Gallius Rax

"This is how it must be. The Empire became this...ugly, inelegant machine. Crude and inefficient. We needed to be broken into pieces. We needed to get rid of those who want to see that old machine churning ineluctably forward. It's time for something better. Something new. An Empire worthy of the galaxy it will rule."

- Gallius Rax, to Rae Sloane

Gallius Rax was a male individual from the desert planet Jakku who served as Fleet Admiral of the Galactic Empire. Rax commanded the Super Star Destroyer Ravager. Following the Battle of Endor, he secretly fed intelligence to the New Republic under the guise of the "Operator," informing Republic military leaders of vulnerable Imperial routes and planetary officials who would be willing to leave the Empire and join the New Republic.

Gallius Rax came into contact with Imperial admiral Rae Sloane and orchestrated an emergency summit of surviving Imperial leaders on Akiva, which the invitees believed was an attempt to save the fractured Empire. As the Operator, he tipped the Republic off to the Imperial presence on Akiva, ensuing in a battle between the New Republic Starfleet and the Imperial Navy. The battle resulted in either the capture or death of all but one Imperial Future Council member, Admiral Sloane, fulfilling Rax's objective of "culling the herd."

Early life
A male human, Gallius Rax was born on the desert planet Jakku. An orphan, he spent the first twelve years of his life in slavery, and would go by the nickname "Galli". He would eventually stow away onboard the Imperialis in an attempt to escape Jakku, after seeing Adviser Yupe Tashu order a droid to begin excavating a location on the Plaintive Hand plateau. During the trip, Sheev Palpatine sensed his presence and offered Rax two choices: to either end his life quickly, or to accept the destiny Palpatine sensed for him. Choosing the latter option, Palpatine took him on as a protégé and gave him his first task: to return to Jakku to guard the excavation site by any means necessary and to monitor the droids doing the excavating. Before returning young Gallius to Jakku, Palpatine stated that they would be on a first-name basis, introducing himself as Sheev, and stating that "an Emperor must have friends, after all."

Imperial Service
Essentially a ghost until two decades before the Battle of Jakku, he first appeared on an Imperial roster at age 20 as a commander, an abnormal rank for someone with no history in the Imperial Military. His first assignment was to the Galactic Empire's Naval Intelligence Agency, stationed primarily in the Outer Rim. His reports, designated "Eyes Only" for Imperial Security Bureau agent and eventually NIA Deputy Director Wullf Yularen, bypassed Vice Admirals Terrinald Screed and Dodd Rancit in the chain of command. Following the destruction of the first Death Star and the death of Yularen, his reports were sent directly to Emperor Palpatine himself.

During his service, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Galactic Empire, as well as the Nova Star, the Medal of Service, the Galactic War on Insurgency medal, the Gilded Sun, and the Emperor's Will medal, though what he did to be awarded the medals, or when, was unknown.

Eventually, Rax would serve in the Galactic Empire's Navy,, eventually attaining the rank of Fleet Admrial, and was stationed aboard the Super Star Destroyer Ravager. In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, which saw the deaths of Emperor Sheev Palpatine, Darth Vader, and the destruction of both the Death Star II and the Executor, Rax set to work on building a stronger, more efficient Empire.

Knowing that those whose loyalty to the Empire wavered had no place in a new Empire, Rax took on the codename the "Operator," feeding intelligence to the fledgling New Republic on vulnerable Imperial routes and galactic leaders who would likely secede from the Empire and join the Republic. At some point, he came into contact with Imperial admiral Rae Sloane, the officer who took command of the Imperial fleet during the Battle of Endor after the demise of the Imperial leadership there and ordered the retreat to the Annaj system.

Rax sent Sloane to the planet Akiva, where an emergency summit among several remaining Imperial leaders was to be held. Sloane kept Rax's involvement in arranging the summit a secret from the others, telling Moff Valco Pandion that he was no longer living. Sloane and the other Imperials–Moff Pandion, General Jylia Shale, Adviser Yupe Tashu, and the moneylender Arsin Crassus–formed the Imperial Future Council, which sought to preserve the fragmenting Empire.

Under the guise of the Operator, Rax contacted the New Republic and informed them of the Imperial presence at Akiva, prompting Republic Fleet Admiral Gial Ackbar to dispatch a probe droid to the planet to investigate. Once the probe had reached Akiva, the Operator spoke with Ackbar and Ensign Deltura, the Republic officer responsible for launching the probe, via hologram. After learning from the droid that no starships were detected going in or out of Akiva, the Operator told Deltura to have the probe ping the comm relays on the planet. Upon receiving no response, the Operator informed Ackbar that this was an Imperial trick, and that the Empire must have instituted a planetary blockade and hidden their ships. The Operator asked the Mon Calamari admiral if he would act on this information, but received no reply, and had his feed cut by the admiral..

After receiving a message from Republic captain Wedge Antilles, who was being held captive by the Empire on Akiva, Ackbar ordered Commander Kyrsta Agate to take a small fleet to the planet and engage Imperial forces there. A battle ensued in the planet's orbit, resulting in the destruction of two Star Destroyers, the death of Moff Pandion and Crassus, and the capture of General Shale and Adviser Tashu. Admiral Sloane, who commanded the Imperial forces during the battle, managed to escape aboard Pandion's Destroyer, the Vanquish, and rendezvoused with Rax in the Vulpinus Nebula. Aboard the Ravager, Sloane met with Admiral Rax and asked him about the Republic transmissions sent from his ship. Admiral Rax told her that forcing the Republic and Empire to engage over Akiva had been a test, proving that Sloane was one of his "best and brightest." The other IFC members had failed this test, and as a result were no longer a burden to the admiral. After informing Sloane of his plans for a new Empire, he sent her on her way as he continued thinking to himself.

After Sloane failed his test of accepting the use of freed prisoners of Ashmead's Lock to assassinate key New Republic figures on Chandrila, Rax proclaimed himself Counselor to the Empire before repositioning the Ravager and most, if not all, remainder of the Imperial Navy to Jakku, setting the stage for the forthcoming Battle of Jakku.

Personality and traits
Gallius Rax was known to have a strong appreciation for classical music, enjoying such pieces as the "Sestina of Imperator Vex." He was intelligent, calculating, and manipulative, as evidenced by orchestrating the battle of Akiva.

Appearances

 * Aftermath
 * Aftermath: Life Debt