With five down and thirteen more to go, Bioware’s “Timeline” series narrated by Kel Dor Master Gnost-Dural (voiced by Lance Henriksen) is doing a fantastic job of keeping us up to speed on what has bought the galaxy into such a state of disarray and chaos.  Going in reverse chronological order, Bioware has been breaking down the monumental events that led to the eventual forced signing of the Treaty of Coruscant. However, if you have been following it since their first entry last year, it might be difficult to put the pieces together as to what is going on, and where the galaxy stands as of now.  That’s why, I decided to do a breakdown to help keep everyone up to speed starting with the most recent entry, where Master Gnost-Duran takes us back to event that threw the galaxy into turmoil, The Sith Onslaught.

28 BTC:  The Sith Onslaught

28 years BTC (Before the Treaty of Coruscant),  The Sith Empire, who had been driven into exile centuries before, suddenly went on the offensive targeting the Republic colonies on the Outer Rim.  Without warning and without a chance, the Outer Rim colonies rapidly fell to the ruthless Sith attack.  In addition to the annihilation and capture of a great number of Out Rim colonies, the Sith also managed to secure their home planet of Korriban from the Republic.

The utter shock and disarray that took the Republic and their allies made the Sith’s conquest quick and efficient.  In the words of Master Gnost-Duran, “The attack of the Sith Empire was the most well orchestrated and carefully coordinated military maneuver in the galaxy’s history.”  It is assumed that much of the Sith’s time in exile was spent planning out this fateful day.  The Sith Onslaught served as the violent catalyst that plunged the galaxy into a state of war leading to the brutal stalemate that left the galaxy divided in half, the Treaty of Coruscant.

18 BTC:  The Battle of Bothawui

Ten years after the Sith Onslaught,  the Sith had managed to capture most of the Outer Rim and were shifting their focuses to the Mid Rim planets.  A small Sith invasion force traveled to Bothawui attempting to capture it.  However, the Republic foresaw the Sith’s strategy and had the entire Republic fleet ready to defend the Bonthan home world.  The Republic ships made short work out of the Sith invasion force making the first Battle of Bothawui the first major victory for the Republic.  The fleet left the planet, however a small Republic force led by Jedi Master Allusis remained behind in anticipation of the Sith’s retalitation.

The Sith did indeed retaliate, and they bought with them an enormous fleet.  The planetary shield surrounding Bothawui made it impossible for the Sith Fleet to land.  This made a ground assault the only possible means of attack.  Master Allusis and his men had come to terms with their odds of survival and held the line with resolve and successfully managed to drive the overconfident Sith back.  For every Republic Soldier killed, ten Sith fell.  Eventually, only Allusis and a small force remained.  Grand Moff Zellos offered them survival if they surrendered.  The Republic Soldiers denied his request and were struck down, but not before driving the Sith from Bothawui making the second Battle of Bothawui a draw.

14 BTC:  The Empire Changes Strategy

Another branch of the Sith Emperor’s plan was to reunite the creed of deadly warriors known as the Mandalorians.

To do this, the Empire employed the subterfuge tactics of their Imperial Agents to infiltrate and manipulate the results of Gladiator battles taking place across the galaxy.  The Empire singled out a young warrior on Geonosis who was competing in the Gladiator battles.  The Imperial Agents became the young warrior’s manager in the battles and used his convenient position to infiltrate the quarters of the young warrior’s opponents and drug them.  Because of the Imperial Agent’s manipulation, the young warrior was undefeated in the arena.  Soon, the crowds began cheering the word “Mandalore!  Mandalore!  Mandalore! (referring to the name given to the leader of the Mandalorians, considered to be the greatest warrior in the galaxy)”

It wasn’t before long that young warrior took on the title of Mandalore, with the Empire and his Imperial Agents serving as his invisible superiors.  With the control of the Mandalorians, the Empire was able to institute the Mandalorian Blockade, which served as a major blow to the Republic.

8 BTC:  The Return of the Mandalorians

The young Gladiator from Geonosis took up the title of Mandalore with the help of the subtle, yet affective, Imperial Agents working in the shadows.  The title Mandalore was one that was left vacant for centuries before, as it signified the greatest warrior in the galaxy, and the leader of the powerful Mandalorians.  The Mandalorians were scattered about the galaxy, most of them working as bounty hunters and mercenaries.  However with the new Mandalore in place, the Mandalorians were reunited under their powerful leader.

Meanwhile, in the conflict with the Empire and the Republic, the battle found itself at a standstill right outside of the Mid-Rim, with the Republic successfully holding the ground.  This soon changed as Mandalore reunited the Mandalorian people and set up a blockade along a crucial Republic trade route.  With their supplies running dry, the Jedi amassed a force to attempt to destroy the Mandalorian blockade.  The Jedi fleet was destroyed without mercy and they were unsuccessful in disrupting the blockade.  The blockade was eventually destroyed by a savvy Smuggler and her fleet.

7 BTC:  The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken

With the Mandalorian Blockade bleeding the Republic dry, the Republic deemed that they would take any measure to obtain the essential raw goods that they were being blocked from.  It is at this point that a Savvy smuggler named Hylo Visz came up with a plan to make her and her colleagues a tremendous amount of wealth.  The bottom line, break the Mandalorian blockade and be heroes of the Republic.

Visz loaded a fleet of massive freighters with all of the raw goods the Outer Rim could offer and had them wait a parsec away from the Mandalorian Blockade.  With the Mandalorians distracted by the freighters, Hylo Visz and her smugglers burst out of hyperspace and open fired on the blockade.  When the Republic got wind of the attack on the blockade, they amassed all of their available resources and aided Visz in her attack on the Blockade.  The Blockade was successfully broken, and Visz’s freighters landed on Coruscant full of raw goods.  She and her colleagues left Coruscant with vast amounts of wealth.  The following day, an elaborate celebration was planned in Hylo Visz’s honor, where she did not show up.

It is rumored that she was killed the following year for going against the Hutts.

0 ATC:  The Treaty of Coruscant

With the unexpected destruction of the Mandalorian Blockade, the Emperor became impatient with his armada’s acquisition of  territories.  Because of this, he sent a group of Imperial Ambassadors to Alderaan to offer the Republic a very one sided peace agreement.  Due to the horrible casualties and circumstances that the Republic had sustained, they had no choice but to sign the peace agreement.

However it did not end there.  While the Imperial Ambassadors were in negotiations on Alderaan, the Sith Empire attacked Coruscant and sacked the Jedi Temple and left the city in ruins.  Upon their return to the Temple, the Jedi found their home ransacked and destroyed.  Coincidentally, they were also blamed for the sacking of Coruscant by many of the diplomats.  The Jedi returned to their home planet of Tython to regroup and meditate, hoping to receive some guidance from the force.

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