The Great Hutt War: A Darksaber rewrite

[Coiler]

I have always wanted to do a rewrite of Darksaber that makes more sense and is less minimalistic, one that has the same premise of the Hutts building a superweapon and the Imperials launching their final massive attack. Now I've actually begun to write it:


The Great Hutt War:
A Darksaber rewrite by Coiler

Prologue:

L490250335 had no planets, and was not even dignified with a proper name. It was completely unremarkable, and there were billions of systems like it in the galaxy. But war can come to every corner of the galaxy, and it came to L490250335. Twenty vessels exited from hyperspace in the middle of L490250335, and fifteen ships sprang into action from the system’s interior. Both fleets had varied designs, but their appearance and asthetics could not have been more different.

The defending fleet had a variety of vessels, all which were battered and ramshackle. Freighters with turbolaser turrets slapped on, old second-class Imperial frigates, system patrol vessels acquired through deals with corrupt yard owners, and other subpar designs. The attacking fleet could not have been more different. Its vessels were also of varied design-some were of a triangular shape common to Star Destroyers but more “Mellowed” than those of the Imperial designs, others the aquatic shape of Calamarian designs, and others were simply blocky rectangles. But these ships were anything but battered and ramshackle. Their hulls painted to a gleaming sheen, with New Republic crests proudly displayed on their sides, these ships symbolized the new order of the galaxy, out to sweep the malcontents and raiders away.

The attacking fleet launched a massive wave of fightercraft at the defenders at the same time the fleets fired their initial shots at each other. Flying in perfectly coordinated attack waves, the fighters swooped towards one of the defending ships and launched a gigantic volley of proton torpedoes. The ship fired back with all of its guns, but only succeeded in destroying a single fighter. The small craft had already flown for their next target when the torpedoes hit. The first several dozen overwhelmed the vessel’s shields, while the remainder slammed into its hull and tore it apart. What was once a fighting ship was now just a huge mass of scrap and vapor flying in all directions.

The defenders had hastily launched a few of their own fighters, but they were taken apart with ease by the attacking squadrons. Now the ships were exchanging volleys of turbolasers and ion cannons, with the attacking fleet at an advantage with its numbers and reliable fire control sensors. In less than an hour, over half of the defending fleet was destroyed and almost all of the remaining ships had fled to hyperspace. Only two ships made a stand in the system’s inner region, close to a large armed space station. The commander of the attacking fleet issued a call for surrender. One of the ships surrendered. The other made a vain attempt to escape and was destroyed. The station was boarded and captured. Over shortly after it began, the battle of L490250335 was an indisputable victory for the attackers, who lost only one frigate-sized vessel and twenty fighters.

Why was a battle fought over this lifeless system? To figure that out, one must look at the recent history of the galaxy. The Empire has crumbled since Palpatine’s death, reduced to infighting warlords in the Deep Core. The Rebel Alliance has taken control and became the New Republic. The Hutt crimelords were a threat to peace in the galaxy and the opposite of the New Republic’s proclaimed values. So the new galactic government took to war on them. L490250335 was used by the Hutts and their lackeys for both mining and as a place where smuggled goods could be stored and transferred in secret. It was just one of countless battlefields in this new war…..

[CaptainChewbacca]

Its a good teaser, and a good idea. Don't screw it up, because I'll be watching.

[Sidewinder]

The first chapter looks okay. As long as you do NOT turn Luke Skywalker into a lobotomized and egotistical idiot who thought it was a good idea to take his girlfriend to Hoth because going on a "pilgrimage" to places he's been to would open up her mind, and do NOT bring back the wampa whose arm Luke cut off so he could escape, and have the Hutts spend good money hiring skilled workers to build the Darksaber instead of having the lowest bidder build the world's biggest paperweight (if the Hutts become Imperial allies, they'd probably get the resources they need to make the Darksaber work), I'm cool.

[Coiler]

The first chapter looks okay. As long as you do NOT turn Luke Skywalker into a lobotomized and egotistical idiot who thought it was a good idea to take his girlfriend to Hoth because going on a "pilgrimage" to places he's been to would open up her mind, and do NOT bring back the wampa whose arm Luke cut off so he could escape, and have the Hutts spend good money hiring skilled workers to build the Darksaber instead of having the lowest bidder build the world's biggest paperweight (if the Hutts become Imperial allies, they'd probably get the resources they need to make the Darksaber work), I'm cool.

Don't worry, there'll be none of that. In fact, the main characters from the films will only appear in small, supporting roles-if I decide to include them at all.

I don't want to fall into the same pit that the actual EU authors did, and make everything always revolve around the main characters of the films.

[Edward Yee]

Just remember that they do exist.