From space, Malachor seems no more than a lifeless ball of ash. In the center of an open crater, however, lies the ancient Sith Temple. This colossal pyramid of black stone is the relic of a disastrous battle between the forces of darkness and light thousands of years ago.

Though the surface of Malachor has a breathable atmosphere, the air is dead still, and there is no sign of life. The caldera housing the Temple is a tableau of the terrible struggle that took place here so many millennia ago. Scattered through the causeways and crumbling boulders are the petrified figures of the foregone combatants, their hands raised eternally against whatever cataclysm took the life from their bodies. Some still grasp their Jedi weapons, though most likely the life is gone from them too. The pallid white light of the sun spreads unhindered through the crater, but it does little to illumine the intrinsic darkness of the stones.

The Sith Temple is not a place of the light side. It is said the very stones react to the touch of the dark side. The pyramid itself is seemingly inaccessible, though its blocked entrance is associated with an old saying: “Two must lift these stones, no more, no less.” Despite its undeniable age, the crater is littered with signs of a more recent calamity; ash and debris, columns toppled outwards from the Temple, broken arches. It is as though the millennial dust stirred, briefly, then returned to its repose under the sun.

Malachor Sith Temple Valley

The baleful sun shone high overhead, over the vast ruins of an ancient Sith Temple complex. There was seemingly no life on the planet at all. After all, how could it be? It was not exactly in the middle of a trade route of any kind. The sinister planet would lie just on the edge of the map, luring in an unsuspecting adventurer. Now, even though he was a Sith, Fenrir did not seem to be too fond of the place as he made his way towards the temple. Yes, he is a Sith. Yet, even if one is a Sith there are places where one must not tread. Every step that the beast took towards the Temple of Malachor, he was subtly warned. The very energy of the place was intoxicating and invigorating. He had long desired to come here, to even worship the long-lost Sith spirits, and of course to bag a few valuable artifacts.

Fenrir had not seen a battlefield of this scale, nor one of such ferocity. It seemed to him, as he continued on steps of ash and dust, that fury with which the battle was fought was still showing in the long-dead petrified figures. Some still held their weapons tightly, but he doubted if any of those still work.

Moments later, he stood in front of the entrance of the Sith Temple, which to him seemed grand in a sinister way, of course. Unfortunately, it was still blocked and that was infuriating. He tried every which way he knew or thought he knew, to get the stone slabs removed. But nothing budged an inch. And that was when the voice came first.

"Did you really think it would be so easy?" It was a male voice. If Fenrir would not have been so heavily built, he would have jumped.

"What the...?" growled the surprised wolfman.

A slim, hooded figure stood behind him. Whether it was a spirit of the place or not, he could not tell. The hooded figure said, "So...an Acolyte comes to Malachor. What for, I wonder?"

"What is it to you, where and why I'm here?"

"Everything actually. If Sith artifacts fall in the hands of Acolytes barely out of combat school... Well, we can't have that one. You'll return with me, on my ship to the proper authorities."

Fenrir smirked, which to Aiden looked like a particularly sinister grin "Make me!" Almost immediately Fenrir took out his lightsaber and activated it, challenging the hooded figure to do his best. The Dark Side shall seem him through.