JEDI HoloNet

Immediately after the assassination of the Chief of State, the Jedi themselves were in a state of philosophical disarray. Many held high positions of authority within the Galactic Alliance, and so an animosity began to build between the Jedi that retained their positions and the growing anti-Jedi sentiment among the population. Because of this, many in the galaxy became deeply distrustful of the Galactic Alliance – and thus, the Secessionary Wars (252-264 ABY) began – but this categorisation, I feel, is mostly useless. There was very little open fighting that took place in this period. Instead, a prolonged and often intangible battle for political dominance and reputation took hold in the galaxy. The new Commonwealth, having been united greatly by the recent invasion and not suffering the same institutional difficulties of the Galactic Alliance, was bolstered during this period as more and more planets willingly joined the Commonwealth. The Galactic Alliance seemed weaker by the day.Then, almost out of nowhere, the Sith remerged from the depths of the galactic sewer. In 266 ABY, a ‘Dark Lord’ known as Lord Rishi announced himself to the galaxy. However, in less than a cycle, the combined mass of the Jedi Order overwhelmed the man that turned out to be little more than a damned acolyte on a stolen capital ship. A strike team led by Jedi Coren Ran, Jamus Kevari, Phoe Nhix, Aayla Vigil and Cyril Feraan defeated the forces of Lord Rishi in the Battle of Coruscant (266 ABY). Coincidentally, Lord Rishi provided a useful scapegoat to the Jedi at this time, as they blamed much of the galaxy’s tension on him.

Conflict with Dark Jedi following in the footsteps of Lord Rishi continued until 271, when the last major stronghold of Nensil was concluded in a bloody battle on the capital city of Zvmara City. However, several Dark Jedi would be routinely captured or executed by the Jedi Order in the following decades – a sharp increase in their presence generally dotted across the galaxy. However, the Galactic Alliance fared no better with the Jedi’s aid. The Galactic Alliance projected no authority, its citizens had lost faith in its institutions. Reportedly, piracy and crime increased tremendously in the Outer Rim during this period – spurred on by an opportunistic Hutt Cartel and other growing criminal organisations. This lack of authority culminated in the Kashyyk-Trandosha War of 277-280, whereby the historic enemies ignored the Galactic Alliance’s calls for a ceasefire and, as a result, tens of thousands died.

Planets were stuck between loyalty to the Galactic Alliance and the Commonwealth, one overlord and one revolutionary state. Due to poor data recording, it is impossible to tell what extent the so-called Dark Lord was truly influencing events in the galaxy, or whether or not they were more natural conflicts born from long-brewing difficulties. At the time, Jedi blamed most of the negative events in the galaxy to be some sort of scheme by the Dark Siders against them; but this presumed arrogance overlooks the fact that the population of the galaxy was genuinely turning against the Jedi Order and, thus, they had become less effective peacekeepers because of a faltering reputation. If Sith were building off this anger and distrust, they are our own corruption to bear and not something exogenous. Jedi scholars who attributed the conflicts of the galaxy to a ‘growing darkness’ of the dark side were, in my opinion, using blind ideology to mask their own failures.

The decade of 270 was perhaps one of the unluckiest for the Jedi Order. In the span of only five or so years, a tremendous number of trials and arrests were made against Jedi ‘murderers’ within the Galactic Alliance. The most famous of these being: the trial of Maloush Paroveid after the bloody murder of two prominent Alliance citizens (278 ABY) and the assassination of Mandalore Jhil Bevin by Jedi Knight Ashut Ventissen (277 ABY). Throughout the galaxy, the oft-quoted phrase “official Jedi business” became an ironic calling cry painted on posters and social media to display the ambiguity and lack of restraint that the Jedi had utilised across events in the galaxy. The previously pro-Jedi senators had been replaced by landslide elections in 275 ABY, and so this new generation of senators, predisposed to hatred of the Jedi, eventually expelled the Jedi Order from Alliance space in 279 ABY. Most Jedi temples were unaffected by this, but those on the temple of Yavin IV had to relocate to the remote planet of Alzoc III, founding a new temple there.

Yet, in the background of all this, the galaxy’s most bloody war to date was to begin. An unlikely alliance was forged. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the Chiss Ascendency, always seeking new exploits for conquest, sought to take advantage of the disorder and began a series of proxy attacks in the Outer Rim (276-277 ABY) on planets such as Mygeeto. Later, the forces of the Chiss Ascendency united with the ferocious Mandalorians, deeply enraged by the earlier murder of their Mandalore, organising hit-and-run attacks on the ancient praxeums of Ossus, Dantooine and Yavin IV. In the attack on Yavin IV, Jedi Knight Nivek Tholmai was reportedly beheaded by the Mandalorian force, his decapitation on grim display atop the ancient walls. From this point, the Jedi were brought once again into the reforged Galactic Coalition, uniting the forces of the Commonwealth, Galactic Alliance and the Jedi Order against the Chiss Ascendency, the Mandalorians and splinter planets such as the Trandoshans. The Ascendency Wars had begun.

Across the galaxy, fierce fighting took every corner from Mon Cala to Bastion, from Taris to Kashyyk, from Yavin IV to Coruscant. However, the forces of the Galactic Coalition – while more successful against the Mandalorians – were pushed deeply into the Core Worlds by an unrelenting and efficient Chiss Ascendency. On planets such as Bakura, the Chiss Ascendency began using forms of biological warfare known as ‘the Blue Death’ or ‘Blue Plague’, shredding the quickly depreciating ranks of the Galactic Coalition’s armies. However, unprecedented senatorial measures taken the same year to enforce conscription and reduce conscription age to 16 proved an easy fix to any manpower shortages. In 284 ABY, the Commonwealth forces surrendered and by 285, the Chiss Ascendency was launching skirmishing attacks on Coruscant in preparation for a full-scale attack on the system. In 286, Dac and many crucial naval ports were lost to an attack by the Mandalorians, a critical blow to the Galactic Coalition. Then, perhaps most shockingly, the Chief of State was assassinated during a public address in 287 ABY. However, the further that the Chiss Ascendency and Mandalorians stretched into the fracturing remnants of the Galactic Alliance, the more resistance they encountered. Most famously, armed militias on planets like Naboo and Eriadu (previously owned by the Commonwealth) caused tremendous damage to the Ascendency’s war effort by the consistent sabotage of transport links and reinforcement stations.

Emboldened by a sense of payback against the Chiss for the assassination of their Chief of State, the Galactic Alliance began an almost unprecedented offensive in 288 ABY at a weakened sector of siege lines in the Chiss Ascendency’s conquered space. Though the offensive was crushed by the shrewd tactics of Ascendancy Admiral Bri’jien’nuruodo, the attack proved to the galaxy that the morale of the Galactic Alliance was not yet crushed. Admiral Wilkinson, the leader of Coalition High Command, was appointed interim Chief of State to the Galactic Alliance – doing much to officialise much of the militarised culture that had been building in the GA for over a century now. Planets like Serenno became sites of brave resilience and true crimes against life by the Chiss, as millions were killed in punitive raids by the Chiss invaders. Renewed offensives, supported greatly by guerrilla activity in the conquered territories, eventually pushed back the Chiss Ascendency and Mandalorians by 290 ABY. It was announced on 290.21 that the Mandalorians, upon the death of their Mandalore by a Jedi strike team, would drop out of the war.

Once the Chiss had been driven out of most of the Alliance’s space after the Battle of Bakura in 290 ABY, Alliance high command and the Jedi saw their opportunity. Strike teams, deployed to take advantage of the chaos, were led by Jedi such as Knight Sebastin Creed and Mora Saxen to apprehend and damage the disorientated Chiss high command in near-suicide missions. Almost immediately after, the Chiss Ascendency, now demoralised and struggling to maintain even a slither of their conquests, sought a ceasefire with the Galactic Alliance. The Ascendency Wars were over, yet the galaxy would never be the same again.