EXT. TRALUS -- PLAINS -- DAY
On the vast, sweeping plains of the planet Tralus, an ARMY stands assembled; made up of a mixture of Humans, Selonians, Dralls, and various other species native to the Corellian system, the soldiers all wear the armour of the ancient Army of the Republic.
Almost as if they suddenly materialized from out of thin air, a large myriad of Krath assault ships appear in the deep lavender sky of Tralus. Several anti-aircraft weapons platforms stationed on the surface open fire as the menacing craft descend upon the world, releasing salvoes of concentrated laserfire upon the enemy ships. Heavily outnumbering the guns, however, most of the assault ships manage to evade the devastating laser blasts.
Touching down upon the vast plain, flattening the long stalks of indigo grass under their bulk, the Krath take root upon the surface of Tralus like large metal barnacles. As their engines power down, the bay doors of the Krath craft split open. Once they are fully open, thousands upon thousands of AUTOMATED KRATH WAR 'DROIDS spill out; hunched over on pairs of digitigrade legs, short war swords in one hand and pulse-wave weapons in the other, the menacing humanoid war machines charge forward, moving with all the preternatural coordination of steel termites. Bringing their weapons to bear, the Republic troops open fire on the automatons moving in on them. Like an unstoppable object meeting an immovable force, the two sides come together.
The resulting battle is a fierce one, with extremely heavy losses to both sides, but in the end it finishes as it must; the Republic soldiers fall to the mindless robots.
As wounded lie crying out in agony amongst the remains of their slain brethren on the blood-soaked battlefield, the Krath assault ships disgorge their second force of invaders; a countless number of armed-and-armoured KRATH WARRIORS, their faces hard and their eyes cold, climb out, large blaster rifles gripped tightly in their iron-strong hands. As they fall upon the surviving Republic soldiers, they falter not at all as they train their weapons on their fallen foes and quickly put an end their collective misery.
As the Krath assemble together in front their ships, a new ship -- an obsidian-black shuttle -- appears in the sky above. Descending like an ominous angel of death, it touches down on the ground before the amassed Krath warriors. As the ramp of the shuttle opens and lowers, a single figure emerges; clad in armour as black and polished as her ship, a large cloak like a sheet of star-studded night flowing down from her shoulders, is a LADY OF THE SITH BROTHERHOOD. A smooth, perfectly featureless helmet encases her head, hiding her features from view.
Reaching up, the Sith Lady takes hold of the featureless black helmet. Pulling it off, she exposes her face to the Krath standing before her. Tresses of full, wavy black hair cascade down, framing an immaculately beautiful face of flawless porcelain. Her deep violet eyes, like liquid sapphires, sparkle as the contours of her full, midnight blue lips turn upward with a smile.
Turning away from the Krath, stepping away from her shuttle, the Sith ascends a short hill. Reaching the top, she looks out to the landscape sprawling before her. In a shallow valley, far in the distance, stands the low exterior of a bunker extending underground.
Turning away from the sight, the lady looks down upon the Krath warriors. Reaching to her side, she grasps the hilt of a broadsword. Pulling it free of its scabbard, she hefts the weapon into the air, pointing the black blade skyward.
SITH LADY: Onward, my Krath brethren! In the names of the Dark Lord Exar Kun, the Emperor Ulic and Empress Aleema, for the glory of the Sith Empire reborn, attack!
With one mind, one heart, and one soul the Krath warriors release a battle cry and charge forward. As they pass by the Sith Lady on the way to the bunker, her smile broadens into a full -- animalistic -- grin.
EXT. BUNKER -- DAY
Having reached the bunker, the Krath war 'droids are engaged in battle with the Republic soldiers defending the bunkers. As with their brethren on the front lines, however, these soldiers prove to be little match for the murderous automations.
INT. BUNKER/CORRIDOR -- DAY
Inside the main corridor leading in-and-out of the underground bunker, a dozen Republic soldiers stand at attention, their blaster rifles trained on the reinforced durasteel door situated at the end of the corridor before them.
INT. BUNKER/SAFE ROOM -- DAY
Inside a small safe room are eleven individuals: Jedi Knight VICI RAMUNEE, her brother VENI, her lover LOGAN HALCYON, their mistress TANISS, and SEVEN YOUNG JEDI CHILDREN.
Vici, twenty-four years old, is a pretty Human woman with a tall, slender build, shoulder-length auburn hair, and green eyes; Veni, eighteen years old, is almost a perfect reflection of his sister; Logan, thirty-one, is a tall, broad-shouldered Human with flaming red hair and an omni-spectral visor pulled down over his eyes; Taniss, perfectly ageless, is a handsome Omwati woman with light blue skin, sparkling indigo eyes, and feathery mauve hair.
While Taniss sits upon a chair, cradling a toddler on her lap, the other three Jedi stand or pace about the room.
VICI: Mistress ...
TANISS: Yes, Vici?
VICI: The Krath forces ... I can feel them getting closer. (beat) There's Sith with them.
TANISS: Yes ... I know.
EXT. BUNKER -- DAY
The Krath warriors arrive as the war 'droids finish off the remaining Republicans.
INT. BUNKER/SAFE ROOM -- DAY
VENI: They're here!
INT. BUNKER/CORRIDOR -- DAY
With a loud, skull-jarring CRASH the reinforced durasteel door is punched in as if it were made of cardboard; thrown forward with immense velocity, it collides with five soldiers, crushing each and every one of them. As the remaining Republicans move to reorient themselves, Krath warriors come pouring into the bunker.
INT. BUNKER/SAFE ROOM -- DAY
Sensing the Krath's violation of their sanctum, Veni turns toward the thick durasteel door blocking the room off from the rest of the bunker, reaching for the hilt of the lightsaber hanging from his belt with impatience.
VENI: I'm not going to stand around anymore! I'm taking them!
LOGAN: (grabbing Veni by the shoulder) Hold your eopies, kid. Have some patience.
Spinning around, Veni angrily brushes Logan's hand away.
VENI: Keep your hands off me, Halcyon! You don't get to push me around, not anymore!
TANISS: (irritated) Enough of this! (to Veni) You're not a child anymore, Veni -- stop acting like one!
Shamed, Veni hangs his head.
VENI: I'm sorry, Mistress. (beat) But the Krath, the children ... I don't know what I'm supposed to do -- what we're supposed to do.
Carefully setting the toddler down on the floor to crawl about with its peers, Taniss stands up and walks over to Veni. Placing her hands on his shoulder, she regards him with the tender look of a caring mother.
TANISS: We do what we must as the protectors of these children. To the bitter end, we do as we must.
INT. BUNKER/CORRIDOR -- DAY
Having slaughtered the Republic soldiers guarding the corridor, the Krath warriors are clearing the bodies out of the way as the Sith Lady steps inside; accompanying her are THREE SITH ACOLYTES: a Bith male, a Human male, and a Devaronian female.
SITH LADY: Go and open the path for us, but remember -- the elder is mine.
Acknowledging her command silently, the acolytes move forward, their stone faces devoid of all expression save that of solid determination.
INT. BUNKER/SAFE ROOM -- DAY
As the durasteel door slides open, Vici turns to Logan. Meeting his eyes with hers, she reaches out and places her fingers on the side of his face.
VICI: So this is it, huh?
LOGAN: This is it.
VICI: But there's so much I wanted to say, Logan, so much to do --
LOGAN: (grins) Please, save me the cliched claptrap. (reaches up and tenderly takes her hand in his) All we needed to say and do we've done.
Pulling Vici close to him, Logan locks his lips with hers, sealing their love with their last passionate kiss.
As Logan and Vici end their embrace, they both turn to regard Mistress Taniss. Then, turning away from her, they and Veni step out of the room to meet their fate.
Once the three Jedi are gone, the heavy metal door slides back into place and locks with a heavy CLANG.
INT. BUNKER/ANTECHAMBER -- DAY
As the three Sith acolytes enter the antechamber leading into the safe room, they find the three Jedi Knights waiting for them. As one, the Sith draw their lightsabers and engage them; a blade of frigid blue extends from the Human's hilt, a blade of putrid green from the Bith's, and a blade of nauseating purple from the Devaronian's. As the Sith stand there, their three blades glowing, the Jedi draw their own weapons; a blade of vibrant yellow extends from Veni's hilt, a blade of radiant orange from Logan's, and a blade of intense red from Vici's.
Drawing back their plasma blades, the six combatants leap into the fray.
INT. BUNKER/SAFE ROOM -- DAY
Mistress Taniss stands facing the door, children surrounding her, as tears begin to run down her soft face.
INT. BUNKER/ANTECHAMBER -- DAY
The Sith Lady steps into the antechamber, looking down upon the bodies strewn about the floor. The Jedi and Sith, being evenly matched, failed to triumph over one another; all six are dead.
Stepping past the bodies, the darkly beautiful woman walks up to the heavy door leading into the safe room beyond. Bringing up her arms, she reaches out through the Force and, finding the door, seizes it in a vice-like grip, squeezes, and begins to pull.
With a hideous SQUEAL of rending metal, the tremendously heavy, durable safe room door is slowly pulled from its hinges and out of its frame. Once it is clear, the lady telekinetically moves it to the side, discarding it casually as if it were nothing more than a paper cup.
Standing there, the pristine white blade of her lightsaber engaged in a defensive stance, is the Jedi mistress Taniss. Her face unreadable, the Sith reaches to the scabbard at her side and draws her broadsword, bringing the blade of black metal to bear.
SITH LADY: Greetings, Mistress Taniss.
TANISS: You know who I am?
SITH LADY: Of course. I always take the time to know my adversaries. (beat) I've come for the children, Mistress Taniss.
TANISS: You know I can't allow you to take them.
SITH LADY: Have sense, Mistress. The Republic troops have fallen and Tralus has been taken -- you have lost.
TANISS: While life flows through me, triumph remains a possibility. I haven't lost yet.
SITH LADY: It doesn't have to be this way. There is a place for all within the Brotherhood -- why don't you join us and help create a future where these children can grow up in peace and security, safe from the manipulations and predations of corrupt bureaucrats and underworlders?
TANISS: The future the Sith are crafting is a dark, unholy one. I'll have no part in it.
SITH LADY: (angry) Open your eyes, Taniss! The Republic and Jedi have had their day! It is the dawn of a new age -- the Age of Sith!
TANISS: Such a dawn I have no desire to wake to.
SITH LADY: Very well, Mistress Taniss, cling to your outmoded stubbornness. The path to the morrow will be clearer with you out of the way.
Lunging forward, the black armoured Sith swings her blade. Taking a step back, Taniss brings the blade of her lightsaber down on an intercept course; with an almost liquid SIZZLE, the blade of white plasma makes contact with the blade of alchemically-forged metal, neither cutting through the other. Pulling back, the two combatants separate blades.
Moving with fluid grace, the Sith and Jedi continue their duel. They feint, parry, and riposte over-and-over again, neither gaining an upper hand over the other.
SITH LADY: It's obvious this contest cannot be decided by our skills with the blade.
The lady lowers her sword, resheathing it.
SITH LADY: (cont'd) But by our knowledge of the Force.
Lowering her lightsaber, Tannis disengages it and tosses the hilt to the floor.
TANNIS: First blood is yours, lady of the Sith.
Grinning, the Sith brings forth her hands. As she weaves them about one another, a ball of negative energy begins to coalesce between them. Once the sphere of inverted light has reached optimal size, the lady throws out her hands, releasing it at Taniss. Bringing up her own hands, Taniss erects a barrier of blazing yellow light. As the sphere collides with the barrier, the negative energy shatters into nothingness.
TANNIS: (drops the barrier) You're going to have to do far better than that.
Sneering, the Sith Lady brings her arms down low to her sides. Curling her fingers into gnarled talons, she begins to summon more negative energy into them. Throwing out her hands, she unleashes beams of inverted light upon Taniss. Throwing up a telekinetic shield with her right hand, the mistress redirects the black energy away from her into a wall.
SITH LADY: Do you plan on merely warding away my blows, Jedi?! Haven't you the fire to deliver an attack of your own?!
Without responding, the Jedi mistress throws up her left hand. A beam of yellow energy courses outward, catching the Sith square in the chest and hurtling her back onto the floor.
TANNIS: I can dish it out as well as I can take it, darksider.
Grinning with malevolent pleasure, the Sith Lady recollects herself. Stepping forward, she throws out her hands once again, casting more blasts of negative energy. Tannis reciprocates with blasts of yellow energy.
EXT. BUNKER -- DAY
Some time has passed and the Krath soldiers stand outside the entrance, awaiting the return of their mistress. Moments pass, then a shape emerges from within the dark confines of the bunker.
The Sith Lady -- her cloak reduced to ashes, her gorgeous hair burned down to a charred fuzz, and her face marred with second degree burns -- steps outside. Cradled against her breastplate, seemingly oblivious to the events taking place around it, is the very same toddler Tannis was attending to earlier.
SITH LADY: (hoists the child up into the air) Behold the child! Behold the future of the Sith Empire!
Awareness of their victory finally sinking in, the Krath warriors throw up their arms, cheering their Sith mistress as she displays the spoils of war in her arms.