The Praxeum: The Old Republic at War

Star Wars is one of the most expansive sagas of all time, but the history, background, and dynamics of the universe are much more expansive than what’s shown in the movies. Diving into the Legends canon as well as the official Star Wars storyline, this series hopes to flesh out the Star Wars galaxy and augment any effort to delve into it, whether it be for game masters, tabletop role players, or fan fiction aficionados.

Of all the eras in Star Wars, one of the most beloved by fans is ironically one never shown in the movie theater: the Old Republic era. The Old Republic era was first popularized by the Knights of the Old Republic series, taking place over three thousand years before the events of A New Hope, and even though the Knights of the Old Republic plot was decanonized, the Legends materials describing ancient Jedi and Sith are still very popular, making for a fantastic departure from the usual Fantasy Flight storyline without sacrificing the tropes the saga is founded upon.

Awakening of the Sith

One of the most essential components of this era is the discovery and formation of what is usually referred to as the Sith, though the term has shifted in meaning throughout Star Wars’ eras – from a type of villain to a Force tradition to a culture to even a title. The first meaning, however, was something else entirely: a species. The Sith of Korriban were a lethally beautiful species, possessing sharp cheeks, reddish skin, and short tentacles on their face or head, and were, virtually universally, evil and foul beings powerful in the Force. The Sith were discovered by the Rakata after the Rakatan Infinite Empire began to rise, using the Force-powered hyperdrives of the Celestials, but the Rakata – a species known for their violence and brutality – found themselves repulsed by the Sith, who fought against their planet’s takeover tooth and nail…and in the process, seized Rakata hyperspace technology.

Using this technology, the Sith began to spread, whereupon they were met by the Exiles, a clan of Dark Jedi that had rebelled against the order. Together, these groups formed what became the Sith Empire. Eventually the Sith were discovered by two scouts that were attempting to map the far reaches of space in which the Sith dwelled, and from these scouts they divined an attack plan against the Republic.

As the Sith, even in the Old Republic era, were predictably predisposed to do, they struck out at the galaxy in a series of wars, each time slaughtering and conquering before eventually being driven back, repelled, or torn to pieces by infighting. From the Great Hyperspace War, a devastating conflict that marked the first grand Sith assault on the galaxy, to the equally horrific Old Sith Wars, the galaxy was torn asunder by foes both external and internal.

Rise of Revan

In this darkness, the Jedi Order stood as a beacon of light. In this time period, the role of the Jedi as the protectors and loyal servants of the Republic was solidified, especially in the face of such an overwhelming Sith threat. The Jedi, however, became overburdened, and retreated further into their tradition of nonviolence. One of the rising stars of the Order in a time in which it was fading from the military sphere was an individual known as Revan.

Revan was a charismatic and tremendously powerful Jedi, making him a natural figurehead for the response to what were becoming known as the Mandalorian Wars. These wars were a series of conflicts in which the notoriously bellicose Mandalorian people attempted to seize control of vast tracts of the galaxy, committing a number of atrocities and annihilating virtually all resistance to their overwhelming military force.

Revan and his group of followers, known collectively as the Revanchists, are reluctantly sent to war by the Jedi Council, and soon – though the Mandalorians continue exerting their aggression in a multi-pronged attack known as the Onslaught – join battle with the attackers, trapping and destroying a major enemy fleet and prompting the Republic government to vest increasing amounts of power in Revan. Revan and his fleet begin a dramatic series of (notoriously civilian casualty-heavy) counterattacks that succeed in abating and eventually neutering the Mandalorian threat, culminating in the killing of Mandalore the Ultimate at the Battle of Malachor V.

Revan, however, was changed by his experiences during the war, and as a result, once the Mandalorian Wars were over, the Jedi Civil War began. Revan turned on his former order, slaughtering the Jedi and Republic soldiers opposing him and bringing his fleet to bear on the galaxy in a demonstration of raw power and obedience to the Dark Side. Revan and his apprentice Malak are finally defeated in battle, and the reformed Revan joins the Jedi in bringing down the empire Malak has ruled in his absence, including destroying the Star Forge, a Rakatan factory capable of making virtually infinite amounts of war material by siphoning energy from an entire star at once.

After Malak’s defeat began the Sith Civil War, wherein the Sith formerly loyal to Malak and kept in line by Revan’s charisma fell upon each other in fits of envy and greed, their infighting leading to an era of peace for the Republic…though in the galaxy’s shadows, the Sith wait to return, and their assassins slaughter nearly every Jedi in the galaxy before being driven once more into hiding.

Rebuilding the Conflict

After the Sith’s ignominious defeat at the hands of the Jedi once again, they began preparations for a far more devastating conflict that they would engineer in their favor. Secretly gathering support and rebuilding the fleet they had lost in the previous conflicts, the Sith secured alliances with the Mandalorians, the Chiss Ascendency, and a number of sector governments, worming their way into the outer reaches of the galaxy. Finally, the Sith returned in a tide of fury, scorching through the Outer Rim, slaughtering the Jedi defending a number of planets – including their home of Korriban – and beginning the devastating Great Galactic War.

As this conflict began to grow in scope and as the Sith gained more and more ground, the Republic found itself fighting a war it had long since stopped being prepared for, and even the newly militarized Jedi could not stop the conflict. Eventually, though, superior strategy prevailed, and the Sith began to be bled of their momentum. At last, the Sith reached out to the Republic for something unheard of: a peace treaty, to be negotiated on the war-torn planet of Alderaan.

There was, however, deceit at work in the actions of the Sith. As the convocation began to debate terms for a treaty between the Sith and Republic, a number of Sith – including Darth Malgus, the foremost of the Sith’s Dark Council – infiltrated the Republic capital planet of Coruscant, and as a strike team of elite Sith warriors stormed the Jedi temple and slaughtered all within, a fleet appeared in orbit, exploiting the weakened defenses and bombarding the surface. With their leadership scattered or dead, the Republic acceded to the demands of the Sith and quietly accepted an unequal peace.

Cold War and Onwards

At this point, the lead-up to one of the most intense periods in galactic history begins. The Cold War is embraced by both sides, characterized by dramatic military buildups and long-standing proxy wars. In terms of military advancements, each faction took the pause between the Great Galactic War and the Galactic War that followed to develop not only expansive fleets and countless elite special operations groups but, far more dramatically, massive and highly unstable superweapons for the conflict to come, almost too many to count as the factions attempted to find the next weapon – however horrifying – before the enemy could.

The proxy wars during the Cold War and, to a more open extent, the Galactic War were heralded by the Treaty of Coruscant, which ended the previous conflict with the Republic’s humiliation. In the treaty, both factions were forbidden to engage in open conflict – the scattered assaults by Sith warships on Republic outposts or Republic naval vessels on Sith commanders were dismissed as misunderstandings or generals gone rogue, while numerous planets were torn apart by massive conflicts in which one side was supported by the Republic and the other was supported just as readily by their Sith opponents.

The tremendous amount of warfare in the Old Republic Era was only matched by the number of moral dilemmas presented to those in power. Civilians were constantly at risk, and choices constantly needed to be made, providing fertile ground for internal conflict to mirror the external conflict marring the galaxy. Further, the warfare at play means that an intrepid party of adventurers could come from a number of pasts both tragic and, at times, horrific – the wars even saw the deployment of nuclear weapons, most notably in the Mandalorian Wars, and bioweapons abounded by the end of the era. Any number of tragic pasts – a staple of roleplaying backstories – could be at play, as could any kind of military background or duty.

A game master looking to throw curve balls at his party in this era has plenty of chances to do so with very little effort – but a tremendous amount of potential. A difficulty in reaching a planet could easily be a blockade or space battle; an organization opposed to the party could easily be their mirrors on the opposite side of faction lines, like with the Republic SIS or Sith Intelligence. That said, any number of devices fueled by warfare – or perhaps spirits emboldened by it – could arise, from the countless superweapons of the Cold War to the rising tide of the Dark Side. War, as a whole, is hell, and unwary and opportunistic parties could find themselves being trapped within it…