Resurgence of an Empire

Chapter 1- Return

Chapter 1- Return

The sky begins to turn orange on Coruscant as the sun sets. At the massive Jedi Temple, things are beginning to settle down for the day. Although life has been very stressful and far from peaceful as of late, the inhabitants of the Temple are trying to rest for the day, knowing tomorrow is sure to be another busy day.

In the corridors of the residential area of the Temple, Anakin is making his way towards his apprentice's chambers. He had planned out some lightsaber training sessions for tonight that he wanted to run through with Ahsoka.

Anakin casually greets another Jedi he walks past in the hallway before he finally arrives at Ahsoka's quarters. He knocks politely, and is answered with Ahsoka calling to him, "Come in."

Anakin opens the door and steps in. Ahsoka is sitting on her bed, deep in meditation. As Anakin walks over towards her, she opens her eyes and looks at him. Almost immediately, Anakin can see something in her eyes. A worry he hasn't really seen much of from her during her time as his apprentice.

"I can see the look in your eyes. Something on your mind, Snips?" Anakin asks his apprentice.

Ahsoka looks back at him for a moment before she responds, "I'm...I'm not sure, Master. But, while I was meditating...I just couldn't shake a bad feeling. I can't even tell you what it's about. But I just can't shake this uneasiness."

"You sure it's not just residual bad feelings from what happened on Onderon?" Anakin asks. The Onderonian Civil War had just ended, with the deposed king returned to the throne and Separatist influence driven off the planet. Anakin and the Council had had some high praise for how Ahsoka had handled the situation while she was on Onderon, but it had clearly been difficult.

"No, Master. I know that's not it. It's...elsewhere. I just sense a feeling of darkness, somewhere in the galaxy. And not anything we've encountered before. I'm not sure what I'm feeling, Master, but I can't help but feel that...something bad is about to happen. Something none of us are expecting," Ahsoka says.

Just listening to Ahsoka, Anakin feels a sense of unease settle over him as well. He can only hope that Ahsoka is wrong.

(Klatooine, Hutt Space)

On the desert planet of Klatooine in Hutt Space, the sun is beginning to set over the planet. In the planet's northern hemisphere, a small outpost that is frequented by pirates and smugglers to trade goods is still relatively busy. A number of crews have stopped in to trade goods, and maybe steal a few from other crews.

In the main trading area, one crew of pirates is bringing in their latest haul for other crews to bid on. "Well, this is gonna be a great selection, boys," one of the pirates calls out to the other crews, holding up a statue from the load they got, "We got this haul from a freighter in orbit over Elom. Got a lot of treasure, we did! Got a lot of cool stuff!"

As the pirates are bringing in their treasure, the other crews are watching the items as they come in. Some other pirates and smugglers are already bidding on items they can see, shouting offers and holding up credits. One smuggler tries to sneak in and snatch a bag of gold, but is spotted and shot in the chest.

As the pirates bring in the last of their booty, some of the other pirates and smugglers spot something intriguing in the midst of everything being brought in. A massive grey slab, taller than the average person.

"Hey. Is that carbonite?" one of the smugglers calls out.

"Sure looks like it! Got the controls on the side for defrosting it! That sure seems like carbonite to me," the pirate moving it calls out.

A number of pirates and smugglers gather around the block of carbonite, looking at it and trying to make out what's been frozen in the carbonite. They can see that whatever it is, whoever did the freezing wanted to make sure it was really frozen. The carbonite is thicker than usual, and what can be seen of what is frozen in the carbonite is not so easy to make out. It's some kind of tall humanoid, maybe wearing some kind of armor. But they can't make out any details.

"Hmm. Should we defrost it? Maybe see what this is?" one of the pirates asks.

"I don't know. Maybe we should just sell it to the Hutts. Sure one of them could use a decoration piece," a smuggler says.

"But if we defrost whatever this is, maybe they could give us some reward. Or maybe they're wanted. And I'm sure we can handle them if they get disoriented," another pirate says.

Before someone else can say something, that pirate goes forward and turns the dial to defrost the carbonite. Light begins to shine from the block as the carbonite begins to defrost. Seconds tick by as the carbonite melts away. Finally, the carbonite melts away.

As the light from the melting carbonite fades away, a figure falls forward and out of the carbonite, landing on one knee with a fist on the ground to support himself. Sure enough, as some of them had thought, the figure, who they now see looks human, is clad entirely in heavy armor, which is all colored black. The only part of his body not covered in black armor, or is not cybernetic, is his head, which is completely bald. It also seems like his veins in his head are popping out a bit.

The man slowly straightens up, breathing heavily. As he straightens his head up, the pirates can see that the man is wearing a respirator that covers his mouth. Another thing that immediately pops out is the blazing yellow color of his eyes.

The man is still on his knees, but looking up at those surrounding him. Finally, he speaks, in a deep, growling, fierce voice, "Where am I?"

"Klatooine. And you're our prisoner. You want to get out-" one of the pirates says.

But, before the pirate can even finish his sentence, the man's hand lashes out fast as a viper, and the pirate instantly feels himself choking. He squeezes his hand a bit, and the pirate's neck snaps. The man then sends the body flying into the wall with a wave of his hand. Then, the man stands up. He looks slowly around at those gathered around him. "Your prisoner?" he asks dangerously. Then, something flies off his belt and into his hand, and a second later, a blade of red light springs to life from it.

With no hesitation, the man lunges into the midst of the pirates and smugglers. With quick, brutal strokes of his lightsaber, he cuts down everyone around him. Several pirates about ten yards away raise their blasters, but the man turns towards them and extends a hand, releasing bolts of lightning from his fingers. The bolts fry the three pirates, eventually killing them.

In a matter of seconds, the man has cut down everyone around them, save one. The lone surviving pirate scrambles back on his hands and knees, but the man stalks towards him. The pirate tries to fire his blaster at the towering man, but the man deflects them with incredible ease. Feeling terrified, the pirate asks in terror, "Who are you?"

"I am Darth Malgus," is the response before the crimson red blade plunges through the pirate's chest.

Standing over the body of his latest victim, Darth Malgus straightens up. After more than three thousand years frozen in carbonite, he is definitely slowed down a little, and definitely feeling the effects of being frozen for so long. For anyone else, they may not have survived at all. But through that whole time, his anger and pure rage at being frozen by his enemies in the Republic had sustained and kept him alive.. And already, he can feel the effects fading. His sight is the only thing not returning quickly, but that doesn't bother the Sith Lord. He can see well enough with just the Force.

Malgus lowers his saber to his side as he reaches out with his mind through the Force. Immediately, he can feel it. There is a great imbalance in the Force. And he can feel that the Force feels different than it ever has to him before.

"How long have I been frozen?" Malgus mutters to himself. He is quiet for a few moments before he says, "Things are not right. They are not how they should be....I need answers."