New Sith Brotherhood/Recap

Early Period

The Union began existence as a secret alliance between a handful of planetary governments dissatisfied with the Galactic Alliance (hereafter refered to as the 'GA') and the New Sith Order. During this time the Union built up its strength in secret, preparing to declare independence from the GA; weapons were builts, plans were made, armies were raised and allies were secured. For a short period, the Union was in vassalage to the Ni'novian Ascendancy but this changed after the Ascendancy fell at the end of the Third Sith Schism. Though the Third Schism taxed the Union's resources, it was in the aftermath of this conflict that it openly declared its independence from the GA.

Foundation

With the New Sith Order finally emancipated from the Ni'Novian Ascendancy, Darth Xaos, the Dark Lord of the Sith and leader of the Unionist conspiracy, declared that it was time for the Union to openly declare its existence. The GA replied to the declaration by decrying the Union as an illegal insurrection and warning that any who fought for it would be arrested. This haughty dismissal ultimately galvanized the population of the fledgling Union in their repulsion of the GA's immediate, violent reply.

During this time the Union was organized differently than it is today. The federal government was a theocracy wherein the Dark Lord shared power with his Sith Council. The Dark Lord proposed new legislature and it was ultimately ratified or refused by a vote of the Council. Addionally, the military was organized in a more monolithic fashion with both planetary garrisons and federal forces being part of the Union Defense Force, which was headed by Darth Unrivaled. The planetary governments of this period, however, were run in an identical manner and had a similar relationship with the federal level of government. This early form was rife with corruption as the Sith Council was divided into factions that were more concerned with advancing their interests than fighting for the cause of the Union as a whole.

Reformation

With the destruction of the Sith'ar and the end of the Union Civil War, Dark Lord Xaos sought to refocus the Union's energies back on the GA, however, the uncovering of another treasonous conspiracy forced the Union to turn inward once more. Darth Byss, whom Darth Xaos had suspected of treachery even prior to the Civil War, was discovered to be organizing a rebellion against the rightful rule of Dark Lord Xaos. Fortunately, this treason was caught in its early phases by Lady Vidia and was crushed. This led to the total destruction of House Kratos as none of Byss' House remained loyal. With a Fifth Schism averted before it had begun, Dark Lord Xaos decided that both the New Sith Order and the Union were in need of reform. After nearly a month of introspection and consultation with his closest advisors, Darth Xaos transformed the New Sith Order into the New Sith Brotherhood, founded the Galactic Liberation Party and reorganized the Union's federal government and military into their current incarnations.

The Snowfall Era

The Galactic Alliance Defense Force (hereafter refered to as the GADF), emboldened by rumors that Consul Xaos had been assassinated by a group called the Seven Kings, sent a fleet to attack Yaxon VI. The Union defenders, led by then Military Executor Darth Venom, staved off the GADF fleet. Within in an hour of the victory, Xaos appeared on a live holofeed from New Bethrezen, dispelling all rumors of his death. It is still remembered with humiliation by the GADF. The Battle of Yaxon VI, combined with the defection of GADF wunderkind Kana Kuran and a succesful Union-backed revolt on Dantooine, served to presage the Union lightning-advance known as the Snowfall Campaign.

The Battle of Yavin IV served as the opening to the Snowfall Campaign. Though strategically unimportant, Yavin IV’s significance as the one-time base of the Alliance to Restore the Republic combined with the presence of the Jedi Praxeum, served to make the battle a major spiritual victory for the Union. The Jedi Council, gravely shaken by the loss of the Praxeum and the Enclave on Dantooine, sent a newly-revived Order of the Silver Jedi to assassinate key members of the Galactic Liberation Party. The fanatical Silver Jedi, however, were ultimately slain by the New Sith Brotherhood.

From this point in the Campaign on, conflicts intensified exponentially. The Battle of Dac proved to even the most dismisive amongst the GA's inner circle that the Union was a serious threat to their oppression. Supported by the Union, a resurgent Quarren Isolation League took control of Dac and forced a mass emigration of all Mon Calamari from the planet. The Union hailed it as a victory of the oppressed over their oppressors, the GA decried it as an atrocity, all called it the point of no return.

The penultimate stage of the Snowfall Campaign came with the secession of Hutt Space from the GA to the Union. Unwilling to sacrifice the income produced by the Hutts, the GA sent a large fleet, led by Supreme Commander Cha Niathal herself, to Teth, from where they were to spread across Hutt Space and crush the revolt. However, a Union fleet was waiting to defend Teth and, despite having one-third the numbers of its GADF opponents, it defeated the invaders utterly and claimed the life of Cha Niathal. Darth Marda earned much acclaim for his command of this battle. However, the greatest shock was yet to come.

Roughly a week after the Battle of Teth, the GADF sent all available forces to Sullust in response to intelligence that the Union planed to attack there next. This intelligence ultimately proved to be a plant and the ingenious feint distracted the GADF from the Union’s true target. With Coruscant defended only by a small planetary garrison, a Union strike force commenced a raid against the very heart of the GA. Known as Operation Snowfall, which gave the Snowfall Campaign its name, the raid left both the GADF Headquarters and the Jedi Temple in ruins and sent shockwaves throughout the galaxy. In addition to the more notorious battles, large numbers of Union-backed revolts occurred during the Snowfall Campaign. At the end of the Campaign, the Obsidian Union controlled twice as many planets as it did before the Campaign began.

Shortly after the raid on Coruscant, the Chiss Ascendancy decided to join the Obsidian Union as a Semi-Autonomous State. Galactic Alliance Intelligence sent numerous operatives into Chiss Space to enact a series of assassinations and bombings. The New Sith Brotherhood arrived to deal with this threat and ferret out the GA agents. On Csilla, Darth Xaos encountered Jedi Grandmaster Luke Skywalker and the two fought to a standstill. Although the Union managed to drive the enemy out, Skywalker and the majority of the GA agents escaped with their lives intact.

Xaos’ Death and the Interregnum

Receiving word that Luke Skywalker was inspecting the factories on Krant (a world left chronically unguarded by the GA) Darth Xaos immediately seized on the opportunity to attack. The small escort Xaos brought with him quickly overpowered the GA defenders and the Dark Lord came face-to-face with the Jedi Grandmaster. The Dark Lord soon discovered that he had been lured into a trap as Luke Skywalker initiated an ancient ritual. This rite had been used to banish the Dark Underlord back into Chaos ages ago. Within a few moments Consul Xaos lay dead. A hidden GA fleet arrived in Krant and defeated the Union forces present within the hour. Xaos’ body was taken to Ossus for study but was later recovered by Union Intelligence operatives.

In the period that followed the Consul’s death-called the Interregnum by most Union historians-a political stalemate between the members of the Brotherhood’s Dark Council resulted in the inability to appoint a new Dark Lord or Consul. During this time, the momentum that had built up from the Snowfall Campaign ground to a halt. No new planets joined the Union and inefficiency and corruption flourished in the lack of a clear authority. Tensions grew thick within the Union and soon erupted into violent conflict.

Second Union Civil War

After several months, the Dark Council received messages from Lady Vidia, ordering them to Korriban and to bring records of their positions, with the consequence of being expelled from the Brotherhood and marked as traitors if they refused. The other members of the Brotherhood received similar messages, ordering them to bring proof of their loyalty to the same location an hour later, with identical consequences. Furthermore, all of them were to come alone in civilian transport. After debate, it was agreed upon that Vidia’s “orders” were a grab for power, designed to weed out and eliminate those who were unwilling to acknowledge her as the new Dark Lady. As Darth Exolus moved to confront Vidia by himself in the Tomb of Marka Ragnos on Korriban, Darth Reaver’s Jaig Legion and the pirate forces under (soon to be Director of Intelligence) Kas moved to pacify Vidia’s House of Sentia. Capturing several of Vidia’s Lieutenants and capturing or killing the remaining members of Vidia’s personal army, the Wachetroopers, a plan was quickly developed: the Brotherhood would walk into the trap and allow it to be sprung, then fight their way out and return on-board Darth Reaver’s flagship - the Xendor - to New Bethrezen. This would draw Lady Vidia and her forces to a battleground that was more in the Brotherhood’s favor.

As the Brotherhood prepared to leave, word was received that the body of Lord Xaos had been stolen from his crypt. Furthermore, data recovered from House Sentia indicated that Vidia had managed to locate and partially repair the Scepter of Marka Ragnos. Her plan was clear: use the Scepter to siphon Xaos’ power into herself and become the most powerful being in the Galaxy. As the Xendor arrived out of system and sent an advance party to Korriban, Exolus was defeated by Lady Vidia and placed into confinement. Successfully reaching the planet’s surface, the advance party was surprised by the abrupt arrival of Darth Rayden, long since disappeared. Even thuough Rayden seemed to side with Lady Vidia, the Brotherhood continued on with their plan, making their way to a back entrance into the Tomb of Marka Ragnos as Darth Reaver landed with several more Sith to confront Lady Vidia directly. After a brief skirmish within the Tomb between Darths Ares and Rayden, Exolus was recovered and the party split; Lucifer recovered Darth Xaos’ body whilst Ares retrieved the Sceptre of Ragnos from deep within the Tomb. Their objectives met, the Brotherhood beat a hasty retreat back to the Xendor, retreating back to New Bethrezen to prepare for the next stage.

Receiving word that Lady Vidia had used her position to turn the majority of the Federal Military and Planetary Militias against them, the Brotherhood prepared to hold New Bethrezen against the approaching fleet. Even with New Bethrezen’s missile defences, the Xendor, its fighters and every ship in the system that could fly and shoot, it was clear that there was no chance of victory. Instead, they needed to hold out until Kana Kuran and the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer Righteous Fury arrived. As the Brotherhood split into two to defend both the streets of New Bethrezen and the space surrounding it, Vidia’s fleet - led by her Executor, Vornskyr 1 - arrived and engaged the defenders.

The Xendor’s fighter wings formed up around New Bethrezen’s missile defence satellites, leaving a squadron to defend them whilst the rest carried out attacks on Vornksyr 1 and her fleet. On the ground, Lord Lucifer led the defense of the station from Sith Row, bottling the attacking Wachetroopers up and allowing the defenders to inflict heavy causalities with minimal loss of their own. Despite their best efforts, the space defenders were unable to prevent the loss of a missile satellite or prevent reinforcements from an Acclamator making it through to the station; the Acclamator using escape pods to deploy its troops even when it was itself disabled.

The abrupt arrival of the Righteous Fury marked a momentary ceasefire as Kuran transmitted information revealing that Lady Vidia was the one responsible for providing Luke Skywalker with the means to permanently kill Dark Lord Xaos, as well as exposing the true nature of her power grab to the officers and soldiers that supported her. With her own fleet turned against her and innumerable attacks laying waste to her flagship, Vidia entered New Bethrezen. Making for House Sentia, most of the Brotherhood followed close behind. Even as Lady Vidia fled, reinforcements in the form of two Lucrehulk-class battleships sent by the Chiss Asendancy arrived and swiftly deployed droid forces to eliminate the remainder of Lady Vidia's ground troops. The Wachetroopers were driven out of the spaceport first before being defeated in New Bethrezen proper. As Darth Ares appropriated Vornksyr 1 for his own use, Darth Exolus once more engaged Lady Vidia, again falling against her but buying time for most of the Brotherhood to catch up. Separated from the rest of the Sith by a collapsing the roof that claimed the life of one of the Brotherhood; Lucifer, Xyrafus and Vidia found themselves confronted by a specter of Dark Lord Xaos. The deceased Dark Lord instructed Lucifer to build him a Tomb so as to fulfill the ancient rites of succession and allow for the appointment of a new Dark Lord of the Sith. Restoring Lucifer to health and reviving the fallen Sith in an entirely new form, Xaos’ spirit faded, his final demand the foremost concern for the Brotherhood after Lady Vidia’s immediate defeat. By Lucifer’s hand Vidia soon fell and the rest of the Brotherhood eliminated the last vestiges of the Wachetroopers, thus bringing the Second Union Civil War to a close.

In total, the Second Civil War lasted roughly two and a half standard days.