Reconquest of the Rim

The Grand Army of the Republic was deployed to the Rim, an area previously overlooked, during the Clone Wars. This deployment pushed back the influence of the Hutt sphere of influence and established military control over the distant worlds of the galaxy. The Tion Cluster became the location of the Separatist government's civilian administration, while the Corporate Sector pledged its allegiance to the Confederacy, bringing the conflict to the Outer Rim. The Outer Rim Sieges concluded with an Imperial victory; however, the Rim was not completely under Imperial dominion at that time.

For a period of one month, the sentients living on Nar Shaddaa celebrated the war's conclusion in various clubs and cantinas. Their reasons differed from those in the central regions who welcomed the Empire. The Nar Shaddaans believed that the Emperor would prioritize solidifying power in the Core Worlds, leaving the Mid and Outer Rim regions to govern themselves. This was looked at as a positive, as the smugglers hoped for increased freedom in the spacelanes, after three years of evading the Republic and Separatist forces. They also hoped that the market for spice and other banned goods would flourish once more.

The extensive military mobilization that characterized the final phase of the Clone Wars did not cease with the Empire's establishment. Emperor Palpatine, determined to unify the entire galaxy under his authority, dispatched his forces to the Mid and Outer Rims. Their mission was to eliminate Separatist resistance and suppress the lawlessness that had plagued these outlying areas during the Republic's final years. In 19 BBY, the Reconquest of the Rim focused on three primary fronts: the Ciutric sector, the former Foundry of the Confederacy, and the Five Veils Route.

After Darth Vader executed the Separatist leadership, Confederate forces, driven from Muunilinst and Mygeeto, retreated across the Void of Chopani and established a new base of operations in the Ciutric sector. They received funding from shady sources on Serenno and Celanon, as well as military assistance from pirates and Thalassian slavers who joined their ranks as privateers. The 10th Sector Army, mobilized from Axxila, was tasked with eliminating this threat to Imperial dominance. Admiral Screed commanded the naval forces, while General Romodi led the ground troops.

The Battle of Vinsoth resulted in an Imperial victory under Screed, forcing the Muun leaders of the Ciutric Separatists to flee to Binquaros, where they prepared for a siege. While General Romodi's forces engaged the Muuns, Admiral Screed pursued the remaining Separatist ships to Bimmiel. The Imperial forces achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of Bimmiel, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. However, the Battle of Binquaros did not go as planned for the Empire. A coalition of pirates and Mandalorians, driven from the Salin Corridor by Imperial forces in engagements at Fenion, Phindar and Sheris, joined forces with Serennian mercenaries and broke the siege of Binquaros. The Separatists escaped Binquaros and headed for the Unknown Regions. Before they could reach safety, a pirate captain betrayed them, leading to their defeat by Screed and Romodi at Vardoss. The Assault on Vardoss IV concluded the Ciutric Offensive, securing the region for the Empire.

From the ruins of the former Foundry of the Confederacy, which had been devastated by the Republic during the Outer Rim Sieges, a new threat emerged in the form of Toonbuck Toora. Toora, the former senator of Sy Myrth, had led her world in seceding from the Republic during the Separatist Crisis. Toora reactivated factory worlds and mobilized ground and naval forces in preparation for a conflict with the new Empire, which began when the 12th Sector Army relocated to Charros. Under the command of Admiral Adar Tallon and General Jan Dodonna, Imperial forces engaged Toora's forces in a series of prolonged battles, including the Battles of Metalorn and Diado.

After months of fighting, Imperial forces under General Dodonna laid siege to Sy Myrth, forcing Toora to flee. Dodonna pursued Toora aboard the Battlecruiser Battalion, eventually capturing her in the Trasemene system. In the Battle of Trasemene, Toora's flagship, the Defiance's Banner, was destroyed, effectively ending the Sy Myrthian Insurrection. Some remaining forces managed to escape to the Kreetan Narrows and continued to resist, which ultimately led to the Empire claiming the area from the Hutts.

Following the death of Nute Gunray on Mustafar and the conquest of Neimoidia and the Neimoidian purse worlds, Acting Viceroy of the Trade Federation Sentepeth Findos signed a treaty with the Empire. This treaty surrendered the cartel's assets to Imperial control and effectively dissolved the Trade Federation. However, Customs Vizier Marath Vooro refused to acknowledge Findos' authority or the treaty. He maintained control of Trade Federation ships and droids at Enarc, establishing a Separatist enclave around the Five Veils Route.

Vooro's resistance boosted the morale of the remaining Separatists, but he lacked effective commanders. An Imperial fleet under the command of Moff Octavian Grant decisively defeated Vooro's forces at the Battle of Farstine, then pursued him down the Five Veils Route, ultimately capturing Vooro at the Hook Nebula.

The Listehol campaign involved operations against the Sikurdian pirates and Zygerrian and Tervig slavers located at the northern end of the Hydian Way. These criminal groups had launched numerous raids against the Shaltin Tunnels and the Listehol Run, encroaching on the newly reorganized Corporate Sector. Imperial forces under the command of Wullf Yularen and Bannidge Holt defeated the Sikurdians at the Battle of Sagma, before pacifying Sikurd and advancing down the Listehol Run to intercept Zygerria. Yularen then moved down the Shaltin Tunnels to raid Tervissis. The planet resisted Imperial raids until it was finally occupied by the Empire in 13 BBY.

The Noolian Crisis, which took place in the Mid Rim, began after the Separatist world of Ando surrendered to the Empire. Aqualish and Harch forces fleeing the defeat harassed Imperial forces in the southern Slice, launching hit-and-run attacks from Leritor on medical and logistics facilities. The Aqualish successfully seized Nooli, Galboron, and even pushed into Bothan Space before being defeated at the Battle of Galboron by Imperial forces led by Captain Par Lankin.

The Western Reaches Operation was the most significant campaign of the Reconquest of the Rim. Following the fall of Bomis Koori IV during the Outer Rim Sieges, Separatist forces retreated Rimward along the Corellian Trade Spine, seeking refuge among the pirate bases and slaver nests of the lawless Western Reaches. Emperor Palpatine was determined to bring peace to the region, and Moff Wilhuff Tarkin of Eriadu was placed in command of the operation.

The campaign received substantial resources, with Terrinald Screed and Bannidge Holt leading naval operations, while Hurst Romodi oversaw ground operations. Advancing from Eriadu, Screed and Holt's forces defeated the Separatists at the Battle of Kelrodo-Ai and secured another victory at Pendaxa. Further north, Imperial forces advanced along the Rimma Trade Route and defeated the Separatists at the Battle of Ord Vaug, before turning south down the Corellian Trade Spine and achieving victories at Halm, Ichtor, and the Feather Nebula.

In the south at Bryndar, Holt was killed and Romodi seriously wounded in an ambush by the Iska pirates. Screed and the Imperial TIE ace Shea Hublin crushed the Iska pirates at Fanha, forcing the pirate lord Guun Cutlax to flee into the Atravis sector, where he joined forces with Separatist forces under the command of General Kendu Ultho. Pursuing them, Screed and Hublin defeated Cutlax at the Battle of Tosste before concluding the campaign with the defeat of Ultho at the Battle of Ogoth Tiir.

The Empire heavily promoted the Reconquest of the Rim, and in later years, Imperial citizens were said to always remember where they had been when they heard of Holt's death and Romodi's injury at Bryndar. Numerous holodramas were produced about the Imperial Military's accomplishments in the Rim. Many Imperials later looked back on this era with fondness, seeing it as a time when the young Empire brought peace and order to the Outer Rim. Subsequently, the Empire implemented several conciliatory measures to politically integrate the Outer Rim into the Empire.

The campaigns elevated the status of many Imperial officers involved. Wullf Yularen and Hurst Romodi later held prominent command positions aboard the First Death Star under the command of Wilhuff Tarkin. Octavian Grant became one of the first twelve Grand Admirals of the New Order. For others, it was the pinnacle of their careers. Terrinald Screed faded into obscurity after the Western Reaches Operation and became involved in corrupt business and slaving schemes in the Outer Rim with Governor Bisad Koong of Roon.

While the events of the Reconquest of the Rim were frequently referenced in various sources, the period's name (19 BBY–17 BBY) was not officially established until the publication of The Essential Guide to Warfare. According to Jason Fry, one of the sourcebook's authors, this section was among his favorites.