Mission to Coruscant (Desolator crisis)

The events that unfolded on the planet Coruscant were rooted in the final days of the Great Galactic War between the Galactic Republic and the resurgent Sith Empire. The Empire deceived the Republic with fake peace negotiations held on Alderaan, a Core World, while simultaneously launching an attack on the Republic's capital, an event known as the Sacking of Coruscant. A strike team, spearheaded by Sith Lords Darth Malgus and Adraas, destroyed the Jedi Temple, disabled the planet's defense systems, and massacred a significant number of Jedi. Darth Angral, a Sith Lord, then held the capital hostage with an invading fleet, forcing the Republic to sign the Treaty of Coruscant. This treaty required the Republic to withdraw its forces from across the galaxy, ushering in a period of uneasy peace known as the Cold War. The Jedi Order relocated to Tython, their recently rediscovered homeworld, to rebuild their numbers amidst sporadic attacks from the native Flesh Raiders.

In the year 3643 BBY, these attacks took on a more sinister nature when it was discovered that Bengel Morr, a Nautolan Dark Jedi, was manipulating the Flesh Raiders against the Order in an attempt to annihilate the Jedi. Morr, a former apprentice of Jedi Master Orgus Din, had been present within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant during Malgus's assault and was presumed dead when his body was not recovered. However, he had survived, succumbing to insanity and embracing the dark side of the Force, blaming the Jedi for their submission to the Sith. Morr's Flesh Raider forces initiated attacks against the Jedi, aiming to destroy them. Din and his newest apprentice discovered the Dark Jedi's scheme and brought it to an end. Din's Padawan, having rescued Din from his former student and defeating Morr with the assistance of T7-O1, a Jedi astromech droid, was elevated to the rank of Jedi Knight by Grand Master Satele Shan and dispatched to Coruscant alongside T7-O1 and Din.

During the decade following the Treaty, the agents of the Empire were also active. Tarnis, Angral's son, who had received training in the dark side from Lord Praven, Angral's apprentice, embarked on an undercover operation within the Republic's capital. Using the alias "Eli Tarnis," he posed as a Republic scientist and infiltrated the development team for the Planet Prison superweapon, gathering intelligence on the Republic's weapon projects. The Planet Prison was one of many weapon projects initiated by General Var Suthra of the Mon Calamari, in memory of the Jedi who perished during the destruction of the Jedi Temple. By 3643 BBY, the weapon had reached the prototype stage.

Around this time, the Jedi High Council grew concerned about a palpable dark presence emanating from the capital, detectable even from Tython in the Deep Core. The Council had sent Jedi Master Bela Kiwiiks and her Padawan Kira Carsen to Coruscant during the conflict with the Flesh Raiders to investigate. Tarnis, sensing his mission was at risk, approached Salarr, the leader of the Black Sun criminal syndicate, revealing his true identity as a Sith Lord. In exchange for Imperial weaponry and technology acquired through Tarnis's contacts within the Imperial-sympathetic Justicars' Brigade paramilitary group, Black Sun would assist the Sith in an elaborate deception.

At Tarnis's request, Black Sun dispatched a team of thieves led by Vistis Garn, a Rodian who frequently worked for the Migrant Merchants' Guild, Black Sun's rival, to raid a military warehouse. The objective was to steal the design files for all of the Republic's superweapon projects. The raid succeeded, and Garn's team escaped with the files and a shipment of advanced weapons and munitions. However, Garn was captured on security footage as the group departed for the Guild-controlled Old Galactic Market. Tarnis intended to take the stolen files back to the Empire, while also striking a blow against the Republic before his departure. Agent Galen of the Republic Strategic Information Service, the Republic's primary intelligence agency, was tasked with leading the search for the stolen plans, and his office collaborated with the Coruscant Security Force in their efforts.

Thirty-two hours later, General Suthra convened with Din, Kiwiiks, Carsen, and Tarnis in Conference Room 2-Aurek within the Senate Building to discuss the security breach. They were soon joined by Din's former apprentice and T7-O1. Tarnis was annoyed by the Jedi's disapproval of the Planet Prison weapon, which ionized a planet's atmosphere, blockading the world and preventing any ships from leaving or arriving, as he considered it a humane method of warfare that the Jedi should support. During the discussion, Galen's subordinates identified Garn as one of the thieves and tracked him to the Old Galactic Market, prompting the agent to interrupt the meeting with this information. Suthra departed with Kiwiiks and Din to meet with Supreme Chancellor Dorian Janarus aboard the official's personal flagship, the Founder, above Coruscant, leaving Galen to work with the Knight and Carsen on the search.

Tarnis remained behind as the two Masters departed with Suthra, and Galen briefed the Knight and Carsen. The SIS, with assistance from the Coruscant Security Force, had tracked Garn back to the Old Galactic Market. The Knight immediately departed for the Guild's territory with T7-O1, while Carsen and Galen worked to distract the gangsters using the CSF's security network. Upon arriving in the Market, the Jedi and T7-O1 fought their way into the heart of the region and raided the warehouse where Garn was hiding. The Knight quickly subdued Garn's crew and stormed the secure vault where the thief had retreated, disabling the autoturrets he had set up. Interrogating Garn, the Jedi learned that Black Sun had hired him and that a copy of the decrypted plans had already been sent to the gang.

Following the Knight's departure, Tarnis initiated the second phase of his plan, signaling a Black Sun "kidnapping" team led by Zeer, a Human. Utilizing inside information provided by the Sith Lord, the criminals infiltrated the Senate Building and made off with the scientist before Senate Security detected them. As agreed, Zeer and his men fled to the Coruscant Spaceport as a distraction, allowing Tarnis to escape to Black Sun Territory. However, the Sith Lord instead chose to head to the Justicars' Sector to continue his scheme. When the SIS and Senate Security realized what had happened, Galen dispatched a CSF team under Carsen's leadership to the spaceport to retrieve the doctor and ordered the Knight to return immediately when the second Jedi contacted the agent to report the raid's outcome.

The Knight, allowing Garn to leave peacefully in exchange for information, recovered the stolen weapons and left them for the CSF forces in the area to secure, before returning to the Senate Building. There, the Jedi and T7-O1 were briefed on the situation and sent to the spaceport to reinforce Carsen and the CSF, who were in a stalemate with the Black Sun gang. The two Jedi were able to break through the criminals' lines using the Knight's combat skills and Carsen's utilization of a borrowed SIS stealth field generator, confronting and quickly defeating Zeer. Carsen convinced Zeer to reveal the doctor's location by feigning mind-reading, terrifying the criminal. The two Jedi left the Black Sun members to the CSF and returned to the Senate Building.

There, they learned that Galen's analysts had examined the recovered data files and discovered they contained information on all of the Republic's superweapon projects. Suthra, having returned from the meeting with the Chancellor, was concerned about the safety of the facilities, so Kiwiiks and Din agreed to each secure one of the three off-world projects. Agent Galen also departed to secure the third facility, but before leaving, he instructed the Knight to contact Sergeant Nidaljo of the CSF's special tactical unit in Black Sun Territory. Galen contacted Nidaljo as he headed to his ship, and the special tactical unit attempted to establish a perimeter around Black Sun's headquarters for the upcoming mission to rescue Tarnis from the structure. However, the gang attacked with advanced weapons and armor, killing half a dozen of Nidaljo's men and forcing the unit to retreat into an abandoned building. The Jedi and T7-O1 found Nidaljo and his men trapped behind a hastily erected barricade, pinned down by heavily armed Black Sun members, and the Knight quickly dispatched the criminals.

The police officer was ready to despair, but the Knight reminded him of his duty and how the fallen members of his squad had sacrificed their lives to aid the man trapped within the enemy headquarters. Inspired by the Jedi, the entire unit rallied to the Knight's call to arms and prepared to launch their attack. Nidaljo's men targeted the rear entrance of the compound, while the Knight and T7-O1 stormed the front entrance, cutting through several dozen Black Sun members to reach the central room first. There, they were astonished to discover that Tarnis was not present, but was instead communicating with Salarr, Black Sun's leader, via a holotransmission.

Listening to Salarr's angry exchange with Tarnis, the Knight learned that the entire affair had been orchestrated. Tarnis had hired the criminals to steal the files and kidnap him. When the Jedi accused the scientist of treason, Tarnis revealed that he was a Sith Lord and ended the transmission after informing Salarr that his services were no longer needed. Furious, Salarr turned to confront the Jedi, but Nidaljo's unit burst into the room at that moment and shot the Black Sun member who was sneaking up on the Knight. Together, the CSF and the Jedi fought and defeated Salarr's men, striking down the syndicate's leader and dealing a significant blow to Black Sun's operations. While Nidaljo's men retreated to a safer location and the Knight returned to the Senate Building, Tarnis began the third phase of his plan. Upon arriving in the Justicars' Sector, he contacted his research team, informing them that the Jedi were planning to shut down the Planet Prison project. Appealing to their sense of duty to the Republic, he convinced the scientists to bring the prototype to him in the Justicars' Tower. However, when the team arrived, Tarnis betrayed them, massacring his subordinates before taking the prototype deep into the ruins of the Jedi Temple.

Back in the Senate Building, General Suthra was both furious and horrified that a Sith had infiltrated his organization so easily. When Carsen traced Tarnis's holotransmission to the Justicars' Sector, he immediately dispatched the two Jedi to recover both the prototype and the research team, whom he also suspected were traitors. However, once the two Jedi fought their way to the source of the transmission, they discovered the bodies of the research team and realized the truth. One scientist, Jonkan, was still alive, and with his last breaths, he managed to tell the Jedi that the Planet Prison required time to charge and generated immense amounts of heat while doing so. Using this information, Carsen located the Planet Prison in the Jedi Temple, and the two Jedi raced through the industrial sector known as the Works to reach the Temple.

Fighting through Imperial strike teams searching for lost information amidst the ruins, the Knight and Carsen finally located Tarnis in the chambers of the Jedi Council. Tarnis had set up the machinery of the Planet Prison in the chamber, using the Temple's power grid to charge the superweapon while conversing with four holograms. Listening to the conversation, the Knight and Carsen were shocked to discover that the people were Darth Angral and his apprentices, Lords Sadic, Nefarid, and Praven. They were even more astonished to hear Tarnis address Angral as "father."

Approaching the Sith Lord, the Knight requested Tarnis surrender peacefully, but the older man, egged on by both his father and Angral's apprentices, charged the two Jedi, unleashing a blast of violet lightning. The three engaged in a fierce duel before the holoterminal, and Angral watched in horror and fury as his son was slowly beaten back and finally struck down by the Knight's lightsaber. Consumed by anger and grief, the elder Sith Lord declared undying hatred upon his son's killer and vowed to exact his revenge, even if it meant destroying the entire Republic. After Angral ended the communication, the Knight and Carsen inspected the Planet Prison. They found it was not yet fully charged, and they were able to render it useless before returning safely to the Senate Building.

While the crisis on Coruscant ended with the deactivation of the Planet Prison, the mission would have profound consequences. True to his word, Angral embarked on a crusade against the Knight, including both the Republic and the Jedi Order in his vengeful quest. Exploiting his son's information, he sent his apprentices and agents to various worlds and seized control of the Republic's superweapon projects, combining them into a ship-mounted world-killer weapon known as the Desolator.

Traveling with T7-O1 and Carsen, who was made the Knight's official Padawan by Grand Master Shan, the Jedi uncovered Angral's plans on Ord Mantell. They battled Angral's apprentices and Imperial Intelligence to destroy the stolen superweapons before they could be used against the rest of the galaxy. The trio finally confronted Angral aboard his flagship, the Oppressor, above Tython, after the Sith Lord used the Desolator against Uphrades, the Republic agriworld. Together, the Knight and Carsen were able to strike down the Sith and end the crisis.

The mission to Coruscant is featured in Star Wars: The Old Republic, a massively multiplayer role-playing game released by BioWare and LucasArts in 2011. This mission depicts the in-universe events of the Jedi Knight class's Prologue on Coruscant, which is divided into six in-game missions: "The Jedi Envoy," "Stolen Secrets," "Kidnapped!," "The Rescue," "Tracking Down the Traitor," and "Race to the Ruins." As the Prologue of the class storyline, the mission establishes the narrative of Act I and introduces many characters who reappear throughout the game.

Kira Carsen joins your party as a companion when the planet storyline concludes, and General Suthra dispatches the player to different planets during Act I. Bela Kiwiiks will later be found on the planet Tatooine, Orgus Din on Alderaan, and Agent Galen on Nar Shaddaa, where the Sith have captured or otherwise incapacitated them. Moreover, Angral's apprentices are introduced during the confrontation with Tarnis, and they function as the primary antagonists on Tatooine, Alderaan, and Nar Shaddaa. Initially, the player is sent to Ord Mantell to retrieve intelligence regarding Angral's schemes, and on Taris the Knight tries to save the scientist Doctor Nasan Godera from Watcher One of Imperial Intelligence.

When playing as a Republic character, it is assumed that the Knight will consistently choose light-side options throughout the game, although the majority of the storyline's specifics remain consistent regardless of alignment. No matter the player's decisions, both Tarnis and Salarr will meet their ends, but Vistis Garn and Nidaljo's fates can be altered. One can kill Vistis Garn for dark side points, and Nidaljo can be coerced into assisting the player using a mind trick, which also grants dark side points.