Fel Empire

The Fel Empire, also called the Empire or the New Order with a Personal Face, was the government that formed out of what remained of the Imperial Remnant some time after 40 ABY, to reflect the partial recovery of the Galactic Empire's former power and prestige, and also the restoration of the Imperial monarchy by the Fel dynasty after decades of interregnum.

The revived regime became the dominant power in the galaxy once again by the conclusion of the Sith-Imperial War of 127–130 ABY, only to be replaced with a Sith Empire a few days later, forcing those loyal to Fel into exile.

History
"If we're destroyed&mdash;if we all die&mdash;the concepts and ideals of the New Order will die with us. But if we surrender, we can keep those ideals alive. Then, if and when the New Republic self destructs, we'll be positioned to rise again."

- Gilad Pellaeon

It is not clear if the official name of this government was anything other than the Galactic Empire, but from c. 12 ABY, a new de facto political constitution had emerged, with military power being held by the Regional Governors of the Moff Council, in alliance with Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon as Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet; from about 19 ABY, the term Imperial Remnant was often applied to this regime and the relatively small fragment of territory it ruled&mdash;though Imperial loyalists themselves usually spoke of "Imperial Space" or simply "the Empire".

By the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War, the "Galactic" Empire had actually become a member state of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. This also eventually allowed Gilad Pellaeon to succeed Sien Sovv as Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force, signifying the level of cooperation and integration of the former galactic government with the new one, at least at that time period. The appointment of former Imperial General Turr Phennir, however, as the Supreme Commander of the combined Confederation military may indicate the existence of secessionist sympathizers within the semi-autonomous Empire.

At some point, following the Second Galactic Civil War, the Imperial Remnant once again began to gain strength. Under Fel I, who retook the title of Emperor, the Imperial Remnant started the Victory Without War program. The capital, Bastion, became one of the most fortified planets in the galaxy.

The Sith-Imperial War
At some point, the One Sith sabotaged reconstruction efforts on Yuuzhan Vong-terraformed worlds, to the detriment of the planets' inhabitants and killing millions in the process. The Galactic Alliance soon found itself facing a secession movement mirroring that of the Separatists during the Clone Wars. The Empire used this situation to entice Alliance member worlds to secede and become part of Imperial space. But the Empire wanted all of the Alliance worlds, including its capital.

Eventually, the Moff Council invoked the Treaty of Anaxes against the will of Emperor Roan Fel, and in 127 ABY, the Sith-Imperial War broke out, and the One Sith allied with the Empire. The war resulted in the fall of the Alliance and the reestablishment of the Empire as the primary galactic government. The remnants of the Alliance were absorbed into the Empire, but the Galactic Alliance Core Forces remained, and continued to fight the resurgent Empire. Shortly after the fall of the Alliance the Emperor called upon the entire New Jedi Order to surrender and subject their will to the Empire. Some of them did becoming Imperial Knights, while the others held to the will of the Force and retreated to Ossus.

The coup
After the Alliance defeat and the Massacre of Ossus, the Sith under the command of Darth Krayt turned against Emperor Roan Fel. He launched a daring coup, marching with his cohorts straight into Fel's audience chamber himself, and killing the man who sat on the throne. After the man's death, Krayt sat himself in his place. Noting the confusion and outrage from the members of the Moff Council who were present, he laid out the facts of life for them: "Roan Fel never really embraced the war or the idea of a unified galaxy. He went along with it as a political necessity. That's not what the Empire&mdash;what the galaxy&mdash;needs. The galaxy writhes in chaos and disorder. It requires a man of vision. I am that man of vision. I am the new Emperor."

- Darth Krayt

Faced with little choice, the Moff Council swore loyalty to him. For the first time since Darth Caedus, a Sith Lord held the galactic seat of power. At once he set about imposing order on a galaxy that sorely needed it, but this too was an incomplete victory. The "Emperor" he had killed had been a double; the real Fel was a fully trained Imperial Knight and would surely have defended himself, rather than just stand there and let himself be slain. It was imperative that the real Fel be found before he recruited allies among the Moffs, the military, or those Jedi who had survived the massacre at Ossus.

Fel's insurgency
Not all of the Empire recognized Darth Krayt's authority. Over the years, forces loyal to Fel gathered on Bastion, awaiting the return of their true Emperor. With the Imperial Knights leader Antares Draco and the 501st Legion commander General Oron Jaeger at his side, Fel took control of the planet in 137 ABY, knowing that Krayt would be wary to amass a frontal assault on the heavily fortified planet.

As the factions of Krayt and Fel grew larger, units that once served with each other were now forced to fight against one another for control of territory around the galaxy. Case in point was the battle between the 407th and 908th Stormtrooper Divisions on Borosk. Later on, Gar Stazi agreed to co-operate with Fel, in an attempt to aid him in order to overthrow Darth Krayt's Sith Empire.

Government and politics


"I was tired of Fel playing us against each other!"

- Moff Geist

The Empire was ruled by an Emperor, a sovereign ruler for life, yet the Moff Council held considerable power, and were advisors to the Emperor. By all accounts the reign of Roan Fel was relatively benevolent, and had far less of the abuses of power and tyrannical excesses of the Empire under Palpatine, though he was not above and was capable of playing power games in order to mantain his authority.

The Moffs not only governed sectors, but also managed both the Imperial Military and Imperial Intelligence, as well as other institutions such as the Imperial Mission and the Imperial Diplomatic Corps, and held enough power to invoke treaties and to launch wars. Still, some of them, such as Moff Geist, longed to return to the days were the Empire was under the complete control of the Council.

Astrography
The new Galactic Empire's territory originally consisted of a few "backwater" sectors in the Outer Rim Territories that bordered the Unknown Regions. At some point, following the Second Galactic Civil War, the Imperials once again began to regain territories. As a result of the Sith-Imperial War, the territories of the Galactic Alliance were absorbed into the Empire (except a few worlds).

The capital of the Empire was originally Bastion but it was moved to Coruscant, keeping in tradition with the previous galactic governments. However, Bastion continued to play an important role in Imperial affairs.

Behind the scenes
It was speculated among fans that the new Galactic Empire may have originated from the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances following the Second Galactic Civil War in 40 ABY. This was later proved wrong, as the Galactic Alliance and Empire existed as separate governments up through the Sith-Imperial War. In Star Wars Insider 87, John Ostrander considers the new Empire "not as inherently evil, but still not a republic, not a democracy. It's the rule of the few, or the one, over the many. It has a lot of strengths; it has a substantial amount of weaknesses. It values power more than anything else."

The term itself, "A New Order with a Personal Face" recalls the old Hungarian and 1960s communist movements in former Czechoslovakia and western Europe, who used the phrase "Communism with a human face" to try to differentiate themselves from the Soviet bloc.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Legacy 8: Allies
 * Star Wars Legacy 1: Broken, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy: Indomitable

Notes and references
Neues Galaktisches Imperium Nuevo Imperio Galáctico Новая Галактическая Империя Felin Imperiumi