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Post by BrentKoivopolo888 on Jul 10, 2024 11:51:34 GMT -6
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
SC 01 EXT SPACE
A vast sea of stars serves as the backdrop for a TITLE ROLL, which crawls into infinity....
image upload without registrationEPISODE I
THE DARK DISCIPLE
For thousands of generations, the JEDI KNIGHTS have long been the guardians of peace and justice and champions of the force, but peace can only last for so long.
The twenty-five millenia OLD REPUBLIC is crumbling as a secessionist movement arises. Greed and corruption have riddled the Galactic Senate as the vicious Separatists dominate the galaxy along with the Sith.
It is a time that tests the mettle of all those who strive to hold the Old Republic together once more….
SC 02 EXT SPACE
A LARGE CIS CRUISER CRUSHER begins to FILL THE SCREEN beginning with the NOSE.
SC 03 INT REPUBLIC FIGHTER-COCKPIT
MAN FREELY: I have three on my tail. Blue Three, where are you? SC 04 INT REPUBLIC FIGHTER BLUE THREE-COCKPIT
BLUE THREE: I'm a little busy over here. They're all over me. Ahhhhhgh! SC 05 EXT SPACE
BLUE THREE erupts in a fireball.
SC 06 MAN FREELY's COCKPIT
(VO): Gold Leader, this is Red Leader. My squadron is coming to help you out. FREELY: Thanks. SC 07 EXT SPACE
A SQUADRON of REPUBLIC FIGHTERS dives and blasts the three CIS TRI-FIGHTERS on FREELY's tail, incinerating them.
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Post by BrentKoivopolo888 on Jul 10, 2024 11:54:45 GMT -6
Suddenly RED SQUADRON begins to be picked off one by one by the looming CIS Cruiser-crusher's Ventral Cannons. The battle is lost. MAN FREELY ejects.
SC 08 EXT FRANDELAR- UPPER EXOSPHERE
MAN FREELY's ESCAPE POD begins to descend.
SC 09 EXT FRANDELAR - PINE WOODS-SURFACE-DAY
Thick PINE WOODS surround the ESCAPE POD. FREELY sends up a SIGNAL FLARE hoping to be rescued by whatever sentients inhabit this planet. He begins assembling a shelter as he eats a protein stick and drinks from a canteen of water.
SC 10 EXT SPACE
We see the Trade Federation Frigate AGGREGATE hovering menacingly in space over the planet NEMOIDIA.
SC 11 INT CONFERENCE ROOM-FEDERATION SHIP AGGREGATE
The GEONOSIAN-like Nemoidan Viceroy Nute Gunray sits on a MECHNO-CHAIR with his advisors, Deputy HATH MONCHAR and Legal Counsel RUNE HAAKO, before a hologram of DARTH SIDIOUS, whose face to his chin is obscured by a dark hood. His voice is raspy but authoritative.
SIDIOUS: I see, Viceroy, that you have assembled your underlings as I asked.
GUNRAY: My advisors, Lord Sidious.
SIDIOUS: Of course, your advisors....I perceive an atmosphere of misgiving, Viceroy. Has the aftermath of our plan failed to please you?
GUNRAY: N-no, not at all, Lord Sidious. It's only that the loss of the freighter and the Iridium Ingots is a concern to some. (Glances with fervor at his two counselors)
SIDIOUS: (disdainfully) The others lack your grasp of the larger purpose, Viceroy...Perhaps we need to reacquaint them with our intent to stir sympathy for the Trade Federation in the Senate. That is why we inform the Nebulae Front Militants of the shipment of Iridium. The loss of the Ingots will further our cause. Soon you will have the politicians and bureaucrats eating out of your hands. And then the Trade Federation will at last have the Droid Army it needs. Bactoid, Chal Engineering and the Colicoids are waiting to fill your orders.
GUNRAY: (begins fidgeting): Army, Lord Sidious?
SIDIOUS: The riches of the Outer Rim await those with the courage to grab them.
GUNRAY: (gulps) But- Lord Sidious - perhaps the time isn't right to take such actions-
SIDIOUS: Not right? It is your destiny. With a Droid Army to support you, who would dare question Nemoidia's authority to rule the Space Lanes?
RUNE HAAKO: We...would welcome the ability to defend ourselves against pirates and agitators...but we don't wish to break the terms of our Trade Treaty with the Republic..not when the price of a Droid Army is taxation of the Free Trade Zones.
SIDIOUS: So, you've heard about Chancellor Vallorum's intentions?
GUNRAY: Only that he is likely to give his full weight to the proposal.
SIDIOUS: (Nods) Rest assured, Viceroy, Supreme Chancellor Vallorum is our strongest ally in the Senate.
HAAKO: Lord Sidious..has some influence in the Senate?
SIDIOUS: You will come to learn that there are many who do my bidding. They understand, as you will understand that they serve themselves best by serving me.
HAAKO and MONCHAR exchange quick looks.
MONCHAR: The..ruling Members of the Trade Federation Directorate are not likely to sanction spending hard-earned profits on droids.. As it is they consider us Nemoidans to be unnecessarily suspicious.
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Post by BrentKoivopolo888 on Jul 10, 2024 12:50:52 GMT -6
SIDIOUS: I am well aware of the opinions of your partners! Be advised that foolish friends are no better than enemies.
HAAKO: Nevertheless, they will oppose this arrangement.
SIDIOUS: Then we will just have to find some way to convince them.
GUNRAY: He..doesn't mean to sound unappreciative, Lord Sidious...It's simply that..it's simply that we don't know who you are...and what you are capable of providing. You could be a powerful Jedi hoping to entrap us.
SIDIOUS: A Jedi? Now, you do mock me. But you will see that I am a forgiving master..As to your concerns about my identity..my ..heritage, let us say, my actions will speak for me.
The Nemoidians exchange perplexed looks.
HAAKO: What about the Jedi? They won't simply stand by...
SIDIOUS: The Jedi will do ONLY what the Senate bids them to do. You are woefully mistaken if you believe they would jeapordize their lofty real estate on Coruscant to challenge the Trade Federation without Senate approval!
GUNRAY: (glancing meaningfully at his advisors before replying) We place ourselves in your hands, Lord Sidious.
SIDIOUS: (almost smiling) I thought you might see things my way, Viceroy. I know that you will not fail me in the future.
The hologram vanishes abruptly.
SC 12 EXT-CORUSCANT-JEDI TEMPLE-DAY
The FIVE SPIRES of the JEDI TEMPLE GLITTER IN THE NOON-DAY SUN.
SC 13 INT-CORUSCANT-JEDI TEMPLE- JEDI COUNCIL CHAMBER-DAY
The JEDI RECONCILIATION COUNCIL consists of FOUR JEDI MASTERS, PLO KOON, APO RANCISIS, ADI GALLIA and JEDI GRAND MASTER YODA. In the CENTER of the CIRCLE stands JEDI MASTER QUI-GON JINN and his FORMER MASTER, now fellow MASTER DOOKU. Near YODA stands OBI-WAN KENOBI, YODA's PADAWAN LEARNER. DOOKU and OBI-WAN are the silent type, and observe as the OTHERS talk.
YODA is the first to SPEAK:
YODA: (pacing, supported by his Gimer-stick cane): How knew you, Qui-Gon, of Captain Kohl's designs on the Revenue, eh?
QUI-GON: I have a contact in the Nebulae Front.
YODA: (stops moving to regard Qui-Gon) A contact, you say?
QUI-GON: A Bith. He made contact with me on Malastare, and later apprised me of Kohl's plan to attack the Revenue at Dvala. On Dvala I was able to learn that Kohl had altered a cargo pod to suit his ends. Dooku and I did the same.
YODA (shaking his head): News this is. One of Qui-Gon Jinn's many surprises.
ADI GALLIA: Qui-Gon, We were given to understand that the Nebulae Front had hired Captain Kohl. What was your contact's purpose in sabotaging an operation the Nebulae Front itself had sanctioned?
QUI-GON: (turning to Gallia) The operation was not sanctioned. That's why Dooku and I were there.
YODA: (lifting his Gimer-stick to point at Qui-Gon): Explain this you must.
QUI-GON: (Folding arms across chest): The Nebulae Front speaks for many worlds in the Mid and Outer Rims which contest the prohibitive practices and strong arm tactics of the Trade Federation. Some of those worlds were originally colonized by a species who fled the civilized repression of the Core. Fiercely independent - they want no part of the Republic or this ongoing war with the Separatists-and yet, in order to trade, they are forced to do business with consortiums like the Federation-worlds that have attempted to ship with other enterprises have found themselves cut off from trade entirely.
APO RANCISIS: The Nebulae Front may have laudable goals, but their methods are ruthless!
PLO KOON: Go on, Qui-Gon.
Qui-Gon tips his head in a bow of acknowledgement.
QUI-GON: Without trying to justify the actions of the Nebulae front, I will say that they tried to reason with the Trade Federation before turning to acts of terrorism. Where they might have financed their operations by smuggling spice for the Hutts, they refuse to deal with any species that condone slavery. Even when they finally did turn to violence, they restricted their actions to interfering with Trade Federation shipments or delaying their vessels whenever possible.
APO RANCISIS: Destroying a freighter is certainly one way to delay it.
Qui-Gon glances at him.
QUI-GON: Kohl's actions were something new.
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Post by BrentKoivopolo888 on Jul 10, 2024 12:51:53 GMT -6
ADI GALLIA: Then what drove the Nebulae Front to escalate the violence?
QUI-GON: My contact claims that the Nebulae Front has grown a radical wing and it is those militants who contracted with Captain Kohl. The Bith and many others were opposed to employing mercenaries, but the militants have assumed command of the organization.
YODA (rubbing his chin in thought): After the Iridium Ingots were they not?
QUI-GON: (Shakes his head): Frankly, master, I'm not sure if I accept the Federation's claim.
PLO KOON: You have reason to doubt it?
QUI-GON: It's a question of method. The Trade Federation concedes a preoccupation with safeguarding their cargoes. Why then, would they entrust a shipment of Iridium to a poorly defended freighter like the Revenue when the more heavily armed Acquisitor was only a star system away?
YODA: A point he has.
RANCISIS: I consider the reason obvious. The Trade Federation falsely assumed that no one would suspect the Revenue of harboring such wealth.
GALLIA: The question is of little consequence..the use of mercenaries like Kohl signals the beginning of a coordinated campaign to counter the Trade Federation's Droid Defenses by force! and ultimately to overthrow Trade Federation influence in the outlying systems.
PLO KOON: Fortunately Captain Kohl is no longer a concern.
YODA: (wide-eyed): Concern Qui-Gon called us.
QUI-GON: I don't believe that he perished with the freighter.
RANCISIS: You were there, were you not?
YODA (with a twinkle in his eyes): Saw it with his own eyes, he did.
QUI-GON: (compressing his lips) Kohl planned for every eventuality. He wouldn't have piloted his craft into an explosion just to evade pursuit.
RANCISIS: Then why didn't you capture him as you hoped to do?
QUI-GON (plants his hands on his hips, thumbs pointed behind him): As Master Gallia has said, Kohl is only the beginning. Dooku and I attached a tracking device to Kohl's ship in the hope of tracking it to the Nebulae Front's current Base, which could be on one of the Rimmer worlds that support the Seperatists. After the explosion, the tracker failed to return a signal.
GALLIA stares at him for a moment.
GALLIA: You searched for Kohl, Qui-Gon?
QUI-GON: Dooku and I found no signs of his shuttle. For all we know, he rode the leading edge of the explosion right down Dvala's gravity well.
RANCISIS: You have informed the Judicial Department of your suspicions?
GALLIA: Some of Kohl's better-known haunts are under surveillance.
Plo Koon leaves his seat to stand alonside Qui-Gon.
PLO KOON: Captain Kohl may be the best of his ilk, but there are many more like him just as heartless, just as rapacious. The Nebulae Front Militants will have no trouble finding eager replacements.
RANCISIS: (Nods gravely): This is something we need to watch closely.
YODA crosses the room, shaking his head back and forth.
YODA: Avoid a conflict with the Nebulae front we must. Speak for many they do. Compromise us, they will.
RANCISIS: I agree. We can't afford to take sides.
QUI-GON: But we have to take sides. I'm not an ally of the Trade Federation. But acts of terrorism by the Nebulae Front won't be limited to Freighters. Innocent beings will be endangered.
YODA: (with a note of gentle rebuke): A true Knight Qui-Gon is. Forever on his own quest.
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Post by BrentKoivopolo888 on Jul 12, 2024 21:52:09 GMT -6
SC 14 INT - CORUSCANT - PRESIDENT VALORUM's OFFICE - DAY
President Finis Valorum and Chancellor Sheev Palpatine confer in an ornate office in the Senate Building.
FINIS VALORUM: Planned. All indicators are that Captain Kohl and his team of assassins perished in the explosion that destroyed the Revenue, but the incident has had wide ranging repercussions nevertheless. (With a note of disgust) I'm well aware of some of those. As a result of continuing raids and harassments, the Trade Federation plans to demand Old Republic intervention or failing that Senate approval to further augment their droid contingent.
CHANCELLOR PALPATINE: (making his lips thin and nodded): I must confess, President Valorum, that my first instinct was to refuse their requests out of hand. The Trade Federation is already too powerful in wealth and in the military. However, I've since reassessed my position.
VALORUM: (regarding Palpatine with interest) I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.
PALPATINE: Well, to begin with, the Trade Federation is made up of entrepreneurs, not warriors. The Nemoidians especially are cowards in any theater other than commerce, so granting them permission to enlarge their droid defenses, slightly if anyway, doesn't concern me unduly. More important, there may be some advantage to doing so.
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Post by BrentKoivopolo888 on Jul 15, 2024 19:47:11 GMT -6
VALORUM: (interlocking his fingers and leaning forward) What possible advantage?
PALPATINE (takes breath): In exchange for honoring their requests for intervention and additional defenses, the Senate would be in a position to demand that all trade in the outlying systems would henceforth be subject to Republic taxation.
VALORUM (sitting back in his chair, a look of disappointment crossing his face) : We've been through all this before, Chancellor. You and I both know that a majority of the Senate has no interest in what happens in the outer systems, much less in the Free Trade Zones. But they do care about what happens to the Trade Federation.
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Post by BrentKoivopolo888 on Jul 15, 2024 21:00:03 GMT -6
PALPATINE: Yes, because the Shimersil pockets of many a Senatorial robe are being lined with graft from the Nemoidians.
VALORUM: (snorts) Self-indulgence is the order of the day.
PALPATINE: Undeniably so, President. But that in itself is no reason to allow the practice to continue.
VALORUM: Of course not..for both my terms of office I have sought to end the corruption that plagues the Senate, and to unravel the knot of policies and procedures that thwart us. We enact legislation, only to find that we cannot implement it. The committees proliferate like viruses without leadership. No fewer than twenty committees are needed just to determine the decor of the Senate corridors. The Trade Federation has prospered by taking advantage of the very bureaucracy we've created. Grievances brought against the Federation languish in the courts, while commissions belabor each and every aspect. It's little wonder that D'valla and many of the worlds along the Rimma Trade Route support terrorist groups like the Nebulae Front, but taxation isn't likely to solve anything. In fact, such a move could prompt the Trade Federation to abandon the outlying systems entirely, in favor of more lucrative markets closer to the Core.
PALPATINE: -Thus depriving Coruscant and its neighbors of important outer systems' resources and luxury goods.
VALORUM: Certainly the Nemoidians will see taxation as a betrayal, if for no other reason than the Trade Federation blazed many of the Hyperspace Routes that link the Core to the outlying systems.
PALPATINE: Regardless, this could be the opportunity many of us have waited for: The chance to exercise Senate control over those very Trade Routes.
VALORUM: ....It could be political suicide.
PALPATINE: Oh, I'm well aware of that, President. Proponents of taxation would suffer merciless attacks..from the Commerce Guild, the Techno Union, and the rest of the shipping conglomerates who ordered franchises to operate in the Free Trade Zones, but it is the appropriate measure.
VALORUM: (shaking head slowly, then gets to feet and moves to windows) Nothing would cheer me more than getting the upper hand o the Trade Federation.
PALPATINE: Then now is the time to act.
VALORUM: I could count on your support?
PALPATINE: (rising to join him at the view) Let me be frank about that. My position as Head-of-State of an outlying sector places me in an awkward situation. Make no mistake about it, President, I stand with you in advocating central control and taxation, but Naboo and other outlying systems will undoubtedly be forced to assume the burden of taxation by paying more for Trade Federation services. (pauses briefly) I would be compelled to act with utmost circumspection.
Valorum nods.
PALPATINE (CONT'D): That much said, rest assured that I would do all in my power to rally Senate support for taxation.
VALORUM: (turns slightly in Palpatine's direction and smiles lightly) As always, I'm grateful for your counsel, Chancellor. Particularly now. But with troubles erupting in your home system...
PALPATINE: Sadly, King Veruna finds himself enmeshed in a scandal while he and I have never seen eye-to-eye with regard to expanding Naboo's influence in the Republic. I am concerned for him. For his predicament has not only cast a pall over Naboo, but also over many neighboring worlds.
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