(This is a long-running head-universe i've been working on for quite some time. As to what it IS, this is a world building exercise where Star Wars and Star Trek exist, merged into a single universe as if it was always the case. In some cases, characters are combined between worlds, sometimes they are just the character in a different situation. There's no real rule, it just depends on how things work out. It's still very much a work in progress and things change all the time.)
(Currently, timescales are still being worked out. Shorter than Star Wars, longer than Star Trek... )
Part One: Vulcan, The Jedi and the Sith
A long time ago, some Vulcans began to discover they had access to powers and abilities beyond those of others. Within short order, these special Vulcans began to seek each other out, forming small groups and eventually giving way to a larger organization. The early Vulcans who discovered these powers named the mysterious power they had access to "The Force", the members of their group becoming known as "Jedi". For some time, the Jedi of Vulcan studied their connection to The Force and increasingly began to understand it.
Some of the oldest Jedi began to take on students of their own, passing on their knowledge of The Force. After some trial and error, the Jedi had decided to formalize their education and established the Vulcan Jedi Academy. One of the founding members of the Jedi Academy was Master Surak, who had taken a keen interest in a particularly powerful trainee by the name of Ajunta Pall. Surak offer Pall special training and insight, and Pall's master of The Force grew exponentially.
Surak became concerned when Ajunta Pall took to his own studies, experimenting with aspects of The Force that no other Jedi had before. Pall realized that emotions could play a role in the effectiveness of The Force, and experimented with them. It was not before long that Pall had discovered that certain Force abilities responded to different emotional states, but negative emotional states seemed to fuel particularly powerful abilities. Pall had receded into himself, harnessing emotions such as anger, fear and hatred to unlock new abilities, beyond those of even the Jedi Masters.
Sensing a great disturbance, Surak instructed his pupil to cease his exploration of these force abilities. He was concerned that harnessing the Force is such a way was bringing out a dark side in Ajunta Pall. Pall enjoyed the phrasing of Surak's plea, and began calling his techniques "the dark side". Surak had moved beyond concern, it was plain that Pall's "dark side" was destructive and corruptive. Surak now demanded that Pall cease his experimentations. Pall disagreed, lashing out at Surak and leaving the Academy along with a group of students who had taken up similar studies.
Over some years, the influence of Ajunta Pall grew, attracting more and more students away from the Jedi Academy. Surak knew that something had to be done, Pall was growing too powerful and was becoming unhinged. Surak surmised that if negative emotions could power his "dark side", perhaps clarity of mind and the centering of oneself could power a "light side". Surak took to stoicism, eschewing his emotions to gain further insight into the Force. It worked, and the teachings of Surak began first to spread through the Jedi Academy but also to the non-force sensitive population of Vulcan. The fiery, passionate Vulcan emotions that had caused so much war and destruction, were now being controlled and used to harness the power of the Force.
Ajunta Pall and his followers took the very notion of emotional suppression as downright offensive. Surak approached his former student once more, pleading for him to return and purge his emotions. Pall replied with an attack on Surak and the rest of the Vulcan people. Although relatively small in number, Pall's forces were powerful in the Force. A terrible war raged across Vulcan, eventually resulting in an apparent victory over the "Sith", or "traitor" in ancient Vulcan. Pall embraced the title given to him and his kin by the Jedi. They would proudly call themselves Sith.
In the final moments of the war, Surak approached Pall for one last time. His forces were beaten, Vulcan was burning in nuclear fire, it was time to reconcile. Surak plead with Pall to surrender, and allow him to demonstrate the clarity of the purging of emotions. Surak was sure his gamble would work, with Pall being defeated. Pall lashed out once again, consumed by fury and hatred, killing Surak before leading the survivors of his people onto the fairly primitive cryogenic spacecraft available to them. The Sith would not submit to having their emotions torn from them, and preferred to leave behind the world that they felt had betrayed them.
Not only Sith went with Pall. There were those among the non-force sensitive Vulcans who agreed with the Sith. They had no desire to live on a world where they would be robbed of their very emotions. Together, the Sith and the Vulcan turncoats fled their world in search of a new home, far away from the tyranny of the Jedi and the teachings of Surak. As the massive vessels began to lift off, Pall spit on the world he once called home, sickened that he ever called himself Vulcan. He would lead his people, his Rihannsu, to a better world.
As the Rihannsu exodus fleet had left Vulcan, a crowd drew around Surak's lifeless corpse. They had defeated the Sith, but at what cost? Their planet was in shambles and their leader was lost. In an astounding moment, Surak's very force essence... his katra... appeared before those gathered around his corpse. In a last address to his people, he implored them to continue on with his teachings, and to take to the stars as their enemies did, for they would surely spread their darkness, the Jedi must spread the light. With that, the visage of Surak disappeared, but the Vulcan people had a purpose. They would explore the stars, seek out new life, and new civilizations, to spread the teachings of the Jedi and forever stand in opposition of the Sith.
The Sith Exodus and the Annexation of the Klingons of Korriban
Ajunta Pall, his Sith followers and the rest of the Rihannsu fleeing from Vulcan drifted the cosmos for quite some time in cryo stasis, waiting to find a suitable world to reestablish themselves. Periodically, some would awaken temporarily to analyze scanner data and maintain the pods. On on such occasion, fortune favored the Rihannsu as their sleeper ships happened upon an ancient, derelict starship on unknown origin. Many awoke and took to studying the vessel, coming to the realization that it was equipped with a faster than light drive system. While they didn't have time to understand the technology behind it, they were able to get it operational and even duplicate the technology for use on their entire flotilla. Now equipped with rudimentary FTL, the Rihannsu could truly begin their search in earnest.
Within reach of their newly acquired drive system was a planet deemed capable of supporting life. The Rihannsu exodus fleet approached the world to discover it had a primitive native population. This world was chosen to be their new homeworld, the natives to be used a servant and labor class to help establish themselves. The Rihannsu forces were able to quickly subdue the natives, although they were able to put much more of a fight than anticipated. Despite being akin to savages fighting with swords, these Klingons as they called themselves were fierce warriors. Also curious, Ajunta Pall noticed something he didn't think was possible. He could sense the Force in some of these savages. It was not something unique to Vulcans.
The Rihannsu established themselves on the world, utilizing their Klingon slaves and laborers to build up their world, which they named Korriban. The Sith established a temple to both continue their studies into the mysteries of the dark side as well as serving as their seat of power on the new world. Despite some protests from other Sith, Ajunta Pall saw fit to uplift some of the force sensitive Klingons to create more Sith. Using his mastery of the dark side, Pall was able to achieve unnaturally long life, even for a Vulcan. For several centuries, he lorded over Korriban. Towards the end of his life, he had taken on two apprentices. Both native Klingons, both wildly powerful in the force. Pall was amazed at how quickly the Klingons were able to manifest abilities, their emotions being even more powerful than those of the Vulcans. These Klingons were filled with anger and hate, perfect fuel for dark side mastery. Molor and Kahless would be placed into a state of constant competition, vying for the approval of their master.
It was apparent fairly quickly that Molor wad the favored apprentice of Ajunta Pall. Kahless, despite being a great warrior and a powerful force user, was too connected to his people. Molor no longer saw himself as "Klingon", replaced entirely by his Sith identity. Kahless never cared for the title. He was a Klingon warrior first and foremost, and hoped to use his power for the betterment of the Klingon people. Molor reveled in the power of the Sith, to the delight of Ajunta Pall. While incredibly powerful in the dark side, the march of time would eventually take its toll on Pall, who by this point had named Molor "Dark Lord of the Sith" and left much of the day to day running of Korriban to him. With Molor now effectively in charge of Korriban, he became tyrannical. What little agency the Klingon people had was destroyed, with Molor not even recognizing them as people. The Rihannsu weren't much better off. Even the other Sith bowed before Darth Molor. Pall would finally succumb to death, leaving Darth Molor as uncontested ruler of Korriban.
Kahless had enough. He realized he was wrong for ever pursuing the power of the Sith, seeing how it corrupted Molor into even more of a monster than he already was. He left the Sith Order, instantly becoming a fugitive in the eyes of Molor. Kahless returned to his people, hiding out among the population and plotting the downfall of Darth Molor. The downtrodden Klingons rallied behind him. Eventually, Kahless would command a mighty armor of Klingon rebels, ready to strike. However Kahless knew that he only he could stand against Molor himself, and he had to acknowledge that Molor was more powerful. Kahless needed an advantage. Among his retinue were former slaves working on Korriban's moon Dxun, mining a mysterious metal for the Sith. They had returned with a good amount of the material. Kahless realized what it was, he had heard about it during his time as a Sith. Pall and Molor had discovered Beskar on Dxun, a metal resistant to their weapon of choice, the lightsaber.
Kahless took the Beskar ore to a foundry, where Klingon artisans crafted a mighty weapon for him. He named it Bat'leth, the sword of Kahless. A blade of pure beskar. With that weapon in hand, Kahless stood a chance to face Molor. The uprising began. Klingons across Korriban took arms against their Sith oppressors. The non-force sensitive Rihannsu, despite also being oppressed, still took to the defense of "their" people over the Klingons, despite their leader being Klingon. The Sith were unable to withstand the waves of enraged Klingon warriors and were pushed all the way back to the Sith Temple.
Darth Molor himself emerged to fight, met by Kahless. Molor had been awaiting the day he could kill his former peer, and that day had come. Molor engaged his fiery-red lightsaber, laughing at Kahless' pitiful band of rebels. Kahless raised his Bat'leth, ready to fight. Molor scoffed, pointing out the audacity of Kahless resorting to using a simple sword to fight him. Molor went for what he thought would be an easy death blow, and was caught off guard when Kahless blocked the strike with his sword. It took Molor a moment of disbelief to realize what the sword was. The two engaged in an epic battle, trading blows and force attacks at each other. In the end, Kahless knocked the lightsaber from Molor's hand. A defenseless Molor, realizing his last moments were upon him, remembered his true heritage. He was Klingon, and was ready to die a warriors death. Kahless obliged, cleanly severing Molor's head from his shoulders with one motion from his Bat'leth.
Kahless brought Molor's head back to the Sith Temple. The Klingons had won the day, they had seized their home. Most of the survivng Sith had made it back to their old ships, ready to flee. Kahless, recognizing the honor Sith and Rihannsu alike showed in their battle, offered a one time mercy... they could present themselves and claim a warriors death, or they could leave Korriban. Nearly all of them chose the latter, loading back into their old starships that had originally brought them to their new world and leaving what they though was their new home. Some Klingon-Sith remained on the planet, ready to to accept their honorable death. Kahless denied them their death in battle, instead demanding they pledge to serve the Klingon people. They would find an honorable death, but not on this day. They agreed.
In the throne room of the Sith Temple, Kahless sat upon the throne, Molor's head at his feet. The Sith who had remained bowed to him, attempting to name him Darth Kahless, Lord of the Sith. Kahless rejected the title. He was not Sith, he was Klingon. He would accept the rule of his people, but not as a Sith. Kahless declared himself Emperor, and announced the formation of the Klingon Empire. The formerly fractured planet was now in support of uniting as one under Kahless the Unforgettable. His first act was to address the remaining Sith, stripping them of their title. Kahless vowed the Sith would never rule over Klingons again. They agreed, vowing to use their abilities for the betterment of the Klingon Empire, shedding their old Sith title. They took the title of "Dahar Master", in honor of ancient, mythological Klingon warriors with abilities beyond those of normal warriors. The former Sith Order of Korriban would reorganize into the Order of the Bat'leth, commemorating the weapon that felled Darth Molor.
The Sith regalia was removed, and the old Sith Temple would become the Great Hall of the Klingon Empire. Now armed with advanced technology from their Sith oppressors, the Klingon Empire was set to become more powerful than they could have ever imagined. As the last vestiges of the Sith were destroyed, there was one last order. Korriban, the name given to their planet by their oppressors, would now be a cursed word among Klingons. The planet would be renamed to Qo'nos, the name given to their world by their ancestors.
The Sith fleet once again found themselves displaced from their home, searching for a new world among the stars. Their ancient vessels were in disrepair after centuries of neglect, they needed to find a new world quickly. With little time to spare, they found a hostile world that could... just barely... support life. They landed once again to find themselves a new home. This world would become known as "Exegol", although it soon became apparent that the Sith could not flourish there forever...
(More to come)
(Currently, timescales are still being worked out. Shorter than Star Wars, longer than Star Trek... )
Part One: Vulcan, The Jedi and the Sith
A long time ago, some Vulcans began to discover they had access to powers and abilities beyond those of others. Within short order, these special Vulcans began to seek each other out, forming small groups and eventually giving way to a larger organization. The early Vulcans who discovered these powers named the mysterious power they had access to "The Force", the members of their group becoming known as "Jedi". For some time, the Jedi of Vulcan studied their connection to The Force and increasingly began to understand it.
Some of the oldest Jedi began to take on students of their own, passing on their knowledge of The Force. After some trial and error, the Jedi had decided to formalize their education and established the Vulcan Jedi Academy. One of the founding members of the Jedi Academy was Master Surak, who had taken a keen interest in a particularly powerful trainee by the name of Ajunta Pall. Surak offer Pall special training and insight, and Pall's master of The Force grew exponentially.
Surak became concerned when Ajunta Pall took to his own studies, experimenting with aspects of The Force that no other Jedi had before. Pall realized that emotions could play a role in the effectiveness of The Force, and experimented with them. It was not before long that Pall had discovered that certain Force abilities responded to different emotional states, but negative emotional states seemed to fuel particularly powerful abilities. Pall had receded into himself, harnessing emotions such as anger, fear and hatred to unlock new abilities, beyond those of even the Jedi Masters.
Sensing a great disturbance, Surak instructed his pupil to cease his exploration of these force abilities. He was concerned that harnessing the Force is such a way was bringing out a dark side in Ajunta Pall. Pall enjoyed the phrasing of Surak's plea, and began calling his techniques "the dark side". Surak had moved beyond concern, it was plain that Pall's "dark side" was destructive and corruptive. Surak now demanded that Pall cease his experimentations. Pall disagreed, lashing out at Surak and leaving the Academy along with a group of students who had taken up similar studies.
Over some years, the influence of Ajunta Pall grew, attracting more and more students away from the Jedi Academy. Surak knew that something had to be done, Pall was growing too powerful and was becoming unhinged. Surak surmised that if negative emotions could power his "dark side", perhaps clarity of mind and the centering of oneself could power a "light side". Surak took to stoicism, eschewing his emotions to gain further insight into the Force. It worked, and the teachings of Surak began first to spread through the Jedi Academy but also to the non-force sensitive population of Vulcan. The fiery, passionate Vulcan emotions that had caused so much war and destruction, were now being controlled and used to harness the power of the Force.
Ajunta Pall and his followers took the very notion of emotional suppression as downright offensive. Surak approached his former student once more, pleading for him to return and purge his emotions. Pall replied with an attack on Surak and the rest of the Vulcan people. Although relatively small in number, Pall's forces were powerful in the Force. A terrible war raged across Vulcan, eventually resulting in an apparent victory over the "Sith", or "traitor" in ancient Vulcan. Pall embraced the title given to him and his kin by the Jedi. They would proudly call themselves Sith.
In the final moments of the war, Surak approached Pall for one last time. His forces were beaten, Vulcan was burning in nuclear fire, it was time to reconcile. Surak plead with Pall to surrender, and allow him to demonstrate the clarity of the purging of emotions. Surak was sure his gamble would work, with Pall being defeated. Pall lashed out once again, consumed by fury and hatred, killing Surak before leading the survivors of his people onto the fairly primitive cryogenic spacecraft available to them. The Sith would not submit to having their emotions torn from them, and preferred to leave behind the world that they felt had betrayed them.
Not only Sith went with Pall. There were those among the non-force sensitive Vulcans who agreed with the Sith. They had no desire to live on a world where they would be robbed of their very emotions. Together, the Sith and the Vulcan turncoats fled their world in search of a new home, far away from the tyranny of the Jedi and the teachings of Surak. As the massive vessels began to lift off, Pall spit on the world he once called home, sickened that he ever called himself Vulcan. He would lead his people, his Rihannsu, to a better world.
As the Rihannsu exodus fleet had left Vulcan, a crowd drew around Surak's lifeless corpse. They had defeated the Sith, but at what cost? Their planet was in shambles and their leader was lost. In an astounding moment, Surak's very force essence... his katra... appeared before those gathered around his corpse. In a last address to his people, he implored them to continue on with his teachings, and to take to the stars as their enemies did, for they would surely spread their darkness, the Jedi must spread the light. With that, the visage of Surak disappeared, but the Vulcan people had a purpose. They would explore the stars, seek out new life, and new civilizations, to spread the teachings of the Jedi and forever stand in opposition of the Sith.
The Sith Exodus and the Annexation of the Klingons of Korriban
Ajunta Pall, his Sith followers and the rest of the Rihannsu fleeing from Vulcan drifted the cosmos for quite some time in cryo stasis, waiting to find a suitable world to reestablish themselves. Periodically, some would awaken temporarily to analyze scanner data and maintain the pods. On on such occasion, fortune favored the Rihannsu as their sleeper ships happened upon an ancient, derelict starship on unknown origin. Many awoke and took to studying the vessel, coming to the realization that it was equipped with a faster than light drive system. While they didn't have time to understand the technology behind it, they were able to get it operational and even duplicate the technology for use on their entire flotilla. Now equipped with rudimentary FTL, the Rihannsu could truly begin their search in earnest.
Within reach of their newly acquired drive system was a planet deemed capable of supporting life. The Rihannsu exodus fleet approached the world to discover it had a primitive native population. This world was chosen to be their new homeworld, the natives to be used a servant and labor class to help establish themselves. The Rihannsu forces were able to quickly subdue the natives, although they were able to put much more of a fight than anticipated. Despite being akin to savages fighting with swords, these Klingons as they called themselves were fierce warriors. Also curious, Ajunta Pall noticed something he didn't think was possible. He could sense the Force in some of these savages. It was not something unique to Vulcans.
The Rihannsu established themselves on the world, utilizing their Klingon slaves and laborers to build up their world, which they named Korriban. The Sith established a temple to both continue their studies into the mysteries of the dark side as well as serving as their seat of power on the new world. Despite some protests from other Sith, Ajunta Pall saw fit to uplift some of the force sensitive Klingons to create more Sith. Using his mastery of the dark side, Pall was able to achieve unnaturally long life, even for a Vulcan. For several centuries, he lorded over Korriban. Towards the end of his life, he had taken on two apprentices. Both native Klingons, both wildly powerful in the force. Pall was amazed at how quickly the Klingons were able to manifest abilities, their emotions being even more powerful than those of the Vulcans. These Klingons were filled with anger and hate, perfect fuel for dark side mastery. Molor and Kahless would be placed into a state of constant competition, vying for the approval of their master.
It was apparent fairly quickly that Molor wad the favored apprentice of Ajunta Pall. Kahless, despite being a great warrior and a powerful force user, was too connected to his people. Molor no longer saw himself as "Klingon", replaced entirely by his Sith identity. Kahless never cared for the title. He was a Klingon warrior first and foremost, and hoped to use his power for the betterment of the Klingon people. Molor reveled in the power of the Sith, to the delight of Ajunta Pall. While incredibly powerful in the dark side, the march of time would eventually take its toll on Pall, who by this point had named Molor "Dark Lord of the Sith" and left much of the day to day running of Korriban to him. With Molor now effectively in charge of Korriban, he became tyrannical. What little agency the Klingon people had was destroyed, with Molor not even recognizing them as people. The Rihannsu weren't much better off. Even the other Sith bowed before Darth Molor. Pall would finally succumb to death, leaving Darth Molor as uncontested ruler of Korriban.
Kahless had enough. He realized he was wrong for ever pursuing the power of the Sith, seeing how it corrupted Molor into even more of a monster than he already was. He left the Sith Order, instantly becoming a fugitive in the eyes of Molor. Kahless returned to his people, hiding out among the population and plotting the downfall of Darth Molor. The downtrodden Klingons rallied behind him. Eventually, Kahless would command a mighty armor of Klingon rebels, ready to strike. However Kahless knew that he only he could stand against Molor himself, and he had to acknowledge that Molor was more powerful. Kahless needed an advantage. Among his retinue were former slaves working on Korriban's moon Dxun, mining a mysterious metal for the Sith. They had returned with a good amount of the material. Kahless realized what it was, he had heard about it during his time as a Sith. Pall and Molor had discovered Beskar on Dxun, a metal resistant to their weapon of choice, the lightsaber.
Kahless took the Beskar ore to a foundry, where Klingon artisans crafted a mighty weapon for him. He named it Bat'leth, the sword of Kahless. A blade of pure beskar. With that weapon in hand, Kahless stood a chance to face Molor. The uprising began. Klingons across Korriban took arms against their Sith oppressors. The non-force sensitive Rihannsu, despite also being oppressed, still took to the defense of "their" people over the Klingons, despite their leader being Klingon. The Sith were unable to withstand the waves of enraged Klingon warriors and were pushed all the way back to the Sith Temple.
Darth Molor himself emerged to fight, met by Kahless. Molor had been awaiting the day he could kill his former peer, and that day had come. Molor engaged his fiery-red lightsaber, laughing at Kahless' pitiful band of rebels. Kahless raised his Bat'leth, ready to fight. Molor scoffed, pointing out the audacity of Kahless resorting to using a simple sword to fight him. Molor went for what he thought would be an easy death blow, and was caught off guard when Kahless blocked the strike with his sword. It took Molor a moment of disbelief to realize what the sword was. The two engaged in an epic battle, trading blows and force attacks at each other. In the end, Kahless knocked the lightsaber from Molor's hand. A defenseless Molor, realizing his last moments were upon him, remembered his true heritage. He was Klingon, and was ready to die a warriors death. Kahless obliged, cleanly severing Molor's head from his shoulders with one motion from his Bat'leth.
Kahless brought Molor's head back to the Sith Temple. The Klingons had won the day, they had seized their home. Most of the survivng Sith had made it back to their old ships, ready to flee. Kahless, recognizing the honor Sith and Rihannsu alike showed in their battle, offered a one time mercy... they could present themselves and claim a warriors death, or they could leave Korriban. Nearly all of them chose the latter, loading back into their old starships that had originally brought them to their new world and leaving what they though was their new home. Some Klingon-Sith remained on the planet, ready to to accept their honorable death. Kahless denied them their death in battle, instead demanding they pledge to serve the Klingon people. They would find an honorable death, but not on this day. They agreed.
In the throne room of the Sith Temple, Kahless sat upon the throne, Molor's head at his feet. The Sith who had remained bowed to him, attempting to name him Darth Kahless, Lord of the Sith. Kahless rejected the title. He was not Sith, he was Klingon. He would accept the rule of his people, but not as a Sith. Kahless declared himself Emperor, and announced the formation of the Klingon Empire. The formerly fractured planet was now in support of uniting as one under Kahless the Unforgettable. His first act was to address the remaining Sith, stripping them of their title. Kahless vowed the Sith would never rule over Klingons again. They agreed, vowing to use their abilities for the betterment of the Klingon Empire, shedding their old Sith title. They took the title of "Dahar Master", in honor of ancient, mythological Klingon warriors with abilities beyond those of normal warriors. The former Sith Order of Korriban would reorganize into the Order of the Bat'leth, commemorating the weapon that felled Darth Molor.
The Sith regalia was removed, and the old Sith Temple would become the Great Hall of the Klingon Empire. Now armed with advanced technology from their Sith oppressors, the Klingon Empire was set to become more powerful than they could have ever imagined. As the last vestiges of the Sith were destroyed, there was one last order. Korriban, the name given to their planet by their oppressors, would now be a cursed word among Klingons. The planet would be renamed to Qo'nos, the name given to their world by their ancestors.
The Sith fleet once again found themselves displaced from their home, searching for a new world among the stars. Their ancient vessels were in disrepair after centuries of neglect, they needed to find a new world quickly. With little time to spare, they found a hostile world that could... just barely... support life. They landed once again to find themselves a new home. This world would become known as "Exegol", although it soon became apparent that the Sith could not flourish there forever...
(More to come)