Mass Shadow Generator

"What manner of creature would have birthed such a thing? Nothing human, to be sure."

The Mass Shadow Generator was a superweapon used during the Battle of Malachor V.

Capabilities

"There's a centuries-old device—a superweapon—called a mass shadow generator. It can make a gravity anomaly strong enough to destroy a whole planet."

―Jonas Balkar^[2]

The Mass Shadow Generator drew upon the natural mass shadows generated by planetary bodies. At Malachor V, the gravitation anomalies at work within the Malachor system allowed it to unleash catastrophic devastation upon anything within close proximity of the planet. The superweapon was designed to take advantage of the unique gravitational fields present at Malachor V, but it would later be speculated that the weapon could be modified to function within any star system. The Mass Shadow Generator was capable of gravely damaging or destroying any ships or space stations in orbit above the target world, but it also annihilated virtually everything upon the planet's surface.^[3]^[1]

History

"I remember standing on the bridge with you and watching the destruction of the Republic—watching ships full of soldiers and Jedi burn and die. I remember the look you had when you turned to me. It was the longest you'd ever looked at me. You didn't say anything—just a nod. Events move quickly then, even in my dreams. Flashes, explosions, you—falling. I could feel the pain around me. And then the memory. The drifting hulks of the Mandalorian ships, the dead—allies, friends, strangers. And then the echo. Lingering. The sound I awaken to in my nightmares. Does anyone deserve the Mandalorians' fate? Even some of their conquered worlds fared better."

―Bao-Dur, to Meetra Surik^[1]

The Mass Shadow Generator was created by the Zabrak tech specialist Bao-Dur, under orders from the Jedi Knight Revan, in the year 3960 BBY. The weapon was the centerpiece of a trap with which Revan hoped to bring about a conclusive end to the Mandalorian Wars. Overseeing the device's use was Jedi General Meetra Surik who would later come to be known as The Exile. Revan lured the Mandalorians to Malachor V, and a massive fleet battle ensued in orbit. During the fighting, Surik commanded Bao-Dur to activate the secret weapon with a single, silent nod. Moments later, a significant portion of both fleets were suddenly drawn from orbit into a vast gravity vortex that was powerful enough to crush the countless ships into the planet's crust and fracture Malachor V to its very core.^[1]

Malachor V, transformed into a cluster of planetoids assaulted by tectonically-generated storms

During the event, Malachor V was turned into a broken cluster of planetoids that were only tenuously fused together by the gravitational anomalies present in the system. Orbiting the broken remains of the planet was the wreckage of countless Mandalorian and Republic warships. All that remained on the surface of the planet was a desolate graveyard echoing with the deaths of thousands of Jedi, Republic soldiers, and Mandalorians. It was littered with destroyed vessels and the only surviving inhabitants were vicious storm beasts.^[1]

In 3951 BBY, the Mass Shadow Generator was used a second and final time. During her campaign against the Sith Triumvirate during the First Jedi Purge, Surik traveled to Malachor V in pursuit of the Sith Lord Darth Traya. At the Trayus Academy, she fought the Sith forces occupying the planet and defeated both Darth Sion and Darth Traya in combat. Soon after, the Mass Shadow Generator was activated by Bao-Dur's remote and the sudden release of the gravity field destroyed what was left of the planet.^[1]

Around 3625 BBY,^[4] during the Third Galactic War between the Galactic Republic and the reconstituted Sith Empire, the Mass Shadow Generator was reconstructed in a nearby sector by an obscure Sith cult known as The Unmasked. The cybernetically modified leader of the cult, Lady Dominique, attempted to unify her consciousness with the Mass Shadow Generator to control the superweapon. Before the Mass Shadow Generator was able to be re-weaponized, a strike team including the Commander of the Eternal Alliance was able to stop the Unmasked and once again destroy the superweapon.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Though a non-canon outcome, G0-T0 destroys the remote and the Mass Shadow Generator is not activated a second time, if the player is devoted to the dark side.

Although Timeline 9: The Mandalorian Wars states that Revan, not Surik, was the one to activate the Generator, this is not necessarily a retcon, as the Timeline series is presented in-universe as history as the Jedi choose to describe it.