Test 674-4(Part 2)

Subject Matter: Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Target: Sheev Palpatine(Darth Sidious)

Results:

The opening Text Crawl, a staple of Star Wars films, gives a brief setup for the film, usually detailing things that happened before it opens. Typically three sentences/paragraphs long, the details of the Phantom Menace did not change, and thus, it was not needed. However, as subsequent movies are heavily altered, it has been decided to have the D-Class describe them and to put them in this document.

Episode II

THE DARKNESS DESCENDS

It is a time of upheaval in the Galactic Republic

The Jedi, newly reawakened to the Force,

sense a great darkness taking root.

Spread thin, trying to keep the peace and train

Force users to use their powers for Light,

they are stretched to the breaking point.

And now, the Kyber Crystal Mines, where

The Jedi acquire the materials for their symbol,

the Lightsaber, has come under threat…

The movie opens in space, a small fighter(Identified as an Aethersprite Interceptor by design) hyperspaces into orbit of a planet, docking with a space station that sparks from one side, seemingly the loser in a fight. The ship leaves its hyperspace ring, which contains additional engines as well as the hyperdrive itself, in orbit around the station, before it then moves inside, and the occupant comes out.

The figure ignites a lightsaber, and in the blue glow of its blade, they are revealed to be an alien, identified as Ki-Adi-Mundi, a member of the Jedi Council. He is wearing a mask for air, but otherwise seems to easily move through the station, despite the gravity being off, which gives the scene an oddly, dance-like, flow as he moves slowly from wall to wall, with several musical stings to punctuate each landing against it.

Making his way to the control room of the station, he finds a recording of the crew's final moments, as a ship, unidentified, enters the system, and then blasts the hole in the side. It seemed the hole allowed intruders into the station, and he can hear the telltale hum of lightsabers as they cut down the crew, making him wonder just what was going on, as he then finds an active intruder alarm from the surface, the mines themselves.

Proceeding back to his fighter, we are given a jumpscare when a piece of deck plating is blown into his face by some conduit exploding beneath it. Luckily, it is just that, and he easily makes it back to his fighter, and then descends to the surface below. Here we see, unlike what one might expect of a mine, a vibrant and 'beautiful' area full of life, with the Jedi Master taking a moment to breathe in the sweet air, before descending down.

Within the mine, he uses his lightsaber to light the darkness, the blue light turning into a veritable rainbow of hues as it reflects off the walls, which he touches, commenting that they had been harvested, a few chips leftover to 'grow' into more crystals over a few decades. His comment is that you could make a hundred or more lightsabers off just what he sees having been harvested.

Then he makes it to the main chamber, and falls to his knees, a tear in his eye. The chamber is the same as the one he passed through. The walls left with only a few flakes, and he comments on the sheer horror of someone stealing such a trove of life from this world. He is then told by an 'evil' sounding voice that this is but the first step in his new master's plan, as Darth Maul steps out of the shadows.

He draws his lightsaber, the double red blade shining menacingly, creating a contrast between the two that battles in the air between them. At least until more figures join the red and black horned humanoid. They look human too, for a moment but are revealed to be droids as their cloaks fall away, and they draw their own lightsabers, which are black in color, with lightning playing up and down the blades.

Master Mundi sees them, and, with a cry, he immediately retreats, pulling the top of the cavern down with his Force Ability. The rocks, however, are halted not by Maul, but by one of the droids, and the lightning playing off one of the blades shoots out, striking the fleeing master in the back, and causing him to cry out as he drops to the floor, Maul slowly coming near him, as the droid continues to shock him, and then ending him with a single blow.

The scene shifts in mid swing to a place on Naboo, where Anakin Skywalker is tending to trees, helping them to grow under the direction of Qui-Gon Jinn. We soon see this is one of the areas devastated by the Trade Federation's attack ten years ago, and Qui-Gon, with the blessing of the Jedi Council, has opened an Annex here, a place where older force users are brought to learn, not to be a Jedi, but simply to use their abilities to benefit everyone.

Anakin, whose mother soon arrives with a basket of food for everyone, is noted to be in a relationship with Senator Amedala, the former Queen of Naboo, a fact that is outed when Asajj Ventress teased him about it. The woman, a gray skinned humanoid, seems to have fun with this, until Ky Narec, another Annex teacher, chides her over it…but then gets in a dig himself between sips of tea.

We follow a few minutes of life in the Annex, learning how the people here, ranging in ages from pre-teen to octagerian are shown how best to use their abilities, with things like levitation and empathy classes, as well as more general studies. Some are even engaged in things like mechanical work and art as well, all of which goes to help fund the venture here, as the students go out, and tend to send a bit back to help make the Annex a better place to be.

For some, it's the first home they have ever known, as Asajj herself, a dathomirian female, had been a slave, traded from system to system, until rescued by Master Narec, and brought here. Others have similar stories we overhear, as the group gathers for an evening bit of meditation, only to be interrupted by what the Masters call a disturbance. They advise everyone to stay calm, and they soon contact other Jedi.

The Council, which includes a newly promoted Obi-Wan, soon relay what has happened, having sensed both the death of Master Mundi, but also where and how, if not who. They assure the Annex Masters that it will be handled with all speed, as Obi-Wan will lead an expedition to the planet, one a bit more armed than a single fighter, and while he suggests they not worry, it might be best to prepare for every eventuality at the Annex.

The next scenes see Obi-Wan meeting with a large force, a cruiser with fighter escort. Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable for the Republic to have such a force at its command, as the Jedi had been all that was needed. Of course, that was due to Sith influences, as Obi-Wan relates to a young knight, who was part of a group of three that he was bringing with him on this outing.

They are, as he notes, not supposed to discuss this around those not in the Order, but it soon becomes clear that the Sith influence had reached deep, and had been hamstringing the efforts to preserve the peace of the Galaxy as a whole, a process that was only slowly being reversed, as the Republic began to build a full peacekeeping force, and the Jedi trained those outside the Order in the use of the Force.

Arriving at the same planet as the opening, Obi-Wan, the knights, and a small group of 'troopers' are deployed to the planet below, their scanners finding next to nothing of the station, which had been all but obliterated, while on the planet, the Jedi sensed not a single bit of life. Arriving at what had been the mine, which earlier had been surrounded by living things and a verdant forest, the site is now nothing but ash and stone.

Obi-Wan identifies the source as a device, situated in what had once been a large tree, looking like a gyroscope made of dark black metal. The stuff is cold to the touch, despite the air around it being warm enough to cause distortions in the air. In the center of the device is a black kyber crystal, probably the end result of the device draining the life from the area, meaning whoever did this couldn't wait for it to form naturally.

At this point, Maul compliments Obi-Wan's observation skills, revealing himself, and his droids who step out of the cave. Of course, the Jedi have no idea who he is, just that he and his droids are radiating darkside energy, and they quickly draw their blades, the troopers doing the same with their guns, all aiming at the man, who laughs, as he throws aside his cloak, and reveals his body.

His form is altered, no longer purely organic, but instead black, cold metal, the same type as the gyro, and it soon transforms, his limbs dividing so he has four legs, and four arms, giving him an almost arachnid appearance. He claims to be the Champion of the One who will Rule, and then orders his droids to attack, the five drawing their own lightsabers, as they advance on the troopers, and Maul does the same to the Jedi.

He reveals, as he does, the sheer power of his form, his arms all equipped with sabers, that he can use independently, the four Jedi, even the experienced master, proving to be no match for him in combat as he quickly does things that are impossible for their biological bodies. Worse, the droids are able to perform blocks that only Jedi or other Force sensitives should be able to make, reflecting the attacks of the Troopers back at them.

To show they aren't fools, the Republic Troopers and Jedi give ground, slowly backing up into the wasteland, with the Troopers even pulling out more esoteric tools, including missiles and flame throwers. The former are deflected with Force pushes, but the latter slips through, and one of the droids is melted to hot slag, revealing as it does, a pair of kyber crystals in its torso, one black and one white.

The two, having been kept apart by a rod of metal, slam together as said rod melts, and Obi-Wan, seeing the sparks as they meet, orders everyone to get down, throwing himself to the ground, and then lifting the dirt around him with the Force into a small fox-hole. The others try, even Maul, but no one else is able to protect themselves, before the two crystals detonate with a massive burst of energy.

On Naboo, Qui-Gon and Anakin both look up suddenly as they're tending to their duties, mostly cleaning, when the latter says he has a bad feeling about something. Qui-Gon agrees, and then tells him to keep going, he'll arrange for a few days leave to visit the Capital for the two of them, so Qui-Gon can see his former Padawan(A Jedi's term for Apprentice), and Anakin can see his beloved.

Back on the mine planet, Obi-Wan pulls himself out of the ground to find the area even worse than before. The dead plants are nothing but charred ashheaps now. Around him, the blackened bodies of his allies lay, the droids seemingly smashed as well. That is of little comfort, however, as Darth Maul, sparking slightly, but still very much alive, also rises from the ground, and advances on Obi-Wan.

The Jedi Master is able to, with some effort, hold off the assault of the four lightsabers, using the damage to Maul's limbs to keep them at bay until, with a twisting motion, he severs two of his hands in a single spin, disorienting the cyborg, before rushing back to the ship. Unfortunately, as he does so, fighters can be seen in the sky above, their sleek, black metal bodies swooping down.

The fighters are held off by a few shots from the cruiser, which is already trying to take off, but eventually one of them fires what appears to be a 'Force-Wave', a powerful technique channeling raw energy into a kinetic blast in a ring around the subject. It is an advanced ability of a powerful Force user, and Obi-Wan watches in horror as the cruiser is slammed into the ground hard enough to explode.

Scrambling back to his feet, he rushes to one of the fighters that had been near the cruiser when it landed. Using the force, he rights the ship, and then jumps inside, quickly going through prelaunch checks as the droid fighters swing back around for another pass, and Maul himself emerges from over a hill, still brandishing two lightsabers. Obi-Wan is able to lift off just ahead of a hail of blaster fire, as Maul screams impotently at him from the ground.

Unfortunately, by the time he gets to orbit, the Hyperdrive Rings the fighter escort had left were in the process of being smashed by yet more enemies. Luckily, after a few slick maneuvers, including using the Force to 'shield' himself, Obi-Wan finds the ring that Master Mundi had left by the remains of the station, and quickly syncs with it, escaping as a larger ship appears, the cloaked master of it staring after him, nodding sagely.

Soon, all the characters converge on Coruscant, with Obi-Wan arriving only hours behind the Annex group, meeting up to discuss what had happened, only for a massive announcement to be made, as a hologram is projected over the city. This hologram is revealed to be the cloaked figure from the ship, which then removes his hood, revealing him to be a thought long dead Jedi Master, Count Dooku.

Qui-Gon identifies him to Anakin as his own master, which Anakin quips makes him quite old. However, before the joke had time to be laughed at, Dooku announces his titles as 'Commander of the One Who Rules All', bowing and introducing Darth Maul, simply called Maul by him, as the 'Champion'. He declares that from this moment on, they will be taking charge of the galaxy, in the name of their glorious master.

He lays out the failings of the Republic and its Jedi lapdogs, as he calls them. Allowing corruption and decay to fester in all parts of the galaxy, but The One Who Rules All, who believes in absolute Order will brook no such thing, and asks, in a sarcastic tone, why the Hutts, the very center of crime are allowed to exist in this universe, running their slave trades and spice rings that polluete the stars.

'No Longer!' he says, and the holo of himself and Maul is replaced with Nal Hutta the 'homeworld' of the Hutts(Bought, as they had long since devastated their original one). His ship, a long body lined with obvious weapons, looking like a spear, then moves into orbit, and the view shifts to 'Nar Shaddaa' Hutta's moon, with several people engaged in bartering, only to look up as a shadow passes overhead, blocking out the sun.

The ship is thus revealed to be absolutely massive, longer than the moon is wide, and with the weapons gleaming like they were just waiting for the order to kill. Then a crackle of lightning passes over the body of the ship, before lashing out at the planet's surface. The thing, whipping wildly about, strikes the planet, and you can see from space the atmosphere part as it does so, a huge gash appearing in the rock.

On Hutta, the Hutts, large slug like creatures, attempt to flee, some literally lifting off in what had appeared to be buildings, but were in fact disguised escape ships. They barely got off the ground before the buffeting winds of the blast knocked them down, and they were literally burned to nothing but ash, as the lightning-like blast continued to rain itself down onto the surface of the world, slowly whittling it away.

When it finally ends its assault, the world of Nal Hutta is no more. The surface was stripped down to the bedrock, and as if on cue, the weapons opened fire on Nar Shaddaa as well, not the lightning, but normal Turbo Lasers of Star Wars canon, lances of light that soon slagged the surface of the moon, before the ship then reversed its way out of the orbit, and the view shifts back to the Republic Capital, where the hologram of the former Hutt world flickers back to Dooku.

He proclaims that this is but the first act of his Master, one who walks between Light and Dark, and will usher in a new Age of Order in this flawed Galaxy. He then cuts the transmission, eventually revealed to be a hack job by a splicer(In universe name for hacker), who took control of an emergency alert system. Said splicer knows nothing about who Dooku is, and was paid to do the job, nothing more.

During this time Anakin and Padme have a few scenes to show their relationship, with the former commenting on the destruction of Hutta. He is aghast at all the death…and yet, his mother and he were slaves to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine before being sold to a junk shop owner named Watto, from whom Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan rescued him. Better…well technically Tatooine was part of the Republic, and yet it HAD slavery and the like.

Their discussion was cut short when the Jedi Council 'felt' where the Saber, the name given to the large ship, would strike next. Naboo, and immediately, they deployed forces. Anakin, who had left his mother behind, along with all his friends, went with, despite Qui-Gon's objections, and the force quickly set off, a small fleet and ground units flying to Naboo, and coming to find it already under attack.

Luckily, as the Jedi had surmised, the 'planet crack' ability of the Saber was not something done lightly, and it seemed to be unable to do so to the peaceful world. Unluckily, it had a fleet of escorts, and was landing troops on the planet, with the express purpose of proving the fragility of the Republic's version of 'Order' They had actually been in orbit for almost a full hour before attacking, waiting for the Republic's own forces to arrive.

The battle simply to get to the planet was awful, as the Jedi had to reinforce the Republic's troops, which was still a task given they were outnumbered, and in some cases, simply outgunned. But the Republic was persistent, and after a few skirmishes, the ships, including Amadala's own, landed near the Annex, quickly trying to evacuate the Force users there, given the attack seemed to be concentrated on it.

The reason soon became obvious, as the gyro machine, or at least another version of it, was deployed near the battle by a group of 'force-droids'. The gyro was then 'fed' some of the Force Users, in this case an older woman, who is sucked into it, her body becoming another kyber crystal, this one green in color, before they move to grab a young boy from a group of cowering children.

The droid is stopped by Master Narec who slices the offending machine clean in two, showing that it has kyber crystals inside as well, though not nearly as large as the ones inside Maul's personal units. They still have Force powers, however, as the others of the unit not only start firing built in blasters, but ignite built in lightsabers, throwing force pushes around, and even a bolt of lightning or two.

The Master compares them in power to half trained Knights, saying that their biggest advantage is that they strike together, covering for each other in ways organics don't. Worse, where battle droids were slow and clunky, these moved with grace, slipping around him more than once, and nearly killing him. In fact the only reason he is not impaled by a lightsaber from behind is Asajj herself, who uses lightning on the offending machine.

Narec chides the young woman, especially as lightning is an ability of the Dark Side, but she will hear none of it, as she retrieves the hand of one of the droids, channeling that same lightning into it to ignite the lightsaber inside, and the pair wind up fighting back to back, until a group of knights and soldiers arrive to save them, quickly getting everyone they can to a set of transports.

Meanwhile, the Saber, in orbit, begins to turn broadside to the planet, obviously intending on slagging it as it had Nar Shaddaa. That, however, would not be as easy, given Naboo had few large energy facilities to target, which had allowed it to use them as 'focal points' for explosions to destroy the surface of that moon. This bombardment would take far more time to destroy the surface of the planet, hours probably, but it would be done.

A 'follow-up' to the previous film's money shot was then shown, as the same village that Mace Windu and Yoda had saved was once more under threat. A group of four jedi were present, and as the bolts from above began to rain down, they attempted the same technique, several of the large falling stars stopping, but not reversing, instead wavering in the air for moments, only for more and more to fall.

All at once, the jedi were exhausted, and the turbo laser bolts fell like the vengeful hammer of some dark god. The world went negative for just a moment, before a larger explosion tore through the town, reducing it, and several fleeing people to nothing but dust, even as the jedi attempted to protect themselves, putting up an invisible barrier of the Force, and just barely maintaining it…until a bolt from on high struck the ridge they were on directly, instantly killing them.

The scene shifts back to the fight at the Annex, where several transports of evacuees were lifting off. The droids pressed, however, and even as more Jedi arrived to aid in the fight, Darth Maul revealed himself, repaired, and even upgraded, as his limbs now seemed to sprout lightsabers from every joint, turning him into a whirlwind of death in the middle of the Jedi lines, as his personal droids also lay into them.

Obi-Wan challenged him, giving the 'Hello there' to which Maul responded 'Jedi Kenobi'. This is an odd turn of phrase, miming a meme within the original work from the third film. Currently it is unknown why it would be in this particular film instead, but it is advised to have the D-Class look for more, simply to see if this is merely a coincidence, or if there is something more at play with SCP 674's alterations to this narrative.

Regardless, Obi-Wan, along with Qui-Gon soon do battle with Maul, the spider-like cyborg hopping all about, even as the battle rages around them, the trio barely seeming to notice. Still the Jedi at least, appear to be victorious if only in that they have gotten most of the Annex students and personnel out of the danger zone, losing only about a dozen to the efforts of the droids, though far more jedi had fallen overall than they would have liked.

A retreat was called, as the ships in orbit carved them an escape route at the cost of their own lives, and the Jedi, knowing when to fold, got to the ships, each defended by a Force User. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon eventually use a coordinated attack to slice off Maul's legs, rendering him impotent, and allowing them to leap into the air onto one of the transports. Maul, screaming at them, launches a lightning attack.

That attack is deflected, right into the side of another transport, this one being the one Shimi, Anakin's mother is on, the woman herself being consumed in a violent explosion, as her son watches, trying to pull her out, to protect her, only to lose his grip as the ship flies too far out of range, and she is blown to naught but dust as he screams her name, and the ship makes it to orbit.

The remainder of the film is mostly wrap-up, as the Jedi, meeting with various representatives of the Galactic Senate begin to prepare for a protracted war, as the galactic map is shown, with 'The One Who Will Rule's' territory, now labeled as the Imperium of Order, taking a small bite into the Outer Rim areas. This causes the Senate, needing more Force Users to counteract the threat of the Force Droids to demand the Jedi train any with the talent.

The final scene is Anakin, hugging Padme, assuring her he's all right, and that he'll protect her, no matter what, before he, along with several of the Force User from the Annex march into what can only be described as a boot camp like environment, beginning with basic use of a Lightsaber. Each one, young and old, looks hardened over the loss of their homes and friends, and soon their cries of training echo into the heavens.

The last shot, just before the credits, is Darth Maul, newly repaired, his body looking even more sleek than before, walking up to where Dooku is waiting, and the pair turning to face a large kyber crystal, one that takes up most of the room they're in. The pair then bow to it, going to one knee, as a ghostly form rises from the crystal, and they declare him their master. They name him 'The Great Exar Kun', a human figure bathed in blue light that crackles with power.