A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. Darth Malak, last surviving apprentice of the Dark Lord Revan, has unleashed an invincible Sith armada upon an unsuspecting galaxy. Crushing all resistance, Malak's war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered and vulnerable as countless Knights fall in battle, and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith Master.
In the skies above the Outer Rim world of Taris, a Jedi battle fleet engages the forces of Darth Malak in a desperate effort to halt the Sith's galactic domination…
PROLOGUE: The Endar Spire.
There was a quiet calm on the bridge of the Hammerhead-class Republic Cruiser as it drifted on the edge of the Taris system. Officers darted between terminals, almost casually piloting the vessel through a thin asteroid field that bordered the system.
Bastila Shan, Jedi Knight, stood looking out of the forward observation window, deep in thought. A nagging feeling was eating at the back of her mind, a feeling that something wasn't quite right. "Anything out of the ordinary, Onasi?" she asked, looking down at the man in the pilot's chair.
"Comm chatter is clear, no ships detected in the immediate vicinity…" The man at the helm was Carth Onasi, a Republic war hero and one of the greatest pilots in the galaxy. "Port thrusters are running a little hot though. Got one of the service droids down there sorting it out." He drummed his fingers on the dash, then glanced back up at Bastila. "Apart from that, smooth sailing in calm wa-"
Onasi spoke too soon. The ship lurched forward, several of the officers falling to the ground. Bastila fell onto the command console, shooting Carth a rather angry look. "I really wish you hadn't said that… Status report!" She shouted to the room at large.
Swift Sith fighters zoomed past the windows, peppering the hull with laser fire. "Sith Fighters!" yelled a young officer as she clung to her terminal. "They've appeared out of nowhere! And their numbers are increasing!"
"Our deflector shields are holding up, but we can't sustain this much damage for an extended period." Carth informed Bastila as he swayed in his chair.
"Return fire and prepare to jump to Hyperspace!" Bastila ordered, as the ship was pelted with another wave of fire. "Those bloody Sith won't be taking us down, not today!"
The Endar Spire's thrusters ignited, zooming towards the dusky orb of Taris and the Hyperspace route which ran beside it. The ion cannons whirred into life while green and red lights lit up the vacuum of space around them like exploding stars.
"Bombers inbound! I repeat, bombers in bound!" The heftier bombing vessels shot towards the fleeing Cruiser, keeping tight formation, weaving between the returning fire from the Spire's hindquarter turrets.
"Where are these bastards coming from?" Carth demanded, his hands a blur as he did all he could to evade the approaching ships. The answer came a few moments later, when an enormous Sith Interdictor ship materialized from Hyperspace.
On the bridge of this menacing vessel stood Darth Malak, the man who led the Sith Armada now plaguing the galaxy. His cold, emotionless eyes swept the battlefield, the golden respirator on his face gleaming in the low light of the control panels surrounding him.
"I want the ship crippled, Admiral, but not destroyed. I want Bastila alive." His voice was low, husky, and almost robotic due to the breather mask fixed over his mouth. The man standing slightly behind him swept him a low bow.
"As you wish, Lord Malak. I shall prepare the boarding parties immediately." Admiral Saul Karath turned on his heel and marched down the platform towards his own private terminal. A few moments later, his voice issued throughout the hangar, where the Sith troops were waiting. "All boarding parties, prepare for immediate departure."
Meanwhile, the bombing raids continued, shelling the Endar Spire's hull with powerful ion bombs. "We can't take much more of this, Bastila!" Carth shouted, as once again, he was nearly knocked to the floor. On the bridge and in the forward batteries, small fires had sprung up from exploding terminals, and explosions had reduced the deflector shields to almost nothing. "A few more hits and we'll be sitting ducks out here!"
Bastila's face worked in frustration, her grip on the console tightening. "We have no choice then, we'll have to jump before we reach the Hyperspace route!"
"Are you crazy? You want me to make a blind jump, with all these people on board?" Carth yelled in shock and annoyance. "No way, I won't do it!"
"It's either that or we stay here and get blown to bits by these damn Sith!" Bastila replied haughtily, whilst another bombing run rocked the ship.
"I don't like it, but we haven't really got any options… Fine!" Carth turned back to his console, tapping away feverishly. "All crews! Prepare for emergency jump to Hyperspace!" he shouted through the ship's comm systems.
Suddenly, red lights flashed through the bridge, and the ship lurched heavily once more. Sirens blared, and Carth stared at the console in horror and dismay. "They… they took out the Hyperdrive…" he said, his voice quiet and shocked.
"Boarding teams inbound!"
Bastila slammed her fist on her console, her face livid. "Let the bastards come!" she exclaimed. "Carth, get everyone to the escape pods. I want this ship evacuated immediately!"
Carth rose from his seat as the ship rocked dangerously. "No, you have to get out of here. You're too important to lose. The war effort-"
"To hell with the war effort!" she said angrily, her beautiful features somewhat twisted in her fury. "I'll be damned if I'm going to run from these sodding…" She stopped her tirade, taking a deep breath. "No, Onasi. You're right."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Carth said quickly. "The boarding teams are already cutting through the hull. There won't be an Endar Spire to escape from if you don't hurry!"
She gave the soldier a sharp nod, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Take care of the crew, Onasi."
"Of course, now get out of here!"
Bastila turned and strode from the bridge, right as the Sith troops began pouring into the vessel. Their shining metallic armor and helmets gleamed in the bright lights, as they started firing upon the Republic soldiers.
Carth himself lead the defense on the bridge, his dual blaster pistols firing from the hip. But the sheer numbers began to wear the officers down, and they were slowly forced back out of the bridge.
The bombers and fighters kept hammering the hull, eventually taking out the Cruiser's thrusters, and the ship began spiraling out of control. Laser fire was thick in the halls and corridors of the ship, sirens blared, explosions rung throughout the crippled vessel.
One man, however, was sleeping through the whole thing.
A siren which had been bleating above his bed for the best part of the last 5 minutes woke him from his sleep, and he pulled a disgruntled face as he slowly opened his eyes. His dark hair was short and untidy (something which Trask Ulgo, his bunkmate on the ship, liked to make fun of), and he yawned, rubbing the thin scar which ran from his eyebrow to his jaw line. When he realized the ship was under fire, he sat up quickly, staring around wildly. This man's name was Zade Kento.
The doors slid open, and a Republic soldier clad in orange armor burst in. "Trask!" shouted Zade, leaping up from his bunk. "What the hell's going on?"
Trask fired a few shots blindly out into the corridor, he yelled at Zade over his shoulder. "We've been boarded by the Sith! We're under attack! You sure picked a rough day to sleep in, Kento!"
Zade scrambled from his bunk and quickly pulled on a light gray shirt and his usual black jacket (not much in the way of armor, but it would be better protection than his underpants, at any rate), and scooped up his blaster. "How'd they find us all the way out here?"
"I don't know, and it really doesn't matter!" Trask was firing blindly out into the corridor, ducking as returning fire from the Sith troops slammed into the wall behind him. "How about you give me a hand here?"
"Right!" Zade sprinted to the door and leaped across the hall into the adjoining room. He spotted two Sith Troopers in the corridor, and while their fire was directed towards Zade, Trask leaned out from cover and dropped them with accurate shots to the head.
"Come on! We're taking the fight to these bastards to give Bastila time to escape!" Trask bellowed, sprinting down the corridor with Zade in toe.
"Bastila?" Zade parroted. "Who's Bastila?"
"Did you fall out of bed and bump your head or something?" Trask asked incredulously, as they turned down a corridor and ducked under a malfunctioning door. "Bastila is-"
But exactly what Bastila was, Zade never found out. The pair had run right into a skirmish. The Sith on one side, the Republic on the other, the hall thick with laser fire. "Bring it on you bastards!" roared Trask, charging in to the fray. The Sith were quickly winning this battle, however. As the Republic numbers thinned, a few of the Sith soldiers drew Vibroblades and began slashing through the republic lines.
"We have to fall back!" shouted Zade as he withdrew his own blade and parried a Sith attacker. With a quick flurry he dropped his opponent, but another two quickly took his place.
From behind him, however, his savior appeared. One of the Jedi accompanying Bastila had charged down the corridor, igniting her lightsaber, deflecting the laser bolts back at the Sith troops. She shouldered past Trask and began slashing at the Sith soldiers attacking Zade.
Within moments, the soldiers had been bested, but before a word of thanks could be uttered by the only two survivors, a tall, robed man stepped into the corridor, his own red lightsaber flared.
"It's a Dark Jedi!" exclaimed Trask, grabbing Zade by the collar. "Let's go, this fight is too much for us to handle, we'd only get in the way!" They turned and ran, the two Jedi beginning to duel. At the end of the corridor, Zade looked over his shoulder as the Dark Jedi fell to the ground. The victory was short lived, as an explosion lit the hallway.
As they entered the eerily empty bridge, a voice broke out on their personal communicators. "This is Carth Onasi, all hands report to the escape pods for evacuation. Bastila's escaped pod is away!"
"C'mon, let's get out of here." Trask and Zade took one final look at the planet below, then sprinted from the bridge towards the pods.
They met no one on their way to the pods, which was worrying. Surely they couldn't be the last two on the ship alive? Still the sirens blared, and still the Sith continued shelling and blasting the ship.
"There should be more survivors than this…" Zade muttered as they reached the doorway which led to the final corridor before the pods. It was oddly still and quiet.
"Maybe everyone from this section of the ship made it off already?" Trask replied, pausing and listening. "Hang on…" He stepped over to one of the alternate doorways. "There's someone behind here…" He punched the door code, and inside the room was another Dark Jedi. His flowing black robes reached the floor, and a grin was plastered on his goateed face. "Damn it!" Trask yelled, whipping out his vibroblade with a flourish. "I'll hold him off, you get to the escape pods! Go!" He leaped into the room as the doors closed and sealed behind him.
"Trask! No!" Zade punched the door code, but it seemed Trask had locked himself in with the Sith. "Damn it!" He turned and sprinted down the corridor, towards the pods.
Carth was standing beside the pods, tapping away at a control terminal, even in these final moments trying to steer the ship away, to hold out long enough for everyone to escape. The doors slid open, and he drew his blaster.
"You made it!" he exclaimed, holstering the blaster and punching the door open to the escape pod. "Quickly, into the pod. This ship's about to become space dust."
"What about the others?" demanded Zade, but still stepping over to the pod.
"We're all that's left. Good thing you had your personal communicator on, otherwise I would have left with the last group. Now come on, there isn't much time."
Trask's lifeless body fell to the floor, a trickle of blood trailing from the corner of his mouth, and the Dark Jedi sheathed his lightsaber. He rolled back his sleeve, revealing the wrist communicator, and spoke. "Admiral Karath, this is Darth Bandon. Bastila is no longer on board."
"Very well." Came the sly voice of Saul Karath. "I suggest you depart immediately. That ship is about to be destroyed."
Almost simultaneously, two shuttles sped away from the crippled and dying Hammerhead-class Republic Cruiser, that sense of quiet calm long forgotten. As Carth and Zade plummeted towards the planet below, the Endar Spire spun wildly out of control. A passing bomber dropped it's final charge, and the ship detonated, debris exploding out into the crushing black of space.
The escape pod began to burn up with the force of entry into Taris's atmosphere, and the two Republic soldiers watched as the towering sky scrapers and battlements of the planet-wide metropolis raced up to meet them.
"Brace yourself!" yelled Carth, as the people below began to run and scatter. With a deafening bang, the pod slammed into the Upper City of Taris, and Zade was knocked unconscious with the impact…
