Second Swarm War (154-157 ABY)

The Second Swarm War was a conflict in the between 154 ABY and 157 ABY. Unlike the, which pitted of nearly all s against the , the Second saw Killik factions warring with one another, though with alien influence on both sides.

Fugitives
The Vagaari War between the Golden Empire and the concluded in 143 ABY, with what was then called the "functional extinction" of the  species. However, some Vagaari fled rather than face Rin Sakaros's wrath, and many of those survivors found their way to the Utegetu Nebula. Thinking to restore their fortunes by building a strong slave base, the Vagaari laid siege to Roq, but were opposed by the resident nest.

The conflict saw casualties on both sides, but petered out as the Vagaari became to the Mollom themselves. Though they lost their sense of individual identity, the Vagaari influenced the Mollom as well, spreading their desire for conquest and enslavement. The Mollom/Vagaari nest, which was the progenitor of the larger Vagaari hives, spread from Roq throughout the Nebula, fighting costly campaigns to acquire the and  nests. The also joined the Vagaari hives, as did many others.

Imperial entanglements
The Vagaari hives controlled eight of the Utegetu Nebula's fifteen inhabited worlds by 154 ABY, when the Golden Empire caught up with them. Having sensed danger in the future and received intelligence of Killik militarization, Rin Sakaros sent a Royal force, including the Star Destroyer Umbra and led by the Centurion Eskol Kaartinen, to investigate and protect the Empire through any means necessary. Kaartinen, his task force, his 10,000 Massassi cohort, and his brother Centurions Chindal and Te`net Organi arrived just in time to repulse an attack on Berassam alongside the native.

Kaartinen quickly organized an alliance of the remaining free Killik nests, which joined forces to oppose the Vagaari hives in a series of battles. The ravages of the Vagaari hives over the previous decade were poorly documented, and the muddled species memory of the Killiks made it even more difficult to describe with clarity, so most subsequent historians dated the Second Swarm War from the beginning of the Golden Empire's involvement.

The Imperium
The Royal/Killik alliance scored a number of early victories, but suffered a devastating loss with the destruction of the Umbra. By then Chindal had already Joined a nest, but when Kaartinen became a Joiner in the wake of the Umbra's destruction, the alliance began to knit together into a single hive mind, which emerged as the Imperium. The conflict thus became one of two rival Nests of Nests, vying for total dominance over all the Killiks.

Both sides, influenced by the aliens they had absorbed into their various nests, fought savagely against one another. The Mollom had acquired not only the Vagaari slaving and conquest instincts, but also hatred for and fear of the Empire, and had spread these traits to subsequently conquered nests. The Imperium had absorbed the religious reverence for Rin Sakaros and the battle savagery of the Massassi, as well as the dedication to duty of the two Centurions (the Qua, Te`net Organi, was biologically incapable of becoming a Joiner) and the general loathing for slavers. Millions died as the two factions clashed on nearly every world of the Utegetu, including major battles at, Yowarbi, and Kollef.

Choked off
Though relatively equal in terms of the Killiks at their disposal, the Imperium ultimately prevailed due to Kaartinen's strategy of conquering worlds just outside the Utegetu, where the which plagued the Utegetu worlds did not exist. Killik colonists there bore a new generation of millions, which provided ready soldiers to fight and workers to deploy in building more warships. The Imperium fought two battles at the to keep the Vagaari hives pinned in the Utegetu, lest they pursue the same strategy.

The acquisition of the nest at Yowarbi and its subsequent incorporation into the Imperium also gave the Imperium added communication and coordination abilities. The Second Swarm War ended with an assault on Roq, led by all three Centurions. The last living Vagaari among the Vagaari hives were killed, many of them en masse where they had been controlling the war effort from isolation. With the deaths of the Vagaari and the absorption of most of the previously-controlled nests into the Imperium, the Vagaari hives disintegrated and the Second Swarm War ended.

Aftermath
The victorious Imperium set its sights on galactic conquest; a muddled sort of loyalty to Rin and the Golden Empire had permeated all the nests, and Eskol Kaartinen became firmly committed to the idea that he could best serve the Empire by conquering the known galaxy on its behalf. On the eve of the fleet's departure for the known galaxy, however, Te`net Organi dueled his brothers, maiming Chindal and killing Kaartinen before tricking the Killiks into firing on one another in what became the Massacre at Murgo. The slaughter, followed by the removal of all the Centurions from the Utegetu, broke the mental bonds among the Imperium nests and caused the Killiks to revert to their natural state.