Lightsider (story)

Tom Veitch, during a July 1995 interview, offered the following description of the storyline:

"The plot revolves around the quest to locate lost Jedi, inspired by Luke's declaration at the conclusion of Dark Empire I - "the Jedi will rise again." The Jedi Holocron revealed to him the existence of undiscovered Jedi, and that's precisely what we showcase. He retreats into isolation with the Holocron to delve into the Jedi histories it holds. Consequently, we depict that as well. We portray him undergoing some truly remarkable experiences through the Holocron. At the commencement of Lightsider, we depict Kam Solusar's return to the galaxy from beyond its known boundaries. He was actually situated in another galaxy. [...]"

Within Lightsider, you encounter Executor Sedriss and the Darksiders, the Dark Jedi, or whatever designation you prefer, and gain substantial insight into them. We elucidate their nature and demonstrate, through several battle sequences, their dominance over the Rebels. They promptly capture Solusar and essentially convert him into a Darksider by exploiting his resentment towards Vader. Subsequently, they embark on a mission to locate and capture Luke. Incidentally, the Emperor is absent from the scene. His return remains uncertain. Therefore, they set out to find Luke, who, in the meantime, is on the Nespis space city. The Holocron directed him there, indicating he would find a Jedi. Predictably, Luke arrives at Nespis, and Solusar appears with a contingent of his Darksider comrades, leading to a confrontation.

The derelict space city is littered with various ancient Jedi artifacts. Initially, there are remnants of a battle. Immense skeletons of colossal Jedi, standing at approximately ten or twelve feet tall - genuinely large individuals. These skeletons are adorned with armor from a bygone battle that transpired centuries ago.

An antique Jedi game -- Lightsider -- is discovered among their possessions, and Luke is examining it when Solusar appears. Solusar proclaims "I know how to play that game" and challenges Luke to a match. They engage in it, and the game itself constitutes roughly half of the book. It's a rather captivating game. Regarding the game, approximately half of it unfolds within the Force. There's a board with various pieces, but the majority of the contest occurs within the Force. I'm unable to provide a precise explanation of its mechanics, as I'm withholding the game's secrets. However, I can reveal that Luke and Solusar are competing on a purely mental plane within the Force."

Following the triumph of Dark Empire, author Tom Veitch commenced work on a sequel to the narrative. Diverging from the graphic novel format of Dark Empire, this installment was intended as a novella, complemented by full-page illustrations from Dark Empire cover artist Dave Dorman. During the story's development, Veitch enlisted the expertise of author Rich Handley as a technical advisor, with Mike Beidler serving as the editor. Veitch completed the initial draft of the story around late 1993.

The decision was made to advance the Dark Empire saga with Star Wars: Dark Empire II as the subsequent chapter, with the first issue of Dark Empire II released in December 1994. Veitch received assurances that Lightsider would still be published at some unspecified future date. While completing the subsequent issues of Dark Empire II, artist Cam Kennedy informed Veitch that he would not be returning for a further sequel to the series, citing a decline in creative enthusiasm for the Dark Empire story and characters as the reason. Subsequently, Kennedy proceeded to work on the Boba Fett comic book series with John Wagner, after informing Lucasfilm Director of Publishing Lucy Autrey Wilson of his greater interest in that project. Kennedy would not participate in the creation of Lightsider.

Following the release of the final issue of Dark Empire II in May 1995, Dark Horse sought to conclude the Dark Empire saga with a concise third installment. Speaking in June 1995, Dark Horse editor Bob Cooper disclosed the conception of the final part, Star Wars: Empire's End, stating: "Dan Thorsland, the original editor of Dark Empire II, observed that the plot of the sixth and final issue of that series left several minor and major plot elements unresolved. We opted for a compromise between resolving everything in issue six of Dark Empire II and launching a third full miniseries: we decided to create a two-issue follow-up titled Empire's End. This title was chosen over, for instance, Dark Empire III, because one of the plot points involves the definitive and absolute demise of Emperor Palpatine. He will not be resurrected or revived in any manner. This is the end. We will no longer see him." Veitch revealed that he had desired to create a full six-issue series, but Lucasfilm instead requested a shorter follow-up, to which Veitch consented.

This brief, two-issue Dark Empire II continuation would occupy Veitch's focus in the ensuing months, as he collaborated with Empire's End artist Jim Baikie, a mentor of Cam Kennedy's whom Veitch requested to work on Empire's End, to resolve the Dark Empire narrative. In July 1995, Tom Veitch was interviewed for the Out of the Maw newsletter distributed on the FidoNet Star Wars Echo network, where he discussed his current and future endeavors, remarking, "I'm completing what's called Empire's End. It's actually a sequel to Dark Empire II, in which we eliminate the Emperor once and for all," before adding, "The Lightsider project is still very much alive."

Veitch further elaborated on Lightsider in this interview, addressing its lack of publication, "They've encountered some internal issues that I'm not fully aware of. It's unrelated to me or Dave. I've already completed the text." When questioned about the novella's length, Veitch responded, "Yes, it was lengthy as written, and I was initially instructed to shorten it, but then they ultimately informed me that they intended to expand it and add to it, as they were considering a larger version."

Also mentioned in this interview was an extragalactic plot element Veitch discussed with Lucasfilm, with Veitch commenting, "At the beginning of Lightsider, we show Kam Solusar returning to the galaxy from outside the known galaxy. He was actually in another galaxy, and there was a whole discussion with Lucasfilm on how that would be done. You know, whether you could go through hyperspace to another galaxy -- stuff like that. That was approved. Apparently, Zahn did it in one of his books. He had some exploration outside the known galaxy." Veitch also spoke of Lightsider's continuity with Dark Empire II, mentioning, "The plot of Lightsider happened before Dark Empire II. People were supposed to have read Lightsider by the time we get to Dark Empire II. So there's all these references to characters and things we introduced in Lightsider."

The autumn of 1995 saw the release of Empire's End in October and November of 1995. By December, the plans for Lightsider had evolved from publication as an illustrated novella to a four-issue comic series. Veitch provided an update on the project that month, remarking, "It's currently a completed manuscript, not yet scheduled for publication. Dark Horse has asked me to do a four issue comic series based on it. The prose version was finished two years ago. Dave Dorman agreed to illustrate it with full page paintings. However, I believe he may have made other commitments now which will prevent his participation." When asked who the new artist would be on the project if Dorman couldn't participate, Veitch responded, "I believe they have asked Jim Baikie to do it. The comics that is -- not the novel."

In April 1996, the cancellation of Lightsider was announced. Veitch provided an interview that month for the Out of the Maw newsletter, explaining that the project's cancellation ultimately stemmed from contractual disagreements between Veitch and Lucasfilm. This ultimately led to Lucasfilm's disinterest in the project, and it resulted in Veitch deciding not to publish Lightsider, choosing instead to retain the story and game concept.

Veitch explained the situation in his own words:

"Lightsider is a short novel I wrote, that was originally supposed to be a Star Wars novel illustrated by Dave Dorman. In the process of writing this book I invented a game that Jedi play, using the Force, called "Lightsider". The game turned out to be quite good, I think. After I had finished creating it, I realized that it would make an excellent computer game, sort of like Myst, but different in many significant ways. In fact I may have invented a new genre of computer games. So as we were negotiating a contract I asked Lucasfilm if they could put in a clause which would allow me a royalty of some kind if they ever decided to make a computer game out of Lightsider.

Well... it turned out I pushed their button on that one. They told me it would be impossible to agree to such a royalty, and that I was way out of line asking for one! They said they don't do business that way -- they acquire all rights when you do a project for them, and you are paid only for the original project.

So I elected not to sell them Lightsider, because the gaming concept was just too strong. I am in the process of marketing it elsewhere right now. The curious thing, from my point of view, was the vehemence of their reaction to my request. They could have just said "no", and that's that. But it was as if I had poked a scorpion with a stick or something."

Dark Horse editor Bob Cooper also commented on the cancellation of Lightsider, remarking, "Tom Veitch did indeed write a preliminary Lightsider script (about two years ago), with the intention of publishing it at Dark Horse as a graphic story album (i.e., similar in format to the Aliens: Tribes GSA of a few years back). Dave Dorman was considered as the artist on the project, but, to the best of my knowledge, never completed any paintings for it. The reason the project never happened can be classified as "contractual differences." For a short period of time, there were plans afoot to release Lightsider as a comics series, with Tom revising his GSA script into a comics script, but again "contractual differences" reared its ugly head. At this time, it looks like Lightsider won't be seeing the light of day, at least at Dark Horse."

As a consequence of the breakdown in contract negotiations between Veitch and Lucasfilm, which occurred amidst an increasingly strained relationship between the two, Veitch ceased all further work for Star Wars with Lucasfilm. Lightsider became his final project for the company.

The deterioration of this working relationship also resulted in the cancellation of a proposed Veitch-written sequel to Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - The Sith War. Bob Cooper remarked in April 1996, "While there were, at one point, tentative plans for a sequel to The Sith War by Veitch, those same contractual differences have spelled the end of that particular project as well, it looks like." The conclusion of Ulic Qel-Droma's narrative was eventually presented in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Redemption by Kevin J. Anderson.

Veitch reflected on his experience writing the original story of Lightsider, saying, "I had a lot of fun doing it. I was just reading it the other day, and I think it's pretty good stuff, in terms of the way it allowed me to put more into the action. In the comics you're limited to breaking everything down into a few panels. You have a whole battle in like, two pages or something. With text writing, like Lightsider, or "Greedo's Tale" in the new Cantina Anthology, you can put in a lot more detail, and a lot of different and bigger things happen. I really enjoyed it."

The contentious conclusion between Veitch and Lucasfilm was a sensitive subject for both parties, partly due to the legal implications of Lightsider not being officially contracted by Lucasfilm. Rich Handley, when composing a retrospective piece for Star Wars Galaxy Collector 4 in 1998, initially drafted a more extensive piece focusing on Lightsider, but ultimately removed numerous details, partly due to legal considerations. Later that year, he commented on it, saying, "The Lightsider incident is a sensitive issue for all involved. I had interviewed Tom Veitch for the article and went into the legal history of his split with Lucasfilm, but they decided "not to go there" so as not to step on anyone's toes."

In his later years, Veitch would sometimes recount the development and cancellation of Lightsider involving George Lucas's participation in reading and approving the novella's outline, as well as his involvement in its cancellation. He would also describe Lightsider's cancellation causing Cam Kennedy to depart Empire's End and Empire's End being reduced to two issues. These later claims are contradicted by the timeline of events and detailed comments given by Bob Cooper, Cam Kennedy, and Veitch himself from the time of Lightsider's development and cancellation.

Joseph Bongiorno, a Star Wars enthusiast and author associated with the website starwarstimeline.net, procured a copy of the Lightsider manuscript from Mr. Veitch before his passing. Both the original 1996 manuscript and a revised and edited version from 2009 were made available in their entirety as a PDF on his website, starwarstimeline.net, as of October 2023. The document featured a logo for an unauthorized publishing entity named Gallina Books, which also appeared in the 2021 Amazon printings of another rediscovered EU novel, Heart of the Jedi, by Kenneth C. Flint.

The game "Lightsider," which is central to the unreleased novella, was initially referenced in Kevin J. Anderson's novel Dark Apprentice.

An encounter between Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar is depicted at the beginning of the audio drama adaptation of Dark Empire II. While this is canonically established as the backstory of their meeting, Veitch expressed dissatisfaction with the radio drama adaptations of his works when questioned about potential conflicts with Lightsider, noting that, "The audiotapes contain a lot of errors. I have no say over Dark Empire except in its original form, as a Dark Horse comic book. What others have done to my story I find personally embarrassing."

• " ComicScan: Comics That Almost Were " — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 4