Non-canonical in-universe prop journal made for/“by” an original character.
Rio’s fifteen circa ~3 BBY and grew up loving mech vs. kaiju media and he’s only recently discovered that his dad and all of these uncles suddenly coming out of the woodworks are clones, so to find out they were on Coruscant when this thing was wreaking havoc is akin to hearing his dad’s squad all used to be movie stars. The brothers are much less enthused recalling the zillo beast encounter.
Rio isn’t even an overly excitable guy: he’s just finally living the exciting life he’s always dreamed about. Sucks that some of it involves being hunted down by the Empire and a cyborg assassin controlled by a mad scientist, but what can you do 🤷♂️
(And soon I will answer it, 'cause I need to organize my ideas :)
But, The Clone Action Movie Pitch actually got me.
I'm all ears 👀
YESSSS I’m so happy, I was hoping somebody asked about this one! This idea came to me two weeks ago and I’m STOKED (And also I am defo ready to see what you have cooking 👏)
So basically the thought started with the beginning to a familiar action movie setup of a group of guys having to reunite after over a decade because somebody has been coming after the members of their former squad and killing them off one by one, and now they have to get back together for one last job to find out why and put a stop to it. Despite the fact I started writing this with the express purpose of using all sorts of action movie tropes for the formula, there’s still new and fun twists on how they happen because we’ve set it within the world of Star Wars. It’s a good old fashioned action movie, babyyyyy!
It’s also all original characters, which I know may not be some people’s thing, but it means that this is unconstrained by most of canon, in terms of timeline consistency or connections to other properties’ stories. I have plenty of canonical Star Wars elements, but I wanted this to be a case of “Hey do you like Star Wars and don’t want to do any homework to understand what’s happening? Do you like action movies? Come on in!”
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Taking place ~16 years after the end of the Clone Wars, the story opens with fifteen-year-old Rio and his father living simply in a city on an Outer Rim planet. Most people didn’t know what the clones looked like beyond their armor, and that— along with its owners— was phased out a long time ago. Rio doesn’t know much about his father’s past beyond his own life, but it doesn’t come up in conversation much and Rio doesn’t know of a life any different than the one they’ve always had.
There’s some suspicious activity and murmurings around town, us following Rio through what a normal day should be for him, but as the day draws to a close things start to get more suspicious. His dad, normally a genial and easygoing guy, is strangely quiet and serious, and there’s a moment Rio catches him having some furtive conversation over a comm in the hall; when his dad realizes he’s there he snaps at him to go back to bed.
When Rio’s noticeably caught off guard by his dad’s tone, his dad visibly softens and his shoulders slump, and he goes to him, gently pulling him in to press his forehead to his son’s as he apologizes, asking him more civilly to go upstairs. Rio reluctantly does as he’s told; though his dad outwardly seems much more like his calm self, there’s still something tense about him.
The next day it’s clear there is something going on, the kid seeing people closing up shops, arguments happening in the square, a squad of stormtroopers questioning and harassing people. Rio’s nearly caught up in trouble with the troopers himself before his dad appears out of nowhere and intervenes, making quick work of them before telling him to stay calm and follow his lead, the two of them swiftly making a beeline for their home.
His dad tells him to pack a bag of necessities only, says they’re leaving and they won’t be coming back. Rio, understandably alarmed, desperately follows his dad around the house asking questions, asking what’s going on in town as his dad yanks cords from electrical panels in the walls and burns the databanks on his machines, and the kid’s alarm only heightens as he sees his dad pull burner comms, armor and gear, tools and equipment and weapons he’s never even seen before from hidden compartments all around the house.
His dad hated guns.
When Rio finally stops him and demands to know what’s going on, refusing to budge another inch until he has answers, his father sighs, visibly pained by the anger and distrust on his son’s face.
He takes Rio by the shoulders, gentle despite all that’s happened. “Do you trust me?”
Rio looks doubtful. “… Is the person you are still my father?”
“Yes,” his dad says without a moment of hesitation. “Yes, Rio.”
Rio wavers for a moment, but right now all he sees are the earnest, honest eyes of his dad, and he realizes… Yes. He does trust him.
“… Okay,” Rio says, and he starts to help pack up his father’s gear.
—
The kid doesn’t ask any more questions as they head out of town on foot, not even when gunfire starts up several blocks behind them and people start panicking in the streets. They’re at the edge of town when they hear the first explosion and Rio sees his dad’s resolve harden to determination. An old friend of theirs takes them by speeder outside of town; Rio still doesn’t ask questions when his dad leads him to a ship that’s been hidden and well-maintained for over a decade, and the two of them swiftly escape off-planet.
They wait in a remote location for other ships and transports to arrive. Rio sees a number beings exit the ramps; there’s a Pantoran woman in a trench coat with a satchel over one shoulder. A mountain of a man in a motley assortment of layers follows her, wearing a visor and partial face mask, accompanied by a droid. Another pilot lands and immediately hops out from the cockpit, sliding down the ladder as a second man follows. The first looks like a stunt racer, dressed in speederbike leathers and boots. The second man looks like a regular lineman, though with a rifle slung across his back and a mask covering his features. The pilot unbuckles the strap of his helmet as he joins them, and something about it looks familiar to Rio.
A real, honest-to-gods Mandalorian appears from behind Rio and his dad from the outcropping they’d met at, either having been there the whole time or somehow managing to creep up on them without notice.
The group convenes in a loose circle, and his father removes his hood.
“Lark,” he says, nodding to the woman. “Gentlemen,” he says to the men. “It’s been a while.”
They all look at each other, noticeably glancing at the kid before he puts a hand on his shoulder and says “Rio. My son.”
Slowly, one by one, all of them remove their helmets and masks, and Rio can’t help but look around the circle in astonishment.
Each man there, every one among them for no discernible reason why or how, shares his father’s face.
If you ☝️ were to make one of your original the main character of a Star Wars movie of their own, who would it be?
Off the top of my head, Rio from the clone action movie pitch I have outlined. The whole idea was “I’m gonna write a fresh Star Wars movie pitch that proves you don’t have to rely on established characters/stories to tell a new story in this universe, and all I have to do is make it your typical action movie with some fresh twists on classic tropes.”
I wrote that idea with the express intention of it being written to be a movie. I think it would be fun to see a group of retired older clones getting back together for one last job. It’s got themes around the ideas of brothers/brotherhood, family, fathers and sons, legacy, our choices being what defines us, autonomy and the importance of getting to have a choice in the first place
Fifteen-year-old son of a retired soldier, born shortly after the end of the Clone Wars. Unaware his father is a clone or that he fought in the war at all, Rio is suddenly forced to reckon with his father’s past as word of Stormtroopers and Imperial agents starts to spread in town and his father begins to pack long-hidden weapons and burner comms into bags before dragging him out the door to escape off-planet.
When they reconvene with several members of his father’s former squad, it’s revealed that someone has been targeting their old crew with the intent of taking them out one by one after all these years, and now they have to pull one last mission to uncover their enemy’s plot, take out the assassins, and help each other survive.
Rio’s pulled into a fast-paced, action-packed rollercoaster of events and emotions, learning about the extended family he’s never met and wondering if he can still trust the man it appears his father has always been.
