Second Imperium

The Second Imperium was a faction of the Imperial Remnant which was led by four Imperial Royal Guards who used holograms to impersonate Emperor Palpatine.

Origins
Following the signing of the Bastion Accords by New Republic Chief of State Ponc Gavrisom and Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon on the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera in 19 ABY, many Imperials in the Imperial Remnant rejected these accords as "sham" and sought the return of Emperor Palpatine and his Galactic Empire.

Four Imperial Royal Guards (who had formerly been Stormtroopers promoted by Admiral Daala to guardsman status) took advatage of this by founding the Second Imperium and impersonating Palpatine by using holograms stretching from his earliest days as the Senator of Naboo to Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and finally to Emperor of the Empire. The Second Imperium numbers grew as a result.

The Imperium Grows
Between 19 ABY and 23 ABY, their numbers grew steadily. Among those who joined the Second Imperium were the former-Jedi and Imperial spy Brakiss following his nearly fatal battle with Luke Skywalker on Telti and the defeat of Kueller in 17 ABY. The Second Imperium would use him to recruit and train a new cadre of Imperial Dark Jedi Knights to counter those of Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. He used funds appropriated by the Imperium to construct a cloaked space station called the Shadow Academy to serve as a mobile academy for his Dark Jedi.

It was Brakiss's hopes that these Dark Jedi would help maintain order across the faltering remnants of the Empire. In conjunction with a group of exiled Nightsisters led by Tamith Kai, Brakiss began recruiting youths. Those who were found to be Force-sensitive became Dark Jedi Knights while those who weren't became Stormtroopers and TIE pilots.

In 22 ABY, the Second Imperium was joined by the TIE pilot Qorl, who had been previously ekking out a life on the jungle moon of Yavin 4 since the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY after his TIE fighter had been downed during the space battle. Qorl was placed in charged of the growing starfighter core of the Second Imperium. He also revealed information on Skywalker's Academy from what he learnt from the Solo twins Jacen and Jaina when he forced them to repair his damaged TIE fighter before escaping into hyperspace.

Clashes with the Jedi
Thus, a bold plan to kidnap trainees from the Jedi Academy was hatched. During a raid on the GemDiver Station which orbited the nearby gas giant of Yavin in 23 ABY, the Imperium used a small fleet consisting of a modified assault shuttle and four Skipray Blastboats to kidnap the Solo twins and their Wookiee classmate Lowbacca. It turned out to be a disaster since they resisted all attempts to indoctrinate them and they later escape with the help of Skywalker and another trainee Tenel Ka.

Following that, Brakiss manuevered the Shadow Academy close to the New Republic capital of Coruscant so that they could launch attacks on the bulk cruiser Adamant which was carrying weapons and hyperdrives. This also gave them the opportunity to gather more recruits. Thus, agents were sent to the lower levels of the planetwide metropolis to recruit the dregs of galactic society on the promise of giving them a better life. Among these were the orphaned steet urchin Zekk and the street gang Lost Ones.

However, it was not long before the Academy's presence was discovered. The Solo twins along with Lowbacca and Chewbacca used the orbiting solar mirrors to burn out the Academy's cloaking devices, thus exposing it to the defending New Republic forces. However, the Shadow Academy managed to jump into hyperspace and evaded capture.

Soon, Zekk - who had been discovered to be Force-sensitive - became the Darkest Knight of the Academy after slaying the best cadet. He was then placed in charged of an Imperium task force which raided Thikkiiana, a major city on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk which was an important computer center. This taskforce of Dark Jedi and Stormtroopers raided the city's computer units. However, when faced with his former friends, he refused to kill them and instead told them that the Jedi Praxeum was the next target of the Imperium.

Final Battle
Meanwhile, the Emperor arrived at the Shadow Academy in a massive repulsorlift isolation chamber. He refused even to see Brakiss and was attended and represented by the four Royal Guards. This caused Brakiss to be concerned about the Emperor's health. Later, from his isolation chamber, the Emperor prompted Brakiss to launch an assault against the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4.

At first the battle when out as planned. A Second Imperium ground force consisting of Stormtroopers, Dark Jedi surrounded the Jedi Praxeum while TIE fighters and TIE Bombers bombed the surrounding jungle. In space, the Shadow Academy and a fleet of refitted Star Destroyers and battle cruisers blockaded Yavin 4. This changed with the arrival of the New Republic fleet under Admiral Ackbar and Brakiss's defeat during a single combat with his former Master. Having made it back to the space station, Brakiss made his way to the isolation chamber and demanded to see the Emperor. However, he was blocked by two of the Royal Guards. Enraged and giving in to his anger, Brakiss cut them down with his lightsaber and then entered the chamber.

There, he discovered a third Royal Guard working on a bank of controls, computer screens and holographic generators and realized that the Emperor had never returned. In reality, the Royal Guards had created this illusion so that they could control the Second Imperium. Unfortunately, the fourth guard used his "Emperor's" override controls to activate the Shadow Academy's self-destruct systems, destroying the Shadow Academy and killing all onboard. Thus, the battle was turned in favour of the Jedi and the New Republic.

The fourth guard then managed to escape on a shuttle and headed for parts unknown. Unfortunately for him, he would later be killed by the anti-Human Diversity Alliance in 24 ABY after he refused to reveal to them the location of the Emperor's Plague Storehouse. With the destruction of the Shadow Academy, the battle turned in favor of the New Republic and the remaining Imperium troops and Dark Jedi were presumably captured by the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant.

Legacy
During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the extragalactic invaders attacked Dathomir though they had little success fighting the local Force-sensitive witch clans. However, two former members of the Shadow Academy including the Nightsister Lomi Plo and her Dark Jedi apprentice Welk were captured by the Vong and imprisoned on the Koros-strohna Baanu Raas which orbited the planet Myrkr.

Later, during a Jedi mission to Myrkr in 27 ABY with the intent of destroying its Voxyn breeding facilities, the Jedi encountered the two Dark Jedi. Faced with a common enemy, Lomi Plo and Welk agreed to assist the Jedi in finding the voxyn queen in return for safety and protection. However, towards the climax of the mission, they showed their true colours by stealing a repaired freighter named the Tachyon Flier and then flying off into the Unknown Regions with the Jedi Raynar Thul and Lowbacca's translator droid M-TD onboard.

Much later, in 35 ABY, it was revealed that the ship had crashlanded on Woteba, setting all three aboard on fire and mutilating them. They were rescued by the Killiks - a species long believed to be extinct for millennia since their disappearance from their homeworld of Alderaan around 30,000 BBY. Eventually, all three were absorbed into the Killik hive mind, thus effectively becoming Joiners. All three also became the leaders of the hives they joined. Raynar Thul became UnuThul while Lomi and Welk became the leaders of the Gorog nest of Killiks, also known as the Dark Nest. On the same year of the Killik rediscovery, Welk was slain by Master Luke Skywalker during a raid on Kr's Gorog hive.

Under the influence of Lomi Plo and UnuThul, the Killiks and their Joiner allies instigated the Swarm War in 36 ABY and waged on both the Chiss Ascendancy and the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. After a series of fierce battles, Lomi Plo was killed during a duel with Skywalker on her flagship Admiral Ackbar while UnuThul was captured and placed in the custody of the Jedi, thus ending their hold on the Killik hives.

Vehicles and Vessels used by the Second Imperium

 * Battle Platforms
 * Imperial Assault Shuttles
 * Shadow Chaser
 * TIE fighters
 * Shadow Academy
 * Star Destroyers

Appearances

 * Young Jedi Knights: The Rise of the Shadow Academy
 * Shadow Academy
 * The Lost Ones
 * Lightsabers
 * Darkest Knight
 * Jedi Under Siege
 * Shards of Alderaan
 * Delusions of Grandeur
 * Crisis at Crystal Reef
 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest
 * Star by Star
 * Dark Nest Trilogy