Sith Empire (Great Sith War)

"I am here to warn you Jedi, you must not interfere with the work of the dark side. The Dark Lords of the Sith are destined to rise again. Nothing can prevent that.''" "You can't frighten us with useless prophecies. I thought Master Arca drove you away when he buried your bones on that barren moon." "Arca cannot interfere with the dead&hellip;nor can he help you, poor Jedi, to avoid your destiny." "What are you talking about?" "You&hellip;will be one of the great ones''."

- Freedon Nadd tells Ulic Qel-Droma of his destiny as a Sith Lord

The Sith Empire of Exar Kun was a government of the Sith ruled by Kun during the Great Sith War. As a ambitious and power-hungry Jedi, Kun became deeply immersed in forbidden knowledge of the ancient Sith Lords and during his journey to the dark side decided to restore the Sith Empire, by toppling the Galactic Republic and crushing the Jedi Order.

The fall of another Jedi Knight (Ulic Qel-Droma), establishment of Krath cult in the Empress Teta System, corruption of the Mecrosa Order by Sith teachings in the Tapani sector, and alliance with warlike Mandalorian Crusaders provided Exar Kun, the newly christened Dark Lord of the Sith, with necessary means to wage a short-lived, but very devastating war against the Republic and the Jedi. However inner tensions, great consolidation of the Jedi forces and betrayal by his Sith apprentice led to Kun's defeat. After the Empire's collapse, many of its remnants and former leaders sought to restore it to power; ultimately, it would be resurrected in the form of the new Sith Empire of Darth Revan and Darth Malak.

History
More than four centuries after the fall of the Sith Empire, the fallen Jedi Freedon Nadd discovered two artifacts that the Jedi Shadows had failed to destroy. The first was Adas's holocron and the second, the spirit of Naga Sadow himself which Nadd uses to absorb himself in the teachings of the Sith. After communing with the long dead Sith Lord, Freedon Nadd destroyed Sadow's spirit and later used his newly acquired power to bring about the Freedon Nadd Uprising, whereupon he was defeated though like Sadow; Nadd's spirit remained on Onderon. Despite his defeat, Nadd's teachings would yet lead to a new Sith Empire.

In 3,997 BBY, a young Jedi known as Exar Kun became curious about the teachings of the Sith and was thus lured to the Dark Side by the ghost of Freedon Nadd. His actions led to the Great Sith War, which tore the galaxy apart and instigated the fall of Ulic Qel-Droma and recruited many Jedi into his Brotherhood of the Sith. This led to a shortly reborn Sith Empire under his reign which caused great destruction. One of the many Sith inspired cults that formed after the conflict was the Krath, who had learned much of their power from Sith artifacts that survived the Great Hyperspace War. This group later allied with Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma in the Great Sith War. It was the Krath who were responsible for uncovering the dreaded Sith weapon known as the Dark Reaper and used it during the conflict. The rule of this empire continued until Kun's defeat at Yavin 4 in 3,996 BBY.

Government and Politics
The Sith Empire was a magocratic and theocratic state. Its leader was the Dark Lord of the Sith (Exar Kun) alongside with his Sith apprentice, another Sith Lord (Ulic Qel-Droma), who was his second-in-command, though this Sith Lord was quite independent regarding making political and military decisions. Other positions of power included Emperor/Empress of the Empress Teta system (Aleema Keto, Ulic Qel-Droma), Krath Council based in Cinnagar (subordinates to the rulers of the Empress Teta system), Mandalore, the supreme leader of the Mandalorian Crusaders and Grand Master of the Mecrosa Order (High Lady Brezwalt III). These all officials led their own organizations in any way that pleased them, but were obliged to obey the orders issued by both Sith Lords.

Just like the Jedi Order protected the Galactic Republic, the Sith Empire had its own state religious body called the Brotherhood of the Sith. It consisted of the Jedi corrupted by Sith magic, fallen Jedi, who joined on their own free will (Dark Jedi) and various Sith Warriors like Sith Marauders. They were supported by the Krath cultists and Mecrosa Order assassins. The predecessor of the Sith Brotherhood was Naddists, a Sith cult ruled by King and Queen of Onderon, which was defeated before the establishment of the Sith Empire.

The spiritual leader of the Empire was the ancient Dark Lord of the Sith (Freedon Nadd), who had a big impact, both on the development of the Brotherhood of the Sith and Krath. However, his authority was challenged and he ceased to exist due to the actions of his successor.

The main goal of the Empire was to overthrow the Republic and annihilate the Jedi Order, so its policy was to sow chaos and discord on a high level in the galaxy. Although its leaders intended to build a new Sith Empire on the model of the ancient one and bring back traditions of the Golden Age of the Sith, destruction of their enemies was a top priority for them and was more important than gaining new territories like planets and hyperspace routes. Therefore the Empire was known for its horrible atrocities, fondness for slavery, genocidal actions and worlds devastation. However its forces managed to conquer some Republic worlds and gain footholds in various parts of the galaxy. It signed a non-aggression pact with the Hutts in the first year of the war.

The factions of the Empire divided responsibilities between each other. The Sith Brotherhood devoted most of its time and effort to fight the Jedi Order and was remembered in the history for planning and executing the methodical killing of famous Jedi Masters, event which came to be known as Jedi pogrom. The Mecrosa Order produced additional Force-using assassins. The Krath and Mandalorian Crusaders led military campaigns against the Republic mostly separately, but sometimes they took part in joint-military operations, including Battle of Foerost and Battle of Coruscant. Both factions carried on spectacular terrorist raids on Republic shipyards.

Military
The military forces of the Sith Empire was a mix of weapons of war (battleships, Force-powered superweapons), battle droids and organic forces. The commander-in-chief was Exar Kun, who approved strategic attacks. Brotherhood of the Sith, Krath and Mandolorians had their own command structure, but there was a coordinator between them - a fallen Jedi Knight, Ulic Qel-Droma. He was the second Sith Lord and Kun's apprentice, co-ruler of the Empress Teta system, supreme commander of the Krath military forces and honorary master to Mandalore the Indomitable.

The army consisted mainly of well-trained soldiers and fighters, including Tetan shock troopers, Krath troops, Mandalorian Crusaders, Massassi soldiers, Sith Marauders, Sith Acolytes, Dark Jedi, Mecrosa Order assassins, and other Darksiders. There were also brainwashed followers, who participated in suicide missions (Chaos troopers). The Empire deployed also battle droids like Krath war droids, designed to fight the Jedi, and Basilisk war droids, produced and used by the Mandalorians.

The fleet boasted with Supremacy-class attack ships, Tetan warships, Tetan Assault Ships, CX-133 Chaos fighters, Flying Decks, Mandalorians battleships and Republic warships stolen from the assaulted shipyards.

Sith sorcery was a powerful military tool of the Empire. Sith amulets, illusions, swords, spellbooks and holocrons sometimes decided the outcome of a duel or battle. The Sith utilized also superweapons - notable examples were the Dark Reaper and Corsair.

Astrography
During the Great Sith War, Exar Kun's Sith Empire territory was spread across the whole known galaxy, stretching from the Deep Core to the Outer Rim Territories. The following list includes worlds controlled by the various factions of this empire (Brotherhood of the Sith, Krath, Mandalorians, Mecrosa Order) as well the Republic planets conquered by Kun's forces at different times of the war.

Behind the scenes
The relation of the Sith Empire to the Brotherhood of the Sith is not said, though both are mentioned separately in the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War
 * Shadows and Light
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 33: Vindication, Part 2
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 38: Faithful Execution
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 47: Demon, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 48: Demon, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Republic Commando: Triple Zero