Crimson Dawn

**Crimson Dawn** was a criminal syndicate led by the former Sith Lord Maul, that near the end of the Clone Wars was a member of the Shadow Collective. 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 Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. 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.

Sometime between 3 ABY and 4 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 Palpatine, 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 the 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

In the years following the formation of the Galactic Senate of the New Republic in 4 ABY Crimson Dawn faded significantly from its former glory, though 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 Galactic Empire, under which Crimson Dawn thrived as one of the deadliest and most powerful syndicates around. 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 Dietrich of the Second Union, who wished to destroy what was left of Crimson Dawn in the name of the Second Union and believed that the Union would achieve greater things than the Dawn ever did.