The Chilling Massacres By This Demon-like Star Wars Species
The galaxy far, far away is a bloody and brutal universe. The Star Wars movies focus on war and the larger diplomatic struggles of an incredibly expansive universe. While there have been many brutal massacres mentioned in the films, from Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith to a reference to the Trillian Massacre in The Force Awakens, not to mention the genocide committed by the Death Star and Starkiller base attacks. One particular set of exceptionally brutal massacres stand out in Star Wars Legends. It was started by a particularly unique race who resembled devils in our world.
By nature, the Stenax species were fierce and violent. Their appearance was no less menacing. They were a reptilian race, standing roughly six and a half to eight feet in height. A row of bony spikes ran across their shoulders and gargoyle-like faces. Sharp claws and spikes lined their calf muscles. Their scaly, purple-grey skin and white eyes with small pupils created an intimidating and terrifying persona. Thick muscular cords lined their facial features, resulting in their ears and eyebrows angling up. Similar muscle cords hung down from their mouths. They were totally hairless and had a large spinal protrusion containing the Kleti gland, which allowed them to hone in on object while flying.
The winged Stenax would build cities and tall structures among the planet's pinnacles and plateaus. However, many earthquakes and volcano eruptions shook their homeworld of Stenos. One particular earthquake buried the stone statue which the Stenax believed to be the worldly avatar of their god, Vol. The highly spiritual species refused to fly again until the representation of their god was found. The Stenos capital city soon turned into a criminal haven, with many coming from various worlds. The Stenax lived peacefully among these people, but tended to avoid interaction with the off-worlders.
Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the statue of Vol was discovered by Luke Skywalker and the Rebels. Through trickery, the idol ended up in the hands of the planet's Imperial governor. Believing the governor had stolen the idol, the Stenax attacked, killing the governor and his stormtroopers. With the idol found, the Stenax were willing to take to the skies again. They returned to flying to and from the high structures on the planet. Some also moved to numerous systems in the nearby worlds within the Gordian Reach, working as mercenaries or taking up low-paying jobs. They mostly stayed to themselves, but otherwise co-exist peacefully with others. However, this was merely a ploy to gather information on other species with an intent on conquest. They planted operatives on these worlds to learn their secrets, and study their technological advancements, patiently waiting the signal to attack.
Once they had gathered information on species abroad from their reconnaissance operatives, the signal finally came. In 4 ABY, almost a year after the Battle of Endor, the Stenax species launched a series of grand attacks in what became known as the Stenax Massacres. The Stenax operatives attacked and killed the Imperials on their worlds along with the civilian populations. The Stenax seized deadly Galactic Empire technology, and attacked Kadril, Arda-2, Sooma, Alzar, Tandarkin, and other planets in the Gordian Reach. Their massive bombardments reduced the planets to rubble. The Stenax were finally defeated in 5 ABY on Tharkos by the Mon Calamari forces. Even though the amphibious species had been focusing on supporting the establishment of the New Republic, they left the Mon Calamari space to fight the Stenax on behalf of the New Republic.
After the attacks, the remaining Stenax were incarcerated, monitored, and had their access to new technology limited. The remaining Stenax who were not involved were allowed to continue living their lives away from their homeworld of Stenos. Sociologists did warn the Republic, however, that another similar incident to the multi-planet massacres could happen again in the future. New Republic Intelligence would continue to observe the off-world Stenax from afar, and monitoring posts were place in orbit above Stenos to prevent any future attacks by this violent species.
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Source: Wookieepedia