This is my own version of Star Wars IV. This story is AU. This means that it deviates a lot from the original story. I also use ideas from other non-Star Wars works of fiction. Any reviews are appreciated.

Star Wars

The Last Hope

The galaxy is in turmoil. Darth Venius, the nephew and successor of Emperor Palpatine, is ruling the Galactic Empire with an iron grip. With the assistance of Darth Vader, the infamous Sith Lord, and Admiral Piet, Admiral of the Imperial Fleet, he terrorizes the entire galaxy.

Only a ragtag group of rebels led by Princess Leia Organa offer hope to the enslaved peoples of the galaxy. Rebel spaceships, striking from hidden bases, attack Imperial targets and battle against the gruelling tyranny of the Sith. Darth Venius, furious with the rebels, sends his troops all over the galaxy in an attempt to exterminate them.

Amidst this conflict, on the far reaches of the galaxy in the desert, desolate and harsh planet of Tatooine, a man may be the last hope of the rebels and, indeed, the entire galaxy...

Chapter 1

The sand was boiling hot. The two suns of Tatooine were shining brightly on the clear blue sky. The heat was too much this time of the day, even for the locals. It was midday, the part of the day when the heat of Tatooine was most unbearable. A lone man was the only one walking in this hot and dry desert. He was a charming young man with short blonde hair, blue eyes, a fair and handsome face and well-proportioned features. He was relative tall and slim and was wearing long white robe and trousers. The only non-handsome parts of his appearance were his big ears, so large that they touched his shoulders and that he could even see them. The man's name was Luke. Luke Skywalker.

Luke would not usually walk in the desert at that time of the day, but his uncle sent him on an errand to buy some power converters. You see, Luke had forgotten to buy them the morning because he met an old friend on Jaar's Cantina, where he had gone with his friends, and so his uncle sent him at this hour of the day to buy the converters. His uncle, whose name was Owen, hoped that the gruelling task of walking under the hot sun in the desert would teach Luke a good lesson of not ignoring his tasks and that the next time he would not be distracted from his job.

"Blast it!", Luke said. "It's damn hot. If only I had bought in the morning the power converters instead of talking with James…."

Suddenly, a roar was heard. At once, Luke pulled out his blaster and looked around. His face was ashen white and he was shivering. He was afraid and was right to do so: in order to complete his uncle's task earlier, he chose the shortest route to Toshii Station, the one going through the 'Desert of Skeletons'. The other route, the one used by the majority of people, was too long for Luke: he would have to walk two hours under the hot midday sun. The shorter route he had taken would lead him to Toshii Station in just forty minutes. Although Luke knew that this path was more dangerous, he decided to take the risk because he wanted to finish his task as soon as possible. He had a party to go to, and so he wanted to purchase the converters before afternoon.

"Was I wrong in taking this path?", he thought. "Damn, I am always impatient. I knew that this path is dangerous. I live here; I am not a foreigner that can be fooled. And yet I took this path. Well, this Mara chick made me lose my mind. She told me that she would dance with me in the party and that's why I did not want to be a moment late. But still, I shouldn't have acted like an idiot and gone through this desert. What if the Sand People attack me?"

Call the devil and the devil comes, they say. And it is true. As if out of nowhere, tens of Sand People charge out from the top of nearby hills and fire with their muskets at Luke. Luke is lucky to evade enemy shots by falling on the ground first and then taking cover behind a rock. Luke was sweating and he almost fainted due to his fear. But, somehow, he managed to regain his calm and fired at the Sand People with his blaster. His shots were rapid but as he was firing at random and was not targeting the enemy (he did not have the experience to do so, anyway), only two of the Sand People were shot: the first on the head, and thus he was instantly killed, and the second on his chest, causing him to fall on the ground and to shout in pain.

The Sand People were steadily approaching the rock where Luke was taking cover. If he had a grenade, maybe he could hold on. But Luke had only his blaster and a knife. So, his only choices were to fire some more shots with his blaster or make a desperate all out charge with his knife at the Sand People. None of those two had even the slightest chance of success: the Sand People were approaching too rapidly for Luke to shot them and were too many to be killed by his knife.

"I surrender!", he shouted. He knew that most Sand People did not understand Basic language, but this was his only hope. It did not work: the Sand People roared and continued to charge forward. So Luke made his decision.

"You bastards, I'll meet you in hell!", he said and charged forward with his knife. Miraculously, he managed to dodge three musket shots and stab one Sandman with his knife: his short knife penetrated deep into the Sandman's chest. He then pulled it out of the chest. His knife was coloured green with the Sandman's blood, which was disgusting. Luke then at once used his knife to slice the throat of a second Sandman and then stab the left cheek of a third Sandman. However, this time a musket shot hit his left shoulder, causing him to bleed. Luke let out a cry and the knife fell from his hand. He was doomed.

Then, he heard a deafening sound and all of the Sand People were sent flying in all directions, as if a gust of wind had hit them. Many of them hit rocks, causing them to be dismembered. Others fell on the ground so hard that all of their bones were crushed. The few who were not hurt that badly ran away as fast as they could when they got up.

"What happened?", a puzzled Luke asked himself. He could not hide his excitement at what he had seen. His curiosity about what hit the Sand People overshadowed even his relief of being saved from certain death.

He then turned around and saw her: Her long black hair was shining, her lips were redder than the fire, her skin was almost as white as snow, her face was so beautiful that it dazzled anyone who looked at her, her cheeks emanated the rosy glow that the sunset clouds reflect, her eyes shone like the clear and piercing light of the moon. She was wearing a brown Jedi robe. Luke was dazzled.

"You are?", he asked her. She did not reply. Luke asked the same question again and again, but only after about five minutes did she reply. Her voice was more pleasant than that of even the best singers. "My name is Laura.", she said. She then approached him and touched his injured left shoulder. He hands were softer than anything that had ever touched him. Her fragrance was intoxicating and had the smell of flowers. As soon as she touched him, his shoulder was instantly healed. Luke could not believe this: it was as if an angel had come down from the sky to save him.

"Luke!"

That voice was certainly not that of Laura. That voice belonged to Uncle Owen.

"Get up Luke!"

Luke looked around but could not see his uncle. "Uncle!", he said. "Where are you? I can't see you."

"Luke!"

Suddenly, everything around him turned black. He could not see anything but the pitch black darkness. Laura, the sand, the hills: everything disappeared. "Where am I?!", Luke roared. This time, Luke was even more terrified than he had been when he had to face the Sand People. The Sand People were a known enemy. But this darkness was supernatural. Luke wished this was a nightmare from which he would soon wake up: for if this was real, he knew that he was doomed. Then, he heard a "boom" sound and thousands of bright starts appeared all over him and surrounded him. It was as if he was in space. He had always wanted to be in space. He hoped that he could be admitted in the Pilots' Academy but his uncle would not allow him to join the Academy. His feelings were mixed: he was both scared but also puzzled and excited about those stars. Had his dream become a reality? Was he in space?

"Luke!"

Luke recognized this voice: it was Laura's. He turned around and saw her looking at him. Her eyes were full of tears.

"Why are you crying?", Luke asked. "Where am I?"

Laura did not reply. Instead she ran at Luke and hugged him. Luke could feel her in his arms. He hugged her too. This was the sweetest moment of his life. But, as mysteriously she had appeared, she suddenly vanished.

"Where are you?!"

Luke got no answer. He decided to touch one of the millions of small stars surrounding him, mostly out of curiosity. As soon as his finger touched one of the stars, darkness was replaced by light. Everything went white and the light was so strong that Luke was forced to close his eyes. All the while, he was listening to different voice, both male and female, spelling names: "Han Solo" "Leia Organa" "Darth Vader" "Yoda" "Laura" "Ben Kenobi".

He then heard a creepy and deep voice saying: "Death is the solution to all problems. You are a problem. You must die!"

Luke opened his eyes and found himself in the midst of an icy plateau. It was snowing. It was colder than any place he had ever been to. He was wearing a dark Jedi robe and was holding on his hands a strange laser sword. He did not know that this sword was a blue lightsaber. Suddenly, he heard a roar. He turned around and used his lightsaber to deflect a lightning bold that a man dressed in a black Jedi robe had sent at him. A black hood was covering the man's face, so Luke could not see who he was.

The mysterious man somersaulted and attacked Luke with his red lightsaber. Luke, instinctively, blocked the man's lightsaber with his own lightsaber. As the two lightsabers clashed, a loud sound was heard and although Luke managed to block the enemy attack, he was pushed back. Then, he heard Laura's voice: "Empty your mind. Do not think of the opponent. Do not wonder where you are. Do not recall past memories. Empty your mind. Focus on the Force."

"What is this Force?", Luke thought. He had never heard of the Force before nor did he have any experience with using it. Yet, he followed Laura's advice and emptied his mind. At the same time, the mysterious man charged forward with his lightsaber, aiming at Luke's chest. Just as he was going to stab Luke, he roared and the mysterious man was pushed back.

"Wow! What is this?", Luke wondered.

"It's called Force Push.", Laura replied.

Luke looked around, trying to find where Laura was. But she was nowhere to be seen. He could hear her voice in his mind, but he could not see her. "How is this possible?", he asked himself. But, after going through all this series of events, nothing seemed weird to him anymore.

Luke saw the mysterious man getting up and once again charging at him. He tried to use again this "Force Push", but to no avail. The lightsaber almost cut him down but he blocked it with his own. The two lightsabers clashed again and again. Luke had no experience of using swords, yet he could somehow use the lightsaber like a true Jedi Master. Eventually, after twelve lightsaber clashes, the mysterious man used the force to push back Luke. Luke fell hard on the icy ground and felt like his back was broken. But as the man approached, a scream was heard and then everything went white. The lightness forced Luke to close his eyes. When he opened them, he was once again back to the dark place where he was surrounded by stars.

"How can I get home?", he cried out. "I don't care about the party! I just want to go home! I shall never to go to parties again and I shall never go through the desert!"

Yet, no one was replying. He felt lone, terribly lone. Darkness. No sound at all. Only himself and the millions of stars. After waiting for about half an hour, Luke decided to touch another of the stars. As soon as he touched it, the usual light appeared. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was walking on the slope of a volcano. Besides him, there were tens of rivers of lava. The ground he was walking upon was unstable. When he looked down, he realized why: he was walking on top of thousands of corpses. Many of the bodies were dismembered. Sometimes, he would walk on top of legs, arms, even intestines.

Suddenly, a creepy voice said, "This is the ancient battlefield of Karran. 7,000 years ago, the ancient Sith Empire tried to force the old Republic to capitulate here, by attempting to destroy in a decisive battle the forces of Jedi Master Marak, who was stationed here. The battle was a terrible stalemate and millions died on this planet. This ancient battlefield is now a huge graveyard. It is where you shall die too!"

Almost out of nowhere, the mysterious man from the icy planet appeared in this planet too and charged at Luke with his lightsaber. Luke, surprised to see him, grabbed one of the dead bodies and used it as a shield to defend from the lightsaber. Indeed, the lightsaber cut in half the dead body but Luke was able to escape with only a slight scratch across his chest. At once, he activated his lightsaber and the two lightsabers clashed once again. Although Luke put up a ferocious resistance, the mysterious man was able to slash thrice Luke's chest and twice Luke's back. He then kicked him, causing to roll down the slope. As he was rolling down, other corpses were rolling down with him. He eventually hit his back on a rock and the corpses that were rolling down alongside him fell on him with terrifying force. His back was all scratched and bleeding while his chest was badly hurt too. He was about to faint when he saw Laura appear and force push back the mysterious man. She then rushed towards him and touched him. As soon as she touched him, he instantly felt better.

"Close your eyes.", Laura said. Luke closed his eyes. He then heard his uncle's voice: "Get up Luke!".

When Luke opened his eyes, he saw Uncle Owen, a middle-aged bearded man, looking at him. Luke was wearing his white robe and was lying on his bed. It was all a dream. A bad dream.

"Good morning, uncle.", Luke said, delighted to be back home.

"Good morning you say?!", his uncle angrily retorted. "It's almost midday. Do you know how many hours were you sleeping?"

"No….."

"Well, get up! Go get me some power converters from Toshii Station."

Luke was dumbfounded. "Did I just prophesize the future?", he thought. "In my dream too I go in midday to buy power converters from Toshii Station."

But this time Luke would be prepared. As in his dream, he would go thought the "Desert of Skeletons", but this time he would bring two blasters, three knifes, a few grenades and binoculars with him. He was determined to find out if his dream was real and who Laura was and where could he find her again.

Above Korriban, Darth Venius' flagship, Arrow

Darth Venius' personal room on his flagship, the huge destroyer 'Arrow', was much different from what most would expect that a Sith Lord would have. It actually resembled more of a garden, with tens of different and exotic plants. Those plants were kept to 'life' by a machine that simulated the atmosphere of a garden inside the room. That's why the room had such a fragrance, which resembled the smell of flowers.

In the middle of this 'garden', there was a bed made out of red wild flowers and plants. Darth Venius was lying on it, wearing a beautiful red dress made out of silk. Darth Venius had long black hair that was shining and was somewhat feminine looking. His stature was tall. His smile was broad and his white teeth shone. Darth Venius' smile radiated a sense of happiness across the room. Besides him, there were eight women, all playing Zither, a musical stringed instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body.

But despite the fact that those women's music was the most beautiful in the entire galaxy, Darth Venius did not seem to be even taking note of them. Instead, he was looking at Admiral Piet, who was the Admiral of the Imperial Fleet despite his young age, being only thirty-two years old: most likely due to his "relationship" with Darth Venius. Most people thought that he was a Sith student. They could not have guessed that Piet was actually Darth Venius' lover. But except for Piet and those women, no one else had ever seen Darth Venius dressed like that. Most people always saw him wearing a dark cloak and a mask that was covering his entire face. And when people did see him wearing more coloured dresses and being without a mask, they would not recognize him as Darth Venius.

"Am I beautiful in that dress?", Darth Venius asked, laughing.

"Very much, my Lord.", Piet replied.

"Good. I have a task for you: inform Lord Vader that the threat I have detected is in Tatooine. He is a young man with short blonde hair and whose name is Luke. Ask him to send a legion of Stormtroopers to arrest him."

"I will, my Lord. But… many people might fit with your description. How would Lord Vader recognize which one is the one you are talking about?"

"The Force is strong with this young man. So, Lord Vader should have no problem finding him. If this young man does not die, he may prove to be the one that the ancient Jedi prophecy is talking about. I used my 'Dream Mirror' skill to test him, and he is more powerful than anyone would imagine that a rookie would be. If he learns the way of the Force, he will destroy us. So, he must be killed at any cost!"

"My Lord, your 'Dream Mirror' skill is too dangerous. You should not use it, lest you are trapped in someone else's dream forever. That's the reason that the Ancient Sith banned their students from learning this skill and why this technique was lost for thousands of years until you discovered it."

Darth Venius laughed. "Indeed, my dear. But it is the only way I can locate and even kill the few remaining force users across this vast galaxy, so we can get rid once and for all from the Jedi. Now, go and inform Lord Vader. There is no time to waste!"