In the wake of the Great Hyperspace War, a clandestine organization of powerful schemers emerged, known as the Star Cabal. Composed of representatives from nearly every significant society and species in the galaxy, their objective was the complete annihilation of both the Jedi and Sith, with the intent of establishing a new era of governance by 'ordinary people'. The Cabal's membership included at least one Rakata, as well as Voss, Hutts, and numerous other figures of influence.
Initially, the Star Cabal was conceived with what was perceived as a righteous purpose. The preservation of civilization, which had been brought to the brink of destruction by the Jedi and Sith, was their intended mission. They attributed the devastation caused by the conflicts to these Force-wielding factions, and therefore sought to exert indirect control over their actions from afar. Their strategy involved maintaining a separation between the Republic and the Empire to minimize the potential for further widespread damage.
However, subsequent generations within the secret society adopted a different perspective, believing that true freedom could not exist while the Jedi and Sith remained. They considered anyone aligned with either side to be perpetually under their influence, necessitating the elimination of these Force-sensitive orders. Consequently, their ultimate ambition became the termination of the 1400-year reign of the two dominant Force-sensitive factions in the galaxy. This, they argued, would usher in an era of peace and unity under the rule of common citizens, liberated from constant involvement in crusades or dependence on temples.
The Cabal's members held the conviction that real-world power stemmed not from religion or the use of the Force, but from information, wealth, and technological advancement. Their covert operations led them to believe that the Star Cabal secretly governed the galaxy, with only a select few beings aware of this reality. This viewpoint was primarily held by the organization's older members, while later generations were often viewed as corrupt. The successors of the Cabal were known to consult their preserved elder founders for guidance, only to return them to their stasis without ever revealing the changes that had occurred within the society in later years.
For military assistance, the Cabal relied on mercenaries to carry out their objectives against perceived enemies.
A central agent, known as 'The Enforcer,' appears to have been entrusted with many of the Star Cabal's field operations. These operations included activities such as espionage, counter-espionage, torture, manipulation of individuals and organizations, sabotage, hacking, and the orchestration of massacres to influence media. Based on available information, it's likely that this Enforcer reported directly to the Star Cabal's leading council and was prepared to operate under various false identities to accomplish their missions.
Individuals who have used the title of Enforcer include the exiled prince/pirate crime lord Nok Drayen, a human male named Albathius who managed to win the Voss over as 'The Shining Man', and Hunter, a female agent masquerading as a male SIS agent.
The origins of the Star Cabal can be traced back to the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War, a conflict that saw the Galactic Republic emerge victorious over the Sith Empire. The Sith's defeat led to their retreat from known space, leaving behind a galaxy ravaged by war. In this period of upheaval, a group of influential individuals, including spies, nobles, scientists, and crime lords, convened to analyze why no force had been able to prevent the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith. This gathering concluded that the billions of deaths were directly attributable to the two Force-sensitive orders. Consequently, this group resolved to control their actions from the shadows, forming the Star Cabal with what appeared to be a noble purpose. The organization's formation occurred when these individuals gathered in the Koros system, and with the declaration of the Koros Covenant they established the Star Cabal—a secret organization dedicated to the preservation of galactic civilization through the manipulation of information and influence. The Cabal welcomed members regardless of their moral standing, with crimelords, gangsters, and smugglers finding a place alongside politicians, nobles, and government agents.
These founders operated in complete secrecy, allowing both the Jedi and Sith to maintain their supreme power in their respective domains of religion and hereditary might derived from the Force. They were content with this arrangement, believing it to be a mere facade, with the true levers of power being finance, technology, and information. The Cabal operated in complete secrecy, ensuring that no one outside of the organization knew of their existence. They also worked to conceal the continued existence of the Sith from the Jedi Order and vice versa, knowing that war would ensue if the two sides collided again.
Approximately eight centuries ago, the order was still considered young as an organization. While they claimed to have held a noble purpose, the younger generation of the Cabal became colder in their views and hungered for power. Eventually, they became corrupt and, at some point, these newer members of the Cabal turned against the older founders that had stayed true to their original purpose. This menagerie of men and women were greatly respected by the other members of the secret society which was why they were not killed. Instead, they were stored away in stasis at a secret vault called Megasecurity Ward 23 on the planet Belsavis that was under their control and served as a site for other treasures of the organization.
However, sometime before the Cold War, the Cabal's purpose shifted away from its initial noble intentions. Later generations of members began to distort the organization's goals, exploiting its resources for personal gain. Over time, the Cabal deviated from its objective of preventing war, transforming into a secret society dedicated to its own protection and continued prosperity. The Cabal also orchestrated the creation of a private section of the Tomb, a secret Republic prison complex on Belsavis that had been created by the Rakatan Infinite Empire. This section, known as Megasecurity Ward 23, became a secret storehouse for the Cabal.
Within this facility, the Cabal hoarded advanced technology, including microdroids and genetic maps, as well as the SCORPIO artificial intelligence droid which served as its protector. In addition, their most valued members that were deeply respected were kept in stasis in kolto tanks in the Ward with one of their number being as old as 800 years old. These individuals were kept alive because of their experience though they themselves lamented on how the Star Cabal had become subverted.
During the Cold War, Hunter, a female Human agent of the Star Cabal had inserted herself into the Republic Strategic Information Service, as a male spy, where "he" used Ardun Kothe in his quest to find the Shadow Arsenal. When Cipher Nine of Imperial Intelligence uncovered these plans, the Star Cabal's existence was discovered by this Imperial Agent who sought to bring down the conspiracy.
Cipher Nine pursued Hunter to the mining colony of Isen IV, where Hunter had turned the colony's own machinery and droids on the inhabitants, in an attempt to frame the Empire for a massacre. The aftermath of this incident officially reignited war between Republic and Empire.
Nine later traveled to the planet Belsavis where the agent intended to infiltrate Megasecurity Ward 23 where Cipher masqueraded as a criminal who desired to find treasure amongst the vaults. This Imperial Agent worked with a group of criminals trapped on the prison planet to accomplish this task where they were being opposed by the vault's SCORPIO artificial intelligence. Upon the achievement of the task, Cipher Nine encountered a quartet of preserved members of the ancient conspiracy that had been overthrown by their latter successors. These individuals revealed the origin of their organization and explained its secrets as well as the fact that they saw the modern incarnation of the Cabal as being corrupt. As a result, they offered to help the Cipher Agent by aiding in reprogramming the Scorpio droid to get the machine to aid the Imperial Agent in tracking down the Star Cabal as they were not privy to their current activities. In response to the agent's breach of their secret vault, the conspirators started leaking Nine's identity to anyone who had an axe to grind.
Afterwards, Cipher Nine went to the Tytun Rings HoloNet archives, which the Star Cabal discreetly built to hide their communications. Upon being reassembled by the Watchers back on Dromund Kaas, it displayed a recording of a meeting of many of the conspirators, discussing their enigmatic, risky plan. But within the recording was a trap designed to overwhelm a genetically enhanced mind, rendering all enhanced Watchers comatose, effectively crippling Intelligence's operational capabilities.
Undeterred, Nine chased down another lead Keeper on the planet Voss. With the aid of an undercover Imperial agent, Bas-Ton, Nine unraveled the conspiracy of the Shining Man. The Shining Man was sent to Voss to find ways to shield the Cabal members against the Force. When that failed, he fabricated a prophecy and convinced Voss-Ka's rulers, the Three, to avoid making alliances with outsiders for three thousands days, promising that the Gormak, Empire and Republic would be eradicated. Nine managed to find the agent's ship, which contained valuable intel on the Cabal. The Agent's efforts forced the Cabal to take action, and it demonstrated its reach by dissolving the Operations branch of Imperial Intelligence, with all members being drafted into the armies of individual Sith Lords and forced into open war.
With Intelligence gone and the Sith blind to the threat of the Star Cabal, the Minister of Intelligence himself decided to take matters into his own hands. With the last of his influence, he reassembled the most prominent men and women of Intelligence secretly and began working off the grid. They then contacted Cipher Nine, who immediately took up the mission once more.
During the Battle of Corellia, Hunter of the Cabal orchestrated a high class party arranged on an airship floating above the battlefield. This was with the intention of bringing in the richest individuals on Corellia and distracting them in what he termed as a "apocalypse party". The aim was to prevent them from doing anything constructive on the planet. At this point, Cipher Nine had arrived on the airship. Hunter, communicating via hologram, revealed the Star Cabal's plan to manipulate both Empire and Republic into annihilating each other, so the "ordinary" people can rule again. Hunter proceeded to knock out the agent with coma gas in order to be interrogated on the contents of Moff Zamar's report on Imperial forces to the Dark Council. During the interrogation, the Cipher fed false information under torture that the Imperial forces were about to be reinforced by troops from an arriving Sith Lord. Once concluded, the agent killed the interrogators and escaped the airship. At this point, Cipher Nine planted explosives that destroyed the Military History Museum on top of the agent after SIS members were sent after the Cipher Agent. This gave the impression that the agent had died to the Star Cabal.
This opportunity allowed Imperial Intelligence to conduct a coordinated effort to bring down the Star Cabal now that its guard was down. Onboard the Tenebrous, they managed to track their communications to a space station in the Null Zone holding the headquarters of the Cabal and dispatched Cipher Nine to the site. At their base, the Cabal believed that they had lost Corellia as a result of recent events though alternative plans were being conducted on the Mandalorian front and noted that some success on their strategy had come following the apparent death of Tol Braga. At this point, the Cipher Agent's infiltration of their base was discovered and the Star Cabal scattered with some of its members attempting to kill the Imperial agent. This saw them killed and Keeper posting bounties on the known Cabal members. Afterwards, Cipher Nine confronted Hunter who revealed that the font of all their collected information was located within the Black Codex which he attempted to defend. Hunter's death allowed the artifact to pass into Cipher Nine's hands with its fate being determined by the agent who had the choice of destroying it or using its contents. Either way, the Star Cabal was effectively dismantled and destroyed, their dreams of a "finer age" dying with them.
The Cabal did not seek converts to their cause, deeming it a security risk. Instead, they recruited new members from remote worlds, including young children as young as eleven, who were initiated into their secret society. Others were born into the ancient conspiracy, growing into adulthood to fulfill the Cabal's objectives. Some members were undetectable, absent from the databanks of organizations like Imperial Intelligence. The leadership of the secret order consisted of a number of individuals that formed an inner circle.
Belsavis prison was secretly under the control of the Star Cabal who used it as a vault for their weapons, technology and other precious treasures for safekeeping. Such items included microdroids, genetic maps and the SCORPIO artificial intelligence. These were all advancements that the Cabal had denied to the wider galaxy. In addition, those individuals they felt were highly valuable or respected were kept in a form of stasis where they were preserved in kolto tanks to survive across centuries.
The entirety of the conspiracy's secrets was stored within digital files contained in the Black Codex.