It is decided to call a special session of Congress in the Great Hall of the Turin ranch. The situation must be discussed and measures decided upon. The Jedi are allowed to address Congress. There are two camps. The Presidential camp that thinks this is a Separatist conspiracy. Everything that has happened has been engineered by the Confederacy. Their crowning argument are the arrival of the droid army and the bombing of Congress, as witnessed by E'tan. The camp of Vice-President Ulmin Drey calls it a Republic plot. Hiiso uprising, Republic weapons, led by Jedi. 'Coincidental' arrival of the Light of Reason. E'tan being a complete lunatic (which means him 'seeing' the bombing isn't very reassuring). The two camps can't seem to agree on anything.

But eventually Ulmin Drey admits to having been in contact with the Confederacy. Just like the President has been in touch with the Republic. He's gotten assurances that they will help put the rebellion do and restore order. More than the Republic has promised. He's also taken the liberty of inviting the Confederacy envoy to this meeting - after all the Jedi are here to speak for the Republic, so it is only fair the other side gets the chance to present itself.

Shortly thereafter Tito Jax reports droid battalions encircling the ranch. And E Leet spots an approaching shuttle. It lands and disembarks a squad of Super battle droids, five Neimoidian envoys - and a Sith warrior. They head inside to address Congress. Meanwhile, in the dewback stables...E'tan has another mad plan. He rides the dewback out, pretending to loose control, then conveniently falls off in the vicinity of the shuttle. He slips behind the two super battle droids that guard the ramp, then enter the shuttle, taking out two pilot droids, then blasting the supers with the shuttles cannons.

That sort of puts an end to the negotiations inside. The Sith draws his lightsaber and Oona and E Leet move to oppose him. Using his red lightsaber and Force lightning the Sith gains the upper hand. Oona is barely able to smash him through the doors and into the hall, giving E Leet time to evacuate the Congressmen out the back (well, not all of them really, Ulmin's people remain with the Neimoidians). The battle rages on. E'tan and E Leet rejoin Oona who is not fighting with Janna. The fight goes badly. Even a Jedi master and three apprentices can't seem to defeat a single Sith (Tito Jax would have made no difference were he present).

In the end E'tan calls up the shuttle to have it shoot at the ranch. Maybe, just maybe it can distract the Sith. Mayzin responds and fires the shuttle's guns repeatedly. The Jedi flee, but they get no further than the steps before a thrown lightsaber takes Oona in the back. She falls, mortally wounded. E'tan manages to use the Force to heal her, preventing her from dying outright. They stumble for the shuttle, E'tan carrying Oona and E Leet supporting Janna. The rubble shifts and the Sith gets out. E'tan flings a rock at him. The Sith throws it right back - then he starts flinging big rocks at the shuttle. E Leet rushes back, unleashing every bit of Force he has; the Sith is knocked down and buried in rubble for the second time. It won't last long though, so they race back to the shuttle and lift off...leaving Tito Jax behind in the process.

The Jedi turn out to be less-than-friendly and another battle breaks out. The strange Jedi do not fight like Jedi at all - they may be Force users, but not very accomplished ones, and while they have lightsabers they lack the lifetime of training true Jedi have. What they do have is anger - a clear sign of the Dark Side. E'tan has the opportunity to shine - no thinking or wisdom required to bash down false Jedi with lightsabers and Force strikes. The enemies are all slain, except one that runs off into the bush.

They reach the ranch and have a chat with Presiden Turin and Master Dio. The Hiiso have reached the capital of Driscol too. The President insists on leading an expedition to see to the safety of Congress. Master Dio does not want to risk the President's life. She suggests a compromise; the President's daughter will go with the expedition. She is well known to the Congressmen and knows Driscol well. E'tan and E Leet will escort her. The President and Oona will remain at the ranch.Tito Jax and Janna are to take a speeder and check up on neighboring ranches, see if the people there need help.

Mayzin Turin and the two Jedi lead a small convoy of bush speeders to Driscol. With them are some tough ranchers that work for the Turins. They are not soldiers, but they are pretty handy with blasters anyway. Night has fallen. The capital in in disarray. Hiiso bands are roaming the streets. Congress may be under siege. A convoy of speeders is to obvious a target. They leave the speeders, along with a few guards, well outside the city center. Then they head for the Presidential Palace - there is a secure tunnel leading from the Congress building to the palace. For use by the President only, but this is an emergency.

Before they can reach the Palace they are ambushed by another group of false Jedi. They are defeated with some effort. They reach the tunnel and use it to gain entrance into Congress. Mayzin knows all the codes and such, so there are no problems. A handful of Congress Guards are doing their best to keep the Hiiso at bay, but they outgunned and outnumbered. The Jedi help beat of a Hiiso assault while the Congressmen (and women) leave through the tunnel. Then they retreat, shutting the tunnel behind them. It will be a while before the Hiiso dare another attack, so now is the time to slip away.

Deciding against walking all these people through the streets it is decided to get the speeders. But there is no reply. So E'tan takes a handful of drivers/guards with him and sets off. He finds the speeders and makes ready to drive. But after driving only part of the distance he gets a hunch, halts the column and climbs on top of a tall building. In time to see three strange lights falling from the sky, directly for the Congress building. There is a big explosion - Congress was just bombed!

The Presidential Palace - and the people inside - survived the bombing, save for a few cuts, bruises and ringing ears. E Leet tries to reach E'tan. Nothing. Communications are being jammed. From somewhere high above. This can only mean invasion. E'tan gets his act together and rushes to look for survivors. He then witnesses a brief battle between Hiiso and Separatist Battle droids. The Confederacy has arrived. Figures. Reaching the palace E'tan holds a rousing speech, then they move out on foot. There is no other choice. Fortunately the speeders are where E'tan left them. The mount up and drive off in small groups to avoid detection and wholesale destruction. Their destination - the Turin Ranch.

After an arduous journey the Jedi heroes finally arrive at Rigelia. They may think they have reached as safe haven, but events are soon to prove them wrong as a violent Separatist plot engulfs the planet...

Rigelia is another unaligned world that is hotly debating whether to join either side of the escalating galactic war. There is conflict between two local power groups – the old landowners who favor the Republic, and the Mining Conglomerate that supports the Confederacy. A world-wide referendum will determine the political future of Rigelia. A referendum that the Conglomerate feels it must win – otherwise the Republic anti-slavery law will kick in and free the Hiiso slaves that work the mines. This alone will do very bad things for the Conglomerate’s profit margin, but the emancipated slaves will no doubt add their votes to those of the landowners, effectively securing their political power. It simply cannot be allowed to happen. Acting in secret the Conglomerate has been able to secure some additional support from the Confederation. The Confederation has guaranteed that the Confederacy of Independent Systems will not let Rigelia fall into chaos!

The Jedi are well received by the Rigelians. They are taken to the Congress building. Oona and her Padawan go to speak with the Planetary President and her ministers. The rest of the Jedi are supposed to stay put and not make any fuss. The President, the tough old rancher Tamzin Turin would very much like to help the Jedi, but given the current political situation she cannot be seen to be taking sides. The Light of Reason will be allowed to make some necessary repairs and the President will ensure that medical attention is given to those that need it, but after that the Light must leave.

In the meantime E'tan goes for a stroll. He encounters Vice-President Ulmin Drey (who is also the leader of the Mining Conglomerate, and pro-Separatist). E'tan get's a 'bad feeling' (not so strange perhaps, since Ulmin has a rather bad destiny). A quarrel develops. E'tan is frustrated. A lightsaber is drawn. Guards rush to help. Suddenly E'tan is keeping the Vice-President hostage and demanding a speeder be made ready for him. He intends to take Ulmin to Empogmia (the Mining Conglomerate HQ) and 'prove' that 'something' is very wrong. Poor Master Dio...

Oona sends E Leet after E'tan. A wise choice, since the brash Jedi is more likely to listen to the Cerean than any other sentient (and the Cerean is less likely to want to strangle E'tan than anyone else). The rest of the Jedi go with the President to her ranch - she's still supportive of the Jedi, but feels it is best if they keep a low profile.

E Leet eventually overtakes E'tan and forces him to stop. Before they can speak much the airspeeder that carried E Leet is shot out of the sky. Everybody dive for cover, and not a moment too soon - the landspeeder also go up in flames. Then a wave of heavily armed (as it turns out they are armed with REPUBLIC guns) Hiiso charge the Jedi. E Leet tries to reason with them, but these Hiiso are not docile at all. The Jedi are forced to kill them all. Afterwards they collect Ulmin Drey - totally panicked he's been trying to crawl away...

Mayzin Turin, President Turin's strikingly attractive and willful daughter, turns up in her outback speeder. She went looking for the Jedi against her mother's (and Oona's) wishes. Good thing she came though - saves the Jedi a long walk. Upon nearing the Turin Ranch they hear the sounds of blaster fire. The abandon the speeder and sneak through the bush...

...finding a handful of Jedi waiting for them. How...odd!

Darth Tempos is a female Jedi that was turned to the Dark Side by Darth Obsirius. She was always headstrong and temperamental, even as an apprentice, and because of this she was never accepted as a Padawan. Consigned to a lesser role within the Order she chafed at the restrictions placed upon her. She felt that she was being prevented from fulfilling her potential, a feeling that was strengthened when the Clone Wars began. She knew she had been born to do battle, but the Jedi would not allow her to follow her destiny.

Assigned to handle communications within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, her break came when she read a classified dispatch intended for the Jedi Council; that a Sith had been spotted in the Erberus Sector. She deleted the dispatch, left the Temple, and headed for the far-away Erberus sector to find her destiny. When she arrived Darth Obsirius was awaiting his new apprentice.

Thanks to Obsirius tutelage Darth Tempos is a now a very capable lightsaber combatant and a fairly powerful wielder of the Dark Side. Her combat style is offensive in nature – she will attack furiously with her saber and telekinetic powers until the enemy has been defeated. She is also a competent starfighter pilot – and if need be she can be quite stealthy.

Darth Tempos has proven capable of dealing effectively with Master Dio. She was, however, defeated by Oona and her apprentices working in concert. She is believed to be dead, having fallen into a lake of molten lava on Consovor.

After a pause of three or so months (RL intruding) we finally managed to continue our SW campaign. When last we left off the Jedi had manged to liberate the members of the Rigelian Planetary Congress. Using the same secret tunnel leading from the Presidential Palace they used to enter. All that was left to do was bring the Congressmen from the Presidential Palace to the speeders they had left behind at a safe distance. Needless to say it didn't go according to plan. A droid army invaded. The First Minister turned out to be in the pocket for the Separatists. A Sith Lord arrived to negotiate - with lightsaber and Force lighting. Good fun.

This site has lots of nice 3D models of Star Wars ships (and some vehicles as well):

http://fractalsponge.net/index.htm

Hiiso are a species of bipedal lizards that hail from the far reaches of the Erberus Sector. They once possessed an advanced star-faring civilization. But the Hiiso were also highly aggressive, and proved unable to co-exist with the Old Republic. Millennia ago a full-fledged war broke out, and the Hiiso were defeated by the Republic and the Jedi. Today the Hiiso can be found on planets around the Erberus Sector. They are strong and enduring, but surprisingly docile. This combination of traits makes them ideal laborers.

Outer-Rim sector located to the far galactic south. Situated between the Corellian Run and the Rimma Trade Route, the Erberus Sector it is something of a backwater in galactic terms. Its immediate neighbors include the independent Helios system, the Confederacy-dominated Elrood Sector and the Republican Minos Cluster (both of the latter tenuously connected to the Rimma Trade Route). There is also a secondary route linking the Erberus Sector to the Corellian Run by way of Tatooine (in Hutt Space). The Erberus Sector remains a largely unaligned part of the Galaxy. The Clone Wars have yet to fully reach this part of space, and many systems think that they can just wait out the conflict. The most prominent system is Hexan, which is the only world in the sector to have a representative in the Senate.

Ridley Scott...Aliens universe...sci-fi...evocative trailer...it COULD be good at least.

http://www.prometheus-movie.com/

Looking forward to it. Quite liked the reboot.

http://trekmovie.com/2012/01/14/paramount-officially-announces-star-trek-sequel-produciton-start/

Heavy weapons specialist CT-4001-136372-24551 aka ‘Heavy’ is one of the most colorful clone troopers aboard. It is possible that a slight defect in the cloning process is the reason why he is less obedient and efficient that his batch brothers. He is, however, very good at what he does, and his sense of self means he is more cautious and more likely to survive a battle than your average clone. Heavy seems particularly attached to E'tan for some reason.

Sergeant 'Stone' is the highest-ranking clone aboard the Light of Reason following the droid assault on the ship. Stone was among the first batch of clones ready for battle, and took part in the attack on Geonosis. He was severely injured and spent several months in a medical station, then served in various capacities for the rest of the first year of war, before being reassigned to guard Jedi.

Janna is an unlikely Jedi candidate, having been born on a remote world in the Outer Rim, far from the influence of the Jedi and the Rebulic. Moreover, her birthplace, Muunilinst, is also the homeworld of the Muun, the architects of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, a key supporter of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Nevertheless, Janna was found by Jedi and taken to Coruscant for training.

When she was old enough Janna was selected by the Council to become Master Dio’s personal apprentice – her Padawan. It was tought that Janna had need of strengthening her combat skills, while Master Dio needed an apprentice that was mature, balanced, and always seeking alternate solutions to aggressive negotiations.

Janna fights with a single yellow-bladed lightsaber. Her style is defensive in nature; focusing on blocks and parries, then lashing out when her opponent exposes himself, using either her blade or the Force. Janna is rather strong in the force, but she is weaker in the telekinetic disciplines.

She is rather attractive and tends to attract unwanted attention from amorous males. Oona has urged her to take advantage of the fact, but Janna remains too dedicated to the Jedi Code.

A Twi'lek native of Ryloth taken from her home by slavers, Oona had the good fortune to be freed by Jedi master Trisko Drall during his anti-slavery campaign in the Outer Rim. When the Master sensed her force potential, he asked her if she wanted to return to her home or come with him to Coruscant. Oona chose the latter; but it is a choice that has haunted her ever since – visions and dreams of other Twi'lek suffering the ignominies of slavery continues to haunt her even today, and she has been known to react very harshly indeed against slaves – even suspected slavers. Master Oona Dio has spent much of her life away from Coruscant, ceaselessly bringing justice to the Outer Rim and beyond – she does not feel that the Force is limited by political borders, and has in the past taken actions in systems not affiliated with the Republic.

Oona is very tall for a Twi'lek. Her lean frame is covered by supple muscle, which is further enhanced by the tight-fitting black body-suit she wears. She is a true Jedi Guardian - a master of the lightsaber and a staunch defender of the Republic and the values of democracy and freedom.

Nameless Sith Lord accompanying the Trade Federation Envoys to the Turin Ranch meeting. Wears strange red battle armor that seem resistant to lightsabers. Metal collar covers his neck and lower face. Has not yet spoken. Fights cunningly, using a combination of lightsaber attacks and advanced Force techniques. When angered abandons Force use in favor of an aggressive lightsaber style. Far stronger in the Force than Master Dio, and more than a match for her with a lightsaber.