Knights Of The Old Republic

by Linkandzel

Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. And one fallen hero must return in order to save the galaaxy from the Darkness that he him self unleashed. Rated T for safty.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Chapter one: The battle for the Endar Spire.

Location: Endar Spire/Over Taris

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…

"Commander there are too many of them!" The cry echoed around the bridge of the republic war Hammerhead-class cruiser, Endar spire. Taking a look around the ships commanding officer sighed in frustration how on earth had the Sith known just where they would be? And what in the force could have made them chose this as their battle ground? "Sir!" the commander looked up at his bridge staff. "Reports coming in of an enemy boarding parts on the port side!", "Sir primary shields are failing!", "Reports from fighter escort, they can't hold them sir." The officer barely listened the reports being read out to him. Slowly he turned to face the woman standing next to him. "It looks like we may have to abandon ship."

The young soldier groaned in his sleep tossing and turning. The images of his training in the republic battle simulators flashing before his eyes.

They were pinned down by blaster fire coming from over by the bunker and then he heard it… the unmistakeable whine that a thermal detonator makes just before exploding! Turning he spotted the small sphere land just a few feet away easily close enough to take out him and his squad mates. Reacting without thinking he moved towards the small sphere and just as he reached it….

BANG!

His eyes shot open and looked around; he was in the quarters he had been assigned to at the start of the mission, not a battle field under enemy fire. He allowed himself a small smile running his hands over his sweat soaked brown hair and the scar he obtained from the recently remembered training, at least before another explosion rocked the whole ship. Jumping up he was about to head for his gear when the door to the quarters opened and his bunkmate ran in, the man's normally pristine red and yellow Republic army uniform crinkled and slightly singed. His blaster pistol was drawn. "Trask?" he asked not used to seeing his ship mate. "What's going on?" Trask looked over at his bunk mate "it's a Sith battle fleet Hando!" he explained looking nervously towards the window of the room as two Sith fighter shot passed lasers firing at some unseen target. "The Endar Spire's under heavy attack. Hurry up and get dressed we don't have much time!" "Right." Hando responded quickly throwing on his own personally modified uniform, and grabbed his blaster and vibro-sword. As Hando turned back around to face Trask the door into the room sealed.

"Blast!" Hando swore uselessly pulling on the doors release mechanism. "Let me try." Trask moved his roommate aside and pulled a small black access card out from on his belt and swiped it over the doors electronic sensor. Slowly the door opened till the passage way into the corridor was clear. "How the…" Hando began to ask but was stopped by Trask raising his hand. "Emergency override code." He explained, "I was given it by the captain as I left to come fi-" A small bussing sound cut off Trask's explanation. Both men reached down onto the belts and pulled out identical small silver tubes. "This is Carth Onasi—the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out long against their firepower! All hands to the bridge!" A voice called over the small personal communicators. "Dam we must really be in it bad, if Carth is calling for our help." Hando muttered. Trask nodded, "Yer, after all he has seen more action than the rest of us put together." The two then began running down the corridor of the ship. Just as the two reached the door out onto the main passage way of the ship another explosion rocked the deck underneath them and several sections of the ships white wall panelling exploded revealing sparking wires and circuits underneath. "Trask this door is locked try your codes!" Hando called after fruitlessly trying the doors release switch. Trask nodded and swiped the code card over the doors sensor. Nothing happened. "Dam the sensors fried…" Trask said pocketing the card. "Now what?" Hando asked irritated at the situation. "Give me half a second to slice the door." Trask replied. Quickly he pulled off the boxes cover and began crossing wires. "There done!" he said smiling as the door shot open.

Just ahead they could see the glinting forms of two Sith troopers there battle armour gleaming as they snuck up on a small pair of Republic soldiers already locked in battle with two more Sith troops. "This must be the advanced boarding party." Hando noted. Trask nodded and then smiling drew his blaster, shooting a grin at Hando, one the young man returned drawing his own blaster. "FOR THE REPUBLIC!" the two shouted emerging into the passage and firing shots down the corridor towards the two unprepared sith troopers. The two realising that they were the ones being attacked attempted to turn around to face their attackers, but fell to the deck holes burning in there chests. Another explosion rocked the ship and the power conduit next to the two Republic troops exploded kill both them and there sith opponents. "Dam the whole ship is coming down around us!" Hando shouted as another wall panel close to him exploded taking out a passing utility droid. "We have to get to the bridge!" Trask agreed. The two rounded another corner and came up next to a locked door the sound of humming in the air. "What the -?" Hando asked opening the door. On the other side a man dressed in black robes was stood his red lightsaber swinging towards his opponent, a small women dressed in light brown robes holding her own green lightsaber blocking the attacks. "A dark Jedi!" Trask said stepping back, "We should stay back; this fight is far beyond us." The two solders could do nothing more than watch as the force users jumped dogged and attacked at each other. Final the sith warrior lunged forward putting his entire wait on to one foot allowing the Jedi warrior to doge and cut the sith warrior in to. His sabre fell to the ground with his upper torso, his legs shortly after. Slowly the Jedi's stance relaxed her own sabre deactivating. Another explosion rocked the ship and the wall behind the Jedi exploded killing her instantly. "That was one of the Jedi with commander Bastila." Trask said as the two moved into the room now devoid of life. "We could have really used her help…." "We will be ok Trask," Hando said glancing back at his companion. "We just have to reach the bridge."

A few moments later the two slowed down as they approached the entrance to the bridge. "We best use our melee weapons in here. Wouldn't want to cause some form of accident that would leave us breathing vacuum would we?" Trask said smiling grimly as he drew his vibroblade. Hando nodded "Yer that wouldn't be to healthy…" he added razing his own weapon. "Ready?" Trask asked his hand poised over the door release switch. Hando shifted his stance to a fighting one, similar to that of the Jedi they had seen killed not seconds before further back in the corridor, Trask noted with some surprise, since Jedi stances weren't part of the standard training at the academy. I guess that's why the Jedi handpicked him to be on this mission. Trask realised activating the door and taking up a melee stance next to Hando. The bridge contained several Sith troops locked in melee combat with a squad of battered republic soldiers. Three sith soldiers who currently were not engaged with the republic troops turned to see who was entering the bridge. "More republic dogs to the slaughter." One chuckled bringing advancing on the two. "Not this day!" Hando growled charging forward tackling one sith to the floor before turning to face another. Trask then leapt forward and began to duel the remaining sith trooper.

Being caught off guard the sith were forced onto the back foot, defending from the powerful strikes launched from Hando agents them. One falling to a powerful downward cleaving strike cutting right through the troopers head armour and skull, before parrying and incoming strike from the sith knocked to the floor seconds. Locking blades with him, Hando smirked before spinning his blade around clockwise breaking the lock and throughing the sith off balance. The vibroblade sung through the air before impaling the warrior through the chest. "How you doing Trask?" Hando asked pulling his vibroblade out from the chest of one sith to engage another troop who had broken off from the battle with the now weakened republic troop squad. "Still going!" Trask called back dogging a slash from one sith before removing his head. "Good good." Hando called back turning his concentration back to the sith warrior currently trying to kill him.

Outside one of the sith fighters took crippling damage from a republic fighter the crippled fighter spun out of control fire leaping from the ships engines as it shot towards the bridge of the Endar Spire, Exploding on the forward shields of the Hammerhead-class. The Repercussions of this blast would prove to be fatal for almost everyone on the Ships Bridge as the amount of energy released on the shields through the explosion overloaded the shields and sending massive cascades of energy through the main systems of ship causing explosions to happen as system after system overloaded. On the ships bridge the explosions reached a peak when most of the ships control panels exploded flooding the room with electricity killing the republic soldiers, who were trapped between the sith and the controls and the sith troopers, most of whom were close enough to the controls. Luckily enough for Trask, Hando and their two sith opponents they were spared a quick death from the overloaded controls. Unfortunately for the two sith troopers they turned around as they heard the controls only to be beheaded by Trask and Hando, who were facing the controls and didn't need to stop fighting to see what had happened. "Sith Spit," Trask swore as he approached the sparking remains of the ships control. "The controls are completely cooked." He looked back only to see Hando carefully examine the bodies of the dead republic soldiers. "What are you doing?" he asked moving over to his companion. "Are any of these guys Carth or the commander?" Hando asked looking up. Trask sighed mentally Hando had been on the ship as long as he had but still couldn't recognise commander Carth Onasi or Jedi commander Bastila Shan. "No there not here…" Trask said giving the corpses a quick once over. "They must have made for the starboard escape pods!" "Right lets go after them, they might still need our help." Hando said standing up and making for the briefing room, and the path to the starboard side of the ship.

As the two entered into the briefing room, a dark present's fell over them. "There's something behind this door." Trask said approaching a door on the far side, away from both the bridge and the doorway to the starboard side. The door slide silently open to reveal a Massive human male dressed in dark blue and black robes, upon seeing the two soldiers he smiled sending shivers down the two's spine. "I might have failed to capture Bastila, but I will make it up to my master by killing you." He hissed activating his lightsaber. "Dam…" Trask muttered bringing up his vibroblade, "Hando I'm gona try and hold him off get to the escape pods." "WHAT? Trask you can't!" Hando yelled moving forward but too late. Trask raised his hand and the door between himself and Hando slide closed leaving him locked away with the fallen Jedi and most likely his own fate. "TRASK!" Hando yelled out as he reached the door, but to no use his friend could no long hear him. "I won't let your sacrifice in vain." He muttered turning from the door and heading towards the starboard side of the ship.

Shortly after entering the starboard crew quarters, the small com-link on Hando's belt "This is Carth Onasi are you reading?" The commander's voice echoed out from the tube. "This is Hando I read you." Hando whispered holding the tube close to his mouth to avoid detection by any nearby sith. "Thank the force... Listen I'm tracking your position through the life support systems you and me are the only republic life signs left aboard. Bastila's Escape pod is away. Hurry to the escape pods I can't afford to wait much longer." "Right" Hando nodded aware that Carth's statement meant that Trask… "I'll meet you at the escape pods." "Copy. But be careful I'm tracking a sith battle squad near your position." "Understood. Hando out." Hando lowered the tube from his mouth deactivating it before placing it back on his belt and tightening his grip on this vibroblade.

Rounding the next corner Hando stopped, just inside the last room before the escape pods he could see the sith battle squad milling around in the room talking and beating the already dead republic command staff members. Six men armed to the teeth. Most surprisingly for Hando was the sight of a Sith commander there his back to Hando talking to his men. The Scarlet armour of the commander meant that although he stuck out like a saw thumb there was no way he could take all seven men in the room. "Sith spit. There must be some way past them." Hando muttered. His eyes then fell on the deactivated Sith War Droid just a little up the corridor. A Smile fell across the young man's face. Silently Hando crept forward until he was close enough to begin tinkering with the droid. Quietly he used the vibroblade's tip to pry open the droid and set to work rewiring it. Half a minute later the job was done. After hitting the droids power unit, Hando stood back to admire his handy work. Slowly, jerkily, the droid came to life and began to move towards the sith.

"Commander." One of soldiers called to the officer and then gestured to the approaching droid. Inside his helmet the commander cocked an eyebrow. "Droid what are you doing here?" he called out in his most authortive voice. The Droid stopped and quietly scanned the men before replying in a voice devoid of emotion. "TARGETS IDENTFIDE. TERMINATEING WITH EXTREAM PREGEDES." The words barely registered in the officer's head before the droid raised its high powered assault rifle and began firing at its masters, with the confused officer the first to fall his heads nothing more than molten goo courtesy of the droids rifle. The sith reacted quickly bring their blasters around but they were no match for the mechanical perfectness provided by the droids rewired targeting systems. Hando moved forward after the droid had finished. "Wow… I'm glad I didn't have to come across any of you." He said turning to the droid that stood perfectly still is job accomplished. Hando shook his head at the droid and moved over to the room containing the escape pods. As the door slid open Hando was greeted by a man in his late 30's with brown hair and beard dressed in and orange flight jacket and blue pants, a blaster pistol in his hand pointed directly at his face. "Hurry up we haven't much time." He called lowering the pistol after he saw Hando. "And you are?" Hando asked his own Vibroblade raised in a defensive position. "I'm Carth Onasi, a pilot with the republic." Carth explained "We have to hurry! Now that Bastila is no longer on board there's nothing stopping the sith from blasting the ship into dust." Upon seeing Hando's face Carth sighed "Look I'm shore you have a lot of questions and I'll answer them later but right now we have to go!"He said gesturing to an escape pod. Finally Hando lowered his blade. "Alright let's go." Hando said climbing into the pod. Carth nodded "were out of here." He said pressing the launch control and jumping into the pod as the door closed.

The pods Engines screamed as the small pod was shot from the side of the Crippled Cruiser and down toward the city planet of Taris below. No sooner than the pod was clear a series of fatal explosions raked the hull of the Endar Spire and the ship disappeared into a ball of rapidly expanding gas and metal shards. Inside the pod the shock wave of the explosion felt like being hit with a tonne of bricks. As the world around him began to fade to black Hando heard Carths' voice Call out, "Hang On Kid! This is gona be a ruff landing!"