A May 4th challenge - a "mirror" Star Wars Original Trilogy that isn't just a repeat of the Clone Wars.

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A far, far away, in a galaxy a long time ago...

The galaxy is in a state of great turmoil. Since the death of Chancellor Palpatine at the hands of the Jedi traitors, a New Order has emerged from the ashes of the corrupt and failing republic. The conflicted Anakin Skywalker has found himself in a place of power, beside his equally conflicted Empress, Padme Amidala, First of Her Name. While Skywalker ultimately turned against the Jedi, his would-be mentor was struck down by the infamous Master Windu. With Order 66 having already been issued and the Jedi officially branded traitors, there existed no way to stop the machinelike minds of the Clone Armies from carrying out their ingrained orders. The Jedi were killed almost to a man, and the CIS brought into line. Explaining the corruption the Jedi had brought, the Senate is convinced to reform the Republic into a system that encourages justice, peace, and a sacred hierarchy. As one of the few survivors of the conflict with great renown, Padme reluctantly accepts the nomination to head the new imperial mandate of these reforms. In the interregnum, the Clones began to reach their expiration dates. Only the most elite continue to serve today, and most are long dead of degeneration.

At the same time, Anakin searches for answers to the big questions. Both the prophecy that he was chosen and his seemingly prophetic dreams of death did not come true. Was it all deception? He knows that it could not have been, for the threats proved very real despite him prevailing over them. Hamstrung between the light that was never truly extinguished and the dark that was never truly satiated, he scours the forgotten places of the galaxy for knowledge of the Force. And he finds it. In a temple who's architecture would be alien to all the modern galaxy, on a long-dead world orbiting a soon to be equally dead star, he finds it. A single barely living holocron in a sea of dead relics, one which would show him the teachings of Darth Revan the Enlightened. It spoke of the Force, of balance, of how there could be life without the Force, and of many stranger things still. Anakin returns to the Empire a changed man, one who espoused the nature of a Unifying Force, and the need for those who could draw upon it to be trained in the right way. He founded the New Sith Order to place the force-sensitives of the galaxy upon this path. They would be shown how to draw upon the force without fear of a light or darkness. To understand the nature of the Force, it's powers, it's dangers. Nor would they be separated from their families, or denied their passions, or denied love. Of these edicts, he enforced the last with a deep ferocity. Anakin was the first of the New Order, and his children followed him.

But in the shadows of the galaxy, there laid danger still. Not all the Jedi were caught in the great purge. Most. But not all. Three Masters of the Old Order remain at large. The first, Master Yoda, has not been seen in years. Some think him dead, but they are wrong. Master Yoda waits, knowing his bodily death approaches in scant years. For it was not only the Chancellor who knew the tales of immortality from drawing upon the dark side. Never having learned that one of sufficient will can resist dissolution into the force, he researches the forbidden knowledge. And struggles.

The second, Master Windu, always took great risks in his flirtations with the Dark. To stand in the shadow of your opponent and turn it against them was a great skill, one which allowed him to even defeat Darth Sidious, who possessed power overwhelming. And yet, his own apprentices all fell when they tried to do the same. One. After. The other. Even before, the rage in his heart was barely contained. With all the failures of the Republic, and the destruction of the Order, Windu is not struggling. He has already fallen. It is he, and the third, who make up what remains of the Jedi leadership.

And the third, well, that's Old Ben Kenobi, or at least that's what the local kids call him. On the remote world of Tatooine he and Windu quietly recruit new Jedi from the Rim, though they get taught very different lessons these days. Kenobi is a haunted man. He had his suspicions about the chancellor, and he had his suspicions about the republic. That isn't what did it. It was Anakin turning from him. No climactic battle, no great destruction of their bond. In the end, the man he called his brother simply let him and everything they had fought for go to ruin. And it is that knife that will make Obi-Wan Kenobi the most dangerous Dark Jedi in ten millennia.

The Jedi are few, though, and never were able to function as a state power even at their best. No, the Jedi enjoy the patronage of the greatest threat to the Empire, the Zann Consortium. They are a far more menacing shadow than any typical rebellion could be. Formless and invisible, the influence of the Consortium spreads through the Empire, gathering resources and turning people to its cause. There are even a few genuine Republic idealists in the mix. Nobody takes them seriously, while Zann does plan to restore the Republic just about everyone knows how the game will be played from there. They avoid direct battles whenever possible, but on the rare occasions they make a true stand the enemy gets paranoid. After the time an Imperial Star Defender turned traitor in the middle of the fight and slagged every city on Alderaan people have come to understood that the Consortium's manipulative abilities border on supernatrual. Which they actually are if the Jedi have chipped in any decent initiates. After that, the cold war between the Empire and Consortium began to go hot. Zann really was hoping to just buy out the entire Senate and be all dramatic about it when they brought down Padme, but alas, it'll just have to be a boring war. If the damn Hutts would fall in line already this would all be so much smoother.

Finally, scouts from the galaxy's edge give Empress Padme dreaded news: a threat from the void, one which turns entire planets into weapons, coming right for us. And if your enemy attacks you with planets, then logically, you need.... From his quarters Zann laughs at the spy reports. You can't make up propaganda this good. After this the Empire will be lucky to have anyone who won't be clamoring to be bought. One night, Anakin Skywalker is plagued by dreams anew. Dreams of war. Dreams of death. And a presence he has not felt, since...