In preparation for the beta of Star Wars: Battlefront II that begins this week, I thought it appropriate to share some vital information as you dive into the game. The campaign will be its own monster. It’ll have its own story and follow its own characters. Even better, the story will cover from the end of The Return of the Jedi to the beginning of The Last Jedi. Without revealing too many spoilers, I’d like to delve into what the story will focus on, and how it will connect with the Star Wars universe as a whole.
In a recent video released by EA, a cutscene reveals some vital information about how the game connects with rest of the world in which George Lucas has created. The two important characters in the scene are Iden Versio and her father, Admiral Versio. As you’ll see in the video below, a droid with the face of Emperor Palpatine tells the Admiral to begin with “Operation Cinder.” This was the plan set in place by the Emperor in the event of his death.
Chuck Wendig’s “Aftermath” trilogy of novels tells readers the story of the battle between the Rebellion and the Empire after the Emperor’s death. In the books, readers learned that Palpatine had set up a plan if he ever were to die. Enter “Operation Cinder.” For this plan to work, the Emperor designated a group of sentinel droids to keep watch over him until the time of his death. The droids were then tasked with seeking out high-ranking officers (in this case, Admiral Versio) that were considered loyal to the Empire and to the Emperor on a personal level–people that’d follow any order given by him regardless of the demand. The video above shows the Emperor’s plans coming to fruition.
“Operation Cinder’s” elite squad, the Inferno Squad, will be the primary focus in the story mode of Battlefront II. Their goal: burn everything. Palpatine’s scheme was to lure conflict between the Empire and the Rebellion into a neverending cycle of destruction and chaos. If he wasn’t alive to rule, then no one would. In a way, though, the conflict does end during the Battle of Jakku. The world had been turned into a gigantic bomb to be exploded when both the Empire and Rebellion armies were locked in battle above the surface.
The protagonist of the story in Battlefront II, Iden Versio, does not know the real plans behind “Operation Cinder.” Her father wisely blocks her out from knowing any of the details of the Emperor’s plan. This sets up Iden’s character for a lot of developing as the game progresses, as she’ll most likely play an important role in helping stop “Operation Cinder” before it does too much damage. But, fans already know of the destruction on Jakku, so how much does Iden actually do? How much do her feelings about the Empire change when she hears of the true intentions of “Operation Cinder?”
There is a possibility that the story of the game will continue even after the Battle of Jakku, where, in the “Aftermath” trilogy, a handful of Imperial survivors fled to the Unknown Regions for safety. It’s still unknown as to what’s so important in the Unknown Regions, but there is speculation that that is the place of the universe where Supreme Leader Snoke hails from.
So that leaves fans with these series of questions to potentially be answered in the story of Battlefront II: How will the campaign incorporate what happened to the Empire in the Unknown Regions? Did the First Order form there with Supreme Leader Snoke? With what means did Snoke take charge? And, why did he change the name of the Empire to The First Order? How does the Dark Side of the force fit into the First Order’s goals? Where does Kylo Ren fit into all of this?
Star Wars Battlefront II releases on Xbox One, PS4, and PC on November 27th, 2017. Make sure to check it out, as elements of the story could be useful going into The Last Jedi, which hits theaters December 15, 2017.
