Black Fleet Crisis (Clone Wars)

The Black Fleet Crisis occured during the Clone Wars near the end of 19 BBY and ended a year later. At the time, it was the most destructive, widespread, and devastating series of battles of not only the Clone Wars, but in all of galactic history, with millions of Loyalist, Separatist, and neutral star systems being violently depopulated and outright wiped off the face of the galactic map.

It began when the ancient Sith Lord Darth Nihilus revealed himself to the galaxy and, using his hidden army and fleet, exterminated all life on the original Earth. From there, his forces, now christened the Universal Empire, destroyed the HoloNet communications network, severing contact between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems' forces that were locked in the brutal Outer Rim Sieges. The Sith Lord then led his forces to devastate and conquer a large portion of the known galaxy, to feed his unending hunger for the Living Force, and construct massive, automated, extragalactic shipyards called the Rim Installations, preparing to conquer the entire known universe once he was finished with the galaxy. The Crisis ended with his final death on Malachor V in 18 BBY at the hands of the late Hisone Amakasu, with the HoloNet being rebuilt and the Clone Wars concluding mere days afterwards.

The effects of the Black Fleet Crisis were astronomical, galaxy-altering, even. Following the formation of the Galactic Empire, much of the galaxy was thrown into chaos for longer than Emperor Sheev Palpatine anticipated, and this period included a resurgence of the Mandalorians, who used their vast, restored warfleet to wreak havoc on Imperial commerce and systems. Order 66 was also somewhat less effective than Palpatine thought it would be, as a lone Jedi Knight saw his true identity on Malachor V and managed to warn several Jedi, including Plo Koon, of the Order before being killed by a member of the early Imperial Inquisitorious. This led to the formation of many rebel cells, each with various motivations for taking down the Empire, with former Jedi General Rahm Kota's winding up becoming the largest and most prominent cell, before being all reformed, along with some of the Mandalorian clans and remaining Separatist Holdouts, into the Alliance to Restore the Republic after the Corellian Treaty of 2 BBY, which was organized by Gray Jedi Galen Marek shortly before his death aboard the half-complete first Death Star in a quest to save the infant Rebellion's leaders from execution.

Many years after his final defeat, the mere mention of Nihilus' name was still enough to evoke dread throughout the galaxy, especially on worlds that he had previously depopulated like Telos IV, while Hisone's name was exalted, especially by the humanocentric Empire; Imperial propagandists would downplay the actions of the Jedi and non-human soldiers during the Black Fleet Crisis and emphasize the fact that the ancient threat was ultimately defeated by a single, courageous, human woman.