Prologue

Two hundred and twenty years ago…

The Old Republic had stood for twenty-five thousand years. Though it had suffered its fair share of turmoil, it had always found a way to survive. It had worked in tandem with a group of defenders of the peace, who called themselves Jedi, in order to maintain its principles of democracy and freedom. However, it would be these Jedi – and their inability to see the threats around them – which would prove the downfall of the Republic.

It began with one man. A man with darkness in his heart. It is unknown of exactly how much he was aware of the role he would play, but he was the culmination of an evil plan which had been brewing for a thousand years. A plan with one goal – destruction. His name was Palpatine, but he would be remembered in history as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.

His manipulations led to the beginning of the last crisis of the Old Republic. The small planet of Naboo was the victim of an illegal blockade, implemented by the Trade Federation under the control of Sidious. This caused political outrage which reverberated through the Council of the Republic. Sidious, under the guise of Senator Palpatine, used this crisis as the catalyst for generating mistrust and anger throughout the Council. The crisis escalated, leading to full scale war. In secret, Palpatine orchestrated the creation of a vast clone army. By the time this was discovered, the Republic was at war with the Trade Federation and its allies.

The war caused chaos and confusion throughout the Republic. Palpatine rose to become High Chancellor, and spent years using his influence to alter the ancient Republic Charter in order to transfer more and more power to himself. When the time was right, the clone army – who had secretly been programmed to be loyal only to him – turned on both the Jedi and the Republic. The Jedi were all but eradicated in less than a year, and Palpatine declared the Republic dissolved, and announced the formation of a new Galactic Empire.

Two hundred years ago…

The Empire had been in power for twenty years. Though it faced opposition, it was rarely threatened. Darth Sidious, who had declared himself Emperor of the Empire, and his general Darth Vader kept an iron grip on the Galaxy.

The only challengers to the Empires dominance were the Rebel Alliance. Though they did not have the military might to challenge the Empire directly, they won small victories using guerrilla warfare. Their plans culminated in an attempt to both destroy the Empire's most dangerous weapon – the Death Star – and assassinate Darth Sidious. Despite the odds, and with help from the most unlikely of sources, they were successful on both counts.

The Empire fell into disarray. Though it would not fall completely, it never again posed the threat that it had. In its wake, the Alliance formed. It was intended to echo the Old Republic, which had ruled the various galaxies for thousands of years before the rise of the Empire. Though it barely resembled the tiny operation it was when it formed, the Alliance had mostly stayed true to its founding principles of rule by democracy. Until recently.

Seventy years ago…

It had been hoped that the fall of the Empire and the death of Darth Sidious would herald a new age of peace throughout the Galaxy, but the past century had seen countless threats, both external and internal. The only constant throughout these conflicts was that the Jedi order, which had reformed in the wake of the Empire's destruction, played a central role.

Seventy years ago, one of the many Galactic Civil Wars that had ravaged the galaxy led to the Alliance being briefly ousted from power, replaced by remnants of the old Empire. Though the Alliance eventually wrested back control, the shock of their defeat affected them beyond measure. Their policies and their methods underwent great change. The ruling senate of the Alliance became increasingly suspicious of any unknown party vying for political power for fear that they might jeopardise what the senate perceived as their foundation of peace. They tightened their grip on the ruling Senate, and ousted any politicians who did not strive for the same ideals. This led to a political stranglehold, where a sham democratic system was put in place. The Senate would only allow politicians which they had approved to stand for office. Voters saw this, and lost faith in their government. Voting figures fell dramatically over several years, to the point where elections were only held for show.

Fifteen years ago…

This, amongst other things, led to the most recent threat to the stability of the Galaxy; another civil war which started almost 15 years ago, and was still raging. This time was different, though. The war was not a result of remnants of the old Empire, or because of a power-hungry tyrant. The people living on the planets controlled by the Alliance – particularly those near the rim – thought that their views were being ignored. They saw their taxes increase each year to pay for the lavish lifestyles of the politicians until many had to choose between obeying the law and feeding themselves. This resulted in an attempt at revolution. The masses rose up against the military and the politicians, initially peacefully, but as the months rolled on and their demands were not met they became increasingly violent and the Alliance responded in kind. All-out war soon erupted.

The New Jedi Order, still thought of in near mythical terms by those unfamiliar with its flaws, moved quickly to distance itself from the Alliance at this point. Morally, they said, the Government had betrayed its people, and they sided with the new Rebels. They did not take an active role in the conflict at this point. After the war had been raging for a decade, however, some Jedi demanded that the Order take action to end it once and for all. The Jedi Council refused, causing conflict within the Jedi. Most chose to abide by the Council's decision, but there were many who did not. They started as individuals secretly taking part in Rebel operations, often helping to turn the tide of a battle in their favour. When their actions were discovered, instead of backing off they elected to take a more visible role. They formed a splinter group, separate from the Council though still claiming to uphold the principles of the Jedi, calling themselves the Grey Order. They switched from a support role to one of leadership. They were denounced by the Jedi Order. In turn they themselves denounced the Order.

These 'Grey' Jedi quickly began to turn against their former colleagues, questioning the validity of their training. There were very few open conflicts between the Grey Order and the Jedi Order – the Jedi, for the moment, were still content to distance themselves from the war. But tensions escalated when it came to light that the Grey Order began to experiment with all aspects of the Force, not only those deemed suitable by the Jedi Order. This recklessness caused the Jedi Order to draw similarities between the 'Grey' Jedi and the Sith, who began in a similar fashion. The Jedi Council feared that this could lead to the Grey Order falling to the Dark Side, and potentially, due to their growing numbers, becoming a real threat to the Galaxy.

The impact that these rogue Jedi had on the war was great. They helped organise the Rebels into a singular army, as opposed to the highly secular state they were in previously. They also used their advanced tactical skills to pick out the weakest targets, and developed attack plans which were as ruthless as they were efficient. It was safe to say that the Jedi had turned the tide in the war, and as a result more and more people were defecting to the Rebels to the point that their military fleet became almost as vast as that of the Alliance. However, the war was still at a state of deadlock. Neither side was willing to openly attack the other head on, instead relying of guerrilla tactics designed to weaken the enemy.

While the Rebel Army began as the personification of the people's feelings, many claimed that over the course of the war they had changed into just another group trying to wrestle power for their own personal gain. Naturally, they denied this, saying repeatedly that the values and demands that led them to form in the first place were still central. However, their methods were becoming more and more extremist. Recently they had organised an attack on an unguarded colony of Mandalorians, claiming that they were secretly constructing and selling weapons to the Alliance. Whether or not this was true may never be known.

The Alliance, meanwhile, had continued to hold political control over most of the civilisations in the Galaxy. With the tide of the war turning against them, however, they had some difficult decisions to make. They needed to fund increased manufacturing to further develop their army. The only way they had of doing this was increasing taxes. If they did that, however, they risked further discontent, and that could lead to greater sympathy for the Rebels.

It was a delicate situation, with both sides trying to turn public opinion in their favour. It was clear to the Commanders on each side that the war was entering an essential phase.

Now…