Dark Horse invasion storyline

Whispers suggest that Brian Daley and James Luceno had conceived a storyline about an invasion from beyond the galactic boundaries before Daley's passing in 1996 (and before Luceno's involvement with Star Wars). The initial concept of a sprawling story arc, extending beyond a trilogy's worth of novels, originated with Lucy Wilson in 1997. A Bantam story conference took place at Skywalker Ranch in March of 1998, followed by another in May (Luceno was present at both). However, Shelly Shapiro asserts that she has no recollection of these events, and Sue Rostoni has stated that these events never transpired.

However, LucasBooks's "working outline," which appeared to be distinct from the Dark Horse narrative, was mentioned in The Essential Reader's Companion, released in 2012, as existing in 1998. According to this, the LucasBooks invasion plot would have involved Luke Skywalker dispatching Jacen Solo, Jaina Solo, and Anakin Solo on an "epic quest." During this quest, they would encounter a female infiltrator from an extragalactic species attempting to invade the galaxy. These aliens would be "perhaps the source of the original Sith" who would use the dark side "more out of necessity and for survival than with evil intent." They would have been able to observe the Star Wars galaxy as a beacon of light in the Force for a thousand generations, fearing it as the source of a "light-bringer" who was prophesied to destroy their own civilization. The Great Jedi Purge would have dimmed the galaxy, and they would have decided to invade when the New Jedi Order began to restore its brightness. During the invasion, the female infiltrator would nearly corrupt Anakin to the dark side, but would be redeemed after falling in love with him. However, Jacen and Jaina would still attack Anakin due to "a fit of intense sibling rivalry", resulting in Jacen's death. This version of the outline was scrutinized by George Lucas himself, who rejected the concept of the invaders being dark siders due to his belief that no dark side society could be established, as they would inevitably turn on each other (a concept he would later use in his Sith backstory for The Phantom Menace).

On September 1, 1998, Bantam released Vision of the Future, revealing that Thrawn had stumbled upon an unimaginable threat to the galaxy within the Unknown Regions. Shortly thereafter, on November 11, Dark Horse began publishing Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood. Authors Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley envisioned it as a prelude to Dark Horse's planned invasion storyline. The comic's narrative would unfold in a series of smaller arcs, akin to the later Clone Wars comics.

Soon after, Del Rey replaced Bantam as the Star Wars book publisher, and Lucasfilm cancelled the Crimson Empire III comic, which was intended to continue the lead-up to their invasion. Del Rey and Dark Horse representatives convened to discuss their respective invasion ideas, with the majority of the storyline being granted to Del Rey, who steered it in directions unforeseen by Dark Horse. Stradley mentioned that the Dark Horse Comics team felt "pretty soured" about releasing material set during the New Jedi Order era following this decision. The Hatred Vector, a comic prologue to the New Jedi Order, was never produced. However, the tie-in Chewbacca comic and "Equals & Opposites" were subsequently released by Dark Horse.

Six years after the conclusion of Del Rey's New Jedi Order series, in 2009, it was announced at the New York Comic Conference that Dark Horse Comics would be launching Star Wars: Invasion, a comic series set during the same timeframe as The New Jedi Order series. In follow-up interviews after the initial announcement, Stradley clarified the previous decisions made by Del Rey and Dark Horse Comics. Stradley indicated that the concept of a comic series set during the events of The New Jedi Order had been a recurring topic of discussion, among other ideas, since 2002. Ultimately, the decision was made that the Rise of the Empire era and the Rebellion era were becoming restrictive in terms of continuity. Releasing a comic series in the New Jedi Order era would allow the Dark Horse Comics team to concentrate on a major galactic event that wasn't subject to frequent continuity alterations and still possessed a considerable amount of "uncharted territory."

The storyline had some elements in common with what ultimately became the New Jedi Order:

• Chewbacca was slated to die early in the story.
• Nom Anor was envisioned as an advance scout for the alien invaders.
• Thrawn's threat from the Unknown Regions would likely have been retconned to be the invasion itself.
• The invaders were to be equipped with bladed weapons that would enable them to combat Jedi; this may have evolved into the amphistaff.
• The invaders were intended to be led by a "god-king and his dwarfish adjutant" in a symbiotic relationship, with the adjutant meeting his end at the hands of the surviving Solo son. These characters served as the inspiration for Shimrra Jamaane and Onimi. [5]

However, other aspects differed:

• The invaders were not intended to be humanoid; rumors suggested they might be liquid- or energy-based (though Stradley disputed the latter). This was altered at Lucasfilm's request.
• The invaders were planned to be dark side adherents, possibly "proto-Sith." [3]
• Jacen Solo was originally meant to die instead of Anakin Solo. [3]

• Lostworlds entry
• Dark Horse: So Randy Killed the Family Dog? on Dark Horse Message Boards (content now obsolete; backup link)
• Dark Horse: Nom Anor, DHC's "invasion" storyline and the NJO on Dark Horse Message Boards (content obsolete and backup link not available)
• DHC's original plans for the NJO on the Jedi Council Forums (Literature board) (backup link)
• Bantam invasion storyline: The compilation on the Jedi Council Forums (Literature board) (backup link)