For over a thousand years, the Galactic Republic, with the help of their allies in the Jedi
Order, presided over a relatively peaceful and prosperous galaxy.
However, after so many years of prolonged stability, the ruling body of government known
as the Senate became mired in corruption and greed, with self-serving politicians manipulating
the political process and galactic economy to their own benefit.
In addition, the unity and security of the Republic was compromised by the rise of the
Sith Order, which had worked in secret for a thousand years, undermining the government
and organizing vast networks of spies, underworld contacts and political allies.
Their grand plan was originally conceived by Darth Bane, founder of the Rule of Two
philosophy, who passed his knowledge on to an apprentice tasked with continuing his legacy.
The tradition of one sith master and one apprentice, then eventually led to the rise of Darth plagueis
and his own apprentice Darth Sidious, who became a Senator in the Republic representing
his homeworld of Naboo, and using this position to destroy the government from within.
After murdering his master and training his own apprentice Darth Maul, Sidious, known
to most by his birth name Sheev Palpatine, orchestrated the Naboo Crisis, convincing
the Trade Federation to invade his homeworld, and working within the senate to produce a
no confidence vote against Chancellor Finis Valorum, forcing him out of office so that
Palpatine himself could be elected to the position.
And while the invasion of Naboo was halted and defeated by the Jedi, the Gungan armies
and royal defense forces, Palpatine had achieved his immediate goal.
A decade later, Sidious was prepared to launch the final revenge of the Sith against the
Jedi and Republic, by manipulating them into fighting the Clone Wars, against a movement
of Seperatists supposedly fighting to liberate themselves for Republic oppression.
In reality however, the Seperatists were led by Count Dooku, a former Jedi Knight, who
left the order years earlier, falling to the Dark Side and becoming the new apprentice
of Sidious, following the apparent death of Darth Maul by Obi Wan Kenobi during the invasion
of Naboo.
Dooku, now under the name Darth Tyrannus, organized the separatist forces, not aiming
for victory, but instead merely sowing chaos and fear in the galaxy, with no intention
of ever fulfilling the promises made to his followers.
Palpatine, using the war as a pretense, then encouraged the senate to pass a number of
bills giving emergency powers to the Chancellor, making the position extremely powerful.
At the same time he acted as a mentor to young Anacon Skywalker, a powerful jedi training
within the order.
Sensing the potential of the young man, he convinced Skywalker to execute his apprentice
Count Dooku, once the man was no longer useful, thereby remaining faithful to the Rule of
Two and making room for his new apprentice.
Nearing the end of the war, the Jedi discovered palpatines true identity, and attempted to
arrest him, but they were betrayed by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker who fell to the dark
side and joined the Sith Order.
Palpatine then named the arrest attempt a failed Jedi Coup, and proclaimed order 66,
activating the inhibitor chips within the clone troopers of the Republic army, causing
them to turn against their Jedi generals, executing them where they stood.
And while some few Jedi were able to escape this betrayal, the Order itself fell quickly.
With everything in position, palpatine then ordered the final defeat of the Seperatists
and an end to the clone wars, stating that because of all that occured, the republic
must be re-organized into the First Galactic Empire, led by an Imperial Senate, and himself
as Emperor.
But not all were prepared to give up their freedoms and submit to tyranny, with some
like Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, and Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrilla working behind
the scenes to build a Rebel Alliance willing to fight against them.
And while some few Jedi and force sensitives who survived Order 66 did what they could
to help the Rebels, the most powerful Jedi, in Master Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi remained
in exile, with obi wan watching over Darth vader’s son Luke Skywalker, hidden away
on the planet Tatooine, where he might be raised away from his father’s evil influence.
Luke’s twin sister Leia was left with Senator Organa, who raised her as a princess of Alderaan,
and when she came of age, became one of the central leaders of the rebellion, following
the example of her adopted father.
Slowly over the course of many years, the Rebel alliance grew, gaining more momentum
with every passing atrocity committed by the Empire.
The construction of the Death Star and annihilation of the planet Alderaan than led to the first
major rebel victory at the battle of Yavin.
Thanks to a fatal flaw built into the superweapon by Galen Erso, lead Imperial scientist on
the project and secret rebel sympathizer, Luke Skywalker and alliance forces were able
to destroy the space station.
The next major milestone for the rebellion came at the battle of Endor, where they destroyed
a second death star being constructed, resuting in the deaths of both Darth Sidious and Vader,
devastating the Imperial government.
Unable to rally their forces after such a momentous loss, Admiral Rae Sloane ordered
the retreat of their ships to the Anaaj system, granting the rebels victory.
After the battle of Endor, the Empire lay in ruins, and so most of the Imperial navy
retreated to the outer rim of the galaxy, allowing for the Rebel Alliance to become
the New Republic, rising to take the place of the former government and slowly building
a new galactic community reflecting the values of freedom, equality and democracy.
During the period of provisional government, Mon Mothma became Chancellor with Chandrilla
serving as their temporary capital, though they eventually chose to rotate that privledge,
with the senate electing a new location for the seat of government every few years.
Meanwhile, the remnants of the empire continued to descend into chaos, with many former officers,
admirals and moffs fighting amongst themselves for leadership, with some forming their own
empires, carving out territories where their rule was absolute.
Some even used propaganda to convince their populations Palpatine was still alive, and
the New Republic was on the brink of collapse.
With so many imperial factions fighting for control, Admiral Rae Sloane, acting under
the orders of a shadowy figure known as Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, organized above the planet
of Akiva, where the remaining leadership of the Empire might select a new leader and begin
to re-establish their power.
Yet they were betrayed by the Grand Admiral who alerted the new Republic to the meeting,
allowing them to send a fleet and kill or capture those in attendance.
Rae Sloane however managed to get away and return to her master.
Upon the throne world of Coruscant, Grand Vizer Mos Amida, who served as one of Palpatine’s
closest advisers, technically inherited leadership of the Empire, becoming a proxy emperor attempting
to reorganize and administer the collapsing government in a galaxy of factional chaos.
Yet his impossible task was made even harder when Coruscant itself erupted into rebellion
and war, with remaining imperial forces on the planet barely able to maintain their territories.
As a result Mos Amida was the head of government in name only, with no real authority outside
of Coruscant.
His position became such a burden to him that he attempted to surrender to the New Republic,
but was rejected by Princess Leia and Mon Mothma, who demanded he return to the Empire
and not return until he had the power to offer terms of unconditional surrender, and a treaty
that would officially end the war and recognize the New republic as the legitimate government
of the galaxy.
Mos Amida, finding the task impossible, considered killing himself once returned to Coruscant,
but instead entered into an alliance with the now Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, who was
working to cut the strings held by her puppet master Gallius Rax, in order to become the
sole leader of the largest Imperial faction remaining.
But ultimately the Empire was not able to recuperate what they lost, eventually defeated
in the battle of Jakku, ending Imperial reign across the galaxy through their formal surrender
and signing of the Galactic Concordance.
With the New Republic victorious, the many fleets and armies of the old empire, fled
into the unknown regions, slowly rebuilding their forces to one day return and reclaim
the galaxy.
However the New Republic proved ignorant of this remaining threat, and so began the difficult
process of re-establishing peace and prosperity across the many world pledging themselves
to the government.
Yet the reach and resources of the New Republic were no where near that of the Empire or former
Republic, and so many worlds, especially in the outer rim, were neglected, becoming centers
of piracy and organized crime, with many cartels like the Hutts re-emerging to prominence and
power.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Mon Mothma, who was holding together the New Republic through
her charisma and the respect she commanded as a leader of the rebellion, pushed through
the military disarmament act, drastically reducing the size of the republic army and
navy.
Although Leia Organa greatly disagreed with this move, Chancellor Mothma feared what a
grand army might do in the future, instead focusing their resources on empowering individual
member worlds to raise their own planetary defenses and rebuilding trade networks.
In addition, Mon Mothma voluntarily abolished many of the emergency powers Palpatine had
gathered for himself and after several years steped down from the position, passing gracefully
into retirement.
* However, with no one else similarly able to
unify the government, future Chancellors proved unsuccessful, and the Senate soon became mired
in political gridlock between the Centrist faction which wanted more centralized authority
under a single powerful leader, and the populist faction who wanted more autonomy for member
worlds, and the decentralization of power.
After years of ineffective rule, the senate of the New Republic voted to create a new
position of leadership called the First Senator, leading the populist faction to raise Senator
Leia Organa as their candidate for the election.
However after an investigation into criminal activity occurring in the outer rim, Leia’s
centrist ally Ransolm Casterfo was manipulated into betraying her, when he learned that she
was the secret daughter of Darth Vader.
Casterfo exposed Leia to the entire galaxy, effectively ending her political career and
forcing her to withdraw as the populist nominee.
The idealistic senator Casterfo had been used as a tool by a secretive organization known
as the First Order, a ruthless political and military faction born out of the remnant of
the old Empire, building up their forces in the Unknown regions, and using imperial sympathizers
within the New Republic to sabotage the government from within.
The First order then turned on Casterfo, implicating him in the criminal activity occurring in
the outer rim, seeing him arrested and sent to his homeworld for trial and sentencing.
In addition, Tai Lin Garr, the new populist candidate for First Senator was assassinated
by a First Order agent, causing the Senate to delay the election, further plunging the
new republic into political turmoil.
Senator Organa, having led the investigation into the massive criminal cartel which seemed
to have ties to a number of republic senators, knew her former ally Casterfo was being framed,
and saw that a larger conspiracy was clearly taking place.
She therefore resigned from her Senatorial position and set up a meeting with many former
allies and rebel leaders including General Ackbar, to form the Resistance, a private
military organization that would remain vigilant against the new threats faced by the Republic.
Sometime later, the First Order finally revealed themselves.
When a number of Centrist Senators abandoned the government, pledging their alliance to
the First Order.
Although their territories remained in the Unknown regions, though they soon began to
spread into the outer rim of the galaxy.
The First order was under the leadership of a figure known as Supreme leader Snoke who
took on an apprentice known as Kylo Ren who was once Ben Solo, the force sensitive son
of Leia Organa and Han Solo.
Although initially a student of Luke Skywalker, he fell to the darkside and led the Knights
of Ren against the Jedi and his students, killing his former companions and setting
out to purge the galaxy of surviving jedi and force sensitives.
In relative secret, the First order used the many secrets and technological advances of
the old Empire, to create a fleet of powerful new ships, including the creation of Star
Killer base, a planet sized weapon able to harness the power of a star, to destroy a
number of planets in a single volley.
The Republic, still struggling under weak and indecisive leadership, proved unwilling
to believe the First Order posed any significant threat.
Sentiments greatly encouraged by certain senators within the government, who were being financed
by the First Order to hamper progress and prevent any action.
When at last they were ready to reveal their true purpose, General Hux ordered that Starkiller
base be activated, launching a powerful attack that destroyed several worlds in the Hosnian
system, including Hosnian Prime, which was serving as the capital of the New Republic,
wiping out their government and primary military forces in a single blow.
This prompted the Resistance to strike back against them, destroying Starkiller Base.
In addition, after Kylo Ren murdered his father Han Solo, the man’s long-time companion
Chewbacca shot the darkside apprentice with a bowcaster, gravely injuring him before having
to confront a former Stormtrooper and a force sensitive girl named Rey, who found Luke Skywalkers
lightsaber and now used it to battle Kylo Ren. Rey, who was already well experienced
in melee combat, became empowered by the force, allowing her to defeat Kylo Ren.
However the planet began to break apart before she could deliver the final blow.
Suffering a setback, Supreme Commander Snoke ordered that General Hux bring Kylo Ren to
his location, so he might continue the man’s dark side training.
While Leia Organa and the Resistance sent Rey and Chewbacca aboard the Millennium falcon,
to find Luke Skywalker in self-imposed exile, and ask for his aid in defeating the First Order.