Imperial Security Bureau

"The Imperial Security Bureau pays attention to patterns."

- Agent Alexsandr Kallus to Cumberlayne Aresko

The Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), also referred to as the Security Bureau or Imperial Security, was a law enforcement and intelligence agency of the Galactic Empire that was charged with matters of state security and ensuring the loyalty of citizens to the Empire. Aside from that, it happened to be one of the many umbrella organizations under the greater Commission for the Preservation of the New Order, and was larger than its sister agency Imperial Intelligence. It was led by ISB high command.

Early growth
The Imperial Security Bureau was formed by Galactic Emperor Palpatine himself as a secret police organization, dedicated to rooting out enemies of the New Order and maintaining stability throughout Imperial territories shortly after the proclamation of the New Order. Within fourteen years, the organization grew from a handful of agents into an organization double the size of Imperial Intelligence.

Following the Clone Wars, the agency helped oversee the dismantling of Confederate warships and martial supplies. Concurrent loyalty purges would see vast amounts of Separatist propaganda destroyed, rescinded, and withheld. Only a handful of propaganda posters such as Ansibella Delu's Count Dooku: Words of Truth would escape the purges. When Art Group agents discovered egregious violations of its artistic tenets, agents of the ISB were called in to make troublesome artists disappear.

Five years into the Emperor's reign, Imperial Intelligence agents found a cache of communications devices on the distant world of Murkhana and referred the case to the ISB who brought the matter to the Emperor and his Imperial Ruling Council, it was ultimately decided to send Wilhuff Tarkin and Darth Vader to investigate the cache, which was in reality set up by a small rebel cell, despite the ISB hoping to receive full oversight of the investigation from Imperial Intelligence and the Naval Intelligence Agency.

One of the ISB's top members was Agent Kallus, who worked in both the Investigation and Internal Affairs branches of the organization and searched for signs of disloyal activity or insurgency. His primary mission was to ensure it did not spread into a full-scale rebellion against the Empire. In the fifteenth year of the Empire, the Imperial Security Bureau took special interest in a crew of Lothal-based thieves, whose attacks on Imperial outposts revealed risks of sedition and gave warning signs of rebellion. After Senator Mon Mothma resigned from the Imperial Senate and condemned Emperor Palpatine on his actions on the Ghorman Massacre, the ISB issued an alert for Mon Mothma in an attempt to capture her. ISB agents also visited Cantham House on Coruscant, the meeting place of the Cantham House meetings, based on suspicions they had, and questioned Leia Organa and several others there.

Galactic Civil War
Following the destruction of the first Death Star, the ISB engaged in an increasing number of operations to root out the growing rebellion, and became busier than at any previous time in its history. These operations included a plan to sway mathematical genius Drusil Bephorin to the Empire's cause by keeping her in a sort of luxurious imprisonment on Denon. Project Hidden Eye was aimed at seeding sleeper operatives across the galaxy to spread propaganda and secretly report on citizens. The project, however, was cut short due to the intervention of Commander Luke Skywalker, a hero of the Rebel Alliance.

Post-Endor fragmentation
As with most other governmental agencies following the Empire's defeat at the Battle of Endor, the ISB was left scattered as the New Republic attacked distant ISB outposts and fermented dissent. Twenty days after the Battle of Endor, the ISB kept information on the Emperor's posthumous contingency plan on one of its Black Sites, the Wretch of Tayron. However, the base was then taken by Rebel Alliance General Han Solo and his elite Pathfinders. The base commander was unable to initiate a data purge and the Alliance was able to attain information on Operation: Cinder, thwarting attempts at its implementation for over three months.

In the months following Endor, the ISB was given full oversight over the security of the Imperial throneworld, Coruscant, after the Imperial Navy refused to provide ships to defend the planet, with Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax viewing it as a symbol of indolence and torpidity. As such, control of Imperial forces was left to the Empire's chief administrator, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda. While the ISB lacked the ships to effectively withstand a New Republic naval assault, ISB-loyal stormtroopers and personnel were deeply entrenched on the surface of the planet, which was already involved in a civil war between the ISB and New Republic-backed resistance movements.

The former loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus joined a team of Imperial hunters led by the New Republic starfighter pilot Norra Wexley and defected to the New Republic. After losing his family during a New Republic attack on the Hyborean Moon, Romwell Krass Junior abandoned his post and traveled the galaxy to grieve the loss of his loved ones. During the Battle of Jakku, Commander Brisney served as the ISB officer aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Inflictor.

Legacy
By 28 ABY, the Imperial Security Bureau had ceased to exist along with the "Old Empire". One former ISB officer was Arliz Hadrassian, a small-time businesswoman who was the leader of the Amaxine warriors; a paramilitary faction that served as a front group for the First Order, a remnant of the Old Empire based in the Unknown Regions. During a meeting with the Centrist senator Ransolm Casterfo, Hadrassian spent hours regaling the young senator with stories about her career in the Imperial Military and the ISB; unaware that he was part of Senator Leia Organa's investigation into the Amaxine warriors.

Command hierarchy and administration
The Imperial Security Bureau was a sister agency and rival to Imperial Intelligence. The ISB worked closely with Emperor Palpatine, being led five years into his reign by a Bureau Chief under which served Deputy Director Harus Ison and Colonel Wullf Yularen, who often operated in conjunction with the Joint Chiefs. ISB would sometimes be attached to various fleets, sometimes falling under the command of the Navy and working alongside Naval intelligence. Members of the ISB worked from the ISB Central Office as part of the Federal District on Coruscant, while agents in the field would constantly provide intelligence updates to headquarters. The ISB high command governed the ISB. Many military officers feared the group and its power.

Personnel
Prospective ISB personnel were drawn from the Imperial Academy system, and given training within the ISB Academy and Offices complex, located within the Verity District on planetside Coruscant. Members went through a training regimen which included the learning of xenophobic propaganda, and were taught from the ISB Loyalty Manual. Members of the ISB were taught a specialized vocabulary to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term "auditing" was used to signal that suspects knew they were being investigated. The practice of provoking a suspect to commit a crime was referred to as "crustbusting," and interrogating a supposed innocent in hopes he or she would react suspiciously was known as "scattering." Framing a wanted suspect for a crime to make sure he or she would be arrested was referred to as "Jabba."

Following completion of the Academy, recruits filed into one of several branches of the organization, such as Surveillance, Interrogation, and Re-Education.

High-ranking ISB agents could command stormtrooper squads, override orders of civilian and military authorities, replace questionable officers and commandeer Imperial military hardware, including Star Destroyers. Loyalty officers of the ISB were tasked with ensuring that regular troops and officers obeyed orders and conformed to Imperial ideology, and were regarded with great fear and respect. Impromptu inspections, undercover surveillance and seemingly limitless authority gave such officers unprecedented access to the lives of regular servicemen, creating a culture of fear to deter any tenuous links within the chain of command.

Surveillance
Operatives in the Surveillance branch were by far the most numerous, with its members focused on deciphering encrypted information and analyzing data to screen for potential threats against the New Order.

Interrogation
Interrogation was the second largest branch in the ISB, and was intent on extracting information from various lifeforms to obtain valuable information. It claimed to have a 95 percent success rate in recovering useful data from questioned subjects. To that end, the ISB notably used IT-O Interrogation Units developed by the Imperial Department of Military Research.

Re-Education
The Re-Education division was focused on what some would call 'brainwashing' its subjects into supporting the Galactic Empire and its actions across the galaxy. Project Unity consisted of re-educating elements of society resistant to the New Order through a process of psychological manipulation and pharmaceutical conditioning.

Enforcement
The Enforcement branch of the ISB served as backup for agents in the field, specially trained to provide support when necessary.

Investigation
Those in Investigation used previously collected data to suppress rebel activity.

Internal Affairs
The Internal Affairs division maintained order by investigating possible instances of insubordination within the Empire, with Colonel Wullf Yularen briefly heading a division dedicated to exposing sedition within the Imperial Senate before becoming Deputy Director of the Naval Intelligence Agency. In addition, a single Internal Affairs officer was stationed aboard all Star Destroyers to investigate any signs of sedition among the crew.

Special Operations
The Special Operations division was responsible for varying tasks within the Bureau, such as establishing Project Hidden Eye during the Galactic Civil War.

Behind the scenes
During the early development of what became Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, John Knoll's original story draft, which was planned to be an episode of the ultimately unproduced Star Wars: Underworld live-action TV show, depicted the character of Orson Callan Krennic as a double agent in Jyn Erso's Rogue One team reporting them to the Imperial Security Bureau, specifically to Willix Cree, his boss and an important member of the agency. The idea, however, was cut when writer Gary Whitta rewrote Knoll's treatment.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars Movie Short
 * Angry Birds Star Wars II
 * Angry Birds Star Wars II