In 3964 BBY, a group of Revanchists—crusading Jedi who defied the orders of the Jedi High Council and left to join the Galactic Republic's war with the invading Mandalorian warrior clans—were ambushed on the Outer Rim planet Suurja while on a scouting mission. Located on the front lines of the Mandalorian invasion, Suurja had recently played host to several heated, stalemated battles between the Mandalorians and the Republic Navy. When the Revanchists arrived on Suurja, their leader, the Jedi Knight known only as Revan, left them behind to continue his investigations on other worlds. Soon afterward, they were attacked by a team of Mandalorian shock troopers led by Commander Rohlan Dyre. The Revanchists were captured and imprisoned at the Mandalorian-held Flashpoint Station.
In 3976 BBY, the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders, a fighting force formed from the ancient Mandalorian warrior clans, began to carve out an empire through military conquest on the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim. After subjugating a number of unaligned worlds, Mandalorian chief Mandalore the Ultimate set his true plan in motion, moving against the Galactic Republic by contesting resource worlds near the Outer Rim ecumenopolis of Taris. In an effort to defend Taris, the Republic Navy set up a defensive cordon in the region known as the Jebble-Vanquo-Tarnith line. One of the worlds along the line was the agriworld of Suurja, which, in the early days of what became known as the Mandalorian Wars, played host to four successive stalemated battles between the Republic and Mandalorians in 3964 BBY.
Amidst the violence on the Outer Rim, the Jedi Order counseled caution and decided against jumping into the war. However, one group of Jedi, led by a charismatic young Jedi Knight known simply as Revan, refused to listen to the Jedi High Council's directive and vowed to fight the Mandalorians. The Revanchists, as they were called, visited Suurja on a scouting mission, accompanied by Revan himself.
After a short time on Suurja, Revan left to investigate Mandalorian activity on the planet Onderon and its moon Dxun. However, by the time he departed, some of the Revanchist Knights and Padawans who had accompanied him to Suurja began to disappear. Soon, with their leader gone, the Revanchists were ambushed by Mandalorian shock troopers led by Commander Rohlan Dyre—the Cathar Jedi Ferroh remarked that it was as if the Mandalorians knew they were coming. The Mandalorians captured and took a number of the Revanchists prisoner, including Revan's apprentice and close friend, Alek, and Jedi Knight Ferroh.
After the ambush, the captured Jedi were taken to Flashpoint Station, a remote space station that the Mandalorians had seized in the early days of the war. There, they were experimented upon by the Mandalorian doctor Demagol, who was determined to discover the source of their Force abilities to find the best way to negate or replicate them. On the galactic capital of Coruscant, the Jedi Council castigated Revan after he returned from Onderon and Dxun—the Masters were furious over his inclusion of other Knights and Padawans on his scouting missions, which the Council did not support. Although Revan was ordered to find the missing Jedi and bring them back, the Revanchists were soon rescued by former Jedi Padawan Zayne Carrick and his friends.
The ambush on Suurja first appeared in a flashback in Knights of the Old Republic 6, a comic released on June 28, 2006, written by John Jackson Miller, and illustrated by Brian Ching.