Dark Jedi and Hyperspace

The Battle of Ossus occured in 6,908 BBY. It was a major victory of the Dark Jedi against the Jedi, and at the time it was believed that Pall had already won the war. After all, Pall saw the real war as a clash between the Force, and so he believed that once the Jedi were taken out he would already have won, or at least he believed that victory on all fronts would soon be within reach. However, the actual significance of the battle requires some lead up.

The Followers of Bogan:

Sometime after 25,680 BBY, the Followers of Bogan set up an order on the planet Ossus. The Followers had lost the war with the early Jedi on the planet Tython and were driven off. Ossus was not the only planet that they founded. Indeed, when they left Tython, they did so in several stasis ships which were programed to seek and land on any habitable planet they could find. Due to the vastness of space and the difficulty of navigating, these ships landed all across the Core and Rim. These small pockets of dark side users became seeds for early enemies of the Jedi who continued the war between light and dark long after the First Great Schism.

The earliest known colonization attempt of Ossus by a Force-using organization was by the ancient Je'daii Order. The Je'daii did not have access to hyperdrives as we know them, instead, they would often use 'dimensional drives.'

A Short History of the Hyperdrive pt. 1:

Circa. 34,500 BBY the Drall scientist Trian developed the Theory of Universal Reference. This famous theorem formulated (E=MC^2) states that the speed of light is an absolute barrier. This also led to the strange result that matter and energy are now known to be two sides of the same credit rather than two completely different substances. Unfortunately for Trian and the entire ancient Corellian system, this theorem was later used to construct massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons. These weapons were heavily used when the three species in the ancient Corellian system, Humans, Drall, and Selonians, went to war in an event that came to be known as the Three-Body War. (circa. 33,000-32,900 BBY) In the aftermath of the war, the ancient Corellian system became a nuclear waste which didn't recover until circa. 30,000 BBY, not long before the Rakata invaded circa. 29,500 BBY. It seems that due to sentient nature, life can never catch a break.

However, when Trian was formulating this theory, he was working under a few assumptions and false paradigms, primarily, he assumed a deterministic, classical, and Force-deaf universe that existed in only four dimensions. The way to get around Trian's barrier is not to go faster than the speed of light in realspace, but to shift into hyperspace. In hyperspace, one can 'bypass' certain areas of space in order to not violate this barrier. This technology became known to galactic civilization at large following the fall of the Rakata, but it has existed, at least in some form, as long as civilization has spanned across the stars.

One of the earliest known technologies that made use of the phenomena of hyperspace was the Hyperspace Nullifier built by the ancient insectoid K'kybak species circa. 2,000,000 BBY. An observant reader may remember that there was a flourishing of galactic civilization long before the Celestials ever came to power, in fact, some think that Celestial technology has some roots in the technology of the K'kybak. The Hyperspace Nullifier can disable hyperspace travel across wide reaches of space, similar to an interdiction field, but much more permanent. It is thought that this technology was developed as a defensive countermeasure which suggests that whatever unknown foe they faced had access to advanced hyperspace technology. One possible identity for this mysterious assailant is the ancient Columi who were known to have used some form of hyperspace technology to travel across the galaxy around two million years ago. Perhaps this weapon was used to seal off the Columus and the surrounding systems thereby creating the hyperspace anomalies experienced today.

Another instance of ancient hyperspace technology comes from the Sharu. The Sharu lived in the Rafa system which is located next to the Oseon system. The new discoveries in the Oseon system hint that it was the location of an ancient interstellar battle. Many historians and astro-geologists believe that the Oseon system, which is today filled with only asteroids, was once held planets. It is unknown what ancient force was powerful enough to destroy these planets. However, it is believed that the planetary destruction of the Oseon system caused a hyperspace disturbance that sealed off the Rafa system from the rest of the galaxy. This hyperspace disruption was thought to have existed from 2,000,000 BBY-100,000 BBY. Within it, the ancient Sharu were believed to have been trapped. As the millions of years wore on, their technology advanced almost beyond recognition, that is to say that they are believed to be the only species worthy of being placed at 'Tier 0' on a standard Obroa-Skai Technological Advancement Scale, and yet they still could not escape. To get around this disruption, the Sharu constructed space-warping technology that eventually paved the way for the Celestial Hyperspace Tractor Beam, the Gree Hypergate, the Kwa Infinity Gate, and the Rakatan Teleporter. However, the Sharu may have played a part in eliminating the barrier as remains of the ancient Sharu civilization have been found on Tund and Aargau.

Perhaps the most interesting of all ancient hyperspace incidents is the story of the Force-sensitive Tempestro, who also lived circa. 2,000,000 BBY. Now, the Tempestro, as a species, were not very technologically advanced. In fact, they seemed to pride themselves on being primitive. However, they were known to have traveled the ancient galaxy far and wide, serving as prophets of the Force. It is thought that they hitchhiked on the ships of other species, again possibly the Columi, and used their insight to start religious movements. This shows that hyperspace technology was indeed common, or at least usable in the early galaxy.

In fact, it is believed that the Tempestro were able to convince a large population of the otherwise violent K'kybak to abandon their warlike ways and embrace a life of contemplation and peace. This population eventually evolved into the Tritonite species, and the teachings of the Tempestro are believed to be preserved in the legends of a mythical prophet named Gactimus. Another recent find links the Tempestro to the planet of Kriekaal. Over a century ago, an ancient half-melted ship, over a million years old, was found submerged in a metalic lake. This find, one of the most well preserved from the time, has been invaluable to researchers, and indeed the ship appears to have a rudimentary hyperdrive. The native Krieks have a legend about an ancient alien shaman named Ssiskor who annoyed the goddess Br'lai and provoked her to cause the metallic oceans to swallow up the alien invaders. It is doubtful that this story accurately preserves any information from two million years ago, but Force-sensitive Krieks are known to have had visions of similar symbolic showdowns. It is by investigating these legends and artefacts that historians and xenoarcheologists were able to link the Tempestro to the Temples of Kooroo found on multiple planets throughout the galaxy.

The Temples of Kooroo were originally shrouded in even greater mystery than they are now until they were linked to the Tempestro. There has been much controversy over the origin of these temples, but it is believed that they were also built around two million years ago by an unknown species known as the Kooroo. It is likely that the Kooroo were in fact the Tempestro, or at least allied with them, as these temples are reported by the Jedi to be focusing points of the Force. It was discovered that these temples used to house massive subspace communication arrays, likely also used by either the Tempestro or other visitors. Further investigations have revealed a broken array of hyperspace portals, very similar in design to Gree hypergates and Kwa infinity gates, in the hearts of the temples. However, it is likely that these were added much later during the days of the Celestials, specifically by the Whills, although this, as well as later hyperdrive advances by ancient species will be elaborated on in a later chapter. However, while this may sound like something of a tangential digression, it is important information in the chapters to come. The reason that ancient hyperdrive technology should be pointed out is to illustrate that the Rakata were not the first to use it.

Before the widespread adoption of reverse-engineered Rakatan hyperdrives, dimensional drives were the most common form of faster than light travel. They were invented independently on many planets, but most discoveries link them to the invention of the subspace ansible. For example, in the ancient Corellian system after the time of Trian, tachyons were discovered circa. 34,000 BBY. These particles showed that it was possible for things to exist in a super luminal state. Up to their discovery, it was thought that quarks, leptons, and force carrier particles were the only constituents of matter, however, now tachyons made up a fourth group. However, while tachyons are a form of hypermater, they did not immediately allow for hyperspace travel. Instead, from experimenting with these particles the Universal Hyperspace Constant was developed.

This constant is the speed of information in subspace, sort of like the Light Constant or speed of light in realspace. This constant is 'one' on the standard hyperspace speed scale, that is to say that ships with a class 'one' hyperdrive travel at the constant while ships with a speed greater than one (ex 'two') travel slower and ships with speeds less than one (ex. 'point -five') travel faster than the constant. However, all information sent through a subspace ansible travels at the constant. Using this technology, faster than light communication was developed, and with the discovery of subspace it was not long before dimensional drives were invented thereby allowing users to 'slip through' subspace or 'slipstream space' as it is sometimes called.

Slipstream space is sometimes thought of as a dimension 'between' realspace and hyperspace. However, quantum hyper-physicists inform me that this is just a lie told to children because they do not want to give them the equivalent of fifteen college credit hours worth of education in quantum-hyperdynamic physics in five minutes. Either way one looks at it, slipstream space allows for faster than light travel. (however, really slow dimensional drives actually travel slower than light) The problem with this is that while it is faster than light, the speed of most dimensional drives is nowhere near the speed of the Universal Hyperspace Constant. This can be thought of, again, like the Light Constant. A ship in slipstream space never comes close to the Universal Hyperspace Constant just as a ship in realspace never comes close to the speed of light. Therefore, dimensional drives are perfect for intersystem travel, but terrible at interstellar travel.

Back to the Tython System:

Dimensional drives were widely used in the Tython system. Ancient Je'daii would use them both in system, as well as in exploratory probes sent out from the system. This is how Ossus was found. The Je'daii sent living scouts to Ossus at some point before the destruction of their order, but no lasting settlement was established. When the Followers of Bogan flead the system, they traveled to Ossus as it was said to be strong in the Force. There are reports that when the Followers first colonized Ossus they had to fight pockets of Je'daii warriors who did not want to let the planet fall to them. However, it was no use as they were hopelessly outnumbered. The Followers settled on Ossus and while there they developed an intricate dark-side welding society. Dark powers that were only partially developed under the Je'daii and early Followers were explored and perfected. It is said that they stored knowledge of these findings in a series of caves that became the basement of the Great Library of Ossus.

The Jedi arrived a little over a hundred years later. By then, the Followers were already entrenched in their society, however, they had not yet colonized the entire planet. As a result, the Ossus Force Wars (circa. 25,550-25,450) began. The initial wars lasted for a decade or so, but the lingering conflicts with holdouts dragged on throughout the following century. Eventually, the Followers were but a memory, and the Jedi began to construct the First Great Library of Ossus. However, according to legend the shades of these vanquished dark warriors continued to haunt the grounds. These legends were given some level of credibility with the unexpected fall of a Jedi padawan Cope Shykrill and his murder of several other trainees over four hundred years later.

The texts and records of the ancient Followers were mostly destroyed, but copies of their materials was preserved somewhere in the depths of the great library. These were mostly forgotten about, but Pall writes about how, in his quest to systematize all knowledge on the Force, wished to have access to these texts in addition to the other resources of the library.

The Battle:

The Battle of Ossus was a quick but bloody affair. The Jedi anticipated that the Black Legions would attack another more military target, so the Jedi were caught off guard by the Legions attacking Ossus. Before the battle, Pall had purchased a high-grade military vehicle, disguised it as a simple freighter, and used this to infiltrate Ossus. Pall himself, flanked by Karness Muur and Tulak Hord, led the attack. The disguised warship was driven straight into the Jedi Library and, in a scene foreshadowing Darth Malgus's attack on the Jedi Temple or Darth Vader's execution of Order 66, the Dark Jedi burst out and led an assault on the unprepared Jedi.

Meanwhile, the Black Fleet emerged from hyperspace and blockaded the planet. Within a few hours, the Fleet issued an order demanding the surrender of the Jedi. Many Jedi surrendered and fell to the dark side, but others continued to fight to their last breath.

One of the worst atrocities of the battle was performed by Tulak Hord. Before the battle, Pall gave the order not to attack noncombatants or younglings unless there was no possible way to spare their lives. Hord however, didn't care. He killed every last one of them, and not just the men, but the women, and children too. In his mind, the younglings and noncombatants were brainwashed and therefore useless. He did not see any value in turning them to the dark side as they were often too young, and therefore by the time that they would be finished training the war would be over. He made many other excuses, but Pall believed that he had slaughtered them just to appease his bloodlust, and on this most historians agree. When Pall found out about his actions, he blasted Hord into a coma with a storm of lightning. It was this, and many other actions, that led to Hord's eventual exile.