Chapter Twenty-six
The twin suns were setting as Skeet looked out over the
deserts of Tatooine. He sighed heavily, the container of juri-juice
in his hand barely sipped at. He looked down at the blue liquid and then out
at the suns. What would he tell Emag? That Arcc Nedeen had found him, that he had come so close to being turned to the Dark
Side of the Force? He knew his uncle would fret and worry, would start
offering advice and quotes from the Jedi teachings but at this moment he
didn’t want to hear about the Force. It had got his mother killed; the Jedi’s
wiped out, had spawned creatures like Nedeen and had almost swallowed him
whole. He sighed again. He knew that he didn’t want anything to do with the
Force. As far as he could see it was nothing but trouble for anyone who
became involved with it. How could anything justify the lives that had been
lost? How could the Force justify it? There was a rustle of robes behind him and he turned to
see Emag approach. His uncle was smiling broadly. “The presentation
is about to be made and Driss wants us up there with him. Are you ready?” “I guess,” Skeet
said in a small voice. “What’s wrong?” Skeet went to tell him about Arcc and Queed and the
encounter in the desert, but he couldn’t find the words. The more he thought
about it the more he wanted to forget about the Force and prophecies and Jedi
Knights. He quickly changed his words. “I didn’t win. Brey’s speeder was excellent but I still didn’t win.” With a hand on his shoulder Emag turned his nephew to
face him. “You’re a biker,
not a landspeeder pilot. It was your first time and look how well you did.
Besides, you sacrificed your win and saved Driss Cotta’s life. What do you
think Brey would have preferred?” “I guess. Uncle,
I’m...” Skeet didn’t know what to say next, confused and afraid of revealing
anything to Emag. “You’re what?”
Emag said, a confused frown on his forehead. “I miss my
mother,” Skeet said, looking back out over the desert at the two glowing orbs
of the suns, red and orange now as they started to sink below the horizon.
Emag was confused at Skeet’s sudden change of words and wondered what could
have happened to make him say such a thing. “We both do,
nephew,” he said, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Why did you say
that? What happened out there in the desert? Did being here again bring back
memories?” “Yes,” Skeet lied. He shook himself and
downed the juri-juice. “Come on, let’s go and wish
Driss well.” Emag nodded and headed for the fortress. A Skeet went to
follow he gave one last look towards the horizon. He could feel him, out there, walking the planet and
plotting. He could sense him, now that he had been in such close contact with
him, and he knew he was out there. Waiting. The crowds roared and applauded as Driss, Skeet, Emag and
Eilen walked up the ramp to the dais at the top where Jabba the Hutt was laid
out. The open doors to the fortress allowed the silver moonlight to filter in
but there was also heavy artificial lighting within the only chamber of the
fortress. It was packed, spectators and team members spilling out of the gate
and into the cool Tatooine night. They reached the top and Jabba undulated forward off the
dais. A long silver tube ornately carved with Huttese symbols of wealth in
his thick fingers. In Skeet’s hands was a jumble of mechanical parts with
several wires hanging from it and a bulky power pack strapped to one side.
Enneight extended his photoreceptor from the mess, removed as he was now from
the speeder, and surveyed the crowds, wishing he could somehow physically
express his joy at the moment. The high ceiling reverberated as the crowds cheered and
Driss took the proffered tube, bowing slightly to convey his thanks. He
turned and headed back to his friends who stood waiting for him at the top of
the ramp. As he joined them they all turned to face the assembly. They all placed their arms about each other, Skeet
putting Enneight tenderly on the floor as Driss held the cylinder aloft. As
he did so the crowds went wild, clapping and cheering and firing off harmless
light beams. Bottles of expensive beverages were opened and showered the
crowd, everyone caught up in the moment. The four friends looked at each other with huge smiles
and Driss pumped the cylinder with his winnings inside it into the air again.
Enneight bobbed his photoreceptor to express his own joy, finally finding a
way to express himself. Skeet looked out over the crowd, feeling that somewhere
in this room was Brey Yard, watching them from wherever he was, a bottle of
his favourite liqueur in his hand and a smug, satisfied grin on his face. Shadows of the Past
1999/2000 novel by
Jonathan Hicks Six years before Episode IV – A New Hope Histories - Shadows of the
Past was
originally conceived way back in 1997 as a role-playing campaign. I designed
it as a Star Wars
epic, utilising the classic Star
Wars concept to try and inject an original style of play into the
games. All gaming up until that point had been in the Setnin Sector
and it was my intention to set it into a section of space that was unheard
of, interacting with identifiable icons, such as the Galactic Empire,
Tatooine and several aliens, and actual characters from the movies, in
this case Jabba the Hutt. All the while I wanted to make sure that
what I did wasn’t going to interfere with what had come before and the actual
trilogy. I never intended for Racers to be turned into a novel –
in fact, after the game was ended it was left on the backburner for future
use but the burner went dead. The story of Skeet Jonus
was forgotten about until 1999, when the old notes and ideas were found and I
decided to do something more with it. The Setting The first part of the setting was Raca City,
originally named Racer Town but changed to increase the scope of the location
and make it sound a lot different than a simple collection of buildings
erected by several racers who named it for what it was. The triple-mountain
design was intended to make the setting memorable, although it has to be said
there was no practical reason as to why someone would build a city into three
mountains, much less construct a racetrack around the base of it - it was
merely for effect. I always find that people remember locations if there is
something different about it, especially when that place is wild to look at
but serves no actual practical purpose. The racetrack itself used to be covered in traps and
obstacles that the racers would have to avoid - mazes of tunnels, jumps, and
poles to weave between. In fact, this was actually included in the game,
which made it more exciting - the player wanted to do more than simply roll
dice to see if he won. I decided to do away with this in the story, sticking
instead to a simple winding track. I wanted to focus on the race - Skeet Jonus was a racer, not a stunt driver, and I didn’t want
to include anything that would detract from that fact. The route of the
racetrack I held onto and it is this course, which is described in the story. The planet of Junduk IV was brought about by an
old calendar I had on my kitchen wall. It was a wildlife calendar, and I was
designing the setting in the month of June, and on the calendar was a picture
of four ducks. June duck four - Junduk IV. It’s strange where creativity can
come from. Before I designed any of the plots I decided to flesh out
the characters. When designing for a game I don’t usually lay out incidents,
I simply create a situation and allow the players access to it. In this case,
considering the nature of the game I wanted to play, I went into very fine
detail about the additional characters in the story. In the following text I will go over the novel and
compare it to the original story, detailing ideas and sources and what really
drove me to make certain changes or create certain parts. Like I said before,
if you haven’t read the novel then do so now; anything you read from now on
will ruin your enjoyment of the story. Other descriptions will be in
box-outs. THE STORY When I first started tapping keys to get the first draft
of Racers down I really didn’t know how to start it. The original game had
begun with Skeet simply on Raca City to race. I know that Star Wars films don’t begin
like that. I originally was going to have it start with a rumbling Star
Destroyer and the scenes with Terrov and Galgen in the meeting
room but that would have been confusing. I would have had to explain the
situation and the planet’s function all in one hit and that would have been
long-winded and, lets face it, really boring. I
settled for the approach to Junduk option with Skeet and Rondosarn
because it was the easiest way to explain Skeet’s character – new racer to
the city, young, eager but also down on his luck. ‘I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m out of
credits’ - SKEET JONUS The name Skeet Jonus was
thought up in an instant, with no prior consideration about what the name
meant or implied. It was simply thought up, the word
Skeet derived, of course, from the sport of skeet shooting and Jonus simply from changing slightly the second name of a
popular English TV actress at the time, Samantha Janus. Andrew Curtis, the player in
the game and creator of the Luschia Arkensaw character, has
always found it difficult to create new and different names for his
role-playing characters. He was happy with the name I supplied. His
personality evolved as the game progressed, but I changed it to suit the
story that I had decided on for the novel. Andrew Curtis played him as a
racer – pure and simple. He was incredibly sure of himself and willing to
take all kinds of risks and try any kind of underhanded deal to win. This was
not exactly how I had originally conceived him but it was Andy’s character
and he responded to my story as he saw fit. I thought the unfolding plot
would change that brashness, but it didn’t. Grand Moffs, Dark Force users and
a secret history did little to change his personality. This was something I
had to drastically change for the novel. Although I did change the character
to respond effectively to his surroundings I decided to keep that streak of
rashness, to a degree. I also kept the fact that Skeet was very untrusting of
the Force, which made for a more interesting story. I can’t take all the
credit for Skeet’s personality – many thanks must go to Andrew Curtis for
injecting a ‘little something’ into the mould. Rondosarn wasn’t really a consideration, just an old
sketch and a character idea I had a long time ago. He was originally designed
as a fighter pilot for the Rebellion and who knows, maybe he’ll crop up in a
later story in that role. The real intention of the opening scene was to lay out
the setting where most of the action was going to take place – Raca City. I
felt that if the reader could visualise pretty much most of where the place
was then it would be easier to add in later chapters. I wasn’t going to
introduce Brey Yard until a later chapter when Skeet was having a shot
at his first races. Originally, Brey was going to be the racer that Skeet
beats in his first race, but I changed that for Driss Cotta so
that Brey and Skeet could spend more time together in the story, making their
friendship seem stronger. Also so that Driss could be present at the Tatooine
Ten Thousand as another racer, a friend of Skeets and the reason why
Skeet sacrifices the race. ‘That’s mine, an Ikas-Ando
Starhawk. I’m putting her in for the class three
races’ - BREY YARD
Brey Yard was a much simpler character to design. Whilst
designing his personality, which was older and wiser but boisterous and
friendly (just the kind of friendly character I wanted Skeet to meet, to show
him the ropes etc), the name Brey popped into my head as I watched one of my
videos - it was a horse braying. In a courtyard. What more needs to be said?
Brey Yard arrived. Emag Retsam had already been fully created by this point. I was
originally going to have him present Skeet with an award after winning his
first race and then whisper to him something about how important he was but I
didn’t think it would suit the story if the revelation that Skeet was special
was made so obvious in the first few pages. I decided to keep Emag to the
side for a while and have the fact that there was something about him that Skeet felt so that the reader would
know there was something important, and allow the unfolding events of the
Komag scene and the trip to the Malevolent
to happen without any distractions Skeet may have had wondering what was
happening. ‘A little trouble? You blew up a Hutt!’ - EMAG RETSAM First I wanted to design Skeet’s allies. Because of the
plot, including the discovery of Skeet’s father and uncle, I needed a
character that would guide him through the story and supply any information
he may have needed. I had been working on several sketches and ideas for the
game and one picture I had drawn was of a regal-looking man in fine clothes.
Unfortunately I had mis-drawn the side of his face and scribbled over it in
frustration, creating a strange mechanical-looking jaw by mistake. I took to
the look immediately and decided to use it, even writing the short story the
Death of Yona to explain it. Most characters with such additional parts are
usually of lesser virtue and I decided it would make a nice character trait.
The name came during the actual game. I had spent so much time drawing the
character I hadn’t thought to name him! The name came from my Game Masters screen,
which I simply took and changed to Emag Retsam - Game Master backwards.
Skeet’s uncle had been created in an instant. There was virtually no change
from the original character and his role in the story. THE IMPERIAL STAR
DESTROYER MALEVOLENT The destroyer is nothing special in the grand scheme of
things – everyone knows what a Star Destroyer is, we’ve all seen the opening
sequences of all three Star Wars
movies of the original trilogy. I included it as an icon that people could
recognise straight away. I always thought that the power of the Empire shone
through in these gargantuan starships. That’s what I wanted to convey – power
and danger. The two support ships, which are only mentioned and not actually
used in the story, were for dressing. I figured that if a Grand Moff was on
board then there would be extra vessels flanking the main ship. The name came
about after reading that most Destroyers have names that reflect domination
or power, as in the Avenger
or the Subjugator. I
wanted a vessel that not only looked menacing but sounded it, also. The races were added to do two things. The first was to
actually get some racing in there. It’s all well and
good calling the story Racers Part One but what about the actual racing? I
know that I didn’t want to fill the entire book with speeders battling each
other for money but I at least wanted the racing to have an effect on the
story. In many respects it did. Skeet had a bike, which was stolen by Kirrich
that ended up with Komag and so on. What Skeet did for a living
resulted in his trip to the Malevolent, which set all the story elements up
and resulted in the plot, which Skeet found himself
in. Besides, if there’s anyone out there that read it because of its title
then they got what they expected, with other stuff thrown in for other Star
Wars fans. If I had written the story about a simple boy from Tatooine who
finds out he’s good with the Force and then has a darkly clad bad-guy after
him... I kind of think people may have noticed that. WHERE’S BEN KENOBI
DURING ALL THIS? One thing I asked myself... if Skeet’s from Tatooine
and Arcc Nedeen followed him there, then why didn’t Ben
Kenobi, who was on the planet at the time living as a hermit (Racers is
set roughly six years before Episode
IV – A New Hope) sense their presence? My answer to that is – why
should he? Fair enough, the action takes place in their area of the planet
but to be honest I get the impression that Ben had much more serious things
to worry about than that. Even if he did feel a ‘tremor’ in the Force, what
makes you think he was capable, even inclined, to do something about it?
After all, it’s obvious now he’s there for Luke. Maybe he felt the
tremor and investigated but by the time he got to where he felt it Arcc had
gone. He worries for a couple of weeks, wondering what it’s all about, but
then six years later it doesn’t matter. Luke takes him to Mos Eisley
and they both leave, anyway. After all, didn’t Vader say ‘Your powers
are weak, old man’? I tried not to dwell too much on the impact on the actual
movie characters. I wanted the race on Tatooine because I wanted to utilise
the rugged landscape, the dangerous planet. I also wanted Jabba in there – he
appears kind of a fan of racing. I know he fell to sleep during the Phantom Menace podrace but hey, maybe he was just tired and annoyed he
missed it. I’m not going to dwell on that. It was during the first race that I decided to include
Driss Cotta. He was never in the original story but I decided I wanted
another racer in there to add to the atmosphere, so that the friendly
competitive nature of racers would shine through. I also included him as the
second place racer in Skeet’s first win so that the reader would get the
impression that Skeet was an excellent biker and could beat even seasoned
professionals. I didn’t want him to beat Brey, like I had intended in an
earlier conception of the story, because the details of the winner’s race and
the dangerous run against Gern Omik I wanted for later. ‘See you at the finish line, kid’ - DRISS COTTA Driss Cotta was the same as
Brey in creation, another friendly character whose name I simply put together
out of nothing. I just placed letters in a certain order and that was that -
the choice of alien race, a Duros, was simply introduced
for visual variety. ‘That man can’t race!’ – GERN OMIK The mad lizard I included because I like him. Again, he
was never originally part of the original story. Gern has been around since
the late 1980’s but was never fully utilised. I decided to add him to the story
so that Skeet would have an adversary in the races as well as the other parts
of his life. It makes the racing parts of the story better if the protagonist
has a dangerous foe against him and adds a lot more urgency to the situation. It was at this point during creation that I decided I had
spent too long designing and worrying about what was happening directly
around the main characters. After all, the story was about racing but there
was a darker line to this, too. It was what was happening on the Malevolent,
with Arcc Nedeen, Grand Moff Galgen and Terrov. Originally the Arcc character
was going to be some kind of Vader student or an Imperial officer who knew
the Dark Side of the Force. I decided this was a little unsuitable for two
reasons. One, Vader didn’t have any students. Grand Moff Tarkin told him in Episode IV ‘you are all that’s
left of their religion’ when he referred to the Jedi’s and Force
users, so that pretty much destroyed that idea. The second was that I wanted
a character who wouldn’t be confined to rules and
regulations. If Skeet had arrived on the destroyer and the Dark Force user
was an Imperial he could simply have had him arrested and that was
that. Hardly the pinnacle of space faring adventures. I settled on Arcc so
that the Imperial element could be used as another threat, to both Skeet and
Arcc, and add another level of depth to the unfolding plot. The scenes between the three bad guys were easy to
insert. I had completely free reign with their parts in the story as the
details were not covered in the original game design. ‘I like that kind of attitude. Forthright,
powerful, confident decision making’ - GRAND MOFF
GALGEN I wanted a powerful, influential character as far as
Grand Moff Galgen went. In the original design he was an arrogant man who was
sure of his position, and even ordered Arcc Nedeen around somewhat. As I
progressed through the re-design I decided that he wouldn’t lightly deal with
a dark Force user, and so changed it somewhat to show that he was more under Arcc’s control than the other way round. I also wanted to
make Galgen as different from Skeet as possible but in some respects the
same, what with him being unsure and nervous. I didn’t want to dwell on any
similarities or any shock the reader may have experienced at the revelation
of their relationship would have been ruined. ‘I am the servant of the Empire’ – LIEUTENANT TERROV This character has been around for the better part of
fifteen years. I can honestly say he was the very first Imperial I ever created
for my stories and his personality hasn’t changed in the slightest. He had
always been devious, cruel and brash with a streak of anger that makes him
volatile. The latter part of his personality doesn’t get much of a chance to
shine through in the story, subversient as he is to
the Grand Moff, but a little does break the surface towards the end of his
involvement. He wasn’t in the original design. I have to admit I included him
so that I could work with a character that I knew well. ‘He will betray you’ - ARCC NEDEEN The dark Force user is one of my newest creations, his
background fleshed out as the novel progressed. What I wanted was a character
who was dark and menacing (bear in mind that I hadn’t seen the Darth Maul
details when I designed him, so please don’t think I was simply making a
‘Maul clone’) but who was also skilled and manipulative. His role changed
from an original idea, where he was the driving force behind Komag’s business
and the Empire were hunting him down, so that the plot would progress and
unfold a lot easier. I originally intended for him to die in the last scene
but couldn’t think of a way to do it so that it appeared feasible. After all,
the only way Skeet could kill him was by outwitting him or by getting lucky
and how do you do that against a creature a millennia old? I guess the old Star Wars formula got the best
of me in the end and I decided to go with the trilogy. Arcc is one of my
favourite creations and I wanted to make sure I got the best use out of him
as possible. ‘Why have I just started a pacification
landing?’ – LIEUTENANT SHREEMS This Imperial was created solely for the novel, with no
real impact to the story. He was mainly there so that Terrov would have
someone to talk to so that certain parts of the plot were explained. I have
decided since to expand on the character and use him in the future. What I really needed was a way to get Skeet involved with
what was happening on the Malevolent but I couldn’t think of a reason as to
why he would come into contact with Galgen and Arcc. Originally I was going
to have them come down to the surface for a meeting with the governor, Emag,
but if that happened then Emag and Galgen would have recognised each other
and that would have made things complicated. I didn’t want that. This problem
lead to the scenes with Kirrich and the bike theft, where Skeet manages to
get his bike back and angers the Hutt who needs a ship to go to the
Malevolent to get his payment from Galgen, and then the Hutt’s death, who
people believe Skeet and Brey are responsible for, helping Skeet get into the
Tatooine Ten Thousand. See how that works? I always try to make sure that
when something happens it’s going to have an impact on later events. Will of
the Force, and all that. ALL THAT WAS MISSING
WAS THE CAMERA When I sit down to write a Star Wars story I don’t look at it from a written story
point of view, I see it from the view of a person seated in a cinema,
watching a movie. This may sound a little pretentious but I sometimes feel
that some Star Wars
stories I read have missed the point slightly. Star Wars is big, with grand scenes and important
dialogue. What I try to recreate in my writing is the sense that you’re
watching a film. I set the scene with a brief description and then have the
characters interact solely to allow the story to flow. It would be easy for
me to go into detail about how the characters feel, think and then go into
lengthy dialogue about motivation and desires. To be honest, I don’t think
the characters would have time for that, considering what’s going on around
them. I do believe in characterisation but I also believe that the characters
are there to serve the plot and not the other way around. When I write a
scene I try to focus on what the characters are doing. It’s the same way when
you watch a film. You focus on the characters and how their actions and words
affect the story. The only drawback I have is that when you read a book you can’t re-read it and look in the background to
try and pick out all those details that makes Star Wars films special. Talking about the will of the Force, I have to thank George Lucas for that small
line in Episode I.
After reading the story back to myself several times in its early design I
noticed that it was filled to the brim with coincidence and happenstance.
Thanks to prophecies and the will of the Force I think I may have managed to
explain that quite well. It was at this point I decided to concentrate on the bike
theft and its impact on the story. I came out with the idea that a mechanic
that hires himself out could be responsible for the theft. I came up with
this idea after working at a British motor show and found out that apparently
company-employed drivers were in fact people with forged passes who had
managed to get into the show and simply drive away with vehicles when they
were moving them from the halls. I used this to a lesser degree in the story
but with the same impact. ‘Twenty creditsh’ - KIRRICH Kirrich, the Tuffutian mechanic, was simply
included for the story element, the individual who Skeet takes into his
confidence and is then betrayed. I needed a small, cute, cuddly alien who one
would instinctively think was there for comic relief. I made him an effective
mechanic who worked wonders with Skeet’s bike. The visual design came from
sketches I had created for an older game but had never used. In the original story there was hatred between Skeet and
Komag. I was originally going to have Skeet actually responsible for Komag’s
death - in the original game Andy Curtis actually had Skeet throw a bundle of
grenades at the Hutt to finish him off after the initial bomb blast! After
something serious happened between the Hutt and Brey that almost killed
Skeet’s friend. Of course, this was dropped. Skeet wasn’t a killer, especially
considering what I had decided he had learned from his mother, and this
scene, although exciting, would not have made much sense. KOMAG THE HUTT Komag the Hutt came about by very simple means - I wanted
a crimelord who the player could identify with and so I went with a Hutt. It
was only when I wrote the novel did I think that Komag could have a more
serious effect on the story as he did with his death and Jabba’s amusement at
it, which was how Skeet got into the Tatooine Ten Thousand. It was during the bike theft scenes that I decided to
include Officer Eilen. I noticed that the story was primarily
male-orientated and wanted to put a female character in there. I was
originally going to have her as one of the racers, even toyed with having
Driss Cotta a female, but decided that I wanted the character to be a little
more than that. I decided on Eilen after noticing that there would be short
space battle as the heroes fled Junduk. I knew that Skeet and Brey’s skills were in their racing and having them hot pilots too would have seemed a trifle
over-the-top. I included Eilen for two things; to be the person who was the
action-orientated character and the pilot who got them all out of trouble.
After deciding this I knew how to bring her into it, as Emag’s top cop.
Unfortunately, the way the story panned out there wasn’t much gunplay or
starship fights. Still, she’s there now and I have already decided her role
in the future. ‘So... what did you do wrong this time?’ - OFFICER
EILEN Officer Eilen was never in the original story - she was
introduced for two reasons. Firstly, I needed a character to interact with
Skeet during the raid on the Hutt warehouse and secondly, I needed a strong
female character in there. I wanted the novel to appeal to everyone and I
wanted a character that appeared incidental but then was drawn into it all.
It would be simple to dismiss Eilen as being a politically correct addition
to the story and in many respects that’s true, but I made sure she would do
more than make a token appearance. One thing was missing as I tried to get the first details
down. I had decided that Arcc was manipulating the Grand Moff but I could do
with a reason, and a way, as to how Arcc came into Galgen’s
employ. I sifted through old notes and played with a few designs but decided
to use a character I knew well and could add with no fuss. Queed was
my perfect choice as the character had been well designed a long time ago and
his personality well defined in short stories I had written about him. He
served the plot in the fact that he was responsible for Skeet’s mother’s
death, which added drama to the final Arcc-Skeet scene on Tatooine, and he
was responsible for bringing Arcc and Galgen together. ‘I am unaccustomed
to failure’ - QUEED In reality the bounty hunter was included for purely
selfish reasons – I had designed this armoured man on paper and wanted to use
him. His real identity can be revealed in other stories from the Setnin
Sector but all I wanted from him in the novel was his status, to explain the
death of Skeet’s mother and Arcc’s use of him to
make Skeet angry. Queed was originally designed as a standard Boba Fett
copy (I had originally toyed with the idea of actually using Fett but I
decided against it for obvious reasons) but then matured into something a
little more. Whereas it is doubtful Fett would have felt sorrow over the
accidental killing of Skeet’s mother, Queed did. I needed that to heighten
the drama of the final desert encounter. The unfolding plot was probably the most complex and difficult
I have worked on over such a short period of time. If you look at the Chronology
you will see plenty of plot twists and drama that happen between multiple
characters over a long period of time, but they had years of writing and
designing behind them with careful placing into the timeline to make them
work. With Racers I was dealing with a few characters and ideas that would
intertwine to create a coherent story. There was plenty of stuff I threw out. First were the
actual races. As mentioned before, the track used to be filled with traps and
obstacles the racer would have to avoid but I discarded this at an early
stage. If the reader were more interested in what the racers had to avoid
then they wouldn’t focus on the characters, the driving points of the story.
There were plenty of things on the track – poles to weave, narrow winding
tunnels to navigate. RIGHT DOWN THE PAN There was even a huge pipe that ran across the track; the
cities sewer system that could be opened during a race and the bikers would
have to jump it! Failure meant landing in some serious doo-doo. Although that
was funny in the scheme of things and was used for comic relief in the
role-playing game it appeared quite silly and unnecessary when included in
the story. The design of race classes and landspeeder and bike races
was retained and used in the final idea. Also, the reason as to why the Empire invaded was
changed, also. In the original story Galgen found out about Emag being in
charge, knew that it was his dead wife’s brother and decided to rub salt in
Skeet’s uncle’s wounds by taking away his city. Although this was dramatic,
and was a viable reason for the invasion, it didn’t suit the story as
attention was shifted from the relationship between Skeet and Galgen to Emag
and Galgen. The story is based on the young man so I decided that not only
would Galgen go after Arcc but also Skeet when realising he was there. Not
only did it work as far as the story was concerned but added an extra sense
of urgency to the situation. In the original draft of the story it was Emag Retsam
that was going to be killed and Brey Yard that escaped to Tatooine with
Skeet. I dropped this for the obvious reason that Skeet needed a speeder to
enter the Tatooine Ten Thousand and he had to use Brey’s.
I also needed Emag around for future use, to guide Skeet in his power and be
a source of information about the Republic and Jedis.
I decided to lose Brey because I needed that dramatic moment to help define
Skeet’s character and bring home the danger he was in. Besides, there was
also a draft where both Brey and Emag were killed on Tatooine by Queed, so I
had to draw the line somewhere. I couldn’t just go around popping off major
characters by the handful. The final scene in the desert was included because it had
made such an impact in the original story. It is completely unchanged from
the original concept, except perhaps some of the dialogue, and is something
that really helps to close this chapter and begin the next. So, there you have it. As you can see a lot more work
went into the character’s influence on the story than the actual story
itself. Like I stated before, it’s the plot that drives the characters. After
I had decided what I wanted to happen and in what order I designed and
manipulated the characters to fit into my stream of incidents. In many
respects the influence of one character influenced the outcome of certain
elements and of that I was very pleased. I believe that what we do now that
is important has some effect on the future and I tried very hard to bring
this to the fore as I was writing Shadows
of the Past. Cast
of Characters Skeet
Jonas Grand
Moff Galgen Arcc
Nedeen Lieutenant
Terrov Emag
Retsam Lieutenant
Shreems Queed Officer
Eilen Komag
the Hutt Driss Cotta Fuida-Galgen Jonas Enneight Brey Yard Gern Omik Hutos-Qui-Lan |