Duel on Gyndine

In 1,386 BBY, eight Jedi dueled the Darth Vandak on the planet  in the. Six of the Jedi were slain in the conflict, along with over a dozen civilians, before the last surviving Jedi finally brought an end to Vandak's centuries-long darkness.

Outsourcing
Vandak had once been in the service of Sith Overlord Darth Saleej and generally regarded as the most powerful Sith and the greatest lightsaber duelist on Saleej's council of Sith Lords. He was also Master of the Brotherhood of Shadows, employing his fellow in Saleej's campaigns. Vandak's service to Saleej was merely the latest incarnation of his mastery of the dark side of the Force; he was centuries old and had fought Jedi long before the New Sith Empire.

In 1,387 BBY, however, Vandak dueled Mali Darakhan and Tirien Kal-Di on. Though he was the superior swordsman, he was wounded in the engagement—the Jedi cut off his brain-eating Anzat proboscises, leaving him unable to feed on. Driven insane by the loss, Vandak unleashed his powers through Sith and territory alike in an unpredictable campaign of slaughter.

Saleej initially allowed Vandak to continue on the assumption the Anzat would come to his senses and return; even after it became clear Vandak was lost, Darth Alecto had won the Brotherhood's fealty for him and succeeded in assassinating Phnyong, and his military campaigns in the wake of Phnyong's death experienced success. Saleej did not give Vandak further thought until Erinyes, a member of the Furies, arrived at the Unquenchable Fire with the news that The Seeing One had foreseen Vandak devastating Gyndine before returning from the Republic to Sith territory, resulting in further losses to the Sith.

In the name of the Council of Five, Erinyes gave Saleej two unpalatable options: kill Vandak himself or allow Erinyes to deal with him. The former risked the loss of his valuable Sith Lords (or capture by the Republic, if Saleej went in person), while the latter would be an admission of impotence. Darth Alecto saved him by proposing a third option: alerting the Jedi to Vandak's impending arrival on Gyndine, trusting the Jedi to pull out all stops to eliminate Vandak. Saleej adopted the plan, and Lord Rhutizh'chal'safan spread the word through his intelligence network.

Code 905
"D ARTH V ANDAK WILL BE ON G YNDINE AT THE FOLLOWING DATE, TIME, AND LOCATION . A NY J EDI ABLE TO RESPOND ARE ORDERED TO DO SO—APPREHEND OR TERMINATE HIM ON SIGHT."

- from the Jedi Council's Code 905

immediately conveyed the news of Vandak to the, but by the time the intelligence reached the Council only six hours remained. The Council immediately issued an Emergency Code Nine-Oh-Five order, summoning all available Jedi to Gyndine to face Vandak.

Given the travel time needed to reach Gyndine, only eight Jedi were able to respond by the deadline: Kirthi and her  Elmir; s Lishedra Nakaana and Grayv Proscuul and their Padawans Bekli and Krajjey; Jedi Knight Lukkad; and Cienis Favand, the  of the. Favand, who knew Gyndine well, was able to direct his fellow Jedi to the Yractos Commercial Commons, and Nakaana devised the plan of attack.

And the Gates of the Netherworld Opened
As foreseen, Darth Vandak arrived at the Commercial Commons and, after being jostled by a civilian and his, snapped and began to slaughter those nearby. The Jedi responded, with Kirthi, Lishedra, and Krajjey the first line of attack. Though they briefly appeared to drive Vandak before them, he quickly killed Kirthi, then maimed Lishedra and Elmir and slaughtered Lukkad. As the Jedi reeled under his attacks, he damaged the skybridge on which they were standing, then leapt off and used the Force to tear it down.

The surviving Jedi continued the duel on the ground, but after using on a group of civilians, Vandak fought them now with both his lightsabers and his mastery of the dark side. He suffered a variety of minor wounds, but killed Grayv and Lishedra in short order, then fought a pitched battle against Bekli, Cienis, and Krajjey until he killed Krajjey too. Cienis sacrificed himself to protect Bekli, leaving her to fight Vandak alone, aided only by Elmir's Force powers.

Though far out of their league, the two Padawans were lovers and shared a powerful which enabled them to share thoughts and coordinate instantaneously. As such, Elmir used his powers to disrupt Vandak while Bekli continued to inflict minor injuries. Eventually Bekli set to rewiring a severed electrical wire to use as a weapon, and Elmir slowed and weakened Vandak with a burst of. After they shocked Vandak enough to kill a, Bekli reentered the duel. Vandak was still more than a match for her, but Elmir used his lightsaber to catch Vandak's strikes, opening him for Bekli's killing stroke.

Aftermath
Vandak's corpse exploded in a, causing considerable structural damage to the Commercial Commons, though Bekli and Elmir shielded themselves from its effects. The two Padawans were treated for their serious injuries aboard the, then knighted by Jedi Council Master Kussam Bnodd and hailed as heroes by the himself. Media reports only mentioned that two Jedi Padawans had killed Vandak, without noting the six other Jedi slain in the attempt.

On the Sith side, Erinyes left Darth Saleej after the confirmation of Vandak's death, and Saleej rewarded Alecto with more Sith Acolytes and dark side adepts. On behalf of Ko Davad, Erinyes also offered Alecto a place among the Furies, though she did not require Alecto to decide then.

Behind the Scenes
The duel on Gyndine was originally envisioned exclusively as a lightsaber duel; Sakaros wound up incorporating a variety of dark side Force powers to demonstrate Vandak's mastery.

Appearances

 * Igniting the Stars