Contingency The Contingency was a plan devised by Emperor Sheev Palpatine to ensure that the Galactic Empire would not outlive him . The task of putting the Contingency into effect was given to Gallius Rax , the Emperor ' s protégé . Ultimately , the plan was to destroy the planet Jakku along with the remnants of the Empire and its adversaries , who would be lured at the Battle of Jakku . In the aftermath of the Emperor ' s death at the Battle of Endor , Rax initiated the Contingency per by scouring several worlds including Naboo and Vardos . He also arranged for the deaths of several Imperial Military commander s , and allowed the opposing New Republic , the government established by the Alliance to Restore the Republic , to win a succession of victories against the Empire . In secret , Rax intended to create a new Empire in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy with the aid of a select group of worthy Imperial loyalists . As the self - appointed Counselor to the Empire , Rax gathered the remnants of the Empire to Jakku where he intended to destroy both Imperial and Republic forces in accordance with the Contingency . However , he was prevented from fulfilling the final stage of the plan by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane , who fatally shot Rax during the Battle of Jakku . The mortally wounded Rax urged Sloane to flee to the Unknown Regions and regroup with the others , telling her that she now served the Contingency in his place . This movement eventually gave rise to the First Order . History . Origins . The Contingency was a secret plan devised by Emperor Palpatine to ensure that the Galactic Empire did not outlive him should he die prematurely . The first part of the Contingency was the Jakku Observatory , an underground storehouse and repository in the Plaintive Hand plateau which was built over a borehole which led to Jakku ' s core . Palpatine and his Adviser Yupe Tashu had initiated the construction of the Observatory and the borehole three decades prior to the Battle of Jakku . Palpatine used an army of droid s to build the facility . The Contingency involved pouring Sith relics and artifacts down the borehole to detonate Jakku ' s core , triggering a cataclysm that would destroy the planet and the orbiting Imperial and enemy forces . Using the analogy of a Shah - tezh game , Palpatine viewed this as a means of destroying both the Empire and his enemies . The second part of the Contingency was Gallius Rax , a human native of Jakku whom Palpatine had taken in as a protege . After encountering Rax in 30 BBY , Palpatine tasked the boy with guarding the site . After Rax had proven his service , Palpatine rewarded him by inducting him into Imperial service . Palpatine arranged for him to become a Commander in the Naval Intelligence Agency before rising to the rank of Fleet Admiral . In the event of his own death , Palpatine intended for Rax to carry out the Contingency , referring to it as the latter ' s destiny . In order to transmit posthumous orders , Palpatine had special sentinel droid s built to communicate with Rax and other " worthy " Imperial officers . The third part of the Contingency involved Rax and a select number of Imperial officers and personnel fleeing into the Unknown Regions using secret hyperspace coordinates . Using information gleaned from Admiral Thrawn , the ancient computers housed inside the Jakku Observatory plotted routes through the Unknown Regions . Once a safe route had been found , Rax arranged for the Emperor ' s Super Star Destroyer " Eclipse " to travel in advance to the Unknown Regions . There , Rax planned to form a new Empire . Imperial apocalypse . After Palpatine perished at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY , the Contingency was activated . , which involved the scouring of Naboo and many other planet s , was part of the plan . The now - Fleet Admiral Rax , however , attempted to change the nature of the plan to his advantage so he could start a new Empire of his own . In the period following the events on Endor , Rax engineered the deaths of numerous Imperial commanders by leaking information about Imperial fleet movements and the emergency summit on Akiva to the New Republic , the successor to the Rebel Alliance . Rax kept his plan a secret from even his subordinates including Grand Admiral Rae Sloane , who disliked his secretive style of leadership , and his Shadow Council , an advisory council consisting of senior Imperial officials and commanders . After Sloane was presumed lost or captured during the attack on the New Republic capital of Chandrila , Rax assumed leadership of the Imperial remnants as Counselor to the Empire . He then ordered his forces to assemble at Jakku for a final showdown with the New Republic . Unknown to the Shadow Council , Rax was planning to kill them , with the exception of the former Commandant Brendol Hux , whom he regarded as essential to the Empire ' s future . On Jakku , Rax put the Contingency into motion by setting the stage for a massive battle with the New Republic . Intending to destroy the " Old Empire " , Rax got Commandant Hux to train local children into a force of soldiers who would become the foundations of his planned new Empire . While the battle was raging , Rax and Tashu poured Sith relics down the planet ' s core in order to trigger a cataclysm . Rax then killed Tashu as part of the Contingency . Before he could escape offworld with Hux , Armitage Hux and the child soldiers aboard a replica of Palpatine ' s yacht " Imperialis " , Rax was killed by Sloane with the help of the rebel operatives Norra Wexley and Brentin Lore Wexley . Disintegration . In his last dying moments , Rax told Sloane that she now served the Contingency and told her to accompany the others aboard the " Imperialis " to the Unknown Regions where the Emperor ' s flagship " Eclipse " was waiting in uncharted space . The attrition afflicted by the Contingency helped bring about the Empire ' s defeat during the Battle of Jakku . Following the Battle of Jakku , Grand Vizier Mas Amedda formally surrendered the Empire to the New Republic and signed the Galactic Concordance in 5 ABY . Several Imperial remnants rejected the treaty and continued to hold out in the months following the end of the Galactic Civil War , although they were few in number as a result of the Emperor ' s Contingency . Other Imperial forces fled into the Unknown Regions using secret hyperspace coordinates . Chafing under New Republic restrictions and war reparations , the " Old Empire " eventually withered away into a remnant of hardliners that relocated to form the First Order , a military junta dedicated to overthrowing the New Republic .