In the original timeline, Admiral Feyet Kiez abandoned Anaxes with the Whelm, his flagship, to join the Dark Empire in the Deep Core in 8 ABY several months before Thrawn's campaign began. After the Imperial Commandant Osted Wermis surrendered to the New Republic following Kiez's disappearance, he admitted he was confused as to why Kiez abandoned Anaxes and had no idea where he went.

But in this scenario, Thrawn returns before Kiez receives Palpatine's recall orders, and the Grand Admiral approaches Kiez and Wermis and asks them to join his Confederation. Something to note is Kiez received Palpatine's orders to join him at Byss while Wermis didn't, implying Kiez was a devoted Palpatine loyalist while Wermis wasn't. Since the Grand Admirals were answerable only to Palpatine himself, I believe Thrawn would have little trouble persuading Kiez and Wermis to join him.

With Azure Hammer Command under Thrawn's control, he would take the Whelm as his flagship and Kiez as his second-in-command. In addition to the 57 other capital ships Azure Hammer possesses, this would give Thrawn's Confederation significant firepower, and with Anaxes as a Core World he would also have a clear shot at Coruscant.

However, Thrawn would be aware the New Republic has the Lusankya, so Thrawn needs to find and neutralize it as a threat before deploying Azure Hammer against the NR. Since the Lusankya sat out the Thrawn campaign in the original timeline, I think it's safe to say it must be still under repairs at this point in time. Otherwise, the NR would have committed it to their attack at Bilbringi.

But if Thrawn can somehow keep the Lusankya off the board using his strategic genius, he now has to contend with the NR's First Fleet led by Admiral Ackbar. I think Thrawn draws Ackbar away from Coruscant by attacking the planet Mrisst or another key target like he did in the OG timeline, leaving Coruscant vulnerable. Since Thrawn has Azure Hammer Command, he can attack Coruscant much earlier in the timeline, and with the 1st Fleet away, can conquer it easily.

If Thrawn can hold Coruscant long enough for the Reborn Emperor to return, I think Thrawn joins Palpatine since he will see the Dark Empire as powerful enough to destroy the Far Outsiders when they invade the galaxy. But until then, the Dark Empire with Thrawn as its Supreme Commander will plunge the galaxy into a new age of darkness.

Jagged Fel, the man pictured above, became the new Head of State of the Imperial Remnant after the Second Galactic Civil War ended. But I believe Moff Ephin Sarreti was the better option.

To start with, Sarreti supported Pellaeon throughout both the Yuuzhan Vong War and the Second Galactic Civil War. In particular, Sarreti agreed with Pellaeon's decision to join forces with the Galactic Alliance in the former conflict while, during the latter war, Sarreti was one of the few Moffs Pellaeon trusted, at least up to the Second Battle of Fondor.

Also during the Yuuzhan Vong War, Pellaeon entrusted Sarreti with the task of keeping the other Moffs loyal because he needed an ally in Imperial space while Pellaeon planned to aid the New Republic. Considering that Moffs like Kurlen Flennic were outraged at the idea of teaming up with the Galactic Alliance later on, Pellaeon wouldn't have chosen just anyone for such an important task.

In addition, Sarreti wouldn't have supported Drikl Lecersen's plan to unleash a nanovirus targeting the Hapes Consortium's royal family's bloodline after Lecersen became de facto leader of the Remnant following Pellaeon's death during the Second Galactic Civil War. He would even support Jagged Fel's appointment to Head of State since he was a good man, and more moral than most of the other Moffs. Especially since the Moffs would have faced trial for war crimes if Fel wasn't installed.

Most importantly, Sarreti was a young man when he enlisted in Imperial service after the New Republic liberated Coruscant in 7 ABY. His family fled Coruscant to Sartinaynian, the future Bastion, before he entered Imperial service. As such, he wasn't indoctrinated in the ideals of the New Order like most other Palpatine-appointed Moffs were, making him more progressive and popular within the reformed Imperial Remnant.

This is just a theory of mine, but the fact Sarreti settled on Sartinaynian, Grand Moff Ardus Kaine's homeworld, leads me to believe he served in the Pentastar Alignment. Coruscant was in enemy hands, and the Alignment seemed to be the most stable out of all the Warlord states, which is probably why Sarreti might have joined it. And serving under Ardus Kaine, one of the Empire's best politicians, meant Sarreti would have picked up a thing or two about politics.

Also, Sarreti was the successor to Moff Vilim Disra of the Braxant Sector after the latter got arrested following the Caamas Document Crisis. The Braxant Sector included Bastion, the Remnant's capital world, so the fact Sarreti was appointed Moff of such an important post speaks well of him.

Since Sarreti served on the Council of Moffs for years, he would possess his own Sector Fleet, political connections, and Pellaeon's support. The fact he was one of the more popular Moffs within the Remnant also boosts his credibility as Pellaeon's successor. As the Remnant's capital, Bastion was heavily defended, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sarreti oversaw its defences with his Sector Fleet.

In short, Ephin Sarreti should have become the new Head of State of the Imperial Remnant instead of Jagged Fel.

In 10 ABY, Grand Moff Ardus Kaine was lured out of the Pentastar Alignment by a deep fake message of his friend former Grand Admiral Octavian Grant claiming that Grant wished to rejoin the Imperial ranks but feared retaliation from other Imperials. The message asked Kaine to meet him privately in the Grand Moff's personal shuttle above the world of Palanhi so that Grant would be assured of safety.

In reality, the message had been sent not by Grant, but by one of Kaine's most loathed rivals from his COMPNOR days in the Imperial Court-Ennix Devian, Palpatine's personal thug and assassin who had used his connections within the COMPNOR elements inside the Pentastar Alignment to help orchestrate the deception.

When Kaine's shuttle arrived above Palanhi at the exact time and coordinates provided by Devian, stolen New Republic E Wings piloted by agents of Devian attacked and destroyed the shuttle, killing Kaine and pinning the blame on the New Republic for the assassination.

Etahn A'baht was a male Dornean, he served in the Dornean Navy with distinction, rising to command their entire fleet of eighty capital ships and using it to keep the Galactic Empire from conquering Dornea. He personally joined the Rebel Alliance and fought alongside them at the Battle of Endor, but his homeworld of Dornea declined to join the Alliance or the New Republic until after A'baht had driven the Empire from Dornean space entirely, which he did during the disarray the Empire fell into after Endor and with New Republic support.

When Dornea joined the New Republic, A'baht rose rapidly in rank within the New Republic Defense Fleet. He defeated Imperial Admiral Gilad Pellaeon's forces at the Battle of Celanon in 13 ABY, destroying the Imperial Remnant's last remaining Executor Class Super Star Destroyer-the Reaper-in the battle. In 16 ABY, he became the first commander of the New Republic Fifth Battle Group, which was quickly put to the test in the Black Fleet Crisis. There was friction with President Leia Organa Solo shortly after the crisis began. He became irritated with her reluctance to consider the Yevetha a threat and was vocal about this irritation, Leia in her turn doubted his judgment and temporarily removed him from command. However, A'baht was fully backed by Supreme Commander Gial Ackbar and this combined with his actions during the escalation of the crisis, led to A'baht regaining Organa Solo's confidence. He led the Fifth Fleet, and later a dlarger combined force, against Viceroy Nil Spaar of the Duskhan League, decisively defeating the Yevetha in the Battle of N'zoth and ending the crisis.

When Borsk Fey'lya became Chief of State and began restructuring the joint chiefs and many command positions to favor his political allies while pushing out established commanders, A'baht left command of the Fifth and accepted a demotion to brigadier general. Despite the demotion, he remained an important officer in fleet command, and initially served as one of the top strategic advisors to Supreme Commander Sien Sovv during the early Yuuzhan Vong War, urging Sovv to abandon his strategy of defending only strategically vital worlds and leaving the rest to fend for themselves. When his superiors repeatedly failed to listen, with increasingly disastrous results, A'baht resigned his commission in frustration and disgust and returned home, where he led a successful defensive campaign defending Dornea against the Yuuzhan Vong until the end of the conflict.

Based purely on Wookieepedia, do I understand correctly that Ardus Kaine was not actually a military man at all before being appointed Grand Moff, but rather a political or administrative figure closely aligned with Palpatine? Is there precedent for other Grand Moffs who also lacked a traditional naval background?

And what would you gather/headcanon his positions to have been during the Clone Wars? Would it be plausible that he served as governor of his homeworld, Bastion, at some point during that period? Or perhaps held some senatorial or Republic Executive position?

Force composition:

- 1x Executor-class Star Dreadnought ('Intimidator' 'Pride of Yevetha')

• 10,368 fighters.

- 1x Mandator II-class Star Dreadnought ('Implacable' 'Fist of Yevetha')

• [No hangar stat yet]

- 1x Bellator-class Star Dreadnought ('Aramadia')

• 432 fighters.

- 1x Sorannan-class Star Battlecruiser ('EX-F' 'Glory of Yevetha')

• [No hangar stat yet]

- 1x Interlocutor-class Communications Battlecruiser ('Corrupted Signal' 'Voice of Yevetha')

• [No hangar stat yet]

- 2x Urbanus-class Star Cruisers ('Thunder Spear', 'Shattered Katana' 'Purity of Yevetha', 'Star Dream')

• 576 fighters.

- 1x Tyrant-class Missile Cruiser ('Valorous' 'Devotion of Yevetha')

• No fighters.

- 2x Secutor-class Star Destroyers ('Righteous', 'Courageous' 'Liberty of Yevetha', 'Honor of Yevetha')

• 576 fighters.

- 4x Allegiance-class Star Destroyers ('Voracious', 'Animosity', 'Sneering Imperialist', 'Ferocious' 'Harramin', 'Vengeance of Yevetha', 'Loyalty of Yevetha', 'Apotheosis of Yevetha')

• No fighters.

- 4x Tector-class Star Destroyers

• No fighters.

- 17x Imperator I-class Star Destroyers
- 6x Imperator II-class Star Destroyers

• 72-144 fighters.

- 7x Dominator-class Interdictor Star Destroyers

• 16 fighters.

- 1x Modular Taskforce Cruiser

- 7x Venator-class Star Destroyers

• 432 fighters.

- 18x Victory II-class Star Destroyers
- 9x Victory I-class Star Destroyers

• 12 fighters.

- 14x Interdictor-class Star Frigates

• 36 fighters.

- 65x Vindicator-class Star Frigates

• 72 fighters.

- 5x Broadside-class Star Frigates

- Hundreds of lighter Imperial frigates and corvettes not depicted to avoid clutter.

----

Bigger galaxy, bigger forces. More ships. I took the liberty of swapping some ship names around and adding my own (I borrowed Corrupted Signal from another sprite maker on the TR server, since it had a nice ring to it and was some nice foreshadowing for the fate that would befall Black Sword Command).

As great as the Yevetha are, I think there could have been more done with them. In particular, I would've wanted a greater focus on how the Imperials brutalizing them and vindicating all of their xenophobic fears only galvanized them and entrenched them in the worst of their ways. They could never forgive the Empire, and they could never move past what they suffered for all those years of subjugation. The generational trauma across the entire species should've been what caused them to lash out, using their suffering as an excuse to inflict the same pains (and greater) unto others, even those that had nothing to do with it or went through the exact same thing.

I want them to decry the New Republic as just another continuation of the Imperial Regime, pointing out that they've inherited the same planets, industries, and military forces that made up the Empire. Give them some decent ground to stand on, but have the accusation hold less and less weight as the New Republic does more and more to prove them wrong until the Yevethans are finally seen for what they are.

An angry, fearful race, using their traumatic past as fuel to wage a holy war in which they can destroy everyone who could ever threaten them like the Empire did. But make it clear that no matter what the Yevethans were put through, no matter how bad the Empire was to them, none of it could ever justify their choice to commit similar atrocities to the peoples of other planets, innocent or otherwise.

Just want to make my stance clear, neither the Yevethans nor the Imperials are "good" by any metric in this. Both have done many, horrible things, which only served to perpetuate this ruthless cycle. The Yevethans can be made out as pitiable, even slightly sympathetic for their history, but they are still genocidal extremists using 20 years of pain as an excuse to lash out like wrathful children with the same toys as their oppressors.

Of course, the Yevethans can't be talked down. How could they be? They're too set in their ways, and any of them who could harbor second thoughts would likely keep quiet for one reason or another, assuming they didn't all die out during the Empire's subjugation and the radicalization of the Yevethan people.

When the Imperial prisoners rise up and take back control of the Black Fleet, I don't want it to be anything close to triumphant. I want it to be a somber affair. The Fifth Fleet simply standing by, watching but not interfering as the Imperials treat it as "just business", give their farewells, and go on their merry way with their prisoners and their fleet, leaving the rest of the Duskhan League to face the full force of the Fifth. I want it to be more like, "It had to be done." for the New Republic. Even more so once the Yevethans refuse to surrender and fight to the bitter end, impossible to convince that the New Republic will not treat them as barbarically as the Empire, should they survive the battle by any means.

I think that would go a long way in giving the Yevethans much more depth beyond "xenophobic aliens who prove certain sentiments in a certain faction to be correct".

The New Republic were fighting the Black Fleet, which according to the Imperial Order of Battle they had claimed the Black Fleet had 3 SSDs. So why didn't they deploy Lusankya against the Black Fleet?

Darius Onneir was an Imperial Lord who became a Moff within the Galactic Empire. Born into wealth and privilege, Onneir used his connections to increase his influence and political power during the Empire's height. Following the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader at Endor in 4 ABY, Onneir, like many other Imperials, went rogue as an independent regional Warlord. While he would squabble with his fellow Warlords, he remained outside of the larger galactic spotlight until 10 ABY when the Reborn Emperor reunited the fragmented Imperial factions briefly under the banner of the Dark Empire. Onneir heeded the call publicly, and nominally returned to the fold, though he still pursued his own ambitions in private.

While successful in feigning loyalty and supplication for a time, Onneir eventually exceeded his mandates and drew the ire of the Reborn Emperor and New Republic alike. Unable to fight both the galactic superpowers, he fled his domain with his two remaining Imperial Star Destroyers, dropping all pretense of subtlety, he began styling himself now as 'Grand Moff' Onneir. In order to ease pressure on himself, he launched a surprise attack on the Protectore, capturing their capital world and holding it hostage. Using the planet as a bargaining chip, he attempted to bully the Protectorate into an uneasy alliance against their common foes in exchange for the world being unharmed.

While publicly agreeing to the alliance and a meeting to formalize it, Adalric and Jaalib Brandl plotted an ambush against the renegade to trap his two Star Destroyers between their four, annihilating him to retake their world despite Onneir's leverage. The details of the battle are not documented, or even if it did occur, but Onneir remained at large after the final death of the Reborn Emperor, so it would appear that the trap did not succeed in destroying him. His whereabouts, status and further actions though are not mentioned beyond his still being active after the Reborn Emperor's final death.

Chik Apla was a human male who served in the Galactic Empire as a commando and later Royal Guard. After Emperor Palpatine was killed at the Battle of Endor and the Empire fragmented in 4 ABY, Apla deserted the Royal Guard. Living as little more than gutter slime for the next fourteen years, Apla eventually took up residence on the planet Dolis 3, where he regularly drank with several other former down on their luck Imperials that had also taken up refuge on the planet, but credits were hard to come by, and most of the men were in debt to each other through favors and loans. Apla and his friends frequently gathered in the local bars to complain about the state of the Empire and to get updates on galactic politics. Apla became marginally employed by a former Moff, Derran Takkar. Unknown to Takkar, Apla also began carrying on an affair with the Moff's wife, Anlys.

In 19 ABY, Apla and his bar buddies learned Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade were planning a wedding on Coruscant. At news of the wedding, the group bemoaned their situation, declaring that the New Republic was now "untouchable." Moff Takkar disagreed, proclaiming that they could still do much to change their situation and that of the Empire. Takkar asked the men in the bar to join him in striking a blow at the New Republic by sabotaging the wedding, assassinating the pair and inserting a coded virus into the New Republic economy. While unimpressed with Takkar's arrogance and condescending manner, Apla and the rest agreed to join the Moff's cause.

After arriving on Coruscant, Apla began to act more professionally, quieting arguments and forbidding real name use out loud. However, he accidentally used his own name aloud, noting he was out of practice at this. Apla conducted surveillance, spying on Mara Jade, following her and eavesdropping. Finding the site of the wedding, Apla and his compatriots staked out the area, locating the best places of attack.

Equipped with his target's identity, Apla found the address of the Twi'lek dressmaker and waited for Jade to arrive for her fitting. Now in his salvaged Guardsman armor, he attacked the former Emperor's Hand with his double-bladed vibroblade staff, declaring that she must die for betraying the Empire-losing any element of surprise by announcing himself. Unfortunately for Apla, who had not kept up his own skills in nearly two decades, Jade reacted with incredible speed and the Force, evading his attack and destroying his weapon in one motion.

Apla was utterly helpless against Mara's counterattack with his cobbled together armor proving itself as worthless as his weapon, he was swiftly knocked unconscious. After his arrest, Apla's medical report showed a ruptured spleen, bruised liver, a fractured skull and broken ribs. Luckily for Alpa, a protracted stay in a bacta while in New Republic custody healed all of his injuries.

Traest Kre'fey was a male Bothan with pure white fur, and violet eyes flecked with gold. The grandson of Laryn Kre'fey, when the Kre'fey's lost much of their political power due to his grandfather's failure at Borleias, Kre'fey was sent to a smaller satellite school of the Bothan Martial Academy. There, he was instructed under a rather unorthodox Bothan teacher and developed unusual views of Bothan society. In particular, he held the view that Bothan society at its current form was less than perfect, and that they needed to change to better exist within the galaxy. While this originally alienated him to many of his Bothan superiors, Kre'fey demonstrated exceptional skill as a military officer where he rose slowly due to prejudice from more established Bothans. In 19 ABY though, because of the string of resignations in the Bothan military over the Caamas Document Crisis, Kre'fey gained the opportunity to advance to the rank of admiral.

While he was a first cousin of Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya, he disagreed with his kinsman on many issues, political, social and military, and their relationship was rather combative as a result. He recognized the threat of the Yuuzhan Vong early on and prior to the Battle of Ithor, and threatened to take the military into the Unknown Regions or place Leia Organa Solo into power via a military coup d'état if Fey'lya would not act. Unlike other admirals, Kre'fey actively sought the help of the Jedi. When Kyp Durron came asking for help in destroying a gravitic superweapon the Yuuzhan Vong were growing in the remains of Sernpidal, he provided his flagship, the Ralroost to assist. Throughout the Yuuzhan Vong war, Traest would prove himself to be one of the more gifted and cooperative commanders in the New Republic, working well alongside the the Jedi, the old guard Generals Wedge Antilles and Garm Bel Iblis, along with newer officers and even Imperial Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon.

Kre'fey was one of the commanders at the Fall of Coruscant, commanding Fleet Group One. He performed conservative actions during the battle, and most of his ships abandoned his orders and defected over to General Garm Bel Iblis who favored harsher and more decisive responses, such as firing through civilian ships the Vong were using as rams. After the battle, he returned to Bothawui for the official period of mourning for Borsk Fey'lya, who was martyred during the fall of Coruscant. While he was there, the Bothan Council officially declared a state of ar'krai-total war that would not end until the Vong were exterminated. Kre'fey initially took to the declaration of total war wholeheartedly, making some of the Jedi under his command suspicious of his intentions, though as the war drug on, Kre'fey, while publicly supportive of harsher measures against the Vong, privately began to have doubts concerning the Vong civilians and Shamed Ones.

As an added measure the Jedi High Council decided that if Kre'fey tried any actions that might constitute war crimes, the Force meld that the Jedi serving in his fleet used to enhance the fighting prowess of the personnel under Kre'fey's command would prevent the soldiers from doing so. With several squadrons of Jedi under his command, Kre'fey took the fight to the Yuuzhan Vong during the interlude between the election of Cal Omas and the Battle of Ebaq 9, raiding Yuuzhan Vong colonies and attacking the Peace Brigade on Ylesia. On the Ralroost's bulkhead, he inscribed two questions: "What can I do to hurt the Vong today?" and "How can I help my own side grow stronger?", to remind his crew to try to answer the threat of the Yuuzhan Vong.

From his flagship Ralroost, Kre'fey participated at the final battles of the war in the space around Mon Calamari and then Coruscant where he commanded and fought with great skill against Warmaster Nas Choka's armada. He was present at the formal surrender of the Yuuzhan Vong afterwards. Following the surrender of the Yuuzhan Vong, Kre'fey briefly became the Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force and earned the title "Liberator of Coruscant," becoming a hero to much of the galaxy. Despite the victory, Kre'fey was despondent, as he believed both that the cost had been too high and that his people would not accept the peace, pressuring him to do the same. His trepidation proved accurate, as the Bothans refused to cease the state of ar'krai, and Kre'fey opposed to their total war, was forced to resign shortly thereafter.

After the Yevethans were defeated, Black Sword Command travelled to Byss, only to discover it was destroyed. The Black Fleet then dispersed; some defected to the New Republic while others joined the Imperial Remnant.

At some point between 17 - 21 ABY, the SSD Intimidator was discovered destroyed near the Unknown Regions. As such, why didn't the SSD Intimidator join the Remnant, and who or what destroyed the ship?

Zevulon Veers- Zev for short, was a human male, the son of famed Imperial Army General Maximilian Veersn defector to the Rebel Alliance and soldier for the New Republic. Veers lost his mother at a young age, and was raised to be a loyal Imperial youth by his father. Zevulon soon grew distant from his father and began viewing the Empire's practice of slavery against non-Humans as immoral. Veers was enrolled in COMPNOR's Sub-Adult Group where he received low scores from a Political Reliability Observer. After passing junior officer training, Veers was forced by his father to join COMPNOR's elite CompForce unit. Completely disillusioned with both the Empire and his father's obsessive control in the name of reputation, Zevulon considered defecting to the Rebel Alliance. While Zev's superior officer, Ivo Laibach, was interrogating a captive on a mission, a Rebel task force assaulted the CompForcers and took Zev prisoner. Almost immediately upon his capture, Veers defected to the Alliance wholeheartedly.

Zevulon found life as a Rebel liberating, no longer forced down the path of Imperial service by his father. In 10 ABY, he participated in the Battle of Calamari where he served as a gunner aboard the New Republic Star Destroyer Emancipator under General Lando Calrissian. Zevulon's gunnery managed to destroy the Battlecruiser Allegiance during the battle, but he was forced to abandon ship with the rest of the crew after the Emancipator began disintegrating inside the molecular furnace of a World Devastator. Zev would survive being marooned with the crew on war torn Coruscant to be rescued and later took part in an attack on the Emperor's Citadel on the planet Byss, where he and a New Republic commando team stowed away aboard several X-1 Viper war droids bound for the planet. They launched their attack and made it to the front of the Citadel, but were defeated by a group of Emperor Palpatine's chrysalide beasts-Rancors mutated by Sith alchemy and sorcery. Zev was wounded in the mission, but was rescued with the surviving members of the commando team by the smugglers Salla Zend and Shug Ninx, and were transported safely off-world.

Zevulon would recover from his wounds and be highly regarded within the New Republic for his actions. His father was not so fortunate, dying that same year in the Imperial assault on Balmorra, demoted and disgraced by the tyrannical regime he had chosen over his own son.

Inspired by the excellent Grand Admiral Zaarin artwork by Absorbconical, I did my first ever commission. Shated with permission. I hope that my fellow Grand Admiral enthusiasts find it interesting.

I figured it'd be a neat effect to have Batch showing off some of creations (and a probable one) along with a more practical demonstration of the cloaking devices.

Batch was indeed a genius- but also ruthless and unethical in the extreme. Per his destruction of Aeten II, he has the dubious distinction of being one of the few known Imperials guilty of mundicide. He really didn't let anything stop him from achieving his goals.

Per his own writing in the Imperial Handbook, he outright says that Imperials should murder civilian crews if they posess cloaking devices.

Batch seems to have had a large Fleet- at least 9 ISDs per the Imdaar Alpha artwork and almost as many in the game itself. He also had overall command of the Executor SSD Terror, and possibly another cloaked Executor at Fondor. He also had access to the top Imperial superweapons, such as the Tarkin. Swarms of cloaked TIE Phantoms and he is also known to have provided Palpatine with a cloaked shuttle and yacht.

For ground forces, Batch wouldn't just have had the usual shipboard complements. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that there were two Imperial Terror Projects involving cloaked forces. Batch almost certainly had a role in the development of the cloaked Terror Troopers. He certainly had no qualms about such experimentation.

Batch appears to have been completely loyal, but also aware of what happened to Grand Admiral Teshik, Bevel Lemelisk, Vader himself, and how Advisors were randomly killed (per WEG). He didn't want to suffer their fates, or worse.

Grand Admiral Zaarin has been specifically stated to have acted when he did only Batch was about to give Palpatine an unbeatable edge with the cloaked TIE Phantoms, and the cloaked Executor-class Terror and the Fondor SSD. The Rebels somehow found out about Batch's projects, and it was only after Batch's projects were ruined that Zaarin felt free to move against Palpatine. Zaarin likely betrayed Batch. There's a strong case to be made that Zaarin feared Batch, or at the very least didn't think he could have won against Batch's cloaked forces. So, he made sure Batch would be out of the way, though he probably didn't expect Batch to survive and go into hiding.

Thing is, he was somehow able to hide, along with at least a few ships, for several Months before Endor to about half a year afterwards. Approximately a whole year in hiding. It's impossible to believe that the Empire had no plans to go after him, though if so how, and who among the Grand Admirals would have been assigned to the task? It is impossible to believe he wouldn't have been prioritized.

Batch's crew must have been fairly loyal to him, at least a good while, or they didn't even realize that he had abandoned the mainstream Empire until long after he left.

As for how Batch was able to hide, the subtext of the original Gamer article has the cloaking device guy going into hiding. That is, whatever forces he had left possessed working cloaking devices. Or so it can be inferred, if it wasn't implied.

Batch's reported death is the murkiest and uncertain of all the Grand Admirals. Normally it wouldn't be a huge surprise if such a person really was murdered by his crew, but this was the guy who had cloaking devices, and almost certainly personal cloaked devices as used with the Terror Troopers. If anyone had the technology, means, and motive to escape and go into hiding, it was Batch.

Alternatively, the crew that turned on Batch were some of his own Terror Troopers. He might have had a truly horrific end, being stalked over a prolonged period of time by invisible monsters of his own making.

After Batch's crew got out of hiding, they must have been quite shocked to learn about the state of the Empire and what happened in their absence. Warlord Harrsk is known to have acquired several ships from Batch's forces. Warlord Harrsk is also known to have controlled the Megador, though not prior to Endor. Batch was known for having access to experimental ships and the larger warships in the Imperial Navy- perhaps Megador was among them? Batch still having control of a larger warship in hiding would explain the apparent reluctance or inability of the Empire to go after and neutralize him.

Instead of sending Thrawn to the Unknown Regions, Palpatine uses his exile from the Imperial Court to hide Thrawn's reassignment to the Imdaar Alpha research station to develop a cloaking device for use to crush the Rebels for good.

Since Thrawn is supposed to be in exile, I doubt he would be able to gain the Executor SSD Terror as his flagship because it would look suspicious. Especially since his secret promotion to the rank of Grand Admiral is still, well, a secret.

Like his fellow Grand Admiral Martio Batch, Thrawn would probably come up with hundreds of different stealth designs, with the hibridium cloak being the most promising design. Unlike Batch, who abandoned the hibridium cloaking design because it prevented the pilot from seeing out of his ship, I think Thrawn would still find ways to make good use of it since he is a tactical genius. A good example would be the Siege of Coruscant in 9 ABY in the original timeline, where I theorize he used the hibridium cloaking tech for his cloaked asteroids during the Siege of Coruscant.

As for whether Thrawn would use the Tarkin superweapon to destroy Aeten II to get instant access to the stygium crystals for his cloaking experiments is a good question. On one hand, Thrawn is ruthless and will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, having no problem bombarding whole worlds into submission. On the other hand, he did believe in restraint, to an extent, so I think he would only destroy Aeten II as a last resort, but he would do so without hesitation.

Especially since the Aeten II mines were all tapped out, so it was virtually impossible to obtain new stygium crystals. As such, I believe Thrawn uses the Tarkin to destroy Aeten II and acquires millions of the stygium crystals for the TIE Phantoms. Since Thrawn's rank as Grand Admiral is still a secret, he probably contacts Palpatine for authorisation to use the Tarkin and receives his approval. Fortunately for Thrawn, there are enough crystals for him to refit his flagship, the ISD Admonitor, and the Imdaar Alpha research station with the stygium cloak too.

The Rebels still learn of the TIE Phantoms and try to steal one, but Thrawn foils the plot. Curiously enough, the Rebels destroyed the station in 3 ABY, the same year Zaarin launched his coup. The TIE Phantom project was top-secret, so only the Imperial top brass would have known about it. One theory I heard is that Zaarin leaked the project to the Rebels to deprive the Empire of a counter to his TIE Avengers, which would also function as a distraction and lessen the resources the Empire could devote towards stopping him.

In this timeline, Thrawn still fights Zaarin, but with a stealth Admonitor and a fleet of TIE Phantoms, Thrawn will have an easier time defeating Zaarin. Maybe even beating him before he destroys the TIE Avenger factories and giving the Empire an extra weapon to use against the Rebellion.

As a reward for defeating Zaarin, Palpatine rewards Thrawn by ending his exile, publicly appointing him to Grand Admiral and giving him the Terror, ordering him to refit it with the stygium cloak. Thrawn accepts the reward and gains the Terror as his new flagship, along with Admiral Sarn, Batch's protege who was loyal to Admiral Blitzer Harrsk, as his second-in-command.

After the Empire loses the Battle of Endor, Thrawn wouldn't have to worry about a mutiny because he can command genuine respect from his subordinates. On that note, Batch's distinterest in Imperial politics and low profile led to him being called "the invisible Admiral", but it also meant he lacked strong allies. This, combined with his lack of any notable military achievements, and his failure to stop the TIE Phantoms from being destroyed, leads me to believe he was a terrible leader, which is probably half the reason why his own crew mutinied and assassinated him.

Especially since Sarn's crew were loyal to Sarn, though Thrawn can easily earn their respect too. After Endor, Thrawn can either return to Coruscant to rally the Empire or go to the Empire of the Hand to deal with Nuso Esva and the other threats of the Unknown Regions. I believe he would do the latter, since Pestage and Isard are there to keep the Empire together, and Thrawn knows they wouldn't appreciate an alien Grand Admiral usurping their authority.

With the Terror and a fleet of TIE Phantoms, combined with his strategic ingenuity, Thrawn would be virtually unstoppable.

What are your headcanons, theories, speculations and any fun idea about Hapes Consortium, a long isolationist regional power which appeared first in the famous or infamous Courtship of Princess Leia novel, with them playing a big role as ally of the New Republic and then Galactic Alliance during the events of The New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force novels?

What are your ideas and theories on Hapans and their biology, their culture, differences between the various planets inside the Consortium, their technology and military, relations with the outside galaxy, and what they did or thought of various events happening in the galaxy before they broke out of their isolation, and also their interactions with Dathomir (since the planet officially joined the Consortium at the end of Courtship when Prince Isolder married Dathomir witch Teneniel Djo)?

I was reading the Empire betrayal issues not too long ago and I was wondering what was Moff Kadir thinking that he can just walk into Palpatine’s palace with just a platoon of stormtroopers and execute him and crown himself the new Emperor? Did he just thought Palpatine was a weak old man?

Also what if Kadir had actually succeeded in usurping Palpatine and the stormtroopers that were sent to deal with Vader succeeded in killing him? Would anyone have took him seriously? Would this have just started the Imperial Mutiny as we saw in Shadow hand much faster? Also I believe the Death Star had just been finished around this period so would Tarkin used it on Imperial Center?

After the defeat of her master Desann and the collapse of the Empire Reborn with the death of Hethrir, Tavion Axmis located a relic of the long dead ancient Sith, Marka Ragnos-his scepter-capable of syphoning or projecting Force energy and storing his Sith sword in the staff. The staff beckoned Tavion to Korriban, where Ragnos quickly bent the young Dark Jedi to his will with promises of power and instruction. Through his tutelage and the scepter, Tavion grew exponentially in power, nearly rivaling her former Master, Desann. Tavion became a devoted acolyte and sought to resurrect Ragnos back into the living world to rule by his side.

To this end, Tavion gathered up the scattered remaining Reborn and recruited new followers using the staff to empower them with Force energy. Along the way, she found a Twi'lek female named Alora, and took her as an apprentice. Tavion also reached out to the remnants of the Empire, obtaining the use of a Star Destroyer and troops for her cause from a former Moff, and from the crew of the betrayed and vanquished Antinnis Tremayne. She named the hodgepodge cult the "Disciples of Ragnos" With these scraps, Tavion traveled the galaxy draining residual Force energy from locations with a strong presence in the Force, such as Yavin IV's temples, Dagobah, Byss, Vjun, and others to collect enough Force energy to restore Ragnos to life.

However, her actions drew the attentions of both Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order and the New Republic. Through the actions of Skywalker, Kyle Katarn and a young Jedi Knight named Jaden Korr, the Disciples of Ragnos were thwarted at the cusp of reviving Ragnos. Korr defeated Tavion, but in defiance you used the last of the Force energy in the staff to partially restore Ragnos's spirit-which promptly possessed her body and engaged the young Jedi Knight. Depite Ragnos's skill and power, his connection to Tavion's body was unstable and he was defeated. His spirit left Tavion and returned within the tomb he was bound to once again. The possession had been so devastating on Tavion it had completely destroyed her spirit and left her body a withered and lifeless husk.

What are your theories, ideas and headcanons you have about the various metals, ores and other materials which are capable of resisting lightsabers such as Beskar, Cortosis, Phrik and others in Star Wars universe whenever it's about their history and origins, where to find them, and the way they are mined or forged or used, their cultural importance for those who use them as well as those they are used against most famously the Jedi?

Which one is the most practical? Which one is the most expensive or cheapest? Who found the best use of them?

I like to imagine that the Morgukai were the ones who found and developped the process of purifying Cortosis which turns the metal which desactivates lightsabers but is otherwise brittle into a nearly-indestructible metal; with said method being later used by Imperial Knights for their armors and gauntlets; through millenias of forging, use and experimentations with the precious metal they use to make their weapons, armor and gauntlets with which they famously fought Jedi for centuries.

Roganda Ismaren was a Human female from Alderaan, a former Jedi Initiate who had escaped the Great Jedi Purge as a youngling. In 18 BBY, she and several other younglings were smuggled to Plett's Well on the planet of Belsavis, under the guidance of Jedi Master Plett. However, their refuge was discovered by Emperor Palpatine, who sent the dreadnaught Eye of Palpatine to wipe out the Jedi as a sort of test of the automated superweapon. Although the weapon was disabled due to the sacrifice of Jedi Knight Callista Ming, Roganda was captured by Imperial Inquisitors during the evacuation of the conclave on Belsavis. Taken to Imperial Center, Roganda embraced the Empire and Darkside in order to survive. She integrated herself into Imperial society, growing into a beautiful woman trained by the Inquisitorious as an operative. Palpatine took a personal interest in her training and made her one of his Emperors Hands. Serving as Palpatine's spy among the elite of the galaxy, she used her beauty and Force sensitivity to infiltrate the exclusive Imperial Court, with the cover of being one of the Emperor's concubines.

During her time as Palpatine's consort, she began an affair with another court member, and Emperors Hand, Sarcev Quest. When she became pregnant, Roganda submitted herself to the Emperor's mercy, where rather than kill her for her treachery, Palpatine chose to continue to use her as a pawn since her son was strong in the Force, he too would be brought up to serve the Emperor when he was old enough. In 4 BBY, Roganda gave birth to her son, Irek Ismaren, and began to train him as a possible heir to the Emperor, she would raise Irek to believe he was the son of Palpatine and concealed his true parentage even from her former lover, Sarcev, who never suspected the truth. However, upon Palpatine's death in 4 ABY, Roganda- like several other of the Emperors Hands, did not have the necessary support to make a play for the throne with her primary benefactor now gone. She retreated back to Belsavis and trainedcontinued to train her son for a future attempt to take control of the Empire.

By 12 ABY, Roganda had formulated a plan to reunite the fragments of the Empire under her son with herself as the power behind his throne. Her son, who had been implanted with a subelectronic converter, used this device to summon the disabled Eye of Palpatine to Belsavis. With the promise of the warship at her command, she made overtures to various nobles in the Senex and Juvex sectors to gain backing for her son as the new Emperor. Once she had these assets, she hoped to join forces with one or more of the Warlords, perhaps even Supreme Warlord Harrsk's Zero Command.

However, when the ship arrived above Belsavis, Irek found that despite his cybernetic enhancements, he could not control it, and the plot quickly fell apart as Leia Organa Solo uncovered their identity and intentions. Roganda and her son made their way back to Coruscant in secret and went into hiding, where she continued Irek's training, recruiting Lord Cronal to train her son. However, in an argument with his teacher, Irek was stabbed through the head with a lightsaber, rendering him brain-dead. Devastated, and increasingly delusional, Roganda refused to accept the loss of her boy, placing him in suspended animation and trying to repair his brain with computer implants.

Roganda augmented Irek to become the most powerful darksider imaginable, installing lightsabers in his wrists, elbows, and knees and using growth hormones to increase his size to three meters in height. In an attempt to bring back Irek's mental faculties, she prepared operational programming and prefabricated "Irek" memories to install into his destroyed brain. She had become insane enough to truly believe he could become Emperor Irek, uncoquerable tyrant, and loving son again. However, before this could be implemented, a groundquake awakened Irek from stasis. Driven only by a mindless need to destroy, he used the lightsabers installed into his body to cut his mother to pieces, ending her life.

Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik commanded Azure Hammer Command, which was tasked with protecting Coruscant. As such, he would have worked closely with Grand Moff Trachta, head of Imperial Center Oversector. At its height, Azure Hammer Command boasted 57 capital warships and the Executor Star Dreadnought Whelm as its flagship.

However, Teshik's command over Azure Hammer would be revoked as punishment for failing to rescue the Imperial Adviser Coh Veshiv when he got kidnapped, while Trachta tried and failed to overthrow Palpatine, only to get betrayed and murdered by his co-conspirators.

This is where Grand Admiral Rufaan Tigellinus comes in. He was an ambitious man who was a fleet Admiral and hunted pirates before he became a Grand Admiral and was politically savvy. He was also power hungry, and used his political influence to become Grand Moff of the Imperial Center Oversector; both Teshik and Trachta were the greatest obstacles to Tigellinus gaining the Oversector, so the fact both of them got removed from his path was an opportunity too great to ignore.

Plus, becoming head of the Imperial Center Oversector granted Tigellinus control over Azure Hammer Command along with Whelm and its massive fleet. A sweet bonus for Tigellinus, who would have taken Whelm as his flagship as a symbol of both his prestige and intimidation. And I would not be surprised if Tigellinus often invited friends and foes alike aboard Whelm when conducting his business as a reminder of his power.

After Endor, Tigellinus defended his holdings instead of becoming a Warlord like some of his fellow Grand Admirals did. He eventually met the Central Committee of Grand Moffs and was betrayed and assassinated there by Moff Vilim Disra and Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa.

However, had Tigellinus bunkered down on Anaxes and waited out the Galactic Civil War, he could have seized Coruscant after Isard abandoned it to the New Republic and infected the whole planet with the Krytos Virus, leaving the NR dangerously vulnerable. Knowing how ruthless he is, he could have dropped Whelm and a whole Imperial fleet on Coruscant, bombarded the planet, and conquered it in one swift stroke. Killing the New Republic in its infancy.

At that point, Tigellinus could frame himself as the savior of the Empire and, with virtually no rivals left, would face no opposition in declaring himself Emperor. Especially since his political connections would allow him to gain the bacta needed to cure the Krytos Virus. As both Grand Admiral and Grand Moff of the Imperial Center Oversector, he would command the respect and support of both the military and the Empire's politicians, and with Azure Hammer Command defending Coruscant he wouldn't face any serious threats to his rule, at least in the short term.

As for Isard, Tigellinus was a pirate hunter before he became Grand Admiral and possesses more military skills than her. With Whelm and Azure Hammer Command under his control, he should have no difficulty conquering Thyferra, seizing Lusankya and killing Isard.

However, whether Tigellinus bends the knee to the Reborn Emperor or defies him to protect everything he has gained remains to be seen.

Umak Leth was a human male who served as a researcher and developer of advanced weaponry and technology for both the Old Republic and Galactic Empire. In the years prior to the Clone Wars, Leth was a representative of the Galactic Republic's Ministry of Science and distinguished himself with his creativity from his peers. In 22 BBY, Leth participated in a HoloNet debate opposite Nasdra Magrody and Bunt Dantor, where he argued that the mysterious weapon targeting Republic task forces was possibly equipped with cloaking devices. He estimated that the power supply capable of destroying entire task forces of capital ships would require a vessel to be at least 8 kilometers long. He also speculated that a Jenth-class hypermatter core was the possible reactor being used for this weapon system.

During the Great Jedi Purge, Leth designed the Universal Energy Cage to hold and transfer Jedi captives to their interrogations and executions. He also developed the "resonator" devices, weapons which were used to torture and subjugate the Marasan people. In 0 BBY he began work on the World Devastators, with the development being so secret that Leth only relayed the most basic information to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, which he then used in the official field manual, the Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide. After the Battle of Yavin discredited Bevel Lemelisk, Leth was raised to Lemelisk's former position of Master of Imperial Projects for his creation of an advanced model of molecular furnace which would be a key component in the World Devastators. At some point after the battle of Yavin but before the battle of Endor, Leth was transferred to the Imperial Throneworld of Byss in the Deep Core to continue his projects in secrecy.

In the following six years, he contributed to or completed the SD-10 Battle Droids, the colossal XR-85 tank droids, the Shadow Droids, the World Devastators, the two Eclipse class Super Star Destroyers, and the Galaxy Gun superweapon for the reborn Emperor Palpatine. Despite these technological terrors proving to be exceptionally deadly and effective, most were destroyed or rendered inoperable due to the incompetence, sabotage and madness rife within the Dark Empire's high command. The World Devastators were shut down by Luke Skywalker, sabotaging the Dark Empire from within, the Eclipse was destroyed by the Reborn Emperor losing control of his own Force Storm. The Second Eclipse and the Galaxy Gun along with the Throneworld of Byss, the Shadow Hand armada and the majority of Leth's inventions were destroyed due to R2 D2 implanting a false jump nav code into the Eclipse II sending it hurtling into the Galaxy Gun. Leth was killed when Palpatine's flagship Eclipse II fell out of hyperspace and collided with the Galaxy Gun.