New Republic Amnesty Program

The New Republic Amnesty Program was a network of facilities and services dedicated to the post-war rehabilitation, support and gradual re-integration of Imperial personnel into the New Republic. It was also hoped former Imperials could aid the New Republic in the conflict against the last remains of the Empire. Organized under Amnesty Affairs Commissioners, multiple batches of ex-Imperials including officers and scientists received intensive therapy in the Re-Integration Institute, designed to assist them in rejecting Imperial propaganda and brainwashing and were subsequently invited to the capital planet of Coruscant. There, they were accommodated in apartments of the Amnesty Housing complex and were offered new positions in the New Republic services according to their previous expertise; for example Penn Pershing, a scientist of the Imperial cloning program was assigned to the cataloguing and dismantling of old Imperial science tech.

To ensure their smooth re-integration, Amnesty Program members were given new codenames which consisted of their previous occupation and an alphanumerical designation (eg Amnesty Officer G27), although they were not forbidden from divulging their actual names should they wish to do so. They were also required to attend daily sessions with a parole droid in the Amnesty Program skyscraper, where they were questioned on the progress of their new tasks and any psychological issues they were facing. The droids could also assist with any questions the Amnesty members had about their rights and obligations towards the new government.

Despite these measures, the Amnesty members' daily lives were, at least at first strictly regulated. They were not allowed to leave their designated living zone in the center of the Galactic City around Amnesty Housing and Monument Plaza, except under special circumstances including speeches on their life under the Empire which they were invited to give in the Galaxies Opera House. Police droids of the Coruscant Security Force were actively on the lookout for any Amnesty members veering off zone and would notify New Republic Defense Force soldiers to apprehend them as soon as possible. In case of Amnesty members breaking their re-integration rules, they were considered relapsed and would be sent back to the Re-Integration Institute to be subjected in non-invasive psychological treatment via a Six-O-Two Mitigator under their Commissioner.

The Battle of Endor marked a major blow to the Galactic Empire with the deaths of major Imperial leaders, most high up being Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine himself, the loss of the flagship Executor, the eradication of the Death Star II space station, and the destruction various other starships from the Imperial Navy. Beyond losing Palpatine, other major Imperials killed in the battle were the Emperor's enforcer and de facto Commander-in-Chief Darth Vader, Admiral Firmus Piett of Imperial Navy High Command, and Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod. In the wake of the battle at Endor, the Galactic Empire was fractured, its forces scattered in the galaxy and spread thin with no central leadership. Subsequently, the Alliance to Restore the Republic was reformed into the New Republic, its ultimate goal during the Civil War finally realized.

In those weeks and months after the victory at Endor, while a formal amnesty program did not yet exist, Imperial troops and other personnel, such as the pilot Yrica Quell, who abandoned the Empire with the aim of switching sides would be held in repurposed rebel bases to be questioned. One such repurposed base was dubbed Traitor's Remorse, where Quell and, at one point, twelve thousand other would-be Imperial defectors were kept for debriefing, scrutiny, and medical examinations until the New Republic came to a conclusion on what their fate would be. It was official policy that the defectors kept at Traitor's Remorse could depart at any time, but the former Imperials feared such an action would anger the New Republic, which they feared would hold a grudge. Unless one was awaiting a pardon, Imperials who considered fleeing believed they had a perilous future ahead of them.

Still, most individuals kept at Traitor's Remorse were only there for a brief time. Designated high value but low risk defectors, former Imperials whose number included infantry, aides to admirals, comm/scan officers, and engineers were granted leniency should they agree to join the New Republic. Within a week, such Imperials were redeployed on missions like orbital minesweeping or joining the crew of a captured Star Destroyer. Defectors designated as low value and high risk, however, were not granted such leniency and instead needed to prove their character. Quell thought that those given the unfortunate designation had simply annoyed the New Republic interviewer who questioned them. She further believed such deserters had the mission of not going insane from boredom as they tried to prove themself. Quell was among those given the low value, high risk descriptor.

The first wave of defectors brought to Traitor's Remorse were those who abandoned their posts after the Battle of Endor, whose foresight was respected by Quell: whether they fled out of cowardice or bravery, they all had realized the Imperial regime was doomed without Palpatine. Quell herself abandoned the Empire after Operation: Cinder—a posthumous command given by Palpatine to attack rebellious and Imperial worlds alike as punishment for his death and as part of his overall post-death Contingency—and entered Traitor's Remorse as part of the second wave of post-Endor deserters, all of whom were people unable to stomach the seemingly meaningless slaughter that was Operation: Cinder. As such, Quell had a low opinion of those who only abandoned the Empire after the second wave had already passed; should someone have stayed with the crumbling Empire after Operation: Cinder, she reasoned they were someone who made the conscious decision to forget the cost the Empire had inflected upon the galaxy.

In those early months of the New Republic Era, it was not clear if the amnesty policies and programs the New Republic offered would play out well. Indeed, Quell once voiced her opinion on post-Operation: Cinder surrenders to Caern Adan of New Republic Intelligence; hating each batch of new arrivals more than the last, Quell believed those who stayed with the Empire after Operation: Cinder had failed one too many tests and thus questioned Adan why the New Republic would let such people walk freely. Adan, however, promised the New Republic could handle its own secruity. In truth, however, the loyalty of those who were only taken in by the New Republic at late stages would be an issue for the formal amnesty program. Indeed, Quell had sometimes found rank insignia plaques given out at Traitor's Remorse swap meets, showing there were Imperial officers who held onto mementos of their service instead of totally disregarding their past. When one batch of new arrivals came to Traitor's Remorse, the batch whose arrival kicked off the discussion between Quell and Adan, she noticed that, on the surface, everyone in the group had tried to strip away whatever identifying gear they had once worn. All the same, taking into account her encounters with rank plaques at Traitor's Remorse, she suspected some secretly carried their plaques in sleeves or pockets.

At that time, the Galactic Civil War carried on despite the Empire's seemingly inevitable fall. In secret to fulfill Palpatine's Contingency, the Empire gathered its forces—including the last Executor-class Star Dreadnought, the Ravager—on the planet Jakku on the order of Gallius Rax, who hoped to destroy the Empire and lead a worthy few to start it anew in the Unknown Regions, as per the Contingency. At Jakku, they fought an all-out battle against the New Republic's united forces in a desperate attempt to defend the Observatory. Their defeat was the end of the once-triumphant Empire, with all remaining forces permanently retreating in the Unknown Regions under Rae Sloane, never to directly engage the New Republic again. De jure Emperor Mas Amedda signed the Galactic Concordance declaring the formal surrender of the Galactic Empire and its forces and the disarmament of any remaining armies and fleets.

The loyalists in the Unknown Regions secretly transformed into the First Order, while other Imperials surrendered or were apprehended by the New Republic and placed in the Re-Integration Institute where they were reconditioned to be loyal to the new regime and move past the psychological conditioning of the Imperial army. Once they finished their therapy, they were returned to Coruscant, offered apartments in the Amnesty Housing, given new identities and assigned to different services of the new government to assist in their transition to a peaceful life.

Penn Pershing, a scientist working for one of the still-active Imperial warlords in New Republic space, Moff Gideon, and his army was captured by New Republic marshal Carasynthia Dune, Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and loyalist Bo-Katan Kryze while transported to Gideon's light cruiser to oversee his cloning experiments and subsequently delivered to the New Republic while his ship, Shuttle 2743 was used for a raid on the cruiser. During his capture, Pershing revealed sensitive information on Gideon's fleet to his captors, prompting the New Republic to recognize him as a potential unwanting collaborator of the Empire and place him in the Amnesty Program as Amnesty Scientist L52.

During the raid, communications officer Elia Kane, part of Gideon's crew was severely wounded while Gideon himself was captured by the Mandalorians and Dune. Although Gideon was sent to a New Republic Tribunal for willingly violating the Concordance terms, Kane was recruited into the Amnesty Program as Amnesty Officer G68. She acted like a loyal New Republic citizen who had been saved from the Empire, but, secretly, she maintained loyalty to Gideon and furthered his goals from within the New Republic. While on Amnesty Housing in Coruscant, she encountered Pershing (L52) who confessed his despair over not being allowed to continue his cloning experiments under the New Republic due to cloning research being prohibited by the Coruscant Accords. Kane offered him emotional support by offering him a stolen box of travel biscuits, a favorite food of his, and inviting him to join her company of Amnesty Officers G27, M40 and M34.

She later helped Pershing escape the Amnesty Program's perimeter and visit Shipyard Depot, where old Imperial-class Star Destroyers were being dismantled to steal a mobile lab and continue his research. Although successful, Kane had betrayed him to the New Republic, resulting in his apprehension and re-admission to the Institute. Continuing to act like a loyal citizen, Kane secretly helped further Imperial goals once alone with Pershing, who was hooked into a Six-O-Two Mitigator, a type of Mind Flayer by the New Republic officials after they assumed he was suffering from Imperial indoctrination. However, Kane upped the power on the device to its maximum.

• "Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season Three Companion" — Star Wars Insider 222
• "After Endor" — Star Wars Insider 222