To anybody out there who is still following "Space Bound"...one last time, hello.

One year ago, I published the last chapter and the epilogue of this fanfiction. I was convinced that was the end of the story, that I had said all I wanted to say. I stated that I would write a sequel to Space Bound only if there was a high demand...there was a fair amount of response to that, but I was not planning on writing more fanfiction for Star Wars: The Clone Wars anytime soon, as I was quite spent emotionally and mentally.

However, as much as the ending of "Space Bound" seemed satisfying enough, I realized there was another part that needed to be told. Bane and Blythe's story has closed, yes, but Bane and Tee's has just begun, and from the moment I joined them together I knew theirs would be quite the story to tell if ever. One particular experience last April was the final probe to my muse that I should tell this story. It was on a sleepy, sunny afternoon; in some sort of half-awake, dreamlike state, I stumbled upon and listened to the entirety of an album by a band called The Honey Trees. This album, "Wake the Earth", painted a fresh picture in my head of how this story would be told.

This why I am posting one last update on this fanfiction - so I can tell you that a sequel is in the works. A "Space Bound" sequel is coming.

The title for the sequel is "Wake the Ashes".

I cannot guarantee an exact date of when this will start being published. But my estimate is that within a couple months - four at most - you can read the first chapter.

Most of the story will be set nine years after the events of "Space Bound". The main characters will be Cad Bane, Tee, Embo, Boba Fett, and some others including various cameos of characters from the Prequels, Sequels, and "The Clone Wars". The plot will follow how these characters have coped since the birth of the Empire and how the choices they make will decide not just their fates but the fates of those around them. Some want only to survive and preserve what little they have left. Some want the fortune and glory and do not care who stands in the way. And a small few believe that what you give is more important than what you take.

In this sequel I plan to portray several elements. One of these is the widespread aftermath of the Clone Wars, particulary how it affected the criminal underworld and its inhabitants. This in both the structural aspect as well as that of the psychological, so I will touch on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Another element is the atrocity of the Empire including its Humanocentric speciesism, and the earliest stages of the Rebel Alliance. In addition, the Empire will not be portrayed as completely heartless, and neither will the Rebels be portrayed as completely noble. A lot is going to be happening that involves the existing pool of bounty hunters, the first members of the Rebel Alliance, and Imperial recruits.

As for the cast, I am writing Cad Bane nine years later as being more of a bitter, solemn, and meditative character. He will be a new shade of the Bane we knew from the show "The Clone Wars". Tee needs to do a lot of growing up, and her circumstances will not leave this need unmet. Embo will return, and he will have an extremely important role - quite possibly the most important role of the entire story. I will also explain my own version of how Boba Fett came to be the leader of his trade during the Galactic Civil War, and how one particular bounty hunter stood in his way for a time.

It's pretty much needless to say that "Wake the Ashes" will be as dark and gritty as "Space Bound", if not more so, but not always in the same way. New things are going to be happening and very few of them are pleasant. But everything that happens is going to be told in a very different way from before.

Looking over what I have written, outlined, and planned for "Wake the Ashes", I can guarantee that it will be an improvement from its predecessor in every which and way. The stage is on a more epic scale. The cast is larger; the relationships are stronger; the stakes are higher. However, I can also guarantee that, as the title implies, it will resurrect the parts of my heart that were burned to ashes with "Space Bound" only to shove them through the meat grinder. I am breathless with anticipation for publishing the sequel, but I also dread what the writer in me knows I cannot avoid for the sake of this story. That is why it has taken me a year and three weeks to even tell anyone about a sequel.

Arthur Quiller-Couch, in his 1913-14 Cambridge lecture series "On the Art of Writing", famously advised writers to "murder their darlings." And I don't think he was talking solely about characters. I tapped into that piece of advice with "Space Bound", but now I know I can do so much more with "Wake the Ashes". Where I once waded in cautiously, I am now able to dive in head first. And am I going to? Yes, yes, I am.

I just hope that whoever enjoyed "Space Bound" will appreciate seeing where the story goes next.

I look forward to seeing all of you then, and until such time as the first chapter of "Wake the Ashes" is finally ready to go...hope you can sit tight.