Deceit.
The Sith are infamous for it.
Thirteen centuries ago, the Sith were exterminated.
Everyone knew that.
The Sith Empire was crushed.
Nothing remained.
Korriban laid to ruin.
The republic was safe from them.
Forever.
Or so we thought.
Twenty-eight years ago,
we learned from that mistake.
The Sith Empire was not gone.
The Red Sith were not extinct.
They had simply been biding their time.
Overnight, half the galaxy was attacked.
Korriban retaken.
Our forces had no chance to hold against this attack on so many fronts.
We were not ready.
In time, after many systems had been lost,
our forces began to hold the line.
But we could not push the Sith back into the regions from whence they came.
We were pressed on too many fronts.
Decades of war ensued.
A whole generation grew up knowing only galactic war.
Knew nothing of peace.
No one saw an end upon the horizon.
Without warning, the Sith Empire offered peace.
The Jedi warned us that the Sith could not be trusted.
We did not listen.
We needed peace.
Without it, our armies would soon collapse.
The negotiations began on Alderaan.
They were not easy, for the Sith were demanding.
Then Coruscant dropped off the Grid.
One moment, it was linked directly to the holonet.
The next it was not.
Ships sent there, disappeared.
Soon it became clear.
We should have listened to the Jedi.
The Sith had, in the midst of peace negotiations,
struck straight at our Capital World.
They had conquered it.
Suddenly we found ourselves with a poor hand in the negotiations.
The Sith started dictating terms in return for Coruscant.
We had no choice.
We had to give in.
Not much later,
the treaty was signed.
Thousands of star systems had to be abandoned to their own fate.
Billions would be crushed under the armored boots of the Sith empire.
But Coruscant was freed.
The death toll was unimaginable.
Nobody knew how large it was.
The Coruscanti Jedi temple was destroyed.
A still-smoking ruin.
Like so much else of the ecumenopolis.
Scans began to search for any survivors buried in the rubble.
Many were found.
But most were dead.
There was but one problem.
There were bodies missing in the temple.
Dozens of bodies,
if not hundreds.
Where were they? Some asked.
Everyone knew the answer.
The Sith had taken captives.
Lots of captives.
Are you one of them? Or are you one of their Sith captors?
Come here if you think you might be.