Battle of Rakata Prime

"Our order's greatest defeat."

- Kas'im

The Battle of Rakata Prime, was the final battle of the Jedi Civil War. Taking place around the primary star of the Lehon system, it was fought between the navies of the Galactic Republic and Darth Malak's Sith Empire, with each side bolstered by their own Force-users. While fleets of capital ships and starfighters engaged in heated battles around the massive space station and factory known as the Star Forge, the Jedi, led by the redeemed Revan, penetrated the station's defenses in order to confront and defeat the Sith, putting an end to the bloody conflict.

Prelude
"There it is, the Star Forge. I've never seen anything like it&hellip;"

- Carth Onasi

The events of the battle were set into motion when the crew of the Ebon Hawk retrieved the fifth and final Star Map, which pinpointed the hidden location of the Star Forge. As this gargantuan factory complex, powered by the dark side of the Force and fueled by the star it orbited, served as the heart of the Sith war effort, Carth Onasi transmitted the coordinates to the Republic fleet, hoping to organize a quick strike to take out the massive space station. Shortly thereafter, he inadvertently flew the Ebon Hawk through a disruptor field which destroyed several critical systems within the heavily-modified freighter, forcing him to make an emergency landing on the coast of one of Lehon's many islands.

Revan and his companions then set out to salvage the parts to fix their vessel as well as to find the source of the disrupter field before the Republic fleet arrived. Along the way they discovered the remnants of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, in the form of several encounters with the fierce warriors of the Black Rakata tribe. Soon afterward, Revan met with the Elders, who imparted upon him the truth about the Star Forge's origins and purpose. With the help of the Elders, Revan, along with Jolee Bindo and Juhani, entered the Temple of the Ancients and cleared out the many Dark Jedi and Sith Troopers that lurked within. After a brief duel with Bastila Shan, who had been captured by Malak and had fallen to the dark side, the disruptor field was deactivated just as Republic warships emerged from hyperspace and began attacking the Sith fleet defending the Star Forge. Preparing for the inevitable showdown with Malak and the Sith, Revan and his crew repaired their own vessel and took off to join the battle overhead.

Battle within the Star Forge
As they flew toward the unfolding engagement, Carth contacted Admiral Forn Dodonna, who was leading the assault fleet, and informed her that Bastila had fallen to the dark side and was now using her abilities with battle meditation against the Republic from on board the Star Forge itself. With the battle turning against the Republic fleet, Jedi Master Vandar Tokare, who was aboard Dodonna's flagship as an adviser, sent a team of Jedi Knights to escort the crew of the Ebon Hawk. Together, they penetrated the outer defenses of the Forge and boarded the massive space station in an attempt to disrupt Bastila's use of her powers and, for Revan at least, to confront his old friend and apprentice. While a few Jedi stayed behind at the docks to keep the door open for the strike team, Revan, his companions, and other Knights attempted to infiltrate the station's interior.

Move and countermove
When Malak realized that the station had been boarded, he sent a number of the Forge's own battle droids to halt the impending threat. Revan and his companions were, however, equal to the challenge and pressed deeper into the station's inner workings; as a stopgap, Malak ordered all available Sith troopers, Dark Jedi and their apprentices to engage in battle. Though he knew that they would not stop his former master, the Dark Lord of the Sith knew that they would slow him down sufficiently for his new apprentice, Bastila, to be prepared to fight and even kill the one she loved in order to prove her loyalty and worth. After defeating a trio of Dark Jedi who guarded the entrance to the Star Forge's command center, Revan became separated from his companions and was forced to confront Bastila alone. Despite drawing upon the power of the Star Forge, the former Jedi was unable to overcome Revan and pleaded for him to kill her. Revan refused, however, and encouraged Bastila to see the light within herself by drawing on both the Force bond and the bond of love that they shared. Bastila accepted this, and after confessing her own love, she turned her battle meditation around to aid the Republic forces while Revan went on to confront Malak.

Duel in the factories
"Well done, Revan. I was certain the defenses of the Star Forge would destroy you, but I see there is more of your old self in you than I expected."

- Darth Malak

Atop the highest levels of the station Revan confronted Malak who, after striking down two Jedi he had captured, activated a number of ancient droid-producing machines; after sealing the room, he fled further into the factory complex. Eventually working his way through the onslaught of combat droids and deactivating the factory, Revan pressed on, defeating Malak in a spectacular lightsaber duel, during which the Dark Lord attempted to siphon off the remaining Force-energy of several Jedi that had been killed when he attacked the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. Revan, however, was able to use his own Force powers to prevent further instances of this siphoning. After defeating his former apprentice, he and Bastila, along with Carth and the others, boarded the Ebon Hawk and escaped the station's destruction.

Battle in orbit
As the Jedi infiltrated the station, Admiral Dodonna attempted to hold off the Sith forces as best she could given the odds of the battle. With the effects of battle meditation working against the Republic's forces, she was unable to find an avenue of attack against the station itself. As the battle progressed, the Star Forge continued to produce Sith fighters, Sith freighters and even capital ships to be put immediately into battle. Despite the increasing odds, Dodonna succeeded in maintaining her fleet's presence at the periphery of the engagement zone.

The tide turns
"The Sith fleet is in disarray, now's our chance. Hit that Star Forge with everything we've got!"

- Forn Dodonna

When Revan redeemed Bastila, however, the battle began to turn, imperceptibly at first until, while monitoring the tactical situation, Dodonna noticed a sudden break in the Sith formation. Acting quickly, she sent in two of her best starfighter units; Green Squadron was ordered into the breach, followed swiftly by Red Squadron, who rapidly expanded the crack into a salient through which the main fleet could attack. As the Hammerheads and blockade runners flooded through their shattered lines, several Sith capital ships were lost. As the climactic duel within the upper levels of the Star Forge came to an end, Dodonna's fleet converged on the massive station, pummeling it with their turbolasers while many fierce dogfights stained the skies with explosions. Withering from the combined firepower of many vessels, the station's orbital stabilizers were soon destroyed; Dodonna then ordered her ships to pull back as quickly as possible before the Forge's final destruction.

As the Star Forge plunged into the Rakata sun and erupted in a titanic explosion that cast glowing debris for millions of kilometers through space, the Ebon Hawk made its escape, barely keeping ahead of the wavefront of the conflagration. With the Sith fleet decimated, the vast orbital factory destroyed, and the Dark Lord defeated, the Republic forces, along with the surviving Jedi Knights, gathered on Lehon at the foot of the Temple of the Ancients to celebrate their victory.

Aftermath
Dodonna awarded the Cross of Glory to Revan, Bastila Shan, Jolee Bindo, Zaalbar, Mission Vao, Canderous Ordo, Juhani, and Carth Onasi (and presumably HK-47 and T3-M4) for their actions in the battle. With both Bastila and Revan back on the side of the Republic, and the Sith Empire's primary factory destroyed, the Sith forces were quickly scattered by the Republic. The survivors went into hiding, attaching themselves to Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus and Darth Traya in the coming years. The Sith Academy on Korriban became a focal point for the infighting that later broke out among the tattered remains of the Sith, and even under Darth Traya, they were never again strong enough to overtly challenge both the Republic and the Jedi the way they had under Revan and Malak.

After the battle, wreckage of the ships and the Star Forge formed a ring around the world. The Republic declared the site a historical zone and restricted travel to it, in order to prevent Sith adepts from going to the Force-strong surface of the world. Eventually, though, during the New Sith Wars three millennia later, the travel restrictions appeared to be enforced only loosely if at all, as Darth Bane was able to travel there unimpeded to find Darth Revan's holocron.

Behind the scenes
In the alternate, non-canon dark side ending of the game, the reborn Darth Revan again took up the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. Taking Bastila as his Sith apprentice, Revan mercilessly cleaved his way through the Star Forge and on to defeat his old protégé, Darth Malak. Upon arriving at the Star Forge command center, Bastila used her battle meditation to hamper the Republic fleet, while Revan went ahead and evaded the Star Forge's defenses, fighting his way to the factory level. The Sith Lord then mercilessly struck down his traitorous former apprentice in a lightsaber duel. Under Bastila's Battle Meditation, the Sith fleet obliterated the Republic fleet. After the battle, Bastila declared Darth Revan the "true Dark Lord of the Sith".

With a significant portion of the Republic fleet destroyed, Revan went to Korriban, to unite the Sith in an effort to finally crush the Republic. However, abruptly and without explanation, he halted his campaign, and left known space. Without Revan's strong dark side mastery and leadership, the Star Forge atrophied from misuse by lesser Sith Lords. Bastila refused to follow the remaining Sith Lords, saying "whoever survives this Sith civil war will not be one I wish to follow. There is only Revan". The resulting power vacuum paved the way for Traya and her apprentices, Darth Nihilus and Darth Sion, known as the Sith Triumvirate, to assume control.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Darth Bane: Path of Destruction