This is the Introductory page for Book Three of the Visions Saga....
The New Comet
Updated
January 30, 2011
(The New Comet-Completed: New Short Story Chapters added)
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.
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.
9. 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.
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.
Act One Act Two Act Three Act Four Act Five
In a Companion Piece to The New Comet for Christmas 2008 called …So This is Christmas, we see whether or not the cold heart of General Stone can be healed at last for the holidays….
In A Postscript to The New Comet called It Never Rains in Southern California, we see what happened right after the Star Force got home…
STORY NOW COMPLETED!
Act One Act Two Act Three Act Four (all PG versions)
Act Five (PG version) Act Five (R version)
Act Six (PG version) Act Six (R version)
Act Seven (PG version) Act Seven (R version)
Act Eight (PG version) Act Eight (R version)
Act Nine (PG version-no R version)
Act Twelve (PG version) Act Twelve (R version)
Act Thirteen (PG version) Act Thirteen (R version)
Act Fourteen (Conclusion) (NEW!!)
In An Amusing Tribute to the works of fellow writer YUKI WILDSTAR, we see what might happen if some of my takes on the characters meet YUKI’S villan Julie Tolbert in a horror story for Halloween called Julie Tolbert’s Worst Nightmare, a tale that Julie had better hope never actually happens….
(PS: Nova, do not eat pepperoni and Monterey Jack cheese before you jump in bed)
Julie Tolbert’s Worst Nightmare (Rated R for Lead Pipes and Chuck Berry music on boomboxes)
In Another 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 Derek Wakefield, a partner of crime of mine in this mad endeavor. (hoo-hah!)
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 Wakefield
is my official alter-ego and sole claim to existence in the official Star
Blazers universe. Deke was created by Bruce Lewis when he was doing artwork
and storylines for the Studio Go/Argo Press Star Blazers comics in '96. This
came about when Bruce enlisted Freddo, myself, and a handful of other old-time SB
fans to serve as an unofficial fan advisory staff to review (nit-pick) his
scripts. The problem was, Bruce and I didn't eye to eye on a LOT of things. So
(to shut my big opinionated Texas trap up), Bruce introduced Deke as a Black
Tiger squadron leader in his Icarus comic story. Accordingly, he put Deke with
Sasha in a number of scenes. Originally, Deke 
was supposed to go out
in a blaze of glory trying to rescue Sasha from the Crystal City (because, of
course, he was madly in love with her). Alas, the comic got shelved before they
got to the end of their BFY adaptation.
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 San Diego - the Westlands. This is how Dawn came into the picture. She was quasi-based upon and/or superficially inspired by a former classmate of mine. Ironically, after having hatched the idea for Dawn in September, I had a brief meeting with her last October. What's that old saying about truth being stranger than fiction?
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 I. Still...one draws one's inspiration from wherever it may come, and it made for a great story.
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 San Diego. There they met their new neighbors, Cal (an electronics engineer) and Lynn (a homemaker) Westland, and their only child Dawn.
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 EDF Academy on the other side of the pacific, Deke too had to weather his own share of storms. Unlike Dawn though, he remained solitary; continuing to hold a torch for her in the hope that someday they would be reunited.
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