Tag: history

ISB: Imperial control through darkness and deception.

INTRO

The Galactic Empire is nearly as vast as the galaxy that it controls, but unlike the republic which it has replaced, it governs through the will of the Emperor, which is carried out through Imperial policy and subjugation. This is best observed through the overt presence of the Imperial military, who occupy and control every world which finds itself grafted into the Galactic Empire.

The Emperor makes use of Moffs and political attaches, who are responsible for bringing planets into alignment with Imperial doctrine and oversight. This is supported by military power projection, through the twenty-five thousand Star Destroyers that are the heart of the Imperial Navy. Their presence in any star system signals the end of democracy and freedom for any world on which they are assigned.

Dirtside, the politicians and their diplomatic efforts and ideals are reinforced by the Army, who in turn are supported by legions of armor-clad Stormtroopers. These highly skilled and trained shock troops are loyal to the emperor and his authority, and their presence is as much a psychological tool as a military one.

There is, however, another facet to Imperial control that goes unseen to the untrained eye, and one that has become a thorn in the flesh for the Rebel Alliance and its sympathizers. That pain is induced by the ISB, or Imperial Security Bureau. The ISB is just one of the many organizations that are a part of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order (COMPNOR).

Unlike its counterpart division of Imperial Intelligence, the ISB is not concerned with strategic military intelligence, but rather with state security. It was created as a means to an end; a way to ensure loyalty to the Emperor on every level, and a means to exact punishment for those who were not.

The ISB is a larger organization than it’s military rival, and its headquarters is located in a large nondescript building in the federal district of Coruscant. The ISB is governed by a body of senior officers known as the High Command, who report directly to the Emporer himself. They ensure that Imperial doctrine, ideology, and policy are promoted throughout the Empire, and that Imperial rule is secure.

RECRUITMENT

The ISB selects its agents from the ranks of the Imperial Academy itself, and upon vetting their recruits undergo specialized training at the ISB Academy on Coruscant. Upon successful completion of training, newly accepted agents enter service into one of the many divisions of the organization, such as counter-surveillance, Interrogation, or reeducation.

OPERATIONS

Agents assigned to Intelligence begin their careers in the ISB Operations Center, aggregating daily intelligence reports from around the galaxy, and building briefing packets for senior officials and officers. Upon promotion, many of these agents select further training to become field agents for the ISB.

In the field, ranking ISB agents are granted authority and great leeway in their operations, to the degree that they can when needed assume command of ground forces or entire starships, by relieving senior officers who outranked them. This by design breeds animosity between Imperial military officers and the ISB hierarchy, and their complaints often fall upon deaf ears.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Agents with Internal Affairs are tasked with counter-intelligence investigations for the ISB are deployed at random throughout the army and fleet, ensuring adherence to Imperial doctrine and order. They investigate any claims of military personnel who are insubordinate, or who question Imperial doctrine or orders. The presence of the ISB by design simultaneously commands respect, as well as creates a culture of fear in the Imperial military, which reinforces loyalty to the Empire under threat of punishment.

LOYALTY OFFICERS

The mission of the ISB is not confined however to counterintelligence of the Imperial military, but into every facet of Imperial society as well. Imperial propaganda is created by the ISB to serve the purposes of the Emperor, and they are tasked with ensuring its adherence on Imperial worlds.

SECURITY DIVISION

ISB Agents who are selected for the Security Division receive advanced training in small arms and small team tactics. They are then assigned to one of the many ISB tactical teams that deploy with senior field officers on various assignments. Often the tactical teams are utilized to capture wanted fugitives of the Empire, and they often coordinate their operations with larger military units who provide support for their operations.

ISB Tactical Agents conduct a Rolling T formation down a corridor

ADVANCED WEAPONS RESEARCH

The ISB was also one of two agencies tasked with controlling the Imperial Advanced Weapons Research Division. While project development fell to the Imperial Intelligence, security of those projects was assigned to the ISB. As such, soldiers from the Advanced Weapons Research, or AWR, were often deployed with ISB agents on special assignments.

A senior ISB agent in the field, supported by soldiers from the Advanced Weapons Research program

COUNTER-INSURGENCY

Perhaps the greatest assignment of the ISB would become its counter-insurgency operations against the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In the beginning, the Rebel Alliance was not a well-organized militia, but rather an ideal born through localized resistance to Imperial rule. Imperial forces attempted to subjugate this resistance, with the opposite effect.

Throughout the galaxy, bands of resistance formed on far flung planets, which in turn influenced the local populace, and governments. Word of this rebellion began to reach official news agencies like the Galactic News Network, which could not be tolerated. Once the ISB learned of these uprisings, their agents, along with appropriate military support, would deploy to eradicate it’s presence, and restore Imperial rule.

Over time, the ISB would learn that their efforts had in fact the opposite effect on the growing resistance movement. Over the years localized cells of resistance spread word by freighter pilots, passengers, and even clandestine communications networks that they had developed. These once primitive insurgents became a force to be reckoned with, and one that the Emperor wanted vanquished.

This led the ISB to deploy counter-intelligence agents into the field, who were often assigned with agents from Imperial Intelligence. Their objective was to infiltrate locations utilized by the rebels, in the hopes of gaining actionable intelligence. When they were successful, they would utilize military forces to conduct highly sophisticated capture or kill missions on individual members of the Alliance.

For larger operations, they would utilize entire fleets of Star Destroyers in an effort to destroy rebel fighters and ships. Doing so would greatly diminish the capabilities of the rebel forces, while instilling a sense of defeat and fear within its ranks. For the ISB, their efforts were as much a psychological campaign, as they were about state security.

They would conduct false flag operations such as on Ghorman, and blame localized rebel operatives for the deaths of Imperial citizens. They planted evidence and false intelligence, leading to the arrest of rebel sympathizers and supporters across the galaxy. Entire companies such as Blastech Industries and the Incom corporation were seized by the ISB, and placed under Imperial Military oversight.

CONCLUSION

The ISB is perhaps the most feared entity within the Imperial hierarchy, and for good reason. They operate with near Impunity, having the support of the Emperor himself. The ISB and its members serve as the hand that does his bidding and are responsible for ensuring that the integrity and stability of the Empire continue unimpeded.

They are by far one of the more fascinating aspects of the Empire and serve as the basis for various aspects of Star Wars gaming and role playing, such as larping and airsoft.

Suppressing Freedom

Understanding the Empire’s false flag operation in Palmo City

Ghorman, a human world located in the inner colonies, lies near the Rimma Hyperspace lanes. A peaceful world, with a very proud and respectable people, Ghorman is located between Giju and Thyferra.

The people of Ghorman are known and respected throughout the galaxy, due to their unique silks which are a by-product produced from the Ghorlectipods; an arachnid native only to Ghorman. So we see a peaceful and prosperous world that is part of the galactic trade, that should be anything but the epicenter of chaos.

In Andor Season 2, we find Ghorman is one of many worlds that have come under Imperial rule since the end of the Clone Wars. The Ghormans however, have attracted the undue attention of the Empire. It begins with the people of Ghorman petitioning the senate for their rights to be preserved under Imperial rule.

They have faced unjust rule from Imperial overseers and military forces, who have abused them and mistreated them. In the wake of their petitions, Grand Moff Tarkin lands his personal ship on the planet, crushing more than five hundred Ghorma protestors underneath it who refused to move.

This drew sympathy for the Ghormans in the Senate, and unwelcome attention for the Emperor. Subsequent to this, the Empire learns that Ghorman has large deposits of Kelkite, an untapped mineral resource that they need for their new “energy project.”

To obtain it, Director Orsen Krennic and the Imperial Security Bureau, or ISB, create a plan to utilize Ghorman’s resistance front in a false flag operation. They allow the local resistance fighters to hijack and steal Imperial weapons shipments, in order to set the stage for the operation.

The ISB then secretly manipulates the local Ghorman resistance in Palmo City, and uses intentionally leaked intelligence, as well as psychological warfare, to push the Resistance to instigate violent contact with Imperial forces.

What the ISB does not divulge to local Imperial commanders on Ghorman, is that they intend to use one of their own as bait for the attack. During a protest in Palmo square, a lone ISB sniper shoots and kills a fellow Imperail soldier, thus providing the authorization for the remaining Imperial forces to justify using force on the Ghorman resistance.

It turns into a bloodbath, with the strategically positioned Imperial soldiers cutting down the civilians. This in turn justifies Imperial control and occupation of the planet, allowing Imperial engineers to mine the Kelkite in the hills, while enforcing a loacal blackade of the planet.

The Ghorman Massacre in Palmo City Square

This blockade prevents the Ghorman people from having access to necessary food staples in order to survive, and the resulting outcome is poverty and starvation. The Ghormans then become, for all intents and purposes, prisoners on their own planet.

Asymmetric Warfare

The Ghorman operation is a classic example of Imperial use of Asymmetric Warfare. The planners understood that they could not risk anyone generating sympathy for the Ghormans in the senate, and thus needed to “prove” to the galactic populace who the real aggressors were.

They then set out to plan the operation to infiltrate the Ghorman Resistance through an extended hand, Syril Karn. He would know only enough to carry out what was needed, while the counter insurgency operation was closely guarded.

This again, is a textbook example of compartmentalized information at work. Each section involved in the operation knows only as much as they need to carry out their orders, while contributing to the larger operation as a whole.

By utilizing Imperial Army and Stormtroopers, the ISB could position them to react to contact, without having knowledge of the false flag operation. If the assassination of one of their own were compromised, it could be leaked to the Galactic News Network, turning the opinion of the people against the Emperor.

The Empire itself manipulated the news by utilizing reporters who were loyal the Empire and thus suppressing the truth in the wake of Imperial operations. Ghorman then, would be no different, and anyone caught speaking anything other than what was planned would be silenced.

The ISB knew from years of psychological operations how local populaces behaved in the wake of Imperial oversight, and they fueled that fire to push the Ghormans to react. So, from the perspective of the ISB, the killing of one individual soldier was deemed acceptable and necessary, to create the conditions for complete control of the planet.

Opposite side of the coin

As appaling as this operation was, we must not forget the many instances which the early Rebellion engaged in the exact same type of operation, in order to preserve operational security, and to achieve their goals. The very same thing occured when Anto Kreegyr led an X-Wing squadron to attack an Imperial power station on Spellhaus.

Rather than compromise his mole in the ISB and warn Kreegyr, Luthen Rael allowed the attack to commence, resulting in the loss of Kreegyr and his forces. The result was the ISB being misdirected and not being alerted to the rebel forces. This gave the Rebellion something that it desperately needed, time. Time to build, time to muster their forces, and time to plan.

A false flag operation is both ethically and morally wrong, and I do not see this type of action on the part of the Rebellion as something that is condoned. Conducting such an operation goes against what the Rebellion stands for, and Luthen’s use of it should not be accepted as the norm, but rather the exception.