The Chiss have made their decision. The "attack" by the New Republic was the final spark the powder keg needed to explode. War has come and we must fight.
—Supreme Chancellor Zion
From 71 ABY to 76 ABY, the Chiss, the Galactic Empire, and its' allies squared off against the New Republic, the Jedi Order, and their allies in a galactic series of crises, conflicts, and battles that came to be known as the Chiss War.
Originally, the Chiss fought the New Republic for just weeks. They decided to call upon the newly forged Sith Empire of Dol Glorath to fight. This caused the Jedi to intervene as the Sith Empire had many Force-using Sith. Eventually, other large governments in the galaxy, such as the Venen Empire, would be effected by the war and thus had to choose a side. The war would last for five years and cost the lives of billions.
An attack by an unkown, extragalactic droid species caused all sides of the war to come together and make peace or face mass genocide.
Origins
The beginning of the Chiss War came when a New Republic Star Destroyer made a crash landing on Csilla. The Chiss declared war on the New Republic several days later after finalizing the casualties, which were seventy-three civilians and thirty-seven citizens. The Chiss soon ask for aid from the newly reformed Sith Empire. Emperor Dracule seeing the chance to destroying the Jedi and the Republic, quickly accepts, entering into the Chiss War that they will practically fund and run. The Jedi would soon join the New Republic after the Battle of Dantooine where a New Republic outpost was devestated by the Chiss and Empire.
Commencing the War
The Chiss War started with an assualt on the New Republic outpost of Gala. Gala was a strategic foothold of the New Republic, being its location close to the Empire's borders. Emperor Dracule decided to attack the planet with the new Dark Troopers. It was a very good decision on Dracule's part.
Many ships left the orbit of Dol Glorath in mid 71 ABY to attack Gala. Each transport was filled with three dozen Dark Troopers and there were about five hundred transports. There were also Sith on the transports and about five dozen transports filled with Chiss marines. Intelligance from both Chiss and the Empire had discovered that the base on Gala was commanded by excellent leaders and defended well with many anti-aircraft weapons. There were also many turret emplacements surrounding the large fort on the ground.
Transports entered the Gala atmosphere to meet no resistence, but then, out of the blue, were covered in exploding AA shells. Many transports were shot down and many missed their LZs. The Sith commander, an unknown Sith Lord notorious for his assitance and tactics in the Sith/Remnant Crisis, quickly put together a new strategy. He found a lonely Dark Trooper who's transport had landed. The Sith Lord made him a captain and gave him a squad to lead. Captain Qurnin Son and his Stars Squadron would be vital in taking Gala. First, they helped take out an artillery emplacement pounding and pinning down hundreds of marines and Imperial troops. Secondly, Stars Squad helped destroy the New Republic field HQ in the fort when most of it had fallen to the Empire.
After a day's fighting, the Sith finally broke into the outpost. Though the Imperials rushed in and quickly gained a foothold against the New Republic, Jedi battle meditation and the higher ground helped fend off the invaders. The Sith Lord's commandos had found an escape tunnel leading to the field HQ where the counter attacks were being manned from. This HQ was not the real one for the New Republic as the real one had fallen to Imperial forces. The commanders of the Republic forces were doing all they could to keep the Sith at bay until help could arrive.
The Sith Lord ordered Stars Squad to enter the tunnel and destroy the HQ. This would take out the only two Jedi on the planet, end most New Republic resistence, and practically take the entire planet. Captain Son, or Q, led his squadron to defeat the enemies they encountered and destroy the building, helping the Empire capture the planet.
New Republic Reaction
The reaction by the New Republic after the attack on Gala showed that they weren't prepared nor did they have any knowledge. This led many to believe the Republic was not capable to run the galaxy. The Senate didn't enjoy that and petition for the Jedi to aid them in a counter assualt before the Sith could strike again. Though the Jedi Council was reluctant, the Grandmaster was able to convince the rest of the Council to help before another Revan incident occured, having Jedi wanting to join the war and leaving the order to do so. The Jedi would enter the Chiss War.
Ambush on Onderon
Only weeks after the start of the war, the Dark Trooper Corps. sent several battalions to back up the Imperial planet of Onderon. Lead by Commander Qua-Qua and Sith General Carlus Sol, the battalions camped out in forests on the planet and surrounding the capital of Iziz. After reports of civil restlesness, General Sol deciding on sending one battalion to Iziz to follow up on the reports. Commander Qua-Qua lead the battalion which also included Solus Dalso.
Upon arriving, the Dark Troopers noticed all was calm and normal. As they headed deeper into the city, however, they noticed several citizens acting suspicious. The status quo soon changed as they were ambushed by Republic spies and loyal citizens in the middle of the city. By a cantina, the troopers took cover and battled the enemy as their commander called General Sol for aid. Within minutes, most of the battalion sent had died and the New Republic had brought an army to battle. As the droids, troopers, and AT-AT's closed near the remaining Dark Troopers, reinforcements crashed through a wall. With a Sith, Carlus, at its head, the two small armies clashed in the streets of Iziz. The Empire came out victorious with only twelve Dark Troopers and Carlus remaining. By Sol's order, the remaining Republic troops were executed. The Dark Troopers insured safety for the people of Iziz.
Attack on Dantooine
The Chiss intelligance and the SIO had looked all over for New Republic bases. They found one on Dantooine. After closer recon, they discovered that it was also a weapons and ships factory. The Chiss and the Empire both agreed to attack Dantooine as their next target.
Lord Tarna, who had a vision of Former Grand Admiral Validus fighting Jedi in a temple on Telos IV, decided to travel to the planet. Another reason was to destroy a group of Jedi grouping on Telos to go and aid in the defense of Dantooine.
Once arriving in the system, Tarna could feel the presence of the Jedi on Telos IV. He flew down to the planet almost immediately. Tarna continued to the Telos Polar Region where he entered the Jedi Academy. He used the Force to kill the two Jedi guards. After slicing down all the other Jedi, he saw Darth Validus as he had in his vision. But it was not Validus, it was merely a Jedi in Validus' robes. The Jedi were planning for this Jedi Master to infiltrate the Sith Empire and Council masquerading as Dark Lord Validus.
While Tarna was on Telos, the Imperial fleet arrived at Dantooine. The Chiss fleet came shortly later after Darth Mathandal had gone to Csilla to discuss the Chiss' plans for the first battle. Imperial ships began to engage the Republic ships using two fleets, Commander Matas' and Admiral Avic's. The Chiss used their main fleet. The battle would rage for three days with many casualties.
Eventually, the Empire came out victorious and the New Republic had its labs and weapons destroyed. Many new weapons being tested were captured in the process and thirty New Republic scientists were also captured as POW's. After the first two and quick Sith victories, many had thought the galaxy would be once again dominated by the Sith and the Jedi destroyed.
The New Republic Strikes Back
With the Jedi now backing the New Republic, Supreme Chancellor Zahn and the Senate both agreed to send forces to attack an Imperial base on Dagary Minor. 90,000 New Republic troops and five hundred Jedi went to oppose 200,000 Dark Troopers, 300 Sith, and 40,000 Chiss Marines. Republic Intelligance had indicated only 50,000 enemy forces in total. That was very off.
The New Republic entered hyperspace and subsequently sent down many ships. Republic transports and frigates were shot out of the sky and many were far from their landing zones. When the troops landed, many were surprised at the amount of enemy troops were present. They were very angry with the RI for getting it wrong. With the help of the Jedi, the New Republic eventually defeated the Empire in a very upsetting lose for the Sith Empire. Dol Glorath was swamped with WIA's and many reports were filled out about MIA's. The streets of Dol Gara were covered in posters asking people to look for loved ones. With the battle on Dagary Minor over, and many people realizing this wasn't another Corellian Insurrection, a full-scale war had started.
The War at Home
With two more stunning Republic victories, the galaxy had become a troubling place with many fights and riots over what the Republic should do. Billions of bars and clubs across the galaxy had been shut down because of fights involving Imperial supporters and Republic supporters. A good part about the war was that billions of people gained jobs and the economy was the best it had ever been.
Many people were involved in helping the war effort on both sides. With the Empire, POW's would be put to work in factories guarded by Sith and Dark Troopers. With the New Republic, many poor people were given jobs by the government to create machines of war to use against the tyranical Sith Empire. Each side also used propaganda to sway public opinion and help gain more troops and/or support. Early in the Chiss War, many New Republic officials used the slogan, "Avenge Gala", on posters and in their speeches to the general public. It worked and the New Republic gained three hundre thousand more troops by the end of 72 ABY.
Return of Darth Validus
The return to the Empire of Darth Validus after almost a year and a half of exile was excellent timing for the Sith Lord. The war had started to halt as all three sides of the war started to have more stalements in the battles. Validus vowed when he returned that he would help win battles; he did just that. Lord Validus, upon his return, was given back his position as Grandmaster of the Blades by the new Emperor, his old friend Stap Praxeum. He was sent to the frontlines very soon and helped win a battle at Ord Radama in which the Sith on Korriban desired to rid the New Republic presence in the area by taking the fortress world of Ord Radama. They succeeded in the battle, killing tens of thousands and ensuring the New Republic would not take Sith space.
The War Escalates
Towards the end of 71 ABY, the Republic had gained much ground on the Sith Empire. A victory for the Republic was certain if they could keep their momentum up for the next several months. The new Imperial Majesty, Emperor Praxeum, however, didn't want that to occur so he worked with Chiss leaders to start a full-scale invasion of Republic space. The first battle would be for the Kashyyyk system. The Chiss would then proceed to invade Republic space on either side of the Unknown Regions and harass New Republic forces in the Deep Core.
Battles of Kashyyyk and Trandosha
The first battle against the Republic was an attack on the Kashyyyk system. Sith and Chiss leaders chose this site as the beginning because it was a large Republic base, held a small Jedi academy on Trandosha, the Wookiees would prove useful as slaves, and it was a good place to set up a foothold for an invasion of the New Republic. Imperial fleets were to invade the system by traveling from Dol Glorath to the planets while the Chiss came from the other side to flank. Five million total troops were taken to the system by the Chiss and Empire; these were in the battles and were going to be used to invade the galaxy.
Trandosha
Trandosha was the first planet in the system to fall. It fell rather quickly compared to the battle for Kashyyyk that would occur afterwards. Only Imperial forces participated in this battle and only 45,000 Dark Troopers were used, rather than the 3.4 million they had with them. The Sith landed on the planet after a short aerial bombardment and rolled across. They hired Trandoshans to help them and the New Republic were soon on the retreat to Kashyyyk.
Kashyyyk
After Trandosha was taken over, Chiss forces were given the green light to attack Republic ships orbiting the forest planet of Kashyyyk. The New Republic fought fiercly and a stalement began which would be four days long; the Empire wanted to sort out all casualties, WIA's, the missing, POW's, and ship losses before they embarked for the Wookiee homeworld. After the four days of fighting between Chiss and New Republic ships, the Sith did come to their ally's aid and the tide soon turned.
Only several hours after the Empire arrived in the orbit of Kashyyyk, the enemy forces of the Republic were planetside and wrecking havoc all over. After defeating many ships in space, a breif bombardment from space occured to take out any anti-aircraft weapons they may have. Only after gaining a large amount of the planet, and victory seemed imminent, did the New Republic push the Empire back. they started a counteroffensive which was the key to the New Republic victory on Kashyyyk. The Jedi were also a reason they won. The Empire fell back to Trandosha where, for several years, they would fight small skirmashes and have many dogfights between each other over the Kashyyyk system. It eventually fell to the Sith Empire in 74 ABY during the Mission to Kashyyyk.
Chiss Invasion
Shortly after the loss of Kashyyyk, but the victory at Trandosha, the Chiss pulled tens thousands of their marines from the Imperial-held planets, some Chiss-held ones and brought them to Csilla. The reason for such a large accumulation of soldiers to one planet was very obvious. To the Republic, and others, the large force was one thing: an invasion force. Jedi and Republic sentries and patrols in the Outer Rim reported, daily, dozens of troop transports and capital ships active in Chiss space. The Venen Empire also contributed some information to the Republic, for a price of course, that an army of over 300,000 had already been assembled and that more than double the current amount was on its way. The final troop count turned out to be 376,000, very far off from the Venen estimation. Some officials speculate that the Venen, whom were allies of the Sith, were attempting to distract the Republic from the Empire by heightening its defenses along the Unknown Regions so the Empire could have an easy shot at Coruscant and defeat the Republic. This never happened, however.
Chiss general Whis'ren'saon planned to use about half of his forces to take a foothold on the edge of Republic space. He looked at the Republic planet and military stronghold of Nirauan. Nirauan was on the edge of Republic space and provided the Republic with intel about the Chiss and many of the scouts and patrols that harrassed Chiss forces came out of this planet. Srensa knew, however, that an ever important communications planet, Esfandia, needed to be taken before they could attack the Republic stronghold. If Nirauan was attacked with the communications outpost at Esfandia still intact, a distress signalled could be beamed to the planet and they could then contact the Republic for aid. The planet was easily taken by the overwhelming Chiss army.
The attack on Nirauan came just days after the fall of Esfandia so the crews had no time to prepare. Chiss forces were about to bomb the unsuspecting shipyards, planetary docks, and orbital docks when a patrol fleet came out of hyperspace unexpectedly. Srensa sent five Chiss Star Destroyers. He arrogantly thought they would be more than enough to take out the mediocre cohort of Republic ships. The new captain used very advanced tactics to defeat the five opposing capital ships, and, with its remaining ships, damaged or not, continued on to attack the Chiss fleet, but ultimately failed and they were all destroyed.
Fourth Year
It's been almost four years. When will it end? I can't afford this many Dark Troopers every month.
—Supreme Commander Matas
The end of the third year of the Chiss War saw many more planets fall to the Empire and the Chiss. Thousands of troops on both sides had been killed and the population was suffering, with many planetary civil wars and civilian casualties. The entire Outer Rim, with the exception of several border systems, had been taken. However, an invasion of the Core Worlds and Deep Core by the Chiss and Empire had been halted. A new enemy, the Hutts, had been building up its army and joined with the remnants of the Exchange. They knew the Sith would want to attack and take over Hutt Space. Unfortunately, they were right.
Invasion of Hutt Space
Lead by Supreme Commander Matas and General Reyna, over 300,000 Dark Troopers invaded Hutt Space in an operation codenamed Contraction. Within weeks, the Sith Imperial Navy were in range to start a bombing compaign against the Hutt shipyards in and around Nar Shaddaa and Nal Hutta. The bombing campaign started just as soon as they weer range. It continued for two more standard months before the complete capture of Hutt Space.
The attack against the Hutts started three and a half months into 74 ABY. The towering buildings on Nar Shaddaa -- at least what was left from the bombing attacks -- were full of mercenaries, battle droids, Gamorreans, and many Exchange thugs which were ready to defend the planet. With 100,000 troops landing on the planet at once, it was hard for them to defend, but in the metal jungle, it was almost as hard to defend as it was to attack. The Dark Trooper Corps. had prepared two regiments for the invasion of Nar Shaddaa. Both regiments specialized in urban combat, perfect for the ecumenopolis.
As the regiments landed, the Hutt forces prepared for the battle, hiding in the remaining buildings, waiting in ambush. The Dark Troopers quickly swarmed the city but meet no resistence. Hutt forces were waiting to strike the middle of their forces, cutting off supplies to the initial wave of Dark Troopers, supplies they would need later on. Despite the strategic attack during the start of the battle, the mercenary forces were eventually defeated, though the Empire lost over 75,000 troops and most of the remaining wounded. Out of the 157,000 Hutt forces that fought, only 17,000 remained and they retreated to Nal Hutta but they were all hunted down and killed. Any remaining soldiers retreated to Toydaria where they grouped with 30,000 battle droids and made a final stand against the Empire in which they also lost. Hutt Space had been conquered by the Sith; only the Republic stood in their way.
Battle of Sullust
Imperial forces engage Republic X-wing starfighters over Sullust as the New Republic retreats from the planet.
Lord Validus proposed an idea to Emperor Praxeum of establishing a fortress world in the Outer Rim that would halt any chance of the New Republic invaded the Empire from that quadrent. There were two subject planets that Validus had in mind, Duro and Sullust. Feeling it easier to take a planet in the Outer Rim rather than closer to the Core Worlds, they chose to invade Sullust. Matas gave Validus 200,000 Dark Troopers to work with, while the Chiss only surrendered thirty thousand Chiss marines for the invasion. 3,000 Sith voluntered to join the fight with 700 other Sith, mostly apprentices with little or no experiance in fighting battles or against soldiers or Jedi, were forced. They faced a force of 120,000 Republic troops and 460 Jedi. It wasn't great odds for the New Republic but they decided to stay and defend the planet.
The start of the battle saw the New Republic fleet crumble before the might of the Empire's arsenal and retreating planetside. Grandmaster Validus sent a majority, about 150,000 Dark Troopers with all the Chiss marines, to pursue the New Republic forces. He put Carlus Sol, the Venen prince Sith, in charge of the Sith present. Carlus took down 1,700 Sith with the Dark Troopers and Chiss marines. It had turned out that the brief and destructive space battle was just a trap set by the New Republic General Turon. Baiting the Imperials and Sith down, the New Republic and Jedi waited in ambush for them.
Led by Ark Horde, the Jedi ambushed Sith and Dark Troopers by attacking their rear and devestated their flanks. The New Republic troops then flanked the crumbling army. However, Carlus Sol rallied with the Sith and Chiss Marines to aid the Dark Troopers in battle. The remaining 1,500 Sith, 200 perished in the attack by the Jedi and Republic troops, with roughly 94,000 Dark Troopers and 26,000 Chiss Marines started a counterattack that pushed the New Republic back, allowing the Empire to set up camp.
After hearing the message about the first by the Republic, Validus decided to take down 25,000 Dark Troopers and 200 Sith as the reserve forces and help take the planet. Darth Tarna, whom was one of the Sith that volunteered to come, accompanied Validus and helped cut through the New Republic lines with Sol. Validus commendeered a TIE Fighter and engaged the New Republic air forces with help to take control of the skies. After succeeding, he joined the rest of the ground forces to overrun the remaining New Republic forces. Taking only 300 prisoners, they killed all Jedi and took control of another planet. Lord Tarna also discovered a Republic droid factory under the ground, which gave the Empire another droid factory and almost 20,000 more droids to the 700,000 droid army they had put together. The Empire was one step closer to defeating the Republic.
Republic Invasion of Onderon
After the loss of Sullust, the New Republic realized they needed to gain a foothold in the Outer Rim if they wished to attack the Imperial capital of Dol Glorath. The planet, chosen by a group of hand-picked Senators and military leaders, was Onderon. The Republic has previously attempted to harrass the Dark Troopers and Imperial presence on Onderon, going as far as battling with them on one occasion. The group decided that General Turon, who led many successful campaigns and battles against the Empire, but also had many unnessecary losses, to lead this battle and other battles in the Outer Rim. Several Jedi Council Members and other lower-ranked admirals and generals also accompanied the General.