The Vader Trilogy

I'm going to make another go at a prequel trilogy rewrite, but the time frame and overall atmosphere will be completely different from my previous attempt as well as those of most other re-writers. The reasons for this are that these movies would take place in the heyday of the Imperial era (likely between 10 and 15 BBY) and the main character would be a post-conversion Darth Vader. However, he does not wear the OT armor until the very end of this trilogy, if at all. As far as Vader's enhancements go, I am trying to decide between one of two options...

1) He does not have any augmentations at the start of the trilogy, but by the end he has the "proto-suit".

2) He starts the trilogy with numerous combat-aiding modifications, such an artificial limb, a few synthetic organs, and some dermal plating. By the end he is in the full OT armor due to injuries sustained in the third movie.

Without delving too much into spoilers, a good portion of the trilogy would concern an overly-ambitious Imperial Moff's attempt at a coup to replace Palpatine as Emperor, with Vader's job being to foil the plot. I plan to include a female dark Jedi as another major player in the trilogy's events, possibly spending some time as Vader's love interest, though I suppose this could only be the case if I go ahead with scenario #2 listed above.

So...first impressions?

Edit: Changed "admiral" to "Moff" to reflect the correct Imperial terminology.

Sounds very interesting, looking forward to seeing how you will pull it off.

Sounds interesting. However, the "love interest for Vader" aspect comes off kind of weird to me. I guess how good or bad the idea could be would depend on how you go about developing it, though.

Tentative titles...

Episode I: A New Order (11 BBY)

Episode II: The Apprentice Rises Again (9 BBY)

Episode III: Empire of the Machine (9 BBY)

Let's test the waters. Here's the beginning of my outline for Episode I.

The setting is a medical suite in the heart of Imperial Center. Darth Vader climbs out of a surgery pod with a brand new cybernetic right arm, a replacement for an older model. He crushes a battery pack with his enhancement to test its strength, noting a substantial increase in performance from the previous unit. Soon after, he receives a message from an officer: Vader is to defend Palpatine's flagship from a Rebel ambush above Ord Mantell. Answering the call, Vader brings his best wingman, Captain Wreth.

Vader and Wreth jump out of hyperspace right in the middle of a bombardment of Palpatine's destroyer by numerous Rebel cruisers and bombers. The duo prevails against many Rebel interceptors in the ensuing dogfight. Vader then receives an order from Palpatine to execute the Rebel leader, situated on the largest ship of the attacking fleet, before she can jump back into hypersace. The dark lord boards the Rebel flagship and fights his way to the bridge, disposing of many troopers along the way. He stops short of killing the enemy commander, a human female. Her presence causes Vader to sense a tremor in the Force, similar to a feeling of "deja vu". Vader's hesitance allows her to close a blast door between herself and the dark lord. She escapes Ord Mantell's orbit via shuttle. The other Rebel cruisers have been reduced to ruins by a force of Imperial strike frigates.

On Palpatine's flagship following the battle, Vader convenes with Emperor Palpatine and Moff Vellam Nox, the officer in charge of defending the oversector from Rebel incursions. After receiving praise from Palpatine, Vader lies to his master about allowing the Rebel commander to fleet the scene, saying that she overwhelmed him with a mass of repeater gunners. After Palpatine's departure, Vader questions Nox on his incompetence. Despite the Moff's pleas, the dark lord choke Nox into unconsciousness.

He then leaves the room and meets Wreth, telling him to ready his fighter for a new mission. Vader aims to find the Rebel commander by any means necessary, as she may yet prove more useful alive than dead...

@NeverarGreat: No, it's not connected to the Lucas Prequels. This trilogy is only meant to be canon with the OT and with the sequels that I am writing in a different thread. The events in this universe that transpired in Clone Wars/Republic/pre-Imperial times are implied to be different than what we saw in the Lucas Prequels. But I make it a point to never actually go back that far on screen (with the possible exception of brief flashbacks).

The Rebels are *an* enemy in this trilogy, and so is the traitorous Moff, but there is another threat in these films that eclipses them both. I don't want to give away what it is just yet. 

At this point, Vader appears to me as bald and pale-skinned (almost albino). He has a tall and intimidating build even before donning the black armor seen in the original trilogy. His enhancements consist of a biomechanical arm, numerous synthetic organs that drastically outperform their natural equivalents, and a spine encased in a durable but flexible alloy.

The metal can be seen rising up from the neckline of his black cape and entering the back of his skull, where I imagine it would directly interface with his brain stem. This creates a distinctive look even from behind. 

On the chest strap covering his armor is inscribed a series of runes from an extinct language.

More story summary to come.

EDIT: While I definitely won't be including any Lucas PT characters in this trilogy, keep an eye out for a select few people from the OT popping in for appearances later on. 

Cut to the perspective of the escaped Rebel commander, whose name is revealed to be Nellith. She jumps her shuttle out of hyperspace above the planet Dantooine. A large Rebel base sits cradled in a mountain range, with sensor towers and turbo-laser turrets continuously scanning the skies. Nellith sets the craft down on a platform and meets with Mon Mothma in a conference room after she adjourns a meeting with other members of the Rebellion’s top brass. No word has been received from Colonel Dodonna, who led the ground assault on Ord Mantell’s sensor array that gave the Rebels the element of surprise needed to make an attempt on Palpatine’s life.

Nellith tells Mothma of her encounter with Vader and that she knows him to be the man she once loved: Anakin Skywalker. Mothma tells Nellith not to let her personal attachments endanger the mission, that she is one of the Alliance’s most capable agents and desperately needed in this critical hour.

Mothma, believing Colonel Dodonna to be dead, sends Nellith on an assignment to rendezvous with the anonymous informant who as of late has been supplying the Alliance with a generous amount of credits, arms, and other materials. This informant also supplied the Rebels with Palpatine’s location above Ord Mantell. Before departing to meet the informant at Nar Shaddaa, Nellith remarks that she has a very bad feeling about this...

These prequels are meant to be viewed after the OT.

Cut back to Imperial Center. Vader and Wreth are riding a repulsorlift transport to a military detention center containing Colonel Dodonna. Vader professes to Wreth that he senses there to be more behind the attack on Palpatine than simple incompetence on the part of the Moff. Wreth recalls that he was trained at the Imperial naval academy by Dodonna in his pre-defection days. The captain is struck by how Dodonna could have fallen so far out of the Emperor’s graces in such a short time.

Then the two arrive at Dodonna’s cell. Wreth plays the “good cop” to Vader’s “bad cop”, talking to Dodonna about his days learning to be an officer at the academy. Then Vader, using his unnatural strength, forcefully extracts out of Dodonna the location of the secret Rebel base: an Outer Rim world called Dantooine.

What do you guys think so far?

Luke: Leia, do you remember your mother, your real mother?

Leia: Just a little bit. She died when I was very young.

Luke: What do you remember?

Leia: Just images really, feelings.

Luke: Tell me.

Leia: She was, very beautiful, kind, but sad. Why are you asking me this?

Luke: I have no memory of my mother. I never knew her.

It's been something of a challenge making Nellith's exploits stay consistent with the above conversation, but I'm hoping I've pulled it off. You guys can be the judge of that.

More to come!