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This
is purely a speculative plotline, drawn together from various
ideas submitted in the Virtual Edition forum. Once spy reports
appear, this plotline will, by necessity, be modified and updated.
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Star
Wars
Episode
III :
Revenge of the Sith |
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| Two
years have passed since the wedding of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé
Amidala, and the Republic is embroiled in galactic war. In these
emergency times, Chancellor Palpatine has disbanded the Senate,
urging its members to return home. Only a core body politic remains. |
| Although
senator Amidala continues to actively oppose the war and promote
a peaceful resolution, she does so from the safety of her home planet
of Naboo. Anakin has forsaken the Jedi Order to remain at her side. |
| The
Clone Wars have raged across the galaxy involving many worlds, and
the Separatists, led by Count Dooku, appear to be gaining the upper
hand. The dwindling numbers of Jedi valiantly lead clonetroopers
against the vast droid armies. A DECISIVE BATTLE ensues over the
planet Alderaan ....... |
| |
| A Republic
battlecruiser, commanded by Captain Tarkin, arrives at Alderaan
carrying fresh troops. An eager-faced Cadet Solo is also
on board. Bail Organa of Alderaan remains fiercely loyal
to the Chancellor, as do Senators Jar Jar Binks and Mon Mothma, who are
with him : Mothma's nearby homeworld had recently been ravaged by the enemy forces. Separatist Trade Federation battleships, now with Death-Star
capable cores, pound the planet from orbit. Skirmishes rage in space
and on the surface, with Jedi leading the defences. New, nimble
TIE fighters, and Jedi starfighters, zip about the greater numbers
of droidfighters. |
| Jedi
Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is present, and actively holding back
the swathes of enemy troops, but he clearly realises the loyalist
world will soon be over-run. Communicating with Master Yoda
and the Jedi Council on Coruscant, he is urged to persuade the Chosen
One to join him : the shroud of the Dark Side obscures everything,
and the Jedi believe their only hope now is to rely on the destiny
of the Chosen One in Balancing the Force. They are aware that Anakin
has married Padmé, but feel that these desperate times call
for desperate measures. Indeed, all padawan Jedi not yet ready for
the Trials have been promoted to Knighthood in order to serve the
Republic in its dark hour. The Jedi have also spoken out against
the War, urging negotiation and a scaling back of the clone armies.
Nonetheless, they are duty bound to lead these armies to points
of conflagration in the galaxy. |
| Obi-Wan contacts Anakin via holo-transmission. Though they lead an idyllic life, Anakin is persuaded to rejoin his friend's cause, this time as a fully fledged Jedi. Since his wife and Bail
fight for the same cause, Padmé accompanies him. The droids,
R2 & 3PO, journey also. |
| When Anakin arrives at Alderaan, he and Obi-Wan are instrumental
in turning the tide. Obi-Wan leads the Republic ground forces to victory,
while Anakin's piloting proves decisive in orbit. The Clone Wars are at an end, and Peace
reigns. Bail and Padmé become firm friends. Alderaan
promotes pacifism, and destroys all its weapons. |
| Count Dooku and Darth Sidious instruct Nute Gunray, the Neimoudian Viceroy, to be present in their communications. The Sith Lord orders him to capitulate, thus allowing Dooku to escape, and to ensure he reveals that Chancellor Palpatine has nefarious plans for the shaken Republic. |
| Nute Gunray is arrested, and set for trial on Coruscant. However, he requests a private audience with Bail Organa, offering information vital to the safety of the Galaxy. Bail, Amidala, and Mon Mothma are present when Gunray reveals that the Chancellor of the Republic is in truth a Sith Lord, and aims to bring the Galaxy under his New Order ! The Loyalist senators are dubious at the Neimoudian's words, and send him on his way. However, they discuss the matter with the Jedi, who feel that Gunray continues to act on the treacherous behalf of Count Dooku, who remains a threat whilst he is at large. |
| The
Jedi Council agree to Palpatine's request for Anakin to protect
him from the Count. Anakin kisses Padmé goodbye, and departs. The
senator returns to Naboo, now striving to ensure peace is at hand,
as do the droids. Whilst travelling, she becomes aware she is pregnant,
and decides to return to her family home, from where she can work
in relative privacy. Jar Jar Binks liases for her at the
Senate. Aware of the potential scandal of her pregnancy, she contacts
Bail Organa, who agrees to share her ruse that he is the
father. |
| As the Neimoudian Viceroy is transported to Coruscant, the ship carrying him inexplicably explodes : Nute Gunray has been silenced, and his revelations remain with the Loyalist senators. |
| Obi-Wan presents Anakin to Chancellor Palpatine, where the young Jedi Knight takes up his role as Protector. Though
the Clone Wars are now over, the Shroud of the Dark Side is as thick
as ever. The Jedi Council remains suspicious of the Senate, and
turns to the word of the Prophecy to determine how best to proceed.
They know Count Dooku must be brought to justice. |
| On Kamino, Boba Fett, now twelve years old, prepares to leave to continue his late father's skills as a mercenary. He assures Prime Minister Lama Su that, like his father before him, he will return often to provide the pure DNA for the ongoing cloning order. Slave 1 rockets away, destination : nearby Tatooine. |
| As the
remaining Jedi try to determine Dooku's whereabouts, the
general populace now regard the Republic's own military resources
as the real victors, and the Jedi, who argued against the Senate
through the course of the war, as out-dated timewasters. The almost
deserted Jedi Temple comes under verbal attack. Furthermore, the
prejudice and suspicion aimed at the galaxy's alien races has not
diminished : many of these species were allied to the Separatist
cause, and are now subjugated. Wookiees are among those that
are 'utilised' for their formidable strength. |
| In these
uncertain times, the Chancellor retains his Emergency Powers. The
Jedi find this suspicious and say so, urging the Chancellor to work
for peace by renouncing his martial powers. Palpatine is
expected to put this proposal to the Senate, and he promises to do so. |
| Additionally,
the Chancellor turns to Senator Jar Jar Binks and suggests
that if the Jedi could find a remote location to hide, then they
might be able to weather this storm : he indicates possible locations,
including a volcanic world that would deter onlookers. Jar Jar hurries
to the Jedi to offer the suggestions. |
| Palpatine introduces Master Mace Windu to the Senate to outline the concerns of the Jedi. The Senate body
denounces the Jedi Order as traitors, and instigate a curfew on
many worlds, including Coruscant. The Jedi realise their vulnerability
and arrange to send the younger padawans out from Coruscant. However,
their starships come under attack by TIE fighters, and are destroyed.
The next generation of Jedi is lost. As the Jedi Temple is stormed,
many Jedi are killed. Those who survive, flee, but a bounty is placed
upon them, and they become outlawed. |
| In his
palace on Tatooine, Jabba the Hutt receives the holographic
transmission from the Senate denouncing the Jedi, and recognising
a bounty upon their heads. As Jabba greedily sends forth
his own hired mercenaries, the young teenager, Boba Fett,
arrives looking for shelter and tuition. |
| Anakin
recognises Palpatine's insistence for Order, for rule by
one wise individual, to end this destructive conflict, and sees
the validity in the accusation of treachery. Thus he has no qualms
in seeing the Jedi be hunted, and in fact takes part in directing
some of these forces, both Imperial and bounty hunter. |
Fade
to black ....
9 Months Pass .... |
| The Jedi
Purge has been rampant across the galaxy, and very few Jedi remain
alive. Those that do hide on starships or on remote worlds. One
such world is ear-marked as a base : it is the uninhabited volcanic
planet, Had Abaddon, on the Outer Rim described by Jar Jar, its vulcanic
activity clearly a natural mask to tracking sensors. |
| Clonetrooper
garrisons are installed on many worlds and provide a measure of
security, stamping out any insurrection. They report directly to
the Chancellor. |
| Yoda
senses the foetal offspring of the Chosen One, and instructs Mace
and Obi-Wan to journey with him to Padmé on Naboo
where they can offer her protection from the agents of the Dark
Side. Using the Force, they slip past the clonetrooper security
blockade. Senator Jar Jar has already returned home to Naboo,
and is with Padmé. The Jedi meet with Padmé, and they agree to retreat to the isolation of the Lake Country. |
| Darth
Sidious orders Count Dooku to go to Naboo and threaten
Padmé's life. He knows that, as with the Jedi's mother two
years previously, the pain will affect Anakin greatly, and
ensure his path to the Dark Side. |
| Dooku
arrives on Naboo and speaks with Queen Jamillia, using the Force to persuade her intentions. He then mobilises the local garrison. Through
the Force, he soon discovers Padmé and the Jedi, and they
move to intercept. He sees that she is pregnant, and recognises
her offspring's potential in the Force, their potential to either
be the Sith's undoing, or become new Apprentices. Mace Windu
and Obi-Wan confront the Sith Lord, while Yoda remains
at Padmé's side. The clonetroopers place a homing tracker
on Padmé's Nubian yacht, and cordon it. Mace is killed
and Tyranus injured, but the Sith Lord manages to escape. |
| As more
clonetroopers arrive, Obi-Wan reports to Yoda of the
battle's outcome. The Jedi Knight and Yoda easily clear their
path to the ship, where they, Padmé and Jar Jar quickly
flee Naboo. However, they are soon pursued by TIE fighters. Obi-Wan
pilots their ship and they escape, retreating to the Jedi stronghold
on Had Abaddon. |
| Tyranus
returns to Darth Sidious, who has engineered him to meet
first with Anakin, the Chancellor's bodyguard. When Anakin
sees Dooku, he attacks, and during the fierce duel, Dooku
reveals that Padmé is pregnant by Bail Organa, and
is being protected by the boy's former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Anakin in his fury kills the Sith Lord. Palpatine
arrives and congratulates him, urging him to recognise that the
dark side of anger makes him powerful. Anakin accepts this,
and, when Palpatine reveals that he too is a Master of the
Dark Side, the former Jedi embraces the powerful use of the Force,
and takes on the new name of 'Darth Vader'. He informs his
Master that Padmé is married to Bail, but keeps her
pregnancy a secret. Recognising that this would be the final taunt
for Anakin, he instructs the former Jedi to confront her,
supplying the recent intelligence report that she and the Jedi have
retreated to a volcanic world.
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| Yoda
oversees the birth of the Twins, in the presence of Jar Jar Binks
and Padmé's handmaidens. Yoda arranges for the handmaidens
and Jar Jar to depart on the Nubian ship, and while the diversion
is taking place instructs Padmé to flee with him on another
craft. He orders Obi-Wan to confront Anakin, with
the choice of either turning his former padawan back to the Light,
or to kill him, and gives the Jedi Knight the coordinates of a nearby
uncharted swamp world. |
| As the
Republic battlecruisers arrive in orbit, Anakin recognises
the Nubian ship departing. He instructs the contingent of accompanying
TIE fighters to pursue the escape craft, and continues down to the
planet. The battlecruisers begin to pound the planet from orbit, and troops are sent forth to face the Jedi Knights. |
| Obi-Wan
meets Anakin as he arrives. Anakin demands to see
Padmé, but Obi-Wan refuses, indicating that she has
just left, and recognising the anger and hatred fuelled by the Dark
Side. He urges Ani to release these emotions and return from the
Dark Side. The Sith Lord ignites his lightsabre and attacks. A great
duel of the fates ensues. High above in the sky, the Nubian Yacht
has been forced back, and is being trailed by the TIEs. Lasers flash,
and the Nubian ship explodes in a fireball, watched by Anakin,
which drives him into a frenzy. |
| Yet Anakin's
lightsabre is knocked from his grasp, and Obi-Wan is the
victor, but Anakin still presses the attack. The Jedi defends himself,
and Anakin falls into a deep pit of lava. Obi-Wan
leaves his former padawan for dead, retrieves his friend's lightsabre,
and departs to follow Yoda. |
| While
the sentry ships are distracted, Yoda, Padmé, her
Twins, and the droids flee to Dagobah, conjuring the
ship in invisibility. On the swamp world, Yoda instructs
Padmé to take her daughter to Alderaan. Padmé departs,
leaving the Jedi Master to his new home, and she journeys to Alderaan,
where she is welcomed by Bail. She programs the droids not
to reveal anything connected with recent events, to render all references
to her and Skywalker secret. |
| Anakin
uses the Dark Side of the Force to remain alive in fatal conditions.
Palpatine feels his Apprentice's pain, and sends a rescue
ship to his aid. |
| Obi-Wan
travels to Yoda on Dagobah, who holds the infant Luke.
The Jedi Master instructs the last Jedi Knight to carry Luke
to his remaining family, the Lars' on Tatooine, the location
of Ani's anguish when he lost his beloved mother. He instructs
the Jedi to bring the boy to him once he is a little older to begin
his training in the ways of the Jedi. |
| Anakin
is brought back to Coruscant where Palpatine has declared
himself 'Emperor'. The mortally injured Sith Lord recovers in a
medi-centre, where he now relies on cyborg mechanisms and a breathing
system that completely encases him in black armour. Anakin
goes before his Master, and bows. |
| Obi-Wan
leaves for Tatooine, where he travels to the Salt Flats near Mos
Eisley. The Jedi asks Owen and Beru Lars to look after
Luke, assuring them that he will return soon to begin the
boy's Jedi training. Owen angrily evicts Obi-Wan,
stating that the boy will not follow in his father's footsteps,
will not become an outlawed Jedi. Obi-Wan nods, and leaves,
settling not too far away near the Dune Sea. |
| Fade
to Black .... |
| Luke
is tending his uncle's moisture vaporators out in the desert, when
he catches sight of laser fire and explosions in the sky above him.
His macro-binocs reveal a ferocious battle in orbit, and he hurries
over to his friends in Anchorhead to share with them the news. There,
he meets his old friend, Biggs Darklighter, who has now graduated
from the Imperial Academy. After the joyous reunion, Biggs
privately informs Luke of his own distrust of the Empire,
and his secret intentions to join the growing rebel alliance. Luke
is incredulous, and he and Biggs part on sad terms .......... |
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