Star Wars The Old Republic: A Knights Tale

Prologue

Korriban. Ancient birthplace of the Sith. Full of ancient ruins and orange, savage deserts that stretched out for miles that seem without end and surrounded by a blockade of grey and lifeless asteroids. An appropriate place for the Sith to evolve on. Abandoned for 1,000 years . At least that's what everyone thought.

Hanging in orbit around the abandoned planet was a Republic Outpost. This was all that guarded this Ancient world. It was shaped like a disk at the top that ended with a spire at the bottom and three columns attached to the top of the disc.

Inside the station

In one of the many plain, metallic corridors, two Jedi were walking apace. One Jedi was male and of the Zabrak species. Zabrak can be distinctly identified by a row of pointy but blunt horns that protruded from the top of their skull, but other than that they appeared human. His face was also covered in intricate tattoos which is common among his race. He wore a dark brown robe and under that he was clad in white armor commonly worn by Jedi Knights when out on duty. His name was Kao Cen Darach. The other Jedi, a female, was human and noticeably younger than Darach, her master. She had black, shiny hair that was tied up in a short pony tail and had two locks of hair that fell down the front of her face. She wore a detailed corset quite as opposed to the armor her master wore. Her name was Satele Shan. Walking behind them was a man under guard by two Republic soldiers. He was being lead to the detention cells. This man wore a wide circular-brim hat and a cloak that went down to his ankles. His distinctive attire identified him as a smuggler. He was detained with cuffs. The Republic troops guarding him wore white clad armor with the occasional red strip and helmets. They were scarred with black strikes that had been obtained from different battles which denoted their combat experience. They carried weapons that were constantly trained on their prisoner. They continued to walk down the corridor, with the occasional droid or trooper passing by. The corridor was lined with big windows that showed the cold depths of space.

"Come on I didn't even know what was in those crates. I'm innocent." said the smuggler in a pleading tone.

"You were smuggling Sith artifacts, Captain." said the Zabrak Jedi.

"Fine you can keep the artifacts. Can I at least have my ship?" said the smuggler. Darach ignored him. The smuggler then eyed a very attractive women that passed them by.

"Hey, eyes front!" said Corporal Jace Malcom, one of the Republic troopers guarding him, and gave him a nudge with his blaster.

"Just checking out the troops Corporal." said the Smuggler in an undertone. Satele stopped abruptly and held her hand to her forehead.

"Satele, what is wrong?" asked Darach and he put his arm around Satele to comfort her.

"I sense a great...darkness." Satele said with disturbance.

They walked to the window and peered out of it, staring into the deep abyss. Soon afterwards, a fleet of massive, hulking ships appeared from hyperspace. They were big and grey and shaped in a way that was designed to inspire fear in all those who lay eyes on them. Appearing from the hangers of the ships were hundreds of small and nimble Imperial fighters. They zoomed towards the station like a swarm of flies. They opened fire on station, firing blood red lasers.

"The Sith Empire has returned!" said Darach with a hint of fear in his voice.

Inside the station, explosions could be heard from all over the outpost and fires were erupting everywhere. The infrastructure of the stations was getting blown apart. Wave after wave of fighters continued to attack the station. Alarms were going off everywhere that warned of the attack.

"We must warn the Republic." said Darach, knowing that the Republic must know of the return of the Sith.

"Our shuttles can't outrun those fighters!" said Corporal Malcolm. The smuggler stepped forward and said,

"Uh um. Well. Guess who has the fastest ship in this sector?" said the smuggler in a smug tone. Everyone knew he was right. They all started to run through corridor as as they can to get to the hanger bay. A voice came over the intercom:

"Base's defenses breached. All hands evacuate." Imperial troopers had boarded the station and now the Republic forces were trying to fight them off. The smuggler, Maclom, the other trooper, Darach and Satele ran down the hallway. Both Jedi grasped a metal hilt attached to their belts and activated their lightsabers, the ancient weapons of the Jedi, in a flourish. They whizzed into life and a blade of light extended from the hilts. Darach had a single bladed green lightsaber, whereas Satele had a double-bladed blue lightsaber. They rushed into the fray, deflecting the Imperial troop's weapons fire with mastered flurries of their lightsabers. They cut down troops as a knife would to butter. Imperial troops were coming behind them. An Imperial battle droid fired a missile at Corporal Malcolm and his companion.

"Look out!" shouted the smuggler. But he was too late.

The missile hit the wall beside them and sent them flying backwards along with some other debris. The smuggler ducked behind his arm to avoid the shrapnel. He walked past Malcolm who was attempting to carry his injured companion out of the fray. The smuggler leisurely walked into the fray of gunfire from the Imperial troops and drew his own pistol. Still walking he fired with accurate precision and took down the incoming troops. He drew a second pistol and continued to fire both of them at the imperial troops, still walking. With his companion safe, Corporal Malcolm stood up and carried a two-handed chain gun and joined the smuggler. He unleashed a barrage of laser fire unto the two advancing battle droids and ripped them apart from the sheer force. They ran back to where the Jedi were in the hanger bay. Malcolm sealed the door and shot the controls to lock the Imperial troops out temporarily. The Jedi finished cleaning up the troops and sheathed their lightsabers. The hanger bay was severely damaged with debris and wreckage strewn everywhere.

"My ship!" said the smuggler, in shock to see his vessel damaged. Some fallen wreckage had damaged the side of it.

"Will she fly?" Darach asked.

"She's not pretty but she's tough." the smuggler replied. Just as he said that, an Imperial shuttle landed inside the hanger bay. It was a Fury-class Imperial interceptor, reserved for only specific members of the Sith Empire. Darach could sense exactly who was on that ship.

"Captain, prep your ship. This is our fight." said Darach. The smuggler and Malcolm headed off to the ship.

The Imperial ship opened and lowered a ramp illuminated by a row of white lights and clouded by smoke. Out of the ship, two figures walked down the ramp. One of the mysterious characters was dressed in heavy black robes and his face was covered by a hockey-like mask and he was hooded. In his right hand he held a metal hilt, that of a double-bladed lightsaber. The other figure was also robed in black and his face was covered by a hood that extended below his eyes. He was similar to the other except he wore dark, metallic armor with a single-bladed lightsaber hilt. They strode down the ramp at a slow pace. They both activated their lightsabers and they came to life. However instead of the vibrant and peaceful colors of blue and green, they were evil and blood-red in color, which betrayed their alignment to the force and who they were. Sith. The double-bladed Sith was called Lord Vindican and his counterpart was Darth Malgus.

Inside the smuggler's vessel, the Captain and Malcolm raced through to the cockpit. On the way, the smuggler ran into his droid. It was short with a round head, a single eye piece and three wheels for movement.

"T7, prep the ion cannons!" the smuggler called out to the droid. T7 whirred and beeped in response and went off to perform his duty.

Outside, Darach and Satele charged into the two Sith and activated their lightsabers. The fight separated into one-on-one: Malgus and Satele, Vindican and Darach. They all exchanged a flurry of blows, parrys and blocks. The Sith were furious and cunning in their fighting. Not as trained as the Jedi were, but their hatred and anger fueled their fighting to make it deadly. On some occasions their individual battles intertwined but quickly separated. Seconds into the battle, Darth Malgus got the upper hand on Satele using brute force and knocked her lightsaber out of her hand. Just as he was about to strike her down, Darach threw his lightsaber over the head of Vindican and caught Malgus' hilt which distracted him enough for Satele to jump up and push Malgus away with a roundhouse kick. Vindican and Darach continued to fight, exchanging blows. Satele attempted to jump towards Malgus but with a quick shock, he knocked her down with stream of Force lightning from his hand. Darach managed to use the Force to push Vandican away, giving Darach enough time to recover and Satele to retrieve her lightsaber. The smuggler's was beginning to take off and Vandican gave it a quick shock of Force lightning but was interrupted by a shot from Corporal Malcolm, who was hanging outside the entrance ramp of the ship.

"Come on!" he shouted at the Jedi. Darach leaned towards Satale and said,

"Go Satele. You must walk a different path." Satele nodded with approval. Darach started to walk away and Satele called,

"Master!" just as she said that, she threw her lightsaber into the air, Darach leaped up and caught it in his offhand. At the same time he activated both lightsabers and he landed in between Lord Vandican and Darth Malgus, and continued to them, two on one. Satele leaped through the wreckage, performed a front summersault and jumped towards the moving ship. Corporal Malcom reached out towards Satele and she reached him just in time, and Satele was pulled into the ship. The exit platform raised and closed off the ship. On the way out of the hanger, the smugglers ship smacked into the side of the Imperial interceptor the Sith arrived in, taking it out of commission.

In the ship

"Arm those guns now!" shouted to the smuggler captain to Satele and Malcom. They both followed his orders and into a pipe that lead the top and bottom ion turrets. Malcom went up, Satele went down. They took their positions at the turrets, we're they had a three-sixty degree view of the battle.

Hanger bay

Darach was still bravely fighting the two Sith, wielding his and Satele's lightsabers with such ease that required years of practice and mastery. For one second, all three of the combatants Saber locked, but they quickly released. Darach stepped back and deactivated one of the two blades of Satele's lightsaber then Vindican shot a shock of Force lightning to Darach. Using the two lightsabers, he blocked the shock and redirected it into Darth Malgus, temporarily putting him out of the battle. Darach took a strike a to Vindican's head, knocking his hood down and ripping his mask off. This unveiled the Dark Lord's face. He was a Sith pure-blood. His skin was colored blood-red and his eyes glowed yellow that represented his hate. He had two small tendrils hanging from below the corners of his mouth and at the tips were metal rings. He had dark teeth and when he opened his mouth all that could be seen was black. A hot, yellow scar streaked down from his left eye to the left side of his face, below the mouth. This scar was caused when Darach struck the mask off his face. Vandican recoiled then turned to face Darach, with even more anger and hate than before. Vindican lurched at Darach, grunting deeply.

In space

The smuggler's ship raced from the Outpost towards the asteroid field. Skillfully it weaves through the field while simultaneously avoiding fire from a dozen Imperial fighters that had given chase. Malcom and Satele were in the turrets trying to fend off the impossibly fast fighters.

Hanger bay

Darach performed a series of masterful blows against Vindican and Malgus then he jumped up and pounded the ground which sent a Force wave that knocked back the two Sith. Vindican quickly recovered and continued to fight Darach. After a few seconds of dueling, Darach got the upper hand and seized the moment. He performed a twirl and stabbed Vindican in the chest with one of the blades on Satele's lightsaber. The battle halted. Darach deactivated the blade that pierced Vindican's chest and he slumped to the ground with a gasp of air. Darach looked ahead to see Malgus standing there. He used the Force to retrieve his fallen master's weapon. He activate one blade of Vindican's lightsaber and his own and held the crossed up at his face. The blood-red light illuminated his previously hidden face. He was bald, and severely pale, as though he had no blood in his body. His eyes were as bright and yellow as Vindican's and his face betrayed such emotions as anger, hatred and revenge. He did not even look human, or any natural creature for that matter. He started to walk towards Darach. With his weapons deactivated, he used the Force to grapple a piece of debris from destroyed ship. He threw it towards Malgus with intent to harm him but he just sliced at the debris and it broke into two pieces and flew off in another direction. Darach picked up another piece and again, through it at his closely approaching opponent. Malgus cross-sliced through the wreckage with both his lightsabers. Finally, with amazing concentration and power, Darach picked up the remains of a ship's engine and threw it at Malgus. This time, Malgus leaped into the air toward the incoming engine and crashed through it, causing it to explode. Malgus continued to travel through the air and landed next to Darach. They both continued to duel. The only differences was that Malgus was even more ferocious than before. The defeat of his master fueled his power with thoughts vengeance. He fought with a slightly slack sort off style, but he was many times more aggressive. Satele's lightsaber which Darach was holding, flew out of his hand. The only weapon he had now was his own. Darach struggled to fend off Malgus' powerful strikes. He bashed at Darach's lightsaber, eventually knocking it out his hand, and with one final slash,Malgus struck the Jedi and cross-sword fashion. Darach slumped to the floor and went limp.

In the ship

Satele was still at the turret controls fending off the fighters when she felt a disturbance in the Force. It could only have meant one thing. Her master's death. While it was a sad a disturbing event, Satele knew what she had to do. So her master would not die on vain she needed to get to the Jedi Council to tell them of the events that were beginning to unfold. The ship made a series of complex maneuvers to avoid the incoming fighters. The smuggler captain brought the ship along side one of the massive Imperial destroyers and flew through it, with all the destroyers laser turrets shooting at them.

"Keep 'em off me! Hyperdrive is almost ready." said the smuggler's captain to the two pilots operating the turrets.

The ship blast a hole in the Imperial ship, and missing the walls narrowly, shot thorough the hole to the other side, behind the destroyer. Now in open space, the smuggler pulled a lever in the cockpit, and the ships engines whirred and the ship jumped into hyper space, disappearing among the stars of space.

In the hanger bay

Malgus strode towards his fallen master, lying on the ground, barely hanging on to life.

"They have escaped, my master. You failed." he said in deep and resounding voice. Vindican struggled to lean up and he peered through the hanger shields to the planet below.

"No Malgus. This, is only the beginning!" he said in a dying voice whilst making a clenched fist. He then slumped to the ground again with barely any strength left in him.

"Yes. After a thousand years, Korriban is ours again!" said Malgus, and he looked down to his weakened master. He activated his lightsaber and charged his arm back. "Welcome home!" he shouted and he brought his lightsaber down and struck his fallen master, putting him out of his misery. Malgus deactivated his lightsaber and he peered out of the hanger bay and watched as hundreds of Imperial ships surrounded the planet, reclaiming what was lost a millennia ago.