This could have been STAR WARS 2 of course......
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Splinter_of_the_Mind%27s_Eye
Splinter of the Mind's Eye was the first ever Expanded Universe novel to be written and published. Its author, Alan Dean Foster, had ghostwritten Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, the novelization of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, and this early involvement in the Star Wars universe gave Foster the opportunity to write Splinter.
According to an interview with Foster in Empire magazine, the novel had been written to be filmed as a low-budget sequel as a fallback plan in case Star Wars hadn't been a huge success. This accounts for the book taking place almost entirely on a fog-shrouded planet. Additionally, Harrison Ford was not signed for the sequel as of the writing of the book, which is why Han Solo does not appear in it. Though Foster was granted a great amount of leniency in developing the story, one requirement was that a lot of props from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope could be reused when filming the new story. According to Foster, Lucas' only request upon inspecting the manuscript was the removal of a dogfight in space undertaken by Luke and Leia before they crash-land on Mimban. Presumably, this sequence would have cost too much money to film.
The Kaiburr crystal was originally developed in the second draft of Lucas's The Star Wars script, where it appears as the Kyber crystal. (The script for Star Wars: A New Hope was a revised version of the fourth draft.)
There are minor inconsistencies between this novel and the one existing film. In the novel, the blade of Darth Vader's lightsaber is described as blue, like Luke's, although this may be due to the bland coloration of the lightsabers in the original theatrical release of Star Wars.[source?] R2-D2 is referred to in the novel as a "detoo" unit, despite the film clearly establishing "Artoo unit" as the standard nomenclature (in lines by Luke, Leia, Threepio, Owen Lars, and the Rebel Crew Chief). In the novel, Vader says that he had a difficult time discovering that Luke shot up his TIE fighter; in the film, the Millennium Falcon, piloted by Han Solo, had shot one of Vader's wingmen, and Vader's other wingman was so startled by this unexpected attack that he veered into Vader's TIE, sending it spinning away from the Death Star.
At the time this book was written, story elements revealed in later films had not yet been established. For example, the sibling relationship between Luke and Leia had yet to be decided. But the characters themselves would have been unaware of their relationship at this point in their lives, which explains the presence of some sexual tension between them. (The credibility of Leia's claim on Endor that she had "always known" Luke was her brother is undermined by the decidedly unbrotherly kiss she bestows him on Hoth.) Although Lucas claimed to have had the Star Wars saga mapped out even at this early stage, the fact that he allowed this plot element to remain in Foster's novel has been cited as evidence that he hadn't yet decided on the characters' backstory. However, Lucas has stated that this tension was intentional, to show that the two had feelings for one another, but that they did not know exactly what type of feelings.[source?]
Additionally, when Luke duels Vader in the novel, the former's technique is markedly more accomplished than in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, even to the point of severing Vader's mechanical arm, and Leia too is able to defend herself against the Dark Lord. But these can both be explained by elements from the novel and the later films. During the Mimban duel, Luke tells Vader, "I am Obi-Wan," which could indicate that Luke's prowess against the far more powerful and experienced Vader was a result of Obi-Wan's Force spirit flowing through Luke during the duel. This is also supported by Obi-Wan's claim in The Empire Strikes Back that he "can no longer interfere," which implies that he once had helped Luke in battle. Leia's ability to hold off Vader without any Jedi training can be explained by the revelation in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi that she was Force-sensitive and a potential Jedi.
In this novel, released in 1978, C-3PO mentions that Darth Vader knows "all the proper code words and commands" to shut him down. This eventually received an explanation, as it was revealed in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (released in 1999) that Vader himself, as a young Anakin Skywalker, built Threepio. However, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (released in 2005) brings this explanation into question when Bail Organa orders C-3PO's mind wiped. Whether Lucas had developed any of these story elements at this early stage is not likely.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye was adapted into a Dark Horse comic book limited series and graphic novel by Terry Austin and Chris Sprouse, published in 1996.
