Interstellar Fronts: Escape from Sone Analysis

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this short story despite it not being a horror or thriller. I wanted to create a sci-fi story resembling one of my favorite franchises, Star Wars. I felt that it would be appropriate to open the story up with some world-building, as the iconic letter scrolls at the beginning of every Star Wars movie. I tried to open the narrative with a sweeping historical summary that grounds the reader in an expansive universe where faith, power, and conflict intertwine. I introduced the history of the Magus Order, the Vis, the Empire, and the Dark Lords of Malum. The Magus Order was a once-glorious, pacifistic religious faction that used the mystical power of the Vis. They mirror archetypes like Jedi Knights from Star Wars or clerics from high fantasy. The Malum are your typical evil lords that try to perverse the good and use it for selfish reasons. The Empire was once a declining force, and it rebounded by eradicating the Magus Order and their enemies, the Malum. I wanted the reason for the persecution of both the Magus Order and the Malum to be because they were continuously fighting amongst each other and that some saw their war as more harmful than good.

I like to think that some readers perhaps would root for the Empire not because it is evil but because it probably did what it thought was right in ending a long war. Like any strong Empire, its iron-fisted reign continues to oppress believers in the Vis, suggesting themes of totalitarianism and loss of spiritual freedom. The story then transitions into the present action, centering on Riveth and the city of Sone. Riveth’s vibrant and technologically advanced urban sprawl contrasts with the oppressive political backdrop of the galaxy around it. The city of Sone is a place bustling with commerce but also a hotbed of underground resistance. I tried to envision tall, metallic buildings like most sci-fi city worlds, with vibrant lights and constant city traffic of high-velocity speeders and aliens from all over the galaxy. Some themes I tried implementing into the story were faith, resistance, power, corruption, loyalty, and sacrifice. The Magi are framed as holy warriors who defend their beliefs despite persecution. The Vis represents a divine or spiritual energy that connects individuals to something more splendid, echoing themes of mysticism and religious martyrdom. The Empire’s ruthless eradication of the Magus Order—and its enemies—hints at an autocratic regime that fears any ideological challenge. Characters like the Sind and the Kraarul put themselves at significant risk to save the faithful. Their underground efforts symbolize quiet resistance against overwhelming odds. Just like the line "There are spies everywhere. One can never let their guard down" underscores a climate of paranoia, mirroring historical purges and real-world totalitarian regimes. For this story, I focused more on descriptive imagery of characters and their various physical appearances to try and make the world more alive with a lot of alien species. The dialogue played a big part in making the story feel grounded; despite the massive opening in trying to make this galaxy vast with rich history, I wanted the reader to also focus on the present stakes. I hope the protagonists are relatable to you, the reader, and are distinct enough with their own struggles. It is hard to fit so much into a short story, but perhaps in the future, this can be expanded on with a novel or even a comic book (God willing).

The idea of the hidden blade being revealed at the end being engulfed by a green flame was a last-minute thought that I added because I did not know what to do regarding weapons for the Magi. I wanted something that resembled a lightsaber, but obviously not a lightsaber. I don't think guns would be fitting for someone of that archetype, so it had to be a melee weapon of shorts that could also be profound. I drew inspiration from Demon Slayer- the anime because each breathing technique engulfs the character and their specific blades around the energy of said breathing technique as this world progresses and opens up, whether through a novel or trying to work with someone in creating a comic book about this. I might flush out the weapons more and get some ideas on what could be used; for now, the extraordinary hidden blade that Vang Driic can wield because the Vis allows him to wield it will have to do.

I want the readers to know and understand that we, as audiences, are not beholden to what big studios make. I have spoken with many of my friends and even seen online forums and videos of people disliking what has been done to one of the greatest franchises. I want this story to be a reminder that we, as fans, can create our own stories that pay homage to the giants that came before us.

Moving forward, I will no longer be using Ai pictures. The Wix site builder alerted me that I have reached my limit of 1,000 Ai-generated pictures. It's in the Beta phase right now; maybe there will be an option to buy credits to generate more pictures in the future. For now, I will use hand-drawn sketches of what I am trying to convey in my stories. If you are an artist, feel free to reach out to me, and we can work together because I can not sketch, I can barely sketch stick figures.

Last scene of the story, where Vang Driic holds of the Imperial troopers.