The inner systems' Imperial remnant was what remained of the Galactic Empire inside the inner systems of the galaxy following it capitulation and dissolvement. It included a number of traditionally conservative worlds whose populations had been largely loyal to the Empire.
Around a year after the Battle of Endor in the Core, Colonies, and Inner Rim, the remnant was formed after the Imperial Military was decisively defeated by forces of the New Republic at the end of the Galactic Civil War, causing the Empire to collapse. It was intended to become a successor state to the Empire allowed continue in the inner star systems if it agreed to maintain the former starship vessels of the Imperial Navy within predetermined boundaries set by the New Republic.
However, the remnant became paralyzed by internal strife. Unable to become a viable successor to the Empire, it quickly disintegrated. Some of its worlds were then admitted into the New Republic and became leading centrist faction planets.
Former starships vessels of the Imperial Navy adhered to the terms of the Concordance and confined itself to the predetermined boundaries.
The remaining forces of the disbanded Imperial Navy was allowed to remain in boundaries defined by the Galactic Concordance; therefore, it was allowed to continue existing while calling for the banning of the Stormtrooper Corps, although this did not necessarily apply to standard infantry. However, both the defeat at Jakku and the division of the ascendancy as a whole greatly weakened the once-unchallenged navy.
In spite of all this, loyal portions of the disbanded Imperial Navy adhered to the terms of the Concordance and confined themselves to the predetermined boundaries. Existing as a weakened force, Imperial vessels throughout the Core and Inner Rim did not attack the New Republic, and maintained a peaceful co-existence with it.
Although the Concordance called for all Imperial vessels to withdraw corewards, some rogue warlords refused, along with an established faction that locked into tensions with the New Republic. Whereas these more aggressive hardliners refused to accept pardons, those Imperial officers who agreed to the New Republic's strict stipulations were not branded war criminals.
Following the Galactic Empire's fragmentation in the aftermath of the crushing defeat at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the Galactic Civil War began to tip in the favor of the Rebel Alliance. With Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine killed and the second Death Star destroyed, the Empire became leaderless. The loss of both the Emperor and the Imperial Ruling Council above Endor resulted in a massive power vacuum, leading to a number of admirals, moffs, and other warlords either trying to seize control for themselves or seceding from the Empire entirely. Although Grand Vizier Mas Amedda tried to maintain order within the leadership, the aftermath of the Emperor's demise left him with little real power. As a result, the Empire almost completely fragmented within weeks due to the lack of a single leader, and Imperial rule beyond the Core began to collapse, while others like Arsin Crassus suggested the Empire sue for peace with the New Republic.
The New Republic secured a decisive victory over the Galactic Empire in the Battle of Jakku.
Several months after the Battle of Endor, Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax united a portion of the old Imperial Navy into a single force, effectively declaring himself the new leader of the Empire and establishing an advisory council to run it, making Grand Admiral Rae Sloane its public face. Unbeknownst to his associates, Rax secretly intended to carry out a contingency order given to him by the late Emperor, which would completely disassemble the Empire. Amassing his united armada above the Inner Rim world of Jakku, he planned to lure the New Republic Defense Fleet to the desert world so that both fleets could destroy one another in one climactic battle. His plan was thwarted by Sloane, even though the Empire was ultimately defeated.
Shortly after the Battle of Jakku, Amedda and Chancellor Mon Mothma of the Republic signed the Galactic Concordance, officially ending the war after nearly six years of bloodshed. Concurrently, upon occupying Coruscant, the Imperial capital, the New Republic quickly saw to the dissolution of the Empire and, as a result, Imperial territory quickly began to fall apart. Elements of the disbanded Imperial Starfleet then peacefully retreated to the Core Worlds and Inner Rim, and launched no further major offensives, although the conflict did not truly die down for some time. In order to prevent the holdouts of the Empire from regaining a foothold in the galaxy, a series of stipulations were set in place in accordance with the conditions of the treaty. Subsequently, noncombatant functionaries within the old Imperial government were given conditional pardons provided they complied with the articles of the Concordance; in addition, many high-ranking officers in the Imperial military were branded as war criminals. The New Republic proceeded to install a provisional government on Coruscant, headed by Amedda; in reality, however, the former Grand Vizier was little more than a puppet of the newly reconstituted Galactic Senate, thus making the government under New Republic supervision.
The Battle of Jakku and subsequent Galactic Concordance marked the end of the crumbling Galactic Empire.
As determined by Mon Mothma, the New Republic conditionally allowed the remnants to peacefully co-exist with the New Republic, were ultimately confined to a swath of space in the Core, Colonies, and the Inner Rim, these regions containing some of the wealthiest and most prestigious planets that were historically loyal to the Empire, among them Commenor, Humbarine, Tinnel IV, Rendili, and Denon. Despite that, Coruscant did not fall within these boundaries, with the provisional government remaining under New Republic oversight led by the de jure administration of Mas Amedda. Several other Core Worlds fell under New Republic control as well, such as Hosnian Prime, which eventually became capital of the Republic. Those other Core Worlds that did not fall under remnant jurisdiction ultimately joined the new galactic government.
While all noncombatant functionaries who served in the Empire were given conditional pardons, provided they acted by the articles of the Galactic Concordance, the still living Imperial officials who refused to surrender were branded as war criminals. Heeding reluctantly to the provisions of the agreement, all compliant Imperial forces and starships retreated within the new boundaries that were determined by the Galactic Concordance.
Moff Gideon was among one of the many Imperial leaders to reject the terms of the Galactic Concordance and disaffiliate from the established remnant in the inner systems.
The legitimacy of the inner systems' mandate was rejected by many former Imperials who wished to continue waging the Old Empire's war against the now-former Rebel Alliance. Throughout the decades following the Empire's collapse, various imperial juntas, warlords and successor factions, including the remnant in the inner systems, squabbled over everything from relations with the New Republic to what Imperial legacies deserved preservation. However, many of these warlords were merely interested in carving their own personal fiefdoms out of the Empire's wreckage. The disparate groups in question, such as those Imperial residues led by Moff Gideon, thrived in the Outer Rim Territories, where the established remnant in the Core had no jurisdiction and the New Republic's authority was theoretical at best.
In the end, the inner systems' remnant disintegrated shortly into its existence. The planets that made up the government had been unable to agree on much; questions over how to govern, ranging from debating what Imperial legacies needed to be held up to what relations with the New Republic should look like, paralyzed the remnant during its short existence. With the government's disintegration, its worlds could be welcomed into the New Republic. Several planets that had been key to the inner systems' remnant would become leading worlds amongst the Centrist movement.
The warlords and hardliners who did not remain within the remnant's boundaries would go on to lay the foundations for the First Order.
Other rogue military elements of the Old Empire retreated into the Unknown Regions, where a new entity known as the First Order was eventually formed. This state, built on a fanatical devotion to Palpatine's New Order, existed separately from the inner systems' remnant and remained a secret to the New Republic for decades. The Centrist political party would also emerge as an unofficial faction in the New Republic Senate from worlds formerly part of the remnant, advocating for the political centrism seen under the Empire. Centrist systems went onto secede and become the public face of the First Order. The First Order's presence in the Outer Rim marked it as the real successor to the Empire the inner systems' remnant had failed to be.
- Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy