User:Atarumaster88/KOA

Knights of the Old Republic: Knight of Alderaan is a fan fiction novel written by user Jedi Master 76. Knights of Alderaan was the second novel in the Days of Dissidence Series and the second to be completed. The narrative was developed and written during the summer of 2008, but it was removed from the Star Wars Fanon wiki, its original source, for a complete rewrite. It was released in its second and final edition in 2010, two years after its original release.

Knights of Alderaan is the second story in the Days of Dissidence Series that recounts the adventures of Raen Benax, a wandering Sith learner and aspiring Jedi Padawan. After he was forced to flee from his home on Alderaan, he surrendered himself to the Jedi Order, and he awaits his trial on Coruscant. Until then, however, he journeys with Jedi Knight Gaiel Remus. Along the way, the two warriors meet series familiars, like smuggler Ralina Venli and aloof Jedi Master Celsus Djan, and new characters, like Preux and Northeus Ulsan. These characters, and canon characters like Thon and Darth Bandon, have their roles to play in the last days of the Jedi Civil War.

Author's summary
''A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, before the revenge of the Sith, the birth of the Empire, and the return of the Jedi there was a time of galactic turmoil, political unrest, and folding allegiances. The Sith Empire increased its influence throughout the galaxy while the Galactic Republic, the bastion of order and democracy, took its dying breath. The dark side grew stronger with each passing day, and the Jedi Order was forced to confront an enemy unlike any other: itself. The Knight of Alderaan, the Paladin of Evening, and the Vindictive Guardian are the epithets of those involved in our tale. Around these three shall our story be spun, and these three shall direct the fate of those around them, for good or ill. Enter the era of the Knights of the Old Republic. Enter the days of dissidence...''

The Jedi Civil War rages. The Sith Empire has been weakened by the capture of their Dark Lord, Revan, by a Jedi strike team. Although their momentum wanes, Darth Malak, his protege and former apprentice, takes command of the Sith Empire in his stead. Under his leadership, the Sith resume their assault on the Galactic Republic with newfound brutality. In spite of mounting casualties and lack of resources across the galaxy, Republic High Command has sent a team of Republic soldiers to the Mid Rim to investigate rumors of a Mandalorian outpost surviving the war that Revan once ended. The Republic confirms these reports, but none of its soldiers realize that the Mandalorians on Wayland's forested surface are simply the pawns of a far more sinister and mysterious foe.

Raen Benax, Force-sensitive and former Sith learner, has surrendered to the will of the Jedi Order for his crimes. In an effort to send him down a road of redemption, the Jedi send him to Polus with Gaiel Remus, one of their Jedi Knights. The presence of the Sith on this frigid world is troubling news for the Jedi, who were unaware of the Sith's movements in that district of space. A specter from Raen's past already walks the icy surface of Polus, intent on drawing him and those around him into a feud that stretches back decades. Only once he escapes, with or without his newfound allies, will Raen realize that he is is irrevocably tied to the Jedi Order that struggles to survive a war of attrition with the same empire he once served...

Story

 * Section 1
 * Section 2
 * Section 3
 * Section 4
 * Section 5
 * Section 6
 * Section 7
 * Section 8
 * Section 9
 * Section 10
 * Section 11

Appearances
In order of appearance and/or mentioning.

Plot summary
Spoilers below.

Set during the tumultuous era of the Jedi Civil War, Knight of Alderaan follows three separate story arcs that largely continue the meta-narrative begun in Knights of the Old Republic: Convict's Dawn and Vanguard of the Republic. While the Dark Lord Revan has been captured and redeemed by the Jedi, the galactic struggle continues.

A Republic Army soldier, Jhosua Weros, awakes on a warship under attack as his unit prepares to attack a Mandalorian stronghold on Wayland during the Mandalorian Wars. The anxious soldier follows his commander, Major Altesius, and the rest of his unit in battle on the ground, fighting through the forest to assault Mandalorian positions. The brutal combat leads to one final push on the Mandalorian stronghold, where their leader, Mandalore, is making her final stand, as she is ordered by the distant Sith Emperor. The Mandalorian leader obeys out of fear, despite the Emperor's refusal to reinforce him. As Jhosua and dozens of other Republic soldiers and marines battle through the stronghold in brutal room-by-room fighting, Jhosua finds Mandalore and pursues out of a desire to win renown. He is able to defeat Mandalore and when her mask falls off during the struggle, is surprised to find she is a woman.

A Mandalorian commander approaches him, only to be cut down by another Mandalorian, who thanks Jhosua for killing a "false Mandalore." He in turn is ambushed and slain by a group of advancing soldiers, including Altesius, but not before he reveals the significance of a crate in the throne room. Altesius orders Jhosua to kill the Mandalore, but he is reluctant to kill an unarmed and injured enemy who poses no threat to him. Egged on, he slays her, despite the ensuing guilt that hunts him.

Years later, the Nautolan Jedi Knight Gaiel Remus is transporting an ex-Sith, Raen Benax, aboard the smuggler's vessel Hound's Sapphire, whose captain, Ralina Venli, is displeased to have Jedi aboard. Despite Raen's status as a prisoner allowed on this one mission before surrendering to the Jedi on Coruscant, Gaiel endeavours to teach and train him in the limited time available. They arrive over Polus and debark to search for a rumored Sith outpost. The cold weather and lack of immediate payment leads the smugglers to bicker with the impertinent Raen, but they meet up with a pair of local Pyn'gani, who advise them that another Jedi, the legendary Jedi Master Celsus Djan, is present on Polus. Celsus is known to both Gaiel and Raen and they decide to help him, but Ralina furiously demands payment, only to be told Gaiel has no funds. Faced with no payment if she leaves the Jedi, an irate Ralina is persuaded by one of her crew, Delvin Cortes, to continue aiding them a little longer, in exchange for a permanent erasure of past legal transgressions.

They arrive at the military base with a troop of Pyn'gani and battle against a patrol, where they meet up with Celsus Djan, who assists them. Djan assumes leadership of the group and they drive into the base in an absconded Sith transport. They break in, though Djan's forceful and ruthless methods draw displeasure from Gaiel. Ralina sends one of her crew, the stealthy sociopathic assassin Tserne DeLarane, to poison the Sith troopers' barracks while the Jedi aim to disable the main blast doors and the rest of them make for the command center. The Jedi and Raen cleave through the light resistance with little effort, while the smugglers and natives run into fiercer resistance. The discovery of a Dark Jedi leads the Jedi to confront him, though Celsus' grim determination leads to disagreement between him and Gaiel.

As Ralina is pinned down in the garage, she signals her ship's AI to bring the Hound's Sapphire to pick them up. To facilitate the extraction, she sends Tserne to disable the anti-aircraft guns in a grim suicide mission. Ralina is embittered over the choice to send him to his death, despite her professed dislike for the unsettling assassin, but makes the decision nonetheless, keeping him in the dark about his odds, as the rest of her group cannot wait for him to return. The Pyn'gani fight a delaying action while Tserne destroys the AA guns so Ralina and her crew can escape.

Meanwhile, the Jedi easily defeat a group of Mandalorians who have followed Raen after a previous altercation saw Raen slay one of them on Taris. However, when confronted with Darth Bandon, Gaiel and Raen are easily disabled. Celsus fights him while Raen and Gaiel, aided by Tserne, kill the rest of the Mandalorians. The last one surrenders but Raen takes his life anyway, incensing Gaiel. Nevertheless, the two join forces to aid Celsus but are forced back. Celsus eventually orders them to leave and Gaiel, sensing the growing darkness in the rapidly-tiring Celsus, withdraws with Raen and Tserne. Bandon kills the weakened Celsus. Raen and Gaiel detour from their route to Coruscant by heading to Ambria, while Tserne parts ways with them.

The assassin ultimately ends up searching for a man named Ernar, who he believes can unlock clues to his past, which he doesn't remember well. After breaking into Ernar's corporate office violently, Ernar agrees to help him if he can stop a psychopathic Givin criminal called the Ghoul. Tserne hunts down the Ghoul's assistant, but the true killer is only subdued when a Jedi Master named Lonna Vash arrives to assist, allowing Tserne to capture the Ghoul. Tserne returns to Ernar for the information, only to find the man dead and a group of four GenoHaradan assassins waiting for him. They tell him that Ernar's criminal activities made him a threat to the Republic and invite him to join their ranks, in exchange for information about his past. The assassin agrees.

On Alderaan, Raen's brother, the Sith Marauder Jaeln Benax learns from his master De'dlay that the Sith who have been quietly building their forces will soon seize power over Alderaan. The three Sith masters, Fasin, De'dlay, and Jaeln's lover Calay plan their assault. Afterward, Jaeln shrugs off the approach of another marauder, Vericcho, and then sneaks into De'dlay's lair, where he finds an imprisoned and tortured Sith apprentice named Dynatha who had been caught amidst intrigue between the reigning Sith on Alderaan and left to De'dlay's merciless care. Jaeln leaves her, frustrated at not finding more information about the strongest Sith on Alderaan, the mysterious Preux.

The Sith launch their assault on the capital city of Aldera, storming the palace. Jaeln is one of several Sith marauders who enters the palace, slicing through the guards in pursuit of the heir to the throne, Princess Eliorae Latona. He defeats a Jedi and finds an insubordinate Vericcho and two comrades have beat him to the princess' entourage. Realizing that Vericcho is defying his orders, Jaeln confronts and kills their party, though the prisoners are slain in the process. Jaeln learns that they are decoys and is enraged at his failure to kill the princess. Elsewhere in the palace, the king and his party are betrayed by one of their own guardsman, the Zabrak Danc, and the betrayal, combined with the arrival of the Sith Masters, including Preux, leads to the swift capture of the king. Preux claims sovereignty of Alderaan after killing the king, although a rash statement and the lack of control from Sith forces under De'dlay leads to his falling out of favor with the powerful Preux, who also sends Jaeln offworld on a mission.

On Ambria, Raen and Gaiel meet with several other Jedi, including two Padawans: the ill-tempered Jasparan, an old acquaintance of Raen's from Taris named Ranval, and two Masters Northeus and the legendary Thon. Thon and Northeus agree to help train them additionally over the next several months, though the hotheaded Raen immediately clashes with Jasparan and his background as a Sith wins him little favor with the masters.

Ralina meets up with the now ex-Republic soldier Jhosua Weros in a cantina on Dantooine. Jhosua wants her help getting into the Jedi Enclave, plagued by visions of his deceased Jedi brother. Ralina is reluctant to assist him, but he steals her blaster and speeder, offering to return both in exchange for her help. Ralina begrudgingly agrees, just as word reaches her that her ship is outsystem and the Sith are attacking Dantooine. They break in and Jhosua leaves Ralina at the gate while he finds his way inside, searching the computer system for information on his brother, but only learned that his brother had gone insane during the Mandalorian Wars and had perished on Wayland while under psychiatric care. He found no other information nor any clues as to why he kept hearing and seeing his brother.

Frustrated, he made his way to the infirmary to find a single woman there, a wounded Sith being treated by the Jedi after her capture. She gives her name as Lamyia, and when he reveals his own name, reveals that she knew him on Sluis Van years ago, confirming it by her knowledge of Jhosua's brother's name. Jhosua remains unconvinced and leaves the Sith to face the impending bombardment. Instead, he calls Ralina and arranges to contact her ship to pick them up, provided she also evacuates as many of the Jedi as possible. Ralina, no fan of the Jedi, begrudgingly agrees since she has no other way to reach her ship.

The Jedi mount a desperate defense of the enclave, while Jhosua meets with Ralina to plan their escape. Lamyia and a group of Jedi find them, and over Ralina's protestations, they flee from the enclave to her ship, though only a handful of Jedi escape with Ralina, Jhosua and Lamyia on the Hound's Sapphire before the Sith forces under Darth Malak destroy the Enclave. Inflight, Lamyia reveals that she had once been a Jedi before being brainwashed into the dark side. Recovering her former self, she reveals her identity as Verita Ladola, a Jedi Knight whom Jhosua had once fought alongside on Sluis Van before she had been left behind and captured by the Sith. Ralina takes them to Coruscant, and only Jhosua's quick-thinking saves her from legal trouble due to her status as a deserter. Soon thereafter, one of her crew reveals that he is a Jedi informant who has been persuading her to aid the Jedi. The informant also lies to her, telling that she's Force-sensitive, and then leaves before reporting to the leader of a radical sect of the Jedi, Watchcircle Dominus.

The training progresses slowly for the Jedi on Ambria, and Raen ultimately draws his weapon against Jasparan, thinking to settle their arguments through force. The masters stop him and cast him out and he wanders into the desert, where a vision of Celsus Djan leads him to repentance. He returns to the masters and is accepted, though he undergoes considerable penance to atone for his transgressions. Ultimately, in a training duel with Jasparan, it is Raen who shows restraint, while Jasparan is blinded by his impatience and leaves after Northeus stops from striking Raen further and Thon refuses to teach him more powerful techniques.

Raen asks to go to Alderaan, which has fallen to the Sith, and Gaiel and Ranval agree to accompany him to confront the Sith on Alderaan, who have not been idle. Preux is aware that Eliorae Latona lives and that a Republic and Jedi force is assembling to challenge him. The Sith Master plans to pit his loathsome Sith underlings against the Jedi in a brutal trap of a conflict that will destroy both of them and allow him to rule in Alderaan in peace with his family. Soon, Preux will be free of both the Jedi and the ever-traitorous Sith who serve under him--Calay is already plotting against him, enlisting another Sith marauder to pursue Eliorae and kill her while planning Preux's demise.

Gaiel, Raen, and Ranval land on Alderaan, but Raen sees a Sith picking on a civilian and provokes a fight. They are saved by the intervention of the last of Alderaan's royal guards, Khondine Basilaron, a Force-user in her own right. She takes them to the Republic camp, where they meet with Republic officers, Princess Eliorae, and forty Jedi of Watchcircle Dominus including Jasparan, with whom Raen has clashed in the past. The Watchcircle Jedi nearly succeed in having the new arrivals sent away, but Khondine persuades Eliorae to ask them to stay. Little do Khondine or Eliorae know that the Republic commander is plotting with a noble of a rival house to have Eliorae killed. Khondine also harbors a secret of her own: the traitor Danc was her teacher and she has sworn revenge on him for killing her brother during the Sith's coup.

The Republic and Watchcircle Jedi attack the Sith academy, garrison, and the capital simultaneously while Raen and two escorts journey to the Benax estate in search of De'dlay, a frequent guest there. The Jedi of Watchcircle Dominus, along with Gaiel, Khondine, and Ranval attack the Sith academy the next day, meeting increasingly severe resistance. Gaiel and Ranval duel Calay, but she defeats them, only to be interrupted by the arrival of several Jedi from the Watchcircle. Despite inflicting several casualties, she is slain. The Watchcircle Jedi also kill Junara Benax, Raen's mother, and rescue a Jedi Master prisoner named Tor'chal, who was believed dead at Raen's hand months earlier. Also freed is Dynatha, though her liberation comes at the cost of the life of her rescuer, who did so in defiance of orders. Khondine finds Danc and duels him, only to be defeated. Gaiel comes to her aid and Danc flees.

Meanwhile, Raen arrives at his family's estate and meets his father, Raystin Benax, only to realize with horror that Raystin is in fact Preux. Moreover, De'dlay is there and slaughters his escort. Raen is easily defeated, though De'dlay turns on Preux, leading to a vicious three-way fight that results in Raen unable to harm Preux and Preux incapacitating De'dlay. At that point, a vision reaches Preux of his wife's death. Seeing his plans in ruin due to a lapse in his foresight, Preux is weakened, allowing De'dlay to attack him. Unwilling to watch his son perish in front of him as well, Preux kills De'dlay at the cost of his own life, allowing Raen to live.

Eliorae and her Republic protectors fend off the Sith assailant Calay had sent after them and with the Sith elsewhere on Alderaan ultimately defeated, Eliorae is crowned queen of Alderaan. Northeus, Gaiel, Raen, Khondine, and a wounded Ranval attend the coronation, although Northeus is alarmed to learn of Watchcircle Dominus's unsanctioned participation in the battle. For his part, Northeus, who had once been betrayed by the man known as Raystin Benax, the death of Preux brings him some much-needed closure.

Behind the scenes
Originally known as Knights of Alderaan, Knight of Alderaan underwent an extensive rewrite between its first release and its second. Prior to the actual release, rushed development time and a lack of supporting plots caused the story to have difficult pacing issues and numerous narrative cliches. The re-release of Knight of Alderaan was far more extensive than that of Convict's Dawn, and it became lengthy because of it.

The scenario on Wayland was the first scene to be included in the rewrite that was not present in the first release. Created after Vanguard of the Republic, the battle on Wayland was meant to introduce new characters (including the Sith Emperor) and detail Jhosua Weros's actions after the battle on Sluis Van. The Mandalorians' presence on Wayland at all alludes to the backstory of the Mandalorian Wars, which supposedly started when the Sith Emperor confronted the Mandalorians and goaded them into attacking the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order.

Raen and the Jedi returned to Polus when Jedi Master 76 realized that the plot point there relating to the Sith had not been resolved after Convict's Dawn. According to the first novel, the Sith had set up a carbonite production facility on the planet's surface that the Republic was eager to shut down. Their construction and preservation of clone soldiers pays homage to the final scene of Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption, but it also points back to an old plot point from the Knights of the Old Republic mod that was being created by Jedi Master 76 at the time of the series' inception. These Force-sensitive soldiers were intended to serve as an army for a future Sith Lord.

Originally, both Gaiel Remus and Celsus Djan were supposed to die on Polus. The two Jedi were to be defeated by Darth Bandon, but Jedi Master 76 felt that Gaiel Remus was necessary for the storyline to progress, so he kept him alive to help Raen in his Jedi training. The resulting confusion of Preux on Alderaan refers to this change.

The Sith sequences on Alderaan were entirely new to the rewrite. Jedi Master 76 intended for them to appear in the short story of Convict's Dawn, but Vanguard of the Republic's storyline took their place. Several new minor villains were introduced during these scenes, and a few of them would survive and fight the heroes in the battle of Alderaan in the story's third act. Pallidus, in particular, was originally supposed to survive and go on to serve the Sith in Hands of Evening; however, he was deemed unnecessary and killed off prior to the novel's conclusion. The raid on Alderaan's capital and the collapse of its castle were reminiscent of the Order 66 sequence from Star Wars: Battlefront II and the climatic scene from Revenge of the Sith.

The Jedi's training under Thon is an allusion to the Tales of the Jedi series of comics. It serves as a safe haven for the Jedi and a place for their to hone their skills&mdash;a home base of sorts. Gaiel, Raen, and the rest of the Jedi were supposed to travel to Dantooine in time to aid in the evacuation of the Jedi Enclave there. This was initially possibly because in the original story, Ralina and her crew remained with the Jedi during their training; in the rewrite, they lost track of the Jedi after the events on Polus. Therefore, the Jedi had no way of knowing about Dantooine and were not able to reach it in time. However, Jedi Master 76 ensured that Ralina and her crew were still on Dantooine at the time of its bombardment.

Tserne's adventures on Humbarine were a late addition to the novel, and they were included only after Jedi Master 76 realized that Tserne did very little after escaping Polus. The scenario was used to introduce several new characters, including the GenoHaradan and Lonna Vash, who play larger roles in future stories. Further, it elaborates on Tserne's character, goals, and his abilities, which up to now had not been explored during the scenes he had been present in.

The last battle on Alderaan was a difficult segment to construct. Many new characters, minor or otherwise, were introduced in the final chapters of the novel, and Jedi Master 76 had to give them as much characterization and backstory as possible without interrupting the flow of the narrative. The Republic leaders and the Alderaanians, in particular, were given quite a few dialog sequences to illustrate their motives and personalities. The duel between Ranval and Calay was altered prior to its final release so that Ranval lost both of his hands to the Sith Master. Otherwise, most of the casualties that took place had been intended from the beginning.

Jedi Master 76 intended for Preux to die in Knight of Alderaan since the series' inception. Jedi Master 76 believed that he was supposed to be seen as a merciless villain but at the same time, something of a tragic character. His actual killer differed depending on the version. He was initially supposed to be killed by his wife, Junara, who was actually a Sith working for Darth Malak. When Preux apparently betrayed Darth Malak and refused to help him at the Star Forge, she was tasked with killing her husband. However, Jedi Master 76 felt that such a twist would not make sense, especially because Preux and Junara actually seemed to love each other. Later plans had the Jedi Covenant kill him, but they had no way of reaching the Benax manor in time. Instead, De'dlay kills Preux, who in turn, kills him.

The story draws heavily from Star Wars canon, particularly the Knights of the Old Republic metaseries and the original trilogy as a whole. Inspirations for character and events have been drawn from the video games Fire Emblem, Tales of Symphonia, the Halo series, the Mass Effect series, as well as the films The Lord of the Rings, Starship Troopers, and Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. The title primarily refers to Raen Benax, the knight of Alderaan who was responsible for defeating Preux, but it can also allude to Danc, the founder of the Royal Guardsmen and the one who betrayed the Alderaanian monarchy to the Sith, it can refer to the state of Alderaan throughout the novel, or simply to the dissolution of the Latona monarchy. The story's overarching themes are centered around the pursuit of destiny and the execution of justice.