Galactic War

The reappearance of the Sith Empire in known space around 3681 BBY significantly altered the course of galactic events. Despite the considerable suffering endured by the Galactic Republic in recent centuries, the fierce war initiated by the Empire presented an unprecedented existential threat.

Following nearly three decades of combat, the two factions reached an unstable agreement intended to conclude the war. A decade of peace ensued, yet it lacked both stability and permanence. Unresolved grievances, intensified by the actions of influential individuals on both sides, served to reignite the dormant conflict into active warfare.

Darth Baras also aggressively sought the termination of the peace treaty through his apprentice. Baras initiated Plan Zero, a scheme meticulously developed over years, aimed at assassinating the Republic's War Trust military leaders and thereby instigating a war in which the Republic would lack the necessary leadership to achieve victory. This Imperial operation proved successful, as Baras' apprentice eliminated all designated targets, leading to renewed open warfare between the Empire and the Republic.

As hostilities began, both sides were plagued by serious internal threats. The preceding decade of relative peace had been actively used by covert organizations throughout the galaxy, resulting in the placement of numerous deep-cover operatives capable of severely hindering the war efforts of both factions.

The Sith Emperor's long-term endeavor, the Children of the Emperor, involved the unwitting placement of his agents within Republic society, where they ascended to positions of considerable authority and influence, including Syo Bakarn, a member of the Jedi Council. While most were unaware of their true allegiance, they remained puppets under the Emperor's control, compelled to obey his commands. It fell to the Jedi Order's Barsen'thor to identify and neutralize these agents, a mission that led them to locations such as Voss and Corellia.

Within the Empire's inner circles, Darth Baras launched his own power grab, significantly destabilizing the state. The successful execution of Plan Zero resulted in Baras's promotion to the Dark Council, where he promptly turned against his Emperor. Baras ensured that the current vessel of the Emperor's Voice was stranded on Voss without any means of escape. With the Emperor absent, Baras falsely declared himself the new Emperor's Voice, intending to rule the Empire himself. However, in his pursuit of power, Baras betrayed his apprentice, triggering a series of events that led to his apprentice being named the Emperor's Wrath, who ultimately defeated and killed Baras in single combat.

After serving as a willing servant of the Emperor for some time, the Jedi Knight known as the Hero of Tython was redeemed and liberated. The spirit of the Hero's former master, Orgus Din, aided in breaking the Emperor's influence, while the Imperial defector, Lord Scourge, provided physical assistance. Although Scourge was no ally of the Jedi or the Republic, he recognized that the Emperor's ambitions extended beyond mere political or philosophical differences; the Emperor planned to employ a Sith ritual to augment his power and lifespan by eradicating all life in the galaxy.

Armed with this knowledge, the Hero, Scourge, and their allies embarked on a mission to thwart the Emperor's plan. Upon learning that fanatically loyal followers of the Emperor had attacked the Republic prison world Belsavis, the group realized that it would be the first target of the Emperor's genocidal scheme. Upon arriving at Belsavis, the group fought to end the Imperial incursion and avert their mission before the Emperor's ritual could begin. While there, the group encountered the Dread Masters, a group of immensely powerful dark side users who had been incarcerated for several decades. In the chaos, the Dread Masters were able to escape their imprisonment, which would have dire consequences for the galaxy in the following year.

Shortly after the incident on Belsavis and another on Voss, the Republic and the Empire clashed in the first major armed engagement of the renewed war. Imperial forces under the command of Darth Decimus, following months of negotiations with corrupt officials, launched a full-scale invasion of the prestigious Core world Corellia. Despite the negotiated agreement with some officials, Imperial forces conquered many areas by force anyway.

The Imperial invasion of Corellia marked the Emperor's third attempt at mass murder in order to start his galaxy-destroying ritual of Sith sorcery. The Hero, Scourge, and their allies rushed to the beleaguered world to avert the crisis, learning that Jedi Councillor-turned-Sith Emperor fanatic, Tol Braga, was leading the operation. Eventually the Hero was able to confront their old ally, and defeated him in combat before returning the Kel Dor master to the light.

In the months of fighting and occupation, Corellia suffered millions of casualties.

Capitalizing on their success, the Republic and Jedi forces launched a daring counterattack: a direct assault on the Imperial capital planet, Dromund Kaas, and consequently, an attack on the Sith Emperor himself.

While the Republic Fleet engaged the Imperial First Defense Fleet in orbit, a strike team led by the Hero of Tython descended to the stormy world to confront the Emperor and determine the fate of the galaxy. After fighting their way through the Imperial capital, the team entered the inner sanctum of the Emperor: the Dark Temple. The group separated to pursue various objectives, while the Hero went on with the faithful droid companion T7-O1 to battle the dark overlord.

The Hero and the Emperor, in a new Voice body since their last encounter on Voss, battled ferociously, with the Emperor employing numerous dark side abilities and tricks to defeat his opponent. Ultimately, however, the Hero prevailed and slew the Emperor's host. His consciousness critically damaged, the essence of the Emperor retreated to his own body to hibernate for rest and recovery. Though the Emperor was not completely defeated, his state had been effectively left without a ruler.

The defeat of the Sith Emperor—while not initially revealed to the public by either power—was a stunning blow to the Empire, but it did not have the hoped-for effect of assuring swift Republic victory. Rather, it served to splinter the larger conflict into a number of smaller ones as various factions rose and vied for prominence in the ensuing chaos.

One of the first to seize advantage of the new circumstances was the long-dissatisfied Sith Lord Darth Malgus. Nursing decades-long grudges against the Dark Council over the Treaty of Coruscant, as well as for their own infighting and exclusionary practices, Malgus seized the opportunity to proclaim himself ruler of the New Empire.

Already in possession of the Foundry facility from the early struggle with Revan, Emperor Malgus also seized control of the Sith Emperor's now-abandoned space station. Malgus quickly searched out allies and others sympathetic to his belief that the Sith could only survive and be improved by constant warfare. Among the new allies was the Schism Collective, a technologically adept group who quickly adapted the Foundry's mass-production technologies for use on the Emperor's space station.

Following a string of victories in the Unknown Regions, Malgus and his forces gathered and struck at Ilum, a planet notable both as a place sacred to the Jedi Order as well as for its natural production of Adegan crystals. The goals of the New Empire were twofold: first, Malgus intended to destroy both the Republic and Sith Empire forces there as punishment for disloyalty. Second, the capture of the planet's crystals would provide an invaluable military resource for the fledgling state. The already-contested world quickly found itself besieged by a new player in the Galactic War.

Both Republic and Imperial forces were forced to turn and engage the New Imperial attackers, which was ultimately to the benefit of the Republic as the two Imperial groups whittled away each others' strength. A strike team was eventually able to board Malgus' commandeered space station and fight their way to his throne room. There, Malgus was defeated in combat, bringing an end to his New Empire.

The assault on Ilum, at first a major threat, had turned into an overwhelming victory for the Republic forces. Malgus' New Empire was vanquished, and in the fighting, the Sith Empire's forces on Ilum had been severely reduced. The outcome of the battle left the Republic firmly in control of Ilum, and deprived the Sith Empire of access to the valued Adegan crystals.

The Ascendant Spear, a Terminus-class destroyer by design, underwent modifications to become a long-range battle cruiser towards the end of the Cold War. Equipped with enhanced hyperdrive capabilities and a devastating megalaser primary weapon, the Ascendant Spear was widely regarded as an Imperial superweapon. It would be commanded—directly—by Darth Karrid through a cybernetic interface.

The Republic had become aware of the ship several years earlier, when a covert SIS operation had uncovered its existence in the Vesla system. Eventually, the understanding of the threat coalesced into a mission to Imperial space in which SIS agent Theron Shan teamed with Jedi Master Gnost-Dural to steal a black cipher encryption device from the Empire in order to track the ship's movements. The functionality of the encryption device was proven when the SIS learned of an impending imperial attack on the Republic agriworld Ruan. But, in order to protect the knowledge that the Republic possessed the cipher device, Supreme Commander Jace Malcom was unable to send any military assistance to aid the doomed world. The Imperial forces attacked, killing thousands and destroying Ruan's agricultural production capabilities.

Karrid began selection of her next target, while Republic forced hurriedly arranged for a trap to be laid. Through the actions of Republic covert intelligence, Darth Karrid was lured into attacking the Republic shipyards at the planet Duro. The ambush was a success. The Republic forces under Supreme Commander Malcom were able to engage and destroy the fleet commanded by Moff Nezzor, which in turned allowed Agent Shan and Master Gnost-Dural to infiltrate the Ascendant Spear itself. The pair were able to defeat Karrid, and the Imperial superweapon was destroyed.

Unbeknownst to the Republic, the apparent demise of the Sith Emperor had also triggered another significant division within the Imperial hierarchy: the secession of the recently liberated Dread Masters. Having long been subservient to the Emperor's will, this group of exceptionally powerful Force-wielders found no one worthy of their allegiance following his "death" and struck out independently, aiming to dominate the galaxy themselves. The machinations of these Dread Lords would also propel the Republic and the Empire into a new cycle of hostilities. The Dread Host launched a series of surgical strikes on Hutt Space designed to sew chaos and uncertainty in the region.

In response to the attacks and lost territories, the Hutt Cartel, under the leadership of Karagga, seized control of 10 neutral star systems, which in turn drew the attention of both the Republic and the Empire. Alarmed by the unexpected threat, both powers sent strike forces to confront the Hutt Supreme Mogul and demand that he answer for it.

The confrontation on Hutta quickly descended into violence, and the strike team fought their way into the heart of Karagga's Palace, where Karagga himself was slain. The immediate threat presented by the naked Hutt aggression had been stopped, but a far more serious threat was revealed. Intelligence gathered from the raid revealed the role in the Dread Masters' attacks in prompting the Hutts' expansionism, putting both the Empire and the Republic on guard against the previously unknown threat.

The danger would have to wait, however, as Hutt aggression had not yet ended. In the wake of Karagga the Unyielding's death, Toborro rose to power as the new Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Cartel, bringing with him grandiose dreams of a galaxy ruled not by the Republic or Sith Empire, but rather by a Hutt Empire. The key to Toborro's designs lay on the non-aligned world Makeb; the galaxy's only source of the substance isotope-5. Isotope-5 possessed powerful gravity-altering properties, which had the potential to provide a near-unlimited source of power. Utilizing this newfound power would allow the Hutts the opportunity to wrest control of the galaxy away from both of the major powers.

Through a combination of force and bribery of local security forces, the Hutt Cartel seized control of Makeb. The capture of the planet drew the ire of both the Republic and the Empire, though for markedly different reasons. Within the Republic, officials were alarmed that the invasion was a pretext for a larger Hutt war of conquest—a reasonable concern, given Toborro's dreams—while the Empire had identified isotope-5 as an important means of recovering from the losses they had suffered at Corellia, Dromund Kaas, and Ilum.

The Republic's arrival initially went well for its emissaries: the Makeb locals with no loyalty to the Hutts would gladly join the Republic in exchange for the liberation of their world. A mission to rescue the niece of the rebel leader was undertaken, which turned up shocking new intelligence. The increased groundquakes experienced since the Hutt invasion were, as had been suspected, a direct result of the Hutts' deep core drilling projects. Worse, the geologic instability paired with the gravity-warping effects of isotope-5 meant that time was short before Makeb would be rendered uninhabitable.

The rescued niece, Dr. Lemda Avesta, had overheard what was believed to be valuable intelligence during her time as a prisoner of the Hutts. Terms such as "Project Failsafe" and "the Ark" lent hope and the belief that there was a means by which Makeb could be saved from destruction. This intelligence had been misinterpreted. In truth, Project Failsafe was a means by which the insane Hutt leader could flee the planet's destruction with all the mined isotope-5. Republic forces were successful in capturing the Ark and repurposing it for the evacuation of the people of Makeb.

Having finally realized that their Supreme Mogul was insane, the other leaders of the Hutt Cartel turned on him and went to the Republic for help. In exchange for allowing them to join the evacuation aboard the Ark, the Hutts agreed to end their neutrality and join the Galactic War on the side of the Republic. After retrieving the Ark's fuel rods from Toborro's Palace, in the process killing the deranged Hutt leader, the Republic and its allies were able to begin the evacuation of the planet.

Even as the Republic-aligned group prepared to flee, Imperial forces had arrived on planet without their knowledge. Racing against time, their force rushed to stabilize the core of the dying world in order to take control of the isotope-5 resources. Their mission proved overwhelmingly successful; the planet's core was stabilized, and in the process the surface was devastated by massive tectonic and volcanic activity—which appeared to the Republic forces as the planet destroying itself, just as they expected.

The battle for Makeb ended up a great boon to the Empire's war ambitions. While the Hutt Cartel was now ostensibly allied with the Republic, the Dark Council-ruled Empire was now in possession of virtually all of the isotope-5 supply.

The architects of the Hutts' follies, meanwhile, had been making other inroads toward galactic dominance. After a skirmish for resources on Denova, the Dread Lords came to dominate local warlord Kephess, who subsequently declared the world independent. The Trandoshan's victory would be short-lived, as both Republic and Empire dispatched forces to eliminate him and continue their fight for the planet.

For their next effort, the Dread Masters turned to a darker approach to war. They resurrected their slain Trandoshan puppet and sent him to the ancient Gree world Asation, or more specifically, to take control of the Grand Hypergate located there. The Dread Masters intended to use this ancient technology to call forth ancient and powerful horrors from beyond known space, to aid in their plans of destroying the Republic and Empire both. A call for help from the local Gree population resulted in Republic and Imperial forces being dispatched, who ultimately defeated the so-called Terror From Beyond and put an end to the Dread Masters' plans on Asation.

Eventually, the Dread Masters' base of operations was located on the planet Oricon, on the fringes of Imperial space. After the loss of numerous ships to the battle meditation technique of the dark lords of Oricon, Republic and Imperial forces secured a temporary truce in order that the greater threat of the Dread Masters could finally be eliminated. The joint strike team was able to infiltrate the Dread Fortress and confront the Dread Masters directly. In the arduous fight that followed, the strike team emerged victorious: the Dread Masters were killed, ending their threat to the galaxy forever.

Amidst the ongoing conflict, Republic agents received communication from Colonel Rian Darok and SIS agent Shan regarding a critical opportunity: a direct assault on the Korriban Sith Academy and Dark Council Chambers. The mission was designed as a straightforward data retrieval operation, aimed at seizing information from the Dark Council's database while causing as much collateral damage as possible.

The mission achieved partial success. The invading Republic forces encountered significant resistance, including Sith researcher Lord Renning and Dark Councilor Darth Soverus. Both were killed, and the Republic forces successfully breached the Dark Council chamber, securing their objective. However, the invaders were ultimately forced to retreat due to Imperial reinforcements arriving at the Academy.

Unbeknownst to Shan and the Republic attackers, Sith forces under Darth Arkous had initiated their own assault on the heart of the Jedi, invading the Jedi homeworld of Tython. Similar to the Republic's mission to Korriban, the Sith's attack on Tython was intended as a data retrieval operation. Arkous directed his strike force to steal data from the Jedi Archives while inflicting maximum damage.

Sith forces invaded the Jedi homeworld, launching an assault with weapons based on the isotope-5 technology acquired at Makeb. Their landing force successfully overcame the Jedi defenders, killing instructor Liam Dentiri and Jedi Council member Master Oric Traless before stealing the data that they came for. The tide of the battle turned with the return of the Republic strike force from Korriban, which secured the Temple grounds and forced out the Sith attackers.

Following the two battles, Sith Lord Lana Beniko and SIS agent Shan discovered that their respective superiors, Darth Arkous and Colonel, had orchestrated the attacks on Korriban and Tython in coordination. Furthermore, the data thefts at both locations concerned Rakata artifacts—the immensely powerful race that had dominated the galaxy millennia ago. Consequently, Beniko and Shan formed an alliance to track down the high-ranking traitors.

Shan and Beniko tracked the pair to Manaan, another world with ancient connections to the Rakatan Infinite Empire. A strike team was dispatched to investigate the pair's activities in a secret laboratory operated by the Selkath geneticist Gorima. After freeing the Wookiee detainee Jakarro, the strike team eventually located Gorima, who revealed the experiment he had been conducting on behalf of Arkous and Darok: the implantation of Rakata technology into living creatures to create a new Infinite Army. The team destroyed the facility but failed to capture Arkous and Darok, who had already escaped with the research data.

Having determined that Arkous and Darok were followers of the Order of Revan, a fanatical splinter group devoted to the deeds and teachings of the great galactic figure, Beniko and Shan traced the pair's operation to Rakata Prime. Centuries earlier, Rakata Prime had been the site of the final battle of the Jedi Civil War, resulting in a vast amount of readily available Rakata technology in the form of debris from the original Star Forge.

On the surface of the alien world, the assault team came to the realization that Arkous and Darok had, in fact, been exploiting Gorima's research, having successfully engineered a small contingent of soldiers enhanced with Rakata technology. This novel Infinite Army, envisioned as a formidable combat force for the Revanite cause—now under Revan's direct command—presented a considerable challenge to the strike force as they tried to apprehend the two turncoats.

Ultimately, the team managed to chase the traitors to the peak of the Temple of the Ancients, where a brutal confrontation ensued between the opposing sides. The strike team emerged victorious, having eliminated both Colonel Darok and Darth Arkous, only for a squadron of starships, bearing both Republic and Imperial markings, to materialize in the skies above. A colossal holographic projection of Revan communicated with the strike team, declaring that the demise of Arkous and Darok was a mere inconvenience, and that he did not genuinely require the Infinite Army they had been striving to create. Concluding the transmission, Revan's fleet commenced a relentless bombardment of the planet below, obliterating both the Temple and the remaining elements of the nascent Infinite Army.

Following the catastrophic events on Rakata Prime, the joint strike force's commanding officers found themselves in disarray and disgrace. Lana Beniko was branded with an Imperial bounty, wanted for her involvement in the death of Darth Arkous, a prominent member of the Dark Council; while Shan discovered that his official designation as an SIS agent had been altered to "disavowed rogue agent, to be apprehended on sight."

Nevertheless, the two agreed that the Revanite menace continued to pose a grave threat to both factions, and they opted to operate covertly to further investigate the Revanite movement.

At a later point in time, associates of the former anti-Revanite alliance noticed that coordinates pointing to Rishi had been inputted into their starships' navicomps, and for differing reasons, they embarked on a journey to the remote planet.

Shortly after landing on the anarchic world, the agents discovered that the navigation data had been entered by Beniko and Shan, who had been tracking their investigation to Rishi. Though they were unaware of the exact purpose at the time, they had discerned that the Revanites had contracted the local Nova Blade pirate syndicate to disrupt interstellar traffic in the area, which had the unintended consequence of altering galactic traffic patterns in the region.

Faced with limited options, the group resolved to enlist the aid of the local clan of Mandalorians, who harbored their own animosity towards the upstart Revanites on the planet. Despite forcing the Imperial and Republic operatives to undergo a series of trials in exchange for information, the enigmatic Mandalorian leader known as "Torch"—actually, the retired Shae Vizla—eventually yielded. Vizla disclosed to the heroes that the Revanites had been secretly accumulating a fleet of warships on Rishi's planetary surface.

Meanwhile, Theron Shan had been captured by Revanite forces while infiltrating and investigating one of their facilities. Not long after, anti-Revanite forces managed to rescue Shan, who had learned directly from Revan that the objective of the cult's schemes was to lure fleets from both the Republic and the Empire simultaneously. With the majority of both fleets present, numerous Revanite saboteurs stationed on every ship, and a jamming signal preventing fleet communications, Revan intended to incapacitate both sides. In his view, this was 'clearing the board' so that he could challenge the Sith Emperor without interference.

The Revanite scheme nearly succeeded; the Republic and Imperial fleets arrived in orbit above Rishi, and, discovering that their communications signals were being jammed, engaged in battle with their unexpected adversaries. Concurrently on the surface, Shan had obtained files containing the identities of the fleet saboteurs, but had not yet managed to decrypt the files to access that information.

The strike force promptly set out to disable the signal jammer while Shan continued his efforts to crack the files, hoping that he would succeed by the time communications were restored. Both Shan and the strike force were successful, bringing an end to the brief but intense battle in orbit and persuading the leaders of both fleets to convene on the planet's surface.

The Imperial fleet's commander, Darth Marr, consented to meet with the anti-Revanite group on the surface; as did the Republic fleet's leader, Theron Shan's estranged mother and Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Satele Shan.

At the momentous summit, the warring leaders were made aware that the Revanite threat had nearly annihilated them all through deception. Even more alarming, Darth Marr revealed that Revan's mission was not merely a delusion—that the former Sith Emperor, Vitiate, was still alive in an incorporeal state.

During his captivity, Theron Shan learned that Revan's ultimate goal was to restore Vitiate's incorporeal form to a physical body, in order to slay the ancient evil forever. Similarly, the former Sith Emperor planned to be restored to a body so that he could continue toward his original goal of draining all life in the galaxy.

The Republic and Jedi found themselves confronting the prospect of a resurrected Sith Emperor, as well as a deranged rogue Jedi jeopardizing all in the galaxy. The Empire and Sith were confronted with the return of an Emperor whose objective was their own annihilation. Faced with these dire circumstances, the two factions pledged to collaborate and pursue Revan and his followers to a final showdown on the remote moon Yavin 4.

Shortly thereafter, the combined Republic/Imperial task force established a base camp on the jungle moon. A command center was set up in the vicinity of the Revanites, where Satele Shan, Darth Marr, Theron Shan, and Lana Beniko could coordinate their forces against Revan and his followers.

The alliance was fragile. Scouts from both sides harbored a degree of distrust towards the other that made establishing a camp perimeter difficult. This mutual suspicion extended beyond the camp and into the field when, upon detecting an Imperial Guard signal, Imperial forces ventured out alone to investigate. Wary of their temporary allies, the Republic forces dispatched a squad of their own to ensure that Marr's forces were not concealing anything.

The groups encountered one another in the field, but did not resort to violence. Instead, they successfully captured the Imperial Guard Commandant Iven and returned him to the alliance camp for interrogation. Iven revealed that a device capable of mass ritual sacrifice was housed within the temple that the Revanites were using as a base of operations—precisely the type of device required for initiating Vitiate's return to corporeal form.

Despite the looming danger and the dark side energies permeating the moon, both Satele Shan and Darth Marr continued to sense an immensely powerful light-side presence in the Force, which they were both unable to comprehend.

While in the field on a mission to destroy the ritual device, alliance forces made a startling discovery: the Force ghost of an exceptionally serene Revan. This Revan revealed that the events on the Foundry had fragmented his psyche into light and dark halves; that his light spirit was prepared to depart from the physical realm, leaving only darkness and rage in his physical body—the dark Revan responsible for the situation on Yavin.

Armed with this revelation, the strike team destroyed the weapon and rushed back to base to organize a final assault on the dangerous rogue element that was the dark Revan.

The alliance forces finally united to confront the dark Revan. As they stood triumphant over the defeated man, the unexpected occurred: the resounding voice of Vitiate, the former Sith Emperor, began to speak. After taunting Revan that his personal conflict had only served to bolster Vitiate's strength, his spirit erupted from the summit of the temple, soaring into the night sky towards unknown destinations. Vitiate, the former Sith Emperor and one of the most formidable Sith in history, was once again at large.

Completely vanquished, the dark Revan merged with his light side spirit. Whole and at peace once more, Revan finally chose to move on, leaving no worldly remains behind.

With the Revanite crisis resolved and the nature of Vitiate's return still uncertain, the Republic and Imperial alliance mutually agreed to dissolve their partnership, leaving only minimal forces behind on Yavin 4 to monitor for any further disturbances.

Following the incident on Ziost, numerous Republic and Imperial outposts were decimated in a series of swift surprise attacks by an unidentified force under the command of twin lightsaber-wielding warriors. Suspecting a connection between the attacks, Darth Marr assembled a joint Republic-Imperial task force to investigate the region from which the warriors had originated: Wild Space. The fleet also had the additional objective of locating Vitiate, whom Marr and his allies suspected might be connected to the invaders.

The task force had barely commenced their investigation when they were subjected to a heavy assault by a fleet of unidentifiable ships carrying legions of the same droids used in the earlier attacks. Darth Marr's flagship was destroyed, and Marr and one of his associates were taken prisoner. They were eventually introduced to one of the twin warriors, Prince Arcann, who transported them to the planet Zakuul, the capital of the Eternal Empire. Upon arrival, Marr and his ally immediately recognized Arcann's father, Emperor Valkorion as the Sith Emperor himself. In the ensuing conflict, Darth Marr and Valkorion were killed, and Arcann ascended to the throne and encased Marr's associate in carbonite.

Blaming this "Outlander" for Valkorion's death, Arcann declared war on both the Republic and the Empire. The war proved disastrous for both sides, with the Eternal Fleet rapidly demonstrating its superiority; Coruscant and Dromund Kaas were completely blockaded within a year. Eventually, both sides sought peace. Supreme Chancellor Saresh was overruled by the Senate on the matter, while the Ministry of Logistics intervened on behalf of the now-defunct Dark Council and the other departments of the Imperial government. The treaties and subsequent regime changes on both sides effectively brought the Galactic War to a standstill.

The concluding stages of the conflict left devastating consequences across the galaxy. The Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, which had governed the galaxy as the two dominant galactic superpowers, were now under the control of the Empire of Zakuul. Furthermore, the conflict also altered the internal mechanisms of both governments.

Within the Republic, the power that Chancellor Saresh had accumulated during wartime granted her sufficient control to override the Senate in military matters. Many believe the Republic had 'lost its soul' due to this shift in power; Saresh's regime became increasingly perceived as authoritarian. On at least one occasion, a group of soldiers attempted to arrest her, though one member of the group warned Saresh. The rest were quietly arrested. Although Saresh was eventually removed from office due to term limits, she continued to govern through a puppet chancellor.

Darth Acina, meanwhile, exploited the absence or death of the other Dark Councilors and the Empire's Wrath and then proclaimed herself Empress of the Sith.

The Eternal Empire extracted a substantial tribute from both sides, primarily in raw materials. This tribute was gradually crippling the Republic and Imperial economies. To exacerbate matters, both sides were secretly re-arming themselves in the hope of finally defeating each other, all while failing to recognize that Zakuul had become the center of the galaxy.

Realizing that action was necessary, Lana Beniko organized a raid on Zakuul to liberate the Outlander, hoping that their freedom would serve as the catalyst needed to galvanize the galaxy into action.