Episode I (YodaJeff.com)

Episode I

By: Thatguy173@aol.com

Against a sea of endless stars, four dozen of the Republic's Victory-class star destroyers came out of hyperspace in the Alderaan system with approximately 150 dreadnaughts in tow. Bail Organa summoned this fleet as a buffer against an armada of Mandalorian cruisers that was omniously positioned a few star systems away. Several hundred star fighters poured out of the bellies of the star destroyers and began to swarm around the atmosphere of Alderaan. This was an awesome display of the Republic's might, which did not go unnoticed by the Mandalorian strike force. . .

The Young Queen stared into the vastness of space from outside her palace on the grand balcony and dreamed of adventures on exotic star systems. She considered her life to be quite boring and prayed for excitement. A droid approached her from behind and told her it was time for her to leave with her family.

The Royal family and other high-ranking members of the Republic departed from the docking bay for important business in a nearby star system. The weight of the growing bureaucracy was a plague on the Republic and something had to be done to re-invigorate the Republic government, which had become slothful over the years

The royal cruisers were escorted by a large, highly-diverse array of military cruisers and fighters for protection. This armada was soon under attack by a mysterious group of ships and fighters, which entered from nowhere. The spectacular fighting was intense, but the enemy retreated after suffering an unacceptable amount of casualties. The Royal family was left unharmed, but this attack was a foreshadowing of things to come . . .

Anakin Skywalker was a young boy on a remote world and stared into the setting twin suns that warmed his modest surroundings. Life was harsh and cruel, but he had growned accustomed to it. Anakin levitated several small rocks with a power that he did not fully understand. His mother called out for him telling him that it was time for bed. With his concentration broke, the small rocks fell back to the ground and Anakin turned and headed for the shelter of his home.

R2-D2 was the latest in astromech-droid technology and rolled off the assembly line headed for Alderaan to serve the Organa family. The lead droid turned on R2 to run a diagnostic scan of the new droids systems. R2 sprung to life with a strange mix of beeps and whistles and shook in fear at the strange world he had entered

Young Palpatine had just been elected to the Republic Senate and was given C-3PO as a present from the Antilles. Tarkin mused to Palpatine that this C-3PO droid from the Antilles appeared to be stupid and clumsy, but the droid would be adequate for protocol work in the Senate. They knew that Palpatine would need an experienced and well-liked protocol droid like C-3PO to succeed in the Senate . . .

Young Kenobi dreamed that one day he would become a nobel Jedi Knight and, especially, wanted to join the elite Council of the Jedi Knights, led by Yoda and other Jedi Masters. His family had guided him well in the ways of the Force and Kenobi used the Force in significant ways . . .

Anakin and his father stumbled though the sandstorm and heard the roar of a large sail barge in the distance. Suddenly, several strange creatures lept from the shadows of the rocks and attacked Anakin and his father. Anakin's father lit his light saber and struck one of the creatures to the ground. Anakin flicked on his light saber and tried to battle with two of the other creatures. Anakin sliced off the arm of one of the creatures and then his father struck both of them down from behind. With the danger now over, Anakin and his father headed forward through the sand storm towards the hovering sail barge, which sat still in the distance . . .

The Force was the central aspect of the entrenched "religious" beliefs of the Republic. While the Jedi were the most well-known and respected followers of the Force. They were by no means its only followers. Literally thousands of various religious sects, cults and temples existed, scattered all-throughout the Republic, which each had their own unique interpretation of the Force. Some followed the lightside while others worshiped the darkside. The lightside of the Force only called upon a destined few to summon its immense powers. Unfortunately, some of these destined few would fall victim to the temptations of the darkside.

Eager to serve the Republic as soon as possible, Kenobi enlisted with the Republic Naval Academy as soon as he could. At the academy, Kenobi proved to be a brilliant student with a keen eye for military strategy. After completing his training at the academy and after graduating with high honors, Kenobi was commissioned as a captain in the navy.

Owen Lars congratulated Kenobi on his success at the Academy. Owen gleefully told Kenobi that Owen had been invited to train with the Jedi after the next season at the Jedi Academy. Kenobi was jealous but knew that his day would come . . .

A large contingent of Mandalorian super commandos raided the remote world of Tatooine and enslaved the native population. The Republic summoned the Jedi Knights to help the Republic fleet oust the Mandalorian from this part of Republic territory. The Jedi and the Republic, with Kenobi as one of its star pilots, defeated the Mandalorians in a spectacular battle. Kenobi proved at this battle that he was a great star pilot . . .

While searching the various slave quarters on the battle-scarred Tatooine, the Jedi and the Republic troops freed many individuals from their bondage. Kenobi and a Jedi friend searched for a missing boy and his mother. Kenobi felt the presence of a Force flow that was even more powerful than the Force flows resonating from the great Jedi Masters. The Force flow was emanating from Young Anakin, who was hiding with his mother in a corner of one of the slave quarters.As Kenobi and the Jedi headed back with Anakin and his mother to their vehicle; they were attacked by strange beasts. The beasts were defeated and the four left for the rendezvous check point. Kenobi befriended the young, frightened boy and his mother and took both of them back with him to one of the Republic bases.The corrupt and slothful nature of the Republic's ruling elite and its bureacracy irritated Palpatine. Palpatine constantly argued in the Senate that the Republic was foolish for relying so heavily on the Jedi for protection. Palpatine wanted the Republic to greatly increase the size, sophistication and prowess of the naval fleet. However, since the Jedi had successfully protected the Republic for over 1,000 generations, the majority of the Senate considered Palpatine to be an over-zealous, newly-elected member.

During various military missions, Kenobi quickly proved to be one of the Republic's greatest star pilots. Impressed by his accomplishments and remarkable skills in the Force, the Jedi invited Kenobi to participate in Jedi training under Yoda's tutelage. At Yoda's Jedi Academy, Kenobi arrived with Anakin and Anakin became fascinated with the powers of the Force.

Kenobi was joined by Owen Lars, Palpatine and Beru, who were all invited to train with and join the Jedi Knights at the Jedi Academy. Palpatine took a brief sabbatical from the Senate to learn the ways of the Force.

The Mandalorian continued to be a great thorn in the Republic's side by disrupting Republic trade routes and by raiding and pirating Republic star systems. There was much outrage and discord among the representatives of the pillaged star systems; but the Senate refused to act on the pleas of the more power-hungry senators, including Palpatine, that the Republic must declare an all-out war on the Mandalorian.

Palpatine realized that the incompetent and fatted leaders of the Republic did not have the courage to return the Republic to the zenith of its glory days. Something had to be done to save the Republic from the incompetence of the ruling elite and Palpatine firmly believed it was his destiny to lead the Republic to a new and unprecedented level of honor and prestige. Palpatine sensed that one of the keys to achieving his objectives was a mastery of the Force.

At the Jedi Academy, the training is both slow, laborious and methodical, but this was still the greatest moment of any young Jedi's life. Most new recruits would seize this opportunity and become Jedi Masters, no matter how much training he or she would have to endure. However, Kenobi was reckless and impatient. Yoda had to work Kenobi very hard to instill Kenobi with discipline. Yoda was amazed that Anakin had the strongest Force flow that he had ever felt. Anakin had the ability to harness and use the Force in ways far beyond his tender years. The Jedi would have to protect this boy from the darkside.

Beru was the most naturally talented of the new Jedi recruits. She and Owen met and helped each other train. They would soon fall in love. Palpatine quickly realized that he was the least talented among the young individuals invited to the Jedi Academy. He missed his fiancee and knew that his destiny lies on a different path from the others. Frustrated with his inability to progress quickly in his Jedi training and resently of Yoda's strict discipline, Palpatine abandoned his Jedi training and sought to heal his disappointment in other ways . . .

By ordering the destruction of an unarmed Republic science-research space station, a nefarious and high-ranking member of the Senate framed the Mandalorian and hoped this incident would spark a galactic-wide war. However, the leaders of the Republic were too frightened by the prospects of yet another protracted galactic war. Instead, the Republic sent ambassadors to the Mandalorian home world to seek a negotiated peace. Various evil agents in the Republic government plotted to sabotage these negotiations . . . After he returned home, Palpatine's fiancee was glad to see her handsome Palpatine. Little did she know that she was in love with a man who in just a few decades would have the blood of billions on his hands

While the peace talks were underway and making progress, traitors in the Senate hired a group of nefarious, renegade mercenaries to assassinate both the Republic and Mandalorian ambassadors.The mercenaries succeeded in killing both-sides ambassadors. The Mandalorian leaders were outraged by the Republic's apparent deceit; likewise, the Republic leaders were outraged.Tremendous fighting broke out between the Mandalorian and the Republic forces in the Mandalorian star system. The politically-ambitious Tarkin secretly approached Palpatine and others about forming an alliance with the Hutts . . .

Desperate to avoid another galactic-wide war, the Jedi (with Kenobi) arrived to settle the conflict.The Jedi managed to bring a truceuntil the assassinations could be investigated by the Jedi. During the investigation, Kenobi stumbled across information linking unknown perpetrators to the assassinations. Kenobi had to use his young Jedi skill to protect himself from assassination attempts made by these mysterious perpetrators . . .

No longer able to trust the Republic, the Mandalorian declared war on the Republic and sought out other star systems to join their alliance. The Jedi were sworn to protect the Republic and its throne at all costs. The galaxy splintered into many factions and the next galactic war was underway . . .

Palpatine used his connections to the under-belly of the Republic to contact the Dark Jedi. With tremendous hatred and total impatience, Palpatine quickly mastered the darkside of the Force under the teachings of the evil Dark Jedi. The individual skill of the Dark Jedi is unimportant. Instead, the darkside gives the Dark Jedi immense powers with little effort, diligence and training in exchange for complete allegiance. The Dark Jedi told Palpatine that it was Palpatine's destiny to crush the Jedi and to rule the galaxy as its sole dictator. The Dark Jedi had lived in the shadows of the Jedi for over 1000 generations and resented the Jedi's very existence. With Palpatine, the Dark Jedi could forsee that they might gain the respect and prestige that they so sorely desired. Ironically, the Dark Jedi could not foresee that they had created a ruthless, darkside monster that would not only destroy those who followed the lightside, but also the Dark Jedi themselves. Palpatine returned to the Senate and kept his mastery of the darkside and his association with the Dark Jedi a secret from all his friends, allies and peers. Lusting for more and more power, Palpatine used Dark Jedi mind tricks to win over the weak-minded members of the Senate. The revenge of the Dark Jedi was underway. The elite rulers of the Republic were stunned and confounded by Palpatine's unprecedented surge in popularity.

In great battles, hundreds of Jedi and Republic troops fought against hundreds of the Mandalorian super commandos and their mysterious allies. Each side suffered tremendous losses.

Scientists made a breakthrough in cloning technology. For the first time, sentient life forms could be safely cloned. The leaders of the Republic were torn on how to morally utilize this great technology. Some argued for the mass replication of troops to bring a swift end to the Mandalorian war. However, the Jedi firmly refused to permit any cloning of sentient life forms. In a very narrow vote, the Senate permanently banned the use of cloning as a military weapon and made arrangements to permanently hide this new and dangerous technology.

Palpatine and his followers were outraged because the Republic was foolish enough to place mere morality ahead of a certain and swift victory over the Mandalorian. Palpatine could take no more. He ordered his agents to secretly copy the blueprints to this new cloning technology by any means necessary. Jabba the Hutt and his minions helped Palpatine and Tarkin steal the information concerning cloning from the Republic. Under the advice of the evil Dark Jedi, Palpatine chose to mass clone Dark Jedi and troops to create a massive army to eventually oppose his adversaries. It would take years for this plan to be completed, but he could afford to wait. The Dark Jedi could foresee that the Jedi would defeat the Mandalorians; however, the Jedi would be so weakened and so absent from much of the Republic during the war that Palpatine would be able to successfully complete his evil plan to seize control of the Senate, then the Republic and, eventually, the entire galaxy.

Bail Organa of Alderaan and Mon Mothma quickly recognized Kenobi's miltary genius and had him quickly promoted to the highest ranks of the Republic military. Kenobi began to live the lavish life style of the military elite. Kenobi became intrigued with Mon Mothma and admired both her beauty and her diplomatic skills. Anakin met the exotic, young Queen, who would be his close friend as a child and his wife as an adult. . . .

Feverishly, at a base built in the hollowed out core of a giant asteroid, the Mandalorian scientists were trying to perfect a new technology to provide the Mandalorian with the military advantage they so desperately needed. Knowing that if the Mandalorian perfected this devastating technology, the Mandalorian would be at a tremendous military advantage, the Jedi and the Republic amassed a large armada to destroy this large asteroid base. In the largest battle of the war so far, Kenobi, Owen Lars, Beru, Bail Organa, Tarkin and Palpatine helped lead thousands upon thousands of star fighters and cruisers to victory. The asteroid base was imploded and destroyed . . .

miles and miles of star fighter and cruiser debris floated around what remained of the shell that was once an incredibly large asteroid base. This was a stunning defeat for the Mandalorian, but the war was not over. It would drag on for years. Back on the Republic home world, Kenobi, Palpatine, Owen Lars, Beru, Tarkin, Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and the other Jedi and Republic warriors were rewarded for their valor. It appeared that the Old Republic and the Jedi would endure forever . . .

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