Star Wars Episode IX: Resurgence - Alan Dean Foster

1 May 2018

We all write our own movies. We all write our own sequels. After seeing THE LAST JEDI, as an author I could not escape pondering what I would put on screen for episode IX were I given the opportunity to do so. Unusually, I took the time to actually compose a treatment. And here it is. Was fun to put together.

RESURGENCE - EP.9

View from overhead of towering, snow-capped mountains in the distance just being touched by a rising sun, then a vast green valley, continuing to move in closer onto a modest group of figures gathered atop a grassy peak. We see that it is the small band of survivors from TLJ. They are standing in a circle, quiet and thoughtful. Closer in on Rey as something causes her to turn, shade her eyes, and peer into the distance.

Alien music, solemn percussion and brass. Closeups on the mostly humanoid Almurians who are accompanied by other aliens and humans, all holding up artificial torches. Move to high shot of a long, impressive procession winding its way outward from a vast, sprawling, modern city. The procession arrives at the greensward and splits, the ends of the two lines forming a greater circle around the band of survivors. Finn, Rey, Poe, Chewbacca, C3PO and R2 say a few words. A simple coffin is brought forward. Through the transparent upper part of the canopy we see General Organa. A grave appears. As the music rises, she is buried. Bending, C3PO whispers to a mournful R2.

"It looks like Alderaan."

Back on the Falcon. Now what? Not much of a Resistance left to resist. Some are ready to give up. Not Finn. He angrily points out that he didnÕt flee the First Order to give up. Poe joins in. They can still muster recruits across the galaxy. But they need some time. More importantly, they need a leader. All eyes turn to Rey.

Startled, she declines. C3PO murmurs to R2 that there's something familiar about her, but he can't put a finger on it. She's not fit, she tells them. They need someone with military experience. Someone who knows what the First Order might do next. Attention immediately shifts to Finn. He's surprised, but having already forcefully stated his intentions, he finally accepts. He's come a long way.

Okay: they need pilots, support, and most of all, something to fight back with. Weapons. Ships. And if possible, allies.

R2 and BB8 beep energetically. The others listen. Finn thinks their joint idea is crazy. Who employs droid tactics? But Poe thinks better of their idea. Might work,if it can be brought to fruition.

They now have a strategy, of sorts. Next they need allies.

What about their hosts, the Almurians? The Almurian Combine is big, developed, and powerful. But the Almurians are neutral. Always have been, even during the fight between the Empire and the Rebellion (that's why they can host Leia's burial without outside interference). Finn and Rey, with C3PO in tow, will try to persuade them to change their minds while Chewie and Poe take R2 and BB8 to try and recruit new fighters to the cause.

Finn and Rey, together with the other survivors, are hosted in the Almurian capital city. They make the argument that the First Order is relentless and won't stop until it completely controls the known galaxy. Finn knows this better than anyone. The Almurians demur. They're neutral and intend to stay that way. Frustration ensues. But, Finn murmurs, if they won't join the fight, perhaps they could supply fighting material? To be paid for later? The Almurians discuss the matter and are eventually convinced. It's a gamble, but for them, a comparatively safe one. Finn and Rey leave encouraged. Now they need to try and find allies within the First Order itself: more disgruntled fighters like Finn. But where? The Republic is dead, its home system destroyed.

Rose makes a suggestion. It's a daring but dangerous idea, yet could be the best place to look for silent sympathizers. Rey and Finn are persuaded. CUT TO:

Coruscant. The planet-wide city. Finn, Rey, and Rose make contact with Resistance elements that have gone to ground. They sympathize, and would help, but not with Supreme Leader Snoke in charge. Rey, Finn, Rose are shocked by the refusal. Rey saw Ren kill Snoke. Cut him in half. The sympathizers don't know what she's talking about that. The Supreme Leader is here, having taken over the old Imperial bureaucracy and buildings. What's going on here? Despite the danger, our trio needs to verify this impossibility for themselves.

Then something "forceful" staggers Rey. We zoom in to CU on her and CUT TO:

Ren, confident but a bit bemused, entering a vast, elegant reception room. The old Imperial quarters. The doors close behind him and from a small door near the back enters Supreme Leader Snoke! Ren is stunned. Snoke approaches, grinning mirthlessly.

Ren: "Impossible. You're dead." Realization makes him break off as he takes a step back.

Snoke: "Killed me? Yes you did. Want to kill me again?"

Ren gapes at him. Snoke slightly lunges toward him. Acting on instinct, Ren draws his lightsaber and strikes Snoke down. He stares down at the undeniable corpse, only looking up at the sound of clapping hands. His eyes widen as Snoke appears from the same door near the back of the chamber

"Well done!" he says. "Do you wish to continue killing me, or would you prefer an explanation?" Ren has no words.

The Clone Wars. When Imperial scientists got very good at producing clones. A small, brilliant segment perfected the technology. Absolute duplication of the original, down to the last neural connection. Which allowed for duplication of knowledge, memories, everything. Perfect cloning. Did Ren really think Snoke would allow him to destroy everything he had worked for? First law of military strategy: always have a reserve in waiting.

How many clones of him are there, Ren wonders? Snoke's grin now turns into an evil grimace. "WouldnÕt you like to know?" He takes a throne-like seat and beckons a wary Ren forward. The Resistance is finished, but the girl is still a concern, however slight. A smart ruler leaves no enemies alive, no matter how few. Ren has a connection with the girl. Is she still alive? And no lies, this time. Snoke will know.

Ren focuses. We see Rey react again, as before. She knows he knows. Snap back to the palace on Coruscant. Snoke knows the truth without Ren having to say anything. Find her. But what Snoke doesn't know, and what Ren holds back from telling him, is that Rey is right here under the Supreme Leader's nose, on Coruscant.

In a visit to the planetary security authority, he describes her to the local authorities, utilizing a mind-paint system. The word goes out to find her. And Ren, of course, will search for her himself. What he will do when he finds her even he doesn't know.

After Ren has left, Snoke brings in Hux. Time to begin consolidating the achievements of the First Order. Time to bring reluctant systems into the fold. Hux names several that are ripe for takeover. Snoke nods, names three, one of which is Almuria.

Rey, Finn, and Rose, accompanied by C3PO, are gathering those resistance sympathizers whose hatred of the First Order exceeds their fear of Snoke. It occurs to Finn that they don't need fleets to stop the First Order. They just need to stop Snoke. Plans are laid for an uprising on Coruscant.

Montage showing the passage of time during which the uprising is set in motion, the Almurians produce fighters for the Resistance, Ren and the authorities search for Rey (who has cut herself off from Ren, so he can't pinpoint her location), and Poe and Chewie recruit personnel. On Almuria we see the front ends of new X-wings being built. But only the front ends.

Poe and Chewie arrive and begin to train new pilots. The Almurians remind Poe that they are merely manufacturers and will take no part in any conflict. Chewie offers his opinion on this and Poe hastens to quiet him. You know Wookies. Not famed for their diplomacy. Secure deep-space communications allow Rey and Finn to inform Poe and Chewie of what they're planning. Poe avows as how as soon as their new ships are ready, they'll make the journey to Coruscant to come support the incipient rebellion there. It looks like a promising strategy, until a fleet appears off Almuria. It's the First Order, under Hux, proclaiming that the Almurian Combine is now officially and gloriously welcomed into the Second Empire.

Second Empire? What's that? Hux explains. The Almurians protest that they are neutral. A confident Hux replies that this is all for their own good. Better to be a part of the glorious 2nd Empire than continue as some spineless, unprotected neutrals. As a part of the Empire, Almuria will be protected. Protected from whom, the Almurians want to know? Why, Hux replies smoothly, anyone who might threaten them. The Almurians can comply and all will proceed peacefully. Or they will be absorbed through force.

An anxious Poe informs Rey of what's happening at Almuria and that he won't be able to support her proposed uprising. They owe the Almurians a defense. She eyes Finn. Plans for the uprising are in motion. Too late to stop it now. She tells Finn to go ahead and fight before the Order/Empire finds out about their new ships. Finn wishes her luck. Vice versa, and may the Force be with them both.

On Almuria, a grim-faced Poe and Chewbacca prepare to launch their limited force. If the new ships work as planned, they have a chance, even against an Order/Empire fleet. Then the Almurian leader arrives. Poe is coolly polite toward him, until the Almurian tells him that the Combine has decided to fight for its neutrality. There is much brotherly grasping of arms (or maybe tentacles). The Almurians will fight alongside the newly formed Resistance squadrons. Poe and Chewie are elated.

The defense of Almuria is launched. Hux is not impressed. The fleet prepares to exterminate them. Taking over the Combine will proceed that much quicker and easier when any resistance is destroyed.

On Coruscant, Rey and Finn ignite the local rebellion, making progress toward the palace complex. There are enough citizens who hate the Order/Empire to make a real fight of it against the security forces in the city streets, underground, etc. Snoke is informed. He is not worried. Under the stress of combat, Rey lets her guard down for a moment. Ren informs Snoke that she is right here, in Coruscant, and even now heading toward the palace. Snoke is delighted. Let her come. His last concern will be eliminated. Just as the Skywalker line has been terminated.

Which prompts Ren to ask why Snoke cares so much. Snoke's expression tightens and we get a fast-moving flashback. To before episode one, to before episode four.

A younger, muscular, even handsome figure that we recognize as Snoke. Bullying others, taking what he wants because he can, leaning toward the Dark Side. He is confronted by another, a hooded figure, who warns him that he is set on an untenable path. Snoke is not afraid, he feels he is more powerful with the Force than anyone. He and the hooded figure fight in a factory where Snoke is knocked into a vat of chemicals and we finally see the determined yet sympathetic figure of his opponent.

A young Obi-wan Kenobi.

Back in the palace, Snoke turns on Ren, and his fury causes even Ren to draw back. Did he think, Snoke declares as he indicates his ravaged face, that he always looked like this? He vowed vengeance on Kenobi, any of his relatives and every one of his pupils. Working through Palpatine, he almost achieved his goals, until Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, was turned away from the Dark Side by his son, and killed Palpatine. Snoke has always been there, in the background, manipulating, scheming, but with Palpatine's death was forced to come out into the open.

Now Kenobi is dead, Anakin/Vader is dead, Leia Organa Skywalker is dead, and finally, Luke Skywalker is dead. Only Ren lives, but as a disciple of Snoke. The best revenge on Kenobi. But Snoke did not foresee this girl, who is strangely strong with the Force. She is not a Kenobi, not a Skywalker, but she is the last unpredicted impediment to his rise to complete power and mastery of the Force. Snoke takes no chances. She must die. And she is coming here, right to him. Truly, the ways of the Force are rich with irony. We cannot tell what Ren is thinking.

Above Almuria Prime, the Almurian fleet is escorted out by the Resistance ships. But these X-wings are a new type. Front and rear are familiar enough, but they are connected by a tube-like six-sided central length of fuselage. Poe and Chewie lead them, Poe with BB8, Chewie piloting the Falcon with R2. Poe tells BB8 that this droid strategy better work.

On board the Force/Empire flagship, Hux checks with his crew. The Almurian fleet is stronger than expected, but nothing they can't handle. It also seems to be escorted by a group of X-wings. That causes Hux to frown. It was believed that the Resistance was dead. How many fighter escorts? About a hundred, he is told. Hux relaxes. Well, after this battle, the Resistance really will be finished. Hux prepares to launch the TIE fighters.

Combat ensues. The Almurians launch drone ships that jump to hyperspeed. But they do nothing. Aboard his flagship, Hux smiles. His subordinates report that the new hyperspace defensive shields are working as intended, shunting anything coming at them at lightspeed off into hyperspace. To somewhere else. "Fool us once," Hux murmurs to himself. "Launch fighters."

Hundreds of Tie fighters join with fire from the Order/Empire capital ships to blast the oncoming Almurians and X-wings. Chewie roars but Poe tells his pilots not yet. Get in closer, closer. Now.

Deploy!

On each of the six sides of the extended X-wings, four bay doors snap open. Out zoom twenty-four drones: engine, no pilots, a single energy weapon each. Poe grins, Chewie roars, BB8 and R2 beep. On board the First Order/Empire flagship, a suddenly concerned tech eyeing a tracking screen sees the dots representing the Resistance fighters suddenly go from a hundred to twenty-five hundred, filling the screen with enemy. He turns. "Uh, General Hux, sir?"

Hux moves to eye the screen and his eyes widen. Each X-wing commands twenty-four drones, all which move in perfect tandem with each commanding X-wing pilot. Mirror images of his maneuvers. Poe whoops and Chewie bellows as they attack. The oncoming Tie fighters are overwhelmed by this utterly unexpected show of force and the Resistance fighters, supported and backed by the Almurian fleet, dart in to attack the main body of the Order/Empire fleet. Screens are saturated and shattered, ships are flamed, and just as Hux orders a retreat to hyperspace, his own ship is blasted. Something startles Chewie and we see the Falcon pull away and out of the fight. As Poe circles and shoots in triumph at the remaining First Order ships, his expression abruptly changes as he remembers....

...Rey.

Coruscant. First Order/Empire security and crowd control battle the surging crowds. Rey, Finn, Rose, and supporters take down guards and fight their way into the palace complex. Finn doesn't know which way to go, C3PO isn't sure, but Rey knows. She can sense Ren.

They fight their way into the reception room. Ren is there, asks her to surrender. They can't win. Rey argues. Ren steps aside to reveal...Snoke. He greets her. She and Finn are shocked, stunned. C3PO is in "Oh dear" mode. She looks at Ren. Clone, he tells her. Perfect clone. Indistinguishable from the original. How many, she asks? Ren doesnÕt know. More than she could defeat, certainly. More than he could. More than they could together.

So heÕs gone fully back to the Dark Side? He drops his head. Snoke just laughs. This time he wonÕt make the same tactical error he made before. Not that it matters if he does. He looks to his right. Two more Snokes come through the rear door. Activating her saber, Rey tells Finn and Rose to get out, continue the fight elsewhere. She'll try to hold them off here. No way, they tell her. They fire their weapons. The trio of Snokes ward off the shots. Snoke freezes the trio. Rey drops her saber. Snoke orders Ren to complete the work. To complete himself. Firing up his saber, Ren approaches the paralyzed Rey, who struggles futilely to reach her own weapon, now lying quiescent on the floor. It quivers but does not come to her.

Outside the palace, guards are firing from the ramparts down into the crowd. Something makes them look up. They panic and abandon their posts as their heavy weapons are destroyed. It's the Falcon, with Chewie piloting and firing. After clearing an upper landing area, it touches down.

Inside, Ren is clearly torn. He doesn't want to kill Rey, but he can't resist Snoke any longer. He apologizes, steps back, raises his saber...and strikes. Finn and Rose scream.

At the last possible instant, something knocks Rey aside. Even so, RenÕs blow cuts the upper right side of her scalp. She falls to the floor, gasping. Ren stands over her, lightsaber poised to strike. Then Ren, Finn, Rose, and C3PO, everyone, look to the main portal, their expressions reflecting their utter astonishment. A single figure stands there.

Luke Skywalker.

He comes forward. Impossible. (HeÕs dead. We saw him die at the end of ep. 8. Or did we?)

Snoke One growls. "You cannot be here. I searched for you. Your lifeforce had vanished from perception!"

"From this plane of existence, yes. DoesnÕt mean I passed to the other. I knew youÕd keep searching for me, using the Force. So I had to...go away for awhile. To that space in between. ItÕs a quiet place. The Force allows it." He smiles. "I was tired. I needed a rest anyway."

Ren screams that it's a projection, just like on Crait, and attacks. But this time Luke doesn't duck his strike. In one smooth motion he activates his saber...his original saber...blocks the blow, and flings Ren aside. But the real battle is between him and Snoke. Or rather, Snokes.

Descending down from his seat, Snoke ignites a saber of his own. So do his two doppelgangers. The fight is on. Luke kills one Snoke, fights the remaining pair. Elsewhere, the battle between the uprising and the security and guards rages. Finn and Rose retreat.

Outside, among the chaos, they hurriedly discuss what they have seen. Snoke clones have to come from somewhere. They race off.

With Luke and the Snoke clones occupied with one another, Ren reaches down, extending a hand to Rey. Then he notices something and freezes. We see what he sees. Rey on the floor, breathing hard. The upper right side of her head cut away and cauterized. Amid the exposed bone, a small freeform transparency fills part of her head, melding sinuously with her brain. Behind the transparency, lights flash and twinkle. Reaching up, Rey touches the exposed area, and draws back her hand in shock. The revelation is as unexpected to her as it is to us.

Ren: "Droid. Part droid. No wonder you mastered the use of the Force so quickly. No wonder you...learn so quickly. Hybrid. Monster." All sympathy, all potential affection, vanishes from him in an instant. He strikes down with his lightsaber. Rolling, Rey dodges the blow, grabs her owner weapon, ignites it, and fights back. They battle.

Luke kills another Snoke. He forces the last one backward. Snoke taunts him. "Truly you are a Master of the Force, Skywalker. But so am I. And you are one." Looks toward the back door. "I am a multitude!"

From the rear doorway more Snokes burst into the room, all armed with lightsabers. As Ren and Rey battle behind him, Luke prepares to confront the surge of identical newcomers. C3PO tries to flee, encounters the chaos outside, quickly retreats back in wondering how he ever got into this mess.

Amid the combat raging outside, Finn and Rose save a high official from being killed by the mob. The Supreme Leader's clones: where do they come from? They "persuade" the official to show them and head off, but not before they have acquired some grenade-like weapons from dead security personnel.

Down, down they go, into the sub-levels beneath the palace complex. The frightened official shows them the guarded place where Snoke's clones are churned out. Finn and Rose attack. While Finn holds off the guards, Rose sets the explosives they have acquired...only for her to be trapped with them inside the complex as alarms blare and emergency doorways slam shut. She and Finn exchange a look.

Above, more and more Snokes pour into the room. Snoke snarls at Luke. Give up! He can't possible win. Stepping back, Luke bends, picks up a fallen lightsaber. Maybe he can't, but he feels that the Force is with him. It always has been, even when he was at his lowest moments. Also, these are with him. He activates the second lightsaber and begins to swing both, making two circles, then he starts to cross them in front of him. And then he begins to pivot, faster and faster, a veritable dervish. Surrounded by a ball of multicolored energy, he plows into the multiple Snokes, obliterating them. They can't reach him through the energy sphere he is creating around himself.

Nearby, Ren presses Rey. They lock sabers. He taunts her. She came from nowhere, her parents were nobodies. He will...show her. Let her look.

She tries to resist, but cannot. In her mind, she sees. A rapid montage. Her parents, junk dealers, with an infant. An infant with a deformed skull. They take her to a renegade surgeon on Jakku. There is one possible operation, but it's experimental and highly dangerous. It could kill her. Her parents agree to it. Rey is operated on. The shape of her head is made normal, but with part droid componentry inside to help keep her alive. Natural skin and hair grow swiftly over the surgical opening. Her parents can't handle her. They abandon her as young girl, paying what they can to Unkar Plutt to look after her. He abandons her as a child, but she turns scavenger and somehow, survives.

Rey is shaken by the recovered memories. She relaxes, sways, shuts off her saber. Ren holds off, still conflicted, but finally decides that he has to kill her. To save her from herself. To purify the Force. For his own sake. She falls backward, her eyes closing in resignation and exhaustion, and he moves in.

Right into her reactivated lightsaber as her eyes snap open. Startled, run through, and as conflicted as ever, Ren dies in front of her...killed in the same way he killed his father.

Luke, exhausted, halts. The fireball that has surrounded him vanishes. Three Snokes remain. The First Leader is triumphant. A Jedi Master may go on and on, but a lightsaber's power is finite. The trio of Snokes surround him. It's over.

Below, Finn yells at the imprisoned Rose, but she just smiles at him. A resigned smile...as she sets off the explosives. Finn ducks away. The clone manufacturing area is destroyed.

Above, a startled Snoke reacts. With his attention momentarily distracted, Luke reactivates his twin sabers and throws them. Two Snokes are speared and killed. The surviving Snoke looks toward the rear doorway, but there are no more Snokes, no more replacement First Leaders. The many have been reduced to one. But it is enough. Raising his own weapon, he starts forward. Luke waits for the end.

"Luke!"

Rey throws him her lightsaber, Luke catches it, and ends Snoke. He stumbles over to Rey and she falls against him, sobbing. We see the exposed part of her "brain" twinkling. "He called me a monster. I am a monster!"

Luke steps back, eyes her, and holds up his mechanical hand. "YouÕre not a monster. YouÕre Rey. Just an enhanced version." Together, they head out of the reception room.

Above Almuria, Poe and R2 are triumphant. So are the Almurians. But they're still determinedly neutral, their leader warns Poe. Sure, sure...whatever you say, a grinning Poe replies. The Resistance needs more neutrals like them. R2 informs him that via the secret hyperspace communications channel that he has been told that the First Leader is no more and that Rey and Finn are all right. Rose.... Finn and R2 turn sober. They head back down to the surface of Almuria.

In the palace on Coruscant, the victorious uprising salutes Luke and Rey as they emerge from the palace into the surrounding area, which is littered with smoking fighting machines, etc. C3PO, brushing at himself, follows behind.

"I knew there was something familiar about that girl," he mutters.

Luke suddenly staggers, has to sit down up against a tree in the imperial park. A concerned Rey bends over him. He smiles. It's alright. Everything is alright now. The Force is, finally, in balance. She tells him he's going to be okay. He tells her he already is okay. There is, however, one small thing she has to do for him.

"What? Anything."

He smiles tiredly. "Just a little thing. Take care of the galaxy."

He looks toward the setting sun (one sun, this time). His smile widens. He stops breathing. No in-between existence this time. He whispers something.

"Aunt Beru."

And dies, eyes open, staring.

Holding back her sobs, Rey gently closes his eyes. C3PO is there to comfort her. What now? Is the First Order/Empire really finished? C3PO doesn't know. But he has seen a great deal, and if he has learned anything it is that nothing is ever, really, completely for certain. Reaching up, he touches her exposed skull portion. Has anyone told her lately how really beautiful she is? She sniffs, then starts to laugh, softly. Then her expression changes as she sees Finn, battered but alive, limping out of the smoking Imperial complex. He comes toward her and she rises to meet him.

C3PO shakes his head dolefully. "Organics. I'll never understand them."

We pull back as Finn hurries to embrace Rey, with C3PO behind them and Luke sitting peacefully, smiling, beneath the tree.

End

Note: This story follows upon the events of Ep. 8; expanding upon them, correcting certain errors, and filling in plot holes and without contradicting anything that appeared in the previous film. That which could not be corrected is passed over.