Lately I've been putting together an alternate Episode I. It's the result of some examination of the Internet's views on what the prequels could have been. Below is the summary of where the movie begins. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to the end in further posts. I will continue to make edits to existing posts in order to streamline this outline as much as possible.
The galaxy has three parts. They are the Core Worlds, the Colonies, and the Outer Rim.
Most of the Core Worlds are members of the Old Republic, the major exception being the Kingdom of Alderaan. Alderaan lies at the meeting of many hyperspace lanes leading into the Core Worlds.
The Colonies have a minority population of Republic outposts. The rest of its systems have historically belonged to other polities such as the Tionese Hegemony.
The Outer Rim is a vast expanse of space controlled by despotic rulers (such as Greater Mandalore) and crime syndicates (such as the Hutt Cartel).
War has enveloped the galaxy. The Colonies have been subjugated by clone warriors loyal to the Outer Rim dictator Jaster Mereel, leader of Greater Mandalore. Years ago he purchased cloning technology from a mysterious benefactor rumored to be from the Republic. Now his forces stand poised to make a decisive strike against the Core Worlds, the heart of the Old Republic.
Just as foreign clones threaten to conquer the Republic, so too do domestically grown clones enact guerilla warfare against their former masters. The Republic Defense Force, a professional military organization composed entirely of volunteers, is stretched across many systems at once, putting down uprisings of once-servile Republic clones.
The Jedi Knights have used their mysterious powers to eliminate Mandalorian raiding parties in the Colonies. They have kept the Core Worlds safe from Mereel, but there are those in the Republic Senate, such as the wealthy aristocrat Theo Palpatine, who warn that even the powers of the Jedi will not be able to ward off the Mandalorian clones indefinitely.
It is in this climate that we witness the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Clone Menace.
The start of the film occurs in the throne room of Alderaan's royal palace. It is an expansive room with a high, arched ceiling. Murals adorn the walls and between each of the tall windows stands a unique sculpture made of the finest Alderaanian marble.
Fearing an imminent invasion, King Bail Organa meets with his daughter Marya, his friend and honorary general Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Kenobi's Jedi colleague Templar Jinn. He orders Kenobi to coordinate defensive operations against the incoming Mandalorians, then he asks Templar Jinn to use the diplomatic cruiser in a nearby hangar bay to spirit young Marya off of her home planet. Marya protests this but Bail insists that if the Mandalorians decide to execute him, then Marya must live to continue the royal bloodline. She and her guardian Jinn part ways with Bail and Obi-Wan.
Wipe cut to Marya's diplomatic cruiser being escorted away from the planet. The fighter escorting her is a Z-95 Headhunter piloted by one Grant Lars and his droid counterpart Q4-M9. They share some banter and reminiscence that clues in the audience that they recently ended a romantic relationship, but that the fire between them is not entirely extinguished yet.
The ships get a report that Mandalorian battleships have encroached on Alderaanian space. Grant turns his Headhunter away from Marya's cruiser to join the defense. Marya and Jinn make the jump to hyperspace towards Kessel.
To be continued.