Anti - Sith conspiracy The anti - Sith conspiracy was a plot carried out by several high - ranking members of the Galactic Empire in 1 BBY . Led by Grand Moff Trachta , the conspiracy attempted to overthrow the Sith leaders of the Empire — Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader . The attempt hinged on a special detachment of cloned stormtroopers , programmed to obey not Palpatine but Trachta . After splitting up Vader and Palpatine , the conspirators would have their stormtroopers , planted within the ranks of the two men ' s forces , turn on the Sith and kill them . The plot did not go as planned . The members first turned on each other , resulting in the assassination of most of the participants . The surviving members were no more successful , as Vader ' s and Palpatine ' s mastery of the Force allowed them to easily defeat the stormtroopers and dispose of the remaining leaders . In the end , all members of the conspiracy but the Imperial assassin Gauer were killed in the attempt . The plot . Earlier coup . In 19 BBY , as the Galactic Empire rose to power , Emperor Palpatine was the victim of an attempted military coup by the Imperial Academy headmaster , Gentis . Trachta , a veteran of the recent Clone Wars and a Moff , aided Palpatine , Darth Vader , and Lieutenant Laurita Tohm in quelling the coup . In the wake of the incident , Trachta was promoted to Grand Moff , and took over Gentis ' s former position of headmaster . Inception . Trachta , who had known Galactic Emperor Palpatine since approximately 31 BBY , first conceived the plan to topple him some time before the year 11 BBY . Officially , the reason was that he despised the theocratic rule of the Sith and wanted secular leadership for the Empire ; truthfully , he sought power for himself . In 11 BBY , Trachta first set his plan into motion by arranging for the creation of a special detachment of clone stormtrooper s , one hundred soldiers with absolute loyalty to Trachta and none to Palpatine . Over the next ten years , he brought several other Imperials into his plan , including Grand Moff Bartam , General Skosef , and the assassin Gauer . The plan begins . By 1 BBY , the army was complete . Carsan , the Imperial responsible for training the clones , took Trachta to see them and hand them over . To test their loyalty and remove a witness , Trachta ordered them to seize and execute Carsan . They demonstrated their complete loyalty by doing so . Having heard that Palpatine planned to disband the Imperial Senate , the conspirators decided that they would cause an even greater shift in power . By removing the Sith , whom they saw as a cult , they intended to give non - Force - sensitives — namely themselves — a chance at holding power . Around that time , Trachta recruited two other members , Moff Kadir of the Coruscant Security Force and Second Officer Dezsetes . Kadir was upset at the loss of a new batch of stormtroopers , originally intended to augment his forces , to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin , and was approached by Trachta . The Grand Moff felt him out for his willingness to find a " solution , " as Trachta put it . The young man proved trustworthy , and he was invited to attend a meeting of the conspirators . Dezsetes , meanwhile , was planted aboard the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Mathayus " , one of the most powerful Star Destroyers in the Imperial Navy . Hearing from him that Vader was to travel to the planet Dargulli on " Mathayus " to deal with a renegade Jedi , Trachta decided that with the Sith Lords split up , the time had come to make their move . In the twelve days or fewer that Vader was to be gone , Trachta intended to have both him and Palpatine eliminated . The first attacks . Some of Trachta ' s troopers were sent with Vader , to be commanded by Dezsetes and intended to kill the Sith . Dezsetes planned to wait until Dargulli to make his move , where the soldiers would be assigned to escort Vader . However , circumstances arose that gave the conspirator a chance to carry out his mission sooner than expected . En route to Dargulli , " Mathayus " intercepted a Rebel transmission about a rendezvous at Yorn Skot . Arriving in orbit above the world , they detected a Rebel vessel emitting a distress signal . There , the conspiracy had a stroke of luck : due to the fact that the original communication had been on an open channel , Dezsetes recognized that it was a trap , but let Vader walk into it anyway . " Mathayus " pulled the Rebel ship into a hangar and sent a boarding party to force its way in as Vader watched from an observation area on the hangar ' s side . The ship was empty , and Vader inquired as to how the original transmission had been received . When he was told , he quickly ordered the tractor beam to be released . It was almost too late , as the ship detonated in a massive explosion that shattered the windows of Vader ' s observation area , sending the Sith Lord flying into the rapidly decompressing hangar . Nevertheless , he recovered and made his way back to the bridge . Vader blamed himself for not noticing the trap , and Dezsetes ' s role was never detected . As that was taking place , the first strike on Palpatine was being carried out on the planet Coruscant . The Emperor planned to visit the Death Star , which was nearing completion . Before he left , a small number of Trachta ' s stormtroopers under the command of Skosef were sent on board his shuttle carrying an unsuspicious crate of bottles , and secretly , a bomb . Palpatine , however , sensed a danger through the Force and called a halt to his procession , which included Trachta . Moments later , the bomb detonated , killing many of Palpatine ' s stormtroopers and half his Royal Guard . That had all been intended by Trachta , however . Knowing that Palpatine would never walk into a trap , he had arranged for a two - part plan . The first part , though not harming Palpatine , had removed many of his protectors . To fill the gap , Trachta offered his own stormtroopers to augment the Imperial Palace guard , putting them in position to carry out the final part of the plot when the time came . With Palpatine ' s men and Vader out of the picture , he expected the Emperor to easily fall to his own troops . Power struggles . Even before they began to carry out their plan , the conspirators had already begun an internal struggle for power . Kadir had spoken with both Grand Moffs about the need for trust and unity , but both also had their own plans for retaining power . Bartam met with Gauer , suggesting to the assassin that Trachta could meet with an " accident . " Trachta , becoming paranoid about Bartam taking over , mentioned to Kadir the possibility that Bartam might not live to see the end of the plot . After the bombing , Trachta informed Skosef that he had been implicated , and recruited him to carry out his own plan . The General infiltrated the apartment of Bartam and executed the Grand Moff at point - blank range . Bartam ' s stormtrooper guard , who had been distracted , shot Skosef , killing him and inadvertently cleaning up any trace of Trachta ' s role in the assassination . As it turned out , Trachta had misidentified the true threat to him . Moff Kadir had his own ambitions , and under his orders , Gauer then went to Trachta ' s apartment . Trachta was wary , though , and when the muzzle of a blaster poked through the crack in his apartment door , Trachta shot the unseen assailant . As he went into the hallway to investigate , however , he learned that it had only been an assassin droid , a decoy . Gauer ambushed the Grand Moff , shooting him and ending his life . The final stages . While the conspirators on Coruscant had been busy killing each other , Dezsetes had been setting up the attack on Vader . After murdering Admiral Coy for being too loyal to the Dark Lord , he attempted to send a group of the specially altered stormtroopers with Vader to the surface of Dargulli . Vader , however , wanted to go alone , and Dezsetes had no choice but to let him . Now in charge of the operation , Kadir and Gauer brought their cadre of stormtroopers to the Emperor ' s throne room . Claiming control of Palace security , Kadir ordered the deaths of the Imperial officers who attempted to block them , and the party marched into the Throne Room . Palpatine was waiting to greet them , and simply stated " At last . " Several Royal Guards then leaped out of the drapes and began killing Kadir ' s men . Gauer , waiting outside , heard the commotion , turned , and ran . Palpatine let the guards attack the stormtroopers for some time , then finally let loose a torrent of Force lightning , laying waste to the soldiers left standing . Kadir was still alive , and made one last attempt to shoot Palpatine with a blaster . The Sith Lord , however , blocked it and blasted more lightning into the prone Moff . Though Palpatine did not approve of Kadir ' s arrogance in believing he could defeat the Emperor , he was impressed by the Moff ' s ability and supposed masterminding of the plot , and commended him for weeding out the traitors in the Empire . Kadir seized upon this , telling Palpatine that Vader had been killed , and offering himself as an apprentice . As Kadir had no Force - sensitivity , Palpatine declined , and then activated a holocam that showed Vader alive and well . Vader , in fact , had completed his mission to Dargulli and was back on " Mathayus " , surrounded by the altered stormtroopers and Dezsetes . He quickly eliminated the soldiers with his lightsaber , then turned on Dezsetes . The officer told Vader that the Emperor was dead , and that Trachta had been behind the conspiracy . Upon hearing this , Palpatine promptly electrocuted Kadir while Vader stabbed Dezsetes . The conspiracy had been brought to an end . Principal conspirators . Grand Moff Trachta . A man encased in life - support equipment due to a thermal detonator explosion , Trachta was the original architect of the plot against the Sith . Despite an association with Palpatine of almost thirty years , Trachta saw the Sith as " arrogant fools , " believing that the rule of the Sith kept all others from power . He intended to institute a secular organization , with himself as the head . Trachta ' s co - conspirators grew suspicious of his motives as the plot drew to a close , and the Grand Moff began using terms like " I " rather than " we " when speaking of his ambitions . It would not be their suspicions that killed him , however , but the ambition of his own recruit , the young Moff Kadir . Trachta was considered dangerous enough that this was not anticipated to be an easy feat , but the Grand Moff was assassinated nonetheless . Grand Moff Bartam . Along with Trachta , the corpulent Bartam was one of the highest - ranking Imperials to have a part in the conspiracy . In the final stages of the plot , Bartam recruited Gauer to his side , and the two men met multiple times , at one point discussing the idea of removing Trachta . Nonetheless , though he disliked the other Grand Moff , Bartam had no actual intention of killing him . Trachta ' s suspicions of the possibility , however , led him to make the first move and have his fellow Grand Moff eliminated . Gauer . Gauer , the only member of the conspiracy to escape it alive , was an assassin in the employ of the Empire , and was even considered by Lord Vader to be capable of taking on a lightsaber - user in combat . Allying himself with Bartam and Kadir , Gauer eventually eliminated both men ' s rival in Trachta , and joined with Kadir for the final attack on the Emperor . As his allies and soldiers fell to Palpatine ' s guards and the Dark Lord himself , Gauer fled the scene . Moff Kadir . Kadir , though a late addition to the conspiracy , eventually turned on its own architect and assumed control of it . Kadir was initially reprimanded by Trachta for his supposed innocence in matters of politics , as the younger man advocated that all the conspirators trust each other . He later spoke with Bartam , stating a similar idea . However , Kadir would prove to be less innocent than he appeared , as the ambitious Moff later joined forces with Gauer to have Trachta removed and take power on his own . After his men were killed , he even requested as high a position as the protégé of Palpatine himself ; the Sith Lord , though impressed with his ingenuity , nonetheless forced him to watch his plot unravel , then killed him . General Skosef . Skosef appeared to be an executor of the conspirators ' will , assigned to tasks from planting bombs to carrying out assassinations . When the members of the cabal turned on each other , Skosef aligned himself with Trachta , and ultimately died carrying out the Grand Moff ' s assassination order . Behind the scenes . The anti - Sith conspiracy first appeared in " " . Abel G . Peña , in writing the " Imperial Betrayal " article of " The Official Star Wars Fact File " , made mention of Atha Prime , a character originally created for a canceled line of toys by Kenner and intended to be a " genetics master . " It suggested that Prime and Trachta had been working together , and was intended to fuel speculation on the idea , first canonized in " Betrayal " , that stormtroopers were clones . This reference , however , was cut from the final draft . As explained by writer Scott Allie , in the original drafts of " " the other conspirators were not intended to be as ambitious as Trachta , and Kadir and Gauer did not usurp his role in the conspiracy .