Star Wars’ Oldest Superweapon is Also a Shipyard – We Breakdown the Star Forge
The Star Forge was a massive shipyard, superweapon, and bastion of the Dark Side of the Force. But what does all that mean?
In the days of the Old Republic, the Galaxy was almost doomed to fall under the sway of the Dark Side of the Force. On an expedition led by the fallen Jedi, Darth Revan, the Sith Empire laid claim to a mysterious artifact in the unknown regions: the Star Forge. This semi-living superweapon, this technological terror, was imbued with the Dark Side of the Force and was capable of creating near-infinite ships.
But as it created, so too did it corrupt. Thankfully, the one who found it, also ended up being the one who destroyed it. And the Star Forge was scattered. But where did this artifact come from? Who built it? And how could it create whole armadas at lightning speed with the power of the Dark Side?
To answer all of these, we must go back, before even the rise of the Old Republic…
The Forge of an Infinite Empire
In the year 30,000 BBY, a full five thousand years before the Galactic Republic as anyone would recognize it, there was a different empire. A species known to some as the Builders, but to most as the Rakata, ruled the galaxy with an iron fist. The Rakatans were an ancient species, one of the earliest in space. They blended the Force with their technology. As a result, the Rakatans had the tools they needed to conquer and enslave anyone they came across.
And they cut a swath across the known galaxy. During the time of the Infinite Empire, Rakatans changed the face of the galaxy, bringing tools and life and purposes to places where there had been none. Some worlds they terraformed. Others they stripped of all resources.
But the crown jewel of their Empire was the Star Forge. The Star Forge was a massive space station that utilized all the knowledge of the Rakata. It inherited their prowess, but it also inherited their cruelty, their brutality. Which meant that, from its inception, the Star Forge was infused with the Dark Side of the Force.
As the Rakata built it, so too did the Forge begin to corrupt them. It fed upon their life forces, their desires, and, of course, the energy of any nearby star that it happened to be parked near, to create a nigh-endless supply of ships, droids, and other material.
With these weapons, the Star Forge could enable an empire to rise. But the Star Forge’s hunger would ultimately lead to the collapse of the Rakatan Infinite Empire. Their natural inclination towards conflict was amplified by the Star Forge’s influence and technologies. Thus, did the Rakatans destroy themselves, leaving them weakened and vulnerable to a mysterious plague which left only survivors who couldn’t use the Force. Unable to access their technologies, the Rakatan Infinite Empire came to an end. And the Star Forge languished, forgotten, for more than 20,000 years.
The Star Forge’s Graveyard
The Star Forge itself, survived, though. As the Rakatans rereated to their homeworld of Lehon, where the Star Forge lay… not dormant. Not exactly. For the Rakatans left the Star Forge with powerful automation. Automated repair units allowed it to keep itself functioning. While the planet itself was protected by a powerful disruptor field that would disable the communications and navigational systems of any incoming ship, as part of the protective systems of the Star Forge.
This meant that the Star Forge’s planet was a massive graveyard strewn with the wreckage of ships from a span of more than 30,000 years.
It wasn’t until 3960 BBY that the Dark Jedi Revan and his apprentice, Malak, tracked down the lost system of the Rakatans and reestablished their own Sith Empire, complete with an armada of ships built using the Star Forge.
Using the fleet built with the Star Forge, Revan and Malak seized the ancient tombworld of Korriban, and reforged the Sith Empire on their own. The Dark Side began to spread.
Star Forge – Design and Destruction
Chief among the weapons of the Star Forge was its ability to create whole cloth, just using the energy of a nearby star. It had far less in the way of actual weapons. A scant few turbolaser batteries protected it, but the majority of the Star Forge’s defenses relied on craft it could build itself, or the ship-disabling disruptor field projected from the last remaining vestiges of the Rakatan Infinite Empire.
This fact came to light when the Jedi Council captured Darth Revan and wiped his memories. With Revan opting to return to the Light Side of the Force, Revan partnered with Bastila Shan, who had the power of Battle Meditation, which could direct whole fleets through the guidance of the Force.
Eventually Revan led Bastila Shan and Carth Onasi as well as a few others, to the Star Forge, pursuing his past. There, Revan confronted and defeated Darth Malak, and in the Battle of Rakata Prime, the Star Forge was destroyed by a Republic fleet.
Thus, did the Infinite Empire’s greatest weapon find its end.
