Lehon

"This planet's like a technological graveyard."

- Canderous Ordo

Lehon, also referred to as Rakata, Rakata Prime, and the Unknown World, was the homeworld of the Rakata species and the capital of their Infinite Empire.

Description
"I have seen many strange worlds in my time, but this world is stranger still. I don't like this place. Something happened... or is happening here and I don't like it."

- Canderous Ordo

Lehon was a tropical world that inhabited a remote and relatively unknown corner of the galaxy. Its surface was largely covered by oceans which were dotted by numerous clusters of islands. It was the only planet in the Rakata system, but it shared an orbit around its primary star with the Star Forge, an ancient Rakatan space station and factory which drew its fuel from the sun. The planet itself was orbited by two small moons, but only one of them was close enough to be visible from the surface in daylight time. In fact, it covered a significant portion of the sky.

Infinite Empire
Millennia before the birth of the Galactic Republic, the planet was the capital of the ancient Infinite Empire of the Rakata (49,000 – 25,200 BBY). The Rakata were a scientifically advanced species, though they used their knowledge to enslave and subjugate other species. They were responsible for creating several technological marvels including the semi-sentient Star Forge, which churned out war droids and spaceships. The Rakata built large cities on their homeworld, which later became crumbling ruins reclaimed by the jungle.

The Infinite Empire, which at its peak included about 500 planets, ten billion Rakata, and over a trillion slaves, ended in a brutal civil war. During the final days of the Empire, the Rakata were forced to flee back to their homeworld due to widespread slave insurrections and the ravages of a deadly plague, but on its surface their war continued. The surviving Rakata, now extinct beyond their homeworld, succumbed to barbarism. Battling warlords severely damaged the surface of Rakata Prime through the use of weapons of mass destruction that fragmented it into islands. The majority of the species were forced to flee underground because their planet had become almost uninhabitable.

Jedi Civil War


During the reign of the Galactic Republic, various Rakatan tribes, including the tribe of the One, emerged back on to the surface of the now backwater planet, but their civilization was still one of battle and bloodshed. Only the Elders&mdash; descendants of the priest caste of the Infinite Empire &mdash;kept memories of their once glorious past alive. Only they had access to the advanced technologies their species had created long ago. They used it to isolate and guard their forbidden lore in the Temple of the Ancients.

The planet itself was protected by a disruptor field that could disable any incoming ship's communications and navigational systems. This field, operated from the summit of the Temple was originally constructed to protect the Star Forge. Over the millennia, the planet had become a technological graveyard, with its tropical islands strewn with the wreckage of spaceships unfortunate enough to have stumbled across the mysterious planet's hidden location. The planet was infested with foreign fauna including Rancors and Gizka which the Rakata said came from the sky aboard crashed ships.



Lehon was visited by Revan twice, in 3,959 BBY and 3,956 BBY, during the Jedi Civil War. Both times he used the help of the Elder Rakatan tribe to enter the Temple of the Ancients and was granted passage to the Star Forge itself. However, the first time, as Dark Lord of the Sith, he lied to the Rakata, saying that he would destroy the great factory, while in fact he wanted to claim it for himself and use it to build an immense Sith fleet to challenge the Republic. The second time, after his redemption, Revan disabled the disruptor field to allow the Republic fleet and his own ship, the Ebon Hawk, to breach the factory's defenses.

When the Star Forge was finally destroyed in a fierce battle between the Republic and the Sith, the Republic commanders — Admiral Forn Dodonna and Jedi Master Vandar Tokare — celebrated the end of the Jedi Civil War at the Temple exterior. During the ceremony, Revan and his companions were each awarded with the Cross of Glory.

Post-Civil War
With the destruction of the Star Forge, the world's ancient defenses failed. With the planet finally accessible to the galaxy, Lehon was incorporated into the Galactic Republic. However, its true nature was kept secret to avoid creating a panic or encouraging opportunists to attempt to make use of Rakatan secrets. Much of the population moved off-world, and as the gene pool diminished, the Rakata slowly died out, leaving Lehon devoid of sentient life.

Around 1,000 BBY, Darth Bane arrived on Lehon to access Darth Revan's Holocron. By that time, the planet, if not its nature, seemed to be reasonably well-known. In a battle with the Sith Lord Kas'im, Bane destroyed much of the Temple of the Ancients. The planet's fate after that encounter is unknown.

Behind the scenes
In Knights of the Old Republic, the planet was referred to as the "Unknown World".

Appearances

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