Imperial Intelligence/Legends

"Imperial Intelligence. Seems it's not the oxymoron we've always thought it was."

- Governor Thorne Kraym

Imperial Intelligence, also known as the Bureau of Imperial Intelligence, Imperial Bureau of Investigation or the Imperial Intelligence Agency, abbreviated Imperial Intel, was an elite branch of the Galactic Empire, dedicated to collect information, secret and otherwise, for the Imperial government. It was headquartered at the Imperial Intelligence Headquarters.

It was a rival to the larger Imperial Security Bureau.

Galactic Empire
The Galactic Republic had maintained four different Intelligence networks: the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, Interstellar Consortium on Technology, Republican Security Organization, and Special Acquisitions Branch of the Library of the Republic.



Later Imperial accounts speak of the leaders of these networks being bypassed by corrupt members of the Galactic Senate, who were buying information from lower-level operatives in pursuit of their own political agendas, a description that might have, in fact, alluded to the activities of Mon Mothma and her political faction at the end of the Clone Wars and the time of the Petition of Two Thousand. It was probably in response to this that several of the leaders of the Intelligence organizations, including Armand Isard, Director of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, concluded an informal alliance, motivated by a belief that democratic government had failed the galaxy, and designed to forge their networks into a single tool in support of Palpatine. After the Declaration of the New Order, the disparate Republic organizations were formally amalgamated into the new Imperial Intelligence, with Isard in charge as Director of Intelligence.

It is not clear what relationship organizations known as Republic Intelligence and Clone Intelligence bore to these four networks, but it can be assumed that these were likewise amalgamated into Imperial Intel, perhaps under the umbrella of SBI or the RSO. A Republic military counterespionage officer, Admiral Kiner, appeared to have played a role in the establishment of what became the Renik division of the Bureau of Operations.

Presumably, the authority of the Senate Intelligence Oversight Committee to interfere in and oversee intelligence affairs was also removed during the reforms, but the speed and efficiency in which the Intelligence community had reorganized itself frightened several of Palpatine's advisors, including Lord Crueya Vandron, and the COMPOR organization was reorganized as COMPNOR to provide a counterpart under their own control.

Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Armand Isard was arrested and executed on Palpatine's orders, due to what seems to have been false information that he was aiding the Alliance to Restore the Republic, provided by Isard's own daughter, Ysanne. Palpatine then appointed her to become the new Intelligence director.

Imperial Remnant
By at least 19 ABY, Imperial Intelligence seems to have become an entity separate from the Ubiqtorate command structure. Imperial Intelligence agents were known to carry out orders of the sector Moffs without regard for commands from Ubiqtorate or High Command, as was the case in the creation of the organization Vengeance and the subsequent destruction of the Bothawui shield generator during the Caamas Document Crisis.

New Galactic Empire
By 130 ABY, Moff Nyna Calixte was in charge of Imperial Intelligence in the Fel Empire, and later Krayt's Empire, working in collaboration with Darth Maladi, her counterpart in Sith Intelligence and Assassination in Darth Krayt's One Sith. It was through Calixte that Krayt's Sith were able to first approach the Empire.

Organization


"It would really be simplest if you tell me what I want to know. Otherwise I must hand you over to Imperial Intelligence. Not a pleasant bunch. They&hellip; do things&hellip; to people."

- An anonymous Imperial Navy Intelligence interrogator

Imperial Intelligence consisted of eleven subdivisions:
 * Ubiqtorate
 * Adjustments
 * Internal Organization Bureau
 * Analysis Bureau
 * Crisis Branch
 * Bureau of Operations
 * Inquisitorius
 * Intelligence
 * Special Intelligence
 * Sector Plexus
 * System Cell

Both the Imperial CompLink and the Imperial Intelligence Signal Branch were important elements of Imperial Intelligence, but not subdivisions.

Like their counterparts in the Imperial Security Bureau, some Imperial Intelligence personnel made use of a military-style system of ranks similar to those of the Imperial Army and Stormtrooper Corps. Available sources identify officers with the full range of Army ranks, and confirm their presence in the Analysis Bureau, Sector Plexus, and the Bureau of Operations' Destabilization Branch:


 * Lieutenant Zuud of the Analysis Bureau
 * The anonymous captain, perhaps also from Analysis, who oversaw Lt. Zuud's breaking of Rebel agent Jorin Sol.
 * Commander Ilo Jev of Sector Plexus (later promoted to Colonel within the same division).
 * Major Kerri Lessev of the Destabilization Branch within the Bureau of Operations. Molo Himron and Ivak also held the rank of Major in Imperial Intelligence.
 * Colonel Markenson, the head of Sector Plexus in the Wyloff Sector.
 * General Sendo, another Destab officer. General Melvar was also a Destab officer, although it is not clear what formal rank he reached within Intelligence.

Little is known about non-commissioned ranks in Intelligence, but personnel under Major Ivak's command in the Intelligence prison complex in the Imperial Palace were styled "technicians", and organized into twelve rank grades. During the hunt for Mara Jade after the Battle of Endor, Director Isard dryly created an extra grade as she used a series field promotions as incentives for grade-four tech Tal Burren.

However, some operatives were simply given the title of "Agent" in lieu of a military rank, and there is some reason to think that these officers were assigned missions on a case-by-case basis, and did not hold graded military-style commissions.

At the apex of the Imperial Intelligence hierarchy was the Ubiqtorate, a secretive command structure led by the Director of Intelligence. The core of the Intelligence command apparatus was located in the Imperial Palace itself, including the Director's office and, as already noted, a small prison complex.

Alongside this base of operations, Ysanne Isard was also eventually assigned another facility in Imperial City, known as Lusankya, and consisting of nothing more or less than a Star Dreadnought secretly buried beneath the cityscape.

The long-term evolution of the Imperial Intelligence organization is unknown, but it is known that the Inquisitorius hierarchy in the Deep Core continued to operate from its citadel on Prakith for many years after Palpatine's final death.

Function
As one might expect, Imperial Intel was responsible for covert operations in the Empire. The agency had a strong reputation: it is said that the ISB never succeeded in intercepting and decoding a single Imperial Intel document. Whereas the ISB investigated morale and coordinated the military with COMPNOR and Emperor Palpatine's objectives, Imperial Intelligence was an older organization, descended from the intelligence-gathering offices of the Galactic Republic that specialized in external espionage. The powers available to them allowed them to convert freighters into "Intelligence freighters", which were specialized cruisers that were not marked for obvious reasons.

Imperial Intelligence also contributed to Imperial Palace security.

Imperial Intelligence survived the Battle of Endor largely intact and was a strong aid in helping Isard establish her dominance of the Empire after the Emperor's death. A very large number of missing personnel and resources flowed directly to Warlord Zsinj. This intelligence organization was of much help to Grand Admiral Thrawn during his quest to destroy the New Republic.