Ilenium System:
A small Republic fleet hovers in orbit of the planet ( 1 Acclamator, 3 Victory-class Star Destroyers and six MC30 frigates ). A shuttle approaches the fleet and moves in to land on one of the Star Destroyers. In the hangar-bay, as the shuttle lands, a small group of officers approach; taking point are General Kenobi, Moff Tarkin and Admiral Yularen. As the shuttles passenger disembarks, they are all surprised to find that it is Yoda, together with Grand Master Plo Koon.
"Grand Master Yoda?" Tarkin says. "I was under the impression that Grand Master Windu was to be in overall command of this operation."
Yoda, sitting in his automated chair, nods. "Yes, at first he was. But strange feelings for this battle I have. I sense a dark plot in motion. My place on Coruscant, Master Windu, will take."
Yularen becomes worried. "Perhaps we should reconsider this attack? We could be walking into a trap like we did on Geonosis."
"Impossible" Tarkin says. "General Grievous has too few troops and ships to do something like that at this time. Further more, Grievous has no idea that we are coming."
Yoda nods. "Agree with Moff Tarkin, I do. Successful, the Republic will be. But a greater danger to the Jedi, I sense. If the Sith attack, present I intend to be."
"If Assaj Ventress thinks she can destroy two thousand Jedi, I believe she will find herself proven wrong" Obi-Wan points out.
"That will not prevent her from trying" Plo Koon says.
"Ventress, not the threat is, master Kenobi" Yoda says. "Another Sith Lord, we suspect, the mastermind is behind all of this. The lord and master that seduced Dooku Serenno to turn to the Dark Side. Hidden in shadow and gaining strength from this war, this dark lord is."
Obi-Wan nods. "Then I believe we should try and draw him, or her, out in the open. If the Sith think they can make a move, why not oblige them? Once they are exposed, we can go after them and end their threat once and for all."
Tarkin is next to speak. "The Republic navy stands ready to assist."
"At Utapau, the Sith will be revealed" Yoda says.
Moons of Bogden:
A Consular-class frigate approaches the planet Bogden, surrounded by dozens of moons of various sizes. It flies up to a small space-station and docks with a docking-arm. Three other frigates are already docked to the installation.
Amidala, with a retinue of Naboo soldiers, six handmaidens and the butler-droid B6, accompany ambassador Barra Manta and four other selkath as they enter an impressive lounge on the installation. Here, representatives of the planets Ando, Ithor and Sullust are already waiting, with their bodyguards ( including Confederate battle-droids ).
The ithorian ambassador speaks in his native tongue, but she wears a translator-advice that translates in real-time. "Ambassador Manta, lady Amidala, we have not much time. Ithor stands ready to defect from the Confederacy, if certain assurances can be met."
"I'm listening" Amidala says.
"Ithor requires full reentry into the Republic, with a seat in the senate" the ithorian says. "And that the Republic places no demands of compensation on Ithor for damages inflicted on Republic members as a consequence of this war."
"I don't believe I have the authority to agree to such terms" Amidala says. "But, as Manaan was granted a seat in the senate, I believe I can safely say that you will all be treated equally."
The sullustan replies, not sounding convinced at all. B6 translates, "The sullustan delegate is not entirely convinced and points out that Sullust has no resources that can compare to kolto in value."
Barra Manta speaks next in his native tongue and his protocol-droid translates. "Manaan is willing to argue in favor of Ithor, Ando and Sullust to the chancellor personally. The chancellor sees an opportunity to force the Confederacy to fall apart entirely, should your defections become true. Your planets have an excellent opportunity to negotiate your terms of surrender."
"Let's not forget that we are here to ensure peace" Amidala says.
Suddenly, there is a power-shortage and emergency-lightning activates. Moments later, blaster-fire is heard and screams of agony.
"We got to go" Amidala says and draws her pistol.
They all run away from the fighting, all delegations, running down corridors. But they come to a stop when they see three guards firing down another corridor, further up ahead. Two guards gets blasted by incoming fire and the third gets his feet pulled out from beneath him by some unseen force, and then gets dragged along the floor down the corridor while struggling to stay where he is. He screams out of fear, but suddenly, gets silenced out of view. Amidala and the delegates are horrified. Slowly, emerging out of the corridor, is Assaj Ventress, armed with two red lightsabers. Ventress smiles viciously and deactivates one of her weapons.
Amidala fires her blaster, Ventress parries the incoming shots, pulls Amidalas pistol from her hand with the Force and then throws her activated lightsaber down the corridor, cutting down everyone but Amidala as the lightsaber spins in an arch/hook around the queen of Naboo. When the lightsaber returns to Ventress, only Amidala is left standing. Ventress Force chokes Amidala and forces her to her knees as Ventress slowly makes her way over to Amidala.
"Now, pretty one" Ventress says as she walks up to Amidala, "you will come with me. My master has great need of you."
Amidala falls unconscious to the floor, being unable to breathe properly. Ventress carries the unconscious body of Amidala to her ship, a Fury-class transport ( as seen in the Old Republic MMO ), waiting in a hangar-bay and carries her onboard. The ship leaves the installation and flies off.
Coruscant:
Anakin enters a massive opera-house, a building screaming wealth and luxury. He walks down the impressive corridors and eventually enters a booth where Palpatine and his closest aides watch a Mon Calamari performance ( as we see in Episode 3 ).
"Ah, Anakin, please, sit" Palpatine says and then turns to the others. "Leave us."
Palpatines staff do as they are told and leave the chancellor and Anakin alone.
"I must confess" Palpatine then says, "I am not as reassured of success at Utapau, now that you are not allowed to join the battle. You are the greatest of all Jedi, if you ask me. I can not grasp why the High Council would rather have you stay here on Coruscant, instead of assuring the Republic of victory in such a crucial engagement."
"The Jedi will not fail the Republic, chancellor" Anakin says. "Not when victory is so close at hand."
"I am worried, none the less" Palpatine says. "Many Jedi will undoubtedly die, and once the war is over, there will be too few to safeguard the Republic. After the war, the Republic will no longer be able to rely on the Jedi to keep us safe. A firm will be needed, a strong government that can control the sectors and the senate. And I need the Jedi to help me with this. I need your help, Anakin."
"Off course, chancellor" Anakin says. "Naturally, I will do what ever I can. I promise. The only alternative is chaos and anarchy."
Palpatine nods. "I have already approved the creation of new fighter-craft, new starships, new weapons, all that will be needed in the years to come; to combat pirates, marauders and insurrectionists who will try and exploit the Republic as it is at its weakest. It will be dark and troubling times, but absolutely necessary if we are to bring order to the galaxy."
"I understand the need for such actions" Anakin says.
"I know you do, Anakin" Palpatine smiles. "You are smart and clever. The kind of Jedi this war-torn galaxy needs to heal the wounds inflicted by this conflit. But I am worried; worried that not all Jedi will be as realistic as you are. I fear that there might even be opposition from some Jedi."
"I assure you, chancellor" Anakin says, "I will convince the Jedi Order to come to their senses, and make any who have doubts realize how wrong they are. The Jedi are loyal to the Republic and the values it defends."
"It might be necessary for you, Anakin, to give me the names of those Jedi who are inclined to oppose my decisions. If only to make diplomacy easier, since I can pick which Jedi to represent the Republic on official business." Palpatine then sighs. "We have all fought so hard to secure victory in times of war. We must not let the enemy win simply because we did not fight as hard to secure victory in times of peace. In war, you have the luxury of facing your enemy on the field of battle, but in peacetime, the enemy always strikes from behind when you least except it." Palpatine turns to Anakin, "Be careful, Anakin. Your enemies are already planning your downfall."
( No mention of Darth Plague'is, no talk about Sith and their powers. To me, that would make Anakin suspicious of Palpatine. So instead, I opted to have Palpatine talk to Anakin about what needs to be done once the war is over, in a galaxy with far fewer Jedi than before. Pirates, rebels and corruption needs to be dealt with and that requires "a firm hand". So Palpatine is sowing the seed in Anakin that a strong government, that relies on force and power, to uphold law and order might be the only way to preserve the Republic )
Utapau:
A shuttle arrives at the planet, escorted by four X-wings. They fly down to one of the cities, the giant pit-cities that the planet is famous for. Flying into the pit, eventually, the shuttle lands on a platform where Ventress is waiting. Exiting the shuttle is General Grievous.
"Why the urgency?!" Grievous growls. "What could be so important that you had to drag me away from fighting the enemy?!"
"Mind your words, general" Ventress hisses. "I summoned you, because I was told to."
They both enter the city and walk down a corridor.
"So why does Lord Sidious need us to come here?" Grievous asks.
"We are about to crush the Jedi" Ventress says.
They enter a room and the lights dim and a holographic projection of Darth Sidious appears. Both Grievous and Ventress kneel.
"General Grievous. Good" Sidious says. "You must prepare your defenses. The Republic will launch an attack in mere hours. Do what you can to ready your troops."
Grievous looks up at Sidious. "The Republic will attack here? We have no fleet, only ground-forces. They will be able to blast us from orbit. We will never be able to hold."
"You would do well not to question me, general" Sidious says. "Defend the installation, the Confederacy can not survive without it. Defend it at all cost."
"I will see to it at once, my lord" Grievous says and then leaves.
Sidious turns to Ventress. "Was your mission successful?"
"Yes, master" Ventress says. "Queen Amidala is my prisoner."
"You have done well, Lady Ventress" Sidious says. "Soon, I will have a new apprentice. One who will conquer the galaxy in the name of the Sith."
Ventress leaves the chamber and walks down the corridors and then enters a holding-cell, only to find Grievous already being there, together with the shackled Amidala. Grievous turns around to face Ventress.
"Interesting pet you have here, my lady" Grievous growls. "Why keep such a prominent guest a secret, I wonder?"
"None of your concern, general" Ventress says.
Grievous steps up to Ventress. "What does Sidious want with her? Why is she so important?"
Ventress looks Grievous in the eyes. "She is key in luring over his next apprentice to the Dark Side of the Force. You will not touch her."
Then, the alarm sounds.
"The Republic" Grievous growls. "They are here!"
The small fleet that had gathered at Ilenium exits hyperspace and immediately heads for the planet of Utapau. On the bridge of one of the Star Destroyers, Tarkin, Kenobi, Yoda and Yularen oversee the situation on a holographic map.
"Local defenses will stand no chance against our Star Destroyers" Tarkin says confidently. "We will brush away their defenses in orbit and concentrate our efforts on the primary target."
"Careful, we must be" Yoda says. "Weak, in space they are. Stronger in the air, I sense."
Yularen nods. "We will establish air-superiority using our fighters before we deploy the Jedi."
Tarkin folds his arms behind his back. "Let's move in. Engage the enemy."
The Republic warships approaches the planet and opens fire. The heavy barrage hits a defense-installation in orbit and within seconds rips it apart; instantly, Republic fighters, including Jedi fighters, fly past and enter atmosphere. The pit-city's defenses gets bombarded by the Republic fighters and bombers.
The Acclamator enters orbit and several troop-transports leaves it and heads for the surface. As they land, the first wave deploy Jedi mounted on spider-bikes. These Jedi race at full speed towards enemy lines, ignite their lightsabers and slice open enemy snail-tanks, cut off the legs of spider-walkers and strike down squads of soldiers as they race past at full throttle.
A Republic troop-transport lands and allows Obi-Wan and Yoda to set foot on Utapau. Around them, other transports lands and lets hundreds of Jedi to charge the enemy on foot.
Yoda points towards a cluster of enemy turrets in the distance. "There, Obi-Wan, you must go. Destroy those turrets, you must, or our fighters will not survive."
Obi-Wan climbs up on a speeder-bike. "And once that is done?"
Yoda surveys the battlefield. "Then, their walkers we will destroy. Only then are we ready to the installation attack."
"Sounds good to me" Obi-Wan says and flies off on his speeder-bike, followed by a dozen other Jedi, them too on speeder-bikes.
Coruscant, Republic Command-Center:
All important politicians, officers and Jedi are present, following the attack on Utapau on holographic maps, listening in on the radio-chatter from the battle.
"The Jedi have landed" Organa says and turns to the chancellor.
"Very good" Palpatine says. "Then the facility will soon be in our hands."
Windu studies the battle. "They have yet to deploy the garrison" he comments. "A quarter of a million troops is no small number."
Anakin, with arms folded over his chest, shakes his head. "They are waiting inside, away from our fighters and battleships. Taking this installation will be bloody business."
Utapau:
The Twilight conducts a bomb-run, drops bombs on a vital target and veers off. In the cock-pit, Sebulba growls and curses in huttese, while Dex turns some dials and flips some switches.
"General Kenobi" Dex says, "this is Gambit Leader, we took care of those heavy cannons like you requested."
On the ground, standing among burning turrets, Obi-Wan looks up as the Twilight tries to outrun enemy fighters.
"Good work, Dex" Obi-Wan says. "We'll take it from here." He then turns to a couple of dozen Jedi standing in wait. "Move out!"
They fly their speeder-bikes towards the flank of a large formation of enemy armored units ( snail-tanks and various walkers ). One Jedi leaps up on top of a snail-tank and cuts it open with his lightsaber and slices its engine and jumps off right before it explodes. Another Jedi uses an ascension-cable to reach the belly of a massive walker, he cuts it open and climbs inside; moments later, he jumps out of the same hole and as he lands on the ground, the giant walker explodes from the inside. Obi-Wan slices the legs of several walkers and larger battle-droids as he flies past, the giant machines toppling over in his wake.
Tarkin is overseeing the battle on the bridge of his flagship, when an officer gains his attention.
"Sir, a large group of enemy fighters and bombers are coming down from the north. They will be able to attack the Jedi in ten minutes."
Tarkin nods. "Inform Grand Master Koon to intercept."
"Yes, sir."
A large formation of enemy fighters escort a dozen larger bombers ( H-wings I would like to call the bombers; I'm thinking they look a bit like the Trade Federation troop-transports we see in Episode 1, but the wings extend forward and backwards instead of to the sides, if that makes sense ).
Higher up, in the cloud-cover, seven Jedi fighters and two dozen V-19 fly in formation. Six of the Jedi fighters are TIE Advanced, the last is an older version ( like the ones we see in my version of Episode 1 ); the older version is piloted by Grand Master Plo Koon. Koon tilts his fighter to get a better look at the enemy below.
"Shien squadron, move in and engage the fighter-escort. Green and Red squadron, go for the bombers. May the Force be with you."
The Jedi fighters dive towards the enemy below and open fire from above, gunning down several enemy fighters. The Confederate fighters split up and give chase.
Commander Dreis looks down at the Jedi as they lure the fighter-escort away. "This is Red Leader, attack the rearmost bombers. Watch out for the crossfire."
"This is Green Leader" a bothan pilot says, "we're right behind you, Red Squadron."
The V-19's dive down and open fire on the bombers from above. The bombers return fire from turrets.
Plo Koon guns down an enemy fighter, turns around and opens fire on a bomber and hits its engines enough times to force it to leave formation and slowly drop towards the surface.
"Keep at it" Koon says. "Concentrate your fire on their engines."
Two V-19's fly in and blasts the engines of another bomber, one of the V-19's gets shot down by the turrets in return. One TIE chases three Confederate fighters in between the bombers and guns down two of them before the TIE is shot to pieces itself by the crossfire.
Another TIE guns down an enemy fighter but gets hit by two other Confederate fighters. The Jedi piloting this TIE, as his cockpit catches fire, climbs out of the TIE and jumps on over to a bomber. Moments later his TIE explodes. The Jedi activates his lightsaber and stabs an engine; the engine explodes and the bomber begins to crash, burning violently.
In the cockpit of a bomber, the captain watches his instruments.
"Almost in range" he says. "Bombardier, prepare to deploy."
The bombardier flips some switches and the bomb-bay opens. The bomber shakes as it takes several hits. The pilot struggles with his controls.
"She won't hold together much longer" the pilot tells the captain.
"Almost there" the captain says, watching his scopes. "Bombardier… You are cleared to fire."
The bombardier looks at his own scope. "Target-area in sight, safeties off, warheads are hot… Bombs away."
Two bombs/missiles/rockets drop and their engines ignite. Seconds after, Plo Koon strafes the bomber and brings it down. The two "bombs" race towards the battle up ahead. A Jedi stops his speeder and spots the incoming bombs, she climbs down and reaches out with both hands towards the incoming projectiles. She concentrates and then claps her hands together, almost as if trying to catch a fly. The result is the two bombs crashing into one another and causing a massive explosion in midair.
Obi-Wan stops his speeder and holds up an arm to shield himself as the shockwave sweeps over him with a thick dust-cloud. As he looks up again, a bomber crash into the ground not that far away. Obi-Wan looks up and the Twilight flies past overhead at low level, flying off towards enemy-held positions. The Twilight drops another pair of bombs on the Confederate forces and then veers off.
"There you go, general" Dex says from the cockpit. "Make the best of it."
Obi-Wan flies up to the burning remains of the Confederate defenses and climbs down from his speeder as hundreds of other Jedi join with his unit at the breach. Together they run up to the edge of the massive pit and look down. Moments later, a hundred Jedi jump down, connected to ascension-cables, and quickly make their way down to the topmost level of the pit-city. One of these Jedi is Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan is shocked to find utapauan civilians, women and children, hurrying to find cover as the Jedi swing onto the topmost level.
Obi-Wan picks up his commlink. "Grand Master Yoda, this is Kenobi. This is not just a military installation. It's a city, full of civilians! I repeat, there are civilians inside the target area!"
Yoda, limping with his cane, moves up to the edge of the pit and looks down and then at the air-battle taking place above him.
"Avoid civilian casualties, we must" Yoda says. "With caution, master Kenobi, proceed."
"Understood, grand master" Obi-Wan says and then leads the Jedi onward.
Moving further into the city, the Jedi eventually come under fire from dozens of Confederate clone-troopers and battle-droids.
"Secure the high-ground!" Obi-Wan orders while he draws fire and parries and blocks multiple blaster-shots.
Coruscant, Republic Command-Center:
Xizor enters the command-room and walks up to Palpatine. "Chancellor, news from Bogden."
Anakin picks up on this and listens in.
Xizor continues. "We have reports of an attack. All three delegations have been killed."
Everyone in the room turn to listen to the dreadful news. Anakin feels empty inside.
"Everyone?" Palpatine asks. "No survivors?"
"Only one is missing in action, chancellor" Xizor says. "Rear Admiral Amidala has not been found. The selkath are accusing her of betraying the Republic."
"Admiral Amidala is not a traitor!" Anakin says.
"I agree" Organa says. "Amidala would never betray the Republic."
"Whatever the case" Xizor says, "she is missing. And everyone else are dead."
"She is still alive, I can feel it" Anakin says and turns to Windu and Ki-Adi-Mundi.
Windu nods and turns to Ki-Adi-Mundi. "I sense she is in great danger."
"Send me to Bogden" Anakin says. "I will find her. I will follow the leads and find her."
"That is not your concern, Skywalker" Ki-Adi-Mundi says. "Focus your mind on the here and now, where it belongs."
"Yes, grand master" Anakin says, but it is clear he is frustrated.
Palpatine eyes the Jedi and Anakin especially.
To be continued...