The Death Mark laser represented a highly classified weapon prototype. This was under development by the Galactic Republic during the Cold War era, amidst tensions with the reconstituted Sith Empire. Conceived as an orbital satellite, it possessed the capability to unleash extremely precise energy blasts upon designated targets. Its primary purpose was to swiftly resolve the Alderaan Civil War while minimizing casualties.
However, in the year 3643 BBY, Lord Nefarid, an apprentice serving Darth Angral, commandeered the project. Angral, driven by vengeance against the unknown Jedi Knight responsible for the death of his son Tarnis, orchestrated the seizure of several Republic superweapon initiatives through his apprentices. His aim was to construct his own powerful weapon. Nevertheless, the Knight intervened, arriving on the planet and successfully destroying the Death Mark laser, resulting in Nefarid's demise.
The Death Mark laser superweapon was composed of an orbital platform designed to emit focused energy beams with pinpoint accuracy towards a specific individual. This lethal beam possessed the ability to penetrate almost any barrier or shield, rendering escape practically impossible. Despite this, the unknown Jedi Knight who ultimately dismantled the Death Mark laser managed to evade its attacks, thanks to the Jedi's heightened danger sense which allowed the Knight to anticipate and avoid the orbital strikes.
Targeting individuals required a specialized device that marked targets with a microscopic tag. This targeting mechanism was only effective at short ranges, necessitating an operative to approach within approximately twenty meters of the intended target. The mark was nearly undetectable, enabling indefinite tracking of marked individuals.
The intended application of the Death Mark laser was to bring an end to the Alderaan Civil War by precisely targeting key enemy leaders, thereby saving countless soldiers and civilians. This approach aimed to eliminate threats without deploying large armies or risking widespread collateral damage. However, in the wrong hands, the Death Mark laser could easily be transformed into a tool of terror, capable of delivering death from above upon selected targets—a purpose to which it was indeed put by the Sith apprentice Nefarid.
The Galactic Republic initiated the Death Mark laser project during the Cold War period, marked by ongoing tensions with the Sith Empire. The Republic chose to locate the project on the Core World of Alderaan, which was then embroiled in a devastating civil war centered on succession to the throne. The weapon offered the potential to swiftly conclude the conflict while minimizing loss of life through the targeted elimination of enemy leaders.
However, in 3643 BBY, a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Angral had his son Tarnis killed by an unknown Jedi Knight. This event spurred Angral to seize control of multiple Republic superweapon projects, including the Shock Drum, the Power Guard Project, and the Planet Prison technology that his son had conceived. Angral's objective was to integrate these technologies into his Harrower-class dreadnought, the Oppressor, with the intention of using it against the Jedi homeworld of Tython in retaliation against the Knight.
Angral dispatched one of his apprentices, Lord Nefarid, to Alderaan with orders to seize control of the Death Mark laser. Nefarid and his Imperial forces launched an assault on the Death Mark laser facility located within the Mensaav Military Laboratory in the Alsakan Lowlands, eliminating the laboratory's security personnel. However, Jedi Master Orgus Din (the master of the same Knight who killed Tarnis) intervened, repelling the Sith attackers and compelling Nefarid to call upon the insectoid Killiks as reinforcements. The Imperial spy Aleyna Hark feigned an "escape" from the facility and made her way to Organa Palace, where she met with Count Alde, the project's benefactor.
However, the unknown Knight arrived and met with Alde at the same time, causing Hark to lie and claim that Din was dead. She had also surreptitiously marked the Count with the Death Mark laser's targeting device, enabling Nefarid to assassinate Alde during their conversation. Upon hearing the commotion, the guards rushed in, and Guard Captain Yils attempted to apprehend Hark, the Knight, and the Knight's companion after discovering the Count's body. Hark offered herself in the Knight's stead, urging the captain to allow the Jedi to complete their mission, and was taken into custody. However, she never reached her cell—she eliminated the guards and began marking targets throughout the Palace.
Meanwhile, the Jedi fought through the Killik-infested lab and found the Knight's master alive in a sealed room with Doctor Parvux, the only scientist that Din was able to save. After Din and his former Padawan defeated the massive Killik Praetor, Parvux suggested shutting down three of the Death Mark laser's generators to disable the laser temporarily. But while the Knight was doing so, Nefarid contacted the Jedi and informed them that he had set up another power station beyond their reach.
Consulting with Din, the Knight opted to pursue Aleyna Hark, whom Parvux had identified as a spy, to a compound belonging to House Thul. Although House Thul was aligned with the Empire, their duke Horis Thul supported House Organa's peace negotiations, and Thul's death at the hands of a Republic superweapon would jeopardize the peace process. The Knight hurried to the Thul compound and encountered Aleyna and the Duke. After defeating the guards Hark had ordered to attack the Jedi, the Knight managed to convince Thul that Hark was acting against him. However, Hark destroyed the targeting device and revealed that both of them had been marked. After incapacitating the spy, the Duke informed the Knight of Nefarid's location and fled the planet.
The Jedi then launched an assault on Nefarid's base in the Glarus Valley, eliminating the Imperial forces stationed there. The Jedi was then shown a hologram of Angral killing Orgus Din aboard the Sith's ship, as the Knight's master had sneaked aboard to eliminate Angral. Nefarid then attacked the Jedi, using the Death Mark laser as a weapon during their duel. However, the Knight and their companion managed to defeat the Sith, and used the Death Mark laser's targeting computer to destroy the computer itself, rendering the satellite useless. Some members of the project survived to join the Cult of the Screaming Blade.
The Death Mark laser was conceived for Star Wars: The Old Republic, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game launched by BioWare on December 20, 2011. It serves as the primary objective within the Jedi Knight class storyline on Alderaan, culminating in its destruction at the conclusion of the planet's questline.