Western Reaches pacification operations Following the end of the Clone Wars , the Galactic Empire launched pacification operations against the holdouts of the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the Western Reaches . A large amount of these holdouts were made up of starship s crewed by organic beings instead of droid s . Prelude . The Confederacy of Independent Systems ' s existence as an organized galactic government was rapidly and abruptly ended with the death s of Head of State Count Dooku , Supreme Commander of the Droid Army General Grievous , and the Separatist Council in quick succession . After the Council ' s demise at Mustafar , Darth Vader sent out a deactivation signal to the Droid Army , effectively ending the three year Clone Wars . The megacorporations that had helped fund the Confederacy , like the Techno Union and the Trade Federation , were all nationalized by the newly - formed Galactic Empire , with their accounts plundered by government financiers like Arsin Crassus , and many Confederate worlds were brought under Imperial rule . Despite the Separatist Alliance effectively ceasing to exist , however , many elements of the Confederacy , which became known as Separatist holdouts , escaped to the remote region known as the Western Reaches and continued resist the Empire , some not even realizing the war was over . Campaign . Elements of the Imperial Navy began mounting excursions into formerly - Separatist - held space as early as 18 BBY . Following the controversy surrounding the atrocity on the former - Separatist moon Antar 4 , Emperor Sheev Palpatine assigned Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to these operations , where he would be far removed from the media spotlight . However , as the campaign progressed , planetary populations of former Separatist worlds , dissatisfied with the Empire ' s perceived lack of reconstructive action in the aftermath of the Clone Wars , added to the holdouts , further swelling their numbers to dangerous levels . Shipyard s like the one over Kartoosh , just outside of the Western Reaches , supported Imperial star destroyers fighting in the operations , serving as repair hubs for starship s damaged in engagements with Separatists as well as salvage yard s for captured Separatist vessels . Lieutenant Commander Orson Krennic , in collaboration with Moff Tarkin , utilized the conflict as a pretext to advance the top - secret Imperial construction project occurring above Geonosis . He used the threat of arms smuggling to allegedly - Separatist - aligned mining concerns in the region as justification for the appropriation of numerous legacy world s , such as Samovar and Wadi Raffa . In addition to this , the meltdown of the project ' s nuclear reactor on Malpaz was chalked - up to an attack by local Separatist holdouts as part of Krennic ' s coverup . Moff Tarkin would continue to campaign against the holdouts until 17 BBY , when he was reassigned by the Emperor to Sentinel Base . Because of this apparently - insignificant posting , rumors spread that it was due to a failure in commanding one of these operations , although in reality was not the case . Nevertheless , the conflicts were concluded by the Imperial Military by 15 BBY , and the region was thought to be pacified by a year later . Aftermath . Many Imperial officer s , such as Tarkin and Naval Intelligence Agency Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit , saw these operations as justification for the expansion of the Imperial Navy ; militarists such as Rancit pointed to these campaigns to illustrate the danger posed by Separatist holdouts and by equipped rebel groups in general , using it against members of the Imperial Ruling Council to argue the serious threat of the insurgents terrorizing the Empire just one year later . This line of thinking furthermore played into Tarkin ' s private citation of the campaign as the need for a doctrine of " rule by fear . " In addition , those like Tarkin who were privy to such information were convinced that the mop - up operation showed the value of the concept of a mobile battle station , which would ultimately be realized in the completed Death Star .