Sith Empire (Jedi Civil War)

The Sith Empire was founded by Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Revan, and his apprentice, Darth Malak, as a dark side organization in direct opposition to the Galactic Republic and its Jedi defenders. Built upon a hardened core of veterans from the Mandalorian Wars and a host of Jedi converts, the fledgling new galactic power very nearly succeeded in conquering the Republic during the Jedi Civil War. After the conversion of Revan and death of Malak, the Empire splintered into factions before finally dissolving entirely around 3,951 BBY.

The founding
Towards the end of the Mandalorian Wars, the Republic's Jedi commander Revan visited the ancient Trayus Academy on the Sith world of Malachor V. There, he fell under the influence of the dark side. While unearthing the planet's buried secrets, Revan discovered evidence that the ancient Sith Empire still existed beyond the boundaries of known space and continued to pose a threat to the Galaxy. Perhaps more importantly, he found historical traces of the forgotten Star Forge, a treasure of the Rakatan Infinite Empire.

Not long after, Revan forced a final battle with the Mandalorians above Malachor V. During the conflict, he drew on the Sith power of the planet to draw the Jedi to the dark side. After ending the Mandalorian Wars with a crushing victory, Revan and his friend Malak led the remainder of their forces (a third of the Republic's fleet) into the Unknown Regions under the pretense of tracking down the remaining Mandalorians, but they did not come back, and sent no word of their whereabouts. In time, the Republic feared them lost in some tragic disaster.

From the deck of the Star Forge, hidden in the unmapped Rakata system, Revan founded a new Sith Empire. Adapting the teachings of the ancient Sith to his own needs, he took his friend Malak as his apprentice. Revan became 'Darth' Revan and christened himself Dark Lord of the Sith. A year after their apparent disappearance, Revan and Malak returned at the head of a massive invasion fleet made up of Republic vessels such as the Leviathan, as well as strange hybrid technologies built by the Star Forge. They were crewed by experienced ex-Republic veterans, and commanded by some of the finest officers that the Republic had produced including Admiral Saul Karath, General Derred, and Mon Halan. Calling themselves the Sith, they declared war on the Republic.

The Jedi Civil War


With Darth Revan at the helm, the Sith invasion was all but unstoppable. His Sith Assassins secretly flooded into the Republic from their base on Malachor V, killing and/or abducting Jedi throughout Republic space. In Sith outposts on Lehon, Dxun, and Korriban, Revan's most faithful servants broke captured Jedi and led them to the dark side. The Sith conspired with Czerka Corporation, one of the richest and most powerful galaxy-spanning companies of the time, to amass much needed resources. They also secured a place on the ocean planet of Manaan, thanks to the native Selkath neutrality, and so were able to export the healing agent kolto to their forces.



As the Sith's conquest continued unchecked, worlds began to secede to the Sith invasion fleet voluntarily, either out of fear of what had happened to Telos IV or because they believed that the corrupt and ineffectual Republic was finally about to fall.The Republic, however, still had one last card to play &mdash; the Jedi. Time and again, the Republic armadas were saved from certain destruction by the prowess of a young Jedi Padawan named Bastila Shan. During a long string of Republic losses, her skills in Battle Meditation staved off utter defeat.

When the Sith were on the brink of victory, Revan's Flagship was invaded by a Jedi strike team during an ambush. Led by Bastila, the Jedi were able to corner Revan on the bridge. Ever ambitious, Malak fired upon his master's vessel, hoping to destroy all of his enemies with one swift stroke, but all did not go as he had planned. The ship was destroyed, but the Jedi were able to escape with a captive Revan.

The betrayal of Darth Malak
After the apparent death of Revan, Malak crowned himself as the new Dark Lord of the Sith and continued his former master's war of conquest, but he did not share Revan's vision. Whereas Revan had kept key Republic infrastructure intact for the purposes of post-war rebuilding, Malak was a believer in more brutal methods. Likely ignorant of Revan's original intentions, he preferred an all-out war of destruction and carnage.



Malak's primary objective quickly became the assassination or capture of Bastila Shan. He almost got his wish when his fleet overwhelmed and boarded her flagship, the Endar Spire, during a Sith ambush over the world of Taris. Bastila managed to flee the battle in an escape pod. She was soon joined by an amnesiac Revan who had escaped the Endar Spire with the aid of Saul Karath's old protégé Captain Carth Onasi. After a fruitless quarantine and search of the planet, Darth Malak ordered Admiral Karath to destroy it. The entire surface of Taris &mdash; including all life there &mdash; was utterly obliterated during a combined sterilization operation by the Sith fleet, but Bastila and her party managed to escape and flee to the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine onboard a stolen smuggler vessel named the Ebon Hawk.



On Dantooine, they were given a quest of vital importance to the Republic &mdash; retracing Darth Revan's path to the Star Forge. After obtaining data from three damaged Rakatan Star Maps, the crew of the Ebon Hawk were captured by Saul Karath's command ship, the Leviathan. Fortunately, Bastila and her party managed to escape from their cells and confronted Saul Karath on the bridge, where he was killed. On the verge of escaping the vessel, Darth Malak arrived and faced them. During the confrontation, Revan's true identity was revealed and Bastila sacrificed herself so that he and the others could escape. She was captured by Malak and after being tortured, she fell to the dark side and became his new apprentice.

The fall


Having discovered the ancient Star Maps on Dantooine, Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban, Revan and his crew were able to piece together the location of the Star Forge. The Republic armadas were summoned to Lehon and a massive space battle took place between the Republic and Sith forces. After a confrontation with Revan, Bastila returned to the light side and betrayed her master by using her Battle Meditation to aid the Republic forces. The Second Sith War ended as Darth Malak died at the hands of his old master. With Malak gone and the Star Forge destroyed, the infrastructure of the Sith Empire collapsed. The remaining Dark Jedi descended into a state of civil war and virtually wiped themselves out.

Small skirmishes led by ex-Sith forces continued for the next few years, until much of what Revan had built was undone. In time, three new Sith Lords soon arose to take control of a remnant of the Empire, but they were never strong enough to directly challenge the Republic. The fragile alliance between Darth Nihilus, Darth Sion, and Darth Traya which almost completely decimated the Jedi was eventually destroyed by the Jedi Exile, bringing an end to the Sith legacy that Revan had begun. Revan, meanwhile, had disappeared from known space, apparently continuing his previous tactics to take the ancient Sith Empire on by himself.

Government and politics
The organization of Darth Revan's Sith Empire was surprisingly similar to that of Darth Sidious' Galactic Empire. Following the dissolution of the ancient First Sith Empire circa 5,000 BBY, the former capital world of Ziost fell by the wayside, and was nearly forgotten. After the defeat of Exar Kun in 3,996 BBY, a number of his former Sith disciples fled to the far reaches of the galaxy, including the territory of the former Sith Empire. During the intervening three-and-a-half decades, the mausoleum planet Korriban was occupied by those who ultimately became the true heirs-apparent to Kun's mantle; it was during a trip there following the Mandalorian Wars that Revan and Malak encountered the most recent Dark Lords of the Sith (an unknown number) and defeated them &mdash; thereby ascending to the rank themselves. Under the two ex-Jedi, Korriban thus became the new capital of the Sith Empire, and began to attract ever-growing numbers of students and acolytes to the burgeoning Sith Academy there. The planet's status as Ziost's successor was complete.



The guiding principle of the Empire was natural selection or survival of the fittest. Even the lowliest grunts were encouraged to compete for positions of power through any means necessary. While this means of promotion created a tense and divisive system of governance, it nevertheless ensured a powerful and capable military. Revan and Malak were the supreme rulers of the Empire and their strength and charisma alone kept their minions in check.

The Sith had a unique way of managing conquered territories. A single governor, often a Dark Jedi, would be posted on each world and housed within an embassy which would contain a security force large enough to keep the planet under control. The Sith fleet was often on the move which allowed even the Dark Lord of the Sith to command from the front lines. All of these structures were designed to expedite the support and deployment of the Empire's military forces, rather than to provide a sedate governing body such as the Galactic Republic.

The Sith Academy on Korriban followed similar rules. Prospective students learned to care only for themselves and to be ruthlessly independent. Additionally, the Master of the academy could, at any time, be succeeded by his apprentice.

Military


Upon their return to known space, the Sith were well equipped for battle. The new Sith Empire's fleets were primarily dominated by stolen Republic vessels during the early stages of the Jedi Civil War, but they were soon supplemented by a host of starships built by the Star Forge. The Star Forge itself served as a primary staging ground and command center.

Navy

 * Interdictor-class Cruisers such as the Leviathan were among the finest Republic vessels of the time period.
 * An unknown class of Republic cruiser exemplified by the Ravager.
 * Sith fighters were a strange hybrid of technologies created by the Star Forge.
 * Two types of Sith freighters were also used throughout the Empire. They were equipped with rudimentary defenses and possibly served as bombing craft.

Army

 * Sith Officers were the army and naval troops of the Military.
 * Sith troopers served as the shock troops of the army.
 * Dark Jedi were Jedi converts that formed the backbone of the Sith ground forces.
 * Sith Assassins were used exclusively to hunt, capture, or kill Jedi.
 * Various forms of battle droids were mass produced by the Star Forge for attack and defense purposes. Known variants included the following:
 * War droid-series were the only known android battle droid series used by the Sith Empire.
 * Assault droid Mark IV were quadrupedal battle droids which were often used to guard their military bases.

Astrography
The full extent of Revan and Malak's Sith Empire would remain unknown. Just prior to the defeat at the Battle of Lehon, some higher-ranking Sith officials estimated that it would only be a matter of months before the Sith encroached upon the inner Core Worlds themselves, with the Republic's fall projected shortly thereafter.



During the Sith Empire's height, the Empire governed a large swath of the Outer Rim, including much of what was formerly known as Sith Space.

Known member worlds

 * Dantooine
 * Dxun
 * Korriban
 * Lehon
 * Malachor V
 * Taris

Appearances

 * Knights of the Old Republic: Opportunities
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords