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P.1
A white cabin room aboard a ship. A man, on his side, sleeps soundly, dressed in a white T-shirt and underwear. On the table beside his bed sits a Lightsaber hilt.
CAP: Endar Spire, Republican Battleship.
P.2
Close in on the man, his eyes snapping open as a rumble rips through the room. An explosion.
Man: What in the hell was that?
P.3
Outside the door we begin hearing blaster fire. Boots clacking on the Endar Spire's polished floor.
The man stares at it, half groggy, half confused.
P.4
Over the intercom a heavy voice comes through.
Intercom: This is Captain Carth Onassi, we're under attack. I repeat, we are under attack. All personnel to battle stations. Defend the ship!
P.5
Hastily dressing in his orange Republican uniform the man grabs his blaster rifle from its rack, straps on his Lightsaber, and begins heading for the door when a knock comes.
He stops, almost gagging from his heart slipping into his throat.
"Hey! Are you awake?"
Man: Who are you?
"Trask Ulgo!"
Remembering the blonde hair ensign from a cafeteria brawl from a week ago the man lets him in.
P.6
Ulgo stumbles inside the room, a bad cut in his shoulder leaving a trail of blood behind him.
The man helps him stand up and asks him what happening.
Ulgo: Darth Malak's ship. It came out of Hyperspace and smashed into the Endar Spire. They're boarding now.
Ulgo sucks back the pain, straightening up.
Man: What're we going to do?
Ulgo: The Sith are here to kill Bastilla Shan, we need to get to her and get her out of here.
The man barely knows anything about Shan besides the fact that she was a Jedi Knight, but agrees, knowing his duty.
P.1
Ulgo unholsters a pistol, grins at his new partner, and leads the way out into the hallway, the man following.
Ulgo: What's your name by the way? Never caught it during basic.
Man: Soren Keroac.
Ulgo: Proud to serve beside you.
Turning a corner the two men find themselves face to face with Sith soldiers, their grey uniforms filling the hall.
P.2
Soren narrowly misses a blaster bolt as it flies past his chest, the Republican soldier diving for cover behind an open door.
Ulgo kills one of the Sith before he's forced back down the hall, no cover available for him to use.
P.3
The two sides go back and forth for what seems like eternity, each shot precisely aimed and fired, until the last Sith slouches against the wall dead. Keroac and Ulgo stepping from cover and continuing on.
Ulgo: Bastilla should be on the bridge.
P.4
The Endar Spire's hallways and rooms are filled with the dead and dying, the Sith leaving no survivors. Ulgo wants to stop and help those he can, but Soren convinces him to keep going. Bastilla, he points out, is their priority. The dying knew the possibilities of war.
P.5
Nearing the bridge door a pale skinned human man, eyes hollow and soulless, block their path.
By his black robes they know him to be a Sith Lord.
Keroac's Lightsaber is in his hand immediately, blue blade humming to life.
Ulgo: You're a Jedi too?
Keroac: Once. Long ago.
The black robed Sith ignites his red saber, gesturing at him.
P.1
Keroac's blade sings slicing downward to block the Sith's attack. The other man's eyes terrifyingly vacant of life, like he's a thrall.
P.2
A kick to the shins bring Soren down, but only for a moment. Spinning around he knocks the Sith back with the Force and gets up.
P.3
The two men go against each other again, their blades creating a hissing sound as they clash. The Sith, smiling, smashes a left hook into Seron's cheek, cracking his lip open.
Sith: Jedi, always so fragile.
Like a switch turned on, Keroac drives him back with the Force again, this time with such a powerful strike he smashes hard into the ship wall.
Ulgo stares at his companion's work wordlessly. The giant dent an ugly eyesore.
Keroac: Come on!
P.4
They race towards the bridge door---
Ulgo: ARRRGH!
Trask is ripped off the ground, hands gripping his throat. Behind him the Sith Lord stands, an arm yanking the Republican soldier back---
IMAPLING HIM ON HIS LIGHTSABER.
P.5
Seron watches the dying man writhe on the blade.
Ulgo: Sa....Shan.
With a crunch, the Sith cracks his neck and throws him off his weapon, advancing on Keroac.
The former Jedi, seeing the futility in further combat, throws up pieces of debris with the Force. Retreats through the bridge door and punches in secruity codes.
Try as he might, the Sith can't break through.
P.1
The bridge, trashed by a Sith troop assault, is littered with corpses, a mix of enemy and ally.
Seron scans the bodies, looking for Shan. None of the dead wear the brown robes of the Jedi Order and so he takes a sigh of relief.
Keroac: At least you didn't die here.
In the corner of his eye he catches movement.
P.2
An arm jerks free from the mangled bodies its underneath. Pale white fingers crawling at air.
Keroac moves over, grips them, and pulls them up, revealing a senior military officer, marked out by his orange outfit, left cheek badly bruise but otherwise alive.
Keroac: You gonna be OK?
"Define 'OK.'"
Keroac: You won't slip into unconsciousness and die in my arms.
The man chuckles.
"No. I'm not that bad yet."
P.3
The Republican officer holds out a hand.
"Carth Onassi."
Keroac: I know sir. Captain Seron Keroac.
Carth: No need for formalities now. We're close to being dead.
Keroac: Where's Bastilla Shan?
To this Onassi glances towards a door leading to the escape pod bay. Points.
Carth: Once it became apparent there was no hope of saving the Endar Spire, she made the choice to escape believing the Sith would abandon the attack and follow her.
Keroac: Clearly that was a mistake.
Carth: She fell to Taris, the planet below.
P.4
Not waiting further Keroac moves to the escape pod area. Onassi, realizing what he's doing, doesn't stop it. Together the men stumble out of the bridge and into the bay, the stink of melting metal strong.
P.5
Onassi punches in a code and the two men board. Seconds later they're launched down into space, heading towards Taris.
P.1
A sharp blue sky in morning greets us. The planet city of Taris just waking up to its day. Speeders and other vehicles start up. A chorus of uneven voices springing to life as transients leave their apartments for the work day.
P.2
On a sidewalk, in the farthest corners of the city, the Endar Spire escape pod has landed. Onassi hauling Keroac, unconscious, from the wreckage.
Its unclear if he's breathing.
P.3
In a dark room we see Seron again laid out on a bed. There's not much to it. A bedstand, a drawer in the corner. Onassi is nowhere in sight.
P.4
A bright blast of sunlight strikes us as blinds are flown back, revealing the clear Tarisian sky.
Carth Onassi, dressed in civillian clothes now, looks back on Keroac, his comrade still unconscious.
P.5
An orange sun lowers beneath the clouds, ending the day.
Onassi, by Keroac's bed, watches over him. He's finally awake, but weak.
Keroac: Where are we?
Carth: Taris. We got lucky and didn't crash into any buildings or moving transport. The bad news is we're stuck.
Keroac: Shan?
Onassi shakes his head.
Carth: Wherever she landed, it wasn't close by. We'll have to search for her when your better.
Seron attempts to move. Flinches.
Carth: Give it another day.
Keroac: Lying here is driving me nuts.
Carth: Better that than making things worse, my friend.
P.1
Keroac rises, pushing back Onassi as he tries to keep him down.
P.2
Throwing on his white shirt and some pants Carth was able to find Seron ignores the pounding pain in his head, gesturing for his superior officer to follow.
Carth, despite not liking this idea one bit, doesn't object.
P.1
Outside the bustling planet city comes alive with hundreds of noises coming at them at once. Voices. Engines whining. Animals barking and yipping.
Its a typical day for most, but that all changes fast.
P.2
A squad of Sith troopers, marching down the walkway, catches Seron's eye. He points them out to Carth.
Keroac: What do we do?
Carth: They don't know who we are. Don't draw suspicion and we should be fine.
Seron's hand went to his Lightsaber hilt, snatching it up and slipping it into his pants.
P.3
The squad leader, a heavy set man with scarred lips, walked past them hastily and stopped by the door behind them, banging hard with his blaster rifle.
A moment later a Duros answered the door, his green face flushed with drink.
"We need to inspect your residence."
The Sith Commander said matter of factly.
The Duros grunted, as if he doesn't understand the question.
"Move aside."
The Duros shrugs. Won't move.
In one level shot the Commander blows a hole in the alien's chest.
On impulse Seron's Lightsaber comes to life, the Sith and his men reacting to the sound of the blade.
P.4
Keroac spun on his heels, dodging the blaster bolts zoning in on him, knocking back the few he could connect with.
The Sith Commander barked several orders, fear rising with each, believing he had a full fledged Jedi on his hands.
Reaching the man's squad Seron cut them down savagely, each dropping with superbly executed strikes, leaving lines of red and black up and down their torsos and backs.
Onassi, unaccustomed to seeing those with Lightsabers act in such brutal fashion, stared. Keroac ignored it, advancing on the officer, who backed up----
Right into the apartment wall.
P.5
Gripping the officer by the coat collar Seron slammed him against the concrete.
Keroac: Where is she?
Officer: Wh---Who?
Keroac: Playing stupid isn't advised kid.
Officer: Lord Malak is f---
In a quick slash Keroac took off three of the man's fingers, the digits rolling onto the ground.
His wails cut off by a blow to the jaw.
Keroac: Answer me. And you'll live.
Officer: We don't know! We....We heard she may be in the Under City.
Keroac: Under City?
Carth: Taris's underworld district. Seedy place.
Keroac glanced at the Republican soldier. Grins.
Keroac: Well, we won't be bored.
He let go of the Sith and sheathed his Lightsaber.
Keroac: Take your life and go. My suggestion is don't go back to Malak. Leave the Sith behind. I won't spare your life again if we cross paths in the field.
The officer ran off.
P.1
As he turned to Onassi he prepared for the explanation.
Carth: Since when were Jedi so brutal?
Keroac: I'm no Jedi.
Carth: You were. No one moves like that unless they've received training by the Order.
Keroac: I could be a former Sith apprentice for all you know.
He smirked at Onassi's uneasiness at the suggestion.
Keroac: I was a Knight during the Mandalorian wars. I served under Revan and Malak when they sought Jedi to defend the Republic. Once they fell to the Dark Side I lost hope in the Order and left.
Carth: And became a Republic soldier?
Keroac: I believe in serving others and, from what I can see, the Republic, despite its flaws, does that better than the Jedi ever have.
P.2
The two travelled across the city, Carth leading the way. Long ago, he explained as they went, he served on Taris as a private during his early career.
Taris's Under City was a place where he and his squad routinely patrolled, his commanding officer seeking to make a difference in the lives of the residents there.
It worked in part, but they could never do enough.
He never expected those experiences to come in handy.
P.3
The Under City's entrance, guarded by two henchmen of the Crime Lord Davik Kang, sat to the east of their apartment complex. According to Onassi the Under City was a lawless place cut off from any semblance of order.
Crime Kingpins like Kang controlled the masses, people who's ancestors, centuries ago, were banished below due to things no one could recall anymore.
It was hell for the living, and a place you never wanted to return to if you were lucky enough to escape.
P.4
They paid the henchmen what credits Carth managed to scrounge up while waiting for Seron to awaken and were led down into the bowels of Taris.
The first thing Seron noticed was the stink. A strong, putrid smell that hung in the air and sank into the nostrils. He struggled to identify its source and couldn't.
Picking up on this Carth nodded.
Carth: It was here during my patrols. Locals say its the smell of all the dead buried underneath Taris's steel.
P.5
The entrance door lowered, revealing a shanty town before them placed on what looked like sand. People mill about, lost and dejected.
"Welcome to the Under City fellas. Enjoy the stay!"
P.1
On Carth's advice the two split up and tried making small talk with the locals. Most, unsurprisingly, wouldn't talk with outsiders. Ones who did, like a Twi'lek prostitute who proposed a 'good time' to Seron while he walked by her residence, didn't offer much in the way of information.
He tipped the woman for what she did provide and moved on.
P.2
It took four hours of near constant conversation starting (and ending) before Keroac found a willing talker who knew anything.
The man, who went by the name Sneed, was a Dwarf, no more than three feet tall. His fleshy face full of red bristles.
Keroac found him rummaging through a trash can looking for, as he put it, 'today's supper-dinner combo.'
At first the former Jedi assumed he'd be like every other man or woman and simply slink off once he started dropping questions, but instead Sneed popped his head up and nodded.
Sneed: I know who're talkin' about friend.
Keroac: Yeah?
Sneed: I do.
Keroac wasn't sure how much he should trust the man but seeing he had no other leads, what harm could it do?
P.3
The Dwarf pulled himself free of the trash and stood up, dusting off bits of leftover food on his pants.
Sneed: Forgive the appearance. Not my best day.
Keroac: That makes two of us. So, you know who I mean?
Sneed: Yup. Jedi lady right?
Keroac: Yes.
Sneed: Word is Davik Kang's syndicate, the Exchange, have her. Located her escape pod and raided it, taken the poor thing prisoner.
Keroac: Why?
Sneed: To buy Sith support, obviously. Kang thinks the Republic got three years left, no more. Wants to make sure he's on good terms with Malak when he becomes Emperor of the Galaxy.
Keroac: And he'll sell the Jedi to him to get it.
Sneed: Bingo!
P.4
It wasn't a shocking revelation. Bastilla Shan's ability to use the Force to wield what the Jedi Council called 'Battle Meditation' was well known at this point.
Battle Meditation, using the Force's energy to increase morale, battle prowess, and effectiveness for your side, while simultaneously draining it from your opponents, had come in handy many times throughout the war with the Sith.
It was the main reason that the Jedi were able to kill Revan during the sneak attack on his flagship in the Outer Rim Territories a year before. Bastilla's power enabled the fifteen Jedi Masters tasked with assassinating the Dark Lord to do so, cutting him down before Malak's eyes.
Unfortunately Malak escaped and continued his war.
P.5
Paying the Dwarf what he could, Keroac also bought info on where the Exchange headquarters was located.
Attached to the race tracks, Sneed said. Ask for a Mandalorian named Canderous Ordo.
Davik Kang's bodyguard.
P.1
The race tracks, called 'Doom Race Course' by one drunk Duros Keroac asked directions from, was a large structure built out of the interior of decayed buildings.
P.2
Thugs and other undesirables clung to the outside.
Standing a ways back Seron scouted the place out for an hour before going in search of Carth.
P.3
Onassi, drained from his struggles in attempting to speak with hostile locals, grew excited once he learned Seron had a lead.
It didn't last.
Once he heard all the details he refused to go.
Carth: You want us to sneak into Kang's syndicate headquarters, break out Bastilla, and get away undetected?
Keroac: When you put it like that, it does sound stupid. But we---
Carth: Its suicidal!
Keroac: What else do we do? Malak's going to come here soon to collect her. That's why Kang has her. If we sit on our asses any longer it'll be too late.
Carth: Think about what your proposing!
Keroac: Go back to the top level if you need to. I'll carry out the mission.
P.4
He ignored the rest of Onassi's protests and headed off down the street.
Carth, caught between a rock and a hard place, screams into his palms, before rushing off after him.
P.1
A head rolls by belonging to a Rodian. Saber marks in its flesh.
P.2
Keroac and Onassi advanced down the Exchange's halls, the former Jedi's blade humming, crackling, and hissing as they tore their own path through the henchmen who continued to line up to face them.
All cannon fodder for the Lightsaber.
Onassi, disgusted at the ease with which his partner dealt death, only used his weapon when he absolutely needed to.
P.3
The Syndicate's best men fell against this two man onslaught, all their years of street brawls and cantina guard duty no match for a Jedi Knight's training.....
But even Jedi have limits.
P.4
Rounding a corner the two soldiers are met by a Mandalorian, full steel plate armour made to withstand even Lightsaber blades.
Keroac glanced at Carth.
Keroac: Canderous Ordo I presume?
A wail of machine gun fire answered, a bullet smashing Keroac in the shoulder and spinning him backward.
Onassi ducked for cover, taking a bullet to the thigh.
P.5
Stunned. Bleeding badly, Keroac blinked hard.
The iron clang of boots ring in his ear.
P.1
Carth, farther away than Keroac from Ordo, grabbed at the wall with his hands, fighting to stand up and help Seron up.
A bullet cracking the bones in his hand, bringing him back down.
P.2
Ordo swung his rifle towards Keroac, unleashing the full extent of its power on the downed man.
Blue energy flares to life in the smokey haze, shielding him from the bolts.
P.3
Onassi, not yet defeated, rose again, this time making straight for Ordo, pistol drawn.
The Mandalorian doesn't even look. Turning his rifle he blasted the officer with three powerful shots, each eating clean through his chest.
With Carth dead Ordo stomped on Keroac's leg, bones snapping audibly.
P.4
Kicking the Lightsaber from his hand the Mandalorian gripped Keroac by the neck, smashing him against the door of the chamber leading to where Bastilla was.
Keroac coughed, his breathing becoming quicker.
Ordo's iron gauntlet pulled back to deliver a final blow.
It connected, driving the man's head back into the metal, skin and muscle tearing on impact.
The Mandalorian studied the newly made corpse in his hand, head tilting in curiosity.
He did this for a few moments, deciding Keroac was a worthy opponent, and laid the man down respectfully.
Retrieving his rifle, Ordo resumed his post.