Tactically, the Star Wars galaxy would gradually learn the weaknesses of the invading enemy, and use this knowledge against them.
All the while, power struggles begin, as leaders of Imperial factions begin to doubt the effectiveness of the current leadership and think they can do better.
Rivals stop assisting each other or may even sabotage one another, encouraging acts of reprisal. As cracks begin to appear, the Imperium’s combat effectiveness begins dropping. Every disaster becomes a blame game, as different forces try to put responsibility for misfortunes and setbacks on their rivals. With enough dilemmas, these disparate factions begin to squabble with one another and the overall commander, making accusations of favoritism or undue bitterness. Sacrifices must be made, which angers and alienates the factions of the invasion force which do not get what they want. By putting stress on the Imperium’s resources and time, the Star Wars defenders put the Imperial commanders in dilemma after dilemma. Their religious taboos prevent them from utilizing native technology without severe strain with the Mechanicus, and recruiting locals may not be viable because of reliability issues. It is easy for rivals to work together when times are good and they have plenty to share, but the Imperium force is isolated from any friendly forces. Palpatine would move to exploit that, and the easiest way would be to make the Imperium’s war as stressful as possible. While he does not enjoy direct control over them, as a powerful Sith and a savvy political operator, it won’t be long before learns that the Imperium invasion fleet is not a politically unified force, and that there are both ideological and power-based rivalries within the fleet. Of course, Palpatine’s machinations will also extend to the Imperium. On the Separatist side, the Imperium might do the dirty work of killing the Separatist Council and leave only Dooku and Grievous. Palpatine could even manipulate the Jedi into facilitating this peace: after all, keeping the peace is the Jedi’s mission and why they got dragged into the Clone Wars to begin with. Alliances of convenience between bitter enemies do appear in Star Wars and 40K fiction, not to mention real history.
The fanaticism and genocidal brutality of the Imperium make it the clear greater evil, and the Imperium has no practical reason to parley with xenos who tolerate the use of abominable intelligence and witchcraft. Those arguing that a settlement could be reached with the Imperium would be easily shot down. While embittered feelings would make this difficult at first, once both sides have suffered enough crushing defeats against Imperial forces, this bitterness will be pushed aside by existential fear. The mechanism for establishing a temporary alliance is simple: the argument that if the Republic and Separatists do not hang together, they will surely hang separately.
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