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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2020-01-04, 00:46

OK, I'm doing this. I did it with Episodes 1-3, but not to this extent. I'm not doing this because I didn't like Episode VII, but because I do not at all like Episodes VII-IX as a trilogy. Together, they suck!

So, with no further a-doo, here is a brief script for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens as I think it should have gone. Episodes VIII and IX are worming around in my brain.

*Ahem*


Act I

Quote:
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …

Opening Crawl:

There has been war in the galaxy for many years. The rebellion, still struggling with remnants of the old empire, cannot maintain stability within the systems of the old republic.

Now, under the continued influence of the dark side of the force, the former empire is rebuilding and outer systems feel the strain of renewed attacks.

Han Solo and Princess Leia have learned of a new threat, a new weapon wielded by a dark Sith lord to regain control of the empire. And a new apprentice has risen from the ashes to take his place upon the throne …



- A familiar sound rumbles overhead. There are flashes of light; laser bolts blast into space and explode. The familiar sound becomes more audible, and the Millennium Falcon blasts over our heads. A moment later and the familiar triangular form of a Star Destroyer comes into view, its lasers blasting at the fleeing Falcon.

- Reverse camera, and the Falcon is whipping and darting, spinning and rolling

- Han Solo is at the controls. He shouts to his trusted co-pilot that the hyper drive is acting up yet again, always and only when they need it most. He yells to the back and the camera switches to the familiar, but aging Leia Organa as she wrestles with the hyper drive motivator. It is smoking, but she’s almost there.



On the bridge of the Destroyer, a sinister, dark-clad figure stands at the viewing bridge. The Falcon can be seen in the distance. A control officers yells something about the tractor beam. “We almost have them, but she’s dodgy, sir.”



The Falcon continues to slink her way through the canon fire. Solo knows they are desperate, but he knows an old trick. Leia needs just a bit more time, and he knows how to give it to her. The controls are pulled and the Falcon whips up through the laser assault, flips over, and dashes toward the Star Destroyer. Leia has it; the motivator is repaired, and the Falcon is gone the way she came.



Aboard the Destroyer, the sinister figure stares out the window. His outline is familiar, his disgust a fright to the bridge crew. He turns, clenches his fist, and the control officer grabs his throat. Failure will not be tolerated. The officer dies as the dark figure marches past.



The Falcon slips through hyper space, lights flashing and rolling as she escapes the clutches of the remnants of the old Empire, rising yet again. Leia comes to Han’s side, touches him on the shoulder. They’ve done this before. She whispers something in his ear, and Chewbacca rolls his eyes and snuffles a knowing laugh. Han leaves his seat.

There is conversation. Leia knows who was aboard the Destroyer. She felt it, as if it were part of her. Her son, her flesh, her Ben. Han looks knowingly. Ben has turned to the dark side, and she knows it fully. Luke has failed to bring him back. The dark side has overcome him and Luke could not show him the light.



The fleet has gathered. The victory at Endor is long in the past. The Empire was down, but its faithful have gathered their forces and begun to strike at once victorious systems in the outer rim. Now, the rebel alliance is thinning. Ship replacements have stalled, and once loyal allies are beginning to feel the tug of complacency.

Admiral Akbar is an old calamari. His days are coming to an end and his successors are confused by the moves of the old Empire. There is no trust, but there is plenty of overconfidence. These people are unable to see the dark forces at work amongst their new enemy: A young, powerful student of the dark side of the force.



The Falcon is struggling. Her hyper drive is damaged and barely operational. She needs repairs and as she passes a system unknown to the crew, Leia senses something. Luke has taught her to trust the force, to feel it, to live through it, to listen to its call. And now, in this distant location, she feels it tugging her hard and she insists they land at the space port, Niima Outpost, on Jakku

Insert all that Rey scavenging stuff at this point

Han and Leia are searching for parts. They meet a young scavenger girl and Leia knows her*. She does not know how, but she knows her. She learns her name is Rey and that she has recently scavenged an old hyper drive motivator.

Suddenly, tie-fighters appear overhead. They begin to decimate the village. The Falcon has been tracked.

Chewbacca is hit by shrapnel and is injured. He cannot take his place next to his longtime captain.

Han Solo needs a copilot, but Leia is busy trying to save Chewy’s life. Rey flies old Correllian Type 53 scavenge pods which use controls similar to the controls of the Falcon. She can help, but she cannot leave Jakku. The Tie’s make it clear that her staying will not be necessary. The Falcon flies away and escapes through all that Star Destroyer stuff.

Rey knows there is something about this ship. She has heard of the force, the rebellion, the great Clone Wars and the Jedi. She feels there is something special about this ship, and she is showered with excitement and joy and the incredible skills of the pilot. “I’m Rey”, “I’m Han Solo”

Some stuff about the rebellion and such. I liked that part of Episode VII, so let’s inject it here, but with Leia entering the picture and Rey going all star-struck with her child-hood hero.

So, where are we going? Rey asks. To see my brother, Leia responds.



Cut to Luke Skywalker, who sits on his island, meditating and floating a bunch of big rocks while R2-D2 bleeps and bloops. There is a shift in balance. He can feel the darkness that was Ben Solo. Luke calls to Obi-Wan Kenobi. “Why haven’t you spoken to me?”

Luke is old, but his powers have never been stronger. The rocks hover over his head as if it were nothing. In the background, his X-wing sits like an old relic.

Suddenly, Luke feels very cold. There is a dark voice in the background, sinister and foreboding. The emperor is long dead, but the Sith have not expired. The voice is unfamiliar, but that laugh, no one but a Sith lord …

The Falcon appears in the background and comes close, landing next to the X-wing. There is light in the force … times two. And that second one, Luke knows that smile. But from where?



Ben Solo kneels before the hologram, and the cold, dark grumble of his master calls to him from somewhere in the galaxy. “you have failed to capture the fugitives?” “We nearly had them. The failure is mine.”

These two converse about their new weapon, a city killer. It is ready for use. Ben must take it to Jakku and destroy the old Jed Temple hidden in the desert. There, he will meet his parents and complete his transition to the dark side once he kills them both.

Ben returns to his chambers and destroys many artifacts and controls. He must build his hatred for his parents if he is to ascend to the Sith throne. But light voices call to him in the night. His mother, his father, his master, and an unknown voice.

Ben rises and ponders the stars. He is ready to face his fears.



Luke Skywalker pilots his X-wing beside the Millennium Falcon. R2 beeps and conversation moves back and forth with the Falcon. Soon, they rendezvous with the fleet. The spies have discovered the Empire’s new weapon. A Huge Star Destroyer with a canon capable of leveling entire cities. Five thousand tie fighters guard it, and smaller destroyers flank it at all times. The rebellion knows this weapon is more heavily defended than either Death Star.

A plan is hatched to sneak aboard and plant charges near the main reactor. An elite team is commissioned. Generals Solo and Organa will lead the assault aboard a stolen freighter. They have been here before, and they assemble their best team. Luke and R2 will accompany. The group lead off.

Soon, both Leia and Luke recognize the presence of the light side of the force. They search the freighter to find Rey hiding amongst the cargo. She is excited and wants to come along. it is too late to return. The raid must go.



Ben Solo senses the presence of his parents as a freighter approaches. The freighter is delivering much needed supplies. He feels something is wrong, but his judgement is clouded by the presence of another. Someone unknown to him, but eerily familiar. The freighter is cleared. Ben Solo returns to his chambers for meditation.



The assault crew makes quick work of the troopers in the hanger bay. It is quiet, controlled. This is a professional assault by experienced raiders. Before long, the assault team has moved into the interior of the Destroyer.



Ben Solo senses something else. There is another aboard whom he does know. His old master has come to him, and Ben knows he must be destroyed.



Luke came for this one purpose: To keep Ben Solo’s focus away from the assault team. Luke makes his way toward the dark presence of his sister and best friend’s son. They meet in the passageway.

zap, zip, swish, bang

Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo engage in a brilliant light saber battle. Luke Skywalker is at the top of his game, while Ben Solo is still growing. Luke bests him and Ben retreats into the passages. Luke knows the assault is going as planned, but then a feeling hits him like a stone to the head. That disturbance from Rey is overpowering. She is like a beacon, and Luke knows that Ben has also sensed it. Victorious in this battle, Luke senses the war is now at stake. He must get to Han and Leia immediately to warn them.



Ben Solo comes upon the unsuspecting forward troops of the assault team. He is enraged that he has been tricked and lashes out with Rogue-One-Vader-like fury. The troops are dispatched quickly, and suddenly Ben finds himself face to face with Rey, who has come as a “mule” carrying explosive chargers.

Ben lashes out at her, but there is something preventing him gettin close enough to kill her. Something in the force has impeded him. His powers are not yet complete, his journey to the dark side still unfinished. He turns to strike, but his saber comes down on the outstretched saber of his mother.

Leia Organa is also a Jedi. She has trained with Luke these many years and she is no pushover. Yet, she cannot harm her own flesh and blood. It is her weakness.

Ben Solo thrashes and attacks as Leia retreats. Her skills are failing her in the presence of her child. She loves him too much, but she cannot let the attack fail. Her conflict has clouded her and she succumbs to Ben’s assault. On her back and facing the thrusting dagger of light belonging to her son’s saber, she makes a final plea, but it goes unanswered. Ben strikes down on her.

From the fray, Han Solo suddenly confronts his son. A laser bolt from his trusty blaster damages Ben’s saber and it emits a blast of Kyber-infused light from the metal body of the saber. Ben turns on his father and thrusts his blade into Han Solo’s abdomen. Han pleads with his son to spare his mother, but Ben is enraged and thrusts his father’s lifeless body aside.



Luke Skywalker has reentered the picture. He challenges Ben as a coward and undisciplined child who refuses to yield to the wisdom of his elders. Leia stands before her son and pleads, but it is too late for him. As Luke watches, Ben cuts his own mother down.

Luke has always struggled with his inner anger, but he has also always conquered it. Now, he finds himself at odds with himself. He pleads for Obi-Wan’s guidance but, alas, it is not there. Luke must stand on his own. He approaches Ben with subdued and controlled rage.

Another saber duel breaks out and Luke takes Ben’s arm. But Ben is stronger now than ever and lashes out in rage. He screams, his face bursting with rage. He turns to Luke Skywalker, extends his remaining arm, and force lightning shoots from him with great force. Luke is caught off guard and thrown back against the railing, nearly falling to his death. There are flashbacks to the torture he received at the hands of Palpatine. But, Luke is stronger now, and still stronger than Ben Solo. Riddled with pain, Luke reaches for his Saber; it springs to him in a flash, ignites, and the lightning is scattered in all directions, then focused by Luke's command of the force and thrown back at Ben. Ben's face begins to melt under the strain, and he is forever disfigured just as Palpatine was. Luke retreats, then gains the upper hand as explosions begin rocking the Star destroyer.

Ben regains his strength and focuses on the retreating assault team, especially the girl. He ignores the burning pain and attacks the rear guard.

The remains of the assault crew call for retreat. The damage is done, but not before Niima Outpost is vaporized before Rey’s very eyes. Her friends there are gone!

Luke turns from his young adversary and joins his friends in the hanger bay. As they begin to board the freighter, massive explosions rock the Destroyer. Ben enters the hanger and reaches for Rey, who is pulled by the force to Ben and collapses at his feat. Rey is taken by troopers and Luke cannot get to her. The assault must retreat.



Luke sits in his chambers aboard the command ship. He has lost Leia and Han, and Chewbacca weeps in the corner. Rey, the young woman he felt a force connection with, is in the hands of Ben Solo, who escaped aboard his ship.

The mission is both a success and a failure.

There is no celebration, as the rebellion has lost two of its most important figures. Leaders both, Han Solo and Leia Organa are mourned.



Rey is held in a cell. Probe droids surround her and she screams. But something is stirring inside of her. She hears Luke Skywalker's voice and seeks calm. "Rey," the voice says, "the force will be with you. Always."

Ben Solo takes a knee before the hologram. The Sith lord instructs him to take the young woman as a bride. She is strong with the force, and their offspring will be more powerful than all the Jedi combined.

The Sith lord knows it is time to crown his young apprentice. He is henceforth and forever to be known as Darth Heinous.



Roll credits!

* In my version, Rey would be the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luma Engura, A Jedi Knightess from the old Republic. (This story, Jedi Knight: A Star Wars Story, would follow Obi-Wan Kenobi on an important mission to aid an old friend. Along the way, he would discover a Jedi Knightess hiding from the rampaging Lord Vader. Together, they would fight their way to the friend, discover inaccuracies in the Jedi code, and fall in love. Luma would die saving the friend's life. That friend would be Bail Organa). This is the story I would write were I in charge of the upcoming Obi Wan movie. Something like this would tie Rey to the order, which would give her something to fight for in Episodes VIII and IX (as she would learn that she is the granddaughter of the greatest of the Jedi Knights) and would link Obi-Wan more tightly with Bail Organa (this because Leia's remark that "year's ago you served my father in the Clone Wars" never really pulled them together, even in the Clone Wars animated series. Bail Organa and Obi-Wan Kenobi are intimated to have had a special bond, but it is never really hashed out. I would love tell that part of the story.

Alas, it is a dead end, because the Kathleen Kennedy evil Empire couldn't think further ahead than "Rose screws everything up, and then disappears from the script".

———

Feel free to post your thoughts, and maybe they will get added into the story line.

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Last edited by kscherer : 2020-01-04 at 14:32.
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