Jedi vs Sith

The first true clash between Jedi and Sith occured in the year 6,893 BBY. Many historians like this date as it was the first conflict after the unification of the Dark Jedi Exiles and the Sith people only seven years previously.

Remulus Dreypa, who led the attack, did not intend to conquer the entire Galaxy in one go. The Dark Jedi had tried and failed to do that. Instead, he planned to conquer a few small frontier systems from which he could organize his new Sith Order and train rouge Jedi to infiltrate the nearby Republic.

After the Exile, the Dark Jedi had been cut off from the rest of the Galaxy. Not only was the Stygian Caldera almost impenetrable unless one knew the exact hyperlanes to travel on, but it also prevented hyperwave and subspace communications in and out. This in effect cut off Sith Space from the rest of the Galaxy. As a result, when Dreypa set out to invade the Republic, he had no idea what it would be like. He anticipated that due to the war, the Galaxy would be in an economic decline due to the destruction of life and resources, and that the far flung systems of the Galaxy would be, for the most part, on their own due to the centralized Republic government being ineffective in these circumstances. Furthermore, he anticipated that due to his force's small size that he could easily slip in and set up shop. He was wrong on all counts.

First of all, as mentioned in the previous chapters, the Republic's economy was doing very well indeed. The war had created a depression, but after it was over, systems far and wide were eager to take advantage of the new peace and set up trade. Additionally, far from being fragmented, many systems rejoined the Republic due to security and economic reasons. The Jedi, despite their loss of numbers, were eager to keep the peace.

The new hyperlanes that stretched out into previously unknown or backwater worlds needed protection. As there were still dark side cults still lurking out on the fringes of galactic society, they Jedi were often called on to ride the outbound flights to keep the crew safe and advise on dealing with any pirates or other adversaries.

First Encounter:

Dreypa's small fleet emerged from hyperspace outside of the Stygian Caldera. The exact coordinates are unknown due to lack of historical sources, but according to records of the Jedi patrol who first spotted them, they were orbiting around the planet Formos. They Jedi aboard the patrol had heard reports that a strange craft was in the area, and when they jumped in system, they could sense through the Force that something was amiss. Others were called in as they believed that they had come across a previously unknown dark side cult left over from the war.

The Jedi that were called in were mostly veterans from the Battle of Corbos and their new padawans. At the time, the still-living veterans of Corbos were seen as an elite unit in the Jedi Order and what passed for the High Council at the time wanted to use them as the pillars on which the future order would be built upon, and as such, it was not uncommon to have one Jedi veteran training two, three, or even more padawans at a time.

The first skirmish took place on the surface of Formos itself. The Jedi patrol had flown down to check on possible cultic activity and they came across a small battalion of Massassi warriors. The Jedi were unsure about what to do, but the Force-sensitive Massassi sensed that the Jedi were aware of their presence and they attacked. The Jedi were caught off guard and did not know how to fight such creatures. The Massassi killed several Jedi and forced the rest to retreat, although they suffered heavy casualties in the process. The Massassi then reported to Dreypa what had happened and he ordered an immediate retreat. However, before he could exit system, the Jedi reinforcements cut them off and they engaged in a short space battle. Dreypa's small fleet was able to retreat but on a different vector then planned.

The Jedi were able to track the vector and engaged the Sith fleet in a cat and mouse chase through the nearby systems until they emerged in orbit around the planet Kesh.

The Calamity of Kesh and the Doomed:

While in orbit around the Wild Space planet Kesh, the Sith fleet engaged the Jedi in a large space battle. The exact numbers and details are not remembered, but it resulted in the destruction of the small Sith fleet and their evacuation to the planet's surface. However, in the conflict, the vast majority of the Jedi ships were also destroyed resulting in fiery hulls and still-active nuclear warheads raining down on the planet's surface devastating large swaths of land. The event came to be known to the native Keshiri as the Great Calamity.

At this point, the records are even more sparse. Kesh is a world surrounded by unstable mass shadows caused by icy debry and rouge planetoids in the nearby systems. It is thought that the Jedi believed themselves to be trapped in system due to these hazards. In addition, due to massive nebulas and electrically charged black holes in the neighboring systems, their subspace communication equipment was also cut off. It is likely that this is why the Sith were forced to confront the Jedi fleet in the first place. Both fleets jumped in system only to realize that it is a trap.

The Jedi ships then decided to pursue their enemies on the ground. Dreypa took advantage of this as he was eager to continue the fight. He wanted to wipe out the Jedi for that he and the Sith with him could rule over the native Keshiri, thus creating their own dark side using faction. The war was likely fought against the Jedi in a guerrilla fashion. It is thought that the Jedi ships were either sabotaged by the Sith forces or the Jedi chose to destroy their hyperdrives to prevent the Sith from getting hold of them. Eventually, after an unknown period of time, Dreypa's forces turned against him. Somehow they were able to trap him in an Oubliette chamber, a type of powerful stasis casket. He would remain perfectly preserved in that casket for almost four thousand years.

A New Society:

The Sith remains then sued for peace. They surrendered to the Jedi and were welcomed into the fledgeling Jedi 'order.' They became known as the Doomed, although it is unknown if they chose that name for themselves or it was given to them by the Keshiri. The Doomed eventually became one people who formed an order based around the harmony of the Living Force and its presence on the planet and in their ancestors teachings.

It is thought that having to struggle and fight for survival on an unknown world is what led the Jedi to lessen their standards and accept parts of the dark side, or at least the dark side as it is found in nature, in the jungle. This is not unusual as the jungle, and the wilderness in general, seems to have that effect upon Force users, although it is unknown why. Ex Dark Jedi, after the Hundred Year Darkness, the Great Sith War, and the Jedi Civil War, have been known to retreat into the wilderness to find peace. When an entire group of Jedi is lost, their order often morphs into a strange parody of what it once was, such as is the case on the planet Haruun Kal. It seems as if the jungle acts as a type of nullifier. Jedi who pledge to uphold the light are corrupted, but those who have fallen into the depths of the dark's vice are saved. Perhaps the jungle, life in its purest state unaffected by sentient intent, leads those who dwell in it towards a more neutral path- neither holding living beings as sacred ends in themselves nor reveling in the elevation of the self above others. In all, the Jedi and Sith merged and became almost like the ancient Je'daii order they both descended from. They would remain that way for thousands of years in complete isolation from the rest of the Galaxy.

These events became legendary for the native Keshiri. They evolved into the legends of the Skyborn and the Otherside, two groups of rival gods. According to Keshiri mythology, the Skyborn are benevolent deities worshiped by all who dwelled in the stars. The Otherside are rival and evil deities who dwelled in the center of the world. According to the myth, the Great Calamity was the result of these two groups of gods going to war. It is thought that the Skyborn represented the Jedi and the Otherside as the Sith. Strangely enough, it seems as if this legend has its roots in an even more ancient myth.

According to the other myth, the planet Kesh was ravaged many times by a race from beyond the stars, known as the Destructors. The Destructors would continue to wipe out all civilization on a cyclic basis until the Protectors rose up to stop them. It is thought that in later years, the Protectors and the Skyborn were merged, and the Destructors and the Otherside were combined as well. However, this leaves a puzzle as the myth of the Protectors and Destructors dates from before the Great Calamity. Many thing that the Destructors cyclic destruction of all civilization is actually a reference to the Xylan and their superweapons being repeatedly tested. However, the identity of the Protectors remains much more mysterious. Many think that the actual Protector/Destructor myth is actually the buried memory of the Celestial-Rakata War, although it is unknown which side is which. Since the war only happened once, it is thought that the repeated devastation wrought by the Xylan gave rise to the legend that the Protector-Destructor war repeated until the Great Calamity when it morphed into the Skyborn-Otherside war.

The Doomed and the planet Kesh in general would come play a major role in Sith history, although not for another few thousand years. As they continued to live as a small and peaceful society, the Sith Empire in the Stygian Caldera flourished as well. In face, it was after the expulsion of Dreypa that the Old Empire's greatest conquer, Tulak Hord, took the throne.


Author's Note: I hope to finish this story sometime around December- strangely enough about a year after I started writing, but as for now, updates will be few and far between.