Author's note: So, here we are: my first attempt at fanfiction in many years! This time, we're making my first venture into the Galaxy Far Far Away!
I have spent a long time planning this. Essentially, it's a rewrite of the Sequel Trilogy. Specifically, it reimagines certain characters, events, and other elements from the Sequel Trilogy in a way that allows them to be incorporated into Legends continuity (i.e., the classic Expanded Universe). It reworks those Sequel Trilogy aspects into what is known as the Legacy Era of the pre-Disney continuity. To be exact, the story begins in 95ABY (i.e., 95 years after the events of A New Hope).
I chose to set my reimagined Sequel Trilogy at this point in the timeline for two main reasons. Firstly, it's largely unexplored. It's over five decades after the Second Galactic Civil War and the emergence of the Lost Tribe of the Sith (portrayed in Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi respectively), and over three decades before the start of the Sith-Imperial War portrayed in Star Wars: Legacy.
Secondly, it's a much more politically and morally complex era of Star Wars: a time when there's a long-standing cold war between two galactic superpowers (the Galactic Alliance and the Fel Empire) who don't easily fit the more traditional conceptions of good and evil in the franchise, plus several other interstellar polities who are not outright superpowers but nevertheless have a notable presence on the galactic stage. I was therefore fascinated by how the different characters, factions, etc. we saw in the Sequel Trilogy might emerge in this context, and how that different context might open new possibilities for storylines, character arcs, and conflicts.
On a stylistic note, because I live in the UK, I'll stick to British spelling and grammar conventions throughout, but for the sake of preserving the official name, I'll still spell it as 'lightsaber' rather than 'lightsabre'.
Lastly, for the sake of a content warning, the darker moments of this fic will include depictions of terrorism, mental health issues, and psychological trauma.
Anyway, without further do, let's kick off the Alternate Sequel Trilogy (AST) with the introductory chapter of 'Star Wars: Episode VII – The Broken Galaxy'!
Chapter One (Prologue)
Sandono Ymas squinted his eyes as he strode into the bustling street. Between the looming buildings, the red rays of the evening sun streamed through, interrupted only by the occasional shadow of a darting airspeeder. Gently smiling at the warm breeze on his skin, Ymas loosened the buttons on his light, beige overcoat and began to weave his way through the crowd. The usual rush of commuters and merchants ebbed and flowed along the elevated boulevard. In each direction Ymas glanced, he could make out the odd head-tail of a Twi'lek or a Togruta, or the tall, curved neck of an Ithorian. These past few standard decades of commercial growth on Kree'os had attracted a greater range of sentient species. Indeed, Ymas himself had come to this world for its trade opportunities.
Carefully holding the case of spare droid parts he was bringing home from the workshop, Ymas continued twisting and turning through the teeming street. In his haste, he almost struck another pedestrian with the case, but pulled it back just in time. Ymas turned his head to make a quick apology, but the passer-by had already covered several metres in the opposite direction. For a moment, Ymas was struck by the figure's flowing white robes. Even by Kree'os' increasingly eclectic standards, the garments were distinctive enough that Ymas could easily keep his eyes on the enigmatic wayfarer deep within the throng. As his gaze shifted to where the robed pedestrian was heading, everything clicked in Ymas' mind. Of course! The Imperial Mission's on this street!
That was the other way in which this world had changed in recent years. Once Kree'os had started emerging as a lively hub for interstellar commerce, it was only a matter of time before the major galactic powers made their presence felt. It was no secret that the Galactic Empire and the Galactic Alliance – 'GA' for short – each were keen to bring Kree'os into their respective fold. While Ymas would be the first to admit that he was hardly the most enthusiastic follower of local politics, he had seen enough HoloNet News reports to know that, between the two infamous rivals, Kree'os seemed closest to joining the Empire.
Snapping out of his musings, Ymas realised he had reached his destination. The automatic doors swished open. With a skip in his step, Ymas darted past the busy tables and onto his usual stool at the bar. Thank the Stars it wasn't taken already!
The imposing, reptilian figure behind the bar barely had to glance upwards before hissing, "Let me guess – a mug of Bakuran bitters?"
"Well, I was considering mixing it up a little, but might as well start with the usual!" Ymas answered with a grin, carefully placing his case on the floor.
The Saurin nodded his scaly head before turning to prepare Ymas' drink. Ymas inwardly admitted that tending bar was far from the first line of work he associated with that species. While perhaps not as reputed for bounty hunting or mercenary work as their mainline Trandoshan cousins, Ymas was still more accustomed to seeing Saurins handling a blaster than a drinks mixer. Maybe these past few decades of galactic peace have made them more open to other career paths?, he mused. Or maybe I'm just making prejudiced assumptions!
Without so much as a word, the bartender placed the finished, violet beverage before him. Handing over his credit chip, Ymas took his first sip, savouring the tart yet vibrant aftertaste. He had come to the end of a long but lucrative working week. As far as Ymas was concerned, he deserved and would revel in every drop. Those red, evening rays now filtered through a large window overlooking the sprawling yet oddly elegant cityscape. Lifting the mug to his lips for a second sip, Ymas tilted his head towards the holoscreen above the bar. The picture quality was somewhat lacking, but he could still make out the broadcast. To one side, a Gran anchor sat at a news desk, looking and speaking into the holocam. His posture and three eyes looked serious, but Ymas could barely hear over the bar noise. Mercifully, he did not need the sound to know what the broadcast was about. On the other side of the holoscreen was a still image: the stern face of a dark-haired, blue-eyed human male. It was one of the most recognisable faces in the galaxy: the face of Emperor Valius Fel. Along the bottom of the screen ran a text banner that read "KREE'OS ACCESSION DEAL REACHED?"
"So what do you make of that?"
Ymas turned at the sudden question. On the next stool along the bar, a green-skinned figure was taking a gulp from his own glass. While, at a distance, the thick tendrils protruding from their head would be this patron's most striking characteristic, up close Ymas found himself most drawn to their wide black eyes. Racking his brain for a moment, Ymas identified the figure as a Nautolan. He guessed them to be female from their voice, though he could not tell for certain. "Make of what?", Ymas replied.
"Kree'os joining the Empire. Looks pretty certain now, don't you think?"
Ymas took another sip of his bitters before responding. "Honestly, I don't know. Some of my older relatives fought for the New Republic back in the day. They hoped the GA would mean a new age of peace and prosperity. I guess that's been kind of true since the end of the last civil war, but…I'm not sure. I guess I'm just not as invested in the whole 'Alliance versus Empire' thing as I used to be."
"Let me guess," the Saurin bartender butted in, to Ymas' surprise. "You reckon the Empire could be better for business?"
Ymas took a pause to gather his thoughts. "Let me put it this way: the Alliance hasn't exactly been the galaxy's top dog since the Confederation split from it. Maybe the Imps can cut us a better deal."
The Nautolan patron gave a characteristically animated chuckle. "Bet those republican relatives of yours would be mortified to hear you say that!"
Ymas cracked a smile. "You got that right! But…I dunno: can we really equate the Imps they remember with the Imps now?"
"Hm", the Nautolan mused. "I do admit that Fel's 'Victory Without War' thing seems to be working out okay for him and I'm not exactly gonna tell the folks in that Imperial Mission down the road to stop helping the poor and sick, but…don't you think Fel's trying a little too hard to convince us that the Empire's turned over a new leaf?"
"Well, yes, but what do you expect? He's a politician! You think Handor or any of those other Alliance bigwigs are putting on any less of an act? The way I see it, if we haven't had a major war in decades and the Imps are keen to prove that life in the Empire's not like it was in the bad old days, then we might as well hear them ou-"
The sudden burst struck before the words finished leaving his mouth.
In those fateful seconds, Ymas' world was a blur. His overloaded senses were sure of only two things: the slam of the floor along his back and shoulder, and the shatter of glass around him.
Lying sprawled for several moments, he tried to put his surroundings back in focus. The ringing in his ears began to fade. In its place came a cacophony of alarms and screams.
Ymas coughed through the black smoke now filling the room. He staggered to his feet, grasping for a table or a chair to pull himself up with. He only then noticed how many of them were now scattered across the floor. Glass shards glinted ominously in the traces of light that shone through what used to be the window.
Ymas lurched towards the exit. Behind and in front of him, other customers and bar staff scrambled in whatever direction promised safety. He stumbled into the boulevard, but everywhere he turned, he saw nothing but dust and smoke. Still coughing violently, Ymas could taste something acrid and metallic on the wind. Yet more screaming filled the air. Here and there, he noticed people holding or kneeling over others he could only assume to be loved ones. Sirens blared from inbound emergency airspeeders. As the strengthening gust began to part the dust and smoke clouds, Ymas turned to what appeared to be the source of commotion. Through narrowed eyes, he could make out the hellish glow of flames about fifty metres away. As more of his senses returned, Ymas realised with horror where the fire and smoke were coming from: the Imperial Mission.
Staggering further along the street, Ymas' legs finally gave in. Propping himself against the nearest wall, he glanced towards the blast site once more. This time, enough dust and smoke had cleared for him to notice large markings on the side of a nearby building. There in black paint stood a large, hexagonal symbol containing a circle. The circle in turn contained narrow triangles that pointed inward. The sight sent shivers down Ymas' spine. He knew exactly where he had seen that symbol before. Shifting his eyes further along the wall, he saw additional graffiti in the same paint. It was a slogan in streaked, imposing letters. The five words confirmed Ymas' fears as he finally lost consciousness.
"Long live the Supreme Leader!"
Author's note: And there we have it! As you've no doubt noticed, I've chosen to reimagine the First Order less along the lines of historical Nazism and more along the lines of today's far-right terrorist/paramilitary groups, though you'll have to wait for the next couple of chapters to find out the specifics of what they believe and how they relate to the Fel Empire.
Also, for those of you who know me because of my older Warhammer 40K and Avatar crossover series: I apologise for how long that's been on the backburner. The short answer is that a lot of major life events have happened over the past decade which, combined with some creative difficulties in figuring out exactly how to tie things together to end the story, made it difficult to finish what I'd started. Now that I have some more free time on my hands, I'd like to try writing the final two or three chapters of my last fic ('Pandora: Generations') over the summer, but the most important thing about that experience for this new fic is that I've put a lot more effort into planning the storylines, character arcs, etc. in advance to avoid writing myself into a corner again!
And don't worry - later chapters will be a lot longer than this one: this is just a prologue!