The Dark Nest Crisis, alternatively known as the Killik Expansion (spanning 35 ABY to 36 ABY), generally describes the armed fighting that happened between the Chiss Ascendancy and The Colony, which served as the governing nest for the insectoid Killiks. This expansion was a precursor to the Swarm War, with most of the events taking place in 36 ABY.
In the year 35 ABY, the Chiss dispatched a communication to the Galactic Alliance, alleging that the Jedi were meddling in their domestic affairs. The Jedi were confused by this, as they were preoccupied with issues such as pirates like Three-Eye and Redstar, in addition to the large-scale Ramoan relocation project. Subsequently, it became apparent that the surviving Jedi from the Myrkr strike team had abandoned their posts and journeyed into the Unknown Regions. When Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade Skywalker, accompanied by a few others, ventured there, they learned that the missing Jedi had responded to a distress signal from another Jedi who was part of the Myrkr mission: Raynar Thul, who had been thought to be dead.
However, he had survived and found himself among the Killiks, who gradually adopted many of his characteristics. As their Nests expanded, they encountered the Chiss, who deployed defoliators to decimate their food supplies and force them to retreat. The Myrkr survivors were aiding Raynar in defending the Nests, actively engaging in combat to neutralize the defoliators.
Nonetheless, a number of Jedi had transformed into Joiners, including Jaina Solo and Zekk. They identified themselves collectively as we and possessed a profound connection to the Nests due to their Force abilities.
The tensions between the Chiss and the Killiks were temporarily eased when Han agreed to provide the Killiks with a nebula they had discovered. In return, Chief of State [Cal Omas]'s assistance was secured to nullify a claim by RePlanetHab, ensuring that the Ithorians would have a world of their own, a decade after the destruction of Ithor.
A year later, the situation escalated once more as the Killiks discovered that the worlds they inhabited possessed a self-defense mechanism known as the Fizz. This mechanism destroyed anything that posed a threat to the planets, resulting in significant casualties for the Killiks. They attributed this to the Jedi who had provided them with the worlds, further destabilizing the Galactic Alliance and tarnishing the Jedi's reputation in the eyes of the galaxy. Furthermore, black membrosia and pirates were detected outside the nebula, leading to the perception that the Killiks were responsible for much of the unrest in that region of space.
Around the same time, Jacen Solo learned that he was the father of a daughter named Allana. The previous year, he had persuaded Tenel Ka to dispatch a Hapan battle fleet to aid the Killiks, but she demanded that he spend a night with her as payment. She became pregnant but used the Force to conceal her pregnancy from her nobles, preventing them from suspecting Jacen as the father.
The Dark Nest dispatched assassins to eliminate the infant, having been commissioned by Tenel Ka's grandmother to eliminate the heir. However, Jacen and a modified version of the YVH 1 droid thwarted their efforts.
Shortly thereafter, some of the Jedi launched a preemptive attack on a Chiss base with the intention of preventing the Chiss from attacking the Killik Nests. However, this action only served to enrage the Chiss further, prompting them to resolve the matter independently, rather than relying on the Alliance.
This action, in conjunction with the Killiks' capture of the Victory-class Star Destroyer Admiral Ackbar in the Murgo Choke, marked the beginning of the conflict that would become known as the Swarm War.
Soon after the capture of the Ackbar, the Killiks used it to ambush a Chiss assault cruiser that was attacking the Iesei nest. As the Star Destroyer and the Chiss vessel engaged in combat in orbit, Jaina Solo and Zekk fought attacking Chiss forces with a Killik army, attempting to prevent them from detonating a superbomb that would destroy the entire Nest on the planet.
While fighting with the Iesei Nest, Jaina and Zekk felt an incredibly powerful call through the Force – a call much like the one from UnuThul, except it was from Luke Skywalker. He was ordering a convocation of Jedi on the planet Ossus, to decide the fate of the Jedi Order.
Although they both declined to attend, nearly all of the Jedi reconvened on the planet. While there, several Jedi – including Danni Quee and Tenel Ka—announced their decisions to leave the Order. Luke himself announced that he was taking control of the Jedi Order—a shocking move on his part, but one that had to be done, if only to keep the Order from fracturing itself apart.
The Jedi spread throughout the galaxy again, on the move to thwart the Killiks from pushing the crisis even further. Galactic Alliance Intelligence Service had discovered that the Killiks were moving to support coups among the insect species of the Galactic Alliance by supporting them with troops and weapons. This was all a ruse, though—the Killiks' real intent in launching the coups was to distract the Jedi from their real objective—defeating the Chiss fleet engaging the Colony.
Teams of Jedi stopped most of the coups, though, and Luke and Leia, along with several other prominent Jedi, were able to get to the sector of space the Colony took up and face off against Lomi Plo. They failed to kill her—Lomi had managed to wound Jacen and Mara—and the battles continued.
Soon, a huge Chiss fleet attacked another Nest, and UnuThul committed most of the Colony's forces—including thousands of dartships and the nest ships against the Chiss. A Galactic Alliance fleet lead by Gilad Pellaeon aboard the Star Destroyer Megador also came into the system to support the Jedi and the Chiss.
Leia Solo, under the tutelage of Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne, trained officially to become a Jedi Knight and defeated Alema Rar (who had fallen under the sway of Lomi Plo's Dark Nest). Alema Rar was presumed dead, but her body was not recovered. Master Sebatyne relieved Leia of her lightsaber, proclaiming "it is a terrible weapon, unworthy of her current skills." Leia was granted the full title Jedi Knight and was instructed to build a new lightsaber.
Ultimately, Luke's killing of Lomi and the removal of UnuThul from the Colony brought an end to the Dark Nest Crisis. Without the two fallen Jedi to provide direction and a will, the Colony could no longer function as it was.
The situation between the Alliance and the Ascendancy soon stabilized, and further diplomatic efforts convinced the Chiss to withdraw their fleets. The Jedi decided to reestablish the Council, allowing the galaxy to experience a period of respite from the chaos of war.
