Star Wars: The Prequels, Alternative - Episode I

by StanBihmmselff

An alternate take on the prequels. This does not take into account any of the new movies/what they are doing with Star Wars now. I treated this as if it was the mid or early 90s and the prequels hadn't come out yet. Everything in here is based solely on the info given in the original trilogy films ( with the exception of Darth Maul, and no expanded universe stuff either).

STAR WARS: THE PREQUELS, ALTERNATIVE Episode I: The Mandalorian Threat

IT IS A TIME OF UNREST IN THE GALACTIC REPUBLIC. A NEW AND DANGEROUS ENEMY HAS APPEARED FROM BEYOND THE OUTER TERRITORIES OF THE REPUBLIC'S PROTECTION. LENSSA SHADE, A REPRESENTATIVE OF A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN SYSTEM TRAVELS TO THE CAPITAL TO DELIVER VITAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVIL FORCES THREATENING THE REPUBLIC, WHEN HER TRANSPORT SHIP IS AMBUSHED AND ATTACKED IN THE OUTER RIM. A SMALL, SECRET FORCE OF JEDI LED BY MASTER AVLOR HUMBLO AND JEDI KNIGHT OBI-WAN KENOBI RACE TO HER RESCUE...

ACT ONE

We open on a lone transport ship taking heavy fire from a number of fighter ships. Suddenly a small squadron of Jedi ships arrive from hyperspace, having been sent to covertly receive the fleeing transport and are now rushing to it's rescue. One of the lead Jedi ships is piloted by a female alien Jedi Master named AVLOR HUMBLO while the ship's guns are operated by veteran Jedi Knight OBI-WAN KENOBI. Kenobi and Humblo playfully banter, exposing the fact that Kenobi was Humblo's former apprentice before becoming a full Jedi Knight years ago. Humblo receives an incoming message and speaks by holocomm with BALE ORGANA, an Aldereaan military strategist for The Republic. Organa has been in contact with LENSSA SHADE, the diplomat aboard the ship who's been feeding the Republic info on the Mandalorians, a vicious warrior clan that has been growing its ranks through conquest of non-Republic systems. Now they're pursuing Shade to stop her from getting important intel to The Republic. Organa makes it clear that the Jedi must rescue her at all costs from the clutches of the Mandalorians.

Humblo, Kenobi and the rest of the Jedi engage the attacking Mandalorian fighters in a thrilling dogfight. During the battle, a small squad of Mandalorians exit one of their ships and jetpack over to Lenssa's transport and cut their way through the ships haul. This squad of assassins is led by the Mandalorian warrior BOBA FETT, who we recognize by his signature armor, though it lacks the familiar wear and tear it sports in the original trilogy, it's paint unblemished and gleaming like new. Humblo radios Lenssa aboard the ship to warn her and she gives a feisty response that she can handle the boarders if the Jedi can just keep the attacking ships off her, before hastily cutting the transmission. Kenobi immediately bristles at Lenssa's audacity and Humblo orders the young Jedi to assist.

Kenobi dons a breather and exits Humblo's ship as she pilots it close to Lenssa's transport. Using the Force, he maneuvers himself over to the transport and enters through the same hole in the hull that the Mandalorians entered through. Inside the transport, Kenobi ignites his iconic blue lightsaber and follows a trail of slaughtered crew and soldiers left by the Mandalorian assassins, to the ships command deck. Outside the bridge, Kenobi fights a few of the Mandalorians guarding the entrance and in a battle of lightsaber vs blasters, takes them out in spectacular fashion. Upon dispatching these Mandalorians, Kenobi enters the command deck ready to take on the rest and rescue Lenssa. Instead, he's surprised to find a ruggedly beautiful and skilled warrior using a form of martial arts-like hand-to-hand combat to defeat the remaining assassins. This is LENSSA SHADE. Lenssa and Obi-Wan engage in bit of flirtatious banter and it's clear that the usually stoic and proper young Jedi is a bit flustered and smitten by the spit-fire Shade. Humblo interrupts the playful back and forth with a communication letting Kenobi know that the Jedi have the Mandalorian ships on the run and Obi-Wan is to stay with Lenssa and escort her safely the rest of the way to the Republic capitol on Coruscant.

Lenssa orders her pilot to prepare the transport for the leap to light-speed when suddenly Obi-Wan senses something and grabs a protesting Lenssa and Force leaps off the bridge just as an explosion destroys the ships controls and kills the pilot. One last Mandalorian remains. Boba Fett had set the bomb that disables the ship and Kenobi and Lenssa are unable to capture or defeat him before he escapes the now breaking up ship. Kenobi and Shade have no choice but to board an escape pod and flee just before the transport explodes completely. The escape pod crash-lands on a familiar desert planet.

After leaving the remains of the downed pod, Kenobi discovers that the planet, TATOOINE, is too far outside Republic territory for communications to reach the Jedi or anyone on Coruscant. Sensing a large mass of life forms nearby, Obi-Wan and Lensa make their way to find a ship to get off the planet. Meanwhile, on a mysterious and evil looking MANDALORIAN COMMAND SHIP, the leader of the Mandalorians, VENKMARR JEKK, confers with the hologram of Boba Fett. Fett reports that Lenssa's ship was destroyed, but that an escape pod was jettisoned and landed on a non-Republic-controlled planet. Jekk orders Fett to investigate the planet and make sure Lenssa is destroyed, before ending the transmission and starting a new one with DARTH SIDIOUS, a hooded and masked Dark Lord of the Sith. Jekk informs Sidious of Fett's report and says he will take care of the situation, but Sidious tells Jekk that his personal apprentice, DARTH MAUL, will handle it from here. In this exchange we also learn that the Sith and Mandalorians have formed an uneasy alliance in opposition to the Republic. After finishing with Sidious, Jekk again contacts Fett and warns him of the incoming Sith. He also orders the Mandalorian fleet to go to Tatooine, vowing both that he'll destroy Shade as well as conquer the desert planet for the glory of the Mandalorians.

BACK ON TATOOINE - Kenobi and Shade arrive at a gleaming and bustling trade port called MOS EISLEY. While forcing an obstinate Lenssa to hide for her safety, Obi-Wan explores the port and learns that it is mostly inhabited and run by a race of aliens called JAWAS. These are the same Jawas we were introduced to in Episode IV, however, they aren't wearing the dusty hooded robes we're familiar with. We get to see what the Jawas look like under their hoods, as they aren't currently the desert scavengers they will become. The Jawa have hard, black, prickly skin and wear mechanic-like jump suits festooned with tools and gadgets. Over their eyes, they wear protective mechanical goggles that produce their trademark golden, glowing eyes. We also learn that Mos Eisley was built by the industrious little creatures and that the Jawas are just on the verge of opening it to trade with other systems, so that the they can sell the Droids they hand-manufacture, throughout the galaxy. Obi-Wan inquires about a ship and passage off of Tatooine, but the Jawas don't have interplanetary ships of their own. Since Mos Eisley hasn't officially opened to trade yet, there are no off-planet ships docked there.

About to give up, Obi-Wan is hailed by a shifty-looking, alien smuggler who's overheard Kenobi's plight. CARDO FLEST offers to take Kenobi to a small smuggling outpost, just outside the port, where he says the leader of their operation can help...for a price. But Kenobi only has Republic credits which CARDO informs him are no good out here. Kenobi heads off to report his findings to Lenssa. We then follow Cardo who goes into a Jawa's shop to pick up his order, a freshly built and activated astromech droid called R2-D2. R2 is all silver and gray, not yet painted his signature blue and white. Cardo bargains with the Jawa but when the little creature won't agree to Cardo's low ball offer, Cardo simply and coldly shoots R2's maker. Cardo informs the droid that it is now his property and R2 is clearly frightened of his cruel new master as Cardo kicks at him to move along back to the smuggler's outpost.

Outside Mos Eisly, Kenobi meets back up with Lenssa who points out a large mass of lights gathering in the skies above the space port. Lenssa informs Obi-Wan that she recognizes them as the Mandalorian fleet preparing for a conquest assault. We also learn more about Lenssa's history battling the Mandalorians who she clearly hates, as well as the fact that the Mandalorians grow their "tribe" as they call it by forcing the species that they conquer to don Mandalorian armor and fight alongside them. Coming back to the problem at hand, Lenssa points out that now they not only have to find a ship, but a pilot who can get them past an entire fleet before they conquer the desert planet and enslave it's inhabitants. Obi-Wan doubts they'll find a pilot on this backwater planet with the skills to get them safely past the fleet, noting that his own piloting skills are somewhat lacking for a Jedi ("I find a ships controls to be clumsy and random," he admits.) Our heroes' conversation has been heard by someone or something watching from the shadows and Kenobi senses this and calls them out. A multi-limbed, spider-like droid comes out of its hiding place. The droid introduces itself as ZX-77, an astro-dock maintenance droid designed for cleaning and minimal repair jobs. If a droid can be called hyper, ZX would be considered as such and he scuttles around in frantic excitement and charming and comedic fashion. ZX informs Lenssa and Obi-Wan that it can lead them to the best pilot on the planet, one who specializes in stealth flight missions and can get them past the Mandalorian fleet. Obi-Wan uses a Jedi mind trick to relieve a Rodian bullying some Jawas of his land speeder and they speed off to find this pilot, with ZX guiding them. Unbeknownst to them, they are followed by Boba Fett. Shortly after their departure, a Sith ship arrives at Mos Eisley and Darth Maul exits it and begins searching the port for Lenssa and the Jedi.

Out in the desert, ZX tells Obi-Wan and Lenssa that they will find the pilot at a nearby moisture farm. Suddenly they are ambushed by sand people. Kenobi and Shade begin battling the Tusken Raiders but are overwhelmed. Only when mysterious figure comes to their aid and helps them fight off and send the sand people running. The figure removes his coverings, revealing a fresh-faced 17 year old who introduces himself as ANAKIN SKYWALKER (Kenobi snickers at this name and him making fun of it is a runner that continues through much of their interactions). ZX also informs them that this is actually the pilot they were looking for. Kenobi and Shade are less then impressed with the scrappy and cocky teen who claims he can pilot anything to anywhere and will have no problem getting them past the fleet. Skywalker and ZX clearly have a history together and he and the overly excited droid lead the skeptical heroes to a large moisture farm where Skywalker lives and works. On the way, Skywalker tries to impress Lenssa, clearly smitten with her as well. Lenssa laughs off the youth's comical attempts at catching her fancy, just seeing him as the kid he is. Obi-Wan on the other hand is struggling to hide his jealousy and growing feelings for Lenssa. Kenobi is also surprised when he senses how strong Skywalker is in the Force.

Upon arrival, they find the MOISTURE FARM to be a large, thriving facility. Anakin leads them to his home, a tiny, brand new living quarters pod on the edge of the farm. This is the freshly constructed dwelling we recognize as LUKE'S HOME IN EPISODE IV. However, at this point it is little more than the underground rooms, the upper, visible structures not yet built. Inside the modest home, we meet young OWEN and BERU LARS and learn that Owen has just recently joined the farm and has built his quarters underground (unlike the rest of the farmers at the facility) for safety. It's clear that Owen is an overly cautious, mistrusting sort and that he does not much care for the brash young Skywalker. He even loudly informs Kenobi and Shade that the only reason he allows Anakin to live with them is Beru's brotherly affection for the boy and because Anakin helped Beru escape from a slaver ship before they met up with him. It is also revealed that Anakin had been an orphan captured by slavers and had known only the slave life and nothing of his parents or where he came from. In fact, the Skywalker name that Obi-Wan keeps chiding him about is a name he gave himself when he was a kid and began to discover the strange powers within him that Kenobi informs him are a result of the Force.

The heroes spend the night at Owen's and Obi-Wan tests Anakin's Force abilities and is awe-struck by his raw power and adeptness. Owen and Beru also vouch for Anakin's piloting skills which Obi Wan surmises are also a product of Anakin's immense strength in the Force. Lenssa points out that there's still the major problem that they don't even have a ship for Skywalker to pilot but Anakin and ZX are both confident they can just steal one. It turns out that Anakin and ZX have found a secret entrance to a smugglers' outpost outside Mos Eisley and have been stealing the criminals ships out from under their noses and taking them for joy rides (yet another reason Owen dislikes the boy). Neither Obi-Wan nor Lenssa (though it's evident that she's impressed by Anakin's daring) like this plan of sneaking into a dangerous criminal nest, but they have run out of options and agree to set out in the morning with Anakin, Owen all too happy to be rid of the troublesome youth.

We CUT TO Coruscant where we find Bale Organa conferring with SENATOR PALPATINE, a prominent and charmingly jolly politician who represents a faction in the Republic that's all about expansion of the galactic government's power and reach to systems not yet within its control. Palpatine is in a minor and almost comical panic about Organa and the Jedi's current "misplacement" of Lenssa Shade and her Jedi escort, as he feels the addition of her system as well as the intel she carries, is crucial to strengthening the Republic and stemming the growing power of the Mandalorians. Organa and Palpatine are joined by JEDI MASTERS YODA AND KAUBLAUNNAS (Kaublaunnas is human and seemingly very wise, think Obi-Wan in Episode IV). Palaptine is particularly critical of the Jedi, who he feels are increasingly failing in their role as protectors of the Republic. Yoda and Kaublaunnas take Palpatine's criticisms in stride and promise that the Jedi will do everything they can to locate Lenssa and Obi-Wan.

After the meeting, Palpatine goes to his private quarters were he drops his friendly facade and dons the hood and mask of Darth Sidious. He contacts Darth Maul, who reports that he has tracked Lenssa and her Jedi escort to a space port and that they were seen heading into the desert but Maul admits that the trail has gone cold. Sidious contacts Venkmarr Jekk, who boasts that his operative knows exactly where Lenssa is and will share the intel with the Sith in exchange for Sidious's blessing in the Mandalorians' conquest of Tatooine. Sidious is reluctant and reminds Jekk that it's too early in their plans for planetary conquest, especially one of so little strategic worth, and that it's even more risky with the Jedi scouring the Outer Rim for the missing Shade. Sidious reluctantly grants Jekk what he wants in exchange for Lenssa's location. After disconnecting with a triumphant and boasting Jekk, Sidious flies into a rage at Maul, ordering the apprentice to not fail him in destroying Lenssa. He then contacts an unseen and unheard character he refers to as DARTH ZERKKA, commanding him to send a small squad of Sith to Tatooine to oversee the Mandalorians' conquest of the planet.

ACT TWO

As the twin suns rise back on Tatooine, Anakin leads Obi-Wan, Lenssa and ZX to a cave out in the hills. Anakin attempts to lead them in when Obi-Wan stops him, using the Force to sense two smuggler guards hiding just inside the entrance. Lenssa and Obi Wan lure the guards out and cut them down. Anakin informs his companions that the cave has never been guarded before and Obi-Wan points out that perhaps the smugglers are onto Anakin and his joy rides and that they will need to be more cautious, but Anakin cockily shrugs this off.

Meanwhile, Darth Maul arrives at the moisture farm that Fett tipped him off too. Enraged at having missed Lenssa there, he begins ruthlessly slaughtering farmers and announces to any of the still surviving and frightened farm folk that he will spare anyone who tells him where he can find Lenssa. Owen volunteers the information, despite Beru's protests, hoping to protect himself and his bride. Lenssa's whereabouts in hand, Maul takes off in his ship immediately. Owen and the rest of the surviving farmers breath a sigh of relief but it's short-lived as Maul circles back around and reigns fighter blasts and bombs down on the entire farm, killing the survivors and reducing any above ground structures to rubble, the lars' underground home buried in the deadly chaos.

Back in the cave, the heroes have reached the underground passage that leads directly to the smugglers' outpost. From their hiding spot, they view the goings on of the bustling outpost, criminals, smugglers and their ships abound. Obi-Wan is surprised at the size of the operation and weary that they can successfully capture a ship but Anakin isn't worried and despite Obi-Wan and Lenssa's protests, displays his remarkable adeptness at stealth, sneaking past the hordes of criminals. Just as it seems like Anakin is about to make it aboard one of the ships undetected, an alarm sounds alerting the smugglers to Anakin and the rest of heroes' presence. Most surprising of all is that the alarm is coming from ZX-77! The smugglers encircle the severely outnumbered Skywalker, Kenobi and Shade and they are brought before the smuggling ring's leader, a younger, slimmer and much more mobile JABBA THE HUTT. Jabba boasts that ZX was working for him all along (ZX is actually one of Cado's personal droids) in order to trap the wiley ship thief that's been plaguing his operation. Anakin rages at the droid he thought was his only friend and it is also revealed that Anakin hadn't just been stealing ships for joyrides but had also been sabotaging the smugglers in order to stem the growing influence of Jabba's criminal empire on Anakin's adopted planet. Jabba also announces that as an added bonus, he'll be turning over Lenssa to the Sith Lord that's been looking for them, fetching a hefty reward that will further insure the success of his operations. Obi-Wan is visibly concerned by this revelation of the Sith appearing in the galaxy once more, but before anything can happen, Lenssa uses her hand-to-hand prowess to take out a bunch of the smugglers. Kenobi and Skywalker use the ensuing chaos to their advantage and begin fighting their way through the criminals. Anakin leads them to the ship he had originally intended to steal and they manage to get aboard. Anakin tries to access the controls but we reveal that R2D2 is the ship's astromech and he locks Anakin out of the controls as well as uses it's security systems to disarm the heroes, at his master Cado's request.

We CUT TO the Mandalorian fleet in orbit above the planet. Boba Fett informs Venkmarr Jekk that Lenssa has been captured by smugglers and is being turned over to Maul. Jekk contacts Sidious and informs him that he will now commence with the conquest of Tatooine for the glory of the Mandalorian tribe. He orders a few squandrons to begin with capturing Mos Eisley to secure a ground base from which they can then spread their rule from. Jekk also orders this intial force to slaughter the Jawas who's diminutive size Jekk finds unworthy of joining the tribe. It's the violent and deadly Tusken Raiders that Jekks is truly after to swell his tribe's ranks.

ACT THREE

Back down at the smugglers outpost just outside Mos Eisley we find our heroes captured and Jabba and Cado bringing them before a just arrived Darth Maul. Jabba negotiates a price with the Sith warrior for Lenssa's transfer and also offers Kenobi to Maul free of charge as a show of good faith between himself and Maul's master. Maul agrees and prepares to execute Obi-Wan, his seething rage at the Jedi barely contained. Maul and Kenobi have a brief exchange that sheds some light on the history of bad blood between the Sith and Jedi (at this point, mainly only that their respective orders are sworn enemies) and Maul moves to cut Obi-Wan down when Anakin's rage and fear over having gotten them into this mess alerts the Sith to the youth's potent strength in the Force. Obi-Wan tries to warn Anakin to control his feelings but Maul quickly connects Anakin to the Lars and the moisture farm and informs the boy of its destruction and their slaughter by his hands. At this news, Anakin suddenly unleashes a huge blast-wave of Force power that knocks everyone off their feet. Anakin makes a break for it and steals one of the smugglers' speeder bikes and tears off into the desert, back to the moisture farm. Kenobi and Shade run after him but stop when they see the squads of Mandalorian ships and soldiers attacking Mos Eisley and killing the Jawas struggling to put up a fight and save their fledgling space port. Obi-Wan and Lenssa argue as Lenssa wants to help the Jawas take on the Mandalorians and Kenobi tries to convince her of the importance of them getting her safely off Tatooine and back to the Republic. Before they can act either way, they are confronted by Darth Maul. Kenobi sends Lenssa to find a ship while he and Maul square off in a lightsaber duel amongst the roof tops of Mos Eisly as the Mandalorians lay siege all around. Lenssa meanwhile makes her way through the streets, taking out Mandalorians as she goes. She's about to make her escape back to the smugglers' outpost when she spies a hulking Mandalorian slaughtering Jawas. Lenssa intervenes and takes on the huge Mandalorian with a mix of blaster fire and her hand to hand skills.

Simultaneously, Anakin races back to the decimated moisture farm. He surveys the destruction and drops silently to his knees at the sight of the caved-in remains of his adopted home, the Lars residence. A look of cold fury and implacable determination washes over his face and he quickly speeds away, unaware of a stirring in the sands just near the cave-in. Anakin is long gone before he can witness Owen and Beru digging their way out from the rubble, shaken and battered but very much alive.

Back at Mos Eisley, both battles rage on: Obi-Wan and Maul are well matched and dueling vigorously, trading barbs about the animosity between the Jedi and the Sith while Lenssa fights the hulking Mandalorian. Lenssa ultimately defeats the Mandalorian hulk with an amazing martial art move but she and the Jawas are being overwhelmed by the continuing Mandalorian attack. Suddenly, unlikely allies come to her and the Jawas' aid when Jabba and his criminals appear from their outpost to defend the port and the planet, alongside the Jawas. Anakin arrives back at Mos Eisley, shocked to find it under attack, but his rage focuses him and he speeds through the streets using the Force to aid him in taking out Mandalorians as he goes. He's able to make it Jabba's outpost and finds it guarded only by Cado and ZX. Anakin confronts Cado whose been thirsty to get revenge on the youth since it's his ships that the teen has been stealing and sabotaging. They trade blaster fire and just as Anakin is about to take Cado down, ZX enters Cado's ship and begins firing it's heavy blasters at Skywalker.

Outside on the roof tops, Obi-Wan is also gaining the advantage on Maul when an evil-looking transport drops two SITH PALADINS (the Sith equivalent of Jedi Knights) sporting yellow and orange lightsabers (while the Jedi use blue, green and purple sabers, the Sith use red, yellow and orange-bladed sabers), firmly tipping the scales back in Maul's favor and revealing to Obi-Wan the true extent of the threat faced by the Jedi and the Republic: the Sith, thought completely destroyed by the Jedi, are back.

Back in Jabba's outpost, Anakin is unable to make any advances under the ship's heavy fire. Aboard the ship, ZX laughs maniacally as he watches Cado close in on the addled Skywalker. Suddenly, ZX's control of the ship is disabled by R2D2 who was also watching the battle between Anakin and his cruel master. ZX lashes out at the little droid with his mult-tooled, spidery limbs, damaging the astromech. Outside the ship, the short reprieve of heavy fire allows Anakin the moment he needs and he promptly uses the Force to choke the life from Cado. ZX screams in rage and resumes firing on Anakin but R2D2 taps into the ship again and causes the insane spider droid to be sprayed with mechanical fluid. R2 then shocks ZX with his electric pike, igniting the mechanical fluid and frying and burning the spider droid to complete and final deactivation.

Out in the battle, Lenssa notices Obi-Wan struggling to take on Maul and the two Paladins and tries to aid him but the Sith transport returns and attacks her position. Suddenly, the transport is blasted out of the sky by Anakin in Cado's ship! Anakin remarks to his new ally and astromech copilot, R2D2, about saving their home and they set to work. First, Anakin fires on Maul and the Sith, taking out the two Paladins and forcing Maul to withdraw long enough for Obi-Wan to recover. Maul radios for reinforcements and a small squadron of Sith fighters arrives and attacks Anakin's ship. In a grand dog fight in the skies above Mos Eisly as well as amongst the desert hills and cliffs outside the space port, Anakin displays his amazing piloting skills as he single-handedly (with piloting assists from R2 of course) takes on the Sith and Mandalorian fighters. Anakin outmaneuvers them, sending them crashing into each other and the landscape. His piloting skills are truly impressive, as he manages to take out the majority of the fighters. With Anakin clearing out the ships, Kenobi, Shade, the Jawas and Jabba and his criminals all pull together to turn the tide and route the Mandalorian troops from Mos Eisley. Boba Fett watches all this unfolds and radios Jekk to inform him that more troops and ships will be needed, but Jekk doesn't want Lenssa to get away and will keep the rest of his fleet in orbit in order to capture Lenssa when she tries to escape the planet.

With the Mandalorians ground troops mostly in defeat and retreat mode, Obi-Wan spies Cado's ship landing at the outskirts of the port and he and Lenssa leave the Jawas and Jabba's criminals to finish up while they race for the ship. But when they arrive, R2 informs them that Anakin ran off. Obi-Wan quickly surmises Anakin's whereabouts. Out in the desert outside Mos Eisly, Maul returns to his ship to report the situation to Darth Sidious, but instead he finds Anakin waiting for him. Revenge for the supposed murder of his adopted family still burning within him, Anakin lights up the two lightsabers that he clearly took off the fallen Sith Paladins and vows to use them to destroy Maul. Anakin and Maul duel. Anakin displays moderate and wild skill but like Luke in Empire, he is mostly outclassed as Maul taunts and toys with him until ultimately cutting off both of Anakin's hands! Intending to collect the extremely Force-powerful youth as a consolation prize for his master, Maul is forced to leave Anakin and retreat in his ship when Cado's ship arrives and fires on him.

Securing the wounded Skywalker aboard the ship, Obi-Wan uses a heavy assist from R2D2 to pilot the ship off Tatooine and into orbit, where they are confronted by the waiting fleet of Mandalorians. It seems like everything they've been through has all been for not since Obi-Wan admits he'll never be able to get them past the fleet that's now closing in on them. Anakin laments that if he still had his hands, he could get them through. Obi-Wan tells him that he doesn't need his hands. In in awe-inspiring, mystical moment, Obi-Wan guides Anakin to use the Force to pilot the ship hands-free. Anakin uses his strength in the Force to make the ship spectacularly evade the Mandalorian fleet and make the jump safely to hyperspace. Jekk watches Lenssa escape with silent rage. When a subordinate asks if they should commence with conquest of the Tatooine, Jekk rages that he's no longer interested in the ball of rock and sand. He orders the ground troops to return with the Sand People they've managed to capture near the battle, and leave the planet. He's through wasting time on back water, outer systems. It's time to take the fight to the Republic.

Down in Mos Eisley, the remaining Jawas cheer as the Mandalorians fully retreat. Jabba looks over the mostly destroyed space port and is joined by a younger version of his SLIMY ADVISOR FROM RETURN OF THE JEDI. Jabba orders that the remaining Jawas be exiled to the desert. Mos Eisley is his now.

EPILOGUE

Sometime later on Coruscant, Darth Sidious holds another clandestine meeting with the holograms of Venkmarr Jekks and Darth Maul. Jekks chastises Sidious for allowing the Jedi and the Republic to know of the Sith's return but Sidious says they will simply just have to move up their timetable. Sidious assures Jekks that, despite the Mandalorians' poor performance on Tatooine (Jekks seethes at this) his thirst for conquest is soon to be satiated. To Jekks' visible delight, Sidious orders him to prepare the entire Mandalorian tribe for war. After Jekks disconnects, Sidious turns to the hologram of Maul and lambasts him for his multitude of failures on Tatooine. However, Sidious is very interested in Maul's intel on the Force-powerful Skywalker and believes the youth may prove useful to their cause. Sidious commands Maul to report to Darth Zerkka to assist in the preparations of the Sith forces as well as to receive the consequences of his failure on Tatooine. Maul bows to his master.

Meanwhile, at the Jedi Temple, the Jedi Council has convened with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, who now sports new mechanical hands. Kenobi and Skywalker stand before the Council as Masters Yoda and Kaublaunnus debate whether Anakin should be allowed to train as a Jedi. Yoda agrees that Anakin is extremely potent in the Force and could be developed into a most powerful Jedi, but he also worries that Anakin's unbridled emotions are too volatile. Kaublaunnus's only concern is harnessing Anakin's power. Yoda is reticent to concede and feels they should turn their attention to the more pressing issue of the return of the Sith. It's only when Obi-Wan, who has now been granted the title of Jedi Master due to his successes on Tatooine, volunteers to take on the training of Anakin personally (having become somewhat fond and protective of the hot-headed youth), that Yoda finally reluctantly agrees.

In the final scene, we join a ceremony in which Lenssa and her system are accepted into the Republic. Yoda and Kaublaunnus look on as Senator Palpatine and Bale Organa hand out metals to Obi-Wan and Anakin and R2D2 now sports his trademark, but shiny and new blue and white paint job. Smiles all around and the music swells as we...FADE TO BLACK

THE END