Children of the Sith
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Children of the Sith |
| Publisher: | Tristan Press |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | T.R. de Maiffe |
| Cover Artist(s): | |
| Illustrator(s): | |
| Date(s): | June 1980 |
| Medium: | fanzine, print |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Star Wars |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Children of the Sith is a two-part Star Wars novel published in June 1980 by T.R. de Maiffe. It was planned to be a trilogy, but it appears that only two parts were published.
Issue 1
Children of the Sith 1 was published in June 1980 and contains 83 pages.
The front cover is by R.C. Dorn. The interior illos are by Cherie Bochheim (Lady Tainea Vader).
Description: Darth Vader tunes in on what he thinks is Luke - turns out to be female Jedi on unknown planet - forces her to pose (in armor) as Luke.
The interior art:
- The Lord of the Sith (frontispiece)
- Vader enthroned on a high-backed chair of carved wood
- Tenner Christo
- The Abduction of Emerin Kenobi
from issue #1, by Cherie Bochheim
from issue #1, by Cherie Bochheim
from issue #1, by Cherie Bochheim
From the zine:
[The editorial]:Or backward, depending on how you look at it. We at Tristan Press and Linguacode hope you enjoy our offering. It was a last minute decision to get this ready for WESTERCON 33, and our art work wasn't quite finished. We promise illos for the next two installments of "Zombies of the Stratosphere", which is what I privately call our interpretation of Sith History , and the big question of What is Vader Up To, and Is He Really Luke's Father?
Some of you are going to comment that there is not enough room in the Meditation Chamber for the scenes that take place there between Vader and our little Jedi . We realize this, and are stretching it a bit, but so what? It's allowed in Fan Fiction.
Naturally, we look forward to your comments, positive and negative (as long as the negative ones are couched nicely. Our ego, you know...) If any of you are really intrigued by this and care to submit art, we will gladly look it over for inclusion in future installments and also for a reprint of Part One. We are planning two more parts to CHILDREN OF THE SITH, which should be ready shortly.
In closing, Tristan Press wants to thank the kind people of Linguacode who loved our story and insisted we print it up for you, who did our fliers, and lots of other nice things for us, for which mere thanks isn't enough; Evelyn, for listening to every blessed word over the telephone at midnight; Deirdre, Ed and Gayle, who came up with some of the wilder theories (some of which have been scrapped. They were much too bizarre. Maybe we'll revitalize them in the future.); George Lucas, because he gave STAR WARS to all of us in the first place.
And Lon, whose life has been turned into a living hell by the Dark Lord of the Sith.
[Synopsis (printed in the second issue)]:Azulin is a remote planet cut off from the rest of the galaxy by her distance and lack of faster-than-light drive. Azulinians do have limited travel within their system and their technology is comparable to Earth-type in the mid-21st century (assuming we don't blow each other up by them). And Azulin is possessed of a small, secret corps of Jedi knights, who maintain peace through clandestine interference in world politics. The notion is in fact prevalent throughout the planet that the only intelligent life in the universe is found on Azulin, the Jedi warriors and their support personnel realize that their own philosophical origins lie outside their planetary system.
Caitlin Macavoi is one of their number, an impetuous female chauvinist in her late 20's, who alarms and charms her male counterparts by her refusal to take a subordinate role in anything. Lately, however, she has been plagued by a series of dreams in which a man masked in black seems to be pursuing a fair-haired youth. Caitlin thinks of the masked man as the Dark Invader, and begins to question his significance when, in the last of her series of dreams, the Invader seems to be looking at her and beckoning her to come to him. Her sleep is blessedly interrupted by Waylon, one of her technicians, who in forms her that Owen Roe, her Jedi Master, has urgent business with all his warriors.
Owen's message concerns a disturbance in the Force, which he felt at approximately the same time Caitlin was dreaming her latest encounter with the Dark Invader. It is Owen's belief that something or someone is on its way towards Azulin, and he orders all the tracking stations staffed by the Jedi trained away from the planet. In a subsequent private conversation with Caitlin, the two of them make jokes about the Dark Invader, and Owen quips that her dream demon is probably the only man who could ever really control her. It's no joke later that evening when something in fact does land and Caitlin is ordered to see what this inter planetary visitor is all about.
Caitlin does not go willingly to this encounter; she senses that she is approaching a dark, awesome power, and as a precaution dons full body armor and her helmet. When she finally comes face to face with the visitor, she recognizes him as the Dar k Invader of her nightmare world.
The Invader is, of course, our old friend Lord Darth Vader, but being cut off by time and distance from the galactic goings-on, Caitlin has no idea who he is, or who this "Skywalker" person is Lord Vader mistakes her for. She knows only that he is too dangerous to be allowed to remain on Azulin, and so she plays along with the charade that she is Skywalker, just to get him off the planet. Vader takes her back to his star destroyer, the Dominator, and announces jubilantly to his senior officers that he has at last acquired the elusive Commander of the Rebel Forces.
The time of reckoning is upon her, however, when, alone with the Dark Lord in his chambers, she takes off her helmet and reveals who she really isn't. At first Lord Vader is outraged that he has been duped, but reconsiders killing her as she describes that the has in fact had dreams about him, and felt that he was summoning her, and not Sky walker when he came to her planet. Sensing that their encounter was more than accidental, he encourages the charade, going so far as to present her to the hologram of the Emperor as the newly-converted Luke Sky walker, who insists upon wearing his helmet to hide the wounds incurred during their last encounter on Bespin. After a near-disastrous lightsaber duel, in which Lord Vader merely wishes to test her skill as a warrior, she comes as close to killing him as anyone ever had before, with the exception of Obi-Wan Kenobi and he retreats into his Meditation Module to nurse his injured pride. Caitlin takes this opportunity to study the official Galactic History contained in the ship's computer memory in an effort to discover who Lord Vader is, who his Emperor is, and just who these Rebels are. The History is greatly digested, edited, and watered by the Imperial Historian and all she can glean is that her Jedi brothers in the rest of the galaxy were ex terminated by Lord Vader as a threat to interplanetary peace and efficiency. She learns that he is the king of the mysterious Sith peoples; about whom the Historian can say nothing encouraging or concrete, and that he has been assisting the Emperor in his battle against the Rebel Alliance. Dissatisfied with this history, Caitlin goes into meditation, hoping that the Force will supply her with some of the answers to her questions regarding the Dark Lord's purpose and his sudden role in her life. He is likewise lurking about in the soft confusion that is the Force, ever seeking the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker.
The plan is eventually revealed to her by her captor that they will proceed to the planet Tatooine, there to acquire a certain Captain Han Solo, and if possible, other member s of the Rebel Alliance. Publicly, Vader is saying that these people are a dangerous rallying point for the Rebels, and their capture would be a severe blow to the morale of the already-battered Alliance forces. Privately, he tells Caitlin that if he has these people once more within his grasp, it may lure Skywalker - out of his hiding place. As for what the Emperor might say when it is know that Vader presented the wrong Skywalker to him, Vader prefers to cross that bridge at a later date.
Once on Tatooine, Caitlin removes her armor and poses as an agent for an unknown employer to approach Jabba, the Hut, and bargain for Captain Solo, still, as far as anyone knows, trapped in his carbonite prison. It is her secret plan to escape from Lord Vader at the first opportunity, but he needn't know that as yet. Jabba agrees on a price with her and instructs her to meet him out in the desert, where he will turn Solo over to her.
Once more with Lord Vader, Caitlin makes the acquaintance of Tenner Christo, a tall, red-headed man so much like Vader in size and tone of voice that our young Jedi actually believes that Tenner is Lord Vader, and that the black armor and robes parading about the chambers are manipulated through the Dark Lord's command of the Force. This is not such a bad proposition to Caitlin; Tenner is charming and mannered, and attractively sinister. He denies that they are the same person, and assures her that Lord Vader is hideously disfigured and unable to exist without the life support functions in his armor. But the fact that her new companion quizzes her extensively regarding how well she gets along with the Sith Lord, and does she in fact like him, leads Caitlin to believe that perhaps Lord Vader is not impervious to the charms of an energetic, strong-willed Jedi lady. Once more in Jabba's company out in the deserts of Tatooine, Caitlin is presented to Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca and See Threepio, who have also arrived to bargain for the return of their stricken comrade. Jabba, however, does not have Solo, and plans to take their money and sell them into slavery. Drawing her lightsaber, Caitlin discourages this action, but in the process, Jabba's henchmen take fright and flee, leaving Caitlin and her new friends stuck in the middle of nowhere without landspeeders. Night is drawing down, and soon the Sand People will be up and about.
In her anger at Jabba's duplicity, Caitlin murders him with an ease she finds alarming. The Dark Side of the Force is unknown in Azulinian philosophy, though Tenner Christo mentioned i t to her once. She understands what i t is as she con templates Jabba's body: it is the pleasure one takes out of inflicting pain, and it is with a supreme effort of will that she does not dismember Leia, when the princess accuses her of being an agent of the Dark Lord.
And then... Sand People surround the compound. Threepio it is who saves the day by recalling that Obi-Wan Kenobi's abandoned house is not more than a mile or two from where they are. Stealing some banthas, the small band reaches the old man's former abode, where Caitlin explains exactly who she is, and they agree to help her escape Tatooine with them.
Caitlin had learned previously through the Galactic History that Obi-Wan Kenobi was, during his life, a prime mover in the cosmic drama into which she has been pushed, and elects to search the premises for any notes or memoirs he might have kept. When she and Leia come across precisely what they are looking for, they listen eagerly as Obi-Wan tells in his own voice, the events leading up the the rise of Lord Vader and the destruction of the Jedi Brotherhood.
What they hear is only too shocking. Obi-Wan was married once to a Sith woman, by whom he had a son he named Emerin. He had been warned by Lord Rua Hagen, the then Dark Lord of the Sith, that any male issue of this union might wind up as a candidate for Dark Lord, an unpleasant proposition since 10 candidates are nominated, one is elected and masked, and the other nine are slaughtered, so that the Dark Lord will forever remain a mysterious, god-like figure. Obi-Wan mocks him and plans to raise his son as a Jedi knight. Even when Yoda refuses to have any thing to do with him, Obi-Wan trains him himself, refusing to heed the warnings of his own Master, that a Jedi-trained Dark Lord, assuming Emerin were elected, would be the most dangerous creature in the galaxy.
Into this drama steps Erin Sky walker, who has run away from his brother's farm on Tatooine to become a Jedi. He and Emerin become fast friends, though they are in love with the same woman, Senta Organa, Bail's sister from Alderaan. Obi- Wan's fantasies that his son will marry and bless him with grandchildren are marred when he comes to the realization that not only is Emerin having dealings with the Emperor, but that the Sith are visiting him in secret, teaching him their customs and language. When the Sith Priests do in fact arrive publicly to take Emerin to the elect ions, Obi -Wan refuses to help his son.
The subsequent appearance of Darth Vader fools the entire galaxy except Obi-Wan, Erin and Senta, Emerin' s former fiance. Senta disappear s herself , only to pop up again some months later in the form of a boy-child brought to Obi-Wan via messenger, and a cryptic letter assumed by all to be a suicide note. She had married Erin Sky walker after Emerin disappeared, but Erin insists that it ^ was a marriage in name only, and that the child is not his. Believing that Vader kidnapped Senta, and overcome with a sense of betrayal that his friend would turn his back on the Jedi and join the Emperor, Erin goes in search of the Dark Lord. His fate remains forever a secret. Only his lightsaber reappears when Lord Vader hands it to Obi-Wan and tells him the weapon should belong to some member of Skywalker's family. The old man realizes that it is now his responsibility to rid the universe of this new scourge. He delivers Senta's child to Erin's brother and sister-in-law on Tatooine, telling them the boy was Erin's, and meets Vader for personal combat in a remote part of the galaxy. Lord Vader is cruelly injures, defenseless in fact, but Obi-Wan cannot bring himself to deal the final blow. This is his son, and it is not within him to murder his own flesh and blood. He leaves the shattered Dark Lord, hoping that he'll die, but when, almost a year later, Vader reappears, Obi-Wan feels acutely that the guilt should be his—he could have killed Vader and didn't. I t is as much his fault as anyone's that the galaxy will be enslaved by the Dark Lord and the Emperor.
Caitlin and Leia discuss the information revealed in the tapes and the princess recalls that as a very little girl she met Emerin Kenobi once. She recalls also that her Aunt Senta disappeared one day, and the family refused to talk about her. She confesses that when she herself was 16 years bid, she fell in love with the dark mystery of Lord Vader, and would have run away with him at his insistence, if not for the foresight of her father, who locked her in her room until she came to her senses. As far as Luke and Han go, she admits that she is torn between them.
They are not given much time for idle chatter, however. Vader imposes himself on their conversation and arrests them all, in spite of Caitlin's efforts to re-engage him in combat. Leia and the others are taken to the Dominator, while Vader and Caitlin remain behind. Alone, he admits that the information in Obi-Wan's tapes is correct insofar as he was Emerin Kenobi. He then searches among the old man's belongings and retrieves a golden ring with crimson stones that was once his, a feathered mask that had belonged to his Sith mother, and a crystal necklace. He informs Caitlin that it is his belief that Solo's friends, including Sky walker, were going to rendezvous on Tatooine to rescue him, and that eventually, his young quarry will come to Obi-Wan's house to seek out the answers raised by their brief conversation back on Bespin.
As usual, Vader isn't far from wrong. Luke Sky walker, unknowing and unarmed, arrives at the old man's house, where Caitlin is quick to inform him that Vader has taken Leia prisoner. Luke decides that it would be healthier for the Princess if he didn't put up a fight and, gathering up Artoo Deetoo from his X-wing, he agrees to go along with them back to the Dominator. He seems to be in a state of shock and fatigue to Caitlin, which makes her wonder what he was doing before their encounter. Lord Vader gives him the ring, saying that it belonged once to Obi-Wan's son. He gives the Sith mask to Caitlin and tells her that her new identity will ba a Captain in his personal guard. During the journey back to the Dominator, Vader informs the "Captain" that she will learn, the truth about him, and reveal that truth to Luke.
Then they will strike out against their "real enemy", but just who that is, Caitlin has no idea.
Issue 2
Children of the Sith 2 was published in June 1980 and contains 72 pages. The art is by Cherie Bucchiem and Linda Yamashiro. The author notes that part three "should be ready by January."
The interior art:
- The Lord of the Sith by Cherie Bochheim
- The Priests Affixed the Mask by Linda Yamashiro
- Luke and Caitlin by Linda Yamashiro
- Lord Vader and the High Priest by Linda Yamashiro
- "So, Han, how do you fly one of these things?" by Linda Yamashiro
- "The Emperor laid his hands upon my bowed head" by Cherie Bochheim
- Lord Vader and Senta. by Cherie Bochheim
- "His armor clattered to the ground." by Cherie Bochheim
from issue #2, Linda Yamashiro
from issue #2, Linda Yamashiro
from issue #2, Linda Yamashiro
from issue #2, Linda Yamashiro
from issue #2, Cherie Bochheim
from issue #2, Cherie Bochheim
Contents:
- Dedication (ii)
- The Sith, A Brief History (iii)
- Synopsis, Part 1 (iv)
- Children of the Sith, Part II (1)
From the zine:
[The Sith: A Brief History]:The word "Sith" has several potential meanings, one being "peace", and the other "magic". They have no home planet, since their own world blew up 100,000 years ago when their sun went nova. They travel the perimeter of the galaxy in a fleet of starships, and step in and out of galactic goings-on at their discretion. They are an unusually tall, massively-built people, with red hair and round amber eyes, rather like an owl's.
The Sith believe that the universe constantly blows up and reforms itself and that they are the keepers of cohesion, nursing incipient intelligent life through all these cosmic deaths and rebirths. Their king is the Dark Lord, or in the Sith language, T'Iarna Duvh, which means, "Dark Lord", "Shadow King", and Tomb of Hope". They refer to non-Sith peoples as "unbelievers" and wear fantastic masks made of feathers and jewels when in the presence of non-believers. When the Dark Lord dies, ten young men are nominated, one is elected, and the other nine die. This is to insure that the Dark Lord will remain a mystery throughout his life, and remain only a masked idea. The ruler before Vader was a man named Rua Hagen', whose name meant "Preparer of the Way". Darth Vader means, "The Narrow Way Leads Home".
Most of what is known about the Sith is contained in dark, unpleasant legends, and threats mothers give recalcitrant children. "If you don't behave, the Sith will get you!"
Reader, beware: If you don't enjoy this 'zine, the Sith will get you!