The Second Ashlan Civil War was a major conflict in the Ashlan Expanse that saw the forces of the Bendu Order on Kal'Shabbol against the tyrannical forces of Shadows of the Phoenix on Had Abaddon. The conflict was fought primarily due to the desires of Husen Al-Dubrir and Mathias Helsdain to conquer the Bendu and Kal’Shabbol and kill Ussej Padric Bac, though it was also to retrieve Al-Dubrir’s daughter.
The conflict traced its origins back to rise of Shadows of the Phoenix and the chipping away of the democratically elected government of Had Abbadon. As the Bendu, primarily Ussej Padric Bac and Laili Jeyna Rendar, feverishly negotiated with the tyrannical uprising in an attempt to restore the democratic government, a teenaged Ussej Padric Bac II met and began lusting over the daughter of Al-Dubrir, Tesiana Al-Dubrir. Though he and his parents left Had Abaddon shortly thereafter, he never forgot about her.
Fifteen years later, Ussej Padric Bac II returned to Had Abaddon with David Rendar for negotiations with Shadows of the Phoenix, as they had taken over the government on Had Abaddon. Ussej met Tesiana once again and they fell in love with one another. Ussej brought Tesiana back with them to Kal'Shabbol and, though he wanted his daughter back from the Bac family, he used it as an excuse to launch a war against the Bendu and Kal'Shabbol. In the end, however, Al-Dubrir’s forces were defeated, but not after costing the life of thousands on both sides of the war. Though the war was never given its just remembrance by those outside of the Ashlan Expanse, no one forgot who fought in it, nor did they forget the heroes who died in it.
History[]
Prelude[]
One year after the conclusion of the Great Territorial War and the supposed death of Sith Empress Viea, the woman formerly known as Adena Qel-Droma, Mathias Helsdain returned to the headquarters of the organization known as Shadows of the Phoenix on Had Abaddon, a world that very few outside the Ashlan Expanse knew about. Helsdain, who was secretly second in command of the organization, told the administrator of the organization, Husen Al-Dubrir, that he had encountered Ussej Padric Bac three times during his stay in Republic territory. Ussej had been a point of interest to Al-Dubrir for years, as he had personally assassinated Padric Bac II and his wife over three decades earlier. Unfortunately for them both, Helsdain knew that Ussej and his family had disappeared, though he did not know where they had disappeared to.
Days after his arrival on his organization’s headquarters, Helsdain learned that Al-Dubrir’s wife had given birth to a baby girl whom they named Tesiana. Helsdain did not know that Al-Dubrir ever desired children, so he was amazed to see how calm and relaxed his boss was while in the presence of his daughter. It secretly disgusted the former mercenary, but he knew that she would grow into someone who would be a viable asset to their plans and the overall organization. Helsdain told his boss as much and Al-Dubrir agreed. That day, Al-Dubrir filled Helsdain in on what he had been planning since the mercenary had left for Republic space. Shadows of the Phoenix was planning a coup-de-tat of the planet. Once he had crowned himself Emperor of Had Abaddon, he would destroy the Bendu Order located on Kal'Shabbol and his family would rule the Ashlan Expanse for millennia to come.
Two months after they had disappeared, the small starship that carried Ussej Padric Bac, Laili Jeyna Rendar, Ussej Padric Bac II and Aletra Jekkura, who was nine months pregnant with the child of the late Kit Corwin Rendar, had journeyed very far into the Unknown Regions and had entered a nebula near the border of the galaxy. Ussej had all but given up hope in finding a suitable planet for his family to live on within the area, but when Aletra suddenly went into labor Ussej detected a world just off their course that could sustain them. Seven hours after setting a course, they arrived on the Alderaanian-like planet where Aletra gave birth to a healthy baby boy named David Rendar in a nearby medical center.
After David was born, Ussej introduced his son, Ussej Padric Bac II, and the child’s mother, Laili Jeyna Rendar. Shamus Malachor, the High Priest of the Bendu Order, asked why Ussej did not introduce Laili as his wife. When Ussej said they were not married, despite having a child, many Bendu refused to speak with them or even acknowledge their presence on their planet. Malachor, however, was not one of those people. He was hesitant after Ussej explained that he and the father of Aletra’s child were Sith Lords during the Great Territorial War, which the Bendu had limited intelligence on, though he found comforting in knowing that they were both redeemed and that Kit had committed the ultimate sacrafice to save Ussej. Ussej was surprised at how he and his family was treated simply because he and Laili were not married, and he told malachor such. Malachor explained that the laws of men had been lost and replaced only by the laws of God, something his family had tried very hard to change to no avail.
Shamus explained the Ussej’s story to the Bendu Council of Priests. The members were shocked and appalled to hear that Ussej and Kit had been high ranking members of the Sith Empire, though they were even more shocked to learn that the true identity of the Sith Empress was that of Adena Qel-Droma. When Ussej was unsure as to why that shocked them, Shamus explained that Adena had been one of the final Masters of the old Order of the Jedi Bendu of the Ophuchi and that when the order split she was put into cryogenic freeze by the Supreme Chancellor Contispex for her supposed crimes of rebellion against the Republic. Ussej told them that she had mentioned the Jedi Bendu story while she was briefly a Jedi Master, but he had not believed them. During the meeting, Ussej also presented them with the Medallion of the Saarai-kaar, an artifact that he had found on Korriban. Ussej explained that the legend surrounding it was that it had been forged in the fiery volcanoes of Korriban during the Hundred Year Darkness that preceeded the Great Hyperspace War. The council was shocked to see that the language on the medal was Ashlan, the ancient language of the people of the Ashlan Expanse. They asked about Ussej’s ubringing, and he explained his life story to them. After much deliberation, the majority of the council believed Ussej to be the one spoken of in the Prophecy of The Voyager. They could only imagine what was in store for the rest of his family.
After Ussej received years of educational training on the history, philosophies and powers of the Bendu Order, the Council of Priests reluctantly declared him to be a Bendu Knight. Malachor argued that one so powerful deserved to be a Bendu Priest, but the council would not hear of it. Laili did not wish to be trained as a Bendu, but rather was trained in history and diplomacy, speciffically the diplomatic crisis that had emerged on Had Abaddon. She learned that Al-Dubrir had threatened to take over Had Abaddon if the Bendu did not cease their activities on Kal’Shabbol. When the Bendu refused, Al-Dubrir launched a campaign against the Had Abaddon government. After much needed persuasion from Malachor, Ussej and Laili were tasked with traveling to Had Abaddon in an attempt to calm the growing crisis. They accepted the task and left on their four week trip, leaving Ussej the Second with Aletra and David.
When Ussej and Laili arrived, they were surprisingly greeted like royalty. Al-Dubrir had done everything he could to make them feel welcome, though what he did not realize was that by rolling out the red carpet he only put the two on heightened alert. On the second day of their visit, Ussej and Laili engaged in intense diplomatic negotations with Al-Dubrir, though they quickly realized that it was to no avail. They could tell that the potential Emperor of Had Abaddon showed no signs of backing down and that their mission was a waste of time. In the second week of negotiations, the talks became so heated that Al-Dubrir asked them to leave the planet within a day. Wanting to avoid escalating the situation, they agreed. However, the night before they left Ussej spotted Al-Dubrir speaking with Mathias Helsdain and a hooded woman. The voice of the woman seemed familiar to him, but he was not sure why.
Behind the scenes[]
The concept of the Second Ashlan Civil War was conceived after a viewing of the film Troy by Brandon Rhea. He took elements of that story and combined them with his original story for Ussej Padric Bac II to create the Second Ashlan Civil War. It was not decided that it would be the second civil war in the Ashlan Expanse until March 2008 when Rhea decided to create an early war in the region dealing with the lost story element of the Princess of Ondus.
Appearances[]
- Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac II (First appearance)
- Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac III (Mentioned only)