Ahsoka and Kanan: This was something I suspected is going to be a plot point for the future season and was all but confirmed in the first crop of episodes. That Kanan isn’t big on being part of an army and that Ahsoka would be fundamentally different from him in a number of ways. They can cooperate, but I imagine their different personalities and beliefs would clash inevitably. After all, their exits from the Order were wildly different. Ahsoka wasn’t a Jedi when it happened, she had no master to lose by that point. She was also a military commander for far longer whereas Kanan’s time fighting the Clone Wars abruptly ended as soon as he started. She’s used to being an army, he only remembers what an army did to his friends and loved ones. While they both had to hide, Kanan abandoned the Jedi way for a long time before getting back onto the path. Ahsoka has probably been fighting or preparing to fight this war longer than he has.
So inevitably they’re going to clash a bit given how different and how similar that are. While it will be interesting to see this unfold on the show, I wanted to put my own spin to this here. That Kanan doesn’t like Ahsoka giving orders to his crew, that he isn’t happy about being put in danger by her plans and that he obviously feels a bit concerned about Ezra in regards to her. That and suspicious about her survival. He doesn’t think she’s their enemy or will betray them, but she did leave the Order. It’s hard to trust a Jedi that abandoned the way when Kanan himself knows where that leads to as he’s lived it.
So this was the moment for them to jab each other a bit, Kanan against Ahsoka especially. He doesn’t know the full details or what she went through so obviously he’s built up an idea of what happened. It’s inaccurate, but he feels it makes the most sense. Ahsoka is trying to explain herself and her reasons for being what she is, but it’s hard to take her seriously at times. She didn’t get any further in the Jedi ranks than Kanan did, so how much does she exactly know?
I feel the series will go into this more deeply than my silly crossover fic ever could, but I think this is a good touchstone between two characters within this story. You have Ahsoka who represents the old series and the prequel timeline. And you have Kanan who more or less represents the bridge between the pequels and the original trilogy and what it is. Understanding where both characters are from and where they’re headed as well as what they represent is important to any story. Even more so in Star Wars which is heavily character driven, as most Hero’s Journey narratives are.
And that is what Star Wars is, one big long hero’s journey narrative that can be about any character at any time. Kanan and Ahsoka are the respective stars of their own narratives. Him “Rebels” and her “Clone Wars,” and while Kanan shares his story with Ezra, I feel they’re both equally important to the developing plot of the series proper. So it only makes sense that all three Force-Users are inevitably going to connect with one another. You’ll see how Ahsoka interacts with Ezra next time.
Killing AT-ATs: I wrote down several ways for Godzilla to kill walkers for this chapter. I haven’t even used them all as I’m saving some for later. But it’s always fun to figure out ways to take things apart. I know everyone loves the classic tripwire move, but Godzilla has his own style when dealing with mecha. Hell, I even referenced that kick move from the Megalon movie. Although I made sure G’s tail wasn’t being used to support him and that he only really needed one leg. I needed to save up the crazy for later, as you probably saw.
I think my favorite one was Godzilla splitting the AT-AT down the middle, if only because it illustrated the raw power of the character the best. Although nothing beats a good head ripping and then using said head to smash another vehicle’s chassis in of course. I’m kinda wondering if anyone had their own ideas on how Godzilla could kill an AT-AT, but I think I covered pretty much all the bases here. Still, you never know.
Rebel Air Support: This is officially the first time in story where the Rebels are actually working together with Godzilla. Before they were helping him, but just in his way. Now they’re actually cooperating a bit. Kinda like in Terror of Mechagodzilla during the finale, the first and last time the human characters directly influenced/assisted Godzilla in battle.
I had a few nods to the fact that Godzilla is aware of who is on his side, so to speak. He can recognize who is a Rebel and who isn’t just by recalling what the Empire flies and what they don’t.That and clearly watching the Rebel ships shooting down the aircraft that shot at him when he first showed up. It created some nice little scenes showing that Godzilla is honorable enough to assist those who are technically his allies. He still doesn’t trust them, but he does accept they are on the same side and to not help them would be cowardly. Besides, they’re apparently helping him, that’s more than what most humans back home do. No sense in not returning the favor, right.
Godzilla may be a jerk, but he’s not dishonorable. He’s like an old samurai, determined to fight against his enemies, serve his code, but never turn his back on his allies. And before you say anyhting, yes I know the samurai of old are about as honorable as Starscream in the G1 series and their entire order was more akin to a damn crime syndicate straight out of the Godfather movies. I’m speaking more in terms of the ideal, not the reality. Ninja were the actual loyal honorable type warriors in Feudal Japan, but Godzilla doesn’t really fit that mould. Kaiju aren’t very stealthy after all.
Kamo’s Memory: So I really liked how this scene turned out. Revealing that Kamo is basically numb to what he did in the war and that he doesn’t even know how to feel about it’s final act. That he has no idea why he feels this way, why he can’t seem to remember anyhting and the only thing he can be angry about is that the government he did this for abandoned him. At the end of the day, for him, the Clone Wars was all for nothing. He got a bunch of feint praise and was quietly shuffled off into a corner to rot. No one cared about him and all he had left was a bunch of memories full of holes.
It’s hard to imagine what many of those Clones who went through with Order 66 felt like after. What became of their lives when their entire purpose was fulfilled. What was the aftermath like when the Jedi were all dead by their hand. I like to hope Rebels will fill the gap a bit, but I still want to see what exactly happened in the days following Revenge of the Sith. Again, maybe a book will come out. All I know is that it had to be pretty friggin bad for a lot of them.
You can see in this story though that Kamo’s brain is slipping. He’s making paranoid decisions, he’s more erratic, aggressive. The chip and the order is back in play and it’s is seriously changing his personality and outlook, just like before. He has to kill the Jedi, it’s what his programming tells him to do. He can’t stop it because he doesn’t even know what’s happening. His mind just says kill the Jedi because it’s what you were told to do. And that’s it. Which means we’re headed for a pretty big confrontation here once the Jedi arrive.
Mobile Heavy Cannons: I realized I needed something a bit bigger and tougher than an AT-AT to make this chapter interesting. Lucky me, I remembered the terrifying spider-tanks the Umbarans used in Clone Wars, and remembered that the new EU states the Empire decided to steal some and produce their own. Why not, right? It would seem a waste not to bring out a badass spider-tank with a damn plasma gun. Plus it seemed like it would be the most logical progression after... well... you know. I mean, I wasn’t going to top that with more AT-AT crushing. I needed to bring in the big guns somehow! They seemed like my best option.
Look up in the Sky: I told you I’d do it. I warned you. But you didn’t listen. You thought I was making the jokes. You thought I was just being funny. Well you were wrong. Dead wrong.
This Godzilla encompasses pretty much every aspect of the versions of him from the past. All his basic powers. That’s why he could absorb electricity through his dorsal fins like he did in the first Mechagodzilla movie. It’s why he has the regeneration power from the 2000 movie. It’s why he can shoot out an electromagnetic pulse like he could when the Heisei era rolled around. So screw it. His breath is just that powerful that if he jumped while in the air he’d go flying backwards. While else are his legs so thick in every incarnation? It’s to keep that from happening!
The image of Godzilla hanging from the belly of a Star Destroyer while he rips it open was too cool to pass up. So I had him pull that damn move if only to appease the guilty pleasure seed deep inside me. Regardless, I did not add that power without consequence. I realized that such an exhibition of power would require a ton of energy and that it would make Godzilla more vulnerable than he ever has been in this story. Which I kinda needed to justify anyway for the finale part of this chapter to work. So really, it accomplished several goals all at once. It made the fight with the Star Destroyers more interesting, it facilitated a narrative need and it gave me a big ass smile. I don’t need to justify anything, which is why I spent this section justifying everything.
Seriously though, this was all in good fun. Take shelter in the knowledge this will most likely be the only time I do this in story. We get one good flying scene and that’s it. No sense in overusing something like that, then it wouldn’t be as unique. I’m here to have fun and I hope you’re having fun too. This was just meant to homage another Godzilla movie and spice up a battle that would’ve been boring otherwise. And if IDW comics can get away with it in one of their ongoings, why can’t I? We all need a chance to go a little nuts now and then.
Choke a General: This was inevitable. Sakal was pretty much doomed the second things went wrong. Darth Vader, when off his leash, is a wild animal that kills pretty much anyone he feels deserves it. Tarkin is the only person, save the Emperor, that can reel him in. So when the last attempt to stop Godzilla not only failed but actually broke their defenses, Vader was done.
Like many Imperials, Sakal had a lot of ambitions, a lot of plans. Unfortunately, he learned too late that his agenda means squat in face of what the Sith running the show want. To be fair though he did pretty much everything you could ask of him. That and his tactics did eventually manage to weaken Godzilla sufficiently. They just weren’t enough to kill him and in Vader’s mind that was a failure he couldn’t tolerate.
I like to think that while I made Sakal and arrogant dickhead, I actually bothered to show he wasn’t a complete asshole. He was looking out for himself, sure, but he didn’t want anyone to get killed just to win. Humiliated sure, but not killed. I prefer my jerkwad military villains to, at least most of the time, be presented like real people. I don’t like the Empire and have little sympathy for them, but even a fascist has a mother who loves them. They’re still people, even if they do monstrous things.
Now it’s time to see how Klusto reacts to his new position and how he’ll go about salvaging this mess. The chances are against him though and while he’s smart he’s not nearly as seasoned as his now dead CO. At least unlike Sakal, Klusto has known from the get go to be concerned with Vader and he’s not going to wait to be the next victim here.
Force Unleashed: Yeah, you knew if I gave Godzilla an epically awesome moment in this chapter, Star Wars had to go just as crazy. So I had Vader do what any Sith Lord like him can, bring down a Star Destroyer ontop of a giant monster’s head. Why? Because really, the only person who has any chance at fighting Godzilla in this universe is Darth Vader.
You may be wondering my thoughts on the Force Unleashed video game since this is pretty much a direct reference to what Starkiller does in that game. Well, okay, I’m sorry to dissapoint any Starkiller fans... but I don’t like them. I just don’t. In my opinion, Starkiller is a seriously overpowered ridiculous character in every aspect of the word. The fact he apparently is more important than seemingly every other canon character is frustrating. No one should be able to be a match for Darth Vader. Period. Not until Luke shows up and becomes a Jedi himself.
I’m sorry, but Starkiller’s little adventure is nothing more than ridiculous Mary-Sue nonsense. Vader is not in the position to kill the Emperor at that point in the story, he’d have no need for an Apprentice. He doesn’t start really considering until he learns his son is alive, then all bets are off. Instead, we put more importance on this super uber powerful no-name so fans can live out their crazy lightsaber fantasies. Sorry, I can’t abide by that. And you people complain Ahsoka was annoying, at least she never had powers that outdid Anakin’s with relative ease and not even trying.
No, if anyone can bring down a badly damaged Star Destroyer through the Force, it’s Darth Vader. And that’s what he did, because damn it, that game should’ve just let us play him! And don’t get me started on those DLC packs, those were utter bullshit. You cannot fight a Force Ghost!
Point is, I wanted to show just how truly powerful and merciless Darth Vader was in this chapter. Why he is just as great a monster as Godzilla, if not more so. For unlike Godzilla, he has no sense of honor or compassion. Deep inside, Godzilla is still a protector and defender beneath his rage. For Vader, there is nothing left of Anakin. It’s just pure hate and that makes him strong. Stronger than Godzilla? For the moment, yes, because he does what no one else could do. He takes the king down hard. And while it strains him, he barely even feels it because that pain is nothing to him. He’s still able to walk away, resting his arms, but still standing tall. And all the while some of that badass music from the “Decieved Trailer” for Old Republic plays in the background.
What? It fits. It’s pretty much the exact same scene in the last part of that trailer anyhow.
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