Jakku Imperial remnant Counselor to the Empire Gallius Rax organized a remnant of the Imperial Military consisting of starship s and soldier s from both various other splinter groups and the disorganized Imperial armed forces on the desert planet Jakku in 5 ABY following the attack on Chandrila . This unified faction consisted of most of the remaining forces of the Galactic Empire . While Rax claimed that he had brought the Empire to Jakku in order to toughen and purify it for a final struggle against the New Republic , he actually planned to destroy the remnants of the Empire as part of the Contingency plan . Although his plans were thwarted by his second - in - command , Grand Admiral Rae Sloane , the unit ultimately collapsed as a result of the Battle of Jakku . Description . The Imperial remnant on Jakku was led by Counselor to the Empire Gallius Rax , who was supported by the Shadow Council consisting of Grand Moff Randd , General Hodnar Borrum , the propagandist Ferric Obdur , and the former Commandant Brendol Hux . Rax ' s military forces consisted of the Empire ' s purported last remaining Super Star Destroyer " Ravager " and a fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers . Rax also established a large Imperial base beyond the Goazon Badlands and the Sinking Fields . The main Imperial base housed a stormtrooper garrison and a large number of walker s . Other known Imperial facilities included an Imperial weapons facility , the Jakku Observatory , and a remote Kesium gas rig . Unknown to the Shadow Council , the Jakku Observatory was central to the late Emperor Palpatine ' s Contingency plan to destroy the Empire in the event of his death . The Observatory contained computer generated maps of the Unknown Regions and was built on top of a borehole that led to the planet ' s core . Rax planned to detonate the core in order to destroy Jakku along with much of the Empire and the New Republic Defense Fleet . Then he intended to lead a select group of Imperials whom he deemed worthy of joining him in the Unknown Regions to rebuild the Empire . Rax ' s forces including a contingent of child soldiers who were recruited from local orphans . History . Origins . The man who became Gallius Rax was an orphan boy who had stowed aboard Palpatine ' s luxury yacht " Imperialis " roughly three decades before the Battle of Jakku . Seeing potential in the boy , Palpatine tasked him with guarding an excavation site in the Valley of the Eremite which became the Jakku Observatory . After ten years of service , Palpatine inducted Rax into the Empire and tasked him with executing the Contingency . Palpatine believed that the Empire ' s sole purpose was to protect him and that it was unworthy of surviving should it outlive him . Palpatine used his power and influence to aid Rax ' s career advancement in the Imperial Navy . By 5 ABY , Rax had attained the rank of Fleet Admiral . Following the Rebellion on Akiva , Rax officially served as Grand Admiral Rae Sloane ' s adviser . While Sloane was the public leader of the Imperial remnant in the Vulpinus Nebula , Rax was the true ruler of what remained of the fleet . Additionally , Rax also secretly commanded the Imperial remnants in the Almagest , the Recluse ' s Nebula , the Queluhan Nebula , the Ro - Loo Triangle , and the Inamorata . As part of the Contingency , Rax eliminated his Imperial rivals by leaking intelligence to the New Republic , the successor to the Rebel Alliance while posing as " the Operator " . With Sloane ' s help , Rax engineered the downfall of the Imperial Future Council ' s emergency summit on Akiva . After creating a Shadow Council from several worthy Imperials including Commandant Brendol Hux , Rax used Sloane to instigate faux peace talks with the New Republic . However , this was a pretext to make an assassination attempt on New Republic leaders and military commanders on Chandrila using liberated rebel prisoners from Ashmead ' s Lock prison who had been outfitted with inorganic bio - chips . Following the Attack on Chandrila , Gallius Rax took over leadership of the remnant in the absence of Sloane , who had been caught up in the events on Chandrila . As Counselor to the Empire , Rax ordered the Imperial remnants he commanded to travel to Jakku . Rax ' s hour . In public , Counselor Rax claimed that he had brought the Empire to Jakku in order to toughen and harden them for their final showdown against the New Republic . Rax instituted a brutal training regime which encouraged savagery and violence among the Empire ' s soldiers and officers . In training sessions , officers egged their men to maul each other . Dissenters like RK - 242 who questioned what the Empire was doing on Jakku were brutalized by their comrades for questioning Rax ' s agenda . The stormtroopers stationed on Jakku degenerated into armed thugs who developed an unkempt appearance due to the harsh , arid climate . For months , the Jakku Imperial remnant waited for the New Republic to launch its attack . The prolonged state of alert began to take a toll on the Imperial forces based on Jakku . While General Borrum expressed concerned that the long wait was beginning to take a toll on the sanity of his men , Grand Moff Randd supported Counselor Rax ' s harsh regime as a purification process . During that time , Rax also struck a deal with the Hutt crime lady Niima , who was the leader of a cult . In return for supplying weapons , Niima guarded the path to the Valley of the Eremite and kidnapped local orphans . These orphans were trained by Commandant Hux into Rax ' s personal guard of child soldiers , which he hoped would become the template of his new Empire in the Unknown Regions . Norra Wexley and her team discovered the Imperial presence on Jakku . Her son Temmin Wexley and the former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus returned to Chandrila with news of the Jakku Imperial remnant . In response , Admiral Ackbar dispatched the scouting ship " Oculus " and several probe droids into the Jakku system to corroborate Temmin and Sinjir ' s information . The scouting party found that much of the Imperial fleet had indeed retreated to Jakku and were consolidating in a defensive arrangement . Despite some political obstruction in the Galactic Senate , Chancellor Mon Mothma managed to pass a resolution dispatching the New Republic Starfleet to Jakku . Meanwhile , Gallius Rax captured his rival Sloane and the former rebel operative Brentin Lore Wexley , who had teamed up with Sloane to stop Rax . After capturing them , Rax gave a test demonstration of his child soldiers . As a symbolic act of his plan to tear down the Empire and start a new regime , Rax ordered his child soldiers to execute a contingent of stormtroopers . Following the demonstration , Rax imprisoned Sloane and Brentin . With the New Republic fleet entering the Jakku , Rax delivered a rousing speech claiming that the coming battle would be the Empire ' s final stand against the New Republic . Final showdown . During the Battle of Jakku , the Imperial fleet was commanded by Grand Moff Randd while the Imperial ground forces were commanded by General Borrum . Randd ' s strategists devised a battle plan which involved the Star Destroyers forming a defensive cordon around the " Ravager " . During the battle , the Star Destroyers would periodically open formation to allow the " Ravager " to bombard the New Republic fleet with turbolaser s and missiles . This blunted the New Republic assault until Commodore Kyrsta Agate attacked the " Ravager " with her " Starhawk " - class battleship " Concord " . Despite her ship being crippled , she managed to use the " Concord " powerful tractor beam projector to drag the " Ravager " down into Jakku ' s atmosphere . This turned the tide of the battle in the New Republic ' s favor . Meanwhile , Rax along with Commandant Hux , his son Armitage Hux , the Imperial Adviser Yupe Tashu , and the child soldiers traveled to the Jakku Observatory . While the Huxes and the child soldiers waited aboard a replica of the Emperor ' s yacht " Imperialis " , Rax and Tashu entered the Observatory to activate the mining bore that would destabilize the planet ' s core . Rax planned to detonate Jakku ' s core , destroying the Imperial forces and the New Republic fleet . His plan was to then take the Huxes and the child soldiers into the Unknown Regions . As part of the ceremony , Rax threw the unwitting Tashu , who was carrying several Sith artifacts , to his death down the borehole , initiating the self - destruct mechanism . Rax ' s plan was ultimately foiled by Sloane , Brentin , and Norra . Following a fight , Sloane managed to kill Rax . Sloane then managed to seal the borehole shaft , stopping the planet ' s core from destabilizing further . This effectively sabotaged Palpatine ' s Contingency plan to destroy the remnants of his Empire . Heeding Rax ' s last words , Sloane assumed responsibility for carrying out the final stage of the Contingency . She accompanied the Huxes and the child soldiers into the Unknown Regions . After several months of travel , they rendezvoused with the Super Star Destroyer " Eclipse " , which had been sent in advance after the Observatory ' s computers had plotted a safe route through the Unknown Regions . Legacy . The Imperial remnant on Jakku disintegrated with the death of Gallius Rax , the disappearance of Rae Sloane , and the catastrophic defeat during the Battle of Jakku . Shortly later , Chancellor Mothma and Grand Vizier Mas Amedda signed the Galactic Concordance , which facilitated the Empire ' s surrender to the New Republic and formally ended the Galactic Civil War . Despite these developments , the Imperial remnant on Jakku continued fighting for several months until being subdued by New Republic forces . While several Imperial captain s crashed their Star Destroyers onto Jakku , others used secret coordinates to flee into the Unknown Regions . Later , some would return to the Core Worlds , but as per the stipulations of the concordance would have to remain within the new borders of the Imperial remnant . Despite the agreement , some of the imperials on Jakku disregarded it , instead remaining on - world where they continued to fight against the Republic for months While several other Imperial remnants remained , they posed little threat to the New Republic . The wrecked Imperial ships and vehicles on Jakku would be plundered by local scavengers for spare parts and equipment . Brendol Hux ' s son Armitage would eventually become a General in the First Order , a remnant of Imperial hardliners who had relocated to the Unknown Regions . Before his death , Rax had made the young Armitage the leader of his father ' s child soldiers . The younger Hux would use his father ' s ideas to develop the First Order ' s stormtrooper program .