The Counselor to the Empire, also known as the Counselor, was an advisory title held by Gallius Rax during the waning days of the Galactic Empire. Officially, the Counselor to the Empire was only a purportedly temporary role that advised the Shadow Council but, in effect, ruled as Galactic Emperor in all but name despite Grand Vizier Mas Amedda's claim to the throne as a "proxy" Emperor. Having effectively ousted Grand Admiral Rae Sloane from power, Fleet Admiral Rax seized control of the government and military.
During his rule, Rax rallied the Empire's forces under his banner and brought them to his homeworld of Jakku as the Galactic Civil War drew to an end. Unknown to the soldier in the Counselor's army, Rax conspired to destroy the state in accordance with the Contingency—Emperor Palpatine's final command condemning the Empire, which he held responsible for his death. After the Counselor was killed in the Battle of Jakku, Amedda regained the authority that he needed in order to surrender the Empire to the New Republic and end the war.
The Counselor to the Empire was the de facto leader of Imperial forces by the time of the Battle of Jakku.
The loyalist portions of the Galactic Empire were effectively ruled by the Counselor to the Empire during the final months of the Galactic Civil War. As the Empire's de facto leader, the Counselor superseded the Grand Vizier—the second highest political office in the Imperial government—in power if not in rank. Though the Counselor was officially the equivalent of an adviser, in reality it filled the vacuum of power that ensued after Darth Sidious' death, making the Counselor a Galactic Emperor in all but name. The Counselor was, therefore, the leader of the Shadow Council, rather than its adviser, due to Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax's personal authority and influence as the founder of that organization.
After Emperor Palpatine's death, Gallius Rax seized power as Counselor to the Empire.
In the wake of Darth Sidious' demise at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda was positioned to succeed the late Emperor as the next sovereign of the galaxy. However, beyond his influence over the Core World Coruscant, Amedda lacked the ability to unite the Galactic Empire under his rule. With the Galactic Civil War shifting in the New Republic's favor, Imperial officers such as Gallius Rax took matters into their own hands, seizing political and military power at Amedda's expense. Wielding a degree of authority that exceeded his rank in the Imperial Navy, Fleet Admiral Rax founded the Shadow Council as part of his vision of a reformed Empire that was, in his view, worthy of ruling the galaxy.
Counselor Rax gathered his forces on Jakku, where the Empire would experience its final defeat in the war.
Though he also promoted Grand Admiral Rae Sloane as a figurehead, initially planning to rule through her as the power behind the throne, Rax ultimately sidelined Sloane and created the position of Counselor to the Empire for himself. It was an unprecedented title that did not command the full confidence of the Council; General Hodnar Borrum even protested its creation, believing that the title of Counselor was too vague and essentially rendered the Empire leaderless. Although Rax claimed it was only a temporary solution to the Empire's dilemma, his new role enabled him to wield absolute power not unlike what the Emperor possessed throughout his reign. With Amedda a virtual prisoner in the Imperial Palace, tortured and reduced to a figurehead by soldiers loyal to Rax, the Counselor had become the Emperor in effect. To signify his new status in the Empire, Rax began wearing a white naval uniform with a red cape.
Grand Admiral Rae Sloane returned to power by killing Counselor Rax.
By 5 ABY, Imperial forces rallied to the desert planet of Jakku, Counselor Rax's homeworld. Though desperate and hardened by Jakku's harsh conditions, the Imperial troops were unaware that their leader secretly followed the Emperor's posthumous orders instructing him to destroy the Empire as a failed state. As a result, Rax brought his army to Jakku not to turn defeat into a triumph for the Empire, but rather to ensure that both the Empire and Republic perished in the final battle of the war. At the same time, the Counselor sought to forge a new Empire, ruled by himself in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy.
During the Battle of Jakku, Rax's strategy went according to plan until he was confronted by his rival Sloane, who killed him in single combat. Before dying, he implored the Grand Admiral to take his place and carry out the Emperor's final wish by creating a stronger Empire in the Unknown Regions. With the Counselor's death and the destruction of his flagship, the Republic military forces claimed victory on Jakku. As a result, the Imperial government officially capitulated the war under the direction of Amedda, who returned to power for the sole purpose of surrendering the entire Empire to the Republic.
The Ravager was Counselor Rax's flagship and one of the last Super Star Destroyers in the Imperial Navy.
Unlike his predecessors Darth Sidious and Mas Amedda, both of whom maintained their government's seat of power on the galactic capital world Coruscant, Gallius Rax ruled the Empire from a mobile command station. As a Fleet Admiral, he served as the commanding officer of the Ravager, a massive and rare warship of the Executor-class Star Dreadnought line. As its highest-ranking officer, Rax had a private upper garden installed within the Ravager for recreational purposes. Retaining control of the dreadnought—also known as a Super Star Destroyer—during his reign as Counselor to the Empire, the Ravager acted as Rax's command ship in a fleet of Star Destroyers orbiting Jakku. During the final battle, the Ravager crashed into the surface of Jakku. Although it was believed to be the last of the Executor-class by the time of the Rebellion on Akiva, the Emperor's flagship Eclipse had been sent to the Unknown Regions in preparation for the Empire's rebirth in that region of space, ensuring its survival as the last of its line.
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