The purpose of this thread is to create a "semi-canon", or better yet, an Infinites version of the civil war in which a third side comes into play.
In RTS, the three factions usually follow with one "federation"-type group that most players can identify with, one "evil empire"-type group, and one group that's totally alien. Or rather, one balanced/speedy group, one raw power group but with bad tech, and one sneaky group that has nice effects on account of super tech. Could this work out real story-wise for the SW universe? I'm doubt it, though the rock-paper-scissors paradigm is always tempting to use.
However, story-wise, I think the third side should be alien enough in a way that it's neither good nor evil, and so perhaps alien enough in its ideology so that its goals is pure takeover for its sake.
So, that means the side should either be:
1. An completely alien race. But without mentioning the Vong, are the Ssi-Ruvi or the Chiss/Kilik powerful to be a contender? Doubt it. However, what if IG-88 really did succeed in creating a semi-droid revolution? Too overplayed? Maybe not then.
2. An amoral group. However, were any of the semi-autonomous regions around that time be willing to attempt conquest of the galaxy?
If I was to come up with a third side, I'd probably make it into a very shifty, sideshow war-waging faction that is included only because:
1. They're powerful enough to count, and
2. are actually involved in fighting.
What I'd do is to take the Tyber Zann concept and first change the name to something other than Consortium, which is already taken by the feminist mages or whoever. Next, though I wouldn't be able to build it around preexisting characters, I'd steal the concept that someone had from the other thread and give it a history that started with escaped CIS soldiers who fled to the Outer Rim and went underground. Some of these guys became involved with actual organized crime, and others managed to get sympathizers to infiltrate the Imperial military (but of course not too at a high level). Like the mythical Nazi ODESSA, they'd stick it out indefinitely, slowly biding their time, getting resources in the underworld.
Eventually, they'd emerge during the thick of the civil war as a gray Confederation, made up of people who are against both the Empire and the Republic-revivalist Rebellion, and want control of the galaxy to themselves, with possibly some vague promises of a vaguely libertarian world after that. In reality, most of the people are ex-CIS, gangsters, and ex-Imperials who despise the Rebellion.
As an aside, I think the Tyber Zann thing could have easily be changed to someone who unites the Hutt syndicates (but not a Hutt, since that'd lower appeal), or just an alternate Xizor (though that would require EOTW: Forces of Corruption) to be a criminal warlord. Zann, on the other hand, seems to be created just so he can look like the Prince Arthas from Warcraft 3.
