Battle of Korriban

"The Republic rallied every available ship to support the fleet, leaving only a handful of Jedi security ships to partol Korriban."

- Gnost-Dural

In the year 3,681 BBY, during the Great Galactic War between the resurgent Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, the Outer Rim world of Korriban fell back into the control of the Sith thousands of years after their exile from the world. Korriban was the ancestral homeworld of the Sith Order and its Empire, and so became an early target for the Imperial forces upon their return to the known galaxy. As the war escalated in the Outer Rim Territories, the Republic was forced to divert vessels that would have been protecting Korriban to the battlefront in the Tingel Arm. As a result, only a small contingent of Jedi security ships remained in orbit of the world when the Sith attack came. All of the Jedi vessels were destroyed, and the Empire retook Korriban without the Republic or Jedi Council realizing.

Prelude
"The Republic fleet suddenly found itself in enemy territory, fighting desperately on all sides."

- Gnost-Dural, on the Tingel Arm campaign

The Outer Rim world of Korriban served as the homeworld of the Sith Order and its Empire prior to the Great Hyperspace War of 5,000 BBY. Following the Empire's defeat in the war, the surviving Sith abandoned Korriban and fled into the Unknown Regions. Later, in the aftermath of the Jedi Civil War, the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order seized Korriban and maintained a protective force around the planet. Centuries later, the Empire returned and initiated the Great Galactic War against the Republic in 3,681 BBY. Early in the conflict, the Sith Empire launched a widespread campaign to secure the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. Their first concentrated effort was in the Tingel Arm, where the Sith Emperor had already installed puppet governments on a number of worlds formerly allied with the Galactic Republic.

In response to the Empire's offensive, the Republic Navy organized a fleet to retake the Tingel Arm. Ignorant of the Empire's puppet governments, the Republic haphazardly charged into the region and found itself deep in enemy territory. Republic military leaders called upon every available ship in the navy to aid the fleet in the Tingel Arm, leaving other strategically important regions in the galaxy undefended.

The Sith attack
"Regrettably, Korriban fell back into the enemies' hands without the Jedi Council even knowing about it."

- Gnost-Dural

One world that lost almost all of its defenses was Korriban. With Republic naval vessels on duty in the Tingel Arm, the planet was guarded by only a small contingent of Jedi security ships. Taking advantage of the Republic's distraction in the Tingel Arm campaign, Imperial forces entered Korriban orbit and engaged the security ships. Sith starfighters quickly destroyed the Jedi ships, clearing the path towards the planet. On the surface, the Sith once again walked in the Valley of the Dark Lords and reclaimed their ancestral homeworld.

Aftermath
Because the Imperial forces had completely annihilated the Jedi defenders, the Jedi Council had no knowledge of the Sith's return to Korriban. Over the course of the war, the Empire turned the dry and arid world into a bastion for the training and education of Sith. To that end, the Empire reestablished the Korriban Sith Academy and dedicated it to the cultivation of a new generation of Sith who could continue the fight against the Republic.

Following the conclusion of the Great Galactic War with the Treaty of Coruscant, the Kel Dor Jedi Master Gnost-Dural made a holorecord documenting the opening battles of the conflict. In the record, the Jedi Master included the fall of Korriban and the events surrounding it.

Behind the scenes
The fall of Korriban was first introduced in Onslaught of the Sith Empire, the sixth installment of the Galactic Timeline. The timeline is a series of web videos presented as an historical accounting of the events leading up to the upcoming LucasArts video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic. The installments are available on the game's official site and are narrated by the Kel Dor Jedi Master Gnost-Dural, portrayed by actor Lance Henriksen.

Appearances

 * Timeline 6: Onslaught of the Sith Empire

Notes and references
Scharmützel um Korriban Bitwa o Korriban (3681 BBY)