If you’ve been following along with Alex Segura’s recent Star Wars comics, The Battle of Jakku: Republic Under Siege, you would have noticed an Imperial leader named Gallius Rax calling the shots for the Imperial remnants in the year following the Battle of Endor. Rax leads a council of Imperial admirals, warlords, governors, and more.
But who is he? And how did he get in such a prominent position?
That story was told in the Aftermath trilogy of books, written by Chuck Wendig, which fill in some of the period between the Battle of Endor and the Battle of Jakku, just like this comic is doing. So, if you don’t want to know what Rax’s fate is before reading these comics, don’t read any further. But if you want more of his background, let’s dive in.
Rax grew up as an orphan on Jakku, where – unbeknownst to most – Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine had an interest in some mysterious workings on the planet, even setting up one of his Observatories on the planet to house relics and secrets, and serve as a staging grounds for exploration of the Unknown Regions. Palpatine met the young Rax on a trip to the planet, and the boy became the Emperor’s protégé. Palpatine commanded Rax to oversee the operations on Jakku, and much later, Rax joined the Imperial navy. His progress in the navy was thought unusually fast and prestigious by many, not knowing his connections to Palpatine. He eventually became an admiral, and later known as the Counselor to the Emperor.
Key to Palpatine’s efforts on Jakku was his top-secret Contingency plan. Palpatine believed that an Empire who could not keep its Emperor alive was a failure and didn’t deserve to continue, meaning that his design only ever intended for the Empire to be ruled by him (and remember, all the while Palpatine desperately sought ways to cheat death and stay alive forever). Therefore, should Palpatine die, his Contingency was a plan to ensure the Empire did too – and it was Rax who was entrusted with this crucial secret plan. In the final days of Palpatine’s life, right before the Battle of Endor, he summoned Rax and told him to be ready to enact the Contingency should something happen to him – and, sure enough, Palpatine was (presumably) killed at Endor.
In the aftermath, Rax stepped up to take leadership of the Imperial remnants. It appeared that his intentions were to restore the glory of the Empire, but in reality his intentions, true to Palpatine’s Contingency, were to ensure its destruction. He formed the Shadow Council and diminished the roles of other key Imperial leaders, which caused the remnants to look to him for leadership. These remnants launched attacks on worlds like Naboo, Vardos, and many more through Operation: Cinder, which was designed as a punishment on formerly Imperial worlds. The remnants also continued the fight against the New Republic, and Rax secretly manipulated the remnants into gathering for a final stand at Jakku. Here, he planned to enact the Contingency, destroy most of the Imperial forces (and New Republic ones, too) and take only a select few Imperials – the best of them – into the Unknown Regions to begin anew.
Rax, however, was killed by Imperial Grand Admiral Rae Sloane on Jakku before this could be finalized, and Sloane took on the role of leading these Imperial remnants into the Unknown Regions. Together with Brendol Hux and a group of child soldiers, Sloane headed off into the unknown, where she reunited with the Emperor’s Super Star Destroyer, the Eclipse. Sloane and Hux would be pivotal players in forming the First Order.
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