Solo-Niathal coup

As the war continued, Omas could do little to retaliate, but when his opposite number in the Corellian government, Dur Gejjen, contacted him for peace talks, Omas saw an opportunity. Meeting with Gejjen on Vulpter, he requested that Jacen Solo, head of the Galactic Alliance Guard, and Cha Niathal, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force, be neutralized, and in return, Corellia would be accepted back into the Alliance and hostilities would cease. Gejjen agreed, but as he walked away from the meeting he was felled by a head shot from a GAG sniper—Ben Skywalker. Although Omas was able to return to Coruscant safely, he now found himself utterly friendless.

Upon learning this, Solo decided that Omas was no longer fit to serve. He began studying galactic law, and began lobbying for more power, which the Senate gave him. Eventually, he had the required power to oust Omas. Solo also made an agreement with Niathal.

Jacen Solo used a legal loophole to stride into Omas' residence at Republica House with a GAG escort of Sergeant Wirut and Trooper Limm. Solo arrested Omas, who responded with icy indifference in front of the soldiers. When they had left, however, he verbally accosted Solo, labeling him a "power-crazed…little jerk". The stated reasons were that he had entered into secret negotiations with Dur Gejjen; however, the Justice Department did not charge him until an extended period following his arrest.

Cha Niathal, now the acting Chief of State, declared both herself and Solo to be joint Chiefs of State. They both declared that their junta was legal and temporary, and promised that there would be rapid elections following the end of the conflict. They also sealed off the Chief of State's office, proclaiming that only duly-elected representatives could sit in it.

Although the move originally shocked many senators and citizens, Niathal's speech to the Senate and Jacen Solo's meeting with protesters largely quelled any major disputes, and the populace as a whole seemed to accept the change with little fuss.

While Admiral Niathal genuinely believed that the military coup was only for the duration of the war, Jacen Solo, however, began laying the plans for his eventual rule of the entire galaxy as Sith Lord. As Solo engaged in increasingly questionable actions, Niathal became more and more disturbed about her co-chief of state, especially after he had - unknown to her - became the Sith Lord Darth Caedus. After learning that Caedus had murdered Lieutenant Patra Tebut in a fit of rage, she wanted to have him relieved of duty and arrested for his crimes, but knew that the Galactic Alliance Guard would never back her up.

A few months later, Admiral Niathal and Darth Caedus attacked Fondor to subdue a key Confederation world. When Darth Caedus refused an order to stand down after the Fondorians had surrendered, Niathal attempted to relieve Caedus of duty. A majority of the fleet remained loyal to Darth Caedus, who soon withdrew to Coruscant. Niathal remained on Fondor, setting up an Alliance-in-exile on that world.

It is possible the joint-Chiefs system is the basis for the Triumvirate.

• The Essential Guide to Warfare