The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire Act 1: Shades of the Sith

Act 1: Shades of the Sith is the first story arc of the Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire webcomic, which serves as a prequel to the Star Wars: The Old Republic massively multiplayer roleplaying  online game by LucasArts and BioWare. It takes place previous to the other Star Wars: The Old Republic webcomic, Threat of Peace. The first seven pages were released on April 23, 2010 on StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com, and the remaining twenty-one pages were released in installments of seven pages on May 7, May 21, and June 4. . Shades of the Sith was collected in printed comic format as Star Wars: The Old Republic 4: Blood of the Empire, Part 1.

Publisher's summary
''The war begins here! A Sith apprentice pitted against a Republic army; an alien slave caught in the crossfire; a mysterious true-blood on a journey through the crime-ridden streets of Peragus spaceport. These individuals will fall under the shadow of the Emperor and the Dark Council, and their actions will define the future of the Empire and the Old Republic.''

Plot summary
The Sith apprentice Teneb Kel leads the Sith to victory on the planet Begeren in 3,678 BBY, and then is recalled to Dromund Kaas to stand before the Dark Council. Kel is forced to fight his master Lord Calypho, who had committed transgressions against the Empire and the Dark Council, and Kel is then tasked with hunting down the Emperor's apprentice Exal Kressh. Along with his Abyssin slave Maggot, Kel follows the Emperor's instructions to search for Kressh in the Lenico system.