Crimson Dawn

Crimson Dawn was a criminal syndicate once led by the former Sith Lord Maul, who became the leader of the Shadow Collective near the end of the Clone Wars. Maul employed the gangster Dryden Vos as the public face of the syndicate during the reign of the Galactic Empire. During its existence, Crimson Dawn quickly cemented a reputation for being ruthless. Qi'ra publicly served as Vos' top lieutenant, but later directly worked with Maul after she killed Vos.
After Maul's death during a mission to Tatooine, Qi'ra became the new leader of Crimson Dawn and was given the title "Lady." She rebuilt Crimson Dawn and planned to use it to destabilize the galaxy in her ultimate plan to take down Darth Sidious and his apprentice, Darth Vader. Qi'ra hoped that she could succeed where Maul failed and use the chaos and disorder Crimson Dawn created to take down the Sith and the Empire. In preparation for its secret war against the Sith, Crimson Dawn also grew by creating a web of agents throughout the powers of the galaxy.
In 3 ABY, Crimson Dawn announced its return with an auction for the carbonite-frozen Han Solo that they had had stolen from Boba Fett. Syndicates and organizations from all over the galaxy were invited and attended, and Crimson Dawn used the auction to demonstrate their power and cause a rift between the Empire and the Hutts by manipulating them into a battle over Han Solo. This eventually led to a Syndicate War over which syndicate would take over the Hutts' contract with the Empire, escalated by a series of anonymous attacks carried out by Crimson Dawn. 
Once Crimson Dawn was found to be behind the war and their campaign against the Sith became clear to Sidious, Qi'ra ordered all of the Crimson Dawn agents across the galaxy to cause as much chaos for the Empire as they possibly could. She also used her agents to come into possession of the Fermata Cage, an ancient dark side weapon she planned to use against the Sith. However, during a Battle at Amaxine Station against the Empire for which Qi'ra rallied all of Crimson Dawn's troops and forces, Qi'ra failed to trap Vader and Sidious, leading to Crimson Dawn's defeat and ultimate destruction at the hands of the Imperial forces. However, because the organization revealed the existence of the Empire's DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station to the Rebel Alliance and kept the Empire occupied while the Alliance regrouped, Crimson Dawn ultimately did contribute to the Empire's defeat.
==History==
===Rise of the Dawn===
====Mercenary roots====
Before reorganizing into a larger criminal enterprise, the forerunners of Crimson Dawn were a band of ruthless mercenaries who traveled from planet to planet, seizing the resources they coveted or needed while brutalizing the natives into complying. One such world was the desert planet Savareen, which possessed a resource that they desired. After several raids on their world, the Savarians rose up against them, refusing to comply anymore. As punishment for their defiance, the mercenaries cut out the tongues of every single man, woman, and child they could find.
Crimson Dawn became known for its ruthlessness and rose to prominence during the final years of the Galactic Republic. Eventually, Crimson Dawn would dominate the criminal underworld and become the most powerful of what came to be known as the Five Crime Syndicates, the others being the Crymorah Syndicate, Black Sun, the Pyke Syndicate, and the Hutt Clan. Crimson Dawn also enjoyed a fragile alliance with the Pyke Syndicate.
====In the shadows====
In 19 BBY, Crimson Dawn became a member of the Shadow Collective, a vast criminal organization under the control of the rogue Sith Lord Maul. After they joined the Collective, Crimson Dawn participated in the taking of Mandalore. Sometime later, after delays in the Pyke Syndicate's operations, including the raiding of one of their Spice shipments on Coruscant by the Galactic Republic, Maul contacted Marg Krim, the leader of the syndicate, to assess the issue. Krim assured Maul that the syndicate's delays would not change things. Maul declared that he had more important things to deal with than his incompetence, and then threatened to have Crimson Dawn take over the Pyke's operations if there were any more delays. Krim regarded Maul's tactic of pitting the syndicates of the collective, including Crimson Dawn, against each other was an efficient way of dealing with their business. At the time of the Siege of Mandalore, Crimson Dawn was led directly by the near-human man Dryden Vos, who had taken power from a predecessor. Just prior to the enactment of Order 66, Maul ordered Vos, as well as the other leaders in the Shadow Collective, to go into hiding, in anticipation for the chaos following the rise of the Empire.
===Under Maul===
====Using a figurehead====
After the war, Maul secretly took control of Crimson Dawn but kept Vos as the public leader. Maul also took a more direct role in Crimson Dawn's activities but elected to rule from the shadows rather than establish himself as the visible leader of his syndicate. Indeed, most of the rank-and-file of the organization did not report to him directly and few even knew his identity, with Dryden Vos referring to Maul as a mysterious overseer. Instead, Maul relied on Dryden Vos to serve as a figurehead and the executor of his will to his men. Despite the fall of the Shadow Collective after the Siege of Mandalore, Maul also retained a great degree of power over the Five Families and ruled over them, such as by ordering them not to wage war against each other. While his identity remained hidden, rumors would spread of a mysterious figure who ruled over not just Crimson Dawn, but all five major syndicates.
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Crimson Dawn had significant influence in the area of Wild Space that the planet Pashvi was located in. Crimson Dawn's base of operations at this time was the night-black Nau'ur-class yacht named the First Light which was owned by Vos and also served as his private residence. The organization was also known to utilize Fang-class Starfighters.Starships and Speeders Also during this time, the Galactic Empire often clashed with Crimson Dawn in security enforcement missions, many of which pilot Yrica Quell participated in on the Imperial side and would remember long after her Imperial career. Quell noticed that the Crimson Dawn gangsters she killed knew knew better than to try to negotiate, and they also recognized that there was no place for their cartels under the Empire.Alphabet Squadron On the planet Athus Klee, Crimson Dawn operated an ore hub in a valley on the world and offered lucrative one-year contracts for labours to work there. The syndicate employed Doctor Cornelius Evazan to cybernetically alter the workers in a gene-mod chop shop housed on site in a cluster of hexagonal silos. The Besalisk Dexter Jettster eventually discovered Crimson Dawn's ore hub. He then rescued a single Rodian worker from the hub and the pair headed back toward the spaceport. Upon reaching the port, Jettster contacted a politician on Coruscant, who he was friends with and informed him of the hub. The politician sent a ship to pick up the Rodian and Jettster's surveillance scans so that they could be taken before the Imperial Senate Council of Labor Abuses and report Crimson Dawn's activities on Athus Klee.
Around this time, during the reign of the Empire and of Crimson Dawn, Crimson Dawn had a Zabrak male named Jarm Brock infiltrate the operations of Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure in Mos Entha on the planet Tatooine as part of a ruse to send Jabba after the Hutt Council. The plan worked as Jabba believed that Bokku, a fellow Council member, had been behind Brock's infiltration. In response he sent several teams to kill Brock and his enforcers, though these attempts failed, leading Jabba to send the notorious former bounty hunter Deva Lompop, now an information broker, alongside the bounty hunter Boba Fett to complete the job. The pair traveled to a cantina in Mos Entha where they were ambushed by Brock. Fett managed to capture Brock while Lompop took care of his enforcers. Lompop then questioned Brock about what he was doing on Tatooine, Brock revealed that he was not working for the Hutt Council, as Jabba had been led to believe, but for Crimson Dawn instead. Brock revealed that Crimson Dawn was making 'big moves' and expressed his belief that they were going to bring about a reckoning. When Lompop asked where the residents of Mos Entha were, as she had noticed that the town seemed very empty, Brock informed her that they had killed those who refused to joined Crimson Dawn, and that the rest except a bartender had left Mos Entha instead of joining. Lompop then began to eat Brock, though she was unable to eat Brock's horns and left his head. She took the head back to Jabba, and explained that the job had not gone as planned. However, she did not inform him of Crimson Dawn's machinations and led him to believe that Bokku had stolen his slaves from Mos Entha, encouraging Jabba to send Brock's head to him.War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt 1
Also during the Imperial Era, Crimson Dawn agents contacted a group of spacers, demanding their presence on the First Light. There they met with a leader of Crimson Dawn who explained to them that they had hurt the syndicate and its operations. However, the leader said they make amends for trouble they had caused the syndicate by eliminating its Zann Consortium rivals on Cardooine.
====Rise of Qi'ra====
=====Enter the Corellian=====
Sometime between 13 BBY and 10 BBY, a human woman named Qi'ra from Corellia was sold as a slave to Vos. She attempted to escape many times and cost Vos much in guards and property. At one point she killed a guard and made it as far as an escape pod in Vos's yacht before he found her. He told her that she was costing him much, but pointed out that he and Crimson Dawn had gotten her off of Corellia and that she had a better life. He saw great potential in her and trained her. When she bested him once during training, he brought her one of Crimson Dawn's prisoners and she killed the prisoner before he could even beg for his life. Vos forced her to kill for him many times, and also was able to secure her loyalty to him and to Crimson Dawn, eventually moving her up to be his lieutenant.
Qi'ra worked as a Crimson Dawn enforcer as well. Qi'ra's rise through the ranks eventually lead to Hondo Ohnaka, partnered with the bounty hunter droid IG-88, pursuing Qi'ra on Ord Mantell, the two believing that a Crimson Dawn lieutenant would fetch a large bounty. They successfully restrained her, but after Qi'ra managed to make IG-88 turn on Ohnaka while the pirate was distracted, Qi'ra picked the lock of the binders they put her in and escaped, before putting binders on Ohnaka. With IG-88 and Ohnaka now both in binders, Qi'ra held them at blasterpoint and forced them to walk so that she could collect the bounty on both of them.
Sometime after Qi'ra became Vos's lieutenant, Crimson Dawn performed a raid of one of the warehouses of the Razzi Syndicate. Crimson Dawn recovered a lot of cargo and crates from the raid. This included the logbook known as the Smuggler's Guide, which Vos gave to Qi'ra with the instructions to exploit it or get rid of it. Qi'ra had Aemon Gremm, the captain of Crimson Dawn's Hylobon Enforcers, fast track an analysis of the logbook. While she waited for that, she recorded much of the cargo found in the Razzi warehouse raid in the book. One of the items was a HK8 Sawtooth blaster pistol, which indicated to Qi'ra that the Razzi syndicate enjoyed robust supply lines with gunrunners that Crimson Dawn could take control of. The other items were several fake Kitel Phard vases, 50 kg of low-grade spice in Weequay religious spherical objects, disassembled HK-model gladiator droids bearing Grakkus medallions, and two mummified Tuk'ata specimens.
A human woman named Val found the Smuggler's Guide in a crate filled with Crimson Dawn goods that the gang she was in stole from the freight platform in Zarra on Cato Neimoidia. After spending a brief time investigating on the planet Cato Neimoidia, Beckett and his gang formulated a plan to rob a Railcrawler conveyex suspected of carrying Crimson Dawn cargo. But the plan ultimately failed when Enfys Nest and her Cloud-Riders attempted to steal from and attacked the train.
=====Showdown on Savareen=====
By 10 BBY, Dryden Vos still served as the public leader of the organization. In that year, Vos sent his associate Tobias Beckett to obtain a shipment of Coaxium from the planet Vandor, for Crimson Dawn. Vos met with Beckett and his crew on the First Light after they failed to obtain the Coaxium. Vos considered killing them, but instead allowed them to perform a new heist for Coaxium on the spice mines of Kessel, and sent Qi'ra with them. They successfully retrieved the Coaxium, with the help and support of smuggler Lando Calrissian, but one of the people working for Beckett, a man named Han Solo–who was also Qi'ra's former lover–wanted to give the coaxium to the freedom fighters known as the Cloud-Riders instead of Crimson Dawn.
Nest also told Solo and Beckett the story of Crimson Dawn's origins as a group of mercenaries on Savareen who cut out the tongues of the citizens who rebelled against them. However, Beckett, who was a secret double agent for Crimson Dawn, revealed to Vos Solo's plan. But Solo suspected Beckett's betrayal and had planned accordingly. Beckett attempted to escape with the Coaxium but was killed by Solo. Vos and Solo fought over the coaxium, until they were discovered by Qi'ra. She threatened both of them, but sided with Solo, killing Vos. She then used Vos's signet ring to contact Maul, who told her to bring the First Light to the planet Dathomir, Maul's homeworld that he was secretly running Crimson Dawn from. Qi'ra followed his instructions and abandoned Solo. From there, Qi'ra would take up the position formerly filled by Vos after she was promoted by Maul.Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
In 3 BBY, Crimson Dawn sent an agent to bid at an auction for the Phylanx Redux Transmitter on Cantonica, held by the Wandering Star syndicate. In the final round of bidding, the agent outbid all of the closest contenders, but then a firefight broke out and the Phylanx Redux Transmitter disappeared in the chaos.
===A temporary dusk===
====Rebuilding====
In 2 BBY,According to Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded, Maul's final confrontation with Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Twin Suns" happened thirty years after Kenobi first saw him on Tatooine. Since Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates that event to 32 BBY, Kenobi and Maul's final confrontation happened in 2 BBY. Crimson Dawn lost its secret leader when Maul was stranded on the Outer RimStar Wars: Complete Locations planet Malachor, and later slain on the planet Tatooine. This lead to Crimson Dawn being thought to be destroyed by its rivals. But Crimson Dawn was not truly defeated, and instead operating secretly and on a smaller scale, building up assets until it could make a return.
During this time, Qi'ra, earning the title of lady, came to control the remains of Crimson Dawn and lead its rebuildingCrimson Reign 1 into a new form. Qi'ra plotted to use it in order to set the stage for the defeat of Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader in a secret war against the Sith.Hidden Empire 1 At this time, Crimson Dawn had two other leaders who were subordinate to Qi'ra and served as her advisors. They were Margo,Doctor Aphra (2020) 13 who had also been a part of Dryden Vos's concierge, and Trinia. Qi'ra deliberately brought in and allied with eclectic individuals who could help her in the battle against the Sith, mirroring Maul's work in bringing groups together as the Shadow Collective.
As Crimson Dawn slowly began to grow again, the organization eventually achieved a new headquarters in the form of the fortress-flagship the Vermillion.Doctor Aphra (2020) 14 The ship contained a gallery that had a collection of artifacts, especially dark side and Sith artifacts, both collected by Lady Qi'ra and from Vos's old collection.War of the Bounty Hunters 4Doctor Aphra (2020) 15 The organization had also managed to develop a web of sleeper agents in many organizations throughout the galaxy, including the Empire, the Hutt Cartel,War of the Bounty Hunters 5 Black Sun, the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and the Tagge Corporation. Qi'ra's influence was so great that she controlled Crimson Dawn as her own hidden empire.
====Enter the Archivist====
Sometime after Qi'ra became the leader of Crimson Dawn, she sought after a woman who was then known as Madelin Sun. Sun was a former Sava, or teacher, at the University of Bar'leth and had devoted her life to studying the force, especially the dark side. However, Sun had lost her career after the rise of the Empire outlawed study of the Force and was forced to become a junk seller, which is when Qi'ra found her. Sun was being interrogated by three Imperial stormtroopers and having her hut searched by them. They discovered a dark side artifact that Sun had kept as a personal keepsake and confronted her about it, but before they could move to file a report, Qi'ra arrived and shot all three stormtroopers down, the artifact falling out of the commander's hand and shattering in the process. Qi'ra introduced herself and told Sun she was going to give her the opportunity to work for her. But first Qi'ra asked Sun, due to her expertise on the force, why knowledge of the force had disappeared from the galaxy. Sun explained the Empire's systematic oppression of any information surrounding the Force.
Qi'ra then revealed to Sun that Emperor Palpatine was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Sun was distraught, realized that her life and her happiness were taken from her, to which Qi'ra told her to follow her into her ship so that she could make her an offer. Qi'ra showed Sun Crimson Dawn's collection of dark side artifacts when she arrived on the ship, artifacts that she told Sun she either inherited or found in dark corners of the galaxy that she knew to look in because of her mentor, alluding to Maul. Qi'ra told her that she wanted to bring down the Sith and set the galaxy free, and that she wanted her to be their expert on the dark side that they need in order to do so. Sun, who wanted to reclaim her former glory and truly live again, agreed. Qi'ra told Sun to attempt to find Jedi Grand Master Yoda in the hopes that they could recruit him to their cause, as the Jedi were the ancient enemy of the Sith. Qi'ra told Sun that if she found Yoda, she would make sure that Sun could do anything she wanted and study anything she wanted forever.
Sun, who became known as the Archivist, learned that Qi'ra was in charge of Crimson Dawn and learned that the organization had agents everywhere. This allowed the Archivist to access all of the information she could possibly need because of the organization's connections. The Archivist continued to try and locate Yoda for Qi'ra and with the help of Crimson Dawn's resources eventually deduced that Yoda had left Coruscant the day the Empire fell on Senator Bail Organa's starship the Tantive III. Qi'ra pulled strings and had an Imperial officer that was also a Crimson Dawn sleeper agent allow the Archivist into the Accresker Jail Imperial Detention Facility to speak with the former pilot of the Tantive III, Jeremoch Colton. She spoke with the Imperial Officer Crimson Dawn agent and promised to tell Qi'ra, who she referred to as their mutual friend, that he had been a great help, the two saying 'await the dawn' before she entered the cell and met with Colton. When Colton denied that he knew anything about Yoda, the Archivist used a thought dowser, an artifact made by an ancient dark side cult known as the Ascendant that made artifacts which allowed non force-sensitives to utilize the powers of the dark side, to influence Colton's mind and get him to reveal that the location that Yoda went to was the Sluis sector.
The Archivist traveled to the planet Dagobah in the Sluis system, and when she arrived was saved by someone using the force from a swamp monster and then led by that same person to a dark cave. She would never reveal what she saw in the cave, but when she exited the cave she was physically changed and felt enlightened. The Archivist learned that she had been saved and led to the cave by Yoda, and was moved by his empathy and desire to teach her instead of harm her, and inspired by the ideal of his connection to the light side of the Force. The Archivist returned to Crimson Dawn and met with Qi'ra aboard the Vermillion, where she lied and told her that Yoda was dead.
====Enter the Knights of Ren====
Sometime later, Qi'ra and the Archivist traveled to the Mid Rim Territories planet Varnak. There they met with the Knights of Ren, a group of masked Dark side utilizing warriors, and their leader, Ren. Qi'ra introduced herself to him and told him that she had heard he was powerful. When he asked why she was there, she told him it was because he led the Knights of Ren, with Ren responding that those who know that name know better than to come looking for them. Qi'ra told him that she had heard it from the Archivist, and that it was a name that was ancient and existed long before Ren was born. She said that she knew that they did not want to have to hide and live off scraps and instead wanted to do what they wanted. She also asked him if he worried that he would wake up stabbed by a red lightsaber one day. Qi'ra told him that it was only a matter of time before the Sith came after them and that she and Crimson Dawn could offer them whatever they wanted, explaining that she needed the help of Force users for a job. Ren said that he was listening and asked what the job was, to which Qi'ra said that they were going to love it.
===Return of the Dawn===
====Preparations and preludes====
=====Announcing the Dawn=====
In 3 ABY,Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters to 3 ABY. the time for the return of Crimson Dawn and the beginning of Lady Qi'ra's plan came when she discovered that her former lover, Han Solo, had become important to the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Empire, the Hutt Clan, and other major powers, and had been frozen in carbonite. The bounty hunter Deva Lompop discovered Solo's location on the moon Nar Shaddaa while looking for the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett at the request of Jabba the Hutt, who was concerned about Fett's delay in delivering Solo. She called it in to Crimson Dawn and told them that if they wanted Solo they needed to grab him before Jabba did. Under the leadership of Margo and the direction of Qi'ra, Crimson Dawn agents traveled to Nar Shaddaa and captured the carbonite block from Boba Fett via Doctor Ragon, who was fixing the carbonite matrix for Fett.War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha 1
Solo remained alive as the agents transferred him to the Vermillion. Understanding that Crimson Dawn's return could therefore begin, Qi'ra sent out pre-recorded messages to many of the galaxy's powers, including Jabba the Hutt, the Hutt Council, the Empire via General Romodi,Darth Vader (2020) 14 Black Sun, the Pyke Syndicate, the Sixth Kin,Doctor Aphra (2020) 10 Ebann Drake and his arms smuggling ring,Doctor Aphra (2020) 11 and General Vukorah of the Unbroken Clan.Bounty Hunters 15 Qi'ra also made sure the message ended up in the hands of a rebel agent named Amilyn Holdo, who delivered the message to the wider Rebellion,Star Wars (2020) 18 including General Leia Organa. These messages were invitations to an auction for the carbon-frozen Han Solo onboard the Vermillion on the planet Jekara.
After Crimson Dawn seized Solo on Nar Shaddaa, a Crimson Dawn agent traveled to Deva Lompop on the planet to thank her and follow up. Lompop contacted Bib Fortuna under the guise of a follow up on her chasing after Fett, but was really trying to see if Jabba was now attempting to regain Solo by attending Crimson Dawn's auction. As Jabba was receiving his invitation to the auction from a Crimson Dawn messenger who hand delivered him the invitation and also verbally invited him to Crimson Dawn's event, Fortuna told Lompop she no longer needed to go to go after Fett and that Jabba was exploring other options, which confirmed that Jabba was going to the auction for Solo for her and the Crimson Dawn agent. The invitation made Jabba believe that Fett had sold Solo to Crimson Dawn. The agent told Lompop that Crimson Dawn owed her a debt, to which Lompop wondered if the organization could kill Jabba, but the agent told her that Lady Qi'ra would not allow them to, at least for the time being.
Meanwhile, Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra and Sana Starros found Ebann Drake dead in his luxury cruiser with one of Crimson Dawn's invitations in his hands. Aphra revealed to his cousin Domina Tagge, the head of the Tagge Corporation, that Crimson Dawn was back. Tagge then instructed Aphra to go to the auction on Jekara in Drake's place, and report back to Tagge with as much information she could find on Crimson Dawn's operations and information on all the other syndicates there.
=====Vader's vendetta=====
Darth Vader and Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon learned that Crimson Dawn had something to do with Boba Fett's loss of Solo after chasing down IG-88 and the Droid Crush Pirates of Bestoon who they were told were going after Solo by Bokku the Hutt, who was working for Vader. Vader was searching for Solo to use him to get to Luke Skywalker, who he wanted to kill because he was the only threat to his power and his place at Darth Sidious' side, and had come to believe that he could not overthrow the Emperor and rule with his son.Darth Vader (2020) 13 Afterwards, Vader sent Ochi to Arkanis to gather more information on Crimson Dawn. Ochi then burst into a local bar, before revealing his allegiance to Vader and asking the rest of the bar attendants if they could tell him about Crimson Dawn.Darth Vader (2020) 15
After retrieving an invitation sent out by the crime syndicate from one of the bar patrons, Ochi returned to Bokku's lair with Vader and the two interrogated him about the invitation. Bokku revealed that Crimson Dawn was holding an auction for Han Solo and that Jabba would almost certainly be the one to purchase him. Vader then ordered Bokku that to bid against Jabba and humiliate himself. That way, Jabba would think less of him and not expect him to betray Jabba, to which Bokku agreed. As they took off in their shuttle, Vader mused that Bokku accepted betraying Jabba too easily and was already planning to betray him with the help of another group. Then Vader suddenly grabbed Ochi and dropped him out of the ship. Once Ochi landed on the ground, Vader ordered him to find out who else Bokku was working with.
Later that night, near the lair of Bokku, Ochi tracked down and attacked a couple of Crimson Dawn assassins. But when Ochi went to interrogate the leader, but the leader declared that if he messed with Bokku, he messed with all of Crimson Dawn. Ochi suddenly found himself surrounded by tens of masked Crimson Dawn assassins. After eliminating a few of them, Ochi revealed his affiliation with Vader, to which the assassins merely laughed. When Ochi boasted about both his and Vader's power, one of the assassins picked up a handful of seeds and used them to demonstrate Crimson Dawn's numbers, and declare the impossible power that Crimson Dawn had when so many worked together. When the assassin offered Ochi a chance to join Crimson Dawn, Ochi warned them that his master was coming, but Vader merely parked his ship away from them on a nearby mountain.
When the assassin offered Ochi a chance to join a second time, Ochi shot at them again and eventually eliminated the remaining assassins. Vader then arrived and met Ochi, who realized that Vader had already known that Bokku was working with Crimson Dawn and had only wished to test Ochi's loyalty. As more Crimson Dawn assassins began to surround them, Ochi assured Vader that he would serve him as long as he remained the most powerful, to which Vader affirmed that he would always be the most powerful. Ochi then joined Vader in eliminating the rest of the assassins. Later, Administrator Sly Moore told Vader that if he wanted to kill Skywalker he needed to get Solo from Crimson Dawn's auction. They agreed that she would represent the Empire at the auction so that the Emperor would not learn of Vader's plan to kill Skywalker.
=====Bounty hunters=====
While Crimson Dawn made preparations, an arms smuggler named Devono Vix who was highly connected to the Hutts revealed to bounty hunters Beilert Valance and Dengar that Crimson Dawn had stolen Han Solo from Boba Fett and that they had returned. Valance did not believe this to be possible and thought he was lying until the assassin Deathstick killed Vex and shot at Valance and Dengar. Deathstick was ordered by Qi'ra to pursue Beilert Valance and Dengar and subsequently drive them to Jekara and the Vermillion, as it was important to her plan. Valance and Dengar retreated to the hideout of an elderly mechanic named Mama Stammoch who knew the history of Crimson Dawn and explained it to them. However Valance and Dengar were ambushed by Deathstick at Mama Stommach's hideout, though they managed to escape on a hovercraft. Deathstick caught up to them, but was ordered by Qi'ra to not kill them.Bounty Hunters 14
At around the same time, Crimson Dawn approached the Mourner's Wail Syndicate and ordered them to join them or be destroyed. When they refused, Crimson Dawn destroyed and ravaged the Fortress of the Mourner's Wail on Dotharian. Bounty hunter T'onga and her wife, Losha Tarkon later traveled to the fortress in the hopes of finding information on the location of a girl named Cadeliah, who was the heir of both the Mourner's Wail and Unbroken Clan syndicates and could put a stop to their war with each other. T'onga went in alone, and discovered Lord Khamdek, the leader of the Mourner's Wail, who urged her to run while she still could. She ignored his direction, and she, Khamdek, and his crew were ambushed by Crimson Dawn. All of Khamdek's present crew was killed by Crimson Dawn, but Khamdek and T'onga managed to kill the rest of the agents with the help of Losha and survive the attack. T'onga then agreed to conspire with Khamdek to keep Cadeliah from Crimson Dawn.
But Crimson Dawn would become one step closer to capturing Cadeliah when Deathstick arrived and attacked Dengar and Valance in the city Canto Bight on the planet Cantonica. When Valance was separated from the other two, Dengar decided to make a deal with Deathstick. He would secretly get the location of Cadeliah from Valance and give it to her if she spared him. Deathstick agreed,Bounty Hunters 16 and gave him one of Qi'ra's messages so that they would head for Jekara. The two did travel to Jekara, and confronted and defeated some Crimson Dawn soldiers when they arrived shortly before the auction would begin.
====Auction for Han Solo====
=====Showdown on the Vermillon=====
Later, on Jekara, once all of the bidders had arrived, Qi'ra thanked the syndicates for coming as she introduced herself as the new leader of Crimson Dawn as well as officially announcing its return. She then revealed Solo to the crowd and started the bidding. After bids by many, including Lord Gyuti and Black Sun, the Pykes, Bokku, and Administrator Moore and the Empire, it soon ended when Jabba the Hutt bid one million credits. With no other bids, Qi'ra congratulated Jabba and told him that the smuggler was his. However, the auction, and Jabba's retrieval of Solo, was then interrupted by the arrival of Darth Vader. Guarded by two death troopers, Vader declared that Solo belonged to him.
After Jabba agreed to give up Solo to the Empire, Qi'ra told Vader she would not interfere, but that Crimson Dawn still required the one million credits promised to it. When Vader told her she was owed nothing, Qi'ra asked him if the Empire was too poor or cheap to pay its debts. This provoked Vader into engaging in a sword fight with her, Vader using his lightsaber and Qi'ra using energy blades.War of the Bounty Hunters 3 She intended to distract Vader so Rebel agents present at the auction had a chance to reclaim Solo, as she genuinely wanted them to wind up with Solo in the end. Those agents included Leia Organa, as well as Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca, friends of Solo's who had dealt with Crimson Dawn in the past and had convinced Organa to take a less overt and more tactful approach to dealing with Crimson Dawn.
However, the three agents were instead caught in a battle with Boba Fett, who had arrived to reclaim Solo as well. During their duel, Vader recognized Qi'ra's fighting technique and asked her who had trained her, to which Qi'ra replied that it was someone who knew quite a bit about both Vader and his master, meaning the former leader of Crimson Dawn: Maul. Vader subdued Qi'ra by using the force, and prepared to kill her until he was distracted by the arrival of his son, Luke Skywalker, who had been called to Jekara by Organa.Star Wars (2020) 16 Qi'ra then conceded that Vader was going to take Solo and told Margo to plan accordingly. Most of the guests departed after the fight, but notably Vukorah of the Unbroken Clan stayed, and was told by Margo that she would have entertainment.
The Empire loaded Solo onto an Imperial shuttle and Boba Fett pursued them, but was stopped by Valance and Dengar as Qi'ra had planned. After Valance abandoned Dengar for Boba Fett, Dengar provided Deathstick, and subsequently Crimson Dawn, with the location of Cadeliah, which he had discovered when Valance made a transmission to the girl. Returning to the gallery later, Qi'ra explained to Margo that this both was and was not what she expected to happen. Though Vader's arrival had not been planned, the fact that Qi'ra fought him herself showed the galaxy that Crimson Dawn would not back down and would not obey the Empire. Qi'ra then told Margo to leave her as she still had many messages to send and 'strings to pull.'
=====Criminals' conflict=====
Over the course of the auction, Chelli Aphra and Sana Starros would have a series of escapades due to Crimson Dawn. After the two stole a Data crystal necklace from a Black Sun agent who was secretly a spy for Crimson Dawn,Doctor Aphra (2020) 12 Aphra wanted to check out the Vermillion vault in the hopes of finding more information on Crimson Dawn for Domina Tagge. But they were thwarted by a modified A3L-N sentinel droid who was standing guard on the Vermillion. Meanwhile, Just Lucky and Ariole Yu, had been sent by the Sixth Kin to kill a Sixth Kin traitor and their former teacher named Gallin Crae. They found him and fought him, and then he revealed that he was working for Crimson Dawn, and invited them to join the organization with him, but they refused. Then the assassin Deathstick stepped in, and incapacitated Lucky and Yu and forced them to surrender. The two of them were sent to the Vermillion's brig, and put in a cell with Aphra and Starros.
Lucky and Yu rejected another offer from Crae to join Crimson Dawn. Aphra and Lucky had history and formed an uneasy alliance. Lucky, Starros, and Yu pretended to be injured, coercing Crae into opening the cell door. Aphra then jumped onto one of the sentinel droids, hot-wired it, and used it to kill Crae, costing Crimson Dawn an asset. Aphra and the others then raided one of the Vermillion's armories, and returned to the gallery of artifacts to try and retrieve the data crystal necklace. There they encountered Qi'ra and Margo, who were securing the necklace in the vault. After they left, Aphra tried to get the necklace but was stopped by Deathstick. The group managed to fend the assassin off, but were then attacked by a group of Crimson Dawn guards. But then Aphra noticed that there was an ancient piece of dark side tech from a cult known as The Ascendant in the gallery, called a Thought dowser, that had somehow fallen into the hands of Crimson Dawn. Aphra used the device to mind control Deathstick and the Crimson Dawn soldiers into stabbing themselves.
Aphra was left incapacitated, but Starros managed to grab the data crystal necklace and take her to the hangar of the Vermillion, where their ship was, and after betraying Lucky and Yu, escaped Crimson Dawn. Aphra and Starros escaped, but Lucky and Yu were left stranded. The two were approached in the hangar by Crae and Deathstick, who were both injured. Crae ordered the boys to lay down their weapons before they made it worse for themselves. In response to this Deathstick asked Crae if she was still not allowed to kill them, to which Qi'ra answered as she arrived that it would not be necessary. Qi'ra introduced herself to Lucky and Yu, and told them that she knew of them from Crae talking about them, and from what he said had hoped they would have been 'better behaved.' She then invited the two inside for a talk.Doctor Aphra (2020) 16
Qi'ra sat down with the boys over a drink. She told them that Crae had told her about what they had been through with Wen Delphis and the Sixth Kin, and knew that they had been conscripted into the organization without a choice, been trained as killers by the Delphis, and had their autonomy restricted. Qi'ra empathized with this, showing them her Crimson Dawn tatoo that represented her former enslavement under the organization. She told the boys that they had options now, and that together they could create a galaxy free from tyrants like Wen Delphis, the Empire, and the Tagges. She explained that that was the future that Crimson Dawn wanted to make and offered them the chance to join the syndicate so that they could be a part of it. She told them to think about it, and that she would be waiting when they made up their minds.Doctor Aphra (2020) 21
Sometime later, Aphra accessed the information on the data crystal necklace and discovered that Crimson Dawn had created a network of agents throughout all of the most powerful organizations in the galaxy.
====Attack at Dawn====
Feeling insulted and embarrassed that the Empire had just been allowed to take Solo from the Hutts, Bokku of the Hutt Council ordered a retaliation, stealing the Imperial shuttle that held Solo and capturing its crew. This caused a firefight between the Empire and the Hutts, causing the Hutts to lose Han again. But secretly, Bokku was working for Crimson Dawn, and after receiving an order from Crimson Dawn, ordered the Hutt Armada to attack the Imperial flagship Executor with everything they had. An all out battle between the Hutts and the Empire ensued, the chaos playing directly into Crimson Dawn's hands.
On the Vermillion as the last remnants of the battle between the Hutt Council and the Empire came to a close, Vukorah, a general and leader of the Unbroken Clan, was brought into the room by Margo. Qi'ra noted the beauty in the demonstration of how the Hutts had shown the Empire's vulnerability and relished in her and Crimson Dawn's success. As their conversation continued, Qi'ra explained that Crimson Dawn would have to crush the syndicates that stood in their way. Qi'ra then told Vukorah she wanted her to lead by Crimson Dawn's side as the leader of the Unbroken Clan. Qi'ra then had Margo open a boxBounty Hunters 17 which contained a sacred dagger which would help Vukorah claim leadership of the Clan. Vukorah then pledged her allegiance to Crimson Dawn's cause.Bounty Hunters 20
The Battle over Jekara came to a close when Darth Vader boarded the Hutt Council's ship and killed the entire council. Before Vader killed Bokku, the Hutt revealed that he had joined Crimson Dawn, believing that lowly souls like himself could not win unless they stood together with others. But before he died, Bokku ordered his droid to blow up the ship, with the droid saying "It has been my pleasure to bring the dawn" before the explosion. But Vader survived, using the force to make a shell of metal around him, which protected him when he landed on Jekara.Darth Vader (2020) 17 The death of the Hutt Council lost Crimson Dawn an ally in Bokku, but it also caused immense strain between the Hutts and the Empire as they hoped, and created instability and chaos that Crimson Dawn would exploit.
As part of Qi'ra's contingency plan to get back Solo from Boba Fett, Deva Lompop, a legendary bounty hunter now under direct employ of Crimson Dawn, hired human cyborg engineer RB-919 to find and rebuild the bounty hunter droid IG-88. RB-919 successfully rebuilt IG-88 and placed a chip within the droid that contained Lompop's directives and missions. However one of the directives was to kill those who were no longer needed, and so IG-88 killed RB-919. Now connected to Lompop directly, the Shani informed the droid that he was now under the employ of Crimson Dawn, and would follow Boba Fett's ship to Tatooine to recover Solo for Qi'ra. IG-88 found Fett's ship on Tatooine and entered it when he thought Fett was gone, but Fett returned and battled the droid, defeating hm before successfully traveling to Jabba's Palace. IG-88 was damaged in his fight with Boba Fett, and was thus freed from Lompop's and Crimson Dawn's influence.War of the Bounty Hunters – IG-88 1
After Boba Fett had regained Solo and returned him to Jabba, Qi'ra gathered many individuals who were loyal to Crimson Dawn, including the Knights of Ren, Chanath Cha and the Orphans, the assassin Deathstick, Qi'ra's advisors Margo and Trinia, and the Archivist. She explained to her followers that the dawn had come and Crimson Dawn's real task would now begin, as they had successfully escalated tensions between the Empire and the Hutts and started chaos in the galaxy. She then told them to "Await the reign."
===Crimson reign===
====Preludes====
=====Vader's vendetta II=====
Sometime after the Battle of Jekara, Vader returned to the Executor and spoke with Darth Sidious via hologram, redeclaring his devotion to the Emperor. The Emperor ordered Vader to root out Crimson Dawn from the many levels of the Empire that the organization had infiltrated, and show them the Empire's strength. General Ramodi later arrived with a legion of troops that the Emperor had allocated to fight Crimson Dawn. After Ochi suggested that they might need a more subtle approach, Vader ordered the assassin to go to the Assassin's Guild and tell them that they now served him. Qi'ra was apparently captured by three members of the Assassins Guild sometime after the events on Jekara and brought to the planet Saki. Ochi traveled to the planet to deliver the message from Vader to the members of the Guild there. When Ochi arrived, the three assassins disclosed their capture of Qi'ra and showed her to him, offering her as a gift to Vader.
After Ochi confirmed with the assassins that no one outside of the people in the room knew of Qi'ra's imprisonment, he proceeded to kill them all, free Qi'ra, and redeclare his allegiance to Crimson Dawn. Trying to maintain good relations with both factions, Ochi, however, would continue to serve the Empire as well. Vader eventually deduced Ochi was working with the Dawn.Darth Vader (2020) 21
=====Corporations' conflict=====
Due to her growing suspicions, Domina Tagge beginning to crack down on Crimson Dawn spies in the Tagge Corporation. For example, TaggeCo Assistant Packaging and Fulfillment Manger Sira Folsomn was brought in by Tagge's cousin Lapin Tagge for questioning after it was discovered that she was performing espionage and simultaneously employed to Crimson Dawn. After Lapin revealed to Folsomn that TaggeCo was aware of this, Tagge entered and ordered her to give Tagge the names of her handlers and her contacts, and Folsomn would then only be sent to face Imperial Justice instead of having her family bankrupted for generations. Folsomn yelled that she would not give more to TaggeCo, as she had already given everything to the company and gotten nothing in return, whereas she believed Crimson Dawn truly cared about her. Folsomn tried to stab Tagge, to which Tagge told her that if Crimson Dawn truly cared about her, they would not have sent Folsomn to kill Tagge. Tagge disarmed Folsomn and then stabbed her with her own knife, before ordering Lapin to bring more spies in for questioning with the hope that they could retrieve some useful information before the board meeting that afternoon.
Shortly before, Crimson Dawn hired Boushh and his crew for a job. They met with Margo, who offered them two hundred thousand credits if they killed Domina Tagge and the TaggeCo Executive Board, who were meeting on the company's flagship, the Acquisitor. Crimson Dawn wanted TaggeCo taken down because they supplied the Empire with ships and weapons and had exploited and stripped down planets and people. Margo believed that this made the job honorable for the group of Ubese. Crimson Dawn was alerted that the board would all be meeting in one place by Silas Tagge, the head of weapons development for the company. He wanted the rest of the board taken out because he felt that they looked down on him and limited his genius. However, Domina Tagge, using a Tagge protoblade, and her guards thwarted Boushh and his crew's attack. But Tagge made them a proposition: they worked for her and told her about her employer, and they would get three hundred thousand credits and she would help them return to Uba IV, where they were exiled from. Boushh agreed and told her about Crimson Dawn.War of the Bounty Hunters – Boushh 1
At around this time, Doctor Chelli Aphra also provided Domina Tagge with the Data crystal necklace she recovered from the Black Sun Member/Crimson Dawn Operative on the Vermillion. This confirmed Tagge's suspicions that Crimson Dawn had infiltrated many major organizations, including Black Sun and many of TaggeCo's competitors. Tagge was also interested in Crimson Dawn's Ascendant thought dowser that Aphra had used on the Vermillion, and requested Aphra to bring her more Ascendant tech.
=====Rebels=====
Sometime after her capture by the assassins guild, Lady Qi'ra visited Leia Organa on the Millennium Falcon. She explained to Organa that she had hoped that Han would be returned to the Rebellion, and her contingency plan to retrieve Solo again was most likely for that purpose. She also revealed Solo was still alive and had been sold to Jabba the Hutt, and offered Crimson Dawn's resources and help when Organa moved to get him back. She also told Organa that she and Crimson Dawn could be useful to the Rebellion, if they ever wanted their support.
====Reveal of the goal====
Qi'ra gathered back up the same group of Crimson Dawn devotees she had after Jekara, but now they were joined by Ochi of Bestoon. At this meeting she declared that everyone in the galaxy were 'prisoners' because of the Sith. She expressed her ideology that the galaxy should be organized as a series of 'peaks' with equal opportunity to succeed, an ideology she hoped Crimson Dawn could bring to reality. But she said that under the Sith, specifically the Empire, the power structure of the galaxy was like a pyramid, with everyone trying to climb to the top of it, and only one truly free man on top: the Emperor. She revealed her main goal which was to kill Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. She elaborated that Maul had planned to do just that when he was the ruler of Crimson Dawn, but had died before he could see it through. She declared that she would use the knowledge she gained from him, Crimson Dawn, and all of those present to free the galaxy.
====The Syndicate War====
=====The Dawn approaches the Sun=====
Qi'ra traveled to the Black Sun frigate Darkpath to meet with Lord Gyuti, one of the leaders of Black Sun, on behalf of Crimson Dawn. Qi'ra noted that Gyuti brought his guards, and asked if Crimson Dawn's reputation was really that terrible. Gyuti told her that Crimson Dawn's reputation was deserved, but that that's what made them useful. Over a drink, Qi'ra told Gyuti that Crimson Dawn had no desire for Black Sun's territory, business, contacts, or wealth, and that the organizations were not in competition. She believed that War would be wasteful, and that there was plenty of room in the galaxy for Crimson Dawn and Black sun to leave each other be. She told him that Crimson Dawn wished to remain small, and wanted to offer important services to the larger syndicates. Crimson Dawn had contacts they could only dream of, and offered to help with finding secrets out or having discreet deaths. She said that the arrangement would not be exclusive, and that they would work for anyone who could afford them, but with complete confidentially, discretion, and neutrality. Qi'ra expressed her hope that if everyone used Crimson Dawn, then no one would destroy them because they would be essential.
Qi'ra then offered up a valuable piece of information to Gyuti. She said that the Emperor was furious at the Hutts' betrayal and was now searching for a new partner that could take up the role the Hutts had which was providing services for the Empire outside the bounds of Imperial Law, in exchange for a protected status. Qi'ra said that Crimson Dawn had no interest in the partnership, but that it could be a quite an opportunity for organizations the size of Black Sun. She told Gyuti to pass the message along to Prince Xizor, and to remember Crimson Dawn when the credits started rolling in. However, Margo had gone to Oba Diah and spoken to a Pyke Syndicate leader, passing on almost exactly the same message. As did Trinia, who went to Castell and spoke with Papa Toren, delivering the same message about the Empire searching for a new partner.
=====The Orphans=====
Later, Chanath Cha and the Orphans were sent on a mission by Crimson Dawn to help perform one of the first major steps of Qi'ra's plan. They were sent to destroy a Black Sun Smash-processing lab on the planet Dantooine. They destroyed the lab, and left no survivors, leaving no clues that could trace the attack back to Crimson Dawn. They almost allowed two transports to escape, but Imara Vex shot one down with a special projectile, and Sear blew up the other one with the Orphans' ship, the Siroto. The Orphans took pictures of the destruction and uploaded them to the Shadowfeeds with the caption 'Black Sun is in Eclipse.' Unclear which syndicate destroyed the lab, as none claimed responsibility, Lord Gyuti declared that it could have been any of them and decided to hit them all.
Afterwards, The Orphans continued with more destructive missions on behalf of Crimson Dawn. They destroyed ships and facilities and left little to no survivors. This created an atmosphere of dread and distrust among the syndicates. None of them knew who to blame, so they blamed each other, with their fighting encouraged by double agents of Crimson Dawn. This tension was exacerbated by Crimson Dawn's story that the Empire was ending their deal with the Hutts and wanted the strongest syndicate to take their place. This all lead to the syndicates fighting each other, destroying each other's resources and capital, and plunging criminal activity in the galaxy into disorder, thus beginning the Syndicate War. This war displeased Darth Sidious, and moved him to action.
The Crimson Dawn intended to take control of Toshara, a moon controlled by the Pyke Syndicate. One of the syndicate's attempts to do this was hiring criminal Kay Vess to enter an Imperial station and erase data to incriminate the Pykes. Crimson Dawn also intended to wrest control of the planet Kijimi from the Ashiga Clan. To this end, Qi'ra made a deal with Krisk Ashiga, the heiress of the Ashiga Clan hive and crime syndicate. Krisk did not agree with the way his mother, the Queen, ruled the Ashiga Clan, so Crimson Dawn would help dethrone her. With Krisk as the new queen, Crimson Dawn would have more space to establish its control over Kijimi, as unlike her mother, Krisk was against an alliance with the Empire, in addition to the fact that the circumstances of the change in leadership could cause conflict between members of the Ashiga Clan and weaken the syndicate.
====Rising plans====
=====Setting the stage=====
Qi'ra was pleased with what the Orphans had accomplished and told Trinia to pass word to them that they had done their part for the time being and could lay low. Qi'ra also told her advisors to reach out to Leia Organa for a meeting, and declared that the rebels would be a part of her plan even if they did not want to be and even if they did not realize it. The Archivist was made a general advisor on the force and the Sith, and was given the task to search for members of a fallen enemy of the Sith: the Jedi. Qi'ra believed that they might be powerful allies, or perfect bait. She once again looked into Yoda in Crimson Dawn's archives, calling him a friend.
Beginning the hunt for the Spark Eternal, the Archivist also sent archeologist and dark side fanatic Kho Phon Farrus to find the Spark Eternal, a piece of technology created by the dark side cult known as the Ascendant, who created artifacts that could allow non force-sensitives to utilize the dark side. Farrus searched the galaxy and the underworld for Ascendant technology in the hopes of finding the Spark Eternal, pledging to the Archivist that they would find it. The Archivist told them that if they found the Spark Eternal that they would secure their place in history, and also told Farrus that Crimson Dawn eagerly awaits them.Doctor Aphra (2020) 17
=====A rebel alliance=====
Qi'ra did end up having a meeting with Leia Organa as she had hoped. Qi'ra brought the Vermillion to the Home One, the Headquarters Frigate of the Rebel Alliance, which was their meeting place. Qi'ra stepped out of her shuttle and was greeted by C-3PO, who welcomed her on behalf of the Rebellion. Organa expressed confusion as to the reason for the meeting, to which Qi'ra announced that she had brought gifts. Organa also expressed her surprise that Qi'ra showed up, wondering why she was not worried that the Rebellion would detain her. Qi'ra told her that she was not at the Rebellion's mercy for all she knew all of the Rebellion guards could be agents of Crimson Dawn. Qi'ra then revealed that one of her gifts was the location of the last Rebel Fleet division. When Organa insisted that there was more than one left, Qi'ra explained that Crimson Dawn had many agents in the Empire who confirmed that it was the last one that had not been hunted down by Imperial Commander Ellian Zahra. Organa then asked Qi'ra why she was telling them all this and what she wanted from them. Qi'ra said that the other syndicates were at war and making enemies, she preferred to make friends. But Organa refuted this, saying that she was really only doing it for Crimson Dawn's business interests, as a strong Rebellion and an extended war would be good for their business. Qi'ra said that both were true. Organa then agreed to take Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn's help but warned that if she betrayed them they would learn the might of the Rebel Alliance. Qi'ra told her that they would not betray them and that she had many friends in the fleet.
But Qi'ra had one more gift: the location of Commander Zahra and her entire hunter squad and the means to be able to destroy them. Qi'ra had a Crimson Dawn operative within the Empire who could make sure that Commander Zahra would be exactly where the Rebellion wanted her and could thus destroy her. Organa agreed to this offer too, but told Qi'ra that she did not believe that she wanted nothing in return. Qi'ra explained that she was aware that the Rebellion was sourcing through the syndicates, and since the syndicates were at war, she had hoped Crimson Dawn could take over the operations. Qi'ra said that Crimson Dawn could get them anything they needed at reasonable prices. Organa agreed to this, and told Qi'ra to coordinate specifics with Rebellion Captain Holdo. After Qi'ra left, Organa revealed to Holdo that she did not trust Crimson Dawn or Qi'ra at all, but did admit that it made sense for the organization to make this decision because it would be good for their business. Organa also told Holdo to monitor Crimson Dawn's activities as she figured out supply line deals with the organization.
=====Vader and Valance=====
During this time, Vader captured and rebuilt the cyborg Valance and forced the bounty hunter to serve him. The Sith Lord ordered him to help him on his mission to root out Crimson Dawn from the Empire and take the organization down, putting him in charge of Dark Squadron and under the command of Ochi. Ochi sent Valance and Dark Squadron after Tarl Sokoli, an old Imperial war hero who they told Valance was recruited by Crimson Dawn, though in reality they had found nothing tying Sokoli to the organization. On the mission, Valance crashed his TIE Defender into the bridge of Sokoli's ship, confronting and killing the Admiral on the cruiser. But Vader had just been testing Valance, as the cyborg had a past connection with Sokoli, and killing him would prove he was ready to serve the Empire on their quest to take down Crimson Dawn.Bounty Hunters 19
=====Unbroken Clan overthrown=====
Around this time, General Vukorah, a General of the Unbroken Clan and and agent of Crimson Dawn, traveled to the Unbroken Clan Palace on Corellia. She stormed in to speak with the Grand Leader of the Clan, intending to take over the organization in the name of Crimson Dawn. She expressed to the Grand Leader that she had to be the one who was running the Clan while he mourned the death of his daughter, who Vukorah called a traitor. Vukorah said that she was more of a daughter to him than else, but he refuted that, saying she was just a street rat. Then, Vukorah revealed the sacred dagger that Qi'ra had given her that she had been told would help her take over the Unbroken Clan. The Grand Leader started to say that only someone with the right blood was meant to wield the dagger, but before he could Vukorah stabbed him with it. In his dying moments, Vukorah revealed to the Grand Leader that he had a granddaughter named Cadeliah, who she said would soon die once Crimson Dawn got a hold of her. Vukorah declared herself Grand Leader and then had a transmission sent to Qi'ra declaring that the Unbroken Clan was now loyal to Crimson Dawn, and telling her that they awaited the Dawn.
====Assassins====
=====Royal Guard assassinated=====
Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn also had plans for the assassins, Ochi and Deathstick. The two met with Qi'ra, Margo, and Trinia in individual meetings where they were given their assignments. Qi'ra had sent Ochi to kill a target in the Imperial Palace. Qi'ra told Trinia and Margo that Ochi was motivated to help Crimson Dawn by fear of the Emperor, as he had seen his true power on the Sith planet Exegol. Ochi traveled to Coruscant level 2685 to meet a merchant named Zlarb who he bought many special poisons with extremely precise timing, including Ziroxin-12, Cyanoxis D-570, and Yurfloo, and put it on Crimson Dawn's tab.
He then used an ASN-909 droid, given to him by Qi'ra, to secretly and undetectably administer poison into the morning stew of nine members of the Emperor's Royal Guard. Ochi then later administered poison to one of the guards who was meant to be with the others but was not—a man named Major Erstin Deez—by grazing him with a poison-laced bullet. Then later, when the Emperor returned to his throne room on Coruscant, the ten guards present were afflicted by the poison and dropped dead right in front of Palpatine and Grand Vizier Mas Amedda's very eyes.
=====Battle of Panisia=====
Meanwhile, Qi'ra sent Deathstick to capture Cadeliah, the girl who was the heir of both the Mourner's Wail and Unbroken Clan and could unite them, threatening Crimson Dawn's carefully crafted disorder. Deathstick was convinced to help Crimson Dawn in their plan against the Sith by revealing to her that Emperor Palpatine was behind the genocide of her people, the Nightsisters of Dathomir. Deathstick traveled to the planet Panisia where she was told Cadeliah was being sheltered by a small group of Rebel Alliance fighters. But when Deathstick arrived, she discovered a very large rebel encampment, as it was an entire division of the Rebel fleeet. Deathstick reported the encampment to an Imperial Anti-Terrorism Watchline. When Zahra's Star Destroyer Tarkin's Will arrived and the base was attacked, Deathstick used the chaos to capture Cadeliah. Deathstick brought Cadeliah to Qi'ra, who told the girl that they were going to be good friends. A group of bounty hunters led by T'onga managed to intercept one of Deathstick's transmissions due to the help of the droid 4-LOM, and had heard about Crimson Dawn moving to capture Cadeliah. Unbeknownst to Crimson Dawn or Deathstick, the group of bounty hunters made a plan to rescue Cadeliah from Crimson Dawn. When the communications tapping was brought to Deathsick's attention by a Crimson Dawn agent who also revealed its source was a group of bounty hunters, Deathstick told the agent to get her Dengar—who now served Crimson Dawn—to deal with the threat, and thus a transmission to Dengar was sent.
Now in the custody of Crimson Dawn, Cadeliah found herself welcomed by Qi'ra to an extravagant dinner on the Vermillion with her and others. Cadeliah refused to eat, but Qi'ra insisted that she did so, saying that life was too short to not have a fine meal. Cadeliah then sprinted on top of the table to the head of it where Qi'ra was sitting and attempted to stab her with the dinner knives, but the girl was easily thwarted by Vicrul, a member of the Knights of Ren under Crimson Dawn's command. Qi'ra reminded the girl that as the heir of both the Unbroken Clan and Mourner's Wail syndicates, she could be considered a threat to Crimson Dawn and thus her death would be convenient. Qi'ra advised Cadeliah to savor every bit of the meal as if it was her last. Qi'ra had Vicrul release Cadeliah and return her to her seat, telling him that she was smart to have survived on the run with Nakano Lash and would therefore know not to do anything stupid. As Qi'ra recommended the Caamasi cheese pies to her, Cadeliah sat down and began to eat.
=====Bounty hunting=====
Meanwhile, bounty hunter T'onga was contacted by a bounty dealer named Syphacc, who was an old friend of hers. Syphacc revealed to her that he knew that she and her group of bounty hunters were planning to go up against Crimson Dawn, which he believed to be unsteady ground. He told her that they did not stand a chance without his help because it was too dangerous. He then offered to be brought in on the mission, but she denied and ended the communication. However, Syphacc had really contacted her at the behest of Crimson Dawn agent and bounty hunter Dengar. Dengar pointed a blaster at Syphacc after he failed to get information out of T'onga, saying that Crimson Dawn wanted her group of bounty hunters stopped before they became a larger problem for them. Syphacc insisted that he would get the information, as T'onga did not have many places to turn and thus would eventually be back.
T'onga turned to Lady Proxima, the Grindalid leader of the White Worms criminal organization. The White Worms had become disrupted and bothered by Vukorah and the Unbroken Clan after they sided with Crimson Dawn. Vukorah was also bad for Proxima's profit, but Proxima had never been able to take her out despite multiple attempts because of her extensive security detail. Proxima listed the facets of this security to T'onga, who crafted a plan to kidnap Vukorah. Bossk and Tasu Leech, both members of T'onga's crew, pretended to be Unbroken Clan members and brought in T'onga as a 'prisoner.' T'onga commented to her that it showed how far the Unbroken Clan had fallen that she was leading instead of the rightful heir. Vukorah punched T'onga and declared that she knew too much for Crimson Dawn to let her live, even though she had planned to kill her anyway. They tried to lure Vukorah into a transport manned by Zuckuss, another member of the crew, but she saw through it and avoided it. This led to a hand-to-hand fight between T'onga and Vukorah that ultimately ended in the former's victory when she used sarlacc venom to subdue Vukorah. But before they could get extracted, they were ambushed by a mob of Unbroken Clan members.
Because of this, their chances seemed hopeless, so Zuckuss suggested that they give the goons what they wanted: Vukorah. But T'onga refused, saying that they needed her to find where Crimson Dawn was keeping Cadeliah because they had no idea what unspeakable horrors were being committed to the girl by the organization. Eventually, T'onga's crew managed to escape the attack by the Unbroken Clan with Vukorah as a prisoner aboard the Edgehawk, but when they woke her up to torture her, she warned that T'onga and the crew had made a mistake and just doomed themselves and Cadeliah. Meanwhile, Dengar, working for Crimson Dawn, broke his way into a Mourner's Wail Safe House in the Undercity of Milvayne City on the planet Milvayne. Dengar told a member of the syndicate to tell Lord Khamdek to meet with him or his granddaughter Cadeliah would die.Bounty Hunters 22
====The Knights' heist====
The next major step of Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn's plan was to send the Knights of Ren were to perform a heist on Fortress Vader to retrieve the Screaming Key from it for Qi'ra. Sometime after the assassination of the Emperor's royal guard, Ren gathered the Knights and revealed this plan to them on the Night Buzzard. The Knights of Ren were hesitant to take on this task, but their leader, Ren, convinced them by telling them that it was only a matter of time before the Sith came after them, and that by working with Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn they had the chance to strike first. He told them that she had a plan, resources, and managed to get them a full layout of the Fortress and a comprehensive rundown on its security. To quell the others' fears about running into Vader, Ren assured them that Qi'ra had received word from an Imperial contact that Vader would not be at the fortress as he was busy investigating the murder of Palpatine's royal guards, something that he remarked that he would not be surprised if Qi'ra was behind. Qi'ra also told them that they could take whatever else they wanted to from the Fortress, but would not tell them what the Screaming Key unlocked, only that it was central to her whole plan.
The Knights landed on Mustafar on the Gahenn Plains and then rode their bikes to an old secret entrance of the Fortress guarded by lava. The group used the Force to move the lava and enter the castle before navigating throughout it in search of its vault. However, they were spotted by the castle's caretaker, Vaneé, who called in a group of lava troopers to fight the Knights. The Knights managed to fight off the troopers before they reached the vault, where Ren used the force to locate the key. However then Vader arrived and attacked the Knights, even killing Fyodor. Ren and Vader engaged in lightsaber combat until Ren managed to escape by jumping out of the window and cushioning his landing with the Force. Vader attempted to take the Screaming Key back from Ren using the Force, but could not do it while facing all of the Knights. After they managed to escape, the Knights realized that they were really fully committed to Crimson Dawn and Qi'ra after their experience and were most likely higher up on the Emperor's target list.
====Escalations====
=====Chelli corrupted=====
After discovering the Tomb of the Spark Eternal, Chelli Aphra was possessed by the the Spark Eternal, which was a being that called itself 'Eternity.' The being searched Aphra's mind and discovered her memory of using a thought dowser in the gallery of the Vermillion, which informed them that Crimson Dawn had a stash of Ascendant artifacts as well as other valuable and powerful items that they believed they could use to restore them to their full power. Using Aphra's body, the Spark traveled to the Vermillion in the Ark Angel IV and used Crimson Dawn ciphers and access codes that Aphra had stolen from a Black Sun spy during the Auction for Han Solo to make contact with the ship. They were answered by Trinia, who asked who they were and how they got the access codes, to which the Spark only answered that they were Chelli Aphra and she had something they wanted. By the time they docked on the Vermillion, the Spark Eternal had discovered in Aphra's mind that her former droid partners 0-0-0 and BT-1 had secrets hidden in their databanks. As such, after Trinia welcomed 'Aphra' aboard the Vermillion and alerted them that Qi'ra was not currently present, the Spark Eternal asked Trinia to first bring her her droids.
The Spark Eternal then met with the Archivist in her office on the Vermillion, and complimented an ancient type of spherical holocron on her desk that it recognized, and acknowledged went out of use centuries earlier. When asked, the Spark introduced itself as Doctor Chelli Aphra, but the Archivist immediately recognized that it was of the Ascendant, which the Spark was impressed by. The Spark explained that Aphra had memories of the Archivist from when she was Madelin Sun and had looked much different, and said it was a shame that all of her research on the Sith had been destroyed, though added that obliteration meant nothing to a clever young slicer who did not believe in rules or limits, implying actions of Aphra. When the Archivist asked what the Spark wanted, it simply said 'everything.'Doctor Aphra (2020) 23
=====Vader on Vincorba=====
On the planet Vincorba in the Expansion Region, the pontiff of the planet chose to ally with Crimson Dawn in the hopes of gaining riches and power. The pontiff and their brother traveled through the crowd as Crimson Dawn soldiers demanded tributes from Vincorba's citizens. They believed that Crimson Dawn's guards would assure their safety and survival, but they were mistaken. Three member's of the assassin's guild that were hired by Darth Vader attacked the pontiff's convoy, and successfully broke through the pontiff's protective sphere and assassinated them, with the pontiff believing that Crimson Dawn made their safety assured even until their death. The three assassins were Chilla Zin, Gee-Ninety, and Loriach, who were surprised that a hit against Crimson Dawn was so easy. However, Vader used his lightsaber to disable their speeder and make it fall out of the sky, before Ochi revealed to them that the assassination was just a test and Vader informed them that they would now serve him and help in his quest against Crimson Dawn, or they would die.
Shortly after, Chief Regional Auditor in the Empire, Cygnus Anton, who had also become associated with Crimson Dawn, visited the planet Calior, accompanied by stormtroopers and Crimson Dawn guards. They declared that the local southern water works was now Imperial property and demanded for a monthly tribute of five thousand credits if the residents wished to have continued access. However, Anton and their guards were attacked by a group known as the Revengers, consisting of Ankala Sahm, S'ira, and Tanka, who made a living of pursuing Crimson Dawn after it had destroyed their homes. Anton had deliberately arrived with his Crimson Dawn soldiers to draw the group out and kill them. After the guards and troopers had been defeated, Anton revealed that they had been a hologram, and had really remained aboard one of two nearby All Terrain Scout Transports. But as the walker fired upon the Revengers, the other was brought down by Ochi and the group of assassins. Vader arrived in his TIE Advanced and shot down and destroyed the walkers, killing all inside them. Later, the groups had a cookout, where the Revengers revealed that Crimson Dawn had destroyed S'ira's village two months earlier and Sahm's and Tanka's a couple weeks after. They declared that they went after Crimson Dawn for free, and wherever the organization showed up, they showed up.
At around this time, Sabé, former handmaiden of the late Naboo Queen and Senator Padmé Amidala, traveled to Polis Massa after joining Crimson Dawn. She was searching for Vader, and had joined Crimson Dawn knowing that he was going after the organization, thus thinking that the best way to find him was to join them. Sabé expressed this to a Forensics droid named ZED-6-7, who she discovered on the asteroid and rebuilt. After the droid revealed to the former handmaiden that Padmé had a child with Anakin Skywalker, and revealed the child was Luke Skywalker, the rebel hero who blew up the Death Star, Sabé expressed that she had joined Crimson Dawn to kill Vader, but she could possibly use the Sith Lord instead.
=====Mourner's Wail overthrown=====
In the Wealthy District of Milvayne in the Convors Perch Restaurant, Dengar met with Lord Khamdek, the leader of the Mourner's Wail Syndicate, as he had accepted his demands. Dengar revealed to him that he worked for Crimson Dawn, and that the organization had his granddaughter, Cadeliah, though reassured him that she was safe for the time being. But Dengar warned Khamdek that as the Grand Leader of the Unbroken Clan had been taken out, he could be taken out too, which would make Cadeliah the new leader. Khamdek did not take the threat seriously and told the bounty hunter that if he told him where Crimson Dawn was keeping Cadeliah then his death would at least be quick. Dengar explained that he was just a humble servant of Crimson Dawn, and that Crimson Dawn had servants in many places—from other syndicates, to political centers, to the Empire, and even in the staff of high-class restaurants across the galaxy. Then, proving Dengar's statement true, a Rodian waiter allied with Crimson Dawn gave Dengar a blaster on a plate underneath a cloche which the bounty hunter then used to assassinate Khamdek. Dengar then used the Rodian as a body shield to protect himself from Mourner's Wail soldiers' fire, telling the waiter that Crimson Dawn thanked them for their service. Dengar then managed to escape unharmed.
Later, the bounty hunters T'onga and Losha learned of Khamdek's death. They were currently holding Grand Leader Vukorah aboard their ship and attempting to torture her into telling them where Crimson Dawn was keeping Cadeliah. Losha told T'onga that their contact had said that they believed Crimson Dawn was behind the hit, which Losha recognized meant that the organization was now assassinating enemies out in the open and that the stakes were heightening. Without Khamdek's funding, T'onga worried that they would not be able to hold their team together long enough to rescue Cadeliah, so she decided to reach out to the bounty broker Syphacc. However, unbeknownst to her, Syphacc was under the forced employ of Crimson Dawn via Dengar, and so when T'onga reached out he offered the services of Dengar, telling her that the hunter had survived a visit to Crimson Dawn's fortress ship, the Vermillion. T'onga and her crew then picked up Dengar on Milvayne, wearily accepting his help.
====Empire uncovered====
In the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, Emperor Palpatine met with Darth Vader to express his belief that recent events, including the insurrection of the Hutt Council and their attack on the Executor, the ongoing Syndicate War, the destruction of Commander Zahra's Hunter Fleet and her inability to eradicate the Rebel Alliance, the assassination of the Emperor's royal guard, and the theft of the screaming key from Fortress Vader were evidence of a coordinated campaign of diversion and distraction by a new enemy of the Sith. Palpatine then called in Director Barsha to discuss who the enemy could be. Barsha explained that the Syndicate War was caused by a rumor that Jabba's contract with the Empire would be terminated and that the Empire was looking for a new syndicate to take its place, a rumor which Barsha revealed had been planted by Crimson Dawn.
Later, Palpatine and Vader continued to connect the dots about Crimson Dawn. Palpatine expressed his belief that Crimson Dawn had not only caused the Syndicate War but the other recent events too, and believed so because he had other sources on Crimson Dawn other than the Imperial Security Bureau. He also added that he could sense the web of Crimson Dawn growing tighter around them, targeting the Sith. Palpatine then asked about Crimson Dawn's leader, knowing that Vader had met her during the auction for Han Solo. Vader revealed that her name was Qi'ra, that he dueled her when she attempted to prevent him from taking Solo, and that during said duel he had noticed that she had notable skill and had been trained in Teräs Käsi. Palpatine understood from this that she must have studied ways to fight Force wielders, but Vader also revealed that she had tactics and techniques that reminded him of Palpatine's. Palpatine insisted that he did not train Qi'ra, but realized that Maul had because she was from a syndicate. Palpatine then mused that Maul must have intended to use her and Crimson Dawn against them for his revenge, and wondered that if he had taught her Sith combat what else he had told her.
=====Vader's veneration=====
Vader traveled with Valance, Ochi, the Revengers, and the three assassins to the planet Laecor to investigate a Crimson Dawn attack on the planet. Ochi introduced the group to a group of stormtroopers stationed on the planet, with them then explaining how the locals were attacked and brutalized because they did not make a tribute to Crimson Dawn. The villagers exclaimed that the stormtroopers did not help them against the organization's attack, with the troopers explaining that it was because the people were Jedi sympathizers. This grew into an altercation between the troopers and the locals, with the troopers shooting their blasters at them when they refused to leave the square. But Vader jumped down and blocked the bolts with his lightsaber and killing the stormtroopers in one fell swoop. Ochi commented that he thought they were supposed to be going after Crimson Dawn, with Vader replying that the stormtroopers were Crimson Dawn. Tanka declared that if they ignored Crimson Dawn, then they were Crimson Dawn, which Ochi did not quite agree with.
Ochi discovered a Crimson Dawn holo-communicator among the dead stormtroopers, proving that they were actually Crimson Dawn members. Ochi discovered on the holo-communicator that there was a secret Crimson Dawn base in the foothills of the planet. Ochi ordered Valance to take the Revengers to the base to scout it out and report back, killing every Crimson Dawn member along the way. But Valance recognized that he and the Revengers were really just being used as bait. But the group pressed on, confronting a group of Crimson Dawn soldiers in a field towards the base. When the group still could not find the location of the base, Vader used the force to throw Ochi down to where the Crimson Dawn soldiers were to add more bait. It worked, and Loriach discovered the exact location of the Crimson Dawn base. Ochi wanted to just bomb the place and get out of there, but Vader said no. Vader then rode G-90 down to the field and killed all of the Crimson Dawn soldiers himself. Vader then broke into the base. Ochi attempted to bomb it, but Vader pushed his explosive away with the force. When Ochi declared that he thought the point was to rub out Crimson Dawn, Vader retorted by saying that Crimson Dawn was just a symptom, and that he would destroy the 'disease.' He accessed the computers in the base and retrieved a list of members of Crimson Dawn, learning that they were in every corner of Imperial bureaucracy, all the way to the top. But Vader did not care, and resolved to destroy them all.
However, the list was a plant, placed there by Crimson Dawn agent Sabé, who managed to escape the base before Vader or Ochi could reach her and Ochi's explosive went off. About half the people on the list were real members of Crimson Dawn, but the other half were loyal Imperials. After escaping, Sabé rendezvoused with ZED-6-7 outside of the base. Vader departed from Laecor in an Imperial shuttle, and ZED-6-7 managed to access the shuttle's system, discovering that Vader was heading to Coruscant, which proved to Sabé that Vader fell for her fake list. Aboard the shuttle, Ochi split the group up and sent them after different targets from the list that they believed were Crimson Dawn members, ordered a coordinated purge of all of them. When Valance asked Ochi why they were trusting the list, Ochi explained that his Assassin's Guild contacts had confirmed that at least half the people on the list were Crimson Dawn.
=====Vader's vengeance=====
With the others' missions underway, Vader and Ochi went to the Imperial throne room in the Imperial Palace, where Vader executed a number of the Emperor's advisers and Royal Guards who he believed to be affiliated with Crimson Dawn due to the false list, and did so in front of the Emperor himself. Afterwards, Sidious revealed to Vader that only one of the individuals he had killed was affiliated with Crimson Dawn, and that the list he had discovered was flawed. At the same time, the Revengers were sent along with G-90 and Valance to kill Baron Espis Zanchal. They arrived and accused him of being Crimson Dawn, which he staunchly denied. He attempted to prove that he was not by showing them that everything was above board by showing them that the only thing hidden was a domesticated Narglatch guarding hidden captives, nothing related to Crimson Dawn. But Ankala Sahm said that she did not care about that and killed the Baron and freed the prisoners. After the Baron's death, G-90 searched the estate's records and discovered that he truly had not been a collaborator with Crimson Dawn. Whilst the other two missions were taking place, the two other assassins of Vader's crew traveled to the Executor, where they killed a number of stormtroopers and Imperial officers who were suspected Crimson Dawn collaborators but spared the life of General Romodi as he had not been on the list. In fact, Romodi had just expressed to one of the officers that was killed that he thought Vader was doing his job by killing Imperial advisors that he believed to be Crimson Dawn.
Following the purging, Vader informed Ochi that the list had been planted by someone and was not a true list of Crimson Dawn collaborators, as only half of the people were true collaborators. He explained that he had begun to realize that this was the case when Ochi said that he could only confirm that half the names were Crimson Dawn. He told the assassin to find out what connected the individuals on the list as it could lead them to who had planted it, and then they could discover why they did so.
====The Scarlet Queen====
Crimson Dawn quickly learned that the Empire had discovered their scheme against them from contacts within the Imperial Security Bureau. Margo informed Qi'ra, who decided that it was time to enter the next phase, having Margo inform Trinia and move their people to various staging points. She then told the Archivist that she knew what she needed to do, and while the Archivist expressed doubts, Qi'ra told her to find the truth, giving the Archivist the Screaming Key and telling her that she would send the Knights of Ren with her. Qi'ra then told Cadeliah that they should talk, as things were going to happen very quickly and they might not get another chance.
Qi'ra explained her origins to Cadeliah, and explained how unlike how she had been born into pedigree, Qi'ra had to rise from the White Worms to the top of Crimson Dawn, and that the further she went the more powerful people she had to face and the harder it got. Qi'ra explained that the key to running a criminal syndicate and how she ran Crimson Dawn was to never rely on trust, and that if you wanted people to do what you wanted you had to give them something that you could threaten to take away. You could not hope that someone would do something, you had to make sure that they had no choice. Qi'ra revealed how even Margo had tried to kill her three times, but by the third time realized that Qi'ra saw her as valuable and thus continued to do whatever she wanted. Qi'ra believed that Cadeliah needed to know these things for her possible future as a syndicate leader and wanted to tell the girl because no one had ever told her. But just then, Qi'ra received many emergency transmissions from her agents inside the Imperial military warning her that an alert had gone out across the entire fleet, marking the Vermillion and Crimson Dawn as a high priority target. Qi'ra recognized that their time had run out and sent Cadeliah to go with Trinia to be kept safe. When the girl asked what Qi'ra was going to do about the Empire, Qi'ra said that she would do whatever she had to.
====Chaos unleashed====
Qi'ra's mission that she had given the Archivist took her and the Knights of Ren to a mysterious Dark side hellscape filled with massive stone effigies. The Archivist told the Knights that they needed to activate the chamber before they could get to the lock the screaming key opened, and prompted Ren to surround the screaming key with the Dark side of the Force, causing it to emit a pulse and a deafening noise that animated the effigies. The Knights fought off the massive beings with difficulty while escorting the Archivist to the center of the chamber, with Bazzra dying while helping her along. As the Archivist entered the center of the chamber, Ren declared that she better be quick because they were done dying for Qi'ra and wanted to get out of there alive. The Archivist used the Screaming Key to unlock a floating mechanical apparatus, which simultaneously terminated the massive beings and revealed an hourglass-like artifact. She then sent a message on comm to Qi'ra, letting her know that the artifact was still there. Qi'ra thanked her and then told her that she would hear from her soon and to await the dawn before destroying her comlink.
After Qi'ra received the message from the Archivist, she addressed many of Crimson Dawn's members from a throne on the Vermillion. She revealed to those gathered that Palpatine knew they were hunting him and was now hunting them. She admitted that it had come sooner than she had hoped, but she had always known it was inevitable and had therefore planned for it. She explained that she had people across the galaxy in the Empire, in every syndicate, in every significant corporation, on every major world, and in the Rebel Alliance who she had made loyal to her through many means and had just given them the same order: to create chaos for the Empire anywhere they could create it, destruction and disruption for the Empire. And Qi'ra explained that while the Empire staggered, they would prepare their final move and all of it would finally end. She declared that Crimson Dawn was her hidden empire, and told them to choke on it.
====Epilogues====
=====Vader's vigilance=====
Around this time, Ochi went to meet Sub-Administrator Sly Moore—who like Ochi was also affiliated with Crimson Dawn—and accused her of planting the list of Crimson Dawn agents that Vader had recovered. After Moore's denial of planting the list, ZED-6-7 and Sabé arrived and held the pair at blasterpoint as she threatened to reveal the pair's own secret allegiance to Crimson Dawn to Vader if they did not do as she said. Ochi fired his own blaster at Sabé and attempted to escape, but she had ZED-6-7 electrocute Ochi and Moore, bringing them to their knees. When Ochi asked who she was, Sabé told them that she was Crimson Dawn just like them, but was fighting Ochi and Moore so that they would know who was in charge. Sabé revealed that she had planted the list, to which Ochi wondered why she would give up named of real Crimson Dawn members if she too was part of the organization. ZED-6-7 justified it by saying that every organization needs to be cleaned up every once and a while and that they should be grateful their names were left off. Sabé then asked them what Vader wanted, to which they said that if she was trying to kill Vader, she was doomed. Ochi told Sabé that Vader wanted to find her, and that he knew the list was a plant and was looking for who put it together. When Sabé clarified she was asking what drove the Sith Lord, Moore explained that he wanted the power to bring order. Sabé declared that they would then use him to bring chaos. Ochi marveled at the fact that this was the reason that the two had joined Crimson Dawn and said that he joined to survive, because a million is stronger than one. When Ochi pointed out that there were only four of them, Sabé said that they could enlist the power of thousands if they turned them on each other.
Later, General Romodi of the Empire released the bodies of soldiers who were killed in the purge against Crimson Dawn collaborators. Romodi expressed to an Imperial officer attending him that he believed that they were good soldiers and deserved better, which Ochi heard and said sounded like treason. But Romodi denied this, and instead revealed that a report had shown that none of the assassinated soldiers had any affiliation with Crimson Dawn. Ochi suggested that this was just because Crimson Dawn was a secret organization that kept things secret, but Romodi insisted, showing Ochi a data pad with information about the soldiers. But Ochi reiterated that if Vader said they were Crimson Dawn, then they were Crimson Dawn.
Ochi later approached Vader in his chambers on the Executor, telling him that Romodi's soldiers were not Crimson Dawn and telling him that what connected those soldiers was that they all took part in a mission against a group called the Amidalans on Naboo. This sparked a plan for a mission with the Revengers and the assassins to Tranchar in the Outer Rim to find a woman named Lieutenant Grapa, who was on the list and present for the massacre against the Amidalans, hoping that she could lead them to what tied the people on the list together. Beforehand however, Valance warned the revengers that Vader would betray them, but they said that the right people died when Vader acted and they had gotten to kill more Crimson Dawners than they could have ever dreamed of on their path of revenge for what Crimson Dawn had done to them, so they declared that as long as he was hunting the Dawn, they would hunt with him. During the mission to Tranchar, the group was attacked by a legion of Imperial Sentry droids. When Vader discovered that they were from Romodi's command, meaning that Romodi had been warned they were coming, Vader put together that Ochi had been the one to tell him and was therefore part of Crimson Dawn.
Ochi had fled Tranchar in his ship and traveled to Naboo to meet with Sabé in order to ask her for help. Ochi told her that no one could have followed him, but Vader eventually caught up to him in his TIE Advanced and landed in front of Ochi. Ochi tried to protest, but Vader told him to silence, before asking him if he thought he could have joined Crimson Dawn without his knowledge. Vader told Ochi that he had done well in leading him to Crimson Dawn's lair, to which Ochi added untruthfully that that was the plan all along. Vader then came face to face with Sabé. He told her that she had tried to kill him and tried to use him, but now he would use her. Vader took her Crimson Dawn pin with the Force and declared that he was the Dawn.
=====Vermillion Vader=====
Vader traveled with Sabé and Ochi across Naboo via shuttle, until he used the Force to throw them off the shuttle and to the surface where a horde of giant monsters lay at wait for them. Vader interrogated them as they fought against the monsters, first asking Sabé why she believed in Crimson Dawn. Sabé revealed that she did not and had only infiltrated them. Ochi said that the same was true for him, and that he infiltrated them for the Empire. But Sabé told Vader she did not infiltrate the organization for the Empire and would never join the Empire because it created chaos. Sabé said that she wanted the same thing that Vader did: Order. But Vader warned Sabé that just killing him would not accomplish what she wanted because more 'monsters' would take his place, and that someone needed to deal with the factions and make them agree. Vader added to his point by using the Force to make the monsters fight and kill each other, thus defeating them. Ochi rescinded his loyalty to Crimson Dawn and declared his allegiance to Vader.
Later, some Crimson Dawn soldiers traveled to a Crimson Dawn regional outpost in the Outer Rim with a bag full of heads taken from individuals that they had killed at the request of the Savvy Clan, who had hired the organization, much to the annoyance of one of the Crimson Dawn members stationed at the outpost, who had no idea what to do with it. However that would be the least of their problems when an Imperial shuttle containing Sabé and Darth Vader arrived, which they let land because it was using the correct clearance codes. Sabé and Vader walked out, the former displaying a hologram of the Crimson Dawn seal and telling the soldiers to lower their weapons because Vader commanded that cell of Crimson Dawn now. But a group of the soldiers saw Vader and believed they had been betrayed, so they fired on the Sith lord, only for him to deflect their blaster bolts back at them with his lightsaber and kill them. One of the fallen soldiers declared 'a thousand stronger than one,' but Sabé had them ask themselves how much stronger they would be with 'the one' as the remaining soldiers bowed to Vader.
Meanwhile, Ochi visited General Romodi on the Executor and warned him that Vader had moved on from his rampage against Crimson Dawn and had gone rogue and joined Crimson Dawn. He told the General that he would never be able to directly connect Vader to the Dawn but that in case he ended up on top, he would have a reason to think well of the assassin.
Later, on Oro Sankeria, Valance and Vader's crew traveled to the rendezvous point that Ochi had told them to go to. They then immediately found them under fire from TIE fighters under General Romodi's command. Ochi then came on to the groups comm and told them that they were not the target but a distraction, so that a flotilla of Crimson Dawn ships could sneak attack the Imperials. The crew berated Ochi for being part of Crimson Dawn as they sped away from the battle shaping up on the planet. The huge armies of both Crimson Dawn and the Empire, the former under Vader's command and the latter under Romodi's, engaged in an all out battle. Romodi's troops were overwhelmed, unprepared for the size of Crimson Dawn's forces, and so Romodi told his aides to tell his forces to withdraw, but Vader accessed Romodi's comms and told them not to withdraw. Vader revealed that through his machinations Crimson Dawn's forces in the sector finally exposed their hidden strength. Vader declared that they must be eliminated and that Romodi's forces needed to fight to the end to bring order to the Empire. Soon after, the Crimson Dawn forces activated a Pulse bomb, killing all of the forces present on the ground. Afterward, Vader's crew noticed that Vader had just been watching the entire time. Ochi told them that Vader had used them to make Crimson Dawn and Romodi's forces destroy each other and that he was their nightmare not their savior, as Vader relished in the fear he had caused them to have.
Shortly after the skirmish, Sabé confronted Vader, and asked him to help her with a mission to save a colony of formerly enslaved people from Tatooine on Gabredor III from their corrupt governor that was using the services of Crimson Dawn. She assured him that he would be able to stomp out another Crimson Dawn cell, and he agreed to it.Darth Vader (2020) 23
=====Assassination on Garel=====
Beilert Valance and the Revengers were tasked by the Empire to protect General Skarhorn, who was giving a speech at the Imperial Complex on Garel in the Lothal sector. The Empire assigned them because they worried that Crimson Dawn would try to interfere with his speech, with Valance telling the Revengers to keep a sharp look out because Crimson Dawn had eyes everywhere. After a wrong move by Tanka, one of the Revengers, the Crimson Dawn assassin was scared into taking action using an imperial AT-ST. The walker fired at the Imperials, but was brought down when Valance deliberately crashed a speeder into one of its legs. Valance found the mortally wounded Crimson Dawn agent who had operated the walker, the agent telling them that the Imperials could not stop what was coming. Valance insisted that he was not an Imperial, but the agent pointed out that the cyborg still wore their skin. Valance had saved the general's daughter from the destruction caused by the walker, but he soon learned that while he was distracted another Crimson Dawn assassin killed the general. Lieutenant Haydenn, Valance's superior, lamented that they could never figure out where Crimson Dawn was going to strike no matter how hard they planned.
Later, Valance saved seventeen Imperial Engineers who had been trapped after a Crimson Dawn mole had sabotaged their ship, an event and encounter he discussed with Haydenn while being patched up at the Ryleel Imperial Base on Carida.Bounty Hunters 25
=====Raid on the Vermillion=====
The bounty hunter crew of the Edgehawk began their travel to the Vermillion to liberate Cadeliah. When T'onga could not get anything out of her Prisoner, Vukorah, about Crimson Dawn, Dengar announced he was taking care of it himself. Losha started to push back, but Dengar reminded her that he was hired because he had been on the Vermillion before and had survived, and thus knew how to get them on board, telling them to let him do his job and stay out of his way. Dengar went into Vukorah's holding room and ignored her threats while he sabotaged the cameras. He cut her rambling off and told her that instead of arguing they should 'await the Dawn' together, offering Vukorah his knife.
The Edgehawk arrived at Bilbousa Spaceport on Nal Hutta, where the Vermillion was docked. Dengar explained that Vukorah told him that the Vermillion was there for a rendezvous with Crimosn Dawn agents, and that it would be their only chance to sneak on, rescue Cadeliah and get out. Dengar then said he was going to go find them a way in, but really contacted his lover, Manaroo, who confirmed for him that both the bounty hunters' payment for leading them to Crimson Dawn and Crimson Dawn's payment for killing the bounty hunters were in. Dengar said that thought it should have been enough money to get them out of the 'game' permanently, Crimson Dawn would always force him to do another job unless he got the bounty hunters and Crimson Dawn to take each other down. Dengar returned with cloaks from the cult on Vincorba that hired Crimson Dawn for their protection, telling them that they should get them in unnoticed. Dengar then denotaed a bomb in a crowd, distracting Crimson Dawn enforcers that were checking chain codes to get on the Vermillion. This allowed them to get inside, with Dengar immediately telling them how to reach Cadeliah. Dengar then said that he was only paid to get them there, not go any further, and abandoned the other bounty hunters.
Dengar went to a comms station aboard the Vermillion and killed the Crimson Dawn enforcer stationed at it before using the comms to make an emergency alert about intruders dressed as pilgrims heading for the Turbo-lift. When the bounty hunters exited the lift, they discovered that Dengar had given them the wrong directions, leaving them face to face with many Crimson Dawn enforcers. The bounty hunters hid behind crates and engaged in a firefight with the enforcers, until 4-LOM realized there were too many of them and knocked many down at once by throwing storage crates at T'onga's request. The hunters managed to kill all of the soldiers, with Bossk even remarking that Dengar's trap was not too bad. However, just as he said that the Knights of Ren arrived and confronted the bounty hunters, with Ren asking them for their names because he said he wanted to know who he was killing.
Ren recognized that the group had to be pretty tough to have broken in to Crimson Dawn's flagship, and thus though that they would be good to work out aggression on after their losses on Mustafar and in the dark side hellscape. A fight between the two groups began, with the Knights immediately getting the upper hand, T'onga telling the group that they just needed to hold them off until 4-LOM could get the blast door open. 4-LOM managed to open the blast door and the group escaped and secure the door behind them before the knights could follow. But the group had been badly beaten and injured in the fight, leading T'onga to decide to send the others back to the ship to get patched up and to continue going after Cadeliah on her own.
On her way, T'onga encountered Crimson Dawn enforcers that told her if she surrendered that Lady Qi'ra might show her mercy, but T'onga knew they were probably past the mercy stage and took down all of the enforcers. Continuing on, she talked to herself, chastising herself for her native in believing that she would be able to sneak past the entirety of Crimson Dawn, find Cadeliah, and not fire a shot. Then she heard a voice, who wondered aloud if T'onga had got the worst of it or the guards had. When T'onga screamed at it to show itself, Margo revealed herself, introduced herself and told T'onga that she could take her to the girl she was looking for because Crimson Dawn did not want to waste any more guards and she knew T'onga did not have another choice. Margo lead her to a door and told her that Cadeliah was just on the other side of it, but T'onga was suspicious, asking her how she did not know that Crimson Dawn was just going to attack them when she tried to take her out of there. Margo reminded her that she broke into the Vermillion and killed many Crimson Dawn guards, and was thus being presumptuous in her accusations, before adding that she did not think Cadeliah wanted to go with her anyway.Bounty Hunters 26
T'onga, now face to face with Cadeliah, told her that she was there to rescue her, but Cadeliah told her that she was going to pass. When T'onga protested, Qi'ra, flanked by the Knights of Ren and the Orphans, revealed herself and told her that Cadeliah was right where she belonged. Qi'ra said that she was surprised to see T'onga there after Dengar was supposed to have killed her, but T'onga said that he had ripped them both off. T'onga screamed at Qi'ra to turn Cadeliah over, but Qi'ra pointed out that she was injured and had no threatening power, with Ren even offering to finish the job he started. Qi'ra then stopped T'onga from raising her blaster and told her that she no longer wanted to kill her and instead wanted to start over. T'onga said she was not staying long and once again asked Cadeliah to come with her because she could protect her, but Cadeliah said that T'onga could not even protect herself and with Crimson Dawn she no longer had to run from assassins, hunters, and gangsters. T'onga exclaimed that she had just wanted to make a difference and end conflict, but Qi'ra told her that she was too insignificant to have ever done that, but that Qi'ra herself was not. Qi'ra said that with Cadeliah she could unite the underworld in service of real change. This was overheard by Vukorah, who had managed to escape the Edgehawk and Losha due to Dengar, leaving her enraged because Qi'ra had told her that the Unbroken Clan was going to be hers. Vukorah swore that she would show them how dangerous she could be.
Qi'ra told T'onga that seeing her fight the Knights of Ren and live had made her glad that she had survived Crimson Dawn's several attempts to kill her. Qi'ra said that she wanted to hire her, allowing T'onga to do some good in the galaxy while earning credits in the process, enough to keep the other bounty hunters satisfied and make sure they did not betray her. Qi'ra handed her a comlink and told her to make her decision soon, and T'onga returned to the Edgehawk.
=====The Spark Eternal=====
Just Lucky and Ariole Yu were sent to find the Spark Eternal by Ronen Tagge, and decided to travel to the Vermillion because they had last encountered Doctor Aphra and an Ascendant artifact aboard it and at least thought that at worst case senario Crimson Dawn would know how to find her. Lucky warned Yu to use restraint and not to kill on their mission, to which Yu sarcastically added that Crimson Dawn was known for their mercy as they approached the Vermillion. When the two arrived on the Vermillion, they immediately found themselves face to face with the Spark Eternal in Aphra's body.
Meanwhile, Crimson Dawn had sent agents to the planet Birukay to retrieve Aphra's droids, but most of them were killed in their attempt to do so, and their bodies were left all across the ground and dis A team of Aphra's friends led by Sana Starros that were attempting to find her traveled to the planet Birukay and discovered dead agents Crimson Dawn had sent to retrieve Aphra's droids all over the ground, all of them having been killed in their attempt to reach the droids. One of the agents recognized Kho Phon Farrus, who was part of Starros' team, calling them the Archivist's apprentice before telling them to await the Dawn and drawing the Crimson Dawn insignia in the sand with his finger. When the rest of the team questioned Farrus about this, they explained that the Archivist had a huge scope of knowledge about old Force cults and had tracked down and hired Farrus for their knowledge on dark side artifacts and research on the Ascendant. Farrus explained that they had been ordered by her to retrieve the Spark Eternal and other Ascendant artifacts for her, and had gotten their list of targets from Crimson Dawn intel. Detta Yao, who was also part of Starros' team, recognized that it was bizarre that Crimson Dawn had come there to to Birukay because it was only lightly populated and very unpopular place to be, leading her to the conclusion that something must have been hidden on the planet that Crimson Dawn had wanted and that they were close to reaching. Later, as the team approached where the droids were hidden on the planet, they were attacked by soldiers that Starros recognized as Crimson Dawn, calling them Farrus's friends, which Farrus immediately refuted. Eventually, the team managed to defeat them and reached the droids.
Having collected Aphra's droids, Starros's team moved on to a new strategy. The group decided to get Crimson Dawn involved by having Farrus contact the Archivist. However, the Spark Eternal was in the Archivist's office facing Lucky and Yu when they called and answered using the Archivist's visage. Farrus lied and told the 'Archivist' that they had the Spark Eternal in their possession. The Spark responded as the Archivist that they were happy and that Crimson Dawn would reward them handsomely if they brought the Spark to them. After, Magna Tolvan, who was part of Starros's team, expressed that she did not like bringing Crimson Dawn into things, but Starros pointed out that they were already quite involved. And Korin Aphra, Eustacia Okka, and Detta Yao deduced that since Crimson Dawn had found Aphra's droids they either had Aphra, or had the Spark who had Aphra. Farrus told them that they could get them onto the Vermillion, but warned that Crimson Dawn knew they were coming, knew every move they would make, and would hit them with everything they had. Starros assured them that Aphra's droids could handle it, as well as coming up with a plan. She recognized that Crimson Dawn's spy network meant they had a lot of information about all of them, so suggested they use that to their advantage and lean into the behaviors they would expect of them long enough to catch them off guard and take them out. She insisted that they each needed to commit to their role and warned that losing one of them would tear everything apart.
When they arrived, Farrus immediately went to the Archivist's office, where they found the Spark Eternal, who urged them to stay with the Spark and learn from it. It told Farrus that Crimson Dawn was planning something big, and that the Archivist was playing with forbidden knowledge even older than it. It once again insisted that they would want to stay there for it. Meanwhile, 0-0-0 and BT-1 killed the Crimson Dawn guards in one wing of the Vermillion, just as the Spark used Farrus's comm to tell the group to meet them in the Archivist's office. They did, and fought the Spark with everything they had. Eventually, Farrus had the opportunity to stop the Spark from leaving, but refused to despite Starros' insistence, announcing that they were going to stay there with Crimson Dawn. As Farrus contacted the Archivist via hologram, the Spark relished in what Crimson Dawn was planning, believing it was going to be glorious.Doctor Aphra (2020) 26
===Clash of Empires===
====Antecedents====
=====Informing the Rebellion=====
On the secret Imperial Base known by the codename Second Sun that was really the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station, two Imperial employees that were secretly Crimson Dawn spy Jon Melton received Qi'ra's message to create chaos for the Empire via a message hidden in an Imperial Navy propaganda holo. He later told his wife, Bevelyn, who was also a Crimson Dawn spy about the message he had received and its content, which included an addendum that everything that Qi'ra had been working towards was about to occur. Bevelyn pointed out that they were in possession of one of the Empire's biggest secrets, and should help cause chaos by sharing it with the Rebel Alliance. Jon pointed out that they would have to leave the station in order to do so, because they could not send a message from it. Bevelyn recognized that they had started working with Qi'ra because they did not like where the Empire was headed and that the Empire's actions had proved it the right call, but also recognized that they would be risking everything in order to share the secret of the battle station. But Jon said that they had to examine themselves for what they really were and ask if they were part of the Empire or something more. The two managed to sneak aboard the shuttle of Major Sharin with their children, and waited until she boarded it to kill her and take off in it to make it look like it was just the Sharin leaving.
While still in the vicinity of the Death Star, they were contacted by Commander Tiaan Jerjerrod, who wished to speak to Sharin. As Jon was Jerjerrod's aide and would have recognized his voice, Bevelyn was forced to speak with him, but accidentally said that Sharin was speaking to Coruscant, even though the Death Star monitored all communications and could see that was not true. With fighters on their tail, Jon made contact with rebels on Pastil and told them that they were offering information for a safe to travel to, but the rebels only took in under advisement and hung up, forcing them to travel into hyperspace to pre-programmed coordinates in the shuttle. They ended up on Al'doleem, with Bevelyn hoping that Qi'ra had some Crimson Dawn people nearby, but they immediately had more Imperial fighters on their tail and were forced to jump into hyperspace in transit to Coruscant. Bevelyn was worried, but Jon assured her that he knew his way around on the planet and that Crimson Dawn had people there. He reminded her that they started working for Crimson Dawn because they believed in Qi'ra's mission to bring down the Empire. He remembered that she always said they were all her people, and wondered if that meant since they had always done as she had asked that she would take care of them. They used the emergency pod to crash land on Coruscant, but could not find anyone to help them before more ships came after them.Star Wars (2020) 27
Meanwhile, the Meltons' offer and request had been passed up rebel command to General Hera Syndulla, who presented it to a group of rebels along with many other intelligence hits, with Commander Skywalker, who was present, speaking up and saying that he had a good feeling about it.
After he convinced both Syndulla and Commodore Grek to give him the information he needed and approve his mission of saving the Meltons, Skywalker disguised himself as an Imperial officer and brought two Pathfinders with him while giving them his lightsaber so nobody would discover he was a Jedi. When he successfully persuaded some stormtroopers to tell him where the Melton family is, Skywalker convinced them he was with the Rebellion and introduced himself to the married couple and their two kids. However, they were not out of trouble yet since the Coruscant underworld police found them and because they did not hear any officers were involved in the pursuit asked Skywalker for his identification and order authorization. Knowing he could not fight off the security forces on his own, Skywalker used the Force to summon a couple of corridor ghouls to attack the policemen while he escaped with the Meltons and talked to them about the intel they wanted to give to the Alliance while they were heading to the rebel fleet. Upon their arrival, Commander Skywalker took the Melton family down to Alliance Intelligence for a debriefing while he informed Chancellor Mon Mothma, Admiral Gial Ackbar, and Syndulla about how the Meltons worked for Crimson Dawn and that the Empire was building another Death Star. The three rebel leaders were frightened about the grim news they were told but Mothma decided they should figure out a way to stop it since they destroyed the original during the Battle of Yavin.Star Wars (2020) 28
=====Vader on Gabredor III=====
Vader and Sabé traveled to Gabredor III, where they discovered that the planet being underserved and oppressed by the supposedly Crimson Dawn affiliated Governor Tauntaza. They also discovered that the planet was suffering from drought and encountered creatures that were incredibly dehydrated, which Sabé also blamed on the Governor. Vader then placed Sabé in charge of Imperial troops and sent her after the Governor.
They tracked the governor to the planet's old science colony and attacked the facility, with Governor Tauntaza sending for Crimson Dawn support while sending everything she had against Vader. Vader confronted the governor and told her she had sided with chaos, but she fired her superweapon and managed to subdue him temporarily just as Crimson Dawn troops arrived. The Imperials fought the Dawn soldiers and Tauntaza's battle droids as the Dawn troops escorted Tauntaza away. Ochi arrived on a speeder and attacked the droids going after Vader, but Vader threatened him for trying to save him instead of going after the governor. They learned from the scientists and conscripts of the governor's facility that she had been working on a new technology that drained power from living things, affecting entire planets. Vader then took Ochi's speeder and went after the Governor.
Crimson Dawn agents escorted the governor away on speederbikes, with one of them insisting that Crimson Dawn always delivers. However, Vader was catching up to them on his speederbikes. She tried to fight him by giving a battle droid of hers a power capsule, but he persisted freaking out the Crimson Dawn agents. They did manage to escort the Governor to their ship and started to fly away, but Vader held it back with the Force and damaged the ship's circuitry to their surprise. They used their twin ion engines and managed to escape, with the agent once again insisting that Crimson Dawn always delivered.Darth Vader (2020) 25
Vader boarded Tauntaza's Star Destroyer and learned that she was hiding out in a superweapon/fortress that was draining the planet and causing a massive sandstorm. He ordered the Executor to fire on her ship if he failed to stop her for a final time. Ochi and Sabé went in to try and reach it, the latter of whom became stranded in the storm. Vader then decided to go into the storm after her and the Governor. Vader successfully located Sabé, and sheltered her and colonist Kitster Banai inside a tank while he had the Executor fire on the storm to stop it.Darth Vader (2020) 26 After they were clear, he had the Executor fire on the governor's death machine, but only managed to spook a Crimson Dawn agent as the fortress was shielded. So Vader sent a droid to shoot his lightsaber up through the bottom of the fortress and detonate a section to disable their shields, shocking the governor and her agents. Vader and Sabé then moved forward with their assault on the fortress.Darth Vader (2020) 27
Tauntaza realized that Vader must of had the fortresses plans, and ordered her Crimson Dawn agents to intercept them before he reached the energy center. The agents wanted to evacuate her, but she decided to use a powersuit to stand her ground instead. Vader plowed through Crimson Dawn agents as he traveled inside, killing them until he reached the governor in her powersuit in the energy center. He called her a traitor and told her she could not handle the power, but she told him that he had so much power and so little control too, and that the Empire was no longer allowing it to go unanswered. Vader then caused Tauntaza's suit to explode and thus exploded the entire fortress, but injured himself at the same time. Sabé saved Vader's life and got him out, just as their droids discovered that Governor Tauntaza had really been receiving orders from the Emperor himself.
=====A new bounty hunt=====
After a failed mission for the Pykes at the Accretion Disco, T'onga, out of options and in need of credits, decided to use the comlink Qi'ra had given her. She spoke to Margo via hologram, who informed her that the job Crimson Dawn wanted them to perform was to intercept a supply shipment to an imperial outpost that Margo claimed was ruling over a population that did not want them there. She explained that the hope was to cause trouble for the Empire and upend the Empire's control, but warned of the possibility of forces protecting the shipment. She then finally informed T'onga that the planet was Bestine.
Meanwhile, Valance and Vader's crew were heading to Bestine at Vader's behest to stop Crimson Dawn from attacking a shipment of medicine to the planet, the Empire having learned of the Dawn's intentions to attack.
====Attack====
After Qi'ra revealed Crimson Dawn's full extent and activated her agents all across the galaxy to cause chaos for the Empire, Emperor Palpatine held a meeting via holo with leaders of the Hutt Clan, Black Sun, the Pyke Syndicate, the Droid Gotra, and Zerek Besh criminal syndicates. He revealed to them that Crimson Dawn had tricked them into fighting the Syndicate War for the Emperor's favor. He then ordered them to fight Crimson Dawn and make no deals with them or give them safe haven, adding that whoever brought him Qi'ra's dead body would win his favor. Palpatine used many resources to root out Crimson Dawn, including Inferno Squad and Darth Vader, as well as closing ports to the organization and setting bounties for agents. The Imperial fleet was put on high alert to search for the Crimson Dawn flagship, Vermillion, with the Empire successfully tracking it down, as Qi'ra knew they would.
Qi'ra learned that the Empire had brought an Interdictor-class star destroyer above the Vermillion, preventing them from getting to hyperspace. Qi'ra was flattered, as the Empire did not have many of those vessels, meaning that the Emperor wanted them badly. They received a comms request form the Empire, which Qi'ra decided to accept, but she gave Chanath Cha and the Orphans command authority over Crimson Dawn forces and told them to be ready to fight when she gave the order. She accepted the comms request and found herself speaking with the Emperor himself, telling her that Vader had told him she was formidable, while also accusing her of being foolish. He said so because he thought Maul would have taught her to have more fear of the Sith, and asked her what she would do since she had his attention. She simply said that she would do whatever she had to. Immediately, the Vermillion entered an attack trajectory and flew into space, the fortress ship raining blaster fire down upon the Inderdictor and the TIE Fighters it sent out. Qi'ra fervently declared that the Emperor did not get to tell her what to do when he tried to talk her out of the attack. She declared that she did not recognize his authority. Palpatine said that he was disappointed with and lost interest in her and her dealings just like he had lost interest in Maul. But Qi'ra warned him that his feelings might change.
====Activation====
=====The Fermata Cage=====
Additionally, Qi'ra had told the Archivist to find a way to activate the Fermata Cage, which was the artifact she and the Knights of Ren had recovered from the dark side hellscape. Qi'ra had gained knowledge of the artifact from Maul and the knowledge he had amassed as leader of Crimson Dawn. The Archivist was to use the only dark side users Crimson Dawn had access to, the Knights of Ren, to activate the artifact, with her apprentice Kho Phon Farrus using their expansive knowledge to help as well. The two eventually developed a humongous apparatus that that they hoped could activate the artifact. Qi'ra had told the two before she went to speak with the Emperor to wait for her signal to come to activate the Fermata Cage.
Qi'ra sent her signal, and the Archivist activated the machine apparatus around the Cage with the Knights of Ren hooked up with collar-like apparatuses that fed their dark side energy into the cage. Palpatine immediately felt the disturbance in the Force in created and asked Qi'ra what she had done while the Vermillion continued to attack the interdictor. She explained that the Screaming Key had unlocked the Fermata Cage, but the Emperor refused to believe it, and started choking the Crimson Dawn leader with the Force. She warned him that he would never learn the truth and let her go as the Empire's forces started to severely shoot at the Vermillion. She explained that the Fermata Cage could freeze people in time, and that Maul had found ancient Sith lords that had been frozen by it. She told him that she would succeed where Maul had failed and warned her that Crimson Dawn and her people did not even need her to see the plan all the way, telling him she did not care if she lived if it meant he died. The Vermillion then crashed into the Inderdictor, destroying both ships as Qi'ra ended the transmission.
Ren and the Knights of Ren confronted the Archivist and Farrus after the machine activating the Fermata Cage exploded. He took her comlink and spoke directly to Qi'ra, telling her that they were done with being her torture puppets and were leaving Crimson Dawn and her. Ren also warned them that Vader and Palpatine would be coming for all of Crimson Dawn. Qi'ra insisted that they could move forward with the Fermata Cage project without them and told the Archivist and Farrus to keep going. She had also decided to not try and rescue anyone from the Vermillion, but said they could make their sacrifice worth it by fighting their fight till the bitter end. When Chanath Cha pointed out the massive losses Crimson Dawn had suffered, Qi'ra lied and said it was all part of the plan.
=====Vader's vision=====
Vader visisted the Eye of Webbish Bog on Mustafar, who gave him a vision of the past and future while trying to send him a message. He showed Vader a future where he spoke to Palpatine in his fortress about a disturbance in the dark side caused by Lady Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn activating the Fermata Cage, as well as a later conversation where Palpatine explained it was an ancient weapon created by Darth Momin. The Eye showed that the object and Qi'ra's plan were connected to the Spark Eternal, or at least would collide it with it. He also showed him Qi'ra with her electrostaffs standing over a collapsed and incapacitated Emperor.
Later, after returning to his fortress, Vader did speak with Palpatine, having the exact conversation the Eye showed where they discussed feeling a storm in the dark side caused by the Fermata Cage and Qi'ra. Palpatine ordered him to bring the Fermata Cage to him, which Vader said he would do.
=====Rebel fallout=====
While taking a break on Spira after the revelation of the second Death Star, Captain Holdo revealed to General Organa that the connections she made through Crimson Dawn had stopped being active and that she could not get in touch with them. Organa took this as proof that they could not trust Qi'ra, but Holdo explained that it could be something else, as her contacts were telling her that Crimson Dawn was in some sort of trouble. Later, at an auction, Skywalker felt the disturbance in the dark side caused by Crimson Dawn's activation of the Fermata Cage, which distracted him and made him feel off.
====Ammunition====
=====The Dawn Fleet=====
One of Qi'ra's primary defenses was that Crimson Dawn was too small to be noticed by the massive Galactic Empire, so once they were noticed, they felt the full might of the Empire being used against the Dawn. After the destruction of the Vermillion, the Empire destroyed and targeted all of the Vermillion's escape pods with their fighters, murdering Crimson Dawn's people just in case Qi'ra was on one of them. Qi'ra saw this on a holofeed and cursed them, before Chanath Cha asked her to tell her why she was risking her ship and her crew for her. Qi'ra explained that Crimson Dawn had safe houses throughout the galaxy, as she had always known that she might have to go into hiding as her fight with the Empire drew to its conclusion. Qi'ra then had them aim the ship into a waterfall, which once they passed through it revealed a hidden base called Dawnfall Base filled with an entire hidden fleet called the Dawn Fleet that Qi'ra had used Crimson Dawn's money earned from crime and carefully saved and spent to build. Cha said it was impressive but also that it could not take down the Empire. Qi'ra said that she was not trying to take down the Empire, only the Sith and that the fleet was not her only weapon or ammunition.
Qi'ra contacted the Archivist and asked for a status report. Having rebuilt Farrus' machine at a new site, she explained that they could continue trying to activate the Fermata Cage since they had survived the first attempt, but would not use Ascendant technology to make up for the loss of the Knights of Ren. She warned Qi'ra that Palpatine might know they were up to something becomes Ren said they could feel the disturbance in the Force, but Qi'ra told her that Palpatine already knew because she told him that they had the Fermata Cage and were working to free a Sith Lord trapped out of time. This horrified the Archivist, but Qi'ra explained that she needed Palpatine off-balance and afraid, and told Qi'ra to get it done. The Archivist realized that if they turned on the Fermata Cage, Palpatine would come straight for them, which made Farrus want to leave, though the Archivist convinced them to stay by giving them the raiment of Darth Shaa that Qi'ra had with her other artifacts.
Meanwhile, Vader contacted Palpatine from the Executor, announcing that he had found nothing at the wreckage of the Crimson Dawn site, but was certain that's where the source of the disturbance came from. He also told him that he did not think Qi'ra had succeeded in freeing the Sith lord, as he saw no bodies and a Sith would have killed them. Palpatine still believed Qi'ra dead, and ordered Vader to locate the Crimson Dawn agents that had the Fermata Cage and were still executing her will. Palpatine then explained the powers of the Fermata Cage and its origin at the hands of Darth Momin, and warned Vader that there would be no greater threat to them or more perfect ammunition against them than another Sith lord.
=====Tagge's mission=====
Meanwhile, Sana Starros and her crew were healed by Ronen Tagge, who was allied with Crimson Dawn, after the Spark Eternal blew up their ship and Just Lucky and Ariole Yu brought the crew to Tagge's penthouse in Canto Bight. Elsewhere, Kho Phon Farrus spoke to the Archivist while rebuilding their machine to open the Fermata Cage. They expressed their belief that Qi'ra's plan to trap Palpatine in the Fermata Cage, let alone any Sith, was insane, writing off the Archivist's comment that they should have faith by saying they had nothing to put their faith in, only Qi'ra, who they called a mad woman, and the Archivist herself. Frustrated, Farrus took a break recorded a message for Detta Yao, who received it while in Tagge's penthouse. In the message, Farrus told her that things were getting worse with Crimson Dawn, and explained Qi'ra's plan with the Fermata Cage. They added that everyone seemed to be either leaving or dying for Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn, and that they felt stuck there. They then postulated that the Fermata Cage might be the key to harnessing the Spark Eternal, and revealed that they had not seen it or Aphra yet before ending the message.
After Yao rejoined the rest of Starros's crew, Starros told Ronen that they refused to pay their debts to him for saving them by retrieving the Spark Eternal because Domina Tagge wanted it too, and she was more powerful. However, Ronen revealed that he was with Crimson Dawn and had their entire army at his disposal. He said that Crimson Dawn was generous to those like him that were loyal to it, and that Qi'ra, like him, believed it was time for the Tagge Corporation to have new leadership. After hearing this, Starros admitted that it changed everything and immediately agreed to his offer. Magna Tolvan protested, but Starros warned her that she probably had not met Qi'ra, and thus did not know that she was just as if not more powerful than Domina Tagge. Starros explained that backing Qi'ra was backing the winning side. However, Starros suggested changing their mission and instead go and assassinate Domina Tagge.
=====Tagge takedown=====
Ronen began his and Crimson Dawn's takeover of the Tagge Corporation by initiating a mutiny within the corporation by secret Crimson Dawn agents. This included members of the Tagge fleet firing on the rest of the fleet, and individuals revolting on ships like the Acquisitor. On the Acquisitor, Boushh's crew, still working for Domina, fought Crimson Dawn mutineers. While trying to reach Domina, they came across two Crimson Dawn agents after going through a door. Boushh said 'Await the Dawn,' and the two recognized the catch phrase, asking if they were with Crimson Dawn. Boushh said no, and then shot and killed them. While attempting to open the next door Tans, recognized that the console was wrecked and that Crimson Dawn was destroying everything they could. The door opened, revealing Domina, who told them that destroying everything was Crimson Dawn's preferred methodology, though had given up on subtlety. Domina assured them that she was alright, having killed at least two members of her honor guard who had been with Crimson Dawn. The crew escorted her to her quarters where she received her protoblade and declared that Tagge Corporation lived and died with her, and if Qi'ra wanted to take it, she would die at her hand. Then, looking out at the fleet, Domina relaied that the mutiny would cost her hundreds of lives, dozens of ships, and millions of credits. More Crimson Dawn mutineers then rushed at her to attack, but she killed them all with her protoblade. She then decided to retake the bridge and told Boushh and his crew to come with her.Doctor Aphra (2020) 28
Meanwhile, Sana Starros and her crew arrived on the Acquisitor. Lucky said that Ronen had warned him Crimson Dawn was making their move, but he had not expected it to look like chaos. Magna Tolvan recognized that this was what Crimson Dawn's was trying to do, undermine systems to make way for a new one. Starros and Lucky deduced that Domina would be heading to the bridge, and the crew started to head there, killing Crimson Dawn agents and employees alike who stood in their way while Domina and Boushh's crew did the same, both groups arriving at the same time. Starros said she was there because Ronen wanted her dead, and the two groups erupted into a full melee and firefight until Ronen arrived along with Lapin Tagge and many heavily armed Crimson Dawn soldiers, announcing that the fight was over and he was taking over Tagge Corp.
Domina told him that he was a child who had destroyed everything he wanted and was left with nothing, but he insisted that he had Crimson Dawn's army they provided, her ship, her assistant, and the whole Corporation, and that her weapon had run out of charge, leaving her with nothing. When Starros asked Domina if that was good enough, and she said it was, Lapin injected Ronen with a paralytic agent while members of Ronen's guard took out the others, leaving only those that followed Domina. Domina now had a recording that Lapin had secretly been taking of Ronen's confession of working with Crimson Dawn and other crimes, that the rest of the Tagge family could not deny. Knowing that their family could not contest her for doing so, Domina stabbed Ronen in the throat, killing him. Starros had been working for Domina the entire time and the entire plan wass a set up, which she revealed to the rest of her crew. Domina declared their debts erased but told them that while Qi'ra had infected their workforce, they still had operations across the galaxy. She declared that Crimson Dawn would rise and fall but TaggeCorp would outlast them all if they wanted to work for her. But they declined, and left.
====Arrival====
Onboard one of her Dawn Fleet ships, Margo warned Qi'ra that Crimson Dawn was in trouble and that they had lost their deals with other syndicates. She also revealed that the Empire had issued bounties on Crimson Dawn personnel and were seizing their ships, meaning that their ability to publicly operate was destroyed. Qi'ra told Margo to get Crimson Dawn's agents to safe houses and tell their clandestine agents it was their decision or not whether to stay in place, but those that did would see their loyalty well rewarded. Cadeliah then asked why Qi'ra was not more upset, and Qi'ra told her that Crimson Dawn had always been a means to an end, even before she took control and that she was willing to let it die as she had always known the time would arrive. Cadeliah asked what her purpose was, and Qi'ra told her that she was her last hope.
Trinia then gave Qi'ra a comm with a message from the Archivist, who told her that they had made another attempt to bring the Fermata Cage online but it almost killed them. Qi'ra told her to try another attempt, but the Archivist warned that every time they did, the Emperor could zero in on their location. He in fact already had, and Darth Vader had arrived. The Archivist told Qi'ra over comm that they were doomed and Qi'ra begged her to stay alive just as the Empire jammed their comms. The Archivist and Farrus hid, but Vader found them, Farrus tried to surrender, saying they had heard about his power from Aphra, but the Archivist said that he was the reason they had all fought so hard as he was a Sith. Vader then started to attack them, but then Chanath Cha and the Orphans arrived and confronted him. Vader was unfazed and told them he would kill them. Cha argued that she had spent her entire life waiting to fight him, and he would be the one to die. Ladybright flashed bright lights and disoriented him and Cha threw a grenade full of acid at him, causing Vader to lash out with the Force and destroy Farrus's machine before walking into the ocean to neutralize the acid that had covered him.Hidden Empire 3
Knowing they did not have much time before he returned, Cha and the Orphans rushed to get the Archivist and Farrus out of there, Cha and Vex explaining that they had avoided Vader's Star Destroyer by approaching from the other side of the planet flying low and using cloaking, telling them that their ship the Siroto was now parked in a clearing in the jungle. The Archivist lagged behind, and Cha told her that Qi'ra had sent her to extract them from the planet, and they needed to go. But the Archivist insisted they bring the Fermata Cage, telling Cha that the artifact was the key to Qi'ra's plan to destroy the Sith, and without it they would lose and have fought for nothing. Cha agreed and tried to get Sear and Vex to take it, but Farrus suggested that the artifact may be hungry for life and should not be touched, prompting Ladybright to carry it. Cha sent Vex and Ladybright, with the Fermata Cage, back to the ship with Farrus and the Archivist, while she and Sear stayed behind to once again fight Vader, who was emerging from the water.
Vader told Cha that she would not avenge her parents or Qi'ra, and would only die. But Vader sensed Cha's surprise at the mention of Qi'ra's death and then her confidence, which indicated to him that Qi'ra was still alive. After Vader killed Sear, and Vex failed to stop him by sniping him from the ship, Ladybright contacted Qi'ra and told her that they had the Archivist and the Fermata Cage. But she added that Cha was fighting Vader and they could not rescue her without getting destroyed, so she asked that Qi'ra send the Dawn Fleet to shift the scales and allow them to rescue Cha and escape. Qi'ra refused, and told her to return immediately and do nothing else, but Ladybright refused to do so, even at the Archivist's insistence and started to turn the ship around to go after Cha. But as Vader killed Chanath Cha, the Archivist used Farrus's telekinetic Calling gloves to destroy Ladybright and take control of the ship. Cha saw them escape and was happy and relieved that they did, right before she died. On the Siroto, a terrified Farrus begged the Archivist to let them go because they did not want to do what they were doing anymore, and the Archivist agreed to drop them on the way.
Later, at Dawnfall Base, Qi'ra asked Cadeliah why she refused to send the Dawn Fleet to rescue Cha. Cadeliah suggested that she thought she would need the fleet later and did not want to alert the Emperor that she had all of those ships. Qi'ra confirmed this, explaining that she needed to protect her dwindling assets. Qi'ra then told Cadeliah that Cha had thought her life was a story that she was writing and knew the ending to, but she was wrong, and instead was only a character in Qi'ra's.
====Assembling====
Vader eventually returned to Palpatine, who asked if Qi'ra's claims about a Sith Lord trapped in it were true. Vader told him that he felt only the intensity of the dark side from the Fermata Cage, but did not sense a presence. Palpatine then spared with Vader, while telling him that if there was a sith inside the Fermata Cage that they must be destroyed to enforce the rule of two. After they finished sparring, Palpatine recognized that Qi'ra knew that they could sense the attempts to open the Fermata Cage and knew that they had no choice but to come, making it a beautiful trap and declaring her a brighter light than Maul that will be missed when she is gone.
Meanwhile, the Archivist spoke with Qi'ra on the Siroto via holo, explaining that she had learned that the Cage needs to be fueled by the dark side in order to open, adding that she knows a place filled with the Dark side and abundant life that it could feast on. Qi'ra directs her to go there immediately, but the Archivist revealed that she had no one left to guard here, and that the Sith will sense the Cage opening and kill her long before the cage opens, insisting that she would not try an open it with no chance at succeeding. Qi'ra assured her she would give her that chance and closed the transmission.
Cadeliah, who was sitting next to her in Dawnfall Base when she closed the transmission asked if she had lied to to the Archivist. Qi'ra said that she had not and had come to close to close to to fail so she would do everything she could, as despite what Palpatine had done to her and Crimson Dawn, people would still answer her call. Deathstick responded and Qi'ra asked for her help, reminding her that they were so close to their goals. Deathstick said that she was impressed but that she was not a soldier of Qi'ra's, only an assassin that had already done her part and everything asked of her, telling her to find someone else. She then reached the Knights of Ren and asked them to help protect the Archivist again. Ren initially rejected her, but then heard her out, Qi'ra explaining that she understood why they were reluctant but that their help would assure the Sith were taken down, who otherwise would chase the Knights down and force them into a life of running and hiding. Ren said that she made a good point and ended the transmission. She then spoke to Cadeliah, who recognized that Qi'ra was on the precipice of losing everything, revealing that she will be leaving and that they would probably never see each other again either because she died or had to run. Qi'ra gave her a disk to play if she did not contact her in five days.
Qi'ra then contacted the Spark Eternal,Hidden Empire 5 who was surprised to receive the call, via hologram with an offer to join her in destroying their common enemy, the Sith. Qi'ra later stood on a scaffold in front of a massive gathered crowd of Crimson Dawn agents, soldiers and pilots that filled the entire base. She told then that she did not care why they were working for Crimson Dawn, but reminded them of the things in the Empire's galaxy that had been not fair, of how insignificant they were to Palpatine, and how mistreated they were. Qi'ra told them that she was not asking them to rebel, only do something they already wanted to. She said to direct all of the resentment, fear, and pain they felt towards Palpatine and shove it down his throat before the fleet departed for the station.
====Amaxine station====
Meanwhile, the Archivist had contacted Qi'ra shortly after her encounter with Darth Vader and informed her that she knew a new location to attempt to open the Fermata Cage that might allow her to do so without dying. Aware that Crimson Dawn was running out of time, Qi'ra instructed her to set a course to the location immediately. The location was the Amaxine space station, an ancient space station in the Outer Rim Territories once used by the Amaxine warriorss, but later overtaken by a species of sentient planets called the Drengir which were naturally powerful in the dark sideThe High Republic: Into the Dark Because the station was primarily a massive biosphere filled with plant life and because of the the dark side power the Drengir's remnants provided, the Archivist believed the station could provide enough life and dark side energy to open the Cage. As such, the Fermata cage and its holding device were moved to the ancient Amaxine space station. Around the same time, Detta Yao, Sana Starros, and Magna Tolvan confronted Kho Phon Farrus at another location, the former telling Farrus they had a lot to answer for until they interrupted her and told the group that they knew where Aphra, the Spark, and Crimson Dawn were. They also warned that they knew what Qi'ra was planning, and what she had already done, and it was going to kill them all.
Meanwhile, the Archivist had arrived at the Amaxine Station, where she completed setting up and activated the Fermata Cage, which quickly began to consume the plant life and dark side energy around it. Vader's flagship the Executor, which Sidious had taken personal command of, arrived very soon after the Cage began absorbing the energy and opening, as the Sith lords had sensed the event, making the Archivist realize her time had run out and much quicker that she had hoped. As Qi'ra hoped, both Sith lords were tempted to confront the power trapped in the cage. Sidious then ordered an Imperial officer to immediately destroy the Amaxine Station using the full power of the Executor. Before the order could be carried out, however, another officer reported that an entire fleet was dropping out of hyperspace, which Sidious realized was Crimson Dawn.
As the Dawn Fleet came out of hyperspace, Margo ordered the implementation of their battle plan: Class Three and Class-Two ships moved to target the long-range cannons of the Executor, while Class One ships moved to engage the Executor's starfighter complement. Margo also ordered Crimson Dawn transports to travel into the station, thereby enabling Dawn soldiers take up positions inside and grant the Archivist more time. A battle then erupted between the two factions, with the Empire deploying TIE fighters and TIE/IN interceptors. Crimson Dawn's fighters posed little actual threat to the Executor, but they were able to target the ship's long-range weapons as planned. As such, the Executor was forced to divert power to its shield batteries, delaying Palpatine's order to destroy the station. Although the admiral aboard claimed it would be a short delay, Sidious, unwilling to leave the matter to chance, left with Vader on a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle to personally end the crisis. The two Sith also gathered a grouping of Royal Guards and death troopers to join them in boarding the station and attacking Crimson Dawn.
Once the Crimson Dawn transports reached the station, a Dawn captain ordered team of Dawn soldiers to prepare for the upcoming battle with Imperial troops by securing the hangar, finding cover and setting up turrets, while the captain led several platoons deeper into the station to establish a parameter around the Archivist. A Crimson Dawn soldier, instructed by the captain, then told the others soldiers to find over and dig in, as well as make sure they had good lines of sight and check their weapons because they needed to prepare for a target rich environment. Vader and Sidious's shuttle entered the hangar shortly afterward, with their crimson TIE Interceptors destroying all landed transports. Royal Guards and death troopers quickly departed and began to fire on the Dawn troops, who returned fire after one soldier screamed for the soldiers to light them up. As both sides began to take casualties, Vader and Sidious exited the shuttle and began to fight Crimson Dawn soldiers as they ventured into the station, deciding to take no survivors.
====Ascendant Aphra====
As the two Sith made their way to the Fermata Cage, they cut down the remaining Crimson Dawn soldiers that stood in defense of the Archivist as she opened the Cage. The Archivist informed Qi'ra once the Fermata Cage was nearly open and told her she needed to leave as she did not want to get caught between the Sith Lords and the Fermata Cage. Qi'ra told the Archivist to make her escape, and informed she had played her part in Qi'ra's plan incredibly well. She then added that her soldiers would hold off the Sith long enough for the Fermata Cage to open, and if they were not enough then another individual, referring to the Spark Eternal, was on their way. Arriving aboard the station in the midst of the battle, the Spark, which was in possession of Aphra's body still, greeted Qi'ra, who herself had boarded the station.
Qi'ra would return to a starship and the fleet, while the Spark Eternal stationed itself on the Sith Lords' path to the Fermata Cage. As Vader and Sidious neared the Fermata Cage, the Spark Eternal revealed itself and greeted both, drawing on Aphra's memories and fears to tell them about how she saw them as demons, whereas it merely saw them as men. Understanding that Aphra was somehow changed and inhabited, Vader stayed behind to deal with the Spark while Sidious carried on to the Cage, which he ordered Vader to join him at once the Spark was dealt with: he knew something was coming and he wanted him at his side. As Sidious left, the Spark told Vader that it had been told by Qi'ra of the fact the two Sith would be at the station, calling it a unique situation that it could not pass up.
Vader drew his lightsaber, and the Spark, carrying a sword known as the Null Blade, told him what it was and its origins as an artifact of the Ascendant. The Spark asked Vader if he wanted to know what the sword could do, and as it struck at Vader, the Spark told the Sith in four words it made him weak. As the Spark spoke the last word, the Null Blade knocked the Sith Lord's lightsaber out of his hand. After the Spark questioned if Vader saw what it meant, he responded that he did not, and pushed the Spark Eternal out of Aphra's body, responding that the Spark was weak. Aphra, now free of the Spark, attempted to hide from Vader, which he told her was not possible. The doctor then asked Vader if he was sure he wanted to worry about her, and as he made his way to the Fermata Cage to join his Master, Aphra told him to hurry as it looked like Sidious was up to something up ahead.
====Annihilated====
Vader then joined his Master side's at the Fermata Cage, where Sidious informed him that the Fermata Cage was opening after millennia, and that the two Sith stood ready to face whatever was locked away. At this moment, a mini device popped out of the Fermata Cage, confusing the Sith. Aboard the Siroto outside the station, the Archivist informed Qi'ra she could see everything happening. Sidious picked up one of the devices, and told Vader that they were not an artifact of the Sith, nor connected to the Force in anyway. Qi'ra and the Archivist, seeing that the two Sith were in the vicinity of the Fermata Cage, and that it had opened, Qi'ra declared the only thing left to do was win. Sidious concluded that Qi'ra had lied to them, and that they been lured into a trap, as the Archivist activated a switch and locked the two Sith in time. Qi'ra was overjoyed, and the Archivist told her that they had done it. Qi'ra reminded the Archivist that it was not over yet, and instructed her to seal the Fermata Cage, which would trap the Sith Lords forever, which they would then retrieve from the station and throw into a star, which the Archivist agreed to do.
At this moment, the Knights of Ren arrived at the station in their ship, the Night Buzzard. After Cardo asked Ren what he saw, the Knight confirmed he saw Vader and Sidious, and that they looked like they were in trouble, leaving him Qi'ra had got as far with her plan as she had. After this, Ren suggested to his Knights, that whilst Qi'ra may be winning in this instance, she might not keep winning, musing that the Emperor, being a Sith lord, would be able to escape somehow. He then added that after the Sith killed Qi'ra, they would then turn to kill the Knights after because of their Heist on Vader's Castle before for Qi'ra. Ren then told the Knights they had trusted Qi'ra, but all she had done was treat them as disposable idiots and made them enemies of the Sith, which he said meant they owed her nothing. Ren informed the Knights that the only way they could turn the situation around was for the Knights to turn their image of enemies of the Sith into friends of the Sith. With this, the Night Buzzard fired on the Fermata Cage, freeing the Sith Lords, and sending out a Force Wave.Bounty Hunters 32
The wave shot out and devastated much of the Dawn fleet. Once they were freed, Sidious remarked that Qi'ra had come so close yet so far to killing them. The collapse of the Fermata Cage devastated Qi'ra, who informed her forces she had failed them. She then told them to flee, scatter and start new lives for themselves. As the Imperials began to destroy Qi'ra's forces, Admiral Firmus Piett was informed that the Crimson Dawn forces had nearly been annihilated, and the admiral ordered for no survivors to be left. As she saw her forces wiped out, Qi'ra said goodbye, wished them luck, and fled as the Dawn was destroyed.Dark Droids 1
====Aftermath====
As the Imperial fleet outside fired on the Dawn ships with the intention to leave no suvivors, Vader and Sidious left the machine that housed the Fermata Cage with the artifact in Sidious' hands. The two Sith spoke of sensing a great rending in the Force, and that it rippled through the galaxy. Sidious informed Vader that it left his own grip on the Force tenuous. As they walked, Vader told his Master that they had been trapped, yet somehow freed, stating it was not a result of him, and asked if Sidious had freed them. As this was happening, the Spark Eternal that had been pushed out of Aphra made its way inside the device that emerged from the Fermata Cage when it was opened. The Knights of Ren arrived and explained their hope their actions would earn Sidious' mercy, but the Sith lord told them they were mistaken and knocked them down with Force lightning.
Back at Cataract Base, Cadeliah played the message as she had been instructed to do by Qi'ra. The message began by Qi'ra stating that she had hoped the young girl would not have to play the message, but she had suspected it was more likely to be the case. As the message continued, Qi'ra informed Cadeliah that for one reason or another, she was now gone, that she would not leave Cadeliah empty handed, and that she had three gifts for her. Thinking that Cadeliah may ask why she was given the gifts, Qi'ra explained that the two were the same, with both of them being brought into criminal syndicates at a young age, and from a perspective, they were both trapped as they were heirs to great power. Qi'ra then revealed the first gift, though she said Cadeliah had already received this gift, that of knowledge, that she had brought Cadeliah to her side so she she could see firsthand the choices that were needed to be made to live their lives. Shen then expressed hope that Cadeliah had been paying attention to her during her time with Qi'ra. The second gift Qi'ra presented was resources, she informed the girl that the credits that remained in her Crimson Dawn accounts now belonged to Cadeliah, with the details needed encoded on the datacard with the message. With this gift, Qi'ra revealed the final gift to Cadeliah, the ability to live life as she saw fit, something Qi'ra never had. With tears rolling down her face Qi'ra informed Cadeliah that she did not whether she was successful in her attempts to destroy the Sith, and although she knew she could never free herself, she had managed to free Cadeliah. With this, the message ended.
===Late Imperial Era===
Crimson Dawn was shattered and destroyed with its defeat at the hands of the Empire and Sith. At one point near the end of the Empire's reign across the galaxy, archeologist Dr. Chelli Lona Aphra noted in the Smuggler's Guide that Crimson Dawn and the Crymorah Syndicate were losing ground while the Hutts and the Pykes were consolidating assets. Aphra theorized that this was because hidden treasures, indicated in the Smuggler's Guide that had been claimed by that time, seemed to have benefited the syndicates in the Eastern Rim, such as said Hutts and Pykes, thus destabilizing the underworld balance of power.
The Dawn's destruction convinced otherwise valuable allies to the rebellion to lay low, unwilling to risk their lives in exchange for credits. That hurt the rebellion's efforts to learn more about the second Death Star. Meanwhile, Qi'ra's plot ended up releasing the scourge of the droids; the disc droid dropped by the Fermata Cage bonded with the Spark Eternal, creating the Scourge that spread across the galaxy.
The Dawn left behind a confusing legacy to those unaware of its true loyalties, leaving outsiders unsure of what "side" the syndicate had been on in the grand scheme of things.Star Wars: Hunters In 4 ABY,The Battle of Endor occurs in 4 ABY according to Star Wars: Timelines, thereby dating Qi'ra's epilogue in Hidden Empire 5 to 4 ABY. Qi'ra was in a cantina when word came through that Sidious had been killed during a battle with the Rebellion in the Endor system. As footage of an uprising on Coruscant played, the crowd went wild, stating that the Empire was gone and that the Rebel Alliance had freed the galaxy.
===Legacy===
====The Archivist's tale====
Sometime after the Empire's fall in the Battle of Jakku, the Archivist recorded Qi'ra's attempts to destroy the Sith in a holocron. She stated that after the battle Crimson Dawn had been destroyed and that she did not hear from Qi'ra again. The Archivist then expressed her presumption that either the Empire or one of its remnants found Qi'ra and killed her. The Archivist spent time considering the reason why Qi'ra had come so close to completing her plan, but ultimately failing. The reason she came to the conclusion with was that despite all of Qi'ra's power, her skill and influence, and all the loyal and strong allies she had gathered, Qi'ra did not trust, she did not have faith, or as the Archivist finally came up with, Qi'ra was alone.
Years after the fall of Crimson Dawn, Jedi siblings Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa discovered the Archivist's holocron and played it. The Archivist told them the story of the rise of Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn, but also told them that the story of Crimson Dawn was a tragedy, and that her story was about its fall. The two learned all about Qi'ra's attempts to destroy the Sith and once the Archivist's recollection was finished, Organa stated that the story was almost too much to believe. Skywalker agreed, though he said he disagreed with the Archivist's final assertion that Qi'ra had failed, pointing to the fact that two of Qi'ra's agents, a couple called Melton and Bevelyn, had informed the Rebellion of the second Death Star's construction. Skywalker explained that without the knowledge, they may have only learned of its existence when it was too late and that the Rebellion could have been destroyed. Organa added that the Syndicate War that Qi'ra instigated to keep Sidious occupied had also given the Rebel Fleet time to regroup. Skywalker then stated that Qi'ra had saved the galaxy from the Sith, just not in the way she thought she would. In response, Organa expressed that she had wished that Qi'ra had come to them and the Rebellion, and that she also wished that she had lived to see the rebels win, unaware that Qi'ra had in fact survived beyond the Crimson Dawn war.
====Faded power====
By the New Republic Era, Crimson Dawn had returned, though their power had faded significantly from its former glory. However, criminal organizations that evolved from Crimson Dawn held substantial power. Although the New Republic Senate formed the Sector Rangers to combat such criminal groups, it was a mere fraction of the size of the Empire.Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious The Hunter Skora owned a set of clothing known as the "Crimson Dawnrise" for use in the Grand Arena. Skora herself was interested in Crimson Dawn, whose loyalties were something she did not understand. During this time, Crimson Dawn developed a rivalry with Black Sun, and the two syndicates engaged in occasional skirmishes. Information on this was published in "Index of Organizations," a survival compendium sent out by Carson Teva to New Republic recruits.
Though still active in the decades following the fall of the Empire, Crimson Dawn itself no longer held the influence it once did and was viewed as a relic of the past by contemporary underworld denizens such as Kanjiklubber Razoo Qin-Fee, who wished to defeat what was left of Crimson Dawn in the name of Kanjiklub and destroy the old ways, and the Master Codebreaker, who believed that the significant players that held the powers of the galaxy that Crimson Dawn once had was the Son-tuul Pride and the Guavian Death Gang.
==Behind the scenes==
Crimson Dawn was created for the 2018 movie Solo: A Star Wars Story, but was first mentioned on April 17, 2018 in both the novel Last Shot by Daniel José Older and the choose-your-own-adventure book Choose Your Destiny: A Han & Chewie Adventure by Cavan Scott. The organization would make its first appearance later that year when Solo: A Star Wars Story was officially released on May 25.
Script writer on Solo, Jon Kasdan, stated that the name "Crimson Dawn" for the organization was conceived as a subtle way to hint Maul's appearance in the film, in addition to the artifacts from Dryden's study and Qi'ra's use of Teräs Käsi.
==Appearances==
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Criminal syndicates and cartels
Category:Mercenary units