3956 BBY

"We WILL defeat Malak and save the Republic from the Sith threat once and for all!"

- Juhani on the Temple of the Ancients

The year 3,956 before the Battle of Yavin (BBY), also known as 303 before the Treaty of Coruscant (BTC), was a span of time marked by the continued conflict and conclusion of the Jedi Civil War. Birthed three years earlier from the reemergence of former Jedi war heroes Revan and Malak as Sith Lords. The new dark lords, in conjunction with those in the Republic Navy who had been seduced, invaded Republic space and war broke out. By 3,956 BBY, however, Darth Revan had been captured by a Jedi strike team lead by Jedi Knight Bastila Shan.

Proem
"Three years ago, Revan and Malak returned at the head of a massive invasion fleet. Revan had assumed the title of Sith Lord; the hero had become a conqueror."

- Dorak

A galaxywide conflict known as the Mandalorian Wars ended in 3,960 BBY when the Jedi known as Revan and his apprentice Malak joined the war effort, turning the tide of the war. The war heroes had retreated into the Unknown Regions along with much of the Republic Navy under the guise of seeking out the remaining Mandalorian clans. In the Unknown Regions, however, the Jedi and those who served the Republic became corrupted under the leading of Revan and Malak. The two Jedi fell to the dark side and became Dark Lords of the Sith, called Darth Revan and Darth Malak.

During their time stationed outside the boundaries of Republic space, Revan and Malak traveled throughout Republic collecting data from Star Maps and eventually gained access to the Star Forge, an ancient manufacturing facility in the Lehon system. With the power of the Star Forge, the dark lords amassed a large fleet and other matériel&mdash;such as droids and weaponry. Under the banner of a Sith Empire the former war heroes turned on the Republic and invaded.

Darth Revan's strategy was originally to capture keep Republic planets and facilities, leaving infrastructure intact. By 3,957 BBY, battlefronts had opened in various places across the galaxy. At Foerost, the Republic navy was decimated. Key locations along hyperspace routes such as Roche, Axxila, Allanteen VI, and Yag'Dhul were conquered and held by the Sith Empire. Czerka 431, AB-343, Telos IV,  Iridonia, Rodia, Mon Gazza, and Lannik were other flashpoints. In that year, however, a Jedi strike team was dispatched to capture Darth Revan. The strike team, lead by Jedi Knight Bastila Shan captured Revan, in part due to betrayal by Darth Malak, and brought him before the Jedi Council. The Jedi wiped Revan's memory, providing him with a new identity and posted him as a soldier under the command of Shan.

Pursuit of Bastila Shan
"The search for Bastila is taking too long. Destroy the entire planet."

- Darth Malak, to Admiral Karath, ordering the destruction of Taris

Having usurped the position of head of the Sith Empire from Revan, Malak launched a search of the Jedi Knight Bastila Shan. Malak feared her ability of battle meditation, a Force power that could sway the morale of those fighting in a battle enough to provide the Republic an advantage. Malak, aboard the Leviathan, tracked Shan and her flagship the Endar Spire to the Taris system. Above the planet Taris, the Sith attacked the Endar Spire. During the attack, Shan boarded an escape pod which crashed onto the planet surface. At the same time, however, Revan&mdash;who was unawares regarding his original identity&mdash;was stationed on the vessel under Shan's command. Together with cabinmate Trask Ulgo, the two fought through the boarding party of Sith troopers to reach the bridge. Seeing that Shan had evacuated, the pair sought a lieutenant named Carth Onasi, who was tracking them through the Endar Spire life support systems. Revan and Ulgo encountered Malak's new apprentice, Darth Bandon, however. Ulgo engaged the dark lord in combat while Revan escaped. Ulgo's sacrifice gave Revan enough time to meet up with Onasi and board the final remaining escape pod.

After crashing on Taris, Onasi dragged Revan from the wreckage and took refuge in an abandoned Upper City apartment. Inside the apartment, the pair devised a plan to rescue the Jedi and flee the planet. All the while, Darth Malak refused to allow Shan to escape his grasp. He ordered a quarantine of the planet, blockading any route to and from Taris. On the surface, however, Revan and Onasi eventually traveled into the area known as the Lower City. Teaming up with the young Twi'lek Mission Vao, and her partner, the Wookiee Zaalbar, the pair made contact with the leader of the Hidden Beks swoop gang, Gadon Thek. Through Thek, the Republic soldiers were informed that Shan had been captured by the rival swoop gang, the Black Vulkars. Their leader, Brejik, was holding Shan prisoner and planned to offer her as the prize for the Tarisian Season Opener, the first major swoop race of the season.

Thek and Revan brokered a deal in which he and Onasi would retrieve a prototype accelerator that the Vulkars had stolen in exchange for the opportunity to take part in the race. Revan and Onasi teamed up with Mission Vao in the Undercity, and the trio helped to rescue Zaalbar from Gamorrean slavers before advancing deep into the Undercity sewers. Using the sewers as access, the team began their incursion into the Vulkar Base. After a firefight, the party successfully secured the prototype accelerator. True to his word, Thek permitted Revan to compete in the Season Opener. After Revan won the race, Brejik balked at his posted prize and, along with his comrades, initiated a brawl. Shan freed herself during the skirmish and, together with Revan, defeated Brejik and the other Vulkars.

Having rescued Bastila Shan, Revan and his team needed to escape Taris. While the Republic-sided team had been searching for the Jedi, the Sith were unsuccessfully tracking the Jedi as well. Furious with the lack of progress, Malak ordered the Sith fleet to begin preparations for an orbital bombardment in an attempt to kill the Jedi. At the same time, Revan was approached by Canderous Ordo with a plan to break through the blockade. Ordo suggested that Revan steal the blockade codes from the Sith Military Base, and then Ordo would provide a ship to leave the planet. Revan agreed, and acquired T3-M4 from Janice Nall to facilitate the infiltration. Revan broke into the base and successfully stole the launch codes after a duel with the Force-sensitive Sith Governor. Having acquired the codes, Ordo brought Revan to the estate of crime lord Davik Kang, hoping to steal his flagship, the Ebon Hawk. As the team was about to commandeer the ship, Darth Malak ordered the Sith fleet to open fire upon the surface of Taris. This prompted Kang and bounty hunter Calo Nord to arrive at the hangar at the same moment of Revan and Ordo. Killing Kang in a scuffle, the pair stole the ship as Nord was buried by falling rubble.

Carth Onasi piloted the Ebon Hawk away from the planet surface with Revan and his team aboard. All the while, the urban surface of Taris was reduced to rubble. Noticing a ship fleeing the planet, Sith fighters were dispatched. The fighters were destroyed by Revan as the Ebon Hawk entered hyperspace while the planet was being destroyed.

Revan's commission
"You must not fail in your mission. Find the Star Maps that lead to the Star Forge. This is the only way to stop Malak and his Sith followers. You and Bastila are the galaxy's last, desperate hope."

- Vandar Tokare's commission to Revan following the former Dark Lord's redemption

Following the escape from Taris, Revan and his companions traveled to the planet of Dantooine so Bastila Shan could speak with the Jedi Council. Having landed at the Jedi Enclave proper, Shan spoke to the council members regarding the awakening of the Force within Revan. The former Sith Lord had been experiencing visions through the Force and the development concerned Shan. At the suggestion of the Jedi Council, Revan underwent training in the ways of the Jedi. Still unaware of his history as a former Force-wielder, he quickly relearned many skills and feats that he had previously mastered. As part of his training, Revan was asked to cleanse a dark taint which had infiltrated an ancient grove near the Enclave. There, he encountered Juhani, a Cathar Padawan who had fallen to the dark side after believing she had killed her master in a duel. After sparing and conversing with Revan, Juhani was redeemed and returned to the enclave. She was later assigned to join Revan's crew.

Succeeding in cleansing the grove, Revan was tasked with searching ancient ruins near the Enclave from where another Jedi named Nemo had not returned. The ruins were discovered to be far older than the Republic itself and housed an ancient Star Map. After conversing with an ancient droid inside the ruins, Revan learned some limited information regarding the Star Forge. Reporting his findings to the Jedi Council, the masters charged Revan and his crew to embark on a quest for the Star Forge. All the while, Darth Malak had grown displeased with the escape of Bastila Shan from his grasp. The bounty hunter Calo Nord had survived the bombardment and made his way to the Leviathan to meet the dark lord. There, Nord revealed Shan's escape with the aid of Republic soldiers and offered his services to track them down. Agreeing to Nord's price, Malak dispatched the bounty hunter to pursue the escapees across the galaxy.

In pursuit of the Star Forge
"You're a neophyte Padawan who's been saddled with the responsibility of tracking down these Star Maps. Why? That's not normal!"

- Carth Onasi

Upon leaving Dantooine, Revan's crew consisted of Carth Onasi, Bastila Shan, Mission Vao, Zaalbar, T3-M4, Canderous Ordo, and Juhani. The crew, executing the commission given to them by the Council, began to visit the places shown on the Star Map. The first destination was the Outer Rim planet of Tatooine. There, the Ebon Hawk landed at the Czerka Corporation–controlled mining colony of Anchorhead. Revan was introduced to the struggle between the mining teams of the Czerka Corporation and the Sand People when the local patrol officer asked Revan to intervene in the conflict by eliminating the local tribe. After acquiring the HK-47 droid from Yuka Laka for translation purposes, Revan peacefully resolved the conflict by giving providing the local chieftain moisture vaporators in exchange for limiting attacks on the miners. In the process, Revan was offered a chance to hunt a krayt dragon by Komad Fortuna. Accepting, the pair slew the large creature. The cave was revealed to be more ancient ruins which contained a Star Map. Before leaving Tatooine, however, Revan encountered the bounty hunter Calo Nord. Nord had tracked the Ebon Hawk crew to the ruins outside Anchorhead and set an ambush for them with the help of other mercenaries. Nevertheless, Revan and his team dispatched with the bounty hunters and proceeded with his crew to the planet Kashyyyk to search for another Star Map.

The Ebon Hawk landed on Kashyyyk in the Czerka-controlled spaceport near the tree-level city of Rwookrrorro. There, Revan and his crew were introduced to the Wookiee slave-trade that Czerka had imposed upon natives with the help of local chieftain and brother of Zaalbar, Chuundar. Hunting for the planet's Star Map, Revan and his team requested audience with the chieftain so they could search the planet's surface. Chuundar granted the explorer access to the surface, called the Shadowlands, under the condition that he dispose of an expelled Wookiee. Zaalbar, however, was required to remain on Rwookrrorro. When Revan began exploring the Shadowlands, however, he encountered former Jedi Jolee Bindo, who agreed to help Revan during his search of the Shadowlands. Eventually the team encountered the expelled Wookiee, who was none other than Freyyr, former chieftain and father of Chuundar and Zaalbar. Instead of eliminating the deposed leader, Revan retrieved a Wookiee relic for Freyyr so he could challenge his son who had usurped power. The team then continued to search deeper into the Shadowlands, ultimately discovering an ancient computer with a Star Map attached. After acquiring access to the Map, Revan and his team returned to the Rwookrrorro village. All the while, Freyyr had returned to the village to challenge his son for the true title of chieftain. A skirmish ensued when Revan and his team arrived, siding with Freyyr. After defeating Chuundar and his allies in the chieftain's quarters, an uprising occurred against the Czerka slavers on the planet.

Following Kashyyyk, Revan and his team visited the oceanic planet of Manaan, landing at the only above-water settlement known as Ahto City. There, the team began the hunt for the fourth Star Map. Through a Force vision, Revan and Shan agreed that the Map was in an underwater location. Contacting representatives in the Republic Embassy, Revan made arrangements to use a submersible to reach the ocean floor at the Republic's Hrakert Station, a harvesting facility of the healing agent kolto in the Hrakert Rift. In exchange for this, Revan was charged with retrieving data from a probe droid which had been stolen by Sith agents on Manaan. Infiltrating the Sith Embassy, Revan and his team faced numerous Sith troopers, security droids and Dark Jedi. They were able to recover the data, however, and also stumbled upon a plot to indoctrinate young Selkath youth to join the Sith cause against the neutrality policy of the Selkath society. Revan discovered that one of the youth, Galas, had been tortured and killed in the process. Revealing this to the other youth and to the Ahto City authorities prevented the Sith scheme from furthering.

Having retrieved the stolen data for the Republic, Revan traveled to the Hrakert Station. There, he discovered that the Selkath workers had been driven insane and killed the Republic officials. The source of their insanity was traced to the Progenitor, a large firaxan shark who lived within the rift. The Progenitor, believed by the Selkath to be the guardian of the kolto and the mother of their species, had unleashed a cry which drove the nearby Selkath insane. At the same time, Revan discovered the Star Map in the rift, but was unable to access it due to the large firaxan shark's actions. To appease the Progenitor, Revan needed to destroy the portion of the Hrakert Station which was imposing into the rift for kolto harvesting. Overloading the chemicals, a chain reaction destroyed part of the station and the Progenitor eased. With the large firaxan shark appeased, Revan was able to easily access the Star Map in the rift.

Confronting the past
"You cannot hide from what you once were, Revan! Recognize that you were once the Dark Lord - and know that I have taken your place!"

- Darth Malak to his old Master


 * Attack on Dantooine
 * Skirmish aboard the Leviathan
 * Skirmish on Korriban

End of the war
"Once again, we shall face each other in single combat, and the victor will decide the fate of the galaxy."

- Darth Malak to Revan during the Battle of Rakata Prime


 * Battle of Rakata Prime and concurrent Duel on the Star Forge
 * The reformed Jedi Knight Revan defeats his former apprentice Darth Malak aboard the Star Forge.
 * The Star Forge is destroyed.
 * The Jedi Civil War ends with the Republic as victors.
 * Revan leaves Republic space and journeys into the Unknown Regions.

Kanz Disorders

 * Still ongoing in the Kanz sector
 * Myrialites still had control
 * Republic occupied with the Jedi Civil War

Elsewhere

 * Atris begins collecting Sith holocrons and bring them to Telos IV.

Impact
"The Jedi Civil War brought much suffering to the galaxy, and the forces that Malak and Revan amassed against us seemed limitless. Many worlds were destroyed, trade routes disrupted, and the Republic fleet was almost decimated. While it is said that Revan and several Republic heroes and Jedi defeated Malak, in many ways Malak had already won."

- Mical

On the one hand, the conclusion of the Jedi Civil War in 3,956 BBY brought a temporary peace to the Republic which had been reeling from the effects of the war. Numerous planets had been laid waste and trade was disrupted throughout the Republic. Even five years after the war ended refugees were still inhabiting places such as Nar Shaddaa and the Republic economy was still on the brink of collapse. Furthermore, the military which had fought the Sith Empire was in ruins and fatigued.

On the other hand, however, the defeated Sith Empire was left decimated. Those that remained factioned into smaller groups which made war against each other, starting the Sith Civil War. Two years later, Darth Traya, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Sion began their rise to power and reunited the remnants of Revan's former empire. Their rise to power would lead to the First Jedi Purge and the return of the exiled Jedi.

In the Kanz sector, the lack of Republic intervention enabled the conflict to continue.
 * Continued for almost 300 more years
 * Conflict caused development of the Lorrdian kinetic communication

Conflicts and battles

 * Attack on the Endar Spire
 * Rescue of Bastila Shan
 * Raid on the Vulkar Base
 * Destruction of Taris
 * Uprising on Kashyyyk
 * Raid of Manaan's Sith Embassy
 * Attack on Dantooine
 * Skirmish aboard the Leviathan
 * Skirmish on Korriban
 * Battle of Rakata Prime and concurrent Duel on the Star Forge

Births

 * T3-M4; manufactured on Taris by Janice Nall

Deaths
"Im&hellip;impossible. I&hellip;I cannot be beaten. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith."

- Darth Malak


 * Trask Ulgo on the Endar Spire


 * On Taris
 * Ixgil; shot by Sith assassins
 * Luugro; shot by Calo Nord
 * T3-H8; malfunction
 * Selven; lost duel with Revan
 * Kandon Ark; killed during incursion into the Vulkar base
 * Brejik; killed in skirmish after Tarisian season opener
 * Redros; killed in skirmish after Tarisian season opener
 * The Sith Governor; lost duel with Revan
 * Davik Kang, during the orbital bombardment ordered by Darth Malak
 * Sakul Ondondanax, during the orbital bombardment ordered by Darth Malak
 * The majority of Tarisians during the orbital bombardment ordered by Darth Malak. The exact number and identities of the casualties are unknown.


 * On Dantooine
 * Ilsa
 * Calder Nettic
 * Jarg
 * Reeza
 * C8-42
 * Sherruk
 * Casus Sandral
 * Nemo
 * Dergar Chester


 * On Tatooine
 * Ward Fizark
 * Jagi
 * Calo Nord


 * On Kashyyyk
 * Rorworr
 * Grarwwaar
 * Eli Gand
 * Gorwooken
 * Chuundar


 * On Manaan
 * Caal Jordan
 * Elassa Huros
 * Grann
 * Galas
 * Unidenified Sith Master
 * Darth Bandon


 * On the Leviathan
 * Saul Karath


 * On Korriban
 * Adrenas
 * Kel Algwinn
 * Hijata
 * Lashowe
 * Shaardan
 * Tariga
 * Tamlen
 * Jorak Uln
 * Uthar Wynn


 * On Lehon
 * Luo
 * Gjarshi
 * The One


 * Darth Malak on the Star Forge
 * Xor

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Timeline 8: The Jedi Civil War

Notes and references
3956 VSY 3956 BBY 3956 BBY