Star Wars Infinities

Star Wars Infinities is a group of four-part comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. The comics tell the stories of alternate histories to Star Wars Episodes IV-VI, therefore making them non-canonical, unlike most comics, which are considered canon. The individual Infinities stories are unrelated to one another.

Episode IV
The Infinities version of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope begins with the pivotal Battle of Yavin. Events begin to change when the torpedoes fired by Luke Skywalker experience a technical malfunction and fail to destroy the Death Star, but prevent the complete destruction of Yavin 4. Unable to fire a fully charged shot from the Death Star's superlaser, Grand Moff Tarkin orders the technicians to fire at reduced power, nearly leveling the Massassi Temple on the moon&#8217;s surface.

The Imperials send out a wing of TIE Fighters to pick off the remaining members of the Red Squadron. Luke, driven to near-insanity by the failure of the mission and the apparent destruction of Rebel base, turns his fighter to face the TIEs alone. Eventually, Han Solo convinces Luke to flee and the Millennium Falcon jumps into hyperspace with Luke&#8217;s X-Wing on its tail.

The Rebel forces attempt to flee the Yavin system, but are captured by the Imperials. The Rebel leaders are imprisoned on the Death Star to await execution, but Princess Leia taken to Coruscant, where she is put under house arrest at the Emperor&#8217;s residence, which was once the Temple of the Jedi Order. Once there, Darth Vader subtly begins Leia's training in the Dark Side of the Force.

When the Falcon dropped out of hyperspace and took Luke aboard, Luke and Han got into a fight when Luke accused Han of abandoning the Rebellion. The fight turned quickly violent and, in his anger, Luke drew his lightsaber and threatened to strike Han down. Before Luke could do so, the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared to Luke and warned him that he was slipping to the Dark Side. Obi-Wan then instructed Luke to go to Dagobah and seek out the Jedi Master Yoda. Han takes Luke to Dagobah, where he begins his training under Yoda&#8217;s tutelage. Later, Han left with Chewbacca to complete further repairs on the Falcon. While on Dagobah, Luke entered the mysterious cave as part of his training. There, he fought and killed a vision of Darth Vader, but was shocked when he saw that the face beneath the mask was that of Leia.

Several years passed and the story resumes when the Empire celebrates the fifth anniversary of the defeat of the Rebellion by renaming the Death Star the Justice Star and having it eclipse the sun over the capital as a symbol of everlasting peace. Leia, who is now a highly trained Sith Lady, convinces Palpatine to reinstate the Imperial Senate, which had been disbanded five years earlier. Han and Chewbacca, who had been slumming around the galaxy for five years, saw coverage of the anniversary while in a bar on Ord Mantell. Surprised that Leia was still alive and now a servant of the Empire, Han boarded the Falcon and headed back to Dagobah.

Back on Dagobah, Luke&#8217;s training was nearing completion. The last test that remained was the once again go into the dark cave. In the cave, Luke once again faced the shadow of Vader, but this time, he was able to overcome his fears and truly connect to the Force. Once he arrived, Han informed Luke of what had happened with Leia and the Empire and soon after, Yoda informed Luke of a pair of shocking truths: Darth Vader was his father and Leia was his sister.

The dénouement found Luke, Yoda, Han, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 flying the Falcon to Coruscant. Once there, the Falcon lands on the Justice Star where Yoda and R2 debark. Yoda confronts Tarkin, now an admiral, and takes control of him with a Jedi mind trick.

Meanwhile, Chewbacca flies the Falcon to the planet where Luke and Han attempt to infiltrate the Emperor&#8217;s palace. Once there, Luke and Han defeat a number of red-cloaked Imperial Guards and a reprogrammed C-3PO before confronting the Emperor and his two apprentices, Darth Vader and Leia Organa. At his master&#8217;s orders, Vader turned his lightsaber over to Leia so she could duel with Luke. Luke refused to kill Leia, but dueled with her all the same. Eventually, Luke was able to connect to Leia&#8217;s rational mind by revealing the fact that he was her brother. When the duel ended, the Emperor turned his rage on the twins, casting Force lightning at them. Before they could be killed, Vader attacked his master to save his children.

Luke, Leia, Han and 3PO were able to escape as the Emperor turned his power on Vader. They made it to the Falcon and escaped the planet. Just before Palpatine could kill Vader, Yoda, who was using R2 to control the orbit of the Justice Star, contacted the Emperor and announced that he was coming. Before the Emperor could escape the palace, the Justice Star crashed into the planet, obliterating the Emperor and his greatest weapon.

The story ends a few years later on an unidentified planet (possibly Naboo or Corellia). Leia has been proclaimed the Chancellor of the New Republic after the defeat of the Empire. R2&#8217;s old memory has been inserted into a new, identical body and has been reunited with 3PO. At the very end, the specters of Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin appear to Luke and Leia.

Part 1 was published on 5/2/01, Part 2 on 6/8/01, Part 3 on 9/19/01 and Part 4 on 11/21/01.

Episode V
The Infinities version of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back begins with Rebel Alliance setting up a new base on the remote ice world of Hoth. After escaping from a fearsome wampa ice monster, Luke sees the spirit of Obi-Wan instructing him to go to Dagobah and find the Jedi Master Yoda. Events begin to change when Han&#8217;s tauntaun dies before Han can find the missing Luke Skywalker. Unable to find Luke as quickly and with no way to keep him warm, Han is unable to save Luke from death by exposure. But before Luke&#8217;s death, the young Jedi imparts Obi-Wan&#8217;s message to Han.

Later, during the funeral for Luke, Han tells Leia that he has to go to Dagobah, believing that he is to train as Jedi. Just then, the Empire attacks and the Rebellion starts to evacuate Hoth. The Millennium Falcon, unable to effectively escape the Hoth System due to a malfunctioning hyperdrive, sets a course for Bespin, where Han hopes he can get repairs to the ship. Unbeknownst to Han, Darth Vader has hired a number of bounty hunters to follow the Falcon, including Boba Fett, who follows Falcon to Bespin.

Upon his arrival at Bespin, Han meets up with his gambling buddy Lando Calrissian. Casually laughing off Han&#8217;s claim that he&#8217;s going to become a Jedi, Lando agrees to repair the Falcon&#8217;s hyperdrive. When Lando returned to his office, he found Boba Fett sitting at his desk, demanding that Han, Leia, Chewbacca and 3PO be turned over to him. Lando craftily leads Fett into a trap where he ends up grappling with Han and Chewbacca and being knocked unconscious.

After the repairs were finished and the Falcon left Bespin, Lando returned to his office to admire his new desk, which had been constructed from a block of frozen carbonite containing Boba Fett. Unfortunately for Calrissian, Darth Vader&#8217;s ship arrived soon after the Falcon&#8217;s departure and demanded that the Rebels be turned over to him. Upon learning that the Falcon had already left, Vader ordered the destruction of Cloud City, killing every inhabitant.

Eventually, the Falcon arrives at Dagobah where Han is surprised that he is not to be trained as a Jedi, but Leia is instead. Yoda tells Leia that Luke was her brother and her father was Darth Vader. Han, determined to settle his debt with Jabba the Hutt, leave Leia on Dagobah to train with Yoda.

During the next several months, Han gathers together the money he needs to pay off Jabba, Leia trains with great fervor, and Darth Vader continues his search for Luke, not knowing the youth&#8217;s fate and dismissing rumors that Luke has died, insisting that he can still sense Luke&#8217;s presence.

Eventually, Han, Chewbacca and 3PO return to Tatooine to settle Han&#8217;s debt, but upon their arrival, they are captured by Jabba&#8217;s thugs. Han and Chewbacca are taken to Jabba&#8217;s palace where they are forced to do battle with two Nexu creatures that Jabba kept in a pit beneath his audience chamber. Han and Chewbacca were able to escape the pit with R2&#8217;s help, as were the Nexu, and wild creatures tore through Jabba&#8217;s palace in an orgy of chaos and destruction. In the confusion, Han and Chewbacca escaped, boarded a Hutt shuttlecraft and took off for the Falcon, which was docked at Mos Eisley.

Soon after Han&#8217;s departure, while Jabba was overseeing repairs to his palace (stating that Nexu were too wild and he would have to get something more controllable, like a Rancor), Vader arrived to question the gangster about Han&#8217;s presence there. Jabba did not know where Han had gone to, but Vader saw 3PO, his former creation, and demanded that the droid be turned over to him. Once he returned to his ship, Vader dismantled 3PO and forcibly extracted the information about Dagobah from the droid&#8217;s memory.

Back on Dagobah, Leia was just finishing her Jedi training. Yoda sends her on a mission to find a crystal for her lightsaber from a nearby cave (not the dark cave). During Leia&#8217;s absence, Vader arrives and confronts Yoda. Using his powers, Yoda delves deep into Vader&#8217;s psyche and confronts the man inside, Anakin Skywalker, who is surrounded by multiple layers of the Dark Side. During this unusual battle, Leia finds her crystal and receives and image of Vader confronting her master. In his mind, Anakin fought shadows of long-deceased Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu and Qui-Gon Jinn. During this confrontation, Vader learned of Luke&#8217;s death. The metaphysical battle ended when Vader was able to deliver a critical blow to Yoda, severing the diminutive Jedi&#8217;s lock on his mind.

Just then, Leia arrived and dueled with Vader. During the fight, Vader offered her the chance to join him and rule the galaxy at his side. Just before Vader could strike Leia down, Han and Chewbacca arrived, firing on Vader, killing him. Before Yoda died, he told Leia to pass what she had learned to others. Leia burned her father&#8217;s body on a funeral pyre before leaving with Han on the Falcon to join back up with the Rebels and save the galaxy.

Part 1 was published on 7/12/02, Part 2 on 8/28/02, Part 3 on 10/23/02 and Part 4 on 11/2/02.

Episode VI
The Infinities version of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi begins when Leia, posing as a bounty hunter, had infiltrated Jabba&#8217;s palace in an attempt to rescue Han Solo, who had been frozen in carbonite. Events begin to change when Jabba knocked 3PO off his dais and the droid was damaged beyond the point of functioning in the fall. With no translator, Leia was forced to reveal her true identity and threatened Jabba with a thermal detonator to release Solo to her.

All hell broke loose and during the ensuing carnage, Leia and Chewbacca were chasing Boba Fett, who was making an escape with the carbonite block containing Han. As Fett escaped, Leia fired on him, but missed and hit the carbonite block&#8217;s life support control panel. Unable to capture Fett, Leia, Chewbacca and Lando, who had infiltrated Jabba&#8217;s palace at an earlier time, escaped Jabba&#8217;s palace before the thermal detonator ignited and destroyed the complex. After reuniting with Luke, he promised Leia that they would continue their search for Han.

Back on Dagobah, Yoda was on his deathbed and could sense that Luke would not arrive before he died. Meanwhile, Luke was still on Tatooine, trying to get a lead on Boba Fett. Leia, Chewbacca and Lando had already left the planet to continue their search elsewhere. Suddenly, back on Dagobah, Yoda died and Luke sensed it through the Force, but he wasn&#8217;t the only one. The Emperor also sensed Yoda&#8217;s death and ordered Vader to Dagobah to investigate.

When Luke arrived on Dagobah, he was confronted by the specter of Yoda, who confirmed the truth of Vader&#8217;s claim of being Luke&#8217;s father and told truth him another secret, that Leia is his sister. Knowing that he could not let Leia face Vader, Luke resolved that he would have to face his father, despite the fact that he didn&#8217;t want to. He had R2 record a message for Leia and departed Dagobah, but just as he left orbit, a Stardestroyer dropped out of hyperspace. Before he could be captured, Luke had Artoo transmit another message to the Rebel fleet. After his capture, Vader took Luke to the second Death Star in orbit around the Endor moon. There, Luke was brought before the Emperor.

Meanwhile, Leia, Lando and Chewbacca got a lead on Fett, who was planning to rendezvous with Imperial officials to sell Han&#8217;s carbonite block to the Imperials. Leia intervened during the meeting and faced Fett in a spectacular battle of blaster fire, resulting in Fett&#8217;s death and Leia&#8217;s recovery of Han&#8217;s frozen body. They returned to the Rebel fleet, where medical technicians would thaw Han. After freeing him from the carbonite, the medic informed Leia that due to his long hibernation and the damage to the control unit, Han would suffer permanent blindness. Leia cared for Han while Lando prepared the Falcon for an impending assault on the Death Star that would commence once the station&#8217;s energy shield was destroyed by a Rebel unit that was already on the Endor moon.

Later, just before the Rebel fleet left for Endor, Leia received a transmission from Luke, stating that they were twins and the Darth Vader was their father. A second transmission from Luke told of his capture and a request that no rescue attempt be made. Despite this, Leia took Slave-1, which she has commandeered after Boba Fett&#8217;s death, and went strait to the Death Star to rescue Luke. Han figure this out and demanded that he accompany Lando and Chewbacca aboard the Falcon.

Leia arrived at the Death Star, but was soon captured and brought before the Emperor. Outside, the Rebel fleet was fighting the Imperial fleet, waiting for the ground assault team to take down the shield generator. Unfortunately, the battle between the Rebel and the Imperial ground forces disturbed the native Ewok warriors and the primitive creatures started attacking both sides.

Back in the Emperor&#8217;s throne room, Palpatine ordered Vader to strike Leia down. Luke took up his lightsaber and dueled with Vader fiercely. Leia tried to interfere, but the Emperor subdued her with Force lightning, allowing the battle between Luke and Vader to continue.

Meanwhile, Chewbacca was injured the Falcon&#8217;s gunner turret and Han, despite being blind, took his place. The Falcon flew down to Endor and Han has able to destroy the shield generator, thus allowing the Rebel fighters to enter the half-completed station. With the objective of the ground assault complete, Lando took the Falcon back to the Death Star to retrieve Luke and Leia.

Meanwhile, Luke continued to duel Vader, revealing to the Sith that both he and Leia were his children. Vader was stunned by the news, but the battle continued, ending with Vader nearly striking Luke down, but at the cost of one of his arms. Luke and Leia were defenseless at Vader&#8217;s feet, but was unable to strike down his own children, and surrendered, thus returning from the Dark Side.

During this intense battle, the Emperor escaped, so Luke and Leia, carrying their injured father, went down to the docking bay where the Falcon was waiting for them. They boarded and got off the station just before it exploded. Later, on the Rebel flagship, Mon Mothma conveyed to Luke the seriousness of the situation, that while the second Death Star was destroyed, the Emperor had escaped. Help was readily available as Anakin, clad in a life-support suit identical to that of Vader&#8217;s except in color (Anakin&#8217;s suit is white), agrees to help the Rebels find and stop the Emperor.

Part 1 was published on 11/26/03, Part 2 on 1/28/04, Part 3 on 3/3/04 and Part 4 on 3/31/04.