The Second Clone War

I've been working on a prequel trilogy treatment to run in the same canon as my sequel trilogy treatment. Here's what I'm trying to bring to the table with my prequels...

- Episode I: A New Knight (taking place in 30 BBY): The Clone War rages across the galaxy. Under the threat of complete anarchy, the Republic calls upon the clan of Force-users known as the Jedi Knights for military and diplomatic aid.

A graying, 45-year-old spice freighter captain named Ben Cortel picks up a mysterious cloaked passenger calling herself Nellith. She offers a substantial sum of credits to transport a clandestine shipment of cargo to an uncharted star system in the Outer Rim.

During their transit through the Mid-Rim, Nellith starts to suspect that Ben is a Force-sensitive. She tries to induct him into her order, the Jedi Sentinels, a group that compiles information into sacred Jedi Holocrons. Ben denies this and dismisses her "ramblings" as hokey nonsense.

As the freighter enters the Outer Rim systems, the ship is attacked by a boarding party of deadly Mandalorian Clone warriors demanding Nellith's secret cargo. Ben and Nellith valiantly fight off the Clones, but are saved in the nick of time by the timely intervention of a stowaway passenger...a disheveled, brown-haired teenager named Anakin Skywalker.

It was his Force signature that Nellith was detecting all this time, not Ben.

The boy seems more predisposed to being a Knight than a Sentinel, so Nellith decides to get Anakin in touch with an experienced Knight, her dear old friend Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Along their journey, they set in motion the events that lead to a new age for the galaxy. But is this coming age one of light or one of darkness?

What do you think?

Here is my first attempt at the film's opening crawl...

STAR WARS EPISODE I: A NEW KNIGHT

The CLONE WAR rages across the galaxy, threatening the existence of the GALACTIC REPUBLIC. 

In this time of distress, the High Chancellor of the Republic ANTIOR has requested assistance from the JEDI, a circle of sages and warriors who wield the mysterious magic known as THE FORCE.

A humble freighter captain named BEN CORTEL has taken on a Jedi passenger, NELLITH LARS, not yet realizing that her mission could change the fate of the entire galaxy...

Another thing, I'm intending for these prequels to be seen after the OT.

The characters below form the movie's "power trio" (like Luke, Leia, and Han in ANH):

Nellith Lars: the pre-eminent member of the Jedi Sentinels, a Jedi order charged with the compilation and guarding of Holocrons. She guards a powerful secret that she will defend to the death against the wrath of the Clones.

Ben Cortel: an aged navigator on a spice freighter. Ben holds a skeptical, sardonic attitude, no doubt because of multiple run-ins with the law. Due to his experiences in the seedier parts of the galaxy, he holds no special stake in the conflict wracking the Republic...but fate will intertwine his destiny with that of the galaxy's.

Anakin Skywalker: a teenage runaway from the urban planet Taris. Anakin grew up under an abusive father named Logan Skywalker. Young Anakin ran away from home at the age of 15 when his father took Mother Skywalker's life. Anakin has spent the last four years in Taris' underground swoop racer scene, quickly rising to become a capable pilot (racing under the stage name of "Anakin Redblade") and a sly fighter. Anakin's fate, however, will not keep him on Taris forever...

The year is 30 BBY.

The film begins with a gunship descending upon Taris. Inside, a squad of Mandalorian Clone warriors checks their weapons and performs other military pre-battle drills.

Skip to a seedy cantina on Taris. Nellith Lars walks in with a bag slung over her shoulder. The object inside has a pyramidal outline and illicits reactions of curiosity from the other patrons. The big holo-screen above the bar shows highlights from the latest swoop race. Several Rodians are seated in front of the display, taking occasional swigs of hard liquor. They let out cries of either joy or dismay (it was difficult to tell) at the result: the winner for the third race in a row was Anakin Redblade.

What do you guys think of Anakin's origin so far? I think it's much more fitting with my mental image of his past as imagined in my first viewing of the OT. Even the whole "Anakin Redblade" stage name is meant to invoke the color of his future lightsaber.

I see where you're coming from. This trilogy is definitely informed by elements of the EU, but the way I see it that's similar to what superhero movies do.

For instance, with Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy (not that I am trying to compare myself to him) everybody in the real world knows who Batman is...right? But, regardless of whether or not you liked the movies themselves (my opinion of his work is...complicated), I think it's safe to conclude from their favorable critical reception and box office success that you can re-tell a story that everybody thinks they already know, you just have to do it intelligently.

Each one of the three Nolan Batman movies cherry-picks elements of the comic book canon at its leisure. Nolan could have started the trilogy off with Batman facing the Joker, but he chose to delay the appearance of the clown nemesis until movie #2. Likewise, he wove together a storyline from numerous disparate elements in developing the third film. I am not well-versed in Batman comic lore, but it is my understanding that Bane, Catwoman, and Robin are not associated with each other in the comics like they are in The Dark Knight Rises.

As for the whole Redblade thing, yes I know it's kind of cheesy. But this is Star Wars. A sprinkling of tongue-in-cheek elements is acceptable, yes?

I'll post more of the outline as it becomes available. I feel like I start too many of these outline threads and then forget about them after a few weeks. :P

I think I'll update Alien III next.

Mrebo said:

I'm having trouble just because there are familiar names connected to unknown characters and my brain is trying to figure out the connections/importance. 

You're wondering about Nellith's last name, aren't you? :)

I suppose Redblade could refer to a blood-drenched vibro-knife, which is what he wants to pull out of his father's torso.

Accidental double post. Nothing to see here.

Nellith looks around the bar to find a star pilot she can pay to take her to the Temple of Ossus, the Jedi headquarters located in an uncharted star system on the far reaches of the Outer Rim.

She finds the captain that the other Jedi have used for this purpose: a spirit-sipping washed-out bag of bones named Ben Cortel. Other Jedi have utilized his services in the Clone War and have taken care to wipe his memory with their Jedi powers. This was done to preserve the secrecy of the Temple's location. Such secrecy was necessary in a time of war.

Nellith sits next to Ben, positioning the bag on her lap after doing so. Their balcony seats overlook Taris' vast cityscape. Civilian airspeeders are accompanied by Republic military fighters, no doubt to dissuade any would-be informants or allies of Mandalorian Clone insurrectionists.

Ben regards the Jedi with a faint look of recognition. Deja vu. He inquires as to her business. 

"Let's just say I have to meet a contact in the Outer Rim. I'd like to avoid any Clone entanglements."

He sets down his drink. "I'm listening. You're not Republic military, are you?"

"Not precisely."

"Good. I'm not a fan of those boys. What are you paying? Because if you show me enough credits, this job becomes a bantha of a different color."

"Five thousand up front, the other fifteen when we arrive at the destination."

Ben offers a wry smile. "You're certainly a lady of means. What are you? Some royalty? Connected to the Hutts?"

"Let's keep our backgrounds out of the discussion."

She waves her hand slightly. Ben's mind subtly re-arranges to suit her will. Not as much as she had hoped.

The old man's mind is stronger than Obi-Wan had told her. The Jedi will have to find another pilot soon. Ben does not realize it, but his mind is building up a resistance to Jedi mind tricks. Nellith realizes that her powers are not sufficient to wipe Ben's mind clean. She would have to get Master Palpatine to do it upon their arrival at Ossus.

I had fun writing this scene because of its call-forwards to the scene of Han's introduction in ANH.

Nellith and Ben pile into the man's freighter, a modified Action VI transport named The Wandering Hawk.

Most Action VI-class ships need to be staffed with several hundred crew members to operate at maximum efficiency, but Ben's technical prowess has enabled him to construct a shipboard AI named UD-1 (or "Yoodie" for short) to run directly under Ben's control and manage all of the vessel's subsystems. Ben has imprinted a rudimentary personality into Yoodie, based off of a charmingly aloof friend from his childhood.

Yoodie is unable to provide an answer when Ben inquires as to why portions of his data banks are missing without a trace. The previous Jedi who used Ben for transit back to or from the Temple of Ossus didn't do the neatest job of wiping out the AI's memory.

Nellith thinks that the previous Jedi was probably Obi-Wan. He was always better at manipulating organic beings' minds using the Force than he was at hacking into computers.

I get the impression that you guys are having trouble adjusting to some of the changes and adaptations I've made to the EU canon to make my prequels. Is this whole Yoodie business a particularly egregious transgression? I'm curious because, to the best of my knowledge, non-corporeal AIs are not really present in Star Wars. They are usually manifested by a droid, whereas Yoodie is more of an abstract presence.

The chronometer log on Yoodie's last memory wipe is from just over a week ago. A short time ago on a moon not very far, far away. It had to have been Obi-Wan.

Nellith wonders what kind of mission the old man was undertaking that required the use of Ben's services. It probably did not involve fighting any Clones, as both the interior and the exterior of The Wandering Hawk are free of any blemishes or blaster impact marks. More likely a peacekeeping mission to convince the leader of a disputed world to continue supporting the Republic war effort. That kind of thing is Obi-Wan's forté.

As far as EU inspiration goes I pretty much take whatever I need whenever I need it. That means anything from the Jedi Knight games, the KOTOR games, EAW, Battlefront, the comics and novels that I have read, and stuff I found on "The Secret History of Star Wars".

Ben dials the route to Nellith's intended destination into Yoodie's navprocessor. The Jedi Sentinel secures her precious cargo in one of the Hawk's freight compartments. The ship's course is a path drawn from Taris to Ossus via the Old Corellian Run, a hyperlane threading through the Arkanis sector. The Run was once a bustling artery of commerce, but that was over a thousand years ago. Now it is mostly a way for the Hutts and other unsavory types to travel to the Outer Rim Territories unnoticed by the law.

The rear cargo door is the last part of the ship to retract before take-off. The landing legs slide inward toward the freighter's underside as powerful repulsorlift engines carry the Hawk out of its gantry.

In an abandoned industrial complex within view of the Hawk, the Mandalorian Clone squad has set up a bivouac around their landed gunship. Automated blaster turrets complement their patrols to guard against Republic guardsmen and, even worse, the rakghouls.

The squad sergeant, Demorre Kro, receives a holo-message from a mysterious figure. It appears to be a tall Human in his thirties wearing a cloak to conceal his face.

"At ease, Sergeant Kro. Has the Jedi left Taris?" he asks.

"They are lifting off as we speak, sir. Shall we engage?"

"Only at my command. When I issue the order, you and your men are to eliminate everyone on that ship and bring me the artifact. The Mandalorian commanders will be most pleased to seize what the Jedi woman has brought onto that ship. Over and out." The hologram disappears in a flicker of blue light.

Kro turns to his men. One of them, Dagor Fett, peers at the setting star while perched on an eroded sculpture of a katarn.

They all look the same. They all have the same DNA. They are all brothers. Blood brothers. Fighting for the glory of Mandalore.

"We've got a job to do, boys," Kro says before he dons his war helm.

The implication I'm trying to set up is that Boba Fett lost his older brother in the First Clone War, which led to him taking up a life of crime. He continues to wear traditional Mandalorian armor well into the reign of the Empire as a sign of solidarity with his planet-brethren. That's not really a spoiler, though. There are surprises to come!