Chefelf.com Night Life: Serious thread: Alternate "Backstory" for the OT (feedback welcome) - Chefelf.com Night Life

Jump to content

Star Wars Fan Convention

Page 1 of 1

Serious thread: Alternate "Backstory" for the OT (feedback welcome) Reconstructing what might have been, freestyle...

#1 User is offline   KurganX Icon

  • Soothsayer
  • PipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 566
  • Joined: 06-June 05
  • Gender:Male
  • Country:United States

Post icon  Posted 29 June 2007 - 09:38 PM

All right, first off, I'm going to leave aside prequel bashing and stuff like this. I realize this will never ever get made into a movie and I'm not George Lucas, blah blah blah, but anyway I just wanted to get this down and I'm welcome to feedback if I missed anything or any of it doesn't make sense and could be improved by suggestions.


-----------
Okay campers; let's imagine that it's 1983 again. You've just finished watching ROTJ in the theaters a dozen or so times.

Now what? Well, here we are, in a world before the EU (all we’ve really got is Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and some comic books that really don’t have much to do with the movies or are simply ignored due to their contradictions that have yet to be retconned) and before any planned prequels or special edition changes.

Based on just what we see in the movies, the basic prologue to the ’76 novel and statements by Lucas, shall we imagine an alternative scenario for the back story? I have some rough ideas of what such a back story might have looked like. Granted, it’s not super original, but I think a little more common sense. I’m not a professional script writer or anything; this is just something I whipped up for fun.

I think it would go a little something like this…


The Old Republic is nearly 25,000 years old. It has survived countless wars, invasions, upheavals and crises, but always maintained some semblance of democratic process (though it was often threatened from without and from within). The constant presence in all of it were the Jedi Knights, a semi-independent religious order of warrior monks who were adept in the use of “The Force” a mysterious mystical energy field created by all living things, and poorly understood by those outside their religion. These men and women represented a diverse tradition of spiritual practices united in one common goal: maintaining peace and justice in the galaxy. Their most famous weapon had come to be the Lightsaber, an ancient weapon that was once in widespread use in the galaxy, but had since come to be supplanted by the blaster, which used similar technology allowing for ranged attacks, and requiring far less skill and discipline to use effectively in combat.
The Jedi retained the Lightsaber as their primary weapon both due to their fearsome proficiency of it and out of tradition. It became a symbol of their devotion to the maintenance of just order. They did not seek power, but worked together with the government (and during times of chaos and social upheaval they worked as makeshift peacekeepers), looking out for the needs of the whole and the greater good.

The Old Republic had begun to become soft over time. Due in large part to the skills of the vast Jedi Order across the galaxy and the Galactic Senate’s influence, corruption began to set in. The once ascetic Jedi with their simple brown robes and plain uniforms began to give way to gentlemen dressed in rich and luxurious capes and expensive clothing and audacious fashions. The influence of the people on the Senate began to call for downsizing of the once great Republic military. In an age of peace, it had become more ceremonial than anything, putting out small brush fires around the galaxy. The Jedi still maintained a large presence in her armies as distinguished mercenaries, but the Republic fielded her own forces from across the hundreds of thousands of inhabited star systems. The downsizing began to cut into the pay and luxuries afforded the Jedi, which caused some dissension in the ranks as the wealthier Jedi tried to hold onto their perks and privileges at the expense of their poorer brethren.

Yet, there were still Jedi Knights who believed in helping others and living simply, not going beyond what they required to do their jobs and not asking to be treated differently than any other soldier or public servant.

Taking advantage of this period of weakness, the warlike tribes of the Mandalorian Confederation (they, like the Republic, were a mixture of human and “alien” cultures), exploited by arms dealers (who were losing profits as the Republic demanded less from them) began a military buildup, which included vastly stepping up their production of clone warriors (which, like their other super commando units, wore armor like Boba Fett, though it was less customized). Mandalorian spies within the Senate and terrorist attacks created fear and turmoil until finally war broke out.

A series of devastating wars followed, which became known as the “Clone Wars.” Conflict raged from planet to planet. Emergency funds were allocated by the Senate to the Jedi Order and recruitment increased drastically. The wars raged for decades. A pattern began to emerge. A war would begin, with catastrophic losses on both sides.
The Mandalorian power was smaller than the Republic, but well equipped thanks to choice arms deals and their vast clone (slave) reserves for both labor and canon fodder. The armored “super commandos” became feared throughout the Republic, especially along their frontier borders. The people would cry out, and the Senate would sue for peace. A year or two later new attacks would happen as the Mandalorians (or Mandalore), long jealous of the wealth and prosperity of the Republic, and desirous of glory and plunder, would invade settlements or attack a Senator, and war would begin again.

It was during the last years of one of these Clone Wars, that a young man, named Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had been recruited by the Jedi Order in his teens, (as was standard in those days) had completed his training at the age of 26, first in his class under the tutelage of Master Yoda, one of many Jedi instructors in the order. In contrast to the sagely Master Yoda, Obi-Wan was a bit reckless. Arrogant and headstrong, he was nevertheless an intelligent, resourceful and kind-hearted man. He wanted to fight the good fight and make a difference, not yet having been jaded by the cynicism and selfishness that plagued many of the older Jedi.

Having become a Knight, the next step for Kenobi was to setup a school and begin training students of his own, as Master Yoda had done for close to 800 years. While training his pupils, Obi-Wan was called upon to serve in the war effort. While there was no mandatory draft at the time for the Jedi, Obi-Wan rose to the occasion with gusto. He was a proficient and deadly warrior as were most Jedi Knights were in those days, but also cunning and this saved his life in many a battle. His experience and education lead him to rise to the rank of General, and he was stationed in the Alderaan system serving under Bail Organa, head of the royal family that ruled that system.

One day, while on shore leave, which Kenobi took advantage of to visit his brother Owen Lars on Tatooine which was not far from Alderaan, he encountered a young man, who was going through pilot training, named Anakin Skywalker. Skywalker was in his 30’s, not much older than Obi-Wan himself, and while he had not been trained, the force was amazingly strong with him. Obi-Wan was fascinated with him and they became fast friends. After doing some preliminary tests to confirm the power he sensed in the man, (including watching him fly, witnessed by a very impressed boy who would one day mature to become Red Leader) Obi-Wan made the decision that he must be trained in all haste for the good he could do for the Jedi Order in the war effort.

Presenting this find to his former Master Yoda, Obi-Wan could barely contain his excitement at having discovered Anakin. Yoda however was unimpressed. “He is too old” the Jedi Master said, “Train him I will not.” Obi-Wan accused Yoda of being stuck in tradition, that times like these demanded that people with potential like Anakin’s be given a chance, that such people could change the course of events in the galaxy and make a difference. Obi-Wan began to formulate a plan to train Anakin himself, despite his being twice the age of any of his students.

One day while having dinner with the Larses, an argument broke out between Obi-Wan and his brother. Anakin had just announced that his intention upon graduation from the Flight Academy was to enroll in the Republic military via the Jedi Order. Owen protested, “Ben,” he said, using his brother’s original name, before he had taken the name ‘Obi-Wan’ as his Knightly name, which meant “strong belt” in the ancient language of the Jedi (said by his students to refer to his often strict attention to discipline in their training), “You put this poor man up to this didn’t you? It was bad enough you had to go off on adventures leaving, me and Beru to manage our father’s moisture farm. If mother was alive today you’d have sent her to an early grave with your dangerous lifestyle, involving yourself in that damned fool idealistic crusade. There you go filling his head with your Jedi nonsense. What good has it ever done except keep these conflicts going?”

“Owen, the galaxy is a dangerous place. It needs men like Anakin to set things right. Someone has to keep the peace.”

“Why doesn’t someone keep the peace here in Tatooine? We suffer from the Sand people and the gangsters on this planet could care less about anything but stuff their fat faces with spice and making profits on their smuggling and slaving. Why do your Jedi care more about protecting the rich folks on Alderaan in the core, and ignore the settlements out here? Because this planet is a dust ball, and it’s full of hard working people who don’t make large contributions to your bureaucrats, that’s why! Anakin would be better off if he stayed here and didn’t get involved.”

Anakin looked sheepish.

“What good is all that glory and honor you always talk about if he gets himself killed? You’ve got a wife, don’t you?”

“I plan to marry my fiancé soon, and we plan to have children. She’s a good woman and she’ll wait for me and respect my decision. This could mean a better life for us both.”

“Now,” said Obi-Wan, “You know the life of a Jedi Knight is a life of service, not all of us are as wealthy as the ones you see on the Holo net!”

“You don’t seem to be too doing too bad for yourself,” said Owen sharply, “What with your fancy Jedi clothes and your expensive starship. This is better than most people here have.”

“I don’t live beyond what is necessary to do my job,” said Obi-Wan, “and Anakin will do the same.” Anakin seemed to nod half-heartedly.

“Listen man, don’t do it, you’re throwing your life away. Let the galaxy deal with its own problems. We’re on our own here, but you can make a difference right here. Join us. We could use some good skilled workers here. The crops need to be dusted, and a pilot like you could really help out there. We have more than enough room, your wife and child could move in with us.”

“It’s tempting,” said Anakin, half lying, he didn’t fancy the idea of spending a lifetime working a family farm, “But I don’t think the Jedi would approve…”

“There goes that Jedi talk again!” shouted Owen, “They’ll indoctrinate you and get you killed like all those other young men in those stupid wars for those fat aristocrats. It’s a waste of life. What have they accomplished in all those years except death and destruction and ruining our economy?”

“We Jedi are a diverse lot; there are those among us who don’t agree with the war.” Said Obi-Wan, “But I believe these lose sight of the bigger picture. The state of the galaxy demands that we act, not sit by and let barbarous thugs like the Mandalore run rampant over the galaxy. There is corruption in the government, yes, but that’s all the more reason to work within the system to accomplish peace and stability.”

They continued to argue, and it became more and more heated. Eventually Owen resigned in defeat, convinced that his brother was crazy, wanting to go back and fight the endless war and drag more people into the quagmire it had become. The two left and were soon back in the thick of things again.
0

#2 User is offline   KurganX Icon

  • Soothsayer
  • PipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 566
  • Joined: 06-June 05
  • Gender:Male
  • Country:United States

Posted 29 June 2007 - 09:58 PM

(continued...)

Over time Anakin was trained by Obi-Wan, who had
taken it upon himself to train him as a Jedi. He
thought he could do as well as Yoda. However
Anakin, who was not a wealthy man before, had
become increasingly attracted to the wealth and
power inherent in the upper echelons of the Jedi Order.
He craved the prestige such positions
afforded and spent as much time as he could
hob-knobbing with the elites and the bureaucrats.

Obi-Wan tried and failed to instill in him the
values of service above personal advancement and
outward appearance. Despite their difference in
politics, they remained good friends, though their
friendship was strained at times. Secretly, Anakin
had begun to conduct research outside of Obi-Wan’s
tutelage. Desiring to surpass the standard
teachings and accelerate his learning, he began to
study from Palpatine, a politician who also
secretly had knowledge of the Force. Palpatine had
promised him wealth and power, as well as secrets
that even the Jedi didn’t know, in exchange for
support for his political campaign.

Behind the scenes, Anakin worked to gain support
for Palpatine among his peers, especially the upper
classes. This began to drive a wedge between them.
Palpatine was a savvy politician, who knew how to
play on the fears and prejudices of the people. An
intelligent and wealthy man in his 40’s, his
background was well covered, though some things
about his past were secret, covered up to hide the
fact that he had studied the forbidden arts of the
Dark Side of the Force, long shunned by the Jedi as
evil and self-seeking. He convinced Anakin that the
younger man that someone with his potential could
become so proficient in the Dark Side of the Force,
he could surpass even the politicians impressive
knowledge. Combined with his Jedi skills, he could
become a Dark Lord of the Sith. The Dark Lords were
an ancient and feared enemy, renegade members of
the Jedi religion who had used the Dark Side of the
Force for plunder and profit in the galaxy. It was
because of them that the Jedi Order had been
formed, from among the various Jedi sects in the
galaxy to aid the Republic for good and to save
their image from those Sith Lords who had tarnished
it. Legends of the Dark Lords still persisted and
were told to scare little children in various
corners of the galaxy. The Dark Lords wielded
incredible power, greater than any Jedi Master.
But the last Dark Lord of the Sith had been killed
thousands of years ago. Palpatine had used his
influence to acquire the writings of this last Dark

Lord and planned to use it someday to his
advantage.

Anakin was soon to become a Jedi Knight and already
had picked out a name for himself,
“Darth Vader.” Palpatine had also made a deal with
him. He would turn over the secret rolls of the
Jedi Order in exchange for a promise and the funds
to train him in the Dark Side to eventually make
him the Dark Lord of the Sith.

The Clone Wars were finally drawing to a close.
Thanks to the support of Senator Palpatine, bills
were passed to divert even more funding towards
military spending, which of course created a
crushing tax burden on the people. Obi-Wan and
Darth fought side by side and helped the Republic
drive the Mandalore threat from the Alderaan
system. Finally the Mandalore were defeated, their
armies disbanded and their assets seized. They
continued to remain a minority presence in the
galaxy as mercenaries for hire, bounty hunters and
assassins, but few dared to show their faces in
Republic space after their humiliating defeat.

After the war, peace seemed finally to be had at
last, but Palpatine had other plans. He painted
himself as an advocate of the people, having
opposed the awful taxation to keep the military
machine going. He aroused the people’s anger
against the Jedi Order or living in luxury, an
outdated institution that had failed for decades to
win the war against the Mandalorian hordes. He even
started rumors that the Jedi had secretly hindered
the war effort in order to prolong the conflicts
because they directly benefited from the military
buildup. Public sentiment began to turn against the
Jedi, and more importantly, their support in the
Senate.

Through a mixture of clever campaigning and fraud,
he managed to get himself elected President of the
Republic, promising to clean up the corruption,
disband the Jedi Order, and distribute the funds to
help the people in the poor settlements on to
rebuild. Peace and prosperity through honest
government would be had at last.

In truth, however, Palpatine desired power and
control. Once in office, he framed the Jedi for
treasonous acts. Facing resistance in his plan to
disband the Jedi, he made a show of sending troops
to remove the Jedi leaders from government
facilities.

The troops had attacked the Jedi, (which was spun
as the Jedi resisting removal) unprovoked, and the
resulting carnage became a public scandal.

Several Jedi leaders were tried and executed as
enemies of the state. Several Jedi, such as Master
Yoda, who was not a prominent leader, but a
venerable one, fled into exile. Yoda himself had
actually been a pacifist, who preached against the
war, despite his star pupil Obi-Wan’s enthusiastic
support for it and the support of most of the other
Jedi. Yoda fled to remote undeveloped Dagobah,
where a dark presence left by an ancient evil
(according to legend it was where one of the Dark
Lords been killed, imprisoned in a cave where he
died), masked his presence from any with the Force.

Darth Vader had stood by Palpatine and praised his
every action, garnering a reputation as a loyal
patriot. Palpatine used the crisis of the treachery
at home and the “reforms” to institute the Empire.
Declaring himself Emperor, he insisted that such
measures were necessary to remove the corrupt
edifice that had ruled the galaxy for far too long,
preventing real peace, stability and prosperity for
all. Freedoms were eroded and the military budget,
instead of decreasing, actually increased. But by
that time it was too late.

Vader, using the information he had gained via his
Jedi training, with access to their records and
facilities and the information he had given to
Palpatine, helped the new Empire hunt down and
destroy the Jedi Knights. Some other Jedi turned in
their friends, but were themselves killed as well.
Even local bounty hunters were paid to join in the
search, partially financed by organized crime
leaders and gangsters who ruled outlying
territories where Jedi were likely to hide.

Having seized control of the media, the Emperor of
course was able to spin all these events to his
advantage and distance Vader from the Jedi his
former associates. A few Senators remained quietly
opposed to the Emperor, though most had been scared
into silence by the brutality of the new regime.
The regional governors still reported to the
Senate, and the Senate was still theoretically
accountable to the people, but Palpatine and Vader
had used their corrupt influence to weed out the
do-gooders and ensured that men sympathetic to
their cause dominated the proceedings. The Emperor
became more and more aloof from the people, as he
continued to study the Dark Side teachings and
train Vader in their ways, increasing both of their
ambitions as well as their power.

Obi-Wan through cunning managed to escape the
purges that were going on, but he eventually was
confronted by his old student near a forge plant
where he had been hiding.

Obi-Wan first tried to talk his former friend out
of it, but quickly became convinced that the older
man was beyond all reason having become consumed
with lust for power and greed.

A terrible Lightsaber battle ensued. Despite
Vader’s incredible skill, Obi-Wan was able to knock
him into a molten pit. Through the smoke and toxic
gases, Obi-Wan could not tell if his friend had
died or not, but he still sensed his presence. “It
will be over soon, I pray” he thought to himself as
he ran off, taking his former student’s Lightsaber
with him.

Vader had grabbed onto a pipe at the last second
and not plunged entirely into the molten metal.
Weakened by his battle, he was not able to protect
himself entirely with the force and his body was
badly scorched, and his lungs damaged inhalation of
the gases. He was able to activate his
communication beacon and a rescue team saved him
from the pit. His legs and one arm were damaged
beyond repair even for bacta and had to be
amputated. His longs were also damaged and his face
horribly scarred. His head was shaved for
convenience and he was put into a breath mask and
fitted with cybernetic legs and a cybernetic arm.
He survived, but both his psychological state and
his physical state were permanently affected.
Upon his recovery, Vader learned that his commando
team had been wiped out by Obi-Wan, but the ship
his former master had escaped aboard had been blown
out of the sky by the reinforcements that had
arrived. No trace of his body was found so he was
presumed vaporized in the explosion. No trace of
him could be detected in the Force either, but in
his pain and distraction, Vader of course had
missed him fleeing aboard an Imperial craft, and
the other ship was merely a decoy.

Eventually Vader came to suspect that Obi-Wan had
escaped, but by that time he had more pressing
matters, maintaining his power and rising in his
influence in the new Empire. Despite being the
Emperor’s favorite and his disciple in the Dark
Side, he was little more than an ambassador.
Palpatine liked to play his high officials against
each other as they jockeyed for promotion and
prestige. Obi-Wan was just one old man, and what
could he do to stop the mighty Imperial machine?

The Empire ruled the galaxy with an iron fist, and
used the threat of terrorism and crime to justify
suppressing freedoms and introducing ever more
restrictive military presence. However they still
neglected certain systems that were of less
economic value, and the people cried out but were
ignored (or suppressed through violence for
disloyalty). This bred resentment, but few people
were strong enough or organized enough to do
anything about it, while others outside its
influence didn’t care so much.


What of Skywalker’s wife?


As soon as Anakin had entered the military service,
he had become distant from her, having fallen in
with the wrong crowd, and encouraged by his job to
make excuses not to see her. The couple soon
divorced. When she was killed as collateral damage
in a battle, Anakin seemed to take no notice.

Near the end of the war, while on official business in
the capital, he met another woman who was won over
by his charisma and the two soon married. Yet
problems began to creep up. He was always busy with
something else, being a selfish and self absorbed
man, who was nevertheless tall, handsome, charming,
and wealthy outwardly. He found excuses to be away
from his wife most of the time.

Despite this, the two found some time to be
together. It was not typical for married men to be
admitted to the Jedi Order (if married to non-Jedi which
was how it normally turned out), during wartime for
precisely this reason but Anakin had been an
exception because of his promising abilities, and
his increasing influence with the government meant
he could pretty much do as he pleased even among
the Jedi.

Over a night of drinking, Anakin had once told Obi-Wan
that he had no time for children, but if he ever had a son,
he'd want him to have his lightsaber, when he was old enough.
Obi-Wan hoped that for their sake and the sake of his wife,
he never had any children, but never told him that to his face.


As time went on, Vader’s relationship with his
wife, a beautiful and kind, but somewhat self
deluded woman, became strained. While he himself
remained kind to her and she stood by him loyally
even while he denounced his fellow Jedi before the
Emperor, the dirty business of his life, though
kept behind the scenes, would eventually come back
to her. She began to notice his “Dark Side”, and
even began to fear for her own safety. She had
become pregnant; intentionally forgetting to take
her contraceptives, hoping that their finally
having a child together (which they had put of far
too long) would renew their relationship. About
this time however, he had started to really
frighten her with his actions (as his mind became
more and more tainted by the Dark Side), and even
become abusive. Fearing for herself and her unborn
child, she neglected to tell Vader of her pregnancy
and left him secretly one night.

By this time, Vader had become so self absorbed,
that he didn’t even care, choosing instead to spend
all his time either in silence meditating on the
Dark Side or plotting ways to increase his
influence and crush his opponents or spending it
with the Emperor.

After awhile Obi-Wan, feeling sorry for her, had
introduced her to his friends in the Organa family.
As Darth Vader revealed himself to be the lackey of
the Emperor’s wrath, Kenobi feared for his second
ex-wife’s safety and that of their children, that
Obi-Wan sensed one day, one or both of them might
show potential in the Force (it turns out she had
had twins, though they never knew their father).

Sometimes a powerful Jedi could pass on force
potential to his children (it happened more often
through the father than through the mother), though
it was rare. Jedi scientists had not yet figured
out, in all the thousands of years, exactly how it
worked. Cloning of Jedi of course was forbidden; on
ethical grounds (cloning as banned in the Republic,
but the Mandalore practiced it despite protest).
Ben knew that if the Emperor were to learn Anakin
had any offspring, they would be a potential
threat. Vader’s loyalty could become divided and
his attention diverted towards looking out for his
progeny rather than the Empire’s goals. Even worse,
if the children turned out to be trainable in the
Force, Ben feared, they could be turned to the Dark
Side to serve the Emperor. If the Emperor found out
that they had force potential though, he might
simply have them killed, because he knew that a
Jedi could train them to threaten his rule, and he
wouldn’t trust even Vader to kill his own
offspring, especially if he saw in them potential
to become his Dark Side disciples. So the children
were hidden.

He smuggled her to Alderaan with her infant
daughter, where she went under an assumed name and
was disguised as a servant in the court of the
Organa family. Their power and influence would make them
untouchable and they could raise her as their own.

For safety, he took the son, whom he predicted
would have better potential (Obi-Wan was a bit of a
sexist) with him to Tatooine. He wanted at first to
raise the boy as his own son, and train him as a
Jedi. Perhaps one day he could formulate a plan to
get the Jedi Order back together (some exiles still
lived, he hoped, though their numbers were
dwindling fast and he had lost contact with most of
them already). However, Owen talked him out of it
and forbade him to tell Luke about his past and
begin training him when he reached his early teens,
the age of a Jedi student.

He even forbad him to give Luke his father’s
Lightsaber as a gift. It was a mad dream, he was told,
the old order had lost and the Republic he once served
and all the good it once stood for was long gone. Let the
boy have a normal life, not be the pawn in somebody’s
vendetta or burden him with his past. So Owen and
Beru Lars raised Luke as their nephew (though they
were no relation).

For safety, they agreed to suppress his past as the
son of a turncoat Jedi.

Obi-Wan would live as a hermit in the desert, far
enough away to occasionally check on Luke, but not
so close as to arouse suspicion. He was also ceased
to practice his Jedi arts (or only used them
sparingly) for fear of discovery though Tatooine
was remote and ignored by the Empire, just as it
had been in the twilight years of the Republic. He
had gone back to using the name “Ben” instead of
Obi-Wan about the time Luke (the son) was born.
Owen told Luke as he was growing up that his father
Anakin Skywalker was a navigator on a spice
freighter and he had died, but nothing much else.
Ben and Owen’s relationship became strained, as
Owen had wanted to protect the boy but had also not
planned on having a child underfoot on the farm and
resented the burden Ben had placed on him (having
never had a family, Ben had no experience with
children, though neither had Owen). Though he had
seen him sometimes as a child, Owen had prevented
him from having much contact with the old man in
later years, and always said he was a “crazy old
man.” Ben disagreed, but respected Owen’s right as
the boy’s guardian to make the decision until
matters changed things.

What of the fate of Luke and Leia’s mother?

The second former Mrs. Skywalker lived out her days
on Alderaan in the court of the Organas, but she
was increasingly depressed. She turned to drugs to
numb the pain, ate poorly, slept little and threw
herself into hard work, which wore her out. She
spent less and less time with her four year old
daughter and more time alone. One day she was found
by some of the other servants slumped over the
steps of the palace. She was dead.
Leia’s mother was buried privately in a quiet
cemetery. When she was older, Leia was told that
she was adopted and that “Padme the cleaning lady”
who used to play with her had been her real mother.

Nothing more was said (she was left to believe she
was an only child) except that her father had been
a deadbeat and was best forgotten. She was raised
in the royal family of Alderaan and adopted by Bail
Organa himself, given the last name Organa and
given the title of Princess (since Bail and his
wife had no daughters, only sons). She was educated
to be a diplomat and was trained in athletics as
well as the arts. She was taught to discipline her
mind (but no signs of force ability were manifested
and Bail made no attempt to examine her to
determine if she could be trained as a Jedi, for
good practical reasons of safety).

(continued...)

As time went on, Bail became incensed at the
actions of the Empire, especially their
extermination of the Jedi. He secretly funded
movements of political dissenters in the Senate,
including his own daughter, who had become a
Senator by this time to drum up support against the
Empire. Since diplomacy had failed, working within
the system, these dissenters began to take matters
into their own hands, forming local militias to
protect citizens from the brutality and excesses of
the Empire’s police forces. Many Imperials, seeing
the abuses at home, went AWOL from their posts and
joined up. These militias were of course declared
illegal and persecuted by the Empire. To protect
themselves from total suppression, they banded
together to form an Alliance, called “Rebels” by
the Empire (which the Alliance embraced as a badge
of honor, though their goal was to restore the
Republic to its former glory and reform it to what
it always should have been, a force for freedom
that cared about the people). In those days it was
very small, but had its support amongst the
Imperial Senators that hadn’t yet been bought off
or threatened into silence. Audacious public
speeches that were sympathetic to the “Rebels,”
were censored by the government owned media. Secret
funding was illegally given to the Rebels, which
the Empire sought to track down.

Meanwhile, the Empire had begun devising new ways
to terrorize the populace. The Emperor desired to
disband the Senate, but he could not, because it
had formerly been his power base, controlled by the
bureaucrats. Though he had been enriched by seizing
the assets of the Jedi Order and the ingratiated
wealth taken from the Mandalore, he still desired
more power and control. Now that the Jedi were
exterminated he could use his power more openly,
but kept it secret from all but his innermost
circle. Even the Moffs, the Regional governors were
not all privy to the powers he and Darth Vader
wielded. It was enough to know that Vader was
proficient in Lightsaber combat and a fleet of
ships and loyal shock troopers could be dispatched
to wipe out anyone not loyal to the Emperor and his
greater glory.

Using the vast resources and wealth at their
disposal, Imperial scientists had put together,
making new uses of existing technology, the largest
mobile weapons platform ever conceived, called “The
Death Star.” Though secretly constructed, it would
be brought out in grand fashion to scare the galaxy
into submission. Since it was equipped with hyper
drive, it could cross the entire galaxy in a matter
of weeks, traveling to disloyal systems to wipe out
entire planets with its enormous super laser array.
It fielded in addition to this firepower greater
than half the Imperial Starfleet, and housed
thousands of TIE fighters and other attack craft.

The surface bristled with tractor beams and turbo
lasers. Designed against a large scale assault,
even the modest fleets assembled by the Rebel
Alliance would be no match.

Finally, the Emperor announced the Death Star to
the Senate, as his last address to them, before
they were permanently disbanded.

The Emperor had suspended the council several times
in the past, but always brought them back because he
had to rely on them to control the local systems. With the
disbanding of the Senate, the Regional governors
would have direct control over their territories,
with power ceded to them as local dictators,
answerable only to the Emperor. Vader would be
dispatched as his loyal enforcer to ensure
(covertly) that the Death Star commander, Grand
Moff Tarkin, himself a handpicked and decorated
supporter, would not even think of doing anything
amiss. Tarkin of course actually outranked Vader
and was more or less the Emperor’s right hand man,
but he was not privy to the kinds of secret
teachings that Vader had. Still, Tarkin was aware
of Anakin’s past and his former devotion to the
Jedi Order, as well as the Emperor’s power (which
he did not speak of openly to the other Moffs).

By this time, Vader had modified the cybernetics he
was forced to wear to keep him alive, altering the
suit from the standard medical look to one that was
black and ominous, with a face that resembled a
skull to strike terror into his opponents. He
dressed in the rich robes he’d become accustomed to
as a Jedi Knight of the Old Order, and altered the
colors of his life support suit to match. He had
armor installed into the helmet and shoulders both
for the impression they gave and to make him a more
formidable opponent. This was not the body encasing
armor of the Imperial Stormtroopers (brainwashed
conscripts and recruits taken from around the
galaxy), but mimicked the almost ceremonial type
minimal coverage armor worn by the Jedi warriors
during the Clone Wars. He had altered the
artificial voice box to a deep basso which further
created an intimidating and fearful presence. All
of this was in keeping with the tradition of the

Dark Lords of the Sith before him, who had
maximized their presence to instill fear in their
opponents and rivals which threw them off balance.

Improvements in the cybernetics (which had been
upgraded from the basic emergency ones he’d first
been given) gave him greater movement and added
strength, even than he already possessed, even as
his body began to age.

About thirty years had passed since the Empire had
been declared, twenty years had passed since the
twins were born and separated. The Empire has
increased the territory formerly held by the

Empire now had about a million inhabited star systems
(though much of it comes from
re-conquest/re-colonization of former Mandalore
territories).

The Rebel Alliance had become more and more
desperate. They had recently begun guerrilla raids
against the Empire, leading to forceful military
retaliation. These retaliatory strikes had caused
collateral damage that stirred up anti-Imperial
sentiment, but others blamed the Rebels for causing
trouble.

Rebel spies discovered what the Empire had been
building.

After a furious battle, their first
victory against the Empire, which drummed up much
support for their cause, the Rebels had stolen a
copy of the Death Star plans, which was to be
delivered to Bail Organa, a secret Rebellion
leader, on Alderaan. They hoped a weakness could be
found and the station destroyed before it could
threaten the galaxy. Princess Leia was aboard her
ship having been delivered the plans by the rebel
spies. She was to deliver the plans when her ship
came under attack from a Star Destroyer with Vader
aboard (he had been tasked with locating the plans
for the Emperor). Taken to the Death Star, she was
to be interrogated to discover the location of the
Rebel’s hidden base of operations (which turned out
of course to be on Yavin IV, though they had
another important financial support base on the
peaceful core world of Alderaan which was of course
destroyed). And of course we see what happens in
the movie.


Well, that’s what I came up with, it’s mostly what
I imagined before the prequels were made, but of
course with a lot of details somewhat vague, and I
had to work out some of the logistics later (there
could still be some holes in there, so I'm open to
constructive suggestions and will be happy to try
to answer questions about this treatment).




So maybe it's not the greatest, and I’m hampered
here by what the OT gave us, but seriously, is this
any more or less believable than what Lucas
eventually gave us?
0

#3 User is offline   KurganX Icon

  • Soothsayer
  • PipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 566
  • Joined: 06-June 05
  • Gender:Male
  • Country:United States

Posted 30 June 2007 - 11:49 AM

Ah yes, I forgot the droids.

R2D2 and C3PO are the personal droids of Captain Antilles (the guy Vader chokes on the Tantive IV). Princess Leia simply used them (or rather R2) to get the plans to Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom she knew was still alive, who would give them to Bail Organa, since her own mission to deliver the plans to him had failed. The droids were of course programmed to trust members of the Rebel Alliance (the Organas) and otherwise lie and hide the truth from others for the sake of their mission. She commandeered the masterless droids after Captain Antilles was killed. They had of course been on numerous missions for the Rebellion before on the ship as they'd escaped from the Imperial patrols before along with the Princess. It may be of course that Leia was given free access to them as if they were her personal droids, though Antilles was their "master."
0

#4 User is offline   OhNo_Stereo Icon

  • Henchman
  • Pip
  • Group: Junior Members
  • Posts: 53
  • Joined: 07-August 07
  • Location:delaware, the last state I'd ever recommend to decent people
  • Interests:star wars, steak dinners, cheese burgers, scotch with water, cigarette glamour, nabokov, cassette tapes, VHS, broadcast television aandd getting out of this god aweful state. don't go to delaware, it's worthlesss, unless you go to like authentic mexican restaurants, ie everyone else in the joint is latin, but barring a trip in for outstanding carnitas dishes, I recommend just standing on the border and throwing rocks at people you suspect might be delawarians.
  • Country:United States

Posted 20 August 2007 - 02:46 PM

I say well done

This post has been edited by OhNo_Stereo: 20 August 2007 - 02:48 PM

0

Page 1 of 1


Fast Reply

  • Decrease editor size
  • Increase editor size