Order of the Sith Lords: Rule of Two

by lordtrayus

According to Darth Plagueis, thirty Sith Lords existed in the time between the Seventh Battle of Ruusan and the rise of the Sith during the Battle of Naboo. Yet we dont know who these Sith are. But now, here is a complete history of the various Sith Lords, who's millennia of scheming allowed for the Sith to destroy the Republic and eradicate the Jedi

9. The Darkness Endures

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Star Wars

Order of the Sith Lords

Epilogue: The Darkness Endures

Lumiya

Species: Human female

Birth name: Shira Elan Colla Brie

Reign: 4 ABY, 4 ABY-40 ABY

Info: Born on Coruscant, Shira Elan Colla Brie was raised as part of the new order, and was inducted into a COMPNOR training program at a young age. Excelling at her studies, she was trained in many types of personal combat, her pain tolerances were increased, her mental faculties were developed and her healing ability was augmented. On top of this, she was also a powerful Force-sensitive, and as such, came to the attention of Darth Vader, who recommended her for a future in Imperial Intelligence.

Having come to the attention of Vader, the Sith Lord took a personal interest in her, and trained her in secret during the night during her time learning at Coruscant, and she remained top of her class, and vowed her loyalty to the Empire, the Emperor and Vader. After her training on Coruscant was completed, she was transferred to the Imperial academy on Carida, alongside her friend Myrette Davani, for a final year of study, learning survival skills, stormtroooper training, and leadership tactics. During her gruelling time on Carida, she maintained her high level of schoolwork and her training under Vader, developing her Force skills as she trained. After a disastrous training incident concerning the deaths of several classmates using MTST walkers, pressure was put on the Cardia academy instructors from on high (likely Vader) to ensure Shira wasn't punished for live ammo being used in the training run. While Davani was concerned about the growing darkness in her friend, Shira continued to develop her skills, and eventually graduated with the highest honour possible from Carida (which hadn't been done before), and was recruited into Intelligence by Ysanne Isard on Vader's suggestion. Vader then recruited her as part of his plot to destroy the Rebellion, and also to turn his son to the dark side.

Acting as a double agent, Shira was inserted into the Alliance as a pilot from the world of Shalyvane. She quickly became ingratiated with the Rebel command structure, and her cover story of coming from an oppressed world was reinforced by Vader razing the city of Chinshassa on Shalyvane to cement her story. She worked among several other prominent Rebels, including Kyle Katarn as she was advanced through the ranks, all while working her way closer to Luke Skywalker, the object of her mission, as she sought to humiliate and isolate him to allow for Vader to make his move. Eventually becoming part of Rogue Squadron and working with Luke, she started to ingratiate herself into his inner circle (to the chagrin of Leia) and began to formulate a genuine affection and romantic feelings for Luke as they performed numerous missions together, including a mission to Cloud City after it had been occupied by the Empire. Growing closer, Shira became a hero to the Alliance after her mission to Shalyvane (in actuality a mission to submit her progress report to her master) and was awarded with a medal and the rank of captain. Shortly thereafter, the Rebels launched Operation Earplug, an attempt to stop the Empire from procuring a teezl, a sentient creature that would allow the Empire totally secure communications and potentially affect the entire war. As part of the mission, Shira was dispatched to help stop the secret armada of Admiral Mils Giel, and shared a romantic kiss with Luke, who she had developed genuine feelings for during her mission, before launching. However, during the fevered battle, during which Luke, Shira and their wingmates were piloting stolen TIE fighters, Luke used the Force to help identify between friend and foe, and fired on a fighter. The fighter was Shira's, and she was shot down and apparently killed during the battle. However, her mission had been a success. Luke was publicly disgraced and humiliated, with his commission with the Alliance revoked due to killing a fellow pilot under friendly fire. While he was later restored to his former position after the truth of Shira's actual identity became known, Shira, shot down by the man she had strong feelings for, was presumed dead, her TIE floating into the void.

This however was not the end for Shira Brie. Vader, unwilling to lose such a promising pupil, arrived in the Executor and rescued Shira, who had only survived so long due to her augmentations that she had received as part of her training. Feeling a sense of kinship with her, Vader had his medical droids go to extreme lengths to save her life, similar to how Sidious had once saved him. Shira Brie was remade, rebuilt into someone more machine than woman, just like her master. Shira Brie, similar to Anakin Skywalker, ceased to exist as she was operated on. Instead, she had become Lumiya, Vader's Shadow Hand and apprentice with whom he conspired to overthrow Sidious, should he fail to turn Luke to the dark side. However, Sidious remained on the lookout for Vader's attempts to overthrow him (the incident with Galen Marek had exposed Vader's ambition, he had had a hand in training many Dark Jedi and Inquisitors over the years, and Sidious suspected Vader's intentions for turning Luke were less than above board) and as such, Vader was reluctantly forced to present Lumiya to his master as a potential new Emperor's Hand. While doing so, Lumiya incurred the lifelong enmity of Mara Jade, another Emperor's Hand, and Sidious accepted, while also allowing her to continue her training under Vader to make her a more adept Hand (and also as a means of mocking his apprentice, enjoying the irony of Vader training someone as broken and damaged as he was).

Continuing her training under Vader, she was dispatched to the ancient Sith world of Ziost to complete her training. While there, she discovered an ancient Sith tome describing a weapon known as a lightwhip, and elected to craft the weapon, rather than the lightsaber she had been sent to create. A blend of Mandalorian iron and pure crystal powered energy, Lumiya crafted her weapon, completing her final test. However, as she prepared to leave Ziost, she felt a dark shudder in the Force, and realised the unthinkable had happened: the Empire had been defeated at Endor, the second Death Star and the Imperial flagship Executor destroyed, and worst of all, both Dark Lords of the Sith, Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, had been killed, leaving Lumiya without a master, and the Empire to which she had pledged her life without any leadership. Devastated by this turn of events, Lumiya nonetheless knew what she had to do: while both the master and apprentice had been killed, as Vader's Shadow Hand and secret apprentice, she now had the best claim to the throne of the Sith, and as such proclaimed herself the Dark Lady of the Sith. Determined to finish her training, she hunted down the Mercosa Order, a dark side allied organisation with allegiance towards the Sith, and found them on the planet Nyssa. With the dark side fanatics of the order recognising her claim to the throne of the dark side, they provided her with numerous Sith artefacts to assist her, including the oldest known Sith holocron, which had once belonged to the Sith king Adas. Armed with this new information, she returned to known space, to begin plotting her revenge on the Rebellion for what it had done to her masters, and to her Empire.

Having returned to known space, she contacted her ostensible superior, Ysanne Isard, as she had still nominally been part of Imperial Intelligence despite her having been recruited by Vader and Sidious. Fearing Lumiya as she could pose a threat to her own power, and realising that she had access to dark Force powers like the two Sith, Isard formed an alliance with Lumiya, giving her a small fleet with which to launch a retaliatory strike against the Rebellion, now called the Alliance of Free Planets, which she would use to occupy the Rebellion while Isard helped cultivate the now leaderless power vacuum on Coruscant and helped Grand Vizier Sate Pestage assume command of the Empire. Now outfitted with a fleet consisting of three Imperial class Star Destroyers, two Nebulon frigates, four CR90 corvettes and their associated fighter and troop escorts, Lumiya then came across a scoutship from a dwarf galaxy outside their own, belonging to a race of people known as the Nagai. Realising that they shared a common enemy, Lumiya formed an alliance with the Nagai, and worked with them in order to get her revenge on the Rebellion and on the so-called Heroes of Yavin, which naturally included Luke and his sister Leia.

Now working with the Nagai, Lumiya began preparing her plans to exact her revenge. Installing herself as the head of security of the oppressive Herdessan Guild on Herdessa, she planned to use the Herdessan slave ring for her own ends, and would furnish the Nagai with the slaves she would accumulate to fuel their war machine. However, Mon Mothma and Princess Leia then arrived on the planet to try and recruit the Herdessans into a new, more benevolent galactic government. Despite being heckled, Leia intervened on the part of a local who Lumiya was trying to arrest. Enraged that Leia's meddling allowed her prey to escape, Lumiya attempted to attack Leia, only for her to be hindered by her cumbersome cybernetics, just as her master had been many years before. Pursuing Leia across the planet, Lumiya captured many of the local rebels with the combined Herdessan and Imperial forces, and also captured Mon Mothma. Delighted with the opportunity to decapitate the Rebellion, Lumiya was about to kill Mothma when Leia arrived behind her and blasted her repeatedly with a blaster. Lumiya, defeated and subdued, had no choice but to retreat as her slave ring collapsed, and she fled, though vowed revenge on Leia for getting in her way.

After recovering and repairing herself following her defeat on Herdessa, Lumiya discovered that she had not been Vader's only apprentice: he had also been training a young, Force sensitive stormtrooper by the name of Flint. As Lumiya held herself accountable to the Rule of Two, she knew that only two Sith could exist at any one time: one to embody power, the other to crave it. This Flint was neither master, nor apprentice, just like Lumiya, as Vader had intended for them to face off with each other in order to decide which would become his true apprentice. As such, Lumiya hunted down Flint, tracking him to Vader's abandoned castle on Vjun, where she intended to either join Flint, have him join her, or kill him, to ensure the continuation of the Sith. Encountering the young man, they battled in the abandoned castle, with Lumiya easily defeating Flint. Soundly beaten, he took a knee before her, and pledged himself as her first apprentice, while also proclaiming that she was the Sith master. Pleased with these events, Lumiya, who still had to honour her alliance with the Nagai, and recover from her encounter with Leia on Herdessa, dispatched Flint to kill Luke. However, to her shock, Luke redeemed Flint during their confrontation on Naldar, and Flint defected, leaving Lumiya as the sole Sith once again, a master without an apprentice. Furious with this turn of events, she promised vengeance against her former apprentice, and turned her attention to furthering her plans with the Nagai.

While setting up a base with the Nagai's help on the desolate world of Kinooine, Lumiya encountered a Rebel survey team. Massacring them to a man, she took the sole survivor for interrogation, to discover the location of Leia, so she could enact her revenge. To Lumiya's delight however, the captive revealed that it wasn't Leia, but Luke who had dispatched the team. Knowing that Luke would follow, she laid in wait, and upon the arrival of Luke and his team, she captured his friends Dani and Kiro to goad him into tracking her. Luke hunted her down, and walked right into her trap. Lumiya was waiting for him, and attacked him with all of her savage might, galvanised by the dark side and her desire for revenge for what he had done to her and her Empire. Luke, completely overwhelmed by the unfamiliar lightwhip, fell against her onslaught, and was captured and taken to Lumiya's fortress, where she intended to torture him to death. However, Luke's friend Kiro had survived his encounter with Lumiya, and freed Luke, and now armed with a new shoto lightsaber, Luke hunted down the Dark Lady. Reclaiming his lightsaber, he engaged Lumiya in a duel, during which she failed to realise she no longer held the upper hand. Now able to counter her lightwhip, Luke beat her back and destroyed her headdress, revealing her true identity. Humiliated and enraged, Lumiya begged Luke to kill her, blaming him for her injuries, her remaking as a cyborg, and for the defeat of her masters and the implosion of her Empire. Luke tried to redeem and reconcile with Lumiya, however, the arrival of the Nagai fleet forced him to flee. Further enraged and filled with spite, Lumiya promised to kill Luke and have her revenge. As Luke and his friends fled, she began conspiring with the Nagai, and prepared herself to strike at Endor, the current Alliance capital, and the site of the defeat of the Empire, the Emperor and Darth Vader. Vowing to undo all the Rebels had achieved since winning the Battle of Endor, Lumiya, in charge of the Nagai attack, launched the Second Battle of Endor to exact her revenge. However, the arrival of Fenn Shysa's Mandalorian forces, complete with changing Rebel tactics, undermined her battle plan, particularly when their double agent was exposed. Without the tactical edge, a disgruntled Lumiya was forced to order a retreat from Endor, rubbing more salt into the wounds they had inflicted on her at the forest moon.

With the Nagai having failed to live up to her expectations, Lumiya instead defected to the Nagai's natural enemies, the Tofs, who had also mounted an invasion of the prime galaxy. When the Alliance joined forces with the Nagai in order to stop the Tofs, Lumiya worked with Prince Sereno of the Tofs to further her plans. However, during the Battle of Saijo, Leia and the other Heroes of Yavin infiltrated the compound with the Nagai and brought an end to the conflict. Furious that she was once again being thwarted by Leia, she turned on the princess and attempted to kill her, only for her former Nagai agent, Bey, to turn on her and shoot her. Thought dead after her shooting at the hands of Bey, Lumiya was in fact still alive, and snuck away to regroup during the commotion, vowing to get revenge on all those who had wronged her.

After recovering from her final battle with the heroes of the Rebellion, Lumiya opted to double down, trying to help Isard prevent the further fragmentation of the Empire, and to this end, she struck an alliance with the Director of Intelligence. In exchange for replacements for the forces she had lost during the Nagai-Tof War, Lumiya would help troubleshoot problems for Isard. After being provided with replacement ships, supplies and weapons, including red-armoured stormtroopers who were also members of Sidious' Red Guard. Travelling to the Cron Drift, Lumiya subjugated the treacherous Epsilon Nine research station which had attempted to defect to the Rebellion. Lumiya crippled the station and demonstrated her power, reaffirming the station's loyalty to the Empire and promising she would return in order to ensure their continuing loyalty. Furthermore, it was during this mission that one of the Red Guards caught her eye, as he had a developing Force talent. Vowing to keep an eye on this Guardsman, Carnor Jax, Lumiya continued helping to shore up support for Isard in order for both women to remain in the other's good graces: Lumiya, as she was too removed from the Imperial command structure to get the resources she needed particularly post-Endor, and Isard as she feared Lumiya might try and topple her and usurp control of the Empire from the ruling council and Sate Pestage.

Having attracted her attention due to his developing Force talent, and knowing that the Rule of Two and the Sith imperative were endangered as long as there was only Lumiya herself following Flint's treachery, Lumiya offered to take Carnor Jax as her apprentice, and the young guardsman happily accepted. With his training under the Emperor in order to be a member of the Red Guard already giving him a considerable advantage, Lumiya educated him in the ways of the dark side and of the Sith, with Jax proving an apt pupil. As part of his training, Lumiya took her apprentice to the planet of Bosthirda, the world that the remaining Prophets of the Dark Side had fled to. With much of the Empire turning on them for failing to prevent the debacle at Endor (even though Kadann had warned Sidious, the Emperor just elected to ignore him believing he couldn't be beaten), and with their treachery helping the Inquisitor Jerec in trying to usurp control of the galaxy through finding the Valley of the Jedi, and a conspiracy involving the Central Committee of Moffs which was trying to wrest control of the Empire away from Pestage and Isard, the Prophets of the Dark Side were considered traitors to the Empire. After their Dark Jedi minion Azrakel turned on them, Lumiya and Jax came to finish them off, with their slaughter of the Prophets echoing back to the Sith ritual of travelling to Kursid to slaughter the natives, among other worlds. Lumiya was pleased with her new apprentice, and her mind began to formulate a plan to retake control of the Empire for the Sith, and following that, the galaxy.

However, Lumiya was still beholden to Isard, who had tasked her with tracking down Mara Jade, who had fled Coruscant after Endor, as Isard feared she was a threat to her position. Lumiya, who had loathed Mara on principle as soon as she met her, happily agreed to hunt her down, tracking the former Emperor's Hand to Caprioril where she was posing as a swoop mechanic. The two women duelled, however despite Mara's skill (which had atrophied from the trauma of losing her master) and Lumiya's skill, both women were too easily matched to claim victory, though Lumiya did deprive Mara of her lightsaber, but Mara still escaped. Vexed, Lumiya retreated, but by refusing to report back to Isard, the Empire, and the Rebellion, both assumed the Dark Lady of the Sith to be dead, which suited her as she and Jax began to scheme to retake control of the Empire.

As the New Republic started to spread across the galaxy, and clearly had plans to seize Coruscant from the Empire, Lumiya and Jax started to look at the future of the Empire. Knowing that Pestage, along with the so-called Tribunal that usurped control of the Empire from the Grand Vizier who had been ruling as Regent following the death of Sidious, wouldn't last long as Isard desired the throne for herself, the two Sith began to take notice of several council members, the ones who weren't drawing Isard's attention, the same as General Carvin, Plumba and Challer were. Intrigued, Lumiya dispatched Jax to spy on Ars Dangor and Sarcev Quest, two other Emperor's Hands, as they fled to the Deep Core. When there, Quest took Jax into his confidence, and revealed a shocking truth: Darth Sidious was not dead. Jax wasted no time in informing his master of this development, as this news was shocking to both Sith: to Jax, it meant that the man who led the Empire and to whom he had pledged his life wasn't dead, and to Lumiya, it meant that the megalomaniac who had destroyed Vader (as she was loyal to Vader, not Sidious) had returned from the dead, and would likely be out to get revenge on everyone who had in any way failed him. Lumiya, now commanding from the Star Destroyer Behemoth, summoned Jax back to her, though remained wary, lest her apprentice try to kill her in order to curry favour with the Emperor.

As the two Sith met, Lumiya discovered, to her delight, that they were both on the same page. Tantalised by Lumiya's plans to retake control of the galaxy, and hence give him a position at least like that of Lord Vader, Jax began to conspire with Lumiya to ensure that Sidious' return was short lived. Lumiya and Jax began to quietly sound out the members of the Ruling Council, knowing that while they may want the Emperor back in order to fix the Empire, they would be extremely reluctant to give up the power they had accumulated. Sounding out those more likely to side with them, such as Burr Nolyds, Xandel Carivus, Mahd Wincaller and Feena D'Asta, Lumiya and Jax began to use various funds (Lumiya had appropriated the funds of the Emperor's Hand as the only claimant with access without possible repercussions, unlike Mara and her compatriots) to buy off the various Council members, with Lumiya masquerading as an agent of Carnor Jax, whereas in reality it was the other way round. In her guise as Brisha Syo, Lumiya began to quietly work with her apprentice, cultivating relations with the various Council members in order to help the Sith wrest control of the Empire back towards the Sith.

As Lumiya and Jax worked to usurp control of the Empire from the council charged with the day to day running of the government, Lumiya worked behind the scenes to try and fix much of the damage that the Rebels had inflicted upon her government. However, Isard lost control of Coruscant, exasperating Lumiya. Having been part of Intelligence, seeing her former superior losing the capital frustrated her to no end. When Isard fled to Thyferra and began the Bacta War, she reached out to Lumiya, seeking to expand her forces with Lumiya's own fleet. Lumiya however, seeing that Isard had dug herself into a hole that she couldn't get out of, especially with Rogue Squadron breathing down her neck, refused. Isard eventually called Lumiya just before the Battle of Thyferra, demanding her assistance as by that point the Rogues had destroyed the Corrupter, a Victory-II class Star Destroyer that represented a quarter of her fleet. Lumiya again refused, and told her that she had bigger problems, hinting to Isard that the Emperor was alive. The news that he was still alive unhinged Isard even more than she already was, shattering her remaining grip on reality, and indirectly contributed to her downfall in the Bacta War.

With Isard gone, the Ruling Council seized executive control of the Empire, though several of the members were well aware that Palpatine had returned, though more and more of them were retreating towards the Deep Core, though not enough to attract the attention of the majority of the Empire. Relocating to Orinda, which had become the new Imperial capital, Lumiya and Jax helped to shore up the flailing Empire which was quickly becoming a shadow of its former self. Lumiya and Jax were keen to try and get the council to make overtures to Warlord Zsinj, in order to bring him back into the Imperial fold, however, they made little progress. What was more, Zsinj was the custodian of the Nightsisters of Dathomir, and both Sith feared what would happen should the witches escape. Nevertheless, the two Sith continued to amass funds and resources behind the scenes, all while ensuring that the various members of the Imperial Ruling Council, other than Sarcev Quest, the Emperor's former minion who was the leader of the Council, had loyalty to them, and when the time came they could be called upon to ensure the return of the Sith…after removing the resurrected Sidious. When Zsinj was defeated at the Battle of Dathomir, along with the Nightsisters, Lumiya had the various military members of the Council push forward with attacks designed to renew Imperial pride. Under Admiral Rogriss, the Empire did make progress again, however, to the delight of Lumiya, Rogriss wasn't the only commanding officer to make inroads against the Rebellion.

Grand Admiral Thrawn had returned from the Unknown Regions, and with her nudging, the Ruling Council agreed to give him the role of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. Delighted that the best of the Grand Admirals had returned, Lumiya believed that the Sith's time had come. Thrawn would destroy the Rebellion, and once he was done, the Ruling Council would appoint Jax to the role of Emperor, and she would pull the strings, similar to how Darth Plagueis had planned to control Sidious. Jax would be Emperor, supported by the completely dominated Ruling Council, with Thrawn as their Supreme Commander, the Rebellion would be crushed, Lumiya would deal with Luke and his sister, removing any potential Jedi return, and she would control it all from behind the scenes. It was during the Thrawn campaign however that Jax began to get ideas above his station. While Lumiya had provided the funds and had the knowledge of the inner workings of the Empire, Jax was beginning to grow ambitious, and the fact that the Council was eating out of his hand spurred him on. He rashly confronted Lumiya, telling her that he was the one taking all the risks, and that he alone would be Emperor, and challenged her with his lightstaff that came as part of him being a Shadow Guard. Lumiya was furious, and demonstrated her mastery, defeating Jax with relative ease and destroying his staff. As her apprentice cowered before her, she told him a simple truth: that patience was the best weapon of the Sith. He was impatient, and that would get him killed. Sparing his life, she warned him to never challenge her again, then explained that the two of them were Vader's legacy, and that they would both rule their reconstituted Empire together, but he had to follow her guidance and instructions. If he did not…he had done enough, and she could take it from here, and she would destroy him. Cowed, Jax was sent back to the Council to control them from the shadows, though Lumiya remained wary, and knew she could no longer rely on him: he had scented power, and wanted hers. As such, she began to make preparations to kill her apprentice, but as she plotted, the word came from the front that Thrawn had been killed at the Battle of Bilbringi. Furious with this development, and at the resultant Imperial Civil War that transpired as a result, Lumiya became more determined than ever to bring the Empire under her control, with Jax's help.

However, by this point, Jax, thoroughly humiliated by his master after his failed attempt to defeat her, had all but defected. While still proclaiming himself a Sith Lord and Vader's legacy, he had largely abandoned his master and had instead apprenticed himself to Sarcev Quest as the two of them plotted to take power over the Empire, which had returned to belonging to the Emperor, who had finally revealed himself on Byss. With Sidious more distracted by trying to find a suitable body to host his great power, he wasn't as aware of the machinations of his own advisers working against him. Jax, knowing Lumiya had the resources and the power to defeat him and Quest, took a calculated risk, and exposed Lumiya's survival to Sidious. The Emperor, enraged that this secret apprentice of his own murderer had proclaimed herself his heir, resolved to remove Lumiya. As Lumiya moved away from the Deep Core to put further distance between her and the reborn Emperor, she was ambushed by Sedriss, Sidious' military executor who had been dispatched by his master to earn her claim to the throne of the Sith. Despite bringing his Allegiance class battlecruiser to bare against Lumiya's fleet, her numbers, more manoeuvrable ships and her starfighter complement helped turn the tide. Despite Sedriss boarding the Behemoth in an attempt to kill Lumiya in person, the red-armoured stormtroopers and her remaining Royal Guards hindered the Dark Jedi enough that he was thrown off-balance, especially when Lumiya herself entered the battle, and forced the Dark Jedi back. As the two battled, they both sensed a disturbance in the Force, and Lumiya was pleased, taunting Sedriss: Sidious was dead again, killed by his own Force storm while trying to kill Luke and Leia. Humiliated, and seeking to shore up his remaining power, Sedriss fled rather than pursue the battle.

However, despite her victory, Lumiya was now in a dangerous position. Her fleet had sustained heavy damage battling Sedriss' flagship, and she needed to repair and replace her losses. What was more concerning to her however was the fact that Jax had all but defected from her, betraying her and going her own way. Doubly enraged by this, as he hadn't even performed the basic act of the Rule of Two and killed his master, on top of the fact that he had seized her plan for use himself, he was now the only one with access to the Imperial Ruling Council, and hence, her options for how to take control of the Empire were rather limited.

Despite this, she fled to the Outer Rim warlords, putting some distance between her and her opposition. While Sidious' health deteriorated (partly due to the effects of her and Jax's plan as Jax went ahead with it and bribed the Emperor's physician to sabotage his clone bodies) and he looked with increasing desperation for a new body to host his great dark side power, Lumiya began to conspire on how to retake the initiative from Jax and wrest control of her plan back from her over-eager apprentice. However, Jax continued to power on ahead, orchestrating the massacre of virtually all the remaining Red Guards other than the now two remaining in Lumiya's service after Sedriss' attack, and a few others that had lived through various other means. Despite herself, as Lumiya watched as the Emperor died his final death at Onderon, she had to admit to being impressed with her apprentice, and began to plan for their inevitable confrontation. She would confront him, kill him, and take back the Empire and rule herself, without the interference of Jax or Sidious, and then she would restore the Empire to power…or at the very least, make sure it maintained some of its dignity.

However, while she plotted to remove her former apprentice and usurp control of the Empire, her agents, which she had numerous of throughout the galaxy, having reached out to employ them when Isard lost Coruscant, noticed something strange on the world of Arkinnea. Before his final death, Sidious dispatched a team of Dark Jedi to the planet, only for the team to have been mysteriously killed. Curious as to what had happened, Lumiya decided to investigate, wondering if perhaps she could find another prospective apprentice to replace the rogue Jax, perhaps the killer of the three Dark Jedi would be some neophyte who she could shape into a new Sith. Arriving at Arkinnea, she investigated the planet, determined to find any clue as to what had transpired to the three Dark Jedi of the Emperor. To her shock however, as she explored the planet, she learned the truth: the killer of the three Dark Jedi who had attended the planet was not some untrained neophyte at all. Instead, to her horror and fury, the Emperor had discovered a Hidden Temple, and had dispatched his three Dark Jedi to kill the Jedi that he suspected were still within, and likely would have attended himself if not for his deteriorating health. A secret academy of Jedi, that had existed all during the reign of the Empire, right under the nose of her master, and if they joined with Luke and his nascent, developing Jedi Order that he was starting to form, they would stop at nothing to prevent her from retaking control of the galaxy. Incensed, Lumiya continued to explore, only to find the Hidden Temple largely abandoned, the place stripped bare.

Realising that the Jedi survivors of her master's purge were long gone, Lumiya prepared to leave the planet when in the highest level of the temple, she discovered an old Whiphid Jedi. He greeted her, informing her that his name was K'kruhk. He revealed that somehow, Sidious had discovered the location of the Hidden Temple, and in his desperation to stave off his final death, had hoped to amount an assault on the place to help him find either a suitable host, or at the very least, teachings that could buy him some time. K'kruhk had killed the three Dark Jedi when he had sensed their approach, with the various Jedi of the temple combining their strength to kill the Imperial war party. He then decided to stay to make sure that nobody followed the rest of the faculty as they relocated, far away from any other dark sider reprisals. Lumiya informed him that she had only came to investigate as she wondered what had so attracted the Emperor's attention, but said, that as Vader's apprentice, and as the Dark Lady of the Sith, she could not allow him to live. K'kruhk chuckled, and got to his feet, igniting his lightsaber, and saying he remembered Vader when he was but a love-struck, romantic and emotional boy. Lumiya hissed in response, and attacked with her lightwhip.

As the Dark Lady of the Sith and arguably one of the most powerful Jedi remaining in the galaxy went at it, the entire temple began to shake. K'kruhk was a master of lightsaber combat, and a strong and powerful combatant regardless. Lumiya was shocked, forced back by the Whiphid's ferocity in battle, and despite her skill with the lightwhip, K'kruhk pushed against her, preventing her from claiming victory. However, as the two fought, Lumiya began to grow more anxious, refusing to allow the Sith lineage to end here. As the two fought, she used the Force to start dismantling the temple. As K'kruhk, who unlike Luke had during his confrontation with Lumiya, did not need two lightsabers to hold her off, intercepted her whip and locked their weapons as he prepared to seize victory in their duel, Lumiya unleashed a powerful Force scream that made the old Jedi go pale, and he exclaimed that there were numerous traps installed throughout the temple, lest the Dark Jedi get that far. Accidentally triggering them, the whole temple collapsed down on top of both the Sith and the Jedi, abruptly ending their duel. Hours later, Captain Valek, the commander of the red-armoured stormtroopers in Lumiya's employ, hunted down his mistress, finding her battered and beleaguered body under the rubble of the Hidden Temple, with Lumiya barely clinging to life. Of K'kruhk, there was no sign in the rubble, and Valek took the Sith back to the Behemoth in order to get her medical attention.

By the time that Lumiya emerged from the bacta tank following her duel with K'kruhk, the situation within the Empire had taken a turn for the worse. Carnor Jax was dead, killed in a climactic duel on Yinchorr by Kir Kanos, one of the last surviving members of the Royal Guard. Infuriated that she had lost her own shot at getting revenge on her treacherous former apprentice, Lumiya would have been content. Jax had reached out before his death, informing her of his desire to return to her tutelage (this was partly due to Sarvec Quest losing much of his influence among the ruling council as their exhilaration at getting away with betraying their Emperor emboldened them). While Lumiya highly suspected that it was likely a trap for the apprentice to try once again to overthrow his master, there was new information present in the data he had sent: an agent by the name of Nom Anor had reached out to him, seeking to help him with the Empire. Intrigued as to who this Nom Anor was, and feeling a mysterious sense of foreboding at the mere mention of the name, Lumiya was prevented from reaching him by her apprentice's death at the hands of Kir Kanos. With Jax dead, and the Imperial Ruling Council disbanded shortly thereafter due to the vendetta of Kir Kanos, who also killed Emperor Xandel Carivus, Lumiya could only watch as the last, tenuous grip on power the Empire had disintegrated, with the Empire fracturing into numerous warlord states.

Unwilling to ally with any of the warlords, Lumiya was forced to admit defeat, retreating with her fleet to Korriban, where she kept an eye on events with her oracle stone, and spent her time plotting to try and retake the galaxy from the Jedi and the Rebellion that had ruined her life. The rest of the time, she spent studying ancient Sith artefacts, including the holocron of Adas, and would likely have remained doing so until her remaining agents informed her of good news from the Deep Core. The various, feuding warlords had all been wiped out, and their forces united under one banner, the banner of Admiral Natasi Daala, former protégé of Grand Moff Tarkin, and under Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, the former protégé of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Lumiya was delighted, sensing that at last, her time had come. The three legacies would unite, form a true, cohesive Empire once again, and restore it to power. As Daala launched her offensive from the Deep Core, a delighted Lumiya led her fleet to Yavin, deducing that that was where Daala was going to hit, crippling the New Republic, and its fledgling New Jedi Order. However, she arrived at Yavin to find Pellaeon's fleet of Imperial class Star Destroyers scattered at the edge of the system, and to see the Knight Hammer, the Executor class Star Dreadnought, it's stern aflame, crashing into the gas giant of Yavin itself while the Republic fleet mopped up the remaining Victory class Star Destroyers of Crimson Command. Utterly dispirited, Lumiya stayed long enough to help save Imperial lives, before fleeing the system, vowing once more revenge on Luke and his Jedi Order, and on the Rebellion that had destroyed her Empire.

Losing herself to her bitterness, Lumiya decided to get what petty revenge she could. To this end, she decided to have Kir Kanos killed, for his role in the deterioration of the Empire and for killing her apprentice and interfering with her plans. To this end, she employed the bounty hunter Kenix Kil to hunt Kanos down (only discovering many years later that the two were one and the same, to her great frustration). It was in this dark period that she was contacted be Ennix Devian. Having previously sheltered at the world known as RZ7-6113-23 to repair and rebuild her forces after her battle with Sedriss, she had attracted the attention of Devian, who had a secret base on the planet. Devian, seen as many as the Emperor's brute of an enforcer and assassin. Having been conspiring for several years to get revenge on the New Republic, he had been working behind the scenes to incite rebellion among the member species of the Republic. When the Republic was appropriately weakened, he intended to use his faction, which he called the Restored Empire, to usurp control of the newly united Imperial Remnant and make himself Emperor. Devian sought to use Lumiya to help solidify his claim, figuring that she could help him bully what passed for the bureaucracy of the Empire into accepting him as their new Emperor, and once his power was cemented, he would kill Lumiya and make himself the galaxy's unchallenged master. Lumiya was shocked to be approached by Devian, having dismissed him as little more than a thug herself. However, with the mess the Empire was in, she was reluctantly willing to go along with Devian if it meant restoring some vestige of the Empire's former power, and as such, she agreed to his alliance, donating her fleet to his already large fleet of outdared but still-powerful Clone Wars era ships.

However, not long after she had agreed to work with Devian, Pellaeon, now in command of previously unknown Star Dreadnoughts, unleashed the Orinda Campaign, which sent the Republic reeling. Hearing through various third-party sources that Pellaeon intended to sue for peace with the Republic after seizing Orinda (which would allow the Empire to maintain a fragment of it's former power and wouldn't leave it as a defeated state), Lumiya actively tried to sabotage Devian's plans, fearing that if he sabotaged Pellaeon's peace initiative, it would lead to a further, protracted war with the Republic, which at the end of the day, could only end with the Empire defeated. Unable to prevent Devian's ambush on Pellaeon's secret truce negotiation that saw the death of Feena D'Asta, one of the former ruling council, Lumiya instead rallied her fleet, leading it to Orinda, arriving at the same time as the grieving Baron D'Asta, and joined his fleet in attacking Devian's Clone Wars era armada and helped to defeat the enemy ships, shattering the power of Devian's splinter cult, who himself was killed by Kir Kanos. Regretting her actions in helping him get so powerful, as she had never had any love for Devian but wanted the Empire restored, Lumiya then fled with relative good grace, and was confident that the Empire was at least in good hands.

However, despite her approval of Pellaeon, Lumiya still sought power, and sought to return the Empire to the dominion of the Sith. She silently supported Hethrir and his Empire Reborn movement, hoping that he would lay the groundwork, which she could then seize from him, knowing that his narcissistic tendencies made him unsuitable to be a Sith. However, to her chagrin, Lumiya had to watch as Pellaeon slowly started to lose ground back to the Republic as they mounted a retaliation for Orinda, and meanwhile Hethrir was killed by the inter-dimensional being Waru, and not long later, his Empire Reborn movement, slavery movement and the Disciples of Ragnos movement were all crippled by a combination of the Republic and Luke's ever-expanding Jedi Order, now including such luminaries as Kyle Katarn and Jaden Korr, who were instrumental in dismantling the Disciples of Ragnos and the remnant of the Reborn movement. Frustrated to no end, Lumiya however did find a suitable outlet for her rage: her former apprentice had resurfaced on Belderone, and she travelled there to assassinate him, beheading him for his betrayal.

With the Empire once again deteriorating despite her best efforts, as she spent a lot of her time trying to bolster Pellaeon's flagging position from behind the scenes, Lumiya once again retreated back to Korriban. As Pellaeon battled to try and maintain the Empire's borders as the Republic clawed back the prerogative following the Black Fleet Crisis, after Pellaeon was forced into a campaign he didn't want to fight by the Moffs, Lumiya was becoming more accepting of her fate. She was moving away from her desire to rule the galaxy, as her master's had done. Rather, she wanted to restore the Sith, and if possible, the Empire to it's former glory, and bring the galaxy to heel under one strong hand, rather than having it be plagued by endless wars. Heavily influenced by the teachings of Adas, Lumiya sought to create a powerful government which could prevent the constant revolts and wars that had plagued the New Republic, and the Empire before it. However, her main focus was the continuation of the Sith. With both her former apprentices now dead, she was seeking someone she could train who could, perhaps, one day be the strong hand that the galaxy needed in order to maintain peace. She briefly entertained the idea of using Kueller, the Dark Jedi architect of the Almanian Uprising, as her apprentice, however his acts of wanton destruction during the uprising, not to mention his quick defeat, led her to dismiss the idea. But, growing more at peace with her lot in life as she listened more to Adas' teachings, Lumiya became more focused on her new goal: the restoration of the Rule of Two, the finding of an apprentice, and the settling of peace throughout the galaxy, with a strong hand that would prevent the constant wars the galaxy experienced put in place to control it, preferably a Sith themselves (and despite her new found wisdom, a part of her did still want to rule the galaxy herself).

Lumiya worked tirelessly behind the scenes, cultivating relationships, distributing funds and agents and building up a sizeable information network, similar to Bane a millennia before her. Knowing that the galaxy could never be truly at peace, or hence controlled as long as there was dissent, she stimulated the tensions in the Corellian Insurrection, figuring that it would be better for whatever the Corellians were up to to happen now as opposed to later. With her manipulations, the Remnant sent numerous Intelligence teams to Corellia to help stoke the tensions there, provoking the Insurrection into like before it was ready. As the Sith hoped, this led to the Republic eventually crushing the Sacorrian Triad, who were the real instigators of the Insurrection, and Lumiya was pleased, as that meant that the Corellians would be kept in their box for the foreseeable future, and hence be unable to threaten peace in the wider galaxy.

However, the year after, there was one event that challenged Lumiya to remain true to the new path she had set for herself: the Caamas Document Crisis. Manipulated by a shadowy triad of Moff Disra, a con artist named Flim and a defunct clone, the three nearly ignited an all out civil war that could well have destroyed the Republic. Lumiya, unable to resist, did her part to stoke the tensions, having been stoking the tensions between the Ishori and Diamala previously, knowing it would be better to get it out of the way, and also relishing the fact that it would undermine the Republic. However, with the advent of the Caamas Document Crisis, and with two major factions of the Republic, the Bothans and the Mon Calamari (two of the factions of the Republic that she hated most), embroiled in the conflict, Lumiya, not quite able to let go of her bitterness, stoked tensions, hoping the Republic would rip itself apart, and that the Empire could then reclaim the galaxy. As she genuinely believed the galaxy would be better off under the more authoritarian Empire, Lumiya knew in her heart that this was the last hurrah. Pellaeon's loses after the Orinda Campaign could well have been mitigated, but the Moffs that made up the political part of the Empire got greedy. Between their insistence that Pellaeon try to retake more of their worlds, and Admiral Daala, who had returned in the Deep Core, failing to make progress before encountering General Bel Iblis, Lumiya knew that this was the last chance, and if the Empire failed to capitalise on this, it would be the end of the Empire. As such, she helped stoke the tensions between the warring factions of the Republic, figuring that, if rumours were true, and Grand Admiral Thrawn had indeed returned, then the Empire might not be finished yet. However, her old enemies Luke and Mara, along with a Republic mission and the work of smuggler kingpin Talon Karrde saw the Republic attaining three intact copies of the Caamas Document, settling the conflict. Lumiya recalled her ships (which she had sent to Bothawui to exploit the chaos that would have erupted had the document not been attained) and watched, like the rest of the galaxy, as Ponc Gavisorm and Pellaeon signed the Bastion Accords, finally ending the long war between the Empire and the Rebellion. Finally coming through the long depression and self-pitying stage she'd suffered since Endor, Lumiya accepted the end of the Galactic Civil War with relative grace, content that the Empire was still an entity, albeit massively diminished, and hoping she would be able to ensure that the Empire would one day return to power…with the Sith holding the reins.

However, being who and what she was, Lumiya was nothing if not adaptable. Several officers and moffs did not go along with the peace accords, and fractured from the Remnant, naming themselves the Second Imperium. Knowing that this could be used to her advantage, Lumiya kept an eye on the Imperium, which was led by four former Royal Guards that worked for Admiral Daala during her campaigns. In it's employ was a former student of Luke's named Brakiss, who wanted to offset the growing power of Luke's order, something which Lumiya was very interested in. As the power of Luke's order grew, she would find it harder and harder to orchestrate the destruction of the Jedi order, and what was more, the Jedi would easily outmatch her. As such, she needed a way to ensure that the Jedi could be challenged when the time came, and as such, decided to keep an eye on the Imperium to use it for the Sith's ends. To do so, she dispatched her remaining Royal Guards, helping them to supplant two of Daala's ones, and giving her the chance to keep an eye on the Imperium's actions while they developed in strength and power.

Meanwhile however, Lumiya elected to abandon Korriban. With the end of the Galactic Civil War she wished to be closer to the Imperial border to keep an eye on the Empire more effectively. To this end, she had discovered the Home, an asteroid base that once belonged to Darth Vectivus, the information of which had been discovered in the files that had been unearthed in the Mount Tantiss facility on Wayland which had triggered the entire Caamas Document Crisis. Distributing her fleet among the surrounding, quiet systems to allow her crews a life of their own, she nestled into the Home, making her main base there. Once there she continued to survey the galaxy from afar, and also began to study the teachings of Darth Vectivus, and her philosophy took on aspects of his teachings, along with the teachings of Adas, Sidious and Vader, all the while using her vast information network to keep an eye on the galaxy's events, seeing where best she could exploit, in order to one day return the galaxy to the dominion of the Sith, and ideally, the Empire, but she was prepared to adapt if the situation called for it.

As the Second Imperium developed, creating the Shadow Academy to train new Dark Jedi in opposition to Luke's up and coming order. Joining forces with various Nightsisters, the Royal Guards conspired to create new Dark Jedi, and the Shadow Academy continued to develop in power, with various raids mounted on the academy on Yavin to try and gain new students. However, to Lumiya's annoyance, the Royal Guards, seeking to eradicate the Jedi, prepared an assault on Yavin, amassing their combined forces and attacking the Jedi academy. The attack was eventually defeated, and the Shadow Academy was destroyed, with Brakiss dead and its various commanders also killed, and the others scattered. Lumiya was annoyed, as her plans to use the Shadow Academy's students to counter Luke's order had been scuppered. However, she was rather interested in how the failure of the Shadow Academy had come about: mainly due to the actions of the Solo twins, and their friends. It was then that Lumiya realised that the Solo kids could well be the key to the future, just as their grandfather had been, and vowed to watch them all in secret, while entertaining visions of turning them to the dark side and making them a Sith, and by so doing, achieve her ultimate revenge against Luke and Leia.

To Lumiya's pleasure, the next few years saw Leia stand down as the Chief of State of the New Republic, and she was replaced by Borsk Fey'lya. Knowing Fey'lya would be an antagonistic chief, and would sow dissension amongst the peoples of the Republic and also likely be an antagonist to the Jedi as well, which Lumiya hoped would help move the galaxy into a situation where the Sith could exploit and retake control. She had also spent a lot of time keeping an eye on the political firebrand Nom Amor, using her spies to keep her appraised of his movements. Having not forgotten that Anor reached out to Jax, Lumiya was growing increasingly concerned as to what his overall plan was, especially as he seemed to be enflaming the Osarian-Rhommamool conflict. As that particular brushfire exploded into action, Lumiya was even more intrigued as to what Anor's plan was. A couple of weeks later however, she discovered the truth. The Yuuzhan Vong War had begun, with the Praetorite Vong invading the Outer Rim through Vector Prime and destroying numerous planets, and killing the mighty Chewbacca in the process. As her agents within the New Republic began to report to her of the threat, and of Fey'lya's less than stellar reaction to the whole conflict, Lumiya knew the New Republic was unable to deal with the threat, least of all alone, and as such recalled her fleet, in order to help defend the galaxy, and if need be, assist the Empire…and if it happened to allow the Sith to reclaim the galaxy, then so much the better.

As the Yuuzhan Vong spread across the galaxy, Lumiya commanded her fleet in several raids against the extragalactic enemy, transforming her fleet into an effective fighting force against the invaders. Lumiya helped hold the line, raiding behind enemy lines, aiding civilians as they fled the invaders, and also using numerous aliases to keep the Empire appraised of what was going on in regards to the war as the moffs were stifling closer cooperation with the Republic, erroneously believing that the Vong would then leave them alone. As the New Republic and the Empire made a stand at Ithor, Lumiya intercepted a small Vong fleet and ambushed it with her forces, and with the tide of the battle easily in her favour, Lumiya launched a boarding party, storming a yorik-vec assault cruiser during the battle. Killing the remaining Vong warriors, she was seeking further information on the Vong, intelligence on what she could use against them. To her shock however, she didn't find any Vong left on the ship. Rather she found a small, avian like creature, which Lumiya identified as a Fosh, a native of their own galaxy, and the small creature introduced herself as Vergere.

Shocked to find the diminutive creature within the guts of a Vong ship, Lumiya was even more shocked to discover that Vergere was actually formerly a Jedi of the Old Republic. Vergere recounted Sidious' rise to power, and also elaborated how the Jedi failed to stop him, failed to realise what he was doing until it was too late to do so. She revealed that as time went on, and the dark side grew, yet even with the appearance of Darth Maul on Naboo and the death of Qui-Gon Jinn, the Council remained complacent. Increasingly alarmed by the Council's failure to act, Vergere undertook a mission to Zonama Sekot, and it was there that the discovered the Far Outsiders, the Yuuzhan Vong. Realising in short order that the Republic was in no fit state to oppose the invaders, particularly with the Sith conspiring in the shadows, Vergere volunteered to go with the Vong in order to delay their invasion. Lumiya talked with Vergere for some time, discussing the Force, the Sith, the Jedi, the Vong, and the future. As their interview came to an end, Vergere asked if Lumiya intended to kill her. The Sith let her live, unable to fathom exactly how Vergere was important to the fate of the galaxy, but knowing that she was. Vergere remarked that Lumiya, maimed as she was, would never truly fulfil her true potential, which grated on the Sith. She then challenged Vergere to explain if she was a Jedi, or a Sith. The Fosh replied that she was neither, yet both at the same time. Irritated by the Fosh, Lumiya allowed her to leave and return to the Vong, though was unsettled by Vergere's claim that she would never achieve her true potential, and was suddenly reminded of her own mortality, and how imperative it was to find a new apprentice to succeed her. Vergere, just as she left, also informed Lumiya that she was not the only Sith, and that there were others, incensing Lumiya who became determined to discover if there were truly more Sith, or if it was just more of Vergere's lies and half-truths.

However, Lumiya didn't have to wait long to discover the truth of this other branch of Sith that Vergere had mentioned. As the Vong advanced across the galaxy, Lumiya, stationing herself at the Home and using her oracle stone to try and offset the advance of the invaders while also lamenting the mess the Republic was making of defending the galaxy. When at the Home not long after her meeting with Vergere, who still vexed the Sith Lord as she still didn't know what to make of her, an Interceptor class frigate called Poison Moon arrived at the Home. Confronted by Lumiya's superior firepower, as her flagship, the Behemoth was in orbit around her asteroid home, the frigate came to a stop and contacted Lumiya. On board was the Nightsister Lomi Plo, who along with her apprentice Welk (formerly of the Shadow Academy) had been sent as a delegation by the One Sith. Lomi revealed that the Sith did indeed exist again, and had been growing in number and strength for the last several years, and they were under the leadership of the dreamer, Darth Krayt. Lumiya was less than impressed with this information, as it was clear from Lomi's invitation that this Krayt intended for Lumiya to be subservient to him. Inviting Lomi over, the two discussed the matter at length, and Lomi revealed everything that Lumiya wanted to know. Lumiya learned that Darth Krayt was, like Vergere, formerly a Jedi of the Old Republic, by the name of A'Sharad Hett, and that he believed that the Sith could be reconstructed as a team affair, all working towards a common goal. Lumiya was less than impressed with this information. A strict adherent to the beliefs of Darth Bane and the Rule of Two, she could see even that early on that the One Sith formula would eventually lead to the weakening of the dark side, as it would be used by too many people and spread too thin. Furthermore, the Sith Lord was meant to be the most powerful, but even the master could be killed if several weaker apprentices banded together to kill the master. Disgusted with the information, Lumiya nevertheless agreed to accompany Lomi and her delegation to Korriban, the lair of the other Sith. When there, she would meet and kill Krayt, dismissing him as an attempted usurper of the true path of the Sith, as set down by Darth Bane. This buffoon of a usurper would be killed, and she would use her fleet to destroy the One Sith in one fell swoop, and prevent the bastardisation of the Sith, and the remaining Sith, Lumiya herself, could return to her usual plans and schemes, and forwarding the mission of the Sith and the dark side, as previously decreed by Darth Bane.

Lumiya followed the Poison Moon from the Behemoth, planning to betray and kill Krayt and return the power of the Sith to the Rule of Two. However, as they travelled across the galaxy, they were far behind enemy lines, the invaders having cut a swathe through the galaxy, and to their surprise, they were jerked out of hyperspace by a Miid Ro'ik cruiser, the Yuuzhan Vong equivalent to an Imperial class Star Destroyer, which was called the Dark Emissary. As the two Sith ships scrambled to meet the unexpected challenge, Lumiya felt a dark pulse in the Force, and felt the dark side call to her, and she realised, to her surprise, something had happened that she had thought impossible: one of the Yuuzhan Vong aboard the enemy ship could touch the Force. The Vong ship opened fire on the two Sith vessels, as coralskippers were launched to try and destroy the two Sith ships. The Poison Moon was heavily damaged in a barrage of plasma fire, and the bridge was severely damaged, necessitating an evacuation. Lumiya watched on in smug satisfaction as she felt Lomi and Welk both get captured by the Yuuzhan Vong. Satisfied that these Sith pretenders at the very least would no longer be a problem, Lumiya commanded a retreat to the Home, and despite sustaining significant damage, the Behemoth did make good it's escape. However, as it did so, Lumiya sensed the dark star in the Force that she had sensed give chase, and Lumiya felt the dark side call to her, and she began to think she had perhaps found her new apprentice…there was just the small problem that they would be one of the marauding, violent invaders who were currently tearing the galaxy asunder. Undeterred, Lumiya arrived back at the Home on her Star Destroyer, and with the rest of her now much more battle-hardened fleet, laid in wait, springing a trap on the Dark Emissary as it arrived from hyperspace. Pinned by the guns of Lumiya's three Star Destroyers and their escorts, the Dark Emissary nonetheless made to fight off the Sith fleet. Lumiya however then took a chance, reaching out through the Force, and inviting the Force sensitive she had sensed to speak with her on the Home. The guns of the Dark Emissary abruptly stopped, and a single shuttle departed the ship, headed for the Home. Lumiya then returned to the asteroid to meet her visitor. On board her asteroid lair, Lumiya then met the Force-sensitive being she had detected in the ambush, and to her shock, a female Yuuzhan Vong warrior stood before her. Greeting the Vong woman in her native language, to the surprise of the Vong, Lumiya introduced herself, revealing that she was the Dark Lady of the Sith. The Vong woman revealed herself as the commander of the Dark Emissary, and that her name was Quin'toka Karsh.

Lumiya invited Karsh into the Home, advising her to feel the strength of the dark side in the asteroid base. Karsh was shocked, and revealed that she had always known that she was different, and explained that for some reason, she had always been a target of suspicion from the offices of Supreme Overlord Shimrra, who frequently had her dispatched on suicide missions. To the irritation of whoever was behind it, however, she always not only survived these missions, but also thrived, turning the tide at the last minute. Lumiya listened to Karsh's tale, and began to suspect something which nobody would know until the very last days of the war: that there was another Force-sensitive within the highest echelons of Vong society. Lumiya revealed the truth to Karsh, that she had the ability to feel the Force, and as a result of her upbringing as a Vong warrior, she was already strong with the dark side. Lumiya explained the nature of the Sith, and the nature of the Rule of Two. She explained at length about the Force, the dark side, and the Sith, and the mission that the Sith had, and Lumiya's own mission, to bring peace back to the galaxy and return it to stable, strong rule. Karsh, fascinated as this was her first true encounter with the dark side, and the first she knew of her strange abilities, was riveted, hanging on Lumiya's every word. Lumiya told Karsh that, being strong in the dark side, she could help her realise her true potential, and together, they could bring an end to this war, while getting revenge on Karsh's masters who keep setting her up, and return the galaxy to the dominion of the Sith. Karsh, disenchanted with the Yuuzhan Vong, including the leadership of Shimrra and Tsavong Lah, took a knee, and pledged herself to learn the dark side at Lumiya's feet. As her first lesson, Lumiya explained that each Sith must commit a sacrifice, to show their adherence and commitment to the cause of the dark side. Karsh explained that by serving Lumiya, she was disavowing her entire civilisation, her entire species, and Lumiya agreed, that that was a sacrifice. Karsh explained that her soldiers were loyal only to her, having led them to numerous victories over the years. Lumiya accepted this, though warned that any sign of betrayal by her new apprentice would be met by death. As the final part of her first lesson, Lumiya explained that the taking of a new name was also a part of becoming a Sith. Karsh told her a word in Vong, which meant triumphant revenge on those who had wronged her, which roughly translated into Basic as Vongerella, and Lumiya accepted this, and Vongerella, as her new apprentice.

As the Vong War continued to rage, and the galaxy saw the loss of Coruscant, and of Anakin Solo among other Jedi who were killed on the mission to Myrkyr, Lumiya continued to advance Vongerella's training. Vongerella proved an apt pupil, and Lumiya was very pleased with her new apprentice. She inspired in Vongerella a great devotion to the Rule of Two, and she joined her master in dismissing Krayt as nothing more than a heretical usurper who inspired a bunch of thugs and bullies who happened to find an outlet for their excesses, by tapping into their dark impulses with the Force. Lumiya heartily believed that this did not make them Sith, but rather glorified dark side gang members, and instead elected to ignore Krayt and his faction, believing by the time they were numerous enough to oppose the Jedi as they stood at the moment, it would be too late to do anything about them. At best she considered Krayt and his faction too slow (especially if she wanted to restore the Empire) and at worst she considered him a talentless, heretical usurper who was in direct opposition to the Rule of Two, and elected to ignore the second invitation to meet with Krayt that she received from a Sith with white eyes, opting instead to focus on training Vongerella, intending to help Vongerella supplant Shimrra and bring peace back to the galaxy, and the manipulate the galactic governments so that the Sith could once more rule the galaxy, intending to use Vongerella to help unite the galaxy under one banner, under one puppet…of whom she would hold the strings.

However, there remained the fact that, even as Lumiya constantly plotted, edited her plans to ensure her ultimate victory, and that of her galaxy, she still had the Vong to contend with, who still had the upper hand in the course of the war. However, to her great interest, she learned that Jacen Solo hadn't perished on the same mission as his brother, and had instead returned to the Republic, complete with Vergere in tow. With her various information networks updating her on events (many of them had relocated to Dac following the fall of Coruscant), Lumiya and Vongerella both took a great interest in the return of Jacen Solo, and in that of Vergere. With both of them watching events from afar through the oracle stone, they were then both pleased to see the resounding success of the newly minted Galactic Alliance at the Battle of Ebaq Nine. Lumiya was pleased as it saw a turning point in the war, with her galaxy starting to fight back against the enemy, and also made her aware of the growing prowess of the Solo twins. It also saw the death of Vergere, which pleased Lumiya after the Fosh had dismissed her ability to become the true Sith Lord. For Vongerella's part, it pleased her as Tsavong Lah had repeatedly ordered her onto suicide missions, only to be furious when she lived, and with him now dead, she felt vindicated, and that her way towards becoming the Supreme Overlord had just become a lot easier. She and Lumiya continued her teaching, with Vongerella shaping a very rare crimson lambent crystal as she constructed her double bladed lightsaber, while both she and her master discussed the future of the war effort, with both of them scheming, Vongerella performing assassinations of various Vong as she sought to subtly influence a way to get close to Shimrra so that one day soon, she could kill and supplant him, while Lumiya tricked, manipulated and bribed officials throughout the Alliance, the Empire and the Hapes Consortium as she sought the perfect puppet candidates to rule through.

As the two Sith continued their scheming to usurp control over their respective sides of the war effort, and hence take over the galaxy, the war continued to turn against the invaders. However, while Vongerella took the Dark Emissary on a mission to further her own plot to usurp the throne from Shimrra, Lumiya was approached by the commander of her fleet, General Valek. Valek had been nominated by her forces to speak up on their behalf, about how they were concerned about Vongerella and her presence, especially if the war was to turn against the invaders. They felt that they couldn't guarantee Vongerella would remain loyal to Lumiya if things went wrong, and wanted insurance to make sure they could overcome her even if she did turn on them, especially if she did so because her people were losing the war, despite Vongerella having disavowed them. While Lumiya was irritated at being second guessed by her own forces, she was forced to admit that they may have a point. Furthermore, she felt, in her own humble opinion, that she had done a rather good job of training Vongerella thus far, and hence it couldn't be put past her Vong apprentice to try and overthrow her before she was ready, as Jax had done. Reluctantly, she agreed that they needed insurance, not only against Vongerella, but also against Vongerella's loyal forces on the Dark Emissary, especially if the apprentice had other forces available for her to command and hence overcome Lumiya's own forces. It was then that Vongerella contacted her master and told her that Shimrra had miscalculated, and rather than try to either consolidate his holdings, or push the advantage against the Alliance, he had instead opted to open another front with the Empire, with the Remnant's realm currently aflame as the Vong attacked across the Remnant. Lumiya commanded General Valek to set a course for the battlefront, so they could do their patriotic duty and help save the Empire, while also gaining the insurance needed against Vongerella and her forces.

Lumiya's fleet arrived at the Battle of Yaga Minor, where the Vong commander, B'shith Vorrik was attempting to cripple the only Imperial shipyard. While Moff Kurlen Flennic commanded the defence of the world, the Vong forces had another reason for being there: they had discovered that the Empire was experimenting with bafforr tree pollen, an innocent and accidental bio-weapon that was naturally poisonous to the Vong and their bio-technology, and was now in very short supply due to the Vong destroying Ithor to prevent the tree pollen being used against then. As the Vong infiltrated a science lab, Lumiya commanded her team of red armoured stormtroopers personally, coming to the rescue of the scientists and slaughtering the Vong infiltrators. Procuring the bafforr tree pollen samples for herself, Lumiya was forced to retreat when the remaining Vong destroyed the lab and the planetside munitions dump in an attempt to destroy the pollen samples lest they be used against them. Losing many of her troops in the explosion, Lumiya was forced to retreat, regretfully leaving the bodies of her troops that had served her for so many years after the Vong killed them. In orbit, things were little better. Lumiya's fleet was still powerful, but it was old, and while Flennic, complete with Lumiya's unexpected reinforcements, were holding their own, Flennic, who had aspirations of becoming Supreme Commander of the Empire himself (partly due to frustration with Grand Admiral Pellaeon's friendly relationship with the Alliance and also partly due to his innate Imperial arrogance), was using Lumiya's fleet as essentially a firewall, positioning her forces as living shields essentially to better protect his own dedicated forces. As Lumiya sped back into orbit on her shuttle, she commanded General Valek to retreat, becoming increasingly desperate as her own forces seemed to be the sacrificial lambs which were distracting the Vong forces while Flennic's stronger forces picked them off with relative ease. Valek regretfully informed her that there was little chance of that happening. The Vong forces were too numerous, and all four of her corvettes had already been destroyed, and one of her two Nebulon frigates was dead in space, with the other about to fall to the grutchins currently tearing it apart. Lumiya desperately ordered her general to retreat, telling him they had what they came for, and he had more than done his duty to the Empire. However, as her other Nebulon was destroyed, and one of her Star Destroyers, the Rampage (which had been crippled by enemy fire), sacrificed itself and destroyed a Kor Chokk cruiser in a suicide run, Lumiya realised that her fleet was lost. Her brave warriors had remained loyal to her to the end, and to the Empire. Her support ships were destroyed, and she had lost one of her old but still-powerful Star Destroyers. The destruction of the Kor Chokk cruiser gave them only partial relief, but as the Vong forces resurged in order to go in for the kill, Flennic was forced to directly engage the enemy, as Lumiya's forces were no longer powerful or numerous enough to continue being his living shields. The Fury and the Behemoth, both heavily damaged, limped away from the battle as the Vong forces, sensing victory, pushed ahead, with the enemy command ship destroying the limping Fury in a barrage of plasma fire. Lumiya desperately flew towards the Behemoth, now all but crippled, as it limped away, trying to make good it's escape. As it fled, the remaining Vong Kor Chokk targeted her flagship, and Lumiya was horrified to watch as the ship was about to destroy the last of her fleet…only for the Kor Chokk to be destroyed as Imperial reinforcements arrived at Yaga Minor, with Grand Admiral Pellaeon commanding from the Right to Rule. With the Vong, and indeed Flennic, distracted, Lumiya jumped her shuttle to hyperspace, and the Behemoth also fled the system, while Pellaeon finished off the Vong, winning the Battle of Yaga Minor for the Empire.

Lumiya's shuttle arrived back at the Home, followed in short order by a heavily damaged Behemoth. The aged Star Destroyer had done its duty to her, however, it had been all but crippled even before it had jumped away from the planet, and the jump had finished it off, the extensive damage inflicted on the vessel having torn the ship asunder, splintering the ship's main keel. Numerous hull breaches had vented much of her Star Destroyer to vacuum, her fighters were all gone, and most of its crew were dead or dying. A despondent Lumiya boarded her Star Destroyer for the last time, thanking and commending her remaining forces as the ship groaned and splintered, as the evacuation commenced. Lumiya's last stop was the bridge, where she met General Valek, who had been impaled by shrapnel and was clinging to life. She thanked her long time companion for his dedication to her and to the Empire, and advised him to rest easy, as one day, the Empire would again reign supreme. Valek thanked her, and told her that he felt sure that she would see through her promise, and advised her to watch her back when around Vongerella before he finally slipped away. Despondent over the loss over her loyal forces, her long-time companion and commander, and her fleet which had essentially been her home for the better part of twenty years, Lumiya then returned to the Home with her bafforr pollen samples, the cost for which had been all too high, as she allowed the shuttles bearing the survivors of her fleet to leave her service, knowing she could no longer provide for them. She watched as the shuttles departed, bound for the Maw Irregular Fleet, where she knew Admiral Daala (who was using her unique fleet to bedevil the Vong forces) would take them in. With the loss of her fleet, with only the pollen samples to show for it, Lumiya could feel something changing about her within the Force, but remained unsure of what it was…yet.

As the war entered its final days, Lumiya was reunited with her apprentice, who remained determined to usurp command of the Vong empire, and to overthrowing Shimrra to supplant him herself, all apparently as steps to helping Lumiya establishing a benign dictatorship over the galaxy. However, as time went on, Lumiya began to doubt her apprentice's commitment to the Sith, fearing that Vongerella was instead focusing only on the Vong half of her, without addressing the Sith half. The true test came with the Battle of Coruscant. As the Galactic Alliance, the Empire, the Chiss Ascendancy, the Hapes Consortium, the Mandalorians, the Smugglers Alliance and the New Jedi Order all made their last ditch attempt to free the galaxy from the oppression of the Yuuzhan Vong, Lumiya and her apprentice also travelled to Coruscant to lend a hand and do their part to try and free the galaxy, Lumiya, out of patriotic duty, and also curiosity, as she wanted to see if her growing suspicions that Vongerella was more occupied with the fate of the Vong than that of the Sith. Nonetheless, Lumiya and her apprentice travelled to Coruscant, with the two of them battling with Shamed Ones against the forces of the invaders. However as they joined the battle, the living world of Zonama Sekot also arrived to help turn the tide of the battle. Vongerella stopped short in a blind panic as the living world arrived, and decried the doom of her people. Lumiya snapped her out of it, reminding her of her sacrifice as her role as a Sith apprentice, and telling her that the Vong people as a whole were no longer her concern, and that she, as a Sith, had a duty to do more. Furious, ashamed and watching as the entire war turned against her people, Vongerella had little choice but to go along with Lumiya as the Sith Lord helped slaughter Vong forces on the planet surface, with Vongerella joining in, but the enormity of the defeat now facing the Vong hardened something in Vongerella, something that Lumiya vowed to watch closely.

The end of the Vong War brought many changes to the galaxy, and as the two Sith retreated back to the Home, Lumiya watched closely with her oracle stone, seeing where she could advance the aims of the Sith in order to bring the galaxy until a benign but strong authoritarian dictatorship to restore peace and order to the galaxy. Lumiya perceived that her time would soon come. Using the oracle stone, she kept an eye on galactic events from afar: the resentment that many planets felt towards the Alliance for their incompetence in the early days of the Vong War, the newly empowered Empire, Hapans and Chiss, the divide between the worlds that had been ravaged by the Vong and those that hadn't, and the churlish behaviour of numerous planets asking why their sector defence forces and taxes should be used to shore up the Alliance fleet in the devastation following the war. Similar to Darth Sidious and so many others before him, Lumiya started sowing the seeds of discontent throughout the Alliance, hoping to start it fraying at the edges, which in turn would allow the Sith to return to prominence. However, while Lumiya stoked these tensions and watched as the galaxy navigated the post war galaxy, her relationship with Vongerella started to deteriorate.

Despite having deserted the Vong and disavowed them during the war when she became Lumiya's apprentice, as the war went on, and hence Vongerella's plans to replace Shimrra as Supreme Overlord were steadily thwarted, Vongerella started to pull away from her master, focusing more on trying to undo the damage that had been inflicted on her people, who had been demilitarised and essentially imprisoned on Zonama Sekot after the conclusion of the war. Wanting to restore the Vong to power, and then use that as a springboard to take over the galaxy for the Sith, making a Vong-led Sith empire which would be the foundation of a brutal new authoritarian regime, with Vongerella at its head. However, this was in direct opposition to Lumiya's plans, who wanted to create a strong, disciplined and authoritarian government, however without the brutal excesses of the Empire. Numerous times the two women had the same argument, believing that their way would be better, and while Lumiya repeatedly warned Vongerella that allowing brutality and excesses to run about unchecked is what contributed to the Empire's downfall, Vongerella was determined to rule with an iron fist, and remake the galaxy in her image. Lumiya however was watching closely, and was wary of her apprentice drifting away from her intentions, along with betraying her vows as a Sith, and also began to suspect Vongerella was scheming to replace her, and usurp her plan for her own.

Vongerella vanished for some weeks into the Cloak of the Sith region of space, taking her flagship with her. Lumiya remained at the Home, trying to use the oracle stone to keep an eye on her apprentice, believing that Vongerella was up to something. Furthermore, her agents had warned her that Kyle Katarn, one of Luke's Jedi Council and the battlemaster of the New Jedi Order was sniffing around, investigating rumours of a Sith resurgence (for which she suspected an agent of the One Sith had been rather careless and had been caught), and Lumiya wished to keep her continued existence secret from the Jedi so far, knowing she wasn't ready yet. As it transpired, Vongerella captured the Jedi Daye Azur-Jamin, turning him to the dark side as she tortured him. Lumiya easily perceived that Vongerella intended to use Daye to challenge her for the role of Dark Lord and sent an anonymous tipoff to a team consisting of Jan Ors, Mara Jade Skywalker and Jaden Korr, who freed Katarn and redeemed Azur-Jamin, and forced Vongerella to flee. Confident that her apprentice had gotten away relatively unscathed and that the Sith hadn't been completely exposed, as Vongerella returned to Lumiya and the Home, Lumiya remembered the words of General Valek, and readied her baforr tree pollen samples, lying in wait for her apprentice to return. Vongerella eventually returned, and met her master. Lumiya confronted her over her recklessness, and Vongerella justified herself, saying it was the nature of the Sith to overthrow the master. Lumiya agreed, and telling her that she had indeed taught her that. However, Vongerella wasn't trying to overthrow her master. Vongerella was trying to overthrow the Sith and make them subservient to a resurgent Yuuzhan Vong empire. Lumiya reminded her that she had forsaken her people in order to become her apprentice, and that she had sacrificed her role in a society that didn't want her to become something more, something greater. Vongerella snarled back that she had done so at a time when the Vong had been poised to conquer the entire galaxy, and had done so because she felt she could do a better job of running the Vong than Shimrra and Tsavong Lah were doing, and would help Lumiya bring peace to the galaxy with the Vong as the dominant force. Lumiya sneered that she would never allow a marauding, violent, invading alien species to become the dominant force of the galaxy, and that she had failed as a Sith by taking her as her apprentice, failing to realise despite how the Vong had treated her, how Onimi (the true Vong overlord and the one behind the numerous attempts to humiliate or kill Vongerella) had gone out of his way to try and to destroy the only other Force-sensitive Vong in existence, how despite all this, Vongerella was still a slave to the Yuuzhan Vong way of life. She hadn't made the sacrifice necessary to become a Sith, she had simply been opportunistic and adopted the Sith as a path to power without doing the necessary work. Vongerella replied that the entire point of the Sith is to accumulate power, to which her master replied that there needs to be a balance, and that the Sith have a duty to the wider galaxy, to the Force, and to bring the galaxy to heel under their rule. Not to be used as a means to an end, a means to an end for Vongerella to take revenge on those who wronged her, and then subjugate the galaxy to the cruel, capricious whims of the Vong. Vongerella was incensed, and told her master that she had done everything Lumiya had asked, but the master replied that she hadn't. She had failed as an apprentice, hadn't truly committed the sacrifice, and was, like Krayt's Sith, little more than a charlatan and a usurper.

Vongerella snarled and ignited her double bladed ligthsaber, springing at her master. Lumiya ignited her lightwhip and a titanic duel erupted between the two, with the power of the Home pouring through the two Sith. However, despite Vongerella's better than mosts chances against her master's whip due to her double bladed lightsaber, Lumiya soon pushed her apprentice back, taking the upper hand, bedevilling her with Force phantoms that she controlled while pushing her advantage. Vongerella was slowly forced back into the tunnels, where Lumiya's connection to her dark side home was strongest, her Force phantoms and natural Force ability growing stronger as she called on the dark side, along with weaponizing her bafforr pollen samples to burn her apprentice, and eventually sheared her apprentice's weapon in two, and taking her apprentice's hand off. As Vongerella dropped to her knees, Lumiya looked at her apprentice, and saw something of herself in the Vong woman. Deactivating her whip, she crouched down in front of Vongerella, taking her apprentice's chin in her hand. She told her that she knew what it was like to have her entire way of life be destroyed from under her, and she had spent a very long time trying to come to terms with that, and also trying to repair what was lost. She sympathised with Vongerella, and told her, that by and large, she had been a fine apprentice, but she was unsuitable to be a Sith, at least, at the moment. Vongerella asked her master if she was going to kill her, and Lumiya replied that this time, she wouldn't. She instead opted to banish her apprentice, and told Vongerella that when the day came that she could accept what had happened to the Yuuzhan Vong and their failed conquest of the galaxy, she knew where her master would be. Vongerella was shocked, but accepted her defeat with relative good grace, and gave a last, grateful bow to her master, thanking her for her training, before departing the Home on the Dark Emissary, disappearing into the darkness of the galaxy, the last time the two women would see each other.

Spent from her battle with Vongerella, Lumiya retired to her sanctum, feeling despondent once again. Vongerella had been just like her, and she supposed that she had turned a blind eye to Vongerella's problems with suitability for the role due to their shared connection. She had spent years teaching the Vong girl, and she had been a fine apprentice, but she had been unable to make that last, most important step, the final sacrifice. She reflected upon that this was perhaps what Vergere had meant, that she would never truly be a Sith master, hampered as she was by her injuries, and by her training under Sidious and Vader, not to mention the rising power of Luke's order. As she fell into a restful meditation however, she lost track of herself in the depths of the Home, and the Force began to speak to her. Numerous spectres visited her, spectres from her past, including previous Sith including Vader, Vectivus, Taral, Gean and Toxis all spoke with her, a cacophony inside her mind as she meditated. All through the vision, she also saw Vergere, speaking in riddles, lies and half-truths, further vexing the Sith, as she felt that she was the only one sacrificing anything. She had lost her Empire, her master, her way of life, her health, her revenge, everything she had tried to do, including train her apprentices, had all fallen short. It was then that the image of Vergere then spoke to her, for the final time, and said something that the real Vergere had often said: 'everything I tell you is a lie'. Abruptly, Lumiya woke from her meditation, in the midst of an epiphany, an epiphany that she had been trying to realise since the destruction of her fleet during the Vong war.

A Sith's life was sacrifice. A Sith did not need to be a galaxy conquering megalomaniac like Sidious, but a Sith instead had a duty, similar to the galaxy, to create a benign, strong dictatorship, which would allow the galaxy to finally experience peace. Lumiya had done all her sacrifices, indeed, she had sacrificed more than most Sith ever had, but had lacked the wisdom to make the final step, to achieving true mastery of the dark side. All this time, she had been lying to herself, secretly holding onto her grudges and desire for revenge against those who had wronged her and the Empire, all of which hampered her ability to realise her full potential. Everything she had told herself was a lie, and it was the avatar of Vergere that had finally allowed her to realise this. With this epiphany, Lumiya felt something change within her, and felt herself truly ascend to the role of Sith master, as through the Force, her chains were broken, and she was finally freed from her past, dedicating herself to a new Sith destiny that would allow the Sith to rule s benign dictators and restore peace, order and stability to a lawless galaxy once again.

Casting aside her own desires in pursuit of her new destiny to help a new Dark Lord of the Sith retake the galaxy, she began to use her Force phantom abilities to select a new champion, who, Force willing, would turn to the dark side, become a Dark Lord of the Sith, and restore stability, peace and order to the galaxy, ending the constant state of war that seemed to permeate the galaxy. She debated with herself for weeks, months (missing the entirety of the Swarm War in the process) as she considered various luminaries for the role. Kyp Durron was dismissed as unsuitable as he was too obstinate and had also been too easily led by the spirit of Exar Kun, not to mention his destruction of Carida. Mara Jade Skywalker was considered but dismissed due to how Mara had cut herself off from all the legacies of Sidious (and due to Lumiya's own personal distaste for her (she may have had an epiphany and realised her true potential, but she was still only human)). Anakin Solo would have been a fine choice, she had reflected, but his tragic death during the Vong war had scuppered that particular avenue. Jaina Solo was also dismissed, due to being too emotional (something Lumiya later felt vindicated in thinking due to her actions in the Second Galactic Civil War). Leia Organa Solo was considered, but Lumiya dismissed her for two reasons, one because she knew Leia could never move on from the evil legacy of her father, and secondly, because despite everything she respected her too much to even attempt to turn her to the dark side, believing Leia had more than earned a rest from the galaxy's mess. Similarly, she felt the same about Luke, and also dismissed him, knowing he had even managed to defy Sidious himself during his return, not to mention his loyalty to Yoda and Obi-Wan's teachings

Instead, one vision seemed to move to the forefront of Lumiya's mind, taking shape in her mind's eye, the Force phantom she was speaking to as she realised her perfect apprentice, her Sith champion…Jacen Solo.

Lumiya had kept half an eye on all the Solo children as they grew, and had been impressed with Jacen over the course of his career, especially during the Vong War. Able to justly dispense power when the situation called for it, without being overtly tempted, he was, in Lumiya's eyes, the perfect prospective apprentice. His close bond with Luke was the only real stumbling block, and thanks to Vergere, ever since the Vong War Jacen had been rather more morally grey than before anyway, which Lumiya hoped to use to her advantage, using the trauma of the Vong War, losing his brother and his year-long torture at the hands of the Vong to help drive him to the dark side, which in turn would allow him to grow into the role of the Dark Lord of the Sith, like his grandfather before him. A new, strong Sith champion, who would end the constant state of warfare that seemed to plague the galaxy, and usher in a new era of Sith rule, and the galaxy would finally have peace, and Lumiya would be the architect of it all. The fact that it would devastate her old enemies (despite her epiphany she remained only human, and a tiny part of her did relish getting her revenge on the Skywalker/Solo clan in such a way) was just an added bonus.

With Vongerella gone, Lumiya spent a lot of her time, honing her power and skill within the dark side, particularly her use of the Force phantoms the Home allowed her to generate with its innate dark side nexus. At the same time, she continued to orchestrate various schemes from behind the scenes, including goading Thrackan Sal-Solo and his belligerent faction towards seizing control of Corellia, tipping the increasingly belligerent Corellian government into battle against the Alliance. At the same time, she also conspired behind the scenes throughout the Alliance and the Empire, working in an assumed identity with Moffs Quille and Lecersen, along with overambitious senators within the Alliance such as Senator Haydnat Treen, all of whom she viewed as vital pawns to helping tip the galaxy into a war, a last war, that would allow Jacen to grow into his role as a Sith, take command of the galaxy, and unite it all under one banner.

To this end, she used her Force phantoms for other ends too. As the Galactic Alliance grew increasingly resentful of Corellia's burgeoning rebellion and planned a show of military force to quell them, Lumiya used her ability with Force phantoms to manipulate Admiral Klauskin (the recently widowed commander of the Second Fleet) to exacerbate the situation. Operation Roundabout (which should never have gone ahead in the first place but due to Klauskin's mismanagement of the situation made the whole affair a million times worse, particularly when he seized Tralus) was a failed show of military force by the Alliance aiming to bring an end to the brewing rebellion, a fact made worse by Lumiya's manipulations. She proceeded to then sabotage a peace summit with the aid of Thrackan Sal-Solo, nudging the two sides closer to war, and also ensuring Sal-Solo would become the leader of Corellia, while also dropping a clue for Jacen to follow. Having crafted a series of tassels that would lead Jacen to hunt down the meaning of the bauble, she prepared to meet her prospective apprentice. Jacen, to rote, followed the clues that Lumiya's tassels provided him, unknowingly following her to Lorrd where she knew he would head to in order to decipher the meaning of the tassels. Having arrived there ahead of him, Lumiys instigated numerous Force related disasters that led Jacen and his apprentice Ben, along with fellow Jedi Nelani Dinn on the hunt for her. Allowing herself to be captured under the guise of Brisha Syo, Lumiya waited for Jacen and his companions. When Jacen arrived, she coyly admitted her role in recent events, and said that she would reveal more at her home. Reluctantly, Jacen agreed to follow her back to her lair with Ben and Nelani in tow.

Arriving at the Home, Lumiya began her plan in earnest, determined to make sure that Jacen became the Sith she had foreseen. She explained her views on the Force, and on the Sith in general, and argued that a balancing act could be maintained, which she saw intrigued Jacen, who believed, thanks to Vergere, in the Unifying Force. She claimed that Sith, even Vader, didn't have to be galaxy conquering, mass murdering psychopaths, and that they could in fact be a force for good. She then told them the tale of Darth Vectivus, and that a Sith Lord aspirant was hiding in the depths. Leading them to the depths of the Home, Lumiya then Force pushed Ben and Nelani out of the railcar they were travelling in, isolating Jacen and setting her Force phantoms and mynocks on the other two Jedi, while her Force phantoms also struck at Luke and Mara across the galaxy. Exhausted from maintaining her Force assault, while Jacen combated a vision of his uncle, Lumiya, who had been testing Jacen to see if he would easily reach for the easy way and tap into the dark side power of the asteroid, then beckoned Jacen further into her sanctum, into the deepest recesses of the building. Inside, she finally admitted who she was: the lady Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith, former apprentice of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, and the true Dark Lord of the Sith.

Knowing she had Jacen's attention, she then pushed ahead with her seduction. Just as Sidious had played on the attachment of Anakin Skywalker to Padme Amidala sixty years before, Lumiya now exploited Jacen's attachment to Vergere, who still had a massive hold on the young man even fifteen years after her death. Falsely telling Jacen that Vergere was a Sith, and that Lumiya had been her apprentice, she told him that the two women had conspired to make him the sort of Sith the galaxy needed to restore peace, order and stability. She told him she envisioned him saving the galaxy from itself, without falling into the same traps that their predecessors had. She could tell she was getting there, and that Jacen was seriously considering her words, filling her with a dark satisfaction, as she felt the destiny of the Sith take shape around her (and a little bit of revenge). Unknown to Lumiya at the time, Jacen had been having visions of a dark man who would plunge the galaxy into chaos, which made him all the more fearful of the future, as in the future he saw, he saw himself battling and killing Luke, and that his daughter, who while still unknown to Lumiya, was the driving force behind Jacen's decision to agree to listen to Lumiya's teachings in order to give her a galaxy where she could be safe.

As Jacen contemplated his decision, seeing visions of numerous futures all of which led to chaos, Nelani arrived and tried to arrest Lumiya. While more than a match for the girl usually, exhausted from generating her Force phantoms, Lumiya was more hard pressed to deal with the girl's attack than she should have been. However, as Sidious had portrayed himself as the weak victim during his duel with Mace Windu after the Master of the Order had defeated him so many years before in order to lure Anakin to the dark side, Jacen then followed his grandfather's example to save the older, weaker Sith from the other Jedi, and the confrontation led to the death of Nelani, which Jacen felt would save the galaxy from falling into chaos, and preventing the death of his uncle. Pleased with her work, Lumiya assured Jacen that he had taken the first step into achieving true Sith mastery, and saw him and his unconscious cousin off. Satisfied, she returned to her sanctum, and spoke with the Force phantom that she had created of the Sith that Jacen would become. She foresaw that Jacen would become the phantom, a true Sith, and as the phantom faded into nothingness, she felt her victory was assured: the Sith would return, would rule the galaxy once more, and the galaxy would be united once and for all. What was more, she had achieved balance, and both she and Jacen would become true Sith, and would also regain balance, a balance that only the Sith could manage to attain.

Lumiya then began teaching Jacen the ways of the Sith, following him to Coruscant to help in this new phase of his education. As the political situation tipped more towards all-out war (which Lumiya had a hand in, not that she admitted it to her new apprentice) the two of them entered the Jedi temple, with Lumiya and Luke coming into contact with each other for the first time in decades. Lumiya was clouding her presence within the Force and Luke remained unaware, but both he and Ben believed that the woman with Jacen was slightly familiar to them. Lumiya relocated herself to Coruscant, bringing many of her Sith artefacts with her in order to help Jacen achieve his destiny. She set up numerous traps and escape routes, as she always did, and joined Jacen after the announcement of Grand Admiral Pellaeon's retirement as Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance. Figuring that Jacen would need help from a strong military once he took over the galaxy, Lumiya orchestrated the rise to power of Cha Niathal, an ambitious Mon Calamari, who was named Supreme Commander instead of the likes of Nek Bwua'tu who should have been next in line to inherit the position. With his future political career and rise to galactic dominance assured, and now a strong military presence that the Sith could control secured, Lumiya set about helping her new apprentice in his rise to power, and assuring him of the differences between himself and his grandfather, which was troubling Jacen as he went further under her instruction. Jacen became alarmed when he realised that his uncle had realised Lumiya was back, and present on Coruscant, and that he and Mara were now hunting her. Concerned that the Jedi might find her before she had finished Jacen's training, she accelerated her plans. While simultaneously reassuring Jacen of the role he had to play in his journey towards dark side mastery, she also advised him on the benefits of starting to distance himself from his loved ones, as they would be the chains that would need to be broken with his sacrifice in order to achieve true Sith mastery. She also encouraged Jacen to continue moulding Ben into becoming his Sith apprentice. Her reason for this was two-fold: Jacen and Ben were the direct descendants of Lord Vader, and she believed that they would be much better suited to wielding power over an unruly galaxy, and secondly, the small, spiteful part of her that remained despite overcoming her prejudices, relished the idea of turning both of her enemies sons to the dark side. She encouraged him throughout her training, telling him that a true Sith must make a sacrifice, and that she felt the time was fast approaching when he would do that, and then he would become the Sith she had envisioned.

As Lumiya continued to teach Jacen, he began to use the World Brain, which had been placed on Coruscant by the Yuuzhan Vong in order to help with their terraforming once they seized the planet, as an intelligence asset. Following her apprentice, Lumiya was barely able to save him from an assassination attempt by fallen Jedi Alema Rar, who despised the Solo family for the multiple wounds she had suffered during the Swarm War. Failing to save the World Brain which died as a result of the poison dart Alema had fired at Jacen, Lumiya dismissed her apprentice as being a slave to his emotions as he wanted to chase down the assassin, and told him he had bigger concerns. Instead, Lumiya was sent by her apprentice to kill the members of the Bothan True Victory party, whom Jacen believed responsible for the assassination attempt that had killed the World Brain. By doing so, Lumiya antagonised the Bothan government, pushing them into declaring war against the Alliance as the galaxy drifted closer towards full-blown conflict, suiting her plans. As Lumiya discussed events with Jacen, who was about to be rewarded with his own Star Destroyer, she was distracted when Tresina Lobi, a member of the Jedi Council, emerged, having heard of Jacen's defection to the Sith. Lumiya urged Jacen to go while she dealt with the Jedi, and she was joined in short order by Alema Rar, who proved more of a hindrance than a help, as Tresina forced Lumiya onto the backfoot due to Alema's meddling. Tresina took Lumiya's weapon arm, but Alema then interceded as she prepared to kill the Sith. Recovering her lightwhip, Lumiya and Alema then trapped Tresina in a pincer, and between the two of them, killed her. Alema was delighted with Lumiya's plans, having deduced her role in Jacen's downfall, and pledged her allegiance to Lumiya, who was rather bemused but accepted the help of the insane Dark Jedi.

Lumiya then departed Coruscant with Jacen, leaving Alema behind to carry out her dirty work. As the two headed to Hapes, Luke and Mara were investigating Tresina's death, and had deduced Lumiya's involvement, believing that she was stalking Ben with the intention of taking her revenge on their son, and the two elected to pursue her. With Lumiya and Jacen now in the Hapes Cluster helping Queen Mother Tenel Ka, who had recently been targeted by assassins sent by the Heritage Council (a group of rogue Hapan nobles, bankrolled and manipulated by Lumiya secretly to topple the Hapan monarchy and allow Jacen to establish dominance over the cluster, which her masters had failed to do and would end another potential flashpoint of trouble) it became apparent that Luke and Mara were both hot on her heels. Now joined by Alema, the two travelled to Roqoo Depot, preparing a trap that would ensnare the two Jedi, and with luck, kill them, leaving Jacen's way to power (and potentially control of the Jedi Order), and to Ben, clear of obstacles.

On Roqoo Depot, Lumiya entered the cantina and attacked the civilians, using them as hostages and shields, and forcing Luke and Mara, who had arrived to deal with her, to choose between attacking her, or saving lives. Feeding off the terror of the patrons that she was tormenting, the Dark Lady of the Sith and the Grand Master of the Jedi engaged in a vicious duel, while Alema revealed herself and attacked Mara, preventing the two Jedi from pinning the Sith between them. In a moments distraction caused by Alema nearly killing Mara, Lumiya took the upper hand, severing Luke's artificial hand and considerably wounding him. She was about to kill him, her entire body radiating triumph (partly for revenge, and partly because it would make Jacen's lot easier) when Luke shot her repeatedly with a blaster rifle. As she lay, just as defeated as Luke felt, he prepared to kill her, however, Mara had discovered the extent of Lumiya's plan, as she and Alema had both rigged themselves with suicide vests and killing her now would kill them all. Luke and Mara were forced to flee, and Lumiya and Alema limped away using the explosion to cover their tracks.

Lumiya convalesced back at the Home, recovering from her wounds, though was satisfied at having duelled her opposite to a draw. She eventually contacted Jacen, who could see the galaxy was stumbling all the faster into all-out war, and was concerned about whether Ben was suitable as a Sith apprentice. Offering to coordinate a task for Jacen to see if Ben could become a Sith, she lured Ben into a trap on the Sith world of Ziost. To her annoyance however, Ben proved himself to be more akin to his father in terms of his nature as opposed to his mother, and vexed, Lumiya ordered the boy killed, but he escaped the trap, all while his parents continued their hunt, determined to prevent Lumiya from threatening their son.

While the Jedi tried to hunt her down, Lumiya continued her behind the scenes ministrations. While her plan to help the Heritage Council seize control of Hapes had failed (not that she was entirely bothered as it meant that due to Tenel Ka's closeness with Jacen it would toe the line anyway), the Confederation was being further pushed into war with the Alliance. The Corellians remained pinned in their own system as a result of a blockade, but Lumiya sought to spread the war, to make it easier for Jacen to usurp control of the galaxy, just as Darth Sidious had done before him. With her machinations, the Bothans and the forces of Commenor were freed up, particularly following the defection to Commenor of Admiral Klauskin, who Lumiya had previously driven insane, and able to attack the Alliance, staging an attack on the Corellian system, breaking the blockade. With the blockade broken, the war was officially joined, just as Lumiya had planned, and more worlds seceded from the Alliance and joined the confederation, including Bespin, Adumar and the shipyard world of Fondor. The Second Galactic Civil War had officially begun, and she planned to help Jacen assume control of the galaxy, and unite it under one banner. However, now that she had the war, she needed to help control its outbreak, to best guide Jacen into achieving dominance over the galaxy. She joined her apprentice in his mission to Gilatter VIII to try and apprehend the newly crowned Supreme Commander of the Confederation, figuring capturing such a figure so early into the conflict would help end it quickly, and if it was Jacen who caught them, he'd be seen as a hero, making it easier for him to become the leader of the galaxy. As the two galactic powers fought above the Gilatter resort as the Confederation sprang its trap, Lumiya encountered Alema once again, who was there to try to kill Mara following their last encounter on Roqoo Depot. As Luke, Mara, Han and Leia all arrived, Lumiya and Alema agreed to work together to delay the Skywalkers and Solos while giving Jacen the chance he needed to escape the Confederation's trap on the resort.

Luke once again battled Lumiya, the two avatars of the Force going at it. Luke accused Lumiya of being out to hurt him and his family due to the destruction of the Empire, the damage he had done to her personally, and for killing her masters. Lumiya told her that this wasn't the case, and deactivated her whip, and extended her hand to Luke, who despite being concerned it was a trick, accepted, believing her offer of amnesty. However, they were then distracted as a ship slammed into the resort, allowing Lumiya to flee, and return to Jacen on his Star Destroyer, the Anakin Solo. When there she chided Jacen on still allowing his emotions to rule him, and told him that despite the failure at Gilatter VIII, he would eventually become powerful enough to essentially guarantee victory. However, his lack of emotional control made Lumiya worry that her apprentice wasn't quite ready to be a Sith yet, to her chagrin, and she left him to stew as she contemplated their next move.

Ben then returned from his mission (alive to Lumiya's slight irritation), but came back on an ancient Sith meditation sphere. Intrigued by the ship, Lumiya offered it to Jacen but due to his current public persona he was unable to take it, so Lumiya appropriated it for her own uses until he could use it himself. Taking Ship as her own, she headed for the Home, and was followed by Alema. When back on her asteroid retreat, she warned the Dark Jedi not to interfere with her plans for Jacen, as the insane Twi'lek would only get in her way at this crucial juncture of Jacen's Sith education, and she couldn't risk that. Instead sending her off to track Jacen, Lumiya returned to Coruscant, where Jacen was conspiring to take control of the government, despite her objections that he should wait. Nonetheless, she attended the senate session, and used her Force powers to ensure that the law that Jacen had drafted would pass, which would allow him to arrest the chief of state himself should the need arise. Lumiya also overheard a confrontation between Jacen and Mara, and as such related to her apprentice that Ben would be an unsuitable candidate for his Sith apprentice. Jacen however moved ahead with his plans to usurp control of the Alliance with the help of Admiral Niathal. Lumiys tried to discourage this, believing that he wasn't yet ready to take command of the galaxy as he hadn't amassed enough power yet, and what was more, there was still the Jedi to deal with. Jacen however pushed ahead, and Lumiya reluctantly offered to distract the Skywalkers while he made his move. Taunting her old foes, she goaded Mara into chasing her to the moon of Hespiridium and the two fought a brutal duel, however both were prevented from jilling the other by the intervention of Ship, allowing both of them, bodies and egos bruised, to retreat to die another day.

As Jacen manipulated events to allow him to arrest Cal Omas and proceed to name himself and Niathal as joint chiefs of state of the Alliance, Lumiya returned to his side, telling him that the Force was crying out for change, and that his sacrifice must happen soon. Jacen however was exhausted from his campaigns and his taking control of the Alliance, vexing his master, who nonetheless agreed to watch Niathal lest she try and usurp singular control of the government. However, as Jacen snuck away from Coruscant, Lumiya was suspicious of what he was doing and elected to follow him in Ship. At Hapes, she discovered the truth: that he was having a secret relationship with Tenel Ka, and what was more, Allana, the Chume'da, was his secret, illegitimate daughter.

Initially thinking that Jacen had come to Hapes to perform his sacrifice, she was dismayed to learn he was only fulfilling his emotional obligations. However, as he left Hapes, he was ambushed by Mara, who had tracked him to the cluster. To protect her apprentice, Lumiya forced Mara down to the planet, however, Jacen, desperate to keep Allana's identity secret, turned on his master. Annoyed but also slightly proud that he was attempting to kill his master in accordance with the Rule of Two, she tried to let Ship allow Jacen to kill her, in accordance with Sith tradition, only to be countermanded by Ben, who could also influence the vessel. However, not long after, Lumiya felt a subtle shift in the Force: Jacen had killed his aunt Mara, sacrificing his aunt and Ben's adoration of him, and as such, had attained the level of understanding he had needed to become a full Sith. Meeting with her apprentice on Ziost, Lumiya felt all the pieces of her life come together as she greeted the new Dark Lord of the Sith, no longer Jacen Solo, but Darth Caedus. After instructing him one last time, she took her leave of her apprentice, offering to distract his heartbroken and grieving uncle one last time while he amassed his power.

As Lumiya prepared herself for her final confrontation with Luke, knowing no matter what happened, one of them wouldn't come away alive, Lumiya was filled with a blissful triumph. She had won. She had finally trained an apprentice to mastery, and Caedus would now remake the galaxy, returning it to the dominion of the Sith, and re-establish order and peace to the galaxy, and with his strong-armed approach, would essentially recreate the Empire in all but name. Once more the Sith would rule the galaxy. And even better, despite having professed to have moved on from such things, her old enemies, those who had destroyed her Empire, would do nothing but suffer. As a Sith should, she had attained true balance, succeeding in her multi-layered scheming. Darth Caedus would rule the galaxy, and what was more, her oldest foes would know it was her doing: Mara Jade Skywalker was dead at the hands of her own apprentice, Luke was utterly heartbroken and would be more so upon learning of the role she and Jacen had played in the death of his beloved wife, and Leia's worst fears had been realised as one of her children had become a Sith, just like his grandfather, and would also feel the keen sting of Jacen's betrayal. Everything had turned out largely as she had intended, and now, all that remained, was her final battle with Luke.

Luke tracked her to the planet Terephon, and there, the Grand Master and the Dark Lady, with nothing else to say to each other, duelled one another for one final time. Luke's sheer will and determination overcame a beleaguered Lumiya, and he forced her to the edge of a cliff. She toppled, and dropped her lightwhip, only for Luke to then hold out a hand to rescue her. However, driven to uncharacteristic behaviour by Mara's death, Luke had only saved Lumiya to ensure that this time, she truly was dead, and brutally executed her by decapitating her with a final stroke.

Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith, was dead at last. However, as a true Sith, she had won even by losing. She had destroyed the Skywalker-Solo family with her actions, tearing them asunder by driving Jacen to the dark side and making him a Sith, just like Vader. Her apprentice did unite the galaxy in a roundabout way, with the galaxy uniting to defeat him, but she still got her wish, and the Empire even expanded as a result of the war, as she would have wanted. A peaceful, stable galaxy, with an expanded Empire followed as a result of her machinations, and the Skywalker-Solo clan had been betrayed in their hearts and would also never recover. She also nullified Luke as a threat to her apprentice, as he learned that she hadn't killed Mara, and that he had executed her in cold blood, and upon realising Jacen's involvement, Luke knew he couldn't face his nephew without risking falling to the dark side in vengeance himself. Lumiya had achieved all of her plans for a unified galaxy, and for revenge on her enemies, as a true Sith master should, and the Rule of Two continued even with her death.

Flint

Species: Human male

Reign: 4 ABY

Info: The son of Jedi Knight Flint Torul (who was killed by General Grievous during the Outer Rim Sieges) and a woman named Zana, Flint was born on the planet Belderone, and spent much of his youth fantasising that he would grow up to become a Jedi. As he grew, he worked in the AT-AT factory on his homeworld, entertaining himself with visions of the future he longed to have.

He encountered Luke Skywalker not long after the Jedi had learned the truth about his parentage and hoped to be trained as a Jedi. Hoping to help the Rebels topple the Imperial presence on his homeworld, he and his friend Barney helped the Rebels target the factory where Flint worked, only for them to realise that the Empire had decided to punish the locals for their role in fomenting Rebellion, and a large task force was dispatched to destroy the local towns. After being knocked out trying to get to town to warn his mother and friends of the impending attack, he found his mother dead and town destroyed, and also, as Barney was also knocked out, though Flint believed him to be dead, Flint was now alone in the world, and blamed the Rebels for their role in what had happened. Raging at the Rebels, he vowed to become someone powerful and important, only for his vow to be overheard by Darth Vader. Pleased with the boy's ambition, and feeling a sense of kinship to the boy, Vader inducted him into the ranks of his stormtroopers, with a mind to training him in the Force as another apprentice.

Vader began to teach the boy the ways of the dark side, keeping him secret for his master and planning to use Flint (or Lumiya as he intended to have the two battle each other for the position as his true apprentice) to help overthrow his master. Flint became well versed in the dark side in a short space of time, and was poised to help his master overthrow Sidious…until the Battle of Endor, and the resulting defeating of the Empire, and its Sith Lord leadership.

Devastated by the loss of his master, who Flint had come to see as a father figure, he fled to Vjun while the Empire began to disintegrate as it was carved up by the various warlord factions. While in mourning on Vjun, Flint was interrupted by the arrival of an oddly clad woman. Lumiya had also been trained by Vader as his prospective apprentice, and as a strict adherent to the Rule of Two, she believed in the set role of master and apprentice, and as such came to define the roles between her and Flint, one would become the master, the other, the apprentice, or there would only be one of them left alive. A confrontation followed, and despite his skill, Flint was no match for Lumiya's superior abilities. Thoroughly subjugated, he accepted the role as her apprentice, and she recruited him into her schemes to save the floundering Empire, and to take revenge on the Rebellion that had killed their master.

Proclaiming himself the Dark Lord of Belderone, Flint launched a campaign in the Phelleem sector to help set the stage for the invasion of Lumiya's Nagai allies. However, unknown to Flint, Luke Skywalker had been contacted by the Force ghost of Anakin Skywalker, who urged his son to fix his mistakes and redeem Flint. Luke then confronted Flint in a duel, in which Luke tried to redeem the darksider, however the interference of Flint's stormtroopers brought an end to the duel, with Flint advancing on Luke to fulfil his master's wishes and kill the Jedi who had overthrown the Empire.

However, to his shock his old friend Barney then arrived and pleaded with Flint to renounce the dark side. With the intervention of his friend, Flint decided to no longer serve the dark side and renounced the Empire. One of his stormtroopers witnessed this and attempted to kill Flint for his treason against the Empire, accidentally killing the young princess of the planet by accident. Devastated by what had happened, Flint turned on the Empire, sabotaging their mission and thwarting Lumiya's plans. Surrendering peacefully, this brought an end of Flint's time as a Sith apprentice, leaving Lumiya as the sole Sith.

Flint was rehabilitated, and retired back to Belderone to live a simple life. He eventually helped resettle the Firrerreo that had been imprisoned by the Procurator of Justice, Hethrir, and settled them on Belderone. Unknown to Flint, however, his master was furious with his betrayal and had vowed revenge for turning on her. While she didn't exact her revenge quickly, following a string of dispiriting events which she had hoped would improve the Empire's fortunes, she then vented her frustrations by hunting down Flint and killing him on Belderone for his betrayal.

Carnor Jax

Species: Human male

Reign: 5 ABY-11 ABY

Info: Carnor Jax was born to a Thyrsian Sun Guard who was in the employ of Darth Sidious, who was executed by the Emperor for failing to acquire the holocron of Adas. Despite the death of his father, Jax grew up loyal to the Emperor, finding his calling in the stormtrooper corps. Serving as one of the Blackhole stormtroopers of the Emperor's Hand Cronal, he was earmarked for progression to become a Royal Guardsman, to directly serve and protect the Emperor.

Transferred to the planet Yinchorr, Jax trained under Master Ved Kennede in various weapons, such as the force pike, double bladed vibro-blade, and also in the art of Echani combat. While training, Jax was often paired with fellow recruit Kir Kanos, who he frequently bested in combat. During one training session, the Dark Lords of the Sith both arrived on Yinchorr to observe the training of the Red Guards. While Jax and Kanos were highly skilled, another recruit, Burr Danid was known as the best in the class. Vader requested that the best recruit pit themselves against him, and proceed to toy with and kill the other recruit. While the other recruits were shocked, Jax realised what Vader was trying to teach: that the Red Guard, despite their skill, were nothing compared to the power of the dark side, and that demonstration whetted Jax's appetite for greater power, and indeed, for the dark side of the Force, and Jax wanted to be the best.

Arrogant along with his skill, Jax continued his training as the number of recruits dwindled as the training regimen weeded the others out. Paired with his partner for the duration of his training, the final test was to kill his training partner, which Jax did with ease, prostrating himself before the Emperor. He then watched as Kanos also killed his training partner, and was then further humbled by Vader. As a result, the two were promoted to the ranks of the Royal Guard, where Jax served the Emperor. However, while others were deathly loyal to the Emperor, Jax was different, the taste of the dark side he had witnessed during his training had inspired in him the taste for the dark side, and for higher power. Perhaps due to his growing ambition, Jax was not part of the contingent that Sidious took to the Second Death Star, and as such was able to avoid its destruction and the resulting death of the Emperor. Assigned to Coruscant, he came under the command of Sate Pestage, and as the Emperor's Grand Vizier lost power to the Tribunal, and then to Ysanne Isard, Jax retained his position as a guard to the de facto head of the Empire. However, Isard, suspicious of the other potential claimants to the throne after she seized power (Grand Admiral Thrawn and Lumiya were her two main concerns), acted to retain their good graces, and dispatched Jax to serve under Lumiya in her fleet.

Once part of Lumiya's forces as one of her red armoured stormtroopers, Jax served with Lumiya during her mission to Epsilon station in the Cron Drift, where Lumiya detected the burgeoning Force power inside Jax, and offered to train him as her new apprentice, to which Jax accepted. However, in accordance with the Rule of Two, Jax was fully aware of the role of the apprentice in killing the master, and viewed Lumiya, like he had the Emperor, as a means to an end, to acquiring more power, to becoming the Dark Lord of the Sith and seizing control of the Empire, and eventually the whole galaxy. Serving under his master, Jax quickly advanced, growing in power and realising the power of the dark side. As one of his first missions, he joined Lumiya in travelling to Bosthirda to execute the remaining Prophets of the Dark Side for their conspiring to usurp control of the Empire.

As the Empire continued to deteriorate, Lumiya and Jax started to plan out the future of the Empire. Isard had lost Coruscant, and the Empire was flailing. As such, with his master's unseen support from the shadows, Jax headed to Coruscant, and came into close contact with Ars Dangor and Sarcev Quest, two former Emperor's Hands. Initiating himself into their inner circle, Quest took Jax into his confidence. It was then that Jax was told the truth: Darth Sidious had returned. Jax wasted no time in informing his master, who was visibly disturbed that Sidious had returned, knowing that Sidious' return spelled doom for her plans to take control of the Empire, and likely the whole galaxy as he would enact revenge on everyone who had failed him in any way. Summoning her apprentice back to her side, Lumiya and Jax decided, for separate reasons (Lumiya as she knew Sidious' return would lead to her death and inflict great suffering on the galaxy, Jax because if Sidious returned he'd never achieve true power) agreed on their course of action: Darth Sidious had to be destroyed once and for all. Jax also had another reason however; Lumiya, as his master, was all that stood in the way of him becoming the Sith master. If Sidious returned, there was little chance of him being a Sith apprentice, let alone Dark Lord of the Sith, and as such, he conspired to kill Sidious to ensure that he could one day seize control of the entire Empire, and then rule the galaxy as Sidious had done himself.

Armed with the knowledge of Sidious' return, Lumiya dispatched her apprentice to the Imperial Ruling Council, who had taken the reins of the empire following Isard's loss of Coruscant. Both Sith realised that while the Council might initially want the Emperor to return in order to revitalise the Empire, they would all at least have the sense of self-preservation and self-interest that would make them realise that of everyone, Sidious' return to the throne would benefit them the least. Jax, acting as his master's hand, started to sound out the various members of the council, such as Borr Nolyds, Xandel Carivus, Mahd Windcaller and Feena D'Asta, using the vast funds his master provided him to buy off the council members and develop relationships with them, to prepare for the time when the Sith could retake control of the Empire.

While his master concerned herself with trying to slow the deterioration of the Empire, Jax was forging relationships and partnerships with the council members, all the while increasing his own power. Enamoured by his rising ascendancy to power, Jax attempted to have the council reach out to Warlord Zsinj, at the time the biggest threat to the nascent New Republic, in the hope of combining the power of the two factions to bring an end to the Rebellion. However, to Jax's frustration, he made little headway, though both he and Lumiya weren't entirely bothered with this development, mainly due to Zsinj's role as custodian of the Nightsisters of Dathomir, whom the two Sith feared would challenge their power. The two Sith continued to develop their power, with Jax, as far as Lumiya was concerned, acting as little more than his master's proxy. Jax however was growing increasingly enamoured with his rising power and place on the council, something which was partly supported by Sarcev Quest, who sought to use Jax as a figurehead to rally the masses. As such, Quest bequeathed two Star Destroyers, the Emperor's Revenge and the Steadfast to Jax, who eagerly accepted the gift, failing to realise Quest, who had deduced that Jax was acting as a proxy for someone else (and correctly fearing it was another Emperor's Hand), was manipulating him just as Lumiya was.

The Battle of Dathomir saw the end of Zsinj and the Nightsisters, but the two Sith were all the more determined to bring the Empire back under the control of the dark side of the Force. It was during this time that Jax first met the mysterious Nom Anor, who offered Jax his help with the Empire. Dismissing the agent initially, Jax would encounter Anor many more times, though their partnership would never progress to that of an actual level. While Anor was seeking an alliance with Jax, to the delight of Lumiya, Grand Admiral Thrawn returned from the Unknown Regions. Quickly telling her apprentice of his exploits, Jax agreed with her: Thrawn was what the Empire needed to retake the initiative in the Galactic Civil War. Jax had no interest in commanding vast fleets, he was an army trooper. The news that the last Grand Admiral had returned emboldened the Empire, and realising that Thrawn could do everything that Jax himself could not, Jax, on Lumiya's orders and under his own initiative, set about conspiring with the council to appoint Thrawn as Supreme Commander, and the council could sit back and watch as Thrawn destroyed the Rebellion. The two Sith hoped for an Imperial victory with Thrawn in charge, and Jax perceived his time had come: Thrawn would act as Supreme Commander, and Jax himself would be named Emperor and rule the galaxy, all while remaining in control of the ruling council. Jax was growing increasingly enamoured with his position with the Empire, his task force, the forces of General Wessel under his command, and also enjoyed the use of his 'Hand', Blim. He felt the time had come for him to become the Emperor, and when Thrawn was done with the Rebellion, he would be. The Ruling Council was his to command, and Thrawn would retake the galaxy. That left one impediment to Jax's dominion over the Empire: his master.

During his training with Lumiya, Jax had constructed a lightstaff as his primary weapon, modifying the weapon he had used as a Shadow Guard. Arrogantly believing the time had come to overthrow his master, he confronted Lumiya. As the two faced off, he told her he was the one taking all the risks, not her, and the time had come for her to step aside, and allow Jax to rule in her stead. Jax then engaged his master in a duel, confident that he would kill her, fulfil the Rule of Two, and usurp control of the Sith and the Empire in one fell swoop.

However, to his shock, a furious Lumiya easily humbled him, her lightwhip easily overwhelming him, and destroying his lightstaff in the process. As Jax, horrified that he'd been defeated by a woman double his age with cybernetic limbs, shook in fear while he waited for the blow to fall, Lumiya then told him that patience was the weapon of the Sith, and he had none of it. She dismissed him, and warned him that if he should ever challenge him again, she would kill him and finish the plan herself. A humiliated Jax was allowed to flee his master (their relationship irrevocably damaged by his attempt to dethrone her) and he returned to his villa on Ord Cantrell, to resume his machinations with the Ruling Council. However, as he returned home, the news broke across the Empire: Grand Admiral Thrawn, who had inflicted terrible damage on the New Republic and had brought it to its knees in a short space of time, had been killed at the Battle of Bilbringi. With this news, Jax realised he was thwarted in easily taking control of the whole galaxy, and sought other avenues to power…other avenues which would lead him away from Lumiya.

While still considering himself a Sith, Jax felt that, regardless of the outcome of his duel with his master, that he had outlived the role of Lumiya's apprentice, and was determined to seize power over the Empire himself. To this end, he had allied himself to Sarcev Quest, with the two of them conspiring to usurp the throne from the Emperor, who was gathering his strength in order to launch Operation Shadow Hand. The two had numerous secret meetings with the other council members, along with other members of the Imperial establishment, acquiring support from the military and political sides of the Empire, while acting as the main driving force of his plan to usurp control. These secret meetings quickly established Jax as the figurehead and central figure of the conspiracy to remove the Emperor, with Jax realising the time to overthrow the man whom he was meant to serve If anyone disagreed with the ever-growing conspiracy, Jax would use his hand, Blim, to assassinate them lest word of the conspiracy's treason reached the Emperor. As the Emperor announced his return with the advent of Operation Shadow Hand, Jax's scheming poised him to finally act. Quest manipulated events so that Jax became a Sovereign Protector on Byss, giving Jax unprecedented access to the Emperor, and this allowed Jax to take the final steps in his scheme to usurp control of the Empire, and also, bring down the Emperor. Using the funds provided by Quest, Wessel and Lumiya, Jax bribed the Emperor's physician, who's job it was to oversee the clone bodies that Sidious transferred his body to after each death. The physician sabotaged the clone bodies on Jax's orders, and Jax was pleased: no matter what, Sidious wouldn't last much longer, and then the Empire would be his.

Just one problem remained, Lumiya. With Sidious' health failing him due to his immense dark side energy burning through his clone bodies, his already tenuous grip on his sanity (as a result of his murder at the hands of his own apprentice) declining, and beginning to suspect something was wrong with his clone bodies, Sidious was a lot less attentive and focused than usual. Jax opted to use this to his advantage. He knew Lumiya posed a threat to his and Quest's plan to take over the Empire, and as such revealed to the Emperor that Lumiya had proclaimed herself Dark Lady of the Sith following his death at Endor. The Emperor was predictably enraged and acted to ensure this threat to his power, dispatching Sedriss, his Supreme Commander, to hunt her down. Jax was pleased with his work, either Lumiya would die, and he would become the next Sith, or she would kill Sedriss, and Jax could then try to usurp his position as well. What was more, with Sedriss, who was the most loyal of Sidious' remaining dark side elite, out of the way, sabotaging the other clones became a lot easier than it had been previously, a fact that Jax and Quest, along with their conspirators, took full advantage of. While the battle between Lumiya and Sedriss was inconclusive, it removed Lumiya as an impediment, forcing her to flee to the Outer Rim, far away from her apprentice, who was eagerly pursuing the plan in order to place himself on the throne.

While Sidious battled the Rebellion and the Jedi, he became increasingly concerned with finding a suitable host to retain his spirit due to the sabotage of his clone bodies. As Sidious died over Da Soocha and then died his final death on Onderon, a delighted Jax perceived the time had come for he and Quest to put their plan into effect. The remaining clone bodies had been killed by rebellious members of the dark side elite, and the Jedi finished off the Emperor once and for all. Jax fled Byss before the planet's destruction, though failed to kill the Emperor's physician, who was captured by Luke Skywalker and his friends, and who then proceeded to reveal Jax's complicity in the final defeat of the Emperor. One Royal Guard overheard the physician's confession, and as was dictated by his duty, immediately set out for Yinchorr to alert their comrades as to the treachery of one of their own. Jax, his power in the dark side growing as his power grew, sensed the imminent threat to himself, and sent General Wessel's forces to hunt down and massacre the Royal Guard. The Red Guard were slaughtered to a man, with only one of them escaping, Jax's old rival, Kir Kanos.

Despite the survival of Kir Kanos, Jax was thrilled. His plan had worked beyond all his greatest expectations, Darth Sidious was dead, and Lumiya had been forced onto the run. He now had nothing stopping him seizing control of the Empire, and with his conspirators (he orchestrated the arrest of Sarvec Quest to make sure he didn't turn on him as a result of their success), quickly brought the entire Empire under his rule, becoming emperor in all but name. The Sith once more ruled the Empire, and now Jax turned his attention to the three obstacles to dominion over the entire galaxy: Kir Kanos (who could expose Jax's complicity in the Emperor's final death, and as such Jax posted a massive bounty on his head), Lumiya (whom he still respected enough to realise that she was a threat to his power) and the New Republic (which he intended to destroy and restore the Empire to power).

Jax then led the manhunt for Kanos, determined to stop his old rival before he could interfere with his plans for the galaxy. However, as local militia incompetence allowed Kanos to escape his grip, Jax became increasingly frantic and determined to destroy Kanos. Hunting him with his forces across the expanse of the Empire's current territory, Jax pursued his old rival, coming into contact with Rebels as well as he sought his enemy out. Recruiting the remaining Blackhole stormtroopers to his side to help kill Kanos, Jax then heard that Kanos had fled to Yinchorr. Jax perceived his time had come, and that his victory was at hand. Between Jax himself, his Star Destroyer, Blim, and his stormtroopers, there was no way Kanos could escape the planet. Confident in his victory, there only remained Lumiya, and the New Republic. As he prepared to head to Yinchorr, the mysterious Nom Anor met with Jax once again, and proposed a partnership, which would help Jax bring down the New Republic. Jax asked Anor many questions, and Anor was evasive, demanding proof that Jax would align with him to work towards his own mysterious goals. Jax agreed in principle, seeking to destroy the New Republic, but he was struck with a sense of foreboding about the mysterious Anor. However, he dismissed the uneasiness he felt and instead used the knowledge of Nom Anor and his mysterious aims to bait a trap for his former master: pretending he wished to return to Lumiya's tutelage, he also let her know about Nom Anor, and asked her to meet with him once he had dealt with Kanos. Jax was pleased, sensing the time had come, and the entire galaxy would soon belong to him. He had won, everything was going the way he had planned, and all that remained now, was Kir Kanos.

Leaving one of his Star Destroyers to deal with Mirith Sinn and her Rebel cell on Phaeda, Jax took the Emperor's Revenge to Yinchorr. Kanos had abandoned a Scimitar bomber in orbit, which General Wessel wanted to bring into the hold. Jax however sensed a disturbance in the Force and fled his ship with his Blackhole stormtroopers and Blim, prepared to deal with Kanos once and for all. Kanos' ship was booby trapped and exploded, destroying the Emperor's Revenge and killing Wessel in the explosion. Jax headed down to Yinchorr's surface in his shuttle, and dispatched his troops and Blim to help him close the trap on Kanos. However, Kanos casually assassinated all of Jax's stormtroopers, leaving Jax alone to confront Kanos. Meeting in the Squall where the two once trained, the duel began. Jax easily took the upper hand, despite not having his lightstaff he still had the dark side of the Force and forced Kanos back. However, to Jax's surprise, Kanos' sheer determination and rage allowed him to be a worthy opponent, with the two of them equally matched and leaving neither of them able to take victory against the other. Growing increasingly frustrated, Jax ordered for Blim to kill Kanos, only to find his hand had been killed by Mirith Sinn's Trandoshan second in command, Sish Sadeet, both of whom had followed Kanos and Jax from Phaeda. The two tried to convince Kanos to spare Jax to help end the war, and Jax taunted Kanos and tried to exploit his attachment to Sinn to get him to back off. Kanos remained unmoved, and instead Jax summoned Sadeet's blaster to his hand, and prepared to shoot Kanos. Kanos then acted, batting the blaster away and stabbing Jax through the chest. A horrified Jax then whimpered that his friends had wanted him alive, only for Kanos to remind him that they weren't his friends, and let Jax topple to the ground, his dead body left in the Squall on Yinchorr's surface, the Sith apprentice dead at the hands of those he'd betrayed.

Darth Caedus

Species: Human male

Birth name: Jacen Solo

Reign: 40 ABY, 40 ABY-41 ABY

Info: Born to Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo towards the end of the Thrawn campaign, Jacen Solo was, along with his twin sister Jaina, a target for the remains of the Empire as soon as he was born. The insane clone Joruus C'baoth demanded the two Solo twins as his reward for helping Thrawn coordinate his campaign against the Rebellion, and as such Leia and Han were the constant target of Noghri commandos, and later Imperial intelligence. Raised in the palace by Leia's adoptive sister Winter, Jacen and Jaina were targets for much of their early lives. After Thrawn's defeat and the death of C'baoth, the twins were later evacuated from Coruscant during the attacks of the reborn Emperor. Secreted away on the uncharted world of New Alderaan, they spent much of their time in seclusion during Darth Sidious' campaign to retake the galaxy, though they were present for the birth of their younger brother, Anakin, and remained with their parents until the end of the Emperor's reign when he was defeated once and for all by the combined might of the Jedi that their uncle Luke had assembled.

Concerned about the increasing exposure to the dark side of the Force at such a young age, Luke recommended the kids be relocated to Anoth, where they spent much of their first two years under Winter's supervision. When they returned to Coruscant they were initially resistant to returning to their parent's care, but soon adapted to life on the capital, having a series of adventures, such as getting lost in the undercity and causing mischief for their mother during diplomatic meetings. The twins then travelled to Yavin IV and their uncle's Jedi academy, where Luke had been cast down by Kyp Durron, who was under the influence of the spirit of Exar Kun, a millennia old Sith Lord. Jacen began to explore his powers in the Force, realising he could use his powers to talk to animals, which was helpful when he took up his uncle's lightsaber to defend his uncle from battle hydras who had been sent by Kun's spirit to kill Luke. Jacen later joined his sister, the inaugural class of the academy, his uncle and the spirit of ancient Jedi master Vodo-Siosk Baas to defeat the spirit of Exar Kun, finally vanquishing the ancient Sith Lord. Following his defeat, the Solo twins and their younger brother spent the next several years being targeted by various aspects of the Empire, determined to either use their Force sensitivity for their own ends, or take revenge through harming the children of the woman who had helped destroy the Empire. As they grew in the Force, they were targeted by the likes of Ennix Devian and his Restored Empire, the former Procurator of Justice Hethrir and his Empire Reborn movement, and their estranged cousin Thrackan Sal-Solo. Along with this, Jacen was interested in learning the ways of the Force at a young age, sometimes to his own detriment as he became a bit lazy and less playful than his siblings, yet retained his in-depth bond with animals.

As a result of their cousin's actions, the three Solo children became embroiled in the Corellian Insurrection, with both Jacen and Jaina helping rein in Anakin after he became imprinted on the ancient Centerpoint Station, and Jacen was the one who convinced Anakin to return and save the planet of Bovo Yagen from the ancient space station's primary weapon. As he grew older, he was taken on numerous trips, exposing him to diplomatic meetings across the New Republic, and was present at the event that kick-started the Caamas Document Crisis, which nearly threatened to rip apart the New Republic before the discovery of the unedited Caamas document saw the signing of the Bastion Accords that brought an end to the Galactic Civil War once and for all. Jacen and his siblings were later part of Luke' marriage to Mara Jade, the former Emperor's Hand.

As the twins got older, they transferred to their uncle's Jedi academy to learn the ways of the Force. While they studied, Jacen explored his connection with animals, and befriended (for the first time due to the stringent security measures they had grown up with) other children their own age, such as Tenel Ka (the heir to the Hapan throne), Lowbacca (the nephew of Chewbacca) and Raynar Thul. Jacen became particularly infatuated with Tenel Ka, and made it his mission to get the taciturn young Jedi to laugh with a series of increasingly bad jokes. As they grew in their skill with the Force, encountering various creatures and the downed TIE fighter pilot Qorl, the Solo children enjoyed many adventures as they developed their education. They took part in Lando Calrissian's new venture on GemDiver station, during which Jacen managed to snare a rare Corusca gem, which he would later use as the focusing crystal for his lightsaber. However, while they were on the station, the young Jedi were beset by assailants, and learned the identity of a new enemy: the Shadow Academy.

Taken prisoner by the Second Imperium, a splinter cult of the Deep Core Imperial warlords (secretly orchestrated by Lady Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith), the Solo kids were truly immersed in the dark side of the first time. One of Luke's former students, Brakiss, had fallen to the dark side and fallen in with the Nightsister Tamith Kai in order to advance the ends of the Shadow Academy. During his internment in the academy, Jacen taunted Brakiss and the other dark siders, and was forced to spar with a lightsaber against his sister, before he felt emotionally ready to wield the weapon. He eventually escaped, using his Corusca gem and finding Luke who had come to rescue them and fled the academy, though they all recognised that the battle with the Shadow Academy had only just begun.

As the confrontation with the Shadow Academy and the Second Imperium began to develop, Luke accelerated the training of Jacen and his friends, an event further driven by their friend Zekk's defection to the Shadow Academy. Jacen constructed his lightsaber, using his Corusca gem as a crystal and creating a green blade. During a training session in which he sparred with Tenel Ka, a fault with Tenel Ka's lightsaber crystal led to her blade malfunctioning, and Jacen accidentally severed her arm at the elbow, which horrified the young man who had inflicted such an injury on his friend. As she recuperated on Hapes, the two settled the worry that both had caused the accident, and returned to the academy after foiling a plan by Ta'a Chume to stop her granddaughter becoming a Jedi. After attending the ceremony of Lowbacca's sister on Kashyyyk, Jaina received a visit from Zekk who cryptically warned her that the academy was about to come under attack, and they rushed back to Yavin to aid in the defence of the academy and the other Jedi.

The battle raged on Yavin, however thanks to the actions of Jacen and his friends, the New Republic was able to come and crush the forces of the Second Imperium. Following their defeat, the twins befriended Raynar Thul, and while searching for their friend's father, they had their first encounter with the Diversity Alliance, a group of aliens bound together by a common hatred of humans as a result of persecution from the Empire. As the conflict with the Alliance grew, Jacen and his friends battled against them, preventing them from using former Imperial bioweapons to try and wipe out humans, and helping to bring an end to the threat, along with battling the agents of Black Sun, including Anja Gallandro. As a result of all the good they had done battling the Second Imperium, the Diversity Alliance and Black Sun, Jacen graduated from the praxeum, and instead became apprenticed to his uncle, along with brother, Anakin, while his sister became apprenticed to his aunt Mara.

As Jacen developed as Luke's apprentice, he began to question his uncle's traditional views of what a Jedi was and should be, and disagreed with the plans to reconstitute the Jedi High Council. He also spent a lot of the time debating this question with his younger brother, Anakin, with them frequently winding up in practice duels. They continued their debates on the trip to Dubrillion, the world where Lando had set up his most recent venture, and after showing their flying prowess, the family was split up as Han and Anakin went to Sernpidal while Luke and Mara went to Belkadan to investigate why the ExGal authority outpost had gone silent. It transpired that the two planets were under mysterious assault, by an unknown enemy who used biological weapons which resulted in the destruction of the two worlds, and worse, the death of Jacen's Wookiee uncle, Chewbacca, devastating the entire family, Anakin especially who blamed himself. The loss of the two planets was only the beginning as the insidious new enemy moved towards Dubrillion: the Yuuzhan Vong War had begun.

After the abortive Vong attack on Dubrillion, the twins stole a mole miner in order to investigate the Helska system, and there he rescued the captured scientist Danni Quee before fleeing into the New Republic task force that was attempting to stop the Vong incursion, however their lack of knowledge of their new enemy led to the destruction of the Star Destroyer Rejuvenator. With Jacen helping to lure the traumatised Danni out of her shell, her information helped the survivors of the initial Vong attempt to establish a beachhead to formulate a new strategy that led to the Vong being defeated at the Battle of Helska IV.

The Yuuzhan Vong war began to erupt across the galaxy as the invaders pressed into the galaxy with wanton barbarism. The New Republic was slow to respond, with Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya not wanting to cause a panic that would undermine his power, and felt he was safe on Coruscant. Jacen was unsure of the role he and the wider Order as a whole should play in this war, but nonetheless accompanied Luke to Belkadan to gain intelligence about their new enemy. They discovered a Vong slave camp on the planet, and while Jacen wanted to free the slaves, Luke refused, thinking they didn't have enough intelligence to mount an offensive. Later Jacen had a vivid dream which he believed to be a Force vision that led to him attempting to free the slaves alone, however he was captured and temporarily enslaved by the Vong, forcing Luke to rescue him before they abandoned the planet, bound for Dantooine where they rescued Anakin and Mara from a Vong advance. While battling on Dantooine, Jacen ventured the idea of a romance with Danni while also still struggling to find his place as a Jedi in an ever more brutal war. While Han sank into a spiral of depression as a result of losing Chewbacca, Jacen joined Corran Horn on a mission to Garqi. The mission allowed the galaxy's defenders to learn a vital piece of intelligence that could end the war: the Yuuzhan Vong as a whole were allergic to bafforr tree pollen. After being extracted from Garqi by the timely intervention of Grand Admiral Pellaeon, the defenders made for Ithor, to make a stand against the Vong.

The Battle of Ithor was to be the first major battle of the war, however in order to try to preserve the planet Corran Horn instead challenged the Vong commander, Shedao Shai to a duel. While Corran won the duel, Ithor was still destroyed by the ambitious Vong second-in-command, and Jacen joined in the mourning for the planet, the people lost in the battle and the self-imposed exile of Corran, despite his belief that Corran had only challenged Shai to a duel for revenge for the Vong's murder of his Caamasi friend, Elegos A'kla. While Jacen protested Corran's exile, he was urged to stand behind his uncle as a fresh wave of anti-Jedi sentiment spread across the galaxy. Following the devastation of Ithor, Jacen and his siblings tried to help the crown prince of Artorias, Finn Galfridian to try and undo the Vong's efforts on Nar Shaddaa, while they all remained estranged from their father who had vanished to come to terms with his grief following the death of Chewbacca. As the war expanded, and the Vong collaborators known as the Peace Brigade began to make their presence known, both sides were desperate for a deciding edge over the other. This led to the New Republic planning to reactivate Centerpoint Station, which had been deactivated since the Corellian Insurrection, and would require Anakin to help bond with the station to bring it back online. Disagreeing with his brother over whether or not the station should be used as a superweapon against the Vong, the two travelled to Corellia to examine the station. Bringing the station back online, news reached them of a Vong attack on the Fondor shipyards. While others, including their recently paroled cousin Thrackan Sal-Solo, wanted Anakin to fire the station to destroy the Vong fleet, Jacen feared that it would send Anakin down a path there would be no coming back from, and Anakin sided with his older brother. However, Thrackan fired the weapon instead, and destroyed three quarters of the Hapan fleet that had been sent to help at Fondor, which Anakin recriminated himself for, though was reassured by Jacen that he had done the right thing.

However as the war continued, Jacen began to doubt his choice on Centerpoint, and as a result withdrew from active duty as a Jedi, and instead started helping his father with the refugee camps on Duro. While there, after fearing he had lost his twin when she was wounded at Kalabra, Jacen received a Force vision in which he became certain that a single misstep could doom the galaxy, and was determined not to allow it to happen. Discovering that Vong agent Nom Anor was actually at large within the refugee camp, it prompted a Vong invasion of Duro, and Jacen hurried to find his mother who was overseeing the evacuation of the refugee camps, feeling that something important was about to happen. He sensed that the time had come when the Yuuzhan Vong Warmaster, Tsavong Lah, cornered his mother and had begun to torture her. Resolving his doubts, he rushed to his mother's aid, knocking Lah out of the window and inflicting on him an injury that would plague him for the rest of his life, saving Leia in the process, and allowing the Solo family to escape Duro. However, despite his stand, anti-Jediism began to increase as Lah demanded Jacen be turned over to him so he could sacrifice him to avenge the injury he had sustained to his foot, leading to an increase in collaborators trying to kill or capture Jedi, however, Jacen helped the Wild Knights investigate and undermine the Peace Treaty that had been proposed by the treacherous Kuati senator, Viqi Shesh.

As the tensions between the New Republic and the Jedi continued to mount, it occurred to the Jedi that the academy was in danger. As a result, Jacen used the Force extensively, attempting to track down Corran Horn through the Force, who was sheltering on the private Star Destroyer of his father-in-law, Booster Terrik. Eventually finding them in the Force, Jacen was able to get Booster to bring the Errant Venture to Yavin in time to save his younger brother, who had travelled alone to the academy in order to save his best friend, Tahiri. Encouraged by his brother's experiences on Yavin, Jacen then joined his parents in helping to set up a network to allow Jedi to flee the invaders and the collaborators who were after them. Becoming privateers to help with the war effort, tensions started to mount between Han and Jacen, however the two eventually reconciled. They battled the Peace Brigade collaborators and managed to escape an attempt by Tsavong Lah to capture him, then headed to the Venture to join Luke and Mara, who had just given birth to his cousin, Ben.

The war entered a new phase as the Vong created the Jedi-hunting voxyn in order to turn the tide of the war. Cilghal discovered that the voxyn were being created at Myrkr, and Anakin proposed that a group of young Jedi allow themselves to be captured in order to end the voxyn threat. However, Jacen feared that the mission could risk all of the Jedi present heading to the dark side, unintentionally creating a disruptive influence on the mission team, with Anakin, who was in charge of the mission, being prepared to leave his brother behind. However as the mission continued as they got closer to their quarry and things began to go wrong with their group, including as their casualties mounted, the mission started to come undone, particularly upon the discovery of Nightsister Lomi Plo and her apprentice Welk, and the arrival of Nom Anor and the enigmatic Vergere. As they made good their escape, Jacen constantly updated the battle meld that he was responsible for maintaining as they hunted for the voxyn queen, but as discontent and casualties grew, things started to unravel, and even the wounded Anakin started to defer to his older brother's decisions. As they neared the den of the voxyn queen, the grievously wounded Anakin sacrificed himself, his death devastating his two older siblings. Now reluctantly in charge of the mission, Jacen was determined to hunt down the queen while the team made good their escape from the Vong worldship, while being pursued by Nom Anor's forces. Making their way to the hangar where Anor's ship was docked, Jacen was separated from the strike team, and despite Jaina giving into her negative emotions, it came to Jacen hunting down the voxyn queen, destroying the creature and ending the voxyn threat. However, exhausted, devastated and separated from the others, Jacen was easy prey for the enigmatic Vergere, who then captured him while the others were reluctantly forced to retreat.

Taken to Coruscant, which had been taken by the Vong in a devastating assault, Jacen, in mourning for his brother and fearing for his sister who was spiralling believing herself to have lost both her brothers, was then strapped into the Embrace of Pain, and then was further tortured when Vergere stripped him of his connection to the Force. Believed dead by all his loved ones with the exception of his mother, Jacen was tortured by the Vong for over a year, constantly in the Embrace of Pain and subjected to numerous Vong tortures, with Vergere being his only visitor. However, as time went on, Jacen matured and became more at peace with himself, learning to use his own willpower to overcome his predicament, and also learning to thrive off pain, similar to the Vong, while listening to the endless riddles of Vergere. As the Vong started to terraform Coruscant to remake it into their homeworld, Vergere again betrayed him, implanting him with a slave seed and bonding him with one of the world brains that the Vong were growing to oversee the terraforming of Coruscant into a new Yuuzhan'tar. However, as the dhuryam matured, it developed an interest in Jacen which Jacen hoped to weaponize as time went on.

Jacen remained under the occasional charge of Vergere, who put to him many riddles and questions about the very nature of the Force. She encouraged him to think of a gardener, which led to Jacen accusing her of being a Sith. He eventually concluded that not everything could be divided into black and white categories and that the Force was actually bigger than the Jedi's own blinkered view of it, which also applies to the Sith and other factions who don't grasp the overall concept of what it means to live in a galaxy fuelled by the Force. He came to believe that the Vong themselves simply existed on another level of the Force and started to develop his vongsense, his chance to make the Force bigger, as he put it, to become more encompassing and free of the limitations of his training. By using his vongsense, he was able to bond more effectively with the myriad Vong creatures, and after exploiting this to kill a Vong warrior who killed one of the slaves Jacen viewed as his charges, he struck a deal with the dhuryam to kill its competition in order for it to become the world brain of Coruscant. He led an uprising against the Vong overseers, with the help of the fledgling world brain, and used the chaos as the means to slaughter the rest of the world brains. For the first time, Jacen took lives for the greater good, and only stopped his rampage when called back by Vergere to save the world brain he had bonded with, who he still intended to kill but was unable to due to Vergere's intervention.

Travelling across Coruscant's new landscape, Jacen debated with Vergere on the role intention played in one's alignment to the Force. He justified his fear of the dark side due to what had happened to his grandfather, horrifying Vergere who revealed her past as a Jedi of the Old Republic. Jacen then touched the dark side as Vergere had once again betrayed him to the Vong, and he struck in rage as a result. Vergere chided him saying that there was no dark side, only darkness within sentients. Horrified by how close he had come to giving in to the dark side, he considered suicide until a projection of Anakin talked him out of it. However, after an encounter with people he had saved who'd happily sacrifice him to save himself, he became more discouraged about the galaxy and everything that had happened to him. Listless and despondent, he had a conversation with an apparition of Anakin and told him of how much he missed his brother and how he had looked up to him. Giving into his despair, he passed out then awoke to find himself surrounded by Vong including Vergere and Nom Anor. Vergere tried to break through Jacen's wave of apathy towards the universe, but instead Jacen asked to learn the Vong religion, known as the True Way, to avoid needless violence.

As the Vong didn't trust him, and wanted Jacen to face his sister in a fight in accordance with their religion, Jacen sought a greater understanding of the Vong threat from within. Eventually accidentally luring out fellow Jedi Ganner Rhysode, Jacen was forced to bring Ganner back to Coruscant, but sought to use this for his own ends, by using a 'sacrifice' for Ganner to gain access to the world brain to further his own ends. In accordance with his plan, he began to work with Ganner and Vergere in order to finally make good his escape after so long in Vong captivity. Sealing the door to the well of the world brain behind them, Jacen wanted Ganner to escape while he spoke with the world brain. However, Ganner who had been inspired by Jacen's decision to be true to himself, took place at the door, acting as a guardian to give Jacen the time he needed, blocking the way of Nom Anor's troops, sacrificing himself to give Jacen time. Jacen spoke with the world brain, and the dhuryam and him came to an understanding, with the world brain agreeing to subtly sabotage the Vong terraforming process to force them to accept the idea of compromise, something which was abhorrent to the Vong. With that done, Jacen wished to go and help Ganner but Vergere stopped him, telling him that he had to honour his sacrifice and returned his lightsaber to him, and the two fled, albeit reluctantly in Jacen's case, stealing Nom Anor's getaway ship to flee the planet. As they fled, Vergere revealed her past as a Jedi of the Old Republic who went with the Vong to save the living world of Zonama Sekot, a world she believes has important significance to the Vong. Jacen revealed all he had done with the world brain, and Vergere was proud of his actions, telling him he'd surpassed her, and the two headed back to allied space.

Returning to Dac, Jacen reunited with Luke and Mara, and spent much time recuperating. As he did so, he talked at length about the Vong with retired former Supreme Commander Admiral Ackbar, who was planning an offensive to move the initiative away from the invaders and back to the galaxy's defenders. Enjoying his leisure time, Jacen reunited with Jaina and his parents as Cal Omas, newly elected Chief of State, worked with Admiral Ackbar and Supreme Commander Sien Sovv prepared an offensive to retake the initiative in the conflict. Helping his sister move out of her grim mindset she had developed since the Myrkr he started helping out in the military in a series of engagements to rebuild the confidence of the Republic's forces, including defeating the Peace Brigade forces on Ylesia while also capturing Thrackan Sal-Solo and self-proclaimed head of state Pwoe, a former member of the deceased Fey'lya's cabinet. Learning he had a talent for battle coordination, he spent a lot of time on the bridge of the Ralroost with Admiral Kre'fey as they garnered the troops more experience. He also met with Vergere, who had escaped the New Republic on Dac after sabotaging the bioweapon Alpha Red, which they had hoped to use to exterminate the Vong. With that rendered inert, they went ahead with Ackbar's plan, and so began the Battle of Ebaq 9. The battle was a major turning point in the war effort: Tsavong Lah was lured into a trap and much of his private forces were decimated by the combined task forces of the New Republic fleet, and what was more, Lah himself was killed in personal combat with Jaina, killing the Vong warmaster and dealing a significant blow to the Vong invasion. What was more, Vergere had sacrificed herself by ramming her fighter into the base to save Jacen and Jaina, allowing her apprentice to live on.

Inspired by Vergere's tale of how she had come to join the Vong in the first place, Jacen joined Luke, Mara and others on a voyage to find Zonama Sekot, believing that the living planet would be vital to helping end the war. During the journey, they encountered both the Imperial Remnant and assisted Grand Admiral Pellaeon in repelling the Vong invasion of Imperial space, and also encountered the Chiss Ascendancy while seeking the routes through the Unknown Regions to try and locate Sekot. After surviving Chiss intrigue, Jacen hit upon the idea that Sekot may be posing as a moon, and discovered the planet in the Klasse Ephemora system, arriving in time to save it from a Vong attack. Spending time on the living world, Jacen passed the test Sekot put them through to see if they were worthy of being helped, and he was determined to try and find some way for the war to end that didn't include wiping out the Vong entirely. As they spent time on the planet, learning its ways, Jacen conversed with the planet's consciousness, trying to find a way for it to help without being destroyed, or destroying the Yuuzhan Vong. He also helped stop Nom Anor's attempt to destroy the planet once he arrived on the planet in his disguise as the prophet Yu'shaa. The planet spent months jumping in and out of hyperspace as a result of Anor's attack, and the world was seriously damaged and trying to repair. However, the discovery of the Vong priest Harrar changed things, as Harrar told them of the internal strife starting to rip apart the Vong elite, and the great fear Shimrra had for Sekot itself. Harrar had become convinced that his people had gone badly wrong, and wished to try and make things better while also ending the war. Sekot had agreed to return to known space in order to help end the war, and Jacen spent a lot of time speaking with the planet's consciousness as they journeyed to Coruscant, where the final battle of the war would take place.

Jacen, along with Luke, had hoped to use Sekot to undermine Shimrra and let the Vong tear their leadership apart, however, the government had plans to retake Coruscant, despite Jacen's warnings that attacking the planet could prompt the world brain to destroy the world, as Jacen had lost contact with it while he was in the Unknown Regions. The Battle of Yuuzhan'tar began, with Luke and Jacen determined to reach and end Shimrra before he could weaponise the world brain against the Alliance. Returning to Coruscant, Jacen convinced the world brain to aid the Alliance instead, helping them to reach the Supreme Overlord's citadel. Battling through a legion of Slayers as he, Luke and Jaina attempted to bring down Shimrra, Jacen watched as his uncle killed the Supreme Overlord, then pursued his sister, failing to catch his brother's lightsaber that his uncle had rescued from Shimrra in the process, just as he had foreseen. Chasing after them, he found Jaina immobilised by Onimi, and Jacen then realised that Onimi was actually the true Vong overlord, and had been using the Force to control Shimrra as a puppet for decades. The two battled each other, and as he did so, Jacen reached a oneness with the Force previously unknown, and destabilised Onimi's control over his own poisons, resulting in the Vong puppetmaster being eaten alive by his own toxins, finally killing the architect of the bloodiest war in galactic history. Saving his family, including Luke from the poisoned wound he had received battling Shimrra, Jacen returned to Sekot as the Yuuzhan Vong War finally came to an end.

With the war ended, and the Sekot Accords seeing the Vong relocated to Sekot as a form of penance, Jacen spent his time contemplating the lessons of Vergere, and of the Unifying Force. Assisting the world brain adapt the world back to its previous state, he joined the convocation of Jedi on Sekot before joining his family to remember all they had lost in the war, including Chewbacca and Anakin, before departing on his own journey of self-discovery. Jacen departed on his journey across the galaxy, determined to learn from different Force cultures. One of these groups was the Aing-Tii monks, who could use the Force to observe points in time and also to teleport. Studying with them, when touching their ancient relic known as the Codex, Jacen received a vision warning that something was amiss in the Maw, the cluster of black holes near the Kessel system. Travelling there and avoiding the Mind Walkers, he transcended his body and travelled to the Font of Power, and the Pool of Knowledge, which both existed in the world known as beyond shadows. When beyond shadows, he foresaw a dark figure sitting atop a throne, who would take over the galaxy. Determined to prevent this dark future, Jacen, like his grandfather before him, started to become obsessed with preventing his visions from coming true and resumed his journey. He attended studies with the Jensaarai, the witches of Dathomir, the Listeners of Nam Chorios, the Baran Do sages, and if rumours are to believed, the Sorcerers of Rhand and the Blazing Chain. His last venture was to join the Fallanassi, practitioners of illusions who had helped to resolve the Black Fleet crisis decades before, and upon sensing a call through the Force, departed his lessons to re-join the wider galaxy, and answer the mysterious call he was receiving from the Unknown Regions.

Investigating the site of the Crash on worlds belonging to the Killiks, who had spread exponentially in a short space of time, Jacen discovered that Raynar Thul, his former classmate, had survived the disastrous mission to Myrkr during the Vong War. However, the spread of the colony so quickly had alarmed the Chiss, as it was bringing the insects too close to their border, and as a result, war was looming if nothing was done. Joining the other survivors of the mission, including his sister, the Jedi took up arms to try and stop the Chiss wiping out the Killiks, though unlike the others, he resisted the temptation to become a Joiner, retaining control of his own mind, as opposed to the others who were still subtly influenced by the Killik hive mind, and by that of UnuThul, the joiner king who had once been Raynar. As things escalated between the Killiks and the Chiss, Luke, Mara and the Solos all arrived and ordered the younger Jedi home. After proving, to the slight consternation of Raynar, that he retained full control over all of his faculties, Jacen sought to end the conflict, fearing the spread of the Killiks could lead to a great conflict. As such, he travelled to Hapes and reunited with Tenel Ka, and asked for a fleet to help settle the situation, which she agreed to, and the two spent the night together, finally giving into their feelings for each other.

It was then discovered that the Killik expansion was also partly due to the influence of the Dark Nest, called Gorog, which was under the control of Lomi Plo and Welk, both of whom had survived the crash after the mission to Myrkr, and as the Jedi attempted to settle the conflict (to the fury of the Galactic Alliance itself). Fearing the Dark Nest actually wanted a war, the Jedi resolved to use the Hapan fleet to relocate the Killiks while Luke and the others dealt with Lomi and Welk. Fearing the will of the nest over the joiners, Jacen was forced to remain behind, forming a strong bond with his young cousin. He became secretive and mysterious, though worked with his uncle over the next six months to adapt all he had learned during his travels, and during the Vong war, to make it more accessible for the other Jedi. Due to his sister still being a joiner, he withdrew slightly from their twin bond, while strengthening his bond with Ben, becoming his unofficial master. Taking Ben on a visit to Hapes, Tenel Ka revealed that during their romantic interlude, he had conceived a daughter, called Allana. Both became determined to keep her safe, especially after Tenel Ka's still powerful grandmother, Ta'a Chume, worked with the Gorog assassins to try to kill the infant. After using the Force rather brutally to get answers from the old woman, Jacen rendered Ta'a Chume braindead to prevent her threatening Tenel Ka and Allana again. He also started to apply the Force to Ben's memory to keep secret the existence of his daughter. During these events, Jacen also received another Force vision, in which the galaxy was doomed to eternal war, and became all the more determined to prevent it.

Returning to Ossus to find the Order splitting itself in two as Luke was currently trapped on Woteba, and the Council members unable to come to a consensus, Jacen explained his vision of an eternal war and conceived a plan to prevent it, by essentially provoking it into starting early, which would see the Killiks defeated in short order. Raiding the Chiss supply depot Thrago, Jacen goaded the Chiss into believing that the Jedi were again under the influence of the Killiks, and drove them into igniting the Swarm War against the Killiks. As a result of his actions, Jaina vowed to never trust her twin again, however, Tahiri became a strong supporter of him. As the Swarm War started to develop, Jacen began to subtly undermine the Killik war effort and did so until Luke summoned all Jedi to a conclave on Ossus to force the Jedi to decide on their future as their disunity had undermined the entire approach to the crisis. As the conclave came to a close, Jacen chose to remain a Jedi, and sought to help end the conflict, and suggested to bring it to an end by killing Raynar, Lomi and Alema Rar, who had replaced Welk as Lomi's dark apprentice. At the same time, R2D2 had started to have memory issues, revealing his past history with Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala, with Jacen viewing his young grandfather in a more favourable light than the others, and then helped to prevent numerous Killik orchestrated coups. Joining forces, Jacen orchestrated as much as he could to ensure an end to the war, and believed he should be the one to confront Lomi Plo, which Luke declined, and was nearly killed saving Mara from the Unseen Queen herself when he tried to help her. After convincing his uncle to embrace his fears and his doubts, the Swarm War came to an end with Raynar captured, Lomi dead at the hands of Luke, and Alema presumed dead at Leia's hand.

Over the next few years, Jacen continued to form a close bond with Ben, though relations with Luke became more strained as time went on, and he secretly visited Tenel Ka and Allana when he could. During this time, Corellia, which had largely escaped damage during the Vong War, began to grow more and more insubordinate towards the Galactic Alliance, wanting all the perks without paying its dues and helping with other world's recovery after the war. While Han was adamantly in favour of Corellian independence, it transpired that the Corellians were indeed spreading anti-Alliance rhetoric, and were also conspiring to goad other worlds into revolt. To this end they had amassed an assault fleet and also planned to reactivate Centerpoint Station to enforce their demands, which Luke asked Jacen to take the mission to prevent from occurring. Infiltrating Centerpoint, Jacen and Ben carried out their mission, only for them to encounter Thrackan Sal-Solo, upon which Jacen received another vision in which he saw his recurring vision of a galaxy consumed by endless war, this time the fault of Thrackan. Regretfully, Jacen intended to kill his cousin to prevent this from happening, only for Thrackan to escape, worrying Jacen. With the war having kicked off despite their actions, with Corellia now in open rebellion and the Alliance's attempt to deprive them of their chance to do so, the Alliance was desperate to try and negotiate an end to the war before it spread to other systems, and entered into a negotiation on Toryaz Station in the Kuat system, however a group of intruders infiltrated the station and killed by the Corellian prime minister, ensuring the war wouldn't end soon as she was the moderate influence on Sal-Solo. In the aftermath, Jacen felt nothing out of place other than a vaguely threatening female presence. However as the Jedi carried out their investigations, Jaina came across a bizarre set of tassels that had been left behind by what Jacen assumed was the threatening female presence, and swapped assignments with her in order to discover the truth behind the mysterious artefact.

Involving various scholars in his search for information, Jacen wound up on Lorrd, where a series of events led him to believe that the tassels, assembled from various forgotten languages and subcultures, were of Sith influence. Working with local Jedi Nelani Dinn, several unhinged members of the public tried to attack the Jedi as they investigated, further arousing Jacen's suspicions until Lorrdian forces arrested a woman called Brisha Syo, who was the registered owner of the ship that the supposed mastermind of the attack on Toryaz station had fled in. Syo revealed that she could hear the disturbed thoughts of others in her dreams, and goaded those people with her own Force sensitivity in order to lure the Jedi out. She admitted to being present at Toryaz station, but refused to tell Jacen anymore unless he joined her at her asteroid home, and determined to find answers, he agreed to go with her, with Ben and Nelani also joining them. They travelled to an asteroid near the Bimmiel system, that was infused with dark side power. Brisha revealed that the asteroid was once the home of a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Vectivus, and that she needed help to deal with a dark sider user in the caverns below her home. Separating Jacen from Ben and Nelani, Brisha watched as he battled a phantom apparition of an evil Luke. As they battled, Brisha revealed her true identity: Lady Lumiya, the Dark Lord of the Sith, and former apprentice of both Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. She revealed her intention in luring Jacen with her: to turn him to the dark side, in order to transform him into the Sith Lord that the galaxy needed in order to restore order. Jacen was sceptical of her claims, and planned to bring her in until Nelani arrived, but as they argued, Jacen wished to hear more. Incensed, Nelani attacked Lumiya, who agreed to being arrested if that was what it took, but she told Jacen that Vergere had also been a Sith, guaranteeing, due to his attachment to his former master, that he would hear her out. Panicked, he quickly saw numerous futures forming around this shatterpoint: if he allowed Lumiya to be captured, the galaxy would get even more bloody and violent, with things culminating in a duel between himself and Luke which would see Luke die; determined to prevent this, he intervened, sparing Lumiya, and killing Nelani for what he believed was the greater good. Pledging himself as Lumiya's apprentice in order to save the galaxy from itself, Jacen hid all evidence that he had ever been there, and was now the Sith apprentice, who would strengthen themselves through sacrifice, and by so doing become the Sith lord that the galaxy needed.

As the conflict between Corellia and the Galactic Alliance escalated, Jacen became more determined than ever to bring peace, allying himself with upcoming Admiral Cha Niathal to help him end the conflict, and took leadership of a group of domestic security personnel who would help to combat the rising acts of terrorism, called the Galactic Alliance Guard, which his aunt Mara refused to lead as she feared it would become a secret police. He was also unsure of his decision to become a Sith, and sought to test Lumiya to make sure she was being level with him, bringing her to Coruscant and using his resources to house her on the capital. As Pellaeon resigned from the position of Supreme Commander in disgust at the creation of the Guard, Niathal became Supreme Commander in his stead, pleasing Jacen as it gave him an ally close to the chief of state. With that developing, and Lumiya apparently on the level and not seeking revenge on Luke, he had her remain to help teach him, while he began to focus on his own future as a Sith, intending to lure Ben to the dark side and make him his Sith apprentice.

Jacen quickly advanced his notoriety by leading the Guard, dividing opinion on his actions, particularly among the Jedi, but increasing his support throughout the military, planning for when he would become the Dark Lord of the Sith and take over. He became increasingly ruthless in his methods to attain information and to end dissent, accidentally killing the daughter of Boba Fett, Ailyn Vel, in an interrogation and continued to convince himself that he was different than his grandfather had been. After a further escalation in the blockade around Corellia, Jacen had his sister court-martialled for refusing to follow his orders, and also exposed Ben to the hard decisions to guide him down the Sith path. He also returned Ailyn Vel's body to her father, and upon hearing that his son had caused her death, Han disavowed him. As his reputation and determination grew, he sought lessons from his new master, who told him of the Sith way of sacrifice, and that he must be prepared to sacrifice everything to become the Sith the galaxy needed him to be. Jacen was determined to achieve his destiny, however carefully hid the existence of Allana and his relationship with Tenel Ka from her to avoid her learning of them and encouraging them to be his sacrifice.

The return of Alema Rar, the former Night Herald of the Killik Dark Nest nearly exposed Jacen's alliance with Lumiya. After her assassination attempt killed the world brain, depriving Jacen of a friend and an important resource in his plans to win more people to his side (which was going well with his punishing of the Bothan terrorists still pursuing their genocidal agenda following the Vong War), Alema followed Jacen and discovered his secret meeting with Lumiya, which was spotted by Jedi Council member Tresina Lobi. Exposed, Lumiya and Alema worked together to overcome the Jedi master to protect Jacen's secret, and his recent successes were rewarded by being granted his own flagship, the custom made Imperial class Star Destroyer, the Anakin Solo. Travelling to Hapes, he became embroiled in the plot to overthrow Tenel Ka and replace her position on the throne, turning on his parents during the crisis, and even battling famed Jedi killer Aurra Sing. Becoming increasingly convinced that his parents were to be the sacrifice that Lumiya was urging him to make in order to achieve his destiny, he conspired to throw his aunt and uncle, who were hunting Lumiya, off his trail after they accused him of working with Lumiya, pitting the Grand Master against the Dark Lord. As Jacen led the Anakin Solo in battle against the Hapan nobles trying to overthrow Tenel Ka, he was met by Alema, who was now working with Lumiya, and was told that his master had died during the confrontation with his aunt and uncle. Taking the chance to make his parents his sacrifice as a result of losing his master in order to become the Dark Lord, and also believing that his parents had betrayed Tenel Ka and endangered Allana, he attempted to kill them by firing on the Falcon, but failed. However, Jacen had secured Tenel Ka's throne, protected his daughter, and had even manoeuvred Luke and Mara off his tail for the time being, while also increasing his own fame and power, and the slight incident in which he Force choked a Hapan commander was forgotten about considering his victory.

As time went on, Jacen became increasingly concerned about the path he was going down, fearing he was losing his humanity as he strove to make the galaxy a safer place. Lumiya revealed that she had survived her battle with his uncle, and she demanded that rather than drawing it out, he needed to effectively test Ben to ensure that he would be a suitable Sith apprentice, sending him on a mission of Lumiya's testing to decide the matter. As he inspected the blockade around Corellia, a Bothan and Commenori fleet arrived, breaking the blockade and expanding the war as the Alliance was forced to retreat. The Second Galactic Civil War had truly begun, as the new Confederation started to accumulate members and the conflict expanded, aided by Lumiya's manipulations as she sought to place Jacen into power. Jacen and Niathal then acquired the site of a Confederation summit at Gilatter VIII, which Jacen intended to use to smash the power of the Confederation, with Lumiya by his side. The Battle of Gilatter VIII proved to be a draw for both sides, as the Alliance had been lured into a trap, and Jacen fled the station as the Confederation turned on them to try and capture him, leaving Luke and Leia, who had come to rescue him, battling Lumiya and Alema respectively. Following the battle, Lumiya told him she believed he was ready to become the Sith Master, but had to make his sacrifice. When he told her he decided to sacrifice Han and Leia, she criticised him as he was too emotional still, and had moved on from his relationship with his parents so hence would be unsuitable, and that he needed to decide. When Ben returned from his mission on Ziost, which Lumiya had organised, he returned with an ancient Sith meditation sphere, called Ship, which he bequeathed to Lumiya.

As the war developed, Niathal sought help with resupply, and JAcen realised that, having been granted emergency powers in his role as the commander of GAG, Jacen could adapt the law so he could rewrite it himself, which he foresaw could be useful in the war with the Confederation. As the law passed giving Jacen unprecedented power, Mara confronted him about his recent actions, and he began to fear his aunt was onto him. Learning from GAG that Chief Omas was in consultation with Dur Gejjen, the Corellian Prime Minister about negotiating a peace offer, Jacen and Niathal conspired to remove Omas from power, as one stipulation of the peace deal was for the two of them to be removed from power. When Ben, who had been sent by Jacen to assassinate Gejjen which he did, provided the evidence that Omas had entered into a secret negotiation, Jacen and Niathal both seized power in the Alliance and took control of the government, working as a duumvirate, despite Lumiya's admonishing that he should become Sith master before he took over the galaxy.

As the dust from the coup settled, Mara, who had been tipped off by Ben, sought Jacen out to confront him, offering him the chance to come home if he turned away from the dark side. Leaving Lumiya in charge of the situation on Coruscant, he slipped away to Hapes to see Tenel Ka and Allana, only to be followed by Mara. She ambushed him, however unexpected help from Lumiya forced Mara down onto Kavan, and Jacen, realising she could expose him, especially to Ben who he believed would be his sacrifice, hunted down his aunt. The two battled on Kavan, with Mara about to take the upper hand due to her ambush, however he exploited her attachment to Ben, and in that split second, took the upper hand and killed her. Dazedly realising that the murder of his aunt was his sacrifice, he travelled to Ziost for a last consultation with his master. To buy him time, Lumiya volunteered to sacrifice herself while Jacen grew into the role of the Dark Lord of the Sith. As Luke hunted down and killed Lumiya who he believed responsible for the death of his wife, Jacen returned with Ben to Coruscant, and realised that by killing Mara, he had sacrificed any hope of Ben ever loving him again. Realising that was his sacrifice, he embraced the power of the dark side, growing into the role of the Dark Lord of the Sith, and proclaimed himself Darth Caedus.

With Luke temporarily removed due to his grief at losing Mara and his guilt over falsely killing Lumiya, Caedus moved to accelerate the end of the war, foreseeing the coming Battle of Kuat would be the decisive battle. Knowing he needed another avenue to spy on the Jedi, Caedus began to cultivate a relationship with Tahiri, knowing that his ability to flow walk could manipulate her into serving him as it would let her spend more time with Anakin. Along with this, he also realised that he needed to control the Jedi before they discovered that he was the one who had murdered Mara, and as such sent GAG to occupy the understaffed Ossus academy to hold the younglings hostage, while also convincing Tenel Ka to lend him a fleet to help smash the Confederation. At Mara's funeral, her body joined the Force when Caedus arrived late to the funeral to try and let the Jedi know who was to blame, but the attempt was misconstrued, and Caedus soon left the funeral to prosecute the war, despite Saba Sebatyne using her eulogy to lecture him for his actions.

At the Battle of Balmorra, Ben accused Caedus of being the one who had murdered Mara, and sensing his cousins rage and anger, he sought to turn him to the dark side, while simultaneously using him to remove Chief Omas, who he told Ben was responsible for Mara's death. With Ben set off to hopefully turn to the dark side, it left Caedus directing the Battle of Balmorra, which wasn't going well despite his attempts to use battle meditation to help turn the tide. However, it didn't turn the tide until the Jedi unexpectedly arrived to lend their assistance, under the command of Luke, who told him that they sought to cooperate with him, at least he did until Caedus said he was happy to sacrifice Balmorra itself if it meant whittling down the Confederation fleet in preparation for Kuat. As he moved on to the Battle of Kuat, Luke discovered that Ben had been involved in the death of Chief Omas (who had committed suicide rather than be persecuted any longer) and withdrew the Jedi from the Galactic Alliance in response, leading to the Battle of Kuat becoming a gruelling slog, as Jacen didn't want to commit his lover's fleet to the battle in case it lost her the throne. However he did reunite with Ben, who believed Caedus had murdered his mother, and wanted revenge, which Caedus sought to exploit and turn his cousin to the dark side. Ben revealed that the Jedi as a whole had moved to Kashyyyk, and Caedus headed to the Wookiee homeworld, determined to bring the Jedi back under control, and also had the GAG storm the temple on Coruscant and attack the academy on Ossus. At Kashyyyk, he proclaimed the Jedi traitors and demanded the Wookiees hand them over, which the Wookiees refused to do. Incensed, he had Kashyyyk bombarded and as the Battle of Kashyyyk began, which prompted Ben to try and kill him, but failed due to the Anakin Solo sustaining damage. In response, Caedus put Ben into the embrace of pain that he had had installed, hoping to break him and turn him to the dark side. However, Luke then infiltrated his nephew's flagship, leading to an all out confrontation between the Grand Master and the new Dark Lord, leaving them both severely wounded, and the battle only ended when Ben tried to kill Caedus when he was at his uncle's mercy, and Luke had them retreat in case both Skywalkers should fall to the dark side as a result of killing him. As the Skywalkers fled, Caedus realised that his plan to draw the Confederation away from Kuat had worked, however the Fifth fleet was now surrounded by Confederation and Jedi forces, who were taking the upper hand. Relieved to see the Hapan fleet arrive over Kashyyyk, he believed he could turn the tide until a devastated Tenel Ka saw what had become of her lover, and pledged her support to the Jedi, turning on him, and only Caedus' battle meditation and help from Alema prevented the death of the Sith Lord as his fleet made its escape.

Furious at his lover's betrayal, Caedus kidnapped his daughter from Hapes, and threatened to kill his daughter if Tenel Ka didn't return her resources to him. Keeping Allana with him at all times, Caedus, similarly to Darth Sidious before him, was ambushed by a team of Jedi. Caedus defended himself, nearly killing Jedi Battlemaster Kyle Katarn, and killing Falleen Jeid Thann Mithric during the duel. Caedus returned to the front, leading numerous victories as he did so, and entered into a negotiation with the Corellians. Distracted by his mothers arrival, Caedus was forced to flee in case his mother had sabotaged his ship, and was then pursued by Jedi in their fighters, Caedus could do nothing as a massive chunk of the Second Fleet, which he had brought with him, was destroyed when Centerpoint Station was revealed to be operational. After the battle, Allana claimed to hate him, but changed her opinion when he revealed he was actually her father. Determined to stop the war by claiming Centerpoint as his own, he launched a mission to seize the station, only for the Jedi to infiltrate his ship and rescue Allana. Furious, he murdered one of his crewmen due to her accidental role in the affair, leading to an upsurge of dislike and fear for Caedus spreading across the Alliance.

Having lost Hapes, he turned his attention to the Imperial Remnant, though his advances were rebuffed by Grand Admiral Pellaeon. Determined to bring them to his side to help with the Battle of Fondor, he hoped to have Tahiri to persuade the Moff Council to override Pellaeon by offering them back Bilbringi and Borleias, lost during the original Galactic Civil War. Determined to have the help of the Empire to retake Fondor from the Confederation, he and Tahiri (who were also having a sexual but non-romantic relationship while he groomed her as his apprentice) convinced the Moffs to help, and the Empire joined the Battle of Fondor. However, as he planned to destroy the shipyards of Fondor as an object lesson, Niathal, realising how far out of control he had become, mobilised her own fleet to challenge his ever increasing hunger for power. After an abortive Jedi attack on his person, he had Tahiri stay on the Bloodfin, Pellaeon's new flagship, with orders to assassinate him should he attempt to interfere with his plans. The Battle of Fondor began as the Alliance pressed towards the planet, and while Niathal and Pellaeon intended to have Fondor surrender, Caedus wanted to make an example by obliterating their cities to show rebellion wouldn't be tolerated in his new galactic order, and used the Force to stoke the aggression of his fleet, and having them relish destroying Fondor, while also tricking the Fondorians into lowering the planetary shields to allow their people to be killed. Niathal and Pellaeon, both horrified by his actions, turned on him and turned their guns on his ships which were following his orders. With the Alliance split, Tahiri assassinated Pellaeon and the Moffs seized command of the fleet and wen to Caedus' aid. However, it was then that a fleet consisting of older vessels arrived, under the command of Admiral Natasi Daala, who Pellaeon had recalled, and forced Caedus to flee the system, though took two thirds of the fleet with him, and also laid claim to Coruscant, making him the sole leader of the Alliance. On the way out of the system, he rescued Tahiri from the Bloodfin, where she was close to being overwhelmed by Pellaeon's loyalists, and a force of Mandalorians, employed by Daala to retake Bloodfin, and suffered severe injuries at their hands due to his earlier exertion, but did manage to flee to Coruscant with his new apprentice. Once back at the capital, he revealed to Lon Shevu, his right hand man and (unknown to Caedus, a close friend of Ben's), that he had murdered Mara Jade Skywalker, and fully accepted his Sith persona, which Shevu reported back to the Skywalker and Solo families, exposing Caedus for the murderer that he was.

As he recovered from the injuries he sustained at Fondor, Luke began countering his probing of the future, as his visions started to spiral out of control, promising disaster. He realised that he had made many errors and failed to live up to Lumiya's teachings, having become an oppressive, vindictive tyrant like so many of his predecessors. Resolving to do better and control his temper to become the Sith Lumiya believed he could be, he sought to control the entirety of the Empire, which had seized Roche, the Verpine home system and part of a neutral alliance with the Mandalorians. Seeing it as a vital step to ending the war, he placed his forces in the system and directed his forces against the Alliance and Jedi opposition. The Battle of Roche developed as he saw fit, with numerous opponents of his on the Moff Council being killed by the Mandalorians as they attacked the asteroid belt, before he appeared to save them. However he was then confronted by who he thought was his uncle, but was actually his sister, masked by Luke to hide her true identity. A duel erupted, and Caedus was already weakened from her initial assault, and Jaina used a Mandalorian blade to cut off his arm. He applied a Nightsister blood trailer to her as they fought, but he took the upper hand when he used Force lightning to blast apart the illusion, and Jaina fled, with Luke's help, too badly wounded to continue fighting, akin to her brother, who refused a prosthetic knowing he didn't have time to adapt to a new robotic limb.

With Tahiri having captured Prince Isolder, who had been meeting with Ben, and using the blood trail he had used on his sister to find the Jedi base, he launched an attack on Shedu Maad with the Anakin Solo at the lead of an Imperial fleet, leading to the Jedi and Hapans battling his forces. Narrowly surviving an attack by Jedi fighters, Caedus received a vision of Allana on a white throne surrounded by friends, and believed he had succeeded in his mission to unite the galaxy and bring peace. Tahiri warned him that the Moffs were growing restless, and when she suggested using flow-walking to fix things, he revealed to her that he had manipulated her, and advised her to use the betrayal and rage she felt to become a better Sith. Ignoring her, Moff Lecersen then revealed his plan to use nanobots to help kill Tenel Ka, as they had already created one to use against Boba Fett and his granddaughter Mirta Gev for their role in the Battle of Fondor. Caedus was terrified that a nanobot killer aimed at Tenel Ka would also kill Allana and forbade its use. However, not trusting the Moffs, he went to Isolder to allow him to escape to warn Tenel Ka and Allana, however Isolder refused to believe he was being genuine and as such, Caedus killed him. Realising the Moffs had already planned to unleash the nanokillers, he headed to stop the ship carrying it when Jaina arrived and stabbed him with her lightsaber. The twins fought, in accordance to Yuuzhan Vong prophecy, in a climactic duel, with Caedus begging her to stop her attack so he could warn Tenel Ka and Allana, but she refused to believe him, and engaged him again. Weakened from numerous injuries, and desperate to warn Tenel Ka, he allowed Jaina to make a killing strike while he used the Force to warn Tenel Ka in his final moments before Jaina cut him down, killing her brother just as the Vong had predicted.

Darth Caedus was dead at the hands of his sister, but had succeeded in his mission to unite the galaxy, having united it against him. With his death, the Second Galactic Civil War came to an end, and Tenel Ka and Allana survived the nanokiller attack, and with Tahiri's redemption, it seemed as though the Rule of Two had come to an end….though there remained one last adherent to the Rule of Two to overcome.

Tahiri Veila

Species: Human female

Reign: 41 ABY

Info:Born on Tatooine, Tahiri was orphaned at a young age, and was subsequently raised by Tusken Raiders who took her in after the death of her parents. Found by Jedi Master and archivist of the New Jedi Order, Tionne, she was brought to the academy on Yavin IV where she became friends with the youngest of the Solo children, Anakin. They embarked on many adventures together, coming across Jedi Master Ikrit, a former apprentice of Master Yoda's, on the moon, and also travelling to Yavin VIII and Tatooine, coming under assault from native predators. They also met Uldir Lochett, who had been promised Force abilities by the mage Orloc, and together with Tionne and Ikrit, they defeated Orloc and also rediscovered the ancient Jedi space station known as Exis Station. Tahiri spent all her time at the academy, while Anakin travelled with his family, and Tahiri was on Yavin at the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War.

As the extragalactic invaders spread across the galaxy, Yavin came under attack by their collaborationist allies, the Peace Brigade, paving the way for a Vong invasion. Despite Anakin returning to Yavin to try and warn them, he was too late to fully evacuate the academy, and Ikrit was killed and Tahiri was captured during the assault. During her confinement, Tahiri was tortured at the hands of heretical master shaper Mezhan Kwaad, and her assistant Nen Yim, in order to remake Tahiri into something closer to a Yuuzhan Vong. As a result of her torture, Tahiri emerged remade, with a split personality called Riina Kwaad, and had essentially been brainwashed by the Vong, however when Anakin arrived to rescue her, with the help of Shamed One Vua Rapuung, Tahiri turned on Mezhan and decapitated her, allowing the two young Jedi to escape.

As the war developed, Tahiri became a vital resource to the New Jedi Order, with an insight into the Vong hierarchy, thought process and language that they hadn't had before. During a mission to Eriadu where Tahiri and Anakin were arrested by corrupt local officials, she lost control to her Vong personality, which she used to free Anakin before the two fled the planet, bound for Yag'Dhul to raise the alarm that that was the next planet the Vong were targeting. As events went awry at Yag'Dhul, Anakin and Tahiri became locked in a storage locker, and the two shared their first kiss, with both of them having developed stronger feelings for each other since their ordeal on Yavin. These feelings continued to develop, with the two of them being in a romantic relationship up until the mission to destroy the Jedi-hunting voxyn queen on Myrkr. When there, along with the trials and tribulations of the mission, Tahiri was forced to watch in horror as Anakin was killed by the Yuuzhan Vong, devastating Tahiri as her best friend and boyfriend was killed before her eyes.

The fallout from the Myrkr mission had severe ramifications for all those who had gone on it. Tahiri fell into a deep depression following Anakin's death, Jacen was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong and Jaina temporarily fell to the dark side. The loss of Anakin so soon after being remade by the Vong set back Tahiri's recovery significantly, and the mission to stop the cyborg Lord Nyax on Coruscant on top of it all helped to contribute to Tahiri, despite being knighted on Dac, developing a split personality. The Riina Kwaad persona that had been created by the Vong during her shaping was threatening to overcome Tahiri, with both Tahiri and Riina battling for dominance over the body they shared. As the war headed towards a close, Tahiri and Riina reached a compromise, with both personalities agreeing to amalgamate with the other in order to form a new identity that created the best of both worlds. With her mental state reconciled with both personalities, Tahiri was then free to help the Galactic Alliance as it attempted to bring an end to the war. Submitting herself to Corran Horn's training, the two of them extracted Nen Yim, who had had a hand in Tahiri's shaping, the Vong priest Harrar, and the so-called prophet Yu'shaa from Coruscant and brought them to the living world of Zonama Sekot. It was on the living world that Tahiri and Nen Yim realised that Riina's memories were also those of Nen Yim, having been warped by Mezhan Kwaad to help create her. As they came to this realisation, the Prophet Yu'Shaa was revealed to actually be Nom Anor, the enemy agent who had fallen from grace, who proceeded to murder Nen Yim and tried to poison Sekot as a way of getting back into Shimrra's good graces. Reconciling with the latest revelation about her Vong persona, Tahiri then went on to help the New Jedi Order and the Galactic Alliance, helping in the final battle of the war as the allied forces retook Coruscant and defeated the Vong.

With the end of the Vong war, Tahiri sent the next five years on Zonama Sekot, helping to rehabilitate the Vong, and also learning more about her Vong half. However, she and the other survivors of the Myrkr mission started to receive strange Force calls, which she felt compelled to investigate, and Tahiri travelled to the Unknown Regions, discovering that their former friend Raynar Thul, who had been presumed lost on the Myrkr mission after being inadvertently kidnapped by two Dark Jedi, was now known as UnuThul, the conscious part of the hive mind of the Killiks. Raynar exploited the lingering effects of the battle meld the strike team had used at Myrkr, and Tahiri, like all the other survivors, became a Joiner, and started fighting for the Killiks as they infringed on the territory of the Chiss Ascendancy. As the conflict threatened to spread, Tahiri, along with her fellow joiners, was putting the good of the Killiks above her responsibilities as a Jedi. When Jacen ignited the conflict into a full blown war, Tahiri spoke out in his favour, defending him from the others who detracted his choice. However her overall loyalty was still to the Killiks, and frustrated, Luke sent Tahiri, Tesar and Lowbacca into exile on Dagobah until they could overcome the effects of being a Joiner and serve the Order properly once again.

Returning from exile, Tahiri became involved in attempts to prevent the Corellian resistance to the Galactic Alliance becoming a full fledged rebellion, and was one of the Jedi sent to try to remove Thrackan Sal-Solo from power before he began a war. Thwarted in their efforts to capture Sal-Solo, the opening moves of the Second Galactic Civil War began despite the best efforts of the Jeid. Unknown to Tahiri at the tine, her long-time friend Jacen had pledged himself to the Sith cause, becoming the apprentice of Lady Lumiya as she conspired to put a Sith back in charge of the galaxy in order to save it from itself. Jacen initially considered Tahiri as a suitable candidate as a Sith apprentice, in place of Ben Skywalker, however Lumiya argued that she would be unsuitable in the long run. Following the death of Mara Jade Skywalker, and Jacen, who had now become Darth Caedus realising that once his role in the death of Ben's beloved mother became known that Ben would never become his apprentice, Caedus began contemplating taking Tahiri as a Sith apprentice, also intending to use her to spy on the Jedi and keep tabs on their investigation, lest it lead back to him.

Intending to wrest Tahiri away from the Jedi, Caedus approached her on the anniversary of Anakin's death, knowing that she would be emotionally vulnerable, having never gotten over his death at Myrkr. Using his ability to flow walk, he took Tahiri back to the fateful mission in which Anakin died, and allowing her to alter her perception of the event by giving Anakin the last kiss she had originally denied him. Manipulating her emotions by playing with her perception of the event, and also making her feel genuine grief for Anakin and regret for never having admitted that she loved him, Caedus exploited her emotional state, knowing it would help tip her towards the dark side, which she had already taken steps toward due to the effects of her shaping and of being a Joiner. Tahiri quickly became addicted to Caedus' flow-walking experiences, believing if she did it enough she may be able to rewrite history and allow Anakin to survive, and Caedus always left her wanting more, treating her like an addict. As a result, Tahiri willingly debased herself in exchange for more time and experiences with Anakin, and became more and more corrupted in her misplaced loyalty to Caedus, acting as a spy and informer for Caedus and keeping him appraised of everything that the Jedi were up to. Her increasingly desperate loyalty to Caedus helped show Tenel Ka what had become of both her lover and her friend, and helped to turn Hapes against Caedus at the Battle of Kashyyyk. With Tahiri's loyalties to Caedus now exposed, the Jedi essentially cut of her off, preventing Caedus from finding out the location of the Jedi base after the Jedi withdrew from the Galactic Alliance, but Caedus was still content, as he had an effective servant who would take initiative and carry out his desires without having to be ordered, all for more experiences with flow-walking to once again see Anakin.

Having failed to convert Ben to the dark side, Caedus turned his attentions to moulding Tahiri into his Sith apprentice. The two formed an effective working relationship, which some believed to have some form of physical interaction, and Tahiri quickly developed in Caedus' estimations, becoming an effective apprentice for the new Dark Lord. However, Caedus was becoming increasingly frustrated with her determination to love in the past and being unable to move on from his brother's death, and was determined to break her out of this to see if she was in fact a suitable candidate to be his apprentice. He tested her by having her open fire on the defences of Fondor, to see if she would have the strength to follow through and do what must be done in order to save more lives than she would take, a task Tahiri did carry out, though her decision haunted her afterwards.

Now serving her new master in the Galactic Alliance Guard, Tahiri was sent as Caedus' representative to the Imperial Remnant, who he sought to have join the war in support of the Alliance. Tahiri met with Pellaeon, and eventually helped draw the Empire into the war on the side of the Alliance, pleasing Caedus. Furthermore, her constant presence started to disquiet Cha Niathal, the other co-head of state of the Alliance, as Tahiri was now effectively gatekeeping access to her master, while also trying to locate the Jedi for him so he could end them in one swift stroke. As the Battle of Fondor began to develop, Caedus was dedicating all of his attention to the battle, and as such he had Tahiri spy on Niathal and Pellaeon, as Caedus was growing increasingly worried about their resentment of him. Caedus had Tahiri remain on board the Bloodfin, Pellaeon's flagship, to watch him, and ordered that if the Grand Admiral should attempt to interfere in any way, then she was to eliminate him. While Tahiri balked at the order, she was now totally dependent on Caedus, having burned all of her other bridges and promised to do her duty as he saw fit, as he hoped to bring her entirely to his side with no other recourse but to help him rebuild the galaxy.

When the Battle of Fondor took a turn, as Caedus brutally ordered the bombardment of Fondor to set an example to other rebellious worlds, Admiral Niathal rebelled against his authority in fury at his breach of the terms she had negotiated, and as a result the Galactic Alliance fleet split between Niathal and Caedus as both of their supporters started to draw battle lines between them. Due to his personal dislike of Caedus, and the disgust at his actions, and not wanting to see the galaxy fall under the yoke of the Sith once again, Grand Admiral Pellaeon also turned on Caedus, calling on the Imperial forces to side with Niathal for the good of the galaxy, and the honour of the Empire. The Moffs, who had been promised that they would get Borleias and Bilbringi back for their loyalty to Caedus, were furious as was Tahiri. She followed Pellaeon back to his quarters and begged him to reconsider his decision, and revealed how deep her loyalty to Caedus had become, and how she believed in the new galaxy he was trying to create. Pellaeon refused her once again, and in response, she murdered Pellaeon in cold blood, unwittingly unleashing Admiral Daala and her forces on her master and his plans by doing so when she came to the battle to avenge Pellaeon.

Caedus was very impressed with his apprentice's actions, telling her she had acted as a Sith should, taking a life to preserve the greater good, and would stand by his side in preventing the downfall of the Alliance as he brought the galaxy to heel. Officially acknowledged as his apprentice, Caedus rescued Tahiri from the forces under Admiral Daala and her Mandalorians, then returned to Coruscant to establish their control over the larger chunk of the Alliance, as the enemies of the Sith started to coalesce around them to combat them.

As the war continued to rage, Tahiri apprehended Ben and his friend Lon Shevu on Coruscant as the two of them met, with Shevu acting as a Jedi spy. As she interrogated Ben to try and find the location of the Jedi base, she proceeded to torture him when he refused to cooperate with her, and moved on to seduction, which was also unsuccessful in a plan to break him, however Ben remained reticent. Increasingly frustrated, Tahiri then tortured Shevu in an attempt to break Ben, however still finding her feet, her powers amped up by the dark side, Tahiri accidentally killed Shevu with Force lightning, shocking her and allowing Ben to escape.

As Caedus used his Force techniques to locate the Jedi base on Shedu Maad, Tahiri assisted with his interrogation of Boba Fett's granddaughter, Mirta Gev, in an attempt to break her and to get her to cooperate, and he also planned to use a nanokiller on Mandalore to punish them for failing to fall in line. With Tahiri now keeping an eye on the Moffs to bring them more effectively under the control of the Sith, Caedus led the battle to destroy the Jedi at their new base. As the Jedi put up a courageous fight, Tahiri urged her master to use flow-walking to improve their chances, and it was then that Caedus revealed he had deceived his apprentice, and that flow-walking couldn't change the past, and that he had been manipulating her for ages. Tahiri was furious and as a result became embittered towards her master. She had believed she would eventually learn to flow-walk and alter the past, and by so doing save Anakin, but with the truth revealed, the very bedrock of her loyalty to her master had been shattered, undermining her ability and desire to serve as a Sith.

As the Battle of Shedu Maad raged with Caedus overseeing what would prove to be the final battle of the war, Tahiri led her Galactic Alliance Guard forces onto the planet to destroy the Jedi base. When there, she once again engaged Ben as the two prospective apprentices of Darth Caedus battled it out, however, with her confidence, belief and desire to win undermined, Ben easily took the advantage, and then began to reason with her, telling her she wasn't suited to the role of a Sith apprentice, and she submitted to his mercy, allowing herself to be arrested, her role as a Sith apprentice now at an end.

Darth Caedus was killed by his twin sister in a climactic duel, bringing an end to the Second Galactic Civil War, and Tahiri was later arrested for her role in the death of Grand Admiral Pellaeon once Admiral Daala became the head of state of the Galactic Alliance. However as the tensions rose between the Alliance and the Jedi, Tahiri became involved in the Jedi's affairs again, working towards atonement for her role in helping Caedus during the Lost Tribe of the Sith emergence and the battle with the apocalyptic Force deity, Abeloth. With the death of Caedus, and Tahiri's redemption, it was thought that the Rule of Two had finally been overcome, once and for all.

However, there was one last adherent to the Rule of Two, hiding in the shadows, awaiting her moment to strike.

Vongerella

Species: Yuuzhan Vong female

Birth name: Quin'toka Karsh

Reign: 26 ABY-30 ABY, 30 ABY-47 ABY

Info: Born during the long exodus of the Yuuzhan Vong people as they travelled between the galaxies, Quin'toka was born into the warrior caste. A strong and adept warrior, her gender did not affect her too much, and rose quickly through the ranks. As a commander, she made a name for herself running missions into the galaxy as a precursor to the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, capturing travelling starships and natives of the galaxy, bringing them back through the galactic rift and back to the Vong armada for experimentation and sacrifice in preparation for the invasion. Quin'toka captured hundreds of slaves and was one of the first of the Vong to encounter a powerful species of the galaxy they planned to invade: the Ssi-Ruuk. Encountering a picket force of Ssi-Ruuk not long after the Battle of Endor following an abortive attempt to invade Chiss space, Quin'toka led her ro'ik chuun m'arh, the Vong equivalent to a frigate which she called the Liberation of Death, to investigate. Dedicated to the goddess Yun-Harla, Quin'toka commanded her frigate into battle, driven to a fury upon the discovery of the technological nature of the Ssi-Ruuk forces. Her tactics and brutality easily overcame the Ssi-Ruuk forces (which had already run afoul of the Chiss) and she brought the surviving Ssi-Ruuk back to her fleet for further experimentation, torture and sacrifice. However, out of the heat of battle, Quin'toka foresaw the potential uses of the Ssi-Ruuk, and indicated as much in her report to Warmaster Tsavong Lah, who was impressed with her skills and abilities. Bequeathing her a miid ro'ik to replace her heavily damaged command ship, Quin'toka took command of her new cruiser, the Vong equivalent of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, called the Dark Emissary, and became one of Lah's inner circle.

Serving Lah well, Quin'toka became one of his best commanders, and was earmarked to command the expedition of the Praetorite Vong as the invasion began. However, as Supreme Overlord Shimrra prepared his people for the invasion which they would seize their new home from the hands of the infidels, inexplicably someone in power began to set Quin'toka up on suicide missions, sending her on expeditions into Chiss space, along with other parts of the Unknown Regions. Encountering the Chiss, the Vagaari and the Sorcerers of Rhand along with other powers and oddities of the Unknown Regions, Quin'toka easily led her crew into battle against almost insurmountable odds, avoiding death repeatedly and earning the undying loyalty of the troops under her command. Surviving against all odds, Lah continually congratulated her, trying to advance her within the ranks, but every time he tried, it seemed as though some unknown figure acted against her, preventing her advancement as she tried to improve her social standing within her caste and serve her people during the war. Quin'toka became increasingly furious and disillusioned as this went on, and it was during a time of great rage after she was informed that she was once again missing out on an important promotion in favour of a different warrior that she first lashed out, and discovered a unique power within herself, destroying much of her quarters simply with the power of the mind. Shocked by what she had achieved, she began to experiment with her unknown power, and even committed a deep heresy: she snuck into a Shaper's enclave one evening, passing totally unseen, and attempted to discover the truth of her abilities. Finding nothing, she pondered whether information on her power would be within the eighth cortex, and tried to access it out of burning curiosity. By so doing, she then realised the truth: the eighth cortex was empty, and Shimrra was propagating a lie. Devastated and furious in equal measure, she snuck back out of the Shaper damutek, heading back towards her ship, and as she did so, came across the gambolling form of Onimi, the jester of the Supreme Overlord. Easily dismissing the Shamed One, she left and believed she had gotten away with it, though was unsettled as she had noticed Onimi watching her intently as she left, and wasn't entirely convinced that he didn't know what he had done, and spent her time switching between fury, devastation and terror that Onimi did know what she had done and would send troops for her, as her actions would condemn her to death.

As the war progressed across the galaxy, Karsh continued to command missions, most of which were seen as suicide missions as she pushed ahead to further the aims of the Yuuzhan Vong. She was constantly terrified and the numerous suicide missions she was taking on, which she continued to define expectations by surviving, seemed to her to be attempts by either the offices of Supreme Overlord Shimrra or Warmaster Tsavong Lah to have her killed, yet she continued to succeed, and her reputation was growing through the ranks, which she believed was the only reason they hadn't just had her killed on trumped up charges, as she was actually helping to further the war effort by making gains against the New Republic and the Hutts as she served under Nas Choka in the subjugation of Hutt Space. After a stunning victory at Nar Kreeta, in which Karsh destroyed an entire Hutt flotilla with only the Dark Emissary and another couple of support ships, she had hoped she would finally be noticed for her accomplishments, though still feared that Onimi continued to watch her, and that Shimrra would act against her for discovering the truth about the Shapers and their cortexes. However, as the Battle of Duro came and went, and she was still trapped within Hutt space picking off Hutt scouting parties or overseeing the Peace Brigade, her disillusionment with the overlords of her species and their war continued to grow. She appealed to Lah, and while the Warmaster did acknowledge her contributions to the war effort, particularly in the Unknown Regions and Hutt Space, he told her he had no further use for her, and sent her to patrol the Outer Rim.

Furious with the dismissal and fearing that she and her soldiers would never achieve their part in the great destiny of the Yuuzhan Vong, she was furious to be banished to the Outer Rim, patrolling near Axxila. However, she continued to poke at the strange power she wielded, and it was then that she got an inkling, of something coming, a dark star approaching her ship. Deciding to try and identify the bizarre dark star that she could feel approaching, the Dark Emissary activated its dovin basals, and it was then that two ships, one of which was an aging Imperial class Star Destroyer while the other was an Interceptor class frigate. As the battle raged, Karsh sensed the presence of a dark star, and was intrigued as to what this bizarre thing she felt was. Nonetheless, she did her duty, severely damaging the frigate and capturing the escape pods as they fled. Karsh felt other dark stars, but was more interested in the presence that she felt on the Star Destroyer, which turned and fled. Having the other dark stars captured to be sent to the Baanu Raas above Myrkr, Karsh chased after the fleeing Star Destroyer. As she did so, she felt a powerful pull, something like a dovin basal, as she pursued the dark star aboard the ISD, and drove her ship hard as she chased after the Star Destroyer, determined to find why she felt so drawn to the presence she could feel on the Star Destroyer. Abruptly, the Dark Emissary dropped out of hyperspace arriving in the midst of an old Imperial fleet, trapping her vessel. However, as Karsh and her soldiers prepared to meet their end, Karsh stopped abruptly as she felt a dark call from the presence she felt, which was now aboard an isolated asteroid behind the Imperial fleet. Drawn to the asteroid, Karsh headed over to the facility, and inside, met a woman in a triangular headdress, who spoke to her in the Vong language, shocking Karsh, as she revealed herself to be Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith.

On board the Home, Lumiya explained the nature of what she was; a Yuuzhan Vong woman, strong in the Force. Karsh explained about how she had been singled out by the leadership of her people's Empire. Lumiya, her suspicions aroused by this development and the new that the Vong woman was constantly targeted made her begin to believe that Karsh wasn't the only Force-sensitive in the Vong hierarchy. Lumiya explained to Karsh that she was very unique, and could feel the Force, and was already naturally predisposed towards the dark side, and told her that she should feel the power of the dark side within the Home. She went on to explain the nature of the Sith, and of the Rule of Two, then elaborated, teaching Karsh about the Force, the dark side and Lumiya's aims and objectives. Fascinated by this, and finally having an explanation as to what she was and now finally understanding the power within her, along with wanting to achieve her full potential, took a knee and pledged her allegiance to Lumiya in order to learn the ways of the dark side and of the Sith, and envisioned her future in which she and Lumiya had the galaxy fall at their feet as they would rule in tandem, the Sith, the Vong and the galaxy all under the dominion of the Dark Lords of the Sith. Lumiya explained the concept of sacrifice and how it was important to the Sith, as it shows their commitment to the dark side. Karsh explained how by disavowing her species and the Vong hierarchy, she was giving up all she had ever known, her entire species and way of life, and Lumiya consented. Warning that any betrayal would be met with death at the hands of her new master, Lumiya had Karsh cast aside her old name, and she chose a new moniker, which roughly translated into Basic as Vongerella, and was inaugurated as Lumiya's Sith apprentice.

Vongerella quickly advanced as a Sith apprentice as the war waged across the galaxy, with the Vong seizing control of Coruscant, and the Force rippled with the death of Anakin Solo during the mission to Myrkr to vanquish the voxyn threat. Vongerella was a skilled pupil of the Sith, and was inspired by the Rule of Two, quickly joining her master in dismissing Darth Krayt and his developing faction on Korriban as little more than a dark side gang of thugs led by a heretical usurper. Both Sith women saw the future much differently than Krayt did, and elected to ignore his second invitation to join him on Korriban, with Vongerella intending to unite the galaxy under her banner, which Lumiya also was in favour of, provided she was the one pulling the strings and returning the Empire to prominence.

As the two Sith continued to work together, plotting to achieve power over both sides of the war, it came to their attention that Jacen Solo had survived the mission to Myrkr and had returned to the New Republic, complete with the mysterious Vergere in tow. Vongerella was shocked to learn that the Fosh had once been a Jedi of the Old Republic, but as the New Republic started to rally, both Sith kept abreast of developments, being informed by Lumiya's spies and also using the oracle stone inside the Home to spy on developments. Both Sith watched as the Battle of Ebaq 9 resulted in a resounding defeat for the Vong, pleasing Lumiya as her galaxy had finally started to effectively fight back against the enemy, and Vongerella was pleased as Tsavong Lah was now dead, which she believed would help her advance her plans to usurp control of the Vong empire, and also filled her with satisfaction as she viewed Lah as one of the superiors who kept promoting those less competent than her over her, and felt that his death was well justified, savouring her victory. She also advanced her skills, shaping a rare red lambent crystal to create her double bladed lightsaber. With her new weapon, and the entire Vong war effort thrown off kilter by the death of Tsavong Lah, Vongerella started to advance the plans of both her and her master, assassinating various members of the Vong hierarchy to help her get closer to Shimrra, and as a result of her Sith training, she no longer feared Onimi nor the hold he had over her. While she plotted to remove Vong opponents, Lumiya continued to manipulate from behind the scenes, orchestrating schemes within the Galactic Alliance, Empire and Hapes Consortium.

While Vongerella was loyal to Lumiya, she was not above plotting her own plans. As the war steadily started to turn against her own people, Vongerella returned to her people, determined to help her case against the Supreme Overlord, and his manservant. Knowing that Shimrra's power had been shaken by the debacle at Ebaq 9, added with the quickly spreading heretical movement worshipping the Jeedai, and the Galactic Alliance now threatening the Vong's gains, she sought another way to undermine him, while also helping end the war that much faster. She reached out to Commander B'shith Vorrik, and suggested to the fairly naïve commander that he take the opportunity to earn Shimrra's favour by neutralising the Empire before it committed to the Alliance cause against the Vong. Vorrik initially refused, having been meant to tackle the rising problems posed by the Mandalorians, but with some deft manipulation on her part, Vongerella convinced Vorrik to engage the Empire instead, figuring she and Lumiya would win either way: either Vorrik would win, likely removing Grand Admiral Pellaeon as an impediment to the Sith schemes and depriving the Alliance of a powerful ally, or Vorrik would die, further undermining Shimrra, and leaving another vacancy that Vongerella would be able to move in to and usurp. With the Imperial theatre of the war now opened up, Vongerella watched in satisfaction as events unfolded: the Empire officially joined the war, further weakening Shimrra's position, and also removing another of his military favourites (hand picked to be loyal only to Shimrra) and thereby giving Vongerella another chance to get to the throne. Furthermore, Vongerella was rather pleased with her work, especially as the battle began for the Remnant, as her master rushed to the aid of the Empire, with Vongerella watching in fascination as her master endangered herself at the Battle of Yaga Minor, and as was dictated by the Rule of Two, began to contemplate plans which would see her overthrow her master and become the Dark Lord of the Sith herself.

To the delight of Lumiya, the war began to turn against the invaders, and she continued her machinations to retake the galaxy for the Sith. However, Vongerella was beginning to grow increasingly disenchanted with the entire affair. While she had wanted to destroy the hierarchy and usurp control, casting aside her loyalty to her species, indeed sacrificed her place among them as she became a Sith, the fact that her species was now losing the war disturbed Vongerella on many levels, especially as the Jeedai heresy spread and the Shamed Ones started to revolt against the leadership. Shame, fear and disgust, along with an innate inability to see her people fail started to weaken the foundations of her loyalty to the Sith. She started to watch in incomprehension as the mighty Vong empire started to fall apart under the attacks of the Galactic Alliance. As both sides of the war effort clashed to decide the fate of the galaxy, Vongerella joined her master on Coruscant. While Lumiya wanted to help fight in the battle out of patriotic duty, she was also growing increasingly concerned that Vongerella wasn't giving her all to being a Sith, and was more concerned with her people's increasingly desperate plight, a fact that was further reinforced by the arrival of the living world of Zonama Sekot in the system.

As the two Sith fought side by side with the Shamed Ones to help overthrow Shimrra and his regime, the arrival of Zonama Sekot threw Vongerella into a blind panic. Having learned of the living world, and also knowing of the various heresies that had spread since its discovery, Vongerella believed that the world was in fact the doom of her people, and her loyalty and conviction wavered. Lumiya chided her apprentice, reminding her of her sacrifice and her new role as a Sith apprentice, the one she had chosen over her loyalty to her people. Vongerella fought on beside her master, however as she watched the ruination that the incompetence of the Vong leaders had visited upon her people, as her mighty empire collapsed due to their mismanagement of the whole war and the invasion, something hardened within her, solidifying her hatred, her rage and changing her nature deep within herself as her species was defeated and forced into shamed exile.

With the end of the Vong War, Lumiya set about conspiring to bring the galaxy under the Sith's benign but authoritarian dominion, sowing discord throughout the galaxy and exploiting the massive damage and divides left by the war. However, while she did so, her relationship with Vongerella started to deteriorate. Despite disavowing the Vong as a whole, and Shimrra's regime in particular, Vongerella, having watched her entire species be defeated and humiliated by a galaxy full of infidels, her plans to usurp control of the Vong scuppered, she began seeking ways to undo the damage that had been inflicted on her people, to repeal the Sekot Accords and take revenge on the galaxy for what it did to her people. She still wanted to bring the galaxy under the dominion of the Sith, indeed, under her dominion, but she viewed the Vong, defeated and ruined as they were, as her means to do so. A new authoritarian Vong regime with the Sith in control, with her as the new Supreme Overlord, would see all her plans come to fruition, and also reverse the damage Shimrra and Tsavong Lah had done to her people and their pride. As time went on, Lumiya and Vongerella had numerous arguments on the matter, with Vongerella becoming increasingly determined to rule with an iron fist and basically beat the galaxy into submission under a Vong overlord, in contrast to Lumiya's plans to rule with a strong but benevolent dictatorship which would unite and improve the galaxy under a strong leader. Vongerella continually disagreed with her master, and began to seek an alternative…a way of achieving Sith dominion over the galaxy while also rebuilding the Yuuzhan Vong to their former glory, and that meant she had to get rid of Lumiya.

Retreating to the Cloak of the Sith region of space, Vongerella sought the help of the ancient Sith spirits present on the various worlds to help inspire her on how to get rid of her master. In the region, near Ziost, Vongerella encountered a StealthX fighter, and captured the Jedi Daye Azur-Jamin, proceeding to turn him to the dark side in a mix of torture, torment and seduction, hoping to use him as her apprentice with whom she could proceed to challenge Lumiya, as was the wont of the Rule of Two era Sith. Lumiya, who had been watching from afar using her oracle stone, rumbled what her apprentice was up to, and sent an anonymous tipoff to the Jedi, resulting in Kyle Katarn arriving with Mara Jade Skywalker and Jaden Korr to free Azur-Jamin. They discovered that Daye had been turned to the dark side, and he revealed the existence of a Vong Force user, but Vongerella fled before the Jedi could discover her presence or her loyalties, keeping the nature of the Sith secret for the time being. Frustrated by her failure in the Cloak of the Sith region, Vongerella returned on her flagship to the Home, where her master awaited.

Lumiya confronted Vongerella upon her return, chiding her for being so reckless and risking exposing their survival to the Jedi. Vongerella protested, saying that she had been taught the ways of the Sith by her master, and that she was doing what any Sith apprentice would do. Lumiya agreed, but then informed Vongerella of the distinction: Vongerella wasn't plotting to overthrow her master and become the Dark Lord of the Sith, who happened to be a Yuuzhan Vong, rather she was a Yuuzhan Vong who would just happen to be the Dark Lord of the Sith should she succeed. Lumiya reminded her of her sacrifice, and told her she would never allow the Sith to be usurped and made into the new religious caste of a resurgent, brutal Yuuzhan Vong empire. Vongerella reminded her master that she had pledged allegiance to the Sith when her people had been poised to seize control of the whole galaxy, and things had obviously now changed. Lumiya told her that her sacrifice had not changed, criticising her for still being a slave to the Vong way of life. She lambasted Vongerella, telling her she had simply been opportunistic and hadn't truly committed her sacrifice to be worthy of being her apprentice. Vongerella told her that the point is to accumulate power, and Lumiya, frustrated with her apprentice's inability to understand her lessons, told her that the Sith had to strike a balance, and were not a means to an end but a way of life, and it had become clear that Vongerella simply intended to now use her allegiance to the Sith to impose another brutal empire on the galaxy, one governed by a Vong Sith, emphasising the worst both sides had to offer. Furious at this denouncement, Vongerella railed at Lumiya, who dismissed her, telling Vongerella that she had failed as an apprentice, hadn't adhered to her sacrifice, and was little more than a charlatan like the so-called Sith of Darth Krayt.

Vongerella, her fury unleashed, lit her double bladed saber and sprang at her master, and a duel erupted with the two Sith battling in the midst of the Home, the dark side nexus of the asteroid empowering both of them as they fought. However, despite initially surprising Lumiya with her prowess with her saber, Lumiya's mastery of force phantoms, combined with her role as the master, her experience and her lightwhip, complete with samples of bafforr pollen she had stolen from Yaga Minor, all combined to allow Lumiya to break Vongerella's lightsaber in half, and take off one of her hands. Defeated, Vongerella dropped to her knees before her master, and waited for death. As Lumiya prepared to execute her, she saw something of herself in the Vong woman, having been in the same position that Vongerella was now in. She took Vongerella's chin in her hand and commiserated with her apprentice, having been there herself, and told Vongerella she knew how she felt. She offered her sympathies and told her she had been a fine apprentice, and that in time, if Vongerella could come to terms with the defeat of her people, then her master would welcome her back with open arms when the time was right. She decided to spare her, opting instead to banish Vongerella, and allowing her to depart with her life. Shocked, and finally learning one of Lumiya's lessons that mercy can have its uses, and that Sith can also be benign, she respectfully bowed to her master, thanking her for her training, and departed the Home on the Dark Emissary, with the two women making as much peace with each other as they could before Vongerella disappeared into the ether of the galaxy, and this would be the last time that she would see her master.

Defeated and dispirited, but leaving with her life, Vongerella had a decision to make. She knew she had little chance of trying to find Zonama Sekot, the living world having withdrawn deep into the Unknown Regions in order to protect its new charges. However, she did hear that there were forces battling in the Tingel Arm of the galaxy, the last vestiges of the Vong armada that had either fled or simply refused to obey Nas Choka's command to surrender following their defeat at Coruscant. Taking her flagship to the furthest reaches of the spiral arm, she arrived in the Tingel Arm to find the final battle in full swing. The Second Fleet of the Galactic Alliance, led by General Garm Bel Iblis, had pursued a surviving enclave of Vong ships into the Gardaji sector, with the fleet scattered throughout the arm in an effort to hem the remaining Vong forces in, in a last effort to force them to demilitarise, and if not, to destroy them. The battle had been raging for some time by the time Vongerella arrived with her ship, and the final battle of the campaign, the Battle of the Gardaji Rift, was raging as the Sith looked on what she feared would be the last stand of her people.

The last Vong worldship, the Baanu Venxis had sustained heavy damage from numerous cruisers, battleships, frigates and corvettes as Bel Iblis, commanding from the Mon Adapyne sought to end the last remnant of the Vong fleet that had refused to honour the demands to surrender. His fleet had sustained significant losses as the ships battled it out, with the worldship supported by a last Kor Chokk, the last clustership bearing the last yammosk other than the world brain of Coruscant, three carriers, numerous yorik-vecs, a few picket ships, two mataloks, four frigates and four miid ro'iks, all under the command of Raglath Paasar, who had stubbornly refused to believe that his people had been defeated. However, he was now trapped in the Gardaji Rift, and Bel Iblis' forces were seizing the upper hand as Vongerella arrived. What was more, a local armada, flying under the banner of the Maw Irregular Fleet, had also arrived following their attacks throughout the Tingel Arm, and Admiral Daala (unknown to Bel Iblis) was commanding from the aged Scylla as they sought to end Paasar's transgressions. As the fleets clashed, Vongerella entered the battle, determined to save the last bastion of her people, and contacted Paasar, attempting to convince him to end the battle and flee. Paasar was undeterred, still clinging to the belief that the Vong could triumph. Vongerella watched as the fleets battled, and sadly saw what she should have seen before now: the Vong empire was finished, and Paasar was little more than a warlord, similar to those of the Empire, determined to avoid the inevitable. She pleaded with him to reconsider, but he again refused as the Alliance and the Maw fleet broke through, destroying more of his ships. Paasar began to hesitate, and a dispirited Vongerella sympathised with him, but told him the truth that she was now coming to accept: it was over. But, she promised, if he served her, things would one day turn in their favour again. Paasar remained defiant, blustering that he didn't need to admit defeat, however when the guns of the Maw fleet tore apart the last Kor Chokk, leaving the worldship much more exposed to the enemy, Paasar admitted defeat, and asked what she had in mind. Vongerella told him to be ready and to follow her, and gave herself into the Force, and with the help of the yammosk, she coordinated the fleet, using a form of Sith battle meditation, similar to what she had learned from Lumiya during her training, and galvanised the fleet, while also using the Force to swirl the nebulae gases of the rift around the fleet. As the combined Alliance forces pursued they were overcome by the gases of the mist, distracted and disorientated and were unable to coordinate with each other. Paasar was very impressed, and loyally followed Vongerella as their forces made good their escape, fleeing the Tingel Arm and vanishing deep into the Unknown Regions.

Isolated from the rest of the galaxy, Vongerella set about uniting her remnant faction into a force to be reckoned with, and Paasar, now convinced of her power and her right to command, viewed her as the successor to both the Supreme Overlord and the Warmaster, as did the forces under his command. With the Baanu Venxis now acting as their mobile headquarters, and the Dark Emissary being used as the flagship, her remnant faction repaired the damage from the Battle of the Gardaji Rift as the remaining ships formed the nucleus of her new power base, a mobile state that would one day avenge itself on the galaxy, and if she had her way, put the Vong back into power, under the leadership of the Sith. Vongerella spent much of her time meditating, and also growing accustomed to the hand grown for her by the shapers to replace the one that Lumiya had taken in their duel on the Home. Determined to preserve her forces, they meandered through the stars in peace for some time, with the Shamed Ones and others rebelling against her leadership as they wanted to try to find Zonama Sekot so they could be with their brethren. Vongerella had the uprising crushed to remind them of whom they served and that while the war may be over, and the Shamed Ones now called the Extolled, but in her fleet, Vong society remained as it had before the downfall of their empire. It was during this time that her fleet came across the Crimson Stars and the Ebon Strikers, rival pirate gangs which were embroiled in a battle with each other for spoils. Giving her forces a much-needed outlet, her fleet set about the pirate vessels, shattering their flotillas, with the guns of the worldship slaughtering most of their ships. Trapped by the Vong forces, the pirates had no choice but to surrender, as only a few picket ships of each side managed to survive the battle, fleeing further into the Unknown Regions. As Vongerella inspected the pirate vessels, survivors of both factions had something unique to offer her: the Ebon Striker survivors revealed they had been negotiating and supplying another power in the Unknown Regions, a power that was slowly starting to develop its strength. The Crimson Stars on the other hand had discovered something on a raid on a Chiss facility, the location of the world known as Mugg Fallow. Intrigued, and feeling the dark side's hand guiding her towards both these outcomes, she killed all bar one of the remaining pirates with the Force, tearing the information she needed out of the minds of her victims, and began to make her plans with the last two survivors terrified of their new Vong overlord.

However before she could attend to these new factions that she had discovered, she entered the space of the former warlord Nuso Esva. Defeated decades before by Grand Admiral Thrawn, the remaining faction of the warlords forces had done well to endure the ensuing decades and still had a decent chunk of space under their control, though they weren't dangerous as they had been. Vongerella's forces entered their section of their Unknown Regions and were immediately beset by Esva's remaining forces. After a pitched battle, Vongerella easily overcame their forces, and killed their commanding officer in full view of his other forces, resulting in Esva's forces pledging their loyalty to the Vong Sith. With the Vong remnant under command, and now supplemented by Esva's forces, complete with the remaining ships of the Ebon Strikers and the Crimson Stars, albeit manned by Vong warriors, Vongerella was very pleased as her forces started to take shape as she began to plan her return to galactic power and prominence.

With the defeated Crimson Stars and Ebon Strikers under command, also amalgamated forces of Esva's defeated faction supplementing her forces, Vongerella turned her attention to what her defeated opponents had discovered. The Crimson Stars had performed an information raid similar to the attacks of Grand Admiral Thrawn on Obroa-Skai on a Chiss outpost and had discovered a closely guarded secret of the Chiss: the location of Mugg Fallow. The world had long been isolated by the design of the Chiss, as it was the homeworld of the Mnggal-Mnggal. The Mnggal-Mnggal were a parasitic species feared throughout the Unknown Regions. Having supplanted all the oceans of their homeworld of Mugg Fallow, the species filled the oceans and rivers of the world, leaving only lifeless continents behind. The world was surrounded by a series of derelict ships, ranging from the time of the Gree and of Xim the Despot up until the present day. The Mnggal-Mnggal consisted of a thick grey ooze, an ancient species that had been around long enough to witness the departure of the Celestials from the galaxy. Indeed, the parasitic species was so dangerous that many believed that the hyperspace distortions that separated the Unknown Region from the galaxy proper were created simply to contain the Mnggal-Mnggal. This unmatched shapeshifting creature existed as a thick grey ooze, and entered the bodies of sentients by infecting them with its touch. Vongerella saw this unique creature as perhaps the key to her plans; if she could utilise this organism to her own ends, it could help her retake control of the galaxy. Taking leave of her fleet, Vongerella travelled on her flagship to Mugg Fallow, the homeworld of the Mnggal-Mnggal. She descended to the planet alone, letting the sweet rotten smell of the world fill her as she looked upon the oceans of the creature's home. As she approached the shore, a tendril of the entity reared up, lancing towards her and landing on her, soaking into her pores. However, to the organisms surprise, it felt a creature that was totally alien to it. Not of their galaxy, Vongerella was different than anything else it had ever consumed, and the Chiss had taken great care to prevent the entity from escaping the world and joining the Vong during the war. Baffled, the creature retreated from Vongerella, who exerted her influence with the dark side over the entity. With the dark side brought to bear, Vongerella negotiated with the Mnggal-Mnggal, earning its loyalty as she began to set out her plan: unlimited prey for the Mnggal-Mnggal if it would work with her to retake all that the Vong had lost. Sceptical but hungry, the entity agreed to her plans, and Vongerella felt she had taken the first step towards retaking what she had lost.

Vongerella was pleased with her progress. The loyalty of the Mnggal-Mnggal, she believed, was the first step towards her return to power, and would then bring the galaxy back under the dominion of the Sith, and under the control of a resurgent Vong empire. To that end, she sought out the other prisoner, the survivor of the destruction of the Ebon Strikers. They had been silently arming and negotiating with a powerful force in the Unknown Regions, and with the support of the Mnggal-Mnggal, which had sent some of the entity along with Vongerella in recognition of their new alliance, Vongerella headed further into the territory that the Ebon Strikers had been exploring. Deep within the area, Vongerella discovered a large war fleet, and recognised the owners of the large armada: the Vagaari Empire was returning, poised to take revenge on the Chiss, among others following their defeat after the Battle of the Redoubt so many years before. Invited for a summit, the Miskara, the leader of the Vaagari Empire, met with Vongerella, and demanded that she submit to him, turn over the ships and weapons that she had developed, and if she did not, he would destroy her fleet, which his forces were currently surrounding. Vongerella was incensed, demanding that he leave her forces in peace, and in return she would offer him assistance. The Miskara tells her that he is the one in charge here, and that she is little more than an insect to him, and that if she doesn't cooperate, which he'd rather she did as he wants her weapons and ships, he will simply have her killed. Vongerella is furious, but realises that she cannot confront him as he has endangered her fleet. However, the Mnggal-Mnggal sees its chance, and emerges from the pouch she was carrying it in, and it proceeds to then possess and hence kill the Miskara, using his body as a puppet, with the Mnggal-Mnggal acting as the pilot of the now dead Miskara's body. Pleased with the possibilities of this alliance, Vongerella has the entity ally the Vagaari with her, giving her full command of the Vagaari Empire, using the Mnggal-Mnggal as a puppet ruler, constantly possessing other members of the inner circle, and allowing Vongerella to essentially become the secret head of state of the Vagaari empire, with the unique nature of Vagaari society preventing the discovery of the Mnggal-Mnggal, and in turn, Vongerella will help them retake the initiative against the Chiss.

Vongerella was pleased with her progress. The Mnggal-Mnggal was actively conspiring with her in order to retake the galaxy, and she now had command of the Vong Remnant, the former forces of Nuso Esva, and was the secret leader of the Vagaari Empire, just as Darth Sidious was decades before with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Plotting her return to the wider galaxy, Vongerella began to watch the galaxy from afar, as the Killik crisis started to engulf the Galactic Alliance, and as the Swarm War broke out, she began to watch closely, curious as to the developments of the wider galaxy. Meanwhile, in command of her growing forces, she continued to advance her aims, forging them all into an effective force with which she could strike against the Alliance and the Jedi. However, realising that as it stood the Jedi could well overwhelm her, she began to search out other Force users, who she could use against the Jedi while she sought her own actual apprentice. Vongerella spent a lot of the time trying to hunt down the Blazing Chain, a group of marauders that operated within the Unknown Regions and were said to incorporate numerous Force sensitives within their ranks. Hoping to track down these marauders and bend them to her will, Vongerella took the Dark Emissary in an attempt to hunt them down. Encountering the Blazing Chain, her ship was ambushed by the marauders, who had discovered some of her intentions through the Force as a result of their Force users. Ambushing her flagship, the Blazing Chain forced her ship into retreat, to Vongerella's fury at having been outsmarted by a marauder force. However, her ship then dropped out of hyperspace at a uncharted planet as a result of the damage. Upon arrival, Vongerella begins to receive messages through the Force from the planet below. After initially ignoring it as she focused on repairing her ship, Vongerella eventually descended to the planet.

As she arrived on the world, mysterious figures clad all in black began to surround her. They asked her if she was there to learn the way of the Dark, and how they believe she is the person they've been waiting for. She tells them that she is a Dark Lord of the Sith, and the figures all discuss with each other. They reveal their identities as the Sorcerers of Rhand, followers of the Way of the Dark, and that they feel the time has come to bring the entire galaxy into the Way of the Dark. They claim that the galaxy is writhing in chaos, and only with their hand, can they guide it so that the destruction that the galaxy has witnessed of late, and will witness, can they serve the Dark. Vongerella is impressed, feeling the dark power of these sorcerers, and they join forces, pledging themselves to her cause, and Vongerella feels another piece click into place in her plan to rebuild the galaxy in her image. However, as the galaxy at large recovered from the Swarm War, Vongerella began to notice the rising tide of separatism that was bedevilling the galaxy, and suspected that her master was involved in it. Resolving to adopt a wait and see approach, she instead continued to amalgamate her new state, a Vong refugee state with the Way of the Dark supplementing the gods of the Yuuzhan Vong, with the warriors of her forces, Esva's, and the Vagaari (controlled by Mnggal-Mnggal) all joined under her banner. However, brutally controlled by her forces, the Shamed Ones (even more incensed that the Sorcerers of Rhand seemed to be trying to replace their religion in order to make the whole thing even more tightly controlled by Vongerella) were starting to develop low levels of dissent against her control, wishing to join their brethren on Zonama Sekot, however even as the Shamed Ones started to conspire to try and liberate themselves, Vongerella tightened her grip, as her plans started to come together.
Watching from deep in the Unknown Regions, Vongerella continued to forge her forces into an effective weapon, planning for the time in which she would strike and seize the galaxy from the enemy, bringing it back under the dominion of the Sith. Recognising her master's antics as she conspired to goad the Corellians into war with the Galactic Alliance, and knowing it would also benefit her own ends, Vongerella began dispersing Vong agents through the galaxy, just as was done during the preparations for the Vong War, and used them to erode Alliance authority, provoking various civil wars and brushfire wars against the Alliance to spread them out and weaken their overall hold. With her plotting now helping Lumiya's scheming, she helped to start manipulating events towards the Second Galactic Civil War along with her master. While her Vong agents started to provoke trouble across the galaxy to weaken the Alliance in preparation for her eventual attack, she then used the greatest weapon in her arsenal, Mnggal-Mnggal, to infiltrate various levels of the galactic powers. Due to the hosts dying not long after being possessed by the entity, she couldn't act too overtly, however with the help of the entity she started to have all the agents disperse throughout the governments, learning of plans of each government, and seeing which areas she could then exploit. With the entity now creating an infiltrated network of intelligence throughout the galaxy, supplemented by Vong agents spreading chaos and discord, along with also working within the governments at her behest, she began to create the framework for her eventual attack. The Shamed Ones were still hoping to be liberated and wished to join their brethren on Sekot, however under the watchful eye of Vongerella's forces, they couldn't do anything to try and achieve their desires. The Vagaari remained under the control of the Sith, however the Supreme Commander, who hadn't been possessed by Mnggal-Mnggal yet, was pushing their case, wishing to engage the Chiss. Knowing it was too early to engage the Chiss as she wasn't yet ready, Vongerella instead opted to look for other targets to sate the bloodlust of her various forces, especially as she wished to see how things would develop with her master's plan for the wider galaxy.
The Ssi-Ruuk had attracted her attention due to the various reports from the sorcerers and the Vagaari. Having been used and humiliated by the Vong during the war, the Ssi-Ruuk had been quietly building their forces back up for another attempt at retaking the galaxy, however after the defeat at Bakura they were once again planning on seizing the Unknown Regions. Vongerella however was disinclined to allow this to happen, as she wanted events in the Unknown Regions to develop the way that she wanted them to. As such, as the Ssi-Ruuk prepared to venture out of their own star cluster, she had her forces begin an invasion of their space. Caught by surprise, the Ssi-Ruuk were suddenly forced on the defensive as Vongerella's coalition invaded, catching them off guard and inflicting heavy damages. As the two sides battled, Vongerella sought a quick tactical victory, to sate the bloodlust of the Vong and Vagaari forces, and also as an experiment to see how well the sorcerers would do, and to explore all her military options. To the horror of the Ssi-Ruuk, her coalition quickly overtook them, their weaponry from Esva's forces, the Vong strength and the Vagaari numbers easily overwhelming the Ssi-Ruuk forces, especially with the Vong driven to extreme rage by their use of droids and entechment procedures. The Ssi-Ruuk were forced onto the defensive, and with the bulk of their fleet shattered before it had even left their own star cluster, the remainder of their ships fled back to Lwhekk, their capital to make their final stand.
Vongerella was very pleased with her forces, they had all performed well, becoming an effective fighting force that had easily overcame the Ssi-Ruuk. Seeing potential for the Ssi-Ruuk, Vongerella then deigned to end the war with a final strike. Bringing her fleet to bear, with the Baanu Venxis being the centrepiece of the assault, her coalition arrived over the Ssi-Ruuk capital and forced the reptiles onto a final stand. Leading the assault party, Vongerella landed and cut through swathes of Ssi-Ruuk with her saber, backed up by her forces. Despite the attempts of the Ssi-Ruuk to hold out, she easily took their government centre and forced the Shreeftut to surrender to her in exchange for calling off her invasion. With the Ssi-Ruuk subjugated and also forced to provide forces to her coalition and her war with them over, Vongerella now had several of the most powerful factions of the Unknown Regions under her command, along with Mnggal-Mnggal infiltrating across the galaxy, everything was proceeding according to her designs.
Meanwhile the Second Galactic Civil War had ended, and Lumiya had been killed by Luke Skywalker during the conflict. Vongerella lamented the loss of her master and bade her a final farewell, wishing they could have resolved their differences before her death, though remembered her fondly. Dispirited with the defeat of Darth Caedus, Lumiya's last apprentice, Vongerella now realised that she was the last of the Sith, the last heir to the Rule of Two, and as such, the entire imperative now fell to her. Determined to remake the galaxy in Lumiya's image, with a strong and benevolent dictator ensuring order, which she did admit Caedus had done a fair amount of contributing towards due to uniting the galaxy, the plan was now set, she would use her forces and her agents to usurp control of the galaxy. The end of the war was largely inconclusive, with Admiral Daala becoming Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance, the Hapans having no apparent heir to the throne due to the apparent death of Allana, and an expanded Empire now under the command of Jagged Fel. The Chiss had largely stayed out of it, however they were still attempting to recover from the damage that had been inflicted in the leadup to the Killik war. The galaxy had united against Caedus, but without him or a strong successor, the galaxy would soon flail again, and Vongerella intended to exploit that fact.
Something then happened that she did not intend. While tensions between Daala and the Jedi escalated and the Unification Summit failed to achieve anything, Vongerella had her various agents continue to stoke and exacerbate tensions, but it was the emergence of a Lost Tribe of Sith that threw her for a loop. An entire planet full of Sith were now conspiring to usurp control of the galaxy, which would threaten her own plans, to her great irritation. Keeping a close eye on such events she had her forces spy on the Tribe to ascertain their intentions, to see if it was worth working with them or if she should destroy them. However, of great interest to her was Daala banishing Luke Skywalker from Coruscant. Intrigued at the possibility of removing the Grand Master without having to actually engage him, Vongerella vowed to keep an eye on these events. Meanwhile, slave revolts started to spring up all across the galaxy, further escalating tensions between Daala and the Jedi, while the Tribe sought to make the most of the situation. Into the situation came the ancient Force entity known as Abeloth, who threatened the entire galaxy. The downfall of Admiral Daala, the defeat of the Lost Tribe and the banishment of Abeloth all worked towards Vongerella's ends however. The Jedi had abandoned Coruscant, the Galactic Alliance was now weaker with a triumvirate leading it as Dorvan was seen by many senators as too close to the Jedi so they had forced a change to the office of head of state, the Lecersen conspiracy had further empowered the Empire which now had Vitor Reige as head of state with Jagged Fel his second in command with his new wife Jaina Solo, which had the stirrings of a cold war with the Alliance, and overall the galaxy was in a more chaotic state than it had started. Vongerella was pleased. The Jedi were removed from the centre of government, and one of the Jedi she wanted to confront the most, Jaina, was now removed as well, and it was clear that Luke, like Han and Leia, was now considering retiring. Perceiving the weakness of her enemies, Vongerella had her minions travel to Kesh, rescuing those who had tried to eke out an existence on the planet following its destruction by Abeloth, and recruited various members of the Tribe to her cause and also sought out their remaining military forces, also amalgamating them into her coalition. Vongerella refused to commit to acting however, she was feeling a stirring within the Force, indicating that something was about to happen that she needed. As she prepared her forces to make their move, they picked up on a small vessel, an orange ancient Sith meditation sphere called Ship. Within was Vestara Khai, formerly of the Lost Tribe and ex-girlfriend of Ben Skywalker, who had narrowly avoided death in the Chilhoon Rift and had been meandering the galaxy, attempting to find her place within it. Shocked to find the large armada that Vongerella had assembled, Vestara was brought in by Vongerella, who revealed to her the nature of the Rule of Two, and offered her the position of her apprentice, believing that Vestara was a gift sent by the Force. Vestara was hesitant, but Vongerella offered her the chance to work with her, to see what she was trying to achieve, and the young woman provisionally agreed to join with her.
Now armed with a prospective apprentice, with the Galactic Alliance weak, and her forces assembled, Vongerella was now ready to begin her plan. She began to further increase the number of people that she had Mnggal-Mnggal replacing throughout the Galactic Alliance structure, and used these puppets to increase policies that would have a detrimental effect on their relationship with both the Empire and the other galactic powers. As she stoked tensions between the various powers, she had her forces begin preying on ships and planets close to each faction's border, coming in and attacking the ships of each faction, allowing them to start playing the blame game. With the major factions all distracted, their shipping being disrupted, using Mnggal-Mnggal, she began to up the virulent rhetoric of each faction towards each other, stoking tensions between the respective powers, which the sorcerers also helped to escalate with their dark rituals. The remaining members of the Tribe, already experienced at infiltrating the government, were also instrumental, and worked with the Vong agents, infiltrating the Empire, the Hapes Consortium and the Chiss Ascendancy. With Vongerella orchestrating from the shadows, the factions started to ramp up their rhetoric against each other, with each one blaming the other for the disappearances of their ships. Furthermore, several treaties were also jeopardised, increasing resentment among the galactic governments.
Into this climate, the Galactic Alliance triumvirate made a decision that greatly helped Vongerella. Currently consisting of Wynn Dorvan, Releqy A'kla and Garik 'Face' Loran following the end of the apocalypse caused by Abeloth and the conclusion of the Lecersen conspiracy, A'kla, seeking to heal the damage done to the Alliance in recent years, proposed a new plan, a rehabilitation plan that would see Kesh, the homeworld of the Lost Tribe, admitted into the Galactic Alliance. While Vongerella orchestrated mid to high level dissension between the galactic factions, this one was a true game changer. A'kla believed that if they could invite the Tribe into the Alliance, it could help settle the problems that had been caused by the Tribe, rehabilitating them and simultaneously giving them a way to keep an eye on the Tribe lest they try to infiltrate and overthrow the government again. While the other two triumvirs were opposed to this, Releqy, an extremely popular figure of peace, not to mention the daughter of Elegos A'kla and a hero within her own right, commanded a lot of respect across the Alliance, and indeed the galaxy. Vongerella was highly interested in this, believing that she could adapt her plan to suit her own ends and hence bring about the revenge of the Sith. As such, using Mnggal-Mnggal, she began to get her the support she needed in the senate to help this come about.
Due to Vongerella's efforts, many began to criticise the attempts to rehabilitate the Tribe into galactic society, with many people questioning whether it would lead to similar attempts with the Yuuzhan Vong. Vongerella was pleased, as either way, it would serve her purposes. If she succeeded, it would get the Sith to be more accepted within galactic society, and hence when she took over, make her job slightly easier. If she failed, she could still use the rhetoric to further expand her power. As it stood, the news was spreading across the galaxy that A'kla was seeking to have Kesh join the Alliance, as part of an aid deal: Kesh would join the Alliance and the Sith would adapt to their laws and customs, in exchange for fixing the damage that the Tribe had inflicted on the Alliance. Many criticised the attempts, arguing that the Tribe had inflicted severe damage on the galaxy, let alone what was done by Darth Sidious, Vader and Caedus over the last several decades. However, Releqy, with the help of Vongerella's forces having infiltrated across the Alliance, along with Mnggal-Mnggal, began to stoke up support for her plan, either by convincing or bribing senators, getting rid of those who would oppose the plan, or replacing those senators who were opposed with Mnggal-Mnggal. When the vote came up in the senate, due to Vongerella's actions, the bill passed, albeit by a narrow margin, and the Alliance offered Kesh membership.
The reaction was as Vongerella had anticipated. Across the galaxy, those who had suffered under the Empire's policies, or under Caedus, all rallied against the Galactic Alliance, declaring that it was dishonouring everything that they had all suffered by allowing this travesty to happen in the first place. Many in the Alliance hierarchy, senators, ministers and members of the military all united in criticising the Alliance as a whole, proclaiming it as no longer serving the wider good of the galaxy and that the Alliance was now becoming a facsimile of the Empire. As Kesh took its place in the senate, terrorist incidents and protests rocked Coruscant, a fact exacerbated by the Jedi having withdrawn from the planet. Furthermore, as the entire galaxy reacted with fury to the Sith admittance into the Alliance, the other galactic powers were also furious. The Mandalorians, having suffered under the rule of Darth Caedus and leading to the exile of the Mandalore, Boba Fett, withdrew all their contracts from the Alliance and even convinced the Verpine, who were their allies, to withdraw from the Alliance. The Hapes Consortium, due to their distaste for Force sensitives despite their queen, and due to Caedus' actions during the war, also broke off all contact with the Alliance, temporarily suspending all diplomatic ties. The Empire, now under the command of Jagged Fel and Vitor Reige, officially protested the action due to the Empire's past with the Sith due to Darth Sidious and Vader, and also due to Caedus' assassination of the beloved Grand Admiral Pellaeon. Vongerella was extremely pleased, she had the best of both worlds: the Tribe had been admitted into the Alliance and could be used to further disrupt the Alliance, and the Alliance had suddenly made itself extremely isolated from its allies. With the Alliance now working to try to limit the damage it had inflicted upon itself, she continued with her plans. Knowing now that she had to create the circumstances that would allow her to seize control of the galaxy, Vongerella instructed Vestara to take command of the Tribe, a move which shocked her prospective apprentice. Vestara protested that the Tribe wouldn't submit to her authority, but Vongerella tells her that they will submit, as she will see to it.
With the Alliance now isolated from its allies, Vongerella began to use her various forces to begin preying on the edges of its space while keeping up her infiltration, utilising Mnggal-Mnggal and the Tribe to further her aims. With her agents acting across the galaxy, various worlds started to plot their secession from the Alliance, and various brushfire wars were all ignited, risking plunging the galaxy back into anarchy once again. To distract the enemy, she then had Vestara, in her role as the leader of the Tribe, command the Tribe to begin marshalling forces of each side. As war fleets started to perform war games and military exercises between each faction, alarming each side as it seemed a cold war was starting to brew, she headed to Coruscant in preparation to tip the scales of the cold war that she was brewing between the Alliance and the other factions, hoping to bring everything to a climax and have it be ripped apart on all sides by the other galactic factions. She travelled to Coruscant, and using her various agents, started to spread a horrifying rumour that she knew would further distract the Alliance, and the Jedi who were now starting to sniff about: that Nom Anor had returned.

As the Jedi began to hear whispers that Anor had indeed returned, Luke, Han and Leia were desperately trying to calm the situation. The Triumvirate was weak, and despite A'kla's well meaning intentions, the inclusion of Kesh into the Alliance had inflamed many tensions across the galaxy, as people decried the presence of the Sith after all they had done. Hoping to soothe the situation with the Empire at the very least due to their relation to Jag and Jaina, they travelled to Bastion to make them see reason. While Jaina, now pregnant, agreed that there seemed to be more at play, especially if Anor had indeed returned, it didn't matter, the deed had been done: the galaxy was furious at the attempted rehabilitation of the Sith, and the Empire was demanding blood. Leading the charge was Admiral Daala, who was still a popular war hero, and had a large amount of support in the Imperial military, and despite having lost the election, was still a powerful opposing faction within the Empire. While Jag tried to ensure that she didn't accumulate too much power, Jaina departed with her parents and uncle to try to calm the situation, and discover the truth about Anor's return. However, the various agents of Vongerella, be they Vong, Mnggal-Mnggal or Tribe, began to streamline Daala's potential road to power, to usurp control of the Empire from Jag and proclaim herself the Imperial head of state as Jag's list of allies began to grow thin.

Various generals and admirals within the Alliance were also threatening the strained peace, with it becoming clear that many disagreed with the decision to incorporate the Tribe into the Alliance. Indeed, numerous Admirals, including the likes of Atoko, were all now railing against the Triumvirate, stating that the Alliance itself was betraying its people by siding with the Sith who had attempted to conquer the galaxy. Stoked by Vongerella's agents, the tensions continued to flare, with various members of the military toeing a line between direct insubordination by protesting the actions of the government, toying with the idea of mutiny as they began to consider breaking off and forming their own independent fiefdoms as the Empire had done decades before as the Alliance was no longer serving its own people by allying with those who had sought to destroy it, or by provoking the tensions with the other powers. Supreme Commander Nek Bwua'tu was desperately trying to soothe the situation, reasoning that the Alliance had been founded to emerge from the ruins of the New Republic, and the New Republic had eventually accepted former Imperials into their ranks, so why not accept the Tribe?

However, into this situation, Releqy Ak'la vanished one night, missing an important social event. Reappearing the next day, she claimed that she had been ill. However, in reality, Ak'la had been kidnapped and had been replaced by Vongerella herself, now wearing an ooglith masquer, preparing to deliver the final blow to the unravelling tapestry of the Alliance. Unknown to Vongerella however, Wynn Dorvan had secretly approached the Jedi Council for help, asking them to investigate Releqy and her doings, after the mess that had been made by Abeloth, the Alliance couldn't afford any more crises rocking the ruling Triumvirate. While Dorvan didn't believe that Releqy was up to anything, believing she had introduced the plan to bring the Tribe into the Alliance as she genuinely meant well, he couldn't rule it out. As such, a team of Jedi were invited in secret to Coruscant in order to investigate what was happening. Under the leadership of Corran Horn and Kyle Katarn, complete with Yantahar Bwua'tu, Seff Helin, Daye Azur-Jamin and Sinola Ti, they began to investigate the situation. While Vongerella continued to play her role as Releqy, using her skill in the Force to disguise her true intentions and identity, other events continued to develop across the galaxy.

Vongerella's Ssi-Ruuk allies, acting under her orders, made good on their pledge of allegiance to her cause. The Ssi-Ruuk suddenly attacked numerous planets across the galaxy, taking care to choose worlds that were underdefended by the Alliance due to the inclusion of the planetary defence forces in the overall Galactic Alliance Navy. To add to the chaos, the worlds that they targeted in their blitzkrieg were worlds that had belonged to the Confederation during the Second Galactic Civil War. Worlds such as Adumar, Jabiim, Rothana and others were all attacked, with the death tolls from the Ssi-Ruuk's indiscriminate attack reaching into the high thousands, which was more with the number of people who were captured and enteched against their will. As the galaxy reacted with outrage to this unprovoked attack, and the Alliance fleet hurried to try to chase the invaders, who had simply attacked, killed hundreds if not thousands and then proceeded to repeat the attacks elsewhere, taking advantage of slow Alliance policies and of the isolation that had increased with the admittance of the Tribe into the Alliance, the Alliance was seen as slow, incompetent and lacklustre in their response. To add to the chaos, Vongerella's Vong forces entered back into Alliance space, targeting isolated ships and spreading chaos and confusion across the galaxy as it seemed that the Vong returned but then disappeared as quickly as they came. The final actions were lightning raids by the allied pirate and Vaagari forces into Imperial, Hapan, Chiss and Hutt space, raiding planets and sowing more discord across the galaxy.
The death toll was in the millions as a result of the joint attack. As panicked worlds raised the alarm that the Vong had returned, breaking the Sekot Accords and, with Bothawui at the forefront were now demanding the absolute extinction of the Yuuzhan Vong and the destruction of Zonama Sekot, the Alliance were unable to find any conclusive proof that it was indeed the Vong, as every ship that had been destroyed had been so utterly, with no survivors. Meanwhile, having identified their attackers as either pirates or Vaagari, the other political powers were also demanding that the Alliance commit to helping them put an end to this situation, proclaiming that it was the Alliance's inherent weakness of late that had emboldened these powers into launching an attack in the first place. With both Face and Dorvan preaching caution to their would-be allies and also trying to prevent the Alliance from ripping itself apart as the military started to split on the course of action they should take, Dorvan publicly went to the Jedi, begging them for their help to identify what had caused all of these problems for the Alliance.
However, with the Tribe having infiltrated their galactic allies, this backfired. With the Hapan nobility leading the charge, despite protests from Tenel Ka, they criticised the Alliance for going running back to the Jedi when things went wrong, and the rest jumped on the band wagon, decrying the Alliance for pulling the Jedi back in when the Jedi are largely to blame for many of the galaxies problems to begin with, including the survival of both the Vong and the Tribe. All of this played right into Vongerella's hands, as while the Jedi continued their investigations, which had now been exposed across the galaxy that the Alliance had actually been using the Jedi for some time, they still had discovered nothing that they could quantify and hence act upon. The attack by these rogue powers had illustrated that the Alliance was weak, alarmingly weak, and that without the Jedi to enforce its will and prop it up, it was unable even to function as a government.
These revelations greatly undermined the Galactic Alliance. Found wanting in their response to an apparent return of the Vong, not to mention a series of concerted terror attacks across the galaxy by various foes exploiting the weakness of the government, cries for secession from the Alliance started to spread like wildfire. In addition, the various brushfire wars also started to ignite again, as the various instigators realised that the Alliance was unable to prevent it from happening. As the Alliance continued to unravel from the top down, the Jedi were secretly carrying out three investigations: one, as they had been asked, was being carried out to investigate Releqy Ak'la and her sudden personality changes; the second was being carried out by Jaina Solo Fel, trying to discover the truth to the rumours that Nom Anor had indeed returned, and the third was being carried out by Corran Horn, Ben Skywalker, Tahiri Veila, Lowbacca and Zekk. The third investigation was happening across numerous locations, including the Hapes Cluster, as Zekk was investigating those nobles who were further stoking tensions between the Alliance and the Hapans. Lowie was investigating the Corporate Sector, while Tahiri was involved in the investigation in the Empire, while Ben and Corran investigated the Alliance, all of them fearing another Lecersen like conspiracy. To their alarm, they had begun to discover an alarming trend: something was possessing the people who were exacerbating the tensions, and whatever was happening to them, the people who were possessed all wound up at best comatose, or dead at worse. As the Jedi scrambled to find the meaning of this plague, Jaina had identified the source of the rumours as coming from Coruscant, where Kyle and his group were investigating Releqy, and growing increasingly concerned about her actions. Her actions had caused even greater concern, as Releqy had given a speech further provoking tensions between the various galactic powers, criticising the other factions and the Jedi, and also dismissing the concerns of the people in response to the terrorist strikes, blaming the Empire and the Hapans jointly and accusing them of manufacturing a proxy campaign to increase their own power and drive former Confederation worlds away from the Alliance. As such, Kyle led his group to lock her down and prevent her from causing any more damage, while Jaina brought her concerns to the other two triumvirs, who also happened to be consulting with Saba Sebatyne at the time, and brought her warning: the various galactic powers had been infiltrated by a multitude of agents including one that left the host comatose if not dead, and someone was using these possessed agents, along with others, to weaken the Alliance and also tear it apart from its allies.
As Jaina and Saba consulted with Face and Dorvan, Kyle led his team to arrest Releqy for her own good. Vongerella could sense their approach, and also felt the growing sense of alarm from Jaina from afar, as Saba explained about Kyle's investigation, and she deduced that Kyle believed that Releqy was actually Nom Anor, which would explain her actions if she was actually an embittered Vong agent with experience in causing strife, and the two Jedi hurried to reinforce the others while Dorvan and Face were swept to safety by their security forces. Vongerella, having taken the guise of Releqy for some time, was waiting as Kyle and his team of Jedi entered her office.
Kyle, Seff, Daye, Yantahar and Sinola all entered her office, lightsabers drawn. Kyle accused her of being Nom Anor, and hence using the position of Triumvir to undermine the Alliance and push it towards a conflict with the other galactic powers. Admitting her role and pretending to be Nom Anor, she prepared to strike as the Jedi put her under arrest. Keeping her in sight as they feared Anor's plaerin bol, Kyle began to realise that there was something not quite right about this, and began to question her about things that Anor had done during the Vong War. As she was unable to answer, he demanded to know who she really was. She admitted Anor was dead, and that had simply been a rumour that she had spread to wind the Alliance into a frenzy chasing a phantom. As she did so, she allowed her Force presence to sneak into their perceptions, and recognising her from their last encounter, Daye raised the alarm, but too late. Vongerella suddenly revealed her true self, poison spewing from her plaerin bol, which was in the opposite eye to that of Nom Anor. Unable to react in time, and never having battled a Yuuzhan Vong before, Seff received the burst of poison right into the face, killing him instantly as Vongerella leapt over her desk, her double bladed lightsaber igniting as she landed above Seff's body, before striking like a viper, stabbing Sinola Ti through the throat and Yanathar through the chest before twirling her saber and engaging a horrified Kyle and Daye. With three Jedi at their feet, the other two came together to battle the Sith Lord, however her unexpected revelation had thrown both off balance, and with her taunting use of Dun Moch, she got under Daye's skin, and as he wavered under her taunting, she slammed her hilt into his chin before cutting him in two before Kyle could stop her. Kyle then intercepted her, the Jedi Battlemaster engaging the Dark Lord of the Sith as they battled out of the office, Kyle quickly taking the upper hand and feeling the approach of Saba and Jaina, who had both sensed the deaths of the other Jedi. As they hurried towards the battle, Vongerella mocked Kyle, telling him that he had no idea of what she had brought into motion, or what she had unleashed. Kyle warned her that the Jedi had allowed Caedus to rise to power, they wouldn't do so again. She laughed mockingly, and revealed that her plans had already begun, and then sent a dark command through the Force, and as a result, everyone currently possessed by Mnggal-Mnggal were suddenly killed, though not before the parasitic lifeform acted in the best interests of its ally, murdering numerous people across the galaxy, having been infiltrated at all layers of galactic society. Admiral Bwua'tu was murdered by his possessed aide, killing the Galactic Alliance Supreme Commander before his aide died as a result of the possession; Vitor Reige's bodyguard, despite trying to fight it and despite Tahiri's best effort to prevent it from happening, killed Reige and wounded Jag in a storm of blaster fire; Zekk and his fiancé Taryn were unable to prevent one possessed handmaiden from killing several nobles in an explosion; the aristocras of two of the Chiss Ruling Families were killed by assassins who themselves then perished; various important figures in the Confederation were also assassinated, including Fyor Rodan, Denjax Teppler and Admiral Delpin; and other chaotic events happened across the galaxy, with the possession victims all dying as Mnggal-Mnggal all forcibly fled their bodies leaving their lifeless bodies behind. The dark echoes across the Force staggered the Jedi, including Kyle, and Vongerella sensed her time had come, outmanoeuvring the Battlemaster, and killing him by plunging her lightsaber through his heart.
Jaina and Saba arrived a second too late to stop her, and sprang at the Sith Lord. The two of them battled the Sith Lord through the halls, however realising she was now outmatched, she shattered a window and fled the site of the carnage. Vongerella quickly fled Coruscant, and as she fled into orbit, her flagship dropped out of hyperspace to pick her up. The entire Alliance reacted with fury at the sight of a Vong warship in orbit over the capital, but her ship escaped before anything could be done to stop it. Vongerella fled back to the Unknown Regions and her armada, and sat back to watch the chaos she had set in motion unfold.
Corran Horn and Ben Skywalker had found the real Releqy A'kla and had rescued her from her captivity, however the damage had been done, as word spread out that a Yuuzhan Vong had infiltrated the highest level of the Galactic Alliance government and had usurped her position. Furthermore, the policies that Vongerella had enacted while posing as A'kla had already been set in motion, and the Empire, Confederation and other factions were blaming the chaos caused by the Mnggal-Mnggal assassinations squarely at the feet of the Alliance for allowing this to happen. What's more, the numerous deaths across the galaxy attributed to the parasite had caused even more friction. Jagged Fel was in hospital, severely wounded, and Vitor Reige was dead, making Admiral Daala the most powerful person in the Empire as a result. Tenel Ka's supporters had been culled and a hostile faction that was opposed to having a Jedi lineage in charge of the Consortium was now actively speaking out against her. The Hutts and Corporate Sector had both cut ties with the Alliance, the galaxy was in uproar, and the Confederation was furious, saying that the Alliance was using this so-called infiltration as justification to murder their heroes and blame something else in order to force the Confederation back into the Alliance. The Triumvirate were desperately trying to do damage control, but it was the arrival of Aristocra Formbi on Coruscant that alarmed them the most. He informed them of the presence of Mnggal-Mnggal across the galaxy, explaining it was that parasite that had infiltrated across the galaxy and had helped cause all this chaos, and the fact that it had been weaponised not only by a Yuuzhan Vong, but by a Vong Sith Lord, was catastrophic. As he made his report, things took a turn for the worse. Goaded by the recent actions of the Alliance and the chaos that it had inadvertently caused, several military commanders refused orders and broke from the command structure, essentially becoming warlords much akin to what the Empire had done decades before. Disenchanted, and with the infiltrators convincing them that the entire Alliance was now jeopardised, numerous warlord fiefdoms sprang up, with the Alliance disintegrating into various states with only a small amount remaining loyal to the Triumvirate and the new Supreme Commander, Gavin Darklighter. Determined to salvage something, the Triumvirate had Gavin rally the First Fleet to send after the Vong and to bring Vongerella to justice as the Jedi hurried to try to convince the breakaway factions that they needed to work together and restore people's faith in the Galactic Alliance.
With the Alliance fractured and isolated from its allies, Vongerella could now move on to the next stage of her plan. Her plan overall was as Lumiya had taught, to bring about a strong but benevolent dictatorship that would establish order throughout the galaxy. Partly for revenge for what it had done to her people, and also partly because she genuinely believed it was weak, she knew the Galactic Alliance had to go. Fracturing into numerous states, the Alliance was no longer a true threat, and she had little to fear from the Triumvirate's show of force as first, Gavin had to catch her and her forces. However, the other leaders of the galactic powers also needed to be annihilated. Once decapitated, each faction would writhe in chaos and disorder until a strong, benevolent hand stepped in to in to end the chaos: hers. The Confederation was marshalling it's forces, not believing that the Alliance genuinely had no idea that A'kla had been replaced by a Vong and Turr Phennir, their Supreme Commander, was proclaiming that the Alliance had made an act of war by assassinating the Confederation's heroes, despite the deaths being caused by Mnggal-Mnggal. Furthermore, with there now several independent factions that had split from the Alliance, including factions under Admiral Atoko, Makin, Cheb and General Chakham, Vongerella knew there would only need to be a spark that would bring all the different factions into conflict with each other. As a result of the terrorist attack, the Confederation was already on high alert and moving its fleets around, and the other factions were following suit. Daala had assumed de facto leadership of the Empire with Reige dead and Fel in a medical coma, and due to her bitterness towards the Alliance she was exacerbating tensions between the two factions, and was also alarmed by the shattering of the overall Alliance. Tenel Ka, beleaguered by her own nobles who had turned on the Alliance due to its weakness, was also fielding fleets, ostensibly to help hunt the Vong forces, but Vongerella was on the move, keeping her forces from engaging the enemy. However, the brinkmanship she had encouraged was brewing towards a crisis point, which she was going to exploit.
As Vongerella conspired to goad the factions into war, the Alliance and Jedi were having crisis talks. While the senate was in uproar due to the fact that the Triumvirate was infiltrated (yet again) by not only a Sith but also a Vong, they were criticising the Triumvirate for involving the Jedi in the first place, telling them that they have once again brought this down on an unsuspecting galaxy, and that they seem to be causing more problems than they solve. Releqy A'kla, in her first speech since her kidnap, gets to her feet, and gives an impassioned speech. She condemns the senate for turning on the Jedi when they need them the most, as Vongerella has proven herself to be a very real threat, exploiting the legacy of the past wars to rip apart the galaxy. She admits that the Alliance has made mistakes, many mistakes recently, and informs the senate of the breadth of Vongerella's plan, infiltrating at all points of galactic society and causing chaos as she triggered her plan. She tells them that she believed that the Tribe can be rehabilitated, as they are only Sith simply from not knowing anything else. She agrees that it was a risk, but she claims she genuinely believes the Tribe can adapt to galactic society and become a beneficial member of the Alliance, and she believes that everyone deserves a second chance. She rages that Vongerella, a Vong Sith, usurped her plan which she began with good intentions and has brought the Alliance to the brink of collapse. She vows that she will not go down without a fight, that she will do anything in her power to undo the damage that Vongerella has wrought, and that the Jedi, some of whom bravely sacrificed their lives trying to stop her, should be supported as they try and stop the Vong Sith Lord. To her surprise, she receives a standing ovation as the senate rallies around her, and she heads with the rest of the Triumvirate to meet the Jedi.
With the stakes now high as the galaxy is teetering on the edge of war, and the Sith were poised to retake the galaxy, they had to act quickly. Luke opted to head to the Chiss Ascendancy, hoping to understand the nature of Mnggal-Mnggal and hopefully find a way to prevent it spreading any further across the galaxy, and to that end he would be joined by Cilghal and Tekli. Jaina and Tahiri would see to Jag and also try to rein the Empire and Admiral Daala back in, and once she was certain her husband was safe, Jaina would take on her role as the Sword of the Jedi and hunt down Vongerella. Face and Corran would lead the investigation throughout the Alliance to hunt down the Vong and Tribe infiltrators while making sure Mnggal-Mnggal didn't spread any further, and would try and liaise with other governments if they could. Han, Leia, Wynn and Barratk'l would try to bring the breakaway factions back into the fold, while Saba, Ben, Releqy and new Jedi Council member K'kruhk would negotiate with the Confederation to try and calm them and lure them back from the brink, and to top of off, Kyp and Octa would join Admiral Darklighter in the hunt for Vongerella's forces. As they all depart Coruscant, Jaina receives word from Tenel Ka, who had narrowly avoided an assassination attempt, launched by her enemies at court, but with help from the Vong and Tribe members who had infiltrated her government, clearly trying to stir up a civil war. Tenel Ka tells her that the Sith was clearly a member of the Tribe, however the Vong agent allowed her security forces to capture them before being captured themselves, leading her to believe that there were divisions between the various conspirators that they could perhaps exploit. However, with that in mind, Jaina begins to wonder if there's something more to what is happening. She is contacted by Talon Karrde, who informs her that a Sith infiltrator has been spotted on Obreedan and has been sold out by their conspirators, so she advises Saba to take her group there, and also use the world, on the boundary of Imperial space, as a neutral meeting ground to investigate the actions of the Sith, and also to open a negotiation with the Confederation there. Using her diplomatic pull, Releqy convinces Turr Phennir to meet their team on Obreedan for negotiations, in the hopes that they could hit two birds with one stone.
Meanwhile, Vestara was in contact with what was left of the authorities of the Tribe, who alerted her to the fact that numerous members of the Tribe have all been captured by the Alliance or killed in their postings. Vestara is growing increasingly suspicious, as learning at Vongerella's feet, she had learned the creed of the Rule of Two: there can only be two, no more, no less, one to embody power, the other to crave it. Growing suspicious as to the number of agents that have been captured or have simply gone missing while working for Vongerella following her purge that caused chaos across the galaxy, she vows to investigate as Vongerella tells her they are travelling to Obreedan, as she is going to use the planet to tilt the galaxy into war, and hence back into the purview of the Sith.
Elsewhere, Luke and his time have been greeted with a frosty reception on Csilla by the Fel family, who have worked hard to ensure that he gets access to the libraries in order to seek a solution for Mnggal-Mnggal, which from what Corran and Face report, is still spreading like wildfire across the galaxy and putting the entire galaxy at risk of being captured by the sentient parasite, and doomed to annihilation as a result.
On Obreedan, Saba and her team arrive to investigate the presence of the Sith agent, while also preparing to meet Phennir and his team to try to defuse the situation. Upon arrival, they sense something is amiss, with a growing sense of menace about the place. Ben grows increasingly distracted as they interrogate the locals, and as they're being informed about the capture and then subsequent mysterious death of the Tribe member, he notices that someone is paying extremely close attention, and suspicious of them, accosts her, and is revealed to be Vestara. Incensed that she's been discovered, she engages Ben in a duel, while K'kruhk chuckles to Saba that he's just like his grandfather. Releqy asks exactly why the Sith girl is back, and Saba suspects there's more to the entire affair just as Phennir arrives to parlay with Releqy. As they hope to begin negotiations, they are all distracted as Vongerella arrives, revealing her double bladed lightsaber and engaging the two Jedi as they try to defend the two ambassadors from the Sith Lord who is seeking to further sow chaos into the storm she had already created. As she battles the Jedi, she gives the word and the Vaagari fleet drops out of hyperspace, attacking the Galactic Alliance loyalists who retain control of the planet. Releqy begs Phennir to help, knowing that he had to have a fleet nearby, and he does acquiesce and orders them into battle. However, as the loyalists had already sent out a distress call, Atoko's forces also arrive, having been brought there by the Vong agents and Mnggal-Mnggal victims in his forces, and thinking the Confederation are attacking Alliance ships, open fire on the Confederation ships, exactly as Vongerella hoped. As the battle becomes a brawl in orbit and she battles the two Jedi, Releqy tries to get Atoko's forces to stop their attack on the Confederation, and Phennir also tries to pull the Confederation ships away from the fight. K'kruhk and Saba battle Vongerella, demanding to know exactly what she hopes to achieve, and she tells them that the galaxy needs a strong hand in charge of it, a hand that she will provide as she remakes the galaxy in her image. They continue their duel, as Ben duels Vestara.
Vestara battles her ex to a standstill, and she tells him that it isn't all what it seems. Tribe members have helped Vongerella infiltrate across the galaxy, across the various political factions, however many of them are now starting to disappear from their posts, or somehow get caught by the Alliance or other authorities. Ben asks her why he should care, and she tells him that she thinks Vongerella is ensuring the continuance of the Rule of Two: there can only be two, and the Tribe certainly don't fit into that mould. She tells him to strike her down if he really thinks that having a Vong Sith Lord is a good idea, and he backs off, asking her if she's alright, and she says she is, but for how long, she doesn't know. She tells him that Vongerella seeks to decapitate each faction, then use her agents to force them all to accept a settlement, similar to what they did at the end of Second Galactic Civil War, one that would put her, or at least someone chosen by her, in charge of the galaxy and bring it back under the dominion of the Sith. Ben is shocked, and asks why she'd betray her master, and she admits that she feels disconnected from her role as a Sith, and certainly doesn't feel like her genuine apprentice. She says she is only staying as there's nowhere else for her to go, and she wants to help her people. Ben is about to offer something when Vongerella is blasted out of the building by K'kruhk, with him and Saba taking the advantage against her due to their strength overcoming hers. Outfoxed, but satisfied that she had successfully derailed the negotiations and had moved the galaxy closer to war, she flees with Vestara at her side, escaping the planet.
The battle in space is in chaos as Releqy and Phennir, attempting to work together, try to calm things down, however, just as it seems they might make some progress, the Ssi-Ruuk armada also arrive, adding to the chaos, which is further exacerbated by the arrival of the Empire of the Hand fleet, with Tahiri overseeing the affair, but as they have unwittingly chased the enemy into Alliance space, they are technically trespassing resulting in shots being fired at their fleet too, and the factions battle in orbit, allowing the Vaagari and Ssi-Ruuk ships to flee as the various factions pound at each other.
The chaos caused by the Battle of Obreedan is immense. The Alliance and the Confederation, while having glimmers of possible cooperation and reunification, were thwarted by Vongerella's actions and that of the divided nature of the Alliance, resulting in Phennir heading back to Confederation space with loss of people and materiel, which the people of the Confederation take as further proof that the Alliance is acting like the Empire and is determined to crush all resistance to their rule. While Releqy tries to cool the fires, Atoko proclaims that the Alliance is too busy politicking to stop this new threat, and leads the rallying cry to unify people against the Vaagari and a resurgent Ssi-Ruuk and Imperial threat. While the Empire and the Empire of the Hand are technically two different entities, with Jag out of commission and Tahiri's well meaning if technically illegal intervention, many Alliance worlds, particularly those under the banner of the Alliance warlords, are demanding action against the Empire as well. Vongerella, escaping the chaos aboard the Dark Emissary, is very pleased. All the factions were further destabilised, all of them chasing their own tails and battling with each other rather than rallying to stop the bigger threat. There was no reconciliation between the factions, in fact if anything they move further away from each other, and the entire galaxy continued to spiral, all of which suited her plans. When the time came, she would strike, decapitate the galactic order, and bring the galaxy to heel under her authority. The factions of the galaxy were all engaging in a blame game, ramping up tensions, which she knew that when the time was right, would explode into all-out war, a war which she would exploit and weaponize.
However, there was a growing problem. The various parts of her own coalition were growing increasingly resentful of the lack of Vong firepower being brought to bear, seeing themselves as being duped into doing all the heavy lifting while she retained her forces for herself, using them as cannon fodder for her plans. As representatives of each faction confronted Vongerella, she used the Force to have Mnggal-Mnggal possess them and make them fall back into line. However, the entity refused to cooperate. Furious at its defiance, she executes the Vaagari representative as an object lesson, chasing the others out, and then realises that Mnggal-Mnggal is going off piste. Fearing the damage that the entity could do to her plans should she lose control of it, she hastens to Mugg Fallow in order to bring it back under her control.
As Vestara sensed her would-be master's growing alarm at the cracks starting to appear in her coalition, she found herself thinking of Ben. Fearing what Mnggal-Mnggal could do if Vongerella did indeed lose control of it, she allowed herself to open to him in the Force, knowing full well he would be looking for her, and knowing that, they could perhaps stop Mnggal-Mnggal. However, as she did so, she took note of the growing tide of resentment from the Shamed Ones, and felt that Vongerella's plans were starting to crumble beneath her feet. Satisfied, as she growing increasingly convinced that Vongerella was using the Tribe as puppets just like the Vong, the possessed and the rest of her coalition, she vowed to lay in wait until the time was right. When that time came, she would strike down Vongerella, usurp her plan, and return the Tribe to prominence, under her banner, not Vongerella's. And if Ben happened to join her, then so be it.
Elsewhere, Jaina was trying desperately to heal Jag, who remained in a medical coma. Daala then arrived to inform her of what happened at Obreedan, and told her that something has to be done, about Tahiri, about the Empire of the Hand, about all of it. Unbothered, Jaina insists her place is at her husband's side. Daala is frustrated, and tells her that with all due respect, it is not. Jag is acting head of state, but with him out of commission, the Moffs are all starting to jockey for power, so one of them could become the new leader of the Empire should Jag not recover. She tells her that while she knows it is hard, she has a greater responsibility as Jag's wife: to ensure that everything he works for doesn't collapse around his ears because he is out of commission. Jaina remains stubbornly defiant, telling Daala that the father of her unborn child needs her. Daala grows frustrated, and asks what happened to the Jaina who confronted and killed her own twin, because she knew that was what needed to be done. Jaina flinches, and Daala sits down and fixes her with her one good eye. She tells her that while she doesn't like Jedi, or like the fact that a Solo, let alone a Jedi, is anywhere near the leadership of the Empire, she does respect Jaina. Or at least respects the woman she was. She tells her that Jag's position as head of state is in flux, and is seen as weak. If he dies, she asks her if she truly believes the Moffs (sexist, misogynistic, ambitious and power hungry to the last) would really let his wife and child survive. Daala tells her that she had a family, a life, a love, and she lost it all, all due to the Moffs. She tells her that Jaina has a choice to make: to stand behind Jag, and be his demure wife, and be buffeted by the Moffs policies, schemes and conniving; or to stand hand in hand with Jag, and forge a new future for them all together. But either way, she has to make a choice, and act.
As Daala departed, Jaina came to a decision, just as she was contacted by Han and Leia. Having joined Wynn in an effort to try to bring some of the rogue warlords back into the fold, they were trying to bring Admiral Makin back into the fold and had unwittingly discovered a plot by one of the Sorcerers of Rhand, who were also part of Vongerella's infiltration efforts, and were sowing more chaos across the galaxy, leaving the various breakaway factions more vulnerable as they exploited the fact that they had all departed the command chain. Intrigued by the possibilities and realising that the scope of Vongerella's plan is much larger than they had thought originally, Jaina is then struck by a sudden sense of foreboding and heads to her comatose husband's side, arriving just in time as a Sorcerer of Rhand was about to assassinate him, which would further aggravate the state of the Empire and drive them closer towards war with the rest of the galaxy. Tahiri, similarly alerted, arrived and pinning the sorcerer between them, they're forced to kill him when he attempts to attack. Shocked by how close he came, Jaina summons Admiral Daala, who is shocked to see the attempted assassin dead at their feet. She asks what she has in mind, and Jaina tells her that she was right, the Empire, her husband, and the entire galaxy are beset by enemies, and its high time they put an end to it. She tells Daala to summon the Moffs, and tells Tahiri that she has a plan.
Presenting herself to the Moffs, and with Jag still in recovery, Jaina tells the Moffs of her plan to help secure the Empire. Admiral Daala will assume the role of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, while Tahiri will lead a new group that is aiming to help resolve the chaos, while Jaina herself works with the Alliance to try and prevent a war. She tells the Moffs that the Empire despite its recent gains is inherently weak, which is what their enemies are exploiting. As such, the Moffs need to decide who will lead them, no more rule by committee, they need to have a strong hand running the Empire, like Pellaeon was. While the Moffs are outraged, Daala and Tahiri are very impressed. As Daala returns to the Chimaera in order to officially take command of the fleet, Tahiri floats an idea that she had had for quite some time to Jaina: the reconstitution of the Red Guard, but a new version, a group of Royal Guards that would work in the defence of the Empire and Emperor, but not at the expense of doing evil or allowing evil to run rampant. She intends to call this group the Imperial Knights, and hopes that Jaina will help her create them. Impressed with the suggestion, Jaina tells her to get the ball rolling while she heads to help her family with Vongerella's scheme as it spreads across the galaxy.
Elsewhere, on Csilla, Luke and his team are running out of time. As reports continue to rise of the spread of Mnggal-Mnggal, the Jedi are desperate to find a way to counter the effects of the parasite. As their desperation mounts, Formbi advised Luke to seek out the Blazing Chain, a group of rogue Force-sensitive pirates who operate in the Unknown Regions. With Cilghal and Tekli both studying the mystery of Mnggal-Mnggal, Luke headed out with Soontir Fel to try and locate the pirate group. Fel mentioned the numerous deaths that had happened across the Ascendancy, as Vongerella's schemes came to fruition. Relaying his worries for Jag, Luke assures him that he has to trust that Jag will pull through, and be able to help pull the factions back from the edge of war. Fel admits that the various powers got complacent after the end of the war, something which Vongerella exploited for her own gain. He ponders the inevitability of conflict between the various factions, but Luke refutes it, believing that the galaxy can come together, just as it did in the Vong War and following the Second Galactic Civil War. He argues that the problem is, Vongerella has exploited the Tribe and the Vong's natural ability to infiltrate, and when combined with Mnggal-Mnggal, something which she is quite content to put the entire galaxy at risk for, it has led to the perfect storm. They then encounter scouts from the Blazing Chain as they arrive at their destination. While initially reluctant to help them, after Luke explained that Mnggal-Mnggal had been set loose by Vongerella, the Adacap of the primary fleet of the Chain agreed to work with Luke and the Chiss in order to contain the parasite, and escort them to Mugg Fallow, relieving Luke and Soontir as they head to the Mnggal-Mnggal homeworld.
As the Dark Emissary made it's way towards Mugg Fallow, Vongerella continued to investigate the numerous disappearances that were affecting the Tribe. So far, the various Vong agents in her master's employ had all made it out of whichever world they had been stationed on, however, invariably the Tribe members were discovered. Even on the worlds not controlled by the Alliance, the Empire or similar governments, the worlds directly in the firing lines of the now ever-increasing raids to undermine the tempestuous peace that was currently unravelling across the galaxy, the Tribe members vanished there too, even on worlds that Vongerella essentially controlled, few and far between though they may be, Tribe members were disappearing. Vestara was seeking evidence that the disappearances were actually the work of Vongerella, but so far had found no evidence. Following her master down to the planet, Vongerella interacted with the entirety of Mnggal-Mnggal demanding to know why it was suddenly going back on its bargain with her. It revealed that it was hungry: no longer content with the scraps she was providing it, it now wanted more. It wanted the whole galaxy.
Incensed at the double-cross, Vongerella demanded it reconsider. However the sentient entity refused, and it started surrounding both her and Vestara. Furious at the actions of the parasite, Vongerella then sent an order, and her entire armada dropped out of hyperspace above Mugg Fallow, forcing the parasite to reconsider it's position. She informed Mnggal-Mnggal that if it was indeed reneging on their deal, then she saw no further use for the parasite at all, and her entire fleet would destroy the parasite's homeworld. Without the homeworld, she reasoned that the remaining pieces of the parasite scattered through the galaxy at her behest would essentially starve and die off. Mnggal-Mnggal was furious and said that if she was going to turn on it, it would destroy her. Instead, Vongerella, sensing something, suggested an alternative: they would still work together, but Vongerella would sweeten the pot: Mnggal-Mnggal would be fed all of the Jedi. The parasite is interested, and she tells it, that with its help, she can make a downpayment now, just as Luke arrives, drawing his lightsaber to confront the Dark Lord of the Sith. Vestara is shocked to see him there, and backs away, but is also highly suspicious of her so-called master's new offer to work with Mnggal-Mnggal: one, she fears how dangerous it could be for the parasite to feed on all of the Jedi, and two, she suspects that Vongerella may auction off the Tribe to the same fate.
Luke demanded that Vongerella stand down, and also tried to reason with Mnggal-Mnggal, trying to convince it to stop its hungry urge to dominate the galaxy. As he does so, Vongerella is informed by Paasar that the Blazing Chain forces have dropped out of hyperspace and are currently engaging her fleet. Making it work to her advantage, Vongerella informs Mnggal-Mnggal that she will happily come to its defence and force off this attack, and also repel the Jedi. Luke attempts to reason with Mnggal-Mnggal, but the entity is unconcerned, and is hungry, coiling like a serpent towards the Grand Master. In orbit, the Blazing Chain is vastly outnumbered but is relieved when Chiss forces arrive to confront the Vong fleet and bring an end to the threat posed by the parasite. Paasar in retaliation summons his allied forces from Esva's ships, the various dominated pirate groups, the Tribe, the Ssi-Ruuk and the Vaagari, outgunning and outmatching the Chiss ships to a significant degree. Fel, commanding the task force, is grimly prepared to fight to the last when another fleet drops out of hyperspace, this time led by the Chimaera. With Admiral Daala acting as the leader of the Imperial military, Jaina broadcasts that she is here on behalf of the leader of the Empire, Jag, and would like to offer her support to turn the tide of the battle. To their shock, a small Galactic Alliance task force, led by Admiral Darklighter and complete with K'kruhk and Ben, had followed Vestara's Force presence as she intended. As the Battle of Mugg Fallow erupts with Vongerella's combined forces going to toe with the combined fleet that had risen to oppose them.
Down on the planet, Ben, K'kruhk and Jaina rush to join Luke as Vestara makes good her escape and Vongerella confronts Luke. As the Grand Master and the Dark Lord of the Sith duel on the dead world, the various tendrils of Mnggal-Mnggal start coalescing around the two combatants as they duel. Luke, despite his skill and power, is struggling to defeat Vongerella who is far younger, far more agile and far more equipped to deal with the battle on the planet, as the deaths of those in orbit start to flood the Force, fuelling her. As she holds him off, Mnggal-Mnggal slithers into Luke. As he is suddenly forced to fight for control of his body against the parasite, Vongerella moves to take victory and kill Luke when Ben, Jaina and K'kruhk arrive. K'kruhk and Jaina engage the Sith Lord while Ben tries to help his father. Luke is struggling to use the Force to repel Mnggal-Mnggal and assures Ben that he will be fine, and orders his son to go after Vestara. As Ben struggles with his father's order, Luke is struggling to overcome Mnggal-Mnggal as the parasite started to overcome his body. As he battled it, he saw the all-consuming hunger that Mnggal-Mnggal actually was. He realises that Vongerella doesn't realise just how dangerous the entity is, and that it only plans to go along with her plans until it can conquer the entire galaxy. As he struggle to regain control of his body, he sees the creature has already consumed numerous people across the galaxy, including members of the Tribe, and sees that it is becoming more powerful and dangerous as it amalgamates people into its entity, and also consumes Force-sensitives. Horrified by the vision of the future in which Mnggal-Mnggal makes everyone lifeless puppets for the entity, he draws on the Force and forces the entity out, the entity screeching in pain as he brings its power to bear and forces it from his body. He emerges from the pain just as Vongerella is about to kill him, only to be stopped by Jaina, who tells Vongerella that she is the Sword of the Jedi and forces her back from her uncle.
Ben has engaged Vestara, and she again warns Ben of what Vongerella is capable of. Ben fights her, and demands to know if she's so worried about Vongerella, why is she so determined to serve her? Why be a Sith in service of a Vong Dark Lord, and to her shock, she doesn't actually know, what she is, what she wants, or even who she is anymore. Jaina, slowed down by her pregnancy, is cast aside by Vongerella's Force lightning, and K'Kruhk is helping Luke to his feet, which allows the Sith Lord to make good her escape. Ben attempts to intercept her, but she fires her plaerin bol at him, and in his distraction, overcomes him with lightning, knocking him unconscious. As Luke, K'kruhk and Jaina rush to stop her, she hurries onto her yorik-trema with Vestara in tow, and Vongerella stays their hand as she reveals she has captured Ben, allowing her and her would-be apprentice to flee the planet. With the Jedi hot on her heels, and Mnggal-Mnggal now actively trying to possess the three Council members, Vongerella takes her ship, complete with her apprentice and captive, into orbit where the battle continues to unfold.
In space, the combined Vong forces are still holding their own against the enemy, with the worldship causing havoc for the enemy lines, and as it breaks through the Chiss lines, Fel has no choice but to call a retreat. With the Chiss line collapsing, the Blazing Chain also deserts and breaks for safety, resulting in the Alliance and Imperial fleets being forced to cover the retreat. However, due to the small task force Gavin brought to the battle, he is forced to flee as well, with Daala covering the retreat, with all the factions having sustained severe losses. In retreat, the Vong armada pushes its advantage, causing more death and destruction as the unity of the combined fleets disintegrates, resulting in a free for all as they all make good their escape. Now on board her worldship with Ben as her captive, Vongerella is very pleased as she watches her enemies flee before her, seeing that the time has come to move to the final stages of her plan, and she now has Ben in her custody to help carry out her plans. Sensing Luke, Jaina and K'kruhk approaching, she commands the flagship to hyperspace, however the Battle of Mugg Fallow was a success for her: the combined fleets, despite working well together, couldn't overcome her; Mnggal-Mnggal is still cooperating with her plan for the galaxy; and Luke was very nearly killed, Jaina is pregnant and hence much more vulnerable than usual, and Ben has been captured. Pleased with these events, Vongerella commands her fleet to start carrying out her plans, as they begin assaulting worlds along the galactic frontier, executing daring raids into the heart of the various territories, and also start to seize planets, all chipping away at the tenuous strength of the galactic factions as they tumble towards all-out war with one another, despite the efforts of their leaders to try and walk the galaxy back from the brink.
Vongerella however was keen to keep up her momentum. Having failed to procure Luke for Mnggal-Mnggal, she was determined to find something to occupy the parasite in order to keep it on side. However, she now had her forces breaking out all over the place, now directly challenging her various enemies in actual battle, and with the chaos of the galaxy, the powers, divided as they were, were unable to mount an effective defence against her. Spreading chaos, the Alliance, Empire, Hapans and other galactic powers struggled to pull together, allowing her forces to invade various worlds, letting the Ssi-Ruuk entech many victims, or feeding massive numbers of people to Mnggal-Mnggal. Despite her recent success however, Vongerella had a developing problem: the Shamed Ones, growing frustrated with not being able to join their brethren on Zonama Sekot, were growing increasingly belligerent and restive, undermining her ability to control her own forces. The Tribe were also now questioning her authority, despite her instructions to Vestara to rein them in, as many Tribe members had disappeared and the remaining leadership were growing increasingly concerned as to what was happening to their forces. However, working with the Sorcerers of Rhand, Vongerella was keeping her forces under control, using their power, their influence over the Dark and the almost religious fervour they had spread through her fleet to ensure nobody rocked the boat too much as her plans continued to develop. Everything was, by and large, proceeding according to plan. The galactic powers were riddled with division and fear, not sure who to trust, or even if the people they trusted were indeed the people they knew. As such, people were now demanding answers, demanding a new leader, a new champion…a role that she intended to fill herself.
However, before she usurped control of the galaxy, there was still her other duties as both a Yuuzhan Vong and a Dark Lord of the Sith to deal with. As a Sith, she had to orchestrate the removal of the Jedi, of course including the Grand Master and the Jedi Council. As a Vong, she had to remove Jaina Solo Fel, the killer of Warmaster Tsavong Lah, who openly mocked the Vong faith and, along with her brother, were directly responsible for the humiliating defeat of the Vong. And as the heir to the Rule of Two, she had another problem to contend with: the other Sith. Vongerella knew that the Tribe's usefulness to her was drawing to a close, after all, the galaxy was in chaos, numerous splinter factions meant that the galaxy couldn't mount an effective response to her forces, and the Tribe itself, while a shadow of its former self, still had powerful dark siders who could threaten her power once she assumed control of the galaxy. As such, with Vestara distracted by Ben's captivity (and Vongerella could sense the feelings that they both still had for each other, which she sought to exploit for her own gain), Vongerella returned to Mugg Fallow on the Dark Emissary. Once more confronting the entity, which illustrated its displeasure at being denied Luke, she made another offer: it could consume the entirety of the Tribe. Content with this temporary solution as it still wanted to consume all the Jedi, Vongerella ordered some of the Sorcerers of Rhand to Kesh, bearing some of Mnggal-Mnggal with them. Once there, the Sorcerers would unleash the entity, and remove the Tribe as an impediment to her plans to take control of the galaxy.
Returning to the fleet, Vongerella began her torture of Ben Skywalker. Torturing the son of the Grand Master in the Embrace of Pain, she hoped to lure Ben to the dark side, which would serve a dual purpose: it would greatly harm Luke, and it would also allow her to replace Vestara, who, as a member of the Tribe, Vongerella saw as imminently replaceable anyway. Vestara stood by her master's side as she watched Vongerella inflict unbearable pain on Ben. Vongerella told Ben of what was going to happen next: he would turn to the dark side and join her and Vestara, and as the galaxy writhed in chaos, she would step into the breach, presenting herself as the strong, forceful hand that would be needed to bring the galaxy to heel. Ben insisted the galaxy would never bow to another Sith, let alone a Vong Sith, but she informed him that he would be surprised by just how desperate for an end to the chaos the galaxy actually was.
Stimulated by her agents, chaos was unfolding across the galaxy. With the Galactic Alliance split into different factions with the admirals all having proclaimed themselves independent warlords, the Empire essentially leaderless, Hapes divided by distaste for the Jedi queen mother and heir, the Chiss having lost many of their ruling families and the Hutts and Corporate Sector all rudderless in the mire Vongerella had flooded the galaxy with, people across the galaxy were demanding action. People across the galaxy were demanding a change in leadership due to the failure of the current governments. The Confederation was stoking a lot of the trouble, however its own people were also protesting due to their failure. Unification had failed, the Galactic Alliance was seen to be just as problematic as the Empire, and the other factions weren't much better. Vongerella was poised and ready, and as such, probed the dark side of the Force to decide on the world upon which she would forge the sword that would lead to the undoing of the entire galaxy, and returning it to the dominion of the Vong and the Sith. She opted for Ithor as the place to make her case.
Destroyed during the Vong War on the orders of Tsavong Lah, she knew that it was a calculated risk and would inflame much of the galaxy against her. However, she also knew that that too could be made to work to her advantage. Arriving at Ithor, she addressed the Holonet, proclaiming herself as the true successor to the Yuuzhan Vong Empire. She decried Shimrra and Lah, criticising them both for their brutality and for the trillions of deaths caused by their invasion of the galaxy, and she explained, in a way that much of the galaxy hadn't heard before, of the origins of the Vong: of how they were forced to abandon their own galaxy, of how as time went on, driven by fear, desperation and desire for a home led to them become radicalised by an insidious religious sect, and how that in turn led to the breeding of the fanaticism of the warrior caste. She denounces the actions of the Yuuzhan Vong as a whole, and for the first time, offers an apology to the galaxy, saying that at no point did her people, whipped into a frenzy by the ruling caste, ever think they were in the wrong, and they happily murdered trillions indiscriminately. She apologised unreservedly for her people's actions, and claims that she wishes to make amends, to help the galaxy build towards a new future, a future without war, without conflict, without division and chaos. She then goes on to subtly attack the galactic governments, telling them that the good progress that had made in terms of bringing the galaxy together following the Vong War and the Second Galactic Civil War had largely been undone by the incompetence and ill-suitability of the governments currently leading the galaxy, telling them that many of them were incompetent at best, and corrupt at worst. She tells them that she believes that there will be a strong hand to come along, who would unite the galaxy under one whole banner. She tells them that she hopes to bring that golden age of peace, stability and strength about, as means of apologising to the people of the galaxy, and she finishes her speech with the hope that the people will give them all a chance, a chance to forge a better future.
As she had predicted, there was massive fallout towards her speech. World populations took to the streets to protest the return of the Yuuzhan Vong, and decried her apology as nothing more than false words after all her people had done. The fact that Vong warships were again on the move further fuelled people's rage, particularly those who believed that the Vong should never have been rehabilitated following the war and should have been wiped out. However, to her delight, there were people pointing out that she was right about some things. After all, the unity of the post-war period had been squandered. The galactic governments had been found wanting. There was no strength in the leadership of the political factions of the galaxy. Even the Jedi had been driven off Coruscant, yet the Lost Tribe were still a factor, and despite Ak'la's bringing them into the Alliance, many still viewed them as a threat. The Confederation still hadn't fallen back in with the Alliance, and indeed the Alliance itself was now crumbling, and the others were little better. In addition to that was the constant threat of Vongerella's forces, and people were now admitting that she did indeed have a point, that the galaxy was only getting worse, and that perhaps it was time that something was done about it.
Elsewhere, Luke and the rest of the Jedi were working to try and curtail Mnggal-Mnggal and its insidious spread across the galaxy. With the galactic powers at each other's throats and completely divided, the entity was spreading like a cancer across the galaxy, exploiting the chaos and the lack of trust to ingratiate itself across the galaxy, killing most if not all it came across. As the Jedi debated, they realised that Vongerella didn't realise what she had unleashed, and also reasoned, that with her little press conference, that time was running out in which to stop her, as she was gaining traction across the galaxy, with more people actually starting to listen to her. To their credit, Cilghal did believe she had discovered a way in which to restrict Mnggal-Mnggal and contain it so they could drive it back to Mugg Fallow and bring an end to the threat it poses. Essentially she was adapting the same nanotech that they had used to restrict the movement of the Killiks, and by adapting it, she hoped they could contain Mnggal-Mnggal. While Cilghal focused on that, the other Jedi are concerned that Ben remains in Vongerella's clutches. Luke, while worried, has every faith in his son, and believes that he will manage to get himself out of trouble. However, that said, Luke knows that his role in this, and that is to help contain Mnggal-Mnggal. Han and Leia meanwhile are trying to reunite the fractured Alliance, while Jaina is preparing herself to enact her duty as the Sword of the Jedi by going after Vongerella, while also rallying the Empire to bring an end to the threat.
Han and Leia were still out, trying to unite the fractured Alliance back into one cohesive force once again, arguing that only a united government could hope to defeat Vongerella. However, the various Alliance warlords, disenchanted with the government, weren't inclined to rejoin the rest of the Alliance despite the entreaties of Admiral Darklighter as he worked with the Solos to bring them all to heel. Frustrated with their lack of progress, and knowing that there had been some instances of cooperation in the face of the chaos plaguing the galaxy, Leia entreated Releqy to use the influence of the Triumvirate to call a summit, in which all the factions would be present. While Ak'la was sceptical, she did agree, and made a broad appeal for all factions, including those united under Vongerella's banner, to converge on Anaxes for a summit, to bring unity, peace and stability back to the galaxy, and used the goodwill she had made with Phennir at Obreedan to convince the Confederation to attend. As the various powers prepared to converge on Anaxes, Vongerella, watching from the shadows, was very pleased, as everything was now proceeding according to her plans.
Jaina meanwhile had infiltrated the Ithor system in an effort to bring an end to Vongerella. As Vongerella lurked around the ruined world, Jaina disguised her approach, determined to end the Sith Lord and free her cousin. While she infiltrated Vongerella's worldship, Jag finally emerged from his coma, and was shocked to find Tahiri clad in the red armour of the Royal Guard, telling him that she was his new bodyguard until all this was over. She quickly explained everything that Jaina had set in motion, and that Admiral Daala was now Supreme Commander of the Empire, and had also accepted the invitation to the summit on his behalf. Very much wrong-footed, Jag had little choice but to go along with it, hurriedly preparing for the summit as Tahiri floated the idea of being seen as an Imperial Knight. As Jag struggled to catch up, Jaina boarded the Baanu Venxis, hoping to find and free Ben, and together overthrow the Sith Lord and restore peace to the galaxy.
Within the worldship, Ben had been thrown in with the slaves, and was subjected to further torture daily, as Vongerella, with aims of replacing Vestara and making Ben her true apprentice, was hoping that she could turn him to the dark side. In his time with the Shamed Ones and the slaves however, he had learned much of the Vong and of their nature, and indeed of Vongerella herself. Clinging to the old ways, she was keeping all the Shamed Ones and the slaves suppressed, and wanted to return the Vong to how things were before the downfall of their empire and the end of the war. However, the Shamed Ones, led by Taan Sool, were growing increasingly disenchanted with Vongerella and her dominion over them. The Shamed Ones wished to join their peers on Zonama Sekot, and indeed many of the warrior and shaper castes, forced to abide by Vongerella's decisions due to her ruling their fleet with an iron fist, also wished to join them, fearing Vongerella could very well get them all destroyed as she was breaking the terms of the Sekot Accords simply by allowing her fleet to exist in the first place. Ben began to gently encourage rebellion against Vongerella, however the Shamed Ones, tempted though they were, informed him that they were kept subjugated by the hardliner warriors who couldn't accept that they had lost the war and wished to follow Vongerella into battle. Ben became increasingly concerned as the upcoming battle would likely lead to the punishment and destruction of the Vong as a species, especially as Vongerella had plunged the galaxy into chaos by working with Mnggal-Mnggal and her other allies.
Vestara meanwhile was communicating with other members of the Tribe, who had just fled Kesh. Mnggal-Mnggal had been smuggled to the world by the Sorcerers of Rhand, acting on the orders of Vongerella, who sought to feed the remaining Tribe members (those that she hadn't betrayed to the Alliance or already fed to the Ssi-Ruuk to honour her deals with them as well in order to remove their potential challenge to her power upon assuming control of the galaxy) to the parasite. Unable to hold out any longer as the parasite spread like a cancer through their already struggling population, the remaining lords made the decision to flee to space. Incensed by her so-called master's betrayal, Vestara ordered the Tribe not to reveal their actions yet. She informed them that their original joining of the Alliance was still a good thing, and urged them to wait to hear from her. Resolving then and there to turn on Vongerella and bring an end to her plans, she noticed Jaina had infiltrated the worldship, and resolved to help the Sword of the Jedi bring her master down. As she decided this, she came to a sobering realisation: the Sith to which she was born weren't worthy of her loyalty. The Tribe, including her own father, had squandered their opportunity for dominance by allying with Abeloth. Vongerella had used her loyalty to the Tribe to twist her into her servant, but Vongerella had no intention of sharing power, and also wanted to destroy her people. And being a Sith, and no fool, Vestara realised that Vongerella was planning to cast her aside in favour of Ben should she turn him to the dark side. Dispirited but determined, Vestara resolved to act against her master, and save Ben in the process, realising that Ben was who he was…and if he fell to the dark side, it would destroy the very thing she liked about him.
She sneaks down to the slave quarters and speaks with Ben, telling him that Vongerella is planning to destroy the Tribe, and likely anyone else who will get in her way as she plans to usurp control of the galaxy and return it to the dominion of the Sith. Ben asked her why she was telling him this, and she tells him that Jaina had infiltrated the worldship, and that if they work together, they could stop Vongerella. Ben, naturally suspicious of her seeming personality change, is hesitant to believe her, however Jaina had infiltrated the slave quarters in an effort to find her cousin. However, as she infiltrated the slave area, Vongerella emerged, having noticed, like Vestara, that Jaina had infiltrated the worldship. With Ben having been tortured and starved, Vongerella knew he was little threat to her, and had also summoned as many warriors as she could to surround Jaina as she entered the slave quarters. Ben wished to help her, however Vestara told him that if he interfered now, he would only succeed in getting all of them killed, they weren't ready to confront her yet. Vongerella boldly strolled out to meet Jaina, who ignited her lightsaber and told her that she was under arrest. Vongerella however ignited her own saber and started circling around Jaina, taunting her, with her fears for Jag, for the future, about how she'll me as a mother, and also about the baby itself. Jaina tells her that she's already answered all of these fears in her own mind, and Vongerella taunts her, telling her Leia likely did too. That didn't stop a child of hers from dying, or another from turning to the dark side. Jaina struggled to maintain control of her emotions, however Vongerella's use of Dun Moch was getting under her skin. The two engaged in a duel, however, Vongerella was merely deflecting her attacks, constantly taunting her. She told Jaina that the Vong correctly predicted that she and Jacen would fight to the death, and that Jaina fulfilled her role in the Vong prophecy magnificently. She goads Jaina with visions of a future where she's forced to watch as any children of hers destroy themselves, or even if there's only one, a galaxy in which anything could happen to her child. Ben tries to get through the Vong warriors to help her, despite Vestara's warnings, however weakened as he is, they block his progress. Jaina is losing focus, and goes on the offensive, engaging in a proper duel, but now her mind abuzz with Vongerella's taunts, she is unable to focus, and Vongerella exploits it, leaving a hole in her guard that Jaina attempts to take advantage of, only to be blasted unconscious by Vongerella's Force lightning and she is also captured while Ben cries for her to try and get to her and get her to safety.
The Triumvirate had arrived at Anaxes for the summit, determined to unite the breakaway factions and forge a new era for the galaxy. As the Triumvirate, the warlord factions of the Alliance, the Confederation, the Empire and the other factions assembled, Luke and the rest of the Jedi had arrived with Cilghal's countermeasure that she hoped would be enough to render Mnggal-Mnggal inert. The Blazing Chain had also arrived in order to assist in stopping the parasite, but suspicion and distrust remained high. As Releqy, Wynn and Face spoke with a highly distracted Jag and Tenel Ka, who, along with the other leaders, were fearing that something was going to go wrong, Luke, Han and Leia were growing increasingly concerned that Jaina also seemed to have been captured. Increasingly worried as the summit began, the three of them noticed he arrival of numerous other ships in the system, all belonging to the Tribe. As a developing sense of menace grew within the Force, the assembled Jedi began to hunt for those possessed by Mnggal-Mnggal, seeking to force it out in the open to use Cilghal's countermeasure in order to contain it. The other leaders however had all agreed to the summit, and the Triumvirate were now negotiating with the other factions as the sense of menace grew. However, despite the tension, they were seeming to make progress, working with the Empire, the Confederation and the other factions to try and forge a way out of the mess they were in. Various Tribe members were also on planet, similarly invited to the summit, and the Jedi were keeping an eye on them too. The entire situation was a tinderbox, just waiting for the right spark with which to ignite it.
Outside the system, Vongerella was torturing both Jaina and Ben, attempting to make Ben give in to his rage. Despite the torture however, he and Jaina were both continuing to resist her advances. She tells them that both of them have played right into her hands, and that the entirety of the ruling class of the galaxy is all in one place. Jaina tells her that that won't matter, as the galaxy won't bow to the Sith or to the Vong again. Vongerella tells her that it will, simply because they won't see any other alternative. As the two captured Jedi watch, Vongerella contacts the Sorcerers of Rhand who have infiltrated the planet, complete with numerous vials of Mnggal-Mnggal. They proceed to release the parasite, using the Force to cloud their movements and infiltrate the parasite into the people who will do the most damage. Across Anaxes and throughout the orbiting fleets, Mnggal-Mnggal spread like wildfire, possessing the likes of security officers, gunners and others, all preparing to receive the order from Vongerella to strike. As Vongerella enacted her plan, Vestara, under no illusions that if she breaks Ben that Vongerella would hurriedly discard her, was meanwhile speaking to the Shamed Ones, stirring them up against the warrior caste that brutally enforced Vongerella's will. Encouraging them to rebel against her, she sowed the seeds of the Jeedai heresy, telling them that Vongerella was going against the will of the gods, and that they deserved to be on Zonama Sekot with their brethren, but Vongerella and her allies were the ones preventing this. One of her warriors then noticed what Vongerella was doing, and attempted to grab her to bring her to her master. As the warrior grabbed Vestara, Taan Sool, emboldened by both Vestara and Ben, then struck the warrior as the rebellion on the Baanu Venxis begun.
Disturbed from her attempt to seduce Ben by the chaos developing outside of her command chamber, Vongerella then gave the order. The Mnggal-Mnggal thralls all acted exactly as they were meant to: by opening fire on the other participants of the summit. While there were very few actually shooting, the images of Alliance, Imperial, Mandalorian, Hapan, Confederation, Chiss, Hutt and other factions all starting to shoot at one another were suddenly beamed across the galaxy. Believing that the summit had been a trap to kill the assembled leaders, the participating fleets fell into a bloody free-for-all as the fleets opened fire on one another, determined to destroy the others. Everything had proceeded exactly as Vongerella had intended, as now all the factions would slaughter each other, and she could then come in with her fleet and mop them all up, and with each of the factions decapitated, they would have no choice but to accept her as the new leader of the galaxy. Confident that her victory was assured, Vongerella then was disturbed by the reports of the Shamed Ones revolt happening across her fleet as the Shamed Ones, declaring that it was their right to join their kin on Sekot, erupted into outright rebellion against her. Furious, she cast Force lightning at them all, telling them that she was their leader, their Supreme Overlord and their warmaster, only for the Shamed Ones to decry her in defiance. Taan Sool preached to the other Shamed Ones, telling them that Vongerella was betraying the Sekot Accords, and that she would see their entire people wiped out in her quest for greater power. Furious, Vongerella ordered that the Shamed Ones all be slaughtered, refusing to allow them to interfere with her plans at this final hurdle. To her shock, she then heard two lightsabers ignite behind her. Using the Shamed Ones as a distraction, Vestara had freed Ben, and seeing a Jedi confronting their leader, it further emboldened the Shamed Ones, and indeed many soldiers also began to defect to their side, assisting with their rebellion as they pushed towards Vongerella. With the rebels now spreading chaos throughout her fleet, Vongerella had no choice. She ordered her combined fleet into battle with the troops over Anaxes, hoping that the attack would end the rebellion as the soldiers wouldn't want to be battling them and the enemy, and turned her attention to her two would-be apprentices, drawing her lightsaber and engaging the two as the battle raged onboard her worldship.
On the planet, Luke was suddenly approached by Takaris Yur, one of the remaining ranking members of the Tribe. He quickly explained that the Sorcerers of Rhand had infiltrated Kesh and had spread Mnggal-Mnggal across the world, necessitating them abandoning the planet. Luke then asks the Tribe for help in stopping the parasite, to which they agree. Across Anaxes, Cilghal suddenly released her countermeasure. Mnggal-Mnggal gave a screech as it was forcibly ejected from the bodies of its hosts as her countermeasure took hold, forcing the parasite to flee the bodies of its victims and try to make good its escape. However, as the countermeasure spread across the planet, the parasite realised it was getting slower, solidifying as Cilghal had intended: turned from its almost liquid-like state into a solid state, it could then be contained before it could be shipped back to Mugg Fallow. As Mnggal-Mnggal increased its panic, trying to possess anyone and everyone it could in order to remain mobile, Luke and the rest of the Council, including Saba, Barrat'k'l and K'kruhk, confronted the rapidly hardening parasitic monster as it became a solid creature. Roaring at them in the Force, it struck against all the Jedi and anyone else it could reach, attempting to prevent it's hardening by possessing the Jedi, who it hoped would then allow them to reverse the damage. Assisted by the furious Tribe members who had lost their home not once but twice, the Jedi and Sith forces worked together, trapping the Mnggal-Mnggal entity in a field consisting of light and dark Force energy. The entity, in a last ditch attempt to undo what had been done to it, arced towards Luke and once more forcibly entered his body. Fearing the pain, fear and terror that it felt, Luke suddenly understood his enemy: he used the Force to commune with it, telling it that at one point, he was the only Jedi left in the galaxy. Mnggal-Mnggal was terrified of being alone, and cut off from the rest of itself. Luke explained that Vongerella had used it for her own ends, and risked destroying the galaxy by harnessing the extraordinary capabilities of the entity. Luke promised that if it stood down, and recalled all of its agents, he would ensure that Mugg Fallow would remain protected. If not, every single world would be seeded by Cilghal's countermeasure, and Mnggal-Mnggal would be rendered extinct. The entity was furious, and wished to have assurances that it could be allowed to feed, as it had become accustomed to feeding on the wider galaxy. Luke however, refused. He explained that he had manufactured a peace like this once before, and the other party had to accept the peace plan, or oblivion. As Mnggal-Mnggal writhed in fury inside him, Luke brought the full power of the Grand Master to bear, forcing the entity from his body piecemeal, bringing more pain to it as the parts he expelled were affected by the countermeasure. Luke told it that it had until he forced it all from his body with the Force to agree: stand down, and return to Mugg Fallow to live out its days in peace, or be destroyed and die piecemeal as each world became more and more inhospitable towards it, which would result in it starving to death. Left with no choice, Mnggal-Mnggal reluctantly agreed, and departed Luke's body, it's fluid like ability's becoming a sort of resin within the Force cage it had been locked in. With Mnggal-Mnggal now all becoming solid and abandoning it's hosts across the planet, the entity gave a call across the galaxy, resulting in the rest of the entity going into a dormant state and agreeing to be relocated to Mugg Fallow lest it be destroyed. Luke, exhausted but satisfied, could then only hope that the rest of the plan would work the way they had intended.
In the Millennium Falcon in orbit, Han and Leia were urgently trying to get the various factions to stop battling with each other when the combined Vong/Ssi-Ruuk/Vaagari and other enemy fleet dropped out of hyperspace to enact Vongerella's final victory, just out of range of the battling fleets, preparing to ambush them and wipe them all out once the battle was over. Noticing the similarities to the Caamas Crisis, Han and Leia then contacted the various leaders: the Triumvirate of Face, Wynn and Releqy; the Galactic Alliance commanders consisting of Supreme Commander Admiral Gavin Darklighter, Admirals Atoko, Makin and Cheb along with General Chackham; Confederation leaders Turr Phennir and Traest Kre'fey; Imperial leaders Jagged Fel and his Supreme Commander Admiral Natasi Daala; Hapan commanders Queen Mother Tenel Ka and Admiral Taryn Zel; Mandalore Boba Fett and his Supreme commander Mirta Gev; the Solos contacted everyone in any position of power, telling them that the true enemy was this rogue Vong faction that had united the various enemies of the Alliance into one cohesive strike force and were currently trying to force an end to the forces that had defeated them once before. As Han and Leia beamed the information on the size of the enemy fleet to the battling factions, the Blazing Chain, having departed the planet, were striking across the battling fleets, spreading Cilghal's countermeasure to incapacitate Mnggal-Mnggal. Without the chaos and proving that the entire battle was the result of Vongerella's machinations, Releqy then took the initiative, inviting the leaders of each individual faction to join Admiral Darklighter and the true Galactic Alliance in a joint operation to bring an end to this conflict before it plunged the galaxy into eternal war, asking them to join forces with the Alliance to defeat Vongerella's insidious plot.
Impressed with the passion of her speech, General Turr Phennir pledged the service of the Confederation to the battle, and ordered his forces to work with the Galactic Alliance to stop the combined Vong fleet. Following suit, Jag and Daala had the Empire also rally to the cause, while the Alliance warlords submitted themselves back under the control of Admiral Darklighter. Across the fleet, the guns suddenly stopped, as Admiral Darklighter, Kre'fey and Daala took command of the fleets, as the galactic factions, plagued with strife and chaos for months, all rallied together in the face of a common enemy once again. Splitting into three battle fleets, the three fleets emerged around Anaxes and began to engage the enemy fleets. To the shock of many, the Lost Tribe of the Sith's armada, having previously been commanded by Vestara, also pledged their support to the cause as the free peoples of the galaxy rallied against a return to the Vong war, with the joint faction armada confronted Vongerella's forces, easily encircling them and breaking the lines as they all targeted the worldship where Vongerella was lying in wait.
On the worldship, Vongerella was engaged in a vicious duel with Ben and Vestara as the Shamed Ones caused chaos across the Vong fleet, weakening the contribution they could make to the overall battle as the Vong forces battled themselves and their enemies. The young Jedi and Sith were unable to overcome the Dark Lord, and Jaina was watching in panic as her cousin duelled the Vong Sith Lord. Furious that her plans were unravelling at the final hour, Vongerella blasted Force lighting into Vestara, and as Ben moved to help her, she reversed her blade, skewering Ben through the side and dropping him to the floor. Jaina screamed in terror as her cousin fell, and began to use the Force to try and rip herself out of the embrace of pain, however, Vongerella, fuelled by rage, hatred and spite, blasted lightning into her, telling her she will ensure that she loses her baby. Blaming Jaina for the downfall of the Vong and the Sith, she upped her attack, Jaina screeching in agony, terrified she was going to lose her baby, only for the lightning to be intercepted by an ashen Vestara. She refused to allow Vongerella to kill Jaina or her unborn child, and proclaimed that while she was no Jedi, she was no Sith anymore either. Furious at this last act of defiance, Vongerella sneered and unleashed a Force storm onto her prospective apprentice, dropping Vestara to the ground as she stalked towards her prey, preparing to end her, and then Jaina, and then, with them dead, she would slaughter the Shamed Ones and retake control of the situation. Vongerella ignited her saber, vowing that nothing would prevent the return of the Sith. However, with Vongerella slightly distracted, Jaina was stretching out with the Force, just a fraction, so that it wouldn't be sensed by the Sith or by the embrace: she had noticed Ben still stirring. Using the Force, she edged Ben's lightsaber towards him, and told him through the Force that this time, he was to be the sword of the sword of the Jedi. As Vongerella, consumed by her hatred and rage, raised her saber to skewer a cornered Vestara, Ben's eyes snapped open. Through the Force, he could feel Luke, Jaina, Leia, Vestara, Jaina's unborn son, even Jacen, Anakin, his grandfather Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda and his mother Mara all speaking through the Force, telling him to stand firm, to stay true to the Force, and to act as the blade of the Jedi. Grabbing the lightsaber, Ben then sprang over the room, striking true, and with a flash of blue, it was done.
Vongerella, about to kill Vestara, gave a surprised gasp as she was cleaved in two from head to groin, the two halves and various parts of the last of the Dark Lords of the Sith collapsing to the ground, dead at last. The final member of the Order of the Sith Lords, the last of the line of Darth Bane, was finally dead, ending their millennium of dark manipulations, ending the line that had destroyed the Republic and the Jedi, once and for all.
Ben helped Vestara to her feet, and kissed her passionately as the two reconciled, to the bemusement of Jaina, who waspishly said she'd hang in the torture device until they finished making out. Both of them wounded, they nevertheless got Jaina down, who embraced her cousin and thanked him for doing what she could not. As the three emerged from the chamber, the Shamed Ones saw the remains of Vongerella, proclaiming victory, as their cheers took hold throughout the worldship.
The Battle of Anaxes had turned against the Vong conspirators. The various Sorcerers of Rhand had either been captured or killed by the Jedi, either on the planet or throughout the fleet. Mnggal-Mnggal had surrendered and was currently a solidified mass, and unable to act against any of it's would be prey. The Vaagari, unprepared for such strength, and with the now-discovered death of the Misakra, had collapsed into chaos, with many of them making a break for it as the combined fleets hammered at their forces. The Ssi-Ruuk forces were similarly routed, and the Vong ships, now surrendering due to the death of Vongerella, called an end to the battle, as Paasar had been killed in the destruction of the Dark Emissary and they now had nobody left to command them. As the Vong fleet surrendered and the rest of enemy fleet was either destroyed, surrendered or fled, cheers echoed across the system as the Battle of Anaxes was won, bringing an end to the plans of the last Sith Lord of the Rule of Two.
The aftermath of the Battle of Anaxes was a massive celebration, as the factions had all united to defeat their common enemy. The Galactic Alliance warlords all submitted back to the authority of the Triumvirate, reunifying once again into one cohesive whole, with the Triumvirate still in command and uniting under Supreme Commander Darklighter. The Hapes Consortium had captured all of the remaining conspirators with the help of the Lost Tribe, bringing an end to the threat to the monarchy. Boba Fett and Mirta Gev were gifted the cure to the nanovirus that prevented them from returning to Mandalore by a grateful Daala, allowing Mirta Gev to inherit the title of Mandalore as Fett stood down. The Chiss, satisfied that the Ssi-Ruuk, Vaagari, Vong and Mnggal-Mnggal were suitably chastened, agreed to reopen negotiations and closer relations with the wider galactic powers. The Hutts similarly agreed to closer relations with the other galactic powers.
The biggest change, however, was in the Empire. The Moffs, caught between their fear of Daala and respect for Jaina, had agreed on a course of action. In a private ceremony, the Moffs agreed, with a little needling from Tahiri and Daala, to proclaim Jagged as Emperor, making the Empire a true Empire once again. As Emperor Jagged Fel I took the Imperial throne, his wife, who hadn't long given birth to his son, Chak Jacen Fel, proclaimed the founding of the Imperial Knights, which would be led by his wife and Tahiri. He also announced the start o the Victory Without War program, a means with which planets could appeal for membership in the Empire again, should they wish to, without risking war with the Galactic Alliance.
In the spirit of unity and cooperation, Releqy A'kla, now seen as the first among equals of the Triumvirate, proposed a new Triumvirate: a group consisting of the heads of galactic factions, operating on a rotational basis, to help bring unity back to the galaxy, seeking to reunify the galaxy and end the ceaseless squabbles that Vongerella had exploited. This Triumvirate, consisting of Releqy, Phennir, and Jag, would now work together to help return the galaxy to peace and prosperity.
The Galactic Alliance was reunified, and indications of a chance of reconciliation with the Confederation were high. The Alliance officially invited the Jedi back to Coruscant due to their actions in saving the galaxy from Vongerella and in defeating Mnggal-Mnggal. Peace once again spread across the galaxy, to the relief of the entire galaxy.
Mnggal-Mnggal was returned to Mugg Fallow, and the world was put under a joint blockade by the various galactic forces. The Ssi-Ruuk, their forces shattered, were also interdicted by a joint Alliance, Tribe and Chiss task force. The Vaagari were scattered to the four corners of the Unknown Regions, their capacity to strike at anyone diminished to the point of making them all now becoming little more than pirate groups. The other forces that had belonged to Vongerella fled to the darkest corners of the galaxy. And the remainder of Vongerella's forces were disbanded, the worldship destroyed and her remaining ships disbanded. The Shamed Ones, soldiers and shapers that had consisted of her forces were all ferried to Zonama Sekot, where they were welcomed home by Sekot and former warmaster Nas Choka.
The Skywalker-Solo clan, flush with their victory, all united to celebrate. Luke was very proud of Ben, having brought an end to the Sith threat. Ben and Vestara were now willing to give their relationship a second chance, with Ben resolving to remain a Jedi and Vestara willing to explore where she fit into the galaxy. Han and Leia were delighted to meet their new grandson, Chak, and delighted in spending time with him as they opted for full retirement from the galaxy's many problems. Luke continued to take a step back for the running of the order, electing to help teach the younglings while K'kruhk was chosen to become the new Grand Master by the rest of the Council. Jag and Jaina were now Emperor and Empress of the Empire, with Jaina as joint leader with Tahiri of the newly formed Imperial Knights, and raising their son. Tenel Ka and Allana were also happy to have a new family member as the Skywalker and Solo clan looked to the future of the galaxy, unhindered by war, a galaxy united, stable and at peace.
Vongerella, the last member of the Order of the Sith Lords, the last of the Rule of Two, the last Sith of Darth Bane's lineage, was gone, and the Sith seemed to be extinct once again. However, there was a growing shadow rising on Korriban, hidden in the shadows of the Sith tombs, a new order, the One Sith, led by the mysterious Darth Krayt, which would one day rise to bedevil the galaxy and the Jedi once again…

It is done, at long last it is done

The final installment of the Rule of Two, the conclusion of the Order of the Sith Lords lineage. The Order of the Sith Lords, which was born in the fires of the Battle of Ruusan as the Sith were remade under Darth Bane, endured the rise and fall of the following millennia as the Sith conspired to destroy the Republic and the Jedi, and to take over the galaxy.

Here we have it, thank you so much for reading, and let me know which Sith Lords are your favourites!