In 1466 BBY, the Battle of Mizra unfolded as a key clash within the New Sith Wars, a conflict spanning a millennium. A Galactic Republic force, composed of soldiers and Jedi under the command of a Jedi coordinator, faced a massive army of the New Sith, many Sith Lords of which rode speeders. During a Jedi fallback, a Sith sniper killed the Jedi coordinator, who was enhancing the Republic force's combat effectiveness with the battle meditation Force ability; this resulted in a rout that led to the deaths of over half a million Republic troops and the capture of hundreds of Jedi.
This defeat at Mizra marked a pivotal moment in the New Sith Wars, leading to a significant decline in Republic political influence over the Outer Rim Territories and an increase in the Sith's power. Centuries later, the battle was referenced in various texts, including the Jedi trainee guidebook The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force, the Sith document The Rule of Two, and a galactic history chronicle compiled by the Historical Council of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. The poet Felloux also created a lasting description of the battle.
From 2000 BBY to 1000 BBY, the Galactic Republic and the New Sith, a sect of Force-users adhering to the Sith tradition, engaged in the New Sith Wars. Despite initial setbacks caused by Sith sabotage, the Republic managed to amass enough soldiers by 1500 BBY to resist Sith offensives at Outer Rim Territories locations such as Gap Nine, King's Galquek, and Corphelion in the Expansion Region. However, during this time, the Sith formed alliances with members of the Devaronian and Hiitian species.
The Battle of Mizra, which took place in 1466 BBY, was named for the Mizra system located in the Inner Rim. A Republic force of at least 500,000 troops, accompanied by Jedi from the Jedi Order – ideological opposites of the Sith – and led by a Jedi coordinator, confronted a substantial Sith army within an [atmosphere](/article/atmosphere-legends]. The Sith force included numerous Sith Lords on speeders like Hssiss, Ng'ok, and Sleeth, each named after a predatory animal reflecting the rider's nature.
Despite the Jedi coordinator's use of the battle meditation Force ability to empower the Republic soldiers and weaken the Sith, the Sith prevailed. A Sith sniper killed the Jedi coordinator during a Jedi retreat. The retreat devolved into a massacre, resulting in the deaths of over half a million Republic soldiers and the capture of hundreds of Jedi, who were subsequently converted to the dark side of the Force.
The Battle of Mizra's outcome, a defeat for the Jedi and Republic, is remembered as a transformative setback in the Republic's struggling war efforts. The Republic's loss of control over the Outer Rim was especially significant; some argue that centralized Republic political authority never recovered in that region. The Sith's power grew after the battle, leading to the reign of Darth Rivan, a Dark Lord of the Sith, on Almas, a planet in the Expansion Region, and Belia Darzu's use of technobeasts, hybrid organic-mechanical beings, during the Sictis Wars from 1250 BBY–1230 BBY.
In 1032 BBY, Narsk Ka'hane, a spy, repeatedly pressed Jarrow Rusher, a mercenary with military history knowledge, about retrieving his Cyricept Personal Concealment System, Mark VI stealth suit. The suit had fallen into the hands of Kerra Holt, a Jedi Knight, and ended up on Rusher's warship, the Diligence (diligence_(new_sith_wars)). Rusher, in disbelief, joked that Holt had also brought a "walking tank" from the Battle of Mizra onboard and hidden it under her bunk.
Later, the Battle of Mizra was recorded in several works. Sabla-Mandibu, a Jedi Master, discussed the Jedi's reversal of fortune in the battle in a chapter of The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force, a 990 BBY guidebook for Jedi trainees. Darth Bane, a Dark Lord of the Sith, also mentioned the Battle of Mizra in his book The Rule of Two sometime between 1000 BBY and 980 BBY. Bane acknowledged the battle as a Sith victory in the New Sith Wars but criticized the constant Sith infighting before and after the event, calling it a victory "without a clear line of succession."
Felloux, a poet, immortalized the battle by describing how the drawn and ignited lightsabers of "scores" of Sith Lords on speeders illuminated the ash-blackened sky above the battlefield. Felloux depicted the whining of the speeders as drowning out the screams of the dying. This description, along with the Battle of Mizra itself, was later included in a 36 ABY galactic history chronicle by the Historical Council of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.
Daniel Wallace and [Kevin J. Anderson](/article/kevin_j._anderson] first mentioned the Battle of Mizra in their 2005 reference book, The New Essential Chronology.