Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is the property of BioWare and LucasArts. Neither do I own A Song of Ice and Fire, which is owned by G.R.R. Martin.

Falling Shadows

Prologue

Wild Space, frontier of the galaxy, running along the edges of the Outer Rim and the galactic arms, marking the edge of the intergalactic void, and even cutting across the galaxy itself, separating the Unknown Regions from the rest of the galaxy. There, near the edges of intergalactic space, a world orbited its sun in peace. It was a peace that was now broken, as several wedge-shaped and rectangular ships jumped out of hyperspace, and cruised leisurely towards the hapless world.

"Can you feel it?" the Sith Lord standing on an observation deck asked his apprentice.

"I feel it, my lord." The apprentice answered.

Darth Achaia nodded, the Human Sith Lord fixing his golden eyes at the world slowly growing in size through the viewports as their fleet approached. Beside him, Lysus did likewise, and after a moment the Sith Pureblood narrowed her eyes. "The Force," she said softly. "It feels strange. It seems to be strong on that world, but…not truly. It's like an echo…I would say that once in the past that world burned bright in the Force, but now…"

Lysus trailed off, but Darth Achaia nodded. "Yes." he agreed. "It seems that once, that world was a nexus of the Force, but those days are now past, and all that is left are the lingering traces of whatever it was that caused the Force to resonate so strongly on that world in the first place."

"What could that have been, I wonder."

"Perhaps we just might find out, Lysus." Darth Achaia said. "Though it will have to wait until we have made at least some progress in our given task. The Dark Council wishes that world be brought into the fold of the Sith Empire, and so it shall be."

"As you say, my lord." Lysus said with a nod. "Though, from what we know of this world, the inhabitants are primitives. It should not take too much trouble for us to bring this world to heel."

"Indeed it should not."

Master and apprentice fell silent, looking on as their fleet – a modest force of four Harrower Class Dreadnoughts and eight Terminus Class Destroyers – continued to approach the world in the distance, currently bearing the unimpressive designation of 0138-0641-4518. It was inevitable, of course, as the world in question had only been newly discovered, for all that the star system had long since been charted, if left unexplored in-depth for all that time.

In a galaxy composed of hundreds of billions of stars spanning a hundred thousand light years, unexplored star systems were all too common, for all that many had been charted if only to factor in their gravitational influence on interstellar travel. There were simply too many of them, and while every interstellar government worthy of note had active and well-funded exploration agencies (to say nothing of corporate, private, and even criminal groups with similar mandates) hard at work exploring unexplored star systems in search of new resources and anything else an interstellar civilization might need and want, the galaxy was just so big.

Back to 0138-0641-4518 however, it was unlikely said world would retain such an unimpressive name for long. The mysteries surrounding the world aside, the planet was readily habitable for most known species, and even as a backwater initially suitable only as an outpost and resource center, as a world of the Sith Empire it would need a proper name.

And as its conqueror, Darth Achaia would have the honor of giving it a name…in time. And if he conquered it.

Not that it should be difficult, of course. As his apprentice said, the recon force which had discovered the world had also found only primitive, pre-industrial Humans inhabiting it. A modest fleet made up of a handful of dreadnoughts and their escorts should be more than enough.

Though there was the question of where those Humans had come from, and how when they had regressed back to a primitive way of life…

…though like with the strangeness of the world in the Force, it was a mystery for the future to answer.

Conquering the world and bringing it into the fold of the Sith Empire came first.

Hours later, and the Sith Fleet hung in polar orbit above 0138-0641-4518. On the bridge of the Imperial flagship, Impetuous, Darth Achaia and his apprentice stood at the head of a large holo-table, around which stood ranking naval and army officers, along with lesser Sith Lords attached to Darth Achaia's expedition. The holo-table itself displayed a map of the world below, based on information provided by both the fleet's scans and those conducted in the past by the recon force.

"Thanks to intelligence collected by the recon force," Darth Achaia began. "We know the world below us is not a united civilization in any form. This gives us an advantage, as one of the simplest, oldest, and most effective strategies when it comes to conquering an enemy, is that of divide and conquer."

There were nods all around, and then Darth Achaia gestured towards the east of the planet's core continent. "We know the eastern part of the core continent is under the control of a single monolithic empire," he said. "So we'll reject that as our target for the initial invasion, as an operational application of our overall strategy of divide and conquer."

"A monolithic empire would present a unified front," Lysus said. "And with enough numbers may overwhelm us on a tactical level despite our technological superiority."

"Indeed," Darth Achaia agreed. "And controlling that vast territory with our limited numbers in a post-conquest phase may prove…problematic, complicating efforts at subverting the cultural and psychological foundation of native resistance, and rendering further conquest of the world without reinforcement from the homeland…difficult."

Darth Achaia paused and swept his eyes across those present. "While it is inevitable we'll need reinforcements when it comes to the post-conquest phase," he said. "It would be preferable if that would be the post-conquest phase of this whole world, and not merely that of a single, if relatively-large region of this world."

Again, there were nods all around. "Then," one Sith Lord spoke up. "We are to focus elsewhere on this world?"

"That is correct, Lord Felicis." Darth Achaia said. "The western part of the core continent is apparently divided between a number of mutually-jealous and competing city-states, and living under the shadow of warlike tribes which dominate the steppes of the central part of the core continent. The western continent for its part seems to be under the hegemony of a loosely-united kingdom of feudalized regions, while the southern continent is undeveloped and what little Human life detected there is…primitive, in the extreme."

"The western part of the core continent seems to be the most promising target for our landing operations then." General Granger remarked.

"It certainly seems that way." Admiral Horst said with a nod. "Less united than other regions, has a well-developed urban society that may be fertile ground for modernization initiatives, and has a centralized location for strikes against the western continent, or deeper into the core continent."

There were nods and murmurs of agreement all around, but Darth Achaia was silent. "What is your opinion, my lord?" Lord Axcis asked.

"The Dark Side of the Force is strong here." Darth Achaia said, pointing at the planet's north pole. "And the Force in general is strong here as well."

This time the ranking Sith Lord pointed at the northern part of the western continent, and at a spot on the western continent's east coast. "I sense we should look into them as soon as possible." Darth Achaia said. "And the western continent does have advantages of its own. While it's true the city-states of the western part of the core continent will prove more…amenable, for modernization, their urban society may also prove more resistant to our conquest than we may initially expect. However, that may not be the case for the western continent, with its feudal society."

"Indeed," Lord Axcis said with a nod. "Overthrow the higher echelons of the feudal structure, and replace them with either ourselves, or those among the local aristocrats with promise. Then we can count on their own society's inertia to ensure the loyalty of the greater part of the populace."

"It would also be easier to levy native troops to supplement our own from a feudal society." General Granger admitted. "Though…modernization may prove more difficult."

"In any case that is a problem for after the conquest." Darth Achaia said. "And other spheres' responsibility, as well."

There were nods all around. "Then," Lord Felicis began. "Shall we strike at the enemy capital as a first blow?"

Darth Achaia thought for a few moments and then smiled before shaking his head. "While taking the enemy's head is the quickest way to destroy him," he said. "It might not be the best strategy for us to use."

"My lord?"

"If we take their capital," Darth Achaia said. "Then the western continent is likely to fracture. This would allow us to defeat them one by one, but at the end of it all would leave us with a ruined society that would negate the advantages we aim to gain by taking the western continent in the first place."

Darth Achaia paused and then turned to his apprentice. "Lysus," he said. "How do you think we should proceed in this matter?"

The Sith apprentice stroked her chin, and after several moments nodded slowly. "We need to break them decisively," she said. "But not all at once. We need to repeatedly demonstrate our superiority while destroying the upper echelons of the feudal pyramid, simultaneously win the respect of the middle echelons of the feudal pyramid, and then taking their capital, formalize our seizure of the top of their society."

Darth Achaia nodded in approval. "Well said, apprentice." He said, and Lysus bowed. Darth Achaia studied the map for a few moments, but then Admiral Horst glanced at him.

"If I may, my lord?"

"Very well, say what's on your mind admiral."

The admiral adjusted the holo-table, zooming in on a cluster of islands located off the northwest of the western continent. "I would suggest our initial landings be held here." He said. "It's remote, allowing us to mask our arrival from the natives, while providing a base of operations for further strikes against the western continent, with the initial goal of gathering more information."

"Raids against coastal fiefs would facilitate that." Lord Axcis admitted. "In particular, those islands aren't too far from that large city over there, along the west coast."

"More information would be useful when it comes to operational planning on the ground." General Granger said.

"And even if the enemy notices us," Darth Achaia mused. "We'd have the advantage of being able to strike from those islands at a variety of targets, forcing them to prepare to defend multiple potential targets all at once."

Darth Achaia paused and laughed. "Of course," he said. "They do not know that with our orbital capabilities, we may strike anywhere and anytime on the entire planet. Indeed, if not for the primitive nature of their civilization, this entire world could be taken much more quickly."

There were nods at that, as it was very much true. Ironically, it was easier to bring a more advanced civilization to heel than a primitive one, due to being more affected by the destruction of any one of the pillars holding the entire edifice up.

"Very well," Darth Achaia said. "We'll adopt Admiral Horst's strategy. Striking at those islands, we'll use them to gather more information on what we're up against, before striking at the northern part of the western continent."

"The north, my lord?" General Granger asked.

"Yes," Darth Achaia said with a nod. "From there, we'll strike south, marching in force and crushing any and all opposition while acknowledging the submission of any who would submit, before taking their capital, and with it, the entire continent. Afterwards…"

The Sith Lord trailed off, merely sweeping an arm out over the holographic map. The message was clear, and smiles of anticipation and triumph were shared across all present. "Well then," Admiral Horst said. "With your permission my lord, I will dispatch a squadron of Extinction bombers to conduct a recon sweep of the islands in preparation for our invasion."

"Very good admiral, make it so."

"Yes sir, right away." The admiral said before striding away, barking orders over the bridge.

"General Granger," Darth Achaia said. "Lords Axcis and Felicis, prepare our troops for landing operations."

"Yes, my lord."

"It will be done, my lord."

"As you wish, my lord."

Darth Achaia glanced at his apprentice who glanced back, and then looking back at the map, smiled in anticipation of the conquest to come.

A/N

We all know how this is going to end, yes? Still, let's have as much fun as we can in the process.