Battle of Korriban
The Battle of Korriban marked a significant confrontation during the early stages of the Great Galactic War, pitting the newly reformed Sith Empire against the forces of the Galactic Republic. This battle saw the Outer Rim planet of Korriban revert to Sith control. As the ancestral homeworld of the Sith, Korriban held immense significance, serving as a sacred site and primary training ground for Sith adherents since the order's inception. More than one thousand years following their defeat in the Great Hyperspace War and subsequent exile from Korriban, these dark side practitioners returned to known space around 3681 BBY, initiating a brutal campaign to seize control of the galaxy's Tingel Arm region. This offensive spurred the Republic, caught largely unprepared, to mobilize its naval forces and dispatch them to the Tingel Arm theater. This deployment necessitated diverting defense vessels from various planets, including Korriban, which consequently was left with minimal military protection. The Jedi Order, along with a small contingent of Republic troopers, maintained a watch over the planet, but their presence proved insufficient against the full might of the Sith naval fleet.
The Sith Empire launched an invasion of the Horuset system with an armada consisting of over thirty Harrower-class dreadnaughts, engaging the limited number of Jedi and Republic defenders stationed in orbit above Korriban. Jedi Padawan Satele Shan, Master Kao Cen Darach, and several Republic troopers fought valiantly but ultimately in vain against the Sith soldiers and Imperial battle droids that boarded a Republic space station. During their attempt to escape Korriban and alert the Republic about the Empire's resurgence, the Jedi and troopers were met by Sith Lord Darth Vindican and his apprentice, Malgus.
Although Shan and her Master managed to hold them off for a time, the younger Jedi was eventually compelled to flee, leaving Darach to confront the Sith alone. While Shan and one of the troopers successfully escaped the station with the help of Nico Okarr, an imprisoned smuggler, Master Darach remained behind and continued his battle against the Sith. During the duel, Malgus killed the Zabrak Jedi, and the remaining Republic and Jedi forces were eliminated, paving the way for the Sith to reclaim their homeworld. After a thousand years of banishment from their sacred planet, the Empire seized Korriban and re-established it as a training facility where students were taught to continue the war against the Republic. Despite Shan's survival, the recapture was executed so swiftly and unexpectedly that the Jedi Council remained unaware of Korriban's fall for a considerable period.
Prelude
Prior to 5000 BBY's Great Hyperspace War, the Outer Rim world of Korriban was the original homeworld of the Sith species, the Sith religious order, and their Empire. Following the Empire's defeat in that conflict, the surviving Sith abandoned Korriban, retreating into the Unknown Regions to rebuild a revitalized Empire. During the Jedi Civil War, Darth Revan's Sith Empire reoccupied the planet, utilizing it as a training center for new Sith recruits. After Revan's forces were defeated, the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order took control of Korriban, maintaining a protective presence around the world. However, over time, the fleet guarding the planet was gradually reduced, leaving only a small contingent to oversee the dark world. Centuries later, the Empire, rebuilt after the Great Hyperspace War, returned and initiated the Great Galactic War against the Republic in 3681 BBY. Early in this war, the Sith Empire launched a broad campaign to secure the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. Their initial focus was on the Tingel Arm, where the Sith Emperor had already established puppet governments on several worlds previously allied with the Galactic Republic.
In response to the Empire's offensive, the Republic Navy assembled a fleet with the objective of retaking the Tingel Arm. Unaware of the Empire's puppet governments, the Republic haphazardly charged into the region, finding themselves deep within enemy territory. Caught off guard by the Sith's bold and aggressive advance, Republic military leaders requested every available ship in the navy to support the fleet in the Tingel Arm, leaving other strategically important regions of the galaxy poorly defended. Korriban was among the planets that lost almost all of their military defenses, and the Sith, eager to reclaim their home planet, prioritized the holy world in their campaign to conquer the galaxy.
Despite the Republic Navy's withdrawal from the planet, the Jedi Order chose to maintain a small, dedicated presence to guard its dark secrets. Two Jedi—Satele Shan, a Human Padawan, and her Zabrak Master, Kao Cen Darach—were stationed on a space station in orbit above Korriban to protect it. They were joined by several troopers from the Republic's Republic Special Forces Division, who also served as a police force for the area. In the year the Empire returned to known space, Shan, Darach, and Corporal Jace Malcom traveled to the planet's surface to intercept an unauthorized freighter. There, they discovered Nico Okarr, a smuggler captain attempting to purchase ancient Sith Empire artifacts from the notorious grave robber Farel Wickes. The Jedi and trooper confiscated Okarr's ship, the Redshifter, before he could escape, and transported him to the orbital security station. There, along with a Republic trooper, they took Okarr into custody. As they escorted the smuggler through the space station, Shan sensed a significant dark ripple in the Force.
The battle
The return of the Sith
At that precise moment, an Imperial armada of more than thirty Sith battlecruisers emerged from hyperspace within the Horuset system, in close proximity to Korriban and its space station. Exploiting hyperlanes established during the Empire's Tingel Arm campaign, the warships immediately launched numerous wings of interceptor starfighters that initiated strafing runs on the Republic station. These initial attacks inflicted substantial damage on the installation, triggering a series of explosions and setting fire to various sections of the structure. Soon after, boarding parties composed of Sith troops from the Imperial Army's and assault droids landed on the station and engaged the Republic personnel stationed there.
Darach, recognizing the severity of the situation, determined that the defenders' top priority was to warn the Republic about the Empire's renewed offensive. Corporal Malcom concurred but informed the Jedi that their shuttles stood no chance of outrunning the Empire's far more agile interceptors. Overhearing this conversation, the detained smuggler offered his XS stock light freighter as a means of escape, claiming it was the fastest ship in the Esstran sector. The Jedi agreed, and together with Okarr and troopers, they hastened to the station's hangar, hoping to reach the vessel and inform Republic authorities. Upon reaching the hall leading to the hangar, Shan and her Master surged ahead to clear the landing zone of Imperial troopers, while the Republic soldiers brought up the rear, holding off the pursuing Imperial forces. While the two soldiers were distracted, a Sith soldier launched a missile at them, killing one and temporarily incapacitating Malcom. Witnessing this, the Captain drew his blaster pistols and swiftly eliminated four of the approaching Sith troops. Regaining his composure, the Republic Corporal armed himself with a blaster chaingun and joined the smuggler to destroy two advancing assault droids.
As Imperial forces continued their advance through the station, Okarr and Malcom retreated into the hangar, sealing the entry behind them to prevent further intrusion by enemy troopers. Shan and Darach simultaneously finished off the troopers already positioned in the hangar, allowing the four to regroup and assess the Redshifter, which had sustained minor damage from the station's violent shaking caused by the attacking vessels. The Captain lamented the condition of his freighter but assured Darach that it was resilient enough to take flight and escape the station. However, before any of the Republic defenders could board the vessel, a Fury-class Imperial interceptor landed in the hangar, and two Sith disembarked: Darth Vindican, a Sith Inquisitor Sith Pureblood, and his Human apprentice, the Sith Warrior Malgus. Their primary objective was to prevent the Jedi and others from leaving the station and alerting the Republic of the attack; the Jedi were determined to prevent the Sith from interfering with their escape. Shan and Darach engaged Malgus and Vindican in a duel, while Malcom and Okarr rushed onto the freighter to prepare for liftoff with the Captain's astromech droid, T7-O1.
On the landing bay floor, the Jedi and Sith fought fiercely, with Malgus and Shan facing off while their Masters dueled nearby. During the melee, Malgus outmaneuvered Shan, disarming her and delivering a powerful knee strike to her abdomen. As the young Jedi doubled over, the Sith apprentice moved to finish her with an overhead lightsaber swing. Just as his weapon was about to strike Shan, Master Darach, engaged in combat with Vindican, broke free long enough to throw his lightsaber toward Malgus. Unaware of the incoming blade, Malgus was caught off guard by the impact of the Zabrak's lightsaber against his own. Shan used this opportunity to kick the Sith away and reclaim her weapon. She then attempted to attack the Sith Lord, but Vindican deflected her with a blast of Force lightning. In response, Shan's Master Force-pushed the Sith Pureblood across the hangar so he could regroup with his Padawan.
A homeland reclaimed
Meanwhile, Captain Okarr successfully brought the Redshifter online and lifted off from the hangar bay. Malcom descended the ship's boarding ramp to retrieve the two Jedi but was confronted by the two Sith, who attempted to halt the ship with waves of Force lightning. The Corporal responded with an ineffective shot from a missile launcher before focusing on the Jedi. As he called for them to join him, Shan and Darach conferred; the Zabrak informed his apprentice that their paths were diverging, and she must flee on the freighter while he stayed behind to hold off the Sith. The young Jedi complied, giving her Master her double-bladed lightsaber before leaping onto the departing smuggler ship. As the freighter narrowly escaped the hangar, the Jedi Master re-engaged the two Sith. Wielding both his lightsaber and his apprentice's, he drove them back, skillfully defending against their lightsaber and Force attacks.
After slashing Vindican across the face, Darach deactivated one end of Shan's weapon and continued to perform agile flurries of strikes. Darach eventually maneuvered himself into a position that allowed him to activate Shan's weapon through the Inquisitor's abdomen, incapacitating him for the rest of the battle. Malgus seized the opportunity to take his fallen Master's weapon and reciprocate his opponent's use of three blades. Although the Zabrak attempted to hinder the apprentice's advance by hurling large chunks of debris at Malgus, the Sith apprentice was undeterred, cutting through all obstacles with ease. Upon reaching the Jedi Master, the two engaged briefly, but the young Sith ultimately prevailed. Malgus cut Darach in half horizontally, killing him.
Meanwhile, Shan and Malcom used the laser cannon turrets on Okarr's freighter to destroy pursuing Imperial interceptors and fighters. After navigating a small asteroid field, the smuggler flew the Redshifter directly toward several incoming Sith battlecruisers, narrowly avoiding collisions while simultaneously evading his pursuers. The freighter inflicted considerable damage on one of the cruisers before escaping the attacking Sith fleet and jumping to hyperspace. Upon learning of their escape, Malgus confronted his wounded Master, accusing him of failure. Although Vindican disagreed, the apprentice disregarded his words and killed his teacher. The planet's only other guardians—a small force of Jedi security ships—were easily overwhelmed and destroyed by Sith interceptors. The invading Sith also captured Farel Wickes as he attempted to flee the battle at Korriban, preventing the grave robber from escaping with the fortune he had earned from Okarr. Having eliminated the Republic and Jedi forces, the Empire cleared the path to the planet's surface, where the Sith once again walked in the Valley of the Dark Lords and reclaimed their ancestral homeworld.
Aftermath
Despite Shan's escape, the Jedi Council remained unaware of the Sith's return to Korriban for a significant period. Meanwhile, the Republic continued to suffer losses in the war, facing devastating defeats in the Sluis sector, a Sith invasion of the resource-rich Minos Cluster, and a blockade of the vital Rimma Trade Route in quick succession after the Korriban onslaught. In response, the Jedi Council and the Republic's Galactic Senate attempted to formulate a defense plan during an emergency session of congress, but the meeting resulted in political gridlock and failure. On Korriban, the Sith interrogated Farel Wickes for information about the tombs, and after weeks of torture, the once-successful grave robber succumbed to his injuries and died.
Throughout the war, the Empire transformed the arid Korriban into a stronghold for the training and education of Force-sensitives, re-establishing the world's Sith Academy and dedicating it to nurturing a new generation of followers to continue the fight against the Republic. Following his participation in the planet's capture, Malgus made several religious pilgrimages to the surface; during his first journey, he experienced a vision of the galaxy consumed by flames—a symbol of the Republic's impending fall. Korriban became a battlefield again in 3678 BBY when the renegade Sith apprentice Exal Kressh betrayed the Empire and allowed a fleet of Republic warships to launch a failed attempt to retake the planet. After the Great Galactic War concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant, Gnost-Dural, a Kel Dor Jedi Master, created a holorecord documenting the opening battles of the conflict. In this record, he included the fall of Korriban and the events surrounding it. The Jedi Master also kept a journal during the Great War, which included his firsthand account of the Jedi's reaction upon learning of Korriban's recapture. After becoming Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Satele Shan submitted the journal, now containing her personal reflections on the war and the fall of Korriban, to the Jedi Archives on Tython.
Behind the scenes
The Battle of Korriban was conceived as a key historical element for BioWare's 2011 video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic. The event was initially mentioned on the game's website, within Korriban's entry in The Holonet. The battle was first depicted in Onslaught of the Sith Empire, the sixth episode of the Galactic Timeline video series, which was released on the same website on January 22, 2010.