Alderaan Civil War

After Alderaan was invaded by the reconstituted Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War, which was eventually repelled and obliterated by the Galactic Republic, the leaders, for the first time in history, became a voice for aggressive military action in the Senate. After the Treaty of Coruscant was signed, Senator Gaul Panteer, the crown prince of Alderaan, marched out of the Senate chamber in protest. Alderaan seceded from the Republic, and became an independent system. The decision of the crown prince was met with mixed reaction by the Alderaanian people; though many were supportive, others were outraged.

Despite the controversy, the Alderaan security forces managed to keep order until Gaul Panteer was assassinated; just days later, the Queen died heirless. The Alderaanian Parliament was deadlocked on which of the noble houses should inherit the throne. Civil war erupted when House Thul, backed by the Sith Empire, decided to settle the matter by force.

The civil war ceased to be internal when the exiled House Thul returned with Imperial backing and the Republic started funneling support to House Organa. Even though neither superpower officially had any troops on the ground, Alderaan became a site of conflict between them in the post-war galaxy.

Bouris Ulgo protested House Thul's return, labeling them Imperial puppets, and attempted to rally the other houses to expel the Thuls once more. But while the houses were too fractured to take action, Ulgo instead decided to take action by usurping the throne from the Panteers, crowning himself King. This caused all of Alderaan's noble houses, excluding House Rist, to turn against him as well.

There were ongoing peace talks between the Houses at a secret location, but the Jedi envoy, Sidonie Garen of House Organa, was infected with a madness plague, and she nearly escalated the war further until Yuon Par's Padawan, the future Barsen'thor, as envoy to Teral stopped her. The Barsen'thor then negotiated the summit to agree to a truce and to reconvene at a later date. The Hero of Tython also helped to preserve talks between houses Thul and Organa by saving the life of the Head of House Thul from the Death Mark superweapon, utilized by Lord Nefarid to escalate the conflict.

The smuggler Ace, later known as the Voidhound, was on a mission to deliver items given to him by Risha Drayen to get a hyperdrive which would take them to the lost treasure of Nok Drayen, the crime lord. The Commander of Havoc Squad, Meteor, was on a mission to locate and defeat the Republic traitor Bex Kolos, and with the help of Colonel Jace Malcolm, he eventually succeeded.

Eventually, Bouris Ulgo was captured by an elite strike team. It was later discovered that Houses Ulgo and Rist were behind Gaul Panteer's death.

During the civil war and the later Galactic War, a rakghoul outbreak was also destroyed by The Hyland Organization for Rakghoul Neutralization (THORN) and its supporters.

Despite Bouris Ulgo's death, the civil war continued into the Galactic War and even after, during the Eternal Empire's domination of the greater galaxy. Arcann's empire actively aggravated the conflict, undermining any peace talks through sabotage so that the Alderaanian government would be too unstable to form a resistance against the Eternal Throne.

With the help of Choza Raabat, though, the Outlander destroyed the Alderaan Star Fortress in orbit of Alderaan, the primary source of Zakuulan troops on the planet. With it removed, Raabat believed that the planet could begin rebuilding from the decade-long conflict.

Alderaan Civil War is also the name of a Warzone in the game Star Wars: The Old Republic. Set on Alderaan during the civil war period, Republic and Imperial teams fight to control heavy laser cannons in a strategic battlezone, hoping to use those cannons to destroy the opposing faction's troop transport.

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• Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia