About This Project
Darth Vader is one of the greatest movie villains of all time. His rise and fall is a tale that is known and loved by many, and the story brings together generations of Star Wars fans. However, I feel that the prequel trilogy did little justice to the great Sith Lord, and instead of giving him a great rise to glory, he was portrayed as a moody teenager who didn't get what he wanted. Here, I've tried to give him a proper back story that is darker, more powerful, and best of all, no Jar Jar. This won't be the typical "kid friendly" type of Star Wars. There will be gritty, brutal scenes, but nothing too mature. It'll be more The Walking Dead than Game of Thrones, but be prepared for a story unlike any you've seen from any Star Wars movie.
The Rules
I've established some guidelines for how I'm going to approach this project, and they may be altered or broken at any time to suit the story. However, the basics will be as follows:
Only the original trilogy movies and any Disney movies that take place after the events of Return of the Jedi shall be considered the only true canon. Rogue One and any of the stand-alone films will generally not be considered canon. This is because I haven't seen Rogue One, and the other two haven't been released yet. Non-canon works shall include, but not be limited to, the Star Wars animated series', Extended Universe books, comics, wikias, etc. I make break the previous rules if it serves the story. For instance, I may use elements or characters from the prequels and EU, but I almost might not. Example, I may have General Grevious in my story, but he won't necessarily be the enemy and serve the same purpose as in the films. I'm not rewriting what has already been established as part of the history of the world. If it has been established and clearly mentioned in the original trilogy, I won't change the timeline. Palpatine is still the Emperor, and he is still Darth Sidious. However, the name of Luke and Leia's mother is never mentioned in the OT, so I exercise my right to play around with it. I want to put known characters in new situations and explore new ideas. Kinda of like an alternate history "what if this happened instead of that?", or, "Wouldn't it be fun to go here and interact with these people that we only saw for a few minutes in the films?" It's an adventure, let's explore! It's going to be dark at times. This is Star Wars, not Star Fluffy Kittens. That's what Lucas did with the prequels. Not here. I want to get deep inside Anakin and see what made him really turn to the dark side. Waah, Obi-Wan wouldn't let you say goodbye to your mother. How sad. Anakin had to have gone through a lot worse crap than that to want to turn to the dark side. Let's have some fun with it.
Again, I may alter these rules as the story progresses, but these are established so that I know where I want the basic story to go and also so I'm not tied down to everything that's already been written or shown. It gives room to be creative but still stick to the core of the series. Hopefully, it will make the tradgedy of Darth Vader more realistic and in depth.
Legal Stuff
I do not own any of the contents of this blog. All Star Wars properties are owned by Disney and LucasFilm. This is a not for profit fan page and will be removed if requested by the copyright owners.
The suns were racing each other to come over the horizon first. The day hadn't started yet, and still the white sands were hot beneath Anakin's feet. The soles of his shoes barely kept the heat away from his skin, but it was a feeling he has grown used to. Since he was old enough to walk, Anakin had been out in the desert and his skin had absorbed enough of the binary suns rays to start to feel like old leather, despite his twleve years. The heat was only a small part of his discomfort, and many days it felt like an escape from reality. His owner, a brute of a man named Marcus Jarue, was worse trouble than the heat of a thousand suns. Many days, he would rather die alone in the dunes under the midday sun than return home at night. Truth was, Anakin had no reason to return home, but he feared the outcome if he were found before the sun and desert creatures had finished him off. Marcus had given him more than a fair amount of beatings and lashings for taking too long returning from town, and Anakin feared what the man would do if he ever dared challenge his master further.
Today Anakin had to go to Mos Espa to sell parts. Marcus ran a scavenging operation, traveling through the desert, searching for downed space craft and selling the parts to smugglers, traders, and anyone else needing spare ship parts. Anakin never questioned where the parts were going once he dropped them off, and he was sure Marcus would never share such information. Anakin had dug up a lot of parts in his short life, but his main job was repair. He was adept with electronics and could bring almost any computer or system back to life in little time. Once, he had built a droid to help him repair parts faster, but Marcus punished him for wasting valuable equipment that could be sold. However, he saw potential in Anakin and put him to work rebuilding systems, which would sell for more than when they were broken. For this, Marcus treated him a little better than his other slaves, but only barely. He made sure his slaves knew their place and that any of them were expendable. They were never guaranteed anything.
"Boy!" he heard a gruff voice tell from the distance. "Don't forget the quadrophonic hyperdrive capacitors. I have a buyer that needs those today, and he's paying more than your life is worth. Make sure he gets them," his voice faded and became more of a growl. "In one piece".
"Yes, sir," Anakin said, more out of habit than respect. In truth, Anakin never worried about Marcus chasing him if he failed to return. The man was a drunk, spending almost all his money on Corellian ales and Maldovean whiskey, but he was well connected to the seedy underbelly of every star port on Tattooine. One call to any crime boss anywhere on the planet, and it would be only a matter of time before Anakin found himself with a blaster bolt through his skull. At least, that's the ending he would hope for.
Anakin bundled all the parts being sold at Most Espa and tied them carefully to his land speeder. He filled his canteen with fresh water and set off through the desert towards the space port. Mos Espa was a couple hours' travel from where the slave camp was currently digging, and Anakin estimated he'd arrive just after lunch. By now the suns had risen over the horizon, and the sand that was already hot was now causing a shimmer over the dunes. It looked like water in the middle of the desert where there was no water. Squinting in the sun, Anakin pulled the hood of his tunic over his head and put on his protective goggles.
After what felt like an eternity of riding, Anakin came to a large dune. He pushed on the speeder's throttle to get an extra boost. When he approached the crest of the dune, he noticed something large blocking his way.
Banthas!
A line of banthas was in his path, and with them, Tusken Raiders. Anakin shifted his weight and tried turning the speeder to avoid hitting a bantha, but he overcorrected and went tumbling across the sand. His speeder, now without its rider, braked suddenly and stopped just short of the bantha. Anakin found his balance on the scorched sand and started to stand, but was met with the barrel of a long projectile weapon.
"Stop!" the Tusken leader grunted. "Don't move!"
Anakin raised his hands over his head as he slowly positioned himself on his knees.
The leader took one hand off the weapon and pointed toward the stalled speeder.
"UrO'Ru'R, check the pack," he said, and another Tusken went to the speeder and began untying the bundle.
"Please, just let me go," Anakin pleaded. "I'm just trying to sell that stuff at Mos Espa."
The Tusken leader turned back to Anakin and raised his weapon threateningly at his face. "Quiet!" he grunted. "It's ours now."
The Tusken called UrO'Ru'R had untied the bundle and was now beginning to inspect the contents, throwing parts and components haphazardly across the white hot sand.
"Don't" Anakin begged, slowly rising to his feet. "That stuff is valuable."
The Tusken leader pressed the barrel of the weapon into Anakin's forehead. "Get down," he bellowed. Anakin lowered his knees back into the sand, then the leader hit him in the chest with the butt end of the gun. Anakin fell backwards, groaning.
"It's just junk," UrO'Ru'R told his leader. "Mostly just metal scraps."
"Space ship parts," Anakin corrected as he sat himself but. "We have a buyer in Mos Espa. I have to meet him soon."
"Ship parts? In that case, we'll sell them ourselves to the Jawas."
"I need those parts!" Anakin said with a growl. "You will not take them!"
Crack!
He felt and heard something hit his head, hard. His vision became blurry and darkness started coming over him. He felt something warm start flowing down his face. The world was spinning and he could barely hear anything over the sound of his own heart pumping out blood.
"Grab the boy," he heard the echoing voice of the Tusken leader. "Pack up the speeder. We'll take them back to camp. He might be more valuable than the junk he's carrying. The Hutts might be interested in an offer."