Sith Empire (Post–Great Hyperspace War)

"The true Sith have spent centuries building their strength in the depths of unknown space. The Sith Emperor patiently planned for the day when his Sith Empire would repay the Jedi for the humiliating defeats of the past. In that time, generations of Sith have come and gone, working hard and devoting their lives to the dream of vengeance."

- A HoloNet dossier on the Sith Order

In the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War of 5,000 BBY, the remnants of the original Sith Empire established a new Sith Empire in the galaxy's Unknown Regions. This Empire, also known as the True Sith sect, was created after Sith survivors of Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow's disastrous campaign against the Galactic Republic fled known space to escape persecution by the Republic and its Jedi Order. Led by the Sith Lord Vitiate, the refugees wandered aimlessly through space in search of a new home. Twenty years after their departure from the original Empire's territory, the Sith discovered the forgotten world of Dromund Kaas and settled it to begin the process of rebuilding.

During the rebuilding process, Vitiate proclaimed himself to be the Dark Lord of his order and Emperor of his people. Under the care of the Emperor and his Dark Council of Sith Lords, the Empire established its capital of Kaas City and began building a mighty war machine, with the intent of eventually returning to combat the Galactic Republic once more. The Empire worked towards that goal for over one thousand years, gradually expanding and gaining more power and influence. During that time, the Sith were discovered by Jedi Knights Revan and Malak, who were forcibly turned to the dark side of the Force by the Emperor and became Sith. Although they were sent back to serve as the vanguards of the Empire's eventual invasion, they broke free from his conditioning and formed concurrently their own Sith Empire but the Republic defeated the two and their remnant, and knowledge of the Empire remained hidden.

Around three hundred years later, the Sith Empire&mdash;still under the command of Vitiate &mdash;was ready to return to the greater galaxy. After covertly installing puppet governments on Republic worlds across the Outer Rim Territories, the Sith invaded Republic space in a massive onslaught of unrivaled proportions.

After capturing and securing much of the Outer Rim in the early stages of what would become known as the Great Galactic War, the Sith Emperor began preparing for the push towards the Republic's bastion in the Galactic Core. Despite several setbacks in its campaign towards the core, the Empire surged forward once more, crippling the Republic economy through an alliance with the Mandalorian warrior clans. On the verge of victory, the Empire surprised the galaxy when the Dark Council extended an offer of peace to the Republic. Desperate, the Republic senate accepted, but during peace talks on Alderaan, the Empire launched a sneak attack on the Republic capital of Coruscant. The attack was a rousing success for the Empire, allowing the Sith to force the Republic to sign their draft of the document that would end the war, the Treaty of Coruscant.

With the war at an end and the Empire stronger than ever, the Emperor retreated from the public view and passed responsibilities of the day-to-day maintenance of the Empire to the Dark Council. As a result of the Empire's co-existence with the Republic, an interstellar Cold War emerged in the immediate aftermath of the Great War, during which time the Empire engaged in proxy battles and small conflicts with the Republic and its allies. By around 2,000 BBY, the Empire had seemingly vanished from the galaxy, and the Republic had once again become the sole dominant galactic government.

Fall of the Old Empire
"I cannot fail like this! Conquest is the destiny of the Sith Empire!"

- Naga Sadow during the defeat of the Sith Empire in the Great Hyperspace War.

The Sith Empire was formed from the remnants of the original Sith regime of the Manderon Period. The older Empire was the result of Dark Jedi Exiles dominating the Sith species after their defeat and banishment at the hands of the Galactic Republic and its Jedi Order in the Battle of Corbos. After discovering the Sith people on the Outer Rim world of Korriban, the Dark Jedi adopted the Sith name and proclaimed themselves Lords of an Empire based on Korriban. That regime ruled an area of space that encompassed 120 worlds at its height and developed in isolation from the Republic and other outside forces. The old Empire grew into incredible wealth and power, but was considered nothing more than a myth to the Republic, which had largely forgotten about the Exiles. Similarly, the Sith had forgotten about the Republic that defeated their ancestors centuries before. During what came to be known as the "Golden Age of the Sith," the Empire was ruled by the Dark Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos. His century-long reign ended with his death in 5,000 BBY, after which Sith Lords Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh battled for command of the Empire. Sadow, who believed the Sith were destined to expand beyond the borders of Sith Space, eventually won out and became the new Dark Lord.

With the aid of hyperspace explorers Gav and Jori Daragon, Sadow and the Empire rediscovered the existence of the Republic. The progressive Dark Lord saw the Republic as an opportunity for the Sith to expand their Empire across the galaxy, and so manipulated his fellow Sith Lords into supporting him in a war of conquest. With a Sith armada at his command, Sadow initiated the Great Hyperspace War, attacking the Republic on three fronts&mdash;Koros Major and Kirrek in the Koros system and the Republic capital world of Coruscant. The Empire was beaten back on all three worlds and Sadow and his forces were forced to fall back to Korriban. Upon their arrival, Sadow's fleet was attacked by forces loyal to Ludo Kressh before being set upon once again by Republic forces that had followed them back to Sith Space. Between the combined blows of Republic counter-attacks and infighting within the Sith, the Empire's leadership crumbled.

The Sith scatter
"Following a crushing defeat in the Great Hyperspace War, the handful of surviving Sith desperately sought to escape annihilation at the hands of their Jedi foes. The desperate Sith, leaving their collective destiny to chance, chose to forgo all known hyperspace routes and attempt a series of dangerously random hyperspace jumps and blind scouting missions."

- A HoloNet dossier on Dromund Kaas

In the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War, the Jedi and Republic systematically destroyed the Sith civilization, pushing the survivors of the war to flee Sith Space in search of a refuge. While Naga Sadow escaped to Yavin 4 in the Gordian Reach, other Sith hid out on Thule, where they hoped to one day be rediscovered by the Empire. Desperate to avoid persecution at the hands of the Jedi, a group of Sith left their former lives behind and joined the Sith Lord Vitiate in an exodus from the crumbling Empire. Leaving their fate to chance, these Sith boarded an armada and made several random hyperspace jumps in a mission to scout for a new home. Before he departed from his home planet of Nathema, Vitiate had made his scientists and scholars search for years to find the location of Dromund Kaas, a forgotten world that was once part of the old Empire. Just before Vitiate consumed the planet's Force energy, his scholars discovered the planet, and Vitiate's armada spent two decades searching for the planet, wandering the Outer Rim aimlessly.

After twenty years in space, a random jump finally led the armada to their destination: the jungle world Dromund Kaas. The Sith landed on the planet and reclaimed Dromund Kaas, establishing the world as the capital of the new Empire to be commanded by Lord Vitiate who had led them to the world&mdash;the now self-proclaimed Sith Emperor.

Forging a new empire
"Over the course of the next thousand years, the Sith Empire recovered its strength. The Emperor developed a massive Imperial military, a fleet of advanced warships, and undertook dark rituals which prolonged his life and his undisputed rule."

- A HoloNet dossier on the Empire

For the following century, the Sith dedicated themselves to the goal of forging a new Empire. Led by their Dark Lord, the Imperials worked to tame Dromund Kaas's dense jungles, in which they began to build their new capital, Kaas City. Once there, the Sith Emperor declared his vision for the surviving Sith - to rebuild their civilization and promised his subjects not only vengeance against the Republic but an Empire that would dominate the entire galaxy. At the center of the city, the Sith erected a massive citadel to serve as both their center of government and a monument to the power of the Sith Emperor. During this time the Emperor commissioned the creation of the Dark Council&mdash;a body of twelve Sith Lords who aided in the governing of the Empire and responsible for the logistics of the reborn government. For more than a thousand years, the Sith began to rebuild their mighty empire in secret. Once Dromund Kaas was successfully settled, the Empire changed its priorities from the building of a capital to the creation of a military.

Among the greatest architects of the reborn Sith Empire was Odile Vaiken who became the founder of the modern Imperial Military. Unlike the previous Empire, the revitalized Imperial dominion allowed for non-Sith to join its ranks, despite placing them lower in society than Force-wielding Sith. Vaiken was responsible for drafting every non-Force user of the right age into the ranks of the military. Once Dromund Kaas was fully under their control, the Sith worked relentlessly for centuries to create a massive army and navy. As its military swelled in numbers, the Empire itself did as well, encompassing a variety of worlds. The Dark Lord who led his people in their exodus from Sith Space still ruled during this period, having prolonged his life and rule through arcane rituals. These rituals, combined with rites of darkness he performed in Kaas City to increase his considerable power, turned the ionosphere of Dromund Kaas into a violent and continuous electric storm.

As the Sith began to reforge their Empire, they began a campaign of conquest of other worlds. Any civilization that possessed the capacity, technology and resources to combat the Sith were first offered the chance to surrender to the Emperor's rule. When they refused, the Sith Empire would attack leading to the conquest of their enemies who were either killed or enslaved. During the final days of the Empire's exile, they encountered one such civilization in the Unknown Regions known as the Chiss Ascendancy. The Empire conducted their standard practice only to be surprised when the Chiss ruling class considered the merits of such an offer at a closed doors summit. There, Chiss negotiators and Imperial diplomats along with the commander of the Imperial Guard met in diplomatic talks. The outcome of this event led to the Chiss becoming the first official allies of the Sith Emperor. As part of this arrangement, the armies of the Ascendancy along with resources as well as tax revenues were freely offered to the Sith. In exchange, the Sith allowed the Chiss to administer and govern their own worlds and the Empire was not allowed to send any representative to the Chiss homeworld of Csilla without permission. This alliance allowed the Chiss to maintain their own military forces and society while working alongside the Sith. Despite this being the case, it was known that some members of this species became integrated within Imperial society.

Influence on the larger galaxy
"It has been here for thousands of years. It is a place where Sith teachings run strong&hellip; It is the threshold of the borders of an ancient empire. Kreia says that it was a place of reflection for the ancient Sith&hellip; a gateway to their lands. It drew Lord Revan&hellip; and it calls to her as well. She said that the teachings here will lead one to the Sith&hellip; the true Sith&hellip; and all their shadowed worlds. This place led Revan to the graveyards of Korriban&hellip; and beyond."

- Darth Sion, on Malachor V



During this period of rebuilding, the Sith Empire was almost entirely hidden from the galaxy at large, but still had a heavy influence on the events that shaped the wider galaxy. The first of these major events was the Mandalorian Wars&mdash;a pan-galactic conflict between the Mandalorian warrior clans and the Galactic Republic. The Mandalorians were a fierce warrior people with an ancestral rivalry with the Jedi Order and a disdain for the Galactic Republic, and had been allied with a Sith sect led by the fallen Jedi Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma during the Great Sith War of 4,000–3,996 BBY. In the final stages of the war, the leader of the warrior clans, Mandalore the Indomitable, was killed and the Sith were defeated. The Mandalorian clans scattered, but the mantle of Mandalorian warrior-king was adopted by a Taung soldier who came to identify himself as Mandalore the Ultimate. The new Mandalore reformed his warrior clans into the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders with the intent of making his people into a force for conquest instead of solely conflict. While still hiding in the Unknown Regions, the Sith learned of these new Mandalorians and planned to manipulate them into weakening the Republic.

Representatives of the Sith approached the Mandalorians about undertaking a final, grand crusade against the Republic and the Jedi. The Mandalorians, who were eager to test their strength in battle against both factions, agreed to the proposition and initiated a plan to goad the Republic into a war it was unprepared to fight. Mandalore the Ultimate started by expanding the territory of the Mandalorian people into regions that were unaligned with the Galactic Republic. Although the Republic was weary of Mandalorian expansionism, the Galactic Senate chose not to take action against the warrior clans, as they had not yet made an incursion on Republic space. This changed when the Mandalorians neared the Republic business world of Taris, at which point the Republic Military was dispatched to defend the planet and its resource worlds. Although the Republic's defensive line was not enough to hold back the Mandalorian assault, Mandalore allowed for his enemy to believe they had halted the warrior's advance. The manufactured stalemate would later be termed the "False War," as the Republic had entered a state of warfare without fully committing to a galactic conflict. It was instead lulled into a false sense of security that Mandalore capitalized upon in his next stage of the war, termed "The Onslaught."

The Republic took heavy losses in this stage of the war, but was reinvigorated by the arrival of the Revanchists&mdash;a rogue group of Jedi who had chosen to defy the wishes of the Jedi High Council and join the fight against the Mandalorians. The Revanchists were led by two Jedi Knights, Revan and Malak, who organized successful campaigns against the Mandalorian armada. The two became such an asset to the Republic's war effort that the military granted them control of a third of its forces. While battling the brutal Mandalorians, the two Jedi developed a brutality of their own, and came to fight as their enemy did&mdash;with complete ruthlessness. In the latter stages of the war, Revan discovered the Sith's abandoned academy world of Malachor V. The planet was so saturated with the dark side of the Force that the experience nearly killed the young Jedi. While exploring the Trayus Academy, he learned the location of Korriban and discovered evidence that the Sith Empire still existed in the Unknown Regions. Galvanized by the revelation of a new threat to the Republic, Revan put in motion a plan to quickly end the Mandalorian Wars. In a final, devastating battle over Malachor V, Revan killed Mandalore the Ultimate, and destroyed an incredible number of Mandalorian and Republic ships through the use of a superweapon called the Mass Shadow Generator. The activation of the weapon cracked the surface of Malachor and killed many of the Republic forces who were not totally loyal to Revan and Malak.

Following the battle, the surviving Mandalorians were disarmed and disbanded. Instead of returning to Republic space as heroes, however, Revan and Alek took their forces into the Unknown Regions, under the pretense of pursuing the remaining Mandalorian forces. In reality, the two Jedi were searching for the Sith Empire. Revan and Alek first went to the planet Rekkiad, where they discovered the tomb of Dramath the Second, a Sith Lord of the old Empire. They found a datacron in the Sith's sarcophagus, which told them of the Sith Empire and the location of the planet Nathema. Leaving Mandalore's Mask in the sarcophagus, the two Jedi traveled to the barren world of Nathema, where the Emperor had consumed the Force energy of every living thing on the planet. On Nathema, they found more information that led them to Dromund Kaas itself, the heart of the hidden Sith Empire. Leaving their fleet behind, the two Jedi traveled to the planet and attempted to infiltrate the Citadel to kill the Emperor, but their informant&mdash;in reality a member of the Emperor's own guard&mdash;betrayed them and the two were brought before the Emperor, who dominated their minds and forcibly turned them to the dark side. The Emperor inducted the two into the Sith, at which point they adopted the Sith honorific of "Darth," renaming themselves Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Revan became a Dark Lord with Malak as his apprentice, and the two were asked to return to known space and wage war against the Jedi and Republic as the vanguard for the Empire's return. They acquiesced to the command, but their minds were stronger than the Emperor expected&mdash;they broke free of his control and decided to create their own Empire. They converted their Republic fleet into what would become the core of a new armada for their splinter Empire. These forces were bolstered by the use of the Star Forge&mdash;an ancient factory station built by the Rakatan Infinite Empire and discovered by Revan and Malak.

In 3,959 BBY, the two initiated a conflict with the Republic that would later become known as the Jedi Civil War. The campaign was highly damaging for the Republic, which was unprepared to fight another war in the immediate wake of its battle against the Mandalorians. Revan and Malak were highly successful until 3,957 BBY, at which point a team of Jedi mounted an attempt at capturing Darth Revan during a conflict in space. Malak, who wished to ascend to the position of Dark Lord, used the Jedi's assault on Revan to enact a betrayal of his master. From a safe distance, Malak fired on Revan's ship, allowing the Jedi to capture the Dark Lord. The galaxy at large believed that Revan was killed during the battle, but in reality the Sith Lord was only injured, but experienced long-term amnesia as a result. He was taken to the Jedi Council, which filled his blank mind with false memories and placed him within the Republic Military, where they hoped he would be able to aid in revealing the source of power behind the Sith onslaught. While serving in the military, Revan began reconnecting to the Force and was accepted into the Jedi Order as a Padawan. He later encountered Malak, who revealed to the amnesiac Sith Lord his true identity, but Revan refused to accept his former path and instead aided in defeating Malak and the Sith Empire he had helped to forge.

Following the war, Revan abandoned the Jedi Order and returned to the Unknown Regions to combat the Sith Empire. He retraced his steps before the Mandalorian Wars, traveling to first to Rekkiad and giving his companion Canderous Ordo the mask of Mandalore, making him Mandalore the Preserver. He then traveled on alone with T3-M4 and the Ebon Hawk to Nathema, where he was captured by the Dark Councilor Darth Nyriss and Lord Scourge. Revan was imprisoned by Nyriss for the next three years, held in secret from the eyes of the Emperor.

During this time, Revan's former master Kreia launched an independent investigation into his fall to the dark side, which eventually resulted in her discovery of Malachor V and her own fall to the dark side and acceptance of Sith teachings. She adopted the name Darth Traya and, along with her two apprentices, Darth Nihilus and Darth Sion, continued the battle against the Jedi. The three formed the Sith Triumvirate and nearly wiped out the Jedi Order, but were ultimately defeated by the Jedi Knight Meetra Surik. In Meetra's last confrontation with Traya, the Sith Lord revealed the continued existence of the Sith Empire and Revan's mission to destroy it. After defeating Traya, Meetra destroyed Malachor V, ending its ability to further corrupt Force-sensitives.

Surik then decided to follow Revan, retracing her friend's steps in the Ebon Hawk. Accompanied by T3-M4, she traveled to Nathema as well, and found information there leading to Dromund Kaas. Traveling to the Imperial capital, she managed to learn of Revan's location and allied herself with Scourge, who betrayed the conspiracy between several members of the Dark Council (including by Darth Nyriss) to the Emperor. The Emperor then proceeded to kill the entire Dark Council, even those innocent in the conspiracy, while Scourge and Surik freed Revan from Nyriss' prison. In their escape, Revan killed Darth Nyriss, and the trio then infiltrated the Emperor's Citadel in order to kill the Emperor, just as Revan and Alek had done.

Revan, Scourge, and Surik fought their way into the Emperor's throne room and attacked Vitiate himself. Revan and the Emperor were evenly matched at first, but Vitiate gained the advantage after destroying T3-M4 and subjecting Revan to a massive amount of Force lightning. During their battle, Scourge had a vision, which convinced the Sith that the Emperor would not be defeated by Revan, but by another Jedi. Scourge turned on his allies by stabbing Surik through the back, distracting Revan so that the Emperor could blast him into unconsciousness. Scourge explained that the Jedi had been in league with Nyriss, and he had led the Jedi to Vitiate so that they could be killed. The Emperor rewarded Scourge by appointing him to be the first Emperor's Wrath, and imprisoned Revan in the Maelstrom while he fed off of the Jedi Master's vitality and his knowledge for the next 300 years.

Preparations for war
"When the Emperor planned the Republic's destruction, he did not foresee the need for alliances. The Sith would sweep through the galaxy, systematically exterminating their age old Jedi enemies and dismantling the proud Republic."

- The Holocron of Jedi Master Gnost-Dural on the Great Galactic War.

In the three centuries that followed the Jedi Civil War, the Empire began a massive acceleration of their plans for their invasion into the Republic. While working in the shadows and bidding their time, the Emperor was responsible for establishing a network of spies and infiltrators who entered Republic space in order to prepare the way for the coming war. Managing to enter Republic political circles, this deep cover occurred over generations in order to place their operatives in positions of power. While the Empire bided its time in the shadows, infiltrators such as the Ovair family operated within the Galactic Republic where they served for three generations - outwardly appearing as loyal citizens while hiding their true loyalty to the Sith Emperor. The last known member of this family included Barel Ovair who even served within the Jedi Order itself as a Jedi Master. In 3,756 BBY, Barel Ovair was tasked with an important mission by the Emperor to prepare the way for an eventual invasion of the Republic by first eliminating any potential enemies that might stand in the Sith Empire's way. This included an ambitious mission to the tomb of Naga Sadow on Yavin 4 in order to slay the Sith spirit that resided there to prevent it from interfering in the Emperor's plans. Ovair was ultimately successful and made it appear that he was working under the auspices of the Jedi Order, who were completely unaware of his true motivation.

As the invasion date came closer, the Sith Empire began preparing a platform for their attacks in the Outer Rim. Their first act was establishing puppet governments on the worlds of Belkadan, Sernpidal and Ruuria who outwardly showed their loyalty to the Republic but awaited the appointed time for their true masters arrival. It was known that shortly after returning to Republic space, a young Sith Lord by the name of Darth Vich came upon the planet Rattatak. Being eager to make a name for himself, he decided to cast aside a thousand years of anti-alien tradition in order to recruit hundreds of tribes of Rattataki in order to create his own personal army. The people of Rattatak were known for their prowess in battle thus making them a dangerous force to contend with and dozens of their number were Force Sensitives who became Darth Vich's own acolytes. With his own army under his command, Darth Vich made a play for power that ultimately failed with rumors stating that a small cadre of his own acolytes betrayed him. Following his failed attempt at gaining power, the Dark Council enslaved or killed all the Rattataki that followed Vich.

Onslaught against the Republic
"Three centuries after the death of Darth Malak and the end of the Jedi Civil War, the True Sith Empire returned from deep space - attacking the Republic. They began a war unlike any other in the galaxy's history. The Great Galactic War dragged on for decades. Thousands of Jedi and Sith were slain. Countless star systems were ravaged."

- Jedi Master Gnost-Dural

It was in the year 3,681 BBY that the Sith Empire finally decided to begin their long awaited plans against the Galactic Republic. They immediately began by sending their naval forces in the Outer Rim Territories where their war fleets appeared in the Tingel Arm. The Sith battle cruisers were completely unknown to the Republic at the time who sent a diplomatic convoy to meet with this new foe. As they approached and beamed their reports back to Republic space, the Sith warships fired and utterly destroyed the lightly armed diplomatic team. This was part of the Sith Emperor's plan by scaring his enemies and allowing images of the destruction being sent back to their leaders. What followed immediately was the subjugation of the Aparo sector before the Republic fleet could respond.

The Republic military eventually responded by sending a fleet into the contested region where they fought against the Sith forces in what became known as the Tingel Arm campaign. However, the worlds of Sernpidal, Belkadan and Ruuria turned against the Republic whereupon they revealed their true allegiance to the Sith Empire. The Republic fleet was thus caught in-between the enemy forces and was devastated leading to what few remaining vessels to flee the battle. This shifted the movement of the early part of the war to the Sith's favor as the departure of the enemy fleet meant that many regions were now left uncontested. This allowed the Sith Empire to seize the Minos Cluster thus gaining its rich resources, conduct a strike against the Sluis Van Shipyards which destroyed it and cut off the Rimma Trade Route. Lastly, the Sith were successful in staging an assault against the Jedi security forces that defended Korriban which allowed the Empire to reclaim the tomb world.

The Empire's invasion was initially successful and saw the near complete control of the Outer Rim following the conquest of the Seswenna sector. With that under their control, the Sith began to turn their attention to the Mid Rim as part of their offensive to strike the Core Worlds themselves. At this point, the Imperial military became overconfident as they believed that the Republic was now still recovering from heavy losses sustained in the war. As such, a squadron of warships were moved to take control over Bothan Space but were annihilated by the Republic fleet. This proved to be the first true defeat of the Sith Empire and a major victory for the Galactic Republic.

This saw many warships drawn from across the galaxy in order to gain vengeance for their defeat at Bothawui thus instigating a second battle for control of the Bothan homeworld. As the planet was protected by a planetary shield, the Empire decided to deploy a 50,000 strong army to invade the planet that fought against its few defenders.

Overconfident Imperial commanders dispatched their numerically superior forces but suffered heavy losses against the Republic forces thus forcing the Empire to bring in further reinforcements in order to defeat the defenders who were led by Jedi Master Belth Allusis who was slain in the closing stages of the conflict. However, the Imperial forces were driven to retreat on this occasion and the Battle of Bothawui was a draw between both sides. Thus, the early Sith onslaught began to be halted in the Mid Rim which stopped any further advances by the Empire.

While the Republic gained a reprieve from further onslaughts, the second stage of the Sith Emperor's master plan was initiated. Imperial Intelligence agents during this time were responsible for preventing other factions such as the Hutt Cartels from joining the Republic. Furthermore, Imperial Diplomacy attempted to enlist the full support of the Mandalorians but were rejected though a few such mercenaries did join their ranks. It was through the actions of Imperial Intelligence that the Sith were able to orchestrate the rise of a young Mandalorian gladiator in the arenas of Geonosis.

This gladiator became known as Mandalore the Lesser in later years and he assembled a large army from the Mandalorian clans who proceeded to bring their armada and began blockading the Hydian Way in order to confront the Jedi Order. The blockade thus prevented any military support to the Outer Rim Territories as well as stopped the flow of raw goods from the Colonies to the Core. This was a large advantage for the Sith as the Republic was now deprived of critical supplies and many holdouts ultimately fell to the Empire as a result. The advantage was only broken by the efforts of a Mirialan smuggler known as Hylo Visz who along with like-minded comrades broke the Mandalorian blockade. As a result, the Sith efforts at defeating the Republic were undermined by the smugglers attack who had now given much needed resources for the Republic military. This saw a radical shift in the Empire's strategy as they had now grown desperate in order to now secure a victory.

In the later period of the Great Galactic War, the Sith Empire controlled half the galaxy but the Emperor by this point had grown impatient as he had expected his victory to had been achieved quickly. This saw the Dark Council offering the Republic a peace between the two governments which the latter ultimately accepted as they had now concluded that the war was un-winnable for them. The Empire thus dispatched a diplomat to the planet Alderaan in order to discuss a galaxy wide cease fire.

While this was happening, the Sith conducted a surprise lightning strike against Coruscant itself. This saw the planet under siege as it was bombarded from orbit and invaded by ground troops. One of the casualties of this attack was the loss of the Jedi Temple and the capture of the Senate Tower thus allowing the Sith to hold the entire world hostage. This act forced the Republic diplomats on Alderaan to sign the Treaty of Coruscant despite unfair terms for themselves and thus secured a victory for the Empire as their foes were now forced to retreat and leaving entire star systems at the mercy of the Sith. In the aftermath, the Sith began to consolidate their power as galactic lines were drawn with now half the galaxy falling under the leadership of the Empire.

The Cold War
"Our time has come. For three hundred years, we prepared. We grew stronger. While you rested in your cradle of power, believing your people were safe and protected. You were trusted to lead the Republic but you were deceived, as our powers of the Dark Side have blinded you. You assumed no force could challenge you and now&hellip; finally, we have returned."

- Sith Lord Darth Malgus during the Sacking of Coruscant

With the end of the Great Galactic War, an uneasy stalemate was formed between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic. The Republic itself felt that if the need arose that they would need more powerful troops if further conflict began while the Sith Emperor decided to renew conscription of further troops. While not as brutal as the earlier war, the Cold War saw explosive skirmishes erupt around the various regions of space thus beginning a new period of warfare in the galaxy as both sides vied for dominance.

Central authority
The Sith Empire was run as a totalitarian government. At the head of the Empire sat the Sith Emperor. The Dark Council served as an advisory board and ensured the smooth running of the Empire. The Dark Council served as a combined executive, legislative, and judicial branch of the government. Each of the 12 councilors were responsible for individual areas of the Empire called Spheres of Influence. A sphere would either have one of the three ministries report to it, or would have a bureaucracy under it to ensure its functions. A few spheres also had specific agencies that reported to it, separate from the ministries. These organizations included the Imperial Diplomatic Service and the Imperial Conquest Consolidation Corps.

The three ministries served as the central pillars of the Sith Empire's rule and oversaw the majority of the Imperial government's operations. Each minister reported to a Sith Lord on the Dark Council or in some cases, to several.

Ministry of War
The Ministry of War was charged with operating all elements of the Imperial Military. The Minister of War answers to three of the Dark Council spheres: the Spheres of Defense of the Empire, Military Offense, and Military Strategy. Under the Minister were Moffs who ensured that military order was maintained. The Imperial Navy (Sith Empire) was one of the ministry's chief concerns. In the aftermath of the Great Galactic War, the Ministry had to work to rebuild the Sith armada. It was able to replace many of its older weapons with new and improved armaments. The Ministry is also responsible for the Imperial Army, the Empire's ground forces. Other areas of the Ministry's responsibilities were soldier deployments, combat tactics, special forces, black ops missions and the general strategy of the war. The ministry was also responsible for law enforcement functions on Imperial worlds and the Imperial Reclamation Service though the Reclamation Service was also directed under the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge.

Ministry of Intelligence
"We know extremely little about this shadowy organization, but Imperial Intelligence operatives are clearly just as deadly as their Sith superiors."

- Jedi Master Gnost-Dural

The Ministry of Intelligence answered to the Sphere of Imperial Intelligence. Headed by the Minister of Intelligence, the Ministry was responsible for providing information and sowing disinformation as necessary. The largest organ of the Ministry was Imperial Intelligence. It served as the Empire's primary covert intelligence and counter intelligence service. Its day-to-day operations were headed by the Keeper who also ran Imperial Intelligence's Operations Division. Under Keeper were Watchers, charged with running field agents, Ciphers, the top tier of field agents, Fixers, technical agents, and the Minders, the internal security and secret police force. A second apparatus of the Ministry of Intelligence was the Outreach Bureau. The Bureau's purpose was to inform citizens of the daily news of the galaxy. More often than not, the Bureau reported facts as suited the Empire and produced copious amounts of propaganda praising the Empire and casting the Republic as evil.

Ministry of Logistics
The ministry was controlled by the Minister of Logistics who technically answered to the Sphere of Production and Logistics though he would also at times report to other councilors such as the Sphere of Defense of the Empire if it referred to a military issue. Though seen by some as the lowest of the Ministries, it was also the most vital. The ministry provided calculations to fend off enemy troops, logistical necessities of fleets and ground forces, and financial concerns of a war. The Ministry was additionally charged with the smooth running of the economy. Industries are nationalized the Ministry manages the factories who produce the weapons for the Empire's war machine. Along with this are agricultural worlds that are used for the food supplies of the Imperial military. The Ministry also supervised the Empire's slave labor and makes adjustments where necessary to complete building projects and run various industries. Added to this, the ministry runs the Empire's civilian transportation and trade network ensuring the transit of goods in the Empire.

Society and culture
"Our Empire is based on the notion that a great individual rises to the top, and the lesser masses follow."

- Falner Oeth

The Imperial population was much smaller when compared to the Galactic Republic and was divided between both Sith as well as non-Sith. This division between the ranks meant that both were worlds apart and that the upper echelons of power were reserved for only Force-sensitive Sith alone who served as the elite. While this was the case, the average citizen was still quite loyal to the Empire and many aspired to become Imperial Agents, which was seen as the highest achievement for a non-Force-sensitive.

Amongst the Empire, slavery was a common practice and typically consisted of alien species that were not true citizens of the Empire. The Sith Empire was known to make extensive use of slave labor, which some considered to be one of the many factors that gave them a military advantage over the Republic. It was somewhat frowned upon by the Sith if any of their members considered a slave either as a wife or a partner. Furthermore, they were expected to be treated harshly, though this was not always the case, as some Sith were quite fond of their slaves, treating them somewhat like pets. Many slaves became part of the Sith Empire as prisoners of war, or even by being transferred to Imperial ownership after their previous masters were defeated.

The Sith Empire also had a distinct case of anti-alien sentiment with medical theatres on the field restricting their treatment in favor of humanoid species like Humans, Chiss, Duros, Kaleesh, Twi'leks, Aqualish, Zabraks and Sith Purebloods. In fact, upon their return to Republic space, their prejudice against non-humanoids was a tradition that was at least a thousand years old, though certain Sith Lords ignored it to suit their own ends.

Military
"I fight because that is what I was made to do and the Empire is the instrument through which I realize my purpose. The Empire is war made manifest. That is why it is perfect."

- Darth Malgus to Eleena Daru

Much of what became the Imperial Military was masterminded by Grand Moff Odile Vaiken who was responsible for the creation of the Imperial Military training regimen that remained in place long after his death. He was also the individual that drafted non-Force sensitives into the ranks of the military and allowed them to play a vital role within the Sith Empire as soldiers who were well trained warriors.

Individual Sith Lords were also known to gather the inhabitants of worlds and conscript them in their own personal armies. This was seen in the case of Darth Vich when he discovered the planet Ratttatak and took the native Rattataki as his own soldiers.

Army


While the armies of the Sith were trained to conquer, they did so under the leadership of Sith Warriors who drove them in Empire campaigns. The majority of their ranks consisted of soldiers known as Sith trooper who wore a distinctive piece of armor. More elite units included Imperial commandos that were sent on more sensitive assignments. In addition to these non-Force based units, Sith guardsmen were also known to enter into the battlefield and engage enemy forces.

They were at times augmented by the use of battle droid forces which included a Mark I and Mark II version that were used in large scale engagements.

Navy
As was the case with much of the Imperial Military, the architect of the Imperial Navy was Odile Vaiken who turned his attention to its construction after Dromund Kaas was fully established as the Empire's new capital. This monumental task was an ambitious one as it took many years to accomplish in the goal of creating the Imperial armada&mdash;an undertaking that Vaiken himself would never fully see accomplished as it would take centuries to build.

Territory
"Conflict drives a more perfect understanding of the Force. The Empire expands and creates conflict. In that regard, the Empire is an instrument of the Force."

- Darth Malgus

The domains of the Sith Empire were not strictly located within the known worlds and included planets within the Unknown Regions. These were taken by military expeditions into those unknown tracts of space and the claiming of such worlds further expanded the influence of the Empire.

Dromund Kaas
Dromund Kaas was the capital of the Sith Empire and the ground of the Empire's rebirth. A long abandoned Sith colony, Dromund Kaas was discovered by the Sith Emperor and his minions after twenty years of aimlessly wandering the stars. The Sith then re-colonized the planet. Thus, it became the new Sith capital and the Emperor's seat of power.

In the planet's atmosphere, tainted Force Storms raged from the Emperor's dark rituals, and on the surface the Sith built Kaas City. In this city, they erected the Dromund Kaas citadel, a giant bastion built as a testament to the power of the Emperor. The citadel also served as the residence of both the Sith Emperor and his Dark Council. It was from Dromund Kaas that the Sith prepared their revenge against both the Galactic Republic and their Jedi guardians, for centuries. There they built an armada, great enough to challenge the Republic's, which they unleashed upon the galaxy in the Great Galactic War. After the Great War, the Emperor decided to pursue his own, mysterious, goals and the Dark Council ruled the Empire from Dromund Kaas in his stead.

Korriban
"After a thousand years&hellip; Korriban is ours again!"

- Darth Malgus

Korriban was the original homeworld of the Sith species and where the first Dark Lords founded the Sith Empire. A desert ridden planet of sand and red rock, it is considered holy ground by the Sith. Full of ancient Sith ruins, it houses many of the tombs dedicated to the ancient and powerful Dark Lords of the Sith. Thus it is a haven for the dark side of the Force.

The retaking of Korriban was one of the top priorities for the Sith Empire when it re-emerged during the Great Galactic War. Early on in their galactic conquest, the Sith managed to reclaim their ancient homeworld in a well orchestrated military campaign. There they re-established the old Sith Academy in the midst of the Valley of the Dark Lords. A new generation of Sith students was then sent to the academy to be trained in the ways of the dark side. The Overseers pitted the students against each other, ensuring that only the strongest and most worthy survived long enough to become true Sith. On Korriban, with the intention to reclaim forgotten Sith knowledge, the Sith began unearthing old artifacts of the ancient Sith Lords.

Korriban quickly became a major planet in Sith space once again, and many Sith Lords, amongst them several members of the Dark Council, settled on Korriban.

Appearances

 * ''Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Return
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire
 * Hope
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived
 * Deceived
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace
 * Timeline 1: Treaty of Coruscant
 * Timeline 2: The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken
 * Timeline 3: The Return of the Mandalorians
 * Timeline 4: The Empire Changes Strategy
 * Timeline 5: The Battle of Bothawui
 * Timeline 6: Onslaught of the Sith Empire
 * Timeline 7: Peace for the Republic?
 * Timeline 8: The Jedi Civil War
 * Timeline 10: The Exar Kun War
 * Timeline 11: Rebirth of the Sith Empire
 * Timeline 12: The Great Hyperspace War
 * Red Harvest
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Lost Suns
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic: Annihilation
 * Star Wars: Darth Plagueis
 * Ascension