During the twilight days of the Galactic Empire, Gallius Rax held the advisory position of Counselor to the Empire, often shortened to just Counselor. While officially a supposedly interim role offering guidance to the Shadow Council, the Counselor effectively functioned as the Galactic Emperor in everything but name. After removing Grand Admiral Rae Sloane from her position as the de facto leader of the Imperial Navy and relegating Grand Vizier Mas Amedda to a mere figurehead, Fleet Admiral Rax successfully took control of the Galactic Empire.
As the Galactic Civil War neared its conclusion, Rax, through his authority, gathered the remaining military forces under his command and directed them to his homeworld of Jakku. Unbeknownst to the soldiers serving under him, Rax was secretly planning to destroy the Empire, following the directives of the Contingency—Emperor Palpatine's final command, which condemned the Empire for causing his death. Following the Counselor's demise in the Battle of Jakku, Amedda was able to reclaim the political power necessary to surrender the Empire to the New Republic and bring the war to a close.
During the final months of the [Galactic Civil War](/article/galactic_civil_war], the Counselor to the Empire essentially governed the loyalist segments of the Galactic Empire. Occupying the role of the Empire's de facto leader, the Counselor surpassed the Grand Vizier—the second-highest political position in the Imperial hierarchy—in terms of actual power, even if not in official status. While the Counselor was formally an adviser, the position effectively filled the power gap created by Darth Sidious' death, transforming the Counselor into a Galactic Emperor in practice. Consequently, Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax's personal influence and authority as the founder of the Shadow Council meant that he led the council, rather than simply advising it.
Following Darth Sidious's death at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda was in a position to take over as the next ruler of the galaxy. However, Amedda's influence was largely limited to Coruscant in the Core World, and he lacked the ability to unify the Galactic Empire under his leadership. As the Galactic Civil War began to favor the New Republic, Imperial officers like Gallius Rax intervened, seizing both political and military power, diminishing Amedda's influence. Fleet Admiral Rax, wielding authority beyond his rank in the Imperial Navy, established the Shadow Council to realize his vision of a reformed Empire that he believed was worthy of governing the galaxy.
Although he initially promoted Grand Admiral Rae Sloane as a figurehead, planning to exert control through her, Rax ultimately sidelined her and created the Counselor to the Empire position for himself. This unprecedented title did not garner complete confidence from the Council; General Hodnar Borrum even opposed its creation, arguing that the title was too ambiguous and effectively left the Empire without a clear leader. Despite Rax's claims that it was a temporary solution to the Empire's troubles, his new role granted him absolute power, similar to that wielded by the Emperor during his reign. With Amedda effectively a prisoner within the Imperial Palace, tortured and reduced to a mere figurehead by soldiers loyal to Rax, the Counselor had effectively become the Emperor. To signify his elevated status, Rax began wearing a white naval uniform paired with a red cape.
By 5 ABY, Imperial forces had gathered on Jakku, a desert planet and Counselor Rax's homeworld. The Imperial troops, though desperate and hardened by the harsh conditions of Jakku, were unaware that their leader was secretly following the Emperor's posthumous orders to destroy the Empire, deeming it a failed state. Consequently, Rax brought his army to Jakku not to secure an Imperial victory, but to ensure the mutual destruction of both the Empire and the Republic in the war's final confrontation. Simultaneously, the Counselor aimed to establish a new Empire, ruled by himself, in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy.
During the Battle of Jakku, Rax's plan progressed as intended until he was confronted by Sloane, his rival, who defeated him in combat. Before his death, he urged the Grand Admiral to take his place and fulfill 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 military forces of the Republic declared victory on Jakku. As a result, the Imperial government, under Amedda's direction, officially capitulated, with Amedda returning to power solely to surrender the entire Empire to the Republic.
Unlike his predecessors, Darth Sidious and Mas Amedda, who both governed from the galactic capital world of Coruscant, Gallius Rax directed the Empire from a mobile command center. As a Fleet Admiral, he commanded the Ravager, a massive and rare warship of the Executor-class Star Dreadnought line. As the highest-ranking officer, Rax had a private upper garden constructed within the Ravager for leisure. Throughout his reign as Counselor to the Empire, the Ravager remained under his control, serving as his command ship within a fleet of Star Destroyers orbiting Jakku. During the final battle, the Ravager crashed onto Jakku's surface. Although it was believed to be the last of the Executor-class vessels by the time of the Rebellion on Akiva, the Emperor's flagship Eclipse had been relocated to the Unknown Regions in preparation for the Empire's rebirth in that area of space, ensuring its survival as the final vessel of its class.
The title Counselor to the Empire was first introduced in the novel Aftermath: Life Debt and reappeared in its sequel, Aftermath: Empire's End. These novels establish the title as being created after Rae Sloane's separation from the Galactic Empire. According to General Hodnar Borrum, it marks the first instance of "Counselor" being used as an Imperial title, with Sloane only learning of Gallius Rax's use of the title "Counselor" during the events of Empire's End. The comic Battle of Jakku — Republic Under Siege 2 erroneously depicts Rax using the title of counselor in Sloane's presence, with Sloane herself referring to him as "Counselor Rax."