Massacre at Ossus

"I know the Jedi from old. They could never share my vision. Two days ago the Jedi Temple on Coruscant fell. Today, at their academy on Ossus, the last of the Jedi will die."

- Darth Krayt

The Massacre at Ossus was a conflict which occurred in 130 ABY, two days after the fall of Coruscant. With the capture of Coruscant, the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances surrendered to the forces of the new Galactic Empire, and it appeared that once again the galaxy was under the control of a single organized government. Nonetheless, Darth Krayt influenced events to stage a coup in order to take over the Empire and institute himself as Emperor of the galaxy. Krayt believed that in order for his coup to be successful, he must first eliminate any potential threats to his rule&mdash;thus, he reasoned, the Jedi Order had to be destroyed. The conflict resulted in the death of many Jedi who had left Coruscant two days earlier, and went to Ossus. Unfortunately for Darth Krayt's plan, about half of the order remained at large, as they had left for other planets after Coruscant's fall.

The Massacre at Ossus witnessed the deaths of countless Jedi at the hands of the Sith who attacked. Darth Krayt was successful at raiding the temple, yet many of the Order was elsewhere in the galaxy, as they had not all gathered there yet. Among those killed was the Jedi Master Kol Skywalker as he made a defiant last stand against the overwhelming might of the Sith forces. Few Padawans were able to escape in Jedi Shuttles. This Massacre would also influence Cade Skywalker, Kol's son, to leave the Order, as he felt his father's absence would make it hard on him to continue serving the same Order his father died for. This conflict might have also ultimately driven Cade towards the dark side, as he unconsciously began to feel his father's death was the Jedi Order's fault.

Prelude
"Once, the Empire destroyed the Jedi Order. I will not permit it to do so again. The Jedi will withdraw from the Temple on Coruscant to their academy on Ossus. It is my explicit order that they be allowed to do so."

- Roan Fel

Much of Galactic Alliance was absorbed into the Empire at the end of the Sith-Imperial War, but the reigning Emperor, Roan Fel, knew that while the Alliance had surrendered, the Jedi would stay true to the will of the Force. He also knew that the Jedi would, under no circumstances, ally themselves with an Empire that had sided with the Sith. Still, he appreciated their value and worth, and had no desire to follow the example of previous Imperial rulers. He wanted to make them allies of his Empire, possibly to defend his Order from Darth Krayt's Sith Order. Unknown to him was that, that relationship between his Empire and the Jedi Order could never happen. The Jedi would never be loyal to an Empire supporting Siths, something Darth Krayt knew and one of the main reasons he planned the Massacre.



As was expected, the Jedi rejected the Emperor's call for surrender and half of them withdrew to the Jedi Academy at Ossus, the remainder of the Order scattered across the galaxy. Two days later, an Imperial task force under the command of Moff Rulf Yage was dispatched to Ossus. Fel's order and understanding was that this was to be a diplomatic mission, and his hope was to convince the Jedi to ally themselves with the Empire much as the Imperial Knights had. Under no circumstances, he made clear, were Yage's troops to initiate hostilities.

What Fel did not count on was that the Sith would intervene at a lower level than his. Their leader, Darth Krayt, had known the Jedi from decades previous and knew that even if they agreed to work with Fel, they would never accept the direction that Krayt intended to take the galaxy. He intended on taking Fel's Empire for himself. The Jedi would never even allow a Sith as Emperor so if his vision of order was to be fulfilled, the Jedi had to die to the last being. His agent, Darth Maladi, approached Grand Admiral Morlish Veed with direct instructions from him: Yage's forces were to attack and destroy the Ossus academy, and Krayt would be sending agents of his own to assist. Lest he be made to appear an idiot later, Veed agreed to countermand Fel's order and make it look like his own idea.

The massacre
"I am Kol Skywalker, servant of the living Force! None of you will pass!"

- Kol Skywalker

The combined Sith/Imperial attack, commanded by Darth Nihl and Yage respectively, proved devastating to the Jedi Order. Many Jedi were killed, along with numerous Yuuzhan Vong warriors and shapers who were present at the time of the attack. Kol Skywalker, understanding that the odds against the Jedi were insurmountable, chose to fight by himself to hold back the joint Sith/Imperial force, giving his son Cade Skywalker and several other Jedi apprentices enough time to escape into hyperspace on various Jedi Shuttles.



Cade Skywalker, however, could not stand by and watch his father die at the hands of the Sith. Disregarding his father's orders to flee, Cade left the shuttle containing the apprentices and proceeded to fight by his father's side. Nonetheless, Kol reasoned with Cade and was able to convince him to take Master Sazen, who had been wounded in the fight, and leave the planet. Obeying his father, Cade boarded the last Jedi shuttle to leave Ossus, not knowing what would soon become of his father.

Meanwhile, Kol made a last stand against the overwhelming numbers of advancing Sith, and though he was able to kill a large number of them, he was eventually killed by Darth Nihl. Cade, however, upon sensing his father's death in the Force, took a X-83 TwinTail starfighter docked on the shuttle, and attempted to make his way back to Ossus. The ensuing dogfight with the enemy starfighters witnessed the apparent death of Cade.

Aftermath
The Sith suffered their own casualties, along with the Imperial forces. But the attack was not the all-destroying blow Krayt had wished. Because they had not waited until all the Jedi had gathered at Ossus, more than half of the order was elsewhere during the attack and remained at large. Not only had Krayt made Darth Sidious's mistake again, but he had been far less comprehensive in destroying the order than Sidious had been. Krayt had not been patient for the rest of the Order to arrive on Ossus. This, however, proved to still be somewhat an efficient move, as Cade would leave the Order because of his father's death, and this event would drag him closer to the dark side, ultimately making him a Sith.

The massacre was also the event that forced the Sith to move openly against Emperor Fel. Fel's anger at having his specific orders disobeyed outright moved him to assemble the Moff Council in special session to deal with Veed and his lover and ally, Moff Nyna Calixte. Krayt understood that Fel was no longer of use, so before Fel could act, Krayt launched a daring palace revolution to oust Fel and place himself on the throne, the first Sith Lord to rule the majority of the Galaxy since the reign of Caedus.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Legacy 8: Allies
 * Star Wars Legacy 1: Broken, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy 2: Broken, Part 2
 * Star Wars Legacy 3: Broken, Part 3
 * Star Wars Legacy 5: Broken, Part 4
 * Star Wars Legacy 6: Broken, Part 5
 * Star Wars Legacy 7: Broken, Part 6
 * Star Wars Legacy 9: Trust Issues, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy 11: Ghosts, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy 12: Ghosts, Part 2
 * Star Wars Legacy 15: Claws of the Dragon, Part 2