The Imperial Remnants, also known as the Imperial Remnant, Imperial holdouts, Imperial hideouts, or the Remnant Empire, were terms for the various fractured political and military remnants of the Galactic Empire that emerged from the Galactic Civil War.

Without a ruler to hold them together after the death of the Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine, who left behind no instructions of succession, the Empire began to disintegrate and it's rule rapidly declined across the galaxy, while the Imperial Navy and its forces retreated as the Alliance to Restore the Republic reorganized into the New Republic as various factions started to form in the wake of the Empire's decline. The Battle of Jakku saw the final defeat of the Empire, forcing a surrender to the New Republic.

With strict disarmament treaties and reparations in place following the signing of the Galactic Concordance, the New Republic formally abolished the Empire. Chancellor Mon Mothma also issuing a further declaration designating members of the Imperial Military as war criminals while granting conditional pardons to non-combatant functionaries. Following this, many of it soldiers, officials and other loyalists joining various warlords who ruled their own fortified sectors on the fringes of the galaxy.

Meanwhile, elements of the Imperial Military regrouped in secret in the Unknown Regions became the First Order, dedicated to reclaiming Imperial legacy. Hidden further still were Sith loyalists on Exegol, the Sith Eternal, who aided a resurrected Darth Sidious and plotted to restore the Sith Empire.

Description[]

Imperial Remnants,^[2] also known as Imperial holdouts,^[21] or referred to as the Remnant Empire,^[22] were the various remains of the Galactic Empire that were left over throughout the galaxy. These remnants included successor states, such as enclaves controlled by ex-Imperial governors^[7] and fiefdoms held by warlords, loyalist military holdouts,^[2] including the scattered and fragmented Imperial Navy,^[13] as well as former Imperial Army strongholds whose staff still maintained some control over.^[6] Although they persisted across the galaxy, the Imperial Remnants were scattered and fragmented, as Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious had left behind no instructions of succession for the Imperial throne.^[7]

Nevertheless, some Imperial Remnants clandestinely worked together through the Shadow Council^[10] to subvert the New Republic, with the dreaming of a return of the Empire. These holdouts that violated the Galactic Concordance were collectively referred to by some as the Imperial Remnant.^[13] However, the secrecy of their operations made this a contested term, as some in the New Republic believed the remnants were not collaborating,^[20] dismissing the rumours as an alarmist conspiracy.^[17]

History[]

Background[]

Following the Battle of Endor which resulted in the destruction of the Death Star II battle station by the Alliance to Restore the Republic's fleet and the deaths of both Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine and his Sith apprentice Darth Vader,^[23] the Galactic Empire suffered a heavy blow. Despite its rule over the galaxy technically still in place, protests erupted in many planets including the galactic capital of Coruscant^[16] thanks to Princess Leia Organa's holographic message relaying news of the event to the galactic citizens.^[1] Immediately after the battle, the Alliance reorganized itself into the New Republic and formally declared war on the Empire's remains,^[24] beginning with an attack on Endor's Imperial outpost to clear out all Imperial presence from the system.^[25]

As the Imperial Navy struggled to organize their next moves and the bureaucrats on Coruscant debated to select the next Emperor to replace Palpatine, the New Republic's fleet moved to attack the Core Worlds, increasing the pressure on the Imperials. For a year, war raged between the weakening Empire and the New Republic,^[16] as the New Republic Senate was finally reconvened on Chandrila and the new government began consolidating its control over much of the galaxy.^[3] Eventually, the command structure of the Imperial government was fractured, and former Grand Vizier, now Galactic Emperor Mas Amedda was left powerless^[24] amidst a growing rebel presence on the once untouchable Imperial throneworld.^[3] Despite the new Navy chief Grand Admiral Rae Sloane charting plans for the retaking of the capital from the fleet evacuation point on the Annaj system,^[26] Fleet Admiral and Palpatine's protege Gallius Rax refused to allow her to execute them, secretly placing the pieces for the rebuilding of the Empire as a reimagining of his master's legacy. With their forces abandoned, the Imperial Security Bureau placed Amedda on house arrest in the Imperial Palace for his own protection, as they continued to fight an increasingly losing battle for Coruscant entrenched in the Federal and Verity Districts.^[3]

Formation of the first remnants[]

The organic collapse of the Galactic Empire was accelerated by the plans of Gallius Rax; by purposefully isolating Mas Amedda on Coruscant, the admiral ensured that any semblance organizational structure would collapse. Indeed, during the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, officers abandoned in distant corners of the galaxy began forming independent military alliances and fractions using the vast resources in their disposal. Most notable of these were the one formed on the Anoat sector by its governor, Ubrik Adelhard,^[1] who deployed his sector fleet in the Iron Blockade^[11] and spread the lie that Palpatine was still alive to preserve his citizens' loyalty,^[1] the one maintained on Velcar by its governor Ecressys,^[7] Visler Korda's faction in the Rekkana work camp^[6] and Imperial territory G5-623 which included Kashyyyk^[27] and was commanded by Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck.^[3] Most of these fractions were swiftly mopped up by Alliance forces,^[1] although some like Ecressys' remnant collapsed organically due to their leaders not actually wanting to rule them but rather gathering treasures and escaping.^[7] Others, like Moff Royen's fleet, were formed purely due to circumstance -in Royen's case being cut off by Imperial supply lines- and had no interest in actually fighting the New Republic or maintaining the Empire.^[5]

Gallius Rax's plan[]

Gathering of forces[]

While the New Republic battled the Imperial Remnants on multiple fronts and Coruscant was ravaged by civil war, Gallius Rax began executing Palpatine's Contingency plan, which was inspired by the game of Shah-tezh. With the Emperor -the game's Imperator- gone, Rax had to purge the table and prepare the Empire for a rebirth. To that end, Rax sought to test the strongest players of the galactic battle for dominance, and enlisted Grand Admiral Rae Sloane's help. Eventually, some of the highest remaining ranking officers of the Navy and Army gathered for an emergency summit on Akiva, inviting Sloane to join them as well. Sloane kept Rax's survival a secret, and kept the Fleet Admiral up to date on the proceedings there, including the formation of an Imperial Future Council. Rax -posing as "The Operator"- subsequently contacted Admiral Gial Ackbar of the New Republic about the summit, prompting a attack by Commander Kyrsta Agate which resulted in the deaths of participants Moff Valco Pandion and financier Arsin Crassus as well as the capture of General Jylia Shale and adept Yupe Tashu. Barely escaping the battle with her life, Sloane confronted Rax about his betrayal, forcing the Admiral to admit to her that this was merely a test of the supposed "best" the Empire had to offer; only those who were truly capable, such as herself, would be allowed to join his new Empire.^[16]

Following the confirmation of Sloane's loyalty, Rax appointed her as the new figurehead of the Empire, finalizing Mas Amedda's informal sidelining as the Emperor. At the same time, he began contacting other "worthy" Imperial forces in the Vulpinus, Queluhan and Recluse's Nebulae as well as on Almagest, the Ro-Loo Triangle and the Inamorata. He also secured the cooperation of the factory worlds of Zhadalene, Korrus and Belladoon and identified several Imperial leaders that could be useful enough to sit in the council of his future Empire. Those included Sloane, Grand Moff Randd, General Hodnar Borrum, Commandant Brendol Hux as well as propagandist Ferric Obdur. Once preparations were ready, Rax had Sloane arrange the rescue of Hux and his son Armitage from custody, and departed for the Vulpine Nebula to prepare the future council. As soon as the Huxes were safely on board, Rax revealed himself to them and welcomed them to the Empire's Shadow Council, which was to prepare the ground for the new order's final strike against the New Republic.^[16]

Preparations for war[]

As Rax was finishing the preparations for the execution of the Contingency plan, he also sought to weaken the New Republic's newfound power as well as Sloane's ambitions. To that end, he had the Grand Admiral organize a series of peace talks with the New Republic government, represented by Chancellor Mon Mothma, and the military, represented by Gial Ackbar. The negotiations were to be hosted in Mothma's homeworld of Chandrilla, under the auspices of the Galactic Senate. Despite Rax's assurances that Sloane and the New Republic officials would be safe, however, he had secretly deployed several mind-controlled prisoners from the Ashmead's Lock facility who, amidst the peace talks, turned on their hosts and severely wounded the Chancellor, Commodore Agate, and supposedly killed General Crix Madine and Advisor Hostis Ij. Sloane's crew was also instructed to attack her, which they did as soon as she attempted to return to him and confront his betrayal. The Grand Admiral escaped at the last moment on board a freighter.^[3]

With the New Republic crippled and his greatest rival supposedly eliminated, Rax gathered the Shadow Council and, after proclaiming himself the Counselor to the Empire, ordered their armies to head to the barren planet of Jakku. There, Rax claimed they would be trained and strengthened for their decisive battle with the New Republic; in truth, he hoped the planet's -secretly his own homeworld- conditions would further purge the unworthy among his ranks and allow only the most capable to follow the Empire's final journey to its new location: the Unknown Regions.^[3] Despite his optimistic predictions, the desert and the planet's absence of any large-scale cities or civilizations proved to be detrimental for the stormtroopers' and their officers' mental and physical well-being. Rax's armies were reduced to savages who frequently terrorized the local populations -as well as each other-, while the Counselor ignored his subordinates' requests to finally take them off-world. Instead of organizing a viable battle plan against the impending attack he fully anticipated, Rax focused on kidnapping local children with the assistance of Hutt Niima to forge into child soldiers who would be loyal to his new Empire from birth. He also maintained the Observatory, a secret base on the Plaintive Hand plateau which housed a borehole to the planet's core intended to destroy it along with both the unworthy Imperials and the attacking New Republic fleet, as well as his select few's exit strategies: a replica of Palpatine's personal yacht the Imperialis and a star map to the Unknown Regions based on former Grand Admiral Thrawn's notes of the area.^[11]

While Rax schemed on Jakku, Grand Admiral Sloane secretly plotted her return to power. Having discovered Rax's ultimate hideout by clues in his apartment on Coruscant, Sloane and New Republic operative Brentin Lore Wexley traveled to the planet, where they managed to locate some of Rax's scattered forces. Observing the army's discordant and unorganized state, Sloane was infuriated with the Counselor who, while tasked with maintaining his Empire, actually drove it to the ground. Meanwhile, while searching for her, New Republic soldier Norra Wexley's team located the Imperial fleet stationed over Jakku, and returned to Chandrilla to notify the government. After a chaotic discussion in the Senate, in which the first vote to condone military action failed to pass, the New Republic finally decided on attacking Rax's army in full force, bringing an end to the Empire once and for all.^[11]

War over Jakku[]

Main article: Battle of Jakku

With the New Republic attack now moments away, Gallius Rax finished the preparations for the final step of his plan for the Imperial rebirth. After managing to capture Sloane spying on his forces, he forced her to watch as his fully trained child soldiers massacred a unit of stormtroopers as well as officer Obdur. With Sloane pacified, Rax delivered a speech to the entirety of his forces, calling on them to defend their Empire and slaughter their attackers. As the first New Republic starships began to appear in the planet's orbit, Rax, the Huxes, their child soldiers and Adept Tashu entered the Observatory to activate the borehole and escape in the Imperialis. Rax sarcastically gifted Tashu with several artifacts of the Sith Empire before throwing him down the hole, activating the chain reaction that would destroy the planet. Before he managed to join his companions in the Imperialis, however, he was confronted by Sloane who had reached the complex along with Brentin Wexley and his wife Norra; all three overpowered the Counselor and Sloane fatally shot him in the stomach. The Grand Admiral then took his place in the yacht and escaped the planet to the Unknown Regions.^[11]

Despite realizing the disappearance of their leadership, the remaining Imperials, roused by Rax's passionate speech fiercely battled the New Republic forces, which consisted of the three Starhawk-class Battleship Mark Is Unity, Concord and Amity, two MC80 Star Cruisers including Home One and several frigates and corvettes under the command of Gial Ackbar. Despite being outnumbered and overpowered, the Imperials managed to hold off the New Republic assault, destroying the Amity and the Freedom's Dawn and severely damaging the Canny Bargain. Moff Randd coordinated the defense from the single Executor-class Star Dreadnought, the Ravager, which acted as the center of the formation and was closely flanked by many Imperial-class Star Destroyers which protected it with their deflector shields. The ISDs would only momentarily move aside to allow the Ranager to unleash devastating turbolaser barrages upon the New Republic fleet and then immediately tighten their formation again, frustrating Ackbar who repeatedly tried to penetrate the fleet, to no avail.^[11]

The tide started to turn with the Amity's destruction as a result of Captain Groff, commander of the ISD Punishment panicking and ramming it with his entire ship. This created a temporary break in the Imperial formation, which Ackbar swiftly took advantage of by having the Concord insert itself into the fleet and directly attack the Ravager. Despite taking heavy damage from the remainder of the Imperial fleet and succumbing to Jakku's gravity, the Concord ensnared the Star Dreadnought with its tractor beam and several New Republic starfighter groups disabled its engines, causing both ships to fall to the surface and burn up.^[11] This irreparably ruined the tactics carefully devised by Randd and his staff prior to the battle, and left the ISDs to fend for themselves with no backup. The battle quickly devolved into chaos, with some ship commanders opting to trap New Republic vessels with their tractor beams and then crash their ships into Jakku to destroy them both, and New Republic fighters penetrating the Imperial lines and striking the same vessels from their flanks.^[24] Soon, New Republic ground forces under General Carlist Rieekan began landing on the surface aboard U-wing support craft and engaging the stormtroopers defending the Imperial research facility. Despite the Imperials fighting with unprecedented ferocity,^[11] New Republic troopers managed to encircle them by dividing their units,^[24] turning the tide in their favor kilometer by kilometer. Despite all significant fighting being over within the day, some Imperial hardliners continued fighting the losing battle for months after the signing of the peace treaty.^[11]

End of Empire[]

While the battle on Jakku still raged, Emperor Amedda's quarters were infiltrated by a child insurgent group calling themselves the Anklebiter Brigade. Although the children initially intended to assassinate him, Amedda convinced them to rescue him from his ISB bodyguards who had increasingly began to be affiliated with Rax and actively preventing him from leaving. The Brigade took Amedda to the New Republic, where he suggested the beginning of peace talks. His offer was, however, rejected by Mon Mothma who understood that Amedda's powers over the Empire were purely ceremonial. Amedda subsequently remained in New Republic custody until the Imperial defeat on Jakku confirmed Rax's death, leaving him the sole ruler of the Imperial government. With his powers now practically restored, the Emperor was finally allowed to meet with the New Republic representatives in Hanna City of Chandrilla. Before Chancellor Mothma, Princess Leia and Mothma's advisers Sinjir Velus and Sondiv Sella, Amedda signed the official document of the Galactic Concordance, certifying the Galactic Empire's conditional surrender to the New Republic and formally ending the Galactic Civil War. According to the Imperial Instruments of Surrender, all Imperial officers surviving the war were to be considered war criminals, except for the case of non-combatant civilian functionaries such as Amedda^[11] and suspected unwilling or forced collaborators, who were given pardons and entered the New Republic Amnesty Program.^[28]

Interbellum[]

With the collapse of Rax's effort, the Empire was scattered around the galaxy. Sloane and the Huxes reached the Emperor's flagship, the Eclipse which was hidden deep in the Unknown Regions and, joining a select few others lying in wait they formed a powerful military coalition.^[11] Their fraction would stay hidden from the New Republic for decades, gathering power, resources and troopers until its re-emergence in 29 ABY when it would appear to the galaxy as an alternative to what some saw as a failed and corrupt New Republic.^[7]

Other remnants survived the Battle of Jakku and the subsequent mass arrests by intentionally or forcefully seceding from Rax's union before the fight. Those included the Yomo Council, who refused to join the gathering of forces above the planet and was destroyed by Sloane's 204th Imperial Fighter Wing, the Chadawan government and its fleet who were cut off from their route to Jakku by New Republic starships under General Hera Syndulla^[4] and Grand General Kenner Loring's forces who opposed Rax's rule and entrenched themselves on Malastare^[3] Some of those collapsed or were destroyed in the months following the signing of the Galactic Concordance.^[6] Others peacefully retreated into the Core Worlds, the Colonies and the Inner Rim, where they were allowed to remain as long as they didn't engage in any major offensives against the New Republic. These forces, situated in some of the wealthiest worlds in the galaxy,^[2] eventually part of the political party of the Centrists who rose to power in the Galactic Senate by demanding the New Republic adopt a more centralized government akin to the Imperial Senate.^[29]

In the years following the Battle of Jakku, the New Republic faced no significant opposition from the remains of the Empire, leading to wariness of the threat casually diminishing. However, units of ex-Imperial officers were scattered around the Outer Rim, far from the prying eyes of the New Republic, who warlords established their dominance over small, isolated territories that remaining in Imperial control and engaged in pilfering and raiding of settlements in order to supply themselves. One such remnant was located in an abandoned refinery in Morak,^[30] where a number of ex-ISB agents and troopers including General Valin Hess stayed hidden, occasionaly sending HCVw A9.2 juggernaut transports out to gather unrefined rhydonium to power the facility.^[12] Another remnant led by Jakku escapee Moff Randd was hiding in the Queluhan Nebula, where it plotted a return to power.^[8]

Heir to the Empire[]

In round 9 ABY, news of Grand Admiral Thrawn's survival from his exile to beyond started spreading around the galaxy. Those eventually reached his former subordinate Captain Gilad Pellaeon, who firmly believed in the Chiss' ability to return to power even after so many years. Pellaeon gathered a number of Outer Rim remnants and they banded together to prepare for an organized attack against the New Republic under Thrawn's eventual leadership. These Remnants called themselves the Shadow Council in remembrance of Rax's failed attempt at seizing the New Republic, and intentionally avoided direct contact so as to prevent being considered as a potential threat by the Republic until it was too late.^[10]

The new Shadow Council included the forces of ISB agent Moff Gideon, who had established a headquarters in Mandalore^[31] following its warriors' destruction^[9] in the Great Purge.^[32] Gideon wanted to create a new type of supersoldier -combining the genetic material of a Force-sensitive, the armor and technology of the Mandalorians and the cloning technology of the Kaminoans- to retake the galaxy;^[31] to that end, he established a research facility^[33] and staging grounds in the planet Nevarro to advance the technology needed for his project under Doctor Penn Pershing.^[34] His plans were thwarted by Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin, who rescued Gideon's test subject Grogu and along with local Bounty Hunters' Guild representative Greef Karga eventually drove his forces out of the planet^[9] and destroyed his base.^[33]

Gideon was forced to confine his operations in the Mandalore system, but was discovered by Lady Bo-Katan Kryze when his fighter/bomber squadron destroyed her family castle.^[10] Kryze and Djarin then led an assault against his base accompanied by Kryze's allies, which led to the site being destroyed and Gideon's death.^[31] With the Chiss set to become heir to the Empire,^[35] the rumors of Thrawn's return to power were coming from industrialist and starship-builder Lady Morgan Elsbeth, who became one of Thrawn's closest allies during the Galactic Civil War. While ruling in the shadows in the city of Calodan in Corvus to avoid New Republic prosecution, Elsbeth, as a survivor of the Nightsisters, received visions of Thrawn's survival in her dreams.^[36] Those were manipulated by three fellow Nightsisters, the Great Mothers, who had encountered Thrawn in his exile in the extragalactic planet of Peridea and agreed to assist him in exchange for passage to the main galaxy.^[14]

Steadfast in her belief of her visions, Elsbeth had her allies in the Santhe Shipyards of Corellia begin to modify SSD hyperdrive cores and shipping them to the Denab system; there, she believed, the path to Thrawn's location began.^[36] Despite Elsbeth's arrest and surrender to the New Republic by former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano,^[37] construction of the cores continued normally, with all finished engines being integrated into a supersized hyperspace transport ring, the Eye of Sion. The shipping of the final core was interrupted by the arrival of General Syndulla and Tano, who were suspecting Elsbeth's influence over the shipyards following her mysterious liberation from custody by two Force-users. Despite their surprise, shipyards personnel engaged the two, allowing transport CT-O5 carrying the core to escape to its destination. General Syndulla narrowly managed to plant a homing beacon^[36] on it, which she and a squadron of New Republic T-65B X-wing starfighters tracked down to investigate, only to find the Eye ready and jumping to hyperspace.^[35]

On board the starship, Elsbeth and her rescuers Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati and their captive Sabine Wren successfully completed the journey through the intergalactic void and reached Thrawn's location. Upon their arrival to Peridea, they rendezvoused with his Star Destroyer, the Chimaera, and began loading it with supplies in preparation for the return trip.^[14] Despite the attempts of Bokken Jedi Ezra Bridger, who was also stranded on the planet, Wren, who had joined him, and Tano, who had managed to reach Peridea herself on board a purrgil to stop him,^[14] Thrawn escaped the galaxy on board the Eye of Sion, taking his forces and repaired Star Destroyer with him.^[15]

First Order's origins[]

While Imperial forces were in tatters and had fled across deep space^[39] by 21 ABY,^[40] an Imperial remnant persisted in the Unknown Regions and had formed a new command structure by that year. However, at that time, that new command was still forming, existing in a skeletal and obscure state. Indeed, the remnant forces in the Unknown Regions existed as scattered hideouts at that moment. The Corporate Sector Authority also secretly entered into an alliance with this remnant and funded it, but Enric Pryde—who would be dispatched to the CSA under the codename "Steadfast"—knew the CSA would be willing to abandon the remnant in the name of its bottom line.^[41] The First Order would be formed in 21 ABY^[18] by the Unknown Regions remnant,^[2] with Pryde becoming one of the regime's members. Pryde also became a spy for the resurrected Darth Sidious and the Sith Eternal within the First Order.^[42]

Behind the scenes[]

The Imperial Remnant first appeared the 2015 novel "Lost Stars" that was released on September 15, 2015.^[44] However the term "Imperial remnant" didn't officially enter Star Wars canon until the third issue of the four-issue comic miniseries Star Wars: Shattered Empire that was released on October 14, 2015.^[45]

In Star Wars Legends the Imperial Remnant first appearance in the 1996 novel Before the Storm, the first book in the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy.^[46] Eventually the Imperial Remnant would be led by Gilad Pellaeon until he was killed by Tahiri Veila in the Second Battle of Fondor.^[47]

Appearances[]

Non-canon appearances[]

• LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Flight of the Falcon"
• LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Gambit on Geonosis"
• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Trick-or-Treat"
• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Ghost Ship"
• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Happy Celebration 45th Anniversary A New Hope"
• Star Wars: Visions — "THE TWINS"

Sources[]

Notes and references[]