Operation Shadow Hand

Operation Shadow Hand was the Imperial name for the section of the Galactic Civil War following the Thrawn Campaign in the year 10 ABY. Inspired by the near success of the late Grand Admiral Thrawn, four Imperial warlords combined their forces under the Imperial Ruling Council and launched an all-out assault on the New Republic capital of Coruscant, just managing to tear it from their grasp. However after the battle was won the warlords failed to elect a new Emperor, causing an armed conflict between the warlords with the Army, Navy, Stormtrooper Corps, and Intelligence departments splitting apart.

After nearly a week of sustained fighting, the warlords were called to a meeting by a member of the Inquisitorius who called himself Lord Randal. Randal convinced the warlords to let him take "temporary" command of the Empire, using his knowledge of the Rebel Alliance's strategic ability, fleet presence, and other information as leverage to win their trust. After taking command of their forces, Lord Randal's forces took back the Core Worlds and Colony Regions, which gained them an impressive industrial center along with a section of the Outer and [[starwars:Mid Rim|Mid Rim territories. From there, the Empire launched wave assaults outward from the Core against numerous Republic worlds.

Although Randal's fleet was initially successful in damaging the New Republic's industrial strength and leadership, his fleet was eventually turned back. The death of Lord Randal in a final assault on his capital world of Byss fragmented his Empire. In the subsequent years, the Ne Republic was forced to repeatedly pull back fleets and armies from their Outer Rim planets to help regain control of the inner territories of the galaxy, many areas of which were inhabited by hostile Imperial Remnant forces left behind after Operation Shadow Hand. It took the Republic several years to entirely pacify this region of space, which left them vulnerable in the Outer Rim. This was used by another Imperial faction, the Dark Order of Korr, to its advantage. With Republic presence in the outer regions weakened, the Dark Order and later its successor, the Greater Sith Empire, would be able to qclaim territory without having to battle the full might of the Republic. This would eventually lead to the escalation of the Dark Order War.