Second Imperium Crisis

"And now that there is anarchy among the remnants of the Imperial forces, we need such a unifying force. We have already found a powerful new leader, a great one, but we also need our own group of Dark Jedi Knights, Imperial Jedi, who will cement our factions together and give us the will to defeat the wicked and unlawful government of the New Republic and bring about the Second Imperium."

- Brakiss

The Second Imperium Crisis was a brief conflict pitting a break-away Imperial faction known as the Second Imperium and the allied Dark Jedi Shadow Academy against the dominant galactic government&mdash;the New Republic&mdash;and the closely-allied New Jedi Order respectively. The Second Imperium had rejected the Bastion Accords signed between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant as a sham and sought to continue fighting the New Republic. It was probably one of the shortest wars in galactic history, spanning only four important battles which were small in comparison to those in other more devastating conflicts like the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War.

As an insurgency, the conflict was largely dominated by minor strategic raids with just one conventional battle. Though the raids were successful in their objectives of obtaining recruits and supplies, these only aroused the Jedi and the New Republic which resulted in a crushing defeat for the Second Imperium during the conflict's sole conventional battle which marked the climax of the conflict. While the insurgency was supposedly led and started by an incarnation of the late Emperor Palpatine, the conflict was actually masterminded by four Imperial Royal Guards who only sought power.

Given Palpatine and the Empire's enmity towards the Jedi Order, the Second Imperium and the Shadow Academy sought to weaken and to destroy Luke Skywalker's resurgent New Jedi Order as a step towards bringing down the New Republic. Despite achieving successes in small raids against the New Republic, the Second Imperium and the Shadow Academy were effectively defeated and destroyed during a pivotal battle around and above the Jedi Praxeum on the jungle moon of Yavin IV.

Background
"We had all of the brilliant speeches and recordings the Emperor had made. We had his thoughts, his policies, his records. We knew we could make the Second Imperium work, but no one would have followed us. We had to give the people what they wanted, and they wanted their Emperor back&mdash;as you did. You were easy to fool because you wanted to be fooled."

- Royal Guard to Brakiss

The devastating Galactic Civil War had seen several important developments in galactic history including the deaths of a succession of Palpatine clones, the rise to prominence of the New Republic and a paralleling Imperial decline. Despite dogged fighting, the Galactic Empire had been reduced to a rump state consisting of a mere eight sectors known derisively as the Imperial Remnant. With the formal declaration of peace at the signing of the Bastion Accords between New Republic Chief of State Ponc Gavrisom and Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon in 19 ABY, some officers in the Imperial Remnant and "replacement warlords" in the Deep Core decided to take matters into their own hands, rejecting these accords as a "sham" and splitting off from the official Imperial Remnant.

As a result of these factors, many Imperials longed for a return to the former glory days of the Empire. Four Imperial Royal Guards (who had formerly been Stormtroopers promoted by Admiral Daala to guardsman status) took advantage of this dissent, founding the Second Imperium. Using holograms of Palpatine, stretching from his earliest days as the Senator of Naboo to Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic to Emperor of the Empire, they impersonated him, creating a charismatic leadership figure to rally the Remnant dissenters. Blinded by their own aspirations and ambition, and given the Emperor's track-record of escaping death, many were all too eager to believe the ruse as true.

Between 19 ABY and 23 ABY, the Second Imperium grew steadily, following the path of earlier splinter movements, such as the Empire Reborn, in maintaining secrecy. Unlike the Empire Reborn, the Second Imperium discarded the old Imperial policy of humanocentrism in an attempt to maximise recruting as in the case of Lowbacca. However, this proved unsuccessful and most of their members were still predominantly Human as late as 23 ABY.

Among those recruited to the Second Imperium was the former-Jedi and Imperial spy Brakiss, disillusioned after the defeat of Kueller in 17 ABY by Luke Skywalker and the New Republic. Brakiss was tasked with creating a new cadre of Imperial Dark Jedi Knights to counter those of Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. He used funds appropriated by the Imperium to construct a cloaked space station called the Shadow Academy to serve as a mobile academy for his Dark Jedi. It was equipped with training facilities not only for dark Jedi, but also for stormtroopers and TIE pilots.

It was Brakiss's hopes that these Dark Jedi would help maintain order across the faltering remnants of the Empire. He recruited heavily from the Nightsisters of Dathomir, forming a leadership cadre consisting of a number of the witches such as Tamith Kai, Vonnda Ra, and Garowyn. Initial recruitment began on the planet Dathomir, with prospective students shipped off to the Shadow Academy to begin indoctrination and training. Recruiting candidates was a simple matter after he had helped revive the Nightsisters on the planet Dathomir under the aegis of the Great Canyon Clan. However, by 22 ABY, the flow of recruits from Dathomir started to dry up. Additionally, Brakiss's sadistic methods of rooting out weak students in his academy claimed the lives of at least six students.

In 22 ABY, the Second Imperium was joined by the TIE pilot Qorl, who had been eking out a life on the jungle moon of Yavin 4 since the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY. Qorl was placed in charged of the growing starfighter core of the Second Imperium. He also revealed information on Skywalker's Academy gleaned from the Solo twins Jacen and Jaina when he forced them to repair his damaged TIE Fighter before escaping into hyperspace.

Though he had already known of the existence of the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4, the fact that Skywalker was training a new, powerful generation of Jedi Knights may have been news to Brakiss. Believing that their young minds would be easier to sway than those of adults, Brakiss decided that kidnapping students from the Jedi Praxeum would help his new order of Dark Jedi to grow. With this information, a daring plan was launched to kidnap some of these students. It was hoped they would prove easy to corrupt, and their disappearance would strike fear into the New Jedi Order.

First Strike
Brakiss’s first targets were the Solo twins due to their enormous potential as potent Force-users and their significant socio-political status as the children of the New Republic Chief of State Leia Organa Solo&mdash;leader of the Imperium’s primary enemy. Just prior to the start of the raid, the Solos and their Wookiee companion Lowbacca had embarked upon a field trip to Lando Calrissian's GemDiver Station. It is not known how the Shadow Academy discovered that the three Jedi trainees would be on the space station, which orbited the gas giant Yavin.

A force of four Skipray blastboats and one modified assault shuttle, was assembled under the command of Tamith Kai. When the Imperial fleet arrived at the GemDiver Station, Calrissian and the three students had returned from an expedition into the lower atmosphere of Yavin. To prevent any reinforcements from arriving, the Imperial ships set up a jamming field.

Though the station’s alarms were sounded and the guards were on stand-by, the crew onboard the station were taken by surprise and had no knowledge of the intent of that fleet. Jaina Solo, drawing upon her knowledge of starship design identified the ships in the fleet as Imperial in origin. Using their talents, the Jedi trainees sensed a dark presence in the attack force and realized that they were the ones that the attackers were after.

As the attack force approached the perimeter of automated defensive satellites, the satellites opened fire on the Imperials but their lasers were unable to penetrate the heavy armor of the blastboats. The blastboats disabled four of the satellites with their ion cannons and then destroyed them with their lasers. Meanwhile, the assault shuttle moved in on the space station and attached itself to an airlock. It then used industrial-grade Corusca gems to drill through the space station's hull.

With Tamith at their helm, a force of Stormtroopers swarmed through the hole. Though GemDiver Station's security forces used lethal force in their attempt to defend the station the stormtroopers had been ordered to keep their blaster rifles set on stun, so as not to kill or injure their quarry. Four stormtroopers were killed outright when they boarded the station. Calrissian and the students made their way to GemDiver Station's shipping chamber. It was situated behind heavy, triple-armored doors and an airlock. Calrissian left them there and stepped outside. He was later stunned.

Since they had not been allowed to construct their lightsabers yet and could not find an armory in the shipping chamber, the Jedi trainees were trapped. Stormtroopers managed to cut through the doors of the shipping chamber and cut through the doors with a heavy-duty laser. The Solo twins and Lowbacca were stunned and kidnapped.

Enter the Jedi
"Nonsense. Master Skywalker is holding you back unnecessarily. You already know how to use one of these. Go ahead. Here at the Shadow Academy we feel that lightsaber skills are among the first talents a Jedi should develop, because strong, able warriors are always needed. If a Jedi Knight is not ready to fight for a cause, then what good is he?"

- Brakiss

The three Jedi trainees, as well as Lowbacca's droid Em Teedee were kidnapped and taken to the Shadow Academy where Brakiss and Tamith Kai attempted to indoctrinate them into turning to the dark side of the Force. In the immediate aftermath of the raid on GemDiver Station, Brakiss was pleased with the results. Figuring that Skywalker would be gone looking for his missing Jedi trainees, he planned more raids on the Jedi Praxeum. However, he didn't know how right he was.

Jacen and Jaina both rejected Brakiss's teachings. Tamith Kai, however, made a bit more headway with Lowbacca, due to his somewhat short-tempered nature. Another aggravating factor was the reprogramming of Em Teedee to be more loyal to the Empire. Though Em Teedee had been annoying in the first place, he was even more so when he said things like "The Empire is your friend." However, Lowbacca managed to keep Tamith Kai's sadistic training methods from turning him.

After regaining consciousness, Calrissian informed Luke Skywalker of the disappearance of the trainees. He noted that the attack force had used industrial grade Corusca gems to drill into GemDiver Station's hull, and noted that, in an ironic twist, that his broker was the only person who the raiders could have bought the industrial-grade gems from. When Skywalker arrived, Calrissian gave the Jedi Master an old blockade runner named Off Chance so that he could travel incognito to Borgo Prime in search of the broker.

In the meantime, Calrissian and Lobot attempted to find ways to improve GemDiver Station's security, one of which involved using Corusca gems to defend the station. It is not known what the other ideas were, or if any were implemented. Skywalker and Tenel Ka embarked upon a mission to find them. Due to the nature of the Corusca gem industry, they managed to track down who bought the industrial-grade Corusca gems through Calrissian's unscrupulous broker. The trail led them to the planet Dathomir, where they found that the Nightsisters had been revived.

Passing themselves off as possible recruits for these new Nightsisters, Skywalker and Tenel Ka were sent to the Shadow Academy where the missing Jedi trainees were being held. When they arrived they found Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca were in the process of escaping the Shadow Academy. After a confrontation with Brakiss and Tamith Kai, the Jedi stole a shuttle and made it back to Yavin 4.

After the escape, he had to move the Shadow Academy immediately so that New Republic scouts that had been dispatched to find the missing trainees would not find it. He also scuttled his plans to kidnap more trainees from the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin. Instead, he would focus on recruiting disadvantaged youths to his cause.

Subverting the Enemy
"You'll be scavenging for the rest of your years, selling trinkets to earn enough credits for your next meal. Do you really have any chance for power or glory or importance of your own? I'm offering you that chance, boy. Are you brave enough to take it?"

- Brakiss recruiting Zekk

Before the Second Imperium could launch its battle to retake the galaxy, it needed first to fill its ranks with new recruits and procure basic equipment for the construction of a battle fleet. After the kidnapping of the Solo twins and the resultant debacle, the Shadow Academy was moved to the inner Coruscant system to fulfill both of these purposes. To fulfill the former objective, Tamith Kai, Vilas&mdash;her apprentice&mdash;and Garowyn were sent to the undercity of Coruscant. They were charged with finding Force-sensitive youths who could be easily swayed to the dark side. Youths who were not Force-sensitive could be useful as well, for they knew their way around a planet that was considered to be the heart of the New Republic and thus could be used as spies or saboteurs. They could also be trained to become stormtroopers or TIE pilots.

Among those youths who had been "recruited" was Zekk, who had been found to be considerably powerful in the Force. After some meetings with Brakiss, Zekk would come around to his point of view that the New Republic should be eliminated with a new Second Imperium rising from the ashes. Zekk would accompany Tamith Kai, Garowyn, and Vilas to the undercity once again to recruit the Lost Ones into the Second Imperium. He gave a speech while the other three used the Force to compel the Lost Ones to listen to the speech. All was going well until Jacen Solo and Tenel Ka barged in and confronted Zekk. However, a stun blast solved that problem quite easily. The Nightsisters, and Zekk made their exit with the new recruits in tow before Jacen and Tenel Ka regained consciousness.

To fulfill the latter objective, the Second Imperium managed to collect enough data to ascertain that the Adamant, a bulk cruiser that was carrying many turbolasers and hyperdrive cores, was going to make a stop at Coruscant, prior to resuming its course to Kuat Drive Yards, where the components would be used to arm and equip a new fleet of battleships for the New Republic. As the Adamant exited from hyperspace and made its way toward one of the docking zones located near one of Coruscant Space Traffic Control's space stations, it was intercepted by several Imperial short-range fighters which had seemingly appeared from nowhere.

Since the New Republic had recently made peace with the Imperial Remnant during the Bastion Accords in 19 ABY, Coruscant’s security forces were taken by surprise and were unable to react quickly.The group of Second Imperium fighters wasted no time in using their ion cannons to disable the Adamant's meager defenses. An Imperial Assault Shuttle piloted by Qorl then boarded the disabled vessel by using a specially modified cofferdam to cut into the hull outside the bulk cruiser's bridge. An Imperial boarding party of Stormtroopers then boarded the bridge and quickly stunned the crew which included a prominent New Republic officer&mdash;Admiral Ackbar who himself was knocked out by Qorl.

With the incapacitated crew loaded into an escape pod, Qorl took command of the Adamant while the stormtroopers made their way back to the assault shuttle and detached it from the Adamant. Qorl would bring the Adamant in to dock with the Shadow Academy. The unloading of its cargo began in earnest. The data regarding the Adamant's cargo was accurate and it was estimated that the Second Imperium's military strength would be doubled with the use of these components. The escape pod that contained Ackbar and the bridge crew of the Adamant was successfully retrieved. Security patrols of the Coruscant system were increased in the interest of guarding against the chance of any further Imperial attacks upon shipping that traveled to and from Coruscant. Later, a cargo shuttle named Moon Dash collided with the cloaked Shadow Academy's upper docking tower as it accelerated to hyperspace; destroying the vessl and killing her two crew&mdash;Captain Narek-Ag and her co-pilot Trebor.

Unaware of the presence of the Shadow Academy, the New Republic's Commissioner of Trade would seize upon this incident and use it to lobby Chief of State Leia Organa Solo to divert more resources to the charting of the space debris that had surrounded Coruscant since the Galactic Civil War. Leia was skeptical of the proposal, given that the New Republic's resources were already stretched thin. Her daughter, Jaina Solo, had overheard her conversation with Han Solo regarding the subject and volunteered herself and her friend Lowbacca to chart the space debris that surrounded Coruscant. The two of them would spend a significant amount of time while charting the debris. When Peckhum visited the Solos' quarters to see if he could learn anything about his friend Zekk's disappearance, Jaina decided that it would be easier to chart the debris from the Orbital Solar Energy Transfer Satellite that Peckhum would be stationed at during a later time.

There, Jaina and Lowbacca resumed their task of charting the debris. At the time, Jaina was viewing a number of captured news images of the raid on the Adamant, trying to make sense of the fact that there seemed to be no base nearby, but there were a number of short-range fighters employed in the assault. Meanwhile, Lowbacca noticed an anomalous region within a debris field that was completely free of debris. Suspicious, Jaina persuaded Peckhum to focus the satellite's mirrors upon the anomalous area of the debris field while she told her brother to tell their mother to inform Admiral Ackbar of the anomaly, and her suspicion that it was the Shadow Academy. Her suspicion turned out to be true when the mirror was focused on the anomalous area of space. Noticing that they had been found, the Shadow Academy accelerated to hyperspace before the fleet of New Republic warships could catch up to it.

Interregnum
"I'm not asking you to fight for me, Raynar. I need your help to fight for the New Republic, and against the evil ways we thought were behind us. Not for anyone person."

- Luke Skywalker

With their presence exposed not only to the inhabitants of the capital Coruscant but also to much of the general public in the New Republic, the Shadow Academy was forced to flee the Coruscant system via hyperspace. The Academy then headed to the remote and inaccessible Deep Core which remained a refuge for the remnants of the Imperial replacement warlords. These "warlords" remained independent of Pellaeon's Imperial Remnant and were still hostile towards the New Republic. The region had not been heavily settled due to the heavy gravitational pull of the vast numbers of stars which made hyperspace travel difficult.

Faced with the Second Imperium’s recent successes against the New Republic, Jedi Master Skywalker was forced to accelerate the training of his Jedi students; commanding them to build their own lightsabers with material they themselves had obtained. During an exercise designed by Luke Skywalker in the Jedi trainees had to wear visors that made laser remotes invisible, the Hapan-Dathomiri Tenel Ka used the Force to deflect the bolts aimed at her and was the only one to slice her remote in half. Tenel Ka then began a lightsaber training exercise with Jacen Solo. Unfortunately during that duel, her lightsaber malfunctioned and blew out in her left hand while Jacen swung his blade down to attack her. With her blade suddenly gone, Jacen was unable to bring his blade up in time and it severed Tenel Ka's left arm just above the elbow. Tenel Ka was whisked away to her homeworld of Hapes in the exclusive Hapes Consortium by her grandmother, Ta'a Chume's Ambassador, Yfra. Tenel Ka was greeted by her grandmother Ta'a Chume.

Later, Tenel Ka refused to have the prosthetic replacement her grandmother arranged for her to have attached, and sought to enhance her physical abilities along with her Jedi talents to make up. Soon after, Jacen and the others arrived and sought to comfort Tenel Ka, and confronted her over why she hadn't told them she was a princess. In response, Tenel said that she did not think they would accept her on her own merits, even though they had. After apologizing to each other, they spent time together.

Unfortunately, this peace was quickly interrupted by a bomb explosion at the Fountain Palace where they were residing. The bomb had been planted by the treacherous ambassador Yfra who intended to seize power. Fearful for their lives, the Queen Mother Ta’a Chume, her granddaughter Tenel Ka and the other Jedi trainees were spirited away to the reclusive Reef Fortress on a remote island in the middle of the ocean. However, Yfra arranged for their wavespeeder to be sabotaged, a patch of carnivorous eye-flower seaweed to ambush them and for a squad of deadly Bartokk mercenaries to attack them.

Discovering her ambassador’s treachery, Ta’a Chume returned to the capital of Ta’a Chume’ Dan to discover that Yfra&mdash;thinking that the Queen Mother was dead&mdash;had declared martial law and initiated a mourning period for the Ta’a Chume. Outraged, Ta’a Chume had Ambassador Yfra arrested and put on trial for plotting to murder the entire royal household. Following that, Tenel Ka made up her decision to return to Yavin IV to resume her training as a Jedi.

Following their successes in obtaining recruits and matériel at Coruscant, the Shadow Academy had assembled a force of determined yet inexperienced young people over a period of several months. Those who displayed any Force sensitivity were trained as Dark Jedi adepts while non-Force users were recruited as stormtroopers and pilots. It was during this time that the former street urchin Zekk excelled in his training as a Dark Jedi and became Lord Brakiss’ prize student much to the chagrin of the Nightsister Tamith Kai who favored her fellow Dathomiri compatriot Vilas.

Now faced with two rival candidates for the prestigious position of the Academy’s Darkest Knight&mdash;leader of all Dark Jedi adepts and unanswerable to only Brakiss and the Emperor himself, Brakiss and Tamith arranged for a duel-to-the-death between Zekk and Vilas. Before the entire assembled academy, Zekk and Vilas squared off with their lightsabers in the depths of a zero-gravity combat chamber littered with rubble. Vilas taunted Zekk’s history as a "trash collector" and promised to only maim Zekk if the latter surrendered; aggravating Zekk and driving him deeper into the dark side.

After attempting to trick Zekk amidst the rubble, Vilas swooped in for the kill. However, Zekk’s senses proved to be better in close-quarters combat and he severed Vilas through the torso with his lightsaber; putting an end to his rival. As the academy rose to cheer Zekk as their new leader, the holographic visage of Emperor Palpatine appeared on the screen which spanned the entire width of the chamber to announce his pleasure with Zekk’s victory. Brakiss warmly welcomed the victory whereas Tamith Kai remained bitter and resentful towards Zekk.

Confrontation
"For the friendship we once had, I'll spare you this time, Jaina. But don't ever test my loyalties again."

- Zekk

Now that Zekk had won his place within the Second Imperium and his position, Lord Brakiss assigned him the task of commanding a raid on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk&mdash;a strategic member world of the New Republic]] and a long-time foe of the Galactic Empire. The objective of the raid was to obtain valuable guidance and tactical computer systems from a computer fabrication facility at Thikkiiana City. These computer systems&mdash;accompanied by hyperdrive cores seized earlier during the Coruscant raid&mdash; would be installed onboard the Imperium’s newly-built battle fleet of Star Destroyers. This would allow the Imperium to complete construction on its fleet of hastily-assembled Star Destroyers. The captured computers would be used to transmit signals that would mimic the New Republic's secret starship ID patterns and thus allow the Imperium's starships to travel through Republic space disguised as Republic starships.

Originally, the raid had been planned to take place a few weeks later. However, by monitoring communications between the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV and the capital Coruscant, the Imperium had found out that the Solo twins and Tenel Ka Djo were accompanying fellow trainee Lowbacca back to Kashyyyk. The Wookiee Lowbacca's younger sister Sirrakuk was going to undergo a dangerous Wookiee ritual and thus needed the support of an older sibbling. During their trip, the Jedi trainees visited Thikkiiana City and its computer fabrication plant.

Donning holographic image disguisers which allowed them to infiltrate the compound pretending to be Wookiees, an Imperial commando team led by Zekk, Tamith Kai and Vonnda entered the Thikkiiana fabrication facility’s control tower and sabotaged the planetary defense systems. This allowed a small Imperial force to sneak past the defensive satellites and to land at the fabrication plant; overwhelming the unprepared workers and quickly making off with the computer systems. Meanwhile in the skies above Thikkiiana, Imperial TIE/In starfighters and TIE/sa bombers bombed the suburbs to distract the defenders.

In an act of petty vengeance, Garowyn attempted to "recover" her stolen personal starship "Shadow Chaser" from Jaina and her Wookiee friend Chewbacca but was killed instead. Having received a distress signal from the fabrication plant, Jacen, Tenel Ka, Lowie and Sirrakuk arrived only to encounter Zekk, Vonnda Ra and a contingent of Stormtroopers. The Jedi trainees fled down an escape hatch into the dangerous Shadowlands in the lower depths of Kashyyyk’s world-spanning tropical jungles; hotly pursued by the Dark Jedi and Imperials.

During this pursuit, the outnumbered Jedi used mixture of their Force abilities and the dangerous ecosystem to eliminate most of their pursuers. Most of the stormtroopers were eliminated by a giant slug whereas Vonnda Ra met her demise at the maw of a carnivorous syren plant. Meanwhile, Jaina encountered her former friend Zekk while searching for her friends in the Shadowlands. Despite his indoctrination, Zekk was unable to kill one of his former friends but instead warned her of the Second Imperium’s impending attack on the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV; telling her to stay away from it. He then quickly departed to rendezvous with a fast transport.

Having met its objectives, Zekk’s task force returned to the Shadow Academy in the depths of the Deep Core. While Brakiss was pleased with his pupil’s efforts, Tamith Kai was even more resentful towards Zekk over the loss of her two best friends and fellow Nightsisters Vonnda Ra and Garowyn. Earlier, the "Emperor Palpatine" had arrived onboard a camouflaged shuttle but refused to meet any of his followers including Brakiss himself. Instead, the "Emperor" remained secluded in an armored isolation chamber; guarded by the four Imperial Royal Guards.

This isolationist behavior caused Brakiss to feel concerned about the health of his master and even to question his own role in the future Second Imperium. Having obtained their guidance and tactical systems, the "Emperor" ordered the immediate departure of the Shadow Academy to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV for a stand-off with the Sith Lord’s most potent foes&mdash;the Jedi. Due to the vast distances in hyperspace between the Deep Core and Yavin IV in the Outer Rim, this journey would take approximately two standard days.

Meanwhile on Kashyyyk, the New Republic dispatched engineers and soldiers to help in the reparation and relief efforts at Thikkiiana city. Much of the computer fabrication plant had been devastated while large areas of the city had been damaged during the bombing raids. With the repairs completed, the Jedi trainees and Chewbacca left Kashyyyk on their transport Shadow Chaser and fled to the Jedi Praxeum to prepare for the impending attack. Master Skywalker and the Solo’s father Han Solo had also returned from a scouting mission. Preparations were also made to send New Republic naval reinforcements under Admiral Ackbar and Lando Calrissian to Yavin IV.

Showdown on Yavin IV
"Okay, what time is it when an Imperial walker steps on your wrist chronometer? Time to get a new chronometer!"

- Jacen Solo

After a two day journey through hyperspace, the Jedi trainees arrived back on Yavin IV. Together with Master Skywalker, they alerted and helped prepare the Academy for the impending attack on the Jedi Praxeum. Tenel Ka gave the other trainees a crash course in ground combat while Lowbacca was sent on his T-23 Skyhopper to fetch Jedi Master Tionne Solusar and trainee Raynar Thul who had gone on a training exercise at the Massassi Temple near the lake. While Jacen monitored the communications bands, Jaina and Luke went to get the shield generators ready for battle. Earlier, Han Solo had delivered a shipment of shield generators from Coruscant as a stopgap measure before more reinforcements arrived. Complicating matters further was the arrival of the merchant Peckhum on his transport Lightning Rod&mdash;who was unaware of the recent developments.

Meanwhile, the cloaked Shadow Academy arrived in low orbit over the Jedi Praxeum. From Brakiss’s perspective, the assault on the Praxeum would be a two-pronged attack led jointly by the Tamith Kai and Zekk. An Imperial commando team consisting of two TIE stealths piloted by newly-found recruits Commander Orvak and his back-up Dareb was sent to plant explosives at the shield generators and the Great Temple where the Praxeum was based. Despite the loss of Dareb, Orvak succeeded in disabling the shield generators. While planting explosives at the Temple, he was incapacitated by a crystal snake.

Following the destruction of the shield generators and the jamming of communications, Master Skywalker ordered the evacuation of all Jedi trainees who were housed in the Great Temple into the surrounding jungles. Meanwhile, the Second Imperium was able to deploy its starfighters and ground forces with little resistance. While TIE/In starfighters and TIE/sa bombers pummeled the Grand Audience Chamber which housed the Praxeum’s hangar bay, Tamith Kai oversaw the ground attack on a modified sail barge known as a battle platform. Donning repulsor packs, Zekk and his Dark Jedi landed in the jungles and began engaging Skywalker’s Jedi trainees.

Unable to communicate by Holonet, Jacen and Peckhum boarded the freighter the Lightning Rod to escape into hyperspace and to seek help while Skywalker went to check that the other Jedi trainees had evacuated the Great Temple. In the skies above the jungle moon, the vessel was pursued by four TIE fighters. Attempting to call for help over the comm system, Jacen encountered a gleeful Norys&mdash;the leader of the Lost Ones street gang which the former and Zekk had a bad encounter with in Coruscant’s lower levels. Norys’ TIE fighter began strafing the Lightning Rod. However, Qorl&mdash;who had received Jacen’s distress message and disgusted with Norys’ sadism and insubordination&mdash;came to the freighter’s rescue and destroyed Norys’ fighter; elimininating him.

Meanwhile, Tenel Ka and Lowbacca along with his translator droid M-TD boarded their T-23 Skyhopper and entered the battle to confront Tamith Kai’s battle platform; having sensed her presence in the Force. Unfortunately, the T-23 was shot down by TIE fighters but the crew managed to escape and continue their mission. However, the two Jedi managed to board the modified sail barge by using a grappling hook to scale the vehicle.

Once onboard, Lowbacca took on the stormtrooper guards while Tenel Ka confronted Tamith Kai who was furious to encounter them&mdash;having thought that Zekk had eliminated them on Kashyyyk. In the ensuing confrontation, the sail barge was destroyed; killing Tamith Kai and all the other Imperials onboard. Tenel Ka and Lowie jumped overboard into the jungles below and were later retrieved by a Jedi search party.

Other smalls groups of trainees worked together to defeat members of the Second Imperium. Three Cha'a and three avian trainees worked together to ambush Dark Knights from the river flowing alongside the Praxeum. Deeper in the jungles, a tree-like trainee also ambushed a Knight, while elsewhere Tionne Solusar and a group of trainees trapped four Dark Jedi by suspending granite blocks from a temple ruin above their heads and forcing them to surrender. Kyle Katarn also confronted the deranged Jeng Droga during the battle. Droga was on Yavin searching, again, for his Master the Emperor. Kyle was victorious, and finally defeated the murderer who had roamed the galaxy for many years.

Meanwhile, Zekk and his team of Dark Jedi attempted to use their combined Force powers to generate a Force storm to attack the Jedi fighters. However, they were distracted by Zekk’s angst upon seeing the Lightning Rod under attack and the presence of a lone Jedi trainee&mdash; Raynar Thul. Underestimating the Dark Jedi, the spoiled and boastful youth tried to force the Dark Jedi to surrender and even tried to use the Force to push them away. The Dark Jedi would have killed him, but Zekk threw him into the mud instead. While this act saved Thul’s life, it also cured the young Jedi trainee of his pride and arrogance.

End Game
"Where is the Emperor? There is no Emperor, is there? This has all been a hoax, a pitiful bid for power."

- Lord Brakiss

At the wrecked shield generator station, Jaina commandeered Orvak’s TIE stealth and began attacking six TIE fighters; destroying three. However, when the remaining three retaliated, Jaina was dragged into a ferocious dogfight in the upper atmosphere and space surrounding Yavin IV. By now, a fleet of New Republic naval reinforcements had emerged from hyperspace in the form of Corellian gunships and corvettes which were among the fast vessels available. With the remaining two TIE fighters closing in on her, she sent a distress signal to the nearest Republic ship. Luckily for her, the corvette was captained by Lando Calrissian and Admiral Ackbar whom she was close with. They promptly destroyed Jaina’s pursuers and even invited her to come on board the vessel for the duration of the conflict.

Upon arriving onboard, she was warmly received by the crew and soldiers onboard including Calrissian and Ackbar who were amazed by her skills and prowess as a fighter pilot. By now, the New Republic fleet was closing in on the vaunted Shadow Academy and were about to dispatch boarding parties. However, this was interrupted by the arrival of a Second Imperium force consisting of Star Destroyers which had been hastily fitted with the stolen hyperdive cores, turbolaser batteries and computer systems seized in earlier raids.

The Imperium Star Destroyers quickly launched their TIE squadrons, and began opening fire on the New Republic ships which were unable to return fire since the former broadcasted friendly ID signals which prevented the latter’s computers from firing back. However, Ackbar merely initiated an override signal which de-activated his foe’s computer systems and prevented them from firing back. In the New Republic counterattack, several Star Destroyers and TIE squadrons were destroyed while the survivors were forced into a retreat. In the ensuing space battle, Qorl’s TIE fighter was hit in the crossfire; sending the fighter hurtling down into the depths of Yavin IV. However, Qorl survived the crash and would continue eking out an existence in the unexplored jungles of that moon.

Meanwhile, Master Skywalker received a message from Brakiss via his comlink who suggested that the two of them meet alone away from the fighting at the Temple of the Blue Leaf Cluster. Seeing it as an opportunity to bring back his former trainee to the Light Side and to end the fighting, Skywalker accepted Brakiss’ offer. Upon arriving, Brakiss engaged his former master in a duel but was defeated after the latter disabled his lightsaber. Despite Skywalker’s attempts to bring him back from the Dark Side, his former pupil escaped using his repulsorpack.

With the battle turning against his forces, Brakiss fled on his shuttle to the safety of the Shadow Academy. There, he demanded to see the Emperor Palpatine to question him on the disastrous outcome of the battle. Two of the Royal Guards tried to block his entry into the Emperor's chamber but he cut them down with his lightsaber and then entered the chamber. There, he discovered a third Royal Guard working on a bank of controls, computer screens and holographic generators and realized that the Emperor had never returned. In reality, the Royal Guards had created this illusion so that they could control the Second Imperium. Unfortunately, the fourth guard used his "Emperor's" override controls to activate the Shadow Academy's self-destruct systems, destroying the space station and killing all onboard. The fourth guard then managed to escape on a shuttle and headed for parts unknown.

Back on the ground, the remaining Imperial forces saw the destruction of the Shadow Academy in low orbit. Many surrendered while others like Zekk fled for the safety of the jungle. When, Jaina and several other Jedi gathered around the Great Temple, Zekk reappeared and blocked their path. Jaina thought that he had wanted to duel her though Zekk wanted to protect his friends by preventing them from entering the temple. By now, Zekk had realized the errors of his ways.

Suddenly, the bomb exploded and destroyed a large proportion of the building. In the ensuing explosion, Zekk was knocked unconscious by several rocks but no one else was injured due to his efforts to block them from entering the building. Jaina's anxieties about the fate of her twin Jacen and Peckhum were cast aside with the sudden arrival of the Lightning Rod which requested that the group of Jedi clear to allow the freighter to land.

Aftemath
With the destruction of the Shadow Academy, the death of its leadership core and the defeat of its forces on Yavin IV, the Second Imperium was effectively neutralized. Meanwhile, Luke’s New Jedi Order began the process of recovering and rebuilding. During the fighting, a number of Jedi adepts had been wounded including Tenel Ka and Lowbacca though many would recover from their wounds. For the New Jedi Order, this brief conflict with the Second Imperium was only a prelude to even more devastating conflicts including the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Dark Nest Crisis and the Second Galactic Civil War where the Jedi sustained considerable attrition.

Reconstruction would also take place on the Jedi Praxeum. The Jedi trainees would also play a role in the clearance of debris and would also hunt for shards of craved stone blasted from the ancient structures, cataloguing them so that the pieces could be reassembled. Off-world engineers, architects and laborers would also be called in to help in the restoration efforts. New Republic military forces and planetary shields would also be installed on the Praxeum to defend it.

On one notable occasion, Anakin Solo returned to Yavin IV and helped to rebuild the Great Temple. He viewed its rubble as a huge puzzle to be solved. Unfortunately, the Great Temple would be later destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong during their invasion of the galaxy.

Despite recovering from his wounds, Zekk was invited to join the Jedi but refused, he would fall to the Dark Side again. Following a brief stint as a bounty hunter and a scenario involving the anti-Human Diversity Alliance, Zekk would join the Jedi Order. He would see action as a Jedi Knight during the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Dark Nest Crisis and the Second Galactic Civil War.

Following the battle, the Imperial pilot Qorl would return to a simple life on the jungle moon, refusing to surrender to the New Republic because of his indoctrination. There, he would remain sequestered until he encountered Anakin Solo years later during the Yuuzhan Vong War following the Peace Brigade capture of the Praxeum.

The fourth guard managed to escape on a shuttle and headed for parts unknown. He was later killed by the anti-Human Diversity Alliance in 24 ABY after he refused to reveal to them the location of the Emperor's Plague Storehouse. Unfortunately for him, he would later be killed by the anti-Human Diversity Alliance after he refused to reveal to them the location of the Emperor's Plague Warehouse.

Many of the Second Imperium’s adherents were rounded up by the New Republic forces. Some like the former Dark Jedi commander Zekk were convinced sufficiently to join Luke’s Jedi. However, the Jedi were unable to convince some like Lomi Plo and Welk to leave the dark side as it had become embedded deep in their minds. By the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War, both had joined the resurgent One Sith order on the ancient Sith burial world of Korriban.

In the opening stages of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Lomi Plo was captured by the extragalactic Vong during a mission to escort the so-called "Dark Lady of the Sith" Lumiya to Korriban. Welk was apparently captured by the Vong on Dathomir though this remains unconfirmed. Due to their control over the Force, the two were incarcerated aboard the Vong worldship Baanu Rass, where the Force-hunting voxyn were being bred to eliminate the Jedi threat. Aboard the Baanu Rass, Welk and Plo were used as live prey in the training of the creatures. Forced to run from the voxyn through the scenarios set up by the Yuuzhan Vong Shapers, Lomi and Welk soon learned their way around the cave warrens and slave cities on the worldship.

During a Jedi mission to Myrkr in 27 ABY the strike team encountered two Dark Jedi. Faced with a common enemy, Lomi Plo and Welk agreed to assist the Jedi in finding the voxyn queen in return for safety and protection. Towards the climax of the mission, they stole a repaired freighter, Tachyon Flier, and fled into the Unknown Regions with the Jedi Raynar Thul and Lowbacca's translator droid M-TD onboard.

Much later, in 35 ABY, it was revealed that the ship had crash-landed on Woteba, setting all three aboard on fire and mutilating them. They were rescued by the Killiks&mdash;a species long believed to be extinct for millennia since their disappearance from their homeworld of Alderaan around 30,000 BBY. Eventually, all three were absorbed into the Killik hive mind, thus effectively becoming Joiners. All three also became the leaders of the hives they joined. Raynar Thul became UnuThul while Lomi and Welk became the leaders of the Gorog nest of Killiks, also known as the Dark Nest. On the same year of the Killik rediscovery, Welk was slain by Master Luke Skywalker during a raid on Kr's Gorog hive.

Under the influence of Lomi Plo and UnuThul, the Killiks and their Joiner allies instigated the Swarm War in 36 ABY and waged on both the Chiss Ascendancy and the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. After a series of fierce battles, Lomi Plo was killed during a duel with Skywalker on her flagship Admiral Ackbar while UnuThul was captured and placed in the custody of the Jedi, thus ending their hold on the Killik hives.

Battles

 * Raid on the GemDiver Station
 * Raid on Coruscant
 * Battle of Kashyyyk
 * Battle of the Jedi Praxeum

Appearances

 * Young Jedi Knights: Shadow Academy
 * Young Jedi Knights: The Lost Ones
 * Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers
 * Young Jedi Knights: Darkest Knight
 * Young Jedi Knights: Jedi Under Siege
 * Star by Star
 * The Joiner King
 * The Unseen Queen
 * The Swarm War