After Corbos
Corbos- a blasted hunk of weathered rock somewhere out in the Esstran sector, rich in minerals and ore, but even richer in history and hidden dangers. In a sense, the planet was always like that, as in 6950 BBY, it was mainly known as an out of the way mining outpost. But in another sense, the planet used to be completely different.
Originally, the planet had lush and verdant rainforests located in several craters and isolated sections of the planet. The planet's peculiar topology consisted of massive craters and vast deserts, but every now and again there would be a spot of life. It is unknown what caused these patches of life as it is difficult to discover any relevant facts about the ecosystem of a planet as it was 7,000 years ago- and even more difficult to convince anyone to fund such an exploration. The pains of archeology. But what we can tell is that once upon a time, the planet had a viable ecosystem. Not only were there small rainforests, but the deserts were full of massive ancient sandworms and strange reptilian species, very few of which survive to this day.
It is thought that what originally caused the environmental destruction at Corbos was a series of mining operations set up circa. 6,980 BBY. Due to the constant wars and economic hardships, the Republic and the Separatist states needed ore, and nobody really cared if environmental corners had to be cut. This resulted in a near total destruction of the native rainforests due to strip mining and the pollution caused by runoff.
Fast forward eighty years and the planet is now one of the last strongholds of the Dark Jedi forces. They were being besieged on all sides both by the Jedi and the Republic, but also by traitorous legions who had sold their allegiance to the Republic in exchange for clemency. Corbos makes a strange location for a final battle. Up until that point, it remained an obscure planet with very little significance. Instead, it winded up as the location for the last stand of the Dark Jedi by mostly accident.
As the Black Legions were plagued by infighting and with the Republic bearing down on them, many systems were cut off as they retreated further and further out. Corbos, whose mines had fallen under the control of the Black Legions, was originally chosen as a temporary stop for the fleet. However, Dark Jedi intelligence discovered that their former allies had betrayed them in neighboring sectors and were preparing an ambush thereby cutting off their escape route. With the Republic onslaught pressing in on one side and a trap on the other, they were stuck on a rock in between two very hard places.
They quickly fortified the planet, placing their ships in stationary defense orbits, and were determined to hold out. There was really no purpose in resisting. There was no possible way that they could even recover their lost territory at that point, but they knew that they would suffer traitors deaths if they surrendered, so at this point they really had nothing else to lose. Better to go down fighting on one's own terms, after all.
Republic ships emerged from hyperspace, pouncing on the Black Fleet whom they outnumbered three to one. The Republic navy admiral immediately commed the Dark Jedi high command and was greeted by the hologram of a skeletal Pall. The Jedi admiral demanded that they surrender their lightsabers and swords- a symbolic gesture of surrender.
Pall simply replied, "Come take them."
The Battle:
The Republic ships opened fire, but the Black ships held their orbits. However, due to the sheer firepower, the Republic was able to pry open a hole to send in landing troops. However, these were not ordinary troops, as rouge Dark Jedi were not the only dark allies that the Jedi had.
The Jedi had made an alliance with the mysterious cult known as the Guild of Vindicators. These Vindicators were an ancient group of Force users who were known to have had a deep and ancient hatred for all other Force users. They saw the Force as something that should not be used for the idle amusement of mortals- except for themselves, of course, as they saw themselves as carrying out the Force's vengeance. The Vindicators appear to be descended from Jedi themselves, although the ancient texts are unclear.
Apparently during the Pius Dea Era, a group of Jedi were created known as Jedi Vindicators. These Vindicators were tasked with hunting down Jedi rogues who had aligned themselves with the Pius Dea fanatics. However, once the war was over, the Vindicators were disbanded, or so that's what the Jedi wanted historians to believe. According to legend, the Vindicators had a schism with the Jedi Order and went underground. Eventually they themselves fell to the dark side, or at least resorted to practising some arcane and heretical arts in their quest to destroy their enemies. However, they never became a large and present threat.
During the Hundred Year Darkness, they were known as assassins who hunted both Jedi and Dark Jedi alike, and were known to have sided with any organization that suited them. Towards the end of the war, it seems that the Jedi grew so desperate for a quick end to the war that they were willing to bargain with these cultists.
Fortunately for the Jedi, these cultists seemed to have an even greater hatred for Pall personally than for the Jedi Order as a whole- and it is likely that the many assassination attempts Pall faced towards the end of his life was their handiwork. They apparently saw him as a type of false prophet, although, of course, when dealing with so little information it is hard to tell. They seemed to have regarded him as some type of prophesied Chosen One who was attracting followers to himself, potentially upsetting some sort of power balance, and therefore had to be killed before his corruption could spread. As a result, they allied themselves with the Jedi and were the first ones to land on Corbos when the orbital wall was pierced.
When the Jedi, Dark Jedi, Vindicators, and their soldiers landed, it was in the middle of the rainy season. They hiked through waist-deep mud in the remains of the rainforest, the planet's mutant trees providing cover from the scopes of enemy snipers. However, the forest was filled with the alchemical horrors created by the Dark Jedi. Howlers stalked them while Shamblers attached themselves like the parasites that they were. Many of the soldiers went mad and attacked the Vindicator allies in fear, causing the Jedi high command to lead the expedition with Force-users only.
The three groups slashed through the dense jungles and finally emerged next to the Dark Jedi citadel. The Jedi and Dark Jedi held off the guards in front as another team slipped inside to assassinate the leaders. What happened next is unclear. The most reliable reports were second hand testimonies that surfaced after the battle when the Jedi wrote down what the Dark Jedi told them.
Apparently, they broke into Pall's study. When they did so, he unleashed his Force powers on them, killing several instantly, but the Vindicators lashed out with a psychic attack. These Vindicators were specially trained to inflict fear and guilt in their victims. They knew how to dwell up unpleasant memories in their victims, memories of their crimes and evil deeds, thereby driving their victims to suicide.
Even with Pall's considerable telepathic power, he could not hold off their combined attack, especially in his state of mind. He fell to the ground screaming and pulled out a knife, driving it into his abdomen. As he lay on the ground bleeding, something strange happened. He was said to have glowed with a strange light as if the Force was drawing his body into itself. Then, the Vindicators psychic attacks seemed to turn against themselves as they clutched their heads and screamed in terror, then their bodies imploded, the flesh crushing and twisting into gruesome fountains. Pall collapsed into a Force-induced coma in which he remained until the battle was finished.
Oneness:
Unfortunately, Pall's diary stops the day before the battle. We have no records of how he felt or what he experienced. Even what little evidence we have comes from bewildered eyewitness testimony. As a result, perhaps it's risky to speak about such speculative matters, but given the context, this should be pointed out.
The phenomena of 'Oneness' or 'Being one with the Force in Life,' as opposed to becoming one with the Force upon death, is one of the most mysterious phenomena known to the Jedi. It is described as temporarily becoming the avatar of the Force itself. Witnesses to the phenomena say that the subjects undergoing this phenomena appear to be surrounded in a type of halo or aura and their eyes may turn white. Nobody knows quite why this happens, but Jedi have some competing theories, it's just too rare a phenomena to study. Famous Jedi who were able to embrace this phenomena were Luke Skywalker, Jacen Solo, and Ganner Rhysode. During the Clone Wars, the reports are uncertain, but it is thought that Anakin Skywalker was able to achieve this state twice.
There is a related ability, called Force Enlightenment. This ability, famously practised by the Jedi Exile, Qui Gon Jinn, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Tholme Vos- among others, allows a Jedi to become empty and thereby to take in the Force becoming in a state where they no longer control their movements, allowing the Living Force to completely direct their actions. This is considered the ultimate state of Jedi detachment and surrender to the Will of the Force. It is partially a precognitive ability, but unlike most where the Jedi actively looks for and probes the Force for the future, they are open allowing the Force to simply show them the futures and having their body glide along. This state is considered to be one of the most powerful and respectful abilities a Jedi can have, but it is not the same as Oneness.
Another related phenomena is the amplification of precognition leading up to death. When a powerful Force-user is near death, the Force often shows many possible and far reaching futures. It is thought that this is a natural defense mechanism. Midichlorians serve as a bridge to the Force, and they naturally are in a symbiotic relationship with their host. Precognition is a way to preserve the host from death by scanning possible futures. Near death, the number of possible futures where the host can live is rapidly diminishing and so the midichlorians prepare to die and return to the Force. This gives their final acts of precognition a much more potent focus allowing the host to see much further. The most notable example of this phenomena is Darth Traya whom the Exile reports to have gave several far- reaching prophecies before her death.
A final phenomena worth considering is a precognitive burst. This phenomena seemingly occurs at massive crossroads or shatterpoints in the Force. It is much like a Force vision in that it is unexpected, but is different as it shows multiple possible futures instead of just one. Luke Skywalker and Jacen Solo reported this ability on several occasions. Another reported vision was by the Emperor's Voice Scourge; he wrote that he experienced a vision of multiple possible futures prompting him to betray his allies.
Some think that Oneness is much like these phenomena. It is an opening to the Living Force, much like Force Enlightenment, as well as a precognitive vision triggered either unexpectedly or prompted by the nearness to death causing a massive connection to the Unifying Force. These together are said to allow a Jedi, or possibly Sith, to embrace the Force as a whole allowing them to become a perfect avatar for it.
Pall wrote about experiencing such a phenomena only once before- on the planet Tython when he had the vision that prompted him to begin his rebellion against the Jedi. This shows that Pall was able to achieve this state once, or at least he believed that he did, so perhaps these reports are accurate. Perhaps his nearness to death caused him to once again embrace the Force in its entirety.
The Aftermath:
After the assassins were killed, Pall stayed in his coma for the rest of the battle. When the Jedi command found out that their ploy failed, they decided to bargain with the besieged Dark Jedi. The deal was that if they surrender, the Republic and the Jedi would guarantee that they would live and not be executed. The Dark Jedi command in a state of desperation accepted this offer. The odds of any reinforcements arriving was slim, and there was no purpose in continued resistance. They were going to die on Corbos unless the deal was accepted.
Their ships parted and the Jedi command descended. The surviving Dark Jedi, including the comatose Pall, were taken aboard their flagship to be brought before a tribunal on Ossus. The deal upset many in the Republic military high command who wanted to put the traitors to death right then and there, but the Jedi were more prudent. They knew that if they made a huge show about sparing the lives of the Dark Jedi leaders, it would be much easier to convince smaller pockets of Dark Jedi to surrender. After all, if they broke their promise and executed the Dark Jedi, these small pockets would continue to hold out and fight to the death as they wouldn't trust any deal that the Republic would make.
The Jedi were determined to pass judgement upon the rebels themselves. Again, the military was upset, but after intense haggling the Jedi were given the authority. The trial, held in the Jedi Temple on Ossus, was short as everyone already knew the verdict going in. The Dark Jedi, including Pall, simply watched it all play out. The verdict was passed that the Dark Jedi would be exiled from known space, never to be seen again. Many of the Jedi wanted to sever their connections to the Force, but they decided against it. The war had killed many of the most powerful masters in the Order so that even the council was unsure if they were powerful enough to completely sever the Dark Jedi of their Force sensitivity.
Only a few days after the war officially ended, the Dark Jedi boarded a transport. The ship was rigged to perform a series of random jumps into unknown space until it found a habitable planet. It would then perform a controlled landing, and its hyperdrive would self-destruct preventing escape. To further guarantee their isolation, the ship departed into a region of space notoriously difficult to escape from: the Stygian Caldera.
In the years that followed, the Jedi continued to mop up dark Jedi cults and holdouts. Many surrendered, some even were accepted back into the Jedi Order once they renounced the dark side. The Republic offices of the President and Chancellor were more lenient than the military wanted them to be when it came to issuing pardons for the traitorous states and individuals. This prudence and the horror of the last war caused a reluctant acceptance among most people.
The states that wanted to break off had suffered such extensive damage that they were more than willing to accept Republic sponsored aid. The Jedi who had broken away for doctrinal differences had seen what horror the dark side led to and many of the more reasonable ones renounced using the Force entirely. There was a large 'hermit' movement where ex dark Jedi simply retired to random backwater planets to live in the wilderness, trying to find peace. Of course, not everything was rainbows and sunshine. There were some rather radical pockets who just wouldn't surrender. They were usually bombed into oblivion and their movement died out in the following decades. The Vindicators also got it, as they refused to accept the Jedi's terms of submission.
In the decades that followed, the Republic entered into a new golden age. Although after the war ended, systems were in massive debt to each other, the war had generated enough of an industrial impetus that the economy was able to bounce back. Since the Galaxy was peaceful, new hyperlanes connected far flung systems to each other further increasing trade. The economy expanded as refugees were able to find work along these star lanes. When veterans returned home, if they were lucky enough to still have a home, many decided to start a family now that their children could grow up in a safe galaxy. In the next two decades, this new generation was greeted by job opportunities along the new hyperlanes. The surging economy was tempered by Republic taxes which siphoned off money to rebuild damaged infrastructure and to support veterans. This led to a sense of hope, a sense that maybe all was well in the Galaxy as this new generation blazed new routes deeper into unknown space. Many even settled along these lanes on new agriworlds and frontier planets.
In short, all was well as the Republic celebrated a great peace. There were a few small conflicts, some with Dark Jedi, many without, but on the whole the were not of any great concern to the Galaxy at large. Perhaps this was a mistake, as there was a new enemy lurking in the shadows. Rebels and Dark Jedi holdouts were not the only threats to this great peace as not long after, a new specter appeared- the Sith. However, the Jedi and the Republic did not anticipate the threat that they posed, believing them to be rouge dark Jedi who would die out in a few years time. They couldn't be more wrong.
