KOTOR Files: Celestial Empire Timeline

All dates are denoted as Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY), also known as the events during the climax of the movie Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. In this timeline, however, the events of that movie will never occur so long as the Celestial Empire remains in place.

~100,000 BBY
The Celestial Empire is founded.

90,000 BBY
The Celestials create the Great Hyperspace Rift, cutting off access to the western areas of the Galaxy. Ostensibly, this is to protect the rest of the galaxy from the terror known as Mnggal-Mnggal.

70,000 BBY
The Infinite Empire is founded by the Rakata. They immediately declare war against the Celestials, since they were trapped in the western areas of the galaxy when the rift was created. Once they were able to punch through the rift, they begin taking over other sectors of the galaxy.

60,500 BBY
The Rakata claim the planet of Coruscant. The natives of this world (humans) had been periodically taken by the Celestials to other sectors of the galaxy as slaves. Recognizing their usefulness, the Rakata took the planet by force.

60,000 BBY
The Rakata launch a simultaneous attack against all known Celestial military outposts using black hole generators. The Celestials were taken by surprise, and the Rakata were able to reduce the Celestial Empire to a single world - Lannik.

The follow-up attack happened the next day. The Rakata planned on freezing the Celestials in time, so that they could only rule over the galaxy after other races had their opportunities. But the Celestials were ready for them: a single strike team crippled the Rakata offensive. Later that same day, the Rakata homeworld exploded. The Infinite Empire was wiped out by the Celestials within weeks.

50,000 BBY
A rebel movement on Coruscant begins to gain serious momentum. Estimates place rebel sympathies at 80% of the population. As a defensive measure, the planet is bombed by the Celestial Empire's flagship until nothing remains but hot glass. Casualties are incaculable.

This only spurs the rebel sympathies across the Empire, especially on other Human-controlled worlds like Corellia. However, it is soon publicly revealed that the rebellion is led by the last surviving Rakata, who was using the Humans as pawns for his own agenda. The Celestials even release time-stamped video, independently verified, of the prisoner confessing his crimes. The rebellion loses followers by the thousands.

40,000 BBY
In the interests of keeping the peace, the Celestial Empire announces that anyone gifted with the "power of the gods," aka the Force, will be inducted into a special program where they can learn and develop their abilities. Graduates of this program become the Imperial Agents: fierce negotators, combatants, and arbiters of justice throughout the galaxy. Where once the Empire would have sent a battleship, a single Agent will go instead.

Some protest the right of the Empire to take their children, blessed by the gods or no, but it is law.

30,000 BBY
A new rebellion is sparked by the identification of the Miraluka, an entire race that has lost their physical sight but can still see by the power of the gods. The Empire decrees that all Miraluka must enter the Imperial Agent program. Protests erupt across the planet, and gradually gain sympathy throughout the galaxy.

As capitulation, the Empress holds free elections for the first time in history. The galaxy is split into fifteen sectors, and each sector elects a senator. All decrees must be unanimously approved by the Senate before they are ratified into law. The Senate building is constructed in the centrally located Empress Teta system.

The Miraluka Decree is the first order of business for the Senate, and it is struck down.

29,000 BBY
Murder and mayhem spread throughout the galaxy. Before too long, Imperial Agents report that it is the work of rogue "Blessed," people who have been granted the power of the gods but chose not to enter the Agent program. The Blessed claim that the freedom of the Miraluka mean the freedom of choice for all who are granted the power of the gods.

After long deliberation, the Senate disagrees. Anyone with the power of the gods who elects not to enter the Agent program, or for whatever reason does not graduate from said program, must have a chip implanted to supress their abilities.

25,000 BBY
The Celestial Empire opens the first trans-galactic hyperspace corridor to a nearby galaxy. The trip takes two weeks, but the route takes travelers from Tatooine in this galaxy to Ral'Shad in the Neroph galactic cluster. Additional routes to other galaxies are planned within the year. Tatooine becomes a intergalactic mercantile hub almost overnight.

20,000 BBY
Droids and other artificial intelligences become very popular, their use spreading throughout the galaxies. Before long, the droids mount a coordinated rebellion against their "meat-bag" masters, and war breaks out across the Empire.

Within days, however, Imperial Agents locate the ringleader droid, and deactivate him. They then release a software patch that subdues all droids. A few weeks later, droid manufacturers release "upgraded" models with restricted AI, and recommend regular memory wipes at least once a year.

15,000 BBY
The Hutts are declared, as a race, enemies of the Empire. As punishment, all Hutts are rounded up, placed back on their homeworld of Nal Hutta, and the entire star system is moved to the still-restricted western side of the galaxy.

10,000 BBY
The Celestials put an end to the constant war between the natives of Kashyyyk and Trandosha by moving Trandosha to the Neroph galactic cluster. With no petty racially-motivated rivalries to fight, the Wookies begin to build a trading empire, which quickly grows to fill the void left by the Hutts.

Before long, the Wookie language of Shyriiwook becomes one of the top three languages in the galaxy, if only because people want to make sure that they're getting a fair deal from their local trader.

7,500 BBY
The Yuuzhan Vong are discovered inhabiting a nearby galaxy. The Celestial Empire attempts negotiations, but they are rebuffed. So, a fleet Imperial battlecrusiers are sent, and they eliminate the galaxy in question. The destruction of a galaxy strands the fleet in the void. Their dedication and heroism is celebrated across the Empire.

5,000 BBY
Imperial Agents are issued lightsabers instead of the more bulky vibroblades. The lightsabers issued to Imperial Agents are white, signifying the purity of their cause. Within a decade, black-market lightsabers are available, but no one has been able to locate the crystals that the Agents use. Thus, every color except for white is available for other lightsaber-users, of which there are few.

Rumors circulate of an underground facility that removes the chips forced upon the Blessed, and trains people in the power of the gods, but no one is able to give specifics. Much like the Agents, the apostate Blessed will find you.

4,000 BBY
The Mandalorians are declared enemies of the Empire, and are relegated to the western galaxy. Officials report that the Mandalorians were planning a rebellion, but were discovered by an Imperial Agent.

3,965 BBY
Conspiracy theorists list the number of rebellions against the Empire at sixty-seven - all of which were somehow detected, usually by Imperial Agents. Any planet used as a home base for a rebellion is then moved by the Empire, using restricted military technology. The rebellion is thus defused before it has a chace to really spread.

Coincidentally, just prior to the rebellions becoming public knowledge, spacial anomalies appear in certain locations across the galaxy. A cadre of scientists, most of them loyal to the current rebellion, want to find out if there's a correlation.

3,963 BBY
The rebellion has gained sympathy across the Empire, especially among those who have seen the fearsome power of the gods firsthand. Imperial Agents are not necessarily kind, and will do whatever it takes to eliminate anything they percieve as a threat.

With some help from the royalty of several systems, including Cathar, the rebellion has purchased or otherwise acquired one hundred thousand snub fighters, which are being equipped with the latest in hyperdrive and weapons technology. But first they must find a target. After much prompting, Admiral Kaname Song agrees to send twelve frigates to investigate the spacial anomalies that have recently cropped up across the galaxy.

The rebellion is worried. The last time a rebellion was identified and quelled, the anomalies were detected then, too. Are they about to suffer the wrath of the Empire? Or can they identify a target and gain support of its citizens?

And so our heroes enter the story ...