This subpage of my user-page in pursuit of original research concerning the nature of politics and military forces within the Imperial Remnant circa 19 ABY, just before the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty which ended the Galactic Civil War. To this end, it will explore the subtleties and importance of language and phrases as expressed through sources in order to understand the operation and order of matters within the regime of the Imperial Remnant under the administration of the Moff Council and Fleet Admiral Gilad Pellaeon. It will briefly explore the evolution of such powers from the time of the establishment of the Emperor Palpatine's New Order at the conclusion of the Clone Wars, through the turning points of the battles of Yavin and Endor. The primary focus, though, shall be on the collapse of order following Palpatine's death at Endor and the subsequent fallout, with especial interest in the events surrounding Admiral Daala's attempts at reunification of the Empire at Tsoss Beacon and the subsequent events which would lead to Pellaeon's tenure of Supreme Commander to the time of the aforementioned treaty. It is my hope this is thesis of an article will help shed some light on the conflicts and arguments which surround the all too cryptic elements of the Imperial Remnant, information which may later be used to either enrich or at least present alternative points of view to existing articles, all of which will be based on meticulous research of original source material, namely the various novels.

This article will not cover the differences between the Supreme Commander posting as apparently held by such figures as Lord Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker and that which was used by Pellaeon, namely "Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet". Arguments and debates on that matter have been thoroughly covered both on the Supreme Commander (Empire) discussion page and the discussion page to the original article, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. Rather, it will attempt to address the state of affairs within the Imperial forces following Daala's reunification and Pellaeon's subsequent offensives, eventually coming to the point in 19 ABY described in Timothy Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology. It will also not attempt to provide a definite answer for all questions posed, but will attempt to give a well-reasoned explanation based on information provided within the source material. As such, the primary questions posed are:

1. What sort of powers are contained within the post of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet at the time of Pellaeon's tenure circa 19 ABY? What sort of differences does this particular title of posting have with other titles permitted him, namely "Supreme Commander of Imperial forces", which special emphasis on the lower-cased "forces"?
2. How have Imperial military forces evolved since the height of the New Order under Palpatine, and in what way was this affected by Daala's reunification in 12 ABY?
3. What significance lies in the use of non-Naval ranks and personnel under the overall command structure of a Naval officer, namely the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet?
4. What is the significance of constant use of the term "Fleet" to refer to all Imperial forces in 19 ABY by Pellaeon versus the separation of powers among branches? Do there exist discernible branches within the military forces of the Imperial Remnant as they did during the height of the New Order, or is this yet another affect of reunification under Naval officer(s), i.e. Dalla and Pellaeon?

More questions are bound to arise and this article will be updated as the matter evolves further.

On a final note, this article is no way attempting or intended to be in line with Wookieepedia standards; rather, it should be taken to be a rough draft of sorts until a time when it is possibly approved for article status. In any event, the primary focus, though, is to use the information provided in this study to enrich and supplement existing articles, not exist as a standalone as this article is a fan-written piece of work based on sources, not an official text.

Contents 1 Background: Brief History of Imperial forces before 12 ABY 2 From Daala to Pellaeon: Naval Superiority 3 Supreme Commander of what? 3.1 Navy and Fleet 3.2 "Fleet" versus "forces" 3.3 Fleet and the Starfleet 4 Forces of the Imperial Remnant, ca. 19 ABY 4.1 Sector Fleets 4.2 Federalization 4.3 Where's the Army? 4.4 Stormtroopers 4.5 Starfighter Forces 4.6 Imperial Intelligence and the Ubiqtorate 5 Miscellaneous 5.1 General Hestiv and Yaga Minor 5.2 Too many majors! 5.3 Major or Colonel Vermel?: A hypothesized answer 6 References and notes 7 Sources

Background: Brief History of Imperial forces before 12 ABYEdit

From Daala to Pellaeon: Naval SuperiorityEdit

Supreme Commander of what?Edit

In 19 ABY, as seen in Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future, then-Fleet Admiral Gild Pellaeon is cited as being "Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet"^[1] and subsequently as "Supreme Commander of Imperial forces" by Captain Ardiff^[2]. The subtleties of language come into play immediately. It would be expected that because "Imperial forces" is a reference to the formal military forces the Empire, or rather the Imperial Remnant, then the word "forces" itself should be capitalized, and yet throughout the Hand of Thrawn duology, it is consistently not. Why is this? Further, throughout the two novels, we have constant reference to all officers of the Imperial military, regardless of rank or associated branch, being referred to as "Fleet officer", with the word "Fleet" constantly capitalized to form a proper noun and never in the generic sense. What significance is there to this distinction?

Finally, this section does not aim to explain the differences and origins of the title "Supreme Commander" before 12 ABY. Although it does draw parallels between the powers of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet of 19 ABY and those of Military Executor of 10 ABY, the powers and title of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet is only considered from the 12 ABY onward as the characteristics of the title and its powers prior to that year are negligible at worse and cryptic at best. Therefore, "Supreme Commander" will only be treated from the perspective of the end-product of the Imperial Remnant in 19 ABY rather than its confusing origins at the height of the New Order. That matter has been thoroughly covered and debated in aforementioned article discussion pages.

Navy and FleetEdit

The term "Navy" and "Fleet" have, in fan community circles, been used interchangeably as referring to one and the same force, or rather, in this case, branch of the Imperial military forces. Let us consider, though, the subtle differences between the words. A Navy is itself the branch of military service which, in the modern world, concerns itself with seaborne operations. In more simplistic terms, we can think of the Navy as being the actual personnel of that particular branch, namely the command structure. By distinction, "Fleet" refers specifically the seaborne assets of a Navy, and by this we mean capital ships and other such vessels, as well as the assigned crews. The reason a distinction between the terms "Navy" and "Fleet" is so important lies in the fact that "Fleet" does not cover all those support services and personnel necessary for the function and day-to-day operations of the the vessels and their crews, i.e. the Fleet. Indeed, one can simplify it down to Fleet referring to only the assault portion of the Navy's sphere of operations, an integral and subordinate part of the Navy as a whole. In the universe of Star Wars, however, wherein authors who are not aware of this most important distinction write, the terms are often used interchangeably with "Fleet" being favored over "Navy" as "Fleet" was used in the movies and "Navy" was not. This being the case, we can therefore rationalize that the "Imperial Navy" and the "Imperial Fleet" may not necessarily be the same. This seems to, therefore, imply that whoever controls the Imperial Navy controls the Imperial Fleet, but not vice versa, but we digress.

In the command structure of the Galactic Empire, the distinction between the "Imperial Navy" and "Imperial Fleet" is not quite so clear, making it difficult to understand its origins. We can, however, piece together what appears to have been a distinct branch within the Empire's military forces, distinct and separate from the other major branches: Army, Stormtrooper Corps, and Starfighter Corps. Though, for instance, Wookieepedia addresses the Navy and Fleet as the same, it is believed by the author that they are, in fact, distinct entities. Whatever the branch at the height of the New Order, it appears that by at least 19 ABY, the Imperial Remnant's military was referred to as a whole as being simply the "Imperial Fleet". This is not to say that the Imperial Fleet, and not the Navy, had come to dominate the forces because that was how it had been in previous times, but is more likely attributed to the characters and circumstances under which the Imperial military and Imperial government were reunified in 12 ABY, namely under the command of two Imperial Navy and Fleet officers: admirals Daala and Pellaeon. In this sense, because Pellaeon is a Fleet officer himself, it is likely he assumed the title of "Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet" rather than anything else (such as Military Executor) because of his origins within the Fleet and his rank of Vice Admiral,^[3] Admiral,^[4] and later Fleet Admiral.^[5] Speculation surrounds whether, in fact, Daala established the title when she assumed command of remaining Core Imperial forces and, by extension, the majority of the Empire. Given Daala's reluctance to assume command, it is likely she would assume a posting and title incumbent of a military commander rather than a warlord or monarchical sovereign, rather how the Roman Emperor Augustus assumed the title Imperator (Latin, victorious general) rather than "king", true and subsequent powers notwithstanding as a way of legitimizing assumption of power.

"Fleet" versus "forces"Edit

Given the nature of the reunification of Imperial forces under the command of a single Fleet officer versus, it therefore makes sense that the Fleet would come to prominence as the dominant authority in the resurgent Empire which became the regime of the Imperial Remnant. Indeed, during Daala's offensive of 12 ABY against the New Republic, and with special emphasis on attacking the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV, officers of the Imperial Army served under her command in posts aside from surfaceborne operations. One particular case exists in the form of Colonel Cronus, an Army officer working under one of the warlords killed by Daala's whose forces were accumulated for the offensive of that year. Cronus himself led the flotilla of Victory-class Star Destroyers, Crimson Command, in hit-and-fade assaults throughout Republic space. This remains a post, though, that should have been given to an officer of the Fleet, a person more experienced in commanding at the fore of capital ships and other such vessels. The fact Cronus was given command of so many capital warships may, in fact, be merely representative of the state of affairs in the remnants of the Empire rather than any other matter, but in Daala's own words, Cronus was apparently considered competent enough to command the force, which seems to imply that other Fleet officers were available to command the force.^[6]

Subsequent encounters with non-Fleet officers serving in important crew positions aboard Naval warships seems to further push the point that, indeed, the Fleet had come to control all operations following the reunification and reorganization of the Empire in 12 ABY. Major Tschel aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera in 19 ABY^[7], Major Grodin Tierce, a former Imperial Royal Guardsman and Stormtrooper, working as Moff Disra's military aide (and at one point posing, without suspicion, as an aide to Captain Trazzen, commanding officer of the Star Destroyer Obliterator^[8]), Colonel Vermel, one of Pellaeon's aides^[9], and General Jaron Kyte and High General Sutt Ramic at the defenses of Muunilist^[10], all—but most importantly the two latter-most—named explicitly as a "Fleet officer".^[11] Though this may simply be the standard of the day, it would seem rather odd for officers of the rank of a major, a rank generally associated with Army officers and not included within the Navy's rank hierarchy, answering directly to the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. For this reason, we can further hypothesize that the aforementioned post held by Pellaeon was also the de facto if not de jure commander of all forces. Indeed, Pellaeon is named directly as being "Supreme Commander of Imperial forces" and not just the Fleet or Navy.

The significance behind this apparently superfluous matter lies in the fact that Imperial forces is not capitalized, and, for that matter, should not be. To explain this latter point, we have to consider that we are, in truth, unsure as to the official name of the Empire's military. In the United States of America, for instance, the military is officially administered by the Department of Defense, its Commander-in-Chief is the President of the United States, and the forces are officially named the "United States Armed Forces". Similarly, the United Kingdom's military is known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces, or the British Armed Forces. These two examples seem to back the idea that "forces" should be capitalized as an integral part of the title of "Supreme Commander of Imperial forces"; however, other real-world examples show that this is not always the case. For instance, the forces currently engaged in combat in Iraq are referred to as "American forces" and someone such as General Petraeus might be referred to as Commander of American forces (though his official title is different as he commands the whole of Mutli-National Force, Iraq). The point being that one would not capitalize "forces" in "American forces", and why? Because it is a generic term used to refer to the forces and not a force in specific. In this same sense, "Imperial forces" is used to show Pellaeon's power as Supreme Commander of all of the Imperial Remnant's military forces rather than as a title. In truth, his title in 19 ABY was very explicitly and specifically "Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet", and yet with the power over "Imperial forces", thus you have the references to him as "Supreme Commander of Imperial forces" and not "the Imperial Forces".

In this sense, then, yes, Pellaeon's position had come to assume the same military powers as that of a commander-in-chief of all forces rather than simply the Fleet, as his title suggests. This is, again, attributed the circumstances under which the Imperial military was reunified and reorganized. Had it been an Imperial Army general and not Daala who had reunified the Empire at Tssos Beacon, it is very likely that the subsequent title of authority would have reflected a background in the Army and yet still have the powers of commander-in-chief. What complicates the matter further is that by 19 ABY, it seems the Supreme Commander has become the de facto head of state of the Empire, chairing the Council of Moffs at Bastion, though still restricted by Parliamentary rules and procedures. This is most evident in Pellaeon having to convince the Council for terms of peace with the New Republic rather than doing it on his own.^[12] By the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War, perhaps as a result of the conspiracy surrounding Moff Disra and the Caamas Document Crisis, the governmental powers invested in the Supreme Commander seem to have grown to the point where Pellaeon had a larger say in the Empire's affairs,^[13] though subsequent affairs would prove the Council retain a form of control over his orders.^[14] What ever the evolution of the positions powers, it seems the Moff Council exerted a great deal of influence, if not outright oversight of the post despite the posts immediate origins in total command. In truth, it remains a mystery as to what point the Moff Council became a factor in the decision-making of the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, and perhaps it was the Moff Council which named Pellaeon to the post and title as a way of legitimizing power through a form of clear government, a positive alternative to the chaos of the Empire between Operation Shadow Hand and Tsoss Beacon.

In this sense, previous organization of the Imperial military aside, by at least 19 ABY—though certainly possible beforehand—it seems the term "Fleet" had become synonymous with the Imperial military as a whole. The fact remains that it was controlled and administered by the senior Navy officer of the time. Further, there is never presented any form of command structure for the sort of well-defined branches of characteristic at the height of the New Order. Indeed, at least two generals (High General Hestiv and High General Sutt Ramic)—that is to say, Army officers—of equal rank to Pellaeon pay him respect as their superior when the proposal of peace is made to them. Though this is not evidence enough on its own to conclude that the Fleet, if only in name and not necessarily command structure and organization,^[15] had come to dominate the Imperial military, but coupled with the linguistic evidence presented throughout the Hand of Thrawn duology, the pattern seems to point to Fleet control. This is not to say that the Fleet was the central command structure of Imperial military forces prior to 12 ABY, but rather only subsequent Daala's and Pellaeon's reorganization to what would eventually become the regime of the Imperial Remnant. Returning to the point, if indeed the Fleet came to control some form of unified Imperial military force, then it would be comparable to the present-day Canadian Forces, a unified military force which lacks the clearly-defined branches of service so commonly associated with a modern military; rather, the military command structure is unified with subordinate commands for land-centered, sea-centered, and air-centered operations. Though this may seem like simply another form of service branches, it is not because rather than each branch answering the commander-in-chief, each operational command answers to a military commander who then answers to the commander-in-chief (in this case: de jure, Governor-General; de facto, Prime Minister). To apply this to the Imperial Remnant, we merely see that Pellaeon sits as both the de facto and de jure commander-in-chief of Imperial military forces, while under the title "Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet".

Fleet and the StarfleetEdit

Forces of the Imperial Remnant, ca. 19 ABYEdit

Sector FleetsEdit

FederalizationEdit

Where's the Army?Edit

StormtroopersEdit

Starfighter ForcesEdit

Imperial Intelligence and the UbiqtorateEdit

MiscellaneousEdit

General Hestiv and Yaga MinorEdit

In Specter of the Past, a high general named Hestiv appears as the final destination on Pellaeon's tour of the Empire before proceeding to peace negotiations in Pesitiin system with Garm Bel Iblis. This general is described as being in command of a Ubiqtorate base at Yaga Minor, his sphere of command including the shipyards located at that system.^[16] It is not made clear exactly what sort of post Hestiv holds within the overall structure of the Imperial Remnnant's High Command, but given his relatively high rank (equal to that of Pellaeon, who is a fleet admiral as Supreme Commander^[17]) and the fact Pellaeon includes him among the list of those to convince of support for peace, we can assume he is someone of note and repute.^[18] It would not too unlikely to assume that he is very likely the Imperial Remnant's equivalent of Director of Imperial Intelligence, perhaps acting in that capacity. Given the military-dominated nature of the Imperial Remnant, it would not be too far of a stretch to have an Army officer in command of the Intelligence. We also see that other high-ranking Army officers command other major posts, such as High General Sutt Ramic and General Jaron Kyte at the defenses of Muunilist.^[19] This is not definite proof of fact based on the limited information provided by the Hand of Thrawn duology. Given the small size of the Empire in 19 ABY, though, it is quite likely that the Ubiqtorate—the command unit of Imperial Intelligence—retains a single headquarters base from which intelligence operations are administered and coordinated, as evidence points to the existence of other Ubiqtorate outposts.^[20] On the other hand, it remains possible that Hestiv has a mere acting posting or none at all within the Ubiqtorate, rather simply administrator of the particular base at Yaga Minor. The researcher remains inclined to believe Hestiv holds a post as a sort of acting Director of Imperial Intelligence, but without further evidence, it remains nothing but a theory; however, Yaga Minor is mentioned as being "the main Ubiqtorate base"^[21] and, by extension, headquarters of Imperial Intelligence, which gives us a much more clear idea of the structure of the Imperial Remnant and shows that like most Imperial institutions in 19 ABY, Intelligence is also military-controlled. Like most things in the Imperial Remnant, this can be traced back to fact that the Imperial Remnant's immediate origins lie not in Palpatine's New Order—which itself has origins in the democratic Galactic Republic—so popular in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, but rather in Daala's work at Tsoss Beacon in 12 ABY, a far more military-centric model of administration than even Palpatine's post-Clone Wars regime.

On a final note, though, it's quite possible that Imperial Intelligence is not centered around the Ubiqtorate base on Yaga Minor and Hestiv's administration rather like it was at the height of the New Order, centered then around Coruscant and the administration of Armand Isard and Ysanne Isard. In the midst of the Caamas Document Crisis and the tensions growing around the Bothan involvement in Caamas' destruction, the triumvirate of Moff Disra, Major Grodin Tierce, and con-man Flim hired what appears to be terrorists or mercenaries (ostentatiously a part of the anti-Bothan origanization "Vengeance") to incite anti-Bothan riots all around the New Republic. In time, this escalates to a military affair between factions in favor of forgiving the Bothan involvement in Caamas' destruction and those looking for justice over the same, resulting a military standoff over the Bothan home world of Bothawui. However, there are many hints throughout Vision of the Future wherein these apparent terrorists (its leader named Drend Navett) are actually undercover Imperial Intelligence operatives.^[22] If indeed Navett and his colleagues are Imperial Intelligence agents, then this implies that like the civil and defense administration of the Imperial Remnant, Imperial Intelligence has also become decentralized, or at least portions of it, possibly with microcosms of the overall administration under Pellaeon imitated at the Sector level, as is apparent in the existence and administration of Sector Defense Fleets.

Too many majors!Edit

Major or Colonel Vermel?: A hypothesized answerEdit

Throughout the Hand of Thrawn duology, and especially Specter of the Past, the character of Meizh Vermel is first named as a colonel by Pellaeon^[23] and soon after as such by Tierce^[24], and yet subsequent references refer to him as a major to the point that even Pellaeon refers to him by the lower rank.^[25] However, by the end of that particular novel, Pellaeon is once again referring to Vermel as a colonel.^[26] Though this is very likely simply a typo (indeed, the writing style of the first chapter and that of the last chapter seem to indicate they were written chronologically near each other, though this only a theory...), one rationalization might include some real-world confusion. In most real-world Armies, such as the United States Army, there exist two ranks of colonel: Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel. In conversation and even in writing, many times personnel of both ranks are referred to simply as "Colonel", which has led many to refer to the latter and higher rank as "Full-Bird Colonel" (because of the Eagle insignia) curiously rather than simply calling the lower rank "Lieutenant Colonel". In the Imperial Army, it's very likely the same sort of thing happens, wherein personnel of the rank of lieutenant colonel may be called "colonel" for the sake of simplicity. In another factor, the rank of a major is the immediate subordinate rank to lieutenant colonel. I theorize, then, that at the time of Specter of the Past, Vermel had recently been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. This would explain why he is correctly referred to as "Colonel", but also explains why characters, including Pellaeon himself, might accidentally refer to him as "Major", a mere memory lapse on the part of the characters.

A recent theory on the rank issue centered around Disra and Tierce calling Vermel a major as form of degradation versus "Colonel". This theory has been put to rest since Pellaeon himself refers to Vermel as "Major".^[27]

References and notesEdit

SourcesEdit

• Anderson, Kevin J. Darksaber. Bantam Books: New York, 1995.
• Stackpole, Michael A. Dark Tide I: Onslaught. Del Rey: New York, 2000.
• Stackpole, Michael A. Dark Tide II: Ruin. Del Rey: New York, 2000.
• Wallace, Daniel and Kevin J. Anderson. The New Essential Chronology. Del Rey: New York, 2005.
• Zahn, Timothy. Specter of the Past. Bantam Books: New York, 1997.
• Zahn, Timothy. Vision of the Future. Bantam Books: New York, 1998.