This is the Introductory page for Book Three of the Visions
Saga....
The New Comet
Updated August 11,
2008
The New Comet is another work
of Star Blazers fan fiction that I have had in my head, as it were, for
some years.
It seems to be an idea common to a lot of
fans; what if the remains of Zordar's forces decided to try again at some point
after Zordar's demise in 2201? Yet, I think my version has a few unique twists,
and, given that this is an alternate universe, you will see some characters
presented here in a rather interesting light, and given how The Rikasha
Incident ended, you may see that sometimes, when the dead sleep...their
sleep is not always...an easy sleep, nor a pleasant one for those who live. Or,
do they all sleep? Who knows?
The story begins in 2205, presented as a series of interrelated, and interlinked short stories and novelettes.
Have Fun.....Freddo
1.
The first of these stories...From Boredom to Utter Disbelief, takes place
in the year 2205. Click on the links below to read it Act by Act and enjoy it.
Act One Act Two Act Three Act Four Act Five
2.
The second of these stories...Treachery, spans a wide period of time,
between mid-2205 to late 2205.
Act One Act Two Act Three Act Four Act Five Act Six Act Seven Act Eight
3. The third of these stories… A Root of Bitterness, spans
the period between late 2205 and early 2206, as the Second Cometine War
steadily heats up.
Act One Act Two Act Three Act Four
4. The
fourth of these stories…The Net
Tightens, spans much of the year of
2206 as Invidia’s plan of attack begins to strange the Gamilons and Earth…even
as Ekogaru begins to rise again. What are the evil Princess and the Dark Lord
planning for Earth?
Act One Act Two Act Three Act Four
5.
The fifth of these stories…A Strange
Interlude, spans the rest of 2206 , as Invidia’s sick plans for Gamilon and
Earth grow closer to bearing dark fruit.
Act One Act Two Act Three Act Four
Act
Five Act Six Act Seven Act Eight
6. The
sixth of these stories…Radnar’s Game, takes
place in the early part of 2207, and it picks up as Cometine Priest and Fanatic
General Radnar fully enters the arena to challenge Princess Invidia for
Galactic Mastery. Who will win their struggle, and how will Earth fare between
these two sides as the Comet Empire itself finally falls into civil war? And
what are Desslok’s plans for Radnar?
Act One Act Two Act Three Act Four Act Five
7.
The seventh of
these stories…The Princess and the
Surfer, takes place in the middle of
2207 as we see how Deke Wakefield and Sasha pick up their relationship with war
brewing all around them. NOW CONCLUDED.
8.
The eighth of
these stories…The Battles of the
Magellenic and the Milky Way, deal with Invidia’s madness as, in the summer
of 2207, war finally comes to the Sanzar System itself and both Gamilon and
Iscandar and other worlds are besieged and swept up in the pain and madness of
war.
7.
The ninth of
these stories…Endgame, takes place in the late summer and early fall
of 2207 as Earth, Gamilon, Rikasha, and other allies join forces for the final
showdown with Invidia’s House of the Comet Empire and the R’Khells. In this
story, as the Second Cometine War finally ends, we see sadness and death mixed
in a bittersweet mixture with the promise of new life.
COMING SOON!
10.
The Tenth and Last of these stories…Reorganization,
deals with the end of 2207 as it passes into 2208 in a new, post-war world.
COMING SOON!
In a
Postscript to The New Comet called Black Nights, we see that, years later,
life goes on in a strange new world.
The
story is still growing at a slow but huge rate. Part of the reason for the slow
growth of this tale (and my writers' block and how it was finally broken)
happens to be described below, in a piece by
Deke & Dawn --
An introduction to The New Comet
by Derek A. C. Wakefield
Sometime during August 2003, Freddo
called me and said (more or less); "I've had a lot of requests to
introduce Sasha into my Rikasha Incident story. Not my Astra character,
but the original. Since we ALL know how protective you are over her, I thought
I better talk to you about the idea."
Now, this is sorta
difficult to explain.
"Chibi" Illustrations of
Sasha and Yuki on this page by Hitomi from:
I・愛・ＥＹＥ
© 2004 by Hitomi. Used by permission.
Arigato Gozaimasu, Hitomi-san!
Sasha (or Astra as she
should be called in Star Blazers) has been my all time favorite
character for over twenty years. As such, I've spent more than a few restless
nights, ink, graphite, electrons and brain cells trying to figure out ways to
keep her alive and well. I guess one might say I have a Don Quixote complex
when it comes to her. This has led to a number of terms becoming common place;
"Wakefield's 'Darling Sasha/Astra'", "The ultimate Sasha/Astra
fan", "Sasha/Astra's defender", "Derek's bodacious
babe", "Mister Iscandar", along with the idea that Sasha/Astra
was in essence, "Wakefield's cherished 'Adopted Proprietary
Character.'"
One friend declared,
"Sasha is your alter ego. She's manifestation of all that makes up your
feminine side." Another friend commented; "Sasha is a part of
you...she always will be, and nothing will ever change that." Another
fanfic author friend of mine said; "...if it hadn't been for your tenacity
towards keeping the character alive, I probably would've never even thought of
using her in other stories."
In one of Freddo's past
tales, he included 'Astra of Iscandar' with all of my other original characters
he was using in the credits. When I asked him about it, his response was..."Why
not...she might as well be your character. No one else gave a damn about her,
or even bothered to worry about her until you stepped on the scene. Hell...I
don't know too many other fans who have put as much time and energy into
studying and developing their original characters as you have with her. She
owes her continued existence in all of our stories to you...<chuckle> and
I wonder if she appreciates all the hard work you do for her at times
<chuckle>."
Then there are the times
when Freddo will call me and his wife, Gail, asks, "How's Princess
doing," or he'll ask, "What did Princess think of so-&-so part of
the story." Then there's the ladies at work will ask me when I wear my
Sasha button to work, "Is that your girlfriend," or "My your
girlfriend looks pretty today."
Yeah...it's weird, but
so am I.
While I have no legal
rights to the character, Freddo (and some of my other buds) have learned, I
have this very bad habit getting downright ornery when it comes to her
interpretation. Accordingly, this is why he chose to create his own original
"Astra" character to take the place of Sasha/Astra in his story. 
On the other hand, I've
learned (through bitter experiences) not to make too many commentaries or
suggestions on Freddo's creative labors. How do I put this? Our individual
interpretations of Y/SB don't mix well. You know...they're sorta like,
nitro and glycerin.
In light of this, we came
to a gentleman's agreement many years ago. He didn't use Sasha, and I didn't
make comments/suggestions on his 
handiwork.
Getting back to the phone
call...
As we sat there on the
horn, it was obvious Freddo was nervous about using asking my permission to use
Sasha and I was just about as nervous about making any suggestions.
In my mind, I could see the
Clock of the Society of Atomic Scientists moving inexorably towards midnight.
At that moment I knew one of three things was going to happen. Either the major
cities of the world were going to flash boil under the detonation of planet
bombs, there was about to be a sudden climatic change in the nether regions, or
we were going to come to a compromise.
For a long moment I
pondered the dilemma. Then finally, I stepped out on a limb and made a
suggestion; "Okay, but only so long as you pair her up with Deke." To
which, Freddo asked; "Which one?"
It was a legit question
(I've got several interpretations of him). So I suggested; "The one from
the comic?"
Deke 
was supposed to go out in a blaze of
glory trying to rescue Sasha from the
Back to the phone call...
We could've left it at
that. Unfortunately, I've got this terrible habit of being unable to leave a
good/simple thing alone. Over the course of the next few days, Freddo and I
briefly discussed how he wanted to introduce Sasha (as a younger daughter of
Starsha and Alex) and pair her up with Deke.
Unfortunately I saw this
problem. The "Deke" from the comics was a bit too old for the time
frame (2207) he had in mind.
So, being the meddler I am,
I went back out on that limb and asked; "Do you mind if I work up a new
background history for Deke for your storyverse?" To my surprise, Freddo
didn't have any objections. What I could not foresee at the time is this
"simple background history" would take on a life of it's own. The
final draft, sent to Freddo on 2 Mar 04, had evolved into a 160k monster; (and
it's STILL GROWING- Freddo) detailing the major events in Deke's life as he
grew up in San Diego during the Gamilon war, attended the Space School to
become a fighter pilot, and the events that lead him to an assignment on
Iscandar in 2207.
One of the pitfalls I ran into while
working on this project was the need to plug a lot of gaps pertaining to what
life on Earth during the Gamilon War might've been like. Since the show didn't
cover this very well, I turned to ideas and theories I have been developing
over the past several years for my stories (many of which were based on my ten
years experience working in emergency management). It was a risky move because
I wasn't sure if my ideologies would fit very well in Freddo's storyverse.
Likewise, I feared Freddo might see this as meddling in his creative affairs.
So I granted him permission
(and fully expected him) to change anything that didn't fit. To my surprise,
when Freddo reviewed the first rough draft in late February 2004, he not only
went completely ape over it, but claimed that it did wonders to break his
writer's block of late. Since then, Freddo's asked to incorporate many of these
ideas into his story.
Inevitably, in the process
of working up a historical monogram of this depth and scale, I found the need
to create new characters to flesh out the overall story. In addition to Deke's
family, I was inspired early on to introduce the family they lived next door to
in
It's funny how these things
seem to work out.
I should point out we were
not super close in school. We were in band and shared a few classes, but we didn't
hang with one another. That said, Dawn and Deke are more "original
characters" than carbon copies of my friend and
Of course, I must warn you
not to be too terribly alarmed if these characters turn up with a few odd
quirks. If you haven't figured it out by now (given the "Sasha's
Defender" bit), their creator has a few himself =^_^=.
The basic gist of their
story is as such...
Deke was the son of Alex and
Jessica Wakefield - an Search & Rescue Boat pilot and flight nurse in the
pre Gamilon War UN Maritime Guard. Shortly after his sister, Kathi, was born,
they were transferred and moved from Indianola to
As the years pass, Deke and
Dawn grow up, play, learn the drums, attend the same schools, and endure the
rigors and losses of the Gamilon and Cometine Wars together. During this time,
their relationship evolves from being neighbor kids, to being best friends, to
being somewhat sibling-like, to being boyfriend and girlfriend, to going
steady, and then finally becoming lovers. In spite of everything they seemed to
have going for them, it was not to last.
By the time they reached
high school, conflicts had arisen between them that would lead them down two
very different roads. After losing his family in the war, Deke was determined
to join the EDF. Dawn, weary of war and suffering, desired a sense of normalcy
and could only think of pursuing a peaceful, civilian-oriented career. Unable
to deal with Deke's need for vengeance, and unwilling to be left alone for long
periods while he served in space (especially during crises), Dawn broke off
their engagement shortly before they graduated in May 2202.
At college, Dawn dated and
took full advantage of the campus social/party scene in an attempt to break
free from her past. To her dismay, this would lead her to have to endure and work
through some of the hardest challenges of her life. While attending the
Unbeknownst to them (and in
spite of Deke's efforts), five years will pass before their paths cross again.
As they say though, timing is everything. As they unexpectedly find themselves
on the same road again, events of the not-so-distant past will serve to prevent
them from ever being able to go back home again.
How Deke and Dawn work
their way past the pitfalls life will throw at them as they travel along this
new road together, and find a way to resolve their plight, should be
interesting.
Derek A. C.
Wakefield
March 2004