The Star Forge was a colossal automated shipyard, constructed by the Rakatan Infinite Empire
in 30,000 BBY, though the use of strange and eldritch dark side engineering.
The megastructure was assembled in stable orbit above Abo, the star of the Rakatan Home
System, using vast numbers of enslaved labourers taken from thousands of worlds, and upon completion,
the forge represented the crowning achievement of the Rakatan Infinite Empire.
Approximately 28 kilometres high and 11 kilometres across, the size of the Star Forge was extraordinary
for its time, easily the largest artificial structure ever assembled in space, and the
area between its colossal dorsal pylons was more than large enough to house hundreds of
capital ships.
The station was designed to process pure energy to replicate fleets of starships, and it’s
linear and elegant design reflected this process perfectly.
Using collectors at the tips of its ventral pylons, the station drew a vast stream of
energy from the surface of the Rakatan Sun, this energy was artificially imbued with the
dark side of the force, using strange and ancient techniques, before being applied to
replicate enormous quantities of durable metal and sophisticated components.
These materials were then transferred to the station’s dorsal pylons, where they were
used to rapidly construct and deploy hundreds of thousands of combat spacecraft.
While the Star Forge’s external armaments were very limited, consisting of only a few
turbolaser batteries around its launch bays, the Station’s internal defences were far
more formidable, including an army of rapidly-constructed battle droids, deadly energy fields and hundreds
of anti-personnel turrets to help repel boarders.
The station itself was a Nexus of the dark-side, and was considered to be at least partially
sentient and self-aware, corrupting any beings it encountered to feed its powerful foundries,
and it was these traits that ultimately resulted in the downfall of the forge’s creators.
The Rakata were by nature a cruel and malicious race, ruling their empire through intimidation
and savage barbarity, and these inherent traits allowed the Star Forge to corrupt its creators
with little difficulty, creating fear and paranoia, which led to numerous uprisings
and civil wars, until eventually the Rakatan Infinite Empire had devolved into scattered
tribes of savages, no longer possessing the ability to operate their own technology.
In the Rakatan’s absence the Star Forge remained dormant, but thanks to its extensive
self-repair systems and high level of automation, the station managed to remain fully functional
through tens of thousands of years of abandonment.
Though the creation of the Star Forge and the subsequent fall of the Infinite Empire
was an incredibly important part of galactic history, the events leading to the forge’s
final destruction are arguably even more significant.
Across the course of the Jedi Civil War, the Star Forge had fallen into the hands of Revan
and Malak’s Sith Empire, and was put into use constructing a vast armada of Sith warships.
This naturally made the location and destruction of the Forge, into the top priority of the
Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, and both goals came to fruition in the Battle
of Rakata Prime.
Fighting above the Rakatan Sun, a Republic Battlegroup under the flag of Admiral Forn
Dodonna was able to defeat the Sith warships protecting the massive station, and with the
help of the redeemed Revan, the fleet successfully disabled the Star Forge’s orbital stabilisers,
causing the massive station to fall into its own energy stream, where it was completely
obliterated.
Though the forge’s 26,000-year lifespan had finally come to a close, the station’s
legacy would go on for far longer, with surviving parts of the forge being used to create the
Infinite Engine, and great battles being fought over the remains of smaller Rakatan stations,
such as the Foundry, in the hopes of reclaiming even a small fraction, of Star Forge’s unstoppable
power.