Galactic Civil War/Legends

"With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the Galaxy!"

- Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker

The Galactic Civil War was a major galactic conflict fought between the oppressive Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a rebel faction dedicated to the revival of the Galactic Republic the Empire supplanted.

The conflict traced its origins back to dissent in the Galactic Senate during the Clone Wars against the nearly authoritarian power of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Armed conflict did not commence, however, until years after the Declaration of a New Order and the Great Jedi Purge, when Rebel and Imperial forces clashed for the first time. At first, the Empire saw the Rebel Alliance only as a political threat and not a military one, but after the rebel Luke Skywalker destroyed the First Death Star in the Battle of Yavin, the rebels were taken more seriously and the Empire realized that the rebels were indeed a threat.

The decisive confrontation came at the Battle of Endor, when the Rebel fleet faced that of the Empire and secured victory, destroying the second Death Star and the Emperor. From there, the Empire began a slow decline, and was gradually reduced to the Imperial Remnant, a fragment of its formerly grand self. The war finally ended in 19 ABY, over twenty years after it had began, when the remnants of the Empire signed a peace accord, though it would continue to be fully autonomous until it was absorbed into the Galactic Alliance.

Origin of the Galactic Civil War
"Some things are better left unsaid."

- Padmé Amidala

The collapse of the Galactic Republic in 19 BBY led to the establishment of the Empire under former Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who was revealed as Darth Sidious, an elusive Sith Lord who, with extensive planning, took advantage of the corruption and inefficacies of the system and masterminded the Clone Wars in order to obtain more power. Taking the title of Emperor, he established a dictatorial regime that quickly eradicated major resistance, including the ancient protectors of the Republic, the Jedi Order, whom Palpatine accused of conspiring to overthrow the government and kill all members in the Senate. Of the several thousand Jedi, very few survived the implementation of Order 66 and the subsequent beginning of the Great Jedi Purge in 19 BBY, most notably Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda.

The Emperor's third known Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, was an integral part of the Purge and the establishment of the Empire. Before he turned to the Dark Side of the Force, he was known as Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight and apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Darth Vader sought out and killed nearly all the Jedi, destroying what last fragments remained from the Order. On the planet Mustafar, Vader dueled his old master, Obi-Wan, who inflicted serious wounds on Vader which forced him to wear a black suit of armor and a fearsome breath mask. This new version of Vader helped the Empire strike fear into systems' hearts. His deceased wife Padmé Amidala had borne him two children, whom he thought had died along with her. These two children, Luke and Leia Skywalker, would later become leaders of the Alliance and reestablish the Jedi Order. Luke was taken to Tatooine and hidden with his step-uncle Owen Lars, while Leia was adopted by Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, and his wife Breha.



After the Empire was established, the Galactic Senate was reorganized into the Imperial Senate. However, it quickly became a rubber-stamp assembly. The Empire's New Order also emphasized Human and, to a lesser extent, humanoid supremacy, with other alien species such as Wookiees, Mon Calamari, Yuzzem and Lurrians reclassified as non-sentient and subjected to slavery (referred to as domestication). Antislavery laws were repealed and legislation legalizing the persecution of aliens was passed. As a result, the vast majority of the Imperial armed forces and other institutions were composed of Humans, with only rare exceptions like Grand Admiral Thrawn climbing in the ranks of the military. Some argue that while the Empire was unquestionably xenophobic, there is little to suggest that the Emperor himself was, as some of his advisors and aides and possibly his old Sith Master were alien. In fact, some believe that the privy councilors and advisors that filled Palpatine's court and ran the Empire on a day-to-day basis were the xenophobes, and applied "Human High Culture" on their own accord.

This exercise of power was backed up by the use of state terrorism in the form of the Tarkin Doctrine, named for Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. The Doctrine threatened fear of force rather than the use of force to control dissent; the Ghorman Massacre was an example. This event made clear that the Empire had no regard for sentient rights. The justification for the Tarkin Doctrine was the excessive cost and impracticality of the use of pure terror in the form of billions upon billions of troops and spaceships to maintain order. The instrument of enforcing the Doctrine was the Imperial military, which included the Stormtrooper Corps and a large fleet of intimidating warships such as the Star Destroyers of the Imperial Navy and dreadful war vehicles such as All Terrain Armored Transports of the Imperial Army, all of which were intended in part to spread fear as well as destroy the enemy. This policy reached its zenith with the construction of the world-destroying Death Star and similar superweapons. The Death Star itself, however, had its origins in the long-gone Separatist cause. On Geonosis, Archduke Poggle the Lesser was involved in creating a weapon that would evolve to become the Death Star.

Formation of the Alliance
When the dire development became clear, a small group of senators, including Bail Organa, Garm Bel Iblis and Mon Mothma, formed the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In the wake of the Ghorman Massacre they issued their Declaration of Rebellion to legitimize their uprising against the Empire and list their grievances. Thus began the Galactic Civil War, which was to rage over 20 years.

From the beginning, the Alliance was vastly outmanned and outgunned by the much more powerful and better organized Imperial Navy, supplied with powerful warships by companies such as Kuat Drive Yards. The secret defection of the Incom Corporation added the advanced X-Wing, while the Mon Calamari supplied badly needed capital ships to combat the Star Destroyers. However, the Rebels were still forced to rely on hit and run tactics, which were orchestrated primarily to harass Imperial shipping and operations. Leia Organa became an Imperial Senator for Alderaan and used her diplomatic immunity to conduct secret Rebel missions aboard her Corellian Corvette Tantive IV.

As the Rebellion grew, so too did the ferocity with which it was hunted. Entire sectors were set upon by Imperial forces, whenever they were identified as hotbeds for Rebel activity. The pacification of the Nembus Sector and the Kwymar Suppressions exemplified this brutal approach to stifling dissent in the Empire.

A slight turning point in the war was the Battle of Turkana, where the Imperials, finding and attacking a Rebel fleet, discovered the Rebels' new 'weapon', the X-wing starfighter, which tipped the scale towards the Alliance at this time. Angered by that defeat, the Empire proceeded to the Operation Strike Fear. Planets and systems members of the Alliance like Rudrig, Brigia and Orion IV were lost or suffered casualties. Luckily, due to the defection of Imperial Crix Madine and the newly forged alliance with the Sullustans the Rebels once again surprised the Imperials by sabotaging and finally destroying the flagship of the operation, the Star Destroyer Invincible.

The Alliance leaders knew they had neither troops nor weapons to fight a long war so they accepted help whenever it came. Many criminals seeking to escape the Empire's grip came to the Alliance for help. The alliance used hit and run tactics when not in major battles. This strategy caused Imperial casualties to rise dramatically.

Disappearance of 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

The Rebel Alliance operated an efficient and widespread intelligence network of Bothan spies. Through this network, the Alliance learned of the construction of the Death Star, an extremely powerful space station capable of annihilating planets with its superlaser.

Rebel prisoners aboard the Death Star managed to riot (the Death Star Uprising) and got control of a technical readout while Imperial-turned-Rebel Kyle Katarn retrieved further plans (the Battle of Danuta) and the main set retrieved during the Battle of Toprawa. From there they beamed it to Leia's ship, the Tantive IV, while the 501st Legion, under Darth Vader, tracked Rebels to Polis Massa, leading to the Battle of Polis Massa; however this was only a set-up for the Empire. Even so, the Rebels, who fought with the defensive upper hand, were crushed. Imperial forces soon discovered the true plot and the Star Destroyer Devastator, under the command of Darth Vader himself, captured the Tantive IV in a space battle above Tatooine, where Leia had been trying to reach. She hoped to enlist the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was a fugitive Jedi in hiding on the planet and was watching over the young Luke Skywalker.

As Vader's forces entered her ship, Leia Organa made a last desperate gamble and hid the plans of the Death Star aboard the astromech droid R2-D2. R2-D2, along with C-3PO, a protocol droid on the ship, used an escape pod to travel to Tatooine, where they were purchased from the Jawa scavengers who found them by Owen Lars, uncle of Luke Skywalker.



Skywalker soon discovered a portion of the message in R2-D2 and became interested. However, R2-D2, operating under programming included with the plans, escaped and tried to find Obi-Wan Kenobi. Skywalker, who conveniently met up with Kenobi in the Dune Sea, tracked him down. R2-D2 then played back for them Leia Organa's desperate plea for help. The two discovered that Imperial stormtroopers had attacked the Jawas who had sold them the two droids in a search for the plans. Luke returned to his home to find his aunt and uncle slaughtered at Imperial hands. He then accompanied Kenobi to Mos Eisley, where, evading Imperial troops, the two chartered space pirate Han Solo and his first mate Chewbacca to take them and the plans to Alderaan aboard the Millennium Falcon.

In the meantime, Palpatine used the crisis as a pretext for dissolving the Imperial Senate.

Meanwhile, Darth Vader had taken Leia Organa to the Death Star, which was under the control of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. When she refused to yield the location of the Rebel base or the whereabouts of the plans voluntarily or through torture, Tarkin threatened to destroy Alderaan in an attempt to force her to confess. Fearing that Tarkin would use the superweapon on hers and other peaceful worlds, she offered the false location of Dantooine. Thinking that he and the Empire had won, Tarkin went ahead and destroyed Alderaan. Millennium Falcon arrived in the midst of the destroyed planet, after having barely escaped Imperial clutches above Tatooine. There, they followed and tried to capture an Imperial TIE Fighter, but were instead captured themselves by the Death Star's massive tractor beam. The group managed to disable the tractor beam and free Princess Leia through an elaborate series of tricks. However, as they were escaping, Darth Vader confronted Kenobi in a lightsaber duel that ended in Kenobi's death (or, apparently, his ascension into becoming one with the Force). The Millennium Falcon escaped, only to be tracked by Imperial troops to the Rebel base on Yavin 4. To confirm Rebel activity, a platoon of Stormtroopers were sent to Yavin 4 and besieged the Massassi Arena outpost. In the Massassi Temple, the technical readouts of the Death Star were analyzed for a weakness, and the Rebels sent ships to destroy the Death Star, which was attempting to obliterate the Rebel base. Luke Skywalker managed a direct hit on a thermal exhaust port, which caused a chain reaction and destroyed the battle station at the last second, just before the space station itself could fire on the Rebel base. This would become known as the Battle of Yavin.

After Yavin
The Battle of Yavin gave the Rebel Alliance credibility as a legitimate military threat to the Empire. However, the Rebel commanders knew that their celebrations would be short-lived. Because of the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire would focus all of its military might into destroying the Rebels. The Alliance began to evacuate the planet&mdash;complicated by an Imperial blockade.

The years after the evacuation of Massassi Base could be defined in two main events. The first is the rise of Rogue Squadron as one of the Alliance's greatest resources. The second was the Dark Trooper project, and its destruction by Rebel Commando Kyle Katarn.

Capture of Yavin base
As a result of the battle, the Rebel Alliance gained credibility as a legitimate military opponent to the Empire. Between the effects of the battle and the dissolution of the Imperial Senate, thousands of star systems openly joined the Alliance in the months following the Death Star's destruction. As a result, the Empire began occupying worlds it had allowed to remain untouched earlier, both actions resulting in an escalation to a full scale war.

After the destruction of the first Death Star, the Rebel Alliance prepared to evacuate the jungle moon, fearing Imperial reprisals. Fortunately, most of the Rebel fleet, including the Mon Calamari Star Cruisers under Ackbar and the refugee ships containing the Alliance government, had not been present during the battle and were scattered throughout the Galaxy.

Several garrisons of troopers escaped the Death Star, and their escape pods crashed into the moon. They combined their ranks and started to move toward the Great Temple. General Dodonna supervised the evacuation of the Yavin base. Members of the 501st Legion participated in the orbital battle, immobilizing a Mon Calamari Star Cruiser and destroying countless starfighters, and besieged a Rebel ground vehicle hangar. Several key members of Alliance High Command stationed at the Rebel base were killed by the 501st Legion during its vengeful assault against the Rebel forces. Darth Vader led a TIE Squadron himself in his TIE Advanced, destroying several supply transports leaving the planet.

General Dodonna supervised the evacuation of the Yavin base after these skirmishes. However, before the base's support staff could be evacuated, an armada of Imperial ships including Immobilizer 418 cruisers appeared in the Yavin system. Instead of attacking, the Imperial ships formed a blockade that prevented the Rebels from escaping into hyperspace.

In fact, this blockade had been ordered by Darth Vader himself, who wanted to capture leading Rebels. Meanwhile, the Star Dreadnought Executor was nearing completion at the shipyards of Fondor. This mighty ship could take on an entire armada of smaller vessels and would serve as Vader's flagship. In retaliation for the destruction of the first Death Star, Vader wanted to use the Executor against the Rebels.

Later, Luke Skywalker and other Rebels continually evaded the Imperial blockade. First, they tried to sabotage the completion of the Executor, though they were betrayed and most of the task force was killed. Luke, however, managed to escape and return to the Alliance with intelligence on the behemoth warship. During a second mission, Luke discovered the arctic planet of Hoth. After returning, he suggested to the Alliance that they evacuate to Hoth and set up another base there.



These evasions angered and frustrated the Imperial armada's commanders who eventually persuaded Darth Vader to launch an assault on Yavin 4. Meanwhile, the Rebel leaders including Dodonna were concerned, because while smaller ships could slip through the blockade, larger ships would be destroyed or captured. Dodonna then contacted Mon Mothma and Ackbar and arranged for them to stage a diversionary assault. Rebel forces under Ackbar engaged Imperial forces in the Vallusk Cluster to divert Imperial forces at Yavin 4. Seeing the need for a stronger and unified Rebel fleet, Mon Mothma promoted Ackbar to full admiral. Furthermore, Mothma appointed Ackbar to be the Supreme Commander of the Rebel Fleet, as well as the head of the Alliance military.

However, the completed Executor finally arrived at Yavin 4 with Lord Vader's Death Squadron fleet, as well as elements of the personal fleet of the Baron Orman Tagge, and the battle began. During the assault, the Empire launched an array of vehicles including A5 Juggernauts and AT-STs. TIE Fighters and TIE Bombers would shell the jungle area.

Dodonna evacuated the base's fighters and transports though he refused to evacuate himself until everyone had left. Instead, the general planted several concussion charges that decimated a whole squadron of TIE Bombers. It was believed that he had died in action, though it was later revealed he had been captured and imprisoned in the Star Dreadnought Lusankya. Many of the surviving Rebels eventually made their way to the icy world of Hoth where they established a new base.

Rogue Squadron
"Well, you know the Rogues. All we need is a ship and rock to land it on."

- Wedge Antilles

After the victory at the Battle of Yavin, two of the survivors, Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles, formed an X-wing squadron that would become one of the most famous in the Galaxy - Rogue Squadron. It began as Rogue Flight, working in tandem with Renegade Flight under the command of Narra. One of Rogue Flight's first missions was to aid in the evacuation of Yavin IV, and to help Imperial Tycho Celchu defect to the Alliance on Dantooine. When Renegade Flight was defeated in an Imperial ambush in the Ison Corridor, Rogue Flight was transformed into Rogue Squadron. Rogue Squadron quickly had a string of victories on such planets as Tatooine, Barkhesh and Chorax. The Rogues reputation for flying gained the admiration of many TIE Fighter squadrons, leading to a few high-profile defections to the Alliance. One such defector was Kasan Moor, commander of the 128th TIE Interceptor Squadron, whose defection led to raids on Imperial production facilities on Balmorra and Kile II. The Rogues victories, however, infuriated those in Imperial high command, such as Moff Kohl Seerdon. He swore vengeance on the squadron after the destruction of his research facility on Fest. However, his invasions of key Alliance planets such as Chandrila and Thyferra were quickly repulsed by Rogue Squadron, and Seerdon was killed by Luke Skywalker.

Dark troopers
"Dark trooper: Release."

- General Rom Mohc

The new secret weapon, the Dark Troopers would be used as the Death Star's replacement, but this time coherent to Mohc's ideals of hand to hand combat. The Imperial factory ship Arc Hammer and Darth Vader's new flagship Executor formed a blockade of the planet Talay.

The dark troopers pierced Tak's shields, and attacked with precision and speed - the assault was so sudden that the Rebels had no chance to defend themselves let alone retaliate. Toka managed to transmit a general distress signal; however, the transmission was cut short. The Dark Troopers destroyed the base and its surrounding city, resulting in a massive amount of Rebel and civilian casualties. Only one Mon Calamari cruiser escaped, but that was soon taken over by a stowaway Dark Trooper and crashed on Tatooine. Darth Vader was most impressed with the assault, and gave Mohc full support for the project.

Shortly after the battle, Mon Mothma received Toka's distress signal, in addition to a communication from Crix Madine, regarding the dark trooper project. She recruited Kyle Katarn to infiltrate Tak Base in order to gather information. Katarn discovered an abandoned firearm that no humanoid was capable of carrying. The weapon was confirmed to be used by dark troopers.

After sabotaging two stations, the mining facility on Gromas and the Ice Station Beta, thus delaying the production, Katarn stole a Nava card which revealed the next rendezvous of the Arc Hammer with the Executor. Hijacking a smuggler ship, he met up with the rendezvous. Katarn placed sequencer charges in the Arc Hammer's power grids. Fighting off General Mohc in his Phase III suit, he escaped before the ship exploded. Katarn was awarded the Star of Alderaan by Mon Mothma.

With the death of Mohc and the destruction of Arc Hammer, as well as billions of credits, a furious Emperor refused to refund the project. All research into other battle droid programs ended.

Imperial repercussions


Meanwhile, unrest began to arise in several worlds like Zaloriis and Vader went to investigate. The Zalorans declared their independence, but Vader suppressed all opposition and freed the abducted Maximilian Veers During an assault on Zaloriis City to punish the Zaloran separatists, Vader and Veers discovered archives of the library which showed the new location of the Rebel base to be somewhere near Elrood.



Meanwhile Vader became obsessed with finding Skywalker and used Imperial probe droids in the area, launched from his the Executor of the Imperial Death Squadron, to seek him and the Rebel Alliance out. The Rebel base on Hoth was discovered, and the Rebels fled while they fought a stalling effort which would become known as the Battle of Hoth. After much pursuit, Darth Vader captured Skywalker's friends on Cloud City, where they had been hoping to seek temporary asylum from Han Solo's friend, Lando Calrissian.

Luke, under the advice of the Force ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi, had traveled to Dagobah and had become a Jedi apprentice to Jedi Master Yoda. Through the Force, Luke became aware of his friends' suffering and, despite the pleas of Yoda and Kenobi to stay and complete his Jedi training, left Dagobah for Cloud City in an attempt to save his friends, who ended up saving him after he confronted Darth Vader. Vader also revealed to Luke in their battle that he was his father. At the last second, the friends escaped aboard the Millennium Falcon, though Han Solo was taken in carbonite to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine by the bounty hunter Boba Fett.

Spreading the Rebellion


After the formation of Task Force Vengeance, the Rebel Allaince counter-attacked by deciding to give up their permanent assets in Elrood in favor of the more remote and less strictly controlled Airam Sector. In the opening days of the campaign, many assets in Elrood Sector were evacuated, most notably XQ5 platform-turned-hospital Hormuuz in the Gelgelar system. Most places were able to avoid Imperial attention, but Hormuuz attracted the attention of Admiral Senn, who deployed a strike team to capture any Rebels in the system. Stocked up on consumables and warheads, the Alliance went on to find out their enemies strength - many reconnaissance missions were flown by Rogue Squadron in order to scan the ships of Task Force Vengeance and destroy any freighter carrying warhead supplies. This culminated in a diversionary strike by the Cruiser Liberty herself, intended to lure away some of the Imperial warships into an ambush set in the Goff systemRogue Squadron led a strike team to capture the Interdictor while it was undergoing repairs. The attempt was successful, and despite the Empire's attempts to scuttle the Compellor, the Rogues were able to bring the ship safely to the Mobetta system.By maintaining tight patrols around the factory, Gallofree, the Rebels managed to keep the modifications performed on the Strike Cruiser Peregrine a secret, prepping the Compellor for its final mission as well. The baptism of fire for the Peregrine came shortly thereafter in the Derilyn system, where it assisted Liberty in pinning down and destroying a reinforcement and resupply fleet headed for Task Force Vengeance. Meanwhile, an Imperial strike force "found" the Compellor - which blew up in full view of the Star Destroyers Titan and Juggernaut, according to Rebel plan, leading the Imperials to believe that neither they nor the Alliance had access to gravity well technology anymore.In the closing days of the campaign, Task Force Vengeance was already showing the effects of raids against their supply lines. In a last ditch effort, Senn tried to acquire supplies from the traitorous Airam clan leader Ilay, but was foiled by the efforts of Rogue and Green Squadrons.

The Alliance, intent on wearing down the remainders of the Imperial Task Force slowly but steadily, did not expect Admiral Senn to know the location of their most crucial asset in the Airam Sector by this time: The shipyard Calenz. The Super Star Destroyer Vengeance, accompanied by the Star Destroyer Rage, attacked the shipyard directly, and only the valiant efforts of Rogue and Green groups, the Calamari cruiser Liberty and an Airam corvette prevented the destruction of Calenz.

While the Alliance surely would have preferred a more planned out engagement against the Super Star Destroyer, Senn's desperate attack allowed for the destruction of the task force remainders nonetheless and brought a conclusion to the campaign - the Airam sector was not likely to receive the attention of yet another sizeable Imperial fleet in the near future, making it a safe haven for the Rebel Alliance where they could regroup and rebuild in relative peace.

Regrouping
Following the Subjugation of Bespin, the Rebel Alliance set out to save any Rebel prisoners from the Battle of Hoth. Rogue Squadron besieged a small Imperial detention facility in the Maw system, freeing all captives. A distress transmission was intercepted coming from a group of captive scientists from a Bakura orbiting detention facility. Besieging the center, Rogue Squadron lost a group of scientists who were abducted by a rogue escort carrier. Tracking it to Geonosis, the attacker revealed himself to be Sarkli, a former Rebel. He was thought dead after Wedge Antilles shot his LAAT gunship down. Now, there was one more prisoner in need of rescue: Han Solo.

The Battle of Gall
Dash Rendar confronted IG-88 on Ord Mantell and learned the whereabouts of Boba Fett who had Han Solo as a captive; he was repairing his ship on Gall. Rogue Squadron and Rendar attacked the Imperial Enclave situated on the moon. However, this rescue mission was confounded by the presence of an Imperial Enclave, with two Star Destroyers on patrol. Luke concocted a risky plan, utilizing the combat skills of the Rogues to keep the Enclaves' fighter complement at bay while counting on the piloting ability of Dash to lead Lando and Leia to Fett's ship. Despite the obvious danger of thirteen X-wings taking on a hundred and forty four TIE Fighters, it was, as Luke pointed out, the only plan they had.



The rescue attempt was launched, with the Rogues flying in on a strafing run against the day-side Star Destroyer. Only twenty fighters were scrambled to meet the threat&mdash;the pilots no doubt thinking it was only a drill&mdash;though an additional squadron was soon launched. The Rogues did an impressive job of keeping the fighters away from the Grand Trench&mdash;where Rendar's Outrider was leading Millennium Falcon towards the spaceport city&mdash;only losing one pilot when Will Scotian was forced to return to base after sustaining damage to his craft.

The Rogues' luck could not last, however. Another wave of TIEs approached&mdash;among them several TIE Interceptors, and Rogue Six was destroyed in the battle. Worse, the second Star Destroyer joined the battle, launching its own fighters into the fray. Fortunately, the Falcon reached the spaceport after a harrowing run through the Grand Trench, though Dash decided to leave the Rebels to face Fett alone&mdash;as he later remarked, he was paid only to guide, not shoot. And with a dozen TIE Fighters on their tail, the crew of the Falcon was in dire need of help.

Over the Enclave base, the Rogues, like Dash, decided to cut and run, preparing for a mock hyperspace jump to fool their pursuers into believing they had left the system. Plotting a course towards their base on the moon of Kile, the Rogues were shocked to see Wes Janson's X-wing firing on Luke. The frantic Wes realized his astromech droid had taken control of his ship, and Luke was forced to disable his fellow pilot's fighter, before towing him back to base. There, in a disturbing development, Luke found that the astro-droid had been programmed to kill him. Fett escaped, and the mission failed.

The Rebels triumph
"The Emperor has made a critical error and the time for our attack has come."

- Mon Mothma

After freeing Han Solo on Tatooine, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian (along with the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO) met up with the Rebel Alliance near the system of Sullust. The Rebels were amassing their entire fleet for a new strike. Admiral Ackbar, the commander of the Rebel fleet, along with General Crix Madine, developed the plans for the battle. The Bothan spies had reported that the Empire has begun construction on a new space station, the Death Star II, which would be much larger and much more powerful. The Rebels had determined to destroy it by launching an all-out attack against it before it could be completed. The sense of urgency was heightened by the fact that the Emperor himself would be aboard the station, making a shot at the head of the Empire himself possible.

The Death Star was protected by a force field generated from the forest moon of Endor. Han Solo, Chewbacca, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, and C-3PO led an expedition to disable the shield and allow the attack to occur. Once on Endor however, Luke turned himself in to Darth Vader, his father, hoping to rescue him from the clutches of the Emperor and the Dark Side of The Force. Vader took him aboard the uncompleted Death Star and before the Emperor, who attempted to lure him to the Dark Side by placing him in combat with Vader, whom he defeated. However, instead of killing Vader, he renounced the Dark Side by declaring himself a Jedi, like his father before him. Palpatine then attempted to kill him with a shower of deadly Force lightning, but Darth Vader, becoming Anakin Skywalker once again, threw him into a reactor core shaft, killing the Emperor. At this same moment, the Rebels managed to deactivate the shield by destroying the entire shield bunker with sequencer charges. The resulting Battle of Endor led to the destruction of the Death Star, although Skywalker escaped with Anakin's body. The Emperor was dead and the main Imperial fleet was defeated. Despite this tremendous victory, many long years would go by before the Galactic Empire truly surrendered.

Incident at Bakura
Like in most rebellions, the last battle did not end the civil war. Just one day after the Battle of Endor, an Imperial Emissary Droid Ship arrived in the Forest Moon carrying a message from the Imperial outpost of Bakura. Bakura was under attack by an unknown species from the Unknown Regions. Since the Emperor's fleet had been defeated, no Imperial troops were available to come to the aid of Bakura. In response, Mon Mothma gathered a small Rebel fleet to come to the defense of Bakura. Skywalker, still reeling from his battle with the Emperor, received a visit from the ghost of his mentor Kenobi. Kenobi commanded Skywalker to go to Bakura.

Thus, Luke Skywalker was named the commander of a fleet of five DP-20 Corellian Gunships, 1 modified Bulk Cruiser Flurry, 20 starfighters, and the Millennium Falcon. Upon arriving, they discovered that the attackers were an unknown reptilian species called the Ssi-ruuk. The Ssi-ruuk practiced entechment which involved transferring the life energies of a captive into a battle droid, starship or computer. At Bakura, the Rebel fleet signed a truce with the local Imperial garrison under Nereus. The Rebels and Imperials then fought to defend Bakura from the reptilian invaders. It was during this time that Leia received a visit from the ghost of her father Anakin Skywalker, who had been the infamous Darth Vader. She had only recently learned of her parentage and was unable to forget that Darth Vader had committed many atrocities including the destruction of Alderaan. The ghost vanished and never appeared to Leia again.

On the Ssi-ruuvi flagship Shriwirr, Admiral Ivpikkis prepared for battle. One of his officers owned a brainwashed Force-sensitive Human slave named Dev Sibwarra, who sensed the presence of Luke and alerted his masters. The Ssi-ruuk had intended to use his Force abilities to entech beings by proxy. To do this, Dev Sibwarra secretly contacted the Imperial governor Nereus and offered to leave Bakura alone if they handed Skywalker over. So, Skywalker was captured by the Ssi-ruuk and brought to a laboratory where they intended to entech him. However, he broke free of the entechment lab onboard the Shriwirr and together with Dev Sibwarra, the duo defeated the Ssi-ruuk onboard the ship.

The Ssi-ruuk then abandoned the Shriwirr rather than face the Jedi Knight in battle and the Shriwirr was then captured by the Rebel forces who refitted it and made part of their fleet. The Ssi-ruuk were defeated and then the Imperial Commander Pter Thanas under orders from the Nereus, turned the turbolaser batteries of his flagship the Dominant on the Rebel Alliance ship Flurry, destroying it along with several Rebel starfighters.

The Bakuran resistance cells, however, under leadership of Eppie Belden, overthrew their Imperial rulers (in what was referred to as the Bakuran Revolution) and the Governor was slain. The Imperial garrison in Bakura then surrendered to the Rebel Alliance and Bakura became a member of the fledgling Alliance of Free Planets. New Republic Intelligence later referred to the battle as the "Bakura Incident", and believed that it would be best if the New Republic attempted to prevent widespread public knowledge of the Ssi-ruuk - advise that was taken controversially at best.

The Alliance also sent a fleet consisting of Nebulon-B frigates and other smaller vessels under the captured Shriwirr which had been renamed Sibwarra. Upon arriving in the Ssi-ruuk Star Cluster, they discovered that the Ssi-ruuk had been attacked by an unknown foe, later revealed to be the Chiss Ascendancy. During an assault on the Ssi-ruuvi capital of Lwhekk, the Alliance fleet engaged Ivpikkis's fleet though both sides eventually reached a standstill. Seeing a weakened foe, the fleet retreated and assisted in the liberation of Clak'dor VII. It would be years until the Yuuzhan Vong War that the Ssi-ruuk resurfaced.

The Empire fragments
"Weesa free!"

- Unknown Gungan following the Liberation of Naboo

Following the Rebel Alliance's victory at the Battle of Endor and the death of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, riots and uprisings took place on a multitude of Imperial-held worlds, as the news spread across the Galaxy. Even Palpatine's home-world of Naboo could not escape a liberation struggle. What remained in Imperial hands would quickly begin to disintegrate into sectors controlled by rival warlords.

On Coruscant, billions reveled in their newfound freedom, and riots broke out from the non-Human-dominated sectors in which all Imperial patrols were attacked in the streets, statues of Palpatine were toppled and other Imperial symbols were desecrated.

In the midst of all the celebrating and rioting, Imperial authorities ordered a massive crackdown on the rebellious elements in the city-planet's population and gave full power to the local military force to end the uprising and restore order to the system. The military retaliation was horrendous and the death-tolls rose as the Empire struck down the insurrectionists and brought the populace back under its control. Following this, Grand Vizier Sate Pestage assumed control over Coruscant. However, various members of the Inner Circle opposed his reign and he would later be betrayed by the Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard.

The New Republic captures Coruscant


In 7 ABY, the New Republic would seize Coruscant from Imperial rule. The New Republic realized the importance of Coruscant as "000" in galactic charts, the center of the Galaxy. To control the Galaxy, one needed to control its capital. The New Republic decided to capture the planet in order to eliminate the Empire and began capturing strategic worlds near Coruscant, including Borleias.

However, Coruscant was protected by a powerful energy shield. Before the attack would begin, the shields would have to fall. So, Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron were sent undercover into Imperial City to sabotage the shield generator. Sixteen of the Galaxy's worst criminals were also freed from the prison colony of Kessel and loosed on Imperial City so that they could create trouble. The government would later regret this, since these criminals would later resurrect Black Sun. These criminals included former Moff Fliry Vorru and gangster Zekka Thyne.



Meanwhile, Rogue Squadron decided that if they could condense a large amount of water and create a super storm, they could destroy the energy shield protecting Coruscant with lightning strikes. So, the Rogue operatives hijacked a Construction droid to take them to the command building. There, they took remote control of one of the orbiting solar mirrors. The tightly focused light beam from the solar mirror rapidly boiled one of the planet's reservoirs. This caused a huge storm and the shields soon collapsed.

With the shields down, a New Republic force led by Admiral Ackbar entered the Coruscant system. This task force easily overwhelmed the Imperial force, since Ysanne Isard kept only a few Imperial-class Star Destroyers to defend the capital world. Very soon, Coruscant was in the hands of the New Republic. However, Isard was not to be found in the Imperial Palace. Worse, the planet's alien population was being killed by an artificial virus called the Krytos virus. The virus was Isard's final attempt to undermine the Human leadership of the New Republic.

Bacta War
Shortly after the liberation of Coruscant Ysanne Isard continued to wage war against the new repbulic. It was during this period that the members of Rogue Squadron resigned from the New Republic military and independently pursued Isard, who had secured the bacta-producing world of Thyferra. Their efforts were aided by fringers like Booster Terrik and Talon Karrde.The war culminated with the New Republic victory at the Battle of Thyferra. During the battle, Rogue Squadron supposedly killed Isard. They later found out that they did not, but that they destroyed a shuttle that Isard had fooled them in to thinking she was on, through the use of comlink signals. As the Rogues found out later, she cloned herself around this time as well.

In the aftermath of this victory, Rogue Squadron learned that their resignations had been "creatively misfiled," and that the New Republic had retroactively made the Bacta War an officially sanctioned operation

Warlordism
. After the Bacta War the Imperial Warlord Zsinj fought agains the new republic with his empire in the outer rim. During the battle of Dathomir the New republic won and Zsinj was killed.With Zsinj defeated at the Battle of Dathomir, the grateful planet quickly joined the New Republic. Shortly thereafter, Leia married Han Solo. Prince Isolder took a Dathomir native, Teneniel Djo, as his wife, but he still entered into a limited alliance with the New Republic.

Though his reign lasted a mere four years, Zsinj's death had widespread repercussions. The greatest single threat to the New Republic was eliminated, but Zsinj's death also left the Empire free to return their focus to the New Republic. Even worse, Zsinj's forces remained active, but lacked direction. Much of his fleet was claimed by a number of independent warlords, most notably Teradoc.

In the fighting that followed, the New Republic lost a significant portion of their military forces. Crynyd, Rebel Dream, and other Star Destroyers were either destroyed or recaptured by the Empire. The New Republic took Kuat, but the yards were heavily damaged and rife with Imperial partisans. Further, the New Republic lost the core KDY design team when they leapt to the Deep Core with the half-completed Eclipse. Eventually, Rogriss and the Imperial forces began to back down from fighting the New Republic, and Teradoc and other warlords retreated into their pocket empires.

Within a year from Zsinj's defeat, the galactic situation was more stable, with the New Republic in control of three-quarters of the known galaxy. The stage was set for the next great conflict, and the reemergence of the last Grand Admiral.

The Thrawn Campaign


"Let's remind the Rebellion what war is all about."

- Grand Admiral Thrawn

In 9 ABY, approximately two years after the capture of Coruscant, reports started to reach the New Republic of a Grand Admiral commanding the Imperial fleet. This man was Mitth'raw'nuruodo, a Chiss better known by his core name, Thrawn. Returning from the Unknown Regions, Thrawn had taken control of the Galactic Empire, and started a new campaign against the New Republic.

Thrawn's plan to defeat the Republic needed three things&mdash;the locations of which were provided by a raid on the library world of Obroa-skai. The raid gave Thrawn the location of Wayland, a trophy planet for Palpatine. Arriving on Wayland, Thrawn was confronted by Joruus C'baoth, a clone of the Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth. Thrawn persuaded C'baoth to help him by promising C'baoth the Force-sensitive Skywalker twins, along with Leia's soon-to-be-born twins.

Thrawn's first strike against the Republic were the shipyards at Sluis Van. Using stolen mole miners cloaked using a cloaking shield found at Wayland, Thrawn attempted to steal the capital ships in drydock. He was prevented by the timely intervention of Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker. Thrawn, however, planned for his loss at Sluis Van. Through Imperial Intelligence, he planted data that incriminated Admiral Ackbar, leading to Ackbar's removal from command. This led his political rival, Borsk Fey'lya to take control of the government, polarizing the Senate and stalling a large-scale response to Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Meanwhile, Noghri Commando teams were ordered by Grand Admiral Thrawn to capture Leia Organa Solo. A failed raid on Kashyyyk led to the capture of one of the Noghri, who identified Leia as the heir of Darth Vader. After traveling to Honoghr, the Noghri homeworld, she exposed the Imperial attempts to keep the planet environmentally damaged, leading the Noghri to become supporters of the New Republic.

Thrawn's campaign intensifies


"None of you needs to be reminded that in the past few weeks our war against the remnants of the Empire has changed from what was once called a mopping-up exercise to a battle for our very survival."

- Admiral Ackbar

With the government stalled and polarized, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo led an unofficial mission to capture the long-lost Katana fleet. During the search, Solo and Calrissian met with the former Rebel leader Garm Bel Iblis. When the location of the Katana fleet was found, a small Republic force was sent to capture it. They met an Imperial force which had already taken the majority of the Dreadnoughts. However, with the help of Bel Iblis and Talon Karrde, the Republic force managed to escape. The battle, however, revealed the source of Thrawn's forces.

On Wayland, Thrawn found an array of Spaarti cloning cylinders taken from Cartao during the Clone Wars. Using force-blocking ysalamiri from Myrkr, Thrawn was able to create a new clone in a matter of days. The revelation that Thrawn was using a clone army changed the Republic's first priority in the war - find Thrawn's cloning facility.



The New Republic was unable to mount such a mission, however. Thrawn's continued attacks on Republic worlds, such as the agricultural world of Ukio and the base at Ord Pardron, kept their fleets busy. These strikes culminated in a space battle over the New Republic capital, Coruscant. Using cloaked asteroids, Thrawn effectively kept the city-world under siege, thus crippling the New Republic. The New Republic organized a plan to end the siege&mdash;the capture of a CGT array in the Imperial shipyard of Bilbringi.

Meanwhile, the search for the source of the clone army was held by Luke Skywalker. He found help in Talon Karrde, who organized the Smuggler's Alliance to help track down the source. The information didn't come from the work of Skywalker or Karrde, but from the knowledge of Mara Jade, former Emperor's Hand. When the location of Wayland was discovered, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and Mara Jade led an expedition that ended with the destruction of the cloning center and the defeat of Joruus C'baoth.

The Battle of Bilbringi started badly for the Republic, with Interdictor cruisers pulling the Republic forces out of hyperspace. Help arrived in the Smuggler's Alliance, who aided the New Republic in the battle. Republic forces had just breached the shipyard when Grand Admiral Thrawn was killed by his Noghri bodyguard, Rukh. Captain Pellaeon, once again leader of the Imperial forces, ordered his second retreat.

"But&hellip; It was so artistically done."

- Grand Admiral Thrawn's last words

An old enemy returns


"You've grown very strong in the Force since we last met&hellip; But then, so have I!"

- Palpatine to Luke Skywalker

The defeat of Thrawn would not be the end of Imperial incursions into New Republic territories. Emboldened by Thrawn's victories, Imperial forces attacked Coruscant in 10 ABY, ousting the New Republic from its capital. However, infighting amongst the different Imperial factions led to an Imperial Civil War, while the New Republic sent its soldiers on covert missions there. It was on one of these missions that Luke Skywalker was swept up in a powerful Force Storm, which brought him to the Deep Core world of Byss. It was there where Skywalker met the man whose demise led to the Rebellion's victory at Endor&mdash;a resurrected Emperor Palpatine.

A resurgent Empire


Faced with a resurrected Emperor, Skywalker decided to do what many had tried in the past&mdash;to destroy the dark side from within. He agreed to become the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, and lead the new attack on the Republic. Using new weaponry, such as the World Devastators and the Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought, the Empire attacked the temporary Republic capital-world of Mon Calamari. Skywalker attempted to sabotage the Imperial war effort from his position as Supreme Commander, but was foiled quietly by Palpatine. Soon, Skywalker found himself unable to free himself from the grasp of the Emperor. It was only with the help of his sister, Leia Organa Solo, that Luke Skywalker managed to free himself over the moon of Da Soocha V. The Skywalker twins then defeated the Emperor, turning the Emperor's Force Storm against himself, destroying both him and his flagship, the Eclipse.

Operation Shadow Hand
"They will return to Pinnacle Base and boast to their friends… They have at best a few hours to celebrate before they all die! It is time to show the Rebel Alliance its day is ended! Prepare to fire the Galaxy Weapon!"

- Emperor Palpatine



Although Luke Skywalker was once again working with the New Republic, Palpatine was reborn in another clone body in 11 ABY. Imperial forces under the command of Executor Sedriss, a Dark Side Adept, invaded the planet of Balmorra, an important Imperial factory world sympathetic with the Republic. This battle was fought to a stalemate, and persuading the Governor of Balmorra to aid the New Republic, if only in secret. Sedriss also invaded the planet of Ossus, but was beaten by the indigenous Ysanna aided by Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar. Sedriss himself was killed by the Neti Ood Bnar, who had survived in his tree-like form since the time of Exar Kun.

In response to the near-continuous attacks by the Empire, the New Republic devised a counterattack on the Emperor's throne world of Byss. Using X-1 Viper Droids given to them by the Governor of Balmorra, they would attack the Emperor's Citadel. The battle on the planet started well for the Republic, with the Vipers destroying almost all Imperial opposition. Only the arrival of Rancors mutated by Sith alchemy turned the tide of the battle against the Republic. The surviving Republic forces were quickly extracted off-planet by smugglers friendly to the Republic.

In retaliation for this Rebel attack, Palpatine unleashed his newest superweapon, the Galaxy Gun. Capable of firing hyperspace-capable missiles that were capable of destroying an entire planet, Palpatine used the Galaxy Gun to destroy the Republic planet of Da Soocha V.

Palpatine's final defeat


"You see, my friend, flesh does not easily support this great power."

- Emperor Palpatine

With the new Galaxy Gun, Palpatine was able to force many more planets to submit to Imperial Rule. Yet despite his growing Empire, Palpatine's power in the dark side was slowly causing his clone bodies to degenerate. Also, the genetic material to make his clone bodies was being tampered with by a traitorous Royal Guard named Carnor Jax, who wished to become Emperor in Palpatine's stead. Faced with this situation, Palpatine traveled to Korriban to consult the spirits of the Sith Lords there, who advised him to enter the body of Leia Organa Solo's newest son, Anakin.

Palpatine brought his newest flagship, Eclipse II to the planet of Onderon to capture Anakin Solo. When the flagship engaged New Republic forces over Onderon, a team of Jedi led by Luke Skywalker boarded the ship to find the Emperor, but were too late, as the Emperor had already traveled to the surface of the planet to find Anakin. However, Lando Calrissian and R2-D2 had hijacked the hyperspace controls for the flagship, and sent it to the same co-ordinates as the Galaxy Gun over Byss. When the Eclipse II left hyperspace, the two superweapons collided, and the Galaxy Gun's final missile was pulled into Byss by the planet's own gravity, leading to its destruction.

On the surface of Onderon, Palpatine battled with Leia Organa Solo over her son, Anakin. The arrival of Luke Skywalker with two other Jedi, Rayf Ysanna and Empatojayos Brand, eased Leia's burden, but Palpatine continued to better the Jedi, mortally wounding Ysanna and Brand. Palpatine was not defeated by either of the Skywalker twins however, but by Han Solo, who shot Palpatine in the back. Still, it was not over for Palpatine. As his last clone body died, his spirit flew towards Anakin Solo's body. However, the fatally-wounded Empatojayos Brand jumped in front of Anakin, shielding him from Palpatine. As Brand became one with the Force, he dragged down Palpatine's spirit with him into the depths of the Force. Palpatine, leader of the Empire, and scourge of the Galaxy, was finally dead.

"Luke&hellip; Palpatine will die with me. He will never return. The Force&mdash;and all the Jedi who went before us&hellip; will make sure of that. Goodbye, my friend."

- The final words of Empatojayos Brand

Revenge of the Guard
A Royal Guard named Carnor Jax bribed the Emperor's physician to into sabotaging Palpatine's remaining clones. With the remainder of the funds, Jax was able to erase himself completely from the Royal Guard's database and any further assignments. After the Death of Palpatine he took over the Empire but New Republic found the physician and told the New Republic about Jax's betrayl.To cover this blunder, Jax sent a legion of stormtroopers to annihilate the remaining Royal Guards Unfortunately for Jax, one Royal Guard was able to escape the slaughter. This one was Kir Kanos, his rival. Jax was furious. Knowing that Kanos's elite abilities could allow him to sabotage Jax's new rule, Jax ordered a massive bounty on Kanos's head alongside an immense detachment of forces dedicated to finding and neutralizing Kanos. Carnor Jax eventually found Kir Kanos. Kir Kanos fought Jax and slaied him.

Reunification
.A few days after the death on carnor Jax the the Empire was once again in Civil war. But one person did not stand for it,Admiral Daala asked for all the Imperial Warlords to meet at Tsoss Beacon but they were not going to agree about anything so she exacuted all the Warlords and made herself Supereme Commander of the Empire. She amassed a huge fighting force of millions of stormtroopers; 45 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, 112 Victory-class Star Destroyers, and one Executor-class Star Dreadnought, Night Hammer; hundreds of AT-STs, Skipray Blastboats, TIE/ln starfighters, bombers, and interceptors; Gamma-class assault shuttles, and Lambda-class shuttles. Daala launched a massive assualt on the Jedi academy on Yavin IV After her defeat she gave Gilad Pellaeon the Rank of full Admiral and made him Supreme Commander of the Imperial Remnant.

Final campaigns
In 12 ABY a Rebel Mercenary named Kyle Katarn and his partner Jan Ors picked up Imperial transmissions from a supposedly abandoned base on Kejim what they found was Artusian crystals- Force-sensitive objects. A faction of the Imperial called the Empire reborn was making and army of force Sensitive beings called Reborn. But when the Imperials attacked Yavin IV Kyle Katarn Killed the Leader Desann and saved the Jedi Order

In 14 ABY a Sith Cult known as Disciples of Ragnos lead by Dessans old apprentice Tavion Axmis tried to bring back a Sith lord named Marka Ragnos to Destroy the Jedi. The Cult was destroyed when Tavion Axmis was killed destroyed when Marka Ragnos possesed here but she could not handle it. In 19 ABY, the New Republic enlisted the aid of the smuggler Booster Terrik for the raid on Yaga Minor. Terrik's vessel, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Errant Venture, was parked in the outer Mrisst system. Bel Iblis, together with two hundred New Republic personnel to partially refit the vessel and supplement the crew, took control of the vessel, leaving Terrik in the captain's chair. A small task force of New Republic capital ships, led by the Peregrine under Captain Tre-na, also gathered in the Mrisst system. Rogue Squadron, under the command of Wedge Antilles, was also part of the task force.

Bel Iblis' plan was for the Errant Venture to impersonate an Imperial vessel on the run from a New Republic task force. This task force, led by the Peregrine, would jump out of hyperspace soon after, engaging the base's perimeter defenses. While the Imperials were distracted, a slicer team would be sent in to the orbiting Ubiqtorate station to download the Caamas Document. If the deception was uncovered, the Errant Venture would try to hold off the Imperial forces just long enough to transmit a copy of the document to the New Republic forces in the perimeter and surrender.

It should be noted that the raid on Yaga Minor and Talon Karrde's mission to the Kathol Sector were not the only New Republic attempts to gain a copy of the Caamas Document. Soon after Bel Iblis left on his mission, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian were returned from a covert mission to the Imperial capital world Bastion. Unknown to Bel Iblis, the slicer Zakarisz Ghent was on board the Yaga Minor base during the battle, having infiltrated it with help from Admiral Pellaeon after Pellaeon's secret peace negotiations with Elegos A'Kla and Leia Organa Solo, and could have died had Bel Iblis been successful. Both the Bastion and Yaga Minor copies had been secretly altered under Disra and Tierce's orders, and would turn out to be useless to the New Republic. However, Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, and R2-D2's raid on the Hand of Thrawn fortress on Nirauan would recover an unaltered copy.



Early in the Caamas Document crisis, the resurrected "Grand Admiral Thrawn" (really the con-artist Flim) sent three Imperial-class Star Destroyers to the Both system. The lead vessel was the Tyrannic under the Kuati Captain Nalgol. The Obliterator under Captain Trazzen and the Ironhand under Captain Argona were also deployed, together with a few small scout vessels in civilian disguise. All three Star Destroyers were assigned to moor themselves to a comet and lie in wait, with their cloaking devices engaged. When Imperial saboteurs caused a failure in Bothawui's planetary shields and instigated a battle between pro- and anti-Bothan forces in Bothawui orbit, they would then be ready to destroy both fleets and devastate the surface of Bothawui.

Soon, over fifty-six vessels had arrived in the Both system, either to threaten or to defend the Bothans. This number would quickly increase: by the time of the final battle, the combined pro- and anti-Bothan forces contained nearly two hundred capital ships. The New Republic only had a token force in-system to keep the two fleets apart. They were assisted by a handful of neutral vessels, including an Action II transport from Pakrik Minor commanded by Carib Devist. (Devist was a clone of the Imperial war hero Soontir Fel, and a former member of an Imperial sleeper cell, but he had recently defected to the side of the New Republic.) A larger New Republic force, commanded by General Garm Bel Iblis, was supposedly near Kothlis, but this force was really massing in the Mrisst system for the raid on Yaga Minor.

The New Republic suspected that the Imperial Remnant was manipulating these tensions. Correctly assuming that the Imperials intended to sabotage Bothawui's shields to allow the anti-Bothan forces to bombard the planet, General Garm Bel Iblis sent Wedge Antilles and Corran Horn to go undercover to investigate and forestall possible Imperial sabotage. In the city of Drev'starn, they were joined by Moranda Savich, an agent of the smuggler Talon Karrde on a similar mission. Navett's team &mdash; himself, Klif, Pensin, and Horvic &mdash; was rattled by their activities. This led to constant changes in the timetables for attack that Navett would send to Captain Nalgol via the disguised support vessels. However, Antilles and Horn were called away to join Bel Iblis' raid on Yaga Minor, and Savich was unable to contact Bothan authorities due to her criminal status.

Bastion Accords
"After more than two decades, the Galaxy's most devastating war ended with the muted scratch of a writing stylus."

- Voren Na'al



The Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty was the treaty of peace signed by the Imperial Remnant's Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, Fleet Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, and the New Republic's Acting Chief of State, Ponc Gavrisom, in 19 ABY, marking the formal end of the Galactic Civil War.

The treaty did not outline a surrender of any sort on the side of the Imperial Remnant; it instead put forth terms that would leave what remained of the Galactic Empire intact but with an end of hostilities between the two rival parties. It additionally opened the Imperial Remnant to trade and commerce with the New Republic, and put forth limitations on smuggling for both nations to enforce.

Legacy of the Galactic Civil War
The Rebels formed the New Republic after the Battle of Endor, which eventually encompassed much of the Galaxy. It included a new Senate and a more powerful chief executive, the first of which was Mon Mothma. However, it was hampered by both fear of dictatorship and corruption, proving that the Galactic Civil War had not completely succeeded in its quest to restore the Old Republic, but did succeed in other areas, such as promoting democracy and restoring hope. The New Republic ended with the invasion of the alien Yuuzhan Vong, when it was reorganized into the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, which in a way completed the original goals of the Rebel Alliance.

A more negative legacy was revealed during the time of the Second Corellian Insurrection, with the establishment of the Galactic Alliance Guard, a secret police organization aimed at spying on possible Corellian subversives. Its brutal methods and hard-line views made it comparable in some respects to the Stormtrooper Corps of decades past.

The damage wrought by the Galactic Civil War, along with the further ravages of the Yuuzhan Vong War, also inspired the Sith Lord Darth Krayt into planning the eventual rise of a new Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor. Krayt believed this would prevent further destabilization of the Galaxy like the one he had experienced while growing up.

Politics of the Civil War
Many different species and planets supported the Rebel Alliance's bid to overthrow the Emperor, including the Mon Calamari and Bail Organa's own home planet of Alderaan. Although early on the Rebels used positions in the Imperial Senate to gain influence and took advantage of the diplomatic immunity provided, the Senate was abolished in 0 BBY and many Rebel Senators were discovered. Mon Mothma, leader of the Rebel Alliance, barely escaped capture by the Imperial Security Bureau, the Empire's ruthless secret police force.

Unfortunately, planets could only rarely support the Rebellion openly, aside from small (usually uninhabited except by secret rebel bases) planets outside the usual scope of the Empire. Goods had to be produced secretly, either in factories built away from their usual areas or through bureaucratic trickery, although piracy was a common means of funding the Rebellion. Not until around the time of Endor and afterwards, when the Rebellion possessed enough support to challenge the Imperial Navy conventionally, could planets openly declare without fear of orbital razing or a firm put down by ruthless Stormtroopers.

The Empire continued to erode freedoms during this period, using the conflict as an excuse. Under Tarkin's suggestion, the Emperor mandated the Tarkin Doctrine, which stated that the Empire would use fear of force rather than force itself to control dissent. This culminated in the construction of the first Death Star. Its use at Alderaan was to be one of its only uses; its purpose was to demonstrate Imperial power, not to eliminate countless worlds. The Emperor also began to come under the influence of what became known as his Inner Circle. These men, including the devious Sate Pestage, eventually took control of the day-to-day operations of the Empire. Although evil enough in his own right, Palpatine allowed his bureaucracy to grow exceedingly large and corrupt under the influence of these men.

Inter-species politics
"You refer to us as 'alien,' and the Princess calls us 'nonhuman.' Why are we defined by you and in comparison to you?"

- Borsk Fey'lya, 7 ABY

Prejudice towards Alien species was common under the Human-dominated Galactic Empire. The Inner Council practiced Human High Culture, which denied nonhumans entry into formal Imperial organizations like the government or the military. They were also often the target of exclusionary policies, perhaps as a result of the stigma surrounding the alien-based Confederacy of Independent Systems. Several pro-Human organizations like Commission for the Preservation of the Republic and the Republic Youth Brigade had also originated on Coruscant and other Human worlds during the Clone Wars.



Other species were enslaved because of their strength or their talents. Examples of these enslaved species include the Mon Calamari, who were enslaved for their prowess in shipbuilding skills, and the Wookiees of Kashyyyk, who were enslaved for their strength and were used as laborers for various Imperial projects including the Death Star and the Maw Installation. In some cases, sentient aliens had been virtually exterminated by the Empire (infamously, the Empire occasionally used an ecological act permitting the eradication of dangerous species to justify military operations against sentient species).

The discrimination against nonhumans encouraged many species to join the Rebel Alliance. Many of the Rebel's strongest supporters were of the alien species who were enslaved by the Empire including the Mon Calamari, the Wookiees and the Sullustans. Two of the Rebel Alliance's greatest heroes &mdash; Admiral Ackbar and Chewbacca &mdash; had escaped from Imperial slavery. However, the early Rebel Alliance was mostly made up of Humans, and the commanders that led the Rebels into battles against the Empire were almost always Human.

As the Rebel Alliance grew into the New Republic, more and more species became its allies. There was, however, tensions arising between the Human and alien members of the New Republic. Non-Humans were disappointed at how many of the New Republic's top government positions were given to Humans, notably Mon Mothma and Leia Organa Solo. Many began to suspect that the New Republic was practicing its own form of 'Human High Culture' while many more remembered the prejudice practiced by the Empire. Both Ysanne Isard and Warlord Zsinj tried to exploit these tensions. Ysanne Isard used the Krytos virus - a bio-engineered disease that affected only non-human species - to cause a split within the New Republic between alien species, and the immune humans. Warlord Zsinj started Project Funeral, a brainwashing scheme whose purpose was to cause distrust towards some of the New Republic's trusted non-human species, including Twi'leks, Gotals and Sullustans. However, both schemes were defeated before they achieved the desired effect. Late into the Galactic Civil War, an alien paramilitary group called the Diversity Alliance was formed, whose aim was to eliminate all Humans in the Galaxy. Although their public face was as an alien-rights movement, investigation by the New Jedi Order in 24 ABY confirmed it to be otherwise, and was subsequently defeated by the New Republic.

As the Galactic Civil War moved into its final stage, many of the inter-species tensions on both sides of the conflict were loosened. The New Republic elected the Calibop Ponc Gavrisom as Interim Chief of State, the first nonhuman to fill the post. The crisis with the Diversity Alliance led to the formation of the Cooperative Council of Independent Planetary Governments &mdash; a group committed to improving relations between the various species of the New Republic. However, the biggest reform came from the Galactic Empire. When Admiral Daala took charge of the Imperial Remnant, she allowed both women and nonhumans to join the Empire's military forces, thus ending over thirty years of Human High Culture.

Key Rebel Alliance figures

 * Admiral Ackbar
 * Wedge Antilles
 * Chewbacca
 * Kyle Katarn
 * Derek Klivian
 * Crix Madine
 * Mon Mothma
 * Bail Organa
 * Leia Organa Solo
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Han Solo
 * Lando Calrissian
 * Wes Janson
 * Jan Dodonna
 * Biggs Darklighter
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Tycho Celchu
 * Garm Bel Iblis

Key Empire figures

 * Emperor Palpatine
 * Darth Vader
 * Brakiss
 * Daala
 * Armand Isard
 * Ysanne Isard
 * Mitth'raw'nuruodo
 * Gilad Pellaeon
 * Firmus Piett
 * Sate Pestage
 * Antinnis Tremayne
 * Zsinj
 * Wilhuff Tarkin
 * Disra
 * Kinman Doriana

Behind the scenes
The Galactic Civil War has been for decades the titular Star Wars that defines the saga.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront
 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Star Wars: X-wing
 * Star Wars: Dark Forces
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Marvel Star Wars
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Star Wars: Empire
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Truce at Bakura
 * Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
 * The Courtship of Princess Leia
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * Dark Empire
 * Dark Empire II
 * Empire's End
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future