Delta Source

Delta Source was the codename of an Imperial intelligence source during the early years of the New Republic. It proved essential to providing inside information to Grand Admiral Thrawn, which he used to further his campaign against the fledgling republic.

A remnant of Palpatine's reign and a demonstration of his supreme paranoia, Delta Source was one of many hidden systems scattered across Coruscant that the Emperor used to monitor his courtiers and officers. The system was composed of twin rows of ch'hala trees in the Great Corridor of Imperial Palace. A communications tube buried in the taproot of one of the trees converted the audio-activated ripples of the tree into sound. The converted signals were then transmitted to a maintenance droid that pruned the tree, and then broadcast out over maintain chatter.

During his campaign, Thrawn leaked information about the existence of Delta Source, causing the New Republic leadership to believe that there was a traitor amongst their ranks. Later investigation led Winter and Ghent, tasked with uncovering the source, to believe it was a mechanical espionage system, until Ghent discovered the ch'hala trees' purpose.

Although the Alliance and New Republic did not discover Delta Source until Thrawn's rule of the Empire, the spy system had actually been in place since before the outbreak of the Clone Wars.