Force Exile Series

The Force Exile series is an ongoing fan book series written and produced by Atarumaster88, currently distributed via request with the author and on the Star Wars Fanon Wiki. The first novel, Force Exile I: Fugitive, was released in June 2007 and set at the tail end of the galaxy-spanning. Fugitive introduced several original characters, including the Selusda Kraen and  Alpha-28, also known as Spectre. The characters of the story must each confront the grim reality of and the rise of the  in their own way, finding their way in a galaxy changed forever. Atarumaster88 was able to procure cover art from a user named Solus, and the detailed covers have been a mainstay of the series. Fugitive has garnered critical acclaim from several reviewers, including the Star Wars Fanon Newsletter's staff, as well as winning the Best Novel Award in the Third Wiki Awards.

With the completion of Fugitive, Atarumaster88 began working on its sequel, Force Exile II: Smuggler, which continues the story of Selu and Spectre a few months after Fugitive, while bringing previously minor characters introduced in Fugitive to greater prominence. These included Sarth Kraen, Selu's brother, and R'hask Sei'lar, the captain of the Hawk-bat. It also introduced Milya Tayrce, a runaway who went on to play a large role in the novel. Smuggler finished with an explosive ending, with the final novel compiled in November 2007&mdash;a total writing time of less than six months for a 193 page book. Although the sequel received less critical notice, Atarumaster88 continued on with the final book of the trilogy, Force Exile III: Liberator, an even longer work that ended up spanning 295 pages. Set in, Liberator brought resolution to characters and events introduced throughout the books, setting them off in new directions at the end. It was finished in May 2008, again with only a total writing period of six months. Atarumaster88 attributed this pace to his extensive pre-planned outlining and layout work, as well as the multiple revisions the story underwent as it evolved and grew. However, Solus left the project after Smuggler, leaving Atarumaster88 to contact Darth Nyne to continue the production of covers for the series.

The latest additions to the Force Exile saga have not been novels. Starting in the summer of 2008, Atarumaster88 began work on a follow-on work to Liberator, an anthology of short stories known as the Yanibar Tales, stating that the stories within in it followed looser guidelines and could be written in a couple of weeks. Another follow-on work, The Essential Guide to Force Exile, is currently in the drafting stages, being partially complete as of this writing. Atarumaster88 has hinted that a second trilogy of Force Exile novels exists as well, but so far details have yet to be released.

Force Exile I: Fugitive
Force Exile I: Fugitive is the first book in the Force Exile series. A somewhat short 120-page novel divided into twelve chapters, it intentionally followed a rather simplistic structure, with only two main characters, both Human males. Atarumaster88 felt that for his first foray into writing, it would be easier to limit the scope of the novel and focus on developing the characters he did choose to work with, namely Selusda Kraen and Alpha-28 "Spectre". Particularly, he felt that a female, alien, or droid lead character would add a level of difficulty that he wasn't sure he could handle.

Plot
The book opens at the start of the in, near the end of the Clone Wars, where Selusda Kraen, the  of   takes to the cockpit of his  as part of the  assault against the  positions over Boz Pity. The Republic and Confederacy have been fighting for nearly three years by now, sparked by the secession of thousands of worlds from the Republic, and the Jedi have been at the forefront of Republic armies since the war's beginning, leading armies of clone troopers against their mechanized foes. However, in the, Selu's ship is shot down and he crashes in a remote location behind enemy lines. Plo Koon, concerned for the safety of his apprentice but otherwise occupied with matters that prevent him from attending to it himself, dispatches an trooper, Alpha-28, henceforth known as Spectre, to locate and retrieve Selusda&mdash;usually referred to as Selu. After several days' journey, Spectre locates Selu, who has been dodging hostile scout patrols and the two return to a small Republic outpost. Devoid of his master's companionship, Selu develops a friendship with Spectre over the next several days, but his duty soon calls him back to war and he departs the outpost to rejoin his master.

However, as his gunship departs, the outpost is attacked by Separatist aircraft. Selu orders his craft turned around to engage the droid craft as Spectre leads a desperate defense. Selu personally helps destroy the attacking craft, but the outpost's personnel have suffered heavy casualties, and Spectre is badly wounded. Selu signals for aid and takes charge of the outpost until aid arrives, defying his master's orders since he felt he was needed more at the outpost.

As the main part of the greater Battle of Boz Pity winds down, Selu is met by Plo Koon, who brings a relief force to the outpost to man it and evacuate the casualties. The Jedi Master is proud of his Padawan for his courage, but cautions him against letting his emotions rule him, as such actions lead to the. Having seen that Selu will need to be prepared for future challenges, Plo Koon intensifies his training even as the pair return to the galactic capital of. As a member of the, Plo Koon could hardly afford to be on the battlefield constantly; some of the Masters have to remain at the temple to provide leadership for the.

At the, Selu is reunited with his friend , who has already become a. A talented duelist, Keto is a good friend to Selu, but her own skill reminds Selu of his shortcomings in that area; throughout his youth, Selu has largely been viewed as an average or mediocre Padawan, barely worthy of a vaunted Jedi Master like Plo Koon. While proficient in, unarmed combat and a good student thanks to a nearly eidetic memory, Selu is neither a natural at using the Force or in wielding a lightsaber. He grows increasingly frustrated with his apparent lack of progress in the demanding training regimen, but his friends&mdash;Keto, a Human male named and a  Padawan named Skip, help him in his quest. Eventually, Selu is ordered to take his and confronts a dark side spirit after a week of meditation and fasting. Succeeding in adhering to the during his encounter, Selu is promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight, a joyous occasion of celebration for him and his friends.

However, while he is still stationed on Coruscant, the dreaded Separatist. Selu is thrown into the hasty defense, flying alongside twenty-one other in an attempt to send a message to Republic reinforcements. They are successful, but the battle quickly degenerates into a prolonged brawl. Flying for hours on end, Selu's reflexes fail him again and he is again shot down. Bailing out, he continues the fight on the ground with the aid of Republic soldiers against a numerically superior enemy. Battling against s, Selu leaps from droid to droid, disabling them with his lightsaber, but is severely injured in the process. Rescued by a group of Republic senators fleeing the battlefield, he was eventually taken to the Jedi Temple to recover as the Separatist force s eventually withdrew.

Meanwhile, Spectre is on, an world and another battleground between the Republic and Confederacy. Assigned a lone reconnaissance mission, he successfully spots airstrikes on a Separatist column, but is found by droid forces before air support can arrive. Pinned down, he too is injured while trying to hold off droid patrols. However, backup support arrives in time, annihilating the droid column and allowing friendly forces to extract Spectre. Once he recovers, he is assigned by his commander, CC-3433 "Trip", to help train a militia out of local inhabitants to augment the Republic forces. He does so, proving to be a hard taskmaster and a demanding instructor. From his view, Spectre feels that the only way that any of them will have a chance in combat is if he pushes them hard, which inevitably causes flaired tensions between him and the troops under his command. Many of them drop out, but Spectre is left with a little over a hundred hardened militia to take to combat and they acquit themselves well in the defense against a droid attack.

Back on Coruscant, Selu spends some time convalescing, but he does not recover in time to join his former master on. Not long before he is scheduled to depart for the Outer Rim battleground of, the Jedi Temple falls under attack from clone troopers, led by the fallen Jedi , who betrayed the Jedi and became the Darth Vader. Vader's onslaught is unstoppable and ruthless and the desperate defense put up by Selu, Skip, and the other Jedi does little against the numbers of the clones and Vader's fury. In the fighting, Skip falls to clone fire, and Selu is outraged and horrified. Skip encourages him to not give in to his anger and tells him that it's better to stay in the light side of the Force. Realizing there is nothing else he can do, Selu begins fleeing the temple, seizing a few s and other relics in an attempt to preserve Jedi lore. On his way out of the temple, though, he finds Serra Keto, lying crushed under a pillar but amazingly still alive. Keto tells him that Vader did this to her and Selu is once again filled with anger, but Keto calms him down, saying that she doesn't want to be remembered with anger and reiterates Skip's warning to stay in the light. She then admits that she loves Selu; a feeling Selu has long reciprocated but has been unable to vocalize due to Jedi restrictions on attachment and relationships of that kind. They share a kiss, but Serra weakens and succumbs to her injuries. Griefstricken, Selu runs from the Jedi Temple, seeking to escape the carnage.

Wandering through Coruscant, he finds the body of, a Jedi Master, who was also slain by the Sith, but can do little other than burn the body to prevent its discovery by the clones. He eventually collapses from exhaustion several kilometers from the burning Jedi Temple, but is soon discovered by none other than his biological brother, Sarth Kraen, who recognizes Selu from their eerie physical similarity. Kraen, an engineer on a freighter, takes his wounded and heartstricken brother back to his own residence. However, he also tells Selu that not only was there nothing he could have done to stop the attack, but that popular sentiment is not on the side of the Jedi. Sarth also adamantly refuses to take Selu to the when Selu gets ahold of a live broadcast and sees a lightsaber duel between   and, saying that he wouldn't accomplish anything except get them both killed. Selu is despondent for several days, but Sarth tells him he can start a new life, offering to ask his employer, a named R'hask Sei'lar, about hiring Selu as a pilot on his ship, the Hawk-bat. Before Sei'lar returns from business, though, Sarth is kidnapped by a pair of mysterious attackers. Selu gives chase and he follows Sarth and his captors through a harrowing speeder chase in Coruscant's underlevels. Eventually, Selu catches up to the kidnappers and, his Jedi skills giving him an advantage, dispatches both of them, but not before uncovering their identities as, who had been after Sarth ever since he had conducted crucial research into the control algorithsm of Separatist combat droids.

On Tellanroaeg, Spectre is leading his militia on return from a patrol when he notices a Jedi Knight, slain by clone troopers. He demands an explanation and is informed that, a contingency order that called for the elimination of the Jedi, has been implemented. Somewhat aghast and suspicious, Spectre confronts his commanding officer, Trip, and verifies the order, but Trip chides him for questioning his commands. Spectre nevertheless proceeds to give the fallen Jedi a proper burial, which further incenses the commander. In response, Trip sends Spectre on an aggressive forward reconnaissance of the Separatist positions. Oddly enough, Spectre finds the droids inoperative and decides to investigate the main Separatist base. He finds it surprisingly empty&mdash;the droids are all deactivated&mdash;and he clears out the remaining and  personnel before the rest of them flee. He reports mission successful to Trip, who tells him that the droid armies have been shut down around the Galaxy; the war is over. Spectre is relieved to hear that, but knows that his earlier comments and actions regarding the Jedi have left a black mark on his record that will ruin a career in a peacetime military.

He returns to the main Republic base, but is horrified when the headquarters explodes. Racing into the burning building, he pulls several trapped people out of the wreckage, including Trip, regardless of the risk to his own personal safety. He is commended for his actions, but immediately takes over an investigation into what was clearly a bombing. After narrowing down his list of suspects to people who were near the building, Spectre begins to sort through the suspects for motive and opportunity. Finally, he tricks the guilty party, an embittered militiaman, into revealing himself, and the man is arrested, preventing any further acts of sabotage and Spectre is satisfied that justice has been done.

On Coruscant, Selu finally meets with R'hask Sei'lar and his first mate, Jorgesoll Knrr, and they agree to hire him as a pilot. Also at that time, the ship's new cargomaster, a Human woman from named Cassi Trealus is introduced to the crew. The Hawk-bat journeys on a cargo run to and the crew makes a windfall on a cargo of textiles from Coruscant as one of the first ships to reach the mining world after the war. The crew enjoys a fancy dinner in celebration of their profit, and Sarth indicates his attraction to Cassi to Selu, though he admits to being reluctant to approach her. Selu helps his brother along and arranges for Sarth to dance with Cassi. Though he has only recently met the crew of the Hawk-bat and they certainly don't know his true identity, he feels welcomed among them and begins to piece together his shattered life, even though memories of the raid on the Jedi Temple still haunt him.

On their next cargo run to, the Hawk-bat is attacked by s, but Selu and the rest of the crew are able to fend them off with the aid of hidden weaponry installed aboard the freighter. The investigates the incident, and the crew are questioned by Agent. Taking Selu aside, Horn demands to know how they defeated the pirates and Selu uses the Force to sense Horn's level of suspicion; only belatedly does he realize that Horn is. The agent discerns that Selu is a fugitive Jedi and tells him that he is the son of Corellian Jedi Master, who married despite the precepts of the Jedi Order. Selu shares a memory of Halcyon with Horn and the agent lets them go free. Rejoining his crew, Selu joins their company and they continue their career together, plying the spacelines.

Cover
The cover for Force Exile I: Fugitive was created by Solus from images provided by Atarumaster88, who requested a dark blue background and the appearance of rain, as well a central motif of the burning Jedi Temple. Several characters are pictured as well and they are (from left to right and top to bottom) Plo Koon, Spectre, Anakin Skywalker, Serra Keto, and Selusda Kraen. For the title blocks, Solus used a layout similar to that used for the  novels, using a dark orange color for the lower banner segment to reflect the flames of war that engulfed the Republic and the Jedi Order.

Development
As he has done with his other novels, Atarumaster88 released the novel in segments of two to three chapters at a time. The first segment was written in early 2007 and posted on Star Wars Fanon in April. Initially, writing was slow, but Atarumaster88 picked it up and continued writing over the next several months, finishing the novel in June, a total writing time of about three months. The book went through several drafts of outlines before Atarumaster88 actually wrote it, and the finished plot is considerably different from the earlier revisions. Most notably, a planned storyline involving and  was cut for fear of canon conflicts with books by .Also, an attack on an airbase by Selu on Boz Pity was cut after it was written (but not yet released), as the author felt it detracted from the story and inflated the character of Selusda Kraen unnecessarily. Further edits were made to the story after a reviews by Brandon Rhea and an independent consultant, but the vast majority of the novel is the original material that was posted on Star Wars Fanon. At the time of its completion, Force Exile I was the longest combined work on Star Wars Fanon, rating in at 356 kilobytes of content.

Reception
Force Exile I: Fugitive has received largely positive reviews in the limited circles in which it has gained attention, with sixty-two percent of users who answered a poll giving it five stars. Administrator CurrentBigThing enjoyed the story,but initial reaction was minimal; the novel had yet to achieve prominence in the Star Wars Fanon community. This changed somewhat when Brandon Rhea, another administrator, took notice of the novel and began reading it. Rhea ultimately gave Fugitive four out of five stars, stating that although he had some issues with the work, he praised it over all. Rhea would also later nominate Force Exile I: Fugitive for Best Novel in the Third Wiki Awards, an award which it ultimately won, narrowly beating out Rhea's own Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac and Victor Dorantes' Star Wars: Knighthood for the honor.

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Force Exile II: Smuggler
Force Exile II: Smuggler is the sequel to Force Exile I: Fugitive. Weighing in at 193 pages currently, the book is subdivided into seventeen chapters and is considerably more ambitious in scope and structure than Force Exile I. This was largely due to increased confidence and maturity on the part of the author. Atarumaster88 regards each successive Force Exile work as building upon lessons learned in the previous work and Smuggler reflects a lot of growth learned from writing Force Exile I.

Plot
Picking up at the start of, several months after the end of Force Exile I: Fugitive, Smuggler opens with the retirement of Spectre from the now Imperial military. Tired of the military life which the newly formed Empire has placed him through, Spectre opts to retire; additionally, the black mark on his record prevents him from advancing in the military. Joining up with another retired ARC, Alpha-21 "Twone", Spectre and Twone make their way to the surface of Boz Pity and Twone soon finds them employment with an offworld security company, Durashield Securities. The two of them are then taken to the Durashield Headquarters on to begin their new civilian jobs.

Elsewhere, it's business as usual for the crew of the Hawk-bat&mdash;or so they think. Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, Jorge and R'hask Sei'lar are ferrying arms for a burgeoning resistance movement on. Meanwhile, Cassi Trealus and Sarth have slowly been growing the first strands of a relationship between them. In order to distract the crew while the arms are loaded, they decide to take the Hawk-bat to Sarth's and Selu's homeworld of Commenor and allow Sarth and Selu to visit their parents, Samtel and Lena Kraen, as they are more concerned about Sarth or Selu discovering their activities than the much more naive Cassi.

Arriving on Commenor, Selu and Sarth head off to visit their parents, who live in the countryside a little ways away from the city of. The reunion between Selu and his parents is joyful, and they catch up on old times. However, they are being watched by the relentless Mistryl Shadow Guard, who are still after Sarth and his research. A kidnapping attempt is made that very night and although Selu defeats the two attackers, he is badly injured and his identity is in danger of being compromised. His Jedi skills have atrophied from lack of use and the Mistryl are proving themseves to be formidable in their own right. Sarth hurriedly makes a call to Captain Sei'lar, who flies the Hawk-bat over to the Kraen residence. Although Selu has received enough medical attention from local paramedics to stabilize his condition, he will need more intense surgery. Sei'lar uses Selu's injuries as pretense for him and Jorge to take the injured man to the famed medcenter on the world of, where he plans to meet one of his Naboo contacts, but he leaves Sarth behind, knowing that he will need to be on Commenor for the subsequent investigation into the deaths of the two Mistryl. Cassi volunteers to stay behind with Sarth, easing Sei'lar's and Knrr's minds even further&mdash;they hoped to protect the rest of the crew from complicity, as well as avoid having their anti-Imperial scheme discovered. Before they leave, Sei'lar contracts his an old friend of his, a Twi'lek named Bwilor, to provide security for the Kraen family. Bwilor owns a private bodyguard company, Durashield Securities, and he agrees to bring a four-man team to guard the Kraens, including Spectre and Twone.

Sarth is relieved that Cassi will be staying with her, but he's concerned for her safety, telling her about the previous Mistryl attack and the danger he is in. Cassi shrugs off the danger, though, saying that she would rather stay and get to know him and his family. She kisses him briefly on the cheek and Sarth begins to realize that she is falling for him just as much as he is falling for her. Meanwhile, local Commenorian law enforcement begins an investigation, led by Detective Annita Daowot, an old acquaintance of Sarth's who was once smitten with him back in their teen years. Sarth attempts to evade her questions, but Daowot is persistent; he eventually agrees to meet her the next day at a restaurant in Munto to discuss the details of the case. About this time, the Durashield Securities team arrives shortly before Sei'lar is set to leave; one of their number has brought Selu from the medcenter to the Hawk-bat. Spectre, alerted by the family name Kraen, recognizes Selu and confronts him aboard the Hawk-bat. Selu also recognized the former ARC and was filled with anger at seeing a clone trooper again. As Spectre entered the Hawk-bat, Selu telekinetically prepares to stab Spectre with his lightsaber, but Spectre isn't interested in a fight. Instead, he tells Selu of his conduct on Tellanroaeg and how he was disgusted by the order to kill the Jedi, how it eventually caused him to leave the military. The two men make up and Selu requests and receives a promise from Spectre to protect his family while he recovers on New Holstice.

On New Holstice, Knrr and Sei'lar delivered Selu to the medcenter and then went to meet their contact, Neeves, and deliver the weapons to him so he could help arm the Naboo underground. However, Neeves and his comrades, who couldn't depart for Naboo for a few weeks to avoid suspicion, confined the two spacers in their hideout as a security precaution. This meant that when Selu recovered, he was left with little to do but explore New Holstice. A chance meeting brought him into contact with another Jedi fugitive, Jedi Master, who agreed to take Selu in again while they waited for Selu's captain to summon him&mdash;Sei'lar had left him a message saying and Knrr were off on business.

Influences
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