What if Tarkin didn't destroy Alderaan?(RAR)

[FaxModem1]

Princess Leia gives him the location of the Rebel base, at Dantooine, and instead of going out and out villainy, decides to investigate Dantooine first. So what happens?

First off, Luke and Obi Wan do make it to Alderaan, so what happens there?

[Vehrec]

While Tarkin might not have blown up Alderaan, their senator is in cahoots with the Rebels and he would be within his rights to crackdown and place the planet under martial law. Interdictors and Star Destroyers flood the system to put a halt to all traffic and sort out the rotten from the pure. Obi-wan and Luke are unlikely to be able to get away before Tarkin returns in full fury.

Worst case scenario? Alderaan still goes boom, with R2 and the Death Star's plans along with Obi-wan and Luke on it's surface.

[Darth Fanboy]

Alderaan is in a bad way no matter what but anything else is pure speculation. So here's mine .

I don't know if interdictors and Star Destroyers would get called in since this is all going on Tarkin's own initiative and he thinks that the Death Star on its own is powerful enough.

One possibility is that Luke and company get to Alderaan and then Bail tells them to get the plans in R2 to Alderaan as fast as they can, possibly even before they land on planet if Obi Wan uses the Falcon to try and contact Bail Organa in any way. The Death star takes a bit longer to go to Alderaan and Obi Wan doesn't have to make his sacrifice to free the Falcon from the tractor beam, which I think leads the continuity in a VERY different direction.

[SeaTrooper]

While Tarkin might not have blown up Alderaan, their senator is in cahoots with the Rebels and he would be within his rights to crackdown and place the planet under martial law. Interdictors and Star Destroyers flood the system to put a halt to all traffic and sort out the rotten from the pure. Obi-wan and Luke are unlikely to be able to get away before Tarkin returns in full fury.

Worst case scenario? Alderaan still goes boom, with R2 and the Death Star's plans along with Obi-wan and Luke on it's surface.

Absolutely. Please remember that the Rebel Base he was eventually led to was full of Alderanan natives, and presumably their subset of the Rebel Alliance. Likewise Hoth's majority population were Alderanan. Plus, frankly, Tarkin felt that he needed to make a demonstration of the DSs power that could not be missed nor ignored, and a world as inconveniently political as Alderan fit the bill nicely. There also remains the faint suspicion that Alderan may have been on his target list already, if that world really was supplying so many rebels.

For the Falcon, Alderan was only a way-point. They were actually after the Alliance, which would have meant moving onto Yavin pretty quickly. What that would have meant was Leia is still a prisoner (possibly even executed by the time the DS reachs Yavin), Ben Kenobi lives, and the story carries on. A rescue of Leia would likely have been attempted, but wasn't really necessary strategically by that point.

[Tanner]

If Tarkin did not destroy Alderaan but still lost the Death Star over Yavin the Rebel Alliance would have less public support then it had cannon.

[bz249]

If Tarkin did not destroy Alderaan but still lost the Death Star over Yavin the Rebel Alliance would have less public support then it had cannon.

Not important at all, when the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Death Star they have shown that they are not nilly-willy grouplet but a force to reckon with. So anyone have an intention to actively resist the Empire would try to contact them. And given the nature of the Empire (lead by a Sith Lord) sooner or later they would have the same support as with the destruction of the Alderaan.

[Solauren]

I would expect that blowing up the Death Star without Alderran getting vaped would have gotten them more support.

As it was, in canon, even with Tarkin having vaped Alderran, the Rebellion still had a massive influx of support. They had entire worlds declaring alligence (before the Imperial fleet put down the planetary revolts).

Back into main...

I can see this happening....

#1 - Tarkin goes to Dantooine to investigate. Leia is put back into her cell. After all, she's just proven she's a high ranking alliance member. She's worth breaking under interagation for more intel.

#2 - The Falcon arrives, and Bail Organa pays Han. Kenobi agrees to go and rescue Leia. Han is paid to fly them all their (Bail included). First, they drop the Death Star plans at Yavin for analysis. Bail also moves alot of money from Alderran into rebel accounts (nearly bankrupting Alderran perhaps) before leaving. Possible public story about a divorce from his wife.

#3 - Kenobi contacts Vader. He makes an offer - neutral meeting point. 1 small ship each. Kenobi will turn himself over in exchange for Leia. (May have to include Bail, but that's not a big difference)

#4 - Kenobi + Organa reveal Leia is Luke's sister (to luke), and that Luke needs to take her to Dagobah for Jedi training. While enroute, more training, more training, more training!

#5 - Exchange for Leia occurs. Kenobi dies. The Falcon makes one hell of a run from Vader.

#6 - Tracking device on leia leads the Empire to Yavin

#7 - The Death Star shows up at Yavin. Luke + co still blow it apart.

#8 - Leia recovers from having the tracking implant removed, and the twins go to Dagobah. Bail pays off Han's debt to bring him into the Alliance.

or

#6 - Organa notes they might have a tracking device in Leia. The rebellion starts making a trap to attack the Death Star with all the fighters it can.

#7 - The Falcon leads the Empire on a chase for a bit, until the trap is ready

#8 - The Falcon leads the Death Star into a trap. The rebellion blows it apart

#9 - Leia recovers from having the tracking implant removed, and the twins go to Dagobah. Bail pays off Han's debt to bring him into the Alliance.


End Result:
Bail Organa probably survives, Luke + Leia are both trained to be Jedi Knights before 'Return of the Jedi'.

Really, I can't see 'the will of the Force' not having Luke blow up the Death Star, and then going off to train. This just might result in Leia going off as well.

[Adam Reynolds]

Not important at all, when the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Death Star they have shown that they are not nilly-willy grouplet but a force to reckon with. So anyone have an intention to actively resist the Empire would try to contact them. And given the nature of the Empire (lead by a Sith Lord) sooner or later they would have the same support as with the destruction of the Alderaan.

But Alderaan was a rallying cry for the Rebellion, similarly to how Pearl Harbor or the Alamo were used. We know that several prominent rebels joined the rebellion after the destruction of Alderaan, including Rouge Squadron pilot Tycho Celchu.

[bz249]

But Alderaan was a rallying cry for the Rebellion, similarly to how Pearl Harbor or the Alamo were used. We know that several prominent rebels joined the rebellion after the destruction of Alderaan, including Rouge Squadron pilot Tycho Celchu.

Sure the destruction of the Alderaan had some propaganda effect. But what was so different than a rather standard BDZ operation? That the whole planet was destroyed? Or the fact that Alderaan was a prominent core world? Sooner or later something similar would happen. Or maybe things would just slowly creep in that direction.

BTW Tycho Celchu was an Alderaanian himself. Hardly proves anything.

[Darth Fanboy]

It actually does prove something, because Tycho was talking to his family via holocomm when Alderaan was destroyed. You could say it had...a little influence.

Alderaan was a big deal because it was a core world with a peaceful reputation, any devastation inflicted would have been a rallying cry. The Death Star getting to blast it instead of an ISD was just overkill on top of overkill so that Tarkin could make a point to Leia.