Between the years of 3 ABY and 4 ABY, Lady Qi'ra, the leader of Crimson Dawn, fabricated a tale concerning a Sith Lord from a time predating the Imperial Era. This ancient Sith, according to Qi'ra's story, had been imprisoned by the Fermata Cage, a dark side of the Force weapon capable of freezing moments in time. This fabrication was part of her attempts to eliminate the Sith Lords Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, with the intention that the rumor would draw them into a situation where she could imprison them within the Cage.
Following the Galactic Empire's found of her flagship, the Vermillion, Qi'ra shared the fabricated story of the Sith Lord with Sidious. While Sidious wasn't certain of its truth, he acknowledged the possibility. Unwilling to risk the rumor being genuine, Sidious commanded Vader to retrieve the Fermata Cage and eliminate anyone possessing information about it.