The Zygerrian Slave Empire was a hegemony of the Zygerrian species based on Zygerria that had holdings in the Outer Rim and Wild Space as a slaving enterprise. They enslaved many beings in the galaxy for centuries before the Jedi Order fought and forced slaving operations into the shadows.
During the Clone Wars, Queen Miraj Scintel oversaw the return of the Zygerrian Slave Empire as part of a plot with the Confederacy of Independent Systems and its leader Count Dooku. The two governments dispatched forces to the Togruta colony world of Kiros, and captured the local population. However, their plans were foiled by the Jedi who located the missing colonists, while their queen was killed by Dooku.
Understanding that the laws concerning slavery could be different under the Galactic Empire, the slaver known as Raney, who along with his troops, took advantage of the Republic's fall and sought a return to Kadavo, hoping to flourish once more.
A Zygerrian presents a prisoner to potential buyers.
The Zygerrian slavers successfully maintained their slave industry for thousands of years, which supplied slave labor to unscrupulous masters in the galaxy who were wealthy and powerful. At its height, the population of Zygerria built fortresses and cities on top of the mesas scattered throughout the planet, using their slaves. However, it would fade from its glory after the Old Republic declared slavery illegal, the Jedi cracked down on their slaving operations and liberated countless beings from bondage. This action ended the slavery the Zygerrians excelled in, pushing it into the shadows of the underworld, dismantling the empire, and confining what was left of its government to Zygerria, the civilization's homeworld.
During the High Republic Era, the Zygerrian Alliance existed, which continued slaving operations. The future Nihil Tempest Runner Lourna Dee was among their slaves, but she was freed by a joint Jedi–Republic attack on an alliance camp.
At the height of the galaxy-wide Clone Wars, Queen Miraj Scintel of Zygerria, saw an opportunity to renew Zygerria's ancient slave empire and develop a plot to gain the aid of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and its Head of State, Count Dooku. Dispatching the Zygerrian Commander Darts D'Nar to the Togruta colony world of Kiros in a conquest, D'Nar and his forces moved in to "occupy" the colony. Dooku had convinced the governor, Gupat Roshti, to be taken to a "safe haven," only for battle droids and Zygerrian slavers to take the population away. When the Republic responded and a battle on Kiros began, Dooku and Zygerrian Prime Minister Atai Molec then contacted him as he negotiated with, and later fought, Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi. Dooku then ordered D'Nar to bring Kenobi to him on his knees, but the incident ended in D'Nar's capture. The Confederacy supplied the Zygerrians with the captured Togruta population, whom the Zygerrians hoped to sell by bringing back the royal slave auction, a tradition of the old Empire.
Agruss welcomes Kenobi to his "education center"
However, their plans were foiled by the Jedi who located the missing colonists, and sent Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who was a Togruta, undercover to infiltrate the slavers' auction on Zygerria, where Skywalker and Tano posed as master and slave. Tano later threatened Scintel, but the queen had already outfitted the girl's neck with a shock collar, which she then remotely activated, electrocuting Tano unconscious. Skywalker and Kenobi were captured too. At this point, Scintel started developing feelings for Skywalker and decided not to kill him which Molec saw as a weakness and invited Dooku to Zygerria to speak with the Queen about her defiance in not killing Skywalker. When the Queen refused to kill him, again, Molec and Dooku decided to take matters into their own hands, seeing Scintel unfit to be queen. Molec then stood by, watching, as Dooku Force-choked her. However, she was saved by the timely arrival of Skywalker, who tried to convince Miraj Scintel that she too was a slave and pawn in the Separatists plot, something she realized to be true just before succumbing to her injuries and dying while escaping in the hands of Skywalker.
With the queen dead and Atai Molec having taken her place as ruler, Skywalker and Tano escaped from the Zygerrians and headed for Kadavo to rescue Kenobi, Rex, and the Togruta captives, who had been transferred to the Zygerrian slave processing facility on the planet. While en route, the two also called for reinforcements from the Republic.
Tano and her Master soon arrived on the planet onboard the YV-865 Aurore-class freighter Tecora and tried to break into the slave processing facility. When ordered to cease by the Zygerrian Keeper Agruss under threat that the slaves would be killed, Skywalker did not comply. Later when Galactic Republic reinforcements led by Admiral Barton Coburn and Jedi Master Plo Koon landed on Kadavo, they confronted the slavers, with the Wolfpack detachment attacking the facility with LAAT/i gunships and clone Z-95 starfighters. However, although they were initially halted by its ray shields, Skywalker was able to destroy the defensive towers. Meanwhile, Kenobi and Rex rebelled and killed Agruss who, in a last act, tried to throw the Togruta hostages into the volcanic crevice below the facility, but following a plan devised by Tano, the Republic forces evacuated everyone onto Admiral Coburn's Arquitens-class light cruiser Hand of Justice. The Republic strike team then destroyed the slave facility, with its destruction dealing a crippling blow to the Zygerrian slave trade. After their escape, the Togruta gladly joined the Republic.
Despite the defeat of the Separatist-aligned Zygerrian slave trade, a Zygerrian named Raney came to command a remnant of the empire; his forces were made up of a YV-865 Aurore-class freighter and an encampment–staffed by Zygerrian soldiers and his pet Brezak—in the ruins of Old Ord Mantell City on the planet of Ord Mantell. The Clone Wars would also come to an end, as the Confederacy collapsed after the deaths of its leaders, while the Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire. Understanding that the laws concerning slavery could be different under a new regime, Raney and his troops took advantage of the Republic's fall, taking captives to restore the Zygerrian regime. Their prisoners included humans and Falleen, who were made into their slaves, and an adolescent rancor named Muchi, which had belonged to crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure.
The Bad Batch was captured by a remnant of the Zygerrian empire.
Raney sought to return to Kadavo to make up for the empire's defeat during the Clone Wars. Meanwhile, desperate for the return of his pet, Jabba had his majordomo, Bib Fortuna, hire the Trandoshan Cid to rescue the rancor; Cid hired a team of deserting clone commandos named Clone Force 99, otherwise called "the Bad Batch," to rescue Muchi from the slavers, albeit without informing them Muchi was a rancor. Ordering their youngest member—the enhanced clone Omega—to stay back at their ship, the Marauder, the commandos attempted to attack the encampment, only for the Brezak to attack CT-1409 "Echo," revealing the presence of the team. The commandos were captured to be made into slaves, and two Zygerrian guards searched through the Marauder but found nothing, as Omega remained hidden and GNK-series power droid Gonky pretended to simply be a box. Seeing that her friends were captured, Omega set out to rescue them, being caught only after she removed the lock on Muchi's cage.
Muchi rampaged throughout the encampment, allowing the Bad Batch to rescue the slaves. As Echo and Omega escorted the slaves to safety and while Muchi fought the Brezak, Clone Sergeant "Hunter" fought Raney, who attacked the commando with his electro-whip. Nevertheless, Hunter overcame the pain and quickly defeated the slaver. Afterward, Omega would claim a Zygerrian energy bow, and clone commando "Wrecker" began to fight Muchi in order to convince the rancor to follow them. With the Zygerrians defeated, the Bad Batch was able to escort Muchi back to Cid's Parlor, where she was reunited with Fortuna. Another Zygerrian, MaDall, sought to establish her own empire, but the Mandalorian Sabine Wren led a slave revolt that toppled the regime.
A Zygerrian royal guard, a class of soldier who served as protection throughout Zygerrian markets and facilities.
The Zygerrian Slave Empire was a slaving enterprise, with a monarchy reigning over it as a whole. This effectively constituted what was essentially the governmental hierarchy and bureaucracy of the empire. Head of this was a prime minister who oversaw daily running of government as well safeguarding its interests. The prime minister had a further role by running the royal guards as captain of a group of sentinels sworn to protect Zygerria's Queen. These positions thereby collectively form into one common order, and controlling the state business enterprise, making the Empire wealthy and powerful but at the expense of others.
Diplomatically, the Zygerrians were highly corporate-minded who sought to maintain their Slave Empire at the expense of other civilizations, holding countless slaves across many worlds across the galaxy. This became a valuable part of Zygerrian culture and heritage.
Cunning, the Zygerrians were a humanoid feline species that were a warlike and selfish minded race who held in great esteem that it was the natural order of life for the strong to dominate the weak, so slavery was normal for the species, and that all were bound to their service, to that they showed a large amount of prejudice towards aliens and humans alike.
The ancient empire stretched far and wide, and presided over countless sectors right across the galaxy, however it was eventually pushed back by the Jedi Order to Zygerria.
During the time of Clone Wars, the restored Zygerrian regime was based on Zygerria as it was during the ancient era. It came to control the Togruta colony world of Kiros, located in the Expansion Region, as well as Kadavo, which was located in Wild Space.