Dark
Jedi: Sith History #8
Darkside@forceacademy.com
The
Galactic Civil War
The galaxy's
fragile peace crumbled when Senator Palpatine declared the republic
inept and outdated, naming himself as the Emperor of a new Galactic
order. Coruscant, the previous capital of the old Republic, was
transformed into Imperial City, the Emperor's palace rising as its
focal point. Thus the Empire was born, shattering the peace of the
old Republic.
The Jedi Knights, defenders of the Republic, struggled against Imperial
forces but were eventually nearly all wiped out by The Emperor's
servant and Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, in what would come
to be known as the Great Jedi Purge. Those who would not seek the
Dark Side or join the Empire either died in battle or vanished without
a trace.
However despite death and destruction, or perhaps because of it,
brave men and women retaining their loyalty to the old Republic
vowed to destroy the empire and restore peace. A Rebel group ,the
Alliance, intending to rise against Imperial forces, was formed
by Mon Mothma, Garm Bel Iblis, and Bail Organa in the Treaty of
Corellia.
The first blow to the Empire came at the destruction of their super
weapon, the Death Star. A group of Rebel spies stole the blueprints
to the Death Star and spirited them away aboard the Corellian Corvette
the Tantive IV under the care of Alderaanian princess Leia Organa,
adopted daughter of Bail Organa. Lord Darth Vader captured the princess
and tortured her to make her hand over both the plans and the location
of the secret Rebel base, but she refused. Unbeknownst to Vader,
the plans were no longer in her possession, having been stored in
an astromech unit and jettisoned to the surface of the planet Tatooine
in a daring move before the Empire captured the Corvette.
And here a new chapter in the galactic story was about to unfold.
The droids became the property of a young farmer named Luke Skywalker,
who discovered the princess's frantic message to a certain Obi-Wan
Kenobi. Through a strange series of circumstances, Skywalker arrived
at the dwelling of Ben Kenobi, a desert hermit, to find that he
was indeed the Obi-Wan Kenobi of Leia Organa's message, the same
Obi-Wan who had fought with Anakin Skywalker, Queen Amidala, and
Qui-Gon Jinn so many years ago. Kenobi and Skywalker hurried to
Alderaan with the droids, hiring a smuggler named Han Solo to take
them there, but it was too late. Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of
the Death Star, and Vader decided that the princess's recalcitrance
deserved a lesson and thus destroyed the planet of Alderaan, killing
Bail Organa in the process.
Through the sacrifice of Kenobi's life in a duel with Vader, Skywalker
and Solo were able to rescue the princess from the Death Star's
detention center and escape to the Rebel base on the moon of Yavin
IV. They knew it was only a matter of time before the Empire found
them, and thus analysed the plans of the Death Star, hoping to find
a weakness. The weakness was finally discovered in the form of a
small thermal exhaust port. In the battle against the Death Star,
many brave Rebel pilots were killed, but Wedge Antilles, ace pilot,
Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo managed what many had thought impossible
and destroyed the Death Star, and in the process became heroes.
After this, the Rebellion transferred from base to base, in fear
that they would be discovered by Vader and the Empire and that all
would be over. Meanwhile, Vader discovered that Luke Skywalker was
his son, born of his wife Amidala before he renounced the name Anakin
Skywalker to turn to the dark side. Vader was determined to win
Luke to the dark side, overthrow the Emperor, and take control of
the galaxy. He confronted the young Jedi Padawan on the planet of
Bespin by capturing his friends as bait, but Luke refused to acknowledge
the truth and escaped Vader.
The Empire, determined to rid the galaxy of the Rebellion once and
for all, began construction on a new, more powerful Death Star over
the moon of Endor. But this proved their undoing. Though Palpatine
tried to trap the Rebels by using false information about the Death
Star's plans to lure them to Endor, his plan was thwarted by Luke
Skywalker. Vader had brought Skywalker to the Emperor's throne room
on the Death Star in hopes that Luke would turn there and they could
destroy the Emperor together. But instead, the Emperor used the
dark side to turn Luke against Vader and almost destroy him; then
when that failed, Palpatine began to torture Luke with dark-side
electrical lightning. It was then that Anakin Skywalker re-emerged
from the dark scarred shell that was Darth Vader and slew his master,
not for his own selfish ends as he had once imagined, but in order
that his son might live.
This act caused Vader's death, but it also effectively destroyed
the leadership and unity of the Empire. Remnants of the Empire remained
for years to come but the war came to an end and the New Republic
brought hope back to the war torn Galaxy. Anakin Skywalker's sacrifice
had brought ultimate balance to the Force.
Be
mindful,
Darth Moor
darthmoor@forceacademy.com
