[CENTER][img]http://i.imgur.com/AUCDPm2.png[/img][hr][H1][SUP][SUB][SUP][SUB][B]T H E   E M P E R O R   I S   D E A D ,   L O N G   L I V E   T H E   E M P E R O R ![/B][/SUB][/SUP][/SUB][/SUP][/H1][/center]
In 4 ABY, a decisive victory in the Galactic Civil War was fought above Endor as the Rebel Alliance confronted the Galactic Empire's second Death Star. While the battle at first seemed to be going in the Empire's favour, it ultimately turned in favour of the Rebels. This led not only to the destruction of the Death Star but also the deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine himself. With the Emperor dead, word quickly traveled across the galaxy, riots and celebrations breaking out as Imperials were forced to retreat with the Rebels declaring the Galaxy at last free.

But the Empire was not broken, merely fractured.

The First Order, the Emperor's personal Special Forces team immediately seized control of the Imperial fleets, regrouping their forces back to Coruscant which still remained predominantly loyal to the Empire. In the event of his death, the Emperor had several fail-safes put in place. Using the cloning facilities on Kamino, the Emperor had prepared several successors to take his place. The most successful of these had been taken to Dathomir and left in the care of the Nightsisters. Like they had during the Clone Wars with the warrior known as Savage Opress, the Nightsisters had enhanced the young man with the planets mystical ichor and Sith Alchemy, growing him into a formidable warrior.

Retrieving the young Palpatine, the First Order soon discovered that the Sisters had given the boy a new name, no longer was the clone identified as Sheev Palpatine, the sisters had instead honored him with the title of Sheev Ren, a Dathomirian term for a warrior king. The First Order returned to Coruscant with Sheev Ren in tow, taking the new Emperor to the former Jedi Temple. Before his untimely death, Palpatine had felt a shift within Lord Vader following his confrontation with the younger Skywalker on Bespin. Fearing betrayal Vader's hands, the aging Palpatine refounded the Inquisitorius. Where the original Inquisitorius was trained under Vader's watch, the second iteration was trained by Darth Sidious himself. Put through much of the same training regime as the fallen Sith Darth Maul had endured, the Inquisitorious produced several strong hardened warriors but none quite as powerful as a woman known as Mara Jade.   

In order to strengthen the Empire, Sheev Ren was introduced to the galaxy as the Emperor. The Rebels claims of his death merely propaganda to strengthen their win at the battle of Endor. Deciding to use the Inquistorious as positive propaganda to combat the alleged return of the Jedi, the First Order makes the order public, now under the title the Knights of Ren. Sheev Ren chooses Mara Jade to act as his right hand and liaison between the Knights and himself while an extremely gifted tactician from the Unknown Regions is called back to Coruscant. With the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Imperial forces are strengthened as the Rebellion is forced to put their New Republic on hold.    

No longer a Rebellion, but now a full Resistance, the former Rebel forces continue to lead the charge against the Empire. Their numbers growing daily as strike teams with the assistance of legends such as General Han Solo and General Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker bring down Imperial outpost and lay claim towards freedom for the galaxy. With no true world to cal their won, the Resistance is based on a fleet of Calamarian Dreadnoughts, travelling where they need to be. Horrified at the emergence of a new Emperor, the Resistance is struggling to maintain their claims that the true Emperor died above Endor. 

With the emergence of the Knights of Ren, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker realized that there is much he does not yet understand about the Force or the Jedi. Returning to the former Jedi Temple on Devaron, Luke found himself drawn to the planet of Vrogas Vas. Travelling sectors, Luke eventually arrived at the planet of Vrogas Vas only to find the Jedi Temple there in ruins. Sitting in the rubble of a long-forgotten past, the Force reached out to Luke and he opened his eyes to find another man staring down at him. 

These eyes belonged to Jedi Master Mace Windu.

Having survived his confrontation on Coruscant with Lord Vader and Sidious, Master Windu eventually found his way off-world and followed the Force to the temple of Vrogas Vas. As with Yoda and Obi-Kenobi, the spirit of Jedi Master Qui=Gon Jinn had reached out to Mace Windu in order to teach him the principles of the Living Force. Founding a new Jedi Order, the Vas Jedi adhered to the ancient code of the Gray Jedi, a reflection of Master Windu's own struggles with the Dark Side. 

Hidden under the surface of Vrogas Vas for nearly thirty years, the Orders' numbers were small but none the less, Luke was understandably surprised to learn that he was not the only Jedi in the galaxy. While the temple had been devastated on the surface, much of it remained underground. Due to Vrogas Vas' climate, the temple was primarily built underground in an effort to maintain a more comfortable climate. The ruins on the surface were no more than a few rooms including the grand foyer. When Mace had discovered this, he took full advantage of it and eventually made a home for his apprentices.
   
The First Order:
The Knights of Ren:

The Resistance: 
The Vas Jedi:

[HIDER=WIP and Ideas][B]W.I.P. - STAR WARS: Fractured Empire[/B]
The Emperor is dead, long live the Emperor.

With the fall of the second Death Star at the battle of Endor, the Emperor was killed and the Empire was left broken. The Rebel Alliance celebrated, believing they had finally won, breaking the Empire's hold on the galaxy. But the Empire was quick to retaliate. An elite legion of special forces, the Empire's First Order, quickly spread propaganda through the galaxy denying the Rebel's claims. Religiously dedicated to the Emperor, the First Order would do anything in their power to ensure the Empire did not fall. 

The Rebels continued the fight, no longer a Rebellion but now a Resistance, standing in the way of a broken empire from becoming whole again. 

Having found peace by bringing balance to the Force, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker returns to Yavin 4, believing the temples there to be an ideal location for training a new Jedi Order. Using the teachings of Obi-Wan Kneobi and Yoda, sought out apprentices to teach in the ways of the Force.

However, unknown to Luke there was another Jedi Order already growing. Having survived his confrontation between Darth Sidious and a young Darth Vader, Jedi Master Mace Windu escaped Courscant. Travelling the galaxy, Master Windu eventually made his way to the Sith world of Korriban, choosing instead to use the ancient Sith ruins as his new Jedi temple. Tempered by the presence of the Dark Side, Mace and his apprentices neither flourish in the light nor hide in the dark, reigniting the ancient order of the Gray Jedi. 

Never a man without a plan, Emperor Palpatine had used the cloning facilities on Kamino to ensure his own immortality. One such clone had been left in the care of the Nightsisters. Using their dark magic, the Nightsisters had increased this clone much like the warrior known as Savage Opress from the Clone Wars. Now a young man, the First Order has returned to Dathomir to claim the new Sith in order to rally their warriors and retake the galaxy. 

This clone was known by the Nightsisters as Sheev Ren and upon his return was placed in command of the Inquisitorius, an organization originally used to hunt the Jedi at the end of the Clone Wars. Thought to have been gone, Palpatine revived the organization shortly after Vader's confrontation with his son on Bespin. This confrontation had brought a change to Lord Vader, one which caused Palpatine to be weary of a united front between the two Skywalkers. In retaliation, Palpatine had several force sensitive agents trained in the ways of the Dark Side, among them his star pupil, Mara Jade. 

With the Force Order's introduction of Sheev Ren to the Inquisitorius, it was decided the organization known for killing Jedi needed a new public image. In an effort to combat the growing sentiment of a Jedi return, the First Order reintroduced the Inquisitorius as the Knights of Ren, a peace-making division of the Empire.

-Sheev Ren is aided by his teacher and loyal servant Snoke and consort, a Nightsister, his 'Nightmother'.

-The death of the Emperor sealed a 'wound in the Force' awakening the potential that had laid dormant during the reign of the Empire.[/HIDER]