What If...Mace Windu survived his fight with Palpatine? (Part 7)

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When we last left the epic of “What If Mace Windu survived his fight with Palpatine?”, Mace and the crew of the Pathfinder arrived on Kashyyyk to answer the call of Tarful, who sought to liberate Wookiees from an Imperial labor camp. Thanks to the extra help of the Jedi Master and his crew, they succeeded. However, it appears that Mace did not come to Kashyyyk without a tagalong. A familiar Mandalorian warrior made himself known, Boba Fett has come to avenge his father’s death at Mace’s hands. We resume our look into another looking glass as the fight begins…

Mace and Boba square off, Mace with his lightsaber in hand and Boba keeping a respectable distance with just the one blaster at the ready. Rather than the charging in that Mace did against Jango, he keeps his distance as he regards his opponent carefully. Likewise, Boba is surveying him carefully, quick to move if it seems like Mace is retreating. Soon enough, the first blaster shot is fired and Mace deflects it, moving in. His yellow blade sending back bolt after bolt of rapid fire as Boba dodges through the strategic use of his jetpack.

Using his skill in the Art of the Movement, Mace is trying less to actually defeat or even injure Boba (who is only about fourteen, maybe pushing fifteen at this point), avoiding blaster fire and detonators as well as using the Force to outright deflect a disintegration ray into a nearby tree as the pair’s battle takes them into the jungle. It’s an acrobatic affair, Mace leaping between the trees and getting in swipes as Boba flies about, starting mini fires strategically trying to cut Mace off and getting in shots where he can. Mace has to make use of Force Body to keep up as time goes on. Boba is relentless and while he can’t break through Mace’s defense, Mace is not successful in doing anything but defending, either.

Mace even notes, at one point in the fight, that Boba could have been a very powerful Jedi had he been Force Sensitive.

It becomes clear to Mace, though, that Boba isn't giving up the fight. Hatred burns strong in him, and Mace isn't equipped to help him out of it, as much as he might like to. The battle is becoming very Predator-esque with Mace using Telekinesis to set a few traps here and there, albeit very crude and temporary ones. Rather like the Predator, Boba is able to take the hits and keep going, though not without more than a few hits to his armor. At one point, even his jetpack eventually takes a swipe from Mace’s saber, one of the thrusters being cut clean from it and thankfully not blowing the pair of them to kingdom come. With his main advantage taken out, Boba is stuck on the ground with Mace amid the various fires that Boba has set…which are unfortunately spreading. This, coupled with the rapidly approaching Imperial forces via shuttle craft, convinces Mace that it’s time to leave.

Weighing his options, Boba makes it clear that this isn’t over as the Jedi Master uses Force Stealth and fades away into the jungle, eventually making it back to Tarful's camp. With the release of the Wookiee prisoners from the Imperial detention center, morale is at an all-time high! Grateful in the extreme, Tarful holds up his end of the bargain and points Mace and his crew in the direction of the Jedi Knights he promised.

The Pathfinder heads off in one direction while Tarful and his revolutionaries take another route. When they arrive at the coordinates, Mace finds himself face to face with a figure he'd long thought dead - Kento Marek! Yes, that's right, I'm bringing The Force Unleashed into canon.

Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Not just Kento, but also his wife (and former Jedi Knight as well) Mallie and their infant son - Galen. Mace is overjoyed to see them both alive after both were reported missing in action and he catches them up on everything that has been going on. They, too, sensed the deaths of Order 66 just as Yoda and the others did and went deeper into hiding as a result. The activities of the Empire and the Trandoshan slavers on the planet making them all the more cautious than they were in the original timeline.

They join up with the Pathfinder crew and both Kento and Mallie are brought before Yoda and Obi-Wan. Along with Mace, the Jedi Masters decide their fate. Under the rules of the Old Order, they both would have been banished from it. However, times have changed, and the addition of Galen means that the Skywalker/Amidala children are not the only ones in the new generation. Bail Organa once more goes above and beyond, getting the two and their infant false identities.

For security reasons, Bail doesn't tell the Masters where they've been sent, but they have been outfitted with a comms system to maintain contact as well as allow Yoda to teach them how to commune with Qui-Gon for further intercommunication.

With that, the Jedi are looking significantly better than they were in the prime universe. Three masters, four Jedi Knights (even if Anakin is still a wee bit off the rocker), and a few new apprentices to teach. However, the Dark Side remains strong, and indeed we get to see a little bit of that in action.

Mas Amedda and newly appointed Grand Moff Tarkin are discussing the Despayre project in the former's offices on Coruscant. They are also discussing the riots that have broken out across the galaxy. Unlike Palpatine, Mas has not been able to keep as much of a stranglehold as Palpatine had in the original timeline. They have no real respect for the Imperial Regent, and this includes the cavalcade of Dark Side devotees that the Emperor brought along.

In enters a man who is dwarfed by both of them in height, but commands their attention. He is Kadann, Prophet of the Dark Side. The Prophet of the Dark Side, having come all the way from his Order's sanctuary on Dromund Kaas. He informs them that he is following the last instructions given by Darth Sidious, to aid the Regent in the event of his death at the hands of the Jedi.

The Empire will stand.

The Sith grand plan will continue.

He informs them that the Dark Side had shown him the way to carry out Palpatine's final commands: they must locate and capture the Jedi Master known as Mace Windu, for he is the linchpin of the remaining Jedi.

Take him away, and they will fall.

Mas goes to send for bounty hunters, but Kadann tells him that it isn't necessary, soon they will find Mace as he comes to a planet to find a red-headed woman. Unbeknownst to either Kadann, Mas, or Tarkin, someone else has also become privvy to this information - someone within the Inquisitorius, who is already making their way to that planet.

As they move to figure out where that planet is and where that woman is, Mace and his crew continue to travel. By this time, it is 17 BBY, and Mace is deep in meditation when he receives visions of a red-headed young woman in the robes of a Jedi, wielding a saber the color of a bright blue sky. She fights alongside a blonde haired man wielding a green-bladed saber.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out he's seeing the future - Luke and this strange, redheaded woman who was to be trained as a Jedi.

Coming out of his meditative trance, he tells Tialna to set their course for Lotho Minor. She is confused, but I think after a year and some change running around with Mace, she's learned to trust the Jedi Master's instincts. Therefore, the Pathfinder takes the jump into hyperspace heading in that direction. . .with the crew unaware that they may just be walking into a trap.

. . .and that's where we're leaving off for Part 7. Yeah, you've probably already figured out who I'm bringing into the canon next. Yes, I'm aware that I'm not particularly original, why do you ask? In any case, who will be waiting for Mace when he and his crew arrive on Lotho Minor? Will Kadann and the Empire be there to further complicate things? And what is Kadann's ultimate plan, anyway? The answer to at least 33.3% of these questions will be given in Part 8! See you there!

Until next time. . .the Force will be with you, always.

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