STAR WARS: Aphelion
"And the Flight of the Heavens"
Based on the enthralling galaxy and characters within by
George Lucas
Story and Script by: Silas McCord
I DO NOT OWN ANY COPYRIGHTED CHARACTERS, PLACES, NAMES, IMAGES, OR MUSIC. THIS IS A FAN-FICTION. I MAKE NO PROFIT OFF ANY CONTENT HERE WITHIN.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
STAR WARS
APHELION
EPISODE VI: AND THE FLIGHT OF THE HEAVENS
EXT. SPACE
A timelapse of the young Ahch-to and the surrounding debris of asteroid slowly orbiting around and becoming a moon.
INT. TOURIST FERRY - MACHINE UNDERBELLY - DAY
The underground of the ferry-a dark uninhabited abyss where catwalks and platforms abound, reaching from one clanking piece of machinery to the next.
Sunlight creeps its way into the massive chasm-like underbelly through repeating slits of glass in the upper edges of the ceiling. The sounds of creaking and moaning echo through the hull.
MOONI (O.S.)
Ok. ...Are you ready?
Mechanic droids buzz through the air shining lights on different parts of the machinery. The sparks and clattering of their tools at work fill the atmosphere.
LUCY (O.S.)
Yep. ...Are you?
MOONI (O.S.)
Yes!
LUCY (O.S.)
(laughing)
Really, because last time-
MOONI (O.S.)
(laughing)
Stop!
Lucy and Mooni, both a little taller now, are on a catwalk at the far end of the underbelly. The railing is broken off. Mooni wears a small backpack. They both stand on long, thin boards with pointed noses and jet engines attached to the back. Both boards have a pole, meant for piping, with a counterweight on top. Their feet are bound to magnetic mounts.
LUCY
(laughing)
Last time- last time you-
MOONI
(laughing)
No! That didn't happen!
Lucy, cracking up, crouches down and puts her hand, parallel to the board. She can hardly contain herself.
LUCY
(laughing)
Yes! And then! You just-
MOONI
Lucy, I could have died!
She points and zooms her hand out, mimicking the board taking off.
LUCY
Zooom!
MOONI
(laughing)
Stop it, you- uurgh!
Mooni grabs the pole and tilts herself right off the catwalk.
LUCY
Woah!
Lucy watches her fall and then she follows suit!
They both free fall for a bit before Mooni steps back on a pressure plate, forcing a powerful jet to shoot out of her board. She pulls up on the pole, levelling out her board. Lucy does the same and follows behind her.
LUCY
Woooo!
INTRO: embed/ODOZ-gCnIW8?start=196
They weave in and out of the machinery, wind blowing around their clothes and hair. Side by side, they approach a large turning wheel, like a giant gear. As it turns, it provides a small opening every few seconds.
Lucy holds her ground. Mooni looks at her, worried.
MOONI
Lucy!? Come on!
She watches as Lucy twists her pole off and holds it parallel to her board. She crouches down as she darts straight for the wheel.
MOONI
Ho ho, are you insane!?
Mooni veers off down and around the wheel as it turns and an opening begins to appear. Lucy blasts right through it. Mooni watches from below. As soon as Lucy passes through to the either side she twists her pole back into the board, gets up, and leans back, doing a loop-the-loop...
LUCY
WoooHOOO!
...all the way down next to Mooni. Mooni is dumbfounded. Lucy can't stop smiling.
They weave through more machinery until they come towards the end of the ship-a massive wall of cables and piping, leading to the underwater engines. They each use the counterbalance to spin themselves upside down and around into a busted opening in one of the sewer pipes.
MOONI
Love that smell!
They speed through the pipe until it forks up and down. They both pull back, shooting straight up. They exit into another large, mechanic room. A group of workers turn around, shouting at the two girls passing by.
WORKER #1
Heey!
He waves his fist at them. The two girls twist around, their engines blowing the worker's cap right off. They blast down another tunnel with a light at the end of it.
As they speed through, staying beside each other, Lucy looks over and smiles at Mooni. Everything grows silent.
EXT. AHCH-TO - OCEAN - DAY
They exit the tunnel and are free of the ship. They soar above open waters as the ferry grows rapidly smaller in the distance.
Lucy raises her arms.
LUCY
WOOO!
Mooni dips down, crouching as she skims the water. Lucy joins her, their paths criss-crossing and intertwining.
Lucy reaches into a pocket and grabs out a small pair of goggles. She puts them on and gives an inquisitive thumbs up to Mooni.
MOONI
Oh, right!
Mooni grabs her own pair of goggles from her pocket and puts them on, giving Lucy a thumbs up when she's finished.
Lucy presses the pressure plate with her heel causing the jet to pulse. She pulls slightly back on her pole, speeding even faster now toward the sky. Mooni does the same and follows closely behind her.
EXT. AHCH-TO - SKIES - DAY
They pass through enormous clouds until they reach the other side-a bright white sea of cloudtops. They travel above misty valleys and through crisp, icey archways until they reach a spot under one particularly mountainous cloud. Below, they can see through to the ocean and the beginning of an Ahch-to continent. They both press back on a pressure plate, causing their jets to fizzle out and their jetboards to hover stationary in the air.
Mooni takes off her backpack as Lucy untwists her pole and places it on a mount below the board, being especially careful to not fall. Mooni takes out a rope and tosses it to Lucy who catches it. Mooni ties it to a hook on her board and Lucy gently reels it in so that both boards sit directly adjacent to each other. Mooni twists off her pole and mounts it to the bottom of her board while Lucy slides a lock over the pressure plates on both boards.
Lucy sits back, cross-legged, on the end of the boards while Mooni pulls a small square out of her backpack. She twists a cap off and the square expands into a fluffy pillow. She places the cap into her pocket and tosses the pillow to Lucy.
LUCY
Thank you.
She lies down and places the pillow behind her head. Mooni sits up across from her and smiles. Lucy raises an eyebrow.
LUCY
What?
Mooni smiles, shaking her head.
MOONI
Nothing.
Lucy blushes, smiling but confused.
LUCY
Okay, then.
She looks down at the ocean below and breathes. The clouds move slowly by. A sea creature splashes up out of the water and then dips back under. The sun glitters across the teetering sea.
LUCY
(whispering)
Hot dang.
Mooni continues to look right at Lucy.
MOONI
Hot dang is right.
Lucy whips her head around to look at Mooni who is now obnoxiously biting her lip.
LUCY
Oh my- stop that!
Lucy turns bright red, dumbstruck. Mooni starts laughing.
LUCY
Moon-
MOONI
Ahahaha! You are BRIGHT red!
LUCY
Mooni!
MOONI
What? Can a girl not appreciate another girl's beauty.
LUCY
Mooni... I swear. I will push you right off this board!
EXT. AHCH-TO - SKIES - SUNSET
The clouds around the two girls turn golden and pink. Lucy lies in Mooni's arm, both sharing the pillow. They stare up into space as the shadows of passing clouds come and go.
MOONI
Two years.
Lucy purses her lips.
MOONI
You'd think it'd get easier.
Lucy shakes her head.
LUCY
...You think about it less but it never stops... hurting. I dunno.
They continue to look up.
LUCY
I- um...
MOONI
Hm?
LUCY
Uh... nothing.
Mooni furrows her brow.
MOONI
Alright.
As the sun continues to set, more and more stars begin to come out. Mooni revels in it.
MOONI
You know you can tell me anything, you know.
LUCY
I know!
Beat.
MOONI
If Nole were to call right now and he says he finally got a ship, would you go? Out there? Back home?
LUCY
Whoo gosh. I mean... I don't- I couldn't say no. Like I'm happy on Ahch-to... with you. But there's so much here I wanna leave behind. And so much out there I have to see.
Mooni nods in agreement.
MOONI
Yeah, same.
LUCY
Part of me likes to think that... maybe my mom did escape. And she's back there now, waiting for me.
We allow some time to pass. Mooni holds Lucy tighter but Lucy breaks free and props herself up, looking worried. Mooni returns the concerned look.
MOONI
What?
LUCY
I-
She can't bring herself to finish.
MOONI
Lucy? Seriously. What is it?
LUCY
I don't know.
MOONI
What?
LUCY
I'm... sorry.
Mooni's worried look turns to confusion.
MOONI
What? About what?
Lucy takes another moment. She swallows.
LUCY
You're grandpa... died because of me.
Mooni drops her confusion.
MOONI
Lucy...
LUCY
Didn't he? Th- that box you had. That was to help him get better. But... but I got caught and y- you had to chose between him and me.
Mooni sighs. She frowns. Lucy lies back down in Mooni's arm.
LUCY
I'm just... so sorry. I think about it all the time... if I had just run a little bit faster.
Beat.
LUCY
That's all it would've taken. And... if I had just done anything at ALL during that battle with Aug. I don't know. Anything.
Lucy tears up. Mooni stares into the distance.
LUCY
It felt like he almost made up for your grandpa-
It's clear that Mooni doesn't agree. She furrows her brow.
LUCY
-but then he was taken, too. And... and I just know it's... just all my fault. ...And I know I don't deserve you. Yet here you are.
Mooni sighs again and then starts to tear up, too.
MOONI
Lucy. ...That's the stupidest rubbish I've ever heard in my life.
LUCY
I don't deserve this.
MOONI
You deserve everything good. I'm so serious. Like, as much as losing grandpa sucked, I wouldn't have life any other way than it is right now.
Lucy shakes her head. The sun lowers and it gets darker and darker. Mooni wipes her eyes.
LUCY
We've lost so much.
MOONI
Yeah, and I'd be the biggest idiot in the galaxy to blame it on you.
Lucy sits up and looks at Mooni's shirt, now blotted with her tears.
LUCY
Sorry.
Mooni chuckles.
MOONI
(whisper-yelling)
Stop aPOLOGIzing!
Lucy grabs the pole from underneath the board and twists it back on. She sits up against it as Mooni props herself up against her pillow. Lucy dangles her leg over the edge.
The clouds pass, leaving them in a wide-open clearing. The sky turns purple as the sun fully sets, allowing the stars to shine brighter than ever.
The two girls sit across from each other among this star-filled expanse, almost as though they're within space itself.
MOONI
We're all we got.
Mooni smiles.
MOONI
That's enough for me.
And Lucy smiles.
LUCY
...Me too.
Something beeps inside of Mooni's backpack. She rummages through it and grabs a comm. device.
MOONI
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Lucy chuckles.
LUCY
Funny... 'cause I think he might actually be the devil.
MOONI
I know you do.
Lucy watches closely as Mooni tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. She clicks a button and a hologram of Nole appears.
NOLE
Heyyyy... I gotta ship! Hyperdrive and everything.
Lucy and Mooni look at each other, slack-jawed.
FADE TO BLACK.
OUTRO: embed/9zNS-YD-zso?start=28&end=163
EXT. AHCH-TO - JUNKYARD - DAY
Everything is muted except the outro music.
Lucy, carrying a small pack, walks up the ramp of a beaten and battered mid-size starscow, THE KESTREL. She rubs her hand along the side of the ship as she enters.
INT. THE KESTREL - DAY
It has a small interior-a tiny cargo area leading to a two seat cockpit.
Mooni looks up from a device, watching Lucy walk in. Her blade, blaster, and the two jetboards are strapped up to the wall behind her.
Nole and a junk mechanic finish up a conversation. The mechanic nods a few times, finishes talking, and passes by Lucy to exit the ship.
The music continues but lessens for the dialogue.
MOONI
Hey, I've got something for you.
Lucy raises an eyebrow brow. She sets her pack down in the corner and brushes her hair out of her face. She turns, curious, to see Mooni picking up something wrapped in brown paper. Mooni holds it out for her. She takes it and unwraps it, revealing a scratched and dented, black and gold lightsaber. Lucy is stunned.
LUCY
This is Aug's.
Mooni nods.
MOONI
Yeah. Marsyo thought it would be a good going-away gift for you so... I kind of pushed him to look for it. ...It wasn't that hard for him to find actually!
Lucy holds the hilt tightly and hugs Mooni.
LUCY
Thank you.
MOONI
It's kind of a mess. It doesn't work, I tried.
LUCY
Shut up. You know it's perfect.
And it was. Everything in that moment was perfect in Mooni's embrace. In her embrace there lay a fulfilling future-one with adventures, new homes, friendship, danger, the secrets of the Force, the thrills of the unknown, and... hope.
LUCY
(quietly)
You're perfect.
The ramp raises shut and the engines start. Mooni backs away from the hug and puts a finger in Lucy's face.
MOONI
Huh-uh. No. Stop that.
LUCY
What?! You are!
MOONI
No, you are!
NOLE
Ho boy.
LUCY
You are!
Their voices fade as the music swells. We slowly turn from the two girls and move in on a window at the back of the cargo area. The ship lifts off the ground and we see the planet of Ahch-to grow smaller and smaller.
LUCY (O.S.)
Wait. Look! Watch, watch.
The stars stretch and bend around the planet and in less than a second, it shrinks out of existence.
CUT TO BLACK.
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Based on story and characters by George Lucas
Written by Silas McCord
MUSIC:
"Win" by Disasterpeace, arranged by David Peacock, and performed by Augustine Mayuga Gonzales
"Requiem - Instrumental" by Shey Baba
COVER ART:
"Cliffs of Mohar 2" by Conor McGuire
All copyrighted characters, locations, terms, and phrases are owned by Lucasfilm LTD. and Walt Disney Studios.
END.