Sith–Imperial War

"I made an alliance with the reborn Empire at Bastion. We manufactured a cause for war, making the Vong seem responsible. Split, the Galactic Alliance began to fight itself. And so died."

- Darth Krayt

The Sith-Imperial War was a conflict occurring from 127–130 ABY, which saw the return of the Empire as the dominant galactic power.

Following the war, the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances was reduced to nothing more than a rebellion, in the form of the Galactic Alliance Core Forces.

The causes of the war
The roots of the war could be traced back to the Ossus Project, during which the New Jedi Order convinced the Galactic Alliance to allow Yuuzhan Vong Shapers, headed by Master Shaper Nei Rin, to use a desolate portion of Ossus, one of the order's most ancient strongholds, as a test site.

The intent of those who championed the project&mdash;such as Jedi Master Kol Skywalker, a leading member of the Jedi Council&mdash;was to see if Vong terraforming methods, like those that decades before had transformed Coruscant into the Vong's temporary homeworld of Yuuzhan'tar (27–29 ABY), could restore the barren and devastated world. Should they be successful, Skywalker expected that the process could be used to transform and restore ailing worlds, and at the same time transform the Galaxy's perception of the Yuuzhan Vong. The experiment appeared to work, returning Ossus to vibrant life again, and when the Jedi revealed the results to the outside Galaxy, other worlds vied for the chance to restore planets left devastated by the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Ultimately, one hundred planets were chosen for terraforming. Yuuzhan Vong Shapers, accompanied by Jedi, set to work, and at first the results were wondrous to behold. But no one had reckoned with interference by the new Sith Order. On the command of the cult's leader, Darth Krayt, the Sith secretly sabotaged the terraforming process on these worlds. Plants grew deformed, and painful bony growths, of a kind not seen since the Vong forcibly took populations as slaves, sprouted from the skin of the inhabitants.



The Vong were shocked; none of the preliminary experiments on Ossus had shown any of the later mutations. Master Shaper Rin made it her mission to learn what had happened, and why. The Jedi suspected sabotage at once, but had no idea who was responsible. Across the Galaxy, however, fingers were pointed at the Yuuzhan Vong; too many bad feelings existed against the authors of one of the most destructive wars the Galaxy had ever seen for people not to suspect that the Vong had resumed their crusade by other means (apparently exactly what the Sith had intended). The Jedi were certain that the Vong were innocent, however, and they convinced the Alliance to support the Vong against domestic criticism.

This was too much for the Empire. With the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty in 19 ABY, the Imperial Remnant had stopped its war against the former Rebellion, and the Vong invasion had brought them together as allies, or at least as friendly rivals. But its nominal government, the members of the Moff Council, still had many hard-liners who sought to return the Empire back to primacy as the dominant galactic power, peace treaty or not. Now they called for retribution and, invoking the Treaty of Anaxes, declared war on the Galactic Alliance. The peace that so many had fought and died for in decades past was undone due to the actions of the Sith Order.

The defeat of the Galactic Alliance
From the start, the Alliance was handicapped. Its defense of the Yuuzhan Vong had alienated numerous member worlds, whose populations still nursed bitter memories of the Vong invasion, and many of them refused to support the GA. Suddenly, the Alliance found itself facing a secession movement as well as general war. The Empire used this to its advantage, luring some of these disaffected worlds into the Imperial camp and weakening the GA government. Other worlds declared neutrality. Thus the war began with the Empire possessing all the advantages. But Emperor Roan Fel himself was less than enthusiastic; he'd only reluctantly declared war and never threw his full support behind it. He even prevented his Imperial Knights from participating.



In 128 ABY, one year into the war, the Sith insinuated themselves into the conflict. Via the ruthless and ambitious Director of Imperial Intelligence, Grand Moff Nyna Calixte, the Sith approached the Empire and allied themselves with the Imperial cause. When the Sith then declared themselves openly, the Jedi knew that the Sith had been behind the sabotage of the Vong terraforming projects. The Jedi were unable to prove this, but as events progressed, eventually even members of the Imperial camp&mdash;including Emperor Fel himself&mdash;realized the truth of it, though far too late to halt the plans the Sith had set in motion. The Yuuzhan Vong, upon learning the truth, were at first relieved that it was not the work of their gods, then determined to reverse the damage the sabotage had caused. Nei Rin returned to Ossus to try to discover the Sith's method of sabotage, hoping that this knowledge could help discredit the Sith and end the war.

After three years of bloody warfare, the Galactic Alliance was a spent force. Under the command of Grand Admiral Morlish Veed, Calixte's lover and a participant in the Sith conspiracy, the Imperial fleet dealt a crushing blow to the Alliance at the Battle of Caamas. Admiral Gar Stazi, one of the Alliance's task force commanders at Caamas, was forced to execute a fighting withdrawal from the system to save his ships. Veed triumphantly crowed both to his ships, and to Bastion itself: "Attention, all ships. This is Grand Admiral Morlish Veed of the Imperial Navy. To prevent further loss of life on all sides, I have accepted the surrender of the fleet commander of the Galactic Alliance. All ships are to stand down and await further instructions."

- Morlish Veed

Veed's announcement essentially signaled the end of the war altogether. With the Galactic Alliance Defense Force in tatters, there was nothing left to defend the capital, Coruscant. The Alliance had little choice but to surrender, and its territory was absorbed into the Empire, but the Galactic Alliance Core Forces remained active and continued to fight the Empire. Although knowing the Jedi would never comply, the Emperor called on the Jedi Order to surrender and subject itself to the will of the Empire.



Some of them did so, joining the Imperial Knights. But the rest, remaining true to the will of the Force, refused to ally themselves with the Sith and withdrew from Coruscant to their temple on Ossus. The Sith eventually followed the Jedi there, where Darth Nihl led a brutal attack, aided by Imperial forces under Moff Rulf Yage. The Massacre of Ossus scattered the Jedi across the Galaxy, though the Jedi Order was not yet entirely defeated. As the Sith attacked before the entire Order could gather at Ossus, about half of them survived and went into hiding throughout the Galaxy.

Shortly after, the Sith, determined to rule the Galaxy directly, launched a deadly palace coup against Emperor Roan Fel and his Imperial Knights. After killing what he later determined to have been a double of the Emperor, Darth Krayt assumed the Imperial throne himself, restoring, for the first time in over a century, the rule of a Sith Lord over the Galaxy.

However, some worlds and systems remained loyal to the deposed Emperor Fel, who managed to retake the heavily fortified world of Bastion. He used the planet as his acting capital, in effect creating a rival faction of the Empire, with each one vying for dominance. Fel would later attempt to form an alliance against the Sith with the remnants of the Galactic Alliance military from the Core.

Known battles

 * 130 ABY
 * Battle of Caamas
 * Massacre at Ossus
 * Attack on Emperor Fel

Appearances

 * Star Wars Legacy 8: Allies
 * Star Wars Legacy 1: Broken, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy 4: Noob
 * Star Wars Legacy 10: Trust Issues, Part 2
 * Star Wars Legacy 12: Ghosts, Part 2
 * Star Wars Legacy 15: Claws of the Dragon, Part 2