Just a heads up, the first half of this will be the Epilogue for my story. The second half will be an extended Author's Note. I hope you enjoy it!
Ashley Torres - I'm happy you loved it! I do hope I haven't kept you waiting too long for this epilogue. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Achilles453 - I'm glad that you liked the last chapter even without any action. Sadly, there won't be any action here either. Also. Kaedan knows about the Thing because she will be appearing in my prequel story alongside Ahsoka, Rex, and Lux.
Four Years Later...
Sabine smiled to herself as she landed her Bell 206 helicopter. It had been four years since she and Ezra had killed the malevolent alien known simply as The Thing at Outpost 17 in Antarctica. Sabine and Ezra had been the only survivors, and their relationship had strengthened because of it. They would let nothing get in between them and got married as soon as they returned to the US.
Sabine and her family now lived on Whidbey Island in the Pacific Northwest. Sabine got work as a helicopter pilot, ferrying passengers and cargo or taking tourists on sightseeing tours of Mt. Rainier and the Cascades. Ezra found work as a meteorologist at Whidbey Island Naval Station/Ault Field near Oak Harbor. They now had two children. A girl named Mira Wren Bridger after Ezra's mother and a boy named Alexsandr Kallus Wren Bridger. They reminded their parents each day about who they lived their lives for.
Sabine still kept posthumously promoted Sergeant Jyn Erso's crystal with her in a necklace Ezra had bought. Mira, Alex, and her necklace helped Sabine and Ezra deal with the memories, but they still couldn't leave them buried in the snow. Sabine or Ezra would often bolt awake in the night, remembering what had happened. Sometimes the dreams would take an alternate path. Ezra always had one where the Saw-Thing had dropped down right on top of Sabine, while Sabine would have the nightmare where Ezra was a Thing and she had to burn him. They would always bolt awake to a darkened bedroom and another night of lost sleep.
As the sun began to set, Sabine drove onto the Whidbey Island ferry in Mukilteo and walked up onto the balcony. Gazing out over the water, she gained a sense of inner peace. She always had loved the sound of crashing waves and the cry of seagulls.
She became aware of a person walking up behind her, but didn't turn. This was a public ferry after all. That was, until she heard an all too familiar voice. "It's beautiful, you know. Kallus always did love it here."
Sabine's eyes widened and she spun in surprise. Standing next to her, looking out over Puget Sound while leaning against the railing on the balcony, was an amused looking Ahsoka Tano. "Commander Tano!"
Ahsoka chuckled, "Please Sabine. Just Ahsoka."
"Why are you here?"
Ahsoka laughed again, "I came to see you. How's Ezra doing, by the way?"
Sabine looked down at the water, "He's doing alright. We still... deal with what happened four years ago from time to time."
Ahsoka looked down, "I know what you mean. I was a victim and survivor before as well. Talking about it helps sometimes."
Sabine's face pulled together in confusion. "What do you mean victim and survivor?"
"She means this isn't the first time this creature has come to Earth." A new voice called from behind them. Sabine turned to see a man and woman, both about Ahsoka's age, with the man carrying a briefcase. Behind them was another man slightly older than Ahsoka walking towards them. The one with the briefcase had brown hair and blue eyes and the other had light blond hair and hazel eyes. The woman had darker skin and braided black hair.
Ahsoka smiled and indicated the woman, "This is Kaedan Larte, CIA agent and one of my closest friends." Kaedan smiled at Sabine and took over the introductions, indicating the first man, "Sabine, this is Lux Bonteri, former Soviet technician, and another old friend of the Commander's." She motioned towards the second man, who said, "Captain Rex, Army Rangers, retired. Like you and Ezra Bridger, the four of us are also survivors of a Thing attack."
Sabine was puzzled, "What do you mean? This isn't the first time?"
Ahsoka looked almost sad, "Do you remember every hearing the North Pole Incident being mentioned?"
"Yes... Kallus mentioned something about it."
Ahsoka smiled sadly, "It's the reason I believed Kallus' logs so quickly. I faced an alien attack around 20 years ago, along with both Lux and Rex. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, uh... no offense Lux..."
Lux chuckled, "None taken."
Rex finished, "With the fall of Lux's government, many files have become declassified. Including the ones revolving around what Commander Tano terms the North Pole Incident." He indicated the briefcase.
Ahsoka frowned, "How many times have I told you Rex? Don't call me Commander when we're off duty."
Kaedan finished, "We can show them to you when we get to your house. They may be declassified, but are not yet public knowledge, and neither the CIA nor the Senate wants a panic."
Sabine shrugged, "Okay. Sure thing."
45 minutes later, two cars pulled up at the Bridger house in Coupeville, WA. Ezra heard the key in the lock and heard Sabine call out, "Ezra, I'm home." His eyes opened in surprise as two, not one, familiar faces entered through the door, followed by two strangers. He recognized Sabine and Ahsoka, but not their three companions.
"Commander Tano! Wh-what are you doing here!"
Ahsoka smiled, "Please Ezra, just Ahsoka. I'm not your commander any more."
Sabine laughed at Ezra's surprised face, "Ezra, meet Captain Rex, former US Army Rangers, Kaedan Larte, CIA, and Lux Bonteri, a former Soviet."
Ezra, still bewildered, shook their hands, "Why are you here?"
Lux put his briefcase on the table. He opened it and pulled out a few pictures. "I believe you may recognize these." Ezra and Sabine's eyes widened even further as they leafed through them and Ezra dropped the last photo. "What... what is that?" The photo showed the charred remains of some kind of huge bug-like creature.
Rex nodded and Ahsoka sadly said, "It is. This is the same creature that you fought at Outpost 17. Your ordeal was not the first time humanity has fought the Thing. This photo was taken from a joint US-Japanese-Soviet investigation."
Kaedan spoke up, "The Thing ran rampant across the Arctic for a few weeks in 1970. Only a handful of people knew about it and most of them are dead."
Ezra looked up at Ahsoka, "How did it happen?"
Ahsoka's eyes darkened, "I chased it across the Arctic and because of that, I was declared a rogue by the US and a shoot-on-sight target by the Soviets. They thought I was responsible for all the death. I tried to tell them, but they didn't trust me."
Lux's eyes were sad, "I believe you've heard about the North Pole Incident. For them, it started with a crashed aircraft, but for me, it started when a US helicopter flew low, over the radar station I was stationed at..."
To be continued...
-000-
Hello everyone! Before I begin this extended author's note, I just want to thank all my viewers and especially my reviewers. I had no clue how this story would be received, seeing how there aren't many Thing-fics and even less crossovers between The Thing and Star Wars. Once again, a special thanks to Achillies453 and teresa. spanics for all your feedback and support. I don't think I could have kept writing this without you guys.
I'm writing up a few of the first chapters of my prequel story Things from Other Worlds before I publish so stay tuned. I hope to have it up before August. One question for you all: Should there be a pairing included? If so, would you rather see a Rexsoka, Luxsoka, or Kaesoka pairing?
Another piece of news, this story is now on Wattpad under my old username SWGoji2001. Google my username and this story should be there if you want to check out my Wattpad account. I intend to finish updating it in the near future. Check it out, and several other things that will be coming soon, like movie reviews or such, there as well!
Also, SPOILERS for the story ahead. So if you haven't read the rest of the story, read it now unless you like or are perfectly okay with spoilers.
An Analysis/Explanation of My Story
So, I first got the idea to write this story after I found my copy of John W. Campbell's novella "Who Goes There?" and reread it. Let me say right now that John Carpenter's The Thing is my favorite horror and suspense movie of all time! Seriously, it was the first movie to make me gag while watching it, and I still can't get over how this film builds up the suspense and all.
I've always been a big fan of sci-fi movies, and I thought that I might be able to tie Star Wars into the The Thing universe. I started writing and it actually began to come together. Even though I'm not completely happy with the first two chapters, I feel that it got better as time went on.
So the biggest question that comes with any Thing-fic is who gets assimilated first and how does it progress onwards. teresa. spanics hit the nail on the head so congratulations to you! The order of assimilation (not including the huskies) begins with Zare, then proceeds in this order: Sumar (partially), Saw, Gooti, Jai, Jyn (partially), Mart, and then Ketsu.
Zare was assimilated when the Thing burst out of the block of ice in Chapter 5. A large piece of the ice knocked him unconscious, and the Thing then chose to assimilate him. After all, it helps to have a backup. The Zare-Thing is also the one to assimilate Saw and Gooti. It got Saw in Chapter 6 and Gooti while Saw was destroying the radio equipment in Chapter 7. The Zare-Thing was the one to sabotage the blood. Notice how when I named the crewmembers in the corridor outside the radio room, Zare was the only one not present. While the Saw-Thing destroyed the communications equipment, the Zare-Thing proceeded to swap the real blood with fake blood, making it appear that Jai had sabotaged it. Later, during the blackout, Zare was the one who closed the door of the greenhouse and trapped Jai inside with the Saw-Thing.
Sumar was partially assimilated when he and Mart were investigating the food cache in Chapter 6. Sumar was impaled by a tentacle and dragged into the Thing where he was absorbed before Sabine and Jyn burned it.
Saw was the third to be assimilated. The part where he is assimilated is in Chapter 6, immediately after the tag March 10, 1987, 1600 Hours. Yes, this is before Saw trashes the radio room. Now you may be asking, why would the Saw-Thing destroy the radio equipment and make it harder for him to escape? Think about it, by destroying the radio room and appearing to have gone insane, the Saw-Thing is then left isolated in the tool shed where it is able to make an escape craft without anyone noticing. The Saw-Thing was also the one to sabotage the generator and was in the greenhouse when Jai found the planted evidence during the blackout, making it appear Sabine was infected.
Gooti was the fourth to be assimilated by the Thing. She was attacked by the Zare-Thing while the others were locking the Saw-Thing in the tool shed. Gooti and the Zare-Thing were the only ones inside Outpost 17 at the time, and it's a golden opportunity for the Thing to increase it's numbers. The Gooti-Thing then accused Sabine to try and spread more confusion and suspicion among the humans left standing. The Gooti-Thing was also the one to assimilate Mart during Split-face's rampage.
Jai was of course assimilated by the Zare-Thing and became part of Split-face. Jyn was partially assimilated by the Split-face Thing when she jumped in front of the tentacles and saved Sabine. She then prevented her complete assimilation by blowing herself and the Thing up.
Mart was assimilated by the Gooti-Thing during Split-face's rampage. He was the person running in terror through the hallways and was pulled into a room by what he thought was Gooti, but found out that she was a Thing.
Finally, Ketsu was the last member of Outpost 17's crew to be assimilated. She was attacked by the Saw-Thing while the others discovered Saw's escape craft.
Now, my version of the Thing assimilates it's victims by studying the cells it digests and then shapes it's own according to the victim's DNA. That's how it imitates the exact features of a person, kind of like Norris in the actual movie. This is also why the Thing cannot imitate inorganic matter, as there is no DNA to copy. Notice how Saw has a prosthetic leg though. So if the Thing can't imitate inorganic matter, how did Saw avoid suspicion? Note how in Chapter 7 Ezra finds a bloody hacksaw and shredded clothes. My intent with this was that the Saw-Thing cut off its new leg with the hacksaw so it could re-attach the prosthetic and be 'human.' The severed Thing leg then became the 'reserve' in case the humans managed to destroy it.
My version of the Thing is also telepathic like the one in the book. Sabine realizes this fact in Chapter 12, so I don't think I'll need to go over this in too much detail. The Thing basically uses its telepathy to lure the humans into doing something and to stay one step ahead of the humans. It also knew through telepathy that Sabine would be the most dangerous person to it, so the Thing tried especially hard to kill her. The Thing's telepathy is also why it knows to drop down through the ceiling at the basement stairs in the final battle.
I hope that explains most things about my story for you. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a comment or PM and I'll answer it to the best of my ability. Also tell me, what was your favorite part of this story?
I hope you all enjoyed reading "Who Goes There?" as much as I enjoyed writing it. This is TerminatorJedi (or SWGoji2001), saying "I'll be back!"