View source for Light and Darkness War

{{Top|leg}}
{{Otheruses|Light and Dark}}
{{Campaign
|previous=
|conc=
|next=[[Ruusan Reformation]]<ref name="TEA">''[[The Essential Atlas]]''</ref>
|name=Light and Darkness War
|image=[[File:Battleofruusan.jpg]]
|conflict=[[New Sith Wars]]
|begin=c. [[1010 BBY]]
|end=[[1000 BBY]]
|date=
|place=
|result=[[Jedi Order/Legends|Jedi Order]] Victory
|battles=[[Ruusan campaign]]
|side1=[[Jedi Order/Legends|Jedi Order]]
*[[Army of Light/Legends|Army of Light]]
|side2=[[Brotherhood of Darkness/Legends|Brotherhood of Darkness]]
|side3=
|side4=
|commanders1=
|commanders2=
|commanders3=
|commanders4=}}
The '''Light and Darkness War''' was a name given to the final decade of the [[New Sith Wars]]. The conflict ended with the pivotal [[Ruusan campaign]], where the [[Brotherhood of Darkness/Legends|Brotherhood of Darkness]] was defeated by the [[Army of Light/Legends|Army of Light]].

Wary of the growing power and popularity of the Jedi Lords, the Jedi High Council attempted to groom their own champion against the Sith&mdash;[[Skere Kaan]], born a commoner on Coruscant before being discovered by the [[Jedi Order/Legends|Jedi Order]] and [[Jedi training/Legends|trained]] in the ways of [[The Force/Legends|the Force]] at the [[Jedi Temple]]. Sophisticated and knowledgeable of economic policy and fleet command, Kaan became a [[Jedi Knight/Legends|Jedi Knight]] and a beacon for hope among members of the Jedi High Council who hoped to finally destroy the [[New Sith|reformed Sith Empire]] which had been plaguing the [[Galactic Republic/Legends|Galactic Republic]] for nearly two centuries.<ref name="EGTW">''[[The Essential Guide to Warfare]]''</ref>

Having perfected the art of [[battle meditation]], Jedi Kaan was considered a valuable asset by the High Council, despite his radical belief that the Republic and the Jedi were responsible for the anarchy which plagued [[The galaxy/Legends|the galaxy]]. In an effort to moderate Kaan's extremist views, the High Council awarded him the title of [[Jedi Master/Legends|Jedi Master]]. Seeing the High Council as overbearing, Kaan led a group of loyal Knights away from Coruscant and defected to the Sith.<ref name="EGTW" />

Out of the ashes of the Sith Empire, Kaan reorganized the Sith into the [[Brotherhood of Darkness/Legends|Brotherhood of Darkness]], over 20,000 strong. In an attempt to end the internecine feuds that had torn their Empire apart, Kaan ended the tradition of a sole [[Dark Lord of the Sith/Legends|Dark Lord of the Sith]], and recognized each and every claim to the title by the rival warlords. Kaan forged his alliance with the creed of "Rule by the Strong" and "All are equal in the Brotherhood of Darkness." He made his headquarters on the planet [[Roon/Legends|Roon]].<ref name="TEA" />

Beginning in around [[1010 BBY]], this new group launched a series of attacks designed to destroy the Jedi and the Republic. Kaan, along with the two strongest of the former warlords, [[Qordis]] and [[Kopecz]], began their campaign with a daring and symbolic assault on the ancient Sith homeworld of [[Korriban]], which at that time was still under nominal Republic control. The successful capture of that world sealed their alliance, and enabled the reopening of the ancient [[Sith academy]] under Qordis' leadership.<ref name="pod">''[[Darth Bane: Path of Destruction]]''</ref>

As Qordis trained new recruits, Kaan and Kopecz continued their war, seizing worlds like [[Kashyyyk/Legends|Kashyyyk]], and even briefly [[Corulag/Legends|Corulag]], [[Chandrila/Legends|Chandrila]] and [[Brentaal IV/Legends|Brentaal IV]]. By [[1001 BBY]], they seemed almost poised to conquer [[Coruscant/Legends|Coruscant]],<ref name="pod" /> pressing the Republic on many fronts with the assistance of allies such as the turncoat Jedi King [[Lahzar]],<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith">''[[Star Wars: Jedi vs. Sith]]''</ref> who battled the Republic in the [[Tholatin system]] and a colony of [[Chiss/Legends|Chiss]] on [[Thule/Legends|Thule]], abducted from the [[Unknown Regions/Legends|Unknown Regions]] by agents of Kaan.<ref name="TEA" />

However, [[Hoth (Jedi Lord)|Lord Hoth]], a Jedi Master and Republic [[General/Legends|General]], had been scoring victories of his own against the Sith. Driving the Brotherhood from their home in the heavily-defended region of space known as [[the Cloak of the Sith]], Hoth chased them from world to world, from [[Hoth/Legends|Hoth]] to [[Dromund Kaas]] to [[Malrev IV]]<ref name="The Dark Forces Saga">''[[The Dark Forces Saga]]''</ref>. In many of his earlier campaigns, he commanded Republic fleets and armies, but around [[1002 BBY]], he forged the bulk of the Jedi Order's fighting strength into an independent military force known as the [[Army of Light/Legends|Army of Light]].<ref name="pod" />

====The end of the Sith====
{{Main|Ruusan campaign}}
{{Quote|I ask that you join me in one last task: the creation of a weapon so powerful that when it is detonated, the victors shall become the vanquished and be swept from the pages of history.|Kaan|<ref name="DF:JK">''[[Dark Forces: Jedi Knight]]''</ref>}}
[[File:NewSithWars-TEA.jpg|thumb|left|250px|A map of the latter stages of the Light and Darkness War, [[1004 BBY]], to [[1000 BBY]]]]
The war ended with the armies of Hoth and Kaan facing each other on the world of [[Ruusan/Legends|Ruusan]]. Lord Hoth's army of was made of seven [[Legions of Light]], each led by a Jedi Lord, including [[Valenthyne Farfalla]],<ref name="nec">''[[The New Essential Chronology]]''</ref><ref name="pod" /><ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" /> [[Gale]],<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" /> [[Saleeh]]<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" /> [[Teepo]],<ref name="EGTW" /> [[Berethon]]<ref name="EGTW" /> and [[Newar Forrth]]<ref name="The Dark Forces Saga: Part 4: Of the Crudest Matter">[[The Dark Forces Saga|''The Dark Forces Saga Part 4: Of the Crudest Matter'']]</ref>.<ref name="EGTW" /> Under the Jedi Lords served Jedi Generals such as [[Kiel Charny]].<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" /><ref name="nec" /><ref name="pod" /> Kaan's Brotherhood was led by himself, Qordis, Kopecz and less familiar Dark Lords such as [[Seviss Vaa]],<ref name="nec" /> [[LaTor]]<ref name="DF:JK" /> and [[Githany]].<ref name="pod" /><ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" />

The Army of the Light and the Brotherhood of Darkness clashed seven times on the world, each battle causing terrible casualties as Sith and Jedi died in the thousands.<ref name="nec" /> Throughout the course of the battles, additional reinforcements attempted to land on Ruusan, though many [[Jedi/Legends|Jedi]] forces were destroyed by an orbiting [[Sith/Legends|Sith]] blockade and many Sith reinforcements were destroyed by the [[Republic Navy]] en route to Ruusan.<ref name="pod" />

Though four of the seven battles were won by the Army of Light,<ref name="DF:JK" /> their casualties were still enormous and the campaign would later be considered to be the most deadly clash between Jedi and Sith in galactic history.<ref name="nec" /> So many Jedi died that Hoth was forced to enlist younger and younger Force-sensitive recruits, and Jedi scouts such as [[Torr Snapit]] began to bring pre-adolescents to the battlefield. Though Hoth and his advisors found this distasteful, they reluctantly agreed to accept the child recruits, reasoning that it was better for them to be found by the Jedi than by Kaan's Sith.<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" />

Dissension was rife in both camps - for the Jedi, Hoth feuded with his fellow Lord Valenthyne Farfalla, a rift which only deepened with the death of [[Pernicar]], a Jedi Master who had mediated between the two Lords. Even when Farfalla arrived with over three hundred fresh knights as reinforcements, having both defeated the traitorous King [[Lahzar]] and broken the Sith blockade over Ruusan, Hoth still refused to speak to him.<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" />

The Jedi were further undermined when a new recruit, [[Darovit]] turned traitor, murdering General Charny and defecting to the Sith.<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" />

Among the Sith, Kaan's leadership began to be questioned by both Githany and Kopecz, and Kaan's bungled attempt to remove his rival [[Darth Bane/Legends|Darth Bane]] only served to make him seem foolish, especially after Bane defeated Qordis, Kaan's strongest supporter. Bane mocked Kaan's reliance on traditional weapons of war, and goaded the Sith leader into using the dark side of the Force to destroy Hoth and the Jedi. With Bane's help, Kaan and the other Dark Lords devastated the unprepared Jedi with a [[Force lightning/Legends#Force storm|Force Storm]] that ravaged Ruusan's surface.<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" /><ref name="pod" />

Fortune began to favor the Jedi, though, and thanks to the timely intervention of [[Unidentified envoy|Farfalla's envoy]], and Hoth's own vision of the dead Pernicar, the two Jedi leaders reconciled, pooling their forces just in time to counteract a renewed Sith surge.<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" /><ref name="pod" />

Finally, with both armies nearly destroyed, and the once lush planet totally devastated, the seventh and final [[Seventh Battle of Ruusan|Battle of Ruusan]] took place, ending with Kaan's decision to use an ancient Sith technique known as the [[thought bomb]], the instructions secretly provided by Darth Bane in a plot to destroy the other Sith Lords and leave Bane to rebuild the Sith under the "Rule of Two." Lord Hoth, knowing of his opponent's final gambit, took 99 of his most trusted knights with him and confronted Kaan in an attempt to dissuade the Sith Lord from unleashing the weapon. His friend, [[Tal (Human)|Tal]] attempted to dissuade him, having seen disaster through the Force.<ref name="DF:JK" /> Lord Farfalla did likewise, but Hoth told both that Kaan had to be stopped.<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" />

[[File:HothKaan.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The confrontation between [[Jedi Lord|Lord]] Hoth and [[Sith Lord/Legends|Lord]] [[Skere Kaan]] in the [[Valley of the Jedi]]]]
The attempt was fruitless, as Kaan's mind had broken during the conflict and the Sith Lord, insanity clouding his vision, was determined to destroy himself and his followers, hoping to annihilate the Army of the Light at the same time.<ref name="Jedi vs. Sith" /><ref name="pod" />

As Kaan unleashed his weapon, both his own army and Hoth's were destroyed in an instant. Those Jedi that survived quickly rallied under Lord Farfalla, and the remaining Sith were easily defeated. Darth Bane, in the meantime, went into hiding with his apprentice, Zannah.<ref name="pod" />

After a thousand years, the New Sith Wars had finally come to an end.<ref name="nec" />

==Aftermath==
===Reformations===
{{Main|Ruusan Reformation}}
{{Quote|Now that the Brotherhood of Darkness has been defeated, the Galactic Senate wants to put an official end to this war. There is important legislation on the table that could change the face of the Republic forever. Valorum wants to discuss it with me before the Senate votes.''"<br />"''And this legislation will affect the Jedi as well?''"<br />"''It will, in ways you cannot even begin to imagine.|[[Valenthyne Farfalla]] and [[Johun Othone]], discussing the proposed governmental reforms|<ref name="Darth Bane: Rule of Two">''[[Darth Bane: Rule of Two]]''</ref>}}
With the apparent destruction of the Sith, Farfalla, as highest ranking surviving Jedi, used his authority to remove the Jedi from the position of galactic leadership they had acquired during the past centuries, and hand control back to civilian leadership. [[Tarsus Valorum/Legends|Tarsus Valorum]] became the first non-Jedi to serve as Chancellor for six hundred years and, with Farfalla's assistance, Valorum passed far-reaching legislation that [[Ruusan Reformation|restructured both the Republic and the Jedi Order]].<ref name="nec" /><ref name="TEA" /><ref name="Darth Bane: Rule of Two" />

==Appearances==
*''[[Darth Bane: Path of Destruction]]''
*[[Darth Bane: Path of Destruction (audiobook)|''Darth Bane: Path of Destruction'' audiobook]]
*''[[Star Wars: Jedi vs. Sith]]''
*''[[Darth Bane: Rule of Two]]'' {{Mo}}
*[[Darth Bane: Rule of Two (audiobook)|''Darth Bane: Rule of Two'' audiobook]] {{Mo}}
*''[[Coruscani Dawn]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[The Eye]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Echoes of the Jedi]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Dark Forces: Jedi Knight]]'' {{1st}} {{Flash}}

==Sources==
*''[[The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia]]''
*''[[The Essential Guide to Warfare]]''
*[[Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook|''Star Wars: Edge of the Empire'' Core Rulebook]]
*[[Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook|''Star Wars: Age of Rebellion'' Core Rulebook]]

==Notes and references==
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{{New_Sith_Wars_campaign}}

{{Interlang
|es=Guerra de la Luz y la Oscuridad
|ru=Война Света и Тьмы
}}

[[Category:Battles of the New Sith Wars]]