officer, in truth he is little more than a savage beast, taking great glee and pleasure in the Empire's mission of subjugating the Outer Rim and enslaving "lesser races" for both the Empire's success and his personal profit. Blackwood is a brute who prefers to destroy his enemy through overwhelming force but can be shown some level of tactical cunning in rare spots.
Commander Solis. Female. Human- The lead TIE pilot and commanding officer of the Subjugator and Blackwood's fleets TIEs. Solis is the antithesis of Ryoo, cold, calculating, domineering and brutal. Solis does not share Vikus' intense xenophobia or elitism, just being singularly devoted to the Empire and forwarding its supremacy across the galaxy. While Solis does have some slight disapproval of Blackwood's leadership, this is not of any moral quandries and Solis is overall indifferent to the Blackwood fleet's crimes, hinting at a lack of ethics or some support for human supremacy. Solis is a competent and effecient leader and an absolute terror on the battlefield, basically Darth Vader at Yavin but a normal woman.
The scene opens up on a dogfight of a X-wings and TIE fighters in an asteroid field. We see our protagonist Ryoo blazing through the asteroid course effortlessly destroying many TIEs but at the same time her squad is under heavy fire and stress. Ryo gets into an intense dogfight with a TIE Advance. While she does manage to destroy the Advance, her victory is short lived as Ryoo finds herself the last of her squad while a new wing of TIEs come in, destroying her.
The scene then reveals Ryoo climbing out of a cockpit, exiting what looks to be a simulation. Some of her squadmates congratulate Ryoo for getting a new squad record while others are glum or disapproving. Ryoo gloats about her high kills only to be reprimanded sternly by Garrus who reveals the scores for the simulation and how Ryoo got last. Ryoo is flabbergastd at how she got last and questions why she did the worst when she got the most kills when Garrus reveals that the intention of the simulation was not a war of attrition, but to have the X-wings achieve space superiority for their allies to come in and handle the fleet proper, but most importantly make sure everyone came home alive. When Ryoo went rogue, everyone followed and because of that unit cohesion fell and they died alone instead of standing united. Ryoo appears struck by the realization and crestfallen, but before she can reflect a mechanic comes and alerts the squadrons that Admiral Syndulla is calling the pilots for a briefing in the ready room.
The other pilots move out and Ryoo hangs glumly, feeling she failed her squad. Garrus despite his lashing gives her words of encouragement, telling her she has the best skills of Chaos Squadron and has chance to fly high in the Rebellion, and advises that there's no sense in trying to destroy the entirety of the Empire in one go because there's always going to be more TIEs and more battles, so it's best to make sure that they live another day. After all, the Rebellion tried to kill the Empire in one go at Domino, and look at where they are now. Ryoo questions how they can ever defeat the Empire if they don't try to do the most damage in a battle, Garrus says they must fight one battle at a time and that they must remember what separates them from the Empire, the bonds they share and the cause of what comes after the war.
The two then join the rest of the pilots with Hera Syndulla coming in to brief the various squadrons. Before we get a minute or two of the pilots mixing, with Ryoo talking to Kaz and some of the other pilots to show the scale of the Rebellion and give some humanity to the grunts. Hera gives some exposition about how the Rebellion has been facing hard times since Operation Domino and how each day has nearly been their last. But now with Dac joining the rebellion with its famed Mon Calamari starships and the Rebels finally developing their own starfighters with the Alphabet program, their ready to take the fight to the Empire.
Hera reveals Operation Manumission, where Battlegroup Phoenix shall jump to the Koral system to face off the fleet of one Rear Admiral Vikus Blackwood, also known as Forest Squadron. The aliens present tense and seethe at the name though Ryo and most humans are oblivious. Hera reveals how Rebel Intellegence has been constantly harassing and sabotaging Forest Squadron, and after the flagship of Blackwood, the Augerer had severe damage to its engines that it was stopped for repairs at the Koral System at a space station nestled in the many moons of Koral VI. Hera reveals this was intentional as the space station is poorly placed within a massive gravity well generated by Koral VI and the moons, making it impossible to for the Imperial fleet to make an easy escape to hyperspace. Garrus wisely points out that it means the Rebels can't escape easily either, but Hera says that they won't need to escape, they'll just need to focus on getting in.
Thanks to aid from smugglers, the Rebels have a near perfect map of the system's hyperspace points including the many small blind spots in the gravity well. While the fleet proper can't jump in, the new Rebel starfighters that the Empire is mostly unaware of can pop right in. Once Hera and the battlegroup jump to the edge of the well, Blackwood will launch his fighters which will leave his fleet exposed for the starfighters to pop in and bomb. The Battlegroup will go on the attack, and they'll wipe out the fleet and then jump out. Ryoo questions what's so special about Blackwood in particular, to which Kaz answers that the Forest Squadron are infamous for being one of the premier slaver squadrons in the Outer Rim. When a world rebels, they get called in to glass the resistance and then enslave the survivors, mainly for worlds with no humans and lucrative slaves. Hera also informs that in addition to putting a dent on the slave trade, that after Domino the galaxy is desperate for hope, and that while hit and run tactics are good, that they need to triumph over the Empire in a conventional battle, to inspire more worlds to rebel and show the Empire has not won the war yet. Everyone is dismissed and Ryoo asks Hera before she leaves which is more important, destroying the fleet in a military triumph or stopping the expansion of slavery. Hera asks her which is more important, leaving Ryoo to stew.
The scene then shifts to the Rebel pilots playing a game of Sabbac, drinking and having a merry time before the battle comes. Here we open comedically with Ryoo showing that while she's a great pilot, she's absolutely abysmal at Sabbac, losing many credits to a happy and sly Kaz. We get some more character exploration and bantering before the conversation turns somber and everyone starts talking about why they joined the Rebellion. Some were direct victims of the Empire, some joined because it was right, some knew people hurt by the Empire, some witnessed evil, some were opportunistic.
The talk then goes to Ryoo who at first tries to dodge it, but at heavy prodding from her squadmates who are curious about why Ryoo is so aggressive and spiteful of the Empire. Ryoo reveals that she's from Naboo, the Emperor's homeworld, and that her family's nobility. This causes a near 180 from friendliness to hostility from most of the people present, before an interrupting Garrus comes in and asks who else among the squad has been most devoted to the cause and has risked their neck time and time again in battle. Everyone stays silent, and Garrus sits down, giving Ryoo a beer who nods quietly in thanks before explaining her story.
She describes her childhood on Naboo, how once the planet used to be peaceful and serene, a cultured world where everyone was happy and had no wants. But then the Clone Wars came and Naboo suffered repeatedly, and in a great time of crisis rose Palpatine who promised answers and safety with all the right solutions, and in a time of fear everyone fell in line. Kaz asks what about Senator Amidala, Ryoo's face darkens and says that while Senator Amidala fought the good fight and tried to stop the rise of the Empire, when Palpatine became Emperor there was nothing she could do, and when she was gone the Empire lost their last voice of reason and sense and everyone fell lock step in with Palpatine.
Ryoo's family was allied to Senator Amidala, but when she was gone they fell in to Palpatine out of fear and confusion. When Ryoo was little, she welcomed the Empire because Palpatine was one of them and her life still continued to be good. But overtime Naboo lost its colors and joy and became a bitter and scary world. As a teenager she became angry and frustrated at how bleak things were and decided to spray anti-Imperial graffiti. It was a lone wolf and amateur act and she was caught. But instead of being punished, she went home with a slap on the wrist because of her position, and her best friend who was nonhuman simply disappeared, for a crime she didn't commit and was unaware of, taking the fall for being a bad influence. Instead of taking action, her family tried to pretend it never happened, and her sister even joined politics. Feeling responsible and frustrated with her homeworld which folded, Ryoo ran away and became a pilot, eventually winding up with the Rebels.
The game continues on in a slightly somber note with everyone being resolved for the mission tomorrow. Ryoo in a tipsy state travels back to her quarters with Kaz escorting her, offering her some of the money she lost back as a gesture of kindness. Kaz asks if the reason she keeps on flying like a lone wolf is because of the guilt of her friend disappearing, of her family and from being the same world as Palpatine. Ryoo doesn't respond, but her body language says yes. Kaz says she's not at fault and instead of trying to carry the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders, she should let her fellow pilots carry some of the load, after all, they are all in this together. Ryoo returns to her room and thinks about everyone she's fighting with and who she should be as a pilot.
The scene then cuts to Forest Squadron, with the revelation that they are nearing prepares in contrast to what Rebel Intellegence claimed their state was. We get an introduction to Admiral Blackwood, fawning over his prized collection of "Exotic" treasures (Alien possessions) when he is interrupted by a transmission from Darth Vader. Vader informs that the Emperor has grown displeased with the explosion of resistance on Kashyyk and that after years of tolerating their defiance that they must be made an example of. After repaires are done, Blackwood is to head to Kashyyk to slash and burn its forest and take as many of the surviving Wookies as he can to be used in the Empire's next generation of superweapons, hinting that the Death Star could be the first of many. Blackwood gleefully accepts the order and then after meets with Commander Solis who is engaging in hand to hand sparring with several of her pilots and beating them. Blackwood says that they are to leave in 24 hours and until then to train and ready all of the Augerer's squadrons to go hunting and be deployed at a moment's notice, something that Solis happily complies with.
Battlegroup Phoenix jumps into the system on the edge of Koral VI with Phoenix discovering that the enemy is almost completely repaired and that most of their TIES are already deployed, with Solis instantly leading a charge on the Rebellion. With most of their starfighters still in hyperspace, some of the officers panick and request a withdrawal, but Hera confidently states that while conditions have changed the battle is still the same and that if they run no then no one will be left to stand for those who cant. Hera's example inspires the other ships to stand firm, and thus the battle begins.
Solis leads the TIE squadrons to strafe the Rebels, only encountering a couple of squadrons of A-wings for resistance that harass her squadron but do minimal in stopping them from beginning their attack. Hera decides to deploy the Mon Calamari cruisers in the front, diverting all power to shields and having them act as obvious bait so the Empire can concentrate on them and thus the whole fleet can survive until the Starfighters show up. Blackwood takes the bait and orders a full pursuit with all ships concentrating their fire on the Star Cruisers. Solis ignores the order and has her TIES spread out and diversify their fire, taking out a few Nebulon-B Escort frigates.
While things look bleak for the Rebels, the X-Wings and Y-Wings and B-Wings finally arrive and begin their attack runs, although since the Empire is repaired and moved out of their position, they have time to defend and thus the fleet can't be destroyed in one go as hoped. Kaz suggests the bombers concentrate all of their fire on a single Star Destroyer to level the odds. The bombers do so and one of the Star Destroyers is completely destroyed while the Rebel starfighters take very light casualties and manage to heavily damage a few Victories and Dreadnaughts. Estatic, Ryoo and some of the other X-wings prepare for a run at the Augerer, but Garrus belays that and orders the X-wings and some of the Y-Wings to go and secure the airspace around the Rebel fleet. Chaos Squadron protests, saying if they repeat the bombing runs a few more times they can kill all the Star Destroyers, but Ryoo notices that the Rebel fleet is taking a heavy beating without Starfighter protection and that while they could kill all the Star Destroyers, there wouldn't be a Rebel fleet left to celebrate it with. Ryoo pushes for the squad to follow Garrus' lead, with the other members of Chaos surprised that Ryoo is acting so cautious, agree with her, Garrus smiles as his point was reached and Ryoo is starting to improve by seeing the bigger picture.
The Starfighters disengage and rush to defend their friends, some taking small hyperspace jumps to immediately come to their aid. The X-wings with superior weapons and shields are able to even the fight and give their ships a much needed breather, but Solis' leadership and the skill of the TIEs prevent any descisive engagement from being had. Ryoo and Solis engage each other in a tense dogfight, but neither is able to get a strong kill over the other.
The battle then goes on for a period in a stalemate with the Empire's overwhelming firepower and numbers being met with the creativity and teamwork of the Rebels. Both sides take losses with the Rebels losing an Star Cruiser while the Empire loses more Victorys. Frustrated at the Rebels being "Cowards" and refusing to engage him in close combat, Blackwood resolves to go on the offensive and take the fight to them, but the poor speed of his Star Destroyers means he cannot control the battlefield as he likes. Resolving to go forth to the enemy, Blackwood moves his fleet as one around an oceanic moon of Koral VI, hoping that he can use the gravitational pull of the moon to slingshot the fleet to Phoenix's lines at maximum velocity before they can disengage, thus bringing the fight to the enemy and winning. He orders Solis and the Dreadnaughts to keep the fleet busy while his Star Destroyers make the slingshot manuver.
Hera notices the tactic and smirks as Blackwood gave her a killshot. She quickly devises a plan and sends it to the fleet. Instead of destroying the Dreadnaughts as Blackwood would hope, Hera is going to go on the offensive and attack the Star Destroyers. The Star Cruiser and Escort Frigates will move forward in a straight line on a course to the Star Destroyers, going through the Dreadnaughts in a pincer and forcing Blackwood to commmit to the slingshot by the hope that he'll be able to destroy the Rebels quicker. Meanwhile, the Bombers and Carracks will go on a curved pincer to strike at the rear of the Star Destroyers, and will unleash everything they have on the engines, causing them to fail and drift, and then be caught by the moon's gravity and plunge into the moon as their momentum will push them onto the surface, killing them.
Battlegroup Phoenix then splits, with the X-Wings trying to do their best to keep the TIE fighters at bay so the Nebulons can move forward, with Ryoo getting in an intense and aggresive dogfight with Solis. After some time, Garrus X-wing is destroyed but he is able to eject his cockpit. He then transfers command to Ryoo, trusting her to lead Chaos and the other squadrons to victory. Ryoo is almost able to get a kill on Solis, but when she hears the cry of a teammate asking for help, she breaks off and saves her squadmates life, though at the same time preserving Solis though her TIE Advanced is heavily damaged and she limps away from battle.
Ryoo orders the X-wings to focus on disabling the turbolasers of the Dreadnaughts so that the Nebulons can continue forward and act as bait. They are able to do so and while Blackwood is able to get within firing range and start to pummel Phoenix, he is caught with multiple strikes on the rear by the Bombers and Carracks, forcing his fleet between a rock and a hard place and causing multiple ships to lose power and be pulled into the moon, including Blackwood who plummets to his death with the bridge collapsing and being filled with water. The Rebels are able to destroy most of the Star Destroyers via this method, but before they can celebrate, Imperial reinforcements arrive, preventing a total victory. Hera orders a tactical withdrawal, congratulating the Battlegroup on accomplishing the mission and that no more worlds may have to fear Forest Squadron. Ryoo helps shepherd the ships into one formation to escape the gravity well and escort the damaged fighters to the Star Cruiser, and then Battlegroup Phoenix escapes.
While initially jubilant, Ryoo's mood darkens as she notices how many less starfighters and ships arrived in the new system, though Garrus tells her that they got a victory and such is the price of war, but next time they'll have learned and make sure even more people make it out. While Ryoo didn't get anywhere near the most kills, she is content with her part of the battle and helps join in the celebrations, with Kaz being lauded by the pilots for getting two Imperial Star Destroyer kills as part of the bombing runs. Later on, Ryoo is called into Hera's office, who commends her role in the battle and promotes her to Lieutenant Commander and second in command of Chaos Squadron, promising that she has a bright future within the Alliance. Hera also informs Ryoo that she has some family who would like to congratulate her on the victory. Ryoo is confused, until Hera shares a holotransmission of her sister Senator Pooja Naberrie. Ryoo is shocked as she thought Pooja was a conformist and Imperial, but Pooja reveals she's actually been working as a secret agent of the Rebellion alongside Princess Leia, helping the Rebellion in areas outside the battlefield and that it was Ryoo's defiance that inspired her to become a Rebel. The two sisters connect, with the episode ending with Hera receiving an emergency transmission detailing how the Tantive IV was seized by Darth Vader and Princess Leia and the Death Star plans are lost.
Rebels
2 MC 80 Star Cruisers
8 Carrack-class light cruisers
14 EF-76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigates
Empire
3 Imperial-I Star Destroyers
9 Victory-I Star Destroyers
15 Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruisers
Casualties
Rebellion
1 MC-80 Star Cruiser Destroyed
6 Carrack-class light cruisers
5 Nebulon-B Escort Frigates
Medium Starfighter casualties
Empire
2 Imperial-I Star Destroyers
8 Victory-I Star Destroyers
4 Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruisders
Heavy Starfighter casualties
Strong pitch Kaiser, I can deffo see this being a TV movie or something released in between the first and second movie to help tide people over. It definitely widens the scope of the war and lets Lucasart's stretch its legs a little more before the final massive space battle in the third movie.
However I'd like to make a suggestion.
If we do Overmind Star Wars anthology miniseries also between the First and second movie (which I definitely feel we should) could Hera perhaps be connected to this Twi'Lek from said pitch?
Cho Syerel is a Corellian Pilot, the best of all, and in service to the Corellian Air Forces. He is a simple man with simple tastes, living a good life; he has his family, he has a fiancée, and if sometimes he sees someone being taken by the Intelligence Service of the Empire he just scoffs and thinks they're more rabble rousers. This is all flipped on its head when he runs into an escaped when he accidentally runs into a Rebel Twi'Lek who's running for its life. The Twi'Lek at first threatens him into remaining quiet, then once the danger has passed subtly threatens him with being arrested along with her if he tells anyone. They both have to co-exist together until she can find a way out of the planet, growing closer as she broadens his mind about what's going out in the wider universe and what everyone is suffering. The ending has him questioning everything he's lived under as he debates joining the rebellion.
We could have Cho cameo as a friend of Ryoo too, basically have him be a bit like Biggs. Show the interconnected nature of the universe without shoving it in peoples faces.
The only thing that bothers me is that this battle should be after Yavin when the fleets are reforming after the victory over the Death Star.
Though that's just me.
Here are the rewards:
[]Star Wars will bring the Blockbusters to new heights (Add a bonus of +10 to the Culture Roll)
[]Wait, ILM did what? (In future Star Wars movies, ILM will gain a +20 to their rolls for battles)
[]George and Marcia have another talk (unknown effect)
