Crimson Dawn

"Once you're part of Crimson Dawn, you can't leave."

- Dryden Vos

Crimson Dawn was a criminal organization led by Maul, who employed gangster Dryden Vos during the Federation-Der'kal War as the public face of the syndicate. Crimson Dawn was based aboard Vos’s yacht First Light. During its existence, Crimson Dawn quickly cemented a reputation for being ruthless. Kira publicly served as Vos' top lieutenant, but later directly worked with Maul after she killed him.

The Shadow syndicate
Maul gathered an army of exiled warriors and various criminal organizations into an enterprise known as the Shadow syndicate. After several years Maul's hold on the syndicate broke and he was forced into hiding.

Despite his defeat, Maul had established himself as a figure in the underworld and saw it as fertile ground to reestablish a power base in the wake of his failure.

Formation
Maul was able to regroup and recruit some of his former allies from his crime syndicate into Crimson Dawn. Much like in his previous syndicate, Maul elected to rule from the shadows rather than establish himself as the visible leader of his new syndicate. However, unlike the old syndicate, most of the rank-and-file of the organization did not report to him directly and few even knew his identity. Instead, Maul relied on a figurehead to serve as the executor of his will to his men. The public leader of Crimson Dawn in 2387 was Dryden Vos.

Mercenary roots
"There's a story about a band of mercenaries who came to a peaceful planet. They had a resource that these men coveted, so they took it. They kept coming back, taking more, until finally the people resisted. When the ravagers returned and demanded their tribute, the people shouted back with one voice. No more. So they cut out the tongue of every man, woman, and child. That was many years ago. Do you know what that pack of animals became?."

- Enfys Nest

Before reorganizing into a larger criminal enterprise, the forerunners of Crimson Dawn were a band of ruthless mercenaries who traveled from planet to planet, seizing the resources they coveted or needed while brutalizing the natives into complying. One such world was the desert planet Savareen, which possessed a resource that they desired. After several raids on their world, the Savarians rose up against them, refusing to comply anymore. As punishment for their defiance, the mercenaries cut out the tongues of every single man, woman and child they could find.

Legacy
The mark left by Crimson Dawn on the galaxy could still be felt, criminal organizations that evolved from Crimson Dawn held substantial power.

Crimson Dawn thrived as one of the deadliest and most powerful syndicates around. It was still active in the 2390s, Crimson Dawn itself still held influence in the criminal underworld.