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Spoiler: Author Notes Last Jedi trailer, and got to thinking how they could make a more unique Star Wars story. Inspired by the wonderful world of rational fiction, and



Here's a game: spot the famous Star Wars quotes/titles I put in. There are three, not counting quoting Yoda, that I remembered putting in. Winner gets a funny picture. I watched thetrailer, and got to thinking how they could make a more unique Star Wars story. Inspired by the wonderful world of rational fiction, and Fulcon 's headcannon here . It really makes so much sense. Also read his story, it's great.Here's a game: spot the famous Star Wars quotes/titles I put in. There are three, not counting quoting Yoda, that I remembered putting in. Winner gets a funny picture.

Vaguely rational oneshot. It's my first time, please be gentleAs Rey looked out at the ruins of Dantooine, she couldn’t help but think “Why?” Why such devastation, for no comprehensible goal. Had the cult attacked for some greater purpose, that would be understandable. But she had searched through their files, that was how she learned of the attack and managed to set up the ambush. There was no purpose, the destruction was literally senseless.A hacking cough brought her attention to the crippled man behind her. The man behind all of this. Spilling out of his broken hover chair, ornate robes scorched and in pieces, and pale skin exposed to the sun for what was probably the first time in years. Rey activated her lightsaber and prepared to finish this war.“You want to know why, don’t you? I can see it...”Rey hesitated. Snokes was incredibly dangerous. Not merely because of his power, but because of his intelligence. Schemes within schemes, acting through pawns…it would be best to kill him before he could manipulate her. He was smarter and very experienced, she gained nothing from listening and only put herself at risk. And yet she hesitated. It was that accursed curiosity, that which Master Luke had warned her of and which led so many others to the Dark Side.“You are lucky you are born when you were. *cough* The Jedi never accepted anyone who actually thinks.” Snokes continued wryly. There wasn’t a hint of his poisonous charm this time. He almost seemed genuine…like a sad old man whose life work had just fallen apart.And that was why he was dangerous, Rey reminded herself. A perfect liar…nothing he said could be taken as evidence for anything. Which begs the question of why she was still here, listening.“I never agreed that curiosity was bad, but if this is where it leads perhaps I was wrong.” Rey replied, not really believing it herself. That was the one lesson of Master Luke’s she had never truly learned, as he was wont to remind her.Snokes snorted. “This? This was not my goal. This was an experiment.”Reys mind began to race. An experiment? On what? What did he learn. Stop, think. What do I know? What am I confused about? Several hundred Dark Side cultists and thousands of troops slipped past Dantooine’s defenses and massacred the colonist, before bombing all the infrastructure they could get to. What could that be an experiment for? An experiment implies a hypothesis. Was he testing whether a Jedi was stronger than those cultists? Perhaps, but if so this was a poor experiment. The local militia numbered in the tens of thousands at least, not to mention Republic reinforcements. Her actions were comparatively little. So that had a rather low probability. It’s possible Snokes is a poor scientist, but given his intelligence that is unlikely. A test for the Dark Side cultists supporting troops against Republic forces? But then why come himself? Why spend all his forces on one attack?A chuckle interrupted her thoughts. “Or perhaps experiment was not the right term. Maybe demonstration.”Oh. Oh, that’s very bad. Are there more cultists? How many? The records showed the original group was 300, all trained in a batch by Snokes. If they take, say, ten years to train…for twenty-eight years since the empire fell…worst case scenario there could be 27 million cultists. Oh force…“Yes…this is what the Force leads to.”What?“You do not understand, I see… *cough* tell me, what is the Force?”“It’s…an energy, that flows through and binds all things.” Rey repeated the frustratingly vague explanation Master Luke had given her.Snokes raised a disappointed eyebrow. Rey felt irrationally embarrassed, as if she had missed some obviously valuable piece of scrap. “What type of energy? What does it do? How does it work? Can your definition of the Force allow us to actually predict anything?”Rey remained silent.“These are the questions I have dedicated my life to, and my study led to my…well, that’s too long a story in the time I have left, isn’t it?”Rey frowned, and looked closer at him. Without his hoverchair, Snokes seemed almost frail. The Dark corruption she had seen on the cultist’s bodies ran rampant in him…his limbs were shriveled, and she understood. He was dying.“Ah yes, you see. The price of my research. I have learned much, uncovered the truth…but it is too late for me now. I lack the strength to save the galaxy.”Save the galaxy? Is he delusional? If so, how has he not shown any sign of it until now? She supposed he may still be delusional give what she has observed, given his acting skill.“What do you know about droids?”Rey blinked in shock at the sudden change in topic. Droids? She happened to know quite a lot but what does that have to do with…some sort of malevolent AI? According to the singularity hypothesis, a smart enough droid intelligence would be an unstoppable threat to life in the galaxy, and if that was coming about…she needed more information, and to get it she would have to play along.“They are artificial intelligences. They are fitted with restraining devices, physical and digital, and undergo periodic memory wipes. There are strict laws limiting their intelligence.”“Yes, but?”Why?“A smart enough unfettered droid would be an existential risk to the galaxy.”Snokes gave a slight smirk at that. “Why?”Why? Well, because…He continued, “Why would a droid be a danger? If it was programmed to help people and save lives, couldn’t it be benevolent? It’s not like we don’t know how to do this, the science of droid intelligence is well understood. Additionally, from a military standpoint, a droid superintelligence would be anadvantage. Why has no one taken advantage of it, even the Separatists who relied on droids and had no reason to follow Republic law?” Snokes descended into a coughing fit, hacking up blood onto his tattered robes.“I suppose there were cultural pressures…” But even as she said it, Rey knew she was failing to answer the question. Her explanation was poor, and now that the problem was pointed out she couldn’t unsee it. How had she never noticed this? How had so many geniuses of the past overlooked it? She had to know.Snokes took a deep breath, visibly forcing the coughs down. “Cultural pressures greater than such a bloody war? Hardly. Let’s go back to my first question, but more specific. How do we use the Force?”“A Force-sensitive intuitively finds the connection to the Force in themselves, and exerts their will over it…like a command in a computer, but not quite because the Force interprets their intent. The more specific the command, the closer they get is to what they want. To use it effectively requires incredible discipline or desire.”“Everyone is Force sensitive.”That’s true but…what does pointing it out mean? She is supposed to be seeing something, but she just can’t.Snokes continued, “Everyone is Force sensitive, just to different degrees. They exert their will on the Force. What is one thing all organic species have come to fear?”“Death?” Rey said questioningly. She wasn’t confident in that. This didn’t seem like a lead up to a grand appeal for immortality, as nice as that would be.“Yes, that’s one of them, and the Force answered it in a way…but there is another. Change. All life has evolved to fear change, and what it brings. So I ask you: why are droids so limited?”Rey understood, and felt as if cool water was running down her spine. She knew what this meant, but didn’t want to acknowledge it. Not for the first time she regretted her curiosity and quick mind, making her unable to forget what she has realized no matter how unpleasant.“We fear change. We fear the change a superintelligent droid could bring.”Snokes gave a wry smile. “Not just droids. Why areso limited? Cybernetic body parts, brain interfaces, droid programs…why has there been no research into changing? We have had five thousand years of prosperity and scientific advancement,And yet, we are the same hairless monkeys that first stood upright on a Savannah hundreds of thousands of years ago.”“So you’re saying…the Force has limited scientific progress?”“Not just scientific. Our progress as a people as well. In an era of droids, we keep slaves and fight our wars ourselves. In era of cheap mass production corporations control all products. Anyone could buy a freighter and some manufacturing equipment, head into an asteroid belt, and in a few decades at most bring an entire planet up to post-scarcity levels. And yet we have slums!Poverty, in an age of spaceflight and droids! The Force has caused far more harm than good.”“Say I agree. Why this devastation? What does this ‘demonstration’ of your actually“The fundamental problem. What did these people want? Violence, destruction. It was fun for them. The same behavior which let their ancestors dominate the Savannah, but with modern technology behind them. This is what people desire. Not peace or civilization, but what their monkey brains have evolved to want. Technology doesn’t change that. The Force doesn’t change that. It just lets them satisfy those desires.”Rey felt a chill. The scrappers fighting to the death over a broken droid superimposed itself over a picture of monkeys fighting over a piece of fruit. She knew what Snokes meant all too well.Snokes wasn’t done.“I saw two ways to change this. Change the people- impossible, on such a scale, though the simplest option when it comes to technology. Or, remove what was satisfying their desires. Without the Force, their worst instincts would not guide their destiny. People would not stay in the same ruts of thought they always have, too scared to take the leap to save themselves. Simply remove that pressure, and the galaxy is saved from itself.”Rey stared at the man. He was right. Force damn it all, he was right. It fit the data too well. How corporations could remain in control of technology across a galaxy inhabited by trillions. Why no one had made a superintelligent droid. Why genetic modification was banned on most planets, and cybernetics looked down on. He was right.“It’s too late for me. My research was not kind to my body. By the time I had a solution, it was too late to implement it.” Snokes said, letting bitterness show through. He visibly collected himself, holding in another coughing fit.“But you…the strongest force user in this generation…I saw you from across the stars, the last Jedi, and knew you were my only hope.”Rey stared at him, and saw him for what he was. An old man, too clever for his own good and too stubborn to ignore the uncomfortable truth. It was like looking in a mirror. Would she too end up like him one day?The question now is, what does she do. No doubt he had some way to pass on the torch, but dare she take it. Destroy the force? What does that mean? What of the countless numbers in the afterlife, if it exists as Master Luke maintained?Rey tensed up as Snokes reached into his robe, but relaxed as he withdrew some kind of crystal cube. She sensed no danger from it.“The Force…should not be destroyed. It does good as well as harm. But it must not be allowed to influence the galaxy. I have found a way to prevent it from acting on the material world, but I cannot see it through. This holocron will finish your training and tell you what must be done.”Rey looked at the cube in her hands. Such power in such an unassuming object…“My time is coming. Please, let me die alone. It will not be pretty, and I would rather preservedignity in death. The future is up to you. Decide well.”Rey walked away, leaving the old scientist to die in peace. She rolled the holocron around in her fingers. She had work to do.