Shu-Torun War

After the Galactic Empire's destruction of Alderaan and the Rebel Alliance's triumph over the Death Star, Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, journeyed to Shu-Torun. His objective was to strengthen their commitment to providing the Empire with ore. While there, Lord Vader received an invitation from Princess Trios, the daughter of Shu-Torun's king, to attend a celebration. However, the [monarch](/article/monarch_of_shu-torun] and his offspring were secretly plotting to assassinate the Dark Lord.

During the festivities, the King's guards, disguised as rebels opposing both the Empire and the royal family, launched an ambush against the Dark Lord, but the cyborg swiftly eliminated them. Trios asserted that the ore-dukes were responsible for the sudden assault, leading Vader into a shaft. As lava descended from above, the Dark Lord carried her to safety. Following their survival, Trios attempted to shoot Vader, resulting in the loss of her right hand. Concurrently, the Emperor's Fist dispatched his two assassin droids, 0-0-0 and BT-1, to assassinate the King and his other two children, Prince Monthan and Princess Hollian. With the rebellious vassal eliminated, Vader presented Trios with a small piece of Alderaan as a reminder of the consequences for those who opposed the Empire and crowned her as the new ruler of Shu-Torun.

Following Lord Vader's victory over Commander Karbin at the battle of Vrogas Vas, the Galactic Emperor Palpatine, his master, dispatched the Emperor's Fist to aid Grand General Cassio Tagge and Queen Trios in addressing the ore-dukes' insurgency.

Upon arriving on the planet, Vader, accompanied by Doctor Tulon Voidgazer and her drones, the enhanced warriors Morit and Aiolin Astarte, assassin droids 0-0-0 and BT-1, as well as his stormtrooper forces, joined forces with Queen Trios and began devising a strategy to attack the barons. Vader, Trios, and Voidgazer, along with a stormtrooper battalion, opted for a show of force and chose to directly assault the delving citadel that powered one of the rebelling Dukes' Barony. Upon reaching the cave that housed the citadel, Voidgazer positioned her drones armed with experimental ordnance on the citadel's flanks, while Vader, his stormtroopers, and the Queen launched a frontal assault directly against it. With the Citadel's defenses focused on the Imperial forces' direct attack, Voidgazer's drones were able to infiltrate and detonate directly above it, causing the cave's roof to collapse and spill molten lava onto the vehicle, permanently disabling it. Despite the success, Voidgazer had intended to completely destroy the vessel, a failure she attributed to the drones' experimental weapons. The Queen also expressed her concern regarding the battle's outcome, as each citadel represented a significant loss of resources and held a near-religious significance, but Vader reminded her that the destroyed Citadel would never rebel again.

Vader and the Queen returned to the royal palace, where they convened with the rest of their forces, including Doctor Cylo, Morit, and Aiolin. There, they discussed their options for continuing the war, with Vader suggesting that if the dukes refused to surrender, the Queen's forces should continue attacking other installations to deprive them of their wealth and possessions. Trios again voiced her concern about the potential destruction of another Delving Citadel, noting that the Empire's involvement in the war was due to their need for the Citadels' mining capabilities and that without them, the Empire would not be able to meet its material needs. The Dark Lord dismissed her concerns, assuring her that she only needed to follow his orders, which amused the royal staff. Unwilling to let the matter drop, Trios followed Vader outside, demanding that he treat her with the respect her title commanded among her people, or she risked losing her influence over them. Vader reluctantly agreed, on the condition that the Queen would not question his decisions in public.

Following the Imperial victory at the battle of the Delving Citadel, the ore-dukes retreated to the planetary mantle, where they discussed their options for the war. While there, they received a transmission from Vader and Trios, which included footage of the disabled Citadel and Vader's assurance that if they refused to surrender, he would personally ensure their destruction. Unfazed, Baron Rubix assured the dukes that without their support, the monarch was weak and undefended, and that he would personally remind the Queen of this fact.

Queen Trios, Vader, and their associates departed from the Palace shortly after transmitting the broadcast to await the dukes' response at the Shu-Torun Ancestral Retreat, a site considered sacred in Shu-Torun culture due to the presence of the adamantine shoals in the surrounding waters. Trios wished to use her time there to reflect on the purpose of the conflict, despite the Astarte twins' objections that the retreat's civilian nature made it unsuitable during wartime. As Trios, Vader, and the twins were conversing on a balcony, Baron Rubix's Lava Leviathan emerged from the water and opened fire on the sacred retreat. Despite Trios' guards urging her to escape aboard a getaway craft, Vader and the Astarte twins hijacked it to attack the Leviathan instead. The Dark Lord and the twins boarded the magma submersible and fought their way to either end, eliminating all guards they encountered. Upon reaching their objectives, they created holes in its hull from the inside, causing it to sink into the lava. They then evacuated the retreat along with the Queen.

The incident left the Queen devastated, contemplating the lengths the dukes had gone to in order to maintain their power and wealth, even attacking and destroying a sacred site, which she considered a "sacrilege" in her people's religion. Upon her and her Imperial allies' return to the Shu-Torun Palace, she was confronted by Chamberlain Jooli, who criticized her for her direct involvement in military engagements instead of focusing on her role as the planet's ceremonial leader. In accordance with their previous agreement, Vader ignited his lightsaber against the Chamberlain, warning him that his words against the Queen had placed him in greater danger than the Queen herself had ever been. After thanking Vader, the Queen declared that she believed the ore-dukes had made their intentions clear and that it was time to engage in open warfare against them, suggesting Rubix's Citadel as the next target to be destroyed as a demonstration of Imperial power.

Despite the two significant victories the Empire had achieved against the dukes, Grand General Tagge was ultimately frustrated with the war's progress, remarking to Cylo that while Vader was capable of winning major battles quickly, he lacked the strategic planning skills needed for small tactical victories that would ultimately win the war. Agreeing, Cylo discussed a plan with Tagge to eliminate Vader permanently, and the scientist contacted the ore-dukes to request their assistance. Communicating with them through one of Voidgazer's drones, he assured them that while he could not guarantee their victory in the conflict, he could deliver Vader to their forces so they could eliminate him instead. The dukes, demoralized by their recent losses and terrified of Vader's "sorcery," agreed to Cylo's plan and together they set a trap for the Dark Lord.

Vader, Trios, and Cylo led the Shu-Torun Loyalist/Imperial Delving Fleet, a combined force of Imperial and loyalist combat drills, against Rubix's stronghold. Vader had determined that a single, perfectly timed, and overwhelmingly powerful attack by the combined forces of the two armies would be sufficient to capture the Citadel and force Duke Rubix to surrender, and he had instructed his troopers to attack only on his command. As the Imperial drill carrying the stormtrooper units, Vader, and the Astarte twins entered the underground, Cylo signaled Voidgazer, who hacked the drill's systems, causing it to veer off course and into a lithoporoite stream. As the stream was too narrow to support a combat drill's weight, the vehicle sank to the lower mantle, eventually settling on the bedrock's stable surface, where their forces were surrounded by Rubix's elite troopers. With the craft's propulsion systems disabled, the drill was stranded deep underground, completing Cylo and Rubix's trap. Vader had 0-0-0 and BT-1 activate their hidden droid commandos to attack Rubix's gathered forces from their elevated positions on the drill's higher floors. Despite Vader and the droids successfully forcing the duke's forces to retreat, the drill was surrounded, and its passengers were unable to escape. When the Dark Lord attempted to contact the Queen to inform her of the absence of Rubix's elite in his Citadel and the need for her forces to attack immediately, he discovered that his comms were jammed.

At the same time, in the higher mantle, Cylo ordered Trios to call off the attack, claiming that Vader and his forces were presumed lost. However, the Queen refused and decided to send her troops without the Empire's or her Chancellor's Jooli support. Jooli tried to convince her that she was incapable of making critical decisions in an emergency, asserting that his role was to control her in her father's absence. Trios, tired of Jooli doubting her ability to lead Shu-Torun, had her guards execute him. With the Chancellor dead, the monarch finally instructed her troops to attack.

After convincing his stormtrooper forces to hold their position against Rubix's elite to keep them occupied and far from the Citadel, Vader and the twins entered a lava cavern to reach the main fleet, where the Astarte siblings betrayed him. Vader fought the twins until Morit pushed Aiolin into the lava to eliminate his greatest rival and made his escape. Vader then pulled Aiolin out of the lava before she died, and in return, she gave the Dark Lord her memory circuits before he ended her suffering. Vader discovered that Cylo was now allied with Rubix and quickly rejoined 0-0-0 and his droid forces, only to find the ore-dukes' forces surrendering to them. With all opposition finally eliminated, Vader and the droids hijacked Rubix's drills and rejoined the Queen's forces at Rubix's delving citadel. Despite being shot, the Queen continued to lead her troops fiercely as the Empire arrived. Rubix, having lost contact with Cylo, spoke with his daughter Bixene about his men surrendering to Vader. As the Baron and his daughter attempted to escape, they were confronted by the Dark Lord, who demanded his immediate surrender. Rubix surrendered to Trios, offering her his citadel and acknowledging her as Queen. However, the monarch, enraged by the deaths of thousands at the Baron's hand, ordered his execution.

Trios then bestowed upon Bixen the title of Baroness and instructed her to urge the remaining rebels to make peace. The Queen assured that she would deal with the remaining ore-dukes, but their lines would continue. Vader departed Shu-Torun, leaving behind a stormtrooper captain to serve as Trios' advisor. Having assisted Rubix, Cylo and his abominations fled. They would later attempt to hijack a new Super Star Destroyer, the Executor, but were ultimately defeated by the Dark Lord.