During the Clone Wars, the Animiasma functioned as the personal starship and also the mobile base of operations for the slaver Phylus Mon. Mon utilized the Animiasma as a docking station for his other vessels, notably his personal shuttle and a minimum of two drone fighters which served as the primary defensive force for the ship. Furthermore, the ship contained his "zoo," a collection of imprisoned slaves.
Around the year 22 BBY, Phylus Mon, in possession of the Sith artifact called Darkstaff, piloted the Animiasma to the Cularin system. The Animiasma successfully bypassed the Thaereian blockade that was in place around Cularin. Subsequently, the ship went into hiding in the orbit of Almas while Phylus Mon raided the Almas Sith fortress in an effort to repair the damaged Darkstaff. Following the unsuccessful raid, Phylus Mon returned to the Animiasma. He then relocated the ship to the Cularin asteroid belt, hoping to remain undetected after his attack. However, unbeknownst to him, Jedi Knight Oden Malksch had the ability to track the Darkstaff due to Mon's recent actions. Moreover, the semi-sentient Darkstaff was in the process of reshaping the surrounding area of the galaxy according to its own will. The ship was gradually transforming into an extension of the Darkstaff's power. Its color deepened to an unprecedented black, and the Darkstaff exploited the ship's audio system to broadcast a piercing shriek that disoriented and terrified the crew. The security systems, with the exception of the drone fighters, ceased to function. The ship was becoming a dark side nexus.