Previously I introduced some ideas of how I would have done the Knights expansions differently. I will now go into some story detail changes, starting with the first expansion, Knights of the Fallen Empire.
Chapter 1
There is no real changes to the start of this chapter. In fact, the only changes come at the end. You, Darth Marr, and two unnamed bridge crew members, are brought before Arcann as his prisoner, some dialogue regarding his plans for the core worlds, and then told you will be sent to an off-world prison where you will work mining exonium. Darth Marr breaks his shackles, and tries to go after Arcann, but is subdued by Vaylin in a force bubble. Darth Marr will recognize the woman has considerable power, but accepts the situation for what it is. Meanwhile, unnamed crew member #1 see’s this as well, and smiles… You are then led out of the thrown room.
Chapter 2
A few months (four to six max) have passed, as you are on some random asteroid mining exonium. Darth Marr and the other two crew members were shipped somewhere else, so you are all alone. Suddenly alarm klaxons start to ring out, and the shackles around your feet are released. You have your mining laser (special weapon and abilities, cannot use your normal abilities, replaces your standard toolbar), and proceed to fight off waves off guards, as you and the rest of the prisoners make your way to the central elevator.
After fighting to the hangar level, you are stopped by some guards, who are promptly cut in half by Lana’s lightsaber. She joins you and gives you some equipment, and then you fight to the ship she has waiting. On board, theres some dialogue about the situation, where Darth Marr is, and you are introduced to the pilot Koth (he doesn’t join as a companion yet.)
Chapter 3
You make your way to the floating sanctuary of Asylum. You are introduced to the rest of Koth’s crew, and plans are made to go rescue Darth Marr. Before heading out, Lana reveals that Arcann sent a message to the leaders of the Empire and Republic, telling them that their attempts at invasion have failed, and that the full might of the Eternal Fleet would be heading there way. She says both factions are mobilizing for war, but that nether side is still willing to ally with the other.
While in flight you can talk to the crew and get some details regarding whats going on, what is Zakuul, and why are they fighting Arcann. You head out to another unnamed asteroid where Darth Marr and several of the crew are being held. You will fight from the hangar to an area where Darth Marr and the others are being held, where you will meet Novo and Tanek (the knights you meet when you escape the carbonite chamber in existing KotFE).
Chapter 4
Back on Asylum, plans are being made my Koth and his crew to start going after some Zakuul supplies to help their effort. Meanwhile, Lana and Darth Marr are warning you not to get involved with the politics of Zakuul, but will admit that the threats against the Republic and Empire are not to be taken lightly. Instead, Lana suggests heading to Zakuul, and trying to figure out a way to stop this Eternal Fleet that Arcann controls. Koth doesn’t like the plan, but believes it will be a distraction for what he had planned.
So you are dumped in a swamp outside the capital city on Zakuul, and fight your way to the sewers. After you fight your way to the lower city levels, you are ambushed by Zakuul citizens, who take your weapons and lead you to an underground base. There you meet the real leader of the Zakuul rebels, Thexan, who is not happy with the way Koth has been using some of the rebels for his own crusade against Arcann.
However, Thexan believes you can help as a new distraction, and sends an astromech, T3-08 who has some false reports and rebel plans, to sneak into a security outpost on one of the upper levels. Once the fake plans are delivered, you leave and head back to Asylum with T3-08 as a new companion.
Chapter 5
After returning to Asylum, you meet up with Koth at a cantina, who has just returned from a raid they had planned, and you let him know what Thexan has said. Theres some back and forth, shouting, arguing, and then Koth storms out of the cantina with his crew. Darth Marr lets you and Lana know that he is returning to the search for the Sith Emperor, which will temporarily remove him from your companions.
Asylum is then attacked by Zakuul forces, including Vaylin and her Knights, with a focus on capturing the Outlander and their companions. You will have an encounter with Vaylin, where you learn some details about what Arcann has planned for the rebels. After you escape, theres a lot of finger pointing and blame, and Koth believes that T3-08 is a traitor that led Vaylin’s forces to Asylum. In the meantime, you start looking for a new base location, but are interrupted for a new mission.
Chapter 6
Thexan has heard about the attack on Asylum and wants to meet with you and Koth about truly joining forces in order to take on Arcann. First however, he needs you to track down an exiled former Zakuul knight to see if this person has some information that could help take Arcann down.
The search begins on Zakuul, where you learn that a mysterious person known only as the Shadow Lady, barters information to people willing to pay for it. When you finally track down this Shadow Lady, you find it is a robot similar to Scorpio, but more willing to work with you. After doing a little task for the Shadow Lady, she gives you an idea of where to start looking: Hoth.
Chapter 7
You find your contact on Hoth, and find out some additional details the Shadow Lady left out, such as the fact that members of the Zakuul Knights had been coming to the known galaxy for decades, getting details about the political situation, who was hostile and such. You then make your way to Belsavis, where you learn that several Zakuul Knights had been captured and sent here because they were believed to be Imperial spies. However, you find out most of them were executed after a failed prison break a few years ago.
You are then sent to Tatooine where you encounter a few Zakuul Knights who hadn’t been captured by the Republic, but had try to make contact with the Empire, but there ship was shot down and they’ve been stranded here. The leader however does let you know that their former commander was not apart of any missions to the known galaxy.
Just when you thin the trail has gone cold, the Shadow Lady lets you know that a former Zakuul Knight, possibly the person we seek was seen on Nar Shadaa. After arriving on Nar Shadaa , you find the person the Shadow Lady had info on, meeting with some Imperial military members and Republic senators. A fight with members of their entourages will occur, and once done, they will tell you that members of the Zakuul Knights had been meeting with them for a couple of years now, trying to broker a peace treaty, even though there was no war going on, and they were doing this under orders from their former commander, who is in exile on Voss.
After arriving on Voss, you learn the person you seek can be found in a cave in one of the areas, and after some fighting with robot security, you can finally talk to them. Its Senya, who came here after Valkorion’s death because she feared what Arcann had planned. She tells you about Valkorions original plans, expanding into the Outer Rim area on Hoth, Tatooine, or even Yavin, but how some of the scout parties were not returning and Valkorion feared the people that inhabited this part of space may be to powerful. She will tell you that she was part of some of those initial scouting parties, and that before Valkorion’s death, she had met with members of the Jedi Council and the Sith Dark Council, in order to warn them of what might be coming. She decides to come back with you to meet the leader of the resistance, and you find out that Senya is Thexan’s mother.
Chapter 8
After the mother and son reunion, Thexan tells you about a mission Koth and his crew decided to go on in Zakuul, despite the extreme danger involved. Senya will tell you that before she went into exile, she had run ins with Koth and his crew, when they were doing smaller jobs, but never wanted to truly punish them, as they were just doing what they could to survive. Its at this time that Lana and T3-08 inform the group that they are receiving a distress call from Koth, that they are under heavy fire from Arcann’s forces and need help.
In route to Zakuul, Thexan tells you about Koth’s mission to steal power supplies from an older military installation on the edge of Spire. Upon landing, you will split into 3 groups with each tasked to do something to help Koth and his crew. You will be in charge of find Koth and his crew, and helping them get out.
When you do find Koth and his crew pinned down in what appears to be a recent addition to the base, he tells you they were set up. He came to this installation on a tip from T3-08 who had downloaded details of this abandoned base the last time they were in Spire. Koth is not sure what is being built at the new base addition, but they need to find out.
After fighting your way into one of the larger hangars, you are met by Arcann and several Scions, the group Thexan once led, and you are told of a prophecy that Zakuul will fall at the hands of an outsider, and that they are there to stop it. Arcann will not attack until two Scions remain, and will flee if he gets down to half life, and you will see him take damage to his face. After this battle, another Scion will appear, and she will ask to speak with Senya and Thexan, as they are both in grave danger.
After returning to the makeshift base, this Scion will tell them about a traitor that has been feeding Arcann information about the group and its activities. Koth immediately thinks its T3-08, who has disappeared upon Koth’s return.
Chapter 9
The group is still in need of a more permanent base of operations, and Senya suggests an area on Odessan, which raises suspicion with Koth, because its near the military outpost his crew raided when you were off learning about the Eternal Fleet. However, plans are made, and you head to Odessan to scout the location.
After arriving on planet, you will gather info from a nearby settlement before heading to the location Senya mentions. Meanwhile, Koth and his crew are headed back to the outpost they raided earlier, in order to get some more supplies. However, as they get near it, Koth realizes there are more troops and vehicles than were there earlier, and that another trap may have been set up. So they start heading back to you and the main group in order to warn them.
You follow Senya to a mountainous area, where she shows you a secret stronghold that was built into the mountain. Before you have a chance to scout it out though, you receive a holo-call from Koth, who says there is a battalion of troops and tanks headed toward the settlement. You head back to the settlement, where the troops have begun engaging the people living there, and a battle ensues.
At some point during the battle, Vaylin will appear and recognizing Senya, proceed to go after her. In the meantime, you will be engaged with the troops and the tanks. When you have dispatched with them, you will engage Vaylin, but she will escape as some bombers sweep in delivering their payload, and decimating the area.
While your group is hurt, the battle with the Zakuul troops is seen as a victory, and you head back to the hidden stronghold to recover. The people from the settlement who survived the attack will follow you to the stronghold and act as vendors and such now. At this time you will realize that T3-08 is missing, as well as one of the crew members from Darth Marr’s ship who you rescued.
Senya will tell you that while her kids know of the stronghold, they were brought there at a real early age, so Arcann and Vaylin should not know of its location. You will then get a montage showing supplies and equipment coming to the new base, while Thexan is giving speech about cooperation and the struggles ahead.
The final expansion cutscenes will show Vaylin leaving Odessan with a shadowy figure who tells her she has great power, but needs to find a way to harness it. And then Arcann will be sitting on the Eternal Throne, clutching a datapad in one hand, a robot that looks like Scorpio and the Shadow Lady standing at the base of the dais. And finally, when Thexan explores deeper into the mountain, he will be struck with a vision of a dark obelisk that is radiating with power, and you will see his eyes glow orange.
Final Thoughts
So thats how I would do the first expansion, Knights of the Fallen Empire. I’ve introduced most off the main characters in this group of expansions, with some surprises still in store. Besides the main story, there are little stories that have all been introduced, including:
- Koth and crew. Will they be trouble for Thexan’s resistance, or learn to work with them?
- Is the Shadow Lady friend or foe?
- Who is the traitor? Is it T3-08?
- And many more questions