Age of the Old Republic - Darth Marr

**Age of the Old Republic - Darth Marr** is the second one shot issue of a comic-inspired series of the Star Wars - Age of the Old Republic series, this time centered around Darth Marr and the Sith Empire thousands of years ago.

## Synopsis

Two Gage-class Transports arrive at the Deep Core Black Outpost with one of the pilots requesting the Deep Core Black Tower for docking clearance. Both shuttles are allowed to land without problems with the local Moff Peridon awaiting who would come out with a contingent of Sith Troopers. From the transports a group of battered soldiers came and Moff Peridon welcomes them as members of the Hidden Hand, revealing that they were the survivors of a surgical strike of the Galactic Republic. A voice over his coms informs Moff Peridon to bring the survivors to the bridge and the Sith Troopers lead the survivors to the bridge while Moff Peridon inspects the transports, learning more of the data that they gathered on Naasuvuu. He has the Transports scanned up and down for possible stowaways or other things, before reporting to the voice in his com that there is nothing. The survivors arrive at the bridge where they are surrounded by Sith Troopers. The commander of the fleet is Darth Marr a new addition to the Sith Empire's Dark Council. He instantly kills three of the survivors and informs the others they will be transported to Dromund Kaas on the next transport. They failed in their mission to bring him the slaves that he wanted. When the Troopers transport the survivors away, Moff Peridon asks Darth Marr why he needed the slaves and Darth Marr explains he had a vision. He then tells Peridon to prepare his ship, they are heading for Eclis.

Arriving above Eclis, the captain of Darth Marr's personal legion of Sith Troopers, Captain Cafves, reports that the population have no means of detecting them having arrived in the systems. The shuttle with the Sith Troopers and Darth Marr arrive on the planet. Captain Cafves asks what Marr wants them to do and Marr tells them to establish a hold here and get the locals under control as Marr will be traveling alone. Captain Cafves quickly occupy the nearby settlement and set up camp there, rounding up civillians, while Marr travels by landspeeder to a nearby mountain-mounted sanctuary. While he travels there, Moff Peridon contacts him over the com, informing him that they have send two probe droids near the sanctuary. They picked up various life signs in the sanctuary. Marr tells Peridon to launch an orbital bombardment on the surroundings of the sanctuary. As Marr arrives at the sanctuary the orbital bombardment is revealed to have killed a lot of the inhabitants around the sanctuary. He then forces open the entrance of the sanctuary and is met by three masked and cloaked assassins. They each wield double-bladed lightsabers and Marr nevertheless engages them, finding out they are poorly trained in the combative arts of the Jedi, realizing they are no Jedi. Marr leaves one alive, while decapacitating the other two.

Moff Peridon has a Gage-class Transport with Captain Cafves aboard land outside the sanctuary, bringing up an interrogation chair for Marr to interrogate the remaining assassin with. As the remaining assassin is strapped on the chair, Marr demands to find out what he and two more Assassins were doing there. Under duress, the assassin reveals that the Jedi Order had hired them through backchannels to protect the sanctuary. Pretty sure the Jedi Order does not betray their ideals, Marr tortures him further, but finds out that the assassin had been lied to, after invading his mind. This sanctuary was set up by the Hidden Hand, who used this planet as a fallout base for transporting Force-Sensitives out of the known Galaxy into the Unknown Regions. Darth Marr probes his mind further trying to find out why the Hidden Hand would do that, but all he finds out is that his vision and senses become blocked the moment he tries to pry further, but learns of the planet Ocul. His prying turns the assassin mad, but instead of killing him, Marr has Cafves transport the assassin on board the transport to Dromund Kaas. He then travels through the sanctuary and is asked by Captain Cafves whether they need to clear it out. Marr has different plans.

He has his forces round up any surviving members inside the sanctuary and chooses the most vital members to be removed from the sanctuary and taken aboard the transport as well and then has a group of Troopers take its place, without weapons or armor. He has Cafves move his forces and transports out of sight, as he suspects the Hidden Hand will send their operatives soon. As he uses the Force to render himself invisible, a transport ship arrives outside the sanctuary and offloads an operative known as Hand One with his Yallaran slaves. Hand One has the slaves drag the people, including the undercover Troopers, forcefully into the transport and Marr has Captain Cafvas attach a tracker to the transport. As the Hidden Hand must have noticed the Imperial forces overhead, he has the Harrowers attack the transport loosely but not with the intend of capture. He informs Moff Peridon and Captain Cafvas they are done here and to load up on the transports and get back to the ship. As the Hidden Hand transport leaves the system, Moff Peridon reveals the tracker is transmitting and it is clear, they are ready to move. Marr however stops them, learning that the transport jumped to a Republic system and they can't jump in there without engaging in direct war with them. He tells Peridon to have Imperial Intelligence leak the intel of the transport to the Republic and activate their assets.

As Marr returns to Dromund Kaas, the Republic fleet above Tython indeed recieves confirmation of the intelligence that had been leaked by the Sith Empire and General Garza of the RASOC assembles a squad of Troopers, including Jace Malcom, informing them they will be traveling to the planet Ocul, where they'll meet up with the Jedi in order to sort this intel out. One of the troopers reaches out to Darth Marr, revealing he is a deep cover operative of Imperial Intelligence, informing the Dark Lord that the Republic has taken the bait. The Republic cruiser with the Republic forces inside then enters Hyperspace.