The New Jedi Order, having suffered the loss of the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 and the numerous deaths associated with the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, was in desperate need for reconstruction and order. Because all Jedi activities were formerly coordinated from the Massassi Temples on the jungle moon, Grand Master Luke Skywalker deemed it paramount to settle a permanent replacement for the headquarters of the Jedi Order.
During the Jedi Conclave on Zonama Sekot following the peace accords with the Yuuzhan Vong, Master Kam Solusar suggested that the new Praxeum be established on Ossus, a historical world home to the Great Jedi Library of the Old Jedi Order. Master Skywalker agreed to the proposal in 30 ABY, and the new Academy was immediately constructed.
Jedi Academy on Ossus after the vongforming.
In 36 ABY during the Swarm War, the Ossus Academy was the location of the first official "Jedi Convocation" of the New Jedi Order where Luke Skywalker declared himself the Grand Master of the Order and also declared that the Jedi would serve the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.
The Ossus Academy was not only staffed by Jedi, but also native citizens of Ossus and relations of the Jedi, who worked in many areas—including the hangar. During the height of the Academy's operations, support staff consisted of 1,200 members.
Master Mara Jade Skywalker was a strong advocate of the peaceful retreat, and established a safe and secure residence on Ossus for her child, Ben Skywalker. Masters Kam and Tionne Solusar were appointed the administrators of the Ossus Academy, dictating the structure of the curriculum, as well as appointing instructors for the various classes held there.
During the Second Galactic Civil War of 40 ABY, Jedi Jaina Solo, Zekk, and Captain Jag Fel found themselves on Ossus looking for Alema Rar, they found little activity at the Academy. This was due to the fact that the Academy was being held hostage by the Galactic Alliance Guard under the orders of Jacen Solo, who had become a Sith Lord and taken the name Darth Caedus. Jag and Jaina headed for flight control while Zekk hid in the jungle. On reaching flight control, the duo was ambushed by GAG soldiers. After all were hit by their own stun bolts, Major Salle Serpa appeared from Orame's private offices and explained the "safety" they were bringing to the Jedi. During the following weeks, Jaina stayed with the Padawans, until the guard attacked herding the younglings away from their protectors. During the attack, Jedi Masters Kam and Tionne Solusar, were seriously injured. After this event, the Jedi Order fled for the safety of a recently converted Imperial base on Endor, and later the base on Shedu Maad.
After the end of the War, the Ossus Academy was to remain empty for a time due to monetary restraints and the ongoing strife between the Jedi Order and the new Chief of State Natasi Daala. All Jedi Knights were recalled to Coruscant, while the younger students were secreted away to the Shedu Maad base. During the conflict with the Lost Tribe of Sith, the Academy had a total of 322 students and provided housing and work for their 923 family members.
After the Temple was reoccupied, the Galactic Alliance authorized a joint Yuuzhan Vong Shaper and Jedi project to terraform the war devastated planet of Ossus and bring back its original beauty. After the success of the project, many planets turned to the Yuuzhan Vong to terraform their own planets. With the help and oversight of the Jedi, the Yuuzhan Vong were assigned to terraform one hundred worlds. The results were fantastic, exceeding expectations, and would prove beneficial to the inhabitants of the planets. However, it was then that the new Sith Order, which had been established by Darth Krayt in 130 ABY, sabotaged the terraforming. As a result of this tampering, plants began mutating and the inhabitants of the planets began to sprout strange, bony growths, seen previously only in victims of the Yuuzhan Vong during the Yuuzhan Vong War.
Though the Jedi expected sabotage, the galaxy at large, particularly the Fel Empire, blamed the Yuuzhan Vong. The Galactic Alliance had supported this beneficial terraforming under the encouragement of the New Jedi Order, and found itself facing a secession movement with this deadly new development. The Empire used this to its advantage, luring member worlds—many of whom still chafed at the conduct of the New Republic during the Yuuzhan Vong War—away from the Alliance and weakening the government.
The resulting Sith–Imperial War lasted three years, during which Imperial forces reconquered Coruscant. The Alliance fell and was absorbed into the Empire. The Jedi were forced to retreat to their temple on Ossus, which was later the focus of an attack by Sith forces led by Darth Nihl and Imperial forces led by Moff Rulf Yage.
The temple is destroyed.
During the Massacre at Ossus, the Sith and Imperial forces slaughtered most of the Jedi that had gathered there, including Kol Skywalker, but about half of the Order was not present, and thus escaped the massacre, going into hiding afterward. They also shot down Cade Skywalker as he tried to avenge his father's death. Shortly after, the Sith turned against Emperor Roan Fel and his Imperial Knights.
The Temple was raided and emptied by the pirate Rav, who was aided by Cade Skywalker, days after it fell to the Sith. Shaper Nei Rin, who was off-world at the time of the attack, returned to find the temple destroyed. She and her assistants cremated Kol Skywalker and gathered all of the artifacts they could find; hiding them in an underground cave. Cade, Wolf Sazen, K'Kruhk, and Shado Vao discovered Rin and her guards and stayed under the Temple to wait out the Sith's plotting.
The Temple was eventually destroyed in 137 ABY under orders from Darth Stryfe, in an attempt to kill the Jedi taking refuge inside.
The exterior of the Garden Level.
The Academy was designed to be serene and reflective, and served as the perfect center of Jedi training and coordination. The main building adhered to the common Jedi Temple theme of a ziggurat. The base was stepped in this style and culminated in a transparisteel block that was topped by an inverted pyramid.
The main entrance to the Temple was located atop one of the four major stairs. The interior was constructed out of the same stone as the outside façade and there were many stairs leading off into dark hallways. Small squares were created to serve as the hub for foot traffic throughout the academy; places where several hallways came together. A statue of Luke Skywalker was constructed in one of these halls, though it would be toppled during the Sith invasion.
Classrooms and living quarters for the Jedi were located within the Temple ziggurat. Coupled with several other buildings, the academy was fit to house several hundred Jedi at a time. The dormitories around the academy were small one story buildings with twenty-five habitation units each. Initiates were placed into clans and slept in those groups within. During the GAG invasion, the initiates were kept in these buildings until rounded up in an outside pavilion.
Between the two pyramids was a block of reflective transparisteel that housed the Garden Level. Similar to the Room of a Thousand Fountains on Coruscant, the room housed Ossan plants and waterfalls. After the conception of the Ossus Project, the room was used to test Yuuzhan Vong plant life and served as a base for Master Shaper Nei Rin and her assistants.
The upper layers of the academy were housed within the inverted pyramid that rested above the Garden Level. The outer halls were lined with windows which provided 360 degree views of the surrounding geography. Also in the upper layers of the academy were several conference rooms and the Jedi Council chambers. Rectories and the offices of Jedi Masters were also known to fill the upper most levels.
Upon the inverted pyramid's roof was a landing platform for larger vessels. As such, the visitor's quarters were located just below, so as not to intrude upon the Temple's student's daily routines. The roof served also as a place where older students were sent for the Meditation of Emptiness. During Cade Skywalker's meditation, he relived his first day after the massacre, and was visited by the forceful Force ghost of his ancestor Luke Skywalker, who commanded that he save fellow Jedi Hosk Trey'lis. Near the top of the academy was the Rhysode Room, a formal meeting room for visiting delegates that departed from the Temple's typical simple and peaceful style of furnishing.
When away from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Master Tionne Solusar ran the archives on Ossus. It was here that she could gather data and ancient relics, while still watching over the trainees. Although not as complete as the Jedi Archives at the main Temple; it was complete enough for the young initiates of the Order to complete their assignments. It was here that Tionne would review information, research and compile her work that would ultimately wind up in the main Archives. Alema Rar was able to secretly access the archives during the GAG's invasion and found only limited information on her ship, a relic from the old Sith Empire. The main lecture hall was located on the same floor as the archives.
Located within the academy grounds were a number of specialized buildings, paths and courtyards. Jedi Master Cilghal established a laboratory within the academy grounds, a winding and meandering path led to it know as the Crooked Way. Past shrubbery and vistas the path was designed to force visitors to slow down and concentrate on the gardens. Clarity Gate, a trapezoid shaped arch that fronted a courtyard decorated with a fountain formed the entrance to the grounds. As an entrance to the Academy, it was required for all visitors to stop and meditate before passing into the rest of the complex. Connected to the courtyard were many halls including that which led to the Academy administration building. Cilghal's lab was connected with the infirmary where she could study such things as the hive-mind effect that caused those infected to become Joiners. It was a large chamber with several monitors that analyzed anything from bodily functions of a myriad list of different species to samples of alien fungus.
One of the junction areas between halls.
Within a near-by cliff face was the Jedi academy's main hangar. The main flight control room was designed with a holoprojector in the center, with several control stations surrounding it. The hangar was supervised by non-Jedi Orame who oversaw all activities within the hangar. It was here that Luke Skywalker learned of Alema Rar's escape from Cilghal's lab, and later it would serve to help the invading GAG in their hunt for Jedi. The Temple ziggurat was also equipped with four landing pads that stretched out from the main structure for small craft to land on. Connected to the four main pillars holding up the inverted pyramid and surrounding the Garden Level, supplies and special equipment were deposited into the Temple via these pads.
Surrounding the main structure of the academy, several training grounds were erected. Younglings were encouraged to practice Force leaps, and launch themselves over set obstacles, such as a three-meter cross ray. On the opposite side of such emplacements were repulsorpads that caught the younglings before they hit the ground. The younger students who could not partake in jumping exercises, played small games such as mind-tag with nerfs which developed persuasive abilities. On another platform, the eldest apprentices practiced deflecting live blaster bolts, an activity they would continue to practice when they were moved to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Closer to the main academy building, a sunken basin lined with a walkway served as a place to practice centering exercises. Apprentices would meditate in the basin while adults stood above on the walkway throwing insults, food, and balls down upon the children. Other versions existed, all with the same purpose. Fasting while others ate in front of them, and not laughing while relentlessly being tickled were some of the many tests used to train detachment. The largest and most complex field was set with traps, hazards, and obstacles for the game Skorch. Two teams of the oldest apprentices used rackets, the Force, and stun-blasters to pass jet-balls between each other, avoiding being hit. An apprentice or knight served as referee who could cause one team great losses or wins. The rules for this game were arbitrarily decided by the opposing teams; the purpose was to test the mediating and analytical thinking skills of the referee.
Near Star Pond, a pavilion was erected for meditation close to the dormitories. It was here that Luke Skywalker meditated before addressing the entire Jedi Order at a Jedi Convocation. Down the Crooked Way was the Lecture hall, a simple hall with pale, wooden pillars. The hall was suited to hold two thousand, yet it was mostly vacant at the Conclave due to the Order's small numbers. The door behind the speaker's dais led down to archives where Luke met with individual Jedi regarding their commitment to the Order.
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- Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Special Edition
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