After the fall of the Empire, you might think that Coruscant would be restored under the New Republic, right? Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Instead of a hopeful restoration, the galactic capital was conquered and transformed by ruthless invaders two years after their invasion began.
By then, countless species had been wiped out, and entire planets were rendered uninhabitable.
If you want to dive deeper into this story, check out the Star Wars books The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime and The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force.
But if you’re looking for a quick overview of how Coruscant was completely turned into hell, just keep reading below.
Table of Contents
The Fall of Coruscant
The Battle of Coruscant, also known as the Fall of Coruscant or the First Battle of Coruscant, took place in 27 ABY and stands as one of the most ferocious and destructive conflicts in the Yuuzhan Vong War.
Under the leadership of Warmaster Tsavong Lah, the Yuuzhan Vong devised a strategy named Battle Plan Coruscant.
This plan involved assembling a massive fleet and using captured refugee ships to shield their forward elements.
The invasion began with the Yuuzhan Vong attacking Coruscant from the OboRin Comet Cluster, having previously assembled at Borleias.
They used refugee ships from earlier battles to weaken Coruscant’s planetary shields, a tactic that gradually succeeded, causing entire shield grids to fail.
The New Republic’s defense, led by commanders like Garm Bel Iblis, Admiral Traest Kre’fey, and General Wedge Antilles, was formidable but ultimately insufficient against the overwhelming Yuuzhan Vong fleet, which numbered tens of thousands of ships.
Notably, Chief of State Borsk Fey’lya’s decision-making during the battle led to significant internal conflicts, further weakening the New Republic’s response.
In a desperate move, Fey’lya sacrificed himself by detonating a proton bomb in the Imperial Palace, killing 25,000 Yuuzhan Vong warriors and causing substantial damage to the surrounding area.
Despite the heroic efforts of the Jedi and other defenders, including the destruction of four Yammosk war coordinators by Luke Skywalker and his team, the Yuuzhan Vong forces were too vast and persistent.
The battle resulted in extensive destruction of Coruscant’s infrastructure, with civilian casualties reaching into the millions.
The planetary capital was eventually captured, and the Yuuzhan Vong began transforming it into their new homeworld, renaming it Yuuzhan’tar.
The Devastating Impact of the Yuuzhan Vong’s Terraforming of Coruscant
The Yuuzhan Vong’s terraforming of Coruscant was both comprehensive and devastating. They transformed the planet’s ecosystem, replacing its urban landscape with wild, untamed, and perilous environments.
The aggressive flora and fauna introduced by the Vong created a world where survival became a daily struggle for the inhabitants.
This transformation was not only physical but also psychological, reducing the once-powerful center of the galaxy to a nightmarish shadow of its former self.
One of the most striking aspects of the terraforming was the introduction of deadly plants capable of ensnaring and consuming living beings, along with predatory creatures that hunted the remaining inhabitants.
These new life forms were not only dangerous but also difficult to control, resulting in a constant state of fear and vigilance among the population.
The Yuuzhan Vong’s biological modifications extended to the very air and water of Coruscant, making even basic survival a challenge.
The psychological toll was immense, as the people of Coruscant were forced to adapt to their new reality or perish.
This environment of fear and danger stripped away the former identity of Coruscant, replacing it with a pervasive sense of loss and despair.