Great Rim Lines War

The Great Rim Lines War was a major galactic conflict fought forty years after the end of the Great Territorial War that put the oppressive forces of the Sith Empire and the Mandalorian Clans against the forces of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. The conflict was fought primarily to acquire trade routes and supplies for the dwindling Sith and Mandalorian armies.

The conflict traced its origins back to the aftermath of the Great Territorial War when the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic were in shambles. The Republic’s infrastructure had been significantly weakened, bringing the need for a lengthy reconstruction process, and the Sith’s numbers continued to fall due to in-fighting. The Mandalorians, lacking strong allies, also felt the effects of a lack of supplies to continue funding their military. Much like in the Mandalorian Wars, the Republic initially paid the Outer Rim sieges no mind, but eventually they were forced to enter into the conflict, losing every major engagement until the end of the war.

The decisive confrontation came when Cos Jonathan Dashin, a young Republic Colonel, was placed in command of the Republic fleet. He formulated a plan that would lure the entire Sith and Mandalorian army into a massive trap where they eventually ended up being slaughtered on Dxun. As the Mandalorians barely limped away from the war, the Sith saw their numbers fall into the range of a few dozen, leaving open a gaping wound that would plant the seeds for the United Pirate Crusades and the Great Sovereign Crusades.

Build Up To War
Forty years after the end of The Great Territorial War, the Sith were in a desperate need of supplies and funds to combat the infighting taking place within their ranks. Darth Dragus, the Dark Lord of the Sith, formed an alliance with Mandalore the Conqueror and the two began conquering worlds to gain trade routes across the galaxy. For a time, the Republic and the Jedi Order, who were still recovering from The Great Territorial War, remained ignorant to this. However, it was not long until they became aware of the turn of events but decided to remain neutral, as the conflict was taking place only in the Outer Rim Territories.

Months into the conquest of the Outer Rim, Dragus and Mandalore turned their sites to Corellia in an effort to capture the Corellian Trade Route. This event marked the formal beginning of The Great Rim Lines War. Dragus led his ground forces onto the planet and stormed the capitol city of Coronet while Mandalore led his forces in space. The capitol was quickly overwhelmed and Lord Dragus killed Corellian Dikat Thomas Thomree, thus taking Corellia. When the minimal amount of vessels the Republic Navy was able to spare arrived, they were quickly obliterated by Mandalore’s fleet. Corellia had fallen, and the Republic had suffered another major defeat. Not only were their forces becoming limited, but so was the faith that the citizens of the galaxy had put into the government and the military.

Major Combat Operations
After their first major victory had been secured, Dragus and Mandalore became ambitious. Their forces split up, as each decided to take on a different Trade Route. Darth Dragus led his forces in an assault on the remainder of the Corellian Trade Spine. Their first battle away from the Mandalorians centered on Duro. A limited number of Jedi Knights arrived on the planet, but the Sith quickly overwhelmed them. After the conquest of Duro had been completed, the Sith scored many more major victories on worlds such as Bestine, Yag’Dhul, Moorja and Kinyen.

While the Sith were well on their way to conquering the Corellian Trade Spine, Mandalore set his sights on the Hydian Way. Their first major assault was on Bogdan, which showed no resistance from the Republic or the Jedi. They continued on to conquer Taris, Dathomir and Toprawa. However, when they attempted to attack Telos IV the Mandalorians found an emboldened and stronger Republic fleet waiting for them. However, the Republic was once more undermanned, inexperienced and overwhelmed which led to another Mandalorian victory.

Months after Corellia had been secured, Darth Dragus and Mandalore received a distress signal saying that the Republic was attempting to retake Corellia. The two fleets rushed back and trapped the Republic between the two fleets. Trapped, the Republic put up a valiant effort but there minimal fleet was once again beaten. The forces of Darth Dragus and Mandalore had yet to lose an encounter, and the Republic knew that.

For four years, the Sith and Mandalorians were able to hold the Corellian Trade Spine and the Hydian Way, supplying a great amount of weapons, food and other supplies to their fleets. However, infighting continued to plague the Sith Empire and their forces were reduced to less than two thousand.

The Tide Turns
On Coruscant, the young Colonel Cos Jonathan Dashin began formulating a plan to score a major victory over their enemies and, perhaps, win the war in one swift stroke. Their spies had monitored the infighting in the Sith Empire and the cockiness of the Mandalorian Clans, the two events only emboldening his resolve. His plan was fool proof. He would trick the Sith and Mandalorians to Coruscant and, when the time was right, he would strike.

Weeks later, Colonel Dashin held a press conference on the HoloNet where he announced that the Republic Military had been reduced to an all-time low and that they did not know if they could protect Coruscant, or any other outlying worlds. He urged local security forces and mercenaries loyal to the Republic to protect outlying star systems, as the Coruscant Security Forces would attempt to deal with any threat that came to Coruscant. Senior Jedi Council Member Matthias Zeratul spoke next, stating that the Jedi Order’s numbers had also hit an all time low.

Darth Dragus and Mandalore saw the broadcast and decided to seize the moment. They gathered their now reduced forces, due to immense causalities during Sith infighting, and made way for Coruscant. When they arrived, they found a small force surrounding the planet, obviously aware of the coming of the two opposing fleets. In one coordinated moment, capitol ships and thousands fighters encircled the Mandalorians and Sith from the far side of the planet as well as the far side of the moons and began what was really a surprise attack. Dragus and Mandalore instantly knew that the press conference held by Colonel Dashin and Master Zeratul was a set up and that they had fallen straight into the Republic’s trap.

The Mandalorians and Sith began taking heavy losses. After liberating worlds such as Telos IV and Taris without Sith or Mandalorian knowledge, Colonel Dashin’s fleet made it to the battle and began obliterating the Sith and Mandalorian forces. Seeing a gap in the blockade around them, Dragus and Mandalore quickly retreated and headed for Dxun. They assumed that once there they would be able to regenerate their forces and strike elsewhere. However, that was not the case. The Republic fleet followed them and the fleets were once again engaged, now over the skies of Dxun.

Also on the small moon of Onderon was Bendu Priest Ussej Padric Bac II, now on a mission from the Bendu Order. He and his wife, Bara ErMez, were quickly caught up in the battle. Colonel Dashin and Master Zeratul led their forces onto the surface of the planet, chasing the Mandalorian Army deep into the jungles.. The Mandalorians were severely outnumbered, and were soon forced to surrender. Over the skies of Dxun, the Sith fleet had been nearly obliterated taking Darth Dragus with it. The Sith, now number less than two dozen, retreated and made their way for the Old Sith Empire capitol of Ziost. The loss of the Mandalorians and the retreat of the Sith marked the swift and sudden end of The Great Rim Lines War.

Aftermath
During the Battle of Dxun, Ussej II and Bara were captured by the Mandalorians. As he and Bara were being taken away, he naturally assumed that the Jedi would try to help him. However, that was not the case. They were brought back to the Mandalorian Base as Prisoners of War. The Mandalorians believed Ussej II to be a Jedi Knight, though he told them that he was not and that he knew nothing about what was going on.

After deciding that he was not worth the effort they were putting into finding out information about the Jedi Order, Ussej II and Bara were sentenced to be executed. Mandalore came in to do the honor of executing them, but Ussej II managed to reach his lightsaber and engaged Mandalore in a duel. Due to Mandalore’s elder age, Ussej II had the upper hand through most of the fight. Ussej II told Bara to run, and she did. However, she was chased by a group of Mandalorian Soldiers. They reached the edge of a cliff and, when she tried to dodge a Mandalorian bullet, Bara lost her footing and fell hundreds of feet to her death. Ussej II looked up as he heard her faint screams, distracting him long enough to be stabbed through the heart by Mandalore’s blade.

When the Republic fleet returned to Coruscant after the Battle of Dxun, Colonel Dashin was hailed as a hero and a savior of the Republic. His actions on the battlefield renewed people’s faith in the Republic Military and Colonel Dashin was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor as well as a promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. However, due to the need for experienced and talented higher-ups, General Dashin was soon made the Supreme Commander of the Republic Military as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, holding both positions being unprecedented at the time.

Reconstruction
Under the leadership of Supreme Commander General Dashin and Supreme Chancellor Benedict Valorum, the Galactic Republic was well on its way to rebuilding itself. Once the Corellian Trade Spine and Hydian Way were tightly secured by the Republic, commerce began to greatly pick up. The economy was strong and the stock market was soaring, as the people once again had great faith in the Republic. The Military had begun rebuilding itself and General Dashin was emerging as a great leader, one that could remain calm, cool and collected under pressure.

On Ziost, the Sith were in shambles. Only fifteen Sith now remained, and from them rose Darth Decetus as the new Dark Lord of the Sith. He took Darth Melik, his cousin, as his apprentice and moved the once legendary Sith Order away from Ziost and into seclusion. As this was happening, the Jedi Order began to cover-up the Sith legend, making the once great Empire seem like nothing more than a conspiracy by a small group of rogue Jedi Knights who had fallen to the Dark Side. The Jedi also managed to convince the Republic citizens that the Sith Order was never as big as the history books said, and that most of the time the Mandalorian Clans acted as the military. Though this was a flat-out lie, the citizens believed it. Even the slightest whispers of the Sith Order were thought by the Republic to be lies and nothing more than a legend to tell around the glow-lamp. However, The Great Territorial War and all that happened during it was still regarded as a legend and many of the older Republic citizens could still recall the reign of Empress Viea.

Behind the Scenes

 * This conflict is part of the history of TheStarWarsRP.Com, though it was never RPd.
 * This war was documented in Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac II