Why Are We Here? The Events That Led to the Great Galactic War

The extensive datafile begins with a foreword by someone named Ambrose.

"What follows are transcripts of the collected historical lessons of Gin Tsun, a Gray Jedi and my master. The volumes I've titled, 'Why Are We Here?' are his understanding of what brought the galaxy to the Great Galactic War and its immediate aftermath.

"His goal was to teach his fellow Gray Jedi the context of the war, and how one could better understand the Force through these studies. Many brushed his lessons off. Don't make their mistake - understand where we've come from, and you can direct where we go.

"Learn."

## Lesson 1: The Death of Balance

*“It is from the swing of this pendulum that every great conflict between Light and Dark in the galaxy is born. Because of one act of generosity, a galaxy at peace for hundreds of millennia has scarcely known it since.”*

Welcome, everyone. My name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you.

If you are here, you’ve either chosen - or been ordered - to explore the history of our galaxy and of the Force. There is no better place to begin than the beginning. Does anyone know what the oldest known civilization is?

The Celestials. Sometimes called the Whills. These beings ruled the known galaxy – and possibly more – for over 100,000 years. Their power in the Force was unrivaled, matched only by their incredible technology.

Who knows of the Maw? Centerpoint Station?

The Maw, a cluster of black holes, and Centerpoint Station, the largest and most powerful artificial construct known, are both samples of the Celestials’ power. They utilized their power to maintain Balance in the Force across the stars.

No one is sure why they vanished. Most believe they merged with, and guide, the Force. Some have posited that they worked with or even enslaved the Force and lost control. Others believe they were exterminated.

Whatever the cause, the Celestials' disappearance coincides perfectly with the rise of the Rakatan Infinite Empire. Who can tell me of the Rakata?

The Rakatan Infinite Empire began its conquest of the stars more than 30,000 years ago. They spread out across the void using technology fueled by the Dark Side of the Force. They enslaved and exterminated thousands of worlds.

Who can tell me the great irony that began their conquest?

They were found and upraised by servants of the Balance, and of the Celestials, called the Kwa. These beings gifted technologies and knowledge of the Force to species they believed capable of greatness. For their generosity, the Kwa were the first to die.

Who can tell me the great irony that their conquest resulted in?

The precursor to the Jedi Order, the Je’daii Order, was founded by beings gathered by mysterious ships called Tho Yor, sent out by the Kwa. The same Order barely survived an invasion by the Rakata 10,000 years later and as a result was torn asunder.

To defeat the invading Empire, the Je’daii, masters of both Dark and Light, were forced to rely mostly upon the Dark. There were those among the Order who refused to relinquish this power once the threat was defeated.

There were others who refused to ever again touch the Dark. These two factions split the Je’daii and began what are known as the Force Wars. The Light triumphed and destroyed the followers of the Dark. These individuals renamed themselves Jedi and dedicated themselves to Light.

These events set in motion a pendulum, a swing within the Force. From its resting place in Balance it was violently wrenched because of the actions of those too benevolent, too arrogant to understand the risk that simple savages posed.

It is from the swing of this pendulum that every great conflict between Light and Dark in the galaxy is born. Because of one act of generosity, a galaxy at peace for hundreds of millennia has scarcely known it since.

This is the lesson today. As Force-empowered individuals, your actions will have consequences – often beyond your ability to predict or understand. Our next lesson will cover the First and Second Great Schisms of the Jedi Order. For now, dismissed.

## Lesson 2: The Dark Returns

*“Through arrogance, pride, and fear, the Jedi forged the very weapons they most despise. Never forget – be wise in your treatment of others. Give when there is room to give – and kill when there is not.”*

Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you.

In our last lesson we discussed the Celestials, guardians of the Balance, and how the act of one of their servant races, the Kwa, led to the creation of the Rakatan Infinite Empire.

This led to the destruction of the Kwa and of the Je’daii Order, the Jedi’s precursors who were devoted to Balance between Light and Dark rather than just the Light. The Rakata helped create the modern Jedi in this way.

This class, as all history classes I teach, will focus both on Force theory and on the history of our galaxy. One of the most important lessons I can teach you is that these two things are one and the same.

Those among you who spent time with the Jedi believe that the Force is an energy that surrounds and permeates all that we know – that it has a will that is enacted through manipulating our minds and bodies.

The more Dark-inclined among you think of the Force as an ends to a mean, the tool you use to improve yourselves and take what you want.

Those of you who have spent time meditating on and exploring both side of the Force know that both are, in a way, true. The Force has a will, and scholars have failed for millennia to decipher it. It guides, if not controls, most every event in history.

However, many have lived long and prosperous lives through Dark Side manipulations and powers, gathering treasure, knowledge, and followers through the control they exert over and through the Force.

Both are correct in their own fashion. The Force has a will and imposes it upon the galaxy, but the strong-willed and powerful among us may, for a time, impose their own will upon it.

Both are also wrong. They ignore millennia of opposing tradition and knowledge in the belief that their way is best. They are both driven by fear – fear that should they open themselves to another aspect of the Force, they wouldn’t return.

It is this fear that the Gray are above. We accept both sides of the Force to some degree, and use it in its fullness. It is this fear that makes both sides hate us. Any questions thus far?

Though the Je’daii Order was destroyed from the inside by sudden devotion to one side of the Force or the other, there were opportunities beyond that point for the Jedi to recover their birthright – mastery of the Force in Balance.

The most promising among these is now known as the First Great Schism of the Jedi Order. Does anyone know what brought this on?

A human Jedi Knight named Xendor grew tired of the Jedi’s increasing devotion to the Light and their ever-tightening grip on who was permitted to learn and what was permitted to teach. He wished to open his own temple to teach the Dark Side.

When they refused, he abandoned the Order and created an academy on Lettow to teach what the Jedi would not. Though many of their traditions were brought over from the Jedi, they focused on teachings of Balance and Darkness.

The Jedi Order has always been unable to accept Force traditions they cannot control, and when Xendor’s followers continued to grow in number the Order created an army to destroy them. The Legions of Lettow were destroyed and Xendor murdered.

This was the Jedi’s final opportunity to return to the Balance without bloodshed, but their pride and fear claimed their reason. Because of this arrogance, the next Dark Order to rise did so through blood and steel.

A group of Dark Jedi believing themselves to be the heirs of the Legions of Lettow’s legacy split from the Order and waged war on the Jedi and the young Galactic Republic. This war is known as the Hundred-Year Darkness and the Second Great Schism.

These, too, were defeated, but at far greater cost. These Dark Jedi and their followers honed their Dark arts into weapons of war, giving birth to Leviathans and other monstrosities. For a century the Dark Jedi refined their craft in the forge of war.

And when the Jedi attained victory, how did they punish their Dark brothers?

They weakened, saddened by the lessons learned after exterminating the Legions of Lettow. They let the Dark Jedi live and merely exiled them.

These exiles traveled into the unknown regions and came across a planet rich in the Dark Side of the Force. Inhabited by strange and warlike aliens called Sith, the planet Korriban soon kneeled to the Dark Jedi – the first Lords of the Sith.

Through arrogance, pride, and fear, the Jedi forged the very weapons they most despise. Never forget – be wise in your treatment of others. Give when there is room to give – and kill when there is not.

Our next lesson will cover the new Sith Empire and the Great Hyperspace War. Dismissed.

## Lesson 3: The War to Begin all Wars

*“The Jedi learned from their mistakes of the past and attempted to ensure the Sith would never again plague them – the Republic and the Jedi attempted to wipe out the Sith Empire and all within it.”*

Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you.

In our last lesson, we covered the First and Second Great Schisms and how the surviving Dark Jedi from the latter were exiled rather than executed. This led to the creation of the Lords of the Sith and the Sith Empire which has plagued the Jedi and Republic in one form or another for over a thousand years, now.

In that lesson one can begin to understand the means by which the Force maintains its balance. The Light, represented by the Jedi and their Republic, inevitably gave birth to Darkness. Though they cast this Darkness out, it nevertheless survived.

The arrogance of the Jedi Order led them to believe they could only act out of compassion and protection, and so they allowed themselves to spare an enemy that would one day bring them to their knees.

For millennia after the exile of the Dark Jedi, the Republic and burgeoning Sith Empire knew peace. The Sith, trapped behind the hyperspace obstacle known as the Stygian Caldera, experienced a Golden Age of stability and prosperity until two citizens of the Republic stumbled across them by accident.

Gav and Jori Daragon were hyperspace explorers, hoping to chart new lanes to undiscovered worlds ripe for trade or colonization. Upon landing on Korriban during the funeral ceremony of Marka Ragnos and seeing the gold and jewels that the gathered Sith wore, the two believed they’d succeeded.

However, they were almost immediately imprisoned and used for the political machinations of Naga Sadow, who called them Republic spies and utilized the fear of invasion to consolidate power and name himself the new Dark Lord of the Sith.

Though the ruling council of the Sith sentenced the Daragons to death for the assumed subterfuge, Naga Sadow, acting as a “friend,” saved their lives. In truth, he did so to continue using them as pawns.

After stealing their weapons and using them to fake an attack by the Republic, Naga Sadow led the Sith to a preemptive invasion of Republic space, launching attacks on multiple worlds at once, including Coruscant. This is known as the Great Hyperspace War.

Naga Sadow, utilizing a Meditation Sphere that amplified his power and acted as his personal ship, bolstered the Sith’s forces with illusory fleets and armies that, while fake, still inflicted great damage.

Gav Daragon, who had begun to learn Sith magics as Naga Sadow’s apprentice, betrayed him for this invasion, breaking his concentration and letting the Republic’s armies regroup, effectively ending the Sith invasion shortly after it began.

The Jedi learned from their mistakes of the past and attempted to ensure the Sith would never again plague them – the Republic and the Jedi attempted to wipe out the Sith Empire and all within it.

Your lesson is this - the Force will always seek a return to Balance. The Light reigned unchallenged and gave birth to Dark. The Dark, as its nature entails, attempted to dominate and destroy the Light and was punished for it.

And the Light once again gave rise to Darkness. It was the Sith Empire’s fear of extinction that allowed a Sith Lord named Vitiate to become one of the most powerful beings in history. I will speak more of him in the next lesson. Dismissed.

## Lesson 4: The Titan's Rise

*“Lord Vitiate was ignored for his scholarly nature, and because of his uninterrupted studies he consumed two planets with millions of beings, lived and ruled for over a millennium, and controlled two incredibly powerful empires.”*

Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you.

In our last lesson, we explored the Great Hyperspace War that took place in a little over one thousand years ago, from the Dark Jedi who conquered Korriban to the Jedi’s attempted purge of the Sith Empire.

I showed you how one can observe the will of the Force through these events – the unity of the Light challenged by the Dark, the threat of the Dark dashed by the Light, how they both survived and even thrived because of their opponent.

Today we cover one of the most powerful Force-users the galaxy has ever known.

In a corner of Sith space, uninterested in the political machinations and combat of the last century, a little-known Sith Lord ruled his planet and studied the Dark Side of the Force - Lord Vitiate of Nathema.

However insignificant he may have seemed, it is this Sith who fooled the remaining Sith Lords, using and emphasizing the Republic’s attempted purge of the Sith Empire to spread fear throughout their space, into fueling his ritual.

Already a master manipulator and capable of dominating the minds of powerful Force-users, Vitiate conducted a ritual utilizing Sith Magic and the Machine God Zildrog to consume all life, and all the Force, on his home planet, channeling it into him.

Lord Vitiate is one of the first in memory to claim the title of Sith Emperor, and it is by this simple honorific that he was known for most of his rule.

Leading the remaining Sith on a needlessly perilous journey through the Unknown Regions in order to cement himself as their savior, the Sith Emperor “rediscovered” Dromund Kaas and tamed its jungles, making it the seat of his new Empire.

In truth, he had learned of Dromund Kaas’s existence and location years previous. This, again, was a part of his manipulations of the remaining Sith, forcing them to rely upon him further and further.

During his reign, the Empire spread throughout the Unknown Regions and conquered any life it found. The Sith Empire became, at its core, a militant society, with all aspects of its civilization designed to bolster and benefit its armies and navy.

This is, perhaps, one of the more subtle means by which one can understand the Emperor’s goal: survival. Defending his Empire, making it stronger, meant he was safer. To understand the Sith Emperor, you must understand his obsession with living forever.

Over the next thousand years, the Emperor built his Empire into one of the most formidable and dangerous machines of war the galaxy has ever known. This allowed him to work towards one of many important goals: the destruction of the Republic and the Jedi, the greatest threats to his survival.

This being, who began life as a man and became a force of nature, was able to do so because he was overlooked. Lord Vitiate was ignored for his scholarly nature, and because of his uninterrupted studies he consumed two planets with millions of beings, lived and ruled for over a millennium, and controlled two incredibly powerful empires.

Never underestimate a historian. And never underestimate the value of isolation and secrecy.

Our next lesson will cover the Mandalorian Wars and how the Sith Emperor helped spark them. Dismissed.

## Lesson 5: The Death of a Planet, Birth of a Legend

*“On the completion of this mission, the Sith told Mandalore of a vision his master had of the Mandalorians sweeping across the stars, crushing the Republic underfoot. These words, woven through the Force as much as sound, dominated Mandalore’s mind.”*

Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you.

Our last lesson discussed the origins and rise to power of Vitiate, known also as the Sith Emperor and Valkorion. Through his study and his patience, he went from a little-known and scholarly Lord to the seemingly-immortal ruler of the resurgent Sith Empire.

A fallen Jedi historian and philosopher named Kreia, known also as Darth Traya, posited that one should not take an action unless one is aware of and prepared for all possible consequences.

But she was mortal and lived no longer than most. With her limited time alive, she became adept at predicting most consequences of her manipulations, but could never predict them all. Vitiate, however, could.

With centuries of life and experience with manipulations and domination, Vitiate could contemplate a course of action for longer than most beings lived. It is through his incredible cunning and patience that he, by proxy, started a conflict that nearly saw the Republic destroyed.

The Mandalorian Wars.

Decades after Exar Kun, thinking himself a Sith though we know now that he was merely a pretender, waged war on the Republic, Mandalore the Ultimate was approached by a Red Sith.

This Sith claimed to be the emissary of a powerful Sith Lord in exile, and he enlisted Mandalore, leader of the Mandalorians, in finding the tomb of a former rival – Dramath the Second, who in reality was Vitiate’s half-brother.

On the completion of this mission, the Sith told Mandalore of a vision his master had of the Mandalorians sweeping across the stars, crushing the Republic underfoot. These words, woven through the Force as much as sound, dominated Mandalore’s mind.

Obediently, Mandalore began his assault. The resulting sixteen years of brutal, bloody war saw the Republic nearly destroyed, the desolation of entire planets, and the deaths of millions – if not billions.

And all because Vitiate wanted to test the Republic’s military prowess.

The Mandalorians, in their love of battle, took the war to a new level during the Battle of Cathar when they chose to completely wipe out the planet’s population. The only Cathar to survive were those stuffed into transports and sent to the stars as refugees.

This act, though it took place early in the war, was not discovered for twelve years. A group of Jedi, seeking proof that the Mandalorians warranted Jedi intervention, came to Cathar and as a group witnessed, through a vision, the Cathar being driven into the sea as the Mandalorians boiled them alive.

This group, the Revanchists, was led by a man who abandoned all claims to identity save the need to avenge the Cathar species – Revan. Our next lesson will be on Revan’s effects on and relationship with the Mandalorian Wars and the terrible cost they came with.

Dismissed.

## Lesson 6: Republic Saved, Light Lost

*“Much of the universe lies outside this simplistic dichotomy that both factions preach. To sacrifice the few in order to save the many is not a practice the Jedi Order allows, and Sith are more likely to sacrifice others for personal gain, either to simply survive or to obtain power.”*

Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you.

In our last lesson we discussed the beginnings of the Mandalorian Wars and the rise to prominence of Revan. Revan is perhaps the most famous person among those who can be classified as “Gray.” His story has him at the peaks of Light and the depths of Darkness.

Few individuals in living memory have been able to claim the ranks of Jedi Master and Dark Lord of the Sith – and certainly none have gone from the former to the latter and returned. Though the circumstances of his fall and redemption are unique, they produced a uniquely powerful and wise Force-user.

As a Jedi Knight, Revan led a movement of Jedi who went against the Jedi Council’s orders to ignore the Mandalorian threat. The Jedi, at this time, believed their only duty was to prevent the return of the Sith Empire, and they wished to keep their numbers high in case of that event.

Revan believed that their duty was to the Republic and peace as a whole, and ministered to other Jedi his beliefs. A growing faction followed him to the front lines under the thin guise of working rescue and peacekeeping operations.

It was there, on the edges of Republic space, that Revan and his followers discovered the Cathar genocide. To honor their memory, and as a vow to avenge then, Revan took on the only name we know him as. His followers became the Revanchists.

With this revelation, Revan had his proof that the Mandalorians were a threat to all life, forcing the Jedi Council to revise their position and support the Republic in the war. This marked a turning point, particularly as Revan felt no restraint on taking active command of Republic forces.

With Revan and the Jedi bringing the Force to bear against the Mandalorians, they were eventually pushed back. The final battle of the war was waged on and above Malachor V. Revan posted an immense fleet around the planet, luring the Mandalorian forces in with the promise of glorious battle.

Revan had planned ahead and placed a superweapon, the Mass Shadow Generator, on Malachor’s surface. Tasking one of his lead generals, Meetra Surik, who later became known as the Jedi Exile, with luring the Mandalorians within range of the weapon and with activating it.

Mandalore the Ultimate, realizing that his fleets were outmatched even without knowing of the Mass Shadow Generator, challenged Revan to single combat aboard his flagship. Revan accepted the challenge, and both leaders hoped that victory would lead to a desirable end to the war.

Revan eventually overcame the fierce warrior, and as Mandalore lay dying at Revan’s feet, the spell cast on him by the Red Sith servant of Vitiate was broken. Mandalore told Revan of the interaction and gave Revan the coordinates of Dramath the Second’s tomb, where the spell was first placed on him.

Soon after, Revan’s fleet attempted to join Surik’s above Malachor V. However, the battle became too chaotic for the Republic to pull away from the world, and the death count was mounting. Hoping to end the conflict decisively, Surik ordered the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator from her flagship.

It was a more terrible weapon than any had predicted. Creating an impressive gravitational vortex around the planet, both Republic and Mandalorian fleets were drawn in and smashed against the planet’s surface at speed.

The planet’s surface was decimated, the core cracked, and the Force roiled. The near-instantaneous deaths of tens of thousands of beings, many of them Jedi, created a massive wound in the Force. The Republic won, but at incredible cost.

This set in motion two distinct and equally important events. The first is that Revan pursued the coordinates Mandalore gave him with his closest friend Malak, leading the two to evidence of the Sith Empire laying in wait in the Unknown Regions. His confrontation with Vitiate led to his fall to the Dark Side.

The second is that Surik, the closest Jedi to survive the super weapon’s effects, had been powerfully bonded to many of the Jedi who were killed. To survive the effects, she subconsciously cut herself off from the Force entirely, making herself a smaller echo of the wound on Malachor.

Neither of these is a lesson for today. Today, walk away knowing the sacrifice that one must be willing to make for victory. The activation of a super weapon while allies were in range was not the act of a Jedi, and the motivations were not Sith.

Much of the universe lies outside this simplistic dichotomy that both factions preach. To sacrifice the few in order to save the many is not a practice the Jedi Order allows, and Sith are more likely to sacrifice others for personal gain, either to simply survive or to obtain power.

Revan’s war against the Mandalorians, his personal war, led him from the Light, but he did not truly touch the dark until he stood face to face with the Sith Emperor.

 Our next class will cover Revan’s first encounter with Vitiate and the Jedi Civil War that ensued. Dismissed.

## Lesson 7: Heroes Fall, Hero's Rise

*“But the Emperor had never encountered a Light Side warrior before, and Revan and Malak managed to resist his will just enough to retain their independence.”*

Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you.

In our last class, we discussed the end of the Mandalorian Wars, concluded by the death of Mandalore at the hand of Revan in a duel and by the use of the Mass Shadow Generator, which killed thousands of Jedi, Republic soldiers, and Mandalorians alike.

The Battle of Malachor V set two distinct and equally-important events in motion: the Jedi general Meetra Surik, who had created Force bonds with most of the Jedi who died on Malachor V, cut herself off from the Force, making herself into an echo of the Force wound that Malachor became; and Revan, having defeated Mandalore and broken the spell placed on him by Vitiate’s servant, learned of the Red Sith and of the tomb of Dramath the Second.

We will discuss the former later, when it becomes more relevant. For now, we will explore what Revan and his friend Malak did with this new information.

Revan was disturbed to hear of a return of the Jedi’s ancient enemy, especially given that the Red Sith were thought to have been driven to extinction a millennium ago. With his friend Malak at his side and driven by hubris after their victory, Revan set out to find the tomb of Dramath the Second and to find out where this Red Sith had come from.

Find it they did. Leaving Mandalore’s mask in the hidden tomb in the hopes that its absence would demoralize the Mandalorians and keep them from regrouping, the two Jedi set out for Sith space. Upon arriving, they hid their Light Side presence as best they could and plotted a way to assassinate the supposedly Immortal Sith Emperor. They believed that his death, like that of Mandalore, would demoralize and destabilize the entirety of the Empire and keep it from becoming a threat to the still-shaken Republic.

Revan believed he found a sympathizer, a member of the Emperor’s Honor Guard that seemed to agree that the Emperor had to die. Not knowing that Vitiate’s Honor Guard was bound to his will through powerful sorcery, Revan and Malak were allowed to sneak into the Citadel and attempted to confront the Emperor.

But Vitiate, even when not prepared, is no normal foe, and he was ready and waiting for them in the trap he’d built. He bent Revan and Malak to his will with seemingly little effort and sent them back to the Republic as his servants. They were tasked with destroying the Republic if possible, but primarily were meant to find the Star Forge for the Emperor. With its ability to create infinite fleets, weapons, and various other machines of war, Vitiate’s lust for safety and eternal life would have been far more secure.

But the Emperor had never encountered a Light Side warrior before, and Revan and Malak managed to resist his will just enough to retain their independence. Nevertheless, they were turned to the Dark Side by this manipulation, and with the knowledge of the Star Forge they quickly found their own way to power.

Using their newfound Dark powers, and the corrupting power of the Star Forge itself, Revan and Malak built immense fleets and found no trouble manning them with Dark Jedi and corrupted armies, many of whom had already been half-turned by the thrill and brutality of the battles against the Mandalorians.

The Republic had only survived the last war through the intervention of Revan and the Jedi that followed him. With these weapons wielded by Revan's new Sith Empire turned against them, they seemed impossibly outmatched.

It was Malak’s greed that saved the Republic. His lust for the power that Revan wielded pushed him to turn on his friend-become-master, and Revan was nearly killed by Malak’s bombardment while distracted with Jedi who had boarded his flagship.

Rescued by the Jedi Padawan Bastila Shan, ancestor to the Republic’s Satele Shan, Revan’s mind was erased and his corruption with it. Rediscovering his powers and memories little by little, Revan again became a weapon against the armies that threatened the Republic. Leading a battle to destroy the Star Forge itself, Revan slew Malak and became again the hero that the Republic needed.

And then he vanished, and a weakened Republic was again assaulted by hordes of disorganized Sith who had learned too well the lessons of Malachor. But that is a lesson for another day.

Dismissed.

## Lesson 8: Three Heads, One Fate

*“In this bloody dance of balance, she saw a will at work and knew her true enemy to be the Force itself.”*

Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you.

In our last lesson, we discussed Revan’s fall and redemption and the death of Malak. As with every Sith organization, chopping off the head does not kill the body - it induces panic, a fever, writhing as each component fights to become the new Dark Lord. The Republic believed it would have peace while the remnants of Revan’s Sith fought amongst themselves.

This delusion was short-lived. Soon, three Sith stood above all others and formed a Triumvirate, the first of its kind amongst Sith: three heads of equal but different power shared the rule of the remaining hordes, and orchestrated the Jedi Purge. Followers of the Light were hunted down and exterminated with speed and efficiency, and soon most of the Small Councils of the Jedi went into hiding.

As all things Sith must do, the Triumvirate soon turned its focus inward. Two of its heads, Darth Nihilus, Lord of Hunger, and Darth Sion, Lord of Pain, turned on Darth Traya, Lord of Betrayal. She, who had been a great Jedi historian and one of Revan’s favorite teachers, had turned on his disappearance. But her cunning and games couldn’t protect her from her former apprentices' power lust.

The Triumvirate decayed, but still its assassins hunted Jedi viciously. One woman, an exiled Jedi cut off from the Force, managed to attract their attention more than any other. Meetra Surik, the Jedi General who had formed too many bonds to survive Malachor V with her Force powers intact, had become a smaller tear in the Force that echoed the great wound on Malachor - the wound that the Triumvirate’s Sith drew their power from, taught to wield powers like it at the Trayus Academy on its surface.

This sinkhole, this gaping void in the Force consumed it utterly, and in doing so grew. The Triumvirate’s Sith learned to harness this power, consuming the essence of the Jedi they hunted and those unlucky enough to garner their attention. Darth Nihilus embodied this more than any other. He was on Malachor V when the Mass Shadow Generator slaughtered thousands of Force-powerful individuals, but did not have the luxury of distance and the choice to cut himself off. He instead became the wound on Malachor made manifest, losing his physical body and all motivations but hunger.

The more he consumed, the more he needed to consume. His power allowed him to wipe out entire planets, but his greed blinded him and he was flown into a trap by Traya, now going by Kreia again, and destroyed. Traya used this distraction to return to and reclaim the Trayus Academy.

Darth Sion learned a very different lesson than most of the Sith of this organization. His pure force of will, his drive to live no matter what, saved him and sustained him. While fighting for Exar Kun's Sith Empire, his body was broken, his skin charred, but he remained alive - and immensely powerful. So long as he wished to remain, he could not die. He, too, was killed by Meetra Surik, who cut him down again and again with her blade and wore down his will with her wisdom.

Darth Traya, too, learned a very different lesson, and it is on her teachings that these events hinged.

Born Kreia, she became a prolific and wise Jedi Master. When Revan turned to the Dark Side, the Council feared that it was her influence, her proclivity for challenging doctrine and established thought that drove him away from the Light. In their arrogance and fear, they exiled her. When Revan vanished, she retraced his footsteps and, tempted by the teachings of the Trayus Academy, filled the void he left, seduced by the teachings of Sith she found there.

She learned as much in her time as a Lord of the Sith as she had in her time as a Jedi, but her most important lesson came when she was again betrayed.

Seeing that both Dark and Light were inherently flawed, she began to notice a pattern. Dark rising to challenge Light, Light rising to drive out Dark. In this bloody dance of balance, she saw a will at work and knew her true enemy to be the Force itself.

Using her knowledge of the wound on Malachor, which she had taught others to wield, and her cunning and guile, she found the Jedi Exile Surik and took her on as one final apprentice. She taught Surik to touch the Force again while remaining a void in it, and hoped to manipulate Surik into creating enough Force bonds that echoed Force wounds that it would deafen the galaxy to the Force entirely. It was Traya’s hope that this would lead to an end of the Force's unavoidable control of the galaxy, an end to all the wars and genocides and injustices it used to achieve a measure of balance for itself.

Surik disappointed and defeated Traya as well, instead sealing the wound tight enough to ensure that Traya’s plan could never be brought to fruition - at least, not through the means she meant.

Traya is one of the most fascinating individuals in our history, and she has much to teach us. She, too, wished for justice, fairness, the right to choose how to live and for a way to defend against those who would control us. But she did not fight petty criminals or false Sith or sanctimonious Jedi - she fought the Force, the energy field upon which all living things depend. She saw pain and death and knew that the sentients who dealt in it did so at the behest of a greater power, and she sought to rid the galaxy of what she saw as a malevolent deity forever.

Her failure, and the final redemption and healing of Meetra Surik, began one final chain reaction that would alter how the Great Galactic War proceeded, from its inception to its conclusion.

We will discuss this another time. Dismissed.