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Hello, this is my first proper thread so forgive me if it’s a little amateurish in layout. With that said i’d like to begin by saying i’ve been working on this project on and off for a few years to get my 75054 AT-AT walking, having tried out the mechanism for the official LEGO walking AT-AT i’ve found that it is not stable enough nor satisfying. Since then I have been through multiple iterations of trying to get each leg moving but with only one off the ground at a time. As you can see in the pic from DK’s StarWars Vehicles book the mechanism for connecting and moving the lower leg relative to the upper leg seems to be similarly joined enough that it can be replicated using a linkage but making those linkages move in the correct sequence is the difficult part. The ankle on an AT-AT keeps three legs at a time level in the ground as well as lifts one other leg by moving it up when it takes a step. I have only ever found one person who has managed this in a non LEGO model so it’s possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=34tgu7ULkeM&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo That was 15 years ago. Here are some of my attempts: These two images use two sets of half beams to raise, lower and flatten the beams holding the leg, allowing up down movement, connected to the lower half beams are some linkages to move the leg back and forth, the fault of this one is it was not smooth nor stable. front Back (blue and red beams provide strength) This mechanism uses clutch gears going in a forward direction to move the bars down, half beams make them move up and down in turn, this reduced vertical space taken up, the failure of this is lack of connection points and strength as well as clutch gears probably not being able to support the weight. This was the most promising one, strong too but was unfortunately not quite walking in the right motion, it was not fully stable either. From further study I have noticed that the legs only bend in one direction so i’ve placed a stopper on each one to mimic this, I imagine this will add to the challenge. But i’ve seen people on eurobricks work magic with technic so I figured I should ask here for some help to find a solution.
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A from the ground up build of the play scale Millennium Falcon pulling inspiration from 7965, 75105, Dario Del Frate and many other custom Falcon's online with interior. Including LDD File for your enjoyment. About a year ago I came across Dario Del Frate's beautiful mod of the 7965 Millennium Falcon and I immediately wanted to make my own. Unfortunately at the time he had not put up any instructions on how to build his and I am not the greatest at reverse engineering so I decided to start from scratch. Pulling from the original 7965, Dario's Falcon and various other custom falcons and sources/blue prints online to come up with what I have to show today, with a few little mods/design upgrades that pulled from the new 75105 Millennium Falcon for the Force Awakens. I also added both satellite dishes for your preference. So this is what I have currently, solely built inside LDD and unfortunately I don't have the cash at the moment to start ordering the pieces and building it. Also I'd love to see if it can be improved upon before I do decide to pull the trigger on building it so I give this to the world and all you great Lego designers in hopes that you would like to improve on it and/or build your own if you have the pieces to build it in real life and let me know how it holds up. Mostly I'm just happy to see what releasing it out into the wild brings back until I can build it myself. Linked (at the bottom) is the Moc Pages Site where you can see more images and download the LDD .lxf file that you can use however you wish.. mod it, fix it, change it, totally rebuild it. I would love to see what you do with it. Cheers all, enjoy! Happy New Year!! MOC PAGES LINK FOR MORE PICTURES AND LDD FILE: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/423507 IMGUR Album: http://imgur.com/gallery/25EPG Check out Dario's Falcon that sparked the beginning of this project here: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/390350
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Hello I recently bought the Rogue One imperial Battlepack - mainly for the Death Troopers - but was a bit disappointed with the generic non-canon walker that was included so I decided to see if I could re-use the parts to make something a bit more pleasing. That was the plan but in the end I went off-course and ended up using only a few of the parts from the battle pack - and plenty more from Bricklink. The result was this Microfighter scale AT-ST complete with driver borrowed for a larger set. Vital statistics are: 84 pieces, 6 studs wide, about 10 high - depending on how the legs are posed - and about 8 long. I'm fairly happy with how it turned out, it stands up OK and can be posed with the legs 'walking' though it's a little front heavy. The head is mounted on a mixels ball joint so it's got a little range of motion and the stud shooter cannons can be raised and lowered too. The legs and lower assembly are quite straightforward but the head section has a lot of SNOT going on with 6 brackets holding the thing together. It was definitely the hardest part to do. It's nearly all LBGrey and DBGrey but I got a bored of that and put some sand yellow bits in to break it up - tonally they are between the two greys so you can get a bit of subtlety in the shading but it may not be to everyone's taste, I may change them to regular grey. The driver also has a couple trans green plates in front to mimic the cockpit displays, just for another bit of colour. Scale-wise, it's a bit taller than most Microfighters but within the bounds and it doesn't look too out of place in the range - I don't have the AT-DP to compare it to but I do have AT-AT... Yes, I know it's all kinds of wrong but it sort of works.. That's all, comments welcome. I'll post the .LXF once I've brought it up to date with how the actual model turned out. cheers J
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Sualti Casino, Pantolomin Casino on the Sea Floor of the Oceanic Planet of Pantolomin.
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I've been working on this build since '7680 The Twilight' set came out in 2008. It started out as just modding the set to give it some interior, and slowly evolved with the continuous advances to LDD. Building this was the driving force behind designing my minifig scaled Delta-7, because I wanted to ensure that it would fit inside like in the show. I've gone through countless revisions to my design, even as far as starting from scratch at least 3 times. With every redesign came more research and I learned more and more about the design of this ship. I learned about a lot of things that never made it into the show. Things like that this ship actually has 3 levels to it, and that it uses an elevator to get between them. That they used 2 distinct 3D models of the ship and would switch between them during episodes, etc. It has been a long journey, but I'm finally happy enough with my design to share it. So into the details; Currently the ship sits at a total of 11,259pcs, measuring in at 102 studs (81.6cm) long by 132 studs (105.6cm) wide, by 37 studs (29.6cm) height (landed) or 84 studs (67.2cm) height (both outriggers extended). In other words, this thing is pretty big, still not as big as the Ghost, but it is the same length as the UCS Millenium Falcon. While I did find images and video of the majority of the interior I sacrificed a few of the unseen rooms in lieu of having more structure to hold the whole thing together. I did however keep all of the main areas, this includes the cockpit, cargo hold, connecting hallway and the boarding area. Comparing my build to the official Lego set. Here is a comparison between my Twilight, the UCS Millenium Falcon and my Ghost. As well as some comparisons with some of the official images that used to be on StarWars.com, I couldn't get the angles exactly right, but they're close enough to compare. And as a final note, I am currently in the process of building this monster, I have been slowly gathering pieces for the last few years, I have about 80% of the total pieces required, though I'm sure I'll have to make some modifications as I go. I will be posting updates as I go, but for now, here are my bins of parts, please forgive the unsorted disaster that they are currently in. -
UCS Kintan Strider Speeder Bike As featured in the Book of Boba Fett • by Corey Schaaf | BrickWars.net It's been fun putting this build together. I've worked with so many different people on executing this project. From working with a manufacturer for a custom case, to my signature Printed UCS Plaques, the unique serialized tiles that's different for every build, to the UCS Stickers from a company in the UK - to the final print production of my Limited Edition UCS Instruction manual — I can just about call this one complete. Pieces: 2,285 + 2 Minifigs Weight: 71.5 oz | 4.7lbs Width: 57.6 cm | 22.7 in Length: 25.6 cm | 10.1 in Height: 24.8 cm | 9.7 in Estimated Part Costs: $375-$450 My manual is built in the same way my original UCS instruction manual for the Resistance Troop Transport ship was designed but in a much smaller print run. Only 150 copies of my manual will be available. Email subscribers will be notified when the pre-sale starts, so if you're interested, I would encourage you to visit https://BrickWars.net/moc-bw3001 and signup via the email link at the bottom of the page. You can find all the details and specifications on my website for this build at https://brickwars.net/moc-bw3001. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! You can also give me a follow me on https://www.instagram.com/brickwarsnet/ as well. New Video of MOC Just added -
A small Diorama of the Battle of Scarif "Make 10 Men Feel Like 100" "Make 10 Men Feel Like 100." - Rogue One by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr
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Hey LEGO Star Wars Fans, in addition to this year's May the 4th GWP from LEGO (Death Star II Battle), which lines up with last year's GWPs (Battle of Hoth & Battle of Endor), I built a small scene with the same dimensions for Tatooine: (Unforunately I don't own any of the 20 years anniversary tiles from last year, so it had to stay black) I built a digital model afterwards, too and you can find the instructions here: http://brickstats.de/bauanleitungen I know I'm one day too late, but May the 4th be with you, always ;) Cheers, Aldar Beedo
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Hello there! I know everyone's just been hanging out for another landspeeder... right? Well here's mine! This is the first MOC I've designed in studio, made instructions, and then built for real. The process of creating instructions really helped refined the internals and greatly improved stability. More pics and instructions here Hope you like it!
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Hey guys,hope you like this new series! Constructive feedback is highly appreciated . - PART 1 -„Did you hear that! They‘ve shut down the main reactor. We‘ll be destroyed for shure. This is madness!“ STAR WARS: A New Hope This scene was taken in my own Tantive IV Diorama MOC / Tantive IV Main Corridor with Airlock Doorway MOC. - PART 2 -'Imperial Boarding Assault on the Tantive IV (1)' STAR WARS: A New Hope This scene was taken in my own Tantive IV Diorama MOC / Tantive IV Main Corridor with Airlock Doorway MOC.
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Hey guys! I'm new to the Euroricks Forum and wanted to share this MOC which I build a while ago as my debut here. I think the MOC is self-explaining, as you'll all know the iconic scene from Episode V. :) I also added some other rooms, too, not everything beside the main scene has to be taken too seriously ;) I'm sure, I'll be posting some more of my MOCs here in the future and I'm curious about all the other constructions and LEGO-related stuff I can find here. :) Cheers, Aldar Beedo
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This is my Republic Gunship MOC from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The build features opening cockpits, side and rear doors, and deployable speeder. Door design adapted from Caleb Ricks. More images on my Flickr.
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An At-ST Raider Moc inspired by the recent MOC's created by Lewis Kiwi and previously LDD Model Maker. This is my first Moc created through the Studio program, overall I enjoyed it although it doesn't compare to building with solid bricks. Any Feedback would be Appreciated. Here are two more renders of the model https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o4Z9pesWccasCvVjQHrvW2flYdxDUGDw/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iGkU4qVU8x-u8tRJGNj5tBkmtWDcHXa6/view?usp=sharing
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Hello everyone, Today I present my first build back on the forums in a long time, my first factions build, and my first starship MOC, so hopefully it turned out alright. I haven't had time to get some decent editing on the photos, but I think they will work for now. My build is an Incom Z-95 Headhunter. Set after The Return of the Jedi, I was going for a look similar to the change from T-65 to T-70 X-wing, more refined and new looking than the usual model of the ship. This Headhunter is piloted by the black sun in their escapades, and it is currently docked at a small outpost, manned by old, re-purposed, battled droids, on Tatooine. Untitled by ryan connor, on Flickr Untitled by ryan connor, on Flickr Untitled by ryan connor, on Flickr Untitled by ryan connor, on Flickr Here are some Pics of just the Headhunter: Untitled by ryan connor, on Flickr Untitled by ryan connor, on Flickr Untitled by ryan connor, on Flickr Thanks for viewing, C&C appreciated, It's good to be back -
This is my very own Death Star Detention Block AA-23 with Prisoner Cell Diorama MOC built of LEGO bricks: ! Minifig scale ! This SPECIAL EDITION Star Wars Diorama recreates one of the most iconic scenes in the Original Trilogy: the Rescue of Princess Leia inside the Detention Block AA-23 by Han, Luke and Chewie from Star Wars: A New Hope ... Death Star Detention Block AA-23 with Prisoner Cell features the iconic Security Foyer with 2x Turbolifts, Imperial Lights on the wall, a Command Center Duty Post where the Officer receives the prisoners, 2x Cargo Containers, a 57C Holocam and one fully closed hexagon-shaped Blast Door. The other Blast Door leads to the hexagon-shaped Prison Corridor section which features a removable grid to unveil the Garbage compressor shaft, as well as an easy removable Prisoner Cell Door with hidden mechanism, that leads to Princess Leia's Cell 2187 with the Interrogation Droid IT-0 inside. The Prisoner Cell 2187 features a bench, ceiling with lights, and surrounding wall details. The Prison Corridor is slightly more elevated than the Security Foyer and Prisoner Cell, and like in the movie, you access the Corridor and Cell by taking a few steps up or down. The 180 degree wide open diorama look allows you to take professional shots of scenes with your minifigures, reenact moments from Star Wars: A New Hope or Battlefront 1 / 2, or just display it on your shelf. Recreate Han's funny failed conversation, Luke's first collide with Leia, Leia's Interrogation by Vader, or the Escape through the Garbage compressor shaft! I took very much attention to the source material references for this SPECIAL EDITION Star Wars Diorama, which resulted in this highly detailed and accurate recreation of one of the most iconic scenes in Star Wars. --> Purchasable Instruction Manual and XML-Parts List available in my own shop: https://payhip.com/TheCreatorr You can follow me on flickr or take a look at more Star Wars MOCs of mine: https://www.flickr.com/photos/the-creatorr/ What do you guys think? Please note, that you can get the Instructions for this MOC in my own shop. And even if you only want to know how some building techniques works for this build, you can cleary use my Intructions for inspiration! As we all know, LEGO delivers a huge amount of freedom for building our most beloved scenes from SW. -
This is my very own Mini-Scale Death Star II Hangar Bay 272 Diorama MOC built of LEGO bricks: More in-depth and movie-accurate shots of the build: And yes, detailed step-by-step Building Instructions are available --> Instructions for the Hangar Bay As you can probably tell by now, I do really love designing in mini-scale, which means that my builds are sized to an official LEGO® nano-scale minifig. Moreover, I love the Imperial architecture and the Galactic Empire in general ... Before I originally had the idea to design some Star Wars ships in mini-scale (Imperial Shuttle, Millennium Falcon, X-Wing, Y-Wing, A-Wing, TIE Fighter, TIE Advanced and TIE Interceptor are already finished: https://www.flickr.com/photos/the-creatorr/), I already made a rough concept of the iconic Executive Hangar Bay 272 where Palpatine arrived in ROTJ. Such an iconic and menacing sequence in the movie! Now it's time to talk about some specs of this build: This giant display piece represents Emperor Palpatine‘s Arrival at the Death Star II from 1983‘s „Return of the Jedi“. As you can propably tell by looking at the model, it took me quite a while to design this build, especially recreating all those little details like the back wall texture. The black tiled front with my TCRR-logo makes for a more premium look. I'm very proud on the fact that the stripes of blue lights on the lower part of the back walls will glow if you illuminate the backside of the Hangar Bay! The Hangar contains 5403 pieces, the Imperial Shuttle 533. Measurements of the Hangar: 44,5 cm (w) / 58 cm (l) / 26,5 cm (h). On top, the Hangar Bay is designed to accommodate my Mini-Scale Imperial Shuttle, about which I already made a topic here on eurobricks: What do you guys think of this build ? I really tried to get this build to be as accurate as it possibly can ^^.
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Hi everyone! Decided to start a new topic to showcase some of my custom clone troopers made with AVfigures decals. Hope you all enjoy! You can find more shots of them on my Flickr. Clone commander wolffe P2 Delta squad Bad Batch 501st P1 Commander Cody P2 Commander Cody 501st Desert trooper Imperial Kyber trooper Teth Arf trooper Clone commando Gregor Arc trooper Echo and Fives These are just some of the figures I've made. Will continue to upload as I complete more!
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Hello guys I record lego speed builds and I make lego reviews on my YouTube channel I would really appreciate it if you guys would take a look and give me some feedback. This is my Newest YouTube Video:
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*Your entry has earned 10 XP* Part 1 (Cat A): The Sound in the Streets Part 2 (Cat C): The CFS Peace and Quiet Day 2 of CFS intervention in the Pyerce Affair. The dreadnaught CFS PEACE AND QUIET orbits around the planet FONDOR, where the CFF Tilled Soil has drawn the PYERCE BLOCKADE into battle. BUT FORGET ALL THAT. Three troublesome maintenance workers on the Peace and Quiet are totally unaware of the impending BATTLE. Build Pictures: Thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed my middling attempts at editing and this very long (for a Factions post) story. Wouldn't expect anyone to put themselves through that. Appreciate it. -
*Your entry has earned 7 XP* Part 1: The Sound in the Streets (Surface Battle) "Aboard the Peace and Quiet", by journalist Gutat Lupak. Pre-Battle Briefing from Data Master Bey’wan Pwua’Tua About the Ship: Meet the Crew! Additional Pictures for Judging Huge thanks to the other CFS players, who are a consistent source of feedback and good company. To be concluded in Part 3.
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This is my very own Mini-Scale Imperial Shuttle (with display stand) built of LEGO bricks: And yes, detailed step-by-step Building Instructions are available --> Instructions for the Imperial Shuttle I have to say, the Imperial Shuttle is my most favorite spaceship from STAR WARS ... and because of that, I really tried very hard in getting the shapes and proportions as accurate as I could. I designed additional Landing Gear and a removable Landing Ramp to display the Shuttle in it's landing position. The Shuttle is sized to an official LEGO® nano-scale minifig. To display the Shuttle in it's flight mode, I built an additional all-black stand to securely display the Imperial Shuttle, featuring the Galactic Empire emblem and my own logo. Features: both flanking wings can be folded outwards for flying and inwards during landing procedures, includes two forward-facing double laser cannons, two forward-facing wing-mounted double cannons, and a rear-mounted double laser cannon, removable landing gear and boarding ramp, and on top of all it's a very solid build ! What do you guys think of this build ?
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This is my very own Mini-Scale Millennium Falcon (with display stand) built of LEGO bricks: And yes, detailed step-by-step Building Instructions are available --> Instructions for the Millennium Falcon Recently I've been very much enjoying designing in mini-scale, and I'm pretty proud on this Millennium Falcon design. The Falcon is sized to an official LEGO® nano-scale minifig. I tried to get as much details into the tiny space as possible, which was quiet challenging, especially the recreation of the curved top panels. I designed additional Landing Gear and a removable Landing Ramp to display the Falcon on it's own. To display the Falcon, I built an additional all-black stand to securely display the Falcon in an angled position, featuring the Rebel Alliance emblem and my own logo. Features: angled top panels with color and piping details, sensor dish on top, as well as two rotatable heavy quad laser turrets on top and bottom, and on top of all it's a very solid build ! What do you guys think of this build ?
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So I've been working on this on and off for the past 7 years. I wanted to have the Eta-2's to go along with my Delta-7B's. Initially my design was heavily based on Gunner's, which I had seen on this forum. The size was very close to minifig scale, and it served as a good starting point. However I ended up unsatisfied with my result. Four years later after having worked on my Ghost, I took another stab at it and started to make a bit more headway. I focused more and more on correcting my shaping and overall design. By the end of last year I had finalized a design that I was pretty happy with, the only drawback being the lack of 29119 & 29120 in yellow. Thankfully they came out with the introduction of the 76897 Audi. Earlier this month I took another look at my design, and while I did still like it, I felt it could use some final tweaks. And by simply changing the mandibles I found a new love for the design of this ship. So much so that I went ahead and updated my version for Ahsoka, and did up all the other versions from the movies. So here we go; My design progress. Anakin's Eta-2 from the Clone Wars, with s-foils open and closed. Some additional views. The cockpit interior and under the s-foils (showing the hole through the wing). The usual size comparison to my Delta-7B. Ahsoka's Eta-2 from the Clone Wars, with s-foils open and closed. Some additional views. And now the designs seen in Revenge of the Sith. Anakin's Yellow Eta-2. With a comparison to the new 2020 75281 Anakin's Jedi Interceptor. Anakin's Green Eta-2. Obi Wan's Red Eta-2. And finally Obi Wan's Blue Eta-2. As a final note, all of these are buildable except for Anakin's green Eta-2 (There are several pieces unavailable in Dark Green and some in Dark Bluish Grey). I have Ahsoka's test built in mostly the correct colours, I've placed a Bricklink order to get the pieces I need to finish both hers and Anakin's CW Eta-2. Once I have them completed I'll take some photos and add them here. As always, enjoy.
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*Your entry has earned 9 XP* Mato's Tale: Chapter VII For the first time in his life, Mato woke to the sun streaming through a window. On Nal Hutta he had slept in a room with as much ventilation as a prison cell. Not much sun to go around anyway. Here it was blinding. The cot he'd slept on was the softest bed he’d ever had, but he rose nonetheless. He had always been punctual, mostly for the sake of survival: Hutt Bosses weren’t known for their patience. But there were no Hutt Bosses here. He had slept in “the House”, an abandoned Imperial Governor’s mansion-turned community hub. Ko-Yode, the leader of the colony of Bur Wend, had put him up in the same wing that he slept in; not the house’s actual bedrooms, but what used to be the servant’s quarters. Mato imagined there was a statement being made there. Vendors stuffed the shining halls. Mato was wandering and watching people set up their market stalls when Ko-Yode found him. “Sleep well?” Ko-Yode asked. “Until your blasted sun assaulted me.” The Steward smiled behind his beard. “First time seeing a sun?” “One that bright? You bet your chob.” Ko-Yode grinned and retrieved a wide-brimmed hat from one of the vendors to give the Weequay. “This could help. You’ll have plenty of time to get used to it, don’t you worry. After all, you’ll be out in the hills.” This turned Mato’s attention. He looked up, maybe a little overeager. “Anything to earn my place,” he said quickly. “I’m ready to work.” “I’ve got no doubt,” Ko-Yode nodded. “You’ll be training with Dinnie for the week. She oversees our rice farms on the Lam Mountains. She’ll show you the ropes, introduce you around. And maybe later, you and I can go for a hunt, eh?” Mato considered it. He wasn’t eager to do any sort of violence, and he told Ko-Yode this. The dark-skinned man looked him over keenly, before finally nodding with something between understanding and approval. “We’ll go for a walk instead. Get some time to talk.” An older female Gungan, dressed in field clothes, walked toward them. “Ko-Yode! Our prophet,” she said as she approached, bowing to the man in black. “Theesa must be da traitor! The mutt from da Hutts!” Ko-Yode gave her a look. “Let’s not shout about that, Din. Our friend prefers his privacy. We’re all entitled to that, eh?” The Gungan grinned at Mato. “Sure, sure!” Except for Yigs—who saved him—and Ko-Yode—who had shown him such kindness—Mato couldn’t help but fall back into his lifelong attitudes of suspicion and defensiveness towards others. Show no weakness. Reveal nothing. Do what you are told. Know danger and avoid attention. So the Weequay, feeling attacked and vulnerable from the mention of his past, snarled back at her. “Was that supposed to be a joke? Wasn’t very funny.” To Ko-Yode, she said, “Not quite free of his old manners, huh?” then she looked to Mato. “Oh, yousa will have time to learn when I’m jokin’. And yes,” she added. “That was a joke. Good one, too! Yousa will figure out when to laugh, weesa got all week!” Mato wasn’t sure he’d last that long. Hard work he would endure, but he wasn’t used to having to endure annoying companions. The annoying ones never lasted long on Nal Hutta. They said farewell to Ko-Yode, and Dinnie led the way to a skimmer idling near the House. By now the sun had disappeared, replaced by an overcast sky. Tall mountains stood in the distance, shrouded by fog. “Might drizzle,” Dinnie muttered. “Hope yousa don’t mind getting wet!” “Whatever falls from the sky, it won’t be the stinking muck I’m used to. I’ll be fine, gungan.” “Meesa got a name! And meesa not the only Gungan here. Unless yousa want to get confused, yousa better get used to using it!” They left the community hub on the skimmer, humming towards the uplands. Mato wrapped himself in Yigs’ cloak and his new hat to shield himself from the rain. “Let meesa tell you about our farmin’! ‘Till last year, this place was controlled by the Empire! Made food for some research place on the planet. The Empire used Agrichems: spray a field, and anything grows! No hard work required! Just plant and harvest!” “Sounds real easy. Are you using Agrichems here, then?” “What! No!” Dinnie sputtered in disgust. “Agrichems may be easy, friend, but they destroy the soil beneath! Poison the land itself! Make it impossible to grow anything there without them. The Empire was makin’ sure no one could use the farmland without Agrichems. Ruin it for anyone that took control!” Pretty selfish. Mato didn’t have much experience with the Empire, but he’d seen plenty of pettiness in his lifetime. Taken part in some too. Mato looked out over the land as their skimmer climbed the hills. A vast swath of flatland sat empty and unplanted. The ground was dark and scorched and had a sickly appearance. Field workers were scattered about. “What’s that place, Gung—“ Mato corrected himself midsentence. “. . . Uh, Dinnie?” Dinnie was pleased he was learning so fast. She looked out over the fields. Her tone turned frustrated. “Weesa call it the Scar. The best, widest farmland! But now it’s the stinkiest farmland! It’s ruined! Weesa can’t use it until we heal the land.” Mato stared. “Karf, what a mess . . . But, fixed? You’re saying it can be fixed?” “Yes, yes, but issa lot of work. We all take shifts in big, clompy protection suits to treat the flatlands, trying to restore the soil to good health. In the meantime, we been farming up in the hills. Empire didn’t use the hills. Now, some of the colonists want to go back to buying and using Agrichems, but one spray and poof! All our work undone! Stuck usin’ ‘em forever! So that’s no good.” “You’ve got to be kidding me! What a bunch of idiots.” “Eh, yousa can’t blame them too much; doing things right is a lot more work. Issa tempting to go back to the easy methods. That’s one thing those robot salesmen—Techno Union—is offerin’. Agrichems. But weesa say no! And Ko-Yode says no,” she said proudly. Mato bared a smile. “He stood his ground. Got to watch him do it, too. Threatened to hit one with his staff, y’know.” “Heesa did? Hah! Wish I coulda seen that! Yes, yes, Ko-Yode has been teaching us all about takin’ care of the land. Heesa Bur Wend’s steward, but heesa just bein’ humble. Heesa prophet! Sent by the force to lead us. And meesa would follow him anywhere. Even somewhere hot and horrible like the Scar!” Once they had reached the top, they climbed off the skimmer with bags of seed. Small pools that dotted the mountainside were being harnessed as paddy fields for growing rice. The pools they’d stopped at were still in the process of being converted, their water levels regulated by a tall, white Irrigation Regulator. “It predicts the weather, too!” said Dinnie, slapping the side of the machine. “Lotsa tricks!” They sloshed into the pools to clear weeds and prepare the soil for planting. While they worked, Dinnie made jokes and poked fun at Mato for his obvious discomfort and clumsiness. “All yousa planting is yousa face into that pool!” she laughed. Mato wasn’t used to being laughed at. He bristled with every comment, which only invited more jokes from the gusty Gungan farmer. Finally, when her jokes had turned towards the topic of the Hutts and his past life, he was reaching his breaking point. “So what’s the bathing like? Do yousa all just stand under a grate and let a Hutt drip down slime on yousa heads?” Mato burned with anger and shame. Without realizing what he was doing, he lashed out with his fist, swinging at Dinnie’s head. She ducked away and swatted him on the back, sending him splashing into the pool. When he rose, still seething, her voice had turned hard, her manner swelled-up and serious. Despite her jokes, she was a formidable person. “Yousa try anything like that again, and yousa gonna regret it. What’s wrong with yousa?” Mato, breathing hard, was flooded with regret. He couldn’t let this kind of thing happen. He was done with that life. It took great effort to allow his anger to pass, but he managed to mutter an apology. “Meesa forgive you. But yousa watch yourself!” They worked together for the rest of the week, cultivating the new Lam Rice pools. Mato quickly learned that Dinnie wasn’t kidding; doing things the right way was hard work. He spent all day up to the calf in cold water. They warmed themselves by the skimmer’s engine in the afternoons if they didn’t have the sun. Mato tried every day to make amends for his outburst. He filled Dinnie’s canteen before she asked, gave her some of his portions, and would offer to do extra work so she could rest. She happily accepted, sitting on the grass and pointing out flaws in his work. Dinnie noticed his shame and appreciated his work ethic. As Mato had made it well and clear that he was sensitive about his time on Nal Hutta, she injected her humor with moments of kindness and went a little easier on him from then on. She didn’t stop poking fun at him, not in the least, but her jokes stopped referencing his past. The Gungan became his teacher. She taught him well, supported him, but never let him get away with laziness. They got to know each other better on the job; Mato learned that Dinnie and her mate had moved to Wayland via a refugee program the CFS had started for displaced Imperial slaves. “Heesa not like heesa used to be,” she said sadly. “Broken by the Empire. Not much more than a shell.” “I’m . . . sorry.” “Treatments in the Core Worlds woulda had us in a gutter. Broke! So meesa figured fresh air was the next best thing. But heesa not much better than heesa was a year ago.” She gave a heavy sigh but hid her emotion by focusing on their work. “Get another bag of seed from the skimmer, yousa lazabout!” The two became strong companions. In the evenings they would gather with the other farmers for supper. Mato must have tensed up when he saw the group of people because he heard Dinnie whisper, “No one wants to hurt you! Relax!” Dinnie was the life of the party at these dinners, entertaining everyone with her jokes and stories. In the beginning, a few of these were always about Mato, but by the end of the week she had started to joke less about him, and more with him, and if anyone gave him a weird look, it was Dinnie who came to his defense. Soon, no one gave him weird looks. He had never had someone in his corner before unless they were betting on him in a fight. Never someone who liked him. Soon he found himself enjoying the suppers despite himself. He sat in the circle with the other workers, laughed at Dinnie’s jokes, listened to stories, and relaxed after the long day. For the first time in his life, he felt a strange sense of safety and rightness, one that he couldn't quite name. He was valued for who he was. Other farmers treated him with respect and affection, and he the same to them, which felt just about as good. No one wanted to kill him. He nearly threw up for thinking this, but maybe he had found a place that he could claim as home. Somewhere he could belong. Nah, that wasn’t it. Nah. It was probably just the stew. ____________________________________________________________________ The Techno Union transport, silent and dark, hovered in orbit over Wayland. Like an insect breaking from an egg, a ship emerged from within. The wide-winged lander flashed its engines, droning towards the planet’s surface.
