Kintaro held the distinction of being among the initial twenty Grand Moffs within the Galactic Empire. He governed the Sarin Oversector as its appointed regional governor. His tenure spanned from 19 BBY until his death around 3.5 ABY. Prior to this, during the concluding days of the Clone Wars, Kintaro was initially appointed a Moff under the Galactic Republic. This appointment was a direct consequence of the Sector Governance Decree issued by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. The decree aimed to enhance the war effort by assigning twenty military governors to command the Republic's twenty Sector Armies. Kintaro's responsibility was to support the Republic's Fifteenth Army within the Sarin Oversector. He continued to control his military territory when Palpatine reorganized the Republic into the Empire and proclaimed himself Emperor. He was soon promoted to Grand Moff and eventually chose Talofan as his capital.
During the Galactic Civil War, Kintaro facilitated his own demise by permitting the criminal enterprise Ororo Transportation to conduct a substantial spice trade operation within his jurisdiction, in exchange for significant bribes. Little did Kintaro know, Ororo's clandestine shipyard located in the Bajic sector, which the Grand Moff aided in concealing, also functioned as a crucial safe port for the Rebel Alliance. When the Emperor discovered the Rebel base through Prince Xizor of the Black Sun crime syndicate, Ororo's primary competitor, shortly before the Battle of Endor, he commanded its destroyed and ordered Kintaro's execution for failing to adequately protect his territory from Rebel incursions.
The Galactic Republic waged the Clone Wars against the Separatist rebellion by organizing its armed forces into twenty Sector Armies. Each army was tasked with defending a specific oversector, or a high-priority sector, of the galaxy. As the war neared its end, in 19 BBY, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine implemented the Sector Governance Decree. This decree established a system of twenty highly influential regional governors, known as Moffs. These Moffs were assigned command of each of the twenty Sector Armies and their respective territories to optimize the Republic's war efforts. This structure empowered the Moffs to act independently, bypassing the need to consult with quarreling senators. Moff Kintaro was entrusted with supporting the Republic's Fifteenth Army, also referred to as Hook Nebula Command, within the Sarin Oversector, with its sector headquarters located at Qeimet. The Fifteenth Army was primarily intended as a reserve force to bolster Republic troops engaged in combat along the Corellian Run, Hydian Way, and Rimma Trade Route hyperlanes.
Following the war's conclusion, as the victorious Republic transitioned into the Galactic Empire under the rule of Emperor Palpatine, the Sector Armies and the Moffs' military territories were maintained. The Empire's emphasis on militarization led to the reorganization of the Republic's wartime boundaries into a more streamlined and permanent network of oversectors. Consequently, the original twenty Republic Moffs were elevated to become the first Grand Moffs of the Empire. Given the largely symbolic nature of the Imperial Senate, which lacked genuine legislative authority or military control, the responsibility for maintaining order, coordinating the extensive resources of the Imperial Military, and enforcing the principles of Palpatine's New Order fell to Kintaro, the Imperial High Commander of the Sarin Oversector, and the other Grand Moffs. The Emperor ultimately dissolved the Senate in 0 BBY, granting the Grand Moffs direct authority over their respective territories.
Kintaro's dominion over the Sarin Oversector persisted into the Galactic Civil War and the year 3 ABY. By this time, he had established his capital on the planet Talofan. The Grand Moff also sanctioned a profitable, albeit illegal, spice trade to operate within his jurisdiction. Ororo Transportation, a front for the criminal Tenloss Syndicate, constructed a vast, concealed shipyard within the remote Vergesso Asteroids, situated in the Lybeya system of the Bajic sector. This facility, one of the largest shadowports in the galaxy, served as the primary hub for distribution, storage, and repair for the Tenloss Syndicate's spice trade and other illicit activities, processing thousands of tons of illegal goods annually.
Indeed, Kintaro's sector authorities were fully aware of the clandestine Ororo base. However, the Grand Moff determined that it posed no threat to sector security, as he depended on the operation to supplement his income. Ororo compensated Kintaro handsomely for his silence, delivering a substantial monthly payment to his capital on Talofan. Kintaro was content to ignore and even actively conceal the operation from his own staff and officers. He deliberately avoided bringing the base to the attention of Imperial Military forces and instructed the local Imperial Security Bureau to disregard it. The ISB, in turn, willingly focused its resources on uncovering Rebel bases and Imperial traitors elsewhere.
Unbeknownst to Kintaro and the ISB, the Ororo base also functioned as a significant safe port for the Rebel Alliance. Much of the contraband that passed through the shipyard ultimately ended up in Rebel hands. Various types of Rebel and other starships, ranging from starfighters to cruisers, underwent repairs at the base right under Kintaro's watch. Ororo developed sympathies for the Rebellion after numerous encounters with the power of the Imperial Navy and secretly desired to see the Empire replaced by a government that would be less effective in hindering its criminal operations. In 3.5 ABY, Ororo's expanding spice business attracted the attention of Prince Xizor, the leader of the Black Sun criminal organization, a major rival of the Tenloss Syndicate. Seeking to both harm his competitor and gain favor with the Emperor, Xizor informed the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader about the Ororo shipyard. The Emperor, displeased with Kintaro for allowing such a Rebel base to operate undetected within his territory, ordered Vader to destroy the shipyard.
The resulting Battle of the Bajic Shipyards culminated in a decisive Imperial victory. Vader's forces annihilated hundreds of Rebel ships and thousands of pilots and crew members. Simultaneously, the Emperor had Kintaro executed for failing to secure his territory against Rebel incursions.
Grand Moff Kintaro's corruption led to his downfall as the Imperial governor of the Outer Rim Territories' Bajic sector, a region rife with illegal spice trading involving both the Black Sun and Tenloss Syndicate criminal factions. By accepting bribes to permit Ororo Transportation to conduct its spice trade within his territory, Kintaro failed to recognize that Ororo's Vergesso Asteroid base also extensively supported the Rebel Alliance. However, he was unlikely to investigate either activity as long as his lucrative kickbacks continued. Kintaro's private arrangement with Ororo Transportation inadvertently left him vulnerable to the schemes of Prince Xizor of Black Sun. Xizor orchestrated the shipyard's destruction through the Emperor, thereby sealing Kintaro's fate, as retribution against Ororo for daring to infringe upon Black Sun's spice operations in that sector.
Grand Moff Kintaro received his initial mention in passing within the 1996 novel Shadows of the Empire, authored by Steve Perry.