The Star Forge, a colossal automated shipyard, was engineered to produce the most formidable military force ever conceived. The Rakatan Infinite Empire erected it around 30,000 BBY, which is five millennia prior to the emergence of the Galactic Republic. This massive structure siphoned both energy and raw materials from a proximate star. This, in combination with the power of the Force, enabled it to generate an inexhaustible quantity of starships, droids, and various other instruments of war. Known as "The Builders," the Rakata utilized slave labor from numerous subjugated planets to erect this enormous space station. These planets included Belsavis, Corellia, Coruscant, Dantooine, Drall, Duro, Kashyyyk, Manaan, Selonia, Sleheyron, Malastare, and Tatooine.
However, this technological marvel came at a steep price. The Rakata, by their very nature, were a brutal and savage race, deeply immersed in the dark side of the Force. The Star Forge began to thrive on these inherent negative traits of its creators. Consequently, it evolved into a powerful instrument of the dark side.
Now a dark fusion of technology and dark side energies, the Star Forge started to corrupt the Rakata, seeking the immense power it needed to sustain itself. Ultimately, this led to the collapse of the Rakata Empire. Darth Revan, aware of this semi-living superweapon's capacity to corrupt its users, minimized his interaction with the dark side artifact. This was to prevent it from controlling him, as it had the Rakatans. Conversely, his apprentice, Darth Malak, intended to delve deeper into the Star Forge after eliminating his Master.
The Star Forge's dimensions were truly remarkable for its era. Capital ships could easily navigate the spaces between the three "fins" extending outward from its central spherical core. These fins reached down to draw matter from Abo, the star within the Lehon system, which was used to manufacture weaponry and armaments. Despite the limited number of apparent docking facilities for capital ships, numerous fighter craft and smaller freighters could dock at bays located on each of these fins.
Externally, the Star Forge had minimal defensive weaponry, with only a few turbolaser batteries positioned near its hangar bays. Instead, it primarily relied on its vast ship production capability for defense. Internally, it could also produce thousands of battle droids for defense and featured numerous heavy blast doors throughout the entire factory. A lethal ship-disabling energy field projected from the Temple of the Ancients on Lehon, the Rakata homeworld, further protected it. This field caused ships to malfunction and become trapped in the planet's gravity well, sending them spiraling downwards.
Like other products of Rakatan dark side energy engineering, the Star Forge was able to remain functional for tens of thousands of years, even without an active crew, thanks to its integrated automated repair systems. This characteristic was also present in artifacts like the Star Maps. The Rakatan Builders destroyed the Star Maps when their Empire collapsed, but they gradually repaired themselves using the Star Forge's technology. Although the data in each map was incomplete when Revan rediscovered them, the combined information was sufficient to reveal the Star Forge's location.
As a dark side artifact, the Star Forge corrupted its users, fueled by its insatiable desire for destruction. Ajunta Pall suggested that the early Dark Lords of the Sith were aware of and utilized the Star Forge.
The Sith Emperor coveted the Star Forge. After the Mandalorian Wars, when Revan and Malak visited Dromund Kaas and fell under his influence, he tasked them with finding it.
However, Revan and Malak broke free from the Sith Emperor's control. Upon discovering the Star Maps that led to the ancient dark space station, they decided to use the Star Forge to establish their own Sith Empire.
Following the erasure of his memory by the Dantooine Enclave Council, Revan was tasked with rediscovering the Star Forge's location. At this time, it was under Malak's control, who was using it to bolster the Sith fleet with a massive influx of ships. Revan boarded the Star Forge to confront and eliminate Malak. With the assistance of Bastila Shan's battle meditation, a Republic fleet destroyed it at the conclusion of the Jedi Civil War in 3956 BBY.
Just before his defeat by Revan, Malak attempted to exploit a previously unexplored aspect of the Star Forge. By integrating Jedi captured from the destroyed enclave on Dantooine into the Star Forge itself, Malak could harness their Force-sensitivity and channel it into himself. The Jedi trapped within the Star Forge were unable to merge with the Force, and Malak used the energy within their nearly lifeless bodies to replenish his strength. The drained Jedi were apparently killed in the process. During his battle with Malak on the Star Forge Viewing Platform, Revan sabotaged the system, which was subsequently destroyed along with the rest of the Star Forge.
After its destruction, the Star Forge faded into obscurity within the galactic community. The Republic, influenced by the Jedi, deemed it unnecessary and detrimental to the Republic's reconstruction to publicize the resurgence of the Rakata. They believed that the reemergence of a culture that had once enslaved much of the galaxy would incite panic or fear. Consequently, the Lehon system, containing the wreckage from the final battle of the Jedi Civil War, including the remains of the Star Forge, was placed under quarantine. Only sparse and obscure mentions of the system and the Star Forge remained.
Sometime after 3956 BBY, Revan led a group of Ongree slaves to a complex on Nar Shaddaa. He gifted them the Infinite Engine, which was initially the size of a fingernail, but eventually grew to the size of an Ongree. Revan instructed them to sacrifice their dead and dedicate their newborns to the machine, in return for food, water, shelter, and defense droids. Like the Star Forge, the engine could create almost anything from virtually nothing. In his diary, Revan claimed that they would eventually create their own galaxies.
In 1000 BBY, Darth Bane embarked on a journey across the galaxy, seeking knowledge about the Sith predecessors to the Brotherhood of Darkness. His quest led him to the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban and then to the Lehon system, as he sought information about Revan and Malak. As he approached the Lehon system, he observed the untouched remnants of the Star Forge and the wreckage of the final battle. Large pieces of metal had fused together, forming a ring-like structure around the planet Lehon. The remaining debris scattered throughout the system, resembling an asteroid field.
Deck 1 served as a hangar within the Star Forge. During the Battle of Rakata Prime, the redeemed Jedi Revan, aboard the Ebon Hawk, landed on Deck 1. There, several Jedi instructed him to locate Bastila Shan, but they were soon attacked by Dark Jedi. Revan assisted in defeating the Dark Jedi and proceeded deeper into Deck 1 until Darth Malak dispatched droids to eliminate the Jedi on board. Revan overcame the droids and more Dark Jedi before moving on to Deck 2. Upon learning of Revan's presence, Malak sent all available troops to confront him. After defeating Malak on the Viewing Platform, Revan returned to Deck 1, where he informed the crew of the Ebon Hawk about Malak's defeat. Revan then escaped the Star Forge aboard the Ebon Hawk.
Deck 2 featured an elevator that provided access to the Command Center.
Despite the Star Forge being an artifact of the dark side, a console on Deck 2 could generate light sided Star Forge Robes. Shortly after the redeemed Jedi Revan entered Deck 2, Darth Malak was informed of his arrival. In response, Malak deployed a garrison of Sith troopers and Dark Jedi to attack Revan.
Malak knew that his Sith subordinates were no match for Revan, but they could delay him, granting Malak enough time to fortify the Star Forge's defenses, which consisted of an endless supply of battle droids constantly produced by the Star Forge. Revan defeated the garrison and took the elevator to the Command Center. Before the final battle, Revan managed to harness the Star Forge's unique powers to create a set of robes that would significantly enhance his Force abilities beyond Malak's comprehension.
The Command Center, situated on the Star Forge, had elevators connecting it to Deck 2 and the Viewing Platform. It housed a large hologram of the Star Forge itself.
After being turned to the dark side of the Force by Darth Malak, Bastila Shan utilized her battle meditation from within the Command Center to support the Sith fleet during the Battle of Rakata Prime. However, Revan fought his way into the Command Center, and after a lightsaber duel, succeeded in converting Bastila back to the Jedi. She then used her powers to aid the Republic Navy, shifting the tide of battle in the Republic's favor.
The Command Center was ultimately destroyed along with the rest of the Star Forge at the battle's conclusion.
The Viewing Platform, constructed near the Star Forge's summit, was used to observe the external environment of the space station. It was accessible via turbolift from the Command Center.
During the Jedi Civil War, Darth Malak brought Jedi whom he had nearly killed on Dantooine to the Viewing Platform, confining their bodies in cells to prevent them from becoming one with the Force and to augment his own dark power. When the redeemed Revan confronted Malak on the Viewing Platform, Malak used the captured souls to replenish his life, killing them in the process. To defeat Malak, Revan allowed the Jedi to merge with the Force, mortally wounding his former apprentice. Malak died on the platform, which was destroyed shortly thereafter, along with the rest of the Star Forge, following Revan's escape.
The Star Forge made its debut in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, released by BioWare in 2003. During the game's development, LucasArts provided feedback on the Star Forge's design, noting its similarity to the Death Star.
In the non-canon dark-side ending of Knights of the Old Republic, the reborn Darth Revan and his apprentice Bastila deceive the Republic into attacking the Star Forge to distract Malak. Upon their arrival, Bastila and Darth Revan fought through the station to the command center, where Revan faced Malak's three most formidable Dark Jedi Masters (each wearing different robes). Malak promised that whoever delivered the killing blow to Revan would become his new apprentice. Revan and Bastila fought and killed all three of them.
Bastila remained in the command center to shift the battle's momentum in favor of the Sith fleet, while Darth Revan battled his way to the observation platform, where he confronted and brutally killed his former apprentice Malak, and the Sith fleet decimated the Republic fleet. During the aforementioned duel between Revan and Malak, the player could also fuel themselves with the power harnessed from captive Jedi in the same manner to outdo Malak during the battle, until there were none left for him to harness from.
Darth Revan returned to Lehon, where the celebrating Sith formally recognized him as the Dark Lord of the Sith. Revan then seized control of the Star Forge and prepared to unleash the Sith fleet on the Core systems. However, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, if set to Revan having ended up on the dark side, revealed that he/she experienced an increasing number of visions of what he/she'd seen of the True Sith between the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War. He/she then abandoned the conquest of the Republic and instead ventured into the Unknown Regions to face this threat, nominally leaving Bastila Shan in charge of their empire. Without a dark-side user strong enough to use it without dying in the process, the Star Forge went dormant.
A deleted scene also depicted the Star Forge firing a beam capable of manipulating gravity. This beam was intended to target a Republic ship, dragging it into a Hammerhead-class cruiser and destroying both. This scene was ultimately cut.