Dark Empire War

The Dark Empire War was a massive, large-scale conflict fought between a small band of resistance fighters and the united armies of the Shadowy Ones, Shadow of Ages, and Empire of Shadows, who had banded together to form the Dark Empire and conquer Spherus Magna.

Prelude
Shortly after the Dark Empire established itself as the ruling power Spherus Magna, the group's leaders were forced to enforce a number of operations in order to continue to maintain discipline over the planet. Whilst not all of these events are known, the ones listed were known to have significant impacts on the fate of Spherus Magna.

Skrall Degradations
The Skrall degradations were a series of infiltrations into the ranks of the remnants of the Rock Tribe and Skrall society, an assignment intended to completely shatter their social structure. At first, everything played their course, though when a Skrall warrior named Korzor discovered the Empire's plans, Eostra Nihiltian was forced to take drastic mesures, and nearly completely wiped out the Skrall. The few who survived either joined up with a number of newly-formed resistances, or scattered themselves to avoid detection.

Sacking of Creep Canyon
The Sacking of Creep Canyon was the first known effort by the Empire to crush resistance. The Empire had managed to gain intelligence on a small, yet threatening group of resistance fighters whom had learned of the Dark Empire's true schemes. in order to prevent them from being leaked, the Empire's leaders ordered a Makuta named Vicoran to lead a unit of soldiers into the resistance's base in Creep Canyon, and wipe them out. This mission proved highly successful, and much stolen information was recovered in the process. Because of his victory, Vicoran was given command over an entire legion of soldiers. The only known survivor of the event was Nalek, who would hide in the wastelands for a time before joining up with another resistance.

Deity Purge
In the first year in control of the universe, the Empire became aware of the existence of the powerful Deities, beings with powerful control over a certain aspect of reality. This campaign, headed by Millennium, took him to the both the Space Dimension and the Time Dimension, where Millennium and his forces were brought into conflict with the Deity of Space as well as the Deity of Time. After many months of fighting, both deities surrendered to the Empire, and were put into a coma to prevent them from interfering with Millennium's conquests. Soon after, other deities such as Metrados were eliminated, though at least one, Shadowhawk, joined the Empire itself. Seeing this as a massive injustice, Iruka, the only surviving member of the Fallen Six (who had been killed during an early effort to oppose the Empire) willingly began fighting the Empire, with the aid of his surviving forces and other resistances.

Invasion of the Gigas Magna Empire
Shortly prior to the Empire's total conquest of Spherus Magna, the Great Being Brominax discovered the Empire's existence, and returned to Gigas Magna to assemble forces to deal with the threat. Allying the Gigas Magna Resistance with the Gigas Magna Empire, and the Bounty Hunters' Guild, Brominax, Tetrack Nui, and Slicer lead the forces of Gigas Magna down to Spherus Magna to wipe out the Empire. Arriving just as the Empire had cemented their control over the planet, Brominax's army was met with fierce resistance from the Dark Empire, under the command of the "Dark Lord."

With their fleets ravaged, and unable to return to Gigas Magna, Tetrack went into hiding, eventually joining up with a small resistance led by a Toa named Jareroden and a Ko-Matoran named Ixtil. Brominax traveled off-world to parts unknown to find the Great Beings, and bring the threat of the Empire to their attention. Meanwhile, Slicer mustered his remaining forces together, and continued to battle the Empire. Toa Fairon, an ally of Brominax was also taken hostage by Eostra, whom she suspected had important knowledge, and placed in suspended hibernation within her fortress' underground vault.

Fall of the Guild
After two long months of fighting, Slicer was slain in combat, and the Bounty Hunters' Guild eventually surrendered. Weakened and without the support of Tetrack or Brominax, the Bounty Hunters' Guild was dissolved, with many of its former members becoming neutral mercenaries, lending out their services to both the numerous resistances and the Empire. This event also saw the destruction of the Hunters' Brigade, who had sided with the guild in order to aid them. Many bounty hunters of both factions were killed in the process of the Empire's retaliation, though known survivors of the conflict include Janneus and Lethal. Another effect to this conflict was the expansion of the relatively small crime group known as the Blood Vines, with many mercenaries who fought for the Guild and Brigade joining up with the Vines, which gradually saw its growth.

Onslaught of Iconox
The Onslaught of Iconox was an underground effort by the Hand of Mata Nui to claim the ice village of Iconox as a base. With the Empire temporarily distracted by Slicer and Tetrack's efforts, the Hand was able to strike numerous times at Eostra's forces, numbering down her Corpsian soldiers one by one. Upon discovering the Hand's involvement with attacks, Eostra assigned a commander named Raptrix to eliminate the Hand, only to encounter great resistance by the Hand's forces commandeered by Toa Shadak and Blast.

The battle was fought for many days, with neither the Hand or the Empire being able to gain an edge. After a week more of fighting, Raptrix withdrew his forces from Iconox to resupply and recieve reinforcements. The Hand did the same, though when confronted by a fresh new wave of attackers, were swiftly decimated. The Hand's backbone was shattered in the conflict, forcing Shardak and Blast to depart from Iconox, and meet up with Jareroden's resistance, whom Shardak and Blast joined. Around this time, Makuta Serrakaan began stalking the streets of the city of Tajun, murdering a number of beings for an unknown purpose, yet leaving no clues behind to suggest his involvement with the deaths.

Noctian Negotiations
As the Dark Empire's military began stabilizing it's position on Spherus Magna, the Noctian species (who had joined Brominax's army and traveled to Spherus Magna) attempted resist enslavement, and began actively opposing their command. Whilst no battle was ever fought during period, the Enforcers of Noctian Reign sent troops to blockade their land, which sat right on top of a major Proto-Mine. This political stand by the Noctians began encouraging numerous other races to make their own. Glatorian, Skakdi, Matoran, and Agori alike began making their own stands together, inspired by the Noctian's bold move.

Fearing an uprising, Millennium entered heavy negotiations with the Noctian representative, Leviathos, whilst having an elite task force of warriors led by the veteran bounty hunter Lethal infiltrate the Noctian's territory. Then, in a brutal show of ferocity, Lethal and the empire attacked the Noctian's settlements wiping a large number of them out. Fearful of any more causalities, the Noctians quickly submitted, and their political discussions were brought to an abrupt end. Unwilling to bow before Millennium's forces, Leviathos led the Enforcers of Noctian Reign into the wastelands, eventually coming across Jareroden's growing resistance, and swiftly siding with them.

Kodax Masssacre
With Jareroden's resistance expanding increasingly, Tetrack went on a private mission to find any other Kodax, and convince them to act against the Empire. Gathering beings such as Fyxan, Velnax, and Mordrax, Tetrack held a private meeting with his kind, and attempted to convince them to join the resistance. Unfortunately, a traitor from within the resistance's ranks leaked information to the "Dark Lord" who sent an entire legion of his best troops lead by his general Sovnoron to wipe them out. Taken by surprise, a majority of the Kodax were either killed or taken hostage, with Tetrack being the only Kodax being able to escape the massacre.

Conquest of New Atero
In the city of New Atero, a representative of the mysterious Society of Guardians, Ignika Nui, formed an alliance with the elusive Artakha Fighters, represented by Tryx. Vowing to stop the Empire, the Society and Artakha Fighters established a base in New Atero. There, they began launching countless attacks against the Empire, with Conqueror and Hydros leading a majority of these armies. For roughly a year, neither the Society or the Artakha Fighters were discovered, until the Society's old enemies, the Legion of Shadows, as well as an Artakha Fighter named Garras, tipped the Empire on where their base was located, prompting Eostra to send a battalion led by Flareus, Purberax, and Krakanus to deal with them.

New Atero fell quickly before the Empire's forces, and the Artakha Fighters were forced to abandon the Society, and go into hiding. Having located the Society's base within the Black Void, the "Dark Lord" himself arrived to deal with the Society, with Makuta Verahk as his temporary ally. As the battle raged, the Empire received severe beatings from the Society, and were forced to retreat. Furious at this outcome, the "Dark Lord" blamed Verahk for the failure, despite the Makuta having previously objected against a full-on assault against the Society. After having the Legion disbanded, with Verahk and Kylla disappearing, the "Dark Lord" launched a second attack on the Fortress of Ages, and succeeded in destroying it. Meanwhile, New Atero was purged of all resistance, and was placed under strict law following its conquest. Only Tryx Hydros, and Conqueror are known escaped this event alive.

Skakdi Uprising
The Skakdi, having been bitter with their treatment by the Empire since the start of their reign, eventually initiated a full uprising; joining forces to wipe out all opposing forces in their settlements. At first, Millennium only regarded this as a minor catastrophe, one which he believed would quickly cease. however, as the Empire began to pay less and less attention, the Skakdi succeeded in completely freeing themselves from the Empire's control, and began conquering some of their outposts.

Taken by surprise, the Empire tried desperately to stop the Skakdi, though all efforts failed, and the Skakdi refused to back down from their rampage. Fearing that the Skakdi would fall into the same patterns as the Noctians had previously, the "Dark Lord," Millennium, and Eostra tried desperately to negotiate with the Skakdi, though failed to do so. Feeling threatened, the Empire made an uneasy alliance with the Skakdi, granting them greater rights, and recruiting a number of them into their forces. Some Skakdi, however, still wished to oppose the Empire, and as such a large number of Skakdi lead by Freztrak allied with Jareroden's resistance. Other Skakdi, such as Serhaktem, became wanderers for a time, allying themselves with no one.

Atero Founding
With a resistance now powerful enough to challenge the Empire, the resistance that had been founded by Ixtil and Jareroden felt it was time to reorganize the group into a fully-fledged war party. Abandoning their old base, the resistance leaders searched long and hard for a new base, until Shardak discovered the long-forgotten city of Atero. There, six of the most powerful warriors within the resistance came together to form their new group. These warriors, consisting of Leviathos, Jareroden, Conqueror, Freztrak, Ixtil, and Shardak officially founded their new resistance, and with the support fo the rest of the resistance, managed to rebuild Atero, and modify it to suit their needs. This event would eventually become known as the Atero Founding.