Imperial splintering

When did the Empire really begin to split apart? I was always under the impresison that while there were a few minor cases of warlordism in the immediate aftermath of Endor, that it didn't really splinter until after Isard was driven into hiding and the Rebels caught Coruscant. But in XWRS the Cabal makes it seem like warlords are peeling off right and left. Is that actually the case, or are they just being paranoid?

 

It was mostly a case that Pestage tried to "solidify" the Core Worlds of the galaxy by withdrawing all of the fleets from the galactic territories to protect them. This action resulted in essentially a large amount of the military abandoning their posts to protect their homeworlds, the worlds of the Moffs who commanded them, or simply chose to ignore whatever the hell Pestage said to do their own business of 'saving' the Empire.

(Strangely, yes, this means there was a LEGITIMATE REASON for the warlordism that emerged)

Pestage immediately moved to destroy these interlopers and suddenly open war started between the breakaway factions, the mainline Empire, and the various people who didn't think of themselves as warlords but didn't recognize Pestage as Emperor.

 

Sr: a quick correction: Lumiya isn't a warlord - she answers to Isard...

Charlie got it right, though: it's described in Cracken's Threat Dossier, under Zsinj's bio. What happened was that the Cabal (not Pestage!) started issuing orders withdrawing fleets from the Rim and redeploying them in strength around the fortress worlds - this caused Admiral Zsinj to ignore them... and Zsinj apparently commanded the single most powerful intact fleet after Endor (with the Quelii Oversector Group plus his SSD, he had "the most raw power" of any one commander).

At the same time, Ardus Kaine, Grand Moff of the Outer Rim Territories decided that without Palpatine, the Empire was going to fall, so he began moves to isolate part of his Oversector. Even earlier, at Endor itself, Admiral Harrsk had withdrawn a chunk of the fleet independent from Pellaeon, and stopped obeying orders...

I'm not sure where Teradoc came from, but he appears already in the XWRS novels. Gaen Drommel, commanding the Coruscant Sector Fleet, takes his SSD and a few ISDs to the Rim very soon after Endor...

So, immediately after Endor, a number of very senior military officers - the most important Grand Moff, the best-armed fleet commander, the senior surviving officer of the Endor fleet, and the Admiral in charge at Coruscant - all stop recognizing other authorities. It may be that Harrsk and Zsinj, and even Kaine and Drommel, already hold the title of "Warlord" before Endor, hence the way that it becomes a generic term for people breaking away from the Empire.

It's also worth noting that Drommel, Zsinj and Kaine all have SSDs. Those toys must make men feel powerful...

Grand Admiral Grunger also makes moves when he takes control of someone else's SSD, and builds up a big new fleet - he's more ambitious than the others, and actually proclaims himself Emperor - but he then falls back into a sort of ambivalent pattern where people are fighting for power within the Empire, along with Isard, Pestage, the Cabal, the Mofference, and Pitta (who answers to the Diktat, which nominally remains loyal, IIRC)...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Isard assumed the throne half a year after Endor. Zsinj immediately broke away. Many Imp commanders wouldn't take orders from an Intel Director anymore than you would from blue-dyed koalas.

Teradoc is mentioned in Bacta War. You can assume Harrsk was around then too. Krennel declared independence when Isard's viperous hide touched the throne. They're your notable names.

Courtship of Princess Leia: "Zsinj and some of the lesser warlords were still entrenched in over 1/3 of the galaxy." Repsters had 600k membership still.

 

Screed also broke away, apparently.

 

Wasn't Screed executed by Zsinj at some point?

 

Apparently he tried to link up with Zsinj, and Zsinj decided to dispose of him.

 

I'd imagine Zsinj absorbed his forces at that point

 

Teradoc and Harrsk are both mentioned in Masquerade, so they were both viable warlords six months after Endor. The Cabal says somehting about them that got my mind rolling, let me see if I can look it up...

"Warlords like Teradoc and Harsk claim they can protect our richer citizens."

Sounds like they were trying to find a power base in the Empire, which seems at odds with their independent nature from Darksaber. Makes me wonder if they were either working to build up a network for Palpatine's use for his eventual return (which would make sense for Harsk given his Endor locale - maybe the Royal Guard Palpy found was on his ship?), or trying to form a coup and take over the Empire themselves.

 

The main defections took place during and after Isard's reign, before that there were a few warlords

http://domuspublica.net/index.php/Sic%20Transit%20Gloria

http://www.geocities.com/leesci@sbcglobal.net/sw/declineofimpnavy.html

 

Does the Empire of the Hand count as a warlord state?