Galactic Empire

The Imperial ideals of the Galactic Empire could be dated back to the Sith Empire of the Old Republic's time period. Following the defeat of the Sith during their final war with the Jedi Order, for at least a thousand years, the dominant governing body of the galaxy was the unicameral, parliamentary, and democratic Galactic Republic, which was governed by the Galactic Senate and led by an elected Supreme Chancellor.

In the last decades of its existence, the Republic Senate became embroiled in bureaucracy, rendering it woefully ineffectual as a governing body. Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith known publicly as Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo, privately lamented the declining state of the Senate, noting that the Republic was "not what it once was."

Thirteen years before the Republic's end as a democracy, Darth Sidious orchestrated the Invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation in order to create a leadership crisis in the Senate. Sidious used the crisis to manipulate the then Queen of the Naboo, Padmé Amidala, into calling a Vote of No Confidence against sitting Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum. The vote passed, and in the subsequent election, Sidious—in his public persona of Senator Palpatine of Naboo—secured the position of Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic for himself through a strong sympathy vote. Ultimately, he would be the last individual to hold this office.

In the decade that followed, Sidious secretly manipulated galactic events to the extent that war became inevitable. Besides persuading a dead Jedi Master, Sifo-Dyas, to create a secret clone army, he also tasked his Sith apprentice, Darth Tyranus, with exacerbating political tensions in the Republic and engineering a Separatist Crisis. These actions would culminate in the outbreak of the Clone Wars held on Geonosis, the last conflict of the Republic, while Sidious himself "reluctantly" accepted emergency powers from the Senate. The Clone Wars, Sidious planned, would further make people in the galaxy grow bitter with the Republic while he centralized his power to sweep away the Republic and Jedi.

Since the onset of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY, the Republic endeavored to strengthen its security and stability through the creation of new organizations such as the Commission for the Protection of the Republic (COMPOR), which utilized propaganda to increase public morale, promote patriotism, and foster anti-Separatist sentiment within the general population. As the Republic became increasingly centralized, however, Chancellor Palpatine's powers continued to grow through additional assets ceded to the Office of the Chancellor, including the galactic banking system that was placed under his direct oversight. This gave Sidious the finance he needed to build his empire.

The Chancellor remained a popular leader for the duration of the war, having managed to stay in office at the will of the Senate for longer than his term permitted. As he consolidated and centralized his own power, his influence expanded to an unprecedented level while the Republic shifted from a democratic government to an increasingly militarized and authoritarian regime on the grounds of security and stability. In addition to his authority as Commander-in-Chief of the Republic Military, the Chancellor exerted more control over the Senate, the courts, and even the media, with HoloNet News becoming a state-run program in order to ensure that information would not be compromised by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Sidious' hold over the Republic further expanded with additional amendments to the Galactic Constitution while public support for the Jedi weakened as the war carried on, paving the way for his ultimate ascension as Emperor of the galaxy.

As the war neared its end in 19 BBY, the Jedi Order had grown skeptical about the Chancellor after his accumulation of emergency power. They began to suspect that a plot to destroy the Jedi was close to fruition. The ruling council started discussing forcibly removing Palpatine from office and temporarily overseeing the Senate in order to maintain political stability during the transition period. However, the Jedi learned of Palpatine's true identity as Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious. Following an attempt to arrest him, a brief but vicious fight ensued in which Sidious killed several Jedi and was himself injured and visibly disfigured. The intercession of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who was a personal friend of Chancellor Palpatine and already disillusioned with both the Order and the war, ensured Sidious' victory. The prodigal Jedi was turned to the dark side of the Force, while Sidious had a pretext upon which to turn the Republic against the Jedi.

Darth Sidious immediately purged the Jedi Order, issuing to the clone army Order 66: to exterminate all Jedi. With this command programmed into the clones since their births on Kamino, the clone troopers immediately turned on their Jedi commanders and exterminated the vast majority of the Jedi Order in an instant. Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker—rechristened as Sidious' new Sith apprentice Darth Vader—attacked the Jedi Temple and wiped out what remained of the Order.

Despite their Order being wiped out, certain Jedi survived the initial purge. Many of them went into hiding after Grand Master Yoda and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi fought their way into the Temple and transmitted a holographic message warning the other Jedi about the Republic trap waiting for them there, right before the two Masters failed to destroy the Sith and headed into exile themselves. Some of them, however, were initially hunted down and either killed, taken prisoner or turned to the dark side as part of an agency of dark side adepts known as the Inquisitorius.

Shortly afterwards, Sidious turned his eyes to the Confederacy of Independent Systems and dispatched Darth Vader to wipe out Nute Gunray and the rest of the Separatist government leaders on Mustafar, following which Imperial financier Arsin Crassus plundered the Trade Federation's accounts to fund the new Imperial government. Now able to demonstrate threats to the Republic from both within and without, a visibly injured and scarred Sidious addressed the Galactic Senate to announce the reforms which had been his plan since the beginning. To the thunderous applause of the Senators, Sidious—known publicly as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine—announced that in order to preserve security and continued stability, the Republic would be reorganized into the First Galactic Empire and proclaimed himself as Galactic Emperor.

Existing government bodies were renamed to reflect the change in authority as civil and military superstructure of the Old Republic were overhauled immediately under the personal direction of the Emperor. With vast portions of the galaxy still unconquered, the Grand Army of the Republic became the Imperial Army, while the Republic Navy became the Imperial Navy and the Galactic Senate was rechristened the Imperial Senate. The renowned Senate Plaza, with its name reminding residents of the Old Republic, was promptly changed to the Imperial Plaza, while an enormous statue of the Emperor was erected there. Ultimately, the mechanisms created for the Republic during the war were twisted to fit Sidious' use, with even the systems built with help from the Jedi benefiting the new Emperor.

In addition, the former roundel of the Republic was replaced with the new Imperial crest, adorned on almost everything having to do with Sidious' Empire. With every day that passed, Sidious' hold over the galaxy grew tighter. For the next decade and a half, Imperial rule—bolstered by the military created to fight in the Clone Wars—dominated the galaxy and was largely unchallenged. The Empire soon began to upgrade its military hardware, replacing V-wing and ARC-170 fighters with newer TIE models five years after the Clone Wars, but Republic-era military equipment continued to be used for a while on distant outposts and locations such as Galidraan Station. The Republic's Phase II clone trooper armor would begin a phase out and be replaced by superior stormtrooper armor, whose development had been headed by the Imperial Department of Military Research.

Happy for the peace and the end to the fighting the rise of the Empire brought after the Clone Wars had killed billions, the new government was welcomed by people all throughout a galaxy that was tired of the bloodshed; on the planet Pantora, citizens cheered as clone stormtroopers marched past them near a Imperial Informational Station, where a message played announcing personal chain codes and new currency.

After the Separatist Droid Army was promptly shut down, its navy was dismantled at locations across the galaxy such as the Bilbringi shipyards. However, various droid models and Separatist technology escaped Imperial appropriation and worked their way onto the black market, with many modules taken from Separatist frigates and destroyers, including pieces from Admiral Trench's warship, the Invincible. Despite Separatist-era technology continuing to be used and appearing in locations such as the Corporate Sector, the Empire continued to root out remaining holdouts of the Confederacy four years after the Clone Wars, while criminal organizations composed of repurposed battle droids such as the Droid Gotra operated in Coruscant's underground.

While the Empire at times came into conflict with parts of the criminal underworld, the Empire allied itself with major galactic criminal factions, including Crimson Dawn and the Hutt Clan. The Hutts enjoyed a special relationship with the Empire that remained in place for decades. Other criminal factions, like Papa Toren's group, the Pyke Syndicate, the Droid Gotra, the Black Sun, the Zerek Besh, all desired to take the Hutt Clan's place as the Empire's formal partner in underworld affairs.

Any Jedi survivors of Sidious' purge were systematically hunted down and killed either by Darth Vader or any of the Emperor's Inquisitors in the years that followed the rise of the New Order. When Zubain Ankonori and his nest of fellow Jedi were all found within the Jedi shrine on Anoat, they were forced to separate and flee, only to be tracked and killed by an Inquisitor one by one.

In order to draw out any of these Jedi and the children capable of touching the Force, the Empire charged the Inquisitorius with not only tracking the Order 66 survivors down, but also preventing the Force-sensitive youth of the galaxy from becoming Jedi. The Empire also offered rewards for those who turned over Jedi survivors to the imperial authorities.

As pirates, smugglers, and ex-Separatists were routinely imprisoned and destroyed, the Empire faced little serious resistance to its rule. A rare exception revolved around the Outer Rim world of Ryloth, where Moff Delian Mors and Colonel Belkor Dray were fighting an insurgency known as the Free Ryloth Movement, led by former Twi'lek Resistance leader Cham Syndulla, who established hidden bases across Ryloth and executed raids against the Empire, including those on its lucrative spice and slave trade in the sector. Composed of freedom fighters who fought with the Galactic Republic and Jedi Master Mace Windu during the Clone Wars to free their homeworld from Separatist occupation by Emir Wat Tambor, the newly formed Free Ryloth movement would continue its struggle for independence against the Galactic Empire for decades.

Seeking to make examples of worlds who continued to harbor secessionist tendencies, Moff Wilhuff Tarkin was assigned to make an example of Antar 4, a populous moon that had been a part of the Separatist Alliance and involved in a scheme involving Republic Intelligence to train locals into well-armed resistance groups. While COMPNOR initially stifled information regarding the killings, word soon leaked about the operation through inquisitive reporters such as Anora Fair and Hask Taff, while the event was soon penned as the Antar Atrocity, capturing the attention of many Coruscanti and other citizens from the Core Worlds.

At some point during its reign, the Empire undertook an expansion effort known simply as the Imperial expansion. It was during this time that they constructed a military installation on the volcanic world of Nevarro. In 18 BBY, the Empire arrived on the planet Aldhani due to its tactically useful place in space, liberating the Alkenzi Air Base and creating a dam over the sacred Nasma Klain river. Beginning an occupation, the Empire displaced the local population of Dhanis over the course of the next ten years. Forcing the Dhani to the southern Lowlands, the Empire established an Enterprise Zone of new Imperial housing and offered work in factories.

Staffed by the Aldhani Garrison, the dam served as the planet's waypoint for weaponry and other supplies, including the quarterly payroll for the overall sector. The Dhani also revered the celestial event known as the "Eye of Aldhani." When the Eye "opened" every three years, the Dhani made their way to the Nasma Brani temple in the sacred Akti Amaugh valley, which the dam overlooked, through a ten day journey. As such, the Empire made a show of supporting their custom but worked to root it out to keep control over the valley. In 15 BBY, the Empire established and began promoting an Imperial-supported viewing event in the Enterprise Zone, intending to draw Dhani away from their sacred area. For those who still made the ten-day journey, the Empire, by 5 BBY, had also started offering transport to the valley from the Lowlands, being more than aware that the Dhani would refuse. With that, the Empire also established Comfort Units along the route, convincing many to abandon the long journey.

Also in 18 BBY, Imperial forces arrived on the planet Ferrix in the Free Trade sector to bring it under the Empire's control. On Rix Road, a regiment of clone troopers under an Imperial officer marched pass the gathered masses of civilians as a show of Imperial authority, although local citizen Clem Andor assured his adoptive son Cassian Jeron Andor that the Empire would pull out soon enough. To Clem, resisting the Empire was not their fight. However, a small group of protesters emerged from the crowd and began to throw rocks at the soldiers in the name of the Republic and Ferrix in what became known as the Rix Road protest. Believing they would only make things worse for themselves, Clem quickly stepped in to stop the protest, only for the officer to call his troopers to a halt at that moment. Pointing their blasters at the protesters and Clem, who was assumed to be part of the demonstration, the protest was shut down. Clem was publicly hung on Rix Road for his supposed treason.

Afterward, Cassian attacked four clone troopers stationed near the gallows in anger. At some point, Andor spent time with anti-Imperial anarchist groups. Ultimately, Cassian would be arrested on charges of attacking an Imperial soldier, insurrection, and destroying Imperial property. After spending time in prison, the sixteen year old Andor was sent to the planet Mimban, which had been an ally to the Republic during the Clone Wars but possessed vital resources, as a cook for the Imperial Army. After six months on Mimban, Andor escaped by deserting the military. He later claimed he had seen active combat. Upon escaping, Andor realized the Empire had set him and his other conscripts against people who should have been their allies. Although Andor's resolve to fight the Empire was damaged, the people of Mimban, the Mimbanese, resisted the Empire's encroachment on their world as the Imperial Era carried on. Andor ultimately returned home to Ferrix, which largely remained out of direct Imperial control and instead was governed by the Preox-Morlana corporate polity on behalf of the central Imperial regime. Despite his hate for the Empire, Andor's spirit was crushed, and he attempted to eke out a life for himself, his mother Maarva, and their droid B2EMO.

In total secrecy, the Empire took over construction of a massive battle station with enough firepower to destroy an entire planet, later known simply as the Death Star, that had formerly been a Separatist project engineered by Geonosian archduke Poggle the Lesser's hive colony for Count Dooku, who was entrusted with the project's plans for safekeeping throughout the Clone Wars, with supplies coming from various planets and locations such as Sentinel Base and Geonosis. During the Clone War, the Republic had begun work on the battle station.

In these early days of the Empire, Palpatine still depended on the supposed power of the Imperial Senate and the legitimacy granted by public opinion to maintain his rule. While Palpatine truthfully planned to do away with the Senate and intended to create a galaxy where the only voice that mattered was his own, he first needed to further expand his control over the galaxy by removing the Senate's remaining authority with new laws until an eventually totally powerless Senate could be disbanded altogether. The Death Star would then be deployed to keep the galaxy in line through fear.

As the Galactic Empire grew, Sidious moved closer to his ultimate plan of ruling the entire galaxy and unlocking the secrets of the Sith Masters who had come before him. With the near extermination of the Jedi Order and the Empire swelling in size and strength, the Emperor ultimately planned to possess the powers of the dark side to reshape reality itself into something of his own creation, and an omnipotent Empire would allow all the galaxy's inhabitants to be held in his dark embrace.

As most planets were ecologically devastated, rampant industrialization and mass-production eroded local culture and ecological health. People saw their children drafted into Imperial service, while corrupt governors and magistrates often exploited local populations on worlds such as Jelucan, Devaron and Tangenine. In 18 BBY, the Empire conquered and occupied the planet Yar Togna, leading to much of its population fleeing as refugees in a mass exodus. At some point, the Mid Rim uprisings were launched by monarchies that refused to obey Palpatine's will. The revolts ended up as a series of chaotic conflicts that ended in Imperial victory: through the actions of Imperial Starfighter Pilots, the monarchies were forced to submit to the Emperor.

Only a year after its founding, the Empire had already begun to enforce itself in the Outer Rim. Worlds that did not fall to the Empire's quick expansion, which installed an oppressive Imperial presence instead of simple bases, became homes to crime lords. In its effort to establish itself in the Outer Rim, in addition to using fear, the Empire withheld food to make populations endure hunger. While the Empire turned a blind eye to various abuses, it still maintained a policy of zero corruption and maintained its high standards of conduct, resulting in numerous Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) officials actively hunting down corrupt and negligent officials, even resulting in investigations by Lord Vader himself. Despite this, many citizens were content with the geopolitical situation in the galaxy, believing that strict measures were necessary to maintain order and stability after the destructive Clone Wars. Many also believed that the Empire, while not the best, was better than anarchy and chaos.

Despite its seemingly endless expansion, such as on Raada, where Imperial forces arrived to harvest food, which destroyed the quality of the moon's soil and led to a growing oppression. This angered the people of Raada to the point where they staged an uprising after weeks of planning, with the help of ex-Padawan Ahsoka Tano and the forces of Imperial Senator Bail Organa in secret. A major turning point against the Empire's advance into the Outer Rim occurred in 11 BBY, with Imperial forces commanded by Captain Rae Sloane engaging in a small skirmish in the vital Inner Rim system of Gorse.

This event saw the meeting of later rebel Hera Syndulla and Jedi survivor Kanan Jarrus, who were confronting efficiency expert Count Denetrius Vidian and his aggressive methods of extracting thorilide—a vital component in the construction of turbolaser batteries and thus essential for the expansion of the Imperial fleet. The Gorse Conflict ultimately ended with the transferring of local thorilide mining operations to Imperial-aligned Baron Lero Danthe, while Syndulla and Jarrus departed on the heavily modified VCX-100 light freighter Ghost, and would become essential to the eventual formation of the Rebel Alliance.

Meanwhile, more and more worlds within the Empire began to realize its true intentions: After various massacres on Kashyyyk and increasingly brutal tactics, such as the Empire committing genocide on the Lasat homeworld of Lasan, a growing number of citizens of the galaxy began to rebel against Imperial dominion. At least nine years after the proclamation of the New Order, the Corellian Resistance fought the Empire from its headquarters on the planet Corellia. The Empire would also end the independence of many galactic, sector and planetary governments in its early conquests.

In 14 BBY, various survivors of the Antar Atrocity and other malcontents joined together under the leadership of the former Captain Berch Teller, who organized them into a rebel cell intent on stalling the development of the Emperor's newest weapon under construction at Geonosis. After stealing the Carrion Spike, an advanced starship based on a prototype stealth corvette used during the Battle of Christophsis during the Clone Wars, the rebels wreaked havoc across numerous star systems including Lucazec, Galidraan III and Nouane, all while transmitting holovids of their attacks on Imperial HoloNet frequencies, increasing anti-Imperial propaganda across thousands of Mid and Outer Rim star systems before the Empire was able to shut down the communications grid.

After lengthy fleet redeployments and the discovery of a mole within the Imperial ranks, Tarkin, aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Executrix, disabled the rebel warship and captured the dissidents after a brief battle and timely arrival of Star Destroyers Compliant and Enforcer. To reward Tarkin's skill, the Emperor promoted him to the newly created rank of Grand Moff and gave him command of the Executrix as well as oversight of the Outer Rim Territories, all while the recent attacks on Imperial facilities were made to look like an elaborate plot to root out rebel cells. The Empire had effectively dealt with a potentially disastrous situation, rooted out a traitor and kept details regarding the development of its superweapon at Geonosis a mere rumor.

The Emperor's long-term plan was to allow what he called the "skeleton of the Republic" to remain in place until the Death Star was completed; this included maintaining the Senate to make the systems believe that they still had a part to play in the government. However, upon the superweapon's completion, the Emperor planned to dissolve the Senate and grant its legislative and administrative powers to the military-industrial complex. The Death Star would also provide order to the galaxy, as part of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's doctrine of terror, by making its inhabitants too afraid to defy an Imperial command and stand against the Empire.

Around fourteen years into Sidious' rule as Emperor, the Empire had begun its expansion into the Outer Rim. Worlds like Jelucan saw occupation and development, leading to rampant pollution and industrialization to support the Imperial war machine. One such world that was developed was Lothal, which joined the Imperial Registration Program seeking protection and economic opportunities whereby local citizens would find work in the local Sienar Fleet Systems facilities. Ostensibly this was to grow the local economy, but was in fact secretly part of a much larger five-year plan involving numerous Outer Rim worlds that was overseen by the Imperial Outer Rim High Command, a subdivision of Imperial High Command which was in charge of the Outer Rim Territories.

But the Empire did not fully control the Outer Rim and often utilized its worlds instead as testing grounds for new biological weapons and as a source of cheap labor. Lothal's industrial importance soon came to the fore for the Empire as the Emperor planned to further expand Imperial dominion over the Outer Rim Territories and beyond. In order to maximize the worth of newly occupied systems, worlds such as Lothal soon bore witness to Imperial authorities relocating farmers away from their farmlands to mine for Imperial purposes, leading to the development of re-settlement camps such as Tangletown and Lothal re-settlement camp 43, known by the residents as "Tarkintown" after the Governor of the Outer Rim. The Empire also limited the HoloNet across the Outer Rim, leading many dissatisfied systems to view the embargo as a part of the conquest of the Outer Systems.

This aggressive dislocation of persons and high tax rate eventually led to the development of a small and localized, albeit serious upheaval in 5 BBY against Imperial authority on Lothal. Although the other separate insurgencies across the Imperial territories was of little consequence, the Emperor did foresee a new threat rising against the Empire—the children of the Force. But the Empire overall did not fear that the various rebel cells could unite and form a more potent menace against the Empire and its interests in the Outer Rim. Imperial Military command maintained a list of known Rebel sympathizers on several Outer Rim worlds, including Lothal, but most of them were not arrested due to their having powerful allies in the Senate, a known hotbed of corruption and decadence.

Among these cells on Lothal were the Spectres, who manned the Ghost. When rumor of the discovery of Jarrus' Jedi identity and his duty on leading the Spectres began to emerge, the Empire sent the Grand Inquisitor to track him down. The Jedi survivor was to be taken to Darth Vader's fortress on Mustafar, yet in 4 BBY, in a daring battle over Mustafar that marked the first major rebel victory in the Galactic Civil War, the Ghost crew rescued Jarrus and joined with a growing rebellion.

The rebels, commanded by Ahsoka Tano, were part of a larger rebel movement across the entire galaxy which included several cells, led by Tano and Imperial Senator Bail Organa, and purposely kept in darkness about the existence of one another to prevent information leaks and Imperial crackdowns. Following rumors of an Imperial defeat over Mustafar, spontaneous riots and unrest on several Imperial worlds occurred. The size of the rebellion had also caused concern in the higher ranks of the Empire. With the Grand Inquisitor's death, the Emperor sent his loyal enforcer, Darth Vader, to quash the threat to the Empire's reign.

Following the events on Mustafar, Lord Vader imposed a complete lockdown and blockade of the planet as a disillusioned Minister Tua contacted the Spectres to defect to the rebellion, with ISB agent Alexsandr Kallus using this to lure the rebels back to Lothal and to capture them, but Tua was killed during the escape attempt. This prompted Kallus to frame the rebels for her murder and send Imperial forces to search for them. The rebels evaded arrest by hiding in the Imperial Complex only to be met by Darth Vader and a duel; however, the rebels escaped in a stolen shuttle. Vader ordered Kallus to raze Lothal re-settlement camp 43, known as Tarkintown, to punish the locals for accepting help from the rebels.

After breaking the Imperial blockade, Vader attacked the Phoenix Cell fleet that had been sent from the Organa-Tano alliance of rebel cells, who had come to the aid of the Spectres and inflicted high casualties on it, forcing both rebel cells to retreat into hyperspace. With this, the Empire's operations had been a success and while remaining a threat to the Empire even after pushing the rebels off-world, order had nevertheless been restored on the vital world of Lothal and caused a major setback to the rebellion.

In the aftermath of the victory on Lothal, Admiral Konstantine and the Imperial Navy continued to securing the Outer Rim and also hunting for these rebels. He was accompanied by Agent Kallus, who also had experience dealing with these rebels during the revolt on Lothal who had traveled to the desert planet of Seelos to make contact with several retired clone troopers: Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor and hoped to win them over to their cause but Wolffe who distrusted the rebels sent a coded transmission that was picked up by the Relentless.

Agent Kallus led a ground assault with three AT-AT walkers. Konstantine remained aboard the Relentless to render air support to Kallus' forces. However, the clones and rebels joined forces and put up a fierce fight and immobilized Kallus AT-AT walkers. The admiral, however, had been unable to render air support because Lord Vader had ordered him to rendezvous with his shuttle in space, but instead of meeting Vader, Konstantine received another Inquisitor known as the Fifth Brother. When Konstantine raised his concerns that the diversion might have compromised Agent Kallus' mission, the Inquisitor merely replied that his struggles were of no concern to him and pledged to stop the rebels himself.

The rebels later helped deliver relief supplies to the famine-stricken planet Ibaar, which was being blockaded by an Imperial fleet. The Empire had doubled the Ibaarians' work quotas and reduced their rations, creating a famine. The first attempt failed and ended with the destruction of the CR90 corvette transporting the supplies. Still, the rebel network persisted, and the rebels broke through the blockade with the help of a Blade Wing prototype starfighter, which destroyed one of the Arquitens-class command cruisers. This enabled the rebels to deliver supplies to the Ibaarian resistance, which subsequently distributed the supplies. While searching for a missing patrol in the Del Zennis system, Commander Sato, Ezra, and several other rebels were captured by an Imperial Interdictor, a prototype warship equipped with gravity well projectors capable of dragging ships out of hyperspace. In response, Kanan, along with Rex and Chopper, staged a rescue mission which ended with the destruction of the Interdictor, dealing a serious blow to Imperial forces.

Lacking a permanent base, one rebel group—the Phoenix Squadron—hid in several spaceports scattered across the planet Garel, but the Empire learned of the rebel presence there and sent a fleet to crush them with most retreating. Following the losses on Garel, Imperial Senator Organa sent his adopted daughter Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan to deliver three Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvettes to the Rebellion. Since the Alderaanians could not be seen directly supporting the Phoenix rebels, Bail arranged for Leia to deliver the vessels to Lothal, where in secret the rebels would "steal" the ships. However, the local Imperial commander Yogar Lyste had fitted the Hammerhead corvettes with gravity locks, but this failed when the rebels stole the vessel during a skirmish with Imperial forces.

With the Empire hunting down the rebels throughout the Outer Rim Territories, the rebels decided to create a new route through the Lothal sector. Sabine identified the Concord Dawn system as a viable route that the rebels could use. The system was home to the Mandalorian Protectors, a Mandalorian faction that was led by Fenn Rau, a veteran of the Clone Wars. Commander Sato sent Phoenix Leader Hera and Sabine on a mission to negotiate safe passage through the Concord Dawn system with Rau. However, Rau had already aligned the Protectors with the Empire and attacked Hera's mission, seriously wounding Hera and killing at least one Phoenix Squadron pilot. In retaliation, Sabine and Kanan infiltrated the Protectors' camp on the third moon of Concord Dawn and destroyed their Fang-class fighters. The rebels also captured Rau, who agreed to give the rebels safe passage through the Concord Dawn system in return for keeping his capture a secret from the Empire.

Eventually, an Inquisitor called the Eighth Brother was sent to seek a shadow on Malachor, within the depths of the Sith Temple on the planet's surface. At the same time Kanan, Ezra and Ahsoka from the rebellion arrived and immediately recognized him as the former Sith Lord Maul, to who also the Inquisitors confirmed was alive and after the death of the three Inquisitors, Maul turned on his Jedi allies and blinded Kanan. The rebels' problems were further complicated by the arrival of Darth Vader, who had come to take the secrets of the temple for himself. The Jedi removed the holocron from the temple's obelisk, which triggered an implosion that damaged much of the temple. While the two Jedi escaped on the Phantom with Chopper, Ahsoka stayed behind to hold back Vader. The Imperial mission to Malachor was a partial failure, as both the Jedi and Maul escaped, but Jarrus was blinded in a duel against Maul while Ezra began exploring the dark side, and the rebellion Jedi leadership was broken.

But the rebel cells continued working on growing and expanding as the Spectres conducted a raid on Naraka prison and set out to Reklam Station, where the Empire was dismantling thousands of Republic-era Y-wing starfighters. Imperial security forces failed to prevent both the destruction of the station and the theft of five Y-wings, which were transferred to General Jan Dodonna's unit. Meanwhile, all the increased rebel activity led Governor Arihnda Pryce of the Lothal sector to request the aid of the Seventh Fleet to deal with the Phoenix Group, which was granted by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and led by Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was promoted for wiping out the rebel presence in the Batonn sector. While Agent Kallus was concerned about the high civilian casualties, Pryce justified Thrawn's actions on the grounds that there were no more rebels there and was given control over the efforts to destroy the growing rebellion before it could become a true threat to the Galactic Empire's reign over the Outer Rim by setting out a strategy.

En route to provide supplies to Teralov, a squadron of A-wings and a transport were attacked by an Imperial Arquitens-class command cruiser that dispatched three TIE interceptors led by Captain Vult Skerris, which quickly wiped out the rebel convoy. Reeling from this loss, the Phoenix rebels dispatched the former Imperial cadet Sabine Wren to infiltrate the Skystrike Academy to extract the disillusioned cadets Wedge Antilles, Hobbie, and Rake Gahree, in which the rebel and defectors would be able to escape from the Empire's grip. Later, the rebels, along with the Free Ryloth movement led by Cham Syndulla, went on a mission to Ryloth, where they learned that Thrawn—who had studied the tactics used by the rebellion and now had direct command of Imperial forces—had made military advances led by Captain Slavin in the Tann Province.

The Spectres undertook a supply run to the Agamar to obtain proton bombs from a Separatist transport ship. However, they were captured by a Separatist holdout led by the super tactical droid General Kalani. The droid general wished to end the Clone Wars on his own terms, and challenged the rebels to a battle that would decide the victors, but Imperial forces suddenly arrived and attacked the Separatist ship. The rebels and Separatists came to the conclusion that the Empire was the real victor of the Clone Wars, and decided to unite in order to escape the Empire. While the Imperial Viceroy, Gar Saxon, discovered that the rebels were using the Concord Dawn system to avoid Imperial sector patrols. Saxon destroyed the Protectors' encampment on the third moon of Concord Dawn in an attempt to lure Fenn Rau back.

The Empire had planned to impose martial law on the planet Mykapo which rebels made efforts to evacuate rebel sympathizers. Upon arriving, the flotilla encountered a light freighter, which was engaged in a dogfight with an Imperial advance patrol calling themselves the Iron Squadron. Thrawn, who was aware of this Rebel presence in the system, dispatched a light cruiser to assess the situation, placed under the command of Admiral Kassius Konstantine in order to test the officer's questionable capabilities. The admiral crippled the Iron Squadron's freighter, prompting the crew with the exception of Mattin to escape aboard the Phantom II with the Spectres. The rebels returned with reinforcements from Phoenix Squadron to rescue Mattin. During the skirmish, Konstantine's cruiser was badly damaged, and most of his forces were destroyed. The rebels fled into lightspeed just as the Chimaera arrived in the system.

Soon after, the rebels returned to Lothal and began an infiltration of the Imperial Armory Complex to obtain the blueprints for a prototype TIE fighter. However, their mission coincided with a visit by Grand Admiral Thrawn on behalf of Imperial High Command, who was investigating the high rate of sabotage within the factory. The rebels, however, escaped the factory with sensitive Imperial information with the help of the now disillusioned Agent Kallus, who had become an informant for the rebellion. As a result of this rebel attack, Thrawn realized that the Empire had a traitor among their ranks. Following this, there was an increase of the Imperial Navy presence such as capital ships in and around Lothal as part of Imperial orbital defenses. Beyond the Lothal system, rebellious activities increased, such as on Geonosis, where Captain Brunson responded to a triggered proximity sensor and discovered the Spectres vessel Ghost on the planet who had saved both Saw Gerrera after his Partisans scout team was killed. Hoping to earn herself and her crew promotions, she attempted to destroy the rebels using TIE bombers and rocket troopers, and finally by trapping the rebels in an underground cavern in attempt to bury them alive. When she used her cruiser to block their escape, this backfired, as the Ghost fired two proton torpedoes, resulting in the destruction of her ship with the rebels who recovered images of the poison canisters that were used for the sterilization of Geonosis in order to show the Imperial Senate and rally more systems to their cause.

Thrawn later dispatched several E-XD-series infiltrator droids to search the Outer Rim for rebel bases. However, Kallus used the rebel identity Fulcrum to warn the base's Chief of Security Garazeb Orrelios about the threat. As a result, he and his fellow rebels Chopper and AP-5 stopped the infiltrator droid EXD-9 from infiltrating the rebel base on Atollon. They turned E-XD9 into an improvised bomb that destroyed a Star Destroyer. Despite their efforts, Thrawn narrowed the search for the rebel base to 94 systems. The Empire lost a local ally in the form of Viceroy Gar Saxon, the Emperor's Hand and puppet ruler of Mandalore. Gar Saxon was defeated during a duel with the rebel Sabine Wren on the planet of Krownest. Saxon's death triggered a power vacuum among the Mandalorians. Sabine then joined forces with her mother, Ursa Wren, and the former Protectors' leader Fenn Rau to reunify the Mandalorians.

Continuing his investigation into the rebel mole, Grand Admiral Thrawn began screening the Imperial sector command staff within the Lothal sector with the help of Imperial Security Bureau Colonel Wullf Yularen, a veteran of the Clone Wars. Thrawn summoned several Imperial officials including Agent Kallus, Lieutenant Yogar Lyste, Captain Brunson, and Commander Brom Titus for questioning aboard his flagship, Chimaera. After learning that Thrawn was intercepting Kallus' transmissions, the Spectres and Rex mounted a mission to rescue Kallus. During the course of the mission, Kallus joined forces with the rebels to delete the planet Atollon, which hosted Chopper Base, from Thrawn's database. However, Kallus elected not to escape with the rebels and instead framed his colleague Lyste as Fulcrum. Thrawn learned of Kallus' deception but kept this information secret since he hoped to manipulate Kallus into uncovering the Phoenix rebel base.

With full-scale rebellion on the horizon, Imperial Senator Mon Mothma would openly betray the Empire by seeking to unite the various rebellions cells into one organization. She began by firstly publicly condemning the reign of Emperor Palpatine after the Ghorman Massacre which led to Commander Vult Skerris leading the effort for her capture in the Archeon Nebula. However, the mission ended in failure, and she was able to escape. This led to her broadcasting a speech to rebels across the galaxy over Dantooine, which led to the formation of various rebel cells into the alliance to restore the Galactic Republic and, along with her resignation from the Imperial Senate, the beginning of a true united rebellion.

Soon after its founding, the Rebel Alliance pressed on with the planned operation on Lothal by stealing clearance codes from the Imperial Security Bureau station on Killun 71 to allow their forces to mount a successful attack on the Empire. However, the planned rebel attack on Lothal did not go forward thanks to Thrawn, who had discovered the location of Chopper Base, the headquarters of the Phoenix Group. Thrawn's fleet blockaded Atollon and inflicted heavy casualties on rebel forces. Thrawn launched a ground assault after an orbital bombardment. Meanwhile, Ezra, who had escaped the fighting, enlisted the help of Clan Wren.

In response, Governor Pryce dispatched Jumptroopers, but these reinforcements failed to stop the Mandalorians from destroying the last Interdictor cruiser. Despite Thrawn storming Chopper Base, the rebels and Imperials were attacked by an angry Bendu, an enigmatic being that was living on Atollon, who used his Force powers to devastate the rebel base before being subdued by Thrawn. The surviving rebel and Mandalorian forces fled the battle as the Empire wiped out the Phoenix Squadron; however, the Empire was still unaware of the true scale of the Rebel Alliance.

Meanwhile, civil war raged on Imperial-occupied Mandalore, with the Rebel Alliance setting out to rescue Sabine's father and Imperial prisoner Alrich Wren from Governor Tiber Saxon. Clan Wren rescued Alrich with the help of the rebels. In response, Saxon unleashed the Arc Pulse Generator known as the Duchess against the Clan Wren forces, killing many. Sabine led the Mandalorians and rebels on a mission to infiltrate Saxon's Star Destroyer, which was above Sundari and were ambushed by Imperial forces, which resulted in the Mandalorians and rebels' success in destroying the weapon and Saxon's flagship.

The rebels continued their campaign and mounted successful raids on both Jalindi and the Faos Station. The Empire failed to stop both the Partisan and Spectre efforts, resulting in the loss of Commander Brom Titus and Captain Slavin. On Lothal, the Imperial Security Bureau conducted a successful raid against a suspected rebel cell allied with the Spectres. However, the efforts of the Lothal rebels and their allies brought about the Liberation of Lothal, with Thrawn going missing when Bridger forced himself and the Grand Admiral into hyperspace aboard the Chimaera. At some point, a prisoner uprising was launched within the Cherridan Imperial labor camp, but it was put down in a brutal fashion. A failure for the Empire, however, came when an assault on the Winter's Edge stormtrooper garrison ended in success for the enemy.

A local insurgency was carried out by Gerrera's Partisans on the desert moon of Jedha, an Imperial protectorate, in the ancient streets of Jedha City as part of their larger campaign against the Galactic Empire. Unknown to many of them, Director Orson Krennic and Grand Moff Tarkin had decided to test the capability of the Empire's new superweapon-equipped battle station, the Death Star, by firing its superlaser at the city using a single-reactor ignition. At least 3% of Jedha's Imperial forces were presumed destroyed in the blast as well, having been unable to evacuate. The Imperial casualties included such forces as JN-093's squad, who had been assigned to check possible rebel hiding spots outside the city, leaving them unable to get to the extraction point in time. The Empire subsequently fabricated a cover story for the Imperial Senate that Jedha was destroyed in a mere mining disaster.

A group of rebels under the callsign Rogue One had captured the blueprints for the Death Star, which had just been completed after nearly two decades of work on Scarif. They infiltrated the planetary shield in a stolen Zeta-class Heavy Cargo Shuttle and waged a guerrilla assault on the base's outskirts, drawing away Imperial forces, while the rebels could access the Citadel Tower.

However, they received support from the Alliance Fleet under Admiral Raddus, whose forces engaged the Imperial Star Destroyers above Scarif and aimed to destroy the Shield Gate. Rogue One transmitted the stolen plans to the fleet above, but by the order of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, they along with Director Orson Krennic were eradicated by a low-powered blast from the arrived Death Star that destroyed the Citadel and surrounding area. By then, the Sith Lord Darth Vader's forces had destroyed the rebel ships that did not manage to retreat, but he failed to get the plans back as they were transported to Imperial Senator and Princess Leia Organa on the Tantive IV.

Imperial forces commanded by Darth Vader captured one of the leaders of the Alliance and the one who possessed the plans, Princess of Alderaan Leia Organa—who, unknown to Vader, was his own daughter. While nearly all of the old institutions of the Republic had been swept away in the intervening decades, this provided Sidious the opportunity to finally wipe away the last vestiges of the old democracy, and dissolve the Imperial Senate permanently. This brought governance of the various systems of the Empire directly under the purview of the Regional Governors and the Imperial Military.

Organa's presence, and her refusal to give up the location of the Alliance's base, precipitated Grand Moff Tarkin's decision to test-fire the newly completed Death Star's primary weapon on her homeworld, Alderaan. In an instant, the Imperial Military's superweapon utterly destroyed the populous, influential world. In so doing, Tarkin hoped not only to force Organa to submit but also to strike fear into any others who sought to rebel against Imperial rule. Soon after the destruction of Alderaan, dubbed "the Disaster" by Alderaanian refugees, vigils for the dead were held on Coruscant's Level 3204, with many on the level having formerly lived on Alderaan. However, as soon as the circumstances behind the event became clear, the once-peaceful vigils turned into violent riots, with many calling for justice and revolution against the Empire. Imperial stormtroopers and Coruscant underworld police were soon called in to restore the peace, and began arresting and eventually relocating those who questioned Imperial rule.

Eventually, Organa was rescued from the Death Star by the unlikely alliance of smuggler Han Solo, her unknowing twin brother Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who sacrificed himself in his duel with Darth Vader. The group escaped the Imperial fortress and fled to the Alliance base on Yavin 4, pursued by the Death Star. At Yavin 4, the Empire and the Rebels engaged in a major battle, with the fate of the rebellion hanging in the balance. Despite destroying a great many of the Alliance's starfighters, the battle ultimately ended up a major defeat for the Imperial forces, when Skywalker fired the shot which destroyed the Death Star. This marked the Rebellion's first major victory against the Empire.

Now viewing the growing Alliance as a credible threat, Sidious issued a communiqué the morning after the Death Star's destruction ordering all ongoing ISB operations be superseded for the immediate detention of known and suspected rebel sympathizers. Admiral Kendal Ozzel ordered the fleet into battle readiness. To keep the Rebellion off balance, the Empire engaged in rushed and scrambled offenses across the galaxy and raided spice worlds such as Kerev Doi in an attempt to cut off possible sources of income for the Alliance. With major military redeployments occurring around the clock, the Imperial Military began to mobilize for a full-scale galactic war, while the Rebellion began to push into the populous Imperial Mid Rim in a failed operation that only months later would become known as the Mid Rim Retreat, its ultimate demise owing in large part to the Empire's numerical superiority.

Following losses at Phindar and Portocari two weeks following the Battle of Yavin, members of the Nashtah Squadron learned at the Zero Angle bar on the Bright Jewel Oversector Flight Base on Axxila III that the military would undergo a mass reorganization, rescinding the classification between Imperial Navy and Imperial Army pilots. Unbeknownst to the Empire following the destruction of the first Death Star, the Rebel Alliance had evacuated their base on Yavin 4 and was orbiting the remote world of Orto Plutonia in the Pantora system, located in the Sujimis sector, with the nearest Imperial presence being Moff Abran Balfour, who patrolled the world of Llanic situated at the intersection of the Llanic Spice Route and Triellus Trade Route.

A brief skirmish erupted when Luke Skywalker, in the luxury yacht the Desert Jewel, attacked two TIE fighters assaulting a Kupohan ship. Unknown to Skywalker at the time, the ship was in reality carrying a Kupohan spy with vital intelligence regarding Drusil Bephorin, a Givin woman with a reputation for being able to slice into security systems at an astonishing rate and interpret encoded messages at breathtaking speed. Desperately searching for the Alliance Fleet, the Empire sought to convince Drusil to use her cryptographic skills to aid them and kept her in a sort of luxurious imprisonment on Denon in an effort to sway her favor. Secretly, Drusil offered to join the Alliance as long as the rebels could extract her family to the ocean world of Omereth, a task given to Major Bren Derlin. After a side mission to the Deep Core, Luke Skywalker, R2-D2 and Nakari Kelen extracted Drusil after an elaborate chase across the galaxy, hampering the Empire's plans for a retaliatory strike against the Rebellion.

In addition to rebel agents wreaking havoc internally, the Empire suffered desultory raids by rebel forces emboldened by their successful strike against the Death Star, with the rebels that destroyed it—Red Squadron—continuing to harass the Empire, especially during a mission above Giju where a transport carrying underground rebel leaders was evacuated from the planet. The Empire also continued to suffer setbacks from the Rebellion's golden boy, Luke Skywalker, including the trespass by the Jedi Purge survivor into the Temple of Eedit—an abandoned Jedi temple under guard of the Empire—on Devaron.

Despite the temporary turmoil instilled by the Rebels' bold strikes, the Alliance attempted even bigger operations to capitalize on its former success. Most notable was an attempt to assault, infiltrate and destroy Weapons Factory Alpha located in the Corellian Industrial Cluster on Cymoon 1, reputedly home to the largest weapons factory in the galaxy. In the meantime, the Empire opened negotiations with the Hutt Clan, led by Jabba the Hutt, to secure raw materials for Imperial Military production and secure their support for their expansion in the Outer Rim. The Rebels ultimately destroyed the factory, crippling Imperial production and causing another major setback.

For Vader's failure to stop the destruction of both the Death Star and the Cymoon 1 factory, Darth Sidious relieved him of much of his authority and assigned him to serve in the military instead of commanding it. As much of the Empire's military command had been lost with the Death Star, the Emperor appointed General Cassio Tagge, the Chief of the Imperial Army, to the rank of Grand General and assigned him command of Imperial Military matters due to his foresight to fear the Alliance Fleet and doubt the invincibility of the Death Star. The Emperor pressed the military to focus on conquering the Outer Rim and destroying the Rebellion—with the Death Star gone and the Senate disbanded, the Empire lacked efficient means to keep dissenting systems in line.

Additionally, Imperial statisticians noted predictable increases in piracy following the Death Star's destruction. As a result, the military was to preserve order by any means necessary until the second Death Star was completed. Under Tagge's command, the conquest of the Outer Rim progressed, with Tagge launching a significant crackdown on criminal elements that had gone unchecked in the past. The only criminal powers allowed to survive were the Hutts, per Vader's agreement with Jabba. The destruction of competitors also allowed the Hutts to capitalize on "new markets" supplied by the Empire. After Doctor Cylo's attempted hijacking of the in-construction Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor was put down by Vader, Palpatine demoted Tagge and rewarded Vader with command, which Vader quickly took advantage of by killing Tagge.

While the Rebellion made a drive to defeat the Empire, Vader meanwhile searched for Luke Skywalker. The Empire attempted to pin down rebel activity, but were unable to stop them from seizing control of the Harbinger from the grip of the Imperial Navy. However, the Empire started a counterattack and prevented rebel guerrilla and military desultory raids that had occurred in the aftermath of Yavin. Further Imperial success came on the mineral planet Crait, where the Empire confronted the Alliance after an attack on the Alliance Fleet as they searched out a possible new rebel base.

The Rebellion embarked on a massive military campaign to liberate hundreds of worlds under Imperial control by pushing into the heavily populated Mid Rim. With thousands of starships, hundreds of battle groups and dozens of worlds involved in the operation, it was initially met with stunning success as Imperial forces, unprepared for such a large-scale operation and shattered from the recent shake-ups in the Imperial hierarchy, fell back from world to world, allowing the Rebellion to press further into Imperial space. Taking the factory-deserts of Phorsa Gedd and the Ducal Palace of Bamayar, the Rebellion's advance gradually slowed as Imperial resistance stiffened. Eighteen months into the operation, fearing to overextend the fleet and occupied with the consolidation of worlds now under Rebel control, High Command ordered the defense of occupied territories, and shortly thereafter the slow withdrawal of Alliance military resources back towards the Outer Rim.

While the loss of both Tarkin and the Death Star itself were significant, Imperial resolve toward putting down the rebellion only increased. For the next three and a half years, Imperial forces under the direct command of Darth Vader relentlessly pursued the Alliance. While the hunt was personal for Vader, having learned that the young rebel Skywalker was actually his son, the Imperial Military nevertheless scoured the galaxy with Imperial probe droids under the name Project Swarm. The operation also made use of a team of archaeological consultants due to the Rebel Alliance's prior uses of ancient structures as bases, with Vader's old contact Doctor Chelli Aphra assigned as part of the group; while her role in preventing the plot to assassinate Emperor Palpatine afforded her a degree of protection from Vader, she believed the Sith Lord was keeping her close and waiting for any good excuse to silence his old loose end. Imperial forces also picked up Aphra and Vader's old assassin droids during a sweep of the Ring of Kafrene, installing restraining bolts on both and assigning them as interrogation specialists on the Executor.

Under the command of Major Yaltza, who was ultimately executed by Vader for a lack of results, and then General Maximilian Veers, Project Swarm saw thousands of probe droids search the galaxy while the archaeologists did their work; whereas Aphra questioned the usefulness of their department, Professor Rupo Ud pushed the theory the rebels would be using another historical site. In secret, Ud did not care about the Empire or rebels at all and simply saw Project Swarm as a way to allocate major resources towards an archaeological survey. After her pleas to Vader fell on deaf ears, Aphra decided to devote herself to finding the rebel base, thereby securing Palpatine's favor and keeping herself out of Vader's grasp forever. After a probe droid was shot down over Ash Moon 1, Veers led a team to the surface to discover only a group of Central Isopter pilgrims, who he ordered be used as target practice, while Ud led the study of the Isopter temple. Intending to take control of the archaeological team, Aphra tricked Ud into falling into a trap and left her ward Vulaada Klam behind, intending to keep the young girl out of her dangerous life.

The only update of interest to Veers came when a masked individual—who carried rebel rations and claimed to know Jedi mind tricks—was taken captive and brought to the Executor, where he was unmasked and revealed to be the now-Supervisor Aphra's father, Korin. At the urging of his daughter and due to his bias against the Rebel Alliance due to its habit of ruining ancient sites, Korin revealed he had encountered a rebel cell on Asteroid Helix 13-v, where the two Aphras set to work—with Korin coming to see some benefits to the Empire's existence if it was directed towards archaeology—and Vader investigated a presence in the Force, leading him to an altar people had prayed to over the years. The altar made Vader experience visions of his past, but he destroyed it and soon departed, ignoring Korin's pleas to spare the historical site after he ordered bombers annihilate the temple. Although Vader's order to withdraw pulled the Empire off the asteroid before a full sweep could be conducted, with Vader claiming he did so because the rebels had already left, the Aphras had found evidence the rebels had departed for a cold location.

En route to the Executor, the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle carrying both Aphras and BT-1 was attacked by the rebel starship Unnamed under Aphra's former lover Magna Tolvan, herself a former Imperial who predicted how the stormtroopers aboard would react and incapacitated all Imperials aboard. As the Imperials and Korin were taken captive, Aphra avoided the rebels and extracted the location of their new base—Echo Base on the planet Hoth—from Tolvan's electro-tattoos after sleeping with her. She also contacted BT-1 and, after giving the droid permission to kill anyone but her father, ensured her unconscious father was safely deposited back on their Lambda, which she launched with coordinates for Ash Moon I so he could meet up with Klam. Tolvan and the Unnamed followed close behind, ensuring that Aphra's loved ones could meet each other and become a group of their own. Uniting with Tolvan, Korin—who abandoned his anti-rebel ideals—and Klam joined the rebellion and lived in Echo Base.

Rather than fulfill her previous idea of giving Echo Base's location to the Empire, Aphra led Vader and a group of Imperial forces under Colonel Bryce to the planet Tython, where she freed 0-0-0 and BT-1 from their restraining bolts. With both droids cutting through many of Bryce's troops, Aphra led Vader to the Martyrium of Frozen Tears, where he was overpowered by his past regrets and severely damaged by a barrage from BT-1. Still keeping her distance and knowing she would be unable to kill the Dark Lord, Aphra instead hacked into Vader's suit from a distance and contacted the Executor, where she reached a comms jockey she tricked into altering and outright deleting much of the data collected by Project Swarm: while she knew Vader would soon find the rebel base, she fled Tython with the hope she had delayed his efforts for long enough that the rebels could set up defenses and escape plans, thereby keeping her loved ones safe. The Empire put out a warrant for Aphra, who escaped Tython by stealing a TIE/rp Reaper attack landers and dropped 0-0-0 and BT-1 off on the planet Birukay, where they could stay off the Empire's radar, although both grew bored from a lack of people to kill.

Aphra's actions heavily set back the Empire's hunt for the rebellion by, according to Aphra's and the Empire's own estimates, several weeks as it would need to untangle the mess of false positives, deleted information, and altered records she left behind. The Empire tried to bury news of Aphra's interference, but the comms jockey would end up telling an Imperial officer named Thassilio Smeuse, who was, in secret, a deep-cover agent for the Rebel Alliance. One day, Smeuse and the stormtroopers under his command captured a U-wing and a group of seemingly low-ranking rebels, who were actually baiting the Imperials into an ambush; after Smeuse completed the code-phrase one rebel remarked, Tolvan and Strike Team Misericorde ambushed the Imperials and extracted Smeuse. Escaping from three TIE fighters aboard the U-wing, Tolvan and company returned to Echo Base, where Smeuse was debriefed and revealed what Aphra had done.

Eventually, the Empire's search came to fruition when one of its probe droids located the Alliance's new base on the ice planet Hoth. The massive Imperial fleet, led by the command ship Executor, arrived in the system and deployed ground forces at the Moorsh Moraine, a glacial feature on the planet in preparation for a major assault on the Alliance forces at Echo Base. Overwhelmed, the rebels were forced to flee, and the Empire claimed a decisive victory.

The Imperial pursuit of the rebels, however, did not stop at Hoth. The Imperial fleet continued to chase down the fleeing rebels, pursuing Leia Organa and Han Solo into the Hoth asteroid belt. Though Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, eluded Imperial pursuit, Vader engaged the services of bounty hunters to track down the fleeing Alliance leadership.

One of these bounty hunters, Boba Fett, tracked Organa and Solo to Cloud City on Bespin, enabling Imperial forces to capture them and lay a trap for Luke Skywalker. The trap was eventually sprung, and Skywalker learned of his true relation to Vader, but the Imperial forces escorting Organa and her allies found themselves betrayed and overwhelmed by Cloud City's local authorities. The rebel leaders escaped Imperial custody again, but not without cost. Skywalker was maimed in a duel with Vader, while Solo was frozen in carbonite and handed over to the bounty hunter. Battered and bruised, the Alliance was once again in flight from pursuing Imperial forces. The Empire took full control of Cloud City and Bespin as a whole, securing a major source of tibanna gas in the process and further shaking the galaxy's balance of power in its favor.

Around the same time as the takeover of Cloud City, the Empire focused on the ice moon Madurs to secure access to its carnium supply. Initially assuming and told the Empire was interested in the moon's art, much to his confusion, Prime Minister Dreand Yens was told by Imperial ambassador and Senior Commander Alecia Beck to prepare for an art expo as a distraction: as the Empire laid the groundwork for its mining operation, Yens and his people were building up a small city of ice guesthouses at Beck's urging. All the while, an Imperial space station in orbit scouted out where on Madurs would be the best spot to mine, Finally, the Empire made its intentions clear in the next phase of negotiations and offered far less than what the carnium was worth. After Yens's rejection, the space station landed on the moon—destroying what became known as the "old city" in the process—to begin extracting the resource by force. An underground resistance network struck against the operation but failed to stop the mining, which began to pollute and threaten the very structure of the moon the further it went on. Despite his hate of the Empire's operations, Yens remained as Prime Minister but was effectively a puppet of Beck. With the way it protruded up from the frozen ground, the station became known as the black tower.

Following the disastrous Battle of Hoth, the Alliance Fleet was scattered across the galaxy, and the absence of clear orders and the condition of Alliance High Command put the movement into its most critical stage in the war effort. With Imperial forces required to maintain the Mid Rim border and combat active war zones, vast numbers of Imperial forces from the Core Worlds were deployed to finally quash the Rebellion in the Outer Rim. This redeployment, however, left the Core's defenses enervated if only by a slight margin. Knowing the Empire's reliance on the Imperial shipyards at Kuat and their vital importance in planetary containment and fast infantry deployment, the Rebel Sixty-First Mobile Infantry launched Operation Ringbreaker, an initiative designed to destroy the Empire's orbital facilities at Kuat. Ultimately, the plan faltered and ended on Sullust owing to logistical concerns.

In the wake of the Rebellion's catastrophic loss at Hoth, the Rebel Fleet split into small fragments across the galaxy in an attempt to avoid another propaganda victory for the Empire, further extending the Imperial fleet in an effort to engage them. Despite its previous advantages following the Battle of Yavin, the Rebellion was sitting on a knife's edge after learning of Darth Sidious constructing another battle station. Following the loss of the first Death Star, the Emperor made clear his determination to create another planet-shattering space station, this time more powerful than the first. The Schism Imperial erupted in the wake of the scourge of the droids.

Utilizing S-thread boosters to carve a secret hyperspace lane through the Outer Rim, the Emperor planned to destroy the rebels in a doomed engagement over the forest moon of Endor, construction site of the Death Star II, which, unbeknownst to the rebels, had a fully operational superlaser. Following the presumed destruction of a sizable portion of the Alliance's military capabilities, the Emperor planned to deploy some of the largest invasion fleets seen in centuries to blockade the known rebel strongholds of Mon Cala and Chandrila until the Death Star could destroy them, eliminating any hope of a successful galactic resistance and thus permanently ending the Alliance to Restore the Republic through terror and intimidation.

With the Alliance Fleet assembling over Sullust, the Emperor decided to proactively approach the Rebel problem. Rather than guard the station's secrets, as with the first Death Star, Sidious leaked just enough information to bait the Alliance into striking at the station before it was completed—including the fact that he would be overseeing the final stages of the station's construction personally. After the Bothan Spynet transmitted intelligence regarding the Empire's new and improved Death Star to Alliance High Command, an emergency summit was held on the remote trade world of Zastiga, far from the Galactic Core.

There, Rebellion leaders and generals were informed of the construction of the second Death Star located over Endor which, they knew, had to be destroyed before it became operational. Needing to buy time for the scattered fleet to assemble over Sullust, Princess Leia Organa devised a strategy—Operation Yellow Moon—to divert Imperial attention to her instead of the upcoming mission to Endor. Ultimately, with the success of Yellow Moon, the Rebel Alliance gained valuable time for its now-consolidated fleet to finally be able to strike at an incomplete Death Star.

Unknown to the Rebels, large portions of the Imperial Starfleet had already massed in the Hudalla system, while Imperial engineers had ensured that the new Death Star's main weapon was fully operational. Eventually, Imperial Military command had discreetly moved the gathered warships to a staging point on the far side of Endor's moon, where the Death Star was orbiting. Simultaneously, a legion of Imperial troops was deployed on the surface to stop any attempt at sabotaging the station's ground-based SLD-26 planetary shield generator, which neutralized any attempt at directly assaulting the station.

Imperial intelligence reports indicated that Sidious' trap was indeed well underway when it was discovered that the Rebel fleet was massing at Sullust, as a staging ground for their strike at Endor. Per the Emperor's design and command, Imperial Military authorities were ordered to ignore the buildup so that the Rebels would commit their entire force to a doomed attack. When the Alliance fleet arrived en masse, the Emperor's trap was sprung. The Rebel ground forces had taken the bait and been captured, allowing the Death Star's shield to remain active, while the Imperial fleet moved into position to trap the Rebels. With the Alliance Fleet trapped between the bulk of the Imperial fleet and a shielded, fully operational Death Star, victory for the Empire seemed assured.

On the surface of Endor, the tables were turned on the Imperial forces when they were unexpectedly attacked by the planet's indigenous Ewok population, who had allied themselves with the Rebels, giving the Alliance ground forces a free hand to destroy the Death Star's shield generator. With the shield down, Alliance starfighters were able to launch an assault on the Imperial station's reactor core.

Meanwhile, aboard the station, a blow of an entirely different kind was struck against the Empire. The Emperor tried to replace Vader with a captive Luke Skywalker, the latter now being a Jedi, but Luke convinced Darth Vader to turn on his master. Vader—once again Anakin Skywalker—seized the Imperial head of state and hurled him down a shaft to his assumed death. Soon after, the Rebel starfighters destroyed the Death Star's reactor core. The station was destroyed—like its predecessor, lost with all hands. Due to the injuries he sustained in the process of overthrowing the Emperor, the redeemed Anakin died shortly after, but not before making peace with Luke. With the apparent loss of both the Emperor and his right-hand man, Vader, the destruction of the Death Star, and significant losses inflicted on the Imperial fleet, the Imperial remnants withdrew to the Annaj system. The Empire had suffered a decisive defeat.

With the destruction of the Death Star and death of the Order's totalitarian ruler, many worlds across the galaxy began to celebrate the Empire's defeat over Endor with the incorrect notion that the war was over and rise up against the regime. Despite being at the heart of the Empire, the Imperial Center would also see tumultuous festivities by its populace, eventually leading to a riot breaking out in Monument Plaza, which further coalesced into a full-scale civil war. A rally was held on Naboo while parades and other celebrations were held on Tatooine, which saw its Imperial occupiers withdraw. The recent death of Jabba the Hutt, combined with the Imperial withdraw, did create a power vacuum on Tatooine that groups like the Mining Collective could take advantage of, however.

Meanwhile, the Empire rushed to reassert its power. One particular tactic the Empire would focus on was trying to keep control over resources. To that end, the Empire continued its secret mining project on Madurs. The Rebel Alliance also suspected Imperial holdouts would dig into the Outer Rim, thereby drawing out the war. Beyond fearing covert attacks on Alliance-allied star systems, with the number of pro-Alliance worlds growing in the wake of Palpatine's death, and the battles that were to be waged in the Outer Rim, the Alliance feared the Empire would act in the shadows to destabilize the bedrock upon which the New Republic would be formed: assassinations, starvation, and control over resources like fuel, such as Tibanna gas, and food were all tactics the Alliance suspected would be used by the Empire in the coming weeks.

Owing to the lack of a clear system of succession following the Emperor's death, chaos gripped the galaxy as former Imperial expansionism stalled. Members of the Imperial Council and various other military warlords attempted to grab what territories they could, while tailored propaganda messages often contradicted one another. Some refused to legitimize the New Republic, and thus banned referring to it by name. Others portrayed it as a monstrous terrorist organization, swallowing up Imperial worlds for plunder and conquest, while still others refused to even acknowledge the Emperor's death for months. The Empire was ripped apart from within as several of its commanders fought one another for power, leadership, and control, rendering the regime a collection of squabbling factions: with the Empire weak, it was no match against the united forces of the New Republic. The chaos that ensued in the Empire made people wonder if the decisions made by the Emperor over the years were the best for the Galactic Empire. Imperial pilot Rella Sol, for example, the child of former Imperial Senators, believed that if the Imperial Senate had not been dissolved, order would have been maintained after Endor.

An Imperial loyalist, Governor Adelhard, who was in charge of the Anoat sector, attempted to downplay the Empire's defeat over Endor and cover up the Emperor's death in the days after the Battle of Endor. Shutting down all travel and communications into and out of the Anoat sector, Adelhard established the Iron Blockade and formed his own remnant faction. Citizens who dared to fight back and speak of so-called rumors of the Empire's defeat were hunted and eliminated by Commander Bragh and his Purge Troopers. By keeping control over the Anoat sector, the Empire also kept control over a massive supplier of the galaxy's Tibanna gas, thereby keeping a great deal of control over fuel. While some such as Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck of Imperial territory G5-623 on Kashyyyk suggested that the Emperor had escaped the Death Star II through miraculous means, others claimed the even wilder notion that the Emperor was still leading the Empire from beyond the grave. While Solo thought such a lie was easy to disprove, such a tactic was possible because Palpatine had always ruled from the shadows, away from the public eye.

During Solo and Organa's honeymoon, they discovered the Empire's carnium mining operation on Madurs and fought against it with the help of the local resistance. The battle ended with the destruction of the "black tower" and the capture of Beck, who fled with other high-ranking officers on Madurs as the resistance launched its final attack. The out-of-character move from Beck led Organa to suspect the New Republic had a new enemy at play, either a figure using the rumors of Palpatine's survival to their advantage or an heir to the Empire with Palpatine's level of power. Fortunately for Madurs, the New Republic embarked on an effort to restore the world after the damage caused by the Empire's mining.

With the Empire fragmented, the Rebel Alliance embarked on numerous campaigns such as the Beltire Liberation and the Battle of Cawa City to capitalize on its stunning success over Endor, resulting in numerous Imperial defeats. Twenty days after Endor, the posthumous contingency plan of the late Emperor known as Operation: Cinder was delivered to numerous Imperial captains by messenger droids as the first act in Palpatine's Contingency. The operation consisted of coordinated attacks on strategic worlds affiliated with the Rebellion, which the Emperor considered a final act of revenge against his enemies, and worlds that had been loyal to him, as revenge for the Empire's failure to protect him. In addition to his homeworld of Naboo, Burnin Konn, Candovant, Abednedo, and Commenor were all targeted for destruction through the use of climate disruption arrays. Utilizing N-1 starfighters dating thirty-six years earlier to the Battle of Naboo, the Alliance destroyed the satellites with the aid of an MC80 Star Cruiser and the Alliance Fleet. Despite the Order's defeat over Naboo, the Empire still attempted the operation on numerous worlds in the three months following the Battle of Endor.

After the Battle of Endor, illicit holovids of the Emperor's defeat over Endor and rebel propaganda detailing the liberation of worlds such as Naboo disseminated throughout the galaxy, with many risking arrest and execution for spreading what the Empire deemed lies. However, the increasing view that the Empire was weakened, reinforced by the insistence of authorities claiming otherwise, prompted thousands of planets to join the Alliance, while Imperial Military defections steadily increased. In order to counter the reports of the Emperor's demise, a proxy actor was installed in his place, but some citizens noticed slight differences in the facsimile. Eventually, the truth of the Emperor's demise became known to the general citizenry. Declarations of a new Emperor were announced almost every day, but none were able to consolidate any substantial power. Former aide to Darth Sidious since the Clone Wars, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda attempted to keep the Empire together while splinter fleets and other Imperial officials fought each other to support the various claimants to the throne.

Eventually, the Galactic Empire had to contend with the New Republic, a rival galactic government formed in the wake of the Rebel Alliance's victory at Endor. Suffering a string of defeats against the Republic including the loss of Sevarcos and Malastare, along with a failed attempt to restart the former Separatist droid foundries on Geonosis, the Empire gradually began to crumble. Self-appointed Grand Moff Valco Pandion and other military leaders began to jockey for power, while corrupt sector governors accepted payments for the Republic's allocation of Imperial ships or sued for peace at the earliest convenience. The captains of two of the Empire's thirteen Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts even surrendered to the New Republic.

With most of the Empire's veteran troops killed on the second Death Star or Vader's command ship Executor, military paucity and tactical clumsiness soon hampered the Empire's efforts at a concerted strike against the Republic. The Imperial Military suffered numerous losses of warships and troops, and expended more ordnance than it could produce fighting Republic forces. This ultimately led to a supply deficit forcing Imperial-class Star Destroyers to make do with an inadequate supply of TIE/LN starfighters and resulted in both the Imperial Navy and Imperial Army utilizing undertrained personnel pulled early from the numerous Imperial academies. Consequently, many planets were either captured by or seceded to the New Republic. The Empire retreated to fallback positions on worlds such as Naalol, forestalling its slow push toward the Core Worlds. Despite these efforts, the Republic had already established its capital on Chandrila, a planet located within the Core.

Despite the lack of a clear chain of command, old loyalists and a common fear of the rising Rebellion kept a vague semblance of unity between the surviving Imperial forces. Existing on a knife's edge, many officers wondered when someone of prominence would break away from commonality and begin to overtly act against the greater body, ushering in chaos and anarchy. To avoid this, the surviving Imperial leaders and their military forces converged on the Outer Rim planet of Akiva in an attempt to evade New Republic detection and stabilize the remaining factions of the Empire in the months following Endor, with various portions of the Outer Rim still occupied by Imperial forces. During the Akiva summit, various Imperial delegates discussed the future of the Empire in the aptly named Imperial Future Council.

Amid the conference, the various Imperial leaders were divided over how the Empire should deal with their newfound situation, and whether or not it would be wise to continue the war or enter into a state of cold war. Additionally, the continued funding of the Imperial Military was hotly disputed, with some arguing that plundering the InterGalactic Banking Clan and other monetary bodies would plunge the galaxy into an economic depression. The notion of abandoning the Empire's dark-side devotion was even discussed, while Imperial Advisor Yupe Tashu—a longtime admirer of Darth Sidious and dark-side cultist—suggested sending the Imperial remnants to the outskirts of the galaxy to search for the source of the dark side. With the more pressing objective to organize and thus strike out against the New Republic before it could grow any stronger, the delegates soon began discussing who should lead the Empire as the new Galactic Emperor.

Before any real progress could be made, Akiva was ultimately liberated after a New Republic fleet arrived, forcing the Imperials to scatter once more and resulting in Akiva being the first Outer Rim planet to formally join the New Republic. In reality, Imperial Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, a warlord who controlled one of the larger fragments of the fallen Empire.

The man who became Gallius Rax was an orphan boy called "Galli" who had stowed aboard Palpatine's luxury yacht Imperialis roughly three decades before the end of the Galactic Civil War. Seeing potential in the boy, Palpatine tasked him with guarding an excavation site in the Valley of the Eremite which became the Jakku Observatory. After ten years of service, Palpatine inducted Rax into the Empire, using his power and influence to aid Rax's career advancement in the Imperial Navy. By 5 ABY, Rax had attained the rank of Fleet Admiral.

With the loss of Akiva and the Galactic Empire's territorial possessions rapidly shrinking, Rax became an official advisor to Grand Admiral Rae Sloane. While Sloane was the public leader of the Empire in the Vulpinus Nebula, its true ruler was Rax who controlled the fleet through Sloane. Additionally, Rax secretly commanded the Imperial remnants in the Almagest, the Recluse's Nebula, the Queluhan Nebula, the Ro-Loo Triangle, and the Inamorata. As part of the Contingency, Rax eliminated his Imperial rivals by leaking intelligence to the New Republic while posing as "the Operator." With Sloane's help, Rax had engineered the downfall of the Imperial Future Council's emergency summit on Akiva.

Roughly two months after Akiva fell to the New Republic, numerous systems left the Empire or waged their own resistance movements, declared their independence, and established their own fiefdoms or joined the New Republic. In that time, Sullust had also been liberated from Imperial control. In that same time period, Imperial forces launched three invasions of the planet Naboo, which holdout forces hoped to claim due to its significance as Palpatine's homeworld. However, all three attacks were repelled by the New Republic, which even received help from Imperial defectors. Meanwhile, criminal syndicates flourished in the current atmosphere of conflict, especially the reptilian pirate Eleodie Maracavanya, who had captured the Super Star Destroyer Annihilator and used it to forge zher own criminal empire. Several Moffs and governors rebelled against the Empire as more people grew uncertain about what the Empire stood for. Agencies, personnel, and whole planetary systems started to drift apart, each adopting different tactics and methods for combating the New Republic, and each other.

Grand Vizier Mas Amedda was acting as Emperor after Palpatine's death but in reality was nothing more than a proxy Emperor who held little real influence beyond the throneworld of Coruscant with his reign being met with whole sectors of Coruscant started to revolt and was entrenched in government districts. Rax refused to allow Sloane to send reinforcements to Amedda as the throneworld had no place in his vision of a renewed Empire. Later he met with Chancellor Mon Mothma and Senator Leia Organa, who refused his surrender during a meeting on Velusia and demanded he instead find a way to gain full control of the Galactic Empire and ordering him to work towards signing a treaty of surrender to clear his name.

Upon his return to Coruscant, Amedda considered suicide by jumping off of one of the Imperial Palace's balconies. However, he changed his mind after meeting Sloane. After Sloane inquired about the identity of Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, Amedda decided to strike an alliance with her. In return for assisting her investigation into Rax's background, Amedda agreed to align with Sloane. Sloane believed in the New Order that developed after the Clone Wars as opposed to Rax, who wished for a renewed Empire ruled by the dark side as it was under Darth Sidious. Following their agreement, Amedda revealed the droids that contained the information she sought were aboard the wreckage of the Imperialis on the junk moon Quantxi.

As the war grew more desperate, TIE fighter pilots even began suicide attacks on entrenched Republic positions, and various commanders executed wholesale massacres of native populations. The HoloNet, now free of Imperial censorship, brought such atrocities to the public spotlight. Other Imperial officials went AWOL and holed up in distant, hyper-secure outposts to avoid the New Republic Tribunal and its sentencing of Imperial war criminals. Additionally, the Emperor's Super Star Destroyer, the Eclipse, had disappeared from the galaxy.

Despite the post-Endor Rebel Alliance's fears that the Empire would dig into the Outer Rim, the Empire was largely defeated in the region by the time Rax called for a meeting of select Imperials in the Vulpinus Nebula. The Exterior under Grand Moff Randd remained the only Outer Rim sector that could truly be described as under the Empire's control. However, while the Empire appeared to be receding as the New Republic grew in size, Rax consolidated more and more systems to his cause—a faction of Imperials identified as the loyalists—after staging the Imperial Future Council to eliminate his rivals. A protégé of the late Emperor, Rax saw the Empire of old as weak, corrupt, and overripe. To him, by allowing the New Republic to gain ground, he not only eliminated potential competition but consolidated the leftover pieces of the Order.

With the shipyards of Kuat, Xa Fel, Anadeen, and Turco Prime already lost or contested, Rax planned to use the Empire's last foothold in the Outer Rim as a "strangling cord" to tie around the New Republic. While the old Empire relied on third-party corporations to produce its military hardware, Rax had nationalized all aspects of the production chain to be solely Imperial. To conclude his plan, Rax founded the Shadow Council in the Vulpinus Nebula after rescuing the final member of the council, Brendol Hux, from Arkanis. This "Shadow Council" was to serve as a secret advisory board composed of the "best and brightest," with the ultimate motive of secretly guiding the Empire into a new golden age.

Roughly three months after the Battle of Akiva, Rax sent Rae Sloane on a mission to the New Republic's capital with the overtures of signing a peace treaty who reassured her that her mission to Chandrila would cement her role as Emperor. The signing coincided with the New Republic's celebration of Liberation Day, a holiday celebrating the release of captives from the Imperial prison Ashmead's Lock on Kashyyyk, with many of the captives having been held in suspended animation since the days of the early Rebellion. In reality, the survivors were a part of an elaborate assassination scheme by Rax, executed by his lackey, Windom Traducier—an undercover Imperial operative posing as a Senate Guard—by utilizing inhibitor chips that had been installed within the survivors' brains. As the New Republic officials shepherded the liberated prisoners and their families onto a stage, Rax ordered Grand Moff Randd to prepare the Imperial fleets to travel to a series of coordinates, which turned out to be the planet Jakku. Rax also convened a meeting of the Shadow Council.

The survivors attacked and fired on the crowd after the chips' activation by Traducier, with the survivors targeting Chancellor Mon Mothma and various members of the Republic military during a dedication speech to their rescue. Watching the carnage from the balcony, Sloane realized that this terror attack was the "attack" Rax had foreshadowed to her. Already disagreeing on Rax's methods for administering the Empire, Rae announced her intention to confront Rax aboard the Ravager to her aide, Adea Rite, a secret supporter of Rax. As a result, Rite attempted to assassinate Sloane, but she escaped off-world. Traducier freed Tashu from the Republic and told him that he still served the late Emperor Sheev Palpatine even after Rax had given himself the title of Emperor. The attacks demoralized the New Republic but failed to turn the tide of the war against the Empire, which lost Kashyyyk following an uprising led by Han Solo and Chewbacca.

Claiming that Sloane had been captured during the attack on Chandrila, Gallius Rax seized power as the self-styled Counselor to the Empire. When Borrum asked why they were traveling to the barren world of Jakku, Rax responded that he wanted to "test" the mettle of his new armada above the planet. In secret, Rax planned to eliminate the other Council members with the exception of Brendol Hux as part of the Emperor's posthumous Contingency. Unbeknownst to the Empire, its destruction had been planned by the Emperor who did not believe that the Empire should continue after his demise. He also deemed the Empire's downfall as a necessary outcome for the creation of a new order that would rise in its place. Determined to see his plans realized, Sidious entrusted Rax with the task of executing the Contingency and ensuring its success.

Meanwhile, Sloane joined forces with the former rebel Brentin Lore Wexley to hunt down and kill Rax. While Sloane had received information from the bounty hunter Mercurial Swift that he had discovered that Rax had come from Jakku, the two traveled to the desert planet. After landing, Brentin and Rae visited a bar owned by Corwin Ballast in an attempt to find information about Rax. Ballast yielded no information, but the pair soon got their answer when they witnessed Rax's Super Star Destroyer Ravager exiting hyperspace with his massive Imperial armada. The Emperor had returned home.

With the backing of the Shadow Council, whose members included Grand Moff Randd, General Hodnar Borrum, the propagandist Ferric Obdur, and the one-time Commandant Brendol Hux, Counselor Gallius Rax steered the Imperial loyalist forces toward Jakku, his planet of origin. This contingent was made up of a collection of Imperial Star Destroyers in addition to Rax's command ship, the Ravager, believed to be the last Super Star Destroyer still functioning in the Imperial Navy. Joining the loyalists on Jakku was Admiral Garrick Versio, who augmented Rax's fleet with his Star Destroyer, the Eviscerator. The fleet was also armed with Interdictor ships, Immobilizer 418 cruisers, Lambda-class shuttles, a variety of TIE starfighters, including bombers and interceptors, TIE strikers, Twenty-gun raiders, and a TIE Defender. Other loyalist units present included the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing, which was not stationed on Jakku but instead deployed to execute a second Operation Cinder against rogue Imperials, the Hellhound attack force, and Omega Flight Group. Although united in a final stand against the New Republic, the Imperial remnants were unaware that they were intended to be sacrificed as "penance for their negligence," based on the Emperor's belief that they had failed to safeguard him.

The ground troops were composed of standard stormtroopers along with specialized units such as Demolition Troopers, Heavy Weapons Stormtroopers, Imperial officers, jumptroopers, riot control stormtroopers, scout troopers, Imperial shock troopers, sandtroopers, and at least one member of the Emperor's Royal Guard. Supporting these soldiers were various military vehicles, including All Terrain Armored Transports, All Terrain Scout Transports, and a K79-S80 Imperial Troop Transport. Imperial personnel, including stormtrooper TK-603, abandoned the Rothana Imperial Shipyards to travel to Jakku, taking every operational ship at the base. Ships not ready for combat, like Tarkin's former flagship, the Carrion Spike, were left behind under the protection of auto-security and droids.

The main Imperial base was set up by Rax beyond the Goazon Badlands and the Sinking Fields, housing a stormtrooper garrison and a significant number of walkers. Other known Imperial facilities included an Imperial research base, the Jakku Observatory, and a distant Kesium gas platform. Unbeknownst to the Shadow Council, the Jakku Observatory was key to Emperor Palpatine's Contingency plan to destroy the Empire in the event of his death. It held computer-generated maps of the Unknown Regions and was constructed atop a borehole leading to the planet's core. Rax intended to detonate the core, destroying Jakku along with much of the Empire and the New Republic Defense Fleet. He then planned to lead a select group of Imperials, deemed worthy, to rebuild the Empire in the Unknown Regions. Rax's forces also included a group of child soldiers recruited from local orphans.

Rax publicly claimed that he had brought the Empire to Jakku to strengthen them for their final confrontation with the New Republic. He implemented a harsh training program that promoted savagery and violence among the Empire's soldiers and officers. During training, officers encouraged their men to brutally attack each other. Those who questioned the Empire's purpose on Jakku, such as RK-242, were abused by their comrades for questioning Rax's agenda. The stormtroopers stationed on Jakku devolved into armed thugs, their appearance unkempt due to the harsh, arid environment.

For several months, the Empire's loyalist forces were in wait for the New Republic's impending assault. The prolonged state of alert began to have a negative impact on the Imperial forces stationed on Jakku. Although General Borrum expressed concern that the extended wait was affecting the mental state of his troops, Grand Moff Randd supported Counselor Rax's stringent regime as a purification process. During this period, Rax also negotiated with the Hutt crime boss Niima, who led a cult. In exchange for weapons, Niima guarded the path to the Valley of the Eremite and kidnapped local orphans. These orphans were trained by Commandant Hux to become Rax's personal guard of child soldiers, which he hoped would serve as the blueprint for his new Empire in the Unknown Regions. Before the New Republic arrived at Jakku, Rax placed Armitage Hux, the Commandant's illegitimate son, in command of the children.

In the meantime, New Republic forces initiated cleanup operations against Imperial holdouts on Kashyyyk and Cloud City. The mass withdrawal of loyalist fleets to Jakku also resulted in the New Republic gaining control of a significant amount of territory, which continued to fight the opportunists and warlords who remained behind. As noted by Admiral Ackbar, while eliminating these holdouts would take time, they were isolated from the main strength of the Empire's loyalists. Few of these holdouts posed a major threat to the New Republic, which also moved to destroy whatever transport and fleet-building capabilities they had left. Elsewhere in the galaxy, amid the conflict with the New Republic, loyalist Imperial forces turned against rogue factions in a second Operation: Cinder, effectively creating an entirely new war, according to General Syndulla. The loyalist 204th Imperial Fighter Wing carried out punitive operations, such as the attack on Kortatka and Attack on Dybbron III, during the campaign.

Following the attack on the Diamond Tor, the loyalist 204th Imperial Fighter Wing was deployed against the Yomo Council of the planet Fedovoi End, which was home to half a million rogue troops and their families. The Yomo Council's "treasonous actions"—as Colonel Soran Keize referred to them—included refusing to obey Sloane's order to direct assets into the D'Aelgoth sector, not recognizing Amedda's regency over Coruscant, and forming an alliance with the Shiortuun Syndicate. In response, after Keize gave those disloyal to the Yomo Council a chance to escape, the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing was dispatched to Fedovoi End, where TIE fighters bombarded the planetary ice caps until the released gases poisoned the entire world, killing numerous civilians and soldiers. Imperials who accepted Keize's offer—such as Major Njock, who claimed to have always opposed the Yomo Council's treason—would join the 204th or be sent to Jakku.

The Imperial presence on Jakku was discovered by Norra Wexley and her team after the New Republic's numerous probe droids had failed. Norra's findings were reported to the New Republic government on Chandrila by her son Temmin Wexley and the former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus. In response, Admiral Ackbar sent the scouting ship Oculus and several probe droids into the Jakku system to verify Temmin and Sinjir's information. The scouting party confirmed that much of the Imperial fleet had indeed retreated to Jakku and was consolidating in a defensive formation. Despite some political obstruction in the Galactic Senate, Chancellor Mon Mothma passed a resolution to send the New Republic Starfleet to Jakku.

Rax captured his rival Sloane and the former rebel operative Brentin Lore Wexley, who had joined forces with Sloane to stop Rax. After capturing them, Rax gave a demonstration of his child soldiers. As a symbolic act of his plan to dismantle the Empire and establish a new regime, Rax ordered his child soldiers to execute a group of stormtroopers. Following the demonstration, Rax imprisoned Sloane and Brentin. As the New Republic fleet entered the Jakku system, Rax delivered a rousing speech, claiming that the coming battle would be the Empire's final stand against the New Republic.

The Battle of Jakku began one year and four days after the Battle of Endor. With the Empire controlling most of the galaxy's major shipyards, the Republic sought to expand their fleet by capturing Imperial vessels, as well as destroying a secret Imperial weapons facility on the planet. The battle took place both in space and in the deserts of Jakku as New Republic forces attempted to eliminate the Imperial presence on the planet.

Grand Moff Randd commanded the Imperial fleet, while General Borrum commanded the Imperial ground forces. Randd's strategists devised a battle plan in which the Star Destroyers formed a defensive cordon around the Ravager. During the battle, the Star Destroyers would periodically break formation to allow the Ravager to bombard the New Republic fleet with turbolasers and missiles. This slowed the New Republic assault until Commodore Kyrsta Agate attacked the Ravager with her Mark One Starhawk Battleship Concord. Despite her ship being crippled, she used the Concord's powerful tractor beam projector to pull the Ravager down into Jakku's atmosphere. This shifted the momentum of the battle in the New Republic's favor. With the Imperial command ship destroyed, New Republic forces were able to outflank the Imperial forces on all fronts. As the battle turned against the Empire, the surviving Imperial forces began using their tractor beams to pull ships onto the planet's surface, instantly killing most of the occupants.

Rax traveled to the Jakku Observatory with Commandant Hux, Armitage Hux, the Imperial Adviser Yupe Tashu, and the child soldiers. While the Huxes and the soldiers waited aboard a replica of the Emperor's yacht Imperialis, Rax and Tashu entered the Observatory to activate the mining bore that would destabilize the planet's core. Rax planned to detonate Jakku's core, destroying the Imperial forces and the New Republic fleet. He then intended to escape to the Unknown Regions, taking the Huxes and the child soldiers with him to build a new Empire. As part of the ceremony, Rax threw the unsuspecting Tashu, who was carrying several Sith artifacts, to his death down the borehole, triggering the self-destruct mechanism.

Sloane, Brentin, and Norra ultimately foiled Rax's plan. Following a fight, Sloane killed Rax and then sealed the borehole shaft, preventing the planet's core from further destabilization. This effectively sabotaged Palpatine's Contingency plan to destroy the remnants of his Empire. Heeding Rax's last words, Sloane took responsibility for carrying out the final stage of the Contingency. She accompanied the Huxes and the child soldiers into the Unknown Regions. After several months of travel, they met with the Super Star Destroyer Eclipse, which had been sent in advance after the Observatory's computers had plotted a safe route through the Unknown Regions.

The surface of Jakku would remain covered in wreckage from the battle for decades. Local scavengers plundered the wrecked Imperial ships and vehicles for spare parts and equipment. Decades later, conflicting stories persisted in Jakku's settlements about the events of the battle. A mysterious group known as the dead-enders lingered around Carbon Ridge, rumored to be guarding a secret Imperial research base.

The Empire fell apart with the death of Rax, the disappearance of Sloane, and the failure of the Imperial counteroffensive, which culminated in the loyalists' disastrous defeat in the Battle of Jakku. The Empire was forever changed, reduced to a few sectors on the edge of the Outer Rim, containing only a small portion of the galaxy's population and industrial base. These sectors were a heavily fortified final stronghold, and the New Republic considered them too minor a threat to justify the high cost of liberating them.

The New Republic forced Grand Vizier Amedda to surrender the Empire and agree to the Galactic Concordance on Chandrila, a humiliating armistice agreement that imposed strict disarmament plans and severe reparations on the Empire. Treaty stipulations included outlawing the recruitment and mobilization of the Stormtrooper Corps, paying large war reparations, adhering to strict disarmament treaties, abandoning the numerous Imperial Academies scattered across the Empire, banning torture, and ceding its capital of Coruscant to the Republic.

Chancellor Mothma issued another declaration designating all surviving officers as war criminals, although she granted conditional pardons to all civilian functionaries, including Amedda, provided they complied with the Concordance. While regulating what remained of the Empire's once-powerful military-industrial complex, thus limiting its ability to wage war, the treaty did allow elements of the Imperial Navy to remain within pre-determined boundaries in the Core Worlds, Colonies, and the Inner Rim as the formal successor to the Empire. At the Republic's command, they were recalled to the Core; however, some did not comply.

The Republic announced the signing of the Concordance to the remaining Imperial sectors, such as in the Velcar sector, where Governor Ecressys had already fled into the Western Reaches. A provisional government on Coruscant was permitted; this ultimately led to the Republic annexing the former Imperial capital, while Amedda was also allowed to resume his rule on Coruscant. However, Republic officials oversaw his administration to ensure that the Vizier remained little more than a powerless figurehead.

Despite the Concordance, Imperial splinter factions continued to exist and did not understand the new political landscape, such as Imperial ground forces on Jakku, who held out for several months until the remaining soldiers were either killed or captured by the New Republic. The New Republic also had to deal with the scattered Imperial remnants across the galaxy who did not recognize the Empire's surrender.

As factionalism spread across the fallen Empire, its legacy persisted in mercenaries and warlords who managed to establish footholds on distant worlds, clinging to what little power they had left in the Outer Rim Territories, where the New Republic would not interfere. However, their survival did not change the reality of the era they lived in; for individuals, the Empire was gone.

Following the signing of the Galactic Concordance, numerous former members of the political, military, and scientific Imperial establishment escaped into the Unknown Regions. The Attendants, a group of mute alien navigators commanded by Snoke, aided these former Imperial officers, nobles, technologists, and warlords in crossing the ancient hyperspace trails. Meanwhile, the New Republic maintained an egalitarian policy of peaceful coexistence with many former territories of the Empire, led by ex-Imperial governors, some of whom sought to join the Republic.

While the Empire, the heroes of the Rebellion, and the tragedy of Alderaan would be remembered by the generation conceived after the destruction of the second Death Star, these "victory kids" would learn about the battles of the past in textbooks, with the struggles of the Galactic Civil War soon becoming nothing more than a distant memory. Many of the Old Empire's orbital shipyards were destroyed, and the New Republic passed the Military Disarmament Act, among others, in an effort to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Galactic Republic, and rotated its capital among member worlds rather than using the former Imperial Center. Imperial collectors of stormtrooper helmets, banners, flags, and other regalia of the Imperial armed forces often gave themselves outlandish titles—such as the Avenger of Jakku, Emperor's Wrath, and Interceptor Fire—in a quasi-homage to the late Empire. Others admired the fallen regime for its efficiency, vision, and massive military machine.

With the Empire's collapse, many of the Emperor's servants fled into the Unknown Regions with some of the regime's greatest secrets. There, for nearly three decades after Endor, the former Empire would reform as the mysterious First Order. By 21 ABY, the tattered remnants of the Empire had fled into the farthest reaches of galactic space, but an obscure command structure had begun to emerge within the Unknown Regions. Although the Imperial holdouts based in the Unknown Regions were still scattered during that time, one Imperial remnant that followed the growing chain of command remained active in the main space of the galaxy and established an alliance with the Corporate Sector Authority. In time, the remnant situated in the Unknown Regions transformed from scattered holdouts into the First Order, specifically forming into what would be the First Order military.

Located on the galaxy's vast frontier, the growing First Order rapidly expanded and colonized newly discovered star systems, while new bases, shipyards, and weapons labs began producing a technologically advanced military in an effort to conquer the galaxy. Armitage Hux became a general in the First Order and inherited his father's ambition to train a new army of stormtroopers that was superior to the Imperial generation. Inspired by the memory of the Galactic Empire and composed of various military leaders of the former regime, the First Order fought for control of the galaxy against the Resistance, a private military force led by General Leia Organa and funded by like-minded senators in the New Republic who believed the Order posed a greater threat than many realized.

The First Galactic Empire was a fascist dictatorship headed by a Galactic Emperor and upheld by a massive Imperial Military. The Emperor served as the supreme ruler and final authority in all political and military affairs of state. Supporting the Emperor was a Grand Vizier, who led the Imperial Ruling Council, which consisted of advisors who held significant power over all aspects of the Empire's political and military structure. Although supposedly bound by the Imperial Charter, Imperial rulers were largely above the law.

The legislature consisted of the former Republic Galactic Senate, renamed the Imperial Senate. As an autocracy, the democratic and progressive policies of the former Republic became irrelevant within the new power structure. The Imperial Senate lost its former prestige as a forum for galactic debate as Palpatine stripped away its authority in his pursuit of total control over the galaxy. The Senate became a rubber stamp needed for passing legislation, which could be overruled by the Emperor for any reason, before being dissolved entirely by the Emperor in 0 BBY, effectively erasing the last remnants of the Old Republic. Legislative authority over the various star systems and sectors passed directly to regional governors, effectively transforming the Empire into a stratocracy.

Fear was easily instilled in high-ranking military officials with even a mere mention of Emperor Palpatine. This was similar to the reputation of Darth Vader, his lieutenant, who was often called a "Lord" and received similar fearful respect. Vader was considered by many to be Palpatine's most trusted advisor and a formidable weapon, seen as the heir apparent to the Emperor's power. However, Palpatine's actual plan was to achieve immortality through dark-side research into Sith alchemy, as shown by Project Blackwing. After the deaths of both Palpatine and Vader, the Empire lacked a clear line of succession. Wilhuff Tarkin, a heartless officer whom Palpatine had been preparing for leadership for many years, also held a high position. Palpatine, Vader, and Tarkin together made up the dark triumvirate that controlled the Empire. After the leadership was lost at the Battle of Endor, and with Tarkin's death years earlier at Yavin, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, the Imperial head of government, tried to hold the Empire together, while almost every day, new people claimed to be the next Emperor.

Because of poor communication, the Imperial messages about Palpatine's death were inconsistent. Some, like Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck of Imperial territory G5-623, suggested that the Emperor had miraculously escaped the Death Star II. Others made even more unbelievable claims that the Emperor was still leading the Empire from beyond death. Some simply refused to recognize that the Emperor had died for several months. A proxy was put in place to pretend to be the Emperor to fight against the reports of his death. Eventually, the general public learned the truth about the Emperor's fate. New Emperors were declared almost daily, yet none could gain any real power. Instead of remaining a single united group, the Empire was broken up into many warring groups, with splinter fleets and other Imperial officials fighting each other to support the different people claiming the throne.

Grand Admiral Rae Sloane became publicly known as the de facto leader of the Galactic Empire and Imperial Navy in the months following the Battle of Endor. In reality, Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax and his Shadow Council held the power. Gallius Rax kept Amedda, the de jure ruler of the Empire and proxy Emperor, under house arrest on Coruscant. Mon Mothma refused to accept his surrender unless he could find a way to surrender the entire Empire. During the Liberation Day terror attack on Chandrila, which was secretly backed by the Empire, Sloane's aide Adea Rite tried to assassinate the Grand Admiral on Rax's secret orders after Sloane refused to join his forces, but the attempt failed. Rax publicly acted shocked at the supposed death of Sloane. Rax chose the title Counselor to the Empire instead of becoming Emperor, promising to serve as an interim leader until the Grand Admiral came back. He was killed during the Battle of Jakku when his remnant forces fought the New Republic.

Although Emperor Palpatine had total power in the Empire, he usually let others handle the daily tasks of running the government. This allowed him to focus on his extensive research into the dark side of the Force and enjoy his rule without having to deal with boring bureaucracy. The Imperial Ruling Council was responsible for making the routine decisions of the Empire's executive branch. Grand Vizier Mas Amedda led the council, which included the Emperor's closest advisors: Sate Pestage, Janus Greejatus, Ars Dangor, Kren Blista-Vanee, and Prelate Verge. These people were at the top of the Imperial hierarchy and had a lot of power over military officers. Greejatus and Sim Aloo, another advisor involved in daily governance, were also busy finding Sith artifacts for Sidious. Moffs, generals, and admirals all had to answer to the Imperial cadre, but even the councilors were not always aware of what Imperial Intelligence was doing. After the Emperor mostly stopped appearing in public, Vizier Amedda and the rest of the Ruling Council sent out processions of Imperial skylimos to create the illusion that the Emperor was still moving around in public.

As the Emperor's apprentice and second-in-command, Lord Vader was the unofficial Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Military. Palpatine gave Vader the official position of supreme commander of the Imperial fleet after the Cylo Hijacking. Many referred to him as the Emperor's Fist, and he was apparently given almost complete freedom to execute subordinates who displeased him. Even with his new role, Vader was not very involved in administrative matters, which he left to the Joint Chiefs to handle from behind the scenes, and he preferred a more hands-on command style. Like his master, the Dark Lord saw the Empire as just a tool for them to use in their search for greater power in, and understanding of, the dark side.

After the Ruling Council proved unable to run the Empire following the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader in 4 ABY, Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax suggested a new executive branch called the Shadow Council. This council would be more secretive and militaristic than the Ruling Council it aimed to replace. The Shadow Council would consist of various advisors, admirals, and generals, with Grand Admiral Rae Sloane as the group's de facto leader until her supposed "disappearance."

The Imperial Senate, having its remaining power taken away by actions like the Public Order Resentencing Directive, was relegated to the lower levels of government and gradually lost the prestige it once had as the place for galactic debate. More and more senators became caught in the web of corruption, similar to what had started during the Republic Era. In the days of the Galactic Republic, Sidious had encouraged and used those seeking power and wealth as part of his plan to become Emperor. Many senators also got used to simply approving the Emperor's demands. The Senate became a submissive body that applauded Palpatine's decrees and agreed to his demands without much thought. The Senate's continued existence gave the illusion that the Emperor was following "the will of the people" when, in reality, he was acting in his own interests.

With Palpatine firmly controlling the once-powerful Senate, passing laws became just a formality for the New Order, as it agreed to every declaration made by the Emperor. Senators and galactic citizens were led to believe that they had a voice in galactic politics. In reality, Palpatine had unlimited executive power and was the only one who could formally pass laws. While most were afraid to speak out against the Emperor, a few, like Bail and Leia Organa of Alderaan, actively questioned the Empire's accountability and its actions, which angered Imperial authorities. Eventually, suspicions arose that Leia Organa was using her diplomatic immunity to help the Rebel Alliance. The Empire also lied to the Senate about the destruction of Jedha City, claiming it was a mining accident. The Emperor used Leia's capture aboard the Tantive IV, which was known to be carrying technical readouts for the Death Star, as an excuse to disband the Imperial Senate shortly before the Battle of Yavin. With the Senate gone, the last remnants of the Old Republic were eliminated, and legislative authority over the various systems and sectors was transferred directly to the regional governors, effectively turning governance into military jurisdiction, with those governors answering directly to the Emperor.

Regional sector governors, or Moffs, oversaw territories from the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim Territories. As part of the Imperial Military, they held a great deal of power over each sector and enforced the Galactic Emperor's rule. This power came from the Sector Governance Decree that Palpatine passed during the later stages of the Clone Wars, when he was Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. With only twenty Moffs at any one time, they reported to the Ruling Council, and all positions were held by humans. The position of Grand Moff, created in 14 BBY and first given to Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, outranked the Moffs. Grand Moffs governed oversectors, which were areas of space containing several planetary sectors and were used to keep the Moffs or sector governors in check. After the Imperial Senate was disbanded, all legislative power went to regional governors just before the Battle of Yavin.

After Emperor Sheev Palpatine's death during the Battle of Endor, Imperial territories fell into complete chaos. Some military leaders, such as Valco Pandion, declared themselves Grand Moffs, while corrupt sector governors began accepting bribes for the New Republic's allocation of Imperial ships or seeking peace. Other governors, like Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck of Imperial territory G5-623 and Governor Ubrik Adelhard of the Anoat sector, broke away from the Empire, forming Imperial remnants.

The Emperor commanded a vast galactic armada and held undisputed military, scientific, and economic power throughout the galaxy. However, Palpatine was constantly haunted by the fear of surviving Jedi throughout his reign. In response to this threat, the Empire employed numerous dark side adepts, Force-sensitive individuals of the Inquisitorius, who were trained to find and eliminate any remaining Jedi. Because of their mission, Inquisitors could take control of local Imperial forces and had authority over other officers in the Imperial Military. Lord Vader, the Emperor's chosen second-in-command, governed the Inquisitorius and oversaw the Empire's hunting of the Jedi Knights during the Great Jedi Purge.

The mundane aspects of ruling a galaxy-wide Empire impressed upon the Imperial leadership, even though the Empire's ruler was fascinated by dark-side leanings and occult goals. With the rise of the New Order, many existing governmental agencies were renamed and repurposed, and many official buildings were remodeled to have a darker, more angular look. One such agency was COMPOR from the Republic era, which was renamed COMPNOR, the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order. COMPOR and the ISB operated under the secretive Select Committee.

COMPNOR was the Empire's main agency for maintaining order and stability on the countless worlds under the Emperor's rule. It supported the new regime through both propaganda and intelligence services. Organizations like the Imperial Security Bureau worked under its oversight, with the ISB helping to suppress potential dissident activities. The Ministry of Information, designated under the Coalition for Progress, also worked under COMPNOR. The Ministry's main task was to silence anti-Imperial messaging on the HoloNet News Agency and to ensure the necessary infrastructure for the Empire's vast communications systems. It also monitored the Imperial Press Corps at the grand COMPNOR arcology, located in the Federal District of Coruscant, Level 5127.

The Empire also maintained the Imperial Information Office, which employed civilians to assist the Empire with its massive data operations in the galaxy. Employees could choose to improve their performance with AJ^6 cyborg constructs. The Ministry of Agriculture and Imperial Agricultural Collective oversaw the horticultural aspects of Imperial rule, with officials on many worlds across the galaxy, including Lothal. The Economics Ministry, Education Ministry, Weather Ministry, Transportation Ministry, and Imperial Survey Corps also employed numerous citizens throughout the Empire.

In addition to ruling through fear, the Empire deliberately caused hunger in the Outer Rim while expanding into the region, using this tactic on such a large scale that it made former Padawan Ahsoka Tano uncomfortable. Following the Battle of Endor, COMPNOR was reorganized into the Office of Imperial Promotion, Galactic Truth, and Fact Correction.

The Imperial Military, as the direct successor to the Republic Military, consisted of vast numbers of warships and countless soldiers. One of the most recognizable warships was the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, and the mere sight of one was usually enough to bring a troublesome system into line. The Tarkin Doctrine perfectly demonstrated the Imperial Military's philosophy of ruling through the fear of force rather than force itself. With the Empire's nearly limitless resources and loyalist companies like Taim & Bak, Borstel, and Phylon Transport, corporations such as Kuat Drive Yards and its subsidiary Kuat Systems Engineering produced many of the New Order's Star Destroyers, as well as the formidable All Terrain Armored Transport, which was frequently deployed at hot spots throughout the galaxy. The Empire was often willing to accept civilian casualties if it meant securing victory in a battle.

The All Terrain Armored Transport walker became feared for its powerful chin-mounted heavy laser cannons. Lighter walkers, such as the All Terrain Defense Pod, had a single laser cannon that could be rotated independently of the walker's front-facing direction and were mainly used to protect Imperial Military interests on backwater worlds. BlasTech Industries was the primary producer of the widely used E-11 medium blaster rifle. The Aratech Repulsor Company manufactured the 614-AvA speeder bike, commonly called the Imperial speeder bike, which would eventually be replaced by the 74-Z. Sienar Fleet Systems produced many of the Empire's Imperial TIE fighters and variants, such as the TIE Advanced v1, which was first unveiled on Empire Day and featured dual chin-mounted laser cannons and the ability to launch warheads like the XX-23 S-thread tracker. The TIE Advanced x1 naturally became the next evolution of the deadly v1, as well as Lord Vader's preferred craft. In addition, the Empire inherited the military assets of the defunct Separatist movement, the most notable of which was the Death Star.

Although Lord Vader was only promoted to supreme commander of the Imperial fleet late in the Empire's reign, many saw him as the de facto Commander-in-Chief. However, the Imperial Military had an overall Supreme Commander who developed the strategy to fit the Emperor's agenda and controlled the entire Empire's war machine. Highly trained admirals, generals, and Moffs, who were instructed at the numerous Imperial Academy complexes throughout the galaxy, led the armed forces under their supervision. Several veteran officers had also previously served in the Galactic Republic, including decorated members like Wullf Yularen. During the sixth year of the Emperor's reign, twenty Moffs reported directly to the Imperial Ruling Council. The title of Grand Moff was created specifically for Wilhuff Tarkin, while other Moffs, such as Tiaan Jerjerrod and Therbon, sought to improve their reputation with Palpatine.

Some ambitious Imperial officers even supported insurgent activities with plans to betray and destroy them later in hopes of getting a promotion. It was common for high-ranking officials to have private investments, with Hiram Zataire owning large plantations and a vineyard on Naboo, and Cassio Tagge being a member of the House of Tagge, which owned TaggeCo and its mining facility at Lucazec. One high-ranking Imperial officer would serve as the Minister of War.

The Imperial Army and Navy were responsible for carrying out the Empire's military operations throughout the galaxy. Imperial Military forces, supposedly dedicated to maintaining law and order, became feared and avoided. The Imperial stormtroopers were perhaps the most commonly seen element. These faceless soldiers enforced Imperial order, often using a "shoot-first" policy. Having sworn their unwavering loyalty to the Emperor above all else, stormtroopers carried out many of the regime's worst crimes. After the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire's martial forces began to suffer shortages of both resources and personnel, forcing untrained and untested recruits to fill the front lines in the Imperial war effort. The once-mighty Imperial Navy of thirteen Super Star Destroyers was reduced to one, the Ravager, which was ultimately destroyed during the Battle of Jakku. After the end of the Galactic Civil War with the signing of the Galactic Concordance, the mobilization and training of stormtroopers was prohibited.

Tarkin noted an "institutionalized suspicion" within the Imperial Military, believing that Emperor Palpatine used it as a tool to control the various members of the Empire and its numerous organizations. There was also intense fear of the Emperor and Lord Vader, mainly due to harsh punishments, such as death or torture, if a task was not completed on time or resulted in failure. Imperial patrol transports and stormtroopers were often used as the local police force for many worlds, and off-duty personnel could visit local venues and neighborhoods after signing out of their local garrison. The euphemism "off-base, recreation" was used in the Imperial Military to refer to personnel visiting mistresses or cantinas, and duty officers commonly asked no questions about such escapades out of consideration. Members of the Imperial Army believed that those stationed farthest from the Imperial Center were considered less important to the New Order, causing many to resent deployments on remote worlds like Belderone.

The Empire frequently ignored the Galactic Accord of Systems, effectively disregarding the rules it set out for waging war. The Empire committed numerous atrocities, often resulting in genocide because of its humanocentric tendencies. On Geonosis, the Empire sterilized the planet's native Geonosian population with heavy bombing. The Lasat homeworld of Lasan was ecologically destroyed by the later banned T-7 ion disruptor rifles, and the entire species was almost wiped out. Furthermore, Vice Admiral Perwin Gedde tested ancient diseases on captive worlds, raining sickness from sub-orbital battleships, to make advances in bio-warfare.

A large distribution network existed within the Empire, with numerous warehouses on various worlds holding thousands of biological agents. Biological testing was conducted on planets like Coyerti or against primitive indigenous populations and Wookiee slaves. While most research and development went unhindered, a few initiatives went out of control. On Dandoran, the accidental release of a highly contagious virus under the code name Project Blackwing, a secret effort to uncover the secrets to immortality, ultimately led to an outbreak across the planet.

The New Order was the political religion and nationalist ideology of the Empire and the values it stood for. Numerous organizations, including the Imperial Security Bureau, Coalition for Progress, Imperial Intelligence, and CompForce, along with science divisions and youth education initiatives, were folded under COMPNOR, the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order. Rothwell once remarked that the Empire, as an institution, was unable to be swayed from whatever narrative it convinced itself of, even if it was not true.

The Galactic Empire used a vast and powerful propaganda machine to change the opinions and cultures of many worlds throughout the galaxy. The Emperor founded Empire Day as the national holiday of the Empire, celebrating the end of the destructive Clone Wars and the creation of the New Order. The song "Glory of the Empire" served as the national anthem. Because Palpatine's physical appearance was altered to make him look younger and more appealing in broadcasts, many citizens were unaware of the Emperor's scarred appearance, nor did they understand that the galaxy was under the command of a Sith Lord.

To bolster its public image, the Empire leveraged the duel in Palpatine's office as official endorsement for the "Jedi Rebellion" narrative. This served to support the claim that the Jedi Order had attempted a coup to seize control of the Republic, thus making Order 66 a necessity. In the years following the establishment of the New Order, all records of the Jedi were expunged, leading many to embrace the Emperor's account. However, figures like Zaluna Myder and Luke Skywalker questioned the official narrative surrounding the Jedi's downfall, while those personally acquainted with the Jedi struggled to accept the coup narrative. Distributing dissenting publications could result in indefinite imprisonment.

Simultaneously, with the Clone Wars concluded and the Separatist Droid Army deactivated, the Core Worlds experienced a resurgence of peace and prosperity. The Coalition for Progress, a division of COMPNOR, played a role in maintaining this peace by monitoring artistic expression for subversive content. They exercised their authority by dismantling a statue of Janyor of Bith on Garel, an Outer Rim world, and by banning operas like the Song of Lojuun. Members of the band Hakko Drazlip and the Tootle Froots were sent to the Kessel mines after a politically charged song mocked Darth Vader, leading to its prohibition.

The Empire, as a system, empowered those inclined towards cruelty and the abuse of power. Many stormtroopers exploited their positions for personal gain, preying on the vulnerable and weaker individuals. Furthermore, the regime embraced imperialism, aiming for universal dominance. The Sith harnessed the dark side and instilled fear in the populace, believing fear to be a valuable instrument. Despite Palpatine's apparent lack of prejudice towards aliens, many citizens harbored such biases. These prejudices led to the scapegoating of alien groups for past problems.

The Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) was in charge of both internal state security and ensuring that people were loyal to the Empire. Its job was to keep things stable in all the areas controlled by the Empire. Imperial Intelligence also operated independently, mainly dealing with military issues. This included making threat assessments, analyzing data, managing informants, and giving briefings to the Joint Chiefs and the Emperor. The Ubiqtorate, which was the leadership of Imperial Intelligence, oversaw it. Local planetary security forces also had some role in enforcing laws.

Imperial Navy Troopers were often used as security in mining stations, remote outposts, or prisons far from the busy core worlds. While they still looked intimidating, they weren't as respected as stormtroopers. In large trading hubs, like the Ring of Kafrene in the Thand sector, stormtroopers were the main force for maintaining law and order.

Sometimes, the Bounty Hunters' Guild and independent bounty hunters were hired through private contracts to find elusive individuals within the Empire, although this wasn't a common practice. To help with law enforcement communications, the Empire had the Imperial Office of Criminal Investigations. This office managed the Imperial Enforcement DataCore, which could only be accessed by authorized Imperial personnel or licensed bounty hunters.

In the legal system, you could only have a defense in civil cases, not in trials against the Empire. The Ministry of Ingress on Coruscant was responsible for handling immigrants arriving in the capital.

The Galactic Empire's Diplomatic Service kept up relationships with various independent groups and corporations. Diplomats traveled around the galaxy for negotiations and discussions. However, the Empire was ready to use force to get what it wanted if talks didn't go its way. One of its partners was Preox-Morlana, a corporate group that politically managed the Free Trade sector and was allowed to operate independently by the Empire. Even so, high-ranking Preox-Morlana officials attended meetings with the Empire, and Imperial censuses included Preox-Morlana worlds. Imperial officials were eager for a reason to directly take over the sector. In 5 BBY, that excuse came when Preox-Morlana failed to capture Cassian Andor on Ferrix, a public failure that allowed the Empire to annex the territory.

The Galactic Empire also had diplomatic ties with the Chiss Ascendancy in the Unknown Regions through their shared servant, Grand Admiral Thrawn. However, the Chiss didn't know that the Emperor wanted to completely control the Chiss Ascendancy. The Empire occupied the ice moon Madurs even though Prime Minister Dreand Yens thought he could represent his people through diplomatic talks. He had turned down the Empire's low offer for the moon's carnium supply. Yens later realized that the Empire had set the stage for its operation while he was distracted by lies about a new art expo and negotiations. He remarked that his people were in chains while he was busy with "polite conversation."

The Empire maintained a vested interest in, and a working relationship with, elements of the criminal underworld. Crimson Dawn, a criminal organization secretly controlled by Maul, maintained a collaborative relationship with the Empire. According to Enfys Nest of the Cloud-Riders, the Dawn used its profits to terrorize countless systems in conjunction with the Imperials. The Empire also maintained an interest in the affairs of the Pyke Syndicate: when a slave revolt erupted on Kessel, an Imperial blockade was quickly dispatched to quell the uprising. Despite its investment in the criminal underworld, the Empire would need to combat parts of it, which would distract from other campaigns like the war with the Rebel Alliance.

Above all other syndicates, the Empire fostered a special relationship with the Hutt Clan, which was permitted to operate outside Imperial law in exchange for providing certain valuable services. This relationship also entailed the Empire protecting the Hutt Clan's claim over Hutt Space. While the Empire could be very demanding with the Hutts, clan leader Jabba respected Emperor Palpatine and recognized the value of their collaboration. Other criminal groups coveted the Hutt's relationship with the Empire, and a potential opportunity arose following the Hutt attack on the Executor, which Crimson Dawn had manipulated. Months later, Palpatine personally ended the Syndicate War by contacting the heads of the various warring families, reminding them that they were all subservient to his will: while they each had their own dominions, the galaxy was ultimately his to control, effectively placing each crime lord under his command. While he did promise any faction that could find Dawn leader Q'ira would rise in his estimation, his talk made it clear that each crime lord needed to think of themself as a servant to his will.

The Galactic Empire put in place a planned economy shortly after the Clone Wars. This meant that the government controlled the production and distribution of goods. This policy of nationalization was called imperialization. Even with this, many private companies were still allowed to exist. Big, loyal companies like Kuat Drive Yards and Sienar Fleet Systems made most of the Empire's vehicles for both land and space. Companies that had supported the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars, such as the Techno Union and Trade Federation, were taken over by the new Empire, and Imperial financier Arsin Crassus seized all of the Federation's money. By 0 BBY, both Incom Corporation and the Corellian Engineering Corporation had been nationalized.

Besides the Imperial Mining Institute, the Empire worked closely with the Mining Guild. Near the end of the Galactic Civil War, Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax began to nationalize all parts of the Imperial production system in the months after Endor, but this didn't save the failing Empire. There was a lot of debate about how to keep funding the Imperial Military. Plundering the InterGalactic Banking Clan and other financial institutions was considered but rejected because it would have caused a major economic depression.

In 19 BBY, the Republic credit was replaced by the Imperial credit, which became the standard currency throughout the Empire. When the New Order came into power, credits from the time of the Galactic Republic became worthless as they were phased out. It was hard for many Imperial citizens to earn enough money for everyday life, but the Empire's propaganda made it seem more prosperous than it really was. In one speech, Senator Daho Sejan blamed economic and security problems on "terrorists" hiding among regular citizens. Because the Imperial credit was a fiat currency, its value gradually decreased after the New Republic was formed.

A large transportation network was essential for connecting Palpatine's vast Empire, serving as the primary means of both civilian and military transport. Interstellar commerce and warfare predominantly occurred along major hyperspace lanes—considered trans-galactic highways—the knowledge of which predated the Galactic Republic. Given the relative safety of these major trade routes for hyperspace travel, their control was crucial for maintaining effective defense and galactic dominance. In smaller systems, hyperspace beacons could transmit coordinates, facilitating rapid jumps for starships. Consequently, destroying these beacons could impede enemy mobility and response times. Supporting this vast system were spaceports, facilities where starships could dock, refuel, restock, and rearm. Additionally, spaceships functioned as fuel stations throughout the galaxy, alongside major shipping ports like Horizon Base.

Due to the Empire's immense size, a vast and intricate logistical network was maintained by the Imperial hierarchy, rendering it both highly interconnected and extremely fragile. Locations such as Mardona III served as "warehouse worlds," transformed into storehouses for millions of metric tons of goods to sustain the Empire. Imperial cargo ships frequently transported these resources across the galaxy, often crewed by slovenly or low-quality personnel, or fresh recruits from the Academy, due to the relatively menial nature of the task. The T-44 landspeeder was utilized by members of the Imperial Military for transport.

As Lando Calrissian once noted, Tibanna gas was a vital fuel source that powered the entire galaxy. Consequently, the Imperial annexation of Cloud City and Bespin proved advantageous for the Empire. Following the Battle of Endor, the lockdown of the Anoat sector—where Tibanna gas was abundant, particularly on Bespin—posed a threat to the fledgling New Republic, which was suddenly cut off from a major fuel source. Calrissian feared that the Empire would effectively maintain control of the galaxy by dominating the galactic fuel supply, such as through its continued rule over Bespin. Mon Mothma and Leia Organa further suspected that the Empire would attempt to seize control of vital resources—including food, fuel, and building materials—to maintain its dominion over the galaxy.

The Empire seized control of much of the galactic communications infrastructure previously held by the Galactic Republic, nationalizing the HoloNet News and its galaxy-wide broadcasts and hyperspace-powered communication systems. The Ministry of Information oversaw the new Imperial Holovision, ensuring that reporting, in conjunction with the Imperial Press Corps, aligned with "acceptable" news coverage and government policy. While the Imperial HoloNet was the sole state-sanctioned news agency, local news outlets that supported the Galactic Empire were permitted to continue operating. Those who attempted to distribute independent publications faced the threat of indefinite imprisonment. Additionally, it was mandated by law that the Imperial HoloNet be broadcast continuously in all drinking establishments.

Unsurprisingly, the galactic HoloNet remained one of the most-watched news stations in the galaxy, shaping public opinion and reporting on pro-Imperial issues and events. When military objectives took precedence over civilian information, the Empire shut down the local HoloNet in various sectors, prioritizing HoloNet transmissions to the military, granting Palpatine and his armed forces near-instantaneous communication across the entire galaxy. Following the Battle of Endor, the New Republic abolished the Empire's restrictions and censorship on the HoloNet and encouraged the creation of several HoloNet channels, including the Queen of the Core Network, to sway galactic public opinion after it assumed control by 5 ABY.

Palpatine's empire needed to control knowledge by spreading information and changing how history was taught to get the "unlimited power" he wanted. For example, he called the Jedi Order traitors after he started his rule and used propaganda on the Imperial-controlled HoloNet to keep that image alive. During a rally in the early days of the Imperial Era, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda said that the Jedi were behind the "Separatists plots" that had recently shaken the galaxy. However, he promised that Palpatine had seen through their lies and would bring a new age of freedom to the galaxy. Imperial propaganda portrayed the Jedi as traitors who had ruined democracy, disrupted peace, and started the Clone Wars with their strange powers to take over the galaxy. The Empire wanted to erase the Jedi from people's memories, not just kill the remaining members.

Lyra Erso noticed that the Jedi seemed to disappear from galactic memory and become myths in just a few weeks, with little sadness from the people they had once protected. The historian Madelin Sun believed that the Empire's success in suppressing the Jedi showed how it ruled through fear. She explained that Palpatine played on people's fears by saying the Jedi were traitors who had started the war. Also, the Jedi Order seemed to represent people's best selves, which reminded the galaxy that they were not living up to their potential. Even though people had once loved the Jedi, they also resented them for reminding them of this. Sun also believed that the Empire used its willingness to kill, imprison citizens, and use its military to erase the Jedi from memory. By making laws that outlawed the Jedi, helping them, using the Force, or even knowing about it, the Empire created a fear of implied force in its population. After wiping out those who were willing to die for their beliefs, the survivors were afraid and just wanted to get by, so they didn't pass down knowledge of the Jedi. Sun thought that the Jedi were not "forgotten" but became a thought crime punishable by death. Because no one was willing to talk about the Jedi, knowledge of the Order mostly disappeared in a generation. With the Order's reputation ruined and its existence covered up as a thought crime, the Empire could change history by altering documents and how it was taught, reshaping history to its liking and making the Jedi seem like "outlaws" who were few in number.

Palpatine also took the Jedi Temple and turned it into the Imperial Palace, making a former Jedi building a symbol of the Empire. He also took control of the Jedi Archives, which contained information that could have challenged anti-Jedi propaganda. According to Palpatine's Proclamation of the New Order, the Empire initially said that Jedi "mystics" had launched a coup and attacked Palpatine, but they were defeated. This conspiracy, according to the propaganda, forced Palpatine to change the Republic into the Empire. However, younger Imperials were taught a version of history that downplayed the role of the Jedi, portraying them as relics of the past and a small cult during the Republic's final years. Yrica Quell, an Imperial citizen who grew up with this version of the story, sometimes heard older Imperial officers make the earlier claims, which confused her because she had been raised to believe the Jedi were much less important. The history taught to Quell also claimed that Palpatine promised to create a better future out of a corrupt, decayed republic, and Quell believed he had succeeded. According to her education, there was less petty crime and corporate influence after Palpatine came to power, and local governments were forced into the Imperial hierarchy if they harmed or failed their populations. However, Quell also heard people say that Palpatine had been militarizing the Republic to seize power, with everything else being a side effect of his personal ambition.

One of the most [ambitious scientific developments](link url) undertaken by the Empire was the Death Star. This mobile [battle station](link url), the size of a moon, operated in deep-[space](link url), and was engineered to unleash a single, planet-destroying superlaser. Its power source was derived from immense [kyber crystals](link url), and its construction took place in [orbit](link url) around Geonosis. Initiated by the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, the project was later managed by Krennic, who had oversight of the [Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research](link url). This department was responsible for finishing the long-delayed project, which was sustained by a complex network of logistical bases.

The Empire was also rumored to have developed numerous other superweapons. Among these were the [Onager-class Star Destroyer](link url), a type of [capital ship](link url) equipped with a kyber-crystal superweapon; the [Mass Shadow Generator](link url), whose existence was speculated in both realspace and hyperspace; the [Torpedo Sphere](link url), a [siege platform](link url) and space station; and the [Asteroid Dreadnought](link url), disguised as a [space rock](link url). Additionally, there was the [Omega Frost](link url), an interstellar freeze ray, and the [Electro-Proton Bomb/Defoliator](link url), an evolution of the Republic's [electro-proton bomb](link url) from the Clone Wars. The [Dark trooper program](link url), ultimately deemed a failure, contributed to the Empire's growing skepticism towards battle droids.

[Operation: Cinder](link url) involved the deployment of [climate disruption arrays](link url). These modified [satellites](link url) were designed to trigger severe storms once their energy beams penetrated through the target [planet](link url).

Experimental starships, including the TIE/IN interceptor and TIE/D Defender, expanded the Empire's technological horizons. These designs introduced concepts and technologies that would later be integrated into ship designs during the New Republic Era.

A group of Sith scientists combined [alchemy](link url) and scientific principles to create Project Blackwing, with the goal of achieving immortality. This project was based at a [secret research facility](link url) on Dandoran. The project suffered a catastrophic failure when a virus, known as "the Sickness," was accidentally created. This virus killed its hosts and transformed their bodies into intelligent, cannibalistic [zombies](link url), known as [Undead Troopers](link url). Imperial scientists also collaborated on [Project Celestial Power](link url), attempting to contain [dark-matter](link url) [quintessence](link url).

The Emperor himself envisioned pushing the limits of technology independent of the Force. He planned to create cybernetically enhanced supersoldiers under the direction of Doctor Cylo at his heavily fortified [research base](link url). Following Vader's failure to protect the first Death Star and Weapons Factory Alpha, Palpatine intended to establish an army of cybernetic soldiers as his primary enforcers, relegating Vader to a largely ceremonial role.

The [Imperial Mining Institute](link url) also operated under the New Order. The Imperial Department of Military Research aided in strengthening the Empire's combat forces, developing the widely used stormtrooper armor and the [IT-O Interrogation Unit](link url), along with the [9D9-s54 Dianoga spy droid](link url). Furthermore, the Empire initiated [Project Harvester](link url), a covert operation aimed at identifying and detaining Force-sensitive children at an underground facility connected to the [Arkanis Academy](link url) on Arkanis, located in the Outer Rim.

The shift from the Republic to the Empire brought about significant changes in the government's architectural preferences. While the Republic favored flowing lines in [its architecture](link url), Palpatine's authoritarian regime favored strong and [brutalist](link url) designs. Palpatine was drawn to this architectural style because of the harsh nature it represented. This brutalist style began before the Empire's founding during the Clone Wars when the [architect](link url) Orson Krennic converted the municipal areas on Coruscant into military command centers. A key example of Krennic's work was the [Republic Center for Military Operations](link url).

Conversely, the [ISB Central Office](link url) on Coruscant deviated from the trend of darkly colored Imperial buildings, featuring white conference rooms and hallways, possibly indicating a degree of "ideological purity." [Grav-ball](link url) was a popular sport throughout the Galactic Empire, with numerous worlds sponsoring teams that occasionally competed against each other. Underground gladiatorial contests also took place within Imperial territories, with the [Outer Rim Carve-up](link url) and [Stormblade Bloodfest](link url) being some of the organized instances of the sport in the Empire's early years.

Humanocentric, single-species dominance was intentional, reflecting the [High Human](link url) cultural model. Imperial propaganda actively promoted state-sponsored ethnocentric [xenophobia](link url) and fear-mongering. The Empire largely viewed "aliens" as unwelcome, considering them "different" and "strange." Consequently, nonhuman populations were treated as serfs, slaves, or obstacles to be controlled, eliminated, or ignored. The Empire promoted the idea that aliens were inherently untrustworthy, suggesting that a vicious monster lurked beneath their innocent appearance. The effectiveness of the Imperial propaganda machine was such that even near-human species displayed distrust towards nonhuman populations. Given the Empire's disdain for aliens, it was uncommon for them to serve as Imperial officers. However, some nonhumans held prominent positions within the Empire, such as the [Chagrian](link url) Mas Amedda, who served as the Empire's Grand Vizier, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and the [Pau'an](link url) Grand Inquisitor, the leading figure of the Inquisitorius during the Age of the Empire.

Despite his position, Thrawn faced prejudice due to his non-human heritage and lack of connections to a major political family. A primary source of anti-alien sentiment stemmed from the fact that during the [Clone Wars](link url), most of the [separatist leaders](link url) were aliens from sectors far from the [Core Worlds](link url). This led the [humans](link url) to distrust other [species](link url) in [the galaxy](link url) during the [Imperial Era](link url). In addition to state-sponsored discrimination, the Empire discouraged the learning of alien languages and cultures, such as [Ithorese](link url), in an effort to eradicate foreign cultures, and sought to enforce high "Imperial standards" for its citizens. The destructive nature of the Clone Wars and the Separatist Alliance's use of droid armies fostered anti-droid prejudice that persisted well into the Imperial Era.

The Empire regarded droids as disposable servants and tools. The Galactic Empire not only exhibited xenophobia towards alien species, but some Imperial officers also displayed similar attitudes towards human groups they considered to be of lower social standing. Some human Imperial officers, particularly those from the Core Worlds, showed disrespect towards humans from regions like [Wild Space](link url) and the Outer Rim, including Lothal. The Empire also turned against the Mandalorians, who rejected Imperial leadership and were thus targeted for extermination. The [clones](link url) of [Kamino](link url) also faced discrimination from the Empire, as they were viewed as obsolete relics of the Old Republic, leading to unemployment for many former clone soldiers.

The Imperial education system emphasized science through youth initiatives. Many well-educated Imperials were proficient in two or three of the most commonly spoken languages.

As a pan-galactic Empire, the Empire encompassed numerous alien species throughout the galaxy. The population was predominantly human, originating from the Imperial capital world of Coruscant. Humans were the most prevalent species in both the Imperial Military and the Empire's political spheres, with the highest ranks of the New Order being almost exclusively composed of humans.

To bolster the human population and military strength, the Empire implemented several breeding programs in its early years. These programs encouraged people to start and expand families, offering rewards for doing so. While the Empire favored traditional heterosexual relationships, it did not interfere with the individual sexual preferences of its citizens, provided that such individuals kept their affairs private and did not disrupt the Empire's family programs.

As a human-dominated government, the Galactic Empire promoted [Galactic Basic Standard](link url) and its [Aurebesh](link url)/[High Galactic](link url) writing system. The learning of foreign languages and cultures was generally discouraged.

Officially, all organized religion and belief in the supernatural were prohibited. However, the Empire's vast size allowed for the practice of thousands of religions across its territories. The [Seswenna sector](link url) alone had over three hundred distinct religions with active followers, all officially recognized by the local Imperial administrator. [Chief of the Imperial Navy](link url) [Conan Antonio Motti](link url) considered himself a "man of faith" and believed that Imperial unity could be strengthened through dialogue among citizens with diverse spiritual traditions. Underground religions centered around the extinct Jedi, such as the [Church of the Force](link url) and the [Guardians of the Whills](link url), persisted despite the dangers of being associated with the Jedi.

The Empire's rise led to the gradual repeal of Republic anti-[slavery](link url) laws. Species like the Wookiees were declared [non-sentient](link url). Subsequently, much of the Imperial war machine relied on enslaved Wookiees, whose homeworld of Kashyyyk suffered ecological devastation.

Within the Empire, non-humans were routinely subjugated and sent to slave-labor camps, the most notorious being the [spice mines of Kessel](link url). Wookiee slaves, valued for their strength, were sent to mine spice, a task with an average survival time of three months. Humanoid species often survived longer, ranging from one to two years in the mines.

The Empire forcibly relocated settlers and coerced them into factory work. Resistance could result in the kidnapping and murder of one's family. Unemployment in strategic resource systems was outlawed. On Ryloth, isolated settlements often existed with limited knowledge of the Empire, and these settlements were often disbanded, with their inhabitants relocated to slave-labor camps. Escaped slaves or displaced persons often formed these camps, similar to Tarkintown on Lothal. Resistance to Imperial rule could lead to the devastation of entire planets and the near-extinction of species, such as the reptilian [Bodach'i](link url), who were forced to work in spice mines on planets like Kerev Doi.

While the Empire used senators in the Imperial Senate to maintain control of systems, power was gradually transferred to Imperial sector and planetary governors, or Moffs. Grand Moffs oversaw oversectors, which consisted of numerous sectors, and the Imperial Navy was organized into sector fleets. Rather than direct annexation, many Imperial territories were governed through puppet states, alliances, and protectorates, most notably the Corporate Sector.

The local governing bodies in the Imperial Senate, which once had autonomy, were reduced to a largely ceremonial and powerless role, as were the senators, all of whom served under a Moff's oversight.

On the border between the Mid Rim and Outer Rim Territories, an invisible line was considered the "front line" against the lawlessness of the Outer Rim. The Imperial sphere of influence ended shortly before reaching [Hutt Space](link url), contributing to its reputation as a haven for smugglers, bounty hunters, and other outlaws.

The Empire also maintained strategic resource systems, which were subject to industrial surveillance, heightened security, and higher work quotas, and were often overseen by influential barons, moguls, and efficiency experts.

As the successor to the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire's authority extended across most of the known galaxy. The Core Worlds housed some of the wealthiest planets, with economic decline and lawlessness increasing with distance from the Core. While the Emperor planned to claim the Outer Rim, the logistical challenges soon became evident. Many exoplanets were too harsh, wild, or strange to be brought under Imperial control. As a result, many were relegated to meager garrisons or temporary military excursions. Exploitation, weapons testing, and military installations were common in the Outer Systems, while Imperials often visited for drinking, smoking, gambling, or black-market goods.

Within the Galactic Empire was the [extragalactic](link url) holding of [Kamino](link url), located in a [star system](link url) south of the [Rishi Maze](link url) satellite galaxy and beyond the larger galaxy. Early in its reign, the Empire expanded into the Outer Rim, establishing a presence greater than former Padawan Ahsoka Tano had anticipated. After fleeing the occupied moon of Raada, which the Imperials had seized to exploit its farmland, she found that every star system she passed through had been taken over, with a controlling Imperial presence installed in each. Tano observed that these Imperial holdings were not merely bases overseeing local governments, but oppressive extensions of the Empire, controlling local resources and populations without regard for their needs or rights. Conversely, a devout Imperial would claim that the Empire improved every system it entered with trade, safety, prosperity, and "peace." However, this peace came at the cost of personal freedoms, and security depended on punishing whatever the Empire deemed "wrong."

Seeking the source of the dark side, the Empire established labs and communications stations on distant moons and asteroids beyond known space, with Emperor Palpatine believing his power originated from beyond the galaxy. The Imperial Survey Corps helped Palpatine map the unexplored regions of the galaxy. Palpatine maintained relations with the Chiss Ascendancy, a regional power in the Unknown Regions, through its ambassador, Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known as Thrawn. Palpatine accepted Thrawn as his advisor on matters involving the Unknown Regions, hoping they would both fight potential future threats.

Following the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire steadily declined, losing worlds to the New Republic, with Imperial assets and academies on worlds like [Uyter](link url) destroyed in warfare. The Empire retreated to fallback positions on strategically unimportant worlds like Naalol, drawing the New Republic into long conflicts, delaying its advance toward the Core Worlds. Despite these efforts, the Republic established its capital on Chandrila, in the Core. The Empire made three attempts to retake Naboo, Palpatine's birthplace and a rallying point for the Empire, but failed.

A few months after Endor, the Imperial Future Council met on Akiva, in the Outer Rim. Roughly two months after the Battle on Akiva, the Empire's territories were shrinking and described as a "patchwork quilt" by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane. Numerous systems left the Empire, waged resistance, declared independence, established fiefdoms, or joined the New Republic. Criminal syndicates flourished, especially the pirate Eleodie Maracavanya, who captured the Super Star Destroyer Annihilator and used it to build her own criminal empire. Moffs and governors rebelled, and people questioned the Empire's purpose. Agencies, personnel, and systems drifted apart, adopting different tactics against the New Republic and each other.

By this time, the Empire had lost systems to the New Republic's strikes, and factionalism hindered attempts to reclaim territories. The New Republic had made progress into the Core Worlds. The last Outer Rim sector under Imperial control was the [Exterior](link url), along with [Zhadalene](link url), [Korrus](link url), and [Belladoon](link url). With the shipyards of Kuat, Xa Fel, Anadeen, and Turco Prime lost or contested, Rax planned to use the Outer Rim foothold as a "strangling cord" around the New Republic. While the Chandrila terror attack demoralized the New Republic, it failed to turn the tide, and the Empire soon lost Kashyyyk following an uprising led by Han Solo and Chewbacca.

After their defeat at Jakku and the signing of the Galactic Concordance, some Imperial warships fled into the Unknown Regions to escape the New Republic. This was facilitated by prior exploration by military scout ships surveying star systems and hyperspace routes known only to a select few.

The Galactic Empire was introduced as the main antagonist in [Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope](link url) in 1977, referred to as the "evil Galactic Empire" in the opening crawl.

The Empire's origins and role in the Star Wars universe were expanded by [Expanded Universe](link url) literature and media over four decades. Following the [Lucasfilm Story Group](link url)'s decision in May 2014 to reboot the Star Wars universe, financial engineering professor Zachary Feinstein estimated the Galactic Empire's hypothetical GDP at 4.6 sextillion per year.

According to author [Jason Fry](link url), the Galactic Empire in the new canonical universe was not openly xenophobic and misogynistic, unlike the Legends version. However, he acknowledged that some of the Empire's most devoted supporters were xenophobes, like his character [Janus Fhurek](link url), a minor antagonist in his 2014 novel Servants of the Empire: Edge of the Galaxy. He argued that the presence of prominent Imperial female characters in [John Jackson Miller](link url)'s novel [A New Dawn](link url) and Star Wars Rebels contradicted the idea of a misogynistic Empire. Pro-human xenophobia within the Imperial Military and government bureaucracy has since been confirmed in the reference guides Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide and Star Wars Rebels: Visual Guide: Epic Battles, and the novel [Thrawn](link url). Thrawn clarified that Imperials were not officially allowed to disrespect non-humans, as outlined in General Orders to Imperial cadets, but Imperials did so nonetheless.