Fanfic / Earth: A Rendezvous with Destiny

Don't judge a book by its cover. Apparently we are more advanced militarily than the factions of Star Wars even with weapon systems that were state-of-the-art back in the '60s.

Earth: A Rendezvous with Destiny (originally titled as Earth: A Forged Destiny) is a fanwork created by author We'retheDesperateMeasures-ODST and collaborated with other authors on FanFiction.Net, available here.

It is posted here on Archive of Our Own and here on AlternateHistory.com as well.

The story is set in an alternate 1960s Earth placed in the same universe (but not the same galaxy) as Star Wars: The Old Republic which by unsought circumstance was thrown into an intergalactic war against the Sith Empire.

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Earth: A Rendezvous with Destiny contains examples of:

• The '60s: The timeline takes place in the latter half of the decade, specifically 1967 when Earth accidentally encounters the Star Wars galaxy.
• Alternate History: The background of the story takes place during an alternate 1960s.
  • There was never an assassination attempt in Dallas and John F. Kennedy would be re-elected to serve another term.
  • America won The Vietnam War in early 1967, only for the fighting to rekindle between the North and South followed by ARVN troops raising the South Vietnamese banner over Hanoi.
  • The counterculture is also portrayed as being more chaotic than it actually was historically with mainstream citizens having a harsher backlash against Hippies and other subversives.
  • Edwin A. Walker was unexpectedly elected to the Presidency.
• Allohistorical Allusion:
  • The Weather Underground Organization.
• Anti-Magic: Due to the fact that Earth is not located within the Star Wars Galaxy, anything and everything originating from the Milky Way Galaxy is unphased by the Force, the fact of which is handicapping the Sith from utilizing the Force directly on the outside threat.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: One of the main characters, Jake, is deeply religious and affiliated with the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod yet he dismisses the concept of the Force outright and is intransigent with this viewpoint, which is also dramatically ironic as he formed a relationship with Lana Beniko, a Sith. Even more ironic is that his best friend, Sam, is described as being agnostic toward the existence of the Force as philosophically declared. To be fair, in the story, the Milky Way is explained to be completely devoid of the Force and anything native to or from the Milky Way is impervious to it.
• Armor Is Useless: The durasteel armor of Imperial Troopers fails to prevent injury and even Mandalorian Bes'kar is being penetrated by large-caliber rifle rounds from Earth with ease.
• British Nazis: The Sith Empire. The Imperials and at times the Sith are frequently referred to as "Space Brits","Space Nazis","Goosesteppers", or some variation of derision. The miffed Tommy Atkins mostly call them "Imposters" due to obvious reasons with the feeling from the Imperials being reciprocal.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: George Lucas is collaborating with Gene Roddenberry to produce a film about Revan and the crew of the Ebon Hawk to be titled as Star Wars
• Brits with Battleships: The British Military and parts of the Commonwealth have a particular annoyance with the Sith Empire in addition to their planned scheme of annexing Earth, referring to them frequently as "Impostors".
• The Cameo: George Lucas, Gene Roddenberry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even co-writer of the story Jacob Sailer have all made an appearance in this work.
• Cannon Fodder: The Imperial Army, despite being technologically advanced, couldn't stand its ground against Earth's military forces due to the utilization of tactics to regarded as obsolete by Earth, not to mention the forces being led by legends such as none other than Dwight D. Eisenhower and Bernard Law Montgomery.
• Canucks with Chinooks: One of the main characters in the story is Hanzo Nilsson who is assigned to the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry of the Canadian Army and it is hinted that the often derided historic "Unification of the Canadian Military" attempt was either not implemented or was never proposed.
• Deep Cover Agent: A Republic Corporal, Sara Kelrein, is actually revealed to be a spy for the Sith Empire planted inside the Republic's Special Forces Division.
• Defiant to the End: The German tank ace, Franz Bäke, killed Rakton in a badass Western style duel after the Imperial General refused to surrender despite his army being on the run
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Invoked in the story with the failure of the 1960s Counterculture and a prohibition on female troops, even if they would be relegated to rear-line duties only, from being in the Galaxy.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Walter Reuther, his brothers Victor, Roy, and Ted, as well as Jerry Rubin received Tar and Feathers.
• Down on the Farm: It is revealed to the readers that Jake is a farm boy from Franklin Township, Marion County, Indiana; an area that used to be predominantly rural until recently despite being less than twenty miles away from the state capitol of Indianapolis.
• Flyover Country: Jake is from the small town of Acton, Indiana[1][2]. Acton is an actual small community located in the southeast corner of Marion County, Indiana.
• Friendly Sniper: Jake and in addition to his experience through shooting recreationally and hunting, it is mentioned that he was trained by the legendary Carlos Hathcock himself for the trade though it was circumstantially inverted in one scene during the Rakata Prime operation when Agent Theron Shan of the SIS dismissed his suggestion of providing support from a concealed perch as impractical.
• Historical Domain Character: Some (in)famous and obscure individuals from history have been portrayed or are referenced in the story such as Walter Krueger, Gotthard Heinrici, Bernard Law Montgomery, Tank Ace Franz Bäke, and even a living Winston Churchill to name a few examples.
• Historical Downgrade: Unique for a tale, the second term of John F. Kennedy was revealed to be full of turmoil before First Contact occurred and in one scene Kennedy was found lying next to empty bottles of liquor. In the subsequent scene, it was also revealed that Jaqueline was reaching her breaking point herself and was considering divorcing her husband.
  • It is also hinted that the chaos of The '60s was not only condensed to 1965 - 1967 but was also exaggerated as well.
  • The fact that Viet Cong infiltrators were on American soil; and were openly cooperating with American collaborators comprised of disgruntled counterculture activists did not help in the slightest in addition to the seemingly ceaseless rioting by the counterculture.
• Historical Fantasy: Essentially, the story takes place in an alternate Cold War mixing the hard sci-fi technology of the 50s and 60s with the explicitly Science Fantasy and Space Opera trappings of Star Wars, specifically that of the Old Republic era.
• Hollywood Tactics: The Earth Coalition cannot comprehend the tactics used by the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire despite these strategies being used in the galaxy for millennia. See Opposing Combat Philosophies on this page for more.
• Honor Before Reason: General Arkos Rakton, when he attempted to go against Franz Bäke despite morale of the Imperial defenders being low and the fact that he fell for the trap,
• Improbable Aiming Skills: The American military doctrine used before the widespread acceptance of the M16 and Assault Rifle concept in actual history, the "Cult of the Rifleman" where Infantrymen of the United States Army were once trained to shoot out to six hundred yards, not to mention the United States Marine Corps even to date of course, is being upheld. Justified as the fatigues of the Imperial military are gray and the armor black, making them easy to spot from a distance, never mind the obvious benefit of dispatching Sith before they could dismember limbs.
  • Before the adoption of the M1 Garand and according to the "Provisional Small Arms Firing Manual: For the United States Army and for the Organized Militia of the United States, 1909" adopted by Uncle Sam five years before World War I the United States Army even fired out to 1,000 Yards (914.4 Meters) and soldiers who passed the 1,000 Yard course of fire qualified as Sharpshooter, not Expert! You can read the table for the Sharpshooter Course in the link[3]
  • The United States Marine Corps also adopted the aforementioned manual in 1912 and it was the official course of fire for the Leathernecks until 1942 when it was dropped.[4]◊ [5]
  • See this summarized six page overview of the historical course-of-fire if reading either of the manuals is too lengthy to process. [6]
• Interservice Rivalry: There has been quite a few scenes portraying the traditional rivalry between the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps, including interfamilial banter between Jake and some of his relatives but there are also Bernard Law Montgomery and cracks between other forces as well, not to mention per the timeline the United States Air Force is irked by both the alternate Key West Agreement of 1948 with the U.S. Army permitted to retain Close Air Support aircraft and the Army's continuing usage of the CV-2B Caribou over their objections.
• Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: The author apparently did his research as the M14 is, while not perfect, capable of striking man-sized targets out to 1,000 Yards/914.4 Meters, more so than the FAL and that's not to mention that the M2 Browning can hit point targets at a much further distance while within Star Wars lore: blasters, even sniper blasters, are stated to be limited to under 500 meters maximum, resulting in a potential standoff advantage and add the fact that "slugthrowers" cannot be deflected by lightsabers, the Sith and their troops are receiving major casualties before they can even use their personnel weapons.
• Interclass Friendship: Jake is an Indiana farmboy while Samuel is from Old Money.
• Love-Interest Traitor: Sara inadvertently betrayed Jake's trust after her true loyalties were discovered by Senator Krasul and Master Therin, forcing an immediate extraction. Despite attempting to prevent the "kidnapping", Jake was devastated at the revelation after watching Sara's confession on a holorecording, feeling as if he was used.
• More Dakka: Averted significantly within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the M14 Battle Rifle has become standardized across the alliance, displacing even the FAL, and the "Cult of the Rifleman" doctrine advocated by "Gravel Bellies" and the "Camp Perry Long Range Target Mafia"/"Bisley School" has been vindicated. Even the Hitchman Report has been discredited in-universe as the lack of camouflage meant that the Sith Empire unwittingly made their forces easy targets for aimed rifle fire from a distance of even 1,000 Yards (914.4 Meters) with open sights.
• One True Threesome: Invoked in the relationship between Jake, Sara, and Lana Beniko.
• Opposing Combat Philosophies: The Earth Coalition and the Galactic Republic (and Jedi Order as well of course), which made cooperation tense at times, to say the least. This trope also was upheld when Jake and Theron disagreed whether the Marine could've snuck past the Rakatans by using camouflage without getting caught, going so far as to almost resulting in blows between them.
• Outside-Context Problem: The entire Star Wars galaxy is this to Earth. Not only do they possess advanced technology but they came here out of nowhere, especially in the midst of the Cold War between the democratic and communist blocs.
• Perilous Old Fool: Jake's step-grandfather Grandpa Douglas, a career soldier of the United States Army who started out fighting Apaches after lying about his age and served in uniform until forcibly retired in the 1920s only to attempt to enlist once more during World War Two, Korea, and Vietnam. He also attempted to ride rails and stowaway on a Republic transport only to be caught attempting to sneak aboard a train by the Railroad Police.
• Puny Earthlings: Subverted after the Raid on Korriban and the Second Battle of Kuat, though there are still mixed opinions over whether Earth is a backwater with a tinge of shortsightedness or an indomitable superpower in the making, and then there's Saresh viewing the Earthlings as expendable tools.
• Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman:
  • Liu Shaoqi took over the position of Chairman of the Communist Party of China after Mao Zedong's death in 1961.
  • Edwin A.Walker became President of the United States after winning the 1968 United States Presidential election in a landslide.
  • Walter Brennan is Walker’s Chief of Staff
  • Dan Smoot is Walker’s National Security Advisor
  • Roy Cohn is the Attorney-General of the United States
• Rich Kid Turned Social Activist: Samuel’s sister Elise.
• Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: The Meyer’s who are suspected to be members of Robert De Pugh’s Minutemen in addition to being members of the John Birch Society.
• Rock Beats Laser: Earth proves itself to be more advanced militarily than the intergalactic superpowers, astonishing observers from both the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire alike.
• Running Gag: Quite a few such as the mixed reception of Star Trek: The Original Series within the Star Wars Galaxy, Grandmaster Satele Shan becoming a devout Trekkie, Brits and Imperials referring to eachother as "Imposters", the fact that Jake consistently deplores Star Trek as Communist and denies the existence of the Force, there’s even direct as well as subtle references to the Star Wars films.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall also counts as a running joke.
• Semper Fi: One of the main characters, Jake, is a Leatherneck of the United States Marine Corps who formerly served as a 2111 Small Arms Repairmen then as a 5811 Military Policeman in the branch until the Marine Raiders [7] were reconstituted after the nations of Earth joined the conflict as an ally of the Galactic Republic. His uncle Stephen and his step-uncle Jack, were in the First Raider Battalion under Merritt A. Edson during the Second World War and were later recalled to duty for the intergalactic conflict.
• Show Within a Show: Star Wars in collaboration between George Lucas, Gene Roddenberry, and even the co-writer of the story, Jacob Sailer.
• Southern Gentleman: Mitchell Warner Hawthorne, a Marine Corps officer who is in a relationship with Jake’s sister Heather.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Rebbeca Meyer, the stepmother of Jake, is revealed to be an adamant believer in staying in her place, and not only is she an upholder of the inveterate conventions, she is actively involved with Minute Women of the U.S.A. as well as its affiliated sister organization for Catholic women: the American Public Relations Forum, two organizations which once actually existed. Jake’s late mother Lucy was also a member of Minute Women of the U.S.A.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Some historical figures lived much longer than in our timeline such as John F. Kennedy.
• The Vietnam Vet: One of the main characters for the story, Hanzo Nilsson, had a recurrence amid a battle.
• Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: It has been referenced a few times that Jane Fonda was successfully convicted of treason by the Federal Government and was executed by electric chair due to her activities of giving aid and comfort to North Vietnamese forces in Vietnam. In fact there was even a prequel uploaded [8]
• The Teutonic Knights: A Soviet research team discovered a derelict spaceship they excavated in Kaliningrad Oblast that was in fact a Derriphan-class battleship from the Great Hyperspace War, one which fled from the Sith Holocaust, only for the castaways seeking refuge with the Old Prussians to be confronted by a lance of the Teutonic Order and put to the sword by the German crusaders.
• Upper-Class Equestrian: Subverted in the case of the Brandhorst’s.
• War Is Hell: The Earth Coalition and the Galactic Republic jointly invaded Korriban and Earth utterly thrashed the defenders, even impressing the Pubs with their might. The Soviets also committed a campaign of mass murder against the survivors of the second phase in which Rakton was killed by Rommel.
• Was It All a Lie?: Sara and Jake during their unexpected reunion on Korriban. It was awkward to say the least…
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: For the most part the Westbrooks though Samuel and his sister Elise are partially Jewish.
• Wild Weasel: Legendary fighter ace Brigadier General Robin Olds of the United States Air Force led a Wild Weasel taskforce during the raid on Korriban to target the Imperial Anti-Air batteries before the main attack commenced.
• Yanks with Tanks: The son of George S. Patton as well as Patton’s second cousin legendary Marine Chesty Puller, Robin Olds, Admiral Raymond Spruance, and Colonel Hal Moore. The Empire unleashed Pandora's Box from not just Eagle Land of course but at the same time, these are some of the American contributions as Mad Jack Churchill can't fight the war by himself after all.

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