Holy smokes! We finally made it! Ten parts! This is my longest running what if thus far!
Without any further adieu, let's get into it...
Last time, Bail Organa was arrested by the Empire and taken to the planet Despayre. The Jedi managed to escape being decimated once again by their forces and the forces of the Prophets of the Dark Side, and regrouped with Mon Mothma and Garm Bel Ibis to launch a rescue mission. Will they succeed? Let's find out.
It was a normal day for CT-1138. He got up in the morning at 0600, had his ration pack, completed his morning PT, and made his way to his duty station at the Despayre facility. Rather than working on guard duty this morning, he was working the comms for incoming and outgoing ships. For the first few hours, nothing happened...nothing at all. Then, a ship came in. A Corellian freighter. 1138 granted them permission to dock, and then out stepped Jedi Master Mace Windu! Traitor to the Empire, and with others behind him! 1138 was going to be running his own Squadron before he knew it! He picked up his blaster, ordered them to freeze, and then...and then...and then...
. . .then, he couldn't really remember how it happened, but he suddenly had the urge to let them go past him. 1138 wasn't sure why, but it seemed perfectly reasonable to him at the time...whatever it was that he had been told.
Mace, meanwhile, was leading in Garm and a detachment of Corellian troops. After dealing with that particular Clone Trooper and leaving a device to scramble the comms systems, the group began to move through the prisoner barge to seek out the intended target. Garm's network of spies had gotten the information and, with luck, they would arrive in time to get Bail before his transfer.
Unfortunately, they discover the information was leaked by one Cronal, who is awaiting them with a few of his Dark Side Acolytes. Bail has already been moved. Cronal engages Mace in a lightsaber duel while informing him that the Empire is on its way. Soon, he will be dead and Garm and his revolutionaries will likewise be captured or dead, and that he was arrogant and stupid to come alone. Mace's reply?
"Who said we were alone?"
The prison station gets rocked by an explosion. Someone is attacking from the outside. As that happens, two blue lightsabers ignite as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi enter the fray alongside Mace. The two Jedi Masters and one Jedi Knight make short work of Cronal's Acolytes and put Cronal on the ropes against them. It appears that not only has Garm managed to get them on board the station to go save Bail...but Mon Mothma put in some contacts with an old friend - Gial Ackbar, and a quartet of Mon Calamari cruisers has made their way into Despayre's space and is currently both using its fighters to fend off the Imperial forces as well as jam the transmissions to not allow any distress calls to get out.
Cronal gets captured, rather than killed as he wishes to be. There's also the reveal of the Death Star, which is handled just after that...namely by Ackbar and his crew blowing it to kingdom come. Yes, it's 16 BBY at the moment, so it's hardly in a state where it's defensible. So, yeah...the Death Star is destroyed...more on that later...
Ackbar also reveals something interesting...his fleet picked up a particular ship leaving Despayre for Coruscant...a prison ship carrying one Bail Organa. Tarkin and Mas Amedda learn of the destruction of the facilities and the main project at Despayre, and are less than pleased as you might expect. In an act of revenge, particularly after hearing that Bail has been liberated and putting two and two together, blockade Alderaan.
On Corellia, with the three leaders who would make up the Rebel leadership in the main timeline present as well as most of the surviving Jedi - the Rebel Alliance is declared some fourteen years early. Mon Mothma gives the Declaration of Rebellion on a holonet broadcast, declaring the intentions of their movement to overthrow the Galactic Empire and return the galaxy to the ideals of peace and democracy. Needless to say, again, the Regent and his Grand Moff are less than pleased and declare Mon Mothma, Garm Bel Ibis, and Bail Organa enemies of the State.
The Jedi return to Ossus, informing those that have been hiding about what has happened. The Jedi Council convenes, voting to join this new Rebellion even as they take Cronal into their custody and prepare to leave Ossus behind for their safety. Before they leave, though, Mace declares that something needs to be done. With the blessing of Obi-Wan and Yoda, who nod their approval to him, Mace turns to Anakin Skywalker and says something that the younger man never believed he would hear.
"Anakin Skywalker. In recognition of your devotion to the Force and to the Jedi Order, I hereby grant you the rank of Master."
He's seen Anakin's recovery, seen the hero that he can be. That he is. Mace learning from the mistakes of his past, showing that what he told Anakin on Mustafar back in Part 3 wasn't just empty words. He has fought alongside Anakin for years now, and has seen the darkest and brightest sides of his nature. He knows now that Anakin has more than earned his place, having touched both the Darkness and the Light.
With the newly minted Jedi Master among their number, the Jedi take off from Ossus...and move forward into an uncertain future...
And that, my friends...is where we leave off Part 10. I could end this here. After all, we've seen Mace's character development from the man who nearly died at the hands of Palpatine due to his own arrogance and blindness into a far more empathetic and understanding Jedi...but there's so much left to explore. What will happen with the Prophets of the Dark Side and the Inquisitorus? Will Tarkin and Mas Amedda attempt to build a new Death Star? Will there be lots of intrusive cameos of other characters of Star Wars lore?!
Part 11...coming...eventually!
...it'll be less of a gap than Part 9 to Part 10, I promise!
No comments:
Post a Comment