Star Wars Jedi Knight IV: Sith Empire

Chapter 1: Home

The darkness was eternal, all-powerful, unchangeable.

She begged the stars to keep the light

But they were fire, the heralds of Fate

And she was but dust

And the galaxy spun

And the darkness came.

Darth Fallax looked through the viewsceen of the Lambada out into the purple tones of Kesh. It had been a long time. Too long.

"There," she pointed out the viewscreen down at a large cluster of buildings surrounded by picture-perfect purple mountains.

"Yes ma'am," the pilot acknowledged as he took the reinforced Lambada in for a landing just outside the city. The people of Tahv had no idea what to expect. In all likelihood, they were expecting an old witch that looked like death warmed over. If that was the case, they were in for a surprise. A very...Sith surprise. Fallax was nothing like that. She was a striking young woman in her twenties, her near-perfect complexion thrown out of balance by a single scar: the only visual cue that she had encountered something that could come close to rivaling her power. As Fallax stepped down the boarding ramp with her four stormtrooper escorts, gasps and murmurs came from the gathering crowd. The stormtroopers pushed the crowd back, their shiny white armor in stark contrast with the dark browns and blacks worn by the common people.

"People of Tahv," Fallax started, using the Force to project her voice. "We have waited far too long for a Sith Empire. When we first left Kesh we found that the galaxy had been infested with the Jedi. We failed to stop them and take what was rightfully ours. But Ship has led me to a new Sith order. One larger. Much larger. One that is led by a man of vision, one not seen since the days of Marka—"

Over her own speech and the murmuring of the crowd, the Sith picked out a voice a few meters from the front shout "She's the Khai girl!" A rock flew at her from the direction of the voice at a speed that only a Force-user could manage, but she was able to stop it and start crushing it with the Force, leaving powder streaming from the cracks. Other than a few gasps, it seemed to quiet the crowd...then an overly ripe guama fruit smacked across her face, spewing sticky dark purple seed studded ooze that dripped off her nose and chin. After that, all peace went out the airlock. Trash, rocks, shoes, and whatever could be thrown was thrown. The stormtroopers were mowed down almost instantly by the angry throng and trampled underfoot. Over the commotion, she heard rude insults about "Jedi scum" and "traitor". Enraged, she blasted the encroaching mob with Force lightning, sending the first rows of people stumbling backward and about half their projectiles flying back faster than they were thrown."What the kriff is the matter with you people?" she bellowed before she was forced up the boarding ramp, getting bombarded with trash all the way up. She slapped the button to raise the boarding ramp. "Go, go!" she shouted at the pilot over the thunk thunk of objects being thrown against the Lambada's hull. "Get us out of here, and give the order for the Dark T—"

Her order was cut off as she tripped over a boot that was thrown into the cargo bay. She would have recovered almost effortlessly, had it not been for something wet and slimy she slipped on getting up, and fell on her face into slime. Intermixed with the salty taste of blood from her now split lip was the taste of something oddly sweet, but bitter and fermented...rotting? Gross. She got up and wiped the remnants of the slime and guama fruit from her face with the sleeve of her robe, only to find that was wet with something white and chunky like smeared wet cheese curds.

The compensators finally kicked in, and Vestara could walk somewhat normally to the cabin. Where had she gone so wrong in life? These were her people! She was Keshiri! Well, maybe not the species Keshiri, but of the planet of Kesh. These people simply weren't Sith. She didn't know what they were. But it was obvious now they opposed the Sith and deserved everything coming to them. In true Sith fashion, Vestara would win the support of Kesh one way or another. Since they declined the easy way of simply giving the One Sith their allegiance, Vestara was forced to take it. Right now, assault boats were docking with Kesh's ChaseMaster frigates and overwhelming them with sheer numbers of Dark Troopers, courtesy of Admiral Natasi Daala.

"How many frigates have been captured?" she asked the pilot. "Twenty-six out of sixty-seven, ma'am." That was impressive. In just moments, they had captured nearly half the fleet. Granted, they were small frigates, nowhere near as impressive as the Star Destroyers, but they would do. More importantly, the Lost Tribe was once again stranded on Kesh, unable to give the One Sith any problems. They could stew in their own juices for a few more centuries. "Good. Inform Admiral Daala we have the fleet and to rendezvous with us at Ziost four standard days from now."

"As you wish, ma'am." Vestara just chuckled to herself and shook her head. If there was one thing she got satisfaction from doing, it was getting revenge. Especially when it was so overdue.