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Imperial Intelligence
Imperial Intelligence
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.
History
Galactic Empire
This intelligence service was one of the few legacies that remained from the Galactic Republic and was completely reformed after the Declaration of a New Order. In the final years of the Galactic Republic at the time of the Clone Wars, there had existed four intelligence networks that supported the governments by gathering as well as analyzing information from the Galactic Senate. These included the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, Interstellar Consortium on Technology, Republican Security Organization, and Special Acquisitions Branch of the Library of the Republic. However, in those years, the directors of the four agencies quickly came to the conclusion that corruption by various Senator's led to misinformation being passed through the bribing of lower ranking functionaries. This allowed such individuals to control the information that was being presented to the Galactic Senate. However, they never bribed the operatives of all agencies and instead attempted to rely on the innate distrust between the four intelligence divisions. The four directors later met in negotiations in the last years of the Republic where they agreed to put aside any desire for personal power and instead form an effective intelligence agency. This led to the merger of the four agencies and the Ubiqtorate was formed and saw the intelligence service being reorganized with frightening speed.
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 2000. 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. Republic Intelligence was likewise made a part of Imperial Intelligence. 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.
In 0 BBY, 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. At some unknown point during the Galactic Civil War, the Emperor arranged for Cronal to leave the Prophets of the Dark Side and serve as his Emperor's Hand whereupon he was placed as the head of Imperial Intelligence. However, in the midst of the Galactic Civil War, Cronal disappeared and Imperial Intelligence fell under the leadership of Ysanne Isard. Palpatine then appointed her to become the new Intelligence director. At some point after the Battle of Yavin, Imperial Intelligence was tasked with tracking and apprehending the Death Star architect; Bevel Lemelisk. Intelligence agents later located the engineer hiding on the planet Hefi and took him to the Emperor.
After the Battle of Endor and the resultant chaos that emerged within the Empire, Imperial Intelligence began to work against the Imperial Security Bureau. This even led to both sides assassinating the others agents. In order to gain an advantage, Intelligence began offering rewards to those that betrayed their comrades such as being allowed to retain their property which worked well initially. This tactic was later copied by Imperial Security during the brief struggle between the two competing agencies.
Imperial Remnant
In 4 ABY, the Epsilon Nine research station in the Cron Drift was charged with developing new spy satellites for Imperial Intelligence. However, the rise of the New Republic meant that the researchers at the station intended to defect to the Republic. This led to Ysanne Isard dispatching her agent Lumiya with a task force of Imperial ships to conquer the facility and return it to Imperial hands.
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.
Calixte was still in charge of the service under the Sith regime but she was forced to report to Maladi who replaced most of her operatives by Sith-loyal agents, such as Jor Torlin. Intelligence in the Empire-in-exile was under the direction of Hogrum Chalk, brother of Roan Fel's late wife.
Organisation
The agency made use of covert operations which it used to spy on its enemies as well as itself and other branches of the Galactic Empire. This eventually led to individual agents taking their orders from sector Moff's leading to some not reporting to Imperial High Command. Imperial Intelligence also worked closely with the security forces of the Imperial Palace at certain points. They were also responsible for watching the activities of various governments, corporations and other forces in the galaxy. Furthermore, they kept an eye out for any notable mercenary, bounty hunters and other outlaw activities.
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. The agency also contained its own Media division known as the Imperial News Network that was supposedly a "civilian" branch of the organization.
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 Harrid 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 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.
Source
- Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition & Wookieepedia
