Zaarin splinter government The Zaarin splinter government was a regime created by the ex - Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin in his attempt to overthrow Emperor Palpatine and take over the Galactic Empire . Though Zaarin was in good light of the Emperor , he was dissatisfied with Palpatine ' s rule , and decided to put himself on the throne . Zaarin recruited Arden Lyn , a dissatisfied Dark Jedi . He also attempted to recruit ace TIE pilot Maarek Stele , but failed . The splinter government ' s first action was an attack above Coruscant against Palpatine ' s personal Star Destroyer , the " Majestic " . The attack failed , though , as Darth Vader , Stele , and five other pilots saved the Emperor and defeated his forces there . Zaarin ' s regime then escaped to the Outer Rim Territories , where they continued a campaign against the Empire until he was killed shortly before the Battle of Endor , in 3 ABY . History . In 3 ABY , during the pursuit of the rogue Admiral Harkov , Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin set forth his plans to overthrow Emperor Palpatine in an attempt to assume control of the Galactic Empire . While the Imperials were preoccupied with putting down Harkov ' s pro - Rebel Alliance forces , Zaarin mustered his own personal army in preparation for his takeover of the Empire . Utilizing his vast resources and various advanced technologies , Zaarin was in position to overthrow the Emperor in what he expected to be a swift and complete campaign . Some time later , Admiral Harkov was captured and subsequently executed by Darth Vader on charges of treachery , and the Imperial loyalists had tracked down his surviving fleet to the Ottega system , where they were aligned with a contingent of Rebel forces . Finding themselves outmatched , the Imperials called on Zaarin and his forces to assist in routing Harkov ' s fleet . This was where Zaarin would launch his " coup d ' état " . Zaarin ' s forces arrived on the scene as ordered , but instead of helping the Imperials , they attacked the Imperial Star Destroyer " Garrett " , Vader ' s flagship . Although the loyalist forces succeeded in driving them off as well as exterminating Harkov ' s allies for good , the Galactic Empire was weakened , so the Imperial forces loyal to the Emperor raced to Coruscant to put an end to the impending coup . Zaarin later captured and boarded the Emperor ' s personal flagship , the " Majestic " . With Palpatine captured , Zaarin ordered his strike team to deliver the Emperor to him personally on his flagship , " Glory " . However , he was thwarted when loyal Imperial forces , led by Darth Vader and Vice Admiral Thrawn , arrived and rescued the Emperor . With the failure of the coup , Zaarin and his task force fled to the Outer Rim Territories . The failure to overthrow Emperor Palpatine was a severe setback for Zaarin ' s splinter government , but Zaarin himself remained active . Operating from the " Glory " and those bases which remained in Zaarin ' s control , his insurrectionist forces launched a campaign of terror and sabotage against the Empire . The first step in Zaarin ' s plan was to strip the Empire with the advanced technologies of his creation that they still possessed , providing him with the technological advantage . He started his campaign by destroying the TIE / Advanced starfighter Deep Space Manufacturing Facilities of Omar . Although he suffered severe losses , Zaarin and his forces were ultimately successful in destroying all TIE / Advanced facilities in the Omar system , dealing a major blow to the Empire . Zaarin continued his campaign by assaulting the Imperial space station " Research " , a facility previously under Zaarin ' s direct command . By destroying the facility , Zaarin hoped to deny the Empire access to the newly - commissioned TIE / D Defender , which was still being developed . Once again , Zaarin achieved victory over the Empire by destroying " Research " , but the surviving TIE Defender prototypes were safely transferred to Coruscant prior to the base ' s destruction . This setback however , did not stymie Zaarin ' s war of attrition against the Empire , as he continued to raid Imperial facilities of valuable technologies and would continue to deny the Empire access to them . In the battle for control of the TIE Defender technology , Zaarin schemed with numerous pirate groups in the Outer Rim Territories to acquire control of the resources and personnel needed to further the development and manufacture of the TIE Defender . One of the consequences of this was the acquisition of the fighter craft by the Nami , a warrior race aligned with the Rebel Alliance . However , this brief but destructive crisis was resolved by loyal Imperial forces before the technology fell into Rebel hands . However , Zaarin still possessed this technological advantage . The growing threat posed by Admiral Zaarin eventually prompted Emperor Palpatine to promote Vice Admiral Thrawn to the rank of Grand Admiral , filling the vacancy left by Zaarin in the Emperor ' s inner circle . The Emperor personally charged Thrawn with the destruction of Zaarin and his treacherous fleet . Thrawn ' s strategy would be to deny Zaarin of his technological advantage through the top - secret development of a heavy starfighter capable of countering the threat posed by Zaarin ' s fleet of TIE Defenders . This starfighter , the Missile Boat , would spearhead Thrawn ' s campaign to destroy Zaarin ' s armada . Admirals Zaarin and Thrawn sparred in the Semag system in the Unknown Regions where Thrawn intended to strip Zaarin of the bulk of his starfleet before a second attempt on the Emperor ' s life could be staged . Although Thrawn ' s campaign proved devastating and many forces loyal to Zaarin had been eliminated , losses for both sides were heavy as Zaarin ' s forces had managed to inflict enormous losses on the advance fleet Thrawn had deployed against the enemy . To lure Zaarin out into the open , Thrawn laid several traps in an effort to bait Zaarin into pursuing top - secret Imperial technologies such as the newly - deployed Missile Boat . Zaarin launched several efforts to gain possession of these and other technologies , but his forces were swiftly routed by Tan Maarek Stele , who flew the Missile Boat with great distinction . However , despite these losses Zaarin was not deceived by the Grand Admiral ' s ploys and ultimately retreated deeper into the Unknown Regions before Thrawn ' s forces could confront him directly . Admiral Zaarin was not swayed by the losses he endured however and after successfully acquiring a full squadron of Missile Boats from an Imperial convoy focused his energies on the capture of the Empire ' s next top - secret project : A cloaking device being tested aboard the modified CR90 corvette " Vorknkx " . In order to ensure shortly after his theft of the Missile Boats that the Imperials could not develop any more Missile Boats , Zaarin ' s faction also had the factories developing them destroyed in an planetary bombardment , killing thousands . This , as well as an unrelated theft of one of the Missile Boat prototypes , the " Sealion " , by the Rebel Alliance , led to the Emperor ordering for any and all surviving Missile Boats still in Imperial custody placed into lockdown and put in a secure location until further notice shortly before Zaarin ' s final stand . However , Zaarin was eventually defeated by Thrawn in the Emperor ' s Will campaign , and killed , after Thrawn exploited Zaarin ' s dependence on advanced technology by letting Zaarin escape with the " Vorknkx " while cloaked , knowing full well that the ship had a critical flaw within its cloaking device would have the ship be utterly destroyed once it entered hyperspace , thus ending his coup . Government . The government was comprised of a military junta . As such , its governing process was based strictly on a militaristic fashion and it was ruled by a number of officers . They included Zaarin himself and Commander Raveen . What remained of his government was disbanded after his death , and the deaths of his officers during the final stages of the insurrection . Military . Zaarin had a fleet of Star Destroyers and other smaller vessels , as well as several stormtrooper units . Being a former TIE fighter researcher , Zaarin ' s forces used experimental models that were largely unavailable to loyalist Imperial pilots . He was also occasionally aided by forces of the Alliance Fleet . Despite the technological advantage , they were ultimately defeated . All starfighter squadrons , as well as most shuttle and transport craft , were given a " Z - " designation in front of their names when described by loyal Imperial forces , largely for ease of identification during battle . In addition , unlike the mainline Imperial forces , Zaarin ' s TIE squadrons were modified to come equipped with shield generators . Their vessels included " Assassin " - class corvettes , including at least three groups known as the Arditi group , BaKaar group , and Falcon group ; " Gamma " - class ATR - 6 assault transports and the " Oz " , " Ram " and " Divine Wind " , including the Upsilon group , Z - Epsilon group , Z - Lambda group , Z - Omega group , and Z - Sigma group as well as the " Elpi " , the Immobilizer 418 cruisers " Harpago " and " Grappler " , " Alpha " - class Xg - 1 Star Wing squadrons including the Mu ( later Z - Mu ) , Z - Nu and Tau ( later Z - Tau ) Squadrons , and TIE / sa bomber squadrons including the Z - Alpha , Z - Beta , Z - Delta , Z - Eta , Z - Gamma , and Z - Theta Squadrons , TIE / ad starfighter s including Alpha Squadron and Z - Zeta , " Delta " - class JV - 7 escort shuttles including the Hellcat and Haven groups , " Imperial " - class Star Destroyers such as the " Glory " , Nebulon - B2 frigate s including the " Raptor " and " Shadow " , TIE / LN starfighter s including Z - Delta and Z - Theta squadrons , at least 2 Modular conveyor s which included the " Cod " , YT - 1300 light freighters such as the " Coral " , at least three CR90 corvettes including the " Caplure " and " Vorknkx " , " Carrack " - class light cruisers including the " Jumimi " , " Strike " - class medium cruisers including the " Serpent " , TIE / IN interceptors including the Z - Delta Squadron , TIE / D Defenders including the Delta , Iota , and Theta Squadrons , Assault Gunboats , Muurian transport s including the " 500 2 " , assault transports , " Lambda " - class T - 4a shuttles including the " Sigma " group , Beta - class ETR - 3 escort transport s including the " Lambda 1 " , and others . Besides the standard military , he also had Force - sensitives led by former Emperor ' s Hand Arden Lyn , who were personally responsible for capturing the Emperor by using their combined Force abilities to neutralize the Sith Lord .