A New Player in the Force

Right then.

After the complaints, criticisms, and ‘suggestions’ that have dominated the last two chapters of A New Player, I think it’s time, instead of responding to individuals on various sites, to address them directly in a PSA.

I will, as best I can, avoid using language that might offend someone, but if I do, so be it.

0: The Story

A New Player is Star Wars. It is not Disney Star Wars, it is not TCW Star Wars.

A New Player is EU Star Wars.

Yes, that opens up so many avenues that Cam has no clue about, and might never know, but it matters.

Applying logic from TCW or even the movies may not work if the source used in ANP’s creation comes from the EU.

1: The POV Shifts

This was done as I, and the two people involved in helping me plan out the story and provide lore, felt it was needed. The Battle of Naboo here isn’t the same as the one seen in the canon timeline.

That said, the issues with the seemingly random POVs from characters people don’t know, have been heard. I will, in future, try not to use that many shift changes in battle chapters/arcs. I cannot, however, say they won’t exist.

I don’t want to get to points of people wondering what happened elsewhere with someone or have it feel that some characters (such as HK in the most recent chapter) are getting neglected. This story is centred around Cam, but he’s not the only MC.

Something that will be more obvious in Book 3, which shall begin after the next chapter.

2: The Writing Process

(This isn’t an issue, but I feel the need to explain the effort and care that goes into writing this story.)

As mentioned above, 2 people help me with this story, and with my other works.

Each chapter/arc goes through the following process.

A voice chat detailing scenes for the chapter/arc takes place regularly, and then I make a rough guide based on what we decide.

That guide is turned into notes, which they offer comments on.

A draft, which is generally around 50-60% of the chapter’s final length is then written. Again, the pair helping get to offer comments, as do those supporting my writing, who see that two months before the final draft is published here and elsewhere.

A redraft is carried out, and where there are issues (which, generally centre around how I write the Force) the pair work individually or together to correct them.

The chapter, before being published here and on other sites, is shown to those supporting me, and on the Discord server for the story. They are free there to offer criticisms/suggestions for how to fix issues. Most of which are taken on, or where not, explained as to why they weren’t.

Also, to clarify, Discord isn’t only for those who support my writing. While some channels are restricted to those people, whom I’m eternally grateful to for their support and faith, the majority of channels are open to all who join the server and select a coloured role.

3: Maul

Right, this one.

This one angers me and infuriates those who help me with the story (people who, with ease, can and will pull EU lore out to prove a point).

First, and I cannot over-stress this, Maul is not the Maul we see in TCW. This is the EU Maul.

(Using Wookieepedia isn’t a valid counter as that site has altered much of the EU content since Disney bought LucasFilm to make their narrative fit their ideals. If you wish to quote the wiki, do so from a page pre-2012, or even better, before TCW was created.)

Maul was taken as a child by Sidious for, let’s be nice and call it “intense training”.

That involved dropping the pre-teen Zabrak on a literal Hell-world for over a month with no supplies.

Sidious returned later, and the child not only survived, but more importantly, even while starving and weak, he tried to attack Sidious.

He failed, however, this proved to Sidious that Maul had potential.

The following 2 decades of training made everything Cam endured with the Bando Gora and the Vong look like a bloody cakewalk.

Before coming to Naboo, Maul encountered a Jedi Master, Antoon Bondara on Coruscant.

On the very world where the High Council rule the Order from, he fought and defeated Bondara with ease.

Even an attempted murder-suicide by Bondara didn’t stop Maul.

And, for those who don’t know, Bondara was the Battlemaster before Drallig.

Both of them were regarded as some of the best fighters in the Jedi Order, comparable to many on the High Council.

3A: Obi-Wan, Maul, and Episode 1

What Obi-Wan did in Episode 1… That was the Force acting against him and Maul playing with a toy after killing the threat (Qui-Gon). And for any who have some odd belief that Obi-Wan is a great Jedi, remember that he wasn’t on Naboo. He’s still a Padawan in both ANP and the canon timeline. It was only through having to step up his game for training Anakin, shifting, and committing entirely to Soresu, and three years of war, that he became good.

Even then, every time he faced Dooku, he lost.

Obi-Wan was, if not for the will of the Force, bound for the agricorp in the EU. His Force Potential is, by Jedi standards, limited at best.

(No, I don’t hate Obi-Wan, I simply wish to shift perceptions of him that are clouded by people regarding him as Space Jesus.)

Maul came to Naboo here to kill Cam. He was trained by Sidious to do just that, and Sidious has access to Jedi records – something the Sith have had for a good long time due to the corruption in the Senate – of Cam training or sparring in the Temple to pass along to Maul. Maul knew every trick that Cam might use as a Jedi, and prepared for them. Additionally, before Maul fought Cam, he destroyed with ease a Jedi Battlemaster and one of the more promising Padawans in the Order. A Battlemaster that Cam has never even sourced a point against in a training spar.

3B: The Duel

While the duel felt long, it only lasted maybe ten minutes, though barely half of that is shown onscreen. The reason it feels longer is that when in control of his emotions, and with the Interface filtering the Force, Cam has the time to think. It results in drawn-out combat scenes when things can only take a few moments in real-time. The first time it becomes obvious is during this battle, as Maul is the fight opponent that Cam can’t beat easily while in control.

Against the Vong Cam was always partially drawing on his emotions, making him more alive and the scenes more fast-flowing. Here, he was in control for most of it, thus time seemed to move so slowly.

Also, remember that while the pair are moving as fast as they can, Maul always had a higher gear.

This was shown to be an issue for Cam a long, long time ago during a sparring duel against Yoda.

While he surprised Master Drallig with the speed he displayed, Yoda took him apart in seconds afterwards.

Cam has incredible skill with a lightsaber. He does not, nor has ever had, the ability to use the Force to guide his actions as a Jedi or Sith would.

In this duel, Cam rushed in angry. Some of you think it’s stupid he’s still doing that, but I suspect that if someone you cared about was in danger like Serra was, you’d not stop and go “Hmm, how should I deal with this dangerous person”. If you do, then congratulations as a teenager – which, no matter how old he is mentally, he is physically – you’re an unusual individual.

By rushing in, Cam made mistakes, and if not for the armour, would’ve died quicker than Drallig did.

The difference here when compared to fighting against the Vong or with Komari Vosa, is that he regained control. That, unless you fail to accept it, is an improvement in dealing with an issue. One that has plagued him since very early in Book 1.

Just because he has memories of a former life as a soldier doesn’t mean, in a new body which is still affected by emotions, and by the Force – even if in a diluted manner because of the Interface – he’s got perfect emotional control. That is something that can never be the case due to Eidetic Memory. While the name is misleading, here it means nothing he has ever experienced is forgotten, including the emotions behind it. It was a flaw I placed in with the Perk from the very beginning, and one Cam has referenced several times since events with the Cong and Bando Gora.

Through the various sections of the duel, Cam tries different things to counter and defeat Maul.

None of them worked well enough to get in a crippling shot, never mind a killing shot. Each of them also wasn’t designed to outright kill Maul. At least not once Cam regained control of his emotions.

Even with all the toys added to his armour – mainly via the two vambraces he wore – Cam was losing. Only some of those are shown on-screen, as there were too many to detail.

The darts with senflax were a last resort because to use them effectively against a Force user you have to be close enough that they can’t sense the attack coming and have time to avoid it. That’s generally not a safe place to be against a Force user with a lightsaber as Cam, thanks to the Force, discovered.

…

As for Maul’s fate… You’ll find out next chapter, but consider the quest for this arc ;)

Also, and this is something that’s not touched on in Cam’s thoughts on purpose for now but will be a point of development going forward, Cam was looking forward to this fight. He might move and think logically, but this was a true test of his abilities, and his attempts to overcome or circumvent them against an opponent capable of killing Jedi Masters. During that brief moment when the Force moved naturally for him, he enjoyed himself in the fight, in the heat of battle. That feeds into his desire, based on training and choice, to be a close-in fighter over a Jedi who might prefer to remain in the rear directing matters.

3C: Force Powers

Generally, Force users don’t use their powers against another Force user for a very simple reason.

Every Force user has a “natural defence” that makes it difficult to use the Force against another.

It also takes time, even for Cam, to draw upon the Force and use it, so the other user has time to react. At least 99% of the time.

Either the Force user has to use something unexpected, or the one they’re fighting has to get overconfident. Something that was seen in both cases with Serra and Force Scream, though the latter only had Maul knocked back slightly rather than caught fully unaware.

As for specific powers…

Teleport

This is not a Combat Power.

We see Cam stumbling out of it each time it’s used. The only time shown to use against a Force user was when sparring with Dooku, who rapidly closed the distance between them and won the spar easily.

NOTE: Sidious knows of this Force power, and so would’ve told Maul of it.

Phase

Again, this is not a combat power.

While it’s certainly quicker to run through buildings to get to a location, even the Force can’t tell with 100% accuracy what’s on the other side. Nor can you be certain that an ally might, seeing you step out of a building and deactivate the power, try to shoot you. The Force doesn’t warn of attacks coming from those you don’t consider a threat, or who act with dangerous intent.

See the Clones turning on the Jedi during Order 66.

Also, while using Phase does mean you can’t be injured or killed by almost anything while the power is active, it doesn’t stop an opponent from placing a lightsaber inside your frame. That isn’t pleasant – which Cam referenced during various spars with Dooku – and means you can’t turn off the power without impaling yourself. Also, if the other Force user channels the Force through their lightsaber, it will hurt Cam even while Phased. The power isn’t the game-breaking ability some feel it is.

Telekinesis

We see this used by Maul against Serra, first when she overcommits to an attack, leaving her open, and then later, once she’d defeated, when he brings a building down on her.

We see Drallig use it at a distance, to save Serra, where it works because Maul is caught unprepared. Yet, before Drallig could reach Serra, Maul was up and attacking again.

Cam used it to save Serra later on, which only really hurt Serra. Maul landed from the attack with grace. That right there is the hint that using the Force from a distance against Maul wasn’t going to work. We don’t then see him use it again against Maul because frankly, I didn’t want to focus on the pair throwing debris at each other. There’s no tension in such scenes, nor threat as such attacks are non-threatening to either Cam or Maul.

Cam prefers to do his talking with a lightsaber, drawing on his training from Dooku and focusing on Maul. Maul prefers to use his blade to prove he’s better than any Jedi with their weapon of choice.

Plus, after training against various Jedi – including Drallig and Qui-Gon – and getting easily beaten even when using the Force, and knowing Maul was trained by Sidious, Cam saw little chance of beating Maul with Force powers. The only hopes were with his blade – when overcoming the block – or by thinking outside the box. The latter he did with the Mando gear.

As for the comments that “well he ripped apart ships, he can rip apart Maul”, for the love of the Force, please re-read those chapters. Cam had time to concentrate on the ships, time to feel his way through the Force, time to grasp, twist, and crush through shields and metal. Time that against a Sith Assassin, he never had. Not unless Maul picked up an idiot ball the size of Coruscant and carried it to Naboo.

And the Starkiller/Galen Marek comments about pulling a Star Destroyer from orbit. The ship was already crashing to the planet. Starkiller/Marek merely guided down quicker to prevent it from landing on him.

As for stuff Sidious does in later years (Rebellion, Dark Empire), that’s peak Darth Sidious after decades of doing nothing but studying and controlling the Force. Cam… is nowhere near Sidious pre-Episode 1. Never mind him around Episode 4, or where Plagueis is now.

Other Powers

You do realise that every base combat power is essentially auto-activated, right?

Enhance Stat, Enhance Skill (focusing on those he’s using in combat such as Lightsaber Forms), Force Speed, Bullet-Time and Precognition are on. The other powers… sigh, most are at levels where either they simply won’t do anything to someone trained by Darth Sidious to endure insane pain and suffering or aren’t ones Cam isn’t comfortable using in combat.

This cannot be overstated enough.

In a pure Force user Vs Force user duel, Cam is dead inside three moves (if Maul was feeling generous).

At the time of Naboo

Maul is a far better fighter than Cam.

Maul is a far better fighter than Obi-Wan.

Maul is capable of taking down Jedi Masters, maybe even a few of the lower-tiered High Council Members.

This is exactly what a Sith Assassin with 20 years of training with High Force Potential would and should be capable of.

Maul’s defeat to Obi-Wan, again, was the will of the Force mixed with Maul toying with his food.

That is why Cam used the armour and gadgets in the vambraces, to fight. He fought smart, drawing on equipment a Jedi wouldn’t, and that Maul was less likely to prepare for.

4: Inventory

Cam uses this one, only once, to kill a Force user. That was right back in the Prologue against a gloating Sith trainee. Said trainee still got off half a sentence before Cam impaled them with something he drew from the Inventory.

He’s never used it in close-quarters combat because after training to use it in private, the delay in mentally commanding the Inventory to open, reaching in and drawing out an object was simply too great to be useful for close-in combat. Also, we do see Cam use the Inventory when in the Coruscant lower levels during a combat scene. The action isn’t instant, nor was the threat in his face.

Now, if the senflax hadn’t worked, he might have tried that, or another less likely to work option. However, using an untested combat technique if you can avoid it isn’t something to deploy in a life-or-death situation.

5: The Limb

First, it was the forearm, lost at the elbow. That’s the same as what Anakin suffered while Luke only lost his hand. Losing a limb isn’t uncommon in Star Wars, especially when fighting someone with a lightsaber.

Second, and this is out of the story, I and those helping considered this carefully, and then, uncertain of if it should happen, used a dice roll to decide. The roll was heavily weighted against it happening, but the roll went that way.

Why did we use a dice for this? Simply to inject some randomness as a way to generate how the Force can operate for Force Users.

Is it a trope that a limb is lost in a lightsaber duel? Yes, but there’s a reason for that beyond simply being a way to ‘weaken’ or ‘hurt’ a protagonist. They’re fighting with swords of plasma/energy. One slip when using a lightsaber at full power, and well…

The idea that Cam could defeat a focused and determined Maul without injury is fanciful at best. The reasons for this are mentioned above.

We have made plans to accept this change, which will be detailed in Book 3, but it has happened. You don’t have to like it, but you do, if you are to continue reading the story, going to have to accept it.

(For the record, the arm lost was his left. While ambidextrous, it was his dominant arm. Sorry Tony 😉)

Also, while the Force has accepted Cam, even granting him more connection with it, it still regards him as an anomaly. His actions have changed how the Force shall achieve “Balance”. The word is placed in marks because what the Force sees as Balance is not guaranteed to be what any Force user would regard as Balance.

Cam has altered things insanely by moving Anakin away from meeting Qui-Gon, Padme, Obi-Wan and the Jedi.

6: Earth Tech

Not something I see a need to bring up, but one of those who helps me does.

Simply put, Earth-tech is, to be nice, stone-aged compared to anything in the Republic or the wider universe.

While there are analogue weapons, such as shotguns and flamethrowers, those aren’t wonderfully useful against anything above an average Jedi Knight or equivalent. Maul is above that level, as explained above.

The reason Cam has focused on stories and songs for ‘creating’ is because he knows them. When people mention technology, please consider that a: Cam wasn’t an engineer, mechanic, or designer on Earth and that b: it’s highly unlikely that whatever we have on Earth hasn’t been duplicated and made considerably better, by one of the literally uncountable sentients (Which, btw, is the in-universe term for a sentient being) that have lived and died in the 100000+ years of recorded history of the Star Wars galaxy.

7: Nerfing

Cam has not been nerfed, and I’m sick to bloody death of that claim.

In book one, he faced off against random beasts, slavers, pirates, Mandalorian children, fellow Padawans, and a Greater Krayt Dragon. Bar the last one, those are not threats to Cam. From the moment he first sparred with Dooku, it was clear he had a long way to go even with his, for his age, insanely high skill in some lightsaber forms.

That theme was driven home in Book 2 where he faced Mandalorians of a far higher level/experience with training for fighting Force users, a Dark/Fallen Jedi in Komari Vosa (who was formerly trained by Dooku) and the Vong. Each of those was a greater threat than anything he’d faced in book 1, and they tested Cam in ways he, as Fay put it, was perhaps not ready for. But he survived, grew, and improved where he could. Which given he faced them all before turning 18, even with the Player system he has – which is not a full Gamer system, nor has it ever been no matter what some people continue to foolishly believe – is more than even adult Jedi Knights could survive.

The limitations that he has have been in place for a very long time, and something Book 2 was centred around dealing with, accepting – reluctantly – and then overcoming and circumventing.

We see a hint of that in the duel where Cam is able, for a few moments, to draw on the Force naturally. Yes, it still wasn’t enough to defeat Maul, but given it was his first time truly feeling and using the Force, that is entirely logical.

The next chapter and the early part of Book 3 will show Cam moving past those issues, adapting, and then growing to a point where, within a few years he’ll be capable of taking on Jedi Masters. Not High Council members, or the Sith Lords right away, but the path to a place where he could be capable of doing so will be clear and obvious.

Of course, if you want to read that, then you’ll have to stay around and, I hope, enjoy Cam’s continual adventures.

8: Stats, Skills, etc

I have the docs for Cam’s skill changes on my computer – and a dozen other places for backups.

They are updated after each arc.

I, more than anyone else, know exactly what the various skills are, how they work, and what they can do.

So please, don’t say “Cam has this skill so he can do this”. If he could do that with his power, then he would if the situation calls for it, and if in that moment, he decides to do so.

9: Cam letting Serra go with Drallig

This is simple to explain once you consider Cam. He’s not a good Jedi, never has been, never will be. He’s selfish and works to keep his friends safe. Bo is with other Mandos, and in armour hard to pick out from the masses. Serra is a Jedi, and someone the Sith know is close to Cam.

After letting her come (which he had to do to avoid offending the Mandalorians, who he needed to have to win the battle – as he had no idea what had changed so wasn’t going to throw away support) and then Drallig arriving, he had three choices for her.

A: Let Serra go off on her own, either in Theed or elsewhere. Something she wouldn’t accept, and I doubt Drallig would either. They don’t know of Maul, and even if he told them of his visions, Drallig would still want Serra to be accompanied by another Jedi.

B: Take her with him. Drallig might accept this, but Cam couldn’t. He knew Maul was going to be a problem, and having Serra around to protect was something he knew would get them both killed.

C: Send Serra with Drallig and hope that either Maul didn’t go to them – which was the plan as he sent them away from where he expected the battle to take place – or if Maul found them, that Drallig could protect Serra. He did that, at the cost of his life.

Is that fair? No. But Cam only cared about keeping Serra safe. Drallig was, in his mind, expendable. And perhaps, might be able to slow or hurt Maul to make things easier for Cam. Which, as we saw, wasn’t the case.

10: Reactive vs Proactive

Cam let Maul move them away from others because anyone else who got involved would be in danger. With Bo around – Fenrir is with her, which was mentioned in passing, and Naz also somewhere – Cam was happy to let Maul move them around.

His plans involved being close to Maul and slowing or wounding him.

Grenades would only cause issues for collateral damage, especially in a city like Theed. And they wouldn’t do much when both were fighting at insane speeds. Especially, as some people have suggested, to use gas grenades. Those disperse easily and Maul could use the Force to avoid any toxins getting into his skin, never mind the bloodstream.

Once on the island, the fight stayed still as both combatants were happy with the location. Maul because it placed him close to his vessel for once he killed Cam. Cam because he was isolated to avoid others getting the way, and because he could use the toys he prepared for the battle.

11: Conclusion

Cam is not, omnipresent nor unbeatable.

Cam will make choices that, with the benefit of hindsight – or the opinion of those unaware of full details or an inability to remember past remarks and events – will have been the wrong ones. He is not perfect and has to learn from his mistakes, but that learning doesn’t ever take place overnight. It takes years of growth and maturing, along with breaking free of any preconceptions he might hold, to achieve.

As for me, I will make mistakes with continuality and lore. I’m not infallible. However, that is why I have people who help shape the story and others who with early access – regardless of where – spot issues.

That said, I’m not going to alter entire arcs and books because a constant minority chooses to complain regularly about what they don’t like in a chapter/arc. Especially when they don’t have the complete arc or details to work from. Nor understanding of where Cam’s character arc, and the overall story, is heading.

If all this still leaves you unable to accept events that have happened and follow a logical path that a non-perfect MC would take, then there’s little I can do to change your mind. If you continue to follow the story but offer only complaints I will ignore you. I don’t need the hassle of dealing with that.

Those who can accept the facts as I’ve listed them here are more than welcome to remain as readers, and offer constructive criticism where they see it is needed (such as the multiple POV issue), know that I’m grateful for your help and support.

Also, and I feel this might have somehow gotten confused for some, but you can join Discord without supporting the story. It’s a general hangout server for the story, and now a few others, along with a place where the EU is, as it should always be, king.