Galactic History
About 1360 years ago, conflict rocked the galaxy between the Republic and the First Sith Empire. A war that only lasted a few weeks, but the simultaneity of the battles saw more troops deployed than many other turmoils spanning a longer period. It all started with a stroke of luck and ended with the annihilation of a civilization. And a desire for revenge from the losing side. A revenge that had to wait 13 centuries before being able to express itself. But if the Second Sith Empire returned to declare war on the Galactic Republic, it was because of the Great Hyperspace War.
When the Jedi Order banished some of their own who wanted to take power in the Republic, a handful feared they would want to return for revenge. And when these outcasts founded the first Sith Empire, they had this ulterior motive. But never mounted an expedition in their lifetime. The two galactic powers developed by ignoring each other, the existence of the other being grounded in certain legends. The unfortunate decision of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic Fattum is a more direct cause, causing a civil war between the planets of the Cinnagar system, in the Deep Core. A system since renamed Empress Teta, named after the victorious ruler at that time. A war that has left many orphans having to fend for themselves.
This was the case for Jori and Gav Daragon, young members of the Guild of Navigators. Their job was to find new hyperspace routes in and around Republican territories. Covered in debt that left them barely enough to pay for repairs to their ship, the Starbreaker 12, and chased by a crime lord who held them responsible for the collapse of a road they had opened (which is common in the Deep Core), these twins set off into the unknown to coordinates entered at random. They were to land on Korriban.
Jori et gav daragon
Korriban where the best of the Sith Empire was gathered that day. It was the funeral of their leader Marka Ragnos, Dark Lord of the Sith. The two foreigners quickly became the focus of the two suitors' power struggle. On the one hand, Naga Sadow led the expansionists who saw an opportunity to seize new territories. On the other hand, Ludo Kressh and his family feared a possible attack that would follow the new arrivals. At first, it was this second faction that took the advantage. That was without counting Sadow's manipulative gifts. He succeeded in seizing the two prisoners. His provocations prompted Kressh to attack his base in Khar Delba. During the battle, he urged Jori Daragon to run away on her own. She had no idea she was carrying a snitch that would allow the Sith to follow her. With his rivals eliminated, Naga Sadow was crowned the new Dark Lord of the Sith. He made Gav Daragon his apprentice and prepared his army to go and invade the Republic.
Naga Sadow
Setting up his meditation sphere around the red giant Primus Goluud, Naga Sadow dispersed his troops to attack several strategic Republican sites. He didn't have enough soldiers and ships for that, but it wasn't necessary. Sith technology was such that his personal ship allowed him to increase his powers. On the many battlefields, he created illusions from a distance that magnified the armies seen by the defenders. How to resist such a wave? But the Sith hadn't foreseen one thing: his apprentice's desire to find his sister. Gav Daragon left his command post to reach Cinnagar soil. But when he finally found his twin, among the corpses of inhabitants of the System Capital, she believed him possessed by the Dark side and activated the lightsaber given to him by a Jedi. Gav runs away rather than fight. He had been around Naga Sadow for long enough to understand what a manipulator he was, that he should not be trusted and that he was dangerous for everything he cared about. He let himself be followed by the fleet of Empress Teta to Primus Goluud. Attacking his master, he distracted him from his witchcraft and illusions. This had the consequence of breaking the attack of the Sith and Massassi attackers. Realizing that they didn't have that many opponents, Republican defenders managed to push them back. Gav Daragon died in the explosion of the red giant, caused by Naga Sadow to protect the retreat of his fleet.
For Naga Sadow, the defeat suffered was only that of a first wave. He had ample resources within the Sith Empire to adapt his strategy and prepare for a second assault. He hadn't foreseen a civil war. He believed Ludo Kressh was dead, not manipulating to bring him down and be crowned in his place. Kressh's goal was to kill him and impose himself on the Sith. He couldn't see any further. He attacked his rival's weary fleet near the Denarii Nova, but the destruction of his admiral cruiser and therefore his death was enough to end the battle. Except that the Republic fleet, led by Empress Teta and Jori Daragon arrived in the meantime. The Sith were exhausted, and their ships damaged too much. It quickly became clear that they could not achieve this victory. Naga Sadow therefore sacrificed his last followers to escape, and used Denarii's Nova to discourage his Republican pursuers from following him. His ultimate cruiser went to disappear on the fourth moon of the gas giant Yavin, where he would prepare a focal point for other followers of the Dark side. The Sith Empire army was destroyed. Nothing could stop the Republic from declaring the war over.
The spearhead of the Republic army was the Civil War veterans of Cinnagar. No matter how much they fought alongside the Jedi, the battles they waged did not amount to what is called a "clean" war. They had to impose on the Sith and the Masassis a vision that would discourage them from returning. This is how they bombarded Korriban, massacring the civilian population there. At first, the effect was as expected. The survivors of the Empire hid in their homes, fearing to see these dreaded cruisers land in their skies. Although they had no reason to see them coming, the Daragon only visited a handful of planets during their stay. Then, when it came to replacing the hole left at the top of the hierarchy, several ambitious people presented themselves as capable of protecting populations from this threat. Among them, Vitiate of Nathema, who by wielding the hidden coordinates of Dromund Kaas prepared the foundation of the Second Sith Empire. That is to say the Empire in place today.
The current Sith Empire is therefore entirely conceived following the Great Hyperspace War. On the Republic side, the consequences were not so direct. But it should be noted a strengthening of the prestige of the Jedi Order among the ruling elites. The planets that most resisted the Sith invasion, such as Cinnagar / Empress Teta, had Jedi advisers who had helped prepare the defense. Coruscant herself had seen Jedi leading the resistance all around the Senate. They were therefore more involved in certain political affairs. They even built a center to better understand the followers of the Dark Side, who have since disappeared. But they also raised objections.
In the face of the atrocities of a war that had put Force users on the front lines of both camps, a secret group formed with the goal of preventing them from once again ravaging the galaxy. They took the name of Caballe Stellaire, and their existence was only recently discovered by the Imperial Secret Service. And their methods had changed a lot, becoming part of the current war and the previous one ... Perhaps even other groups were founded on this occasion. In any case, it is certain that the consequences of the Great Hyperspace War still play out today.
References
BD:
- The Legend of the Jedi, Volume 1: The Golden Age of the Sith
- The Legend of the Jedi, Volume 2: The Fall of the Sith
