Saga Lucas Quotes and Interviews about the starwars saga.

Hey im interested in what lucas has said about people hating jar jar and what he thinks of it all and everything, and anything about what he has said about jar jar after the release of episode I and the hatred towards him. So is there any quots there about that?

Also what he has said about tons of people hating the love story in episode II. Im interested what he thinks about people hating the things he does

Hey im interested in what lucas has said about people hating jar jar and what he thinks of it all and everything, and anything about what he has said about jar jar after the release of episode I and the hatred towards him. So is there any quots there about that?


From an article from TIME, back during AOTC's run in theaters in 2002, posted by Jedi_Ford_Prefect in this thread?

Lucas blames the anti-Jar Jar sentiment on "37-year-old guys who spend all their time on the Internet. But you have to remember that when we did The Empire Strikes Back, some people hated C-3PO. When we did Jedi, they just loathed the Ewoks. There was no Internet to jazz it up, but there was the same conversation. Fans are very opinionated, and that's good. But I can't make a movie for fans." Nonetheless, Jar Jar has a far less prominent role this time. In movie theaters you will hear a cheer from Binks-ophobes when, as he launches into an anecdote, Padme cursorily cuts him off.



Im interested what he thinks about people hating the things he does


From quotes posted previously in this thread?

"Right or wrong this is my movie, this is my decision, and this is my creative vision, and if people don't like it, they don't have to see it."
--George Lucas

I'm very proud of all the movies I made. I am very happy with everything I've done. I like to watch my movies. Some of them work. Some of them don't. Some of them people like, most of them they don't.
And that's all right with you?


It is all right because I like making movies. I like the process. I like trying out new ideas, and if they don't work, they don't work. That's the reason I generated the money in the first place, to be able to try things. That's where I spend my money.

Big-screen industry wags say Phantom Menace will outgross Titanic, plus resuscitate a moribund toy industry; it's now a foregone conclusion you'll have a $100 million opening weekend.

I've never got that involved in the success side of these things. My hope is that the film makes enough money so that I can make a new one. But I don't judge my movies by how well the public accepts them. My own yardstick is, How much have I enjoyed the process and am I proud of the results?

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4548589.stm :


Star Wars receives world premiere

By Caroline Briggs
BBC News entertainment reporter in Cannes


The final instalment in the Star Wars saga has received its world premiere as the stars of the movie flocked to the Cannes Film Festival.

Director George Lucas and his cast, including Natalie Portman and Samuel L Jackson, turned out for the gala.

Thousands of fans greeted the guests as Stormtroopers lined the red carpet.

Earlier Lucas admitted his films have distinct sets of fans - the over 25s loyal to the first three films and the under 25s who adored the two prequels.

"They are always at each others throats about it," he told a press conference at the festival.

Earlier he was honoured with the Festival Prize to mark his enduring career at a ceremony aboard the Queen Mary II cruise ship.

Among guests at the premiere were US actresses Sharon Stone and Eva Longoria, of Desperate Housewives fame, and Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia.

At the earlier press conference, Lucas responded to criticism of the last two films - The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones - saying they had found their own following.

"The older ones are loyal to the first three films I made, and they are the ones in control of the media.

"The films that these people don't like - which are the first two prequels - are fanatically adored by the under 25s."

Lots of freedom

Samuel L Jackson was also at the press conference to support the movie, in which he plays Jedi Mace Windu.

He likened Lucas to Quentin Tarantino, who directed him in previous Palme d'Or winner Pulp Fiction.

He said: "They both give me a lot of freedom to do what I want to do.

"They know I'm going to come with a lot of things to do the best job I can.

"They are both guys who know exactly what they want to do, and how they want it done, and explain that very clearly.

He added: "They are almost the same guy, but one of them is loud and the other one is not."
Revenge of the Sith completes the second trilogy in the Star Wars saga, which began 28 years ago with the ground-breaking original film.

It is the prequel to the original 1977 Star Wars and completes the story of how Anakin Skywalker was drawn to the dark side of The Force.

Lucas said he never intended for there to be six films.

Back story

"The other sequels were the result of an over-anxious press," he said.

"The original intention was to make three, and that was really the end of it.

"It was not until 10 years after the first that I thought of doing a back story."
The franchise has been one of the biggest in cinematic history, with the first five films taking in excess of £1.8bn.

The film has its UK premiere in London on Monday, before going on general release worldwide on 19 May.

I have found a *very* interesting interview with GL in a newspaper of Berlin. Need a few days to translate it, though.

Alrik.

Despite people's efforts, this thread is missing quite a bit of recent stuff. Here are some recent GL interviews online:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7314866
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.05/lucas.html
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.05/lucasqa.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/17/star.wars.overview/index.html
http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/film/features/feature_1115643931
http://www.gotriad.com/article/view/15364/1/15/

But I think we're still missing quite a bit. Can anyone provide stuff GL has said in this year about the SW galaxy itself: perhaps the origin of the Jedi and Sith, stormtroopers in the Empire, the nature of the Force?

"(when asked about Artoo and Threepio not having memories of Tatooine) -

That will all be coming up. There's a lot of little things that'll be cleared up. The other one that gets asked a lot is why doesn't Qui-Gon disappear like everybody else? That's a plot point that centres around Obi-Wan saying to Vader/Anakin in the first one, "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." There is an issue about the Force and that will be revealed ... There's a lot of things that will be explained more. Some of it is important plot stuff - the Qui-Gon one is, 3PO isn't.
- Empire Magazine 07/99"

They never explain about R2 and 3PO. For 3PO, I just figured he was oblivious. He was on the ship with the Princess (in the original) and he doesn't even know who she is (just that she is important).

They also don't fully explain about Qui Gon disapearing (or not disapearing).

Translation from the German language into the English language of an Interview with George Lucas that appeared in the Newspaper ?Berliner Zeitung?, Number 114 from Mai, 19, 2005.
Interviewer : Jens Balzer.
Translator : Alrik Fassbauer (Internet Name).

Jens Balzer : And now ? Are you relieved that everything is over ? Or sad because you had to say goodbye ?

George Lucas : Relieved. Because the film had been accepted friendly, in the USA and in Cannes and now here in Berlin. Und because I believe that now the people will finally understand that everything I had been making until now were just chapters - that we wanted to tell a great story which is now ended.

Jens Balzer : When I was ten years old and in the Krieg-der-Sterne - discussion club [Annotation of the Translator : ?Krieg der Sterne? is the German title of ?Star Wars?], around the year 1979, then we were all firmly believing that George LKucas wanted to film a nine-part saga, parted into three trilogies: so that the middle part we had just seen would be followed by a prequel and by a sequel ...

George Lucas : ... oh, I can remember that I had been quoted this way. But I have never said it.

Jens Balzer : That wasn?t truue what we had believed then ?

George Lucas : I?m sorry. What I had in mind in the first time was filming these three movies ... no, actually I wanted to film one movie. the tragical story of Darth Vader.
In the beginning he should have appeared as a monster; in the middle part the monster should reveal itself as the father of the hero - and at the end of the movie as the true hero himself.
But the idea was too complex, to be contained in one movie; however, no matter how I piut the pieces [parts] together, I didn?t get a story which could be told in two hours.
So I made three parts of it, and when the third part was finished [ended], this thing was [also] finished for me. I retired, grew up my children, and meanwhile produced only a few films ...
and as I wanted to direct again in the middle of the nineties, I had several small movies in my mind with no bound themes. But meanwhile the technical possibilities had advanced so far that I was able to tell the prequel of the ?first? trilogy, so I became interested.

Jens Balzer : Why were better technical possibilities needed ? The prequel [story] takes place in the past, where the technology isn?t so much advanced ...

George Lucas : Yes, it takes place in the past, but - and this is the special point - it takes place in the centre of the galaxy. The first Star Wars movies had been positioned by intention so that they took place in the [outer] rim of the galaxy: On some planets on the outer rim of civilization, on desert- and jungle worlds, within outcasts and rebels. So no special costumes were needed, and no great cities had to be displayed, no great numbers of humans and aliens.
To tell the prequel [story], one had to go back into the centre of power, where it was about interest conflics of different fractions and peoples ... even all these aliens couldn?t be displayed like Yoda in the first films, like puppets.

Jens Balzer : So the story followed only the technical possibilities ?

George Lucas : No, no, it also was a matter of contents. I didn?t like that after the first trilogy Vader wasn?t realized as a tragical figure, but as an icon of evil. The reason lied partially in the fact that the story had been broken into three parts, so the tragical part became a bit too short against [in comparison with] the space razzle-dazlle. After that I actually [explicitely] wanted to show that the whole story was about Darth Vader and not about Luke Skywalker.

Jens Balzer : And there was no voice in your mind telling you : You must tell the people how it goes on with Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa ?

George Lucas : No, why ? They are going home and sit down watching TV.

Jens Balzer : Really ?

George Lucas : Yes, these are completely boring characters ... Leia ... well, Leia, she?s marrying Han Solo and becomes a housewife and gets some children; and Han Solo sits a

Thank you, Alrik. Stuff there about what happens after Episode VI I've never heard before.

Here's the 2005 Vanity Fair article: http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/printables/050131roco03?print=true

Ah, thanks.

What is the meaning of all the hands, arms, legs, and heads being chopped off in the films that have emerged from Lucas's brain?

"That's what happens," he says, "when you play with swords."

Finally, we get an answer!


Stuff there about what happens after Episode VI I've never heard before.

Hehe, Lucas will say anything to make us not want to see any more Star Wars movies.

Does anyone have a quote, BTW, about what was originally intended for Luke's sister, who was not Leia, in the last trilogy? Was Luke supposed to train her or was she supposed to have been trained by a Jedi on the other side of the galaxy?
I've heard both versions from fans, but never anything official.



Lucas rules
/LM

this thread is awesome. good work all

there really is no reason for 7,8, and 9

although i guess it will never happen, i would really love to see a fil set in the KOTOR times or during the Jedi and Sith war with the emergence of the Republic

we can only dream i suppose

Okay! I just finished going through "The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" and collecting little quotes and stories that I thought might be of interest.
I've divided them into three categories: those that refer to the story, those that refer to the making of Star Wars and those that refer to moviemaking in general.
I have probably missed a few good ones(I skipped a few semi-interesting ones too), but I think I got most of it. Some of it will be other people than Lucas, BTW.
Enjoy!



About the story


January 31, 2003

(p 40)
(Lucas, upon spotting the ghost of Qui-Gon on a concept painting by Tiemens "We never see the ghost of Qui-Gon; he's not that accomplished. He's able to retain his personality, but he's not able to become a corporeal ghost."

(p 41)
LUCAS: "Obi-Wan always had a suspicion about Anakin. In the beginning, he didn't want Anakin to become a Jedi. He thought what Qui-Gon was doing was wrong. But the Jedi Council let Anakin in and they made him Obi-Wan's padawan. Then, over the years, he lived with this kid - they fought together and they worked together, so they have a very strong bond now. So Obi-Wan is supporting Anakin because they're friends. He's been seduced by his closeness to the situation."

LUCAS: "Palpatine has told Dooku, 'I have somebody who I think will become a great Sith Lord and I think we can get him to join us. But we need to test him. So we're going to set up a situation where you fight him. If he gets the best of you, then I'll stop the fight and he'll have passed the test. If you get the best of him, then we'll let him go, and we'll let him stew for a few more years until he's ready.' But behind it, obviously, is Palpatine's real intention: If Anakin is good enough, Anakin can kill Dooku and become Palpatine's new apprentice. But he didn't tell Dooku that."


April 13, 2003

(p 52)
LUCAS: "This is the point where Anakin has to make a decision. His rationalization is: 'Everybody is after power. Even the Jedi are after power.' Therefore, he thinks, 'They're all equally corrupt now. So which side am I going to be on? Do I align myself with Palpatine, who is a Sith Lord and who can possibly help me save Padmé? Or do I side with the Jedi and maybe lose Padmé?'"

(p 53)
LUCAS: "The thing that breaks Padmé's heart in the end is the fact that Anakin says to her, 'Come and join me. I have all the power now. I can rule the universe and you can do it with me.' So the idea of saving her life has become a minor issue. And that's when she says, 'Wait a minute. This is not what I want and you're not the guy I fell in love with!'"

"What drove me to make these movies is that this is a really interesting story about how people go bad. In this particular case, the premise is: Nobody thinks they're bad. They simply have different points of view. This is about a kid that's really wonderful. He has some flaws - and those flaws ultimately do him in.
"The core issue, ultimately, is greed, possessiveness - the inability to let go. Not only to hold on to material things, which is greed, but to hold on to life, to the people you love - to not accept the reality of life's passages and changes, which is to say things come, things go. Everything changes. Anakin becomes emotionally attached to things, his mother, his wife. That's why he falls - because he does not have the ability to let go."


June 30, 2003

(p72)
George remarks to Rob Coleman that the story of Star Wars is actually recounted by R2-D2 to the Keeper of the Whills, one hundred years after Return of the Jedi. Journal of the Whills is what Lucas titled his first outline of Star Wars back in 1972.


July 7, 2003

(p 79)
On the set, Christensen and Lucas are discussing Anakin's temperament when he returns to Padmé's apartment after slaughtering Jedi at the temple.
"Do you think there's more or less a sense of urgency?" Christensen asks.
"You're full of adrenaline because, one, you've spent the whole night killing people and, two, the situation is not goo

He really is a brilliant man.

Proof that Lucas gives his actors direction.

Whether you agree or disagree with Lucas on how he did the prequels, I have to say whenever I read any interviews with him they are utterly fascinating.

He has to do more interviews about the prequels, because I think he does alot of things in these movies that either go right over peoples heads or are totally misinterpreted. This is a really good thread.

One negative: He was thinking of Qui-Gon in the final scene in ROTJ with Yoda, Anakin and Kenobi? The guy was not mentioned once in Episodes IV, V, and VI! Luke would have been like, "Hey, is that the guy from Schindlers List?" THANK GOD he didn't do that. Please George don't tamper with the originals anymore!

i agree the quotes are facinating

he needs to compile all these things and write a book

He was thinking of Qui-Gon in the final scene in ROTJ with Yoda, Anakin and Kenobi?

As the quote says, he was joking(also, remember that Qui-Gon can't become a ghost). He didn't seem to be joking, however, about reshooting some of Episode IV on the Tantive IV set. I don't know if they ever did that, though. It was never mentioned any further in the book.



Lucas is a genius
/LM

Upping for current discussion.

the Empire Strikes back.

story treatment by George Lucas.

11/28/77

Open on the bleak white planet of Hoth. Luke is riding across the windswept ice slopes on a large snow lizard (taun taun) He reins* up on the shaggy two legged creature when he spots something on the horizon; a strange ice formation, or meatorite hit. Luke talks into his walkie-talkie which is on his helmet. He lifts his snow goggles as he says "Han, ol buddy everythings OK here, but I saw a glint on the next ridge, and I want to check it out." Over the com link we hear Han say "OK but don't take too long kid, nite storms comming up." Luke says a few kind words to his lizzard, sinks his spurrs in, and the beast leaps forward. He rides over the ridge when suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant snow creature jumps up in front of him, causing the lizzard to rear back and throw Luke to the icy ground. the monster grabs the taun taun by its neck, killing the poor lizzard, then bashes Luke in the face. Unconscious, covered with blood the young warrior from tatooine is dragged across the snow by the horrible snow monster.

Han Solo rides his snow lizzard into a huge, beautiful but eerie ice cave and dismounts from his tauntaun. Its a big hanger for the rebel fleet, there is a lot of activity as troops and robots batter* down the space ships. Leia is in some kind of control area near the main hanger deck. Han walks passed workmen blasting corridor off the main hanger, and reinforcing things with metal gurters. He enters the control room and Leia asks where Luke is. Han tells her, that Luke wanted to look at an ice formation and would be delayed. He says " the whole planet is safe, and deserted, nothing out there, and the empire will never find us here." He's boasting about the whole thing. "now that things are set, I'm leaving." he Explains to the princess, which upsets her, and she becomes angry, icy as the cave. He says he must pay an old debt, or he will be hunted down.

R-2 + 3P0 are in the control room in same area, they comment on the environment, on weather the empire will find them, and R-2 is slightly concerned that Luke isnT back yet. Han leaves the control room and Leia stormes off after him. the robots comment on Han leaving.

the princess and the Pirate meet in one of the ice corridors outside the control room. Han Explains the reason he has to go, important. He has no choice. It's a mission that he must go off and complete at the end of the film. Han comes on to Leia, but she won't have much to do with it. She stays aloof of the whole situation and doesn't have time to fall in love. She rejects Han as a rogue, and puts him in his place, but she gets a sparkle in her eye, and is slightly attracted to Han.

In the ice monsters lare*, Luke is in trouble. He regains consciousness and uses the Force for escape. He's fumbling with the use of the force. it's not very strong with him, (visualized through para psyapsyie* aspects.) the ice monster is always vague, and mysterious. Luke fingers a talsman around his neck, and talks about Ben to himself. He feels he must go to the planet described on Ben's talsman. Luke finally shows up at the base and explains the monsters, and danger. the rebels argue about thier safety, some think they may be able to control them, as they have the taun tauns. they have a discussion about the danger of the Empire finding them if they move again. In the process of this argument Luke is taken to a medical area. he has been beaten and battered quite a bit by now.

In the recovery room Leia takes care of Luke. he is obviously in love with her, and he tries to Express this to her. Leia says she can't love him, job etc, but gives him a sentimental kiss. this tenderness is broken by the enterting of Han and the robots, also Chewie. Discussion about Han leaving and concern about the Empire, and the snow creature. Han and Leia exchange a few snappy one-liners; He putting her on, and she putting him down, Luke is generally confused by all of this. The robots make humoros comments about it all. Luke tells Leia he must also g

Lucas interviews, 1977:

?In the Old Republic, all the systems sent their representatives to the Senate. It wasn?t an Imperial Senate; it was a Republican Senate, which made the decisions that controlled the Republic. There were 24, 372 systems in the Galactic Senate. The Senate would vote in a Chancellor or an overseer who would work for four years as the leader of the executive branch of the the Republic. You were only supposed to be able to run for one four-year term?you were only eligible for one term.
What happened was one of the Chancellors began subverting the Senate and buying off the Senators with the help of some of the large intergalactic trade companies and mining companies. Through their power and money, he bought off enough of the senate to get himself elected to a second term, because of a crisis. By the time the third term came along, he had corrupted so much of the Senate that they made him Emperor for the rest of his life.
Giving the Emperor that title for life and doing away with the elective processs was all done with a lot of rationalizing. Many in the Senate felt that having elections and changing leaders in the time of an emergency disrupted the bureaucratic system. And the bureaucracy was getting to be so big that changing leaders made it impossible to have any effect on the system and make it work?moreover, the bureaucracy was running amok and not paying attention to the rulers. So they reasoned that the Emperor could bring the bureaucracy back into line. So the Emperor took control of the bureaucracy. The Galactic Senate would meet for a period that was similar to a year, but after it became the Imperial Senate, the meetings were less and less frequent until finally the meetings were only once a year, and they were very short.
With the bureaucracy behind the Emperor, it was impossible and too late for the Senate to do anything. He had slowly manipulated things; in fact, it was he who let the bureaucracy run amok and therefore had blackmailed the Senate into doing things because he was the only one who really had any power over the bureaucracy. It was so large there was no way to get things done, but he knew the right people; the key people in the bureaucracy were working for him and were paid by the companies.
When he became Emperor, a little over half the Senate as it turned out was not involved, was not corrupted?and they reacted strongly against the whole thing. There was a rebellion in terms of the Senate against the Emperor; they tried to oust him legally and have him impeached. But many of the Senators who were fighting the Emperor at that time mysteriously died. The Jedi Knights were alerted immediately and they rallied to the Senate?s side. But there was a plot afoot and when the Jedi finally rallied and tried to restore order, they were betrayed and eventually killed by Darth Vader.?

?When the Jedi tried to restore order, Darth Vader was still one of the Jedi. What he would do is catch the Jedi off-guard and, using his knowledge of the Force, he would kill the Jedi without them realizing what was happening. They trusted him and they didn't realize he was the murderer who was decimating their ranks. At the height of the Jedi, there were several hundred thousand. At the time of the Rebellion, most of them were killed. The Emperor had some strong forces rally behind him, as well, in terms of the army and the Imperial forces that he'd been building up secretly. The Jedi were so outnumbered that they fled and were tracked down. They tried to regroup, but they were eventually massacred by one of the special elite forces led by Darth Vader. Eventually, only a few, including Ben and Luke's father, were left. Luke's father is named Annikin.?

anything else?

Not a quotation from Lucas, but this comes from his first ever film, "Look at Life":

"Hate stirreth up strife, while love coverth all sins."

It's exactly one minute long, featuring images of scenes of mass unrest in the 1960's, the era in which it was made. The quoted line is derived from the Bible and is the only narration heard in the film. If ever there was a distilled "Look at Lucas", this is it, I think.

"Hate stirreth up strife, while love coverth all sins."

Darth-Stryphe should consider quoting that in his signature.

o ya, and:

Prologue

The Clone Wars
by George Lucas

For a thousand years, the Old Republic prospered and grew under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the venerable Jedi Knights. But as often happens when wealth and power grow beyond all reasonable proportion, an evil fueled by greed arose. The massive organs of commerce mushroomed in power, the Senate became corrupt, and an ambitious named Palpatine was voted Supreme Chancellor. Most disturbingly, the Dark Lords of the Sith reappeared, after a thousand years of seeming absence.

In the midst of this turmoil, a separatist movement was formed under the leadership of the charismatic former Jedi Count Dooku. by promising an alternative to the corruption and greed that was rotting the Republic from within, Dooku was able to persuade thousands of star systems to secede from the Republic. Unbeknownst to most of his followers, Dooku was himself a Dark Lord of the Sith, acting in collusion with his master, Darth Sidious, who, over the years, had struck an unholy alliance with the greater forces of commerce and their private droid armies.

The turning point came when Count Dooku lured the unsuspecting Jedi into a trap on the desolate planet of Geonosis. Having just discovered the existence of a clone army that had been secretly commissioned for the Republic ten years earlier, the Jedi were well prepared whenthey confronted the Separatists on Geonosis, but their victory in thatheated battle was pyrric. It would prove to be merely the opening salvo in a war that would spread like fire across the galaxy and engulf thousands of star systems in the legendary Clone Wars.

Having already been granted emergency powers in the face of the growing threat, Chancellor Palpatine used his ironclad grip on the Senate to seize even greater authority, all in the name of security. To address the urgent military needs of the Republic, he enlisted the Jedi Knights as generals to command the Clone Army. The Jedi valiantly accepted their assignment, though never having served as military commanders, they were unaccustomed to the wages of war. Their ranks, once sufficient to serve as the guardians of peace and justice, were spread periously thin in the face of this unthinkable challenge. Their relationship with Palpatine grew strained. At the same time, they felt their own power waning even as their most promising new apprentice completed his training and stood poised to fulfill his destiny as the Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force.

The Clone Wars raged for years, tearing the Republic apart and spawning countless tales of heroism, bravery, treachery, and betrayal as both sides fought to defend their ideals. As dedicated as the Separatists were in their resolve to create a new order to replace the failing Republic, the Jedi were equally determined to preserve the Republic and defeat the Sith, who they understood all too well were the masterminds of the Separatist movement. They still believed in the Republic, still deemed it a Republic worth saving. Their faith, which gave them superhuman strength in the face of mind-boggling power of the enemy, had yet to be shaken.



this is exactly what was in the shatterpoint book. it never said 'three long years' like some people have said.

also interesting is this:


The Star Wars
Story Synopsis
14 Pages
May 1973
THE STAR WARS
Story Synopsis
BY
GEORGE LUCAS

A
LUCASFILM LTD.
FILM


May, 1973









Deep Space.

The eerie blue-green planet of Aquilae slowly drifts into view. A small speck, orbiting the planet, glints in the light of a near by star.

Suddenly a sleek fighter-type spacecraft settles ominously into the foreground moving swiftly toward the orbiting speck. Two more fighters silently maneuver into battle formation behind the first and then three more craft glide into view. The orbiting speck is actually a gargantuan space fortress which dwarfs the approaching fighters. Fuel pods are jettisoned. The six fighters break off into a power dive attack on the huge fortress. Lazer bolts streak from the fighters creating small explosions on the complex surface of the fort. Return fire catches one of the fighters and it bursts into a million pieces. Another of the craft plows into a gun emplacement jutting from the fortress causing a hideous series of chain reaction explosions. The chaos of battle echoes through the vastness of space.

It is the thirty-third century, a period of civil wars in the galaxy. A rebel princess, with her family, her retainers, and the clan treasure, is being pursued. If they can cross territory controlled by the Empire and reach a friendly planet, they will be saved. The Sovereign knows this, and posts a reward for the capture of the princess.

She is being guarded by one of her generals, (Luke Skywalker) and it is he who leads her on the long and dangerous journey that follows. They take along with them two hundred pounds of the greatly treasured "aura spice", and also two Imperial bureaucrats, whom the general has captured.

The two terrified, bickering bureaucrats crash land on Aquilae while trying to flee the battle of the space fortress. They accidently discover a small container of the priceless "aura spice" and are rummaging around the rocks pushing and pulling each other trying to find more when they are discovered by Luke Skywalker and taken to his camp.

The princess and the general are disguised as farmers, and the bureaucrats join their party with the intention of stealing their "land speeder" and "aura spice". It doesn't take them too long to realize the general isn't a farmer and that they are captives about to embark on a dangerous mission. The two bureaucrats are essentially comic relief inserted among the general seriousness of the adventure.

The small group in their sleek, white, two-man "land speeders" travel across the wastelands of Aquilae, headed for the space port city of Gordon, where they hope to get a spacecraft that will take them to the friendly planet of Ophuchi.

At a desolate rest stop, the rebels are stopped and questioned by an Imperial patrol. Apparently satisfied, the captian lets the group continue on their way, but a short distance into the wilderness, they are attacked by the patrol. The Imperial patrol of twelve men is no match for the incredibly skilled and powerful general, who makes short work of the enemy.

One of the two-man "speeders" is destroyed in the fight and the bureaucrats must ride on the back of the remaining one, which slows the group down considerably. They drive into a storm, run low on food and water, but eventually make it to the ruin of a religious temple. In the temple they discover a rebel band of ten boys (aged 15 to 18) who are planning an attack on one of the Imperial outposts. The boys laugh in anticipation of the blow they will strike the Empire in the name of the princess. They all stop laughing, but the laughing continues and they look around in consternation. Into the sanctuary ambles Skywalker, scratching himself, amused at the idealism of the youths. He barely glances at them. The contrast between the boy rebels with their terse nods, their meaningful glances, and Skywalker, a real general, a real man could not be greater. The boys plead to join the party to protect the princess, but the general refuses,