RocketBoy

*Your entry has earned 7 XP* "Better poor on Aargau than rich anywhere else." Nothing more than a slogan to entice visitors. There was more money on Aargau than almost anywhere in the galaxy, and it did not make it into the hands of the poor. The fall of the Empire freed many planets from tyranny, but the civilized worlds suffered the most. Instability leads to fear, fear leads to hoarding, hoarding leads to desperation, and then there is violence, on both sides. Any hint of unrest in the undercity, and the armed guards of the city elite pulled people from their homes. Anything to quell the rumors, to stabilize the markets. The weakest in the undercity began to disappear, and their value to the planet at large dwindled into nothing. You were safer on Aargau walking around in Stormtrooper armor than hand-me-downs. The local remnant capitalized on this. Late night visits to the houses still populated, brute squads culling the lower class for conscripts. Nobody would miss them. I felt the same about the stormtroopers themselves. I have become known by the denizens of the undercity as the Shagha, Aargauese for "vengeful spirit". At the very least, they understood what I was doing. I move quickly and quietly, my years killing for Black Sun finally benefitting someone besides the Princes. A slain trooper here, a headless guard there, and a legend begins to grow. I pray it gives the people hope. I cannot truly better their lot, but I can protect them until the wind changes, I can keep them in their homes and away from the brutality of war. There is irony in my bringing brutality to their streets, instead. Only when it is useful. I know little of morality and even less of good. My methods are not perfect; I am a kind of monster. I have long known this. But there are times in the past where it has been more true, and faced with the current situation, I cannot stand by. This is all I know to do. Perhaps I can yet earn some measure of peace. - The "Shagha" PHOTOS Thanks for looking!

This is so dang cool.

Well, I'm honored you've got a favorite character! Thank you! The next one is supposed to be the penultimate chapter, where Nathan and Ozz will have to confront Syfot and the Vu'othh on Korriban. So not long! I have half of it written thus far. The build was photographed months ago, haha.

Yeah, this is super solid! Great minifig designs too.

*Your entry has earned 5 XP* Previous entries in Across the Stars: I - Targonn - Severance Pay II - Targonn - Murder! III - Targonn - Diner Tables and Missed Connections IV - Garel - The Manifest V - Yavin IV - The Temple Job VI - Mustafar - Submission and Death VII - Ossus - The Planet of Ghosts VIII - Dagobah - The Magic Tree IX - Mustafar - The House in the Ash Forest Next Entry: XI - Korriban - The Tomb World STORY On board the ILC Rigorous, Cell Block 3 Eefo stared at the durasteel wall, her vision dim. She sat on her knees, her dirt-stained Searcher robes a constant reminder of Ossus. The deaths of her mentor and her comrades rang in her mind, killed by Imperial weapons as they sat defeated in the alloy dust. Eefo had been an Imperial spy herself, months ago. She couldn't get this fact out of her head, try as she might. Her past had no effect on what had happened: it hadn't been her fault they had come, and there was nothing she could have done to save Abay and the others. But the constant ache in her gut didn't care. They had kept her drugged since she’d been dragged on board. Truth-serum, administered by a floating black ball of a droid that stuck her in the arm with a needle. Lt. Syfot--a vicious creature, turned mad by the jungle before being given back his uniform--had barked questions at her about Balaam's Heart, but she had no answers: Balaam's writings were safely away with Nathan and Ozz. She knew nothing of their plans or where they were going, and as soon as Syfot realized this she had been left alone. It had now been days since she had seen anyone. Nothing but gray walls at which to stare. The door behind her slid open. A stormtrooper stepped inside. “Get up. Come on,” it demanded. She was groggy from the serums and Syfot's beatings. Another trooper entered, and the two had to drag her to her feet and carry her out into the halls. They left her in a different gray-walled room, but this one had a window that looked out onto the blackness of space. It was at least something new. Eefo sat and contemplated its vastness through the fog in her mind. She felt a dim sense of gratitude to finally see something unmanufactured again. Billions of twinkling stars burning a billion miles away. Life-sustaining, life-ending. When Abay was in his prime, before Ossus drove him mad and Syfot shot him minutes after they got him back, he had a lot to say about stars. He had always had a lot to say about everything. She already missed him. After an unknown period of time, the door slid open again. A single person walked inside and the door closed behind them. Eefo didn’t bother turning to look. “Hey, you're Eefo, right?” a woman said. “My name is Mayla.” Eefo’s words came out bitter and slurred. “Perfection. Are you here to…court martial me for desertion? Pah…the Empire is in shambles. You’re all a—a farce.” A bout of coughing interrupted her tirade. Mayla stepped towards her slowly. Her voice was gentle, her tone careful. “No, Eefo. I’m--” she stopped, looked around warily, and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I’m like you. A spy who's had enough of the Empire. I’m here to get you out.” Finally, Eefo felt her senses return. She turned to look at the girl, eyes wide, but was shushed before she could exclaim. The young woman called Mayla looked serious. Afraid, but confident. Sturdy. Trustworthy. She spoke quickly and quietly. “It’s going to be deadly for us both if you don’t listen to exactly what I say, and follow it to the letter. You understand?” Eefo did. She squinted at the small woman. “Why should I trust you?” “You met Nathan, didn’t you?” “The boy?" scoffed the Rodian. "How do you know the boy?” “Well, that's a long story," she said, suddenly looking self-conscious. "I think I’m why he was on Ossus in the first place. I tried to help him. Well, I tried to make it easier for him to help me.” She shook her head, cutting herself short. “This isn’t important right now. Some things are happening. It’s only a matter of time before Syfot or his ghoul decide I’m a loose end. Those stormtroopers could turn on me any second, so it’s time for me to fly the coop. I thought you would want to join me.” “You were correct,” said Eefo, watching the girl with a new curiosity. She rose to her feet, helped by Mayla as she stumbled, but her head began to clear as she once again felt a sense of purpose. The two former Imperial spies collected themselves, gathering their strength for what they were about to do. Eefo wished she had a weapon, but if it came to it, she knew something of hand-to-hand combat. Van Konn had taught her. Van Konn was dead. She banished the thought. “I will follow you," she said firmly. "What must we do, girl?” “We—“ Mayla was cut off by the swishing of the door. Two troopers emerged, their carbines cradled and ready to shoot. “Stop right there!” one commanded. “You’re subject for execution, for treason against the Empire!” Mayla grimaced. “I did say ‘any second.’” With practiced quickness, she slipped her hold-out blaster from its spot on her thigh and fired twice. The room flashed with red light, the troopers dropped heavily and clattered to the floor. Mayla cried out; she had been hit. She grabbed her arm where the blaster burn smoked. “Your arm!” Eefo scowled. “I’ll be okay,” Mayla insisted through grit teeth. “I’m getting you out of here, don’t worry.” Despite her obvious shock, Eefo scrambled for one of the troopers’ weapons. She turned back to her co-escapee. “Where must we go?” Mayla, hand shaking, pointed with the muzzle of her blaster. “To the hangar, that way.” She looked out into the corridor; a technician was racing down the hall. In moments, the alarm would blare throughout the Rigorous, and a swarm of stormtroopers would come for them. “I know the way,” Eefo told her. “I'll go first, watch behind us. Come on!” ________________________________________________ This is a sort of interlude, but the next full part is coming. (Edit: Next Entry: XI - Korriban - The Tomb World) Thanks for looking!

*Your entry has earned 7 XP* PHOTOS Thanks for looking!

Yeah! In general I post links of my builds from other hosting sites instead of uploading them to Eurobricks directly (because yeah, Eurobricks has really weird requirements). It just works the best, I find! I use Bricksafe, but you could use Flickr or anything else.

Posting in the Faction general thread and the choice faction thread is not a hard-and-fast requirement (at least, no one has been held to it in some time)! He should be all good if he's spoken with Bjorn. Great first entry, Shockwave. The lights above the door are very fun.

I'm almost stunned by how much like a Gubi build this feels. Maybe it's something about the color toning? I don't know, but whatever it is, it's very appropriate. Great build, great effect, the flags are very imposing and it all feels very tactile and Imperial in that "1970s film" way, which is always a good thing.

Fantastic shot! The atmosphere is exceptional, and the build gets it all the way there. I'd love to see a behind-the-scenes shot of the whole build, if any exist!

*Your entry has earned 7 XP* STORY MORE PHOTOS Thanks for looking!

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Love the colors and shaping, super duper Republic. Looks like the republic bomber from Galactic Battlegrounds.

Love the context and scene setting, and genius NPU. I love the feeling of all those boxes. Even his HAIR is yellow!!

*Your entry has earned 5 XP* On Yavin IV, a father teaches his son how to track an incoming starship. Build Photos Thanks for looking!

Great building design. I have no idea why I saw this and immediately thought of the Spongebob theme song.

Super creative idea, and really well executed! I love the gothic silhouette, with the poles adding that spot of SW flair. What is "Star Wars" can be a pretty open concept if you look at everything that's been included in the franchise. I think this is a lovely, original, great take. Reminds me of Dathomir and the old concept paintings for the Emperor's palace.

Love the colors on the building and the way they're put together, love how the bush in the back is composed. The small details on every part of this are really, really great. Good job, yet again!

Thank you for all the compliments! I'm very honored. Yeah, that speeder bike looks ready to fly straight off the lot, doesn't it?

Really fantastic work, I love how simple and striking the design is, those doors especially look fantastic. Very Spirited Away. I see what Bjorn is saying with the sides, and the rockwork on the back right uses a lot of the same parts near each other, which looks a little repetitive, but its hardly the focal point of the build. In Bjorn's defense, we all want to help each other grow as builders, right? It's not a matter of teams or judging more harshly, at least I hope. Great work all around.

*Your entry has earned 8 XP* ___________________________ More Photos Thanks for looking!

Super cool idea! Love the HUD.

Absolutely love what you're doing with all the lighting. Super fun colors too.

Love those comparisons so much. Yeah, finally a use for the yellow Naboo guard!

*Your entry has earned 6 XP* Angel Wings Colony Ship Lantillian ShipWrights LX-1 Bulk Transport Starliner Flying on behalf of the Hygga Guild, Angel Wings travels between the Outer Rim and the Core Worlds carrying thousands of passengers and tons upon tons of cargo. These huge ships, like great whales, overshadow anything else at the orbital port. Captain Donu Scail is a veteran of the industry who has made this passage hundreds of times. Decisive and orderly, she'll get her passengers safely where they need to go. MORE PHOTOS Thanks for looking!