Academy for Young Imperials

The establishment of the Academy for Young Imperials occurred when the Galactic Empire established a presence on Lothal. As a senior Imperial Military officer, Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko oversaw the Academy's operations. He received support from several staff members, including Taskmaster Myles Grint, Sergeant Currahee, Lieutenant Chiron, and Captain Piers Roddance. Being a junior academy with a one-year program, the Imperial Academy provided cadets to numerous senior and specialized service academies located throughout the Outer Rim and the wider galaxy.

Approximately six years prior to the Battle of Yavin, Dhara Leonis became a student at the Imperial Academy. During the spring season, she vanished under mysterious circumstances. Despite the Imperial authorities' claim that she had run away, her brother Zare and mother Tepha Leonis believed that the Empire was concealing the true circumstances of her disappearance. In the following year, Zare infiltrated the Academy with the intention of discovering his sister's whereabouts and assisting any potential resistance against the Empire. There, he encountered Ezra Bridger, a rebel from Lothal who had infiltrated the Academy in an attempt to locate a decoder containing the location of a kyber crystal.

With Zare's assistance, Ezra successfully acquired the decoder. However, Ezra's plans to depart from the Academy were disrupted when the two cadets learned that he and a fellow cadet, Jai Kell, had drawn the attention of the Grand Inquisitor, an Inquisitor specializing in the pursuit of Jedi. Determined to prevent Jai from suffering the same fate as his sister, Zare persuaded Jai to escape with them. While Jai and Zare were piloting an All Terrain Defense Pod walker, Ezra's rebel allies launched an assault on the Imperial Academy, creating a diversion that enabled the three cadets to flee the premises. However, Zare chose to remain behind in order to uncover the truth about his sister's disappearance and to aid the growing Rebellion in overthrowing the Empire from within.

Following the rebel attack on the Academy, the Imperial Academy's reputation suffered due to the revelation that rebel infiltrators had gained access to the facility. In response, Imperial authorities initiated interviews with cadets in an attempt to uncover treason and sedition. After the winter break, field exercises at the Academy were put on hold as a result of the escalating Lothal insurgency. Instead, the Imperial cadets were deployed to assist Governor Arihnda Pryce's planet-wide crackdown on crime and sedition. As part of this crackdown, the Imperial cadets were tasked with investigating illegal activities, detaining the children of fugitives, and assisting stormtrooper efforts to apprehend criminals. Captain Roddance also launched a program to investigate cadets for criminal "associations." As a consequence, the cadet Nazhros Oleg was expelled from the Academy for attempting to protect his smuggler uncles from prosecution.

Despite Captain Roddance's attempts to undermine him, Zare progressed sufficiently in his training to be transferred to the Officers Academy on Arkanis. This transfer granted him a class three courier clearance. With his new security clearance, he was able to warn Ezra about an impending Imperial operation at the Lothal City Capitol Building in Lothal's Capital City. Shortly thereafter, Zare was transferred to Arkanis, marking the end of his time at the Imperial Academy.

Following the execution of its leaders, Aresko and Grint, by the Inquisitor, a restructuring of the Academy's power dynamic took place. Captain Piers Roddance was appointed as its temporary head. Lieutenant Chiron, another officer stationed at the Academy, was reassigned to the Arkanis Academy to investigate a matter of personal concern to Grand Moff Tarkin.

The Academy for Young Imperials functioned as a one-year junior academy, designed to prepare teenage Imperial cadets for an additional two years of training at other senior academies situated throughout the Outer Rim Territories. Upon graduating from the senior academies, the most promising cadets would proceed to a specialized service academy for officer training within the Imperial Army, the Imperial Navy, and the Stormtrooper Corps, while the remaining cadets would be directly integrated into the Imperial Military.

Individuals seeking admission as cadets would typically submit an application to the Imperial Academy, which would then be reviewed by the appropriate authorities. Upon acceptance, cadets were required to undergo an intake test to assess their physical and mental capabilities. Following the intake test, cadets were organized into eight-member squads, each consisting of two four-member units. One known squad was LRC077, which comprised Unit Aurek and Unit Besh. Other units included Unit Cresh, Unit Dorn, and the all-female Unit Esk and Unit Forn. Imperial cadets wore uniforms in white and gray, along with white helmets that could be sealed with faceplates.

During the initial two weeks, cadets participated in an orientation program that included numerous running exercises and at least one field combat obstacle course. The demanding nature of the orientation program was intended to eliminate weaker cadets and ensure that only the strongest and most resilient cadets continued their training. Cadets could be issued demerits for disciplinary violations. Despite its rigorous training regimen, stormtroopers who graduated from Lothal's academy were often regarded as inferior to those produced elsewhere by off-world officers.

Following the orientation program, cadets underwent a series of assessments throughout the remainder of the term to evaluate their physical prowess, mental acuity, leadership abilities, and strategic adaptability. The majority of these exercises took place in the Well, a remotely-configured chamber that could be adapted to simulate various obstacle courses and challenges. One such test involved cadets leaping across floating repulsorlift platforms that were electrified. This test was made progressively more difficult each day by adding an additional challenge on top of the previous one, such as the ability to manipulate the platforms by firing at them with an E-11 blaster. For these assessments, the top three performers were rewarded with work assignments at the Imperial Complex in Capital City or the opportunity to ride inside an AT-DP walker. On several occasions, the Academy was known to replace cadets who failed to meet the standards with cadets from other academies based on Lothal, such as the Pretor Flats Academy, which was located on the far side of Lothal.

After the winter break, cadets participated in field training exercises in the Easthills. Following a rebel attack on the Empire Day festivities in Capital City, field exercises were suspended, and Imperial cadets were deployed to assist stormtroopers in maintaining law and order. Captain Roddance also initiated a program to screen cadets for rebel sympathies and criminal associations.

Unbeknownst to most cadets and the general public, the Imperial Academy also served as a means for the Empire to identify individuals who were Force-sensitive, who were then recruited into a clandestine program known as Project Harvester. Project Harvester was operated from a secret location near the Imperial Academy on Arkanis. Commandant Aresko would report cadets who displayed exceptional physical prowess to the Grand Inquisitor, who would then personally evaluate the cadets. If they met his "special criteria," he would take them into custody. To preserve the secrecy of Project Harvester, Imperial authorities claimed that these cadets had run away. One known target of Project Harvester was Dhara Leonis, the older sister of Zare Leonis. Later, the Inquisitor almost captured Jai Kell and Ezra Bridger, the latter of whom was an undercover member of the Lothal rebel cell.

The Academy for Young Imperials was situated in Lothal's Capital City, in close proximity to Lothal's Imperial Planetary Occupation Facility. The Imperial Academy was located near a ten-kilometer field in the Easthills, which was used for running drills. The Academy's other facilities included interview cubicles, barracks, a mess hall, toilets, showers, office spaces for Imperial training instructors, and a large hangar bay capable of accommodating AT-DP walkers, Imperial Troop Transports, and shuttles. The Academy's assessment hall also contained a special facility known as the Well, which could be used to simulate a wide range of obstacle courses and challenges. The Imperial Academy's grounds included a lake and a nearby field that was used for an obstacle course. The Academy had a large blast door that covered its hangar bay. In addition to Imperial officers and trainers, the Academy's staff included several protocol and astromech droids.

• Cumberlayne Aresko , Commandant [7]
• Chiron , Lieutenant [5]
• Currahee , Sergeant [5]
• Myles Grint , Taskmaster [7]
• Piers Roddance , Captain [5]

• Betancy , Unit Besh [5]
• Ames Bunkle [4]
• de Grom [5]
• Giles , Unit Besh [5]
• Illorus , Unit Forn [5]
• Kabak , Unit Aurek [8]
• Jai Kell , Unit Aurek [5]
• O'Harlan , Unit Esk [5]
• Dhara Leonis [4]
• Zare Leonis , Unit Aurek [5]
• Lomus , Unit Cresh [5]
• "Dev Morgan" (alias Ezra Bridger ), Unit Aurek [5]
• Nazhros Oleg , Unit Aurek [5]
• Rykoff [8]
• Berisse Sai [12]
• Pandak Symes , Unit Aurek [5]
• Thurgos , Unit Besh [5]
• Uzall , Unit Besh [5]
• Wheeler [5]

The Academy for Young Imperials made its debut as the Imperial Academy in the Star Wars Rebels episode titled Breaking Ranks, which premiered on October 27, 2014. Its background was further developed in Jason Fry's young adult novel series, Servants of the Empire, which was published from October 2014 to October 2015.