Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire

The Galactic Empire during the Legacy era was the galactic government established sometime after 40 ABY. It was a continuation of the Imperial Remnant established by Daala and Gilad Pellaeon.

History
At some point, following the Second Corellian Insurrection, the Imperial Remnant once again began to gain strength. Under Fel I, who retook the title of Emperor, the Imperial Remnant started the Victory Without War program. The capital, Bastion, became one of the most fortified planets in the Galaxy.

The Sith-Imperial War
At some point, the Empire allied itself with the newly formed Sith, who sabotaged reconstruction efforts on Yuuzhan Vong-terraformed worlds, to the detriment of the planets' inhabitants. The Galactic Alliance soon found itself facing a secession movement mirroring that of the Separatists. The Empire used this situation to entice Alliance member worlds to join the fledgling new Galactic Empire. But the Empire wanted all of the Alliance worlds, including its capital.

Eventually, having envoked the Treaty of Anaxes, the Sith-Imperial War broke out around 130 ABY, which resulted in the fall of Coruscant and the reestablishment of the Empire as the primary galactic government. The remnants of the Alliance were absorbed into the Empire, but the Galactic Alliance Core Forces remained.

The coup
After the Alliance defeat and the Massacre of Ossus, the Sith under Darth Krayt turned against Emperor Roan Fel. He launched a daring palace revolution, marching with his cohorts straight into the audience chamber of Emperor Roan Fel himself, killing the man who sat on the throne and seating himself in his place. Noting the confusion and outrage from the members of the Moff Council who were present, he laid out the facts of life for them: "Roan Fel never really embraced the war or the idea of a unified Galaxy. He went along with it as a political necessity. That's not what the Empire&mdash;what the Galaxy&mdash;needs. The Galaxy writhes in chaos and disorder. It requires a man of vision. I am that man of vision. I am the new Emperor."

- Darth Krayt

Faced with little choice, the Moff Council swore loyalty to him. For the first time in more than a hundred and fifty years, a Sith Lord held the galactic seat of power. At once he set about imposing order on a Galaxy that sorely needed it, but this too was an incomplete victory. The "Emperor" he had killed had been anything but. It had to be a double; the real Fel was a fully trained Imperial Knight and would surely have defended himself, rather than just stand there and let himself be slain. It was imperative that the real Fel be found, before he recruited allies among the moffs, the military, or those Jedi who had survived.

Government and politics
The Empire was ruled by an Emperor, yet the Moffs held considerable power, and were advisors to the Emperor. They managed both the Imperial military and Imperial Intelligence and had invoked the Treaty of Anaxes in order to launch the Sith-Imperial War.

Some Moffs even still retained prejudices that were once rampant in the old Galactic Empire, while the majority of others were more open-minded and liberal. Some degree of male chauvinism was also seen in the Empire's government, thus many of the Moffs serving on the Council were opposed to letting Marasiah Fel become Empress simply because of her sex.

Behind the scenes

 * It was speculated among fans that the Legacy-era Empire may have originated from the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances following the Second Corellian Insurrection in 40 ABY.
 * In Star Wars Insider 87, John Ostrander considers the new Empire "not as inherently evil, but still not a republic, not a democracy. It's the rule of the few, or the one, over the many. It has a lot of strengths; it has a substantial amount of weaknesses. It (sic) values power more than anything else."

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Legacy