Darth Proditor: “I'm here to inform you that I am your new Dark Lord.”
Darth Alectasa: “Over my dead body.”
Darth Proditor: “Very well.”
— Darths Proditor and Alectasa
The Successors War, also known simply as the Third Sith Civil War, and the Third Decreton Civil War, was a galaxy spanning conflict which took place throughout the 120's ABY. The largest conflict of its kind, the Successors War saw the Sith Order of Decreto shatter through internal strife, and very nearly brought an end to the Empire. Costing the lives of trillions and devastating the galaxy, the conflict begun following the death of the Dark Lord of the Decreton Empire, Darth Abeonis; and ended with the ascension of Darth Krayt to the throne.
The war[]
The beginning[]
Following the death of Darth Adsec during the latter half of the Sith Crusade, Darth Abeonis decided that in order to ensure the loyalty of his followers, and prevent another attempt on his life, that he would not take another apprentice, thus preventing the threat of a second civil war during his lifetime. It worked, and for fifty-five years the galaxy lived in relative peace under Sith rule; with only the Galactic Commonwealth challenging them. By the early 100's ABY the Sith Empire had grown to far surpass any government that had proceeded it. In the year 120 ABY however, Darth Abeonis realized that things were about to change. The very thing that had prolonged his life for so long; the dark side of the Force, was now failing him, corrupting his body and slowly killing. He knew that the Empire as it stood could not survive his death, and as such an heir would need to be chosen.
So, in early 121 ABY, Darth Abeonis announced to the Sith Council that he would shortly be announcing who was to be his successor. Two days later, he passed away; having announced no-one as his successor. With no heir declared, it was only a matter of hours before tensions amongst the Sith reached breaking point. A Sith Lord named Darth Proditor took it upon himself to decide an heir and usurped the throne for himself. Many on the Sith Council saw this act as treason and prepared to remove the usurper, but before they could act Proditor and his apprentice Darth Setil struck at the Sith Council, killing seven of the nine present and convincing Darth Q'Antiqas to join him.
The massacre was not a total victory for Proditor, however; Darth Wyyrlok had escaped, later publicly declaring war upon the usurper and those who followed him. Many Sith followed Wyyrlok's lead, taking their fleets and splintering the Empire. Before long, Proditor came to the realization that if this continued, he would be left with nothing more than a handful of planets under his control, and was determined to stop this. Within a week of his ascension to the throne, Proditor invaded the realm of Darth Edella, quickly overcoming Edella's weak defense force and claiming the lightly-defended planet; soon enough Edella herself arrived and counter-attacked Proditor's forces. The counter-attack was unsuccessful, but the casualties inflicted upon Proditor were great, giving those who remained time to strengthen their positions.
Full scale war[]
With his victory over Edella's forces and the dissolution of the Sith Council, many of those who wished to claim his title for themselves united to defeat him. Within time however, the fragile alliances that had been formed shattered, and war erupted throughout the galaxy. Until this point Proditor had faced the untied might of the Sith Empire; now however, he found his enemies divided and weakening. Content to see his enemies destroy themselves, Proditor simply waited for many of his rivals to wipe themselves out before invading their realms; only rarely striking first in order to gain another lackey.
For five years this continued; but as Proditor's strength slowly increased and his attacks became more forceful, those who remained realized that they stood no chance against him if they continued to fight one another. Foremost among these was the former apprentice of Darth Proditor, the Sith Lord Darth Debello, who had himself been building up his forces within the Outer rim. Not content to see his mini-empire fall prey to invasion, Darth Debello made the first move and, although failing to achieve victory against Proditor's armarda, succeeded in convincing many of the remaining Sith Lords and Knights that a united front could defeat Proditor. Intent on keeping the throne he had spent the last six years fighting over, Proditor sent Darth Setil to assassinate Debello; before he could act however, Debello's own apprentice, Darth Krayt, had killed his Master, and claimed his realm as his own.
Pleased at Debello's death, Proditor petitioned Krayt to join him, offering the title of Commander of the Home Fleet as reward. Krayt refused; assuming control of Debello's entire realm and fleet for his own. Krayt however knew that he did not hold the reputation that Debllo had so quickly gained, and would have too prove himself. Invading the realm of Darth Azard at Manaan Krayt achieved the desired victory, although Azard himself had already pledged himself to Proditor. Unfortunately for Krayt, by this time most of those Sith who remained had had their fleets decimated through the civil strife; leaving only one with the strength to challenge Proditor — Darth Wyyrlok.
Darths Nihl, Krayt and Wyyrlok at the convocation.
A great confrontation[]
Wary of his chances of victory over Proditor in open combat, Darth Krayt decided upon following up on his old Master's idea of uniting the remaining Sith. Spurred on by the recent defection of Darth Q'Antiqas to his side, Krayt ordered the Sith Lord Darth Hérin to meet with those Sith who remained outside either Proditors' or Krayts' domains, inviting them to meet at the Sluis Van Shipyards. Hérin succeeded in convincing many of those who remained to attend the convocation, including Darth Wyyrlok. However, the word of the meeting leaked out through the Sith Knight Darth Kraven. Unprepared to allow any coalition to form against him, Proditor ordered his apprentice Sucasa to attack the convocation.
The attack failed, and only served to convince those present that a coalition was all that could stand against Proditor. Wyyrlok however was unconvinced, and neglected to join the Coalition Krayt had just created. In Krayt's mind, this defeated the entire reason for the convocation; and he became resolved to bring Wyyrlok into the fold. Sensing Krayt's wish for a confrontation, Darth Wyyrlok ordered his fleet to retreat to Korriban, which he had recently rested from Proditor's control, allowing Krayt's forces passage into the heart of his domain. Wyyrlok's forces greatly outnumbered those Krayt brought with him, but Krayt fought valiantly; using skill and strategy to combat Wyyrlok, rather than brute force as many had before him. The battle was indecisive; however Wyyrlok had been impressed by Krayt's resolve and decided to join his Coalition.
Invasion of Proditor's realm[]
With the Coalition complete, Krayt and Wyyrlok begun organizing plans for their invasion of Proditor's realm. Using Wyyrlok's knowledge of military tactic and Krayt's military might, the two secretly managed to move their fleets throughout the galaxy, positioning them in several key sectors along the border of their territories. However, it became apparent soon enough that without the support of the peoples of the Empire, they could not hope to victor against Proditor without severely weakening the Empire that survived. Taking up an offhand suggestion by his apprentice Darth Nihl, Krayt ordered both Nihl and Q'Antiqas to seize control of the Yavin Prime Supply Distribution Center. The attack was a huge success for the Coalition, and secured the support of a greate swathe of the galaxy's populous.
Word spread of the increased rations and relaxed regulations under Coalition rule and before long, Proditor's realm faced open revolt. Capitalizing upon this, the Coalition invaded, hammering into the defensive lines Proditor and Sucasa had set up and shattering them. Their blitzkreig cut through Proditor's forces like a knife through butter, forcing them backwards, towards Coruscant itself. Within a fortnight the Coalition was upon Coruscant, and the time come for the final confrontation between Proditor and his enemies had come.
The losses were heavy on both sides, and the tables turned numerous times for the victor; however in the end, Wyyrlok's tactical prowess and knowledge pulled through for Krayt, and the Coalition claimed victory. Proditor's death at Nihl's hand convinced the vast majority of those who had served him to surrender; and with the capital his, Krayt declared himself Dark Lord of the Decreton Empire. But the war wasn't over yet.
The end[]
Darth Krayt and Darth Wyyrlok discuss the war.
Darth Proditor's greatest Admiral, Bayeux, had survived the battle and taken the remains of Proditor's and Sucasa's fleets to Chandrila, securing control over the planet for themselves. Darth Nihl was ordered to destroy Bayeux's fleet and for the most part, achieve his mission, forcing a much weakened Bayeux to retreat to Esseles.
With Krayt en route to Kuat to capture the shipyards there; Wyyrlok, the new Commander of the Home Fleet, was tasked with decimating Bayeux's remaining forces. Wyyrlok's flagship The Conquerer was destroyed during the battle, although Wyyrlok was not aboard at the time. Set on wiping out the enemy once and for all, Wyyrlok ordered a full frontal assault against Proditor's flagship whilst his forces captured the planet below. The battle was a tremendous victory, totally destroying any resistance that remained to the Coalition's rule.
Aftermath[]
Following the destruction of the remnant of Proditor's forces the Eempire was finally united under one ruler, the first time in almost a decade. The Sith Coalition was disbanded and its leaders merged into the newly reformed Sith Council. The Empire pretty much returned to the normality it had enjoyed during Darth Abeonis' reign, albeit under a much more militaristic regime. For the next few years, Krayt found himself combating ever weakening resistance to his rule, although in the end his victory was absolute.
The Empire had suffered greatly during the conflict; its military strength greatly diminished, the military could not keep as tight a grip over the outer regions of the Empire as they would have liked, allowing the Galactic Commonwealth to make gains in these areas. However, by the time of the Octom War both StarFleet Command and the Imperial Armed Forces had returned to their former strengths, and were beginning to surpass that of Abeonis' rule.
List of battles[]
- Massacre of the Sith Council
- First Battle of Corellia
- Second Battle of Corellia
- Battle of Cato Neimoidia
- Battle of Bespin
- Battle of Klatooine
- Battle of Manaan (Successors War)
- Battle of Nar Shaddaa
- Conclave on the Sluis Van Shipyards
- Battle of Korriban (Successors War)
- Battle of Yavin (Successors War)
- Battle of Coruscant (Successors War)
- Battle of Chandrila (Successors War)
- Battle of Esseles
- Battle of Kuat (Successors War)
Combatants[]
Sith Order of Decreto[]
Sith Order of Decreto.
The Sith Order of Decreto was galactic empire, ruling almost the entire galaxy as of 121 ABY. Originally a secret alliance of Sith Lords led by the Dark Lord of the Decreton Empire Darth Abeonis during the Sith Crusade, the Sith Order of Decreto had since become the dominant power in the galaxy; following Abeonis' death however the power vacuum was obvious, and following Darth Proditor usurping of the throne the empire divided between Proditor's followers and his opponents.
Proditor's forces fought brutally and defiantly, reclaiming vast swathes of the empire by 126 ABY; but following the death of Darth Debello and the rise of Darth Krayt to his position things changed. Within two years Proditor was dead, and within three his empire had been conquered.
Notable figures[]
- Darth Azard (defected following Darth Proitor's death)
- Bayeux
- Jak Consta †
- Darth Hybor †
- Darth Kraven
- Darth Kruhl †
- Darth Proditor †
- Darth Setil †
- Darth Sucasa †
- Darth Q'Antiqas (defected mid-conflict)
Rebel Sith/Sith Coalition[]
Following Proditor's usurping of the throne in 121 ABY countless Sith Lords and Sith Knights rebelled against Proditor's rule, taking almost half the overall size of the Sith fleet with them. At first things did not go well at all, and in the first five years almost half the rebels were either eliminated or forced into serving Darth Proditor. Things did not change until 126 ABY when Darth Krayt eliminated his Master and took control of his fleet. Slowly uniting the rebels under one banner, following the convocation on the Sluis Van Shipyards the newly formed Sith Coalition (representing the fully combined strength of all Proditor's opponenets) combated Proditor's empire and eventually succeeded in destroying it.
Notable figures[]
- Darth Azard † (Executed at Chandrila)
- Darth Debello †
- Darth Edella †
- Darth Hérin †
- Darth Krayt
- Darth Knida †
- Darth Maal †
- Darth Nihl
- Darth Q'Antiqas
- Darth Talon
- Darth Wyyrlok