Star Wars: The High Republic takes place in 232 BBY, the Golden Age of the Republic, where the Jedi acted like Arthurian Knights, and the Republic's chancellor was concerned with expanding the outreach capabilities of the core government to bring light and hope to the planets of the Outer Rim.
An event called the Great Disaster, which Star Wars had until now defined as a great disturbance that knocked ships all over the galaxy out of their hyperplanes, will serve as the starting point for the books and comics. In the series' New York Comic Con panel, Michael Siglain, the executive editor of Star Wars Books, elaborated on what happened during the Great Disaster.
"The Great Disaster is the big inciting incident for the start of our High Republic publishing. It's a time when the galaxy is at peace — great peace, great prosperity — and we have the Legacy Run, which is this massive cargo ship traveling through hyperspace, going out to the frontier and it’s bringing cargo and supplies," Siglain said. "People looking to start a better life out in the Outer Rim."
The Outer Rim, located far from the prosperous but overpopulated Galactic Core and inching into wild space and the Unknown Regions, is almost entirely unmapped at this point in galactic history, but presents all the possibilities of the frontier. When The High Republic starts, the Jedi and the chancellor have just barely completed an ambitious project: the Starlight Beacon, a space station located in the middle of this uncharted area that acts like a lighthouse and a base of operations for the Jedi.
"As it travels through hyperspace alarms start to flare and you realize there is something in hyperspace," Siglain continued. "The Legacy Run is on a collision course with it and there's a disaster and it's a great one, with pieces of the Legacy Run, including its cargo containers, the supplies and the passenger cars rocketing out through hyperspace, toward all of these unsuspecting planets. That is when the cry goes out for help and the Jedi of the High Republic answer that cry."
While Star Wars has not revealed whether the Legacy Run crashed against a space iceberg or another ship, it has unveiled one of the consequences of the Great Disaster. A group of space pirates known as the Nihil will try to capitalize on the chaos to raid and pillage vulnerable planets, becoming one of the main threats in the Outer Rim.
Source: YouTube