Stellaris Wars: A Nemesis Ironman Saga II - Rebellion: The Imperium at War

[Arithmetician]

After several consecutive terms as the Alliance Head of State, Odtepp An’uun felt that it would be increasingly difficult to fulfill that role while still serving as the representative in the Imperial Senate for the sectors that had joined the Alliance but, at least for now, maintained the fiction of being loyal Imperial subjects. The Imperial Security Directorate had been cracking down ever harder on dissident Senators, and only by carefully following the Imperial line in public had Odtepp An’uun managed to avoid being arrested and disappeared.

As the Alliance geared up for war against more Imperial sectors, it was clear that the next leader of the Alliance would have to be skilled at military matters, but also have a reputation for upstanding moral character, so that the choice between the Alliance andl Imperium could not be clearer to the people of the galaxy.

P’Konori was nominated to succeed Odtepp An’uun as both the head of state and commander of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Her powers in these offices would be far from unlimited though. Both had very clearly defined constitutional powers, and the Alliance Senate, which operated separately from the Imperial Senate, served as a check on her, which P’Konori wouldn’t have any other way. Such checks were necessary for functioning democracies to survive. She would also have to be re-elected as Chancellor every ten years to continue serving in that office.

P’Konori was hesistant at first. She hadn’t joined the Alliance seeking political power for herself. She was the governor of the Yavin Sector, but first and foremost as a public servant, and she was seen as the de facto leader of the Alliance of the Force, with Force-sensitives and those who believed in the Force looking to her, as a Jedi, for spiritual guidance.

But while the factions within the Alliance had their differences with each other, P’Konori was a unifying figure that they, and the broader galaxy, could rally around against the Imperium.

And so, while Odtepp An’nuun remained the Alliance’s senator, P’Konori became the overall leader of the Alliance to Restore the Public.

As the newly instated Chancellor of the Alliance in her civilian capacity, and Commander in her military capacity, P’Konori wore a simple brown Jedi robe over a lightweight but practical set of armor, rather than the fancy vestments favored by past Chancellors of the Republic. The only concession P’Konori made to style was a necklace bearing the shape of the Jedi Crest, which not coincidentally strongly resembled the Alliance Starbird emblem and the symbol of the ancient Old Republic, before it had been reformed and then transformed into the Galactic Imperium. And even that was more for its symbolic value than anything.

“I wanted to offer you my congratulations, Chancellor,” Veldanur said to P’Konori. The droid paused. “Steve said I had to."

“Thank you, Steve,” P’Konori said. “I’ll make sure I live up to the trust everyone has put in me.” There was no try. She would do, or do not.

“The fleet stands ready,” Steve told her.

“Good. Liberating the Tezekian Sector should be our priority.” Already surrounded by allied nations on all sides, the Core Worlds of the Tezekian Sector remained highly populated and centers of industry. Not only would they deliver countless sapient beings from the Imperium’s tyranny, but taking the Sector would greatly expand the Alliance’s economic base.

“We have also found a promising lead,” Veldanur reported. “There is a significant probability that it will lead us closer to discovering plans for the Death Star. But while I’m going through their databases, I’ll also make sure to steal some of the Imperium’s technology."

“I wish you success, both of you,” P’Konori said. “May the Force be with you."

 

[Arithmetician]

@HistoryDude

(Yes, the Alliance of Free Worlds is a Military Alliance Federation, somewhat confusingly founded by the Alliance to Restore the Republic, which is its leading member. It also currentlyincludes the Khennet Resistance, the Scyldari Resistance, the Lokken Resistance, and the Blorg Sector Authority, which willingly joined as an Alliance protectorate).

(The Imperium is not doing a very good job at offering security at the moment, other than passing legislation improving its ability to do so in the future... they are still being invaded by the Caloctora’s remaining fleets).

 

[HistoryDude]

P'Konori leads the Alliance now. Doesn't she still to finish her training? That's necessary to continue the Jedi...

 

[Arithmetician]

@HistoryDude

(She will.}

 

[Arithmetician]

In response to the Alliance resuming hostilities against it, the Tezekian Sector Authority targeted the Scyldari Resistance, dispatching a sizable task force to punish them for supporting the Alliance.

Pushing past the Scyldari’s outer defenses, the Tezekians began bombarding a Scyldari colony in the Pash System from orbit with a new Mega Star Destroyer, the Raging Tumult.

The Alliance responded by dispatching Admiral Reth Unddol to come to the aid of the Scyldari.

As a former Imperial Grand Admiral, Reth was far more comfortable commanding Star Destroyers than most Alliance officers were.

It also meant that he knew their weaknesses far better than most.

It was almost too easy.

While his Mon Calamari cruisers hung back in the rear as carriers, Reth’s Star Destroyers advanced, supported by smaller Alliance frigates, forming a line that made short work of the battered and disorganized Tezekian Fleet.

With its Star Destroyer escorts wiped out, the Raging Tumult was forced to make an emergency hyperspace jump to retreat.

The Lokken then began pushing down through the Tezekian’s eastern holdings, occupying several star systems on the behalf of the resistance, while Scyldari cruisers crashed with the Tezekians in the Avior System.

The Scyldari cruisers were outgunned by the enemy’s Imperial Star Destroyers at first, but the timely alliance of an Alliance task force quickly turned the tide of the battle.

Meanwhile, Veldanur had uncovered an unexpected lead.

“Oh, that’s interesting,” the reprogrammed Imperial droid said as he finished hacking a Ymorz research database. “We’ve got ourselves a problem."

“What’s that?” Steve asked the droid.

“Someone else has breached this database before us... and they were also looking for the Death Star plans."

“Can you tell who it was?”

“Of course I can,” Veldanur replied. “I specialized in information security when I worked for the Imperium. They tried to cover their tracks, but I can say that this data was stolen by Hazbuzan infiltrators."

Markab System, Hazbuzan space...

Jabbex Dahutteg checked the plans his spies had stolen, and then looked out to the weapon he was building.

His very own Death Star.

This was why he had pretended to be friends with the Imperium for so long.

Once the weapon was complete, he would take his revenge and destroy the Imperium with it... as well as anyone who stood in his way.

That Blorg, Holger Weber, who had taken the position of Chief Executive that was rightfully his? Perhaps the sneaky fungoid would have an unfortunate ‘accident’ as another ‘mining disaster’ destroyed the planet he was meeting on.

And the Alliance?

Idealists like them irritated him.

And so he would wipe them out too.

Jabbex let out a croaking laugh as he imagined his ascendance.

And the best part was, the Imperium and the Alliance were too busy fighting each other to notice what he was doing until it was too late.

 

[Von Acturus]

The Empire has just been Hazboozled! And it keeps having to make cowardly hyperspace escapes with their super star Destroyers! I have a vision of several imperial officers and Moff's having a not totally pleasant disciplinary meeting with Lady Moeder.

 

[Arithmetician]

The Raging Tumult was tracked down an destroyed in the Berehynia System, dealing a heavy blow to the Tezekian Sector Authority.

The Ymorz Sector Authority had fought off the Caloctora for the time being and decided that Vhellet Enterprises was no longer a viable Imperial company in its own right. And so the planets once administered by the Vhellet would be brought under the Custodian’s direct control.

In former Caloctora space, the Alliance discovered Grand Admiral Tuborek, of the ancient Caloctoran Empire, prior to its fall. Tuborek had, by his own admission, committed numerous wartime atrocities in his time, but if the Alliance had been able to give Reth Unddol a second chance, could they not give Tuborek the opportunity to turn over a new leaf as well?

Meanwhile, the Human Star Regime was launching a counterattack against the Shazarak Database, seeking to retake its core worlds and relieve the Sol System, which had been long besieged by machine forces.

Tezekian Sector forces were rapidly collapsing as Alliance forces moved in on all sides. Their fleets just needed to be mopped up, as they were in the Ranzum System.

The final battle of the Alliance-Tezekian war came at the Jakly capital of Jakaro, which the Tezekian Grand Moff had relocated his operations to after Tezek had been captured. General Darsh Upadhyay, a Force-sensitive trained in one of the academies that P’Konori had helped set up with the assistance of the Qwe’Pulci and what she had learned during her time with Yodex, led a strike force of other Force-sensitives to sweep away the Tezekian battle droids defending the planet.

Much of the former Tezekian Sector Authority would pass into the administration of the Khennet Resistance. The Tezekian rump state that remained was severed from the Imperium, and would persist as a provisional government prior to full integration into the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

The Blorg Sector Authority had also just finished being integrated into the Alliance, leading ordinary Blorgs to rejoice for their new friends.

The Alliance also inherited the remnants of the Blorg Sector Navy, bringing still more Star Destroyers and other former Imperial vessels into its ranks.

 

[Arithmetician]

Custodian Gah’uni was furious when she heard of the loss of the Tezekian Sector Authority.

But worse, she had discovered that the Slephus Corporate Authority had secretly allied with the Kuat Sector Authority against her, and were planning to usurp her authority.

And so she decided to strike first, deploying the Death Star and her fleets to punish them.

Thus began a new Imperial Civil War, which would occupy much of the Custodian’s attention.

The Death Star emerged in the Fia Nita System, which was controlled by the Slephus Sector Authority.

Gah’uni smirked as the Death Star approached the Fia Nita starbase.

“Fire at will, commander!” the Custodian ordered.

The Death Star’s green superlaser lanced at the Fia Nita starbase, vaporizing the small Slephus station as a show of force.

And then word reached the Alliance that the Glebsig Exiles had developed a station capable of carrying planet-devastating weaponry of their own.

It wasn’t as large as a Death Star, and it appeared to be currently equipped with a mental manipulation device that would compel faith in their religion on a planetary scale. The Anoat Sector Authority, which had increasingly embraced spiritual beliefs in recent years, had aligned itself the Glebsig, and was hoping to make its own play to assume leadership of the Imperium, though it was clear to everyone else that the Glebsig were using them as pawns.

And so the Glebsig would also need to be stopped.

 

[Arithmetician]

The Anoat Sector Authority had massed its fleets in the Chiconaph System, former capital of the Chinorr Sector Authority, which it had occupied long ago. The Anoat Fleet was led by the Super Star Destroyer Executor, reflecting how they hoped to become the executors of the Imperium’s will. Like Moeder’s former Executrix, its namesake was the original Executor, the first Super Star Destroyer built by the Galactic Republic in its final years before becoming the Galactic Imperium, before being destroyed in the Battle of Borbagon in the War in Heaven centuries ago, ironically at the hands of the Glebsig’s ancestors.

The fleets in Chiconaph accounted for the bulk of the Anoat Sector Authority’s forces, so the Alliance committed several fleets of its own into battle against them.

“We’ve got enemy Gozantis coming in! They’re going after our MC Star Defenders!"

“They’re everywhere!"

While a number of Alliance fighters remained to defend the fleet, others had moved to attack the Anoat Sector fleet. Using their proton torpedoes, one squadron took out a Victory Star Destroyer that was serving as one of Executor’s escorts.

All the while, the battle became increasingly pitched as the opposing fleets drew into close quarters with each other.

“Those TIEs are going after the cruisers!"

The Mon Calamari Star Defender Enterprise II, supported by a nearby MC40 frigate, began exchanging broadside volleys with the Imperial Star Destroyer Retribution.

All the while, Executor continued to advance.

“Commence attack on the Executor! Stay low, and watch out for those TIEs!"

As the Alliance concentrated its fire on the Executor, the X-Wings were able to bring down the shields on its bridge, in a maneuver similar to that which P’Konori had performed so long ago.

But it was not without casualties.

“I’m hit!"

The X-Wing pilot knew that he was doomed, but he had just enough control left to send his fighter careening into Executor’s bridge, crippling the vessel.

But it was too early for the Alliance to celebrate.

The Anoat Sector admirals had been expressly forbidden from retreating, even with the loss of the Executor.

“We’ve engaged their Star Destroyers at point-blank range! We’re getting hit pretty hard out here! But we’re taking plenty of them with us!"

“This is the carrier Borealis! We’re launching our fighters at the Retribution, but we won’t be able to take much more of this!"

“Carrier Borealis, we read you! Beginning attack run on the Retribution."

A storm of turbolaser fire erupted from the Retribution, but the X-Wings were too small and agile for it to track them.

After a few passes, and some assistance from an MC80 cruiser, Retribution was reduced to a blasted hulk drifting in space.

“Thanks!” the captain of the Borealis said. “I owe you one!"

The Borealis has been saved, but there were other losses. An MC75 cruiser was destroyed by withering fire from the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Citadel, which the surviving Imperial vessels gathered around.

Squadrons of X-Wings engaged the Venator-class Star Destroyers and their TIE complements that were protecting Citadel, creating an opening for a Mon Calamari Star Defender to fire its Titan Laser, destroying the Imperial-class vessel.

With Citadel’s destruction, the Anoat Sector forces lost any sort of cohesion, and rapidly disintegrated.

Losses had been significant on both sides, but the Alliance armada was much larger than that of the Anoat Sector Authority, which had been all but eliminated as a serious obstacle in the war.

But the Glebsig and their Colossus remained.

 

[Arithmetician]

The Alliance met the Glebsig Fleet in the Delcor System. But this was just a diversion.

The real attack was being led by Admiral Reth Unddol, against Ladnah Vyg, the Glebsig capital.

While Reth managed to dismantle the system’s formidable defenses while losing only a single cruiser, the Glebsig Colossus escaped.

Not to be outdone by the Imperium or the Glebsig, the Caloctora soon thereafter unveiled their own Colossus, armed with its own superlaser capable of destroying entire planets.

Alliance intelligence soon reported that the Glebsig Colossus had been sighted over Schugaschl, in the Obskyke System.

“The main reactor of the Colossus is exposed, and should be vulnerable to fighter attack,” Admiral Eyes of Gray said, briefing her pilots. “May the Force be with you."

“Target, dead ahead!"

“I copy. I’m locked onto the main reactor. Firing torpedoes!"

Upon impact, the torpedo exploded, rupturing the main reactor of the Glebsig Colossus, and initiating a chain reaction that quickly began to rock it with more explosions.

“Let’s move out before that thing blows!"

“You don’t need to say that twice!"

“Damage reports!” the Glebsig commander of the station ordered.

“Standing by..."

“Standing by..."

Jabbex shook his head, watching the holo-reports of the destruction of the Glebsig Colossus.

How foolish of them to build such a readily exploitable weakness into their weapon.

His weapon had no such weakness.

And it was almost operational.

 

[HistoryDude]

There were 3 Death Stars, and the Hazbuzans are building a fourth? It looks like the Alliance might want to invest in its own super weapon...

It's interesting that the ancient admiral was of the same Fallen Empire that recently awoke. I wonder how he will react to his people's recent actions?

The Imperials are killing each other again. That's nothing new. Still really bad for them, of course, which makes it good for the Alliance.

 

[Von Acturus]

That's a looot of Death Stars. With a galaxy even more trigger happy than original star wars! Some years from now I bet the Alliance pilots won't even bother surprising themselves once they see a Death Star.

"Oh you blew up the Glebsig's XVIII Mind Controlling Superweapon yesterday? Nice, heard Wedge and Luck bested their prior record too, they've destroyed three Death Stars... Before Monday breakfast! I tell you, some guys are just born lucky. Only I, stuck here in Alderaan II, never get to see any planet destroying action!"

 

[steptioit08]

That's a looot of Death Stars. With a galaxy even more trigger happy than original star wars! Some years from now I bet the Alliance pilots won't even bother surprising themselves once they see a Death Star.

"Oh you blew up the Glebsig's XVIII Mind Controlling Superweapon yesterday? Nice, heard Wedge and Luck bested their prior record too, they've destroyed three Death Stars... Before Monday breakfast! I tell you, some guys are just born lucky. Only I, stuck here in Alderaan II, never get to see any planet destroying action!"

It feels like this is going to be a sport for everyone with how you put it.

 

[Arithmetician]

Jabbex Dahutteg stood on the overbridge of his new Death Star, orbiting the red star of the Markab System. He had cut a number of corners on its construction, but its superlaser was fully functional, and encased in layers of thick armor capable of repelling even concentrated assaults.

The only question was, which planet should he destroy first?

One of his underlings then called to him. A freighter, matching the markings of the Perennial Peregrine, had entered the system, and was hailing him.

Jabbex was sorely tempted just to blast the piece of junk into space dust, but he would not be a good businessman if he did not hear what they had to say first .

The hologram of an Ozkox wearing brown robes over light green armor appeared before him... the 124 year-old ‘chancellor' and commander of the Alliance and so-called ‘Jedi’, P’Konori. Jabbex would have barely remembered her from when she was of the rebel cell leaders whom he had financed and subsequently betrayed for his own selfish ends, if not for the spectacular destruction of Executrix and Lady Moeder’s fleet as she made her escape from Ra’Targass all those years ago.

“P’Konori, we meet again,” Jabbex said in his deep, croaking voice. “I see you have done well for yourself. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, ‘Chancellor’?"

“I’m not here to exchange pleasantries with you, Jabbex,” P’Konori said. “I’m here to offer you a deal. But I must speak to you in person,” she said, waving her wing slightly.

Jabbex knew at once what she was doing, as he felt a foreign presence brush against his mind. It was an old Jedi mind trick. Did P’Konori think him a weak-minded fool?

But he had hazboozled her once before, and so he decided to hazboozle her again. “Yes, we must speak in person,” he said, pretending to have fallen under the influence of her pitiful mind trick. Turning to his subordinates, he had them issue landing clearance to the Alliance chancellor, directing her to one of the docking bays on his battle station.

Unlike the diminutive Yodex, Jabbex was still much larger than P’Konori as she arrived on the overbridge to meet with him.

At once, Jabbex’s guards drew their weapons and aimed them at her.

P’Konori did not flinch.

“Jabbex, you must end this madness,” she told him. “I know that you hate the Imperium for what they did to your people, but you will be no better than them if you turn this battle station on the galaxy. You can either step aside from this path, and profit, or you will be destroyed."

Jabbex’s tongue flicked in and out of his mouth excitedly. “There will be no bargain, ‘Jedi'! I look forward to watching you die."

Jabbex laughed, and his guards opened fire.

P’Konori’s lightsaber was activated before they even knew what happened, deflecting the blaster fire away from herself and at her attackers.

For her part, P’Knori had never expected Jabbex to negotiate in good faith. But her going to see him in person served another purpose.

It prevented Jabbex from realizing that Veldanur and Steve were busily hacking the battle station’s mainframe, setting up what would quickly become a state of critical failure in its main reactor.

“You’ve lost, Jabbex,” P’Konori said after dispatching his guards. “You can now either come with me, or you will die on this station."

“How right you are,” a cruel female voice said, one that sent shivers down P’Konori’s spine.

Red plasma bloomed from Jabbex’s chest as a lightsaber seared through his flesh. Jabbex’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he let out a last gurgle before falling to the ground, dead.

It was the Grand Inquisitor.

“Fancy meeting you here, P’Konori,” the Grand Inquisitor said. “Here I was, dispatched by Lady Moeder to deal with this traitor, and I find the slave girl whose master I killed over a hundred years ago.” The Grand Inquisitor smiled viciously. “You always were powerful, P’Konori. You’ve proved it time and again, besting the Inquisitors under my command, and even surviving your encounter with Lady Moeder. But it is in your blood, of course. The blood that you and Lady Moeder share."

“I’ve come to terms with that,” P’Konori said.

“Have you?” the Grand Inquisitor asked. “Or do you still remain afraid of your potential, Hatchling, and that you might turn out like Moeder in the end? Of what might happen if you let go and allow yourself to truly enjoy a fight? The Dark Side is cruel, P’Konori.” Her smiled widened. “But I’m very much in touch with my inner darkness!"

The Grand Inquisitor lunged forward, and locked blades with P’Konori. Like her former underlings, the Grand Inquisitor’s body had been heavily enhanced with cybernetics, giving her great strength. But P’Konori was past allowing the Inquisitor’s taunts to get to her, and had the Force as her ally.

“Steve,” she thought with the Force, “ I could use a hand here."

Steve sensed her call right away.

“I’ll be right there,” he thought back with the Force.

All the while, Veldanur kept sabotaging the station.

“Oh, so this is your apprentice?” the Grand Inquisitor asked as Steve came to P’Konori’s aid. “And wielding Lady Moeder’s former lightsaber no less!” She smirked. “At last this might be a fight that’s worth my time."

She activated the other side of her double-bladed Inquisitorial lightsaber.

The fight progressed out of the bridge to a series of catwalks crisscrossing seemingly bottomless shafts over the station’s reactor. As they deftly exchanged blows, it seemed that the Grand Inquisitor was enjoying every second of the fight.

“Anger, hatred, and cruelty are part of nature!” the Grand Inquisitor declared. “There’s no need to try to cure these things in oneself! Give in to them, and you will know true power!"

“All I hear is the raving of one of the Imperium’s rabid attack dogs,” Steve retorted.

“Oh, that’s good,” the Inquisitor said. “Channel those feelings!"

“Just remain focused,” P’Konori directed. “She has no power over you or those who trust in the Force."

“Do you fear for your apprentice?” the Grand Inquisitor asked. “You do, don’t you? You fear that he fall."

“The only one who will fall here is you,” P’Konori replied.

Momentarily putting distance between them, the Grand Inquisitor began spinning her lightsaber at high speed, clearly hoping to intimidate them with the display and back them into a corner.

But joined by the Force, P’Konori and Steve stuck their lightsabers into the gap on the inside of the circular handle of the Grand Inquisitor’s lightsaber. P’Konori sliced upward, and Steve sliced downward, destroying the Grand Inquisitor’s weapon.

The still-active blades fell and landed on a reactor column, causing a series of explosions far earlier than intended by Veldanur’s sabotage.

“You’re defeated, Grand Inquisitor,” P’Konori said. She made no move to strike down the her foe, and Steve similarly refrained. “In the name of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, you’re under arrest."

The Grand Inquisitor laughed.

“You think I would allow myself to be humiliated by coming with you?"

“You’ll die if you return to your Mistress. She doesn’t tolerate failure,” P’Konori said.

The Grand Inquisitor shook her head.

“You have no idea what you will release upon the galaxy if you continue your foolish quest to overthrow the Imperium,” she said. “There are some things far more frightening than death."

And then, without another word, the Grand Inquisitor cast herself into the fires below.

P’Konori looked down where the Grand Inquisitor had fallen.

It was such a waste.

But now, she needed to get out of the station with Steve and Veldanur, who had now rigged it so that the rest of the station would shortly self-destruct as well.

Hurrying aboard the Peregrine, they took off.

And the Hazbuzan Death Star blew up behind them.

Holger Weber, the Chief Executive of the Hazbuzan Resistance, contacted them soon after the station’s destruction had been confirmed. The Blorg was miffed by the loss of the station itself, which could have been a valuable asset once repossessed, but was grateful to hear of Jabbex’s demise.

“He had become an embarrassment,” Weber said. “With Jabbex’s passing, I hope we can put any past unpleasantness behind us, and build bonds of friendship between our nations."

P’Konori obviously didn’t fully trust Weber. He was the galaxy’s leading crime lord. But she sensed that he was far more trustworthy than Jabbex had ever been.

“I would like that indeed,” she replied.

She wouldn’t tolerate their criminal activities on Alliance worlds, but they could do much to help further destabilize the Imperium.

 

[Arithmetician]

(I don’t know how the Hazbuzan Death Star was actually destroyed in-game, as I missed that with my attention focused elsewhere, so I decided to RP it as the above. I just know it didn’t last for very long. Besides, it was past time for a fight with the Grand Inquisitor, and to deal with Jabbex once and for all.)

 

[Arithmetician]

While the Glebig’s own Colossus had been destroyed, they also had developed their own version of a Mega Star Destroyer, which they termed a ‘Juggernaut’.

While it was a formidable vessel, the combined efforts of an Alliance fleet brought down the Glebsig Juggernaut in the Wexelia System.

The Glebsig subsequently drew back to their mighty star citadels as they attempted to regroup, each of which had to be subjected to siege by Alliance capital ships and fighters.

Anoat Sector forces had managed to regroup somewhat, and managed to take out a Mon Calamari Star Defender in the Gothra system.

But on the whole, momentum remained on the Alliance’s side.

A significant portion of the Glebsig’s remaining navy was routed at Barillion.

And the rest met defeat at Nyamien and Rituvecca.

Eventually, the Glebsig were forced to surrender, and their government was placed under Alliance supervision, to ensure that they would not unleash another superweapon upon the galaxy.

The Lokken Resistance was a major beneficiary of the treaty, claiming numerous southern Glebsig systems, though the Glebsigi retained their capital of Ladnah Vyg.

The Imperial Civil War also came to an end, with the Ymorz Sector Authority and its ally in the Imperial Center Authority triumphing over the Slephus Corporate Authority and the Kuat Sector Authority. The Imperial Center Authority took a swathe of star systems, while the Ymorz captured the oceanic world of Keresia in the Siluj System.

But while the Imperial Civil War had ended, the Caloctora had declared war on the Ymorz once again, and, at the same time, the Suramo had independently resumed their own hostilities against the Imperium.

With their fleets out of position from the Imperial Civil War, the Ymorz quickly lost several systems to the Caloctora.

But the Caloctora made the mistake of sending their Colossus into Ymorz space without a proper fleet to escort it.

And so, the Calocotran Colossus was destroyed.

 

[Arithmetician]

 

[Arithmetician]

The Yibrak Chroniclers had turned hostile, leading to war breaking out between them and the Alliance. However, the Yibrak had already been greatly weakened by their wars with the Glebsig, leading to an easy Alliance victory.

And in spite of the Ymorz Sector Authority destroying the Caloctoran Colossus, the surviving Caloctoran fleet managed to besiege the de facto Imperial capital world of Ymoria, paving the way for their ground troops to land and occupy the planet.

With the Fall of Ymoria, Custodian Gah’uni was forced to hastily relocate the Imperium’s capital to Keresia, on the other side of Ymorz space, almost as far away from the Caloctora as possible, even as she planned a counterattack against both the invading Caloctoran and Suramo forces.

Eeragol had been terraformed into a verdant oceanic paradise of a moon.

But it appearance was treacherous, just like the Sith Lady whose home it was.

Gah’uni had been suddenly summoned there by the Empress, to meet with her in person.

And the Custodian somehow had a very bad feeling about it.

The Empress’s throne room was deep underground, damp and cold. Gah’uni was escorted there by Eerkal, who had long since retreated from Galactic politics, but continued to serve as the day-to-day leader of the Eerabik Eternal cult, dedicated to the worship of the Empress as a dark goddess.

And at last, the Custodian came before the Throne of the Sith, roughly hewn from the rock.

“Welcome, Custodian,” a rasping voice said from the shadows. “Welcome to my home."

Gah’uni turned. There stood Empress Eerabik, attached to a cybernetic life-support harness. Eerabik was indescribably ancient, and there was a profound sense of wrongness around her. The Empress looked like a corpse, yet her blind eyes were alive with malignant intensity, glowing from under her black hood and from the depths of the sunken hollows of their sockets.

“Your Majesty,” Gah’uni said quickly, “we are already mounting our counterattack against the Caloctora! We have retaken several systems already! And soon, we will crush the Alliance and-"

“Custodian, I seem to have given you the wrong idea about why you are here today,” the Empress said. “I did not call you here to execute you for your failings.” She gestured toward the throne with her withered, crumbling talons. “I called you here so that you could take on your new role... Empress Gah’uni."

Gah’uni was sure that she had heard wrong.

“Empress... Gah’uni?” she asked.

“You will take the throne,” Eerabik said.

“You’re... just giving it to me?” Gah’uni said. She had thought that she would need to eventually kill the Empress in order to seize the throne for herself. But now...

“Oh, I know you planned to kill me, Custodian,” Eerabik said, reading her mind. “I have known since the very beginning. But I am not angry with you for that. For that is also what I want."

A lightsaber flew from where it had been concealed under the Empress’s robes, and over to Gah’uni’s appendages. A crushing, invisible grip forced her to take hold of it.

“You have long hated me, Custodian,” Eerabik continued. “I have felt it, even from across the galaxy. But I will also give you the power you seek. The power to restore the Imperium and crush the Alliance once and for all! Take my weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred! I am now unarmed. And then my power, and that of all the Sith will pass into you, the next Galactic Empress. We will be one."

Gah’uni activated the red lightsaber, staring at its blade as it hummed in her grasp.

“The time has come!” Eerabik announced, spreading her wings exultantly.

All around them, Sith Cultists, whom Gah’uni hadn’t noticed until now, knelt in reverence.

“With your hatred, you will take my life,” Eerabik instructed. “And you will ascend. You will pledge yourself as a Sith. Now do it! Make the sacrifice!"

Gah’uni didn’t need any further prompting.

Swinging the blade, Gah'uni cut through Eerabik where she stood, rending rotting flesh and fragile bone.

There was an explosion of dark power, swirling through the throne room, and driven by an ancient and evil intelligence, it quickly found its target.

The Dark Side energy rushed into Gah’uni.

And the Custodian screamed.

The sheer power was overwhelming. She didn’t know how her body could possibly hope to contain it.

And... her mind... it was being ruthlessly crushed by an invading presence, her every last bit of self being agonizingly burned and scoured away, ravenously devouring her essence and subsuming it into that of a far more powerful being.

Gah’uni heard evil laughter, coming from her own vocal cords, yet she hadn’t been the one to command them.

And then, it was over.

“Eerkal,” Gah’uni’s voice said, raspier than before. “Come to me."

“I see the ritual was a success, Lady Vidia,” the Voice of Eerabik said.

“I will miss my original form as Eerabik,” the Galactic Empress said, experimentally flexing her appendages. “This form is foreign to me, and is only at best a stopgap measure. It is not capable of containing my essence for more than a few decades at most. It too, will deteriorate with time. But it will serve my purposes until I have a proper vessel."

Gah’uni’s appendages removed the former Custodian’s cap, and drew a black hood over head, which Eerkal presented to her, made to fit a Ymorz body.

“The Sith rule the galaxy,” Darth Vidia said, “now and forever. And once more... we shall have peace, when we finally correct the errors of the Alliance. Prepare my shuttle. I will depart to Keresia at once."

 

[HistoryDude]

The Caloctora are still doing well. It seems like they have aided the Alliance in defeating the Imperium.

Steve still has too much rage. That might prove problematic...

How will the Imperium get its revenge? And against who - the Alliance or the Caloctora?

Eerabik can steal bodies now? Why didn't she do that before? On a Force-user?

 

[Arithmetician]

@HistoryDude

(Eerabik was holding out for an ideal host for most of the AAR. Moeder was an attempt at this, but became too damaged to be viable. Eerkal was another attempt, but while powerful, not ideal either, and more useful as a semi-independent servant / overseer of her Eerabik Eternal Cult. P’Konori was also, like Moeder, meant to serve as a potential vessel/body for Eerabik when she was created on Eeragol, but obviously the Hatchling escaped.)

(And Gah’uni is a Force-sensitive, as Eerabik noted much earlier in the AAR when first describing her plans to make the Ymorz custodian, just not one who realized her own powers. Eerabik was out of time on her own body, so she decided to take over Gah’uni’s body, both as a stopgap, and because her prior appointment of Gah’uni as Custodian means that ‘Empress Gah’uni’ is more likely to be accepted as the ruler of the Galactic Imperium).


(Out of universe, I couldn’t see Eerabik giving up the throne to anyone, so when Gah’uni became Custodian and began passing resolutions putting her on a path to being proclaimed Empress in the Galactic Community, I decided that, narratively, Eerabik would either have to be pulling her strings or directly hijacking Gah’uni’s body. Not only is it what Sidious wanted to do in Episode IX, but it has plenty of precedent in Legends, and was a major modus operandi of the Sith Emperor, such as when he took over a knight named Valkorion to serve as his body as the ruler of the ‘Eternal Empire’.)