Pre – Shadow Hand campaign In 10 ABY , the forces of the Galactic Empire launched a multi - pronged campaign on the orders of the reborn Emperor Palpatine . The campaign , which soon dissolved into the Imperial Mutiny , was followed by Operation Shadow Hand . Prelude . In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor , both the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic thought Emperor Palpatine dead in the destruction of the Second Death Star . In fact , his spirit had survived and made its way to the Imperial redoubt of Byss in the Deep Core , where it spent a lengthy convalescence as it was reborn into a clone body . In the mean time , the New Republic advanced from Endor , slowly chipping away at a Galactic Empire that was torn by warlordism , until by 7 ABY it had captured Coruscant . Prior to the Thrawn campaign of 9 ABY , Palpatine ' s clone slowly drew military forces into the Deep Core for a new offensive : Imperial Admiral Feyet Kiez abandoned Anaxes with the Star Dreadnought " Whelm " at Palpatine ' s orders , leaving even his second - in - command Osted Wermis none the wiser about his destination . The Imperial warlord - turned - pirate Inos Fonada disappeared down the Corellian Trade Spine with his fleet ; the top designers of an Imperial research facility on Kelada vanished with all their weapons schematics ; and after the seizure of Kuat , the entire senior Kuat Drive Yards design team fled into the Deep Core aboard the half - completed dreadnought " Eclipse " . The New Republic mostly forgot about these reports during the near - disaster of Grand Admiral Thrawn ' s final campaign , and in its aftermath , reasserted its power with raids into the New Territories , conquering the Imperial Ruling Council ' s capital of Orinda and striking at the self - styled Prince - Admiral Delak Krennel ' s Ciutric Hegemony in the Hegemony theater . Krennel was chosen due to his murder of Grand Vizier Sate Pestage several years earlier , and had continued to support his reign by bloody purges and repressing non - humans . The choice was seen as controversial by many , as Krennel had been relatively quiet since his rise to power and had not attempted to move outside the Hegemony . Aided by Ysanne Isard ' s clone , Krennel had helped this image by speaking out against superweapons , apologizing for the destruction of Alderaan , admitting the Empire had committed many wrong acts , and offering a refuge to Humans displaced by the New Republic ' s policies of reversing Imperial Human High Culture . As the policy continued , they were approached or had been approached by a number of refugee groups and other former Imperials , including Alderaanian refugee s . They also had sent word to Gilad Pellaeon about bringing Thrawn ' s fleet into the Hegemony . However , the tide began to turn against them after the discovery of the plans for the Pulsar Station , a Death Star - like superweapon . In reality , the plans were false and had been planted by the real Ysanne Isard , who helped a New Republic force led by Rogue Squadron liberate the Hegemony and kill Krennel . Meanwhile , Palpatine ' s agents made overtures to the Deep Core warlords , Blitzer Harrsk of Zero Command , Treuten Teradoc , and Sander Delvardus . The remnants of the Loyalist Imperial Ruling Council accepted the reborn Emperor as well , as did the otherwise - isolationist Pentastar Alignment led by Ardus Kaine . Most of the factions in Palpatine ' s alliance hated each other , but all feared both the Emperor ' s wrath and missing out on the cut of the spoils of a successful campaign . The campaign . Advance from the Deep Core . With Gial Ackbar and the New Republic Defense Fleet far out in the Outer Rim Territories pursuing Krennel , the Core Worlds were left lightly defended , and Palpatine chose this moment to strike . Three enormous Imperial task forces advanced out of the Deep Core , anchored around four " Executor " - class dreadnoughts ( including the missing " Whelm " ) , five " Mandator " III - class dreadnoughts , and three " Vengeance " - class dreadnoughts . The New Republic Navy , so long optimised for smaller cruiser and carrier - launched snubfighter action , proved to have no counter to the massive Star Dreadnoughts . The Deep Core fleets conquered Kaikielius and Alsakan . Meanwhile , High Admiral Treuten Teradoc struck Corellia . The New Republic cobbled together a hasty defense at Metellos , but its fleets were caught completely out of position . Fleets sent from Imperial Space in the New Territories descended on the Core from the north , conquering Anaxes and Borleias . Meanwhile , Sander Delvardus annihilated the fleet at Metellos , and the Ruling Council ' s forces advanced across the Borderland Regions , capturing Contruum and Columex . The fall of Coruscant . Imperial fleets converged on Coruscant and initiated a savage bombardment of the planetary shields . With no hope of victory , Mon Mothma ordered an evacuation of the planet , carried out by Garm Bel Iblis . The New Republic resorted to guerrilla fighting amid Galactic City , but ultimately lost the battle , and General Alix Balan led an Imperial triumph through the boulevards of Coruscant . Aftermath . The New Republic ' s government regrouped on Da Soocha V in Hutt Space . They regarded the Empire ' s rapid new advance as unsustainable and awaited the opportunity to launch counterattacks . The newly - unified Empire , however , soon collapsed into a horrific six - way civil war between the Ruling Council , the Moffs , the Fleet commanders , the Inquisitorius , COMPNOR , and the Imperial Security Bureau that became known as the Imperial Mutiny . Coruscant was left a depopulated ruin . The cloned Emperor Palpatine did nothing to quell this fratricide , viewing it as " culling the weak " , and instead used the opportunity to publicly reveal himself and deploy his World Devastator superweapons to Dac as part of Operation Shadow Hand . The New Republic ' s poor performance against Imperial Star Dreadnoughts inspired the development of their own dreadnought analogues , the " Mediator " - class battle cruiser and the " Viscount " - class Star Defender as part of the New Class Modernization Program in the aftermath of Operation Shadow Hand .