Rough Draft Sourcebook
by Brendon Wahlberg

CHARACTERS

1. Imperials and Allies

COS DASHIT the dark Lord of Alderaan, Consul to the Supreme Tribunal, and ruler of the Galactic Empire. He is a thin, grey-looking man, with an evil mustache which hangs limply over his insipid lip. He plans the conquest of Aquilae, the last of the independent Systems, and the last refuge of the “outlawed, vile sect of the Jedi”. This is the last frontier and the final stone in the great wall of the Galactic Empire.

CRISPIN HOEDAACK newly appointed Governor of the Aquilaean Systems, a young, evil, treacherous man with stone-cut, angular features, piercing grey eyes, and a high-pitched laugh. Governor Hoedaack has been appointed the “First Lord of the Aquilaean System and Surrounding Territories”. He dies on board the space fortress when Luke Skywalker attacks it.

PRINCE VALORUM a black knight of Sith. The black knight dresses in the fascist black and chrome uniform of the legendary Sith One Hundred. His exploits are legendary, but for his failure on Aquilae, he is demoted to a stormtrooper. He joins the Jedi, Annikin Starkiller, when he realizes that the Empire is no place for either the Jedi or the Sith – the Empire has no codes or honor.

DARTH VADER a tall, grim-looking general of the Imperial Space Fleet, dressed in the black and grey uniform of the realm. He believes it’s a myth that any Jedi still exist. After participating in the attack on Aquilae, he dies on board the space fortress when Luke Skywalker attacks it.

VANTOS COLL a member of the Supreme Tribunal, and a man of the grossest dimensions. When he first arrived at court, Luke Skywalker was the First Bodyguard to the emperor.

KURO one of General Vader’s aides.

COUNT SANDAGE a corrupt noble of the Aquilean Senate who works with the Empire during the attack on Aquilae. He betrays the location of the hidden fortress, and is killed by Luke Skywalker.

2. Aquilaean Royalty

KING KAYOS AQUILAE silver-haired but amazingly youthful under a tanned and leathery face. He is killed by an orbital bombardment from the Imperial space fortress.

QUEEN BREHA AQUILAE the wife of Kayos, a warm, silver-haired matron. She dies in the purposeful destruction of the underground hidden fortress, after making sure Leia escapes.

PRINCESS LEIA AQUILAE is about fourteen years old, and possesses a soft beauty and iron will. At the death of her parents, she becomes Queen Leia and later sits on the magnificent throne of Aquilae. Leia is proud and sarcastic, and finds it hard to show her softer side. Nonetheless, she falls in love with Annikin Starkiller. Her handmaidens are Alana and Mina.

BIGGS and WINDOM AQUILAE the young sons of Kayos, ages 7 and 5.

3. Jedi Bendu

(Captain) ANNIKIN STARKILLER son of Kane, a tall, heavy-set boy of eighteen with a ruggedly handsome face. He has reached the “fifth stage” of his Jedi training under his father Kane. Now he becomes a Padawan Learner to Luke Skywalker. He fought in the Kessilian civil wars and commanded a Hubble expedition to the Cone Systems. He’s a good son, and “one hell of a fighter”, nearly invincible with a laser sword. Annikin dresses in the white uniform of the Aquilaean starforce. He still wears the distinctive Kessilian hair knot. After falling in love with Queen Leia, he becomes the new Lord Protector of Aquilae.

DEAK STARKILLER son of Kane, Deak is ten years old, with dusty blond hair and a large scratch on his cheek. He was killed by a black knight of the Sith on Utapau.

KANE STARKILLER a Jedi Bendu master. Kane is a large, burly man, who wears the distinctive robes of a Jedi. The old Jedi warrior is a cyborg, with no human parts left except his head and right arm. His limbs are filled with wires and many fine multicolored electronic components. His metallic chest is covered with electrodes and a small power unit, and within it, his plastic chest cavity is stuffed with flashing electric parts. Kane is slowly dying from his injuries, and he sometimes loses control over his body. He eventually decides to sacrifice himself for his friends, but not before ensuring that Annikin will become a Padawan Learner to Luke. He knows that the Jedi-Bendu must survive, and that a new generation of Jedi must be started.

GENERAL LUKE SKYWALKER Commander of the Aquilaean Starforce. Luke Skywalker was once the First Bodyguard to the emperor. Luke is a large man, apparently in his early sixties, but actually much older. An aura of power radiates from this great warrior. He is a leader: a Jedi general. He looks weary, but is still a magnificent-looking warrior. His face, cracked and weathered by exotic climates, is set off by a close silver beard, and dark, penetrating eyes. Although the Emperor has spread the rumor that Seig Darklighter led the Great Rebellion, it was really Luke Skywalker.

4. Aquilaean Citizens and Allies

BAIL ANTILLES a rough-looking man dressed in the distinctive gold and furs of the Galactic traders, a Captain of a Guild Trade frigate. It’s not like him to refuse a drink.

(Captain) CLIEG WHITSUN a tall, blond young man about twenty years old. He wears a glowing blue ring on his index finger which is a recording device. He spies on the Emperor’s forces on Alderaan and uses this device to bring back knowledge of the space fortress to Aquilae. He dies in the Norton Asteroid Belt, in the destruction of a stolen Imperial fighter ship, while helping Leia to escape.

THE GRANDE MOUFF TARKIN wears the long, black robes of the Aquilaean religion. He speaks with a high, cracking voice, and wants to avoid any battles with the Empire.

MIR NASH a thin, birdlike senator of Aquilae who wants to avoid a war.

CAPTAINS MONTROSS and PRUE aides of Luke Skywalker. Captain Prue is an older, academic looking aide.

ARTWO DETWO (R2D2) and SEE THREEPIO (C3P0) two construction robots who escaped from the Imperial space fortress. Both robots are rather old and battered. Artwo is a short, (three feet) claw-armed tri-pod. His face is a mass of computer lights, surrounding a radar eye. Because he is of Karollian manufacture, he is able to talk. He specializes in Fusion Repair. Threepio is a tall, gleaming chrome android of human proportions. He is thin, with a totally metallic surface of an Art Deco design. He specializes in Human-Cyborg Relations. They can be trusted never to harm a living creature, and to always give accurate information, as they know it, to anyone who asks. For their service to Aquilae, they are designated class A-4, and will serve Annikin Starkiller.

HAN SOLO the Ureallian, a huge, green skinned monster with no nose and large gills. Now retired, he used to adventure with Luke Skywalker.

DATOS, OCCO, and QUIST three underground leaders who hide out in a slum dwelling in Gordon. Datos is a thin, wizened old man. Occo is a brash young rebel, about the same age as Captain Starkiller. They lead a revolt on the surface of Aquilae.

DR. BLOODORY a portly doctor in his forties. He has perfected “Bloodory’s distillation”, in the form of a small clear vial filled with grey fluid. The brain is condensed into five ounces of fluid. Cloning cell samples are included so that a structural duplicate of the scientist can be reproduced. When the duplicate child reaches the age of six, he or she begins a series of injections of the brain fluid. By the age of ten years, they have received all the knowledge and memory of an experienced scientist: an old mind in a young body.

THE FORCE OF OTHERS

“May the force of others protect you.”
“May the force of others be with you.”

THE JEDI BENDU Until the recent Great Rebellion, the Jedi Bendu were the most feared warriors in the universe. For one hundred thousand years, generations of Jedi perfected their art as the personal bodyguards of the emperor. They were the chief architects of the invincible Imperial Space Force which expanded the Empire across the galaxy, from the celestial equator to the farthest reaches of the Great Rift. Now these legendary warriors are all but extinct. One by one they have been hunted down and destroyed as enemies of the New Empire by a ferocious and sinister rival warrior sect, the Knights of Sith.

Luke Skywalker teaches that a Jedi must be single-minded. Discipline is essential. One’s mind must follow the way of the Bendu. Distractions such as women are to be avoided. Kane and Annikin followed a decidedly different path with respect to women. A Jedi with strong senses can detect the presence of a Sith Knight via a disruption in the Force.

PLANETS

ALDERAAN The Capital of the New Galactic Empire, the Imperial city of Alderaan, floats in a sea of billowing, towering white oxide clouds on the gaseous planet of Alderaan. The magnificent domed and gleaming city is perched, mushroom-like, on a tall spire, which disappears deep into the misty surface of the planet.

Emperor Cos Dashit gives speeches from a Review Stand, a huge, austere platform in the Plaza of the Daders, a part of the city that resembles a glass canyon. Present for these State occasions are generals, dressed in the black and grey uniform of the realm, members of the Supreme Tribunal, and Governors of various systems. The Emperor may review a parade of Imperial shock troops and giant air tanks (which ride magically two to three feet above the ground). The Plaza of the Daders may be filled with a hundred rows of troops, a thousand men snapping to attention and occasionally shouting an Imperial salute. A light wind blows the great red banner of the Empire, creating a subtle flapping sound. To enter or leave the plaza, one must pass through several check stations, where one is forced to show identification.

Within the city, one may enjoy the glass and chrome splendor of one of the famous nightclubs of Alderaan. At one of the long mirrored bars, one speaks into a small intercom on the bar front. A drink appears magically from a small elevator in the bar. But patrons are monitored from Bar observation centers, where controllers listen for anti-Imperial talk.

Living quarters of Imperial Governors are also found in the city. These are typically large, white-on-white executive quarters, secure meeting places for high level officials.

UTAPAU the planet Utapau has five small moons. The Fourth Moon was home to Kane Starkiller and his sons. A harsh gale blows through the leaden sky, across the bleak grey surface of the Fourth Moon. A spacecraft, half buried in the dust, rests next to the remains of an abandoned and crumbling supply shack. The interior of the hut is shabby, but manages to abate the howling winds. A thermoheater provides some small comfort. After a battle with a Sith warrior, Kane abandoned the moon, leaving his son Deak’s grave behind.

AQUILAE an eerie, reddish-yellow planet. In the city of Calvas, the royal seat of King Kayos and Queen Breha is the PALACE OF LITE. The planet is mostly a desert wilderness, but the palace is a sparkling oasis, with low concrete walls and great turrets spilling over with foliage from rooftop gardens. A sun-soaked courtyard greets visitors. Fountains line the long shaded corridors and beautiful, highly polished, tiled walkways. The palace library is a dim, cool room projecting an aura of time-worn comfort and security. It has been used for emergency meetings of the Aquilaean High Senate. The twelve men of the Senate sit in overstuffed chairs, placed in a large circle. The King’s Dining Chamber has a balcony for watching the giant twin suns of Aquilae disappear behind a distant dune range.

For military matters, there is a War Room in an underground fortress. The war room is a mass of glass enclosures, electronic wall displays, monitors, and computer control stations. Military aides of various ranks crowd the room, which holds a giant display of the galaxy. Small symbols flash on and off over various portions of the big board. There is also a small glass enclosed control office. The King’s code is needed to start the war computers. Certain monitors can show images from the “Devil” fighter starships.

A secret entrance to the hidden underground fortress is located in a small desert canyon surrounded by steep cliffs and broken boulders. There is a maze of large boulders to follow to a sheer rock face. A large section of the rock slides away, revealing a well-lit corridor carved out of the rock. Two guards are on duty there. The secret rock door silently slides closed. The Underground Fortress also contains a Med Vac Emergency Room, staffed by several doctors. Medical Center Blue contains the facility for Bloodory’s distillation. There is a stark white waiting area filled with scholarly looking gentlemen. An attendant greets visitors and takes them into a small observation chamber overlooking a large operating theatre with a large operating table surrounded by strange looking equipment, including a huge machine which extracts brains.

Elsewhere on the planet, students study at the Academy of Chathos in Yuell. The school is reached via landspeeder, by way of the Great Reef. The full assembly of the Government meets in the city of Amsel, which is reached by way of the vast Red Plains of Caldin, where huge ultrasleek powerplows plant green fungus in endless furrows. Jundland, or “no man’s land,” is where the rugged desert mesas meet the foreboding dune sea. The dunes seem to go on for endless miles. Part of this area is called the “dunehedge”. There are vast hills and valleys of sand, and towering dune ridges in the dune sea. Fuel stations may be found in the wilderness. A typical one looks like a series of low concrete structures rising out of the desert, including an old weather-beaten block house – a quiet, dingy little room with a few power packs lining the walls and a dismantled speeder resting in the repair bay. They are tended by small families who live there. Past the wilderness, there is a small cantina on the outskirts of Gordon. The Gordon spaceport can be seen in the distance. The low, blockhouse style cantina has various strange forms of transport parked outside the bar. The murky little den is filled with a startling array of weird and exotic alien creatures, laughing at the bar. One-eyed, thousand-eyed, slimy, furry, scaling arms, tentacles, and claws huddle over drinks.
The planetary defenses of Aquilae include squadrons of powerful silver “Devil” fighters, which take off from the military sections of several spaceport city outposts, including one in Gordon and one in Anchorhead. A few of the Gordon pilots include Chewie, Babs, Mace, and Bowman. The scene during an alert: in the ready room, there is chaos. Red scramble lights flash. Alert horns and attack buzzers create an unbelievable cacophony. Air warriors, with the distinctive circle and cross medallion on their white space suits, scramble out of the low, concrete readyroom, grabbing helmets and spacepacks as they race out of the door. On the attack runway, twelve pilots and navigators dash in unison to a line of waiting two-man starships of the destroyer class. Ground crews scurry back and forth, loading last-minute armament, and unlocking power couplings. Pilot Leader gives his ground crew their signals. The canopies are closed and the powerful starships move onto the runway. The din of two dozen retrorockets cuts through the uproar, and six silver spacecraft leave the runway, and disappear into the morning cloud cover.

Pilot Leader flies the first ship; his navigator sits in a small, isolated glass bubble to the rear of the craft. Leaders back at the war room can seen on one of many monitors. The rest are filled with various computer readouts and displays. The other starships report to Pilot Leader over an intercom. The ship computers can map a surface to be attacked, display the map, and pick out weak spots. Pilot tactics include the “ranger defense,” concentrating fire, generating a spread six formation, jettisoning fuel pods and breaking off into a powerline attack. The fighters have ejection seats for escaping, with automatic rockets to direct and soften the landing.

The Gordon spaceport also contains landing areas for large Baltarian freighters and other ships. Passengers leave from crowded terminals with security gates and boarding ramps. Passenger identification is carried on computer discs. Additional security is provided by “cutter” force fields. Ships take off through giant Silo Covers which open to the sky.

Aquilae is a truly great prize for the Empire, for it has a treasure of biotic science (Genetics and cloning.) Their scientists have added two-hundred years to a lifespan. The Aquilae family has ruled the system for ten thousand years. The people will follow no other. If the royal line is broken, there is a good chance the entire population will destroy themselves and their knowledge before submitting to Imperial rule.

OPHUCHI home of the chrome companies. AAY ZAVOS is a large, sallow-eyed Galactic trader from the chrome companies who secretly supports Aquilae’s independence.

NORTON ASTEROID BELT a treacherous asteroid field near the Forbidden System of Yavin. Passage through it is nearly impossible, leading to extensive ship damage from the asteroid storm.
YAVIN the nearest star system to Aquilae, it contains the blue-green world of Yavin. Yavin has dense, steaming vine jungles with huge, moss-covered trees. The jungle is a strange and eerie, fog-laden purgatory. Gruesome and unnatural sounds permeate this ghostly wasteland. There is also a “Forest of the Gargantuans”. The gargantuan trees are shrouded in mist, and the ominous sounds of unearthly creatures fill the air. The subhuman cries of lonesome tree beasts cut through the forest murmur. The wildlife in this forbidden system is extremely hostile, but trappers work the area, capturing native Wookees. This group of nine scruffy, alien trappers has two large, tank-like “jungle crawlers.” The trappers speak in a strange language, and although they appear slightly human, they are slimy, deformed, hideous looking creatures known as Yourellians.

OWEN AND BERU LARS, formerly of Bastine, now live on Yavin in the Forest of the Gargantuans, studying Wookees. Owen is an old man, an aged and scruffy looking anthropologist. Beru Lars is Owen’s warm, plump wife. The Lars dwelling in the forest is a small metal structure attached to one of the huge trees. It is a small, weatherbeaten hut of futuristic design.

Yavin has no cities at all, only a few scattered settlers and one Imperial outpost. The outpost is a very small class two or class three facility with ten starraider support craft (giant four-man starships). The Wookees have been harassing the outpost for almost two years but they are no match for the Imperial weapons. Inside the outpost is the office of the Imperial Chief of Staff. Outside the outpost there are guard towers, a row of giant air tanks, and a perimeter bunker where stormtroopers watch the jungle through powerful, mounted electrobinoculars. The large, ponderous air tanks start up with a loud roar and move slowly. The tank pilots talk to one another on an intercom system. The tank crews can track targets with various electronic scopes, and can open up with a barrage of laser bolts. Antenna groupings protrude from the tops of the air tanks, where the main hatch is located. The main control panel in the crowded tank interior contains lights, monitors, and several switches.

IMPERIAL SPACE FORTRESS a very unusual ship, a gargantuan space fortress bigger than the third moon of Aquilae. It is a class M station, not a conventional craft, and it is referred to as the “death star” by Luke Skywalker. Men and robots of various shapes and sizes populate the station, and there are civilians, including women and children. Grim-faced Imperial startroopers ride small rocket platforms through the halls. Pilots in starraider uniforms stand ready to man their ships. The Governor’s Quarters are an important looking office complex. There are several heavily guarded doorways before the main chamber. Seated behind a large, cluttered desk surrounded by generals (such as Vader) and attaches is Governor Hoedaack. Troops and fortress personnel come and go in horizontal elevators, small podlike vehicles which take off through vacuum tunnels. The most secure area is the detention area. Visitors are stopped at a security station and their papers are checked. They are then escorted through the hallways. Guards and electronic cutters are everywhere. No mechanical personnel (androids) are allowed in the area. Safety doors can be sealed and intruders can be gassed. A garbage chute in one of the detention area hallways leads to a garbage masher.
Surface features of the fortress include a forest of radar domes, antennae, gun towers, a huge radar disc, a giant transformer jutting from the fort’s surface, lasergun emplacements, and solar panels. The fortress has sophisticated deflection systems which work in opposition to the suns. The fortress weapons, large turbo-powered laser gun emplacements, can bombard a planet with a fusillade of laser bolts. The major power stations in the southern quadrants use external power units called transformer sections. There is a main transformer area, flanked by several solar towers and protected by several ack-ack lasers. This is a weak point that is vulnerable to attack. If the main large black crosslink transformer is hit, the whole station would be powerless. In addition, the power would exceed the normal stress quotient, the magnetic fusion pods would evaporate, an unstoppable electromagnetic transfer would begin, and the fortress would blow up.
For escaping the fortress, there are emergency lifepods, cramped four-man craft. The space fortress carries and deploys the Imperial Invasion army, which is immense. A convoy of giant tanks, troop carriers (with Imperial shock troops), and supply ships can stretch from horizon to horizon. Cavalry, mounted on giant dune birds, ride the line from one end of the convoy to the other. These can outrun landspeeders. Hundreds of troops ride one-man jet-sticks in precision formation. Their lances form a giant pin-cushion. There are also Imperial hunter destroyer starships to be deployed at spaceports. These pursuit ships can fire proton torpedoes. Other Imperial forces include gleaming Stardestroyers, two-man spacecraft crammed with sophisticated electronic weaponry. The pilot and gunnery officers sit side-by-side, surrounded by lighted readouts and switches. They wear the gleaming black uniforms of the Empire.

ALIENS

WOOKEES huge, gray furry beast-like giants with fierce baboon-like fangs. They can squawk, jabber, yell, scream, laugh, screech, chatter, and cheer. They hug and kiss to show affection, and kneel and bow to show respect.

Wookees are strong enough to pick up a human and snap him in two, like a stick of wood. Wookee warriors are excellent with weapons and hand to hand combat. They use such weapons as axes, spears, arrows, and large shiny shields. They know how to make large and deadly traps out of primitive materials. Wookees can learn to fly space ships, and they prove to be proficient and aggressive flyers. At first, they might approach technology with a combination of complete panic and an awesome religious experience. But their natural skill and enthusiasm lets them get the hang of it fairly quickly. For their service to Aquilae, the Wookees were presented with a treaty, gifts, and a medal of honor.

The Wookee Camp on Yavin is a small clearing surrounded by many bark and mud hovels, or lodges. Among the mud huts is the large chief’s quarters. Young Wookees run in and out of the grubby little dwellings. Giant, bushbaby-like Wookees of all ages and sizes walk through the clearing. There is a raised area in the middle of the clearing which is used for combat. Guards with long spears provide protection. Some Wookee warriors wear helmets with plumes and chest armor. At times, the Wookees hold a beautiful, but frenzied fire festival. Wookees perform the Waita Tar dance, and yodel in a barking fashion around a large fire. The female Wookees arrive, carrying torches, and move in a circle around the males.

Notable Wookees:

DEWANNA the largest of the Wookees

CHEWBACCA The eight foot tall son of Auzituck, Prince of the Sawas, a very powerful tribe. He fights against the Imperial outpost on Yavin and flies against the Imperial space fortress over Aquilae.

AUZITUCK Chewbacca’s father, Chief of the Kaapauku tribe; an old and feeble Wookee dressed in royal skins and headdress. There are ten or fifteen Wookee chiefs altogether.

JOMMILLIA a large, ferocious Wookee who fights with a spear and double-bladed battle ax.