Imperial Security Bureau

Imperial Intelligence was a rival agency to the Imperial Security Bureau, and the two were sister agencies. The Bureau collaborated closely with Emperor Palpatine, and five years into his rule, it was headed by a Bureau Chief. Reporting to the Chief was Deputy Director Harus Ison, who also served as a member of the Joint Chiefs, working in conjunction with them. Colonel Wullf Yularen joined Ison as an ISB representative on the Joint Chiefs and acted as the liaison between the ISB and Imperial Intelligence, connecting the Security branch's two agencies. Yularen eventually ascended to the position of ISB director. His rank of colonel, along with his position as director, aligned with the authority he wielded as a Fleet Admiral during the Clone Wars. In the field, the ISB was occasionally attached to various fleets, sometimes operating under the Navy's command and collaborating with Naval intelligence. ISB personnel worked from the ISB Central Office within the Federal District on Coruscant, while field agents continuously sent intelligence updates to headquarters.

The ISB's organizational ranks were structured using a martial system. These ranks, in ascending order, included ensign, lieutenant, flag lieutenant, captain, commander, senior commander, major, colonel, general, and admiral. The ISB had various positions, including Chief Investigator, chief supervisor, ISB Supervisor, ISB Attendant, loyalty officer, Inspector General, deputy director, director, intelligence officer, and minister. The ISB high command was in charge of the ISB, while the ISB Board, led by Major Lio Partagaz, coordinated intelligence tasks for each sector. The group and its power were feared by many military officials.

Potential ISB recruits were selected from the Imperial Academy system and underwent training at the ISB Academy and Offices complex, situated in the Verity District on Coruscant. Their training involved learning xenophobic propaganda and being instructed from the ISB Loyalty Manual. ISB members were taught a specialized vocabulary to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term "auditing" was used to indicate that suspects were aware of being investigated. "Crustbusting" referred to the practice of provoking a suspect into committing a crime, while "scattering" involved interrogating a supposedly innocent person in the hope of eliciting a suspicious reaction. "Jabba" meant framing a wanted suspect for a crime to ensure their arrest.

ISB members may have perceived their branch of the Empire as ideologically pure, as symbolized by the gleaming white ISB Central Office on Coruscant. Upon completing the Academy, recruits were assigned to various branches, including Surveillance, Interrogation, and Re-Education.

High-ranking ISB agents had the authority to command stormtrooper squads, override civilian and military orders, replace questionable officers, and commandeer Imperial military hardware, including Star Destroyers. ISB loyalty officers were responsible for ensuring that regular troops and officers followed orders and adhered to Imperial ideology, earning them considerable fear and respect. Their impromptu inspections, undercover surveillance, and seemingly unlimited authority granted them unprecedented access to the lives of regular servicemen, fostering a culture of fear to discourage any potential breaches within the chain of command. While most ISB agents were human, at least one Gotal, Barrisk Favvin, served as an ISB agent in the Kupohan city of Tonekh.

The ISB's Enforcement branch acted as support for field agents, with specialized training to provide assistance when needed.

The second-largest branch within the ISB, Interrogation, focused on extracting information from various lifeforms to gather valuable intelligence. It claimed a 95 percent success rate in obtaining useful data from questioned subjects. To achieve this, the ISB notably employed IT-O Interrogation Units developed by the Imperial Department of Military Research.

The Re-Education division concentrated on what some termed "brainwashing" subjects to support the Galactic Empire and its actions throughout the galaxy. Project Unity involved re-educating elements of society resistant to the New Order through psychological manipulation and pharmaceutical conditioning.

The agency responsible for special research and development of classified weapons, both before and during the Galactic Civil War, was Advanced Weapons Research. Weapons development was under the control of Imperial Intelligence and was not officially part of the Imperial Security Bureau, but it nonetheless protected the agency's secrets.

The Internal Affairs division maintained order by investigating potential instances of insubordination within the Empire. Yularen briefly headed a division dedicated to exposing sedition within the Imperial Senate before becoming Deputy Director of the Naval Intelligence Agency. Additionally, one Internal Affairs officer was stationed aboard every Star Destroyer to investigate any signs of sedition among the crew.

The Investigations division used previously gathered data to suppress rebel activity. Its members included ISB Supervisors, who convened as a governing body known as the ISB Board on Coruscant.

The Special Operations Division handled various tasks within the Bureau, including establishing Project Hidden Eye during the Galactic Civil War.

The Surveillance branch had the most operatives, who focused on deciphering encrypted information and analyzing data to screen for potential threats against the New Order.

Zerek Besh, a criminal syndicate active in the galaxy, was secretly an arm of the ISB used to infiltrate the criminal underworld to find members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and gather information from the galaxy's syndicates. Director Sliro Barsha formed Zerek Besh around 3 ABY, and it engaged in criminal activity as one of the underworld's most powerful syndicates, but Barsha considered it an intelligence-gathering network. Barsha, loyal to the Empire even though Zerek Besh functioned as his own personal crime family, believed Zerek Besh would help the Empire win the Galactic Civil War by defeating the Rebel Alliance. However, his ambitions clashed with those of his brother, Jaylen Vrax, resulting in both of their deaths. Zerek Besh survived and came under the control of a new leader.

Galactic Emperor Palpatine established the Imperial Security Bureau shortly after the proclamation of the New Order as a secret law enforcement organization dedicated to eliminating enemies of the New Order and the Galactic Empire and maintaining stability throughout Imperial territories. The organization grew from a small number of agents to twice the size of Imperial Intelligence within fourteen years.

After the Clone Wars, the agency oversaw the dismantling of Confederate warships and military supplies. Concurrent loyalty purges resulted in the destruction, rescinding, and withholding of vast amounts of Separatist propaganda. Only a few propaganda posters, such as Ansibella Dellu's Count Dooku: Words of Truth, survived the purges. ISB agents were called in to make troublesome artists disappear when Art Group agents discovered serious violations of its artistic principles.

Five years into the Emperor's reign, Imperial Intelligence agents discovered a cache of communications devices on the remote world of Murkhana and referred the case to the ISB, who brought it to the Emperor and his Imperial Ruling Council. Despite the ISB's desire for full oversight of the investigation from Imperial Intelligence and the Naval Intelligence Agency, it was ultimately decided to dispatch Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Darth Vader to investigate the cache, which was actually set up by a small rebel cell.

During the same year, the ISB had an active operation on the planet Zeffo, a world of interest to the Emperor's Project Auger. Signs posted by the Bureau on Imperial equipment warned residents of a local village that looters of the project would be shot on sight.

In 9 BBY, ISB member Lank Denvik started an operation to capture Jedi Knight Cal Kestis, a high-priority target for the Empire. Denvik sent his spy, Bode Akuna, to infiltrate Kestis's team. Akuna, a former Jedi who survived the Purge that destroyed the Jedi Order, made a deal with Denvik after meeting him during the Clone Wars. Denvik would hide Akuna from the rest of the Empire, especially the Inquisitorius, which Denvik despised, if Akuna worked for him. Akuna's daughter, Kata, was part of the deal. Denvik also targeted Cere Junda, an ally of Kestis who was conducting an operation on the moon Jedha.

However, Akuna chose to leave the ISB and go with his daughter to Tanalorr, a world beyond the Empire's reach. Akuna stole the compass leading to Tanalorr from Kestis and lured him to Denvik's station in the Nova Garon system to use Kestis' invasion as a distraction to escape with his daughter. Akuna and his daughter escaped, and Kestis confronted and defeated Denvik. Denvik told Kestis to kill him because he thought it would be better than being killed by Vader, as Akuna's actions on Jedha had drawn Darth Vader's attention. Although Kestis felt like killing Denvik for sending Akuna and causing Junda's death, he spared the ISB member. Denvik's fear came true when Vader arrived at the station and executed him by strangling him with the Force.

By 5 BBY, when Colonel Wullf Yularen was ISB director, the ISB's Investigations branch had a "war room" at its Central Office in Coruscant. ISB agents were assigned to oversee different sectors in the galaxy and reported regularly to Major Lio Partagaz. Some ISB agents, like Lieutenant Blevin, were protective of their sectors and resented colleagues like Lieutenant Dedra Meero conducting investigations in their territory. After the ambush on Ferrix, Blevin led the Imperial takeover of the planet from Preox-Morlana's corporate tactical forces because of their incompetence in arresting Cassian Jeron Andor, a suspected local insurgent.

The ISB then requisitioned the local Hotel Rix as the new Imperial headquarters on Ferrix. Despite Blevin's obstruction, Meero and ISB Attendant Heert found evidence that the recovery of a stolen Starpath Unit on Ferrix was linked to the thefts of Imperial military equipment and technology at various Galactic locations.

After a successful insurgent heist at an Imperial dam on Aldhani, Major Partagaz summoned several ISB agents and ordered them to create punitive Star Sector and Planetary Emergency plans in response to the attack. Yularen met with Emperor Palpatine and persuaded him to grant the Bureau several key concessions, including access to Imperial Military resources, new laws granting the Bureau unprecedented powers of search, surveillance, and seizure, and a new Public Order Resentencing Directive that increased prison terms and fines. The ISB also imposed a punitive tax on sectors harboring insurgent activity and arrested 134 Aldhani residents suspected of aiding the insurgents.

Lieutenant Meero used the ISB's new powers to speed up her investigation into the stolen Starpath unit and other Imperial equipment. When Blevin accused Meero of interfering in his sector, Meero convinced Partagaz that the Rebellion ignored his artificial sectorial boundaries and theorized that there was an organized rebel effort to obtain Imperial military components across different sectors. Impressed, Partagaz reassigned Ferrix and the Morlana sector to Meero.

Continuing her investigation, Meero questioned Syril Karn, the former Preox-Morlana Deputy Inspector, who told her about the fugitive Andor. Based on this information, Meero theorized that Andor was trying to sell the Starpath Unit to a shadowy insurgent figure code-named "Axis." She convinced Partagaz to provide her investigation with expensive surveillance equipment, local agent funding, and a Code Droid. As a result, Imperial forces on Ferrix intercepted Bix Caleen's radio transmission to Axis. Local Imperial forces arrested Caleen and Salman Paak, the transmitter's owner. Meero then traveled to Ferrix to personally interrogate Caleen.

When Caleen defied her, Meero allowed Dr. Gorst to torture her with recordings of the cries of doomed Dizonites. Meero also convinced Prefect Vanis Tigo, the local Imperial garrison commander, to spare Meero because she was the only one who could identify Axis. However, she allowed him to execute Paak as an example to the local population. Later, Meero briefed Major Partagaz about Caleen's interrogation. Caleen provided no information about Axis, but Meero correctly deduced that Andor was linked to both the Ferrix and Aldhani incidents because Caleen and Imperial Army witnesses had identified the suspect as clean-shaven. Meero also told Partagaz that she was using Andor's adoptive mother, Maarva Andor, as bait.

After Imperial forces captured a rebel pilot using a stolen Imperial masking unit and learned that Anto Kreegyr's group planned to raid a power station at Spellhaus, Meero convinced her ISB colleagues to kill the pilot and stage an accident to lure Kreegyr's group into a trap on Spellhaus. Partagaz approved Meero's plan and scheduled a meeting with Military Intelligence to discuss countering the planned insurgent raid.

According to Meero's plan, Kreegyr's insurgents recovered the dead pilot and their ship near Kafrene. They believed the Kafrene authorities' story that the pilot had died while exiting hyperspace due to a hydraulic failure. Supervisor Lonni Jung, a secret double agent working for Axis (the antique dealer Luthen Rael), warned Rael that the ISB knew about Kreegyr's upcoming raid on Spellhaus and that Meero was a threat to the rebel network. However, Rael decided to sacrifice Kreegyr's faction to mislead the ISB into believing they had the upper hand. Meanwhile, Corv, the ISB Attendant, spied on Cinta Kaz, Rael's operative, while she monitored the ill Maarva's residence.

After Maarva's death, Meero convinced Prefect Tigo to allow the locals to hold a funeral procession to lure Andor out of hiding. In addition, Attendant Corv continued to surveil Kaz and Andor's friends Brasso and B2EMO. Corv later questioned Caleen about whether Kreegyr was the elusive "Axis."

Meero's plan to trap Kreegyr's group on Spellhaus succeeded. All insurgents participating in the raid were killed. While Partagaz was pleased and closed the case, Meero was upset that the Imperial authorities had taken no prisoners, as they could have helped in the search for Axis. Despite the Imperial victory, Rael convinced Saw Gerrera, the leader of the Partisans, not to participate in Kreegyr's raid and not to warn Kreegyr, leading Partagaz to believe that the Bureau was winning the struggle.

Meero then proceeded with her plan to trap Andor during Maarva's funeral procession. Confident that her plan would succeed, Meero rejected Imperial Military Lieutenant Merzin Keysax's suggestion to deploy snipers and containment units for the operation. However, Meero failed to anticipate that the late Maarva would use her funeral to deliver a posthumous speech urging the inhabitants of Ferrix to resist Imperial rule. During the ensuing riot, Wilmon Paak, Paak's son, threw a bomb that killed and wounded several Imperial personnel and damaged the local Imperial headquarters. As a result, Andor escaped and reestablished contact with Rael, who recruited him into the Rebellion for a second time. In addition, Caleen, Brasso, Wilmon, and B2EMO escaped offworld. During the chaos, Corv was killed by Kaz. Meero was almost killed by the rioters but was rescued by Karn, who shared her desire to hunt down Andor.

Agent Alexsandr Kallus, a prominent figure within the ISB, operated within the Investigation, Internal Affairs, and Enforcement divisions, diligently seeking indications of treachery or rebellion. His central objective was to prevent such activities from escalating into a widespread revolt against the Empire. Around 5 BBY, following the enactment of the PORD, the Imperial Security Bureau directed specific focus towards the Spectres rebel group situated on Lothal. Their attacks on Imperial installations highlighted the potential for insurrection and signaled the emergence of rebellion. Before forming an improbable bond with Garazeb Orrelios, the Lasat Spectre, Kallus became a persistent adversary of the Spectres, which prompted him to reassess his loyalty to the Empire. Eventually, Kallus adopted the identity of Fulcrum, a rebel operative who furnished the Phoenix Cell and the Spectres with crucial intelligence.

Later on, Kallus aided the Spectres in stealing the schematics for Thrawn's advanced TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter from the Imperial Armory Complex located on Lothal. This incident alerted Thrawn to the presence of an Imperial mole among their ranks. With Yularen's assistance, Thrawn initiated a screening process targeting the local Imperial sector command to identify the spy. To avert suspicion, Kallus implicated Yogar Lyste, a Lieutenant. Despite these efforts, Thrawn discerned Kallus's true role but permitted him to continue his operations to pinpoint the location of Phoenix Squadron's rebel base. Subsequently, Thrawn manipulated Kallus into revealing the location of Chopper Base by divulging information about the Rebel Alliance's intentions to attack the Imperial Armory Complex. However, Kallus successfully escaped during the Battle of Atollon and formally aligned himself with the Alliance.

During the events of Nightswan's campaign, Colonel Yularen became deeply involved in investigating Nightswan, the enigmatic insurgent leader and pirate. He received support from Thrawn and Eli Vanto, both officers within the Imperial Navy, as well as Arihnda Pryce, who would later become the Governor of Lothal. Together, they successfully exposed Nightswan's extensive Coruscant spy ring, which included the Higher Skies Advocacy Group and members of the Yinchom Dojo.

During the siege at the Creekpath Mining and Refining complex on Batonn, Pryce persuaded Yularen to allow her to accompany Agent Gudry on a mission to disable the deflector shield generator used by the Batonn insurgents. After Pryce murdered Gudry for his refusal to evacuate her parents prior to Thrawn's assault, she detonated the mine's explosive stockpile to conceal the crime. This action resulted in numerous civilian casualties on Batonn, deeply affecting both Yularen and Thrawn.

By 5 BBY, Mon Mothma, the outspoken Senator, became aware that she was under ISB surveillance due to her vocal opposition to the Emperor's policies within the Imperial Senate. Concerned for her safety, she replaced her existing driver with Kloris, suspecting him of being an Imperial spy. Sharing Mothma's concerns, Kleya Marki, an associate of Luthen Rael, the antique dealer, diverted Kloris's attention during Mothma's visit to Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest by showcasing various items in the store's gallery.

Subsequently, Kloris overheard an argument between Mothma and her husband, Perrin Fertha, inside their airspeeder. Mothma reprimanded Fertha for squandering their funds and accused him of gambling. In reality, the argument was a charade orchestrated by Mothma to conceal her financial transactions aimed at supporting Rael's rebel network. Deceived by this performance, Kloris shared a recording of the conversation with his ISB handler, Blevin, at the ISB's Central Office the following day. Based on this misinformation, Blevin concluded that they could exploit Fertha's supposed gambling addiction to exert influence over the Senator, while Kloris remained convinced that Fertha had a gambling problem.

Following Mothma's resignation from the Imperial Senate and her condemnation of Palpatine for his actions during the Ghorman Massacre, the ISB issued an alert for Mothma in an attempt to apprehend her. ISB agents also visited Cantham House on Coruscant, the venue for the Cantham House meetings, acting on their suspicions, and interrogated Leia Organa along with several other individuals present.

Another ISB operative was Sinjir Rath Velus, a loyalty officer recruited by ISB officer Sid Uddra. After a rigorous training period on the ocean planet of Virkoi, Velus personally interrogated Lieutenant Alster Grove, a treacherous Navy officer who was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Darth Vader. During the interrogation, Grove divulged the identities of his fellow conspirators. While Vader executed the other conspirators, Uddra caused Grove's death by throwing him into the oceans of Virkoi.

Following the destruction of the initial Death Star, the ISB intensified its efforts to eradicate the burgeoning rebellion, experiencing a period of unprecedented activity. These operations encompassed a strategy to persuade Drusil Bephorin, a mathematical prodigy, to support the Empire by maintaining her in a form of opulent imprisonment on Denon. Project Hidden Eye was designed to deploy sleeper operatives throughout the galaxy to disseminate propaganda and secretly monitor citizens. However, the project was prematurely terminated due to the intervention of Luke Skywalker, a Commander and celebrated hero of the Rebel Alliance.

The aftermath of the Death Star's destruction also appeared to signal a decline in the ISB's involvement in Imperial military operations against the Rebel Alliance, with fewer ISB personnel encountered by Rebel soldiers on the battlefield. These shifts seemed to result from ISB operations being integrated into other organizations within COMPNOR and the broader Imperial system. Beaumont Kin, a historian, later speculated in his book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire that these changes might have stemmed from factors such as the ISB being primarily blamed for the Death Star's destruction, the death of Director Wullf Yularen on the Death Star, and a strategic shift towards combating the Rebel Alliance, granting greater authority to the Imperial Military, who preferred to avoid interference from a "political" entity like the ISB, now known for its failures.

During the Great Purge of Mandalore, Gideon, holding the title of Moff, served as a member of the ISB and participated in the Purge. Following the Night of a Thousand Tears, the majority of Mandalore's forces were defeated. The ISB contacted Bo-Katan Kryze to negotiate a ceasefire. Gideon informed Kryze that the lives of all Mandalorians and the remaining cities would be spared if she agreed to submit to the Empire and disarm. Acknowledging the dishonor such an act would entail but prioritizing the survival of her people, Kryze surrendered the Darksaber to Gideon as a symbol of surrender. However, Gideon betrayed Kryze, continuing the purge while claiming the Darksaber for himself, leading to the planet's devastation and abandonment.

Around 3 ABY, Director Sliro Barsha of the ISB established the Zerek Besh, a fictitious criminal organization intended to gather intelligence from various crime syndicates across the galaxy and utilize it against the Rebel Alliance. With the Empire's backing, the Zerek Besh rapidly gained influence and recognition as one of the most formidable syndicates in the galaxy. Barsha believed that the Zerek Besh would enable the ISB to play a pivotal role in securing the Galactic Empire's victory in the Galactic Civil War. However, a conflict with his brother, Jaylen Vrax, who sought vengeance against Sliro, resulted in the loss of the Zerek Besh's leadership, as both Barsha and Vrax, who had assumed control of the syndicate, were killed. Despite their deaths, the Zerek Besh continued operations under new leadership.

Following the scourge of the droids, Melchior Votto, an ISB officer with connections to the bounty hunter Raslin Grace, hired Grace to hunt for Chelli Lona Aphra, much to Grace's excitement.

Similar to numerous other governmental agencies in the aftermath of the Empire's defeat at the Battle of Endor, the ISB was left fragmented as the New Republic launched attacks on remote ISB outposts and incited internal dissent. Twenty days after the Battle of Endor, the ISB stored information regarding the Emperor's posthumous contingency plan at one of its Black Sites, the Wretch on Tayron. However, this base was taken by Han Solo, a General in the Rebel Alliance, and his elite Pathfinders. The base commander failed to initiate a data purge, allowing the Alliance to obtain information about Operation: Cinder, thereby disrupting its implementation for over three months.

In the months following Endor, the ISB was granted complete authority over the security of Coruscant, the Imperial throneworld, after the Imperial Navy declined to provide ships for the planet's defense, with Gallius Rax, the Fleet Admiral, considering it a symbol of idleness and stagnation. Consequently, control of Imperial forces was entrusted to Mas Amedda, the Empire's chief administrator and Grand Vizier. While the ISB lacked the naval power to effectively resist a New Republic naval assault, stormtroopers and personnel loyal to the ISB were deeply entrenched on the planet's surface, which was already embroiled in a civil war between the ISB and resistance movements supported by the New Republic.

Velus joined a team of Imperial hunters led by Norra Wexley, a starfighter pilot in the New Republic, after defecting. Following the loss of his family during a New Republic attack on the Hyborean Moon, Romwell Krass Junior deserted his post and traveled throughout the galaxy to mourn his loss. During the Battle of Jakku, Commander Brisney served as the ISB officer aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Inflictor.

As late as around five years after the Imperial defeat at Endor, former ISB operatives managed Imperial remnant facilities, such as the refinery operated by remnants based on Morak.

By 28 ABY, Arliz Hadrassian, a former ISB officer who had transitioned into a small-time businesswoman, led the Amaxine warriors, a paramilitary group that served as a front for the First Order, a remnant of the Old Empire situated in the Unknown Regions.

During a meeting with Ransolm Casterfo, a Centrist senator, Hadrassian spent hours recounting tales of her career within the Imperial Military and the ISB, unaware that he was involved in Senator Leia Organa's investigation into the Amaxine warriors. Furthermore, the First Order itself maintained its own version of the ISB, known as the First Order Security Bureau.

During the initial development of what would become Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, John Knoll's original story concept, intended as an episode of the ultimately unproduced Star Wars: Underworld live-action TV series, portrayed Orson Callan Krennic as a double agent within Jyn Erso's Rogue One team, reporting their activities to the Imperial Security Bureau, specifically to Willix Cree, his supervisor and a key member of the agency. However, this concept was discarded when writer Gary Whitta revised Knoll's treatment.

The 2023 canon reference book Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide features a catalog of rank insignia plaques for ISB officers; the rank of major is depicted with a plaque containing four blue tiles. However, Lio Partagaz, identified as a major in the book, is shown in Andor Season One wearing a plaque with five blue tiles.