The protagonists realize a new threat has emerged: the DARK ORDER. Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and C-3PO rush to Coruscant to rescue them, and right when the New Republic transports are about to leave, the Eclipse appears in orbit over Coruscant. In an incursion mission to try and take Coruscant, Luke and Lando took two Star Destroyers, Liberator and Emancipator, but since their codes were faulty, they were shot down, but Luke was able to keep much of the Liberator 's crew alive. The planet itself is ravaged from infighting, and the Rebels see this as an opportunity to sow further confusion, using captured Star Destroyers to broadcast false signals and play the Imperial forces against each other.

They are able to unify the Imperial forces and launch a massive attack into the New Republic, with the old capital Coruscant as the first target. A signal from the Imperial stronghold of Byss brings remaining leaders together for them to discover that the Dark Council, a cabal of Inquisitors, Dark Jedi, and Dark Side acolytes, called everybody there. Chief among this is a failure to select a new leader. The appearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn after the Battle of Jakku unites many of the squabbling Imperial factions to go to battle against the New Republic, but Thrawn's death at Bilbringi brought back their divisions.

The Rebel Alliance also took advantage of this confusion to launch more offensives against Imperial holdouts while encouraging other star systems through diplomacy to join the New Republic. In the five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the Galactic Empire is torn by strife among various factions that surfaced following the death of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader.

World devastators star wars