The rise of the Naboo politician Sheev Palpatine, to the rank of supreme Chancellor, had led
to the start of a war between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent systems.
With the amount of Jedi and clone troopers in battle, a deal had been struck between
Palpatine and the Jedi to provide them with Republic officers. One such officer was Wilhuff
Tarkin, also Governor of Eriadu, and he soon began serving under Jedi master Even Piell.
Upon one mission to secure the valuable Nexus route coordinates, Piell, Tarkin and a group
of clones had been captured to the Separatist planet of Lola Sayu, and the Jedi of Obi-Wan
Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano mounted a rescue. A group of Anoobas led by
Commandant Osi Sobeck fatally wounded Master Piell, and just before they reached the coordinates
from which they could be collected, Tarkin was attacked by Sobeck. Despite initially
wounding the warden, it appeared as if Tarkin was about to meet his death in the lava base,
when Ahsoka arrived to stab the commandant in the back. Tarkin continued to rise through
the ranks of Palpatine’s subsequent Empire, ruling the galaxy through fear, until his
demise aboard the Death Star battle station that he had taken great pride in. But what
if Ahsoka had never saved Tarkin? What would happen in his absence? As you are going to
discover, his premature death could have saved more lives, than just those on Alderaan…
As the Jedi and the surviving clone troopers fought off the droids and anoobas, Tarkin
had found himself in a duel with Sobeck, who had ambushed him from a single droid aerial
platform. Fives manages to knock the Phindian off of his vehicle, and Tarkin fired at his
fallen body before he could get up. Sobeck is not fatally hit by the bolts, and running
at Tarkin, he picks him up in the air by his throat, and threw him into the lava, just
before the Jedi could arrive to kill the commandant. Anakin and Obi-Wan lift the burnt corpse of
Tarkin, and the clones take him to their gunship, as the Jedi escape the area. Returning to
Coruscant, the Jedi are saddened by the loss of Master Piell, and the half of the Nexus
route coordinates kept by Tarkin, so Anakin has to explain the situation to Palpatine.
As the Jedi knight enters the office of his lifelong mentor, Palpatine greets him in the
usual amicable manner, and together they mourn the loss of Tarkin. Both admired his pursuit
of action to solve problems, unlike the Jedi, and the lack of the Nexus route coordinates
had hurt the chances of the Republic, to mount a surprise attack on the Separatists. After
Anakin had given his debrief of the mission and left his office, Palpatine was even more
furious at the Jedi for their failure to protect Tarkin. The Sith Lord had needed the coordinates
for Dooku to strike on Coruscant, and now he needed another option. The death of Tarkin
had also scuppered his plans for the construction of the Death Star, after the fall of the Jedi,
but he created the Special Weapons division in the strategic advisory cell, led by Commander
Krennic. With the death of Tarkin, Palpatine needed a new representative to lead the Republic
military, and believing that Anakin had demonstrated his loyalty, appoints him to serve as a link
between the Republic and the Jedi. The Council does not approve of the appointment, but is
forced to accept it due the powers of the senate, and his loyalties to the Jedi would
soon be tested to their fullest. The Jedi Temple had suffered one of its most damaging
moments, as its hangar had been bombed, and Anakin had been on the planet of Cato Neimoidia.
Called back to Coruscant on the orders of both the Council and Palpatine, the Chancellor
had been frustrated to discover that Anakin had not applied the Republic policy, of transferring
a non-Jedi prisoner into Republic custody, and Letta Turmond had since been kept in the
Temple. The Jedi knight entered into her cell, along side Ahsoka, as he had sensed suspicions
in the Force that the request for Turmond to see his padawan was not as innocent as
it seemed, and he had turned about to be correct. The suspect was Force choked in front of them,
and Anakin used his Force senses to feel a Force sensitive had just left the area. The
Temple’s alarms begin to go off, as the Council locks down every available exit, and
Ahsoka and Anakin trap a hooded figure in the Temple courtyard. As Master Tera Sinube
looked on along with his Jedi initiates, the three Jedi battled across the complex, until
Anakin used the Force to rip the hood off of the assailant, to reveal Barriss Offee.
There was no escape for the Jedi, who had tried to send a message to the Jedi for their
role in this political war. The trial of Barriss Offee shook the Jedi Order, and the protests
outside of the Temple made them consider pulling out of the war, so Yoda talks to Palpatine.
The Chancellor is shocked to hear the Jedi’s admission, but due to several agreements put
in place throughout the war, and Anakin’s ties to the Republic, nothing could be done
until the Separatists had been defeated. Reluctantly, Yoda trudges back to the Temple, but not before
Ahsoka is made a Jedi knight, and Anakin had been promoted to the rank of master. If they
were to continue the war, they would find a way to subdue the Sith.
That is it for part 1 what if Ahsoka never saved Tarkin. If you’d like to see a part
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