A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

Star Wars: The Dark Empire

Episode 1 – Exodus

4000 years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, there existed an ancient Sith Empire concealed from the Old Republic in uncharted space beyond the outer rim, created with the specific intent of conquering the Republic. For thousands of years it has remained hidden, watching and waiting for the Republic and their Jedi defenders to weaken.

Now that moment of weakness has arrived, the Sith War is over and all over the galaxy the Jedi have gone into hiding to combat the silent threat that is destroying them. The Republic's forces are battle weary and their ranks thinned.

The Sith empire is starting to re-awaken, ready to crush the Republic and create an era of darkness. All it needs is a little time to muster its forces.

In the Dakotan asteroid field, in the Sedan system on the edge of the empire a small group of Jedi have discovered the threat. Heedless of the danger waiting for them they speed back to the Republic to warn them of the terrible threat that they face.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Part 1 – A bleeding heart

Dakotan asteroid field, Sedan system

The Republic shuttle swerved to avoid a large floating rock, a second before it was smashed to pieces by a high-powered laser blast.

"That was close," said Jedi Master Tyron Keln from the pilots seat as the shuttle swooped under a larger rock, followed closely by two smaller fighters, spitting laser fire.

"Wouldn't it be safer to leave the asteroid field and attempt hyperspace, Master?" said Padawan Kaya, a young woman, as the shuttle swerved to avoid rocks right, left, then left again.

"We'll be destroyed in microseconds by the cruiser," said Knight Belaya sharply as one of the fighters hit an asteroid, ripping its wing off. It spun out of control, missing the asteroids and careered off into space. The second fighter continued to dodge the floating rocks, firing at the shuttle. A few of the shots hit and were deflected by the shields.

"Shields down to seventy-five percent," said Master Tyron "why couldn't they have created this thing with some weapons?" he added as they continued to dodge between asteroids.

"You were the one who chose it, Tyron," Belaya reminded him as another two blasts struck them solidly.

"Fifty-nine percent, I was pushed for time and short of options." he retorted.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Aboard the Sith cruiser the commander mused to himself. He had been ordered to capture at least one of the Jedi on board, but it was going to be difficult to capture them without giving them a chance to escape. The pilot of the shuttle was exceptionally good.

An idea came to him, "Drop a seismic missile to flush them out," he ordered "and make sure it hits as close to them as possible."

"Shall I order our fighter to withdraw Commander Lorn?" inquired lieutenant Quan, one of his subordinates.

For a moment the commander paused. The shuttle was large enough to survive a nearby seismic blast and the debris it would create, but the fighter was not. Withdrawing it might give the enemy a moment's notice, but it would certainly save the pilot. The enemy was unlikely to escape anyway, but if they did he would certainly be killed, and in the most painful fashion imaginable. Then he remembered that his son was a fighter pilot and relented.

"Yes," he said sighing softly "but only once the missile has been dropped."

————————————————————————————————————————-

On board the shuttle the atmosphere was tense.

"We cannot last much longer like this, Master," said a younger man with a shock of carrot-red hair strapped behind the pilot's seat, as the shuttle rocked violently under another impact.

"Forty-one percent. Garen, I'm doing all I can," replied Tyron.

"The fighter is breaking off" exclaimed Belaya from the co-pilots seat "but our shields are almost depleted, and we have nowhere to run, so why…"

"The Sith cruiser has dropped some kind of missile, and its heading for us" cried Kaya, peering at the ship's instruments in alarm. Tyron took immediate evasive action, and the rocket struck a rock far away from where the shuttle was. What happened next though, took them completely by surprise. The rocket exploded, creating a massive shockwave that shattered the asteroids.

"What in the Force…hold on tight!" cried Tyron as he deftly evaded the flying bits of rock, but then before any of them realized it, the shuttle was in open space.

————————————————————————————————————————-

"Fire to disable" ordered commander Lorn as the shuttle came in plain sight; his plan had worked out perfectly. The high-powered laser battery blasted off its tail wing and a large chunk of the back section. For a moment the shuttle stayed steady, then it spun out of control towards the nearby planet of Sedan.

"Sir, they're out of range for our tractor-beam, should we pursue?" asked first lieutenant Quan respectfully.

Lorn nodded and was about to give the order, but at that moment a holo-image of a black robed man who looked both powerful and diseased at the same time appeared.

"Do you have them, commander Lorn?" he spoke with a chill that was evident even though the static.

"Nearly Master Fer'rer," said Lorn bowing respectfully low "we have disabled their ship, they are flying on a crash course with Sedan, we were about to pursue and capture."

"Cancel your capture," said the Sith Master "just pursue and make sure that they fall and stay down."

"Of course my Lord." he said, bowing again as the holo-image winked out. He had learned over the years never to question orders from a Sith, no matter how bizarre the orders seemed. It was why he was still alive.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Sedan surface

Two Sith sped slightly above the ground on light landspeeders.

The taller, leaner, slightly older one was Jadan Iscarn. He already showed signs of the dark side in his face, his skin was paler than usual and his brown eyes contained more than a little yellow. His hair was cropped short and spiked, black with red lines running through it. At his sides were two lightsabers. Marka Cabanic sped along beside him. He was noticeably shorter, but still well over average height, his face untouched and quite attractive; although it bore the same cold, focused expression as his companion. His grey eyes searched the horizon; smoke was visible not far in the distance. They were the two most powerful of all Sith Master Rengath Fer'rer's Sith, they were his only apprentices. They had been tasked with the capture of at least one of the Jedi, and the destruction of the rest.

As the two landspeeders approached the crash site, they slowed down as one to a pace not much faster than a man's running speed. This made the speeders almost silent.

The taller, darker Jadan spoke first "If we attack together, we'll just get in each others way." Marka nodded, and Jadan continued, "Since I'm the most powerful, I'll attack the front and you take behind." Marka slowly reached for his double-bladed lightsaber at his side, but Jadan warned him "don't Marka, Lord Fer'rer will be most displeased if I killed… I mean if we, killed each other." and with a sarcastic grin he increased his pace and sped past him.

"Jadan you arrogant spawn of a…" said Marka furiously as he changed his direction and sped up, getting his anger under control as he did so.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Outside the wrecked shuttle the Jedi were pulling themselves out of the wreck. Kaya, the younger woman, was dazed and cut in a number of places. The younger man, Garen, was using the force to heal her. The older woman, her aunt Belaya, was totally unconscious and had to be carried out by Master Tyron, who set her down gently against a bizarre looking tree and gently stroked the hair out of her face. Kaya's vision slowly cleared, and she came shakily to her feet. Suddenly, through the Force she felt danger approach, she stood dead still with her hand on her lightsaber. That moment, from no-where a horror of a man leapt at Master Tyron. He held two lightsabers, one yellow and the other red, and nearly decapitated the Jedi Master in his initial attack.

Master Tyron had good reflexes however, and he ignited his lightsaber and managed to back away from his tall opponent who was obviously a Sith. Kaya tried to help her Master but was blasted into the shuttle by an unseen blast of Force from behind. Knocking her head against it hard she slid to the floor as the world faded around her.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Marka emerged from the undergrowth, he held in his hands an ignited white cored, purple-rimmed double-bladed lightsaber. He moved neither fast nor slow, but his aura of deadliness was chilling. Garen moved quickly to intercept him, igniting his own blue lightsaber. "I will defeat you, Sith," he said bravely, spitting the last word. They were to be the last he ever spoke.

Jadan attacked Tyron in a fury, his anger, hatred and aggression fuelling his focus and abilities. Nearby Marka was dueling Garen; Marka fought with cold deadliness, a controlled rage. The two Sith had a huge advantage; they were far more experienced and powerful (despite their years) and had superior weaponry. Even if the two women had been conscious they would still have lost. The only mercy was that it was quick. Marka caught Garen with the recoil of his double-saber in only three moves, chopping him nearly clean in half. He fell with a look of absolute disbelief on his face. Marka gave a flourish, deactivated his double-saber and then stood and watched silently as Jadan fought Tyron.

The Jedi Master in desperation had used the Force to bring his unconscious wife Belaya's lightsaber to his left hand, but he was unused to fighting in such a way. It was no surprise when Jadan feigned, then chopped low, striking off both the Jedi Master's legs. As Tyron fell with a cry, Jadan's lightsaber pierced his heart.

The two Sith looked at each other for a moment, and then Marka nodded and picked up the unconscious girl gently and carried her back to his speeder. It was odd, but as he summoned the two young Jedi's lightsabers to his hands, he felt sad, almost as though he'd just lessened himself. He pushed such thoughts from his mind as he sped off in the landspeeder; they were for the weak. After retrieving the fallen Masters lightsabers Jadan picked up the older woman and carried her back to his landspeeder to follow his hated fellow.

————————————————————————————————————————-

The Sedan Sith Academy

Rengath Fer'rer, the third most powerful of the seven Sith Masters knelt before the holo-image of a man in a thick cloak "My apprentices have tracked them down, Lord Delhano, I have just received word from them that they have killed two men and taken two woman captive."

The voice that came from the other side was more chilling and (if possible) even more evil than the Sith Master's. "That is good news then. The Republic and the Jedi must not be alerted to our presence until we are ready to strike."

"My Lord, all four of them were Jedi." put in Rengath quickly.

"Then they will have interesting information for us, won't they?" replied the Sith Lord, and the holo-image winked out.

Straightening, Rengath pulled up his hood and walked outside, where Marka and Jadan had just got off their speeders. Their two captives had immediately become an object of curiosity, and already students were rushing to see.

Stepping into the courtyard he walked towards his two apprentices. They had so much potential that between the three of them they might even be able to challenge the Dark Lord one day.

All the students gave way before him. Reaching Marka and Jadan he said to them "Put them in your punishment cells, give them a brief mind probe, and then report to me in my meditation chamber". Every Sith had a private punishment cell next to their beds in their chambers to remind them to be obedient at all times, or suffer the consequences.

They each gave a brief nod and a "Yes, Master" and left the courtyard, carrying their prisoner. Rengath left the courtyard, and the crowd slowly dispersed.

————————————————————————————————————————-

The two apprentices returned promptly; they knew that if they came even a moment late by their master's standards they would be severely punished. Rengath broke off his meditation and stood up, his two students knelt down before. "What did you learn?" he asked them harshly.

Marka spoke first "my captive has been on the run for over four years. Her name is Kaya Weston. She was trained as a Jedi but the order was disbanded before she could reach her Knighthood. She is deeply disappointed about this. She is related to the other woman, but I am not sure how."

His Master nodded "The Jedi order has disbanded, very interesting. I wonder what could have caused them to do that," he knocked Marka across the face with the Force "but I don't want to know how she feels."

"Thank you Master, I will remember," Marka said dispassionately, a thin trickle of blood running down his nose and his lip.

Next Jadan gave his report "my captive was married to the man I killed…easily" he added with relish. "Her name is Belaya Keln, she held the rank of Jedi Knight before the order fell. She believes that the Republic will collapse soon. She would have been expelled from the order had it not been disbanded, due to her marriage."

Rengath nodded, "You are both to extract as much information as possible from the minds of these Jedi, using any and all means available. Do not share it with any besides me… dismissed."

The two students stood up, bowed low and left. Rengath Fer'rer returned to his meditation position. But instead of meditating, he thought. He wondered if it would it would be in his best interests to share this information with the Sith Lords. He wasn't ready to challenge him yet and war would be the perfect cover, but on the other hand if he was ever found out…

————————————————————————————————————————-

In his chambers Marka wiped the blood away with his hand, then looked at his prisoner and sighed. She was trapped in a shielded cage, unconscious and hurt. He had tried to be as gentle as possible with his mind probing as possible, but it certainly hadn't done her any good. He regarded her, she was a very pretty girl with long reddish brown hair and a strong but beautiful face, and he wondered briefly what colour her eyes were.

The door opened. Marka spurn around, double-lightsaber ready but not ignited, it wouldn't be the first time that one of Jadan's cronies tried to gain favour with him by killing Marka. That he was still alive was a testament to his skill and attentiveness, and at times the stupidity of Jadan's followers.

"Is that any way to greet your old man?" said a familiar voice.

"Dad," said Marka taking two strides towards him and hugging him close "I thought you'd never return."

Marka's father Harn Cabanic had graying hair, but a youthful expression and no traces on his face of the dark side. He put a metallic clawed hand on his son's shoulder, "Well they did certainly keep me out finding potentials recruits for the academy longer than was necessary in that grubby little town." Harn grumbled "But I'm back now, until I get sent off again."

"Don't talk like that," Marka said seriously "we have so much to catch up on."

"Well first things first," said his father, winking at him as he noticing Kaya for the first time "did you choose to punish her, or did she volunteer?"

Marka flushed "She's a Jedi, father, I captured her earlier."

Harn whistled low, "I thought they were only legends, men and women who fought for what was right, for others, not for themselves."

"Careful that no-one else hears your sentiments, especially Master Fer'rer," said Marka slightly worried.

Harn scowled "Rengath is an animal, and I think there is a lot to be said for the Jedi, despite all the lies that we've heard." Marka slumped onto his bed, "What's wrong, son?" asked his father.

Marka sighed, and said "I killed one of them father. He was young, strong, his whole life ahead of him; and I killed him." his father sat down next to him, and Marka continued, "Before you say it, I know that I have killed before, many times. But this time it was different."

"Why" his father asked him softly.

"It was like I was…like I was doing something I shouldn't" he finished lamely "I was doing something terribly wrong, taking the life of one who would use his power to help others."

"Sith don't help others, they only help themselves," his father reminded him gently.

"I don't think that path is for me, not any more." said Marka angrily "I just know that there is so much more than the emptiness that is power."

————————————————————————————————————————-

On the floor of the punishment cell Kaya smiled through her silent tears. Though he was a Sith, the young man (she didn't know his name) was reacting similarly to young Jedi who were losing their faith in the light side of the Force, if that was so then maybe he might be turned to the light. He may have killed her fellow Jedi, with the help of that other horrible tall Sith, but had a bleeding heart.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Malachor V

Jezebel, the Exile watched Kreia fall, and as had happened with all others she had killed she felt the power flow into her. The old manipulative fool had paid the ultimate price. Still, she had gained more power out of her than the last twenty she had killed, excluding Sion. She was now the most powerful force user ever, but that wasn't enough, she hungered for more. Ever since killing the Jedi masters that had exiled her she had felt wonderfully free of any restraints. Now she needed revenge against just one more person, the one who had caused her to lose her hold on the force in the first place. Then she would be whole again. She looked up into the shattered sky and spoke one word:

"REVAN"

————————————————————————————————————————-

The Sedan Sith Academy – Marka's Chambers

Marka walked into his room after a hard day's training. Towards the end of the day, there had been a fight between his and Jadan's supporters. The end result had been more than a few bruises, some broken bones and one of Jadan's men taken off to hospital in a serious condition.

The academy was divided between his and Jadan's supporters, they were by far the two most powerful of the Sith on the planet, with the exception of Master Fer'rer. If Marka and Jadan had ever chosen to, they could have overthrown him together, but they hated each other far more than Rengath Fer'rer. Both trained the students, but only Marka took it seriously, as was evident by today's skirmish. Marka's supporters had crushed Jadan's, despite being outnumbered. If lightsabers had been drawn, most of them would now be dead.

Among the Sith only weak fighters and prominent Force users used a single lightsaber. Twin-sabers were very common, although the double-bladed variety had some popularity. It was by far the toughest to master, but it was considered by its users as the best. Nobody with a single-blade could possibly best another with a double-blade or twin-blades unless they had a considerable Force advantage. Double-saber against twin-saber was when it got interesting. Women favoured the single blade because of its user-friendliness, to make up for its weakness they always moved in groups for protection.

He de-activated the punishment cell. After patching her up yesterday he knew that Kaya was well on her way to recovery. It had been a shock for him to realize that she had heard at least part of his conversation with his father. He had been careless. If even part of what he had said had become known, then even the Sith that had supported him today would not hesitate to destroy him.

She was sitting in a meditation position facing him "Past the surface, there is the Force." she intoned.

She seemed about to continue when Marka broke her meditation with a loud "It is time for me to question you."

Kaya stood up looking annoyed and stretched her legs, placing her hands above her attractive bottom as she stretched her back. Marka forced himself to look away as she stretched her arms above her head, jutting her breasts forward.

She looked at him directly and asked, "What, never seen a girl stretch before?"

Marka scowled, but his face took on a delicate shade of red "Of course," he muttered.

"Surely you have a lover or wife outside this…place?"

Still looking away he told her "I'm the one who asks the questions…" He struggled to think of a one.

"Is she pretty?"

"…What is your home planet?"

"So you don't have one, hah, I though you Sith lived by your passions!" she told him triumphantly.

He snarled in frustration, "Don't vex me, little girl," he said warningly.

"Don't you 'little girl' me, I'm nearly as old as you, 'little boy'."

Marka growled angrily, "Don't force me to get violent."

Kaya looked at him seriously "I just realized, I don't even know your name."

"Marka, Marka Cabanic" he replied, momentarily taken aback "what is your home planet?" he insisted.

"Kashyyyk, I'm a wookie, can't you tell," she said with an absolutely straight face.

Marka frowned "What's a wookie?" he asked puzzled.

"What I am," Kaya said with a smile, flashing her perfectly even white teeth. "My name's Nomi Sunrider."

Marka smiled "Your name is Kaya Weston, you come from Alderon, you are twenty one standard years old and you traveled with three other Jedi who are now dead." he lied to her smugly.

"So you mind probed me," said Kaya, shuddering slightly "why the questions then?"

"Only lightly, I might need your mind later, I do not intend to destroy it just yet."

She looked at him straight in the eye "I think it has more to do with the sentiments that you were expressing to your father earlier."

He couldn't help but notice that her eyes were a beautiful grey-blue, much like his own. "I will do what ever it takes to increase my power," he nearly shouted, "My master is training me to be the most powerful Sith ever. One day I may even conquer the throne of Dark Lord for myself." He was now very angry, he was finding himself attracted to this enemy who was outfencing him in conversation hands down.

"Will power ever be enough, what happens when you are the most powerful?" she reasoned calmly

"THEN I WILL GAIN MORE POWER" he screamed, maddened to fury by her incessant questioning "AND I WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET THERE, DESTROY ANYTHING, KILL ANYONE; EVEN YOU!"

Kaya smiled serenely "Even as you say those words, I know you don't believe them." she said "As much as you try to deny it, you have no faith in the Sith teachings. What you don't know is that you are searching for the light"

Marka's face went white; he raised his right hand, intent on murder. Then he swung around and struck the wall with such power that it created a cracked dent on the solid rock. He was sure that he had broken every one of his hand bones, despite his use of the Force to increase his power. His face went from white to a deep purple shade.

————————————————————————————————————————-

"May I use the restroom?" Kaya said. She had found over the years that most foolish males would never admit that they were in pain in front of a woman, and this one was no exception. He nodded soundlessly.

She went though into the next room and closed the door; almost as soon as she shut the door he released his pain with a huge "YAAARRRRRRRRRR" that nearly shook the room. She opened the door, he was crumpled on the floor, moaning and grasping his injured hand. She walked slowly towards him, a smile on her lips and healing in her hands. He couldn't have known that Kaya had just reached a decision, one that would forever alter his life.

She would train him to be a Jedi.

He could make a great Jedi, she knew, one of the greatest ever.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Stay tuned for 'The paths are set', Part 2 of Star Wars: The Dark Empire Episode 1 – Exodus