Imperial Remnant

The Imperial Remnant was the government for what remained of the Galactic Empire following the reunification of the Deep Core warlords by Admiral Daala and the subsequent campaigns of expansion and stability under then-Admiral Gilad Pellaeon around 12-13 ABY.

Name
The offical name of the Imperial Remnant was the Galactic Empire. The term Imperial Remnant initially had a derogatory connotation, especially used by New Republic citizens, but Imperials eventually came to use the term as well.

The term "Remnant" was an overt reference to the vastly diminished size of the Galactic Empire, and the fact that the majority of former Imperial systems and sectors had gone over to the New Republic or smaller, independent governments. Though the use of the term 'Imperial Remnant' seemed to have lessened somewhat following the Empire's decision to join the war against the Yuuzhan Vong in the wake of the failed Vong invasion of Imperial space, even the enlarged and revitalized Empire that existed in the post-war Galaxy could still be considered the "Imperial Remnant".

While the Remnant moniker was usually used for the post-treaty Empire, the term occasionally popped up in New Republic slang a handful of years prior to the end of the Galactic Civil War. For example, the Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn and even Mon Mothma were known to have referred to the Empire as the Imperial Remnant prior to the Empire’s decision to sue for peace.

History
There was no official starting point of the Remnant or end of the Empire. Five dates were applicable: 4 ABY, following the death of Palpatine at the Battle of Endor; 11 ABY, following the death of the reborn Palpatine; several months after that, following the death of the last Galactic Emperor, Xandel Carivus; 12 ABY, following the unification of the Deep Core warlords by Admiral Daala and the subsequent campaigns of expansion and unification undertaken by Gilad Pellaeon; and 19 ABY, following the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty.

12-13 ABY have been chosen as the founding dates over 19 ABY due to the fact that Imperial Remnant government came to function in its modern form sometime after 12 ABY, but long before 19 ABY.

War against the Yuuzhan Vong
The Empire adopted an isolationist stance until the New Republic’s former chief of state, Leia Organa Solo, went on a diplomatic mission to the Remnant to seek an alliance against the Yuuzhan Vong shortly after the Battle of Dantooine. Grand Admiral Pellaeon, seeing the threat the Yuuzhan Vong posed to the galaxy, persuaded the Council of Moffs to send a fleet to assist the New Republic.

The Imperials rescued a New Republic task force and aided in the eventually futile defense of the planet Ithor. When Ithor was devastated by Yuuzhan Vong's biological weapons, the Council of Moffs ordered Grand Admiral Pellaeon to return to Imperial space and ready Imperial defenses against a possible attack by the extragalactic aliens. Grudgingly, Pellaeon obeyed. Curiously, Pellaeon did not withdraw the entirety of Imperial forces from Republic space, as a small Imperial task force centered around the Star Destroyer Erinnic continued to assist New Republic forces until the Battle of Ord Mantell. It appeared some Imperial elements defended Bilbringi prior to the Battle of Fondor.

As the war between the New Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong continued, the Imperial government and general populace grew increasingly convinced that the Yuuzhan Vong would simply bypass the Remnant. For a number of years, they were correct. Even though Pellaeon personally favored of joining the military campaign against the Yuuzhan Vong, the political leadership of the Empire remained officially neutral. Despite yet another attempt on Leia Organa Solo’s part to forge a military alliance between the two states, the Remnant continued to stay out of the fighting. Grand Admiral Pellaeon, however, supplied the New Republic with the Empire’s highly classified star charts of the Deep Core regions as a gesture of good faith. The New Republic would later use these state secrets to plan a highly successful trap at Ebaq 9.

Perhaps in retaliation for the Empire’s hand in the preparation of the Battle of Ebaq 9, the Yuuzhan Vong launched an invasion of the Imperial Remnant. Despite achieving the element of surprise and burning the capital city of the Empire to the ground from orbit, the attack would prove disastrous for the Yuuzhan Vong.

Grand Admiral Pellaeon, although wounded in the initial assault on Bastion, was able to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong at the Battle of Borosk, forcing the alien invasion force to retreat and abandon its attempts to knock the Imperial Remnant out of the war. Following the victory at Borosk, Grand Admiral Pellaeon was again able to ram an alliance down the collective throat of the Imperial Council of Moffs, despite extreme resistance from old guard Imperial politicians such as Moff Flennic, who came close to attempting an assassination on the Old Man of the Empire.

While the Empire lent its fleets to assisting the Galactic Alliance, Grand Admiral Pellaeon personally commanded a squadron that chased down the surviving vessels from the Yuuzhan Vong fleet that had invaded the Empire. After a string of indecisive victories, Pellaeon routed the Yuuzhan Vong fleet at the Battle of Esfandia.

In the operation to retake the Bilbringi system, a handful of Imperials took part in the near-disastrous battle. Those who found their way into the system were TIE Defender pilots from the interdictor Wrack, including the ship’s captain, Mynar Devis. All the Imperials were killed when they attempted to disable a Yuuzhan Vong Interdictor. Gilad Pellaeon’s reaction to learning of Captain Devis’ death led Jaina Solo to believe Devis was somehow Pellaeon’s son.

The Empire participated in numerous other battles near the end of the war, most notably in the defense of the Galactic Alliance’s provisional capitol on Mon Calamari and the invasion and liberation of occupied Coruscant. In a private ceremony following the surrender of the Yuuzhan Vong, Grand Admiral Pellaeon presented Han and Leia Organa Solo with a piece of art from Pellaeon’s personal collection&mdash;Killik Twilight, a painting that Pellaeon had inherited from his mentor, Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Government and Politics
The organization of the Imperial Remnant was different from that of the Empire under Palpatine in several distinct ways. The government of the Imperial Remnant was headed by the Imperial Council of Moffs, an oligarchy which governed a confederation of the sectors still under Imperial control. Each Moff represented a component sector of the Empire and governed that sector with few apparent checks or balances to their authority from within or without their sector. Moffs also acted as the commanders-in-chief of their Sector Fleets. The Supreme Commander could, however, "federate" and command all Imperial military assets, including sector fleets, during times of emergency or at the Supreme Commander’s discretion.

The authority of the Supreme Commander to federate the Moffs’ regional units was the only explicitly demonstrated political check to the Council of Moffs’ powers. The Supreme Commander at the end of the Galactic Civil War and during the Yuuzhan Vong War, Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, was regarded by the general populace of the Galaxy and such other interstellar governments as the New Republic and the Chiss Ascendancy as the leader of the Empire, an assessment Pellaeon agreed with.

It was unclear how the Council of Moffs appointed or elected a new Supreme Commander or how Moffs gained their positions. Some of the Moffs may have been those appointed by Palpatine or his successors to govern their sectors when the Galactic Empire still controlled the Galaxy, while others could have seized power as much of the Imperial hierarchy splintered into factions led by warlords.

Economy
Main article: Galactic economy

Economically, the Imperial Remnant suffered tremendously following the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty. Cheaper goods from the Republic flooded Imperial markets, and the Imperial credit's value plummeted rapidly and remained weak for several years.

Arts and Culture
In social terms, the Imperial Remnant was drastically different from the Palpatine-era Empire. Blatant anti-alien and anti-female bias was a thing of the past, with one Moff during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion being a woman. In terms of basic rights, life in the Remnant, though far ahead of Palpatine's Empire, still lagged slightly behind the New Republic.

Military
Militarily, the Remnant maintained Sector Fleets centered around a dozen or so Star Destroyers for each component sector, and a strategic, federal-styled force of ships under the direct command of the Imperial Navy. At the time of the Bastion Accords, the number of Star Destroyers in the Starfleet was said to be approximately two hundred, with some thousands of smaller capital ships. Given the poor economic condition of the Empire following the end of the Galactic Civil War, it seems unlikely that the Remnant would have expanded its forces to any great degree.

The primary ships of the line in the Imperial Starfleet remained the venerable Imperial- and Victory-class Star Destroyers that it relied on for decades &mdash; a testament to the sturdiness and prowess of the designs. In addition, the Imperial Remnant possessed one "Super Star Destroyer" of unspecified class just prior to the Yuuzhan Vong attack on Bastion. By that time, the Imperial Starfleet mainly fielded aging warships of unspecified numbers and types, including the outdated Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers that were developed nearly half a century earlier during the peak of the Clone Wars.

The main Imperial starfighters active against the Yuuzhan Vong were the TIE interceptor and the TIE Defender. They acquitted themselves well enough against Yuuzhan Vong Coralskipper fighters, but they were never as effective against other Yuuzhan Vong craft as "stutterfire"-capable Galactic Alliance craft were. The SoroSuub Preybird and Incom I-7 Howlrunner fighters that increasingly became the backbone of the Imperial fighter force prior to the Galactic Civil War's conclusion took a backseat to new TIE fighter designs. This may have been at the behest of Grand Admiral Pellaeon himself, who was known to have criticized the Preybird design shortly before the signing of the Bastion Accords.

The Imperial Army remained in fighting trim, with Imperial ground forces assisting in the liberation and occupation of Coruscant at the end of the war against the Yuuzhan Vong. AT-AT walkers were apparently still in use as well. In addition, Imperial Stormtroopers at one point assisted Jedi Knight Jacen Solo to expose traitors and infiltrators inside the Imperial ranks.

Astrography
Imperial Remnant's territory consisted of eight "backwater" sectors in the Outer Rim that bordered the Unknown Regions. The original name of the Remnant's capital world was Sartinaynian; however, it was codenamed Bastion by the Empire, which eventually became the most commonly-used name for it Galaxy-wide. It is possible that the Remnant increased its size following the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, but this is as yet unconfirmed.

At the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Remnant consisted of "a few thousand" worlds spread among eight sectors (sometimes referred to as Imperial Space) and populated by 15 different species. Notable planets, systems, and sectors under Remnant control were:


 * Braxant Sector
 * Bastion
 * Rimcee Station
 * Borosk system
 * Borosk
 * Clacis Sector
 * Ord Sedra
 * Dolis system
 * Dolis 3
 * D'Astan Sector
 * Nez Peron
 * Muunilinst system
 * Muunilinst (also known as "Moneylend")
 * Orinda
 * Shataum Sector (possibly)
 * Kroctar
 * Valc system
 * Valc VII
 * Yaga system
 * Yaga Minor (only major Remnant shipyard)