EXT. SPACE
TITLE CARD: The Milky Way Galaxy, a long time from now….
A vast sea of stars serves as the main backdrop for the main title, followed by a rollup, which crawls up into infinity.
STAR WARS
THE UNIFYING FORCE
It is a time of turmoil. The Galactic Republic is at war with a fanatical enemy. Law and order stand at a breaking point. Chaos reigns.
Taking advantage of the strife, the mysterious Potentium has been orchestrating raids all along the Outer Rim.
In the wake of these attacks, the Jedi, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, have assigned one of their knights to investigate and uncover the underlying plan of the marauders….
PAN UP
To the cyan water planet Minntooine, her three moons glowing against the darkness.
The Radiant VII, a small Consular-class cruiser, races through space, pursued closely by the Nyax, an immense Lucrehulk-class battleship. Between the two ships streak innumerable green-&-orange laser beams.
INT. RADIANT VII/COCKPIT
CAPTAIN MAOI MADAKOR and LIEUTENANT ANTIDAR WILLIAMS man the controls.
CAPT. MADAKOR
I can feel them breathing up my skirt, Lieutenant. Can't you coax more speed from the engines?
LT. WILLIAMS
Sublights are burning at maximum, Captain. Had I time, I could bypass the safety protocols, give us a boost ...
CAPT. MADAKOR
(sighs) Time's a commodity we're short on. (beat) How long 'til the jump to lhyt-speed?
LT. WILLIAMS
Navicomp'll have the coordinates in five minutes.
EXT. SPACE — MINNTOOINE
The green beams from the Radiant's batteries are too weak to pierce the Nyax's deflector shields. Conversely, the battleship's orange beams overwhelm the cruiser's shields, penetrating the metal hull.
INT. RADIANT VII/COCKPIT
The Radiant rattles violently, jerking the captain and lieutenant forward in their seats.
INT. RADIANT VII/SALON POD
Seated within the spacious pod are seven passengers, SIX GIRLS and a WOMAN. The woman is a beautiful forty-something near-Human with long green-white hair, glittering white skin, and radiant green-gold eyes, ZUL DANAAN. The oldest of the six girls is a pretty fourteen-year-old with collar-length red hair and soulful blue eyes, NASHIRA DUQUESNE. All seven wear the simple sleeveless, hooded brown gowns of the Fallanassi, or Adepts of the White Current.
EXT. SPACE
The smaller Republic ship is being drawn into the dock of the giant Potentium starship.
INT. RADIANT VII/SALON POD
Tension mounts as loud metallic latches clank and the scream of heavy equipment are heard moving around the outside hull of the ship.
INT. RADIANT VII/COCKPIT
Madakor and Williams, having regained their senses, are busy undoing the restraints of their seats when a loud hissing begins issuing through the sealed doors into the cockpit.
The cockpit doors disappear in a terrific explosion, the air filling with acrid black smoke as an insectoid DESTROYER ROBOT strides in on three legs. The two officers clear their pistols from their holsters, but are instantly mowed down under a hail of yellow plasmafire from the robot's twin blasters.
INT. RADIANT VII/UPPER DECK
Dropping through a hole cut in the hull overhead, dozens upon dozens of destroyers roll into the small cruiser. Spreading throughout the ship, they assume battle stance and begin slaughtering the crewmen with their blasters.
INT. RADIANT VII/HOLD
Inside the small, dark, cramped hold, a number of robots and Cyborgs lay strewn about, all either deactivated or in low-power mode. One of these Cyborgs is ARTOO-DETOO. Artoo's brain is encased within a short barrel-shaped tripod, his face a mass of computer lights surrounding a radar eye.
As the hold door slides open, casting light inside, Artoo awakens. As a crewman enters, a yellow plasma bolt blasts through his chest, dropping him. Artoo fidgets nervously as one of the destroyers fills the open doorway. Inspecting the fallen crewman, it turns and leaves, ignoring Artoo and the hold's other bio-mechanical lifeforms.
Cautious, Artoo scoots over to the fallen crewman. Examining him, he concludes he is stone dead. Rolling past the body, the blue astromech exits the hold.
INT. RADIANT VII/SALON POD
Loud blasting begins reverberating through the pod doors. Rising, Zul faces the doors, grim determination on her face.
Unable to withstand the barrage of blasterfire, the doors are breached. Three destroyers step through, levelling their weapons. They find no one. The Fallanassi have vanished. The pod is deserted.
INT. RADIANT VII/CORRIDOR
Artoo is rolling along the corridor when he hears footsteps. Stopping, he rolls backward, ducking into an adjacent subcorridor. He sits there motionless and silent, hoping whoever is approaching won't spot him.
A WOMAN accompanied by FOUR BX-SERIES COMMANDO ROBOTS makes her way through the corridor. She is tall and slender, her figure apparent under the gray leather jumpsuit she wears. Over this jumpsuit she wears black leather neck and wrist guards, a long black skirt about her hips, and about her shoulders a long black cloak with violet inner lining. The hood of her cloak is worn up, casting her features in shadow. Fastening the cloak is a silver brooch; it resembles an infinity symbol containing a starburst.
INT. RADIANT VII/SALON POD
The destroyers step aside to admit the hooded woman and the BXs. Reaching up, she draws back her hood. Skin porcelain white, pate bald, gray eyes and luscious lips painted black, ASAJJ VENTRESS is as beautiful as she is lethal.
ASAJJ VENTRESS
I can neither see nor sense you, but you're here.
With silent gestures, Ventress directs the BXs to step forward and the destroyers in back to form an impenetrable barrier closing off the door. She says nothing, but the look she gives the empty air clearly speaks "Let's end this charade, shall we?"
The illusion masking the Fallanassi is lifted, revealing them to the Rattataki and robots. In Zul's hand is a stun blaster, trained on Ventress.
ASAJJ VENTRESS
(stern) Put that away!
ZUL DANAAN
(frantic) You won't harm my charges!
Zul fires. Blue energy cascades over and through Ventress, dropping her. One of the BXs quickly returns fire, blasting Zul through the sternum.
NASHIRA
(horrified) Zul!
Panicked, Nashira dashes out to her fallen mentor, taking her limp form in her arms. The woman is dead.
Only mildly stunned, Ventress gets back on her feet. Nashira looks up at the near-Human, face twisting with hatred. She lunges at Ventress, beating at her with her fists. The palid woman roughly seizes the teenager's wrists.
ASAJJ VENTRESS
I admire your fire.
Twisting around, Ventress pushes Nashira toward the destroyers.
ASAJJ VENTRESS
(cont'd) It'll be of use to you.
Nashira glowers at the Rattataki woman as the robots escort her away.
ASAJJ VENTRESS
(points to other Fallanassi) And you.
Rising from their seats, Nashira's fellow pupils follow her, escorted by the BXs.
EXT. SPACE — MINNTOOINE
The Nyax disgorges the Radiant. Once the small cruiser has drifted far enough away, a turbolaser cannon comes alive and swivels into position, opening fire upon the small ship. The beams hit the cruiser, blasting it into three separate pieces.
Accelerating vertically, the Nyax makes the jump into hyperspace. The demolished Radiant VII drifts into Minntooine's atmosphere, where the fragments start to burn white hot.