Author's Notes: Hey Everyone! Been cooking this one up for a while. Don't want to spoil too much about what I've got planned for this story, but you can basically expect all of the Old Republic classes to play a part in this fic. Hope you like it, and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Star Wars and all related trademarks belong to Disney. The Old Republic is a Bioware production published by EA.

Star Wars: Imperium

Chapter 1

Her name was the Charyys, an ancient Sith word whose meaning had long been lost to all but a select few. The starship's sleek form was reminiscent of an enormous raptor, graceful, swift, hungry as she swooped down through the dark sky. She darted down with startling agility, skimming the rocky surface of Malachor Five. A trail of dust whipped up in her wake, mingling with the strange gas emanations that were a near constant feature of the debris field that had once been a planet, and threatened to be once more.

Almost three centuries ago, when the war between the rampaging Mandalorian clans and the Jedi-led Republic was reaching a fever pitch, the wretched planet had served as the battlefield for a devastating final conflict in which a dreadful weapon, the Mass Shadow Generator, was activated, tearing entire fleets from the sky and devastating armies, but causing the very planet to crumble beneath its wrath, leaving it a smoking ruin of blackened rock and noxious fumes. And yet, in spite of facing such an atrocity, the planet remained, held together by either gravity, ancient technology, or perhaps something more sinister. Decades later, a second activation of the weapon shattered the husk of a world, and yet it was once again reforming, rocks, shattered starships and the ash of countless bodies congealing around a central point, a renewed gravitational field formed by the sheer mass of debris. An average scientist would have been quick to explain that it was a natural process, where the mass of larger objects drew in smaller ones until finally they gained enough mass to be considered an asteroid, then a planetoid, then finally a full planet in its own right, but one versed in the ways of the Force would have discerned a different truth. At its heart, the ancient world seethed with the power of the Dark Side, raw and untamed. Such a nexus of primal energy could not be so easily destroyed. It was for just such a reason that the owner of the Charyys had set a course for the desolate ruins.

The starship swerved into a narrow gully, it's drive glow burning brightly as it cast eerie shadows on the bare rocks around it. In one moment, it was surrounded by jagged rocks, in the next, sheets of metal from starship hulls, and in another neatly cut stones from a building more ancient than any civilisation known to the Galaxy. Finally, the Charyys burst out to hover over a largely flat plain of glassy stone, its smooth texture created by unimaginable heat. A relic of the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator, perhaps. Or maybe a shard of crystalline minerals from the molten heart of the planet, exposed to raw vacuum in its devastation. Regardless, it offered as promising a landing zone as anywhere else on the planet. With a deft spin, the starship touched down gently.

Almost immediately, the boarding ramp descended from the belly of the vessel, allowing a shadowy figure to descend. Clad in black robes that hid a lean, wiry frame and armour whose protective values would catch any unsuspecting assailants off-guard, the figure wore an imposing mask, resembling a metal skull with deep, terrifyingly empty eye sockets. At his side, a lightsaber dangled freely from his belt, double-bladed, the scarlet crystals set in its emitters sparkling with an otherworldly glow that came from no technological source. The weapon's hilt had a slight curve to it, a snakelike weave that angled the blades in odd directions, making it difficult for an opponent to predict their precise movements. The leather that bound the weapon was as black as the dark rock of the planet that surrounded its owner, and unmarked in any way. Where some Sith boasted of their victories by etching their kills into the hilts of their weapons, this Dark Lord, for that is what he was, had no need of such frivolities. He was fully aware of every victory he had won, of every life he had ended, of every atrocity he had wrought upon an unsuspecting Galaxy. He had not earned his seat upon the Dark Council through brute force or uncontrolled savagery, but rather with guile, intelligence, and malicious deception, until at last his name was one not spoken throughout the Empire, but rather whispered in dread.

A slim figure strode down the ramp behind him, a Togruta clad in similar robes. At her side, a Kaleesh also stood at the ready, following her gaze towards the Dark Lord. These were just two of his many disciples, his most favoured students. The Kaleesh, a former slave of unmatched savagery by the name of Xalek, had risen by the Dark Lord's side to a position of power within the Empire, apprentice to the master of all Sith knowledge. The Togruta, Ashara Zavros, was a young Jedi padawan who clung to her Jedi beliefs in spite of her service to the Dark Lord, constantly challenged by the conflicts she had been shown between what the Jedi taught and what the wider Galaxy had actually shown her. Both were loyal to the Sith before them, even as their separate agendas shaped every action they took in his behalf.

"My lord..." Ashara was the first to speak, her voice muffled somewhat by the breathing mask she wore. What little atmosphere had gathered on the planet's surface was highly toxic. "Is this wise? The power I sense beneath the surface... The Force is not just dark here. It's... almost sick, if that's possible. In all my studies of the Force... I have never felt decay such as this. It pulls at the mind, corrupts the heart. It's almost as if the Force itself were dying."

"That is why I must come here." The Sith Lord's voice was calm, almost serene. But beneath, a vital energy pulsed, like the muscles of a powerful predator flexing under a languid exterior. "What happened here changed the Force around it, mutated it, if you will. What I seek to attempt... no Force user has ever even dreamed of such a feat. To even hope to succeed, I must be in a place where the boundaries between the Living Force and the physical world are at their thinnest. Only then may I pierce the veil and venture beyond."

"Then allow me to come with you, my master." Xalek growled, eyes darting about hungrily. "To roam such a world, to feed off such darkness..."

"Would leave your mind altered and your will erased." The Sith Lord interjected. "You are not ready to face the truth of this place, my apprentice. Already I can sense the barriers around your minds eroding, as are the ones Ashara placed within the minds of the others. You must leave, now, before you are corrupted beyond any use to me. Perhaps one day you shall be as powerful as I, and then you may face the rot of Malachor, but that time has not yet arrived."

"As you wish, my master." The alien replied slowly, finally turning to ascend the ramp.

Ashara lingered a moment longer, hesitant to leave the Sith alone in the wastes. Finally, she bowed her head, turning to leave.

The Sith Lord strode out onto the surface of Malachor, closing his eyes as he reached out with his other senses to experience the bleak world around him. A quick rumble from the Charyys warned him of its departure, and then he was alone. He took a deep breath, the metallic, recycled taste of the air in his mask coating the back of his throat. With a sigh, he reached up, removing the mask.

The middle-aged Human's eyes prickled at the sensation of the harsh atmosphere, sharp chemicals catching in his mouth. Most people would have been rendered helpless in seconds, butte Force was strong with the Kallig bloodline. With barely any concentration, the Sith Lord neutralised the poison in the air as it entered his system, bolstering his body to survive the hostile conditions. Where the strongest of men would have perished in moments, the Dark Lord barely paused to take a breath. The Force was his servant, and a powerful one it proved to be.

Five faint shimmers appeared in the air beside him, resolving themselves into five in distinct figures. Two Humans, a Togruta, a Voss and an ancient, red-skinned Sith, the strange collection glowed faintly with an ethereal blue light, at the same time present and not. The Sith, always the most powerful personality in the group, stepped close to the Sith Lord.

"This place... there have been few like it in the history of the Galaxy." Horak-Mul breathed, his voice echoing on the wind. "Countless lives met their end here, all at once and in tremendous agony. What I wouldn't give to have been witness to the devastation of this world!"

"I was here." The Togruta, Kalatosh, offered up. "Not on the ground, but I was in Revan's fleet. When the world cracked open, and all those lives blinked out in a flash, the Force rippled with such immense power. I saw the ending of the universe in that one moment, and it was beautiful."

"Such devastation, and all at the hands of a so-called 'defender of the Republic'." One of the Human apparitions, Lord Andru, commented. "One could hardly credit such an act to a Jedi, of all people."

Kalatosh, himself a former Jedi, bristled at the comment, but kept silent. Instead, all of the apparitions turned to Kallig as he knelt to brush at the stone beneath his feet, feral yellow eyes creasing with curiosity as his fingertips slid across the smooth, glass-like surface. A jagged shard caught the tip of one finger, drawing forth a bead of blood that swelled before dropping free, splattering onto the crystal. The ghostly Force users watched him carefully, silently. At last, Horak-Mul crouched by him, watching the younger Sith's face.

"What do you sense?"

Kallig reached out, tendrils of his power seeping across the landscape as he watched through eyes that didn't see, listened through ears that couldn't hear, and explored with fingers that wouldn't feel. To see with the Force was to see everything and yet nothing, to be aware on a plane of existence that so far exceeded the normal realm as to be outside any frame of reference. The black rocks shone with the light of pain, crackling with the roar of fear, the stench of anger rising thickly from the fissures deep within them. The air was thick, cloying, noxious, burdened with hunger and desire. The final, desperate thoughts of those who had died in that place so long ago still tore their way through the world, the agony of crushed limbs, the desperation of scrambling hands, the failing courage of a broken will. To a lesser mind, such a cacophony of raw, deafening emotions would have been impossible to bear, inviting madness. But to Kallig, one who had tasted the insanity of Belsavis, braved the wrath of Sith Lords and tamed the power of the dead to his will, this world was enthralling.

"I feel... the last moments of the great battle, when the Mandalorians saw their doom, but could do nothing to stop it. The Republic warriors who realised the treachery of their leader, and could only fight on in the face of it. The Jedi who felt the Force ripped away from them, never to return as they blinked out of existence. So much life taken, and yet not returning to the Living Force, instead just... ceasing to be.

"I see an Academy, rising up from the ruins. Countless students taken here, their minds broken until they know nothing but insanity. Three bastions of darkness leading them, until treachery left only two, a wild beast whose pain kept him from ever knowing death, and a void into which everything would spill, never satisfying his hunger.

"And I hear... I hear..."

The apparitions tensed as the Sith Lord tilted his head quizzically.

"What is it?" One of the Humans, Lord Ergast, asked.

"I hear the voice of this world." Kallig breathed. "It writhes in agony, tormented without end. It's heart is a singularity into which the Force is pulled, like a black hole. The life of the Galaxy flows from this rift, and eventually it will all be gone, and the world rejoices at this knowledge. It is filled with glee at the thought of the ending of everything, of the death of the Force. It- the entire planet has fallen into insanity, and it hungers to spread its suffering to others."

"Incredible." Andru gazed around in wonder. "An entire planet driven mad. Truly the Force must be warped here."

"Which makes it perfect." Kallig said, straightening up.

With renewed purpose, the Sith Lord set off across the dark landscape, searching for his ultimate prize- the ruins of the Trayus Academy and the final resting place of the Dark Lady of Betrayal.

AN: So there you have it, the first chapter in a planned novel-length story in the Star Wars universe. Let me know what you think, and please leave a favourite and a review if you enjoyed this. For more story updates and other gaming-related stuff, find me on Twitter, FaceBook and YouTube. I'm pretty easy to find, just look for Fainmaca!

Fainmaca Out.