Black Knight Crisis

Jur'ak D'aghar, Vrekon Shal, Omega Hawk (Ashala), Sythen Kurak, Grey Knights, Black Knights, Jedi, Galactic Alliance, Fel Empire

"I presume you've heard of the Black Knight Crisis? Lasted for six years, trillions dead. Sythen Kurak died? yeah, that one. I was a soldier during that time, killed over a dozen Black Knights myself..."

- Unidentified Alliance Soldier, to Ashala 50 years after the conflict

Prelude
A disgruntled Jedi split from the Order in 9,037 ABY, forming a splinter group of Jedi that followed the Dark Side. He named this group the Black Knights. Not wishing to directly assault the Jedi, he set up a succession of rulers which he had foreseen in a book. This book was the holy scripture for the Black Knights, and none but a Black Knight ever read it. Attacking the Alliance, the Empire, and the Jedi (known as the Triumvirate) verbally and in political debates across the Galaxy the group which started with one Jedi and his apprentice spread throughout the Force users in the Galaxy until the group numbered almost into the quadrillions.

"The Beginning of the End"
The latest Black Knight leader took on the name of Emperor, and the people of the Galaxy began to grow wary. Inviting Sythen Kurak to a private meeting, they assassinated the great leader in one fell swoop, while their agents across the Galaxy assassinated key politicians and military leaders. Declaring war upon the Triumvirate, the Black Knight Emperor famously told the people of the Galaxy in a Holonet message that this attack was the beginning of the end for them.

"This is WAR, gentlebeings"
The Black Knights then attacked in full force. After the first assault, then head of state of the Galactic Alliance Ferrecton Kingh made a formal address to the Galaxy in which he stated that the Black Knights would fall, and that war was begun. The war raged for five more years with the Black Knights devastating the Galaxy. The Grey Knights fought valiantly alongside the Jedi as they came out of the shadows for the first time, and both sides suffered heavy losses. The Battle of Ord Mantell, a last-ditch effort by the Empire and the Alliance to stop the Black Knights from totally destroying the northern area of the Galaxy, resulted in an entire Imperial fleet being destroyed and half of an Alliance fleet, and the Black Knight fleet being devastated. Both sides claimed victory, but Imperial historians count it as both sides losing. However, the battle brought a degree of hope to the Galaxy. The Alliance and the Empire fought with renewed vigor, and "Remember Ord Mantell" became a rallying cry throughout the Empire. After the five years of unending conflict, the Jedi had had half their number killed and half of the remaining ones captured, converted or injured. Kingh and Empress Fel arranged a meeting with the Jedi to discuss whether or not surrender was plausible.

The Massacre
According to the security tapes, the Jedi came in force, bringing almost every on of their number still on Coruscant to the meeting. Greetings were exchanged, and as Kingh and the Empress began to sit down nearly a quarter of the Jedi drew lightsabers and attacked. Due to the monochromatic qualities of holo, the color of their lightsabers is indiscernable from the original recordings; however, survivors recall that all those who attacked had darksabers, the main weapon of the Black Knights. The rest of the Jedi reacted remarkably quickly, but Kingh was severely injured in the massacre and died three weeks later. Approximately half the good Jedi were killed protecting Empress Fel; all of her guards were killed in the initial assault. Word got out that the Jedi had been infiltrated, and terror struck.

The Triumvirate Comes Back
Rather than killing the hopes of the Galaxy, it infuriated the remainder of the Alliance. The armies of the Alliance fought back, but General of Darkness--and former Jedi--Vrekon Shal carved a deep strike into the Core. The final six months of the Crisis were filled with more bloodshed than half of the rest of the Crisis put together, as the Grey Knights augmented the normal military and took back much of the territory lost in the past year. Jur'ak D'aghar fought the Black Knight Emperor on Corellia, defeating him with relative ease. Vrekon Shal surrendered, helping to root out the remainder of the enemy by 10,062 ABY. Exiling himself, he seemingly disappeared into Wild Space.

Aftermath
 was an event that was of great historical significance to the Galaxy, to the point that for the next twenty thousand years it was the point from which the Galaxy marked time, eclipsing the Battle of Yavin in this regard. (Note: All dates in this article mark the event relative to the Battle of Yavin: ABY meaning ater the Battle of Yavin, BBY meaning before.) The casualties of the Crisis were greater than the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, the Galactic Civil War, and the Clone Wars combined. This event devastated the Galaxy to the point that Galactic Economics, a major company that kept track of the entire economy throughout the Galaxy, went bankrupt and took nearly a thousand years to bounce back.