Tionese War The Tionese War was a war fought between the young Galactic Republic and the Honorable Union of Desevro & Tion from 24 , 000 - 23 , 900 BBY . The Tion Cluster had become a largely - disunited backwater in the thousand years that had followed the defeat of Xim ' s empire , and the Cluster ' s leaders saw a rapid conquest of the Republic and the acquisition of its technology as their salvation . The Union attacked the Republic without warning , and the Republic was initially unprepared for the Tionese invasion and suffered multiple defeats . However , its superior industrial might and the aid of the Jedi Order allowed it to eventually subjugate Tionese space after a century - long conflict . Origins . In the thousand years that had followed Xim the Despot ' s downfall in the final battle of his wars with the Hutt Empire , his empire had fragmented into a multitude of warring kingdoms . Living under the ever - present menace of the Hutts , the Tionese civilization had suffered technological and cultural stagnation . They had additionally experienced a devastating Hutt invasion of their colonies in the Kiirium Reaches when the Hutts had attempted to pre - empt a Tionese alliance with the growing Republic . This conflict , known as the Devouring , rendered the Kiirium Reaches uninhabitable and transformed them into a desolate stretch of space that became known as the Ash Worlds . In 25 , 000 BBY , a number of Core Worlds unified to create the Galactic Republic . Republic scouts moving rimward up the Perlemian Trade Route soon encountered Tionese ships . Following the first contacts between Republic traders and Tionese aristocrats , the Tionese learned of both the Republic ' s superior technology and its lack of a powerful military . The rulers of Desevro saw the Republic as a wealthy but weak target ripe for conquest , and persuaded the rest of the Tionese states to form a loose confederation with the goal of conquering the Republic . The Republic ignored warnings from the Jedi Order ( then based on Ossus ) about the build - up of Tionese war - fleets that utilized reverse - engineered Republican technology , and so the Republic was caught completely unaware when the Tionese launched their offensive . History . The initial Tionese assault down the Perlemian Trade Route met little resistance . The Tionese seized Abhean , Roche , Lantillies , and Tirahnn before the Republic mounted a serious effort to construct its own warfleet . Tionese raiders destroyed the shipyards of Axum and Perlemia with a new weapon - pressure bomb s - before unleashing pressure bombs upon Alsakan and Coruscant itself . After a last - ditch counterattack repelled the Tionese offensive , new Republican warships were launched from shipyards at Corellia , Rendili and Humbarine . Nearly a century of offensives and counteroffensives up and down the Perlemian followed . Republic agents managed to steer the Hutts into attacking the Tionese border , and eventually the Jedi joined the war , leading Republic forces in the hope of saving galactic civilization from sinking into barbarism . With the Republic ' s overwhelming industrial might fully committed to the struggle , defeat for the Tion was only a matter of time . Believing that their culture would be annihilated , the Tionese resorted to sneak and suicide attacks , devastating even isolated colony worlds in the Divide . One such attack on Okator VIII in the final months of the war left only one survivor . These tactics served only to enrage the Republic , whose leaders embraced a doctrine of total war . Key Tionese worlds were pounded with pressure bombs , and eventually Desevro itself faced destruction under the guns of the Republic Navy . Desevro ' s attempt at unconditional surrender was ignored . The Republic ' s leaders were committed to making an example of the planet in order to intimidate the rest of the Tion into surrendering , and Desevro was blasted into a wasteland . Aftermath . The war with the Republic was the Tion ' s swansong as a galactic power . The worlds of the now - defunct Union , ( with the exception of Desevro , which remained bitterly and proudly independent ) , joined the Republic by 23 , 900 BBY as a member sector with Tion as its capital . In just a few centuries , the Tion became simply another sector of the Republic . Horrified by the sterilization of Desevro , the Jedi subsequently broke with the Republic , although the Order agreed to defend the Republic ' s frontier from their bases near the Tion , watching the cluster from fortress world s like Falang Minor . Though the Republic was triumphant , its military ' s fanatical conduct of the war led the Core regions to regard a centralized military as a threat to the Republic ' s stability . Despite objections from both the Jedi and many Rimward systems , the standing military was downsized ; the bulk of the Republic ' s military forces were reassigned to local sector governments , a centralized federal navy would not be re - established until 15 , 000 BBY .