Galactic Civil War

"The Galactic Civil War was not a battle for territory. It was a struggle for the hearts and minds of the galaxy."

- Wartime propaganda artist Janyor of Bith years after the war's end

The Galactic Civil War (0 BBY–5 ABY), was a five-year galactic power struggle in which the Alliance to Restore the Republic waged a rebellion against the ruling Galactic Empire in an attempt to restore democratic rule to the galaxy. The origins of rebellion could be traced to the Clone Wars, when rebel cells were equipped by the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order to fight against the Confederacy of Independent Systems. After Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, transformed the Republic into the Empire and destroyed the Jedi Order, many rebel cells began fighting against the Empire. A number of these cells eventually joined together and became the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

The war officially began in the year 0 BBY when the Alliance scored its first major victory against the Empire when it stole the plans to the Death Star in the Battle of Scarif, the Empire's planet-destroying battle station. The plans were brought to the Rebel Alliance by Princess Leia Organa, with the help of companions such as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. An analysis of the plans led the Rebels to launch the Battle of Yavin, in which Skywalker, with Solo's assistance, destroyed the Death Star. A series of follow-up attacks by the Alliance, including an assault on the Empire's primary weapons factory, left the Empire reeling from the Alliance's advances. As a result, the Empire hunted the Alliance across the galaxy under the leadership of Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith and the Emperor's chief enforcer. Vader's forces located the Alliance on the planet Hoth. The resulting Battle of Hoth forced the Alliance to flee the snow planet and sent its fleet into hiding.

Six months later in the year 4 ABY, the Emperor allowed the Alliance to learn of the existence of a second Death Star as part of a trap to lure the Alliance to its destruction. The Alliance, believing that they were launching a surprise attack, waged the Battle of Endor. During the battle, Skywalker, who had learned that Vader was his father, confronted the Dark Lord in a final lightsaber duel aboard the Death Star. The Emperor attempted to kill Skywalker, but out of compassion for him Vader threw the Emperor down a deep shaft and to his death, fulfilling his destiny as the Chosen One and destroying the Sith. Vader, once again Anakin Skywalker, died from injuries he sustained during the battle, bringing an end to the Sith's rule over the galaxy. The Alliance, meanwhile, destroyed the second Death Star, leaving the Empire fractured and an era of warlordism arose.

As a result of the power vacuum left in the wake of the Emperor's death, Imperial Moffs and other leaders began jockeying for power. Some, however, began to break off from the Empire; in an attempt to prevent his people from learning about the Emperor's death, Governor Ubrik Adelhard locked down the Anoat sector behind the Iron Blockade, sparking an uprising within the sector. One year later, the Empire fought the New Republic, the democratic government established by the Rebel Alliance, in a final stand over the desert world of Jakku. However, the Imperial unit led by Counselor Gallius Rax was defeated, and, facing severe internal unrest, the Empire, under Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, surrendered to the Republic. On Chandrila, the Empire signed the Galactic Concordance with the Republic, officially ending the conflict and severely limiting the Empire's military capabilities, effectively transforming the Empire into a rump state as it was gradually decentralized.

Although the civil war ended, scattered Imperial remnants controlled by various warlords continued to exist while the Republic issued another declaration designating all surviving Imperial officers as war criminals, beginning a cold war. Nonetheless, many former Imperial officers, nobles, technologists, warlords, and other loyalists discreetly abandoned the Empire and escaped into the Unknown Regions where they established the First Order as part of a secret Contingency designed by the late Emperor Palpatine.

Proclamation of the New Order
"Before the dark times. Before the Empire."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, to Luke Skywalker

After a three-year-long, pan-galactic conflict with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Galactic Republic emerged victorious from the Clone Wars. However, little did the citizens of the Republic know that their leader, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, was secretly a Dark Lord of the Sith who had orchestrated the war for his own profit.

The war had opposed the loyalist elements of the Republic to a Separatist movement led by former Jedi Master Dooku. The Jedi Order, despite its official role as peacekeepers, accepted to lead the newly-formed Grand Army of the Republic, leading its clone troopers into battle along several fronts throughout the whole galaxy. As the war went on, the role the Jedi played in the war caused their numbers to dwindle, as they fell on the battlefield or several of their members rebelled against the Order for abandoning their beliefs. They also began to lose support among not only the political elite of the Republic but also among the growing military leadership of the Grand Army and a galactic population that they had become increasingly distant with. Protests against them became common and their peacekeeping duties having been discarded, criminal cartels they had once held in check rose up to reclaim lost ground.

In addition to the Jedi's decline, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine ensured his own rise as the Senate constantly increased his powers, suspending his term limits and allowing him greater control over both the military and the Republic. By the end of the war, his powers had virtually become limitless and his relationship with the Jedi Council had deteriorated to such an extent that they had begun to consider removing him from power should he refuse to return his emergency powers to the Senate. When Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker brought them proof that Palpatine was actually Darth Sidious, they attempted to arrest him. However, their attempt failed when Skywalker betrayed them and pledged his allegiance to Sidious as his new apprentice, Darth Vader.

Sidious initiated the culmination of the Sith's long plan to eliminate both the Jedi and the Republic, ordering the clone troopers to execute Order 66 which called for the execution of their Jedi commanders while Vader led an attack upon their Temple on Coruscant. With his Jedi enemies eliminated, the Republic and its military apparatus under his control and any opposition spent by years of war, Sidious declared himself Emperor and announced the Republic's reorganization into the Galactic Empire, one cheering Senators accepted to ensure security and stability after the chaos of the Clone Wars.

The remnants of the Old Republic
"[...] Since my ascension, I have allowed a convenient fiction to persist - that the Empire is merely a continuation of the Republic. The Imperial Senate remains - an illusion of many voices coming together to govern.. In truth, there is only one voice. Mine."

- Darth Sidious, to Darth Vader

Although he intended to use his Empire to seize ultimate and unlimited power, Darth Sidious entertained the facade that the new regime was merely a continuation of the Republic. However, this was merely a play to prevent his enemies from gathering enough strength to openly act against him. As such, he reorganized the former Galactic Senate of the Republic into the new Imperial Senate. Although this new body did not possess as much power as its predecessor, it did retain the ability to pass legislation. Most Senators refrained from engaging in direct criticism of the Emperor as the Empire grew stronger, but the Senate soon became divided between followers of the New Order and those who still wished for a return to democracy. These Senators worked as hard as they could to rein in the Empire's excesses and soon became as the only check to the Emperor's power.

Most prominent among the Emperor's silent opposition were former members of the Loyalist Committee, such as Bail Organa of Alderaan and Mon Mothma of Chandrila, who hoped that they could make a difference from the inside, but to no avail. Nevertheless, they came to hold enough weight in the Senate to influence the Empire's decisions, as the new regime's higher-levels constantly feared a potential uprising against their rule. Chief among their achievements, the Senators limited the influence of the new Imperial Military by outlawing forced conscriptions of stormtroopers, regular beings brought into the Empire's service after the clone troopers were phased out of military service and preventing beings from being sold into slavery for failing to honor debt commitment. Following the brutal suppression of the planet Lasan and the near-genocide of its people, they banned the use of T-7 ion disruptor rifles after they were used on the Lasat. And they tried to alleviate the suffering of populations caught in the Empire's web of expansion. When the planet Wobani became snared in the Commodities Enhancement Program, their economy collapsed due to their inability to meet the Empire's quotas and a severe humanitarian crisis occurred on the world. Senators Organa and Mothma, along with their allies in the Senate, negotiated with the Empire for weeks to ensure the relocation of Wobani's citizens. However, these efforts failed due to the intervention of Organa's adopted daughter, Princess Leia Organa, who led an unauthorized mercy mission to Wobani, rescuing hundreds of its citizens but angering the Empire enough for them to end negotiations with the Senate.

In addition to their official activities as part of the Imperial Senate, Organa, Mothma and their allies also began undertaking covert operations with the goal of eventually mounting a considerable and unavoidable opposition to the Empire. Their goals were not originally to organize a rebellion or any form of armed opposition against the Emperor; they sought to find and recruit groups and individuals who opposed the New Order and unite them towards a common goal: the restoration of the Republic and an end to the Empire's tyranny. However, as the movement grew and the atrocities worsened, this growing movement began to entertain the notion that armed resistance would be the only way to save the galaxy. Using covers and hiding their dealings, they began to channel funds towards the formation of a united military under a banner of rebellion. Once isolated groups of insurgents, such as Saw Gerrera's Partisans and Enfys Nest's Cloud-Riders, were united and given common goals to accomplish while remaining as discreet as possible. Other cells were hidden from view completely, establishing bases on remote worlds like Crait and shipyards to refit civilian vessels for military use. A major shipyard was established in secret in the Paucris system.

The Empire's High Command was aware of the Senate's efforts to impede its long-term plans and its moves to protect rebel sympathizers from scrutiny. However, although they suspected rebellion, they could not prove it and in the years following the Proclamation of the New Order, the Senators still wielded enough power to be protected.

The lost Jedi
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that the Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi: Trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed, and our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged, our trust, our faith, our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi's message to survivors of Order 66

Order 66 and the subsequent declaration of the Jedi as traitors by Emperor Palpatine led to the devastation of the Jedi Order, as a purge began against them galaxy-wide. Barely a few hundred of the once ten-thousand strong Order escaped with their lives. Several more fell into a trap set by Darth Vader as the Jedi Temple fell, who sent out a message to all surviving Jedi to return to Coruscant. However, Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had both survived the clones' attempts to kill them, were able to infiltrate the Temple and alter the code to save what Jedi they could.

Few in numbers, spread across a galaxy that had turned on them and hunted by the Empire's agents, the surviving Jedi charted different courses. Some, such as Yoda and Kenobi, hid until such a time as they were ready to emerge and defeat the Sith. Others, such as former Padawan Caleb Dume, took different names and set aside their Jedi ways to avoid detection, moving on whenever their identity was at risk of being discovered. Others turned their attention to other concerns: former Jedi Librarian Jocasta Nu built an underground school which contained a new Jedi archive for future Jedi students she intended to train to rebuild the Order. Her attempts ended with her death at the hands of Darth Vader after she infiltrated the former Jedi Temple to recover a list of Force-sensitive children who had been identified by the Jedi for recruitment. Other Jedi made it their task to resist the newly-formed Empire from its inception: a former Padawan named Ferren Barr used the Force to compel several opponents of the Empire to join him on a quest to turn the galaxy against the Emperor. Inspired by visions of rebellion led by the aquatic Mon Calamari people, he began advising Lee-Char, King of Mon Cala, to resist the Empire. However, Barr's manipulations led to the Empire's invasion of Mon Cala, in the first Imperial show of force against a rebellious world.

As time went by and the Empire's oppression grew, several Jedi who had hidden in the shadows began to emerge from hiding and take the fight to their longtime enemies and their rule of the galaxy. Unlike Ferren Barr's early attempt at rebellion, these Jedi chose to keep their identities hidden as long as possible to avoid drawing the Empire's attention on their efforts. One of the most important of these beings to assist the growing movements emerging against the Empire was actually a former Jedi: former Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who had left the Jedi Order shortly before the end of the Clone Wars. Hiding away on an agricultural moon called Raada in 18 BBY, Tano got caught up in a grassroots resistance movement when the Empire invaded Raada to produce the herbs needed for their nutrients, causing irreversible damage to the crops in the process. Tano's actions caught the attention of Senator Organa, who had been secretly looking for surviving Jedi since the Purge had begun. The senator recruited Tano into the fledgling opposition that he had been building, giving her charge of its nascent intelligence network. Tano created the "Fulcrum" agents, a network of undercover agents operating under this common name to mask their numbers. Their task would be to gather intelligence on Imperial activities and recruit more individuals and groups to form a larger movement against the Empire. The Fulcrum agents kept their identities secret even from the cells they handled while providing with supplies and information to target Imperial interests while protecting the secret of their larger plan. One cell that was recruited by Tano under her guise as Fulcrum was the Spectres, who operated in the Lothal sector. This cell distinguished itself by the presence of a Jedi in its ranks. Kanan Jarrus, the new name of Caleb Dume, eventually took on an apprentice of his own, Ezra Bridger, in 5 BBY.

However, while some Jedi hid and others began to join rebellious movements, a darker path was open for survivors of the Purge. Concerned that surviving Jedi or other Force-sensitive beings would be a threat to his rule, the Emperor created the Inquisitorius, a cadre of former Jedi who had forsaken their allegiance and fallen to the dark side of the Force. Trained in the dark arts by Darth Vader while not given access to the full power of the Sith Lords, the Inquisitors were given two missions. The first was to hunt down the surviving Jedi whenever they appeared, for which they were granted an Imperial writ signed by the Emperor that any opposition to their actions would be taken as an act of war against the Empire. The second was to track down other Force-sensitive beings in the galaxy, such as children who might be trained as Inquisitors themselves. A program led by the Inquisitors, codenamed Project Harvester, monitored Imperial Academies to identify such beings and remove them before they could grow too powerful and potentially challenge the Emperor. This mission also included tracking down trained Force-sensitives threats to the Empire, namely the one that the Inquisitors came to know as the "shadow": Darth Sidious's former apprentice, Darth Maul. Having survived the Clone Wars, Maul rebuilt his power in the criminal underworld by leading the syndicate known as the Crimson Dawn. He would later be tracked to the forgotten Sith world of Malachor by the Eighth Brother, a confrontation that would eventually include Ahsoka Tano, Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, as well as two further Inquisitors: the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister. All three Inquisitors perished in the battle.

The disappearance of the Jedi caused a significant shift in the galaxy's awareness of the Force: although the practices of the Order were not well-known at the time of their height, the Empire's rise caused knowledge of such practices to be frowned upon. Imperial authorities worked hard to eliminate reminders of the Jedi, occupying sites that had once been important to their religion, such as the Holy City of Jedha or the ice planet Ilum. And even among the highest ranks of the Empire, knowledge of both the Force and their practitioners was limited. Some Imperial officers, such as Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, had known the Jedi during the Clone Wars but others hadn't. Even Vader and the Inquisitors, despite their influence and the favor they enjoyed with the Emperor, were treated with suspicion, dismissed even by high-ranking Imperials as "sorcerers" or "mystics".

Growing tensions
Despite their attempts to suppress rebel activity, the Empire's greatest fear was secretly growing larger, as various Rebel groups began to unite against them. The first true rebel excursion against the Empire occurred in 4 BBY, after Kanan Jarrus, the leader of the Rebel cell known as the Spectres, was captured while his team was hijacking a Imperial communication tower on Lothal to beam out a transmission to nearby systems in the Outer Rim. Taken to the Mustafar for interrogation, Jarrus was freed by his team while he was in transit aboard Governor Tarkin's flagship, the Sovereign. The escape attempt saw the death of the Empire's Grand Inquisitor as well as the destruction of the Sovereign. But it was as the Spectres made their escape that the truth of the Rebellion's threat emerged: a fleet of corvettes jumped out of hyperspace, neutralizing the approaching TIE fighters, and allowing the Spectres to escape

The formal Alliance to Restore the Republic was founded in 2 BBY following the Skirmish in the Archeon Nebula where Senator Mon Mothma was rescued and sent out a message to the rebel cells. The cells came together at Dantooine and were united for the first time. One of the most well-known cells was the Phoenix cell. This cell was one of the first cells that took up arms against the Empire. This cell originally consisted of a few CR-90 Corvettes, a modified Pelta Class Corvette, a few squadrons of A-Wings and the heavily modified freighter, The Ghost. The majority of this fleet was destroyed during a confrontation with Darth Vader in his TIE Advanced. Only the Ghost, some A-wings and a handful of escape pods survived the battle. This cell later became part of the Alliance and played a major role in the Battle of Atollon and the Attack on Lothal. Various battles broke out between the Rebels and the Galactic Empire prior to this unification by Mon Mothma. Some were in favor of the rebellion such as the Battle of Allst Prime and the mission on Lothal but they also took heavy losses at the Battle of Atollon where two rebel forces were obliterated with only a handful of starships surviving. In 0 BBY, nineteen years after the Empire's formation, the Alliance discovered information on a previously unknown Imperial project, the Death Star. Following the Destruction of Jedha City, the Alliance High Command was afraid of having the Rebellion plunge into open war after their Attack on Lothal in 1 BBY resulted in a total failure and a loss of an entire starfighter squadron.

Obtaining the Death Star plans
"Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you."

- Darth Vader, to Princess Leia Organa

A team of soldiers of the Alliance, eventually naming themselves Rogue One, attacked the Citadel on Scarif and got three rebel infiltrators inside the facility. The Alliance back on Yavin 4 heard of this and Admiral Raddus rushed in with a large chunk of the Alliance Fleet to help. The infiltrators managed to get the plans with one loss and rushed to the top to get them transmitted to Raddus's ship the Profundity. With the help of the Lightmaker ramming a disabled star destroyer into the shield gate, the plans made it to the flagship but as the fleet attempted to escape, the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator came in and stopped them getting away before too many ships got out.

The Profundity was disabled and the rest of the fleet was either destroyed or scattered. But inside the profundity, rebel troopers put the plans onto the data tape and transferred them to Princess Leia Organa aboard the Tantive IV (docked inside the flagship) before Darth Vader's could intercept it. The vessel escaped and jumped out of the system. Although the team was successful in their mission, they died completing their task along with Orson Callan Krennic and any other rebel or imperial forces, as the Battle of Scarif ended with the destruction of the surface of the planet from the Death Star.

Secret mission to Tatooine
Racing towards the desert planet of Tatooine aboard the Tantive IV with the plans in hand, Organa was hoping to enlist the help of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, Darth Vader was able to catch up and capture the ship in a space battle over the planet. Vader's forces managed to board Organa's ship, forcing her to hide the plans of the Death Star in the memory banks of the R2 series astromech droid, R2-D2. R2-D2, along with the protocol droid C-3PO used an escape pod to escape to Tatooine, where they were captured by Jawas and who then later sold them to moisture farmer Owen Lars, uncle of Luke Skywalker.

While Skywalker was cleaning the droids, he stumbled upon part of the message in R2-D2 and became interested. However, R2-D2, operating under the programming that he was the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, escaped and tried to find Kenobi. After an encounter with Tusken Raiders in the Dune Sea, Skywalker met up with Kenobi. R2-D2 then played for Kenobi and Skywalker Organa's desperate plea for help. The two soon discovered that Imperial stormtroopers had attacked the Jawas who had sold Skywalker and his uncle the two droids in a vain search for the death star plans. Skywalker raced back to the Lars moisture farm to find his home burned and his aunt and uncle killed. He then accompanied Kenobi to Mos Eisley, where, after using subterfuge to get passed Imperial troops, the two negotiated with Captain Han Solo and first mate Chewbacca to take them, the droids and the Death Star plans to Alderaan aboard the Millennium Falcon. Galactic Emperor Palpatine used this conflict to his advantage in dissolving the Imperial Senate.

Destruction of Alderaan
While in Imperial custody, Organa was then transferred to the Death Star where she was interrogated and tortured by Vader for the location of the Alliance's hidden base. When she refused to succumb to torture, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin decided to get the information out of Organa another way by threatening to destroy Alderaan, Organa's homeworld. Fearing the loss of Alderaan, but not wanting to give up the Alliance's location, Organa lied to Tarkin and declared that the Alliance was located on the planet of Dantooine.

Tarkin, confident in his victory, continued with the operation to destroy Alderaan regardless, stating that Dantooine was "too remote" for an effective demonstration of the Death Star's abilities. Thus, Alderaan was destroyed by a single blast from the Death Star, an event that killed billions and showed the true might of the Empire.

Rescue of Princess Leia
Following Alderaan's destruction, Tarkin sent a scout team to Dantooine to ascertain whether or not there was indeed a Rebel base there. Meanwhile, the Millennium Falcon had arrived out of hyperspace to find out that Alderaan had been destroyed. Fearing that they would be identified by a lone TIE fighter, they attempted to stop it but not before being trapped aboard the Death Star by a tractor beam. Skywalker sought out to rescue Organa while Kenobi went alone to disable one of the several tractor beam generators on the station and confront Darth Vader.

When Tarkin learned that Organa has deceived him and that there was a rebel base on Dantooine but had long since been abandoned, Tarkin ordered her execution. But before the order could be carried through, she was rescued by Skywalker. An escape commenced throughout the Death Star's corridors. As Skywalker, Solo, Organa, and Chewbacca (along with C-3PO and R2-D2) finally made it to the hangar to escape aboard the Falcon, Skywalker watched as Kenobi faced off against his former Padawan, Darth Vader. Kenobi let down his guard, allowing himself to be struck down by Vader's lightsaber instantly becoming one with the Force.

Alderaan vigil rioting
Rioting took place after the destruction of the planet Alderaan by the Empire. Rumors of what happening began reaching the Alderaanian population on Coruscant who got angry when images followed the rumors, confirming Alderaan had been destroyed. The vigils turned into rioting which lasted for several days until the security forces and the stormtroopers were sent in to restore order. However, as the troops marched into the streets, the stormtroopers opened fire with their blasters. The crowds dispersed and the following day, the police arrested anyone caught out in the streets. The day after that, stormtroopers began taking Alderaanians to be taken to be questioned.

The Battle of Yavin
"This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi; it will soon see the end of the rebellion."

- Darth Vader, to Grand Moff Tarkin before the battle

The Millennium Falcon soon managed to escape afterward, but not before being pursued by several TIE fighters. The Falcon managed to defeat the fighters but it was all for naught, as it was all a ploy devised by Tarkin as he had placed a homing beacon onboard the Falcon that led the Empire straight to the Rebels hidden base on [Yavin 4.

In the Great Temple, The Rebel Alliance was able to analyze the technical readouts and come up with an attack plan that was conceived by General Jan Dodonna. As the Death Star was entering into range to fire its superlaser, Rebels ships took off in a desperate attempt to destroy the battle station. Dodonna's plan called for starfighters to skim down the Death Star's trench and follow it to where a thermal exhaust port laid and fire a proton torpedo into the exhaust port where it would then be able to reach the Death Star's main reactor and set off a chain reaction, thus destroying the battle station. In the ensuring and intense battle, the pilots of the Rebel Alliance faced off against Imperial starfighters and turbolasers while also trying to make attack runs on the exhaust port. Having underestimated the Alliance chances, Tarkin refused to send out more reinforcements to deal with the rebel starfighters. He also ignored one of his underlings warnings of the threat to the exhaust port and continued with his assault upon Yavin 4.

Rebel pilots continued to be destroyed one-by-one by Darth Vader and other Imperial pilots. Being nearly the last of the rebel assault force, Luke Skywalker, Biggs Darklighter, and Wedge Antilles made one final run against the exhaust port. Vader shot down and killed Darklighter and was also able to force Antilles to retreat, and was mere moments away from shooting down his son before Han Solo entered the fight with the Millennium Falcon. Vader was driven out of the battle by Solo, giving Skywalker one final shot at the thermal port. The attack succeeded, and moments later the Death Star exploded, taking with it millions of Imperial lives. Yavin 4, along with the Alliance, was saved.

Evacuation of Yavin 4
After a key victory over the Empire and the Royal Award Ceremony, the Rebellion was forced to evacuate Yavin 4 in order to find a new base of operations as the Imperials knew their location. All Rebel fleets arrived at the planet in order to assist with the evacuation, and General Jan Dodonna began working to find a new planet to settle on.

Mission to rescue the survivors of Alderaan
During the evacuation of Yavin and following the Disaster, the Galactic Empire sought out surviving Alderaanians in an attempt to eradicate them, and Organa set out with Rebel pilot Evaan Verlaine and astromech droid R2-D2 to rescue them. They first fled from the Rebel base on Yavin 4, over the objections of General Jan Dodonna. After escaping, they made their way to the Naboo, where they rescued a group of Alderaanian musicians called the Melodic Order, before heading for Sullust. Unknown to Organa and her followers was that the Empire was tracking their every move whose efforts were spread throughout the galaxy.

Imperial attacks
"You want to blame someone, Artur? Start on the rebels for once. They claim they're fighting for the common people, and now thousands in that city are dead because of what they did."

- Trompo, to Artur

The Empire started launching attacks against Rebel targets, and Nashtah Squadron flew on several missions over a course of a week, often with poor intelligence. They lost three pilots at the battle of Portocari, while Banshee Squadron lost two pilots at Phindar. Right afterward, the Empire was to send a task force to the Jovan system. In the wake of the loss of the Death Star at Yavin, the Empire mobilized its forces and reorganized TIE pilots into the same command system.

Advancement into the Mid Rim
The Rebel Alliance, bolstered by their victory at Yavin, launched a military campaign in the Mid Rim. It was amongst the largest operation the Rebel Alliance had conducted, using military units, such as Twilight Company, and thousands of starships. But after nine months, after the Alliance had fought on many worlds and established many bases, Rebel High Command decided the fleet was overextended and the campaign would maintain defense of their captured territories. Not long after, the forces started a retreat and the battle companies evacuated their bases.

Attempt to kill the Emperor
A rebel spy called Eneb Ray was stationed on Coruscant as a tax collector called Tharius Demo. Leia Organa gave him Intelligence on a group of convicted former Senators in the Arrth-Eno Prison Complex and asked him to help save them. When he infiltrated the complex he discovered they were going to be personally visited by the Emperor himself. He then brought together all the spies on Coruscant and they attacked the emperor as he was talking to the doomed Senators. The emperor attempted to escape the battle and Ray chased him to the roof where he gunned him down. However, that emperor was a decoy and the real one revealed himself as his Shuttle came over. Furious, Ray charged over and launched himself into the shuttle as it started to fly away. As the shuttle with Ray and the Emperor flew away, the complex exploded killing everyone inside. The emperor then revealed his true identity by attacking Ray with force lightning and throwing them off the shuttle.

Skirmish over Llanic
While Lieutenant Luke Skywalker was onboard the Desert Jewel on a mission to rescue Drusil Bephorin and to open up a supply line, he entered a skirmish between a Star Destroyer and a Kupohan starship.

Mission to Rodia and Fex
In order to keep the war in the Rebel Alliance's favor, Luke went to open a secret smuggling supply line on Rodia. Luke after this went on a biological research mission to Fex for Fayet Kelen in order to make some money. There he came across some brain sucking creatures which had killed the former team and taken the Harvester. Luke and Fayet's daughter Nakari Kelen successfully took back the ship and gathered necessary data for Fayet's company.

Mission to Pasher and Denon
Despite being warned by Organa not to trust Kelen blindly, Skywalker set off for Pasher with Kelen and R2-D2 to receive intel from her father about their destination and the necessary equipment to survive its atmosphere. They then went to Denon to help the natives there.

Rescuing Drusil Bephorin
Skywalker and Kelen were on Denon to rescue Drusil Bephorin from imperial custody, they first contacted the Kupohan spy Sakhet of whom her son was on the ship Skywalker rescued over Llanic. She gave them valuable Intelligence] on Drusil's whereabouts during each day and Skywalker and Kelen observed her visit to the local park. They then planned to extract her when she was visiting a cafe. With R2-D2 chirping as a signal, they took out the security droid and distract the bodyguards before taking Drusil and transporting her through the sewer.

They then took her off Denon and to Kupoh where one of Kupohan spies, Azzur Nessin was stationed. Nessin owned a company called Nessin Courier & Cargo was not happy about harboring highly wanted rebels. But they made a deal with him anyway. Unfortunately, one of the company's workers Migg Birkhit had contacted the empire of their whereabouts and Drusil was too late to find out. They found Migg with a Gotal ISB agent called Barrisk Favvin. They captured both of them and kept them hostage in their hotel room. However, another kupohan worker called Ruuf Waluuk had also contacted the empire and this time the empire sent a blockade. As Skywalker, Kelen and Drusil were about to leave, Ruuf and a Devaronian mercinary came and killed Nessin. Skywalker and Kelen then killed the two and fled the system with Drusil.

The trio on went to Omereth where Major Bren Derlin and his team were waiting with Drusil's family of which they had separately rescued. But they were intercepted by bounty hunters who had tracked Derlin's team to Omereth and they were shot down and crashed into the ocean. They then swam to shore and confronted the bounty hunters. Despite the formers' victory, Kelen was killed by one of the bounty hunters while Luke rescued and completed his mission by reuniting Drusil with her family.

Assaulting Cymoon 1
Following the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire was put into a state of disarray. The Rebel Alliance decided to use this to their advantage by assaulting, infiltrating, and destroying Weapons Factory Alpha on Cymoon 1, the largest weapons factory in the galaxy.

After the failure to prevent both the destruction of the Death Star and Weapons Factory Alpha, the Empire was forced to increase its supply of weapons, while the Emperor sent Darth Vader to negotiate with the Hutt Clan. This was in order to enlist Jabba the Hutt as a reliable weapons dealer as well as two bounty hunters.

Battle of Vrogas Vas
"Darth Vader! Lay down your weapons! You are surrounded!" "All I am surrounded by is fear. And dead men."

- Darth Vader responds to a Rebel commando company ordering his surrender.

Vader was collecting information to hunt down Luke Skywalker and had recently learned his name from the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Then one of Vader's rivals Commander Karbin located Skywalker and let the location slip to Doctor Aphra. Aphra then told Vader this and he went to Skywalker's location at Vrogas Vas where three squadrons of X-wing starfighters, Red Squadron, Blue Squadron and Yellow Squadron, including Skywalker. Vader battled the many X-wings picking them off one by one until there were barely any left to face him. Skywalker then crashed his X-wing into Vader's TIE Advanced and they both crashed onto the planet.

Meanwhile, the rebels at the Vrogas Vas refueling base were deploying troops, vehicles and Y-wing Bombers to take Vader out for good. The rebel Y-wings of Gray Squadron started bombing Vader's position and Vader started throwing pieces of the ground at them taking them out one by one. He then found himself surrounded by hundred of Rebel troopers and dozens of rebel tanks ready to kill him. Vader stood still and the rebels looked confused until they found their grenades activated through the force. Hundreds of them died in one barrage of explosions and the rebels scattered. Vader cut through many of them and deflected tank shots back at them. He also got hold of a cannon and used it on the airspeeders of Cyan Squadron.

Meanwhile, Skywalker was roaming the desert looking for any sign on help from the rebels. He found an ancient Jedi Temple and looked around. But before he could look more he ran into 0-0-0 who was painted to look like C-3PO. He stunned Skywalker and was joined by Aphra who wanted to redeem herself for Vader by catching Skywalker. Han Solo then engaged Aphra to save Skywalker. Leia Organa took a squad to try and get Vader but he got them first and let Leia go in order to attract more rebels. Leia then ordered the Y-wings of Amber Wing to start bombing the area. As they did they were met by Karbin's forces which had arrived at Vrogas Vas to clean up. Karbin attempted to take Skywalker away but Vader wouldn't let him take the prize and engaged Karbin. They battled it out until Vader lured Karbin onto a natural stone bridge and used the force to throw Aphra's ship into it. Vader went down there to finish Karbin off when the Millennium Falcon rode off with Skywalker, Leia, Solo and a captured Aphra.

Attack on Sunspot Prison
Eneb Ray, who had formally attempted to kill the emperor was now physically and mentally scarred. He felt that the Imperial prisoners held by the rebels were not worthy to live, and so he brought a team of IG-RM droids together and they attacked Sunspot Prison where many Imperials were being held by the Rebel Alliance. They broke into the control center, killed the warden and then started to execute the prisoners. Leia Organa and Sana Starros were present on in the prison after bringing the captured Doctor Aphra to the there. They intervened with Ray's executing and Dr. Aphra helped them take him down and arrest him. The mercinaries killed many of the prisoners and the rebels were forced to abandon the prison. Later on, Task Force 99 came to the prison to find it empty. Kreel ordered a new mission to kill the rebels. They later fought rebel forces during a skirmish on the Ghost Moon.

Mission to Crait
With their base on Yavin 4 gone, the Alliance sent Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Wedge Antilles and some other rebels to the abandoned rebel base on Crait. They met up with a miner called Trusk Berinato who showed them around. When satisfied, they started setting up defenses there until Trusk double crossed them and Task Force 99 came to take them down. The rebels engaged the elite squad and defeated them before leaving Crait.

Mid Rim Retreat
The rebel companies which once waded their way through the Mid Rim in triumph were now in full retreat. Companies such as Twilight Company, Bitter Pill Company, Fish Eye Company, and the Twenty-First were rescuing Generals, making distractions on other worlds and helping the rebel fleet to withdraw from the Mid Rim. In 3 ABY, Twilight Company launched a campaign on Haidoral Prime and managed to extract the defecting Governor Everi Chalis. She offered her knowledge on the workings and weak points in the "Imperial War Machine". After her knowledge proved useful in the Coyerti campaign, the High Command invited her, Captain Micha Evon and three others to Echo Base on Hoth. Meanwhile, rebel bases such as Unroola Dawn, Talrezan Four and Hope Station fell to the empire, the Twenty-First fought on Bestine and General Amrashad was killed. But despite the losses, the rebel fleet was almost completely withdrawn from the Mid Rim.

Further engagements
A mercenary unit on Tatooine was asked to assist a garrison on Tatooine with dealing with a Tusken Raider camp in order to keep its grip on the planet, while also helping the Alliance to Restore the Republic who requested support in a mission to recover medical supplies from the Imperial aligned Hutt Clan on the planet of Dandoran.

Later on, the Empire began a crackdown on Jawas who were seen to be in engaged in widespread unlicensed trade which led a local detachment of Rebels on Tatooine to protect the Jawas from the Imperials.

Shortly after, Imperials and Rebels began searching an old freighter which led to a confrontation between the Empire and Rebel Alliance as well as the Hutt Clan after defeating mercs who were supporting the rebellion. Meanwhile Darth Vader ordered a search for his missing shipment that was taken by Liana Kor on Dandoran. On the planet, the Empire had gained the formal senator Johhar Kessen who was held prisoner in a base in order to prevent his rescue only for the Rebels to rescue him later. The Rebels had to return to Yavin 4 in order to prevent the Empire from finding out about the data centers that were left behind and were each destroyed by the Alliance that led to a ground battle for control of Yavin 4, while Er'Kit and Takodana both saw battle between the Empire and Rebels before the Battle of Hoth.

Battle of Hoth
Three years after the Battle of Yavin, the Empire sent out thousands of probe droids across the galaxy to discover the Rebels' current base of operations. A probot launched from the Star Destroyer Stalker landed on the ice planet of Hoth, and sent back images of the Alliance's power generator to Darth Vader's fleet Death Squadron.

The Imperial Navy launched an assault on Hoth, although the Rebels became alerted to the incoming attack after Admiral Kendal Ozzel brought the fleet out of hyperspace too close to the Hoth system. Vader killed Ozzel for disobeying his orders to jump behind asteroid field. This gave the Rebels time to mount a holding action and an evacuation of their Echo Base. They started evacuating their GR-75 medium transports with their X-wing starfighters to escort them and their heavy Ion cannon to disable star destroyers from Death Squadron's blockade. Imperial Gozanti-class cruisers dropped AT-AT walkers and AT STs of Blizzard Force to destroy the power generator. A weaker force of troops and AT STs disabled Perimeter Outpost Delta where Sergeant Hazram Namir of the Sixty-First Mobile Infantry and his two comrades Roja and Beak were based. They had to retreat back to the main base with the other troops.

The AT ATs were met with the T-47 airspeeders of Rogue Squadron and Corona Squadron which slowed the vehicles and took out three of them including Blizzard One which an Air Speeder crashed itself into as a last ditch effort. Despite the large resistance from the two squadrons, the AT ATs destroyed the shield generator and Vader and his elite snowtroopers entered the base. Vader soon ran into Sergeant Namir, his two comrades, Everi Chalis and the unconscious Captain Micha Evon. He slaughtered Evon and the two poor soldiers and then charged towards the Millennium Falcon which escaped before he could board it. Namir and Chalis escaped the system with Chalis's clearance codes and the Millennium Falcon, carrying Han Solo and Leia Organa had to evade the blockading star destroyers.

Hunting Leia Organa
After the battle, Leia and Solo evaded the Imperial fleet on the Millennium Falcon, outsmarting Captain Lorth Needa, and were forced to flee to Bespin to find Solo's friend Lando Calrissian. Needa was killed by Vader as a punishment for his failure. However, the bounty hunter Boba Fett tracked them, allowing the Empire to capture Leia and Solo using Calrissian as the bait. They then set a trap in order to capture Luke Skywalker by freezing Solo in carbonite. Skywalker came to rescue Leia and Solo and faced Vader where he learned of his true relation to him, but the Imperial forces found themselves betrayed by Calrissian and, at least initially, overwhelmed by Cloud City local authorities. The Rebel heroes escaped Imperial custody again, but not without cost. Skywalker lost his hand in his duel with Vader, while Solo was handed over to Fett for delivery to Jabba the Hutt. Bespin was taken over by the Empire.

Leia, Skywalker and Calrissian went to a flotilla where the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Redemption was stationed with a large number of freighters. The Alliance was scattered with no aim or safe communication. General Philap Bygar was dead.

Operation Ringbreaker
The Sixty-First Mobile Infantry had suffered the loss of all their rebel officers with Captain Micha Evon being slaughtered by Darth Vader on Hoth and their other officers being killed by imperial spies in the Elochar sector. The company had taken refuge on Ankhural to regain their strength following their crippling blow. However, their imperial turncoat Everi Chalis had a better idea. She planned up Operation Ringbreaker. The target was Kuat Drive Yards and it would required multiple attacks along the way to distract the imperials. Although past rebel attacks on Kuat had failed miserably, Chalis's plan in theory could work. Led by newly promoted Captain Hazram Namir Twilight Company attacked multiple imperial holdouts on Mardona III, Nakadia, Xagobah and other worlds in between. However, when they took the factory of Inyusu Tor on Sullust, their CR90 corvette the Thunderstrike was shot down and its escort the Braha'tok-class gunship Apailana's Promise fled the planet. Twilight Company was stranded and the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Herald was on the way to wipe them off the face of the planet.

Siege of Inyusu Tor
The star destroyer Herald arrived at Sullust and the imperial ground forces launched an assault on the factory of Inyusu Tor where Twilight Company, led by Captain Namir, was waiting for them. The battle was slow but the imperials continued to push back the rebel line. The Apailana's Promise returned to keep the Herald distracted for the forces on the ground. Everi Chalis deserted the rebels and made for the Herald on a stolen shuttle. When she landed in the hangar and was greeted by Prelate Verge and Captain Tabor Seitaron, she detonated an Ion bomb which forced the Herald to retreat from the atmosphere before the detonation would send it plummeting. Prelate Verge died on the Herald. With the Herald out of the battle, Twilight Company could finish off the ground forces and claim victory on Sullust. The Apailana's Promise had barely survived and Twilight Company had lost over a third of its troops but overall, they had survived. The small Sullustan resistance led by Nien Nunb riled up an uprising in the nearby capital city of Pinyumb and revolutions broke out all over the planet delaying any inevitable counter attacks from the Empire for weeks. Twilight Company could use that time to replenish its numbers and plan their future.

The Second Death Star
"Many Bothans died to get us this information"

- Mon Mothma mentioning the sacrifice the Bothans made for the Death Star II's location

Over the last four years the Empire had been building a second Death Star, commonly known as Death Star II, over the forest moon of Endor and the Emperor decided to set a deliberate trap for the rebels. He let the Bothan spynet get hold of the plans, killing many of them in the process, but deceived them by not revealing that the superlaser was operational. The high command then rendezvoused to the Galaan system where they discussed the plan to destroy the Empire's new project. The rebels of the MC80 Star Cruiser Invincible Faith intercepted a message from Moff Raythe concerning the Imperial fleet setting a trap at Endor. Iden Versio of Inferno Squad let herself get captured by them to delete the message and then fled from the ship to the Corvus.

Operation Yellow Moon
When in the Galaan system, the high command planned to launch Operation Yellow Moon, named after Galaan's yellow moon, which would distract the empire so that the Alliance Fleet could mass at Sullust, this was led by Princess Leia Organa and a small team including the former Sullustan resistance leader Nien Nunb, Dressellian Major Lokmarcha, the tech specialist Abednedo Antrot and a Cerean communications specialist Kidi Aleri. They traveled to Basteel, Sesid, and Jaresh on the Mellcrawler to place Hyper-transceivers which would distract the imperial forces. On each planet they would narrowly evade the Imperial forces led by Captain Khione of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Shieldmaiden.

The team then fled back to the Galaan system where they scattered other ships before the Shieldmaiden arrived in pursuit. Captain Khione captured Leia and almost immediately interrogated her and her crew. But Lokmarcha had an EMP device hidden inside his chest and activated it disabling many of the ship's systems. It cost the Dressellian his life but Leia and her team escaped and the Shieldmaiden fell under attack by the same vessels Leia had told to flee. Leia impersonated the unconscious Captain Khione to get them off the ship but the ruse was short lived and they were force to flee to a nearby Lambda-class T-4a shuttle called the Tydirium. Antrot got onto the Mellcrawler and crashed it through the hull of the Shieldmaiden. The others escaped the Shieldmaiden before it was destroyed. The many ships fled the system as another Star Destroyer arrived.

Saving Han Solo
Sometime later, Organa and Skywalker launched a mission to recover Solo from Jabba the Hutt. They infiltrated the Hutt's palace separately, but Jabba refused to bargain and tried to kill Skywalker with a Rancor, although Organa managed to free Solo from the carbonite. When Skywalker managed to kill the beast, they were sentenced to an execution at the Great Pit of Carkoon, but managed to escape after a struggle with the Hutt's guards, in which Organa killed Jabba.

The Battle of Endor
The Alliance fleet was assembling near Sullust, with reports reaching Emperor Palpatine. After Organa and the rest returned, Mothma and Ackbar briefed the fleet and soon launched into hyperspace to go into battle at Endor. The Rebels sent a strike team led by Solo to take out the shield generator protecting the Empire's second Death Star. But the Emperor's trap was at motion and the team was captured when storming the rear entrance. As the fleet arrived, expecting to find the space station defenseless, the shield was still up and a large Imperial force trapped the Rebels. Solo's team had formed an alliance with an Ewok village, which allowed them to overrun and scatter the imperial forces destroy the shield.

The Death Star II meanwhile was firing on Ackbar's cruisers, forcing them to engage Imperial Star Destroyers to stay out of range while Calrissian led fighters to destroy the Death Star's reactor. Skywalker had surrendered to Vader and was brought before Palpatine. He and Vader dueled, but when Skywalker refused to turn to the dark side of the Force, Palpatine tried to kill him, awakening Anakin Skywalker within Vader and causing him to turn on and kill his master. On the ground, Inferno Squad was assessing the damage of the shield generator and cleared multiple rebel teams. Calrissian and Antilles got to the reactor and wrecked havoc before fleeing back through the large exhaust port of which they had entered through. The Alliance Fleet fled back to endor as the death star exploded and some cruisers stayed at the wreckage to clear off any remaining imperial forces. The Alliance then celebrated their victory on Endor with the Ewok village.

Empire in turmoil
On the day after the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance launched an assault on an Imperial outpost on the far side of Endor. This attack was led by Han Solo and succeeded in uncovering a lot of data and communications on Imperial plans. In the days following the Battle of Endor, news of the Emperor's death spread to several worlds across the galaxy including Tatooine, Naboo, Bespin, and Coruscant despite many attempts by the Empire to conceal the fact and declare this information to be false. While there was much celebration, a riot broke out at Coruscant's Monument Plaza. This led to a civil war on Coruscant.

Operation Cinder
As the Rebel Alliance gained momentum, scattered Imperial forces across the galaxy including Captain Lerr Duvat and Admiral Garrick Versio received the Emperor's posthumous orders to implement Operation: Cinder; a contingency plan to scour loyal planets and several other worlds including Vardos, Naboo, Burnin Konn, Candovant, Abednedo, and Commenor in order to throw the galaxy into chaos. The attacks would comprise of experimental Climate disruption array satellites which could create superstorms ravaging the targeted planet. These satellites were made at Fondor Shipyards.

Battle of Fondor
When Admiral Versio's special force Inferno Squad was sent to make sure Moff Raythe got his satellites, the Alliance attacked the shipyard and disabled the Moff's Star Destroyer, the Dauntless. Inferno Squad, comprising of Iden Versio, Del Meeko and Gideon Hask defended the Dauntless from incoming U-wings along with the TIE Fighters of the Dauntless. After successfully protecting the ship from the rebel attacks, Iden boarded the rebel MC80 Star Cruiser and wrecked havoc in the hanger. Iden then charged through the hallways toward the ships ion cannons killing any rebel who got in the way and then she stormed the large room with the ion cannons and killed the rebel personnel controlling it.

Hask then joined her and they destroyed each ion cannon whilst holding off the rebel troopers trying to kill them. The last cannon fell out of the Star Cruiser and crashed into a CR90 corvette outside, making it launch itself into the Star Cruiser. Iden and Hask then got back into their TIE Fighters and reentered the battle outside where the Dauntless had regained power. They then took out the disabled docking clamps keeping it in and the Star Destroyer broke free. The Rebel Cruiser wasn't ready for this and quickly fell victim to the first barrage of turbolaser fire the Dauntless set loose. The rebels had lost.

Mission to Pillio
Shortly after the Battle of Fondor, Inferno Squad sent Del to destroy one of the Emperor's observatories located on the coral world of Pillio. His path crossed with that of Luke Skywalker, who took out all of his men. Luke, however, did not kill him but helped him to the entrance. They then disabled the self-destruct system and got into the Observatory. Luke took a compass with him and Del decided to not destroy the Observatory in the end.

Attack on Vardos
Inferno Squad returned to Vardos to find that it was one of the targets for Operation Cinder. Iden was furious that the empire would attack her loyal homeworld and confronted her father who was blindly going along with it. She and her team were ordered to extract Protectorate Gleb from Vardos and no one else. However, when they went to get her out, Iden decided to let other civilians go with them. Hask was furious about this as they were disobeying orders. But dispite his unbreakable loyalty to the empire Iden and Del just weren't going with it anymore and as he tried to stop them, Iden shot him in the knee and they fled with the civilians. Hask took Gleb back to Admiral Versio and reported the mutiny of Iden and Del.

Battle of Theed
Iden, Del and their ships crew turned themselves in to the Alliance and Captain Shriv Suurgav of the MC80a Star Cruiser Restoration took them in. General Lando Calrissian came to see them. Seventeen days after the events of Endor, Alliance forces clashed with Imperial forces on Sterdic IV. Princess Leia also undertook a diplomatic mission to Naboo to invite Queen Soruna to align her planet with the New Republic, the government created by the Rebel Alliance. Her mission coincided with an Imperial attack on Naboo led by Captain Duvat.

Rebel forces led by Solo and Chewbacca later captured an Imperial Security Bureau facility on the Wretch of Tayron. There, they discovered information about Operation: Cinder and the attack on Naboo. General Calrissian offered Iden and Del to help them save Naboo before Captain Duvat could devastate the planet further with climate disruption array satellites, Lando Calrissian arrived in the cruiser Mellcrawler II along with the Restoration and Danger Squadron led by Shriv and included Iden and Del. They escorted the Y-wing bombers as they bombed Duvat's Star Destroyer Torment. Once the bombers took out the shielding, the Restoration open fired on the Torment and destroyed it.

However, the Torments ground forces escaped and flew down and to Naboos capital Theed. The Restorations forces flew down to meet them along with Leia's troops. They had Iden and Del help them get the power back to the palace for it's secret weapon, an ion pulse to disable the enemy weapons. They got the power back and retreated to the Palace to activate the EMP and render the imperial forces defenseless. Following their surrender, Iden and Del officially defected to the Rebellion. The Alliance forces were then deployed to disrupt other Imperial forces from carrying out Operation: Cinder. Meanwhile, the Alliance pilot Shara Bey accompanied Luke Skywalker on a mission to recover Force-sensitive trees from an Imperial base on Vetine.

Dawn of the New Republic
After the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance set about rebuilding the Galactic Republic and promptly reorganized themselves into a restored government called the New Republic and broadcast the defeat of the Empire across the galaxy, urging star systems to join them in overthrowing the remnants of the Empire. The New Republic also liberalized the HoloNet and encouraged the creation of new media networks such as Queen of the Core Network. The Alliance military was reconstituted as the New Republic military and saw extensive action against Imperial forces on numerous fronts across the galaxy including Naalol, Malastare, Geonosis, and Sevarcos. The Alliance's leader Mon Mothma became the New Republic's first Chancellor. While her position still held the emergency powers granted by Palpatine during the Clone Wars, Mothma plan to abolish them and to reduce the New Republic military once victory over the Empire had been achieved.

As news of the Empire's defeat began to spread throughout the galaxy, the Empire began to crumble as infighting among Imperial leaders became frequent, and continued losses to the ever-growing Republic prevented them from becoming a single unified force. Due to the lack of clear system of succession following the Emperor's death, chaos and anarchy gripped the Empire. Several members of the Imperial Ruling Council took the opportunity to grab onto territory and tailed contradictory propaganda messages about the New Republic and the Emperor's survival. Early Imperial propaganda attempts claiming the Emperor was still alive by using an actor to pose as Palpatine collapsed after observers quickly realized that the person was an impostor.

Meanwhile, Governor Ubrik Adelhard imposed a blockade on the Anoat sector. Denouncing all reports of the Emperor's death as "treasonous fabrication", Adelhard enforced his rule with Purge Troopers. He was opposed by a mixture of criminals and nobles in the region. Elsewhere, Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax secretly assumed command of the Imperial fleets in the Vulpinus, Almagest, Recluse's, Queluhan, Ro-Loo Triangle, and the Inamorata nebulae. Taking command of the Super Star Destroyer Ravager, Rax ordered Admiral Rae Sloane to convene an emergency summit on Akiva to discuss the future of the Empire. In secret, Rax and Sloane planned to eliminate his rivals within the Empire.

Putting Rax's plans into action, Admiral Sloane organized an Imperial Future Council consisting of herself, Grand Moff Valco Pandion, General Jylia Shale, the Imperial Adviser Yupe Tashu, and the financier Arsin Crassus. Their meeting was discovered by the New Republic pilots Captain Wedge Antilles and Lieutenant Norra Wexley. While scouting Akiva, Wedge was captured by Sloane. Before the Imperial Future Council could finish its proceedings, Norra organized a motley rebel cell consisting of her son Temmin Wexley, his B1 battle droid Mister Bones, the former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus, and the Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari. Working together, they inspired a rebellion on Akiva and disrupted the conference. Posing as an informant known as the Operator, Rax also supplied Admiral Ackbar with intelligence on Imperial fleet movements and the Akiva summit. As a result, New Republic forces attacked Akiva and captured General Shale and Adviser Tashu. However, Sloane managed to escape back to the Ravager; having fulfilled Rax's orders.

Following the events on Akiva, the New Republic reconstituted the Galactic Senate on its capital Chandrila. In the months following the Battle of Endor, Han Solo and Chewbacca embarked on a campaign to liberate the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, which had been subjugated by Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck; who had fitted the enslaved Wookiees with inhibitor chips and treated them as an expendable slave labor force. After receiving intelligence from Imra that the Empire had reduced its presence on Kashyyyk, Han and Chewie organized a task force of refugees and smugglers to liberate the planet. However, this information was a ruse set up by the Empire to trap them. Han managed to escape but Chewbacca was captured.

Mission to Takodana
About 6 months after their defection. Iden Versio and Del Meeko were now the New Republics Inferno Squad. Leia Organa asked Iden to find her husband, Han Solo on Takodana. Han was meeting with an imperial defector called Ralsius Paldora who had valuable intelligence on imperial interests and Chewbacca's homeworld of Kashyyyk. Han and Paldora were then met with dozens of stormtroopers of which they managed to take down. Once they got back to the falcon, Inferno squad had arrived to support them against the TIEs and the Arquitens-class command cruiser and took them out thanks to the help of the Millennium Falcon.

Mission to Bespin
With Paldora's intel, Iden and Del managed to locate their former imperial colleague Gideon Hask who would be the key to tracking Iden's father. They went to Chinook Station on Bespin and infiltrated the inside disguised at stormtroopers. However, when they got to the Overseer's Tower they were met with Hask's hologram who knew they were coming. Hask flew out on a star destroyer and Iden and Del were force to fight their way down to find something to fly. They were forced to take a Cloud Car and they rode it to the nearby refinery where three star destroyers were refueling. They then fired at the fuel tanks until the refinery detonated bringing down the three star destroyers with it.

Return to Sullust
Shriv Suurgav and Lando Calrissian went to a weapons factory there which should have been abandoned. But when they got in they realized it was in full production. They fought their way through the assembly line and down to the control center where Lando attempted to shut the place down. That however only set off the alarm. Lando compromised and sent Shriv to find them a way out whilst he went down to the Lava pumps. Lando sabotaged the pumps and the factory started flooding with lava. Lando then ran out of the factory to where Shriv was waiting in an AT ST they drove it to the nearby Lambda-class T-4a shuttle of which took off last minute. Shriv and Lando were saved by Iden on the Corvus.

Waves of change
By the following year, the war was turning in the New Republic's favor. The Republic launched a program to hunt down Imperial fugitives. New Republic forces also seized more worlds from the Empire including Arkanis and Nag Ubdur. Both sides also employed propaganda. New Republic media such as Queen of the Core Network highlighted Imperial atrocities and suicide attacks on Nag Ubdur. In response, the Office of Imperial Promotion, Galactic Truth, and Fact Correction published posters and fabricated data depicting the New Republic as terrorists and criminals. Some criminals like the reptilian crime lord Eleodie Maracavanya took advantage of the chaos to expand their criminal enterprises. Eleodie's power was boosted by the stolen Super Star Destroyer Annihilator.

Meanwhile, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda tried to maintain a semblance of control over Coruscant, which was experiencing a civil war. With the Imperial Security Bureau barely able to hold on to Coruscant, Mas attempted to surrender to the New Republic. However, Chancellor Mothma and Princess Leia rejected his terms and ordered him to find a way to secure the Empire's surrender. Elsewhere, Sloane assumed leadership of the Imperial forces in the Vulpinus Nebula as Grand Admiral. However, she served as a front for Gallius Rax, who was the true ruler of the Imperial remnants. Under his orders, Sloane convened the Shadow Council to promote the resurgence of the Empire. The Shadow Council consisted of the former Commandant Brendol Hux, Grand Moff Randd, General Hodnar Borrum, and the Imperial propagandist Ferric Obdur. In private, however, Sloane distrusted Rax's agenda and undertook an investigation of the Imperial fleet inventory and Rax's background.

Following the disappearance of Han Solo, Princess Leia solicited the services of Norra and her team in finding her husband. After refusing an order from Admiral Ackbar to abandon her search for Solo, Norra resigned from the New Republic military to search for Han. Norra's team and Solo teamed up on the planet Irudiru to capture and interrogate the Siniteen prison designer Golas Aram, who was privy to a secret Imperial prison on Kashyyyk called Ashmead's Lock. Infiltrating Ashmead's Lock, Solo and Norra's team managed to free Chewbacca and a hundred other rebel prisoners including Brentin Lore Wexley. Norra, Temmin, Mister Bones and the prisoners returned to Chandrila aboard Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon.

Meanwhile, Sinjir, Jas Emari, and the New Republic soldier Jom Barell stayed behind on Kashyyyk to liberate the planet from Imperial rule. They decided to hunt down Grand Moff Tolruck in order to disable the control module controlling the inhibitor chips. Unknown to the New Republic, the liberation of the Ashmead's Lock prisoners played into the hands of Fleet Admiral Rax; who had secretly implanted inorganic biochips into their heads. Rax then put into a motion a plan to assassinate the New Republic leadership on Chandrila. Following the fall of Kuat and its shipyards, Grand Admiral Sloane offered to enter into peace talks with the New Republic. Believing the Empire was near defeat, the Galactic Senate accepted Sloane's offer.

A month later, Sinjir managed to track Grand Moff Tolruck down to his island fortress. He disabled the control module controlling the inhibitor chips and rescued Jom from Imperial captivity. As a result, a mass planetwide uprising broke out on Kashyyyk. Meanwhile, Solo and the rest of his team attacked Camp Sardo, a slave labor camp near the Wookiee city of Awrathakka. In a last ditched defense, Tolruck ordered the orbiting Imperials Star Destroyers to bombard Kashyyyk. However, Princess Leia learned about the attack from the slicer Conder Kyl and managed to convince Captain Antilles and Admiral Ackbar to send ships there. They were aided by Solo and his team, who hijacked the Star Destroyer Dominion. As a result, Solo, Chewbacca, and the New Republic managed to end the Imperial subjugation of the Wookiees.

Meanwhile on Chandrila, Chancellor Mon Mothma organized Liberation Day to celebrate the liberation of the Ashmead's Lock prisoners. These festivities were meant to precede the upcoming peace talks with Grand Admiral Sloane. To entice more worlds to join the New Republic, the celebrations were broadcast live on HoloNet With the help of his local agent Windom Traducier, Rax transmitted a signal that forced the former prisoners to attack New Republic officials. As a result, numerous New Republic officials including Chancellor Mothma and Commodore Kyrsta Agate were wounded while others like General Crix Madine and Hostis Ij were rumored to be killed. Grand Admiral Sloane turned against Rax after disagreeing with his dishonorable tactics.

Following the attack on Chandrila, Rax seized power as Counselor to the Empire and ordered his Imperial armadas to assemble on the planet Jakku for a showdown with the New Republic. The attack on Chandrila dampened the New Republic's desire for peace talks with the Empire and discouraged numerous worlds from joining the new government. With the backing of Leia, Norra and her team embarked on a campaign to hunt down Grand Admiral Sloane; whom they believed was responsible for the attack on Chandrila. Meanwhile, Sloane joined forces with Brentin to hunt down and kill Gallius Rax. With the help of the bounty hunter Mercurial Swift, they discovered that Jakku was Rax's homeworld. New Republic forces also repelled three Imperial attempts to retake Naboo.

Gallius Rax's hour
For several months, Norra Wexley, her son Temmin, and her team hunted for the fugitive Grand Admiral Sloane. After capturing the bounty hunter Mercurial Swift on Taris, the Imperial hunters learned that the former Grand Admiral had traveled to Jakku. Elsewhere, New Republic forces conducted mopping up operations against Imperial holdouts on Kashyyyk and Cloud City. Meanwhile, the remnants of the Empire waited on Jakku for a showdown with the New Republic. While Counselor Gallius Rax regarded the barren, desert world as an ideal testing ground for his forces, the harsh conditions sapped the spirit and strength Rax's forces. In addition, Rax recruited local orphans and street children into a fighting force of child assassins.

Unknown to his subordinates, Rax was the secret executioner of the Emperor's posthumous Contingency plan. Palpatine had decreed that the Empire should not be allowed to outlive his death. As part of the Contingency, Rax had engineered the deaths of numerous other Imperial commanders. The final stage of the Contingency involved instigating a showdown between the Empire and the Rebellion above Jakku. Rax planned to destroy the planet and the two enemy fleets by throwing Sith relics down a borehole which led to Jakku's core, triggering a cataclysmic explosion. In secret, Rax planned to flee into the Unknown Regions with a select few Imperials including Brendol Hux, his son Armitage, and his child assassins.

Norra and her team soon discovered the Imperial fleet. While Norra and Jas Emari took an escape pod to search for Sloane, Temmin and Sinjir returned to Chandrila with news of the Imperial presence on Jakku. After learning of the Imperial presence, Chancellor Mothma went to the Galactic Senate to pass a bill deploying New Republic forces to Jakku. The vote failed to pass since it fell short of a majority of five senators. These senators had been coerced into voting against the bill by the Black Sun and Red Key crime syndicates, who wanted to profit from the war. This vote coincided with the New Republic's efforts to relocate its capital to the Mid Rim agrarian world of Nakadia. Han Solo, Temmin, Sinjir, Conder Kyl, and Jom Barell managed to convince the senators to change their votes by rescuing Senator Nim Tar's child and offering them a pardon if they changed their votes during the re-vote on Nakadia. As a result, Chancellor Mothma secured the majority needed to send New Republic forces to Jakku.

Showdown on Jakku
A New Republic fleet led by Admiral Ackbar entered the space around Jakku and engaged Rax's Imperial fleet. The New Republic also deployed several ground forces to attack Rax's main Imperial headquarters and an Imperial weapons facility. Other New Republic participants included the starfighter pilots Captain Wedge Antilles and Temmin Wexley, and Commodore Kyrsta Agate. As the battle raged, Norra joined forces with Sloane and Brentin to hunt down and stop Counselor Rax, who had traveled to the Jakku Observatory with Adviser Yupe Tashu to initiate the destruction of Jakku.

At first, the battle went in the Empire's favor. The Imperial fleet had formed a tight defensive formation around Rax's Super Star Destroyer Ravager. This tight formation slowed the onslaught of the New Republic assault and allowed the Ravager to repeatedly bombard the New Republic fleet from the safety of its protective cordon. After the Star Destroyer Punishment broke formation and rammed the Starhawk-class battleship Amity in a kamikaze attack, Commodore Agate positioned her ship Concord in the gap and bombarded the Ravager. Despite being crippled by the Super Star Destroyer, Agate managed to use the Concord powerful tractor beam to drag the larger ship to Jakku's surface. The New Republic ships and starfighters then disabled the Ravager engines.

In the midst of the battle, Iden Versio and Shriv Suurgav were responding to distress calls across the battle field, and responded to rescue Captain Lindsey and his crew after his corvette crashed and was surrounded by Imperial ground forces. With the help of bombardments from Starhawk Command, they took out the two AT ATs and took Lindsey and his team with the Corvus. Iden and Shriv then went to a downed star destroyer and blew up the hanger to prevent incoming bombers from it. Once they returned to the Corvus they fell under attack by the Eviscerator led by Garrick Versio. Gideon Hask was also there in TIE Interceptor and Iden shot him down along with the other TIEs. Iden then crashed her X-wing starfighter onto the Eviscerator and went for her father. At the bridge she tried to convince him to go with her but he denied and told her his time had come. Iden then escaped the Eviscerator in an escape pod as it crashed onto the surface.

After the Ravager commander Grand Moff Randd fled, the battle turned in the New Republic's favor. New Republic forces then attacked the beleaguered Imperials on multiple fronts in space and on the ground. During the battle, Captain Ciena Ree crashed her Star Destroyer Inflictor onto Jakku's surface in an effort to deny the New Republic access to her ship. The New Republic was also aided by the bounty hunters Jas Emari, Dengar, Embo, and Jeeta; who secured pardons for their efforts. Meanwhile, Sloane and her New Republic allies managed to hunt down and kill Rax and stop his plot to destroy Jakku. Sloane then fled with Brendol, Armitage and Rax's child soldiers on a replica of the Emperor's yacht Imperialis to a set of secret coordinates in the Unknown Regions.

The Galactic Concordance
The Battle of Jakku coincided with Grand Vizier Mas Amedda's escape from house arrest in the Imperial Palace. With the help of a group of child resistance fighters known as the Anklebiter Brigade, Amedda managed to flee to Chandrila and sign the Imperial Instruments of Surrender and the Galactic Concordance with Chancellor Mon Mothma. These agreements formalized the Empire's capitulation to the New Republic and ordered all Imperial forces to cease fighting. Despite the decisive defeat of the Imperial fleet above Jakku and the signing of the Galactic Concordance, Imperial forces continued fighting on Jakku's surface and parts of the galaxy for months. Following the battle, the scattered remnants of the Imperial fleet regrouped at various locations including the Queluhan Nebula for a coordinated attack on the New Republic.

A month after the Battle of Jakku, the remaining Imperial forces were confined to pre-determined boundaries in the Core Worlds and Inner Rim. Under the terms of the Concordance, the defeated Empire was required to obey strict disarmament policies and pay war reparations, which the remnant in the Core and Inner Rim obeyed, confining themselves to the new set of borders. The Concordance also banned the recruitment and mobilization of stormtrooper forces, the abandonment of Imperial Academies, ceded the former galactic capital Coruscant to the New Republic, and outlawed torture. While the New Republic turned its attention to reshaping the galactic order, the Empire withered away into a remnant of hardliners that eventually relocated to the Unknown Regions and became the First Order. Despite the end of the Galactic Civil War, the New Republic had to contend with other new factions including the New Separatist Union, the Confederacy of Corporate Systems, and the Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanya, and some of the surviving Imperial splinter groups.

Legacy
Following the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War, as the New Republic became the dominant government of the galaxy, the Republic became locked in a cold war with the Imperial remnants. Some wealthy collectors such as the Centrist senator Ransolm Casterfo collected historical artifacts including Imperial helmets, banners, and armor. In addition, Rebel Alliance and Imperial banners, equipment, and other artifacts were sold at places such as Chrome Citadel. Key Rebel leaders such as Senator Bail Organa, Chancellor Mon Mothma, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker had a high level of respect and prestige among the galactic populace. Still, some like Casterfo regarded the actions taken by Saw Gerrera's Partisans and the Rebel Alliance as terrorist activities.

By 28 ABY, two factions had emerged in the Galactic Senate: the Centrists who favored a stronger central government and the Populists who wanted member worlds to wield considerable sovereignty. Some Centrists admired the "Old Empire" and questioned the official New Republic accounts of the Battle of Yavin and the Galactic Civil War. Some even expressed skepticism that Luke Skywalker had destroyed the first Death Star and suggested that it was the work of an Imperial traitor. Several Centrist senators including Lady Carise Sindian and Erudo Ro-Kiintor worked as undercover agents of the First Order to subvert the New Republic from within.

Due to his role as the Emperor's enforcer, Darth Vader was widely reviled by much of the galactic population. As a result, his children Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker withheld the full details of their parentage from all but a close circle of friends. After Lady Carise discovered Leia's true parentage, she manipulated Leia's friend Senator Casterfo into revealing Leia's parentage during a hearing to consider Leia's candidacy for the office of First Senator. Consequently, Leia lost much support in the Senate and was forced to withdraw her candidacy. Later, Leia uncovered evidence that a paramilitary faction called the Amaxine warriors, a mere front to the First Order, were planning to attack the New Republic. However, her warnings were dismissed as warmongering by the Senate. Sensing another galactic war approaching, Princess Leia formed a paramilitary outfit called the Resistance to protect the New Republic.

Many of the soldiers and military officers, including General Armitage Hux, in the First Order were taught that rebel "terrorists" had stolen the future of the galaxy during the civil war. The First Order viewed the New Republic as too weak to save the galaxy from chaos and believed that the First Order had to save the galaxy from itself. In the years leading up to the Hosnian Cataclysm, an uneasy peace existed between the New Republic and the First Order. A neutral buffer zone known as the Trans-Hydian Borderlands lay between the New Republic and First Order.

With the New Republic unwilling to take action against the First Order out of fear of another war erupting, General Organa's Resistance kept a watch over the Imperial remnant. Following a series of skirmishes with the Resistance, the First Order destroyed the New Republic capital of Hosnian Prime. This ended the cold war and set the stage for open warfare between the First Order and the Resistance, the primary threat to the First Order's ambitions of restoring the Empire.

Behind the scenes
The Galactic Civil War has been for decades the titular Star Wars that defines the saga, or more specifically, the original trilogy. Most of the fiction created for the Star Wars Legends continuity and for the current canon continuity have been set during the Galactic Civil War.