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- "The Darkness will consume all it touches. Stars will burn black. Everything... ends...."
- — Nyra Zess reciting a vision.
The Shadow War, so aptly named for the way that the war's true intentions and leaders were covered in the shadow of the dark side of the Force, was a war initiated by Darth Trayus against, initially, the Jedi Order. But, at the end of the Battle of Taylon, it became apparent that the war would effect more than just Jedi.
History[]
Origins[]
A Dark Lord's Plot[]
- "Your proposal is intriguing. And you certainly seem a man worthy of your position. You've done your homework, Garuda. Part of me sees no reason why you should be blown to space dust right now. However, I see no reason why I should turn you down. If your claims are true, and you can help me with this acheivement, then consider ourselves allies"
- — Keldon Tyfus to Darth Invisus
The Shadow War held its roots back before Cadden Blackthorne fell to the dark side by the hands of Rahk'neqah, the Nomad Soul. Originally intended to be orchestrated by Darth Invisus, Blackthorne's predecessor had set the stage well for the war's beginning.
Having established the Sith Brotherhood, Invisus and his apprentice, Darth Nemesis, formed the Hands of Darkness in a plot to instigate rebellion and strife in various key loations throughout the galaxy. However, the Hands' first objective was to finish the Brotherhood, by fighting and bringing the Jedi Knight Kal Norr to the dark side of the Force, where he would later become Invisus's second apprentice, Darth Malice.
Afterwards, as Nemesis sought out new Hands of Darkness to fulfill the Dark Lord's plot, Invisus and Malice sought out and gained the allies Darth Sadis and his apprentice, Darth Sirena. The five Sith then got to work formulating their plans, first by taking over the Corporate Sector, then by allying themselves with the Cylon Imperium.
Sith Revolution[]
- "I expect everyone to be ready to ship out in three days. There's someone we need to pay a visit to."
- — Cadden Blackthorne to Olan Signas
The intervention of Cadden Blackthorne, as Darth Trayus, set Invisus's plans back a slight delay. The coming of Trayus's Sith in Shadow Imperium space led to the Sith Revolution, a short but bloody conflict that ended in the deaths of all the original Sith Lords in the Brotherhood, save for Sirena, and most of the dark Jedi.
At the conclusion of the Battle of Tarix, Darth Trayus ordered the complete disollusion and reorganization of the Shadow Imperium into the Crimson Empire. After the events of the war were settled, Trayus progressed onward to personally lead his new empire in war against the Cylon Imperium, which resulted in the dissolution of the Imperium into the Crimson Empire, and the formation of Cylon Cybernetics.
At the conclusion of this war, and Trayus's first face-off with the dark lord Sivter (whom had a hand in creating Trayus), the Sith Lord was ready to set his sights on a new foe; the Jedi Order, in response to their denying aiding him in finding and killing Sivter, and destroying his Cult of Shadow. Thus began the Shadow War proper.
Beginnings[]
Initiation of War[]
- "For, in the end, all will either serve me, or be destroyed. Those whom have betrayed me must be the first to pay the price."
- — Darth Trayus to Alexis Kiara
With the pieces in place, Trayus ordered Cylon to mass manufacture a droid army capable of obliterating the City of the Jedi. Unbeknowingst to Cylon's former leader, K471, Trayus had no intention on destroying the city itself, but merely killing the one whom was key in his betrayal; Cazzik Wyn.
Soon, Taylon was attacked by the combined forces of the Sith Brotherhood and Crimson Empire, resulting in catastrophic losses to the Jedi and Antarian Rangers stationed there. Trayus, believing to have killed Cazzik in lightsaber combat, ordered a retreat, to where he would then progress in his plans to execute the Shadow War in its fullest extent.
The next step in his plans involved sending Alexis Kiara and Epsilon Squad to Dathomir to incite rebellion on the world, pinning the blame on the New Republic. Concurrently, the Crimson Empire's 3rd Battle Fleet attacked Chorax, in an attempt to make it seem like an Imperial assault.
Several more of these attacks occurred on both Imperial-controlled and New Republic-controlled worlds, the spark of war was eventually ignited, as both the Galactic Empire and New Republic began to turn an eye of hatred toward one another once more. Sensing the perfect moment to initiate the second phase of his plans, without the headache of having to deal with his two largest threats, he recalled the attacks and began rallying up allies.
Arms Race[]
- "This is the opportunity we have been waiting for. An opportunity to strike... to pave the way for the coming events. If we take the opportunity to crush our enemies, then everything will be ready."
"And what about the Sith that border my empire? It certainly holds a large enough threat that we cannot simply leave it alone."
"You underestimate the powers I have granted you. You need no longer pursue this pointless conflict of yours. Instead, look to forge alliances." - — Rahk'neqah conversing with Darth Trayus in his mind.
After conversing with the Nomad Soul on the issue, Trayus took advantage of the opportunity before him. He sent Keldon Tyfus and Darth Invictus to the Tion Consortium to establish an alliance with them. Concurrently, he ordered Alexis Kiara to seek out another Sith organization to form another alliance with, and Trayus himself went to Mandalore to speak with Garen Starfall about the Mandalorian Protectors' support. It was only a matter of time before Trayus's forces would be large enough to dare directly engage his immediate enemies.
The Protectors were the first to ally themselves with Trayus, and with that single move, the Sith Lord began a sinister plot to secure their infallible loyalty. The first step was to remove the one voice of reason amongst them, that would protect them from his schemes; Guan Blackthorne. Trayus sent Alexis to Mandalore in order to lure Guan away to Dagobah and slay him there. However, the resulting duel did not kill Guan, although it did leave him stranded on the world, and out of the way. Some time after she stranded Guan on the world, she returned to Testria from another mission, but Aliah'ara had lost control over Crystal's body. A resulting duel left Trayus with grievous wounds along his jaw, forcing him to wear a mask to cover and treat them. He had lost a valuable ally and instrument of chaos, but he would allow the setback to ruin his plans.
Following this event, Trayus organized his forces, and the new Cybrid creations that K471 was working on, and launched a second attack on the City of the Jedi, as well as a masqueraded attack as the Galactic Empire against the Mandalorian Protectors on Mandalore.
The War Begins[]
Fall of the Sith Empire[]
The first stage of the war was the goading of the New Republic to wage war against the Sith Empire. Trayus subtely worked the strings to create conflict between the two entities, eventually resulting in the fall of the Sith Empire, his largest immediate threat to his power.
Clashing Titans[]
When both the New Republic and Galactic Empire began to suspect another entity, aside from the Sith Empire, Darth Trayus schemed to make the two governments go at war against each other, effectively allowing each to place their suspicions of their theories on the larger schemer on each other. For a time, this gave the Crimson Empire an effective leeway to go about its own devious objectives.