TITLE CARD: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
A vast sea of stars serves as the main backdrop for the main title, followed by a roll up, which crawls up into infinity.
STAR WARS
A LOST HOPE
The Clone Wars are over. After a half-century of warfare, the siege guns lie quiet. Peace has come to the Galactic Empire. Yet the peace has come with a heavy price. The Empire has fallen into deep economic depression.
With the loss of profits and jobs, criminal syndicates have risen to power. The Imperial Senate — filled with corrupt delegates in the pockets of the gangsters — has been rendered ineffectual. The Jedi Knights, now few in number, do their best to mitigate the widespread strife, all to little avail.
Yet even in this dark age, a flame of hope burns. Senator Dantius Palpatine of Nabu has been appointed Supreme Chancellor of the Imperial Senate. Backed by the honourable senators still remaining, Palpatine has promised to enact a New Order which will see the Senate purged of corruption and the Empire ushered into a renaissance….
PAN UP
To the terrestrial planet Taravedra.
A small fleet of ships is on an approach vector for the planet. The fleet consists of the CR60 Corvette Slipstream, a DP20 frigate, a GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat, a heavily modified T-6 shuttle, a restored Sith escort gunship, and an assorted mix of starfighters.
EXT. TARAVEDRA — GRAY FORTRESS — DAY
Deep within a mountain range stands the Gray Fortress. Carved directly from the rock of a mountain summit, it’s every bit as gray as its name suggests. This is the stronghold of the Gray Knights of Taravedra, an ancient sect of Jedi who have called this world home since the days of the Great Sith Purge.
INT. GRAY FORTRESS/RELIQUARY — DAY
Within the reliquary rests a stasis casket. Built by the ancient Sith, it is a technological sarcophagus designed to keep those sealed within its confines alive in perpetuity. Surrounding the casket are TWENTY GRAY ASCETICS, a subclass of Gray Knights. Descendants of Jedi altered through Force alchemy, the bald Gray Ascetics have no eyes or ears and no senses of taste, smell, or touch, leaving them completely reliant on the Force to experience the universe outside themselves. From the shoulders down they wear suits of dull gray plate armour, the hilts of long-handle lightsabers hanging from their belts.
INT. GRAY FORTRESS/CONTROL TOWER — DAY
Inside the air traffic control tower, NINE JEDI AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS man their stations, monitoring their equipment for any sign of inbound traffic. Unlike the Ascetics, these Jedi are baseline Humans, dressed in the gray uniforms of standard Gray Knights.
TRAFFIC CONTROLLER #1: (reading monitors) Master!
The tower commander sidles up beside his subordinate.
TRAFFIC CONTROLLER #1: Seventeen starships incoming, Master — twenty-six klicks and closing.
TOWER COMMANDER: Opening hailing frequencies.
Hailing frequencies are opened.
TOWER COMMANDER: Inbound vessels, this is Gray Fortress air traffic control. State your identity and business here.
The commander takes a moment to receive a response. None follow.
TOWER COMMANDER: Inbound vessels, by your silence I am to take it you’re not here on friendly terms? Respond.
They still refuse to comply.
TOWER COMMANDER: Your access to our landing strip has been denied. Turn back and return whence you came — I repeat, turn back immediately. Refuse to comply and we will consider you aggressors and act accordingly. This is your only warning.
TRAFFIC CONTROLLER #1: They’re still coming.
EXT. GRAY FORTRESS — LANDING STRIP — DAY
As the air raid sirens begin WAILING, the Jedi fighter pilots of Gray Squadron scamper out to their Z-95 Headhunters. Climbing in their starfighters, they fire them up and take off for open air.
EXT. MOUNTAIN RANGE — DAY
The enemy ships soar towards the Gray Fortress, the Slipstream taking point. Coming to meet them is Gray Squadron.
INT. GRAY LEADER’S HEADHUNTER/COCKPIT — DAY
GRAY LEADER: I’m on the leader. Gray Two and Three, cover me.
EXT. MOUNTAIN RANGE — DAY
As Gray Leader zeroes in on the Slipstream, opening fire with his blaster cannons, the white plasma bolts pass straight through the Corvette, then his Headhunter itself passes through the Slipstream. As the other Headhunters try intercepting the other enemy ships, it becomes clear they’re all illusory.
INT. GRAY FOUR’S HEADHUNTER/COCKPIT — DAY
GRAY FOUR: By the Force —‽
EXT. MOUNTAIN RANGE — DAY
The enemy vessels discorporate, breaking up like clouds, leaving the Jedi starfighters in the air alone.
INT. GRAY EIGHT’S HEADHUNTER/COCKPIT — DAY
GRAY EIGHT: Some kind of trick!
EXT. GRAY FORTRESS — DAY
Meanwhile back at Gray Fortress, the real Slipstream and entourage comes swooping down out of the sky from another direction, catching the gunners within the turbolaser turrets off guard. Before most of the gunners can swivel into position to fire upon the incoming craft, the enemy vessels attack with violet turbolaser beams, plasma bolts, and proton bombs, obliterating the turbolaser embankments.
INT. GRAY FORTRESS — MONTAGE
As their citadel trembles around them, Gray Knights scurry to and fro.
EXT. GRAY FORTRESS — DAY
Returning to the fortress, Gray Squadron finally intercepts the unknown attackers. The sky comes alive with violet-and-white fireworks as the ships zip around, firing weapons.
INT. SLIPSTREAM/MEDITATION CHAMBER — DAY
Within the Slipstream’s dark meditation chamber, LORD BIBHRAMA sits cross-legged atop a shallow circular platform. He is a rather peculiar-looking creature, with large bat-like ears, oversized milky eyes, and a small nose situated over a large white mustache and long white beard. Over his slender shoulders he wears a large green cloak; on his wrists jewelled gauntlets; upon his paw-like left hand a Sith amulet.
CHANTING in low tones, closing his eyes, Bibhrama raises his hands in the air. The jewel on the back of his Sith amulet begins resonating with a violet glow.
EXT. GRAY FORTRESS — DAY
The pilots of Gray Squadron suddenly lose the ability to coordinate against the enemy starcraft. This costs them their defense of Gray Fortress, their ships, and their lives.
INT. GRAY FORTRESS/ENTRANCE HALL — DAY
In the Gray Fortress’ entrance hall, a PLATOON OF GRAY KNIGHTS have assembled. Their gray uniforms are similar in style to those worn by the Jedi in the control tower, albeit reinforced with light armour. The platoon commander, MASTER KAOLIN DARGUUN, stands at the head of the unit, black eyes focused on the large metal blast door which stands between them and the enemy outside.
EXT. GRAY FORTRESS — COURTYARD — DAY
The Slipstream, DP20, Skipray Blastboat, T-6 shuttle, and Sith gunship touch down. Boarding ramps opening on the DP20 and gunship, they disgorge DOZENS UPON DOZENS OF SITH COMMANDOS. The commandos — outfitted in suits of charcoal light armour and red-lensed filtration masks, armed with force pikes — are a foreboding sight to behold.
As the commandos arrange themselves in columns between the starships and fortress entrance, TWO SITH APPRENTICES exit the Blastboat and T-6, respectively. The first is a Human man, GALEN MAREK. Approximately seventeen years old, he is tall and lean, handsome, with close-cropped black hair and small, dark, insolent eyes. He wears on his person a Jedi lightsaber and Sith warblade. The second is a Togruta woman, AHSOKA TANO. Approximately eighteen years old, she is of average height, slender, beautiful, with three blue-striped white head-tails and large, expressive, sapphire eyes. She wears on her person a pair of crystalline sai.
The columns of Sith commandos behind them, the Sith apprentices face the blast door separating them from the Jedi.
INT. GRAY FORTRESS/ENTRANCE HALL — DAY
The blast door rises. The Gray Knights of Taravedra find themselves face-to-face with the hordes of the Resurrected Brotherhood of the Sith.
KAOLIN DARGUUN: (ignites lightsaber) Jedi, at arms!
Triggering their silver lightsabers, the Jedi warriors join their master in the charge against the Sith.
EXT. GRAY FORTRESS — COURTYARD — DAY
Like a pair of tidal waves, the two sides come together. The gray fabric of the Jedi uniforms collides with the charcoal armour of the commandos. Blades of silver plasma and shafts of lightsaber-resistant metal clash against each other or penetrate flesh.
As two Gray Knights — man and woman — converge on Galen, he whips out his lightsaber. Triggering the Jedi weapon with a sharp SNAP-HISS, he blocks the female Jedi’s silver blade with his capri one. As the male Jedi swings his saber, Galen ducks beneath its arc, saving him his head. Lunging with the warblade, the Sith runs the male Jedi through the gut. The dying man no longer a serious threat, Galen gives all his attention to the woman. In moments she, too, is removed from the fight.
A Gray Knight lunges at Ahsoka. Sidestepping the strike, she catches the glowing blade in the tongs of one of her crystal sai. Locking the blade in place, she brings the shaft of her other sai down hard on the lightsaber’s emitter, shattering it. Casting the demolished hilt aside, the Jedi makes a high kick for the Togruta’s face. Deflecting the kick with her forearm, she jabs him in the solar plexus with a sai, driving him to the ground.
The battle wears on. Though the Gray Knights fight bravely, Lord Bibhrama’s battle meditation causes them to lose morale and falter, gaining the commandos the upper hand. Soon it becomes evident who the victors are; the Sith have won this day.
Master Darguun finds himself the last Jedi standing. The two Sith apprentices circle him.
AHSOKA TANO: Lay down your arms, Master Jedi. We have no truck with you.
GALEN MAREK: We want only the casket.
KAOLIN DARGUUN: For five-thousand years the Gray Knights of Taravedra have stood ever-vigilant against the minions of the dark side. Sar Maland shall never be loosed to benight the Galaxy again.
Galen strikes with both swords, scissoring them through the air. Ducking beneath the blades, the Jedi master drives his elbow into the apprentice’s chest, driving him back with a WOOF of forcibly expelled air. As the Sith staggers backward, Darguun kicks him in the face, laying him flat on his back. Crystal sai in both hands, Ahsoka leaps forward. With lightning quick moves, she makes a series of strikes with her sai, but the Gray Knight expertly dodges all. Sweeping her leg along the ground, she tries knocking Darguun off his feet, but the master leaps over the kick, delivering his own which sends the apprentice sprawling. Collecting themselves, Ahsoka and Galen attack Darguun together. Working as a team, they prevail better against the Gray Knight, but not enough to actually best him. For every glancing blow they make, he avoids — and delivers — ten more.
Master Darguun ends this scuffle. Carving a vertical line down Galen’s right eye, he then punches the male apprentice in the face, knocking him out cold. Turning, he takes hold of Ahsoka’s wrists as she lunges at him. Collapsing onto his back, he uses his foot to hoist her up into the air, tossing her back head-long into the hard courtyard cobblestones.
KAOLIN DARGUUN: (retrieves lightsaber) It ends.
Looming over the pair of beaten Sith apprentices, the Gray Knight raises the glowing plasma blade high. But before he can deliver the fatal strikes, he begins CHOKING. As the Jedi master drops his lightsaber and falls to his knees, clawing at his throat, ANAKIN SKYWALKER and Lord Bibhrama emerge from the Slipstream. Sixteen years older than when we saw him last, Anakin has undergone minor yet noticeable physical changes in the intervening years. In addition to the goatee he has grown, he wears a long, ugly scar which runs under his left eye, across the left side of his face, ending at his ear. He is attired in an outfit consisting of a midnight blue tunic and slacks, black gloves and boots, a long black tabard, and a large black cloak.
ANAKIN: You’ll forgive me, Master Jedi, if I spare my apprentices your blade.
Anakin and Bibhrama continue on their way, slipping inside the Gray Fortress with a squad of accompanying Sith commandos.
INT. GRAY FORTRESS/RELIQUARY — DAY
The Sith and their commandos slip inside the reliquary. Sensing the intruders, the twenty Gray Ascetics take up their long-handle lightsabers, igniting the silver blades. Bringing the thrumming blades to bear, they advance. Stepping forward, Bibhrama throws up his left hand, barking an incantation. As the Sith amulet glows anew, the Ascetics halt and drop their lightsabers. Through the Force, Bibhrama awakens the Jedi to all the senses they’ve been deadened to. Overwhelmed by sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, they collapse to the floor, SCREAMING as they claw at nonexistent ears and eyes, biting into tongues and smashing in noses to kill the flavours of the air.
Passing through the writhing Jedi, Anakin approaches the stasis casket. Coming to the casket’s access panel, he submits the requisite code. The obsidian lid opens, revealing the contents secreted within: a Human corpse — five-thousand years dead but as fresh as the day it met its fate — adorned in the armour of Sar Maland, one of the original Sith Lords. Bending low over the body, Anakin peers into the dark eyes of Sar Maland’s helm. The skull-like visage of the helm almost seems to look back at the Dark Lord of the Sith.
EXT. GRAY FORTRESS — COURTYARD — DAY
Gathering their injured and dead, the commandos return to the ships. Ahsoka and Galen stand over Darguun, who lies face-down upon the ground, face dark blue, alive but only just. The commando squad emerges from the fortress, guiding a repulsor pad towards the Slipstream; upon the repulsor pad rests the stasis casket, sealed once more. Bibhrama and Anakin emerge from the fortress after them. As the commandos guide the casket into the Corvette, the Sith Lords join the apprentices. Anakin releases his hold on the Jedi master’s trachea, allowing him to breathe freely again.
KAOLIN DARGUUN: (gasps harshly)
ANAKIN: Excuse my acute display of Force. I do not take kindly to the sight of Jedi striking down defenseless opponents.
KAOLIN DARGUUN: Do you know what you’ve unleashed? The armour of Sar Maland —
ANAKIN: (interrupts) The armour of Sar Maland is a relic of the Old Sith Empire. (points at Darguun) You have no claim to it. (beat) The armour shall be taken to our world. There it shall be appreciated by the acolytes of our Brotherhood — from afar.
KAOLIN DARGUUN: The armour will seek out a host. Your acolytes will be unable to resist its call.
DARTH: If you believe we cannot contain the armour, you are welcome to come with us. Your expertise may prove invaluable.
Darguun glowers at Anakin.
ANAKIN: I thought not. (beat) Your burden has been lifted, Master. Find a new cause to fight for.
The Dark Lord and his acolytes return to their ships. Powering up, the Sith vessels rise from the courtyard and take off into the open sky, leaving Darguun alone with his slain and wounded.
CUT TO
Hours later.
With the fall of twilight, relief ships from Alderaan have come to assist the decimated Gray Knights. Injured Jedi are looked at and attended to by medics, the gravely injured taken aboard shuttles to be ferried to an orbiting medical frigate.
A Lambda-class shuttle lands in the courtyard. Painted blue, the Lambda bears the crest of the Alderaanian Fleet. Boarding ramp lowering, OBI-WAN KENOBI emerges. Obi-Wan, too, has undergone subtle but profound changes in the last sixteen years. He wears his graying blond hair short and has grown a Van Dyke beard. Appointed General of the Alderaanian Fleet, he wears the corresponding uniform: a black jumpsuit complete with silver gloves, boots, and belt.
Passing through the Imperial medics and wounded Gray Knights, the ronin Jedi Knight approaches the Gray Fortress entrance. Above the entrance, burned deep into the stone, is the crest of the Resurrected Brotherhood of the Sith. Based on the Imperial crest, it consists of six spokes contained within a hexagon.
OBI-WAN: Missed him again.