Greetings Star Wars Fans! This is my first attempt at writing a SWTOR fiction. (The game I am hopelessly addicted to, I might add!) have no idea what the community is like for these stories on this site, but thought I'd give it a whirl. This story really doesn't follow any storyline, but is based on the game and uses characters from multiple classes. I happen to have a weakness for Cathars, so I had to include Aric Jorgan. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. On with the show...

Admiral Lorne Zorrig stood on the bridge of his Imperial star destroyer, the Doomsday, looking out over the world they were currently orbiting. The blue/green planet was actually quite beautiful, appearing quiet and peaceful when glimpsed from space. Completely ignorant to its fate. The settlement they were focusing their efforts on had little to no sensor technology. Certainly nothing that would detect an orbiting starship. There would be no warning. It was the perfect setup.

The Admiral had a slightly evil grin on his face. He enjoyed his work. Secretly, he hoped the war would never end. True, the war was now being fought in secret, thanks to the damned treaty, but they were still at war with the Republic and the Admiral liked it that way. You can not develop new and interesting ways of killing your enemies during peacetime. He continued to gaze out at the planet, enjoying the utter calm before the destruction. He lived for moments like this one.

"Any noise coming from the surface, ensign." Zorrig asked the young woman manning the terminal next to where he stood. She confidently pushed a few buttons, not even looking at her commanding officer. She and the admiral were the only two people on the bridge.

"Nothing, Sir. If they know we're up here, they're not talking about it. Space is equally as quiet."

Zorrig's grin perked up just a fraction. "Excellent. It would seem our intel on the primitive nature of the settlement was accurate. How long before the weapon is fully charged and ready to test?"

The young ensign leaned over to the screen next to hers, since the weapon controls were not at her current station. Most of the ship's functions could be monitored from her one station, thanks to the creative rewiring the ship had undergone before this mission, but not all of them. It was a great deal of work to run the bridge of a star destroyer singlehandedly, but the ensign didn't mind the extra effort.

She was very proud of her professionalism and ability to adapt to what the situation required. She was an ensign in the imperial navy and that meant something. She was young, even for an ensign, and was proud of her work, allowing her pride to show in her appearance, her voice and her manner. She was even more proud to have been chosen for this assignment. Star destroyers didn't run on skeleton crews very often, but then they did, only the best were allowed to stay onboard.

"Looks like we should be good to start the test in about 10 hours, as long as we can keep fully diverting all non essential power to the weapon."

Zorrig nodded approvingly. "Keep diverting the power from the main shields to the weapon as well and continue your sensor sweeps. If anything comes even close to us, raise shields. I want the weapon operational as fast as possible, but I do not wish to be blown out of the atmosphere, either. Also keep an eye out for Lord Nommi's ship. It should be arriving in a few hours. I will be in my quarters, inform me when our guests arrive."

"Yes, Sir." The ensign replied, continuing her work.

Zorrig turned and strolled off the bridge, leaving the ensign alone with her responsibilities. 10 hours was a long time to wait on a deserted ship and he desired some rest before the Sith arrived. Dealing with Force users could be tiring, though even he had to admit they had their uses. Fortunately, his current posting required very little interaction with the Sith and that suited the admiral just fine. He understood the need for the Sith, but it didn't mean he had to like them.

This mission was relatively low risk, considering only a very small handful of people even knew about the Empire's new toy. Construction had been slow, due to limited personnel for the actual build, but the General in charge of the project was not taking any chances. The project had been kept so secret, then even the Emperor himself and his dark council knew very little about it. This allowed Admiral Zorrig to work with only a skeleton crew, allowing as much power as possible to the weapon. Nothing was being wasted. Entire sections were totally locked down, with all environmental systems and life support shut off.

Zorrig honestly didn't know why the upper brass in charge of this project insisted on telling a Sith about the weapon or why that Sith needed to be involved with its testing, but Zorrig learned long ago not to question the motives of his superiors or the Sith. In his opinion, the Sith tended to stick their noses into affairs which were none of their concern, but he kept the opinion to himself. The Sith pretty much did what they liked, when they liked and arguing about it usually ended in death. Your death. The Admiral very much liked being alive.

This weapon could turn the tables of war in their favor, if it worked the way it should. A weapon that could target and vaporize only the humanoid life on a planet, leaving the cities, wildlife and vegetation untouch, had unlimited potential to the Empire. Having a couple of Sith around to fend off any Republic interference was not a bad idea, considering the limited number of soldiers onboard. Hopefully, however, the weapon's existence remained unknown to the enemy and the Sith would be required to do nothing more than enjoy the show.

To Be Continued...

The next chapter will start to introduce the really important characters, but all stories have to start somewhere.

Let me know what you think!