Knightfall

With my successful return to the "A 'Star Wars' Dark Side Story" series with "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis" I have decided to continue the series with another story which I have long considered to be an interesting concept for a stand-alone movie, Operation: Knightfall.

Before we get into this article, I would like to take a moment to thank you and everyone who has read these articles. Please be sure to share the articles as this goes a long way to help me continue to produce them.

Also, if you haven't done so already, please read the previous articles through the links below.

My previous Dark Side Stories:

Abeloth

Project Blackwing

The Sith Triumvirate

The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis

For those of you who do not know, Operation: Knightfall was the codename given to the clone attack on the Jedi Temple during "Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith". A clever play on words to hide the truly sinister of the operation, the merciless purging of the Jedi Order. With Operation: Knightfall being a pivotal moment in "Episode Three" I will not do a recap of it.

"Knightfall: A 'Star Wars' Dark Side Story" will begin with Jedi master Jona Sem engaged in a fierce battle in a tropical jungle. Her squadron is pinned down, a few clones try to fire on the droids only to get shot and killed as soon as they break cover. A giant mantis-like creature appears from behind the squad and kills a clone but is stabbed through the chest by Jona's padawan, Bronst, who regroups with his master and informs her the droids have the squadron outflanked.

Jona orders for the squad to retreat which causes Bronst to object stating they will lose more men in the retreat and they are so close to taking the planet. Jona tells him that they shouldn't risk their lives and the lives of their men for just a chance for victory, and if they retreat they can regroup with the other Jedi and their squadrons of clones.

Bronst seems to silently agree with his master who begins to prepare her squad for the retreat but instead breaks cover and begins advancing on the droid line. Jona sees Bronst engage the droids and orders the clones to lay down cover fire and stop the droids from encircling them. Jona dodges and deflects countless shots as she tries to catch up to Bronst.

The clone commander sends word to the dropships that the Jedi have charged the enemy line and to send air support. Bronst breaks through the droid front line as Jona catches up to him, and the two engage the main force of the droids together. The clones catch up with them as the dropships appear and destroy the droids behind the squad. The dropships circle the squad and land to allow reinforcements to disembark.

Bronst rallies the reinforcements and Jona is amazed by her padawan and begins to help him rally the troops. Bronst leads the charge with Jona close behind him and they quickly destroy most of the remaining droids. As the squad begins to cheer for their victory Bronst is shot in the chest by one of the few remaining droids. The clones quickly destroy the droid as Jona rushes to Bronst who is already dead.

After the title card, we find Jona in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant deep in meditation. She sees only darkness before hearing Bronst's voice calling out to her. Her meditation is interrupted by Mace Windu who informs her there has been an important development in the search for the Sith lord. He tells her that he and Masters Fisto, Tiin, and Kolar are going to confront the Sith and the temple will be on alert while they are gone. He is placing the remaining masters within the temple in charge while they are away.

Jona tells Mace that she will help the other masters watch over the temple while he is gone. Mace puts out an announcement to the temple that the younglings and padawans need to return to their chambers and all Temple Guards to report to their posts. Mace departs and Jona meets with an assembled group of Masters who decide to seal the tempke gates until Mace returns. The group also agrees to split up and patrol the temple while the Temple Guards protect essential areas and entrances.

While patrolling near the entrance to one of the towers Jona senses a disturbance in the Force and the deaths of Kolar, Tiin, and Fisto and uses her communicator to signal the rest of the group to regroup. On her way to the rendezvous point, she senses Anakin’s final descent to the Dark Side and Windu’s death.

Jona meets with the rest of the group and tells them they need to put out a temple-wide announcement and to rally the Jedi inside to take up arms. She is overruled by the rest of the masters who tell her that it is not in the Jedi way to act so hastily before they knew the situation. Despite the other masters having sensed what happened they refuse to listen to reason leaving Jona to rouse as many Jedi as she can by herself.

She can feel a disturbance from the Dark Side approaching the temple as she moves through the corridors. She focused first on Jedi she knew and trusted and enlisted them and soon had a large number helping her. Anakin arrives at the temple with a legion of troopers and finds the gates sealed. The masters who opposed Jona in the meeting see him outside and, despite the warning of the gate master, one orders the gate opened so he can go out to speak with Anakin.

Jona senses the gate opening and tells the other Jedi with her that they had to start evacuating the younglings, padawans, and any Jedi who could not fight into the tunnels and secret exits of the temple. The master approached Anakin and tries to speak with him but is ignored. Anakin tells the master he is on the council and demands entry into the temple. The master asks Anakin about the clones and Anakin replies that they are there to help secure the temple. The master refuses to let them in causing Anakin to strike him down.

Jona senses the death of the master and orders the group with her to run. The gate master ignites his lightsaber and orders the gate sealed. Anakin makes it inside and strikes down the Temple Guards and duels with the gate master. They are evenly matched until Anakin strikes the gate controls causing them to open. The gate master uses the force to knock Anakin away and tries to stop the gate from opening but Anakin recovers and kills him.

The gate opens and the legion enters the temple. Temple Guards and a few of the masters engage the clones. One of the masters raises the alarm in the temple but is killed by Anakin. Jedi begin to emerge from their chambers but are quickly killed by the troopers. Other Jedi begin to sense the killings and take up arms against the troops. Jona leads as many survivors as she can into the tunnels but the clones soon catch up to them. Anakin is alerted that a master has entered the tunnels with a large group of Jedi. Members of her group begin to be killed off until it is just Jona and a few younglings left.

At the end of the tunnel, they find their way blocked by Anakin. Jona engages him while the younglings attempt to flee back into the tunnels but they are cut down by the clones. Jona gains the upper hand temporarily and nearly kills Anakin but has a vision of the events to come. She sees Anakin’s disfigurement, the rise of the empire, the coming of Luke, the death of the Emperor, and Anakin’s return to the light side of the Force.

Knowing it’s the will of the Force, Jona tells Anakin he will fall far but someone will bring him back to the light and his destiny. She then allows herself to be struck down by Anakin. The clone commander reports that all the younglings are dead and that the clones in the temple reported that they have secured it.

Nick Robinson: Bronst

For the role of Bronst, I would cast Nick Robinson, I have always enjoyed his work and feel like he is the perfect fit for a Jedi padawan who is at the end of his training and about to take his trials.

Hayley Atwell: Master Jona Sem

For Master Jona, I could think of no one better than Hayley Atwell. She is an amazing actress who can show the strength and sensitivity the role requires and I feel she can fill the lead perfectly.

As for the rest of the cast, I would have Hayden Christensen and Samuel Jackson reprise their roles of Anakin and Mace Windu which are givens.