Galactic Empire

The Galactic Empire is the tyrannical government that grew from the ashes of the war-weary Old Republic. Established by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who became its first Emperor, in 19 BBY, the Empire ruled over the galaxy with an iron fist for over twenty years, until its fragmentation and subsequent Civil War in 4 ABY.

While still a shadow of its former self, the Empire currently controls nearly seventy percent of the known galaxy and is the military-industrial powerhouse of the galaxy. Led by the enigmatic Aleister Vadim, the revitalized Empire stands upon the threshold of complete victory in the Galactic Civil War.

History
The history of the Galactic Empire can be broken down into three main stages. From its founding in 19 BBY to the destruction of the Death Star in 0 ABY, to the Battle of Endor and the death of Palpatine in 4 ABY, and finally to the current year, 15 ABY.

Building an Empire and the Seeds of Rebellion
Ruling from his capital, Imperial Center, formerly Coruscant, the Emperor rid the government of bureaucracy, which for centuries had plagued the Republic. However, peace and stability came at a price, and a great amount of the galactic population found itself oppressed.

Initially, the rise of the Empire was welcomed with much enthusiam throughout most of the galaxy, still reeling from the shattering effects of the Clone Wars. The galactic population, afraid and willing to accept any possibility of closure and security, embraced the New Order and the peace, stability, justice and freedom its beloved leader promised.

Indeed, Palpatine was considered a hero by most of the galaxy. His reassuring smile brought calm to a war-torn galaxy for years, and the support he received upon declaring the New Order was massive. No senators dared voted no on establishing the Galactic Empire, but even so, there were those who opposed the Empire and knew Palpatine's true colors. Nevertheless, the Empire was born, and sweeping reforms were made over night. Gone were any remaining reminders of the Republic. The Commisson to Protect the Republic became the Commission for the Presevation of the New Order; clone troopers became the Stormtroopers; and the powers of the Senate were virtually wiped out overnight.

Moffs and planetary governors were appointed to rule over sectors and individual planets respectively, effectively neutralizing the Imperial Senate, formerly the Galactic Senate. The Imperial Moffs were given near limitless control over their territories, control which was only furthered by Tarkin Doctrine, penned by Moff Tarkin, in response to growing insurgency within sectors. Moffs were generally kept in contempt of each other, to ensure none would join forces to possibly overthrow Palpatine. This system became widespread throughout the Empire, to ensure all remained loyal to the Emperor and to the Emperor alone. Various levels of control, maintaining animosity between high ranking individuals, and his legions of Stormtroopers and COMPNOR operatives kept the Imperial war machine under Palpatine's absolute control and behest.

The Moffs acted as commanders of the sector armies and navies within their territory, unless overruled by a Grand Moff, Grand Admiral, or by Palpatine's direct orders. The Moffs would utilize their control over their military forces to maintain stability within their borders, and would execute this to brutal fashion. Wilhuff Tarkin, for example, landed his Victory-class Star Destroyer upon a large group of protestors, in what became known as the Ghorman Massacre.

As popularized by Tarkin, the Empire adopted the strategy of ruling through the fear of force rather than force itself. This is what furthered the Empire's abominal designs throughout the years, such as the dreadful Imperial-class Star Destroyers of the vaunted Imperial Navy and powerful superweapons such as the Death Star, which began construction in 19 BBY.

In response to growing Imperial atrocities and dwindling rights, resistance began against Palpatine and his New Order. Senators such as Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and Garm Bel Iblis met in secrecy throughout the years to undermine the Empire and plant the seeds of Rebel Alliance.

The Empire, with its near limitless resources and security and intelligence bureaus, caught on to the growing dissent and moved to crush it. Mon Mothma was driven from the public scene, and the Empire began mobilizing its military to stomp out the rebels. Resistance, however, was small and poorly organized initially. As time went on, however, and hatred towards the Empire grew amongst the galaxy's more concerned citizens, resistance grew. Eventually, the major resistance movements were joined together to form the Alliance to Restore the Republic. A Declaration of Rebellion was issued, and the Corellian Treaty finalized the birth of the Rebel Alliance.

The Galactic Civil War
In response to the growing Rebel Alliance and the threat posed by them, Palpatine declared a state of emergency and "temporarily" disbanded the Imperial Senate under the pretense that it had been infiltrated and manipulated by the growing insurgents, primarily presenting Leia Organa's involvement in the Alliance as evidence of such.

With the Senate out of the way, the Moffs were given unprecendeted control and authority over their sectors. And with the Senate out of the way, the Death Star project was allowed to go full ahead. In perhaps the darkest moment of the Galactic Civil War, Alderaan was destroyed by the superlaser built into the massive battlestation, witnessed by Leia Organa herself.

Shortly after, however, the first signs of major trouble began for the Empire. Heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Obi-wan Kenobi infiltrated the Death Star and rescued Organa. In one of the more daring moves in recent history, the Rebel Alliance took the Death Star on head-on, culminating in the Battle of Yavin. Although losing most of their starfighters, Rebel pilot and future Jedi Master Luke Skywalker fired a torpedo down an open exhaust vent and destroyed the Death Star before it could wipe out the Rebel base on Yavin IV. Grand Moff Tarkin and hundreds of thousands of Imperial servicemen and high ranking and influential officers were wiped out instantly. Like wild fire, the Rebellion spread across the galaxy. Outrage at the destruction of Alderaan placed the Empire in an awkward position. In response, the Empire only beefed up its atrocities and underwent a massive military build-up, unprecedented in all of galactic history.

Victory and Defeat
Darth Vader, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Forces and Executor, personally took an interest in the young man who destroyed the Death Star. Sensing the Force in the pilot, Vader eventually discovered it was his very son who destroyed the station. Seeing an opportunity to overthrow Palpatine and establish himself as ruler of the galaxy, Vader established the Death Squadron, based around the newly constructed behemoth, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, and set about to hunt down the Rebel Alliance and his son, Luke.

The Alliance was tracked to Hoth, where they were defeated in the Battle of Hoth and once again dispersed throughout the galaxy. Imperial morale was boosted, as for all intents and purposes, the Rebellion seemed crushed. Yet, the spirit of the Alliance would not be put down, and the war continued. Even after the disastrous Battle of Bajic, the Rebellion continued on. During this time, however, construction of a new and even more powerful Death Star was underway over the forest moon of Endor.

True to his methods of manipulation and trickery, Palpatine set a trap for the Alliance at Endor. Leaking the location of the Death Star's construction site to Bothan spies, and providing them with the security shield passcode, Palpatine allowed Rebel commandos, including Luke Skywalker, to infiltrate the forest moon ahead of the entire Rebel fleet. Unbeknownst to the Rebels, a massive armada of the Imperial Navy and an entire legion of the Empire's best troops awaited the unsuspecting Alliance military.

The Battle of Endor would go down in history as perhaps the most critical battle. Despite suffering heavy losses in both space and on the ground, the Rebels managed to overcome the Imperial trap, with the help from the local Ewok population. The Executor was destroyed after an A-wing slammed into her bridge, and Palpatine himself was cast down a reactor shaft after Vader returned to the Light.

With the death of Palpatine and the destruction of the second Death Star, Imperial morale sunk, and the Imperial Navy ultimately retreated from Endor. However, this would not be the end of the Empire's troubles.

Civil War
The Empire's most critical flaw was its dependancy upon its supreme ruler, Palpatine. Palpatine never named a true successor, though many considered it to be his proxy, Vader. With the death of both at Endor, and many other influential Imperials, the chain of command within the Empire was broken. The Imperial Ruling Council on Imperial Center attempted to retain control over the massive Empire, but could not convince many of the Empire's ambitious Moffs and admirals to forgo their own personal glory for the good of the New Order.

The Imperial Civil War occured nearly hours after the end of Endor. Admirals and Moffs turned Warlord and began carving out their own small principalities and kingdoms within Imperial territory. War broke out between the ambitious Warlords, whose concern regarding the ever growing Rebel Alliance seemed to be pushed aside.

Those who remained loyal to the elements of the New Order sided with the Ruling Council, the legitimate face of the Empire. As the Rebel Alliance continued to grow in popular support, a last ditch effort was made by the Ruling Council to save what was left of the Empire admist the Civil War. Nearly all loyalist forces were recalled to Imperial Center, which was considered the most likely target of further Rebel attacks.

The Battle of Coruscant would signify the birth of the New Republic. The Rebel Alliance fleet, fresh and bolstered with new ships and troops, invaded the Imperial capital. The massive battle took heavy casualties on both sides, but ultimately, Coruscant was taken by the Alliance, and months later, the New Republic was established. A system of government was established, and dozens of systems by the day pledged their support to the New Republic.

For four years, the Empire would continue to be ravaged by Civil War. By early 8 ABY, the Empire, what was left of it under the Interim Ruling Council, was reduced to several sectors in the Core through the Mid and Outer Rims in the northern galactic quadrant, with several scattered bastions throughout the rest of the galaxy.

In 6 ABY, however, Bacharan Valak, an ambitious and charismatic Dark Lord of the Sith and former Imperial Naval admiral took the reigns of the Interim Ruling Council and became its leader. He introduced reforms to bolster the "Imperial Remnant" and help curve the tide of the ever growing New Republic and Griffons Alliance. Finally, in 8 ABY, Valak and his war machine finally put down the last of the Imperial warlords and reunited the Empire. He was coronated Emperor in Castle Tsabak on Dreven, and declared the rebirth of the Empire by introducing the Advanced Death Star at Gastus IV.

The Restored Empire
The New Republic, having become too relaxed with the Civil War-ravaged Empire, were taken by surprise when it counter-attacked in 9 ABY. The Empire's new Death Star destroyed Gastus IV, the New Republic-critical planet of Sluis Van, and the all-important Mon Calamari shipyards. Dac itself was annexed by the Empire, and an attempt that ended in cease-fire was also made to annex to the Caspian Democratic Union.

The borders of the Empire were greatly expanded, and finally, at the end of 9 ABY, a month-long siege of Coruscant, the Republic's capital, began, culminating in the destruction of the New Republic Senate and the death of its Chief of State, Woren Isaal. With the threat of the Death Star looming over the galaxy, backed up by a revitalized Navy and Army, hopes for the survival of the New Republic quickly diminished.

The Galactic Confederation and The Second Imperial Civil War
In a surprise move, Valak created the Galactic Confederation in 10 ABY, and invited the Corporate Sector, Caspian Democratic Union, the Griffons Alliance, and numerous other smaller governments to join, using the threat of the Death Star to cajole them into cooperating with the Empire.

The Republic, on the other hand, having not been invited to the Confederation, had learned of the location of the Death Star III through the help of Talon Karrde, and in a secret pact with the Griffons, launched a daring assault on the Death Star. While the Republic suffered heavy losses - mostly through the sacrifice of hundreds of capital ships used to ram the Death Star's hull - the Death Star was destroyed, which was enough to weaken the foundations of the Empire and cast doubt over its leadership. Refusing to be taken down, the Empire retaliated, attacking Cochran, annexing Mutanda, and destroying Pride-1. But as the Empire tried to recover from the lost of another Death Star and the campaign against the Griffons, more trouble was brewing, this time on Imperial-held Mon Calamari.

The Second Imperial Civil War began soon after, a war which had its roots in the Vigilant Movement years prior. The Empire was divided, allowing the Republic to regain territory such as Mon Calamari, and to offer the Republic time to catch their breath and rebuild. By the end of the war, the insurgents in the Empire were crushed, but the Empire emerged weakened and with its leader, Valak, in seclusion.

The Third Imperial Civil War
See its respective article for more details.

Valak eventually "abdicated" the throne, and was replaced by Kendal Osbourne, whose short reign was marked with successes such as the Fourth Battle of Coruscant and the Battle of Kappa. Ultimately, however, the Empire would break down once more in the Third Imperial Civil War when the former leader of the Vigilant Movement, Lorn Rhys, returned and gathered up support with the help of Vassily Korolov.

Selene was rendered a wasteland after the HIMS Dark Eminence was crashed onto the planet, and Osbourne himself was imprisoned in carbonite. The Empire would split further, with notables such as Danik Kreldin, Fianar Reanus and Wescal Cantrell taking up the cause of the Neo-Imperial Movement to oust Rhys.

Rhys himself would not remain in power very long. The mysterious Darth Pain emerged at this time of crisis in the Empire, and exiled Rhys and took over the Empire as Empress. Rhys would return, however, under the name Darth Malus, and with further help from the Sith, Korolov, executed Pain and established himself as Emperor.

The Third Civil War came to an end with the destruction of the Neo-Imperial Movement, but the ramifications of the Civil War would have untold effects upon the Empire. Coruscant would be liberated by the Republic at this time, and the Empire was driven back to its pre-Valak era borders.

The Imperial Blitzkrieg and beyond
See its respective article for more details.

Aleister Vadim, a mysterious Sith Lord, corrupted the mind of the Force-sensitive Republic pilot, Tyler Damion, and transformed him into the insidious Darth Malign. Malign became a Warlord in the Empire, and quickly established a following against the unpopular ruler, Malus. Blockading Dreven with his fleet, Malign captured Malus and imprisoned him in carbonite alongside Osbourne. He then went on to establish his rule over the Empire, and brought the old naval commander, Danik Kreldin, back into the fold.

Kreldin, having remained in hiding for some time, set in motion a plan to reclaim the Empire's lost territory and rebuild its war machine lost during the last two Civil Wars. In what became known as the Imperial Blitzkrieg, Kreldin initiated the Dacan Pandemic and then led the Imperial Navy and Army throughout the Blitzkrieg. By the end of the Blitzkrieg, the Republic capital of Coruscant was encircled on all sides and cut off from the major trade routes.

The Empire was back in full force. Months later, the Empire would go on to crush the Griffon Alliance by destroying Cochran. Now, the Empire appears to be poised to reclaim Coruscant and crush the few remaining remnants of the decaying New Republic.

Structure
The current structure of the Galactic Empire is more similiar to the structure in Palpatine's days.



The Government
The Head of State of the Empire and its supreme ruler is the Emperor. The will of the Emperor is law, and his word is upheld without question. The current Emperor is Aleister Vadim, whom rules from the shadows.

While the Emperor may be the supreme ruler, the day-to-day operations of the Imperial government and the execution of the Emperor's policies are managed by the Head of Government, the Grand Vizier. In terms of "official" policy, the Head of Government is the second in command of the Empire; however, the Grand Vizier has no true authority over the Emperor's appointed proxies, such as the Emperor's apprentice, and the Emperor's Hands, Dark Side Adepts, and the Inquisitors. And while the Grand Vizier is the de jure second in command of the Empire, the Military Executor is the de facto second in command, and usually has higher authority over the Grand Vizier, depending upon the person holding the title; usually the Military Executor is one of Palpatine's proxies or Dark Side Elite, such as Lord Vader. The current Grand Vizier is Warlord Vassily Korolov.

The Military Executor is essentially the Commander-in-Chief of the Galactic Empire, and the post of Military Executor is always held by the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Military. Currently, the Commander-in-Chief of the Empire is Grand Admiral Danik Kreldin. In the current Empire, the Commander-in-Chief post falls directly beneath the Head of Government and directly above the Imperial Ruling Council, with both the Grand Admiral's Council and the Grand General's Council in between. The Commander-in-Chief, and thus the Executor and Supreme Commander, does not have authority over the Head of Government (the Grand Vizier) in the current Empire.

The Commander-in-Chief is responsible for overseeing the war effort against the New Republic, and the leader of the Imperial Military. The Commander-in-Chief answers directly to the Emperor, but is not beyond the authority of the Grand Vizier. The Commander-in-Chief has no true authority over the Inquisitors or any of the Emperor's lieutenants and Dark Side Adepts.

The Grand Admiral's Council and Grand General's Council, a council of twelve each, fill a niche between the Commander-in-Chief and the Imperial Ruling Council. These two councils advice the Commander-in-Chief on the war and the status of the military, and implement the Commander-in-Chief's will - in effect, the Emperor's will - in their respected areas of control. These two councils have no direct authority over the Imperial Ruling Council, which serves as the executive body of the Galactic Empire. The Ruling Council is led by the Grand Vizier, and the Commander-in-Chief (in essence, as the Executor) also sits upon the Council.

The Imperial Ruling Council, as the executive body, is responsible for most of the policies in Imperial territory. And, with no more legislative body after the collapse of the Imperial Senate, is free to remain unchecked in its execution of these policies and agendas. The High Human Culture stems from the Imperial Ruling Council.

Beneath the Ruling Council lies COMPNOR, the Moff's Council, and the Ubiqtorate, the ruling body of Imperial Intelligence. The matter of the Ubiqtorate's position in the chain of command is generally a matter of debate in the Empire; at times Intelligence is considered to be directly under the authority of the Ruling Council, and at other times under the direct authority of the Moff's Council. In the current Empire, the Moff has authority over Intelligence resources, but cannot dictate to the Ubiqtorate their will: this is the responsibility of the Ruling Council.

The Moff's Council itself is comprised of Moffs from each sector in the Empire, who oversee every aspect in their respected territory. Above the Moffs are the Grand Moffs, who oversee Oversectors within Imperial territory, and sitting at the head of the Council is the Supreme Moff. The Moff Council has no real impact on the direction of the war effort, but is responsible for advising the Commander-in-Chief on updates regarding the war and other issues related to the military. The Council also receives orders from the Ruling Council (who, in turn, received their orders from either the Emperor or the Grand Vizier), and dictates the law to the Moffs.

Each individual Moff has authority over the military forces set aside for him in his sector, unless the military force is under the command of a higher ranking being (such as the Executor, or a Grand Admiral, for instance), or is on a select mission from a higher authority. This allows the Moffs to maintain control in his sector.

COMPNOR, on the other hand, sits in an unique position in the Empire; the Select Committee, the secretive ruling body of COMPNOR, is generally considered to be above a Moff insofar as to ensuring the Moff's loyalty to the New Order. COMPNOR units, particularly Imperial Security Bureau agents and CompForce troopers, have the authority to arrest any military official or Moff. However, COMPNOR's power stops at the Ruling Council. The Select Committee does not have the authority to arrest anyone from the Ruling Council, or any individual above the Council - such as a Grand Admiral or the Grand Vizier.

COMPNOR also has no real means of trying an Intelligence operative for treason, as both organizations are clandestine in nature, Intelligence moreso. COMPNOR, specifically the Security Bureau, often butt heads and are rivals to one another, though Intelligence is far more efficient at its mission.

The Military
The military is led by the Commander-in-Chief. Military forces within a sector are overseen by that sector's Moff. Military forces not assigned to a specific sector, however, are under the direction of a high ranking admiral or the Executor himself. To ensure the military's loyalty to the New Order and the Emperor, COMPNOR operates units within each Naval ship: ISB and CompForce troops are assigned to every vessel in the Navy, and to every Imperial Army detachment. To further ensure the loyalty of the crew, the Emperor has his legions of Stormtroopers to fill in where COMPNOR may fail.

Stormtroopers are answerable to the Emperor directly, but are not above operating alongside the Navy and the Army to achieve familiar goals.

Imperial Navy
See its respective article here.

Imperial Army
See its respective article here.

Stormtroopers
See its respective article here.

COMPNOR
See its respective article here.

Imperial Security Bureau (ISB)
See its respective article here.

Bureau of Operations
See its respective article here.

OOC Info
The Empire is currently in a state of transition, having gone through a series of faction administrators and emperors. Currently, Prospero is the Imperial Faction Head, and Danik is the Assistant Imperial Faction Head. The Empire itself is open to all players, but the military is closed off to non-humans. ICly, a bias against women still exists within the military, but female humans are still allowed in the military.

Treason against the Empire is punishable by death, and defectors are hunted down and should not expect any leeway from the Empire.