Sith–Imperial War

"I made an alliance with the reborn Empire at Bastion. We manufactured a cause for war, making the Vong seem responsible. Split, the Galactic Alliance began to fight itself. And so died."

- Darth Krayt

The Sith-Imperial War was a conflict occuring from 127-130 ABY, which saw the return of the Empire as the major galactic government.

The causes of the war
The roots of the war lay in the Ossus Project, during which the New Jedi Order permitted Yuuzhan Vong Shapers to use a desolate portion of Ossus, one of the order's most ancient strongholds, as a test site. The intent of those who championed the project&mdash;such as Jedi Master Kol Skywalker, a leading member of the Jedi Council&mdash;was to see if Vong terraforming methods, such as those that had once transformed Coruscant into the Vong's temporary homeworld of Yuuzhan'tar (27-29 ABY), could restore the barren and devastated world. The experiment appeared to work, returning Ossus to vibrant life again, and when the Jedi revealed the results to the outside Galaxy, other worlds vied for the chance to restore planets the Yuuzhan Vong War had left devastated.

Ultimately, one hundred planets were chosen for terraforming. Yuuzhan Vong Shapers, accompanied by Jedi, set to work, and at first the results were wondrous to behold. But no one had reckoned with interference by the new Sith Order. On the command of the cult's leader, Darth Krayt, the Sith secretly sabotaged the terraforming process on these worlds. Plants grew deformed, and painful bony growths, of a kind not seen since the Vong forcibly took populations as slaves, sprouted from the skin of the inhabitants.

The Jedi suspected sabotage at once, but had no idea who had done it. Across the Galaxy, however, fingers were pointed at the Yuuzhan Vong; too many bad feelings existed against the authors of one of the most destructive wars the Galaxy had ever seen for people not to suspect that the Vong had resumed their crusade by other means (apparently exactly what the Sith had intended). The Jedi were certain that the Vong were innocent, however, and they convinced the Galactic Alliance to support the Vong against domestic criticism.

This was too much for the Empire. With the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty (19 ABY), the Imperial Remnant had halted its war against the former Rebellion, and the Vong invasion had brought them together as allies, or at least as friendly rivals. But its nominal government, the members of the Moff Council, still had many hardliners who sought to restore the Empire to primacy as the dominant galactic power, peace treaty or not. Now they called for retribution and, invoking the Treaty of Anaxes, declared war on the Galactic Alliance. The peace that so many had fought and died for in decades past was undone in a stroke, all thanks to the Sith.

The defeat of the Galactic Alliance
From the start, the Alliance was handicapped. Its defense of the Yuuzhan Vong had alienated numerous member worlds, whose populations still nursed bitter memories of the Vong invasion, and many of them refused to support the GA. Suddenly, the Alliance found itself facing a secession movement as well as general war. The Empire used this to its advantage, luring some of these disaffected worlds into the Imperial camp and weakening the GA government. Other worlds declared neutrality.

It was at this time that the Sith insinuated themselves into the war. Through Moff Nyna Calixte, the ruthless and ambitious Director of Imperial Intelligence, the Sith approached the Empire and allied themselves with the Imperial cause. When the Sith then declared themselves openly, the Jedi knew that they were responsible for sabotaging the Vong terraforming projects, but they were never able to prove it.

After three years of bloody warfare, the Galactic Alliance was a spent force. Imperial forces had even retaken Coruscant after more than a century. The Alliance finally surrendered, and its territory was absorbed into the Empire. The Emperor called on the Jedi Order to surrender and subject itself to the will of the Empire. Some of them did, joining the Imperial Knights. But the rest, remaining true to the will of the Force, refused to ally themselves with the Sith and withdrew from Coruscant to their temple on Ossus. The Sith eventually followed the Jedi there, where Darth Nihl led a brutal attack on Ossus, aided by Imperial forces under Moff Rulf Yage. The Massacre of Ossus scattered the Jedi across the Galaxy, though the order was not yet entirely defeated.

Shortly after, the Sith, determined to rule the Galaxy themselves, turned against Emperor Roan Fel and his Imperial Knights. After killing what he later determined to have been a double of the Emperor, Darth Krayt assumed the Imperial throne himself, restoring, for the first time in a century and a half, the rule of a Sith Lord over the Galaxy.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Legacy: Broken