Changes for the next draft:

Elimination of Tatooine as a setting. Combine that story point with the refugees at the Oxus station.

Oxus is now a planet with refugee camps on it. Instead of crashing, Obi takes the gang there to try and hide in the teeming thousands. It should play similar to my previous Tatooine sequence, with the money Bail pays Anakin going to his sister and her husband so they can buy passage to Tatooine and get that farm they want.

Benefits

Bail's emotional awakening to the real cost of war will happen during this sequence, which he's actually a part of instead of just seeing it.
No reusing an OT setting.
Less overall story similarity to "Star Wars"
If Anakin literally was never on Tatooine, it explains why Obi thinks its a good place to hide lil' Luke.

There will need to be some kind of new action sequences to replace the Farmstead shootout and the Krayt Dragon ambush.

New Character: Alpha-G2.

Personal droid valet to King Kaylos of Aquilae. Alpha is charming and elegant, as if David Niven was a droid.

Benefits

Give us a recurring character on Aquilae when we go back to that story.
A less serious character, a bit of comic relief.
He and Arcadia can chat during the opening scene (each escorting their Prince) to get some vital exposition out, and can be seperated by the attack, to be reuinited at the conclusion.

Thoughts on the Orbital Cannon:

The climatic battle is a little muddled because of the two seperate objectives- taking the Flagship and disabling the Orbital Cannon.

The Cannon serves three main narrative purposes.

It is the ticking clock that makes it so that our heroes can't delay and muster their forces.
It gives Anakin something to do during the climax that seperates him from Obi (he's the only pilot who could break through the blockade).
It gives the Outlyers a reason to stop their advance at Aquilae for the time being.

On the other hand, it's very Death Star-esque.