Great Hyperspace Disaster

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Great Hyperspace Disaster

TheGreat Hyperspace Disaster, also known as theGreat Disaster,Legacy Run disaster, or theevacuation of Hetzal Prime, was an event that occurred during theHigh Republic Era, in232 BBY. Severalmoons in theTrymant system, includingKorbatal, were destroyed in the disaster. TheHetzal system was especially threatened, with large amounts of debris set on collision courses for all of its inhabited bodies, sparking a massive rescue effort.

Prelude[]

TheLegacy Run[]

TheClass A modular freight transportLegacy Run was constructed byKaniff Yards well over acentury prior^[1] to232 BBY.^[3] Over itsyears of service, thestarship came to be owned by theByne Guild, and eventually fell under thecaptaincy of retiredMalastare-Sullust Joint Task ForceofficerHedda Casset, who kept theRun in optimal shape across many journeys. However, theLegacy Run was still approaching, or possibly beyond, the end of its working life. On what would become its final journey, theRun was transporting around nine thousand colonists from theCore Worlds andColonies to theOuter Rim Territories. It was also carrying some cargo, including a shipment of supercooled liquidtibanna.^[1]

The Starlight Beacon[]

At the time, theGalactic Republic was headed bySupreme ChancellorLina Soh, who had an expansionist vision forthe galaxy that involved greater outreach for the Republic and theJedi Order. To that end, thespace stationStarlight Beacon was constructed in the Outer Rim'sfrontier. After the station had been completed, the Republic andJedi hosted aconclave at the station, with many luminaries in attendance, includingJedi MasterAvar Kriss andAdmiralPevel Kronara of theRepublic Defense Coalition. After the conclave had ended, the departure of dignitaries including Kriss and Kronara, as well as the admiral'scruiser,Third Horizon, was delayed becauseShai Tennem, who had been theoverseer of the station's construction, insisted upon giving her guests an extensive tour, to Kronara's particular irritation.^[1]

The Nihil[]

TheNihil were apirate band from the Outer Rim which had been growing in notoriety in recent years. With their ability to traverse the rarehyperspacePaths, they could strike at will and vanish without a trace using theirPath engines. Although the group was still merely marauders otherwise,Eye of the NihilMarchion Ro had plans for the group, and intended to strike at the Republic and Jedi, for reasons connected to his family history.^[1]

The disaster[]

Destruction of theLegacy Run[]

TheLegacy Run was traveling throughhyperspace along a well-establishedhyperspace route when disaster struck. Captain Casset had just resumed control of thebridge from herfirst officer,Jary Bowman, when thenavigator,CadetKalwar, alerted her to an obstacle that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the hyperlane, with only seconds to impact. Unbeknownst to the starship's crew, the obstacle was a NihilStormship traversing a hyperspace Path. Although Casset was startled, as the lane was well-traveled enough that such a thing should have been extraordinarily unlikely, she took control of theLegacy Run and sought to pilot it out of way to avoid a collision. She nearly succeeded, but theLegacy Run's age caught up with it, causing the ship to tear itself apart. Casset and her bridge crew managed to seal off the various compartments of the ship before theydied when the bridge was torn open, not knowing if they had managed to save any of the passengers. Parts of theLegacy Run were propelled throughout hyperspace and eventually back intorealspace as a result, causing widespread disruption.^[1]

The Hetzal system[]

Evacuation signal[]

TheHetzal system, atrinary starsystem in theOuter Rim Territories, came under particular threat from enormous numbers ofhyperspace anomalies. The anomalies were first detected entering the system by twoscantechs,Merven Getter andVel Carann, at amonitoring station on the ecliptic in the outer reaches of the system. Confused as to what was happening, Getter and Carann sent out a system-wide alert, but were then killed when their station was destroyed by debris ejected from hyperspace, preventing them from further explaining what they had observed.^[1]

The signal caused confusion throughout the Hetzal system, as no one knew the reason for the alert. In theMinisterial Residence onHetzal Prime, the system's leader,MinisterZeffren Ecka, and hisadvisors attempted to figure out what was happening. Eventually,Keven Tarr from theMinistry of Technology was able to pull together a map showing the debris and the havoc it was already causing in the system, which prompted Ecka to issue a system-wide evacuation order. The order caused panic, as there were not enough starships to evacuate the forty billion-strong population of the system, and most people still did not know what was going on. Some residents of the system chose to ignore the order, assuming it was some kind of hoax. Ecka and his government also sent out adistress signal, although they believed that no one from the Republic was close enough to offer aid in time.^[1]

Rescue mission[]

The Hetzalian distress signal was picked up by theThird Horizon,^[4] which was in transit with the various dignitaries whose departure had been delayed by Tennem, causing the craft to divert to the imperiled system. Along with Republic personnel, at least one hundred Jedi were involved in the rescue effort. With Master Kriss placed in charge of coordinating the mission, she sent a message to Hetzal Prime en route, telling Minister Ecka that help was on the way. RepublicLongbeam cruisers and at least fifty-threeJedi Vectors were prepared.^[1]

TheThird Horizon arrived in the Hetzal system quite close to itssuns, setting a course for the prime world. The Longbeams and Vectors were launched, heading for any place where their help was needed. Kriss, staying on theThird Horizon's bridge, usedthe Force to coordinate the Jedi efforts.^[1]

As the Jedi and Republic personnel rushed to offer their aid, they did not initially realize the true nature of the anomalies tearing their way through the system at such speed. They headed throughout the system to wherever their assistance was needed. The LongbeamAurora IX, commanded byCaptainFinial Bright, headed to assistSolar Array 22-X, which had been damaged by debris before the crew could evacuate. Jedi MasterLoden Greatstorm and hisPadawanBell Zettifar found theRanoraki compound on Hetzal, where the wealthyRanoraki family's security force was threatening a crowd of frightened civilians who wanted to board the family'syacht to escape.^[1]

ThreeJedi Knights,Te'Ami,Mikkel Sutmani, andNib Assek, along with a Longbeam piloted by volunteersJoss andPikka Adren, were preparing to destroy an anomaly bearing down on Hetzal'sFruited Moon when they were halted by Assek'sPadawan,Burryaga Agaburry, after he sensed lifeforms inside it and realized it was starship debris. After Te'Ami relayed this information to Kriss through the Force, she cast her senses wide and located a total of ten anomalies with lifeforms aboard. She relayed this information to Admiral Kronara and his crew, changing the objective to rescue not only the Hetzalians, but those individuals trapped in the debris, before relaying this new goal to the rest of the Jedi present.^[1]

The Adrens, Te'Ami, Sutmani, Assek and Burryaga were able to rescue the passenger compartment hurtling towards the FruitedMoon through a tactic which involved the Jedi usingtelekinesis to form a "lasso" of sorts to slow the container down, whereupon the Adrens fired the grappling cables of their Longbeam, theAurora III. They successfully captured the container and brought it to a halt, averting a collision and saving the individuals inside.^[1]

Elsewhere in the galaxy[]

The Byne GuildtransportVessel, dispatched to carry four Jedi to the Beacon, was forced out of hyperspace on route and subsequently stranded in deep space. The ship's captain and copilot,Leox Gyasi andAffie Hollow, recognized the wreckage screaming through hyperspace as belonging to theLegacy Run and were concerned, as Guild leaderScover Byne, Hollow's adoptivemother, was known to regularly travel aboard the ship. As the disaster unfolded, transmissions for help rang out from across the galaxy. One transmission was from a ship stranded in theBespin system.^[2] TheTrymant system was also affected, with several moons, includingKorbatal, destroyed by hyperspace debris.^[5]

Aftermath[]

Although the Hetzal system had been saved, fragments of theLegacy Run continued to exit hyperspace at seemingly random points, beginning a series ofEmergences. The danger was such that Chancellor Soh ordered an interdiction on hyperspace travel through large swathes of the Outer Rim while atask force worked to contain the situation.^[1]

Entire civilizations were lost to the Emergences.^[6] TheKoboh system was affected by the disaster when an Emergence destroyed itsmoon, sending fragments ontoKoboh itself. A research facility was used as shelter by Republic scientists on its moon. The entire system was soon evacuated by the Jedi Council.^[7] The planetBrendok was affected by an Emergence as well,^[6] rendering it lifeless.^[8]

Behind the scenes[]

The Great Hyperspace Disaster is an event that was created for the ongoingStar Wars: The High Republic multimedia project. It was first unveiled in the trailer announcingThe High Republic initiative onFebruary 24,2020.^[10]

More details were provided onJune 23, 2020 when the first excerpt ofCharles Soule'sThe High Republic: Light of the Jedi, the first novel ofThe High Republic, was debuted by IGN. In an interview with IGN, Soule described it as a "galaxy-wide disaster."^[11] InDecember 2020, he further described the creative process surrounding the Great Disaster's place asThe High Republic's catalyst: the five writers (Cavan Scott,Claudia Gray,Justina Ireland,Daniel José Older, and Soule himself) and other executives decided to create it to subvert the traditional format ofStar Wars' galactic wars, and introduce a problem that would prove not just a test of martial skill, but also a test of the system's ability to handle it.^[9]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]