CUT TO

The nightside of a planet floating in the depths of outer space. Billions of lights glow on the surface of the planet, creating a web of artificial stars across its continents.

ANAKIN: (V.O.) Where are we?

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Over 28,000 years into the past. This is Sith, the birth world of my race.

CUT TO

Eikhan and Anakin standing on the surface of the original Sith homeworld. Though not spectacularly advanced by any means – there are no signs of speeders, starships, interstellar communication, etc. indicative of a starfaring civilization on the planet – neither is it particularly primitive. Millions of land vehicles move along a series of roads and bridges spanning the globe, passing thousands of towering skyscrapers which reach for the clouds and the air vehicles which fly above them.

NYKRES EIKHAN: In this age the Sith have subdued and filled their world, but they still know no unity; hundreds of nation-states span the globe, all controlled by disparate leaders, all in direct competition for control of the planet’s dwindling resources. (beat) This will all change with the coming of King Adas.

CUT TO

To a grand citadel situated deep in the centre of a Sith metropolis. Like a titanic reaching hand, it towers over the other buildings of the sprawling city.

ZOOM IN

On a balcony situated in the citadel’s highest level. Standing upon the balcony, overlooking the city beyond, is an IMMENSE CHARCOAL-SKINNED SITH MALE dressed in turquoise robes with a silver circlet worn upon his head.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) King Adas had a dream: to unite the Sith nations under one government, one rule – his own.

FADE TO

Adas on a war torn battlefield. Now dressed head-to-toe in jet-black armour – a spiked helm worn over his head, an alchemically forged battle axe in hand – leads Sith troops armed with automated slugthrowers in battle against Sith of a rival faction, mercilessly mowing down enemy soldiers by the dozens with his crystalline blade.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) A formidable sorcerer-warrior, Adas had the power to make his dream reality.

CUT TO

Adas standing before a jubilant crowd. Still attired in his black armour, he has removed the helmet; his hair long and white, skin weathered and wrinkled, he is now an old man. Raising his gauntleted hand before the crowd, he presents them the severed head of a deposed rival.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) It took three-hundred years of ceaseless battle, but Adas triumphed. He ruled unrivalled over Sith – the people and the planet both.

CUT TO

Adas seated in his throne in his citadel. Dressed in turquoise robes and silver circlet, he appears weighed down by both, sickly and weak.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) But the fruits of his victory were short-lived.

CUT TO

Adas lying in his deathbed, attended to by his physicians, aides, and friends.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) He died without ever appointing an heir ….

CUT TO

A violent riot raging through the streets. Adas’ soldiers try and fail to contain the violence, losing their lives in the process.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.; cont’d) … and his vision of unity died with him. (beat) With the passage of centuries, the Kissai came.

FADE TO

A TRIO OF BLACK-ROBED SITH. Standing before a large assemblage, they preach to the congregation with much passion and flourish, reading from a tome bound in Sith skin and inked in Sith blood.

NYKRES EIKHAN: This priesthood brought with them the word of new gods: the Immortal Gods, living manifestations of the Force itself. (beat) A novel interpretation of the Force was presented to the people; the Force – that universal energy field which bound the universe together – was absolute darkness, an all-hungry, all-consuming chaos which none – not even the dead – could claim sanctuary from in time. (beat) Ultimate salvation lay only through deification by the Immortal Gods, and they would share their godhood only with those who paid a specific price: lives for life – unending blood sacrifice for eternal existence.

CUT TO

Frightened parishioners talking amongst themselves in hushed, horrified tones.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Swayed by the fearful gospel of the Kissai, the Sith entrusted themselves to the priests for deliverance.

SITH HOMEWORLD – MONTAGE

We see a series of images: the rebuilding of Sith civilization; the advancement of Sith technology; Sith starships leaving for the stars; and mass sacrifices of men, women, and children overseen by the Kissai.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Over the span of millennia, the Sith rebuilt their world. They even sent ships out amongst the stars to colonize new worlds. (beat) It all came at the cost of billions of innocent lives.

FADE TO

Dozens upon dozens of non-Sith starships dropping out of hyperspace near a blue-and-green planet.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Deliverance finally came with the Legions of Lettow.

CUT TO

The ships landing on this world.

As the passengers file out of the ships, we can see that they consist of individuals from several different races; Humans, Duros, Twi’leks, and various other familiar and unfamiliar creatures make up their number. Worn on their belts are archaic lightsabers: lightsabers with externally mounted focusing crystals and energy cords which feed into hip-worn power packs.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Travellers from distant stars, the Lettow had been exiled from their own region of space, banished for their beliefs. Sent out into the unknown, they were meant to perish in the cold void between worlds. Instead they found Korriban, a minor colony situated on the edge of Sith space.

CUT TO

The Lettow Legionnaires as they enter a village. Making their way through this squalid village, they regard the dozens of Sith which stand or sit about them – clad in filthy rags, suffering from disease or malnutrition – with pity.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The exiles found Korriban a wretched hive of scum, of villainy. The citizens lived in filth and squalor without adequate housing, food, or medicine while their governor lived in great opulence.

CUT TO

A corpulent Kissai seated in the pleasure dome of his citadel. Laden with jewellery and robes of fine silk, he has his harem of beautiful slave girls feed him rich, fatty foods.

CUT TO

The legionnaires as they make their way through a hallway in the Kissai citadel. The pale yellow, nearly colourless blades of their lightsabers engaged, they cut through the citadel’s staff of Massassi warriors.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Finding the situation on Korriban intolerable, the Lettow deposed the governing Kissai ….

CUT TO

The Lettow Legionnaires as they drag the fat Kissai out into the open, before a gathering of emaciated, sickly Sith peasants. Forcing the Kissai to his knees, they then behead him. Taking up the headless corpse, the Lettow toss it to the assembled peasants, who strip it of its finery before tossing it in a sacrificial pit of everlasting flame.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.; cont’d) … and assumed control of Korriban, declaring it a world free of the Sith Empire’s tyranny.

CUT TO

The village on Korriban as it undergoes a radical transformation. The streets are cleaned up, the buildings repaired, and the people provided fresh new clothes and plenty of good food to eat.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Over the course of a few short years, the legionnaires established a new and better quality of life on Korriban. (beat) News of this eventually spread to the other worlds in the Sith Empire ….

SITH EMPIRE – MONTAGE

We see a series of images of Sith throughout the Empire receiving and reacting to the news of the Lettow Legionnaires on Korriban.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The news even reached the ears of those in the populace who had grown weary of the Kissai and the dark religion they had brought to the Empire.

CUT TO

A group of Kissai standing on a tower on the Sith homeworld, watching a fleet of warships departing for space.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) Deciding that the Lettow placed too great a risk to their rule, the Kissai dispatched an armada to Korriban.

CUT TO

The Sith armada as it bombards Korriban with energy weapons and thermonuclear weapons, sterilizing the planet of life.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The Kissai had been unwise with their course of action; they only fanned the flames of rebellion.

SITH EMPIRE – MONTAGE

We bear witness as a significant number of Sith dissidents assemble and rise up to oppose the Kissai. Capturing a number of important worlds and claiming a fleet of warships for their own use, they go to war with the Kissai forces.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The Dissidents ultimately won, claiming victory in a final, desperate action.

CUT TO

A Sith captain aboard a Dissident warship.

Resting her hands upon the control crystals, the Dissident captain activates a Force-based weapon which reaches deep into the heart of the Sith sun, wrenching out its core and destabilizing it.

Rapidly collapsing in on itself, the star goes nova, annihilating everything in the system – the world of Sith included.

CUT TO

Ziost, a cold, night-shrouded planet.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) With the Kissai defeated, the Dissident leaders assumed command of the Sith Empire and made Ziost the new throne world.

CUT TO

The Dissident leaders in their council chambers. There are eleven of them; one stands at the centre with the others kneeled in a ring around him, hands planted on the hilts of their warblades in obeisance.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) They formed a new system of government to replace the one founded by the Kissai. The Sith Empire would now be ruled by a council of Sith lords and ladies which, in turn, would be ruled by a single appointed Lord or Lady of the Sith.

CUT TO

The Sith Lords as they revamp the Kissai religion, revising the Kissai holy texts and establishing a new priesthood.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (V.O.) The Sith Lords then received new revelation. Whereas the Kissai had preached that the Force was darkness and chaos – the gods covetous and flesh-hungry – the lords revealed that the Force was order as well as chaos, that benevolent gods ruled alongside the evil ones in infinity. This newfound truth established, the Sith Lords entrusted it to a revamped Kissai priesthood to honour and protect.

SITH EMPIRE – MONTAGE

We watch as the Sith Empire goes through a new age of great prosperity and expansion.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Under the Sith Lords, the Sith Empire experienced a renaissance. The Empire expanded to encompass several thousand worlds. We experienced prosperity the likes of which we had never experienced before. (beat) But our golden age eventually came to an end. Apathy set in. With it, stagnation.

CUT TO

Eikhan and Anakin standing on the surface of a desolate world.

The Sith and the Jedi stand within a sheltered valley, the walls of which have had innumerable temples built into them. Effigies and statues adorn the temples, carved in the likenesses of Sith gods and heroes and guardian beasts.

ANAKIN: Now where are we?

NYKRES EIKHAN: Korriban, thousands of years after the nuclear armageddon. In honour of the fallen Lettow, the Sith Lords made it the Empire’s mausoleum world – the final resting place of the great Lords and Ladies of the Sith and their vassals.

Leaving the pair, we come to focus on a funeral procession. A SOLEMN SITH LORD leads the procession. Behind him, six Kissai pallbearers carry aloft the body of a recently deceased Lord. Behind them are several other Kissai, mourners, Massassi warriors, and labourers.

ANAKIN: Who died?

NYKRES EIKHAN: Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos.

The processioners end their march before the steps of a grand temple. Lowering the body of Ragnos to the ground, the Kissai step back to allow the Sith Lord – LUDO KRESSH – to step up to it. Bringing forth a horned helmet he has been holding in his hands, he slips it down over the swaddled head of the dead Lord.

LUDO KRESSH: (in Sith, subtitled) Marka Ragnos, great Lord, wear this victory helmet during your battles in the afterlife.

The blessing given, the Kissai take up the body and Kressh leads them up the steps to the Grand Temple’s entrance.

As the Kissai slip inside the tomb, Kressh turns to face the onlooking mourners.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) All hail the memory of Marka Ragnos! His legacy will live for centuries among the Sith people and their rulers!

As this is happening, a Sith yacht descends from the sky. Landing in the valley close to the Grand Temple, it disgorges ANOTHER SITH LORD and his personal Massassi entourage.

ANAKIN: Who’s that?

NYKRES EIKHAN: Naga Sadow – fellow lord and sworn enemy of Ludo Kressh.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) We wait for no man, Sith Lord or slave. (to the Kissai) Let the flames blaze high!

Touching torches to the carved hands of the effigy framing the tomb entrance, the Kissai ignite a pair of braziers, sending great orange flames skyward.

Arriving at the temple steps, Lord Sadow and his Massassi ascend, on approach for Lord Kressh and his entourage.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) I have come to take my place at the funeral of Marka Ragnos.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) Go back, Naga Sadow! You do not belong here!

Silently ordering his Massassi to stay back, Sadow climbs the rest of the steps.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) I belong where I choose to belong, Ludo Kressh!

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled; angry) Your rebellious actions and experiments are a threat to us all! I command here!

The two Sith Lords now stand apart, facing each other eye-to-eye.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled; cont’d) You would destroy the greatness Marka Ragnos maintained in the Sith Empire when he was Lord! You shame his memory!

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) Marka Ragnos was the Lord and I obeyed him while he lived, as everyone must obey the new Lord of the Sith. By rights, it should be me!

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) Your ways will ruin the Empire, Naga Sadow! Stepping in dangerous waters, unleashing powers you do not understand – powers the Sith Lords do not need to insure our continued dominance here!

NAGA SADOW: (angry; subtitled) The Sith Empire is stagnant! For centuries we have done nothing but wallow in our riches and relive our ancient conquest of these worlds! That is no longer enough!

Reaching to his side, Sadow grasps the hilt of his sword.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) The fate of the Sith Empire must not rest in the hands of a backwards thinker such as you, Kressh.

As Sadow unsheathes his crystalline blade, one of Kressh’s followers hands the other lord his own blade.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) There can be only one Lord of the Sith.

Taking his warblade, Sadow plants the tip into the stone beneath his feet. Summoning dark Force energy forth from the enchanted amulets worn upon his hands, he channels it through the sword’s blade, charging it with violet energy.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) I, Naga Sadow, call upon the power of the Sith … (wrenches out the blade and hefts it before him) the power of my royal blood … the power of the Force!

Charging his own warblade with dark blue energy, Kressh points it skyward.

LUDO KRESSH: (subtitled) I fight for the Sith Empire, Naga Sadow – you fight for yourself!

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled) I fight for the future …

Striking simultaneously, the two Sith Lords cross blades, releasing a blast of violet-blue Force energy.

NAGA SADOW: (subtitled; cont’d) … and the future is now!

As the duel rages, another ship – the Starbreaker 12, a ship not of Sith design – passes overhead, unleashing a great sonic BOOM which resonates through the valley, disrupting the battle and drawing the attention of the Sith.

Passing over Sadow’s yacht, the Starbreaker 12 comes to hover a ways away from the Grand Temple and the Sith multitude. As the mourners approach the alien craft, lines drop down from the main body of the ship, allowing them to anchor the ship in place.

The Starbreaker 12’s hatch opens, allowing two young Humans – brother and sister explorers GAV and JORI DARAGON – out to greet the Sith, big smiles on their innocent faces.

GAV DARAGON: Greetings from the Republic! We come in peace!

JORI DARAGON: We’re interested in setting up a fine trade relationship with your civilization.

With a wave of her hand, Nykres Eikhan causes this vision from the past to dissolve away.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Gav and Jori Daragon were taken into custody, escorted to Ziost and imprisoned until the Sith Lords could glean their true purpose for coming to the Empire. (beat) Naga Sadow saw this as his opportunity to succeed Marka Ragnos as Lord of the Sith and expand the borders of the Sith Empire; he took it.

With another wave of her hand, Eikhan calls up another vision – one of Naga Sadow and his followers leading a series of attacks against his fellow Sith to free the Daragons from captivity and plant evidence to make it look as if the Human siblings are the vanguard of a full-scale Republic invasion of Sith territory.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Using the Daragons as scapegoats, Sadow created the spectre of an outside enemy, an opposing force that would unify us and ignite the Sith Empire into a golden flame again.

As Anakin watches on, we see Naga Sadow lead Jori to the Starbreaker 12 sans Gav. Climbing aboard, she escapes Ziost, en-route for Republic space, unaware that there is a biomechanical tracking device attached to the outer hull.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Thus began the great war between our two empires ….

Anakin watches as ancient Sith and Republican ships battle in space and over the surface of worlds; as Jedi Knights – now armed with modern lightsabers – lead troops into pitched, deadly groundside battles against Sith warriors bearing alchemically forged warblades and battle axes; as the innocent bystanders on both sides of the conflict die in the senseless anarchy unleashed by Sadow’s greed and ambition.

NYKRES EIKHAN: At first the Sith prevailed. Our ships were the fastest, our shields the strongest, our weapons the most destructive. However, our Empire was smaller than your Republic by far. Thus our superior technology eventually fell before your superior numbers.

Anakin watches as the Republic fleet drives the remnants of the Sith fleet out of Republican territory, back to Sith space.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (turns) It should have ended here; you were the victors, the Sith Empire was in ruin. It didn’t.

With a great clap of her hands, Eikhan brings them to the surface of another world.

Standing out in an open plain, Anakin watches as Sith – not lords nor vassals nor Kissai nor Massassi but defenseless commonfolk – flee in terror as cloaked figures bear down on them astride large caninoid steeds. These cloaked figures, ignited lightsabers in hand, are Jedi.

ANAKIN: (frowns) No … what is this?

Corralling the Sith like rabbits, the mounted Jedi warriors steer the dozens of Sith adults and children, trampling underfoot those not swift enough to keep pace with their faster companions.

Once the Sith have been driven to a dead end – with no space in which to hide – the Jedi bring their sabers down on them, hacking left and right, massacring them indiscriminately.

ANAKIN: (horrified) No!

Bolting forward, Anakin leaps up and tries to tackle one of the Jedi murderers from his steed, but he passes right through the warrior. Hitting the ground, he rolls then jumps back up, still determined to end the slaughter. As the angry buzzes of blazing lightsabers mix with the agonized screams of wounded and dying Sith, he continues trying to stop the violence, all to no avail.

Finally it ends as it must; collapsing to his knees, butchered Sith strewed about the ground like broken toys about him, Anakin Skywalker weeps, sobbing into his palms.

Nykres Eikhan, her face contorted with rage, strides up to Anakin. Grabbing him by the hair, she forces his head up, forcing him to look back upon the bloodshed.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Do you see? Do you finally see?! This is what the Jedi did to my people! Every Sith – every Sith – was hunted down, killed to the last man, the last child. (beat) What is it you Jedi claim to be? Guardians of peace? Of justice? Is this peace? Is this justice?! Answer me!

ANAKIN: (outraged) No!

Pulling, the priestess forces Anakin back to his feet.

NYKRES EIKHAN: I am not finished. I showed you my past. Now it is time to see your future. Then – then – you can finally die!

The plain with its massacred Sith and fallen Jedi dissolves away, leaving Eikhan and Anakin standing within the throne room of the Imperial Palace on Coruscant.

It is some time in the near future, and a coronation ceremony is currently being held. A man – Human, slim, but with his facial features inexplicably obscured – sits upon the throne as the grand vizier reads from the Rite of Ascension.

NYKRES EIKHAN: In the years to come, corruption will infect your Empire. More and more senators, seduced by power and wealth, will ally themselves with special interests and corruption will spread to numerous worlds! (beat) Out of that turmoil, this man will rise to power as your new emperor.

Once the reading is finished, the vizier takes the Imperial crown from a servant. Turning to the man on the throne, he lowers the crown onto his head, officially bestowing him the title of Emperor of the Galactic Empire.

NYKRES EIKHAN: He will emerge as a dynamic and pragmatic figure, getting the government to work again. He will fill the heads of the people with grand rhetoric, promising to lead the Empire into a golden age like those of ancient dynasties past.

The vision changes. The grand vizier and the other onlookers disappear, leaving the emperor alone in his throne. The throne room is draped in shadow now, the emperor clad in a black robe which hides his face.

NYKRES EIKHAN: This will be but a pretense. Once secure in his power, he will reveal his true face to the Galaxy. (beat) He will be a most powerful sorcerer, a master of that which you call the dark side.

Anakin sees the robed emperor standing now. Having thrown his hands into the air, he telekinetically holds aloft a lowly servant. Closing his hands into fists, he causes the poor creature to spontaneously combust, immolating him alive from the inside out.

NYKRES EIKHAN: He will conquer the Jedi. They will serve him.

Anakin and Eikhan now stand within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

The hooded emperor passes between two columns of Jedi Knights, a Jedi master in maroon robes on his left and a Jedi master in ultramarine robes on his right. He inspects the knights, all of whom stand ramrod straight, faces devoid of emotion, their customary charcoal uniforms traded in for militaristic black synth-leather uniforms.

NYKRES EIKHAN: This army of Jedi at his command, your new emperor will have those who refuse to swear their fealty to him hunted down ….

We now see these dark Jedi in black synth-leather hunt down those Jedi who refuse to bow to the New Order. Following the fugitives to the farthest corners of the Empire and beyond, they cut them down with their blue, green, and yellow lightsabers.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (cont’d) And this will be only the beginning. The real horror – that is yet to come ….

Anakin now sees a flurry of new, evermore disturbing images. Imperial officials have children taken from their parents; Imperial agents force themselves upon helpless women and men; Star Destroyers bombard defenseless worlds with torrents of green laserfire; battalions of soldiers encased in white plasteel armour swarm forth across the surface of disloyal worlds, mowing down all whom they find in the scopes of their blaster rifles; a moon-sized battle station targets a beautiful blue globe and unleashes a powerful superlaser, shattering it and killing everyone alive on its surface in one horrendous instant.

ANAKIN: (shakes his head) No! No, no, no, no!

NYKRES EIKHAN: Yes! And you do not have the power to stop it! No Jedi will ever have the power to prevent this future from coming to pass!

ANAKIN: There has to be a way to stop this man from becoming emperor!

NYKRES EIKHAN: There are none!

ANAKIN: (turns to Eikhan) The Sith! What about the Sith?!

NYKRES EIKHAN: The Sith are gone, their fire extinguished! You extinguished it!

ANAKIN: No! (grabs Eikhan by the front of her robes) The Sith worlds – do they still exist? Where are they?!

NYKRES EIKHAN: They are all dead and empty! As dead and empty as Xuthltan, as Korriban!

ANAKIN: Korriban! The Sith Lords interred on Korriban! (beat) Their spirits – do their spirits reside there?!

NYKRES EIKHAN: They sleep in stone as I did, and their power is greater than my own, but they will never aid you – Jedi.

ANAKIN: Tell me how to reach Korriban!

NYKRES EIKHAN: (bears her teeth) I will tell you if you can pry the words from my dead lips!

The Kissai seizes Anakin’s throat in a chokehold and he reciprocates. The two combatants then struggle there, locked in violent mental battle as the mindscape grows distorted, on the verge of collapse.

EXT. XUTHLTAN – ZIGGURAT – TWILIGHT

Returning to reality, we find Possessed Vaness and Anakin still there, the apprentice on his knees, trapped in the thick vines, with the yellow-skinned Human/rakghoul hybrid hovering over him, claw-like nails of her left hand buried under the skin of his brow. Their faces are both blank of emotion, betraying no sign of the furious battle currently being waged within their shared unconscious.

Behind the two, Bail remains prone upon the stone, wounded arm trapped beneath him. Gritting his teeth, he forces his free hand beneath his body; finding the blaster pinned under him, he wrenches it free. With the possessed woman’s back turned to him, Bail levels the blaster at her and opens fire, emptying the last of the weapon’s stored energy into her back. The green plasma bolts strike with deadly precision; the connection between she and Anakin abruptly severed, the woman collapses into a heap, uttering not a sound as she falls. The vines entangled around Nik quickly dry up, wither, and decay into ash, allowing him to collapse alongside her.

Cradling his wounded arm, Bail scuttles over to the motionless form of his former second-in-command. Checking her throat for a pulse, he finds none. Moving away from her, he goes to Anakin.

BAIL: Skywalker? (shakes Anakin) Skywalker? Anakin, can you hear me? Anakin!?

The young man, though still alive, is in a catatonic shock. His eyes, fixed open, stare straight ahead into nothing.

EXT. ZIGGURAT – DAY

The next day, Bail and Obi-Wan sit with Cmdr. Cody and Anakin. Though in serious condition, Cody is remarkably still alive; by rolling down the sloping exterior wall of the ziggurat instead of plummeting straight to the ground below, he broke his fall, sparing him immediate death. For his part, Anakin remains catatonic, unaware of anyone or thing around him.

As Obi looks down at his burnt, bandaged hands in his lap, a low mechanical HUM begins to resonate through the air. Looking up, he and Bail spot a homely, ungainly freighter descending from the sky towards them.

CUT TO

The Jedi and captain walking down the ziggurat ramp as the freighter lands.

As the two Humans approach the ugly ship, the entry hatch opens, allowing a BOTHAN and a DRESSELLIAN to step out into the dry Xuthltanian air.

INT. UNGAINLY FREIGHTER/MAIN CORRIDOR – DAY

As his crew helps bring the unconscious/catatonic forms of Cody and Anakin aboard, the Bothan captain turns to regard Bail, who has just entered the ship, the shrouded form of Vaness’ body held in his arms.

BOTHAN CAPTAIN: What happened to you guys down here?

BAIL: (solemn) That’s a long story, Captain. Maybe I’ll tell it to you when I’m in the right mind for it.

As Bail glumly files inside, he’s followed by Obi-Wan. Turning to the burned Jedi, the Bothan captain quickly exchanges wordless glances with the Human before closing the hatch.

EXT. DRIED-UP RIVER BED – DAY

As the freighter flies through the air on its way back to space, it passes over the wreck of the Wayward Son.

INT. UNGAINLY FREIGHTER/COCKPIT – DAY

The Bothan captain and Dressellian co-pilot sit behind the controls of their ship, Obi-Wan and Bail seated behind them.

BOTHAN CAPTAIN: (notices the Wayward Son) That’s the ship you came down here on?

OBI-WAN: Yes.

BOTHAN CAPTAIN: A YT-1300. That’s a great ship; my cousin has one of those. Sad it see it in such sorry condition. (turns to the Humans) Will you be comin’ back for it?

BAIL: It’s scrap now.

BOTHAN CAPTAIN: (shrugs) Looks like a fixer-upper to me.

BAIL: You’re welcome to it if you want it.

BOTHAN CAPTAIN: Thanks. I think we’ll come back this way ‘round after our current run, give it a once-over and see if we can’t get it towed back to Rinel. (beat) Y’know, even if it’s a strike-off, it’s bound to have good parts worth salvaging.