Imperial Reunification

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"One Empire, one fleet—only this will guarantee us victory."
―Admiral Daala[1]

The Imperial Reunification was the process in which the warlord-led factions across the former Galactic Empire united into the Imperial Remnant. It was the final act of the Imperial Civil War, and also resulted in the reestablishment of the Imperial Army and Navy.

History

Events Leading To Reunification

"I disdain what these puffed-up, self-appointed warlords have inflicted upon our fighting forces. These squabbling children have caused as much damage to the Empire as the Rebel Alliance has."
―Admiral Daala, 12 ABY[1]
Admiral Daala c. 11 ABY.

Following the death of Palpatine during the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire had slowly begun to dissolve, as numerous leaders worked to secure their own power, resulting in the creation of numerous fiefdoms. Most warlords had established themselves before Sate Pestage had been forced from the Imperial throne. His replacement, the Ruling Council, held power for only a short period of time before the Director of Imperial Intelligence, Ysanne Isard, assassinated them and took power for herself. Isard mostly managed to hold the rest of the Empire together for nearly two years before the New Republic made it a priority to capture Coruscant. With the loss of the capital world the Empire splintered heavily, with established warlords picking up the pieces that Isard left behind. Isard herself established a small fiefdom based on the world of Thyferra. At this point the central power of the Empire fell to a coalition of moffs and advisors. However, their power was overshadowed by warlords, most notably Warlord Zsinj.

With the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Empire enjoyed a brief period of relative unity. During this time, many factions pledged their loyalty to the Grand Admiral. However, other factions managed little more than to stop fighting each other during this time. Warlords like Prince-Admiral Krennel lent support by providing personnel and resources. This Imperial peace was in danger of disintegrating following the Battle of Bilbringi. However, Imperial commanders and Moffs managed to maintain and make use of this unity for a little while longer by launching an all-out assault on Coruscant, forcing the new government into exile. Once it seemed like the Empire might actually win, the infighting started again, resulting in the Imperial Civil War.

Following the Imperial Civil War, Emperor Palpatine re-emerged in a clone body on the Deep Core world of Byss. With the weaker commanders culled from the herd and the traitors obvious and ready for execution, Palpatine was able to reforge the Empire into a great power. He spent all his resources building his fleet, most prominently through the use of superweapons. However, his clone host bodies were unstable and deteriorated rapidly. Before he could find a proper host, Palpatine was killed and Byss was destroyed shortly afterwards. The result was the loss of the majority of the rebuilt Imperial fleet and many of its personnel.

In 11 ABY, after a brief bout of destruction, Admiral Daala was forced to retreat to the Deep Core, one of the last remaining Imperial holdings. She worked for months as a freelance diplomat, trying to get the warlords to unite, and if that could not be achieved to at least stop fighting each other. Following an attack by High Admiral Treuten Teradoc and the death of her first-officer Commander Kratas, Admiral Daala was pressed into the service of Warlord Blitzer Harrsk.

Placed in command of Harrsk's fleet, Daala led the counterattack against Teradoc. However, before the battle could truly begin Daala took personal control of the gunnery station and fired on Warlord Harrsk's flagship, disabling it. She then threatened to blow them both up using her ship's self-destruct. An intrigued Vice Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, Thrawn's protégé (now leading Teradoc's fleet), who was similarly dissatisfied with the state of the Empire convinced her to retreat with him and discuss a possible alliance.

The Conference at Tsoss Beacon

"I didn't want to rule. I had no intention of becoming a political leader. …but you have given me no choice. I cannot leave the Empire in the hands of fools like you."
―Admiral Daala at Tsoss Beacon[1]
Vice-Admiral Pellaeon

Daala and Pellaeon established a meeting place on the Deep Core asteroid of Tsoss Beacon in 12 ABY, with the hope of convincing the Warlords to cease their petty rivalries for the good of the Empire. The two convened a conference of the thirteen most powerful Warlords. Among those in attendance were Blitzer Harrsk, Treuten Teradoc, and Sander Delvardus. Shortly into the meeting, when it became clear that the cease-fire wouldn't last much longer, Daala triggered the doors to slam shut and lock. Even she couldn't unlock them for three standard hours. This forced the Warlords to discuss cooperation for the future of the Empire. They eventually resorted to squabbling over their petty rivalries when they couldn't agree on anything.

Unfortunately, it became clear towards the end of the three hours that there would be no cooperation. Disgusted at the behavior of the remaining Imperial leaders, Daala released a powerful nerve gas which only she and Pellaeon were prepared against. Many of the Warlords rushed to the doors trying to force them open. Superior General Delvardus assembled a blade from his rank insignia, but fell short of killing Daala in his last moments. The last to survive was High Admiral Teradoc, whose bulk kept him planted in his chair and also made the nerve gas take longer to kill him. Shortly after the last of the warlords had apparently died, the doors unlocked and opened, with the three hours now up.

Daala's Reforms

"Imperial forces have been unified, squabbling warlords executed. Starship construction increased tenfold, new soldiers appearing by the tens of thousands…Imperial forces have clustered around a single commander, and it would appear that even women and aliens are allowed to serve to the extent of their abilities - a vast change from the Emperor's way of thinking, wouldn't you say? Charming to see an enlightened Imperial commander, isn't it?"
―Unnamed Hutt information broker[1]

With the death of the Warlords, Daala became the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. She amassed a huge fighting force of millions of stormtroopers; 45 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, 112 Victory-class Star Destroyers, and one Executor-class Super Star Destroyer, Knight Hammer; hundreds of AT-STs, Skipray Blastboats, TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, and TIE Interceptors; Gamma-class assault shuttles, and Lambda-class shuttles. Many of the vehicles and vessels were newly built from factories she personally toured, and many of the new soldiers were fresh recruits inspired by her charismatic public speaking. Daala's battle group quickly and quietly prepared for a brutal assault on the New Republic.

Daala assumed control over much of the Deep Core Imperial holdings. She also began reaching out to Imperial Fortress Worlds and systems with Imperial loyalties outside the Deep Core. While she didn't achieve solid alliances with many of these worlds at the time, she laid the groundwork for Pellaeon to eventually move the Imperial fleet out of the Deep Core and into the Mid Rim where he launched his own fresh assault against the New Republic.

In addition to military and political consolidation, Daala removed many of the restrictions on women and aliens that had run rampant. For the first time, women and nonhumans made up a large part of the Imperial war machine. This boosted morale and earned Daala the respect and loyalty of many Imperials.

The Assault on Yavin 4

Main article: Assault on Yavin 4

Now commanding the "United Warlord Fleets" out of the Deep Core, Daala began a campaign against the New Republic. The Moffs in the New Territories did not formally ally with her, but supported her logistically and financially. Daala planned to strike first at the growing New Jedi Order at the Praxeum on Yavin 4. To conceal her intentions, she sent Colonel Ivan Cronus with Crimson Command on a feint to engage in terror raids against targets of opportunity. Cronus bombarded Khomm, destroyed the Chardaan Shipyards, and attacked Porus Vida while Daala assembled her forces.[4]

However, a successful early campaign was completely undone by a humiliating failure at Yavin 4. Pellaeon arrived in the Yavin system with a fleet of 17 Star Destroyers with orders to destroy the Praxeum. Daala was only hours behind the vanguard fleet in her Super Star Destroyer Knight Hammer. Despite Luke Skywalker being absent, the Jedi Knights defended against the larger enemy force valiantly. Kyp Durron, Dorsk 81, Kam Solusar, Tionne Solusar, and the many other Jedi trainees would fight individual battles with the Imperial forces. However, they realized that they could not hold out forever against such a massive force. Having gathered for a last stand at the Great Temple, Dorsk 81 suggested to his fellow Jedi that they combine their Force powers similar to what they had done to destroy the spirit of vile Dark Lord Exar Kun. The powerful blast of Force energy drove Pellaeon's fleet away from Yavin 4 at the cost of Dorsk's life. Meanwhile, the Jedi Knight Callista Ming set off charges on Admiral Daala's ship, destroying several critical systems. Daala ordered an an immediate mass evacuation and the dying Knight Hammer was abandoned, falling into the crushing atmosphere of Yavin Prime.[4]

Aftermath

Daala promoted Gilad Pellaeon to full Admiral following her disastrous defeat at Yavin and surrendered command to him. Pellaeon took the decision to abandon the Deep Core, which he believed could be little more than a refuge for Imperial ideals, and could never support a functioning society. He took the fleet and scoured the abandoned Imperial armories for resources, retrieving squadrons of droid TIE fighters, warships, and arms caches. His greatest prize was the most surprising one: the Super Star Destroyers Megador and Dominion, left behind in Harrsk's shipyard Deep 3. Both Super Star Destroyers became the linchpins of Pellaeon's fleet.[4][5] Much of the infrastructure in the Deep Core remained, however, and replacement warlords sprang up to fill the shoes of the men Daala had murdered. These replacement warlords lacked military muscle but held tight control over their territories. Eventually these replacements wielded enough power that Daala formed them into a coalition to fight the New Republic. However, Daala didn't assume complete control this time and the replacement warlords crumbled under a series of border assaults by the New Republic in the Empire's final campaign.

Pellaeon took what Daala had done and expanded upon it. He established solid alliances with the fortress worlds and Moffs in the Mid Rim and moved the entire Imperial military and any resources he could out of the Deep Core. He established a new and respectable Imperial holding in the New Territories. From here it was easier for him to attack the New Republic and resources were more readily available, and the power of his Super Star Destroyers gave him the confidence to launch the Orinda campaign later in 12 ABY.[4][5]

The events Daala set in motion would pave the way for the formation of the Imperial Remnant, which would continue plaguing the Republic until the signing of the Bastion Accords on the Chimaera in 19 ABY.

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Darksaber
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The New Essential Chronology, p. 169
  3. ↑ The Essential Reader's Companion
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Essential Atlas, p. 209
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Essential Guide to Warfare, p. 211
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