Marka Ragnos’ body was still warm when the two most powerful Sith Lords were fighting each other over the privilege of succeeding him as Dark Lord of the Sith. One of the contenders was Ludo Kressh, who was conservative and careful, and wanted to follow in Ragnos’ footsteps in consolidating and strengthening the Sith Empire before engaging in further expansion so that it would be able to fight the Republic if the need arose. Initially, he was the favourite to ascend to rulership of the Sith Empire, but the unexpected arrival of a pair of sibling explorers from the Republic threw his plans into disarray. To keep word of the Sith from getting back to the Republic, Kressh wanted the explorers killed, but his rival Naga Sadow outmanoeuvred him by faking a rescue and convincing the assembly of Sith Lords to elect him as Dark Lord and mount an invasion of the Republic. Kressh attempted to rebel against Sadow before the invasion could begin, but it ended in ignominy and he was forced to fake his death to survive. After Sadow’s expedition had left, he garnered support and forces from the Sith Lords who had stayed behind, declared himself Dark Lord of the Sith, and attacked Sadow’s battle fleet returned after having been defeated and turned back. However, Sadow once again outmanoeuvred his long-time rival and finally destroyed him once and for all.