IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
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HISTORY OF THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE (Legends):
(Written By SimoTheFinlandized - (c) 2021 CE)
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IN THE BEGINNING...
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Some thirteen billion years before the Battle Of Yavin,
an immense cloud of gas and dust collapsed under its
own gravity and coalesced to form a revolving disk,
creating the galaxy. Over many more billions of years,
the stars and planets began to form. By 5,000,000,000
BBY, life had begun to evolve in the galaxy, with some
of the earliest examples of non-sentient life developing
on the planet Goroth Prime. Around 2,000,000 BBY,
many of the galaxy's most well-known species were
evolving: the Wookiees began on Kashyyyk as a species
of tree-climbers. The Oracle Of Pelgrin, quite possibly the
oldest artifact in the galaxy, was believed to date from this
period. By 200,000 BBY, the Zhell, ancient ancestors to the
Humans, had developed an advanced stellar fusion-age
civilization and were waging war against the near-human
Taungs for control of their mutual homeworld of Notron,
later known as Coruscant.
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THE EARLIEST CIVLIZATIONS:
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By 100,000 BBY, a mysteriously ancient yet extremely
highly-advanced race known as the Celestials dominated
the entire galaxy. Also known as the Architects, this
spectacularly powerful Force-Sensitive race was believed
to have been capable of manipulating and moving the
very stars: surviving Celestial machinery like Centerpoint
Station and the Cosmic Turbine could manipulate gravity
on a titanic scale with repulsor pulses, tractor beams, and
hyperspace wormholes. With this technology, the Celestials
were believed to have been responsible for building the
Corellian system, the Vultar system, and at least 15 other
star systems, as well as the Hapes Cluster, the Kathol Rift,
and the Maw black hole cluster. Pre-Republic specialists
believed the Celestials to also be responsible for the
hyperspace disturbance beyond the edge of the galaxy,
possibly as a defense against outside interference. They
were also believed to be responsible for the chain of
hyperspace anomalies west of the Core that bisected
the galaxy and prevented travel into the Unknown Regions.
Speculation holds that the Celestials had crafted the hyperspace
anomalies that bisected the galaxy in order to contain the
Rakata's Infinite Empire. A number of other advanced
space-faring races around this time became servants
and clients of the Celestials. The insectile Killiks of
Alderaan were exploited as laborers and were seeded
across the galaxy, until around 30,000 BBY when they
disappeared into the west of the galaxy and into the
Unknown Regions, presumably relocated by the Celestials.
The Kwa and Gree species made use of FTL-space-travel
structures known as the Infinity Gates and Hypergates,
respectively, to travel between planets and star-systems,
and thus came into territorial conflict with each other.
Other advanced species fled to escape the Celestials:
the Sharu Civilization of the Rafa system located far in
the galactic east had a brief period of expansion,
spreading their iconic plastic pyramid cities as far into
the Core as Aargau, but this may have attracted the
attention of the Celestials and the Sharu thus buried
their great pyramid-cities and sought refuge in primitivism
in order to escape them. Likewise, the Columi of the planet
Columus made surveys of both the Humans and the Duros
in the Core Region and were unimpressed by what they found,
but also fled back to their homeworld, perhaps to avoid
retribution from the Celestials.
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RISE OF THE RAKATAN INFINITE EMPIRE:
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Around 35,000 BBY, the domain of the Celestials was
usurped when the imperialist Dark-Force-sensitive
Rakata slave race revolted. Stealing both very highly-
advanced technology and the knowledge of utilizing
the Force from the Kwa Civilization, they waged war
against the many other servant races, and broke through
the barrier surrounding the Unknown Regions into the
galaxy proper and waged a war of complete extermination
upon the Celestials. The eventual fate of the Celestials was
unclear. They may have been trapped inside the galaxy by
their barrier and destroyed by the Rakata slave-revolt, or
they may have escaped through the barrier. By 30,000 BBY,
the Celestials were nowhere to be found, and the Rakata's
Infinite Empire had taken center stage. The newly-arisen
advanced space-faring Rakata species fanned out from
their homeworld of Lehon in the Tempered Wastes of the
Unknown Regions, using FTL hyperdrives that channelled
the power of the Force to guide them to worlds with strong
Force signatures. The Infinite Empire occupied a considerable
scattering of systems across the galaxy, but very vast tracts
of territory between these holdings remained untouched,
allowing smaller interstellar confederations to flourish.
The Devaronians and the Gossam experimented with the
tumble hyperdrive and scouted to explore the galaxy, and
while worlds like Coruscant, Corellia and Duro were occupied
by the Rakata, the native-species of the Humans, Duros,
Selonians and Drall were able to study the principles of
the Rakatan FTL force-hyperdrive. The Rakata proved to be
exceedingly cruel masters, consigning entire subject
populations to bitter slavery. After nearly five thousand
years of dominance, the Rakata-ruled Infinite Empire
collapsed after a devastating plague swept through the
Empire that stripped the Rakata of their ability to use the
Force. A massive colonial slave revolt finished off the empire
by 25,200 BBY.
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RISE OF THE GALACTIC REPUBLIC:
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The decline of the Infinite Empire coincided with the
reverse-engineering and perfection of Rakata hyperdrive
technology by the other species of the galaxy. Developing
technological replacements to its Force-based components,
various advanced space-faring species struck out from their
homeworlds, first with slower-than-light sleeper-ship colonies,
followed by the development of the rather unpredictable
hyperspace cannon. Through this re-use of Rakatan castoffs,
a number of civilizations asserted themselves: the Humans and
Duros dominated the Galactic Core, while the cetacean Herglics
built up their own trade empire to the south. On the Rim, Human
sleeper-ship colonies formed the Tionese civilization, which was
united into a single powerful empire by a Tionese warlord named
Xim The Despot, before coming into conflict with the empire of
the kleptocratic mafia-style slug-like Hutts. This period coincided
with the beginning of the Jedi Order on the planet Tython with its
studies of the Force, as well as the religious rivalry between
understandings of the light and dark sides of the Force.
Conflict between the Jedi and the Dark Jedi would assert
itself several times throughout galactic history, a cycle that
would continue beyond the Yuuzhan-Vong War. In 25,000 BBY,
in the aftermath of the Unification Wars, the various highly-advanced
space-faring planetary-states of the Core assembled on the
city-planet of Coruscant and signed the Galactic Constitution,
establishing a civilization under a common law, language and
currency, proclaiming the Galactic Republic. The Republic
united the largely-Human Core Worlds, and the Core-World
Founders included prominent political players like Coruscant
/ Alsakan / Corellia / Duro / Kuat / Alderaan, powerful
military-strongholds like the Azure Imperium based on
Axum / Anaxes / Esseles / Rendili, emerging commercial
hubs like Tepasi / Brentaal IV / Humbarine, and worlds
important to the medical, diplomatic and philosophical
arts, like Chandrila / Caamas / Rhinnal / Shawken.
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THE EXPANSIONIST ERA:
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The Expansionist Era coincided with the foundation of the
Galactic Republic and saw the beginnings of the official
charting and settlement of much of the galaxy's eastern
spiral. Scouts pushing east from Coruscant moved up two
trade routes, the Perlemian Trade Route and the Corellian Run,
which formed the boundaries of a vast wedge of space known
as "the Slice". At the end of the Corellian Run lay Kalarba, a
trade hub maintained by the merchants of Paqwepori, while
the Perlemian led to the trade worlds of Tirahnn, Nouane, and
Roche. No similar corridors were found to the galactic west,
which resulted in much of that quadrant of the galaxy remaining
unexplored and mysterious, becoming known as the Unknown
Regions. This expansion saw the Galactic Republic come into
conflict with the advanced space-faring Human civilizations of
the Tion Cluster. After its victory in 24,000 BBY, the Galactic
Republic swelled with more territory than it could initially
govern as many systems clamored for protection against the
depredations of the Hutt Domains.
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THE GREAT MANIFEST AND INDECTA ERAS:
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The Great Manifest Period began in 20,000 BBY with the
widespread settling of the eastern Slice, with the dense
web of star-systems at its tip becoming known as the
Arrowhead. This region became heavily-dominated by
Coruscant while Corellia dominated settlement around
the Corellian Run. Rivalry between Coruscant and Alsakan
over policy on the Perlemian Trade Route sparked the First
Alsakan Conflict in 17,000 BBY, the start of the Indecta Era,
and though peace would be brokered between the two, the
Alsakan Conflicts would continue in an abbreviated form for
some 14,000 years. The first five Alsakan Conflicts also
discouraged settlement along the Perlemian, pushing
colonists to the Corellian Hegemony in the Trailing Sectors
along the Corellian Run and the growing Corellian Trade Spine.
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THE KYMOODON ERA:
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The Kymoodon Era, opening in 15,000 BBY, ushered another
colonization boom on par with the Great Manifest Period.
Improvements in the hyperdrive allowed many odd pockets
of colonization to spring up in the unexplored northern and
southern quadrants, and the Herglic Trade Empire joined the
Republic, beginning a surge in development around the
Hidakai Pool, which would become the Rimma Trade
Route. However, the era stored up the seeds for future
conflict, as the Republic's borders increasingly abutted
those of Hutt Space, leaving isolated colonies open to
raids by Hutt slavers.
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THE PIUS DEA ERA:
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Widespread resentment of the Hutt Empire on the Rim was
tapped by a statesman named Contispex I and the
humanocentric Pius-Dea religious sect to begin a series
of Crusades against the Hutts in 12,000 BBY. The millennia-long
Pius Dea Era would see many non-Human species conquered,
persecuted, or exterminated until the Contispex political-dynasty
was overthrown by the Jedi Order, and would foment extreme
resentment among the species of the Rim. The subsequent
Ductavis Era and Rianitus Period from 11,000-8000 BBY would
be periods of retrenchment and rebuilding following the
Crusades.
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THE RISE OF THE SITH ORDER:
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The Subterra Period of 8000-7000 BBY saw new mapping
of the galactic southern quadrant, with colonies such as
Malastare serving as anchors for the tangles of praediums
that linked the region. Scouts also penetrated the Rishi Maze
around this time. However, the lack of a super-hyperroute into
the southern quadrant and the new colonies' general inaccessibility
promoted lawlessness in the Rim and limited Coruscant's authority,
which was believed to have contributed to the Second Great
Schism of the Jedi Order in 7003 BBY, beginning a galaxy-wide
uprising of Dark Jedi known as the Hundred-Year Darkness. In
the war's aftermath, the defeated Dark Jedi were exiled beyond
the Rim into the unexplored space north of the Perlemian. There,
the Exiles settled the worlds of Korriban and Ziost within the
Stygian Caldera, where they dominated the native Sith and
established an empire.
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WAR WITH THE SITH-ORDER AND MANDALORIANS:
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During the Manderon Period, the Corellian Trade Spine and the
Rimma Trade Route were established in 5500 BBY after the
Herglics, Givin and Corellians linked together hundreds of
pre-existing praediums, improving access to the southern
quadrant. In 5000 BBY, the Sith Empire was rediscovered by
the Republic, beginning the Great Hyperspace War when the
Sith Lord Naga Sadow attempted to conquer the Republic.
The Sith were defeated and once again driven into exile, but
it was the beginning of a threat that would trouble the Republic
for the remainder of its existence. A thousand years later in
4000 BBY, Sith teachings discovered on Korriban and Onderon
enticed the Jedi Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma to the dark side,
beginning the Great Sith War. The Sith's alliance with the
Mandalorians, a group of warrior-nomads descended from the
Taungs, in that war would prove to be the genesis of another
threat to the Republic with the Mandalorian Wars. The Republic
endured nearly fifty years of almost continuous fighting known
as the Old Sith Wars as a result of Exar Kun until the Sith Empire
was destroyed in 3950 BBY by the redeemed Sith Lord Revan.
By 3700 BBY, the galaxy had been charted and settled as far
as Farana in the north and Malastare in the south, but much
of the northern and southern quadrants beyond the trade
routes remained unsettled. At that time, however, the
Brentaal-born explorer Freia Kallea extended the ancient
Brentaal–Denon Route and linked several pre-exisiting
praediums. By 3693 BBY, she had expanded the trade
routes south of Denon as far as Imynusoph, mapping
the full length of the Hydian Way, the only super-hyperroute
to span the length of the galaxy. The ease with which vessels
could now reach the northern and southern quadrants greatly
expanded the Republic's footprint into the New Territories and
the Western Reaches and opened up countless new sources
of minerals, crystals and gases. From 3681-3642 BBY, however,
the Republic endured decades of war and tension with a
resurgent Sith Empire formed by exiles from the Great
Hyperspace War, led by the Sith Emperor Vitiate. A
second Galactic War broke out between the two in
3642 BBY, and chaos reigned until the Sith Emperor's
redoubt of the Eternal Empire was defeated.
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THE DRAGGULCH PERIOD:
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In the wars' aftermath, the galaxy enjoyed several centuries of
relative prosperity, which ended in 2000 BBY with the dawn of the
Draggulch Period and the start of the New Sith Wars when the
Jedi Master Phanius proclaimed himself Darth Ruin. In the
ensuing millennium of fighting between the Republic and
the New Sith, the Republic almost collapsed, culminating in the
Republic Dark Age in the final century, when the Republic's
authority effectively ceased to exist beyond the major trade
routes and the HoloNet communications network ceased to
function. The New Sith Wars finally ended when the Army of
Light led by the Jedi Lord Hoth defeated Skere Kaan's
Brotherhood of Darkness at the Seventh Battle of Ruusan.
A single Sith Lord, Darth Bane, escaped to establish a new
Sith order, while Supreme Chancellor Tarsus Valorum
proclaimed the Ruusan Reformations, which rebuilt the
Republic from the ground up.
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THE GREAT PEACE AND THE AGE OF CALAMITY:
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The Republic's final millennium was largely peaceful, but the
provisions of the Ruusan Reformations led to an increase in
lawlessness in the Outer Rim Territories, which eventually
found itself largely controlled by megacorporations or
criminal cartels. This dissatisfaction was stoked into a
Separatist movement by the Sith, which had spent a
millennium in hiding. Orchestrating the Clone Wars,
the Order of the Sith Lords managed to destroy the
Jedi Order and restore their Empire under Darth Sidious.
Sidious dissolved the Republic and replaced it with the
short-lived Galactic Empire, and eventually dissolved the
Republic's trappings completely. A legacy of Imperial rule
was the opening and widespread settlement of the Deep Core,
as well as the charting and exploration of much of the
Unknown Regions. The Empire lasted for two decades
of tyranny, but after the Galactic Civil War and the death
of Darth Sidious at the hands of Anakin and Luke Skywalker,
a New Republic was established from an alliance of free
worlds. Despite this, the remnants of the Empire would
continue to resist the new government for over a decade
before finally signing a peace treaty.
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THE YUUZHAN-VONG WARS:
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The Yuuzhan Vong War was a watershed moment in galactic
history, marking the first time that the galaxy had been invaded
by an extra-galactic power, and the savagery of the war would
influence galactic politics for over a century afterwards. Not
long after the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War, an
extra-galactic species known as the Yuuzhan Vong
launched an invasion of the galaxy. The Yuuzhan Vong
War devastated much of the galaxy, including Coruscant,
and cost the lives of some 365 trillion beings, though they
were eventually defeated by a new Galactic Alliance of the
Imperial Remnant, the remnants of the New Republic, and a
host of the galaxy's lesser powers. Another outcome of the
war was a normalisation of relations between the galaxy
proper and the Chiss Ascendancy, the dominant power of
the Unknown Regions. Within a few decades, stable
hyperroutes and colonies had been established into
the region and had removed much of its mystery.
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THE LEGACY ERA:
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Some of the Yuuzhan Vong were incorporated in the galactic
community, but the post-Yuuzhan Vong War galaxy proved
incredibly difficult to govern, resulting in a Second Galactic
Civil War between the Galactic Alliance and a Confederation
led by Corellia. Within a century, the Galactic Empire had been
restored under the Fel dynasty, although this time without Sith
backing. Ultimately, however, the Fel Empire was manipulated
by the One Sith, led by Darth Krayt, to declare war upon the
Galactic Alliance after the Sith exploited lingering hatred of
the Yuuzhan Vong to to make it appear that they were planning
to re-conquer the galaxy. The One Sith usurped the Imperial
throne shortly afterwards, forming a new Sith empire, but the
resulting war between the Sith and the Galactic Alliance
Remnant and the Fel-loyalist Empire-in-exile resulted in the
Sith's defeat. Thereafter, the Galactic Alliance became the
dominant government in the galaxy once again.
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