5 Year Time Jump -- The Dread Masters

== End of the Asavianic War ==
"The threat has passed... finally..."
The Reborn Dread Masters, Governors of the Six Sectors of the Sith Imperium and Ministers of Lore and Ancient Knowledge, were in a state of crisis. Darth Asavian's assault on the Imperium and its Six Sectors had been devastating. The Dread Masters had been hurt more than most. During the war, the Dread Masters had done their best to aid the Sith Imperium in fighting the monster that was Asavian. However, it was a mistake. Asavian had at one point obliterated the Dread Masters' Palace and powerbase. Additionally, Lords Nolus and Erasis had directly opposed Asavian, but they were both easily defeated by the powerful force-user. Asavian had used his powers to drain the two Dread Masters of their strength in the force, severely weakening them. At the same time, the Sith Imperium imprisoned Dread Master Vemara, daughter of Asavian, suspecting she had ties with the enemy. With three of the Masters rendered useless, Lords Kataret and Vindictiva were tasked to maintain the security of the remaining sectors of Imperium.
Despite the odds, heroes of the Sith Imperium did end up finding and defeating Asavian once and for all, leaving his forces to fall. However, it may have been for nothing. The damage Asavian had inflicted on the Imperium's territory and numbers and been critical, leaving the Dread Masters to question the Imperium's strength. A single force-user, Asavian, had marched his way into Sith Imperium territory, took control of an entire sector, and even threatened the capital world. Even worse, with the Imperium's forces pushed so far back, there could be little done to stop Republic and Hutt invaders. Kataret and Vindictiva, now part of a fractured union, disappeared from the Sith Imperium, leaving the governorship of the remaining sectors to the military. The two Masters proceeded to free Vemara from her imprisonment aboard the Sovereign, and then they recalled the remnants of their forces and Dread Fleet to Oricon.
On Oricon, Dread Masters Kataret, Vindictiva, and Vemara met with the weakened Masters Erasis and Nolus. Seeing the state that their union was in, the Masters agreed they would remain out of the public eye of the Sith Imperium, and stay on Oricon for the next several years. With their power depleted and their former palace in ruins, they decided Oricon would provide the shelter they needed to recover their power and regain the losses they had endured from Asavian. With their disappearance from the Sith Imperium, their authority was forgotten as they entered seclusion and exile. They wanted no disturbance from anyone, entering deep meditations and performing secretive rituals to reclaim all they had lost.
== Activities Over the next 5 Years ==
Much of the Dread Masters activities on Oricon is unknown to the public. They purposely covered any trace of themselves to avoid any contact with others. They needed time, much time, to recover from the damage they had suffered to Asavian and his army. With two Masters weakened, no official powerbase, and still lacking a sixth member, the Dread Masters were in chaos. Their sanity even became tested, as all of the Dread Masters had been separated over the duration of the war. It had been hard for all of them to live without each other's assistance, but they had finally been reunited, and sought to deepen connections with one another. They spent much time in long meditation to reconnect and strengthen their fractured bond.
At one point, the Dread Masters sought to complete their long unfinished union. It required six members, yet they had been five for so long. The Dread Masters eventually summoned one of their prodigies that had survived the Asavianic War. The prodigy was Darth Belleva, an active Dread Guard who had been seeking to elevate to the mantle of Dread Master for a long time. Her progress had been delayed however, when Asavian had damaged the Dread Masters and their power. But now, in exile, the Masters were free of any external disruptions. Through an intense and long ritual, Belleva was finally elevated as the sixth Dread Master and the Successor of Styrak. Completed, all six of the Masters' powers were heightened, and together, they grew stronger and more formidable.
Still, the Dread Masters evaded contact from the galaxy outside of Oricon and safe territory. However, at one point it is believed they came in contact with some authority in the Sith Imperium. The Dread Masters, still loyal to what they remember to be Emperor Salvatus, attempted to learn of his status at times. However, they were frequently refused any access, and became enraged. But it appeared Emperor Salvatus did know of the loyalty of the Masters, as he had a new Dread Palace constructed for them when his colony, Roderick City, was built on Yavin IV. Though, over the five years following the Asavianic War, the Dread Masters did not dare leave Oricon, not even for this new Palace. They stayed there, secretively planning their future and discussing their thoughts about the status of the Sith Imperium and Emperor.
== Return from Exile ==
Finally, after five years in exile, the Dread Masters made a public appearance. Led by their elected leader, Lord Erasis, the Dread Masters traveled to Roderick City on Yavin IV to see their new Palace. All but Dread Master Belleva came, as she was tasked with staying on Oricon to gather up all of the Dread Masters' works that they had accomplished over their last 5 years in seclusion. The Dread Masters initially did not find their new Palace to be satisfactory, but believed they themselves could modify the area to suit their needs. Along, Dread Master Erasis, the most diplomatic of all six, went to the commoners area of Roderick City, seeing other citizens in the Imperium for the first time in years. When he was there, he was approached by the Wrath Ray'ak, the apparent leader of a rising cult within the Sith Imperium. Upon meeting, Erasis was offered an alliance between this cult and the returning Dread Masters, but respectfully declined. Erasis along with his brothers and sisters no longer saw anyone in the Sith Imperium worthy of allying with, aside from the Emperor.
Over time in seclusion on Oricon, the Dread Masters had developed new feelings for the Sith Imperium. With years to think and talk about the Imperium, they had created new plans. Silently observing from the sidelines of Oricon, the Dread Masters had been disgusted the see the Imperium become fractured and divided among itself. A fanatic religious cult has been allowed to form and grow in the Imperium. The Military struggles to find security in itself. The Order of the Emperor has decided to keep the Emperor out of the public eye. And Empress Consort and Praetor could do nothing to stop the divisions. The Dread Masters, finding incompetence within the governing body of the Sith Imperium, planned to return in a new fashion to end the dividing. Believing their Emperor is furious with the status of His Imperium, they prepared to take what was His and reform it in His name...