Y-Wing Crisis

Belligerents| **Y-Wing Party*** Y-Wing Party politicians
* Blackmailed politicians
* Republic spies
* Imperial Council politicians

Commanders| **Y-Wing Party*** Speaker Tah'nora
* Chancellor Fey'lya
* Empress Tahraya
* Rey Beniko

Casualties| **Y-Wing Party*** Enitre Party massacred

The Y-Wing crisis was an internal political coup in the Sith Empire by lingering Galactic Empire remnant and First Order sympathizers, with assistance from the New Republic. The intended goal was the establishment of Human High Culture in the Sith Empire, rendering the rights of aliens, droids, women, and others not considered 'human' virtually nonexistent, starting their coup by using the position of women in Imperial society as a wedge issue. Though a sincerely held belief among the Party, the Republic's aid in this coup was entirely devoted to removing Darth Amorosa from power by stripping her of her rights in her own home.

## Timeline

### Prelude

The Imperial Council, still in it's early stages, was in the midst of establishing the fundamental infrastructure of the Empire's laws. As a result, many policies were often considered 'low priority' and usually related to social welfare. In her third address to the Council, Darth Amorosa stressed the importance of these policies (largely related to vulnerable people's rights and security, the rights of sex workers, and the rights of aliens and droids) and how they couldn't remain in their low priority state.

During the Empire's next election, a new political party dubbed the "Y-Wing Party" declared itself. It made appeals to alien races that came from patriarchal cultures and were forced to throw those cultural ties away upon joining the Empire to gain support. Darth Amorosa petitioned for the immediate disqualification of the Y-Wing Party, citing that their manifesto was the entry-point of Human High Culture, a banned political philosophy in the Empire. However, the Council voted against her petition and dismissed her concerns as paranoid.

### Rise to Power

The Y-Wing Party won four seats on the Imperial Council, and Amorosa's attempts to render their manifesto obsolete through the de-prioritized social welfare policies were thwarted by the Council's apathy. Five months later, two Imperial Councillors, both women, turned up dead. The Council ruled their deaths accidental and closed the matter, but Amorosa launched her own investigation. Her investigation revealed that the Councillors were poisoned with a compound made on Lothal, where one of the Y-Wing Councillors was elected. She published these findings in the news, sidestepping the Council and taking the issue to the court of public opinion.

In retaliation, the Y-Wing party covertly attempted to assassinate Amorosa's wife, Jedi Master Rey Beniko, using the same poison. Beniko murdered her assailant, however. She salvaged the poison and began research on an antivenom. The entire Beniko family, including their two children, were put under military protection and evacuated from Naboo as a result.

In 40 ABY, the Y-Wing Party managed to push through legislation criminalizing sex work with a minority vote. Due to the minority vote, the legislation was immediately veto'd by Empress Tahraya. Amorosa petitioned to have those who voted to harm vulnerable Imperial citizens dismissed, but the Council voted to dismiss her complaints. This failed legislation sparked outrage in half the Imperial worlds, with petitions being made to the Sith to kill the Councillors responsible for trying to pass it.

A week later, security volunteers on Naboo discovered that three of the Councillors were being blackmailed by the Y-Wing Party's benefactors and two others were being paid off, giving the Y-Wing Party a voting strength of nine out of twenty six council members. Darth Amorosa brought this evidence to Empress Tahraya, but as it nameed nobody specific Tahraya said her hands were tied. Amorosa warned her that if she continued to play politician, the hands of every woman in the Empire would be tied soon enough. A few months later, the Y-Wing Party won four more elections, giving them half the voting strength. Amorosa immediately launched investigations to determine the legitimacy of these elections, but turned up with nothing. It turned out the voters of these planets were simply on board with what the Party was selling.

In 41 ABY the Council Speaker (the deciding vote in a draw on the Council) declared membership to the Y-Wing Party, giving the Y-Wing Party a majority vote. The very next day the Council voted in a law stripping all women in the Empire of their rights and freedoms, rendering them unable to vote, unable to own property, unable to possess jobs, unable to hold public office, unable to own weapons, and of their bodily autonomy. It also abolished the position of Empress, and striped away the political power of the Dark Lady of the Sith. This law passed with a majority vote, meaning the Empress could not veto it. Darth Amorosa was formally asked to turn in her lightsaber, citing this new law claiming she was no longer allowed to own weapons. She ignored this demand.

### Amorosa's Massacre

Amorosa was sat in the throne room of Naboo's palace that evening, commiserating on the destruction of what she had worked so hard to build. She meditated on the Dark Side, and concluded that trying to play a politician's game had failed. That she had tried to work within a system she never believed in to begin with.

Vowing to correct it, Amorosa entered the Council chambers while they were in session and slaughtered the Imperial Council, killing every last member and taking despotic control of the government. Her coup was met with applause and relief from the people of the Empire, and outrage from the nine Y-Wing associated planets. She abolished the laws made by the previous council in the last two years and dispatched the military to planets to ensure the mass political disenfranchisement of women was immedaitely reverse in the 36 hours it was in place. The military was given carte blance to kill local officials where necessary and organize new local elections.

Amorosa also enshrined into law the rights and protections of Imperial Citizens based on species, gender, orientation, religion, culture and disability. She also established Imperial Unions for vulnerable workers like humanitarian workers, sex workers, and couriers. She also enshrined into law that speciesism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and other bigotries to be crimes. She made bigoted rhetoric grounds for immediate disqualification from public office. She also established more executive power for the Sith, the ability to dismiss Councillors, and for the Dark Lady's petitions and motions to always take top priority in the Council.

She then set about making the formation of political parties illegal, forcing any politician to run independently, and passed laws preventing officials from tabling legislation while an investigation into election integrity, corruption, or political sabotage was taking place for the first fourteen days.

She concluded her two month reign with an Empire-wide address, denouncing the previous Council for it's callous disregard for the will of the people, for cowing to blackmail, and for accepting bribes. She also denounced the pressure that had been on her to do nothing about it in the name of democracy, even while that democracy was cannibalizing itself. She announced that her faith in democracy, already weak, has been shattered completely and she would not allow any other Council to act without tangible oversight ever again. She then re-established the Council and called for a federal election.

### Aftermath

The new Imperial Council had it's powers utterly neutered, and Councillors were treated as disposable, replaceable people. They were no longer allowed to simply ignore the Empress or the Dark Lady, and they lived under constant threat of dismissal or execution. Public opinion of Darth Amorosa skyrocketed after she stepped down, and the increasing discontent during her autocratic rule was immediately quelled.

In the 42 ABY Census, 92% of the Imperial population said they felt safer knowing the Sith are overseeing the government. Faith in the Council was at an all time low after the Y-Wing Crisis revealed how susceptible it was to corruption.

The Republic's involvement in the crisis was discovered, and Darth Amorosa leaked the information to the Republic media while painting it as if the Chancellor and the Senate intended to enact a similar coup in the Republic. Political unrest skyrocketed and nearly the entire Senate was replaced in the next election, with Cal Omas being elected Chancellor and bringing the Cold War with the Republic to an end.

The two Councillors assassinated by the Y-Wing party were memorialized in the Throne Room and given posthumous Caida Medals. The slaughtered Council had their bodies encased in carbonite and displayed on the walls of the Council chambers, a chilling warning to any who would dare threaten the Dark Lady's people.