Jensaarai, A History in Shadow

[The Fate of the Force]

"We are not evil. No, the Jensaarai are not, nor are they wholly good."

The Jensaarai were an order of Force-users from the Suarbi system, who arose during the Clone Wars. Their name was Sith for "hidden followers of truth." Their philosophy and methodology was a blend of Sith and Jedi teachings. Their hierarchy loosely resembled that of the Jedi Order. During its creation and early years the Jensaarai were opposed to the Jedi, due to ignorance and the loss of their founder. After the fall of the Galactic Empire, the Jensaarai made peace with the Jedi, and even sent students to learn at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4.

[The Fate of the Force]

"Jensaarai is a Sith word for hidden follower of the truth. As the Saarai-kaar, I am the keeper of that truth."
―The Saarai-kaar

ORIGINS

The birth of the Jensaarai began with the fall of Anzati Jedi Knight, Nikkos Tyris.

On a search through the archives in the Jedi Temple, Tyris uncovered an ancient Sith manuscript detailing Larad Noon's philosophical musings and telling the tales of the exile of the first dark Jedi, the birth of the Sith, the ancient Sith Wars and a great deal of Sith lore. Most of the information contained within was factually correct, save for one crucial detail—the manuscript claimed a shocking revelation: that the Jedi stole everything they knew from the Sith, before exiling them. The truth of the manuscript's contents was, naturally, questionable and biased. However, Tyris unquestioningly accepted the lies of the manuscript and turned his back on the Jedi Order.

Tyris dubbed his followers the Jensaarai, meaning 'the hidden followers of truth' in ancient Sith. The group then headed for Susevfi in the Suarbi system, where the nascent Jensaarai established a base to train from. Tragically, Tyris did not notice how the manuscript was corrupting him, and how he was walking the path of the dark side. Tyris trained the Knights and Padawans in what he believed to be the secret teachings of the 'true' Jedi, when in fact he was really imparting Sith secrets and unknowingly converted his apprentices to the dark side.

With the discovery that the Sith had returned to the galaxy, Count Dooku's fall to the dark side, and the ongoing Clone Wars, the Jedi Council were anxious to discover anything and everything they could about the mysterious second Sith, Darth Sidious. Many Jedi Knights and Jedi investigators were dispatched by the Jedi Council, or took it upon themselves, to follow up any leads on the Sith. The Jedi Knights Nejaa Halcyon, Ylenic It'kla, and a Jedi known only as "Desertwind" from the scent memory of It'kla, were three such Jedi dedicated to uncovering the Sith. The trio had tracked rumors of Sith Cultist activity to Susevfi, where they discovered Nikkos Tyris and two other former Jedi.

Already lost to the dark side and beyond saving, the Jensaarai presented a threat to the Galactic Republic and the Jedi realized they had a duty to stop the dark siders from spreading. A furious battle ensued in which Nikkos Tyris, Nejaa Halcyon, and the other two Jensaarai were slain. A dying Halcyon flung the mortally wounded Jensaarai into their nearby training base, where the release of dark side energy from the Dark Jedi's death collapsed the building's foundations and all but destroyed the Jensaarai's makeshift base. Ylenic It'kla and "Desertwind" believed the Jensaarai to be vanquished, and departed Susevfi not long after.

[The Fate of the Force]

"We hid from the Jedi and mourned and buried our dead. We had been sealed together, bound together by the deaths. We made a new memory from the tragedy."
―The Saarai-kaar

REBIRTH

Unknown to the Jedi, however, there were more Jensaarai. When the Jedi arrived at Susevfi, they only found Tyris and two other Jensaarai, and unsurprisingly concluded that these three were the 'Sith cultists' they had heard about. What the Jedi had failed to realize was that they had only slain the leader of the Jensaarai and two of its most experienced members. Within the Jensaarai's base, watching the battle with the Jedi, were the rest of the Jensaarai, hidden by using their Force abilities. When Tyris and the others were slain, and the building collapsed, the Jensaarai were trapped and unable to avenge their brethren. By the time they had extricated themselves from the rubble, the Jedi were long gone. In the aftermath of the battle, the wife of one of the slain apprentices took the title of Saarai-kaar for herself and began to train the next generation of Jensaarai. The Jensaarai were content to remain in hiding, lest the Jedi discover their existence and return to wipe them out. Thus, the Jensaarai had weathered the death of its founder and secretly grew by continuing in their training and strengthening their numbers by taking in Force-sensitives from the local population.

[The Fate of the Force]

"None of us will betray our people."
―A captured female Jensaarai

THE EMPIRE

With the Rise of the Empire and the almost-complete destruction of the Jedi Order, the Jensaarai believed themselves to be liberated—free to practice their arts and expand their knowledge without fear of Jedi brutality and hatred. They openly moved as custodians and guardians of the planet, and the Saarai-Kaar's son even went to personally assist Darth Vader in hunting down the remaining Jedi. Vader however, sensed only the light side within the boy and, using his lightsaber, cut him down where he stood. The Inquisitorius then dispatched Jedi hunters and the odd Inquisitor to Susevfi in an attempt to exterminate the Jensaarai. Many Jensaarai were caught and executed, as the Empire made its presence felt on the planet, and it became clear the Emperor Palpatine would tolerate no other Force-users in the galaxy unless they could be made to serve his own needs. Like the Jedi before them, the Emperor's agents made the mistake of believing they had wiped out the Jensaarai, when really they had only dealt with a small group of them. In another show of history repeating itself, the persecutors of the Jensaarai felt that their work was done and left the planet.

Stunned by the slaughter of her son, and the apparent betrayal of the Empire, Saarai-kaar and the Jensaarai retreated into hiding once again. The Jensaarai were determined to exact justice on their persecutors though, and after a few years they periodically emerged in small groups or as individuals to conduct raids and ambushes on the Imperial garrison. Sometimes one of the Jensaarai would be killed in the fighting, or captured and executed, but by and large the Jensaarai demoralized the garrison with their continual attacks. It is not known why, but after the initial rush of Jedi hunters descended on Susevfi, they then left and never showed anything more than a token interest in crushing the rebellious, Force-using group. The answer may have been the Emperor simply realizing the Jensaarai had no intention of helping the Jedi-oriented Rebel Alliance off-planet, so they were of no danger to him, and he was busy with the Rebels.

[The Fate of the Force]

"You can't stop her."
―A captured female Jensaarai

LEONIA TAVIRA

With the death of the Emperor and Darth Vader during the Battle of Endor, the Jensaarai knew it was only a matter of time before the Empire fell and they would be free. Hearing rumors of powerful Force-users on Susevfi, the former Moff, Leonia Tavira, now leader of the pirate Invids, arrived and executed the Imperial governor, sending a (false) message to the Jensaarai that they were now free from oppression and persecution. After making contact with the pirate leader, the Jensaarai made the mistake of believing Tavira to be their liberator. In truth, Tavira was merely using Susevfi as a base of operations, and the Jensaarai to hunt down Jedi Knight Corran Horn, who was attempting to rescue his wife Mirax from the clutches of Tavira.

Following Tavira's orders, a group of Jensaarai departed the planet to hunt down Corran Horn, whom they found on Courkrus. Ambushing the lone Jedi, the Jensaarai were on the verge of winning the fight when Luke Skywalker appeared and together with Horn, the two defeated the Jensaarai. The Jedi captured their attackers, and upon questioning, were shocked to discover the existence of the Jensaarai and their warped philosophy (in regards to the Jedi). Since the death of Tyris, the Jensaarai had been taught a skewed history lesson—they were told that the Jedi were dark siders, and that the Sith were champions of the light. Indeed, to his dismay, Skywalker learned that the Jensaarai switched the roles of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, seeing the former as a monster.

Informing the New Republic of the secret location of the Invids' base, the two Jedi set off for Susevfi, incognito, in the hope of rescuing Mirax, and confronting the Jensaarai. After locating Mirax and the Jensaarai, a skirmish erupted with the discovery of the Jedi. Thankfully, the New Republic sent a fleet to apprehend Tavira, and with the help of Corran's Force Illusions, managed to drive her away, leaving the Jedi free to conclude their duel with the Jensaarai. After a brief battle, Luke and Corran defeated the Saarai-kaar and the other Jensaarai, who bitterly expected execution at the hands of the Jedi. Luke tried to explain how the Jensaarai had gotten their facts wrong, but the Saarai-Kaar refused to believe him. It was only with the help of Corran's friend, the Caamasi, Elegos A'Kla and his memnii that the Jedi managed to defuse the situation and reach an understanding with their erstwhile opponents.

[The Fate of the Force]

"Keiran, he is the product of one Jedi tradition, and me, I am born of yet a different one. You and your Jensaarai are just part of a third. If you would permit it, we would welcome you into the greater Jedi tradition of service so that all of our ways, woven together, will make us so strong we can never again be torn apart."
―Luke Skywalker to the Saarai-kaar

A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW

Before their conflict with Corran Horn and Luke Skywalker, the Jensaarai realized their outlook on the universe had been skewed. If not through Nikkos Tyris' mistaken beliefs, the Saarai-kaar might not have allowed her despair at the loss of her husband and son to color her perception, reinforcing the belief that the Jedi had fallen to the dark side and abandoned the Jensaarai through her teachings. With the help of the new Jedi, the Jensaarai were on the path to true understanding. Though the relationship between the Jedi and the Jensaarai was fragile at first, the Saarai-kaar agreed with Luke Skywalker to send students to his academy on Yavin IV, in the hope of building a better union between the two groups. The Jedi had brought peace and friendship, while the Jensaarai gave Luke valuable knowledge on the practices of Old Republic Jedi, and eventually the Jensaarai became fast allies of the New Jedi Order.

After this, the Jensaarai went through a series of ideological reforms, incorporating the truth of their origins and misplaced views, as revealed by Luke Skywalker. The relationship between the Jedi and the Jensaarai only grew stronger, with the latter coming to the aid of the former during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Kelbis Nu, a Jensaarai, went on to train at the Jedi Academy, and fight during the war. He died on Eriadu, persecuted by the Peace Brigade, but was able to pass on valuable information to the Jedi about the Vong's movements.

While the New Jedi Order accepted and taught Jensaarai students, they still considered the Jensaarai tradition to be made up of Gray Jedi due to their "proximity" to the dark side. The Jensaarai themselves outwardly denied these claims

[The Fate of the Force]

PREQUEL: THE NEW DARKNESS

Cay Garrison was a devoted Jensaarai Defender with a powerful talent for perceiving the future. After the discovery of the Jensaarai by Halcyon and Skywalker, Garrison received a premonition that the doom of the Jensaarai was tied to the Jedi discovery. The Saarai-kaar dismissed his vision as nothing more than attempting to reconcile for his failure to predict that they would be discovered at all. Feeling betrayed and fueling his hatred of the Jedi even more, Garrison turned to his closest friend, Aalok Datara of the Corporate Sector. Unfortunately, Aalok had just left with his Jensaarai wife and their newborn child. With no one to guide him, Cay swore that he would be the one to save his people and destroy the threat of the Jedi forever.

He vanished from Susefvi and no one heard from him again until after the destruction of Ithor. Cay resurfaced at the height of the Yuuzhan Vong War, claiming to have found a new master and the key to the Path of the Truth in the deepest secrets of the Dark Side. He firmly believed that only the strongest were fit to survive and that was the reason that the Jedi were falling to the alien invaders. In order to save his people from the same fate, Cay would have to weed out the unfit. With his Vronskrr avatar armor and donning the title of Darth Tyris after the founder of the Jensaarai, Garrison began to purge the galaxy - beginning with those amoung the Jensaarai he considered unworthy.

It took the loss of several Jensaarai Defenders and a climatic battle with the Saarai-kaar and her apprentices, Chason Datara, to defeat him on the moon of Dxun. Unfortunately, the battle also cost the Jensaarai their Saarai-kaar. Chason Datara, son of Cay's friend Aalok, was chosen to take the mantle of Saarai-kaar and lead his people out of the darkness.