Praetorium Wars

The Praetorium Wars, also known as the Galactic Sith War, was a conflict that spanned a decade, from 42 ABY to about 52 ABY. It started unofficially with the Battle for Montellian Serat at the planet of Devaron, and officially with the Battle of Serenno. It ended at the Battle for Galactic City at Coruscant, with the death of much of the Praetorium leadership, including Darth Praetus and his apprentice.

The Beginning
The opening salvo of the Praetorium Wars, is often mistaken for Serenno in which the Praetorium set fire to the dense jungles of the world in an attempt to cover their tracks. However, it was the battle that took place on the Devaron capital city of Montellian Serat that marked the opening of Praetus' Praetorium fury upon the galaxy.

It began as an operation orchestrated by Praetus' own apprentice, Darth Tra'cor, whose real name is unknown. Her mission was simply to incur an uprising against the Imperial authority that had established dominance over the world, one that was often protested by young Devaronian natives.

Tra'cor's mission was a success. The naive young Devaronians took to the role of being the bulk of the uprising, although little did they know that their actions would spark a war that would cost trillions of lives. With the Devaronians now in full revolt against the Imperial governing body on Devaron, Praetus accelerated his plans and outright attacked Devaron to the dissatisfaction of his trusted military advisors, General Calliban and Neziah Eapitaph -- also a master and student combination.

The Battle for Montellian Serat saw Imperial casualties sky rocket. The battle was claimed as a victory for the Praetorium and Praetus had suddenly made known, the complacency that had developed within the Jedi and Imperial ranks since their non-aggression pact was declared. With the overwhelming victory came a cry from his supporters to continue his assault against the galaxy and next came Serenno.

Praetus made no secret to his order that their first goal was to collect their ancestors' artifacts buried on these worlds, hinting that there was indeed a method to the man's madness. His military hierarchy constructed a devious ploy to lure Imperial vessels to a battle fought on the other side of the core while Praetus infiltrated Serenno to have his Sith trophies. Once the Empire caught wind of this however, the battle ensued and was thus marked as the beginning of the Galactic Sith War, which eventually became known as The Praetorium Wars.

The Early Battles
With their military might established as an equal to the Empire's armed forces, each battle would be as bloody as the next and questions began to rise from civilian sources on who or what was giving Praetus' these almost overwhelming numbers. Through several eye witness sources, it was realized that each and every soldier that was within the Praetorium's armed forces, except its special forces units and its leaders, were made from a once living breathing sentient of the Empire.

Praetorium experiments were carried out early on, until they became successful in creating the ultimate war machine. Praetus' army was in a sense, an army of slaves to his will. The Jedi rallied to the cause, helping the Empire fight the threat of annihilation. Together, with a shaky truce between them, many speculated of the unrest between Nagel's office and the Jedi Council. Any such discomfort was never made known to the public.

With the galaxy then in the grip of war, many civilians joined the ranks of the Empire in a bid to fight against the Praetorium and news surfaced that with the massive influx in armed forces personnel, the iconic stormtrooper armor was beginning to wear thin. Soon then did Imperial soldiers start to appear in old fashioned fatigues, designed not for safety the first priority, but cost cutting efficiency. Every alien species was accepted and gender became no obstacle.

Even the Jedi began to adopt armor into their traditional robes and their status only grew in the eyes of the public. Their powers already so great in the eyes of so many was put on show in the raging battlefields. Stories of Jedi talking down whole legions on their own would be told and retold for years to come.

The Infighting
The Sith traditionally had always fought for their power amongst one another, and the Praetorium, despite Praetus' dominance, had its share of infights and rivalries. Eapitaph, the commander in chief after the previous General Calliban was slain, was always in line to be Praetus' student if it were not for the anger driven Sith Lady, Darth Tra'cor, maintaining that spot.

Their rivalry grew throughout the war with Eapitaph continually pleasing the leader, Praetus, and Tra'cor continually doing things her own way. The Sith Lady came to threaten the Jedi with her mere presence often being at the center of Jedi skirmishes into Praetorium Territory. News surfaced of a continual fight between the legendary General Teerm Mantle and the Sith Lady - such stories were never confirmed, however.

It was these problems of rivalry within its ranks that eventually destroyed the Praetorium from the inside out and ended the war.

The End of the War
It began at the ending of the Siege of Corellia in which the Praetorium launched a major offensive to take the Core. Corellia's battle lasted a record of sixteen weeks. Tra'cor's Talon Legion hounded the world, with the Jedi leaders continually refusing her access to the planet's key structural elements allowing them to hold out as reinforcements arrived to repel the onslaught.

The fall of the Praetorium however could be realistically be said to be during the Battle for Galactic City when Darth Praetus himself was destroyed along with his apprentice and much of his most trusted leaders.

The flagship he occupied during the battle was maintaining low orbit during its destruction; it crash landed on the surface killing thousands if not millions and destroying much of Coruscant's lower east quadrant.

With his death, this left General Eapitaph in charge of the Praetorium and the situation from his position must have looked terribly dire. At this moment precisely, he turned his tail and ran, alone -- however in some miscommunication intercepted by Imperial analysts, signaled the entire Sith force's retreat.

This left the overwhelmed forces of the Jedi and Empire, who had both suffered staggering casualties by this time, overwhelmed now with happiness. Civilians claimed victory and the Empire obliged them with the good, yet false news that the war was over. Coruscant was utterly destroyed however, and what was left behind in Eapitaph's hasty retreat descended into the lower levels of Coruscant's structure to wait. From there they would attack and hide from left over ground forces.

Aftermath
The war concluded with the destruction of Nagel's Empire and the apparent death of the Jedi Order. The fall out was the power vacuum that brought the remaining Imperial leaders into conflict, each vying for the Emperor's position. Nobody won this power struggle. With these men fighting with their private armies for the right to be crowned Emperor, the galaxy quickly forgot the threat that was once the Praetorium. Though stories of their presence on Coruscant continually popped up over time, it wasn't until the Revolution of Coruscant that they were completely eradicated. With the Praetorium forgotten, it is unknown what, or if there were still remnants of this mighty military power still residing somewhere within the galaxy.