Jedi vs. Sith 4
What is it ? : The bouncers are in the forest when it erupts in fire, which spreads towards Tomcat and Kiel Charny's Jedi forces, the blast leaving them devastated, when suddenly the fire dies away.
The circle of Sith being led by Darth Bane rises, and he is confused as to what has happened, and they head for their speeders to fight the Jedi. Bane asks what they are doing, and it becomes clear they left the circle for the glory of fighting the Jedi. A Twi'lek Sith, Kopecz pauses and explains that they felt like Banes teeth were at their throats when they were linked to him, as if he was draining their life and sacrificing them for the destruction of the Jedi. Bane despairs that Kaan has the army he deserves, one that lacks the foresight to work together with the Dark Side to win.
Tomcat picks himself out of the dust, and the Army of Light are wrecked around him, Charny is helping one of his men trapped under a tree. Tomcat is shocked that the Jedi could be defeated so easily, and when ordered to help the wounded refuses as the first he encounters is a Sith, igniting his lightsaber. However this just marks him out as a target as the Sith Lords attack on their speeders, and his saber gets blown from his hands.
He panics and scrabbles around in the dirt looking for his saber, as blaster fire rains down around him. With the forest burned down around them, the Jedi have no where to hide, and Charny ignites his lightsaber to defend Tomcat, although he stands no chance of deflecting the blaster bolts, and the Sith, Githany, sweeps past blasting at him, but she misses and is rebuked by other Sith because of her relationship with Charny before she fell to the Dark Side, and they question whether she still has a soft spot for him.
As she turns for another run, her speeder bike explodes, as Lord Farfalla's battleship arrives and turns the battle. Farfalla and his Jedi exit the ship, resplendent in golden battle armour, and they are greeted by many of the Jedi. However Lord Hoth is insulting, asking if he was too busy to turn up to the bulk of the battle getting his hair done, but defends himself saying he has kept his word and brought 300 Jedi. But Hoth continues to berate Farfalla, calling him and his men cowards, calling out their expensive clothing and jewellery, and showing them the body of his friend Pernicar, telling Farfalla that real Jedi will defeat the Sith, and that Farfalla and his men can battle a banquet.
Under the insults from Hoth, Farfalla turns back to his ship, and leaves. Having watched it, Charny is disappointed that Hoth and Farfalla couldn't make peace for the good of the army, but Githany drags herself towards him, weilding a light whip. He tries to convince her to return to the lightside, but his compassion she tells him is weakness and just angers her further, and as he only defends himself, she cuts off his hand causing him to lose his lightsaber. He kneels trying to think of something to convince her of his rightness, and as she approaches to finish him off, Tomcat picks up Charny's lightsaber, declaring that Githany is right, that the Jedi are weak, and they are not the ones who should be celebrated as they do not take glory from the power that the Force gives them, striking Charny down, and leaving with Githany telling her his name is Darovit, as Charny's men call him a traitor.
Bug searches the battlefield for his cousin, but is told that Tomcat has murdered Charny is cold blood in front of witnesses, and that calling the name of a traitor isn't a smart thing to do. Bug can't believe it as being a Jedi is all that Tomcat ever wanted.
Rain finds himself in a circle of green grass surrounded by the burned forest, and Laa, the bouncer, tells him that he protected Laa and himself from the firestorm, that he dreams of being a powerful Jedi. Rain questions Laa whether he is going to be a powerful Jedi like Bug, but Laa says that Rain dreams of being a powerful Dark Jedi, not yet, but sometime in the future, but refuses to answer what the future holds for Tomcat or Laa. . . .
High Points : The bulk of this issue to do with Tomcats fall to the Dark Side, as he sees the Jedi at their lowest, recovering from the firestorm that Bane summoned up, and squabbling between themselves, the Sith look glorious and powerful, and he decides that they're the ones for him, leaving with Githany.
The issue also introduces one of the more odd points of Jedi vs Sith, that Rain, who has only been peaceful, kind and calm is going to become a Dark Jedi.
Finally, I must complement the design of Farfalla and his battleship, a flying sail ship made of golden armour with a massive figurehead, it looks glorious. Farfalla is also a Satyr like creature, human from the waist him, but with a pair of doglike legs he stands on. His hair long and flowing, he looks every inch the epic hero of legend.
Low Points : Tomcat's decision calls for some scrutiny, as the Sith are not the most powerful force on the battlefield, as they were easily defeated by Farfalla's battleship. Jedi Knights in shining golden armour. If Tomcat really wanted to just join the most powerful force who looks like the heroes he heard of in stories, then Farfalla is definitely the one who he should have been scampering aboard the ship of.
And while I adore the design of Farfalla and his ship, they do look a bit too "fantasy" for my liking. Farfalla himself looks more Dungeons and Dragons than Star Wars, and his flying sailship, while it could just be a design choice, does make me think of the Spelljammers in D&D more than a Star Was spaceship.
So what do you really think ? : The story definitely knows how to keep moving, and although I don't like some of the decisions made, it moves on so quickly and smoothly that I'm definitely enjoying the ride.
Final Words : Reading this story again, I obviously remember the gist of the story, but lack the details after 20+ years. But from memory, there's just one more main plot point to go before the end, as the plans of Darth Bane come to fruition. But there's two issues to go, so I'm left a little confused as to what happens to fill in the page count of the rest. I guess we'll find out over the next couple of days.
Score : 8.5/10
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