The Tapani Conflict was a war in the Tapani sector in 157 ABY which pitted several nobles houses against one another in a squabble for territory and influence. It was secretly instigated by Rin Sakaros, Queen of the Golden Empire, to distract both the Jedi and the Galactic Federation Triumvirate and prevent them from investigating the Second Swarm War.
Powderkeg[]
In the decades since the end of the reign of the One Sith, House Calipsa and House Cadriaan had increasingly come into conflict within the Tapani sector. House Cadriaan made numerous deals supportive of alien colonists and workers within the Tapani sector, expanding its sphere of influence into the Freeworlds Territory. House Calipsa, the most conservative of the Tapani noble houses, had developed a Humanocentric streak which led it to oppose Cadriaan's maneuvers for cultural as well as economic reasons.
House Pelagia had a close relationship with Cadriaan. Centrally located House Mecetti was ideologically closer to House Calipsa and a long-term enemy of Pelagia. The other noble houses often sought their own advantages, and worked with both Cadriaan and Calipsa as it served them.
Conspiracy[]
Lord Offul Grant and his adopted daughter, Evangelia Maxico, were both involved in House Mecetti's affairs, and Grant sat on the Privy Council. Secretly, both were also members of the Mecrosa Order, a Sith-influenced group of assassins. Evangelia had first crossed paths with Breek Zagrev and Jinyx Windrunner on Coruscant in 154 ABY, when Jinyx bested Evangelia in a duel and claimed the holocrons of Darth Chosis and Darth Ramage. Breek had then identified herself as a Sith Lord, and had later visited both Grant and Maxico.
In truth, Breek was a Centurion in the service of Rin Sakaros, Queen of the Golden Empire. Only months before the holocron hunt, Rin had sent Eskol Kaartinen to the Utegetu Nebula at the head of a Royal force to investigate militarization among the Killiks. Though Kaartinen had not checked back by late 156 ABY, Rin could sense the toll of violence through the Force, and suspected the Jedi could too. Fearing the interference of the Triumvirate and the discovery of her Empire, she dispatched Breek to manipulate the Mecrosa into staging a distraction.
Zagrev and Windrunner, in their guises of Darth Asa and Darth Jinyx, snuck into Grant's castle and presented themselves to father and daughter, urging the Mecrosa to manipulate Cadriaan and Calipsa into a war. Breek promised that House Mecetti would emerge as the dominant power in the Tapani sector when the Jedi and the Triumvirate inevitably restored order. Grant reluctantly conceded to the plan; Evangelia was more enthusiastic.
Meanwhile, Rin herself visited Ventresca Tan, head of the Merquise Syndicate, on Nar Shaddaa. Knowing Tan was looking to retire from the Syndicate, she offered to help smooth his disappearance in return for his help in fomenting a war and supplying both sides. Tan opted to use the chance to dispose of some of his rivals and employees who were on the take from other criminal organizations.
Conflict[]
At Lord Grant's instruction, Mecrosa agents, including Evangelia and the Boltrunian Thosso, conducted a series of assassinations of both Cadriaan and Calipsa leaders, killing off the most vocal militarists and more quietly removing those who urged moderation over violence. Hostility peaked, and both houses sought to purchase weapons in case the growing conflict became a war. Acting through intermediaries and occasionally tipping off gunrunning competitors, Ventresca Tan saw that both sides had access to weaponry, legal and otherwise.
House Calipsa began seeking allies, but Lord Grant advised the Privy Council to remain neutral in the conflict. Though he declined to share details, he persuaded Lord Titus Astagon, the head of the Mecetti spy network, to both back his position and have his agents sow dissension and militarism among the Calipsa and Cadriaan Privy Councils. The Mecetti waffled, and House Calipsa looked to House Reena and others for support instead.
An armed conflict between Calipsa and Cadriaan on Sheva finally brought the months of strain to open war; while Sheva was a backwater in the Freeworld Territory, of little interest to either house, allowing their supporters' blood to be shed without retribution would undermine the houses' standing. Violence spread throughout the Tapani sector, and was particularly brutal in House Pelagia's province (located between the Calipsa and Cadriaan provinces) and in the Freeworld Territories.
The Mecrosa urged the conflict on, secretly hiring mercenaries to act on behalf of both sides; when the Calipsa and Cadriaan forces realized they were fighting mercenaries, they took to voluntarily hiring some of their own. House Pelagia allied with House Cadriaan, while both Reena and Melantha sided with the Calipsa. The Freeworld Territory worlds split, though they attacked any forces which invaded them. The Mecetti openly militarized, but only to defend the borders of their own province; fearing their wrath, the two factions kept the war out of Mecetti territory. House Barnaba also remained neutral.
Keepers of the peace[]
As Rin had predicted, eventually the Triumvirate did become involved; in addition to the mounting death toll, the Tapani Conflict had disrupted trade throughout the region, and the presence of mercenary companies in the Colonies had led several neighboring sectors to petition Coruscant for redress. The Fel Empire supplied a fleet, and Jedi Master Jextar Cyern-Star sent a number of Jedi Knights to aid in the intervention. Nearly all the mercenary companies deserted the noble houses rather than confront the Empire and the Jedi.
The fleet, led by a task force of Star Destroyers, put a quick end to the conflict by establishing a demilitarized zone in the Freeworld Territory. In a peace conference on Procopia, the Jedi mandated an end to the war. Though not belligerents, representatives of both House Mecetti and House Barnaba attended the summit as well. Because the Barnaba deliberately absented themselves from politics in the Tapani sector in general, the Jedi were left to look to the Mecetti for assistance rather than leave a sector-wide garrison. Some Jedi were leery, remembering the historical association between the Mecetti and the Mecrosa, but the Imperial representatives prevailed on them. All seven noble houses signed the Treaty of Procopia.
House Mecetti acquired the responsibility for enforcing the peace, and oversaw the large-scale disarmament of the Calipsa and Cadriaan, as well as reparations to both sides. Resentment was high, but the other houses grudgingly acquiesced; not only did the Mecetti have the Triumvirate lurking in the background in case the other houses became defiant, but the Mecetti provincial military had escaped the conflict unscathed, where the other houses' forces were reduced by fighting and now deprived of their mercenary allies.
Promises kept[]
As "Darth Asa" had promised, when the Tapani sector looked to the ascendant Mecetti to lead, the Mecetti placed even greater trust in Lord Grant. The members of the Privy Council also gave Evangelia Maxico an enhanced position, trusting her with overseeing disarmament and ensuring sector security, despite the fact that she was common-born.
The Jedi pursued leads against several gunrunning crime syndicates, but the Merquise Syndicate remained off their sensors. Most of the mercenary companies escaped the Triumvirate's sanctions by returning to more lawless parts of the Outer Rim until the entire conflict boiled over.