Thousands of years before the reign of Darth Sidious and his Galactic Empire, when much
of the galaxy was ruled by the Old Republic, a force-sensitive human male was born in the
Outer Rim and sent to train with the Jedi Order.
Though the boy was promising from a young age, few could have imagined the impact his
life would have on the future of the galaxy.
Taught by a number of great Masters like Arren Kae, Zhar Lestin and Dorak, his curiosity
proved insatiable, leading him to study force bonds in his free time, as well as other uncommon
subjects.
While training on Coruscant, he befriended Alek, a fellow Padawan who was proving powerful
in his own right, and together they rose through the ranks to become full-fledged Jedi Knights.
Developing into a charming, handsome and charismatic young man, The Crusader, as he became known
in the media, started to gain fame in 3964 BBY for his hardline stance against the Mandalorean
invasion of the Republic.
A warrior culture devoted to achieving honor in combat, the neo crusaders under Mandalore
the Ultimate had been conquering worlds for over a decade but their invasion of Vanquo
was the first Republic planet to be targeted.
In response, the government sent their fleet to war, but the Jedi High Council did not
join them, voting to stay out of the conflict, to the surprise and anger of many.
Despite the people and worlds under immediate threat from the Mandaloreans, the Masters
of the Jedi Order had a number of reasons for their making their decision, with some
believing the Jedi must seek a peaceful resolution and avoid violence at any cost, while others
thought they should only ever engage in conflict to defeat the Sith Order, and must wait for
the day their ancient enemies re-emerged.
Yet some few also sensed a larger game was being played, and the Mandalorean invasion
may only be the first move.
Thus they should reserve their strength and act only when they had more information.
While the Council endlessly discussed and debated the situation, millions suffered across
the galaxy, a fact many within the younger generation of Jedi could not abide, leading
the Crusader to start speaking out in favour of joining the republic war effort.
Although a number of young jedi were quick to join him as leader of the Revanchist Movement,
his best friend Alek was the first at his side, serving as his apprentice and second
in command.
When it became clear the Jedi council would not reconsider their decision, the Revanchists
decided to take action and embarked on a scouting mission to assess the situation on the front
lines.
Leaving Alek and the others on Suurja, the Revanchist Crusader took off on his own to
investigate Mandalorean activity on the planet Onderon and its moon Dxun, before returning
to find his people captured by the enemy.
Reporting his findings to the Jedi council, the Crusader was allowed to take off on a
rescue mission for his comrades but it proved unnecessary, as Alek and the others were freed
by an unforeseen ally, the former jedi padawan and wanted criminal Zayne Carrack.
Born with moderate force capabilities, Carrack was trained on Taris where he ranked last
in their class, making it clear he would never become a Jedi Knight.
But neither would any of his fellow students, as their masters turned against them at the
final ceremony, slaughtering all but Zayne Carrack, who like always, arrived late and
became a witness to the massacre.
Fleeing for his life, Zayne became an infamous fugitive, sought throughout the galaxy, when
the Jedi Masters framed him for the murders.
Gathering together a crew of loyal companions, Carrack began his own investigation and discovered
that 5 Jedi on Taris made a pact to kill their students, after a vision was interpreted to
mean one of their Padawan would become a Sith and destroy the Jedi Order.
Realizing this meant they would stop at nothing to kill Carrack and his allies, he decided
to stop running and go on the attack, even sending a warning that he was coming to destroy
them, even if it really did result in the collapse of the Jedi Order.
During one of their missions, Zayne’s friend Jarael was mistaken for a Jedi and captured
by the Mandaloreans who took her to Flashpoint Station, where the scientist Demagol was conducting
experiments on force sensitives.
Chasing after them, Zayne Carrack infiltrated the station and freed Jarael as well as a
number of other prisoners which included Alek and the Revanchists who embraced him as an
ally.
Although Alek’s friendship with Carrack saw them join together on a number of adventures,
it eventually led to deep feelings of hurt, jealousy and resentment, when his love interest
Jarael rejected his advances and chose to be with Zayne.
Reuniting with the Crusader, the Revanchist movement returned to the Core and found themselves
at a new level of popularity which they immediately used to amplify their message, continuing
to urge the council to authorize participation in the war.
But this only set the council further against them, and so they issed arrest warrants against
the Revanchist Jedi.
Events further escalated after the Battle of Serroco, when the Mandalorean unleashed
nuclear weapons to wipe out the world’s cities and population, leading the Revanchist
leader to send his most trusted companion Alek to the planet Arkania, where he was tasked
with acquiring a biological superweapon or at least destroying it to keep it from the
other factions.
Inevitably, hostilities erupted and Alek fought alongside allies like Zayne Carrack, Carth
Onasi and others to neutralize the weapons and kill their creator.
As a favour to his friend, Alek returned to Coruscant under the name Captain Malak, and
risked arrest by contacting the Jedi Council to testify in the defense of Zayne Carrack,
who was wrongly accused of murdering his fellow Padawan.
When the meetings ended, the Jedi allowed him to leave the planet so he could deliver
a final warning to the Revanchists.
Having learned of dissention among the Mandalorean ranks, the Jedi council wanted to amplify
this discontent in the hopes of fracturing their unification to facilitate a Republic
victory, viewing this as a more peaceful alternative to directly entering the war.
But in order to pursue this path, the Jedi needed the Revanchists to stop their campaign
from escalating the conflict, and so sent Malak back to his friends with a final warning
to stop their activities and return to the core.
Tracking his ship, the Jedi followed Malak to the planet Cathar, where the Revanchists
were investigating the disappearance of their people 10 years earlier, suspecting the Mandaloreans
were behind the atrocity.
As the Masters chastised the rebels, the Revanchist Crusader found a mandalorian mask hidden under
the sand, and as he picked it up, all the jedi present experienced a shared forced vision
of the past, watching helplessly as the Cathar population was pushed into sea and exterminated
by the Mandaloreans under Cassius Fett, seeking vengeance for their defeat in the great Sith
Wars of Exar Kun decades earlier.
When a lone female Mandalorean failed in her attempt to plead for their lives, she chose
to die at their side, when Cassius Fett opened fire.
As the Vision ended, the Revanchist was overwhelmed with emotion and upon realizing he was holding
the heroic woman’s mask, took the name Revan and vowed to wear this symbol of defiance
until the Mandalorians were brought to justice.
Having witnessed the atrocity themselves, the Masters were far more sympathetic to Revan’s
cause, but continued to believe the Jedi Order must stay out of the fighting.
Agreeing to a compromise, the Council publicly denounced their movement and continued to
warn Jedi against joining the war, but also allowed Revan to be named commander of a small
Mercy Corps in the Republic military, allowing for individual Jedi to join while the Order
as a whole remained out of the fighting.
The Mercy corps proved a valueable addition to the war effort, with Revan gaining fame
as an exceptional strategist and military mind while Malak expanded his reputation a
great warrior.
Yet they were not the only ones to gain fame from these military campaigns, as the Jedi
Meetra Surik became an excellent leader, rising to become third in command under her mentor
Revan and his apprentice Malak.
After their efforts to mitigate Republic losses in the disastrous Battle of Duro, Revan was
promoted to Supreme Commander, and given control over a 3rd of Republic forces.
Yet as the war dragged on and the Mandaloreans became more ruthless and desperate, so too
did Revan and Malak, who were determined to achieve victory at any cost.
Making their decisions based on cold calculations, they grew increasingly detached from the suffering
their actions created and so began their slow descent into the ways of the Dark Side.
Ever eager for more knowledge, Revan and Malak found a dark side cave on Dantooine, and after
passing a series of tests were permitted to enter the inner chamber.
Sensing that this was a turning point for both of them, Malak warned Revan that the
Jedi Council might banish them if they continued on this path, but the master kept walking
and so his apprentice followed.
Deep within the ruins they found a star map, partially revealing the location of a Rakatan
space station called the Star Forge.
Intrigued, they investigated further, discovering more star maps on Kashyyk, Manaan, Tatooine
and the Sith homeworld of Korriban.
Eventually Revan discovered the Trayus Academy, an ancient sith school within the planet of
Malachor V, and started studying what he found.
He then shared this new found knowedge with his apprentice Malak, thereby continuing their fall towards the dark side.