Western Reaches pacification

Military action

Following the end of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Empire launched pacification operations against the holdouts of the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the Western Reaches.

Elements of the Imperial Navy began mounting excursions into formerly-Separatist-held space as early as 18 BBY. Following the controversy surrounding the atrocity on the former-Separatist moon Antar 4, Emperor Sheev Palpatine assigned Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to these operations, where he would be far removed from the media spotlight. However, as the campaign progressed, planetary populations of former Separatist worlds, dissatisfied with the Empire's perceived lack of reconstructive action in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, added to the holdouts, further swelling their numbers to dangerous levels. Shipyards like the one over Kartoosh, just outside of the Western Reaches, supported Imperial star destroyers fighting in the operations, serving as repair hubs for starships damaged in engagements with Separatists as well as salvage yards for captured Separatist vessels.   Lieutenant Commander Orson Krennic, in collaboration with Moff Tarkin, utilized the conflict as a pretext to advance the top-secret Imperial construction project occurring above Geonosis. He used the threat of arms smuggling to allegedly-Separatist-aligned mining concerns in the region as justification for the appropriation of numerous legacy worlds, such as Samovar and Wadi Raffa. In addition to this, the meltdown of the project's nuclear reactor on Malpaz was chalked-up to an attack by local Separatist holdouts as part of Krennic's coverup.   Moff Tarkin would continue to campaign against the holdouts until 17 BBY, when he was reassigned by the Emperor to Sentinel Base. Because of this apparently-insignificant posting, rumours spread that it was due to a failure in commanding one of these operations, although in reality was not the case. Nevertheless, the conflicts were concluded by the Imperial Military by 15 BBY, and the region was thought to be pacified by a year later.