Timeline of the Downfall of the Empire

[Rahvin]

4 Years Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY)
Following a rising number of insurgent activities on Lothal culminating in the bombing of the Empire Day Parade, Imperial military presence on Lothal is significantly increased. Eventually, an Imperial blockade under the command of Darth Vader is established around the planet after the destruction of Grand Moff Tarkin's Star Destroyer, the Sovereign, at the hands of insurgents. Vader would be successful in hunting down the Rebels, destroying most of the Phoenix cell fleet in the process. The survivors of Vader's purge would go on to reform around the rebel band known as the Spectres and would continue a series of raids and skirmishes against the Empire. Vader would assign members of the Inquisitorius Program to continue the hunt.

3 BBY
Leia Organa has her Day of Demand, claiming her right to the throne of Alderaan.

The insurgency on Lothal worsens. The rebuilt Phoenix cell continues to gain support from the people and carries out a number of missions against Imperial targets. The cell connects with other fledgling insurgency cells including one backed by the royalty of Alderaan who supplies them with Sphyrna-class corvettes, better known as Hammerheads. The growing fleet was now once again a solid threat to the Imperial forces at Lothal.

2 BBY
Unable to handle the growing insurgent threat, Governor Pryce of Lothal requests the assistance of Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Seventh Fleet to end the threat once and for all. The rebel cells continue to defy the Empire, however, and eventually begin to unite together under the call of Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrilla at Dantooine. Under her call and using the examples of the Phoenix cell, Mon Mothma officially unites a number of rebel factions together to become the Alliance to Restore the Republic, better known as the Rebel Alliance. They would suffer a defeat early on, however, with Thrawn defeating them at their base on Atollon and forcing them to withdraw to Yavin IV.

1 BBY
A united Rebel Alliance continues the campaign at Lothal, eventually breaking the blockade with a number of snubfighters. The Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus is killed during the final days of the conflict, a short time before Phoenix cell leads a final assault on Lothal. After the Seventh Fleet is assaulted by a herd of space-faring purrgil who carry the ships away into hyperspace.

0 BBY
The Death Star becomes fully armed and operational. To put down a growing rebel cell on Jedha, Grand Moff Tarkin has the weapon test fired with a single-reactor ignition; the resulting blast demolishes Jedha City and a large portion of the nearby planet. The Empire blames the destruction on a mining accident to hide the existence of their new superweapon.

The Rebel Alliance officially comes out of hiding by launching an attack on the Imperial Vault at Scarif, starting the Galactic Civil War. During the battle, agents on the surface steal plans for the Death Star and transmit them to the surface; the team is lost, however, when the Death Star appears from hyperspace and fires at the planet, destroying the Vault. A large portion of the Alliance's capital fleet is lost during the battle as it is caught between the Death Star, the Scarif defense fleet, and the arrival of Darth Vader's flagship, the Devastator, with the MC75 Star Cruiser Profundity being captured by Vader. Princess Leia Organa's consular ship, the Tantive IV, escapes from the battle with the Death Star plans on board and is pursued by the Devastator shortly thereafter.

As the Battle at Scarif rages, the Emperor finally finishes what he began nearly two decades ago, officially abolishing the old Senate and putting all power squarely in his hand.

The Devastator soon overtakes Organa's ship near Tatooine and Organa is taken into custody but not before the Death Star plans are hidden away in an astromech droid that is sent to the surface of the planet below where Organa had hoped to recruit the services of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi for the Alliance. In order to demonstrate the full might of the Death Star and attempt to cow Organa into submission, Tarkin orders the Death Star to fire upon Alderaan. The planet is destroyed and the destructive power of the Death Star is revealed to the galaxy at large.

Organa is rescued by a small infiltration team lead by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who sacrifices himself to allow them to escape with the Princess and the plans to the Death Star. As Tarkin pursues the escaping princess to the Alliance base on Yavin IV, the Alliance musters what forces it has left to launch an assault against the space station. The Rebels, having uncovered a flaw in the Death Star installed by the actions of the treasonous Imperial scientist, Galen Erso, successfully attack the Death Star, destroying it over Yavin IV.

0 Years After the Battle of Yavin (ABY)
The Battle of Yavin; the Rebels, having uncovered a flaw in the Death Star installed by the actions of the treasonous Imperial scientist, Galen Erso, successfully attack the Death Star, destroying it over Yavin IV. Grand Moff Tarkin and a large number of Imperial officials are killed by the destruction of the battle station, leaving large gaps in the Imperial hierarchy. Darth Vader, however, escapes the destruction.

The rebels quickly evacuate Yavin IV and, emboldened by their first true victories, begin a series of surgical strikes across the galaxy. Among them is an attack on the Weapons Factory Alpha on Cymoon 1; the destruction of the facility causes major setbacks for the Imperial military. In response, the Empire begins to crack down even further all across the galaxy and, discovering the betrayal that had destroyed the Death Star, immediately began construction on a second such weapon at Endor.

1 ABY
The Rebel Alliance attempts to make contact with the survivors of the Jedha partisan group, now under the command of Benthic Two-Tubes. During the brief conflict that ensues, Imperial forces recover the remaining kyber crystals from Jedha.

A bio-weapon runs amok at an Imperial facility on Dandoran, resulting in the local garrison becoming infected with a bio-weapon called the Sickness; the entire garrison seemed to descend into a mindless, cannibalistic state. While the Alliance attempted to discover the source of the outbreak, the Empire - hoping to keep such a weapon secret after the failure of the Death Star - simply destroyed the facility from orbit, presumably destroying all samples of the Sickness.

2 ABY
After a failed attempt to make in-roads on Ord Mantell due to the interference of a Black Sun employed bounty hunter coming for the head of Alliance General Han Solo, the Rebel Alliance establishes a base on the sixth planet of the Hoth system.

The Executor officially leaves drydock; the first of the Executor-class Star Dreadnaughts, it becomes the flagship of Darth Vader new fleet, the Death Squadron.

3 ABY
With a new base to organize from, a new offensive is begun in the Mid Rim. Although the offensive is at first a resounding success, the commanders in charge begin to stretch themselves too thin, allowing the Imperials to begin to retake planets that had been liberated during the surge. Known as the Mid Rim Retreat, the fighting actions of the campaign were some of the most vicious fighting of the civil war.

At the end of this retreat, Death Squadron locates the Alliance base on Hoth. Upon arrival in the system and finding an energy shield in place, Lord Vader orders a ground assault. The battle officially ends the campaign of the Retreat, pushing the Rebels out of their last major base - although a number of ships in Death Squadron are destroyed while pursuing fleeing rebels.

Imperial forces officially occupy Bespin, securing a near infinite supply supply of tibanna gas to fuel their war efforts.

With the second Death Star still years from completion, the Emperor devises a plan to draw the Rebel fleet to it and finish the war once and for all. A fleet begins to gather at Hudalla to draw the attention of the Rebels to the system and give them the impression the Imperial fleet was massing there to attack the Alliance. At the same time, information was leaked to the Bothan spynet of the existence of Endor, the second Death Star, and a secret hyperspace lane between Endor and the planet Sullust.

4 ABY
With this information, Alliance commanders convene. It is decided an Alliance fleet, headed by Gial Ackbar, will launch ahead to Sullust, securing a position for the Rebels to gather to launch their attack from. In order to distract Imperial attention away from the Alliance gathering, Leia Organa launches Operation Yellow Moon which culminates in her mission to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt.

With the fleet gathered, the Rebels launch a two-pronged assault on the Death Star - a ground assault on the shield generator on Endor and a space fleet in orbit. The Emperor springs his trap but fails to foresee the betrayal of Darth Vader. Both Emperor Palpatine and Vader are killed and the Death Star destroyed by victorious Alliance forces.

Victory celebrations begin across the galaxy as placed Alliance agents immediately spread word of the Emperor's demise. Celebrations turn into riots and violent suppression as Imperial forces attempt to maintain order. Corsucant, the Imperial capital, descends into a civil war as loyal Imperial forces deal with local rebels.

With his death comes Sheev Palpatine's Contingency plan. Operation: Cinder targeted a number of planets, including Naboo, by disrupting their climates through technological modification. Although Naboo was rescued for a tragic fate by the presence of Leia Organa and fighter ace Shara Bey, a number of other planets were rendered uninhabitable before the officers behind Operation: Cinder were eventually stopped.

The Imperial governor in the Anoat sector locks his sector down, establishing the Iron Blockade. Soon enough, without any outside assistance, citizens in the sector began an uprising to take back their worlds.

As the Alliance begins to reform into the New Republic, a number of high ranking Imperial officers, including now Grand Admiral Sloane, converge on Akiva to discuss the future of the Empire. An insurgency on Akiva threatens the summit, however, and New Republic forces under the command of Admiral Ackbar soon arrive. Of all the officers at the meeting, only Sloane escapes; the entire summit had been arranged and manipulated by her backer, Gallius Rax, to remove his most powerful adversaries in his attempt to perform Palpatine's Contingency.

5 ABY
With their military growing, the New Republic becomes more forward in its attacks, launching attacks on worlds still held by Imperial holdouts. Among these battles is the Siege of Arkanis, the site of one of the remaining Imperial Academies. Following the surrender of the Kuat Drive Yards to New Republic, Grand Admiral Sloane suggests peace talks between the Empire and the New Republic. As plans for the peace talks begin, a group of commandos land on Kashyyyk and free prisoners from a facility there; most prisoners are returned to Chandrilla for medical care while the Wookiee prisoners continue to fight to liberate their homeworld.

On Chandrilla, the peace talks begin - only to have the prisoners freed from Kashyyyk fire upon high ranking members of the Republic. Mon Mothma is injured during the attack and General Crix Madine is rumored to be among those killed in the chaos. Rae Sloane, realizing she's been betrayed by Gallius Rax, escapes Chandrilla with her life and begins to hunt down the man who usurped her position in the Empire.

The Republic tracks the remains of the Imperial military to Jakku where Gallis Rax has holed up. Although it takes a lot of effort, the Senate is convinced to send the fleet to try to finish the war once and for all. While the initial battle was relatively quick and saw the death of Rax at Sloane's hands and the destruction of much of the Imperial fleet, the surface battle would last for months as hold-outs dug into the desert world's many nooks and crannies. The battle marked the end of the Galactic Civil War with the remnants of the Imperial government on Coruscant officially signing the Galactic Concordance to end the war.

As systems join the Republic, the Confederacy of Coporate Systems breaks free of both Imperial and Republic control. The pirate nation of the Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanaya form as a nomad fleet for refugees in deep space with the captured Executor-class Annihilator (renamed the Liberty's Misrule) as its flagship.

6 ABY
Having refused to follow Rax's commands to rendezvous at Jakku, Admiral Patrice Verlasso with her battlegroup wages a guerilla war across the Outer RIm in pursuit of punishing the New Republic. Refusing to accept the cease fire, raids and pillages worlds known to be friendly to the Republic and steals the supplies she needs to maintain her fleet. The guerilla conflict soon weighs on her forces, however, and she is soon forced to be reduced to only her flagship, the Gladiator-class Imperator and its support ships. Desperate, she looks for a new source of resources and supplies to continue her war...

As Noventa's annual Carnival approaches, Governor Maudin Deltiss is approached by agents of the Republic, offering assistance to eventually fold the planet into the Republic.