Sith Order of Decreto

"We are the future of the Sith"

- Unknown Decreton Knight

The Sith Order of Decreto, also known more commonly as the Decreton Empire, and the Empire of the Sith Order of Decreto, was an ancient and powerful faction of the Sith Empire. Designed to be the shadow force of the ancient empire. During the Great Hyperspace War of 5,000 BBY many of the Order's ranks were destroyed in battles of Koros Major, Kirrek and Battle of Primus Goluud, in which the Sith warship Devastator&mdash; flagship of the Order of Decreto&mdash; was destroyed, drastically thinning their ranks.

They later went on to rebuild their forces and conquer the galaxy under the command of the Dark Lord Darth Abeonis, and would rule it for almost two-hundred and fifty years before they were eventually forced to withdraw.

History
The Order disappeared completely following the defeat of Naga Sadow&mdash; their master&mdash; at the hands of the Koros fleet. Many fled the battle with their master but many more fled to the planet below, remaining hidden from the pursuing Republic and Koros forces.

Many hundreds were captured, but many more escaped off-world and fled throughout the galaxy; turning to piracy and mercenary ways. This disgusted many of those that considered themselves loyal to their fallen master and they made it their mission to wipe out the "disloyal".

Using their perfected art of subterfuge and assassination the Decreton Knight Konopka eliminated all the disloyal and cleansed their ranks, finding permanent refuge on an unknown world within the Unknown Regions in the process.

Rebuilding their forces the Sith Order of Decreto found that their skills in the dark arts were well heard off, but little else was known of them. "Sith pretender" such as Exar Kun and Darth Revan constantly sought out the Decreton Knights and, from time to time they saw themselves fit to intervene in the affairs of the galaxy; all the meantime remaining hidden from their enemies, and their supposed allies. None knew who they were, but all knew of their power.

In the year 3,964 BBY, whilst the galaxy was embroiled in war, the Sith Order of Decreto suffered a staggering setback. Hekas-ni, the Dark Lord who had brought the Decreton Order out of their squalor following Naga Sadow's defeat, had died. His son and heir, Setal-ni was seen as a mere child in the eys of many on the Sith Council and not fit for the throne. And so the War of Twelve Heirs begun.

After four years of brutal war, victory came to a little known ex-Jedi named Sam Sinays.

Post-Jedi Civil War
Following the defeat of Darth Malak's forces at the Battle of Rakata Prime many Sith pretenders retreated into the far reaches of the galaxy. The Decreton Knights, seeing an opportunity to increase their power sought out and recruited all they could find; those who refused were eliminated.

Over time events in the galaxy began to stir once more when the new Sith broke into civil war, and began a purge against the Jedi.

The Sith Order of Decreto however refused to assist the Sith Lords. A core group of Decreton Knights saw these new Sith as nothing more than rampaging beasts that cared nothing for the way of the Sith; their leader was a broken warrior that wallowed in eternal hatred off himself. They predicted that it would not be long before a Jedi warrior overcame the scheming Sith Lords and returned the Jedi to their former glory, and the Jedi Exile fulfilled this prediction.

During the time period of 3,945 – 3,932 BBY the Phasasites of Ater Phasas'a made war against the then Dark Lord Sam Sinays.

The New Sith Wars
For many thousands of years the Sith Order of Decreto continued to meddle in the affairs of the galaxy. They were successful in forcing the Hapes Consortium to close its borders to the rest of the galaxy, making exploitation of this powerful race all the more easy. A single Sith assassin was sent to kill Saalo Morn who threatened to coerce the Galactic Republic into searching for rogue Sith. The Sith Order of Decreto continued to expand, wiping out much of the Paecian Empire and absorbing its colony worlds. By the year 2,000 BBY, the Sith Order of Decreto believed it was time once again to strike against their enemies – the Jedi.

Seducing the Jedi master Phanius, the Decreton Knights instigated the formation of the New Sith Empire and began the New Sith Wars. For the next thousand years the New Sith War ravaged the galaxy, and the Sith Empire that began with Phanius expanded slowly, but surely; deep into the heart of the galaxy. But, as the millennium drew to a close the Decreton Knights began to fear that the Jedi were beginning to successfully counter the weakling Sith Lord Kaan, and so a new Dark Lord of the Sith was chosen; the newly incorporated Dessel. In just three short years Darth Bane, being secretly guided by the Sith Order of Decreto made his way though the ranks of the New Sith Empire and took it to the very edge of extinction, only to rebuild it in his own vision – as a secret order of Sith Lords.

Between the wars
After the New Sith Wars the Sith Order of Decreto realized that the Sith Order of Darth Bane would be the one to finally wipe out the Jedi, but in many centuries time. In the meantime however, many galactic powers could be influenced.

The Chiss Ascendancy was convinced into passing the Non-Aggression Law which forbade any preemptive strikes, thus preventing any possible war between the two powers; both of which lay within close proxemity with one-another.

Rise of the Galactic Empire
And then, after almost another millenia of waiting, the Sith Order of Darth Bane struck, in the form of Darth Sidious. Remaining hidden throughout the Clone Wars, the Sith Order of Decreto believed they had finally found a Sith pretender worthy of entering their ranks. And so, after many years of war, Emperor Palpatine was confronted; and inducted into the Sith Order of Decreto. But in the year 4 ABY the Sith Order of Decreto, and the Sith Order of Darth Bane both suffered a grievous defeat, in the form of Palpatine's death.

However, the Sith Order of Decreto was not one to surrender to fate and slowly began to take a more active role in the affairs of the galaxy, even going so far as to ignite the Black Fleet Crisis of 16/17 ABY, hoping to devastate the New Republic and eliminate the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. Once again, the Order of Decreto found itself defeated by the Jedi warrior, but they wouldn't give up.

Return to the galaxy
The Decreton Sith Council had decided that the time had finally come for the Sith to make their presence known in the galaxy and begun a systematic; empire-wide ship-building programme designed to reinforce and develop the Sith fleet. And by the year 41 ABY they had made serious advances in starship technology. However, in that very same year a Galactic Alliance warship called The Soiyo happened upon the ancient, and desolate world of Nerezza on the edge of the Unknown Regions, and in the outskirts the of Decreto Empire. Nerezza, being an ancient Decreton Sith world, had a strong dark side aura which the Jedi on board The Soiyo found impossible too ignore. The Jedi, under the command of Jedi Master Jasca Ducato made their way down towards the planet and discovered the Sith Temple in hiding there. The battle of Nerezza had begun. The Sith force on Nerezza repelled the Jedi attack force and captured many of it participants, including Ducato himself; but the battle was only the beginning and the Sith soon found themselves on the run. Guerreiro, then-Dark Lord of the Decreton Empire, who had been present at the battle ordered his warships to destroy the Jedi starship, but to no avail. The Jedi mercilessly persued Guerreiro for five years before Jasca finally executed his own escape, and his captor. Claiming the mantle of Dark Lord, Jasca corrupted the crew of The Soiyo and set about conquering the entire Decreton Empire.

It took almost thirteen years but the coup was a success. Darth Abeonis and his crew conquered the Sith Order of Decreto and, upon hearing of the wish of the Sith Council to invade the Galactic Alliance decided upon taking up the idea.

Sith Crusade
In 56 ABY the Sith Order of Decreto invaded the Chiss Ascendancy and conquered the capital Csilla. They then moved on to claim the entire realm before deciding to invade Imperial Remnant.

With the conquests complete the Galactic Alliance was well aware of the new Sith threat. Three years after the start of war the Galactic Alliance entered peace negotiations in order to appease the Sith, and at first it was a success; but after two years of peace the Sith decided to refute the treaty and invade the Galactic Alliance once and for all.

It would take five years for the Sith to conquer the Galactic Alliance, and a further eight years before the conquered Coruscant but eventually the Sith were victorious.

Successors War and aftermath
In the years following the Sith Crusade, the Decreton Empire would flourish eventually conquering the galactic capital in 74 ABY. Following the conquest of the GFFA, the Sith enjoyed a period of peace and dominance, reaching the height of their power under Darth Abeonis. But peace would not last long, and following Darth Abeonis' death in 121 ABY the Empire entered a period of extended civil war, a Successors War. During the eight-year conflict, many hundreds of millions died, and the Sith Order of Decreto was shook to the very core by the usurper Darth Proditor.

At first, all went well for Proditor, and they war seemed to be a short one, but with the rise of Darth Krayt and his alliance with Darth Wyyrlok, Proditor met his match, and after several more years of war was killed and defeated by the duo. With the war over, Darth Krayt assumed total control of the Empire, with Wyyrlok acting as his chief lieutenant.

Darth Krayt ruled unchallenged for several more years, until a militaristic pirate organization called the Octom Coalition launched a surprise attack upon the Decreto-class Super Star Destroyer Krayt's fist. Two of Krayt's Hands – Darth Talon and Darth Nihl – who were aboard Krayt's fFist at the time, waged a devastating war against the Octom Coalition, swiftly defeating them and killing their leader, Octa Nuun.

The Sith Order of Decreto continued to flourish, surviving the Coruscanti plague, and once again beyond the death of it's Dark Lord, until the death of Darth Mahina in 214 ABY. That very day, Darth Wyyrlok ascended to the throne and would rule unopposed until 242 ABY, when the Sith finally met their match in the form of the Zao tenj.

Zao tenj War
In 242 ABY, Darth Wyyrlok's Sith expansionary campaign finally bore fruit, in the form of an alien race of Humans who called themselves the Zao tenj. First contact between the two mighty empires went disastrously, and war was declared.

Four years later the Zao tenj invaded the Sith Empire at Hardpoint One and Chuck's drift, and were it not for the tentative alliance between Darth Wyyrlok and Tai painj, the galaxy would have fell within hours. But even the alliance between the Jedi and the Sith could not hold the onslaught, and Korriban soon fell to the Zao tenj. Only the immaterial victory at Yavin IV and the re-conquest of Sith'ika kept the galaxy going.

Eventually, in 300 ABY, the Zao tenj were defeated, but at a devastating cost to the Sith Empire.

Decline
By the year 1,400 ABY the Sith Order of Decreto had pretty much retreated within its borders, having been severely weakened by almost two hundred years of continuous warfare (56 &mdash; 246 ABY); but it still remained a power to be reckoned with, depsite taking no part in the Restoration War.

The Sith Order continued to grow in power and strength, once again remaining hidden from the galaxy. But, with the close of the Second Galactic Civil War and the total collapse of the galaxy's infarstructure the Sith Order of Decreto believed the time had finally come to make their return.

Government and politics


The Sith Order of Decreto was ruled with absolute power by the Dark Lord of the Decreton Empire. Decreton rule was very totalitarian. There was little to no freedom of speech and dissidents were punished harshly.

"Decreton rule is to survive. Do you want to survive?."

- Darth Korin

The Sith Order of Decreto was a highly centralized galactic power. Each and every decision on a planetary scale was undertaken directly by the Dark Lord, and, in times of war, the Sith Council. During times of war, the Sith Council was brought into power to assist the Dark Lord by making the decisions that affected the member planets of the Empire; but by the time of the Sith Crusade had become a military organization, that controlled the planetary garrisons on each world, whilst the Dark Lord lead the Army and Navy.

Executive branch
Despite the absolute power of the Emperor, it was the Sith Council that ran the Empire's day to day affairs and carried out the Emperor's will.

This exercise of power was backed up by the use military force against their own citizens on occasions, which could (in rare circumstances) lead to entire massacres. This Doctrine was extremely successful in keeping wartime populations under control, as many conquered planets feared their conquerors.

During the tumultuous times of the War of Twelve Heirs, the government of the Sith Order of Decreto was divided up into what was nicknamed the "Four Houses". These were the ruling Houses of the Sith Council members, the House of Mythos, the House of Kell, the House of Ni, and the House of Sinays.

Legislative branch
After the formation of succession of Darth Abeonis to the throne in the time period of 43 ABY to 56 ABY, the Sith Council was reorganized into a much more legaslitive branch. The Council would advise the Emperor and control the individual planets of the Empire. However, the Emperor could both introduce and veto Senate legislation, and both called and dismissed the Council to meeting (except in times of war). The Sith Council found new powers upon the outbreak of the Sith Crusade when Darth Abeonis realized that he could not personally control all of the Empire's military forces.

Judicial branch
Due to the centralization of government power, the Decreton criminal justice system was headed by none other than the Dark Lords themselves. Although they often saw this as below them, and by the time of Darth Proditor's rise to power, the criminal justice system had been placed under the control of the Black Guard and, at times, the SpecOps. The Black Guard commander of each world was directly responsible with prosecuting political prisoners and administering sentences on entire worlds, and any failures of justice were brutally punished.

Other Imperial organizations
To strengthen his hold on power, Abeonis and his successors created various organizations that were loyal to him. Foremost among these organizations were the Sith Youths and Sith Intelligence. Krayt also had the Hands, his private assassins.

Unlike Abeonis, Krayt did not allow these organizations and their leaders to build up power bases of their own. Krayt realized that this was one of the reasons that lead the the Sith Civil War, and that this was best avoided by controlling all these organizations directly, even if it did load more work onto his shoulders.

Society and culture
The culture of the Sith Order of Decreto was semi-ascetic and minimalist. These aesthetics were encouraged throughout the Galaxy by the Sith Youths, who taught that bettering the Empire was a higher ideal than bettering ones-self.

Arts and media
The role of art and media in the Sith Order of Decreto was primarily didactic. During its existence, the Decreton Sith did not think it particularly important to suppress the various artistic cultures throughout the Empire, as it was primarily interested in military and political dominance. However, the influences of the Decreton way of life left their mark on the art of the later Legacy, and Unity eras.

Religion
Under the Sith Order of Decreto, Anti-Jediism was a government policy, which meant that people were discouraged to believe in the heroics of the Jedi Order. Despite the established anti-Jediism of the Sith Order of Decreto, all knew that the Dark Lords were Sith, and that only Sith Lords were capable of ruling.

Although not so prevalent following the Sith Crusade, the empire's territories within the Unknown Regions remained staunchly anti-Jedite throughout the history of the Decreton Empire.

Xenophobia
Darth Abeonis' empire emphasized Human and, to a lesser extent, Near-Human supremacy, with other alien species subject to much lower status. As a result, the vast majority of the government officials were composed of Humans, with only rare exceptions climbing in the ranks of the military. This however seemed only to affect the mid-ranks of Sith life, as many of the Sith Lords and Knights were not Humans, or even Near-Humans. Darth Wyyrlok, a Cagrian who would eventually become Dark Lord was an example of this. The Sith Order of Decreto didn't beleive in the supremacy of men over women, and realized early on in its history that a women could be just as great an ally, or threat, as a man.

Despite their xenophobic nature, many species were members of the Sith Order of Decreto.

Secrecy over Conflict
"These Sith, they beleive in secrecy and subterfuge over direct conflict". "So?" "That makes them all the more dangerous."

- Luke Skywalker and Cal Omas

Early Decreton philosophy emphasized secrecy and subterfuge over direct conflict. They believed that it enabled the Sith to survive beyond all overs, whering conflict ensured only that, eventually, defeat would befall all parties involved. However, they still beleived that sentients only deserved what they were strong enough to take and that those too weak to protect themselves were little more than dust.

The militaristic teachings of the Sith under Darth Revan, Malak and, in later years, Kaan were viewed as obstructions to progress; copntinued conflict led only to stagnation and decline. Howeverm, morality was treated as a weakness to be ignored. It got in the way of a Sith's ability to recognize and grasp opportunities for advancement.

Empowered by passion
"What fuels your power with the Force but your passion? The stronger, darker emotions. Anger, hatred, fear&hellip; these passions empower us."

- Yuthura Ban

The core of a Sith's power came from emotion. The Jedi taught that fear and anger were negative emotions that must be overcome, but the Sith understood that every living creature was subject to such passions. They believed in harnessing rather than suppressing these natural urges. The Sith did not endeavor to place themselves beyond passions as the Jedi did – on the contrary, they believed that emotion was required in order to attain a holistic understanding of the Force.

However, the Decreton Sith did not embrace all emotions. They, like the Jedi, considered love a dangerous emotion, but for different reasons. The Jedi discouraged love because it led to attachment, but the Decreton Sith taught that love led to mercy, which led to one revealing their true nature.

Sith tattoos
Many Sith Lords during the Sith Order of Decreto's later history adorned themselves with Sith tattoos, as a symbol of their devotion to the order. The tattoos often have an alternating pattern of red and black, with many runic symbols included. Sith tattoos are incredibly painful to have applied, as they often cover the entire body. Examples of tattooed Sith Lords include the infamous Darth Wyyrlok and Darth Talon.

Behind the scenes

 * With the exception of Darth Abeonis, the Sith Order of Decreto was the first fanon invention of the authors to be created for this particular story.
 * This article is the most linked to article on Star Wars Fanon that is in the main namespace, and that is entirely fanon.
 * This article is ranked thirty-third most linked overall.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Sith Crusade: Tales of a Sith War
 * Star Wars: Sith Crusade: Last Chance
 * Star Wars: Sith Crusade: Desperate Times I
 * Star Wars: Sith Crusade: Desperate Times II