LucasLaughing

That's awesome - I wish I still had a 64. Also, welcome to the world of MOCs - can't wait to see how it turns out!

Yes! It's been many years, but I loved that game back in the day.

First of all I want to thank the mods and volunteers who have been running this contest. After a year or so of lurking, I finally joined EB so that I could participate in SoNE and it's been a lot of fun so far! Although I've also been checking the index thread daily to see if my stats are updated, I understand that the people running SoNE have real lives, and are doing this for free in their spare time. I personally prefer building OT vs CW, just because I grew up watching the OT, but I suspect this will vary widely from builder to builder. I think LegoFjotten has a good idea re: having the setting change after a certain number of episodes, but I'd probably want the number of episodes in each "arc" to be higher, maybe 5-8, so that we could have more time to develop our characters. Also regarding character development, I think it might be cool to tweak the XP system so that there are ranks in addition to different branches of service. Maybe at certain levels characters could advance to "Corporal," "Sergeant," etc, and have some benefit for each rank. I understand this would be more work to set-up, and it's something I'd be willing to help flesh out a bit if people are interested. Overall, I'm really enjoying SoNE and totally understand that there are always some "bugs" to be worked out the first few times something is tried. Thanks again to the mods and volunteers for all the work they do!

The age-old battle continues!

Cool! I like the minifig heads you chose; they look appropriately shell-shocked...

That is a beautiful ship - great work! Have you considered building for the Empire in the "Shadows of Nar Eurbrickka" contests?

Thanks! She's 25 studs, not counting the blue engine bits. I uploaded a few more pics on my flickr stream: http://www.flickr.co...otos/dr--gonzo/ I'd love to see some pics of yours as well!

Very cool idea! It reminds me of that scene in the original Alien movie where they find the big skeleton in the alien ship.

Thanks for all the encouragement - this build took quite a while so I'm glad you guys liked it! I messed around with many different camera settings and lighting set-ups before I ended up with the final shot of the planet in the window - I think that's also my favorite part of the build. I thought about separating these into individual scenes / entries, but my week ended up crazier that expected and I was barely able to finish my official entry before the deadline. Ah well, next time

Thanks for all the comments and kind words! It was a lot of fun coming up with the story and I'm glad people enjoyed it! I was originally planning to have a (slightly) happier ending, but I finished watching the 3rd season of "Game of Thrones" as I was finishing this build, and it put me in a darker mood Of course, now I'll have to come up with some free builds to show that my character is not an unfeeling killer ... at least, not all of the time.

Sand in your armor is the worst! I like the sleek shape of your speeder; also glad that we imperials got a few last minute reinforcements last night!

Note - this is part 3; please read parts 1 & 2 first. 1. FUBAR 2. A Long Time Ago... The Thin White Line Marla and I talked most of the way back to camp and at first it was just like old times. Then she told me she’d defected to the rebellion after Alderaan, and asked me why I hadn't. We didn't talk as much after that. We found out the rebels had been lucky – the transport they’d taken to the surface had survived the storm mostly intact. Their pilot was less fortunate; a badly broken arm left him unable to fly. They’d followed the beacon to our downed TIE fighter hoping one of our pilots would fly their ship in exchange for a ride out of the desert, but they'd been unable to resuscitate our pilot. That’s when Ben spoke up and surprised us all by announcing that he could fly a ship. In fact, he’d originally enlisted in Starfighter Command, but he’d been washed out after he failed the eye exam. Still, he assured us he’d be able to shuttle us safely to Mos Eisley. It was starting to get dark, so we decided we’d leave at sunsrise. The take-off was a bit bumpy, but it smoothed out once we were in the air. What I'd tried to explain to Marla is this: I learned about the destruction of Alderaan on the same day I learned every single one of my friends had died on the Death Star. Yes, Alderaan was a war crime, but it was Tarkin's madness. It doesn't mean the whole Empire is beyond saving. People try to define this war in terms of good and evil, light and dark, but that’s not what this is about. This is a war between order and chaos, between law and anarchy. I’ve lived on the outer rim, I’ve seen anarchy. I’ve seen pirates and slavers kidnap families; seen them kill the men and sell the women and children. We’re the thin white line standing between order and chaos. The Empire brings law and justice to a million worlds. That’s why we can’t let anything keep us from our duty. Not seas of sand. Not fear of death. Not even old lovers. I'd wept for Marla three years ago, when I thought she'd perished on the Death Star. Today, there were no tears. ----------------------------------------------------------- The whole scene: Extra parts used: Stormtrooper with blaster (5 parts) Wookie (3) Female head, hair and torso (3) Orange Legs (1) Small blaster (1) Extra baseplate (1) Tent (1) Black flex hose on ship (1) 8x8 tan wedge plate (3) 8x16 tan plate (1) Total = 20

I saw that too! It appears the LEGO police department is getting more draconian ... it will fit well with the upcoming "Super Secret Police" (from the movie).

Note: this is part 2 of the story - please read part 1 first: FUBAR A Long Time Ago... 2 years BBY: After graduating from the academy, I served my first two tours of duty on the Vigilant. We patrolled the Outer Rim, protecting the hyperspace lanes from pirates and stopping smugglers. Marla joined our squad a few weeks after I did. We got along well - we both came from backwater planets and we shared the same twisted sense of humor. Our primary duty was to board suspicious ships, make sure the scanning crew didn't get lost on the way to the cargo hold, and watch their backs while they waved their electronic wands and popped crates. Nice work, fellas. On the job we were cold professionals clad in gleaming white armor. Back on the ship, well... We were just kids, really. Most of us had volunteered (or been conscripted) at 17 or 18; for many of the troopers, the Vigilant was their first time off-planet. The last time I saw Marla, we were preparing to board separate shuttles to head to our respective home planets. Our entire platoon was being transferred to the new battle station, and we'd been given 5 days leave between assignments. The last day of leave, I boarded a transport to the troop staging point on [redacted] That afternoon, our hyperdrive failed and we reverted to realspace in an unoccupied and remote part of the expansion region. We spent 3 days floating in space while they fixed the drive. When I finally reached [redacted], I learned that both Alderaan and the "Death Star" had been destroyed. My entire platoon, everyone I'd known and worked with for the past 2 years, had boarded the battle station 2 days prior to it's destruction. I assumed Marla had died with them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Behind the scenes: I know this is a very unorthodox build, but I had a lot of back-story I wanted to fit into one free build. I am not asking for this build to be judged. I used the awesome instructions by Primus as the starting point for my frigate, although I think I made some very nice modifications. The star background in the first picture is from NASA.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions! I'll be uploading part 2 of the story shortly...

Nice catch! It also looks like the auto-transport truck uses the regular grey ladders as the supports for the cars (seen in the video people have been linking to).

I've been on missions that have gone wrong before, but never one that went this wrong, this fast. We barely had boots on the ground when we received word that a rebel transport and several fighters were headed our way. Our TIE escorts notified us that they were headed to intercept. Minutes later the wind picked up, the skies darkened, and as we ran for the cover of a nearby canyon we were swallowed by the sandstorm. Our armor protected us from the worst of it, and after about 20 minutes the storm ended as quickly as it had begun. We couldn't raise anyone on our radios but we did pick up the emergency beacon from one of our TIE escorts. We headed that way. We were hoping to find the fighter intact, perhaps only stuck in the sand, but as we neared the location of the beacon the amount of debris on the ground suggested we were setting our hopes too high. Still, we were getting close. It's hard to tell which group was more surprised. I noticed three things immediately: 1. Although we out-gunned them, they had a wookie. 2. Despite being rebel scum, the soldier was attempting to perform first aid on our downed pilot. 3. The woman pointing a blaster at my head was named Marla. We'd served together for two years on the Imperial frigate ​Vigilant. I thought she was dead. I lowered my blaster and motioned for the rest of the squad to do the same. If we wanted to get out of this desert alive, we stood a better chance if we worked together. I didn't feel like dying on Tatooine. A little back story for my Ep II entry. I'd like this free-build to be judged as well.

You win for best rant so far. And I agree, it's hard to beat the classic ambulance. I was hoping they'd bring back the evacuation team with the forest fire sets but, alas, the company has lost its way ...

The reason I haven't picked up the Horizon Express is because I can't afford $260 to buy a pair of them, and just one set would look weird/incomplete to me. I really liked the Maersk and Emerald Night, even though they were short, because they didn't look like they were missing the back half of the train.

If anyone needs some inspiration for their builds, this awesome fan film shows some of our brothers and sisters-in-arms doing their duty at Davenport Gateway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34m69i6WIhM. Mild bad language warning.

Yes, my Lord.

I would never, of course, try to guess Lord Vader's motives but from the rumors I've heard he only executes incompetent officers, or those who were grossly negligent in their duty. Although I regret that we were unable to capture the Baron Administrator or the Millennium Falcon, there are nearly 5.5 million beings on Cloud City, spread out over 392 levels, so the odds were against us from the start. Please note I am not trying to make excuses for our failure, merely pointing out that this was not an easy mission and I'm not sure what the General or Captain could have done differently. I know that I will redouble my efforts for our next mission to make sure we don't fail again...

This is fantastic! I really like the sense of depth that you're able to convey - both with the shop interiors and with the ramp down to a lower level; it definitely gives it the crowded Coruscant feel.

Nice build - I agree, the engines on the swoop look very cool. As someone building for the Empire, however, I must point out that it appears the farmer was growing the illegal substance Banthazolate, making his detention perfectly justified

Cool build! I like the angled beams - I think the hallway has a definite Cloud City feel. The minifig posing is nice too, especially the stormtroopers. Also, I've always felt that yellow and fleshy minifigs could just represent different races / skin tones, so I don't mind it.