Gideon's Imperial remnant

Gideon's Imperial remnant continued its loyalty to the ousted Galactic Empire during the era of the New Republic in the Outer Rim Territories in the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War despite the Empire's collapse after the Battle of Jakku. A well armed Imperial remnant, it was commanded by the warlord Moff Gideon from Mandalore, who envisioned bringing his own vision of order to the galaxy and complete the purging of the Mandalorians.
Around the year 9 ABY, Gideon's forces came into contact with Din Djarin, a Mandalorian bounty hunter whom "the Client" hired on Nevarro to retrieve an asset named Grogu. Although the Mandalorian delivered Grogu to the remnant, he later had a change of heart and rescued Grogu. The remnant then occupied the local town but was driven off when Djarin returned and defeated Moff Gideon, who returned his fleet. The Moff continued his operations and used an army of third generation Dark Troopers to assist him. Gideon managed to succeed in capturing the child on Tython, before Jedi Master Luke Skywalker rescued him and defeated the Dark Troopers.
Moff Gideon was arrested by the New Republic, and his key scientist Pershing defected to their amnesty program, before Gideon managed to escape and work in the shadows on the world of Mandalore. With an army of commandos at his disposal, alongside reinforcements provided by the Shadow Council, Gideon's faction fought in one final battle against the Mandalorians who sought to reclaim their homeworld, in which they ultimately met their defeat.
==Description==
Having attained the rank of moff, Gideon led a sizable remnant of Imperial forces and united remnants as a warlord. Moff Gideon was an imposing and ruthless leader, and also a patriot of the Galactic Empire who was known to kill fellow Imperials should they endanger his cause. Gideon forces inherited assets from the Imperial Military, specifically from the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy and used them as a well established military force to achieve its objectives. Remnant forces on Nevarro had the capability to occupy and maintain order on the planet and maintained at least one battalion. The remnant's frontline infantry were comprised of stormtroopers, Imperial armored commandos, scout troopers, at least one incinerator trooper and one artillery stormtrooper.
Local stormtroopers on Nevarro were of lower class and quality, merely serving as bodyguards for important high ranking Imperial officials or to maintain the occupation of Nevarro City. Additionally, the remnant led by Moff Gideon utilized elite death troopers on Nevarro, which formed a guard unit protecting Gideon, as well as a platoon of Phase-III Dark Troopers and later utilised the new Dark Trooper phase 4 armor which was used by Gideon himself. Three Imperial Praetorian Guards were later used to act as a bodyguard for Gideon Imperial officers also served within the remnant, serving in various capacities including captaining a starship, acting as security officers, deck officers, pilots, communications officers and gunnery officers. The remnant also consisted of scientists including clone engineers and Imperial Department of Military Research scientists.
Weapons used by the remnant included the typical E-11 medium blaster rifle, SE-14r light repeating blaster, E-22 reciprocating double-barreled blaster rifle, or the DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle. Scout troopers used the EC-17 hold-out blaster, and death troopers used the E-11D blaster carbine. They also used E-Web heavy repeating blaster cannons. Furthermore, Imperial forces were bolstered by armored units including a K79-S80 Imperial Troop Transport, 74-Z speeder bikes, a Trexler 906 Armored Marauder, and other vehicles. Their leader, Moff Gideon, also used a personal Outland TIE fighter, a model of the Sienar Fleet Systems' TIE fighter series, with wings that folded when landing on a leveled surface, allowing for ease of access to the cockpit. They also owned at least two RA-7 protocol droids, one of whom served the Nevarro cantina as the bartender after the remnant's occupation of the planet, while another served on Gideon's cruiser, as well as R-series astromech droids, Power droids, including at least one MPH power droid, MSE-6 series repair droids and at least one Viper probe droid
A fleet also served under Moff Gideon's command, as part of his Imperial remnant. The fleet included a modified Gozanti-class Assault Carrier, a Class 546 light cruiser, several Outland TIE fighters, TIE/ln space superiority starfighters, a squadron of TIE/IN interceptors, a squadron of TIE/sa bombers, several Imperial transports and one Lambda-class T-4a shuttle.
==History==
===Origins===
For a period of time following the end of the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire reigned over the galaxy, enforcing Emperor Sheev Palpatine'sTarkin rule with an iron fist through a massive technological military force. However, the Alliance to Restore the Republic rebelled in the Galactic Civil War and achieved a series of decisive victories, culminating at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY,Star Wars: Galactic Atlas where the Emperor was killed alongside his chief enforcer, Darth Vader, and the second planet-destroying Death Star battle station was destroyed. Without a leader to keep the Empire united, the remnants of the Empire began to fractureStar Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual DictionaryAftermath into Imperial holdouts.
However, across space, Imperial Moffs and regional governors still had control over their sectors, star systems, and planets,Aftermath: Life Debt while Imperial fleets and armies remained scattered across the galaxy. In wake of the chaos after Endor, Moffs and regional governors began vying for power and jockeying against each other for position and control in the power vacuum left behind by Emperor Palpatine's death. The Imperial Military was unable to be reined in, with different warlords and remnants grabbing at power.Star Wars: Squadrons After the Battle of Jakku, the Imperial armed forces were totally shattered, and the Empire formally surrendered to the New Republic,Aftermath: Empire's End the government established by the Rebel Alliance.Lost Stars
The weakened Empire signed a truce and peace treaty with the emboldened New Republic, ending the Galactic Civil War and dissolving the Galactic Empire. Nevertheless, remnants of the Empire continued to persist in the form of Imperial holdouts, fragments of the former regime which gained footholds on distant worlds, after the Empire's collapse. Former Imperials became warlords while remnant stormtroopers dissolved into mercenary bands in service to the ex-Imperial warlords. One such Imperial remnant was led by Moff Gideon, a former officer in the Imperial Security Bureau during the Mandalorian Great Purge of Mandalore, who formed his faction out of the remains of the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy to achieve his ends in a campaign to return Imperial order to the galaxy.
===Operations on Nevarro===
====Ongoing Experiments====
By 9 ABY, during the New Republic Era, Moff Gideon's Imperial remnant operated nearby and had clandestinely established operations on the Outer Rim planetThe Star Wars Book Nevarro, including a facility in the local town and a restarted Imperial base on another side of the planet. Gideon further commanded a fleet and Imperial scientists and engineers like Doctor Penn Pershing. On Nevarro, Gideon used an ex-Imperial, "the Client," and his stormtrooper guard as fronts for his operation. The Bounty Hunters' Guild also maintained a presence on Nevarro, where former magistrate Greef Karga acted as an expeditor for the guild, running the bounty hunting trade in the sector from Nevarro.
As part of a series of ongoing experiments involving blood transfusions overseen by Doctor Pershing, Gideon and his forces sought to acquire a mysterious Force-sensitive alien youngling known as Grogu. Gideon used the force of the remains of the Imperial Army to acquire it. In 9 ABY, the Client hired a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Din Djarin, having been sent by Karga, to locate and acquire a highly valuable "asset" on Arvala-7. In return, the Client offered Djarin a substantial reward in the form of beskar, a metal alloyStar Wars Rebels: Heroes of Mandalore traditionally used to forge ancestral Mandalorian armor which the Empire had stolen from Mandalore as spoils of the Purge. Aside from the age of the asset, which was approximately fifty years old, the Client offered little else to help the Mandalorian. Nevertheless, he was confident that such a highly skilled and expensive warrior would complete the task.
After returning from Arvala-7, the Mandalorian fulfilled his commission by handing over the asset, which he had discovered to be Grogu, to the Client and Dr. Pershing. Once the Mandalorian was gone, the Client and Pershing argued about the infant, with the Client demanding he simply remove the material that they needed from Grogu even if the procedure resulted in his death. Pershing refused, reminding the Client that they had orders to deliver him alive, after which the Client warned Pershing that his safety was no longer assured. Soon after, the Mandalorian returned to rescue Grogu, having had a change of heart, resulting in a firefight with the remnant stormtroopers. Though outnumbered, the Mandalorian defeated the troopers and ultimately escaped from the facility with Grogu
====Gideon's arrival====
Following the theft of Grogu, the Client and his forces installed a renewed Imperial authority across the city on Nevarro. A number of bounty hunters tried and failed to recapture the Child, and so a plan was put in place for Karga to lure the Djarin back to the planet to kill him in order to free Nevarro from the Imperial presence. However, after Grogu saved Karga's life, Karga killed his accompanying bounty hunters and sided with the Mandalorian and his allies, Cara Dune and Kuiil.
Planning to kill the Client instead, Karga and Dune escorted a handcuffed Djarin through the city with a decoy of Grogu, eventually reaching the cantina. Upon arriving, the Client expressed his admiration of the Mandalorian's new armor and questioned him as to why Mandalore had resisted Imperial expansion, claiming that the Empire improved every system it touched. Their discussion was interrupted when the Client was contacted by Moff Gideon via hologram, who then ordered a squad of death troopers outside to fire on the cantina, killing the Client and his stormtrooper guards. Gideon then flew down beside the cantina in an Outland TIE fighter, backed by his death trooper guard and the rest of his stormtrooper battalion. Meanwhile, scout troopers were able to track down and retake Grogu, killing his guardian, Kuiil.
====Clash on Nevarro====
At the cantina, Gideon began talking across to the Djarin, Karga and Dune from outside, emphasizing Grogu's importance to him. He gave the three until nightfall to surrender, threatening to use an E-Web heavy repeating blaster cannon on them if they failed to do so. At the same time, the scout troopers who had acquired Grogu rendezvoused near the city. They listened in on transmissions as Gideon killed one of his officers out of anger. The pair were suddenly approached by the bounty hunter droid IG-11, which Kuiil had reprogrammed for nursing and protection. In the ensuing confrontation, the droid neutralized both scout troopers and then took Grogu with him on one of their 74-Z speeder bikes.
IG-11 rode into Nevarro city on the seized speeder bike, carrying Grogu in a bag hanging over his front and shooting nearby stormtroopers he passed. When the droid reached the clearing next to the cantina where Djarin and his comrades were pinned down, IG-11 jumped off of the speeder bike, allowing it to crash into the stormtroopers and Death troopers ahead. As IG-11 proceeded to fight his many adversaries, Djarin, Dune and Karga joined the battle, killing many troopers in the firefight. As Djarin used the E-Web blaster cannon to mow down more stormtroopers, Gideon arrived, and shot an explosive object near the Mandalorian, injuring him. Subsequently, IG-11 and the rest of Djarin's comrades helped him back inside the cantina under fire. Gideon ordered an incinerator trooper to burn the cantina with Djarin and the others inside. However, Grogu used the Force to turn the fire back to the trooper, killing him.
Djarin's group then retreated into the sewers and visited a covert. By the time stormtroopers arrived at the enclave, Djarin and his comrades had left, leaving the Armorer, who fought and defeated the troopers. Another group of stormtroopers awaited Djarin's group at the end of a tunnel. IG-11, though, self-destructed to defeat the squad. As the rest of the group left the tunnel, they were attacked by Gideon in his Outland TIE fighter. Djarin chased the TIE with his jetpack and planted a detonator on it, damaging it and causing it to crash. With Gideon defeated, Djarin parted ways with Dune and Karga and departed Nevarro with Grogu.
===Hunting the Child===
====Skirmish on Trask====
After successfully helping a passenger and her eggs reach Trask and reunite with her husband, Djarin was recruited by Bo-Katan Kryze, Koska Reeves, and Axe Woves to help them raid a Gozanti-class Assault Carrier belonging to the remnant in order to capture some weapons being exported from the black market port. The quartet of Mandalorians fought through several units of stormtroopers to reach the cargo hold.
The quartet were temporarily stopped by a remnant officer who trapped them in the cargo control area. The officer and a group of stormtroopers that accompanied him in defending the hold were jettisoned. After Kryze revealed to the captain that he had captured the cargo hold, the captain stated that even if they jettisoned the crates of cargo, they would comb the area and kill them. Kryze revealed that her true objective was to fully capture the ship and storm the bridge even to the distraught and shock of Djarin. Djarin eventually agreed to help Kryze storm the bridge and fully capture the ship, in return Kryze would reveal the whereabouts of a Jedi.
The captain contacted Gideon informing him of pirates who previously raided their past shipments, he informed him of the loss of the cargo hold and requested reinforcements. This only prompted Gideon to order the captain to scuttle the ship via the phrase "Long live the Empire," he proceeded to kill his own bridge personnel and personally piloted the ship to scuttle into the ocean of Trask.
With the Gozanti on a crash course with the ocean, the quartet of Mandalorians were slowed down by the suppressive fire of stormtroopers armed with heavy repeating blasters with the altitude of the ship dropping, Djarin drew two grenades and ran at the stormtroopers while being covered by the others. After heavy fire and falling to the group, Djarin hurled the two grenades at the stormtroopers killing them.
Upon reaching the bridge, Djarin and Reeves piloted the ship away from the ocean while Kryze interrogated the captain, asking if Gideon had the Darksaber. The captain informed her that she should already have known of this by asking the question. Kryze threatened to keep him alive but the captain simply stated that while she would let him live, Gideon would not. He took his own life via a suicide shocker, which killed him instantly.
After Kryze revealed the location of the Jedi at the city of Calodan on the forest planet Corvus. Djarin and the Mandalorians parted ways, with Kryze, Reeves, and Woves maintaining control of the captured cruiser.
====Capturing the Child====
At one point, Gideon received a hologram message from Dr. Pershing, who was apologizing to him for failing an experiment involving the Child and Strand-Casts. He also reported that he had exhausted their supply of Grogu's blood samples, and that he required more genetic material from the donor in order to continue his work.
Three days later, Djarin went back to Nevarro in need of repairs and was recruited by Karga, Dune, and a Mythrol to join them on their own mission to destroy the Imperial base. As the four undertook the mission, a Mimbanesse worker and placed a tracking device on Djarin's ship. At the base, Djarin and the others viewed the hologram of Pershing and realized that the Imperials were performing experiments, hence their pursuit of Grogu. The worker later contacted a comms officer on Gideon's light cruiser informing her that the tracking device had been planted. The officer subsequently informed Gideon, who smiled to himself and continued to supervise the work of his scientists on his Dark Troopers.
Gideon's forces tracked Djarin's ship to Tython. From high atmosphere, two Imperial transports carrying a detachment of stormtroopers launched from Gideon's light cruiser. As the stormtroopers did battle with Djarin and his allies, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, four Dark Troopers were readied and launched from the cruiser and landed near the seeing stone where Grogu had been meditating. There, one of the Dark Troopers seized Grogu and flew upwards back to the cruiser with the other three Dark Troopers while Fett pursued them from his ship. Upon seeing the cruiser, Fett remarked in disbelief that the Empire was back. Once the Dark Troopers returned to the cruiser with the Child, Gideon's cruiser jumped to hyperspace, though not before blasting Djarin's grounded ship, the Razor Crest, destroying it. While still in hyperspace, Gideon briefly talked to the Child in his prison cell, walking in on the child attacking two stormtroopers. Letting Grogu tire himself out battling the two troopers, Gideon showed Grogu the Darksaber before having his stormtroopers stun him and place him in shackles. Gideon then ordered his communications officer to send an encrypted message to Pershing, informing him that they had their donor for his experiments once they exited hyperspace.
====Attack on Gideon's cruiser====
Djarin and his team infiltrated Gideon's cruiser, and they split, Kryze searching for Gideon, and Djarin searching for the child. Gideon was prepared, and tried to trick the Mandalorian to lower his guard with promises of returning the Child, claiming to no longer need him, having already taken his blood. He attempted to strike at Djarin from behind, and proceeded to battle the Mandalorian, who fought back with his beskar spear. Gideon was defeated, and Djarin brought him to Kryze, and tried to return the Darksaber to her. Gideon laughed, knowing that she could not take the saber without winning it through combat.
Then the dark troopers, which Djarin had ejected into space, returned via their rocket boosters. Confident that everyone besides himself will be killed by the Dark Troopers, he did not anticipate the arrival of Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. After watching the Jedi destroy the Dark Troopers, Gideon tried to eliminate the child, and then kill himself. He failed to do both and was knocked unconscious so that Marshal Dune could use his invaluable ISB information for the New Republic and properly bring him to justice. Djarin believed that was very likely that the Moff would be executed for his crimes by the New Republic Tribunal.
====Extracting Moff Gideon====
Following the rescue of Grogu from Gideon's light cruiser, Gideon's communications officer, Elia Kane became part of the New Republic's amnesty program. In truth, she had remained loyal to the Remnant and was acting as a spy for it. Sometime after his arrest by the New Republic, Gideon escaped New Republic custody when his beskar-plated commandos extracted him from the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle carrying him to his trial. After his escape he and his forces regrouped at their headquarters on Mandalore. 
===Rulers of Mandalore===
====From the shadows====
Having succeeded in acquiring Grogu's blood Gideon used it to create Force-sensitive clones of himself to incorporate into his army, as well as designing the Dark Trooper phase 4 armor, which he wore to battle himself. To defend the Mandalore system the remnant used a large squadron of TIE/IN interceptors backed by TIE/sa bombers and TIE/ln space superiority starfighters. One of Gideon's subordinates Elia Kane was routinely used as the remnants contact with the larger galaxy. Gideon also hired Pirate King Gorian Shard and his pirate gang to cause chaos in the outer rim without alerting the New Republic specifically in Nevarro's sector. 
Several TIE interceptors and bombers were dispatched to destroy Kryze Castle on Kalevala after Bo-Katan Kryze returned home. Worried that his former scientist Penn Pershing, who had also joined the New Republic's amnesty program, would reveal the secrets of his project to the wider galaxy, Gideon sent Elia Kane to erase his memory. Kane succeeded in framing Pershing of being a criminal, whilst simultaneously working her way up through New Republic ranks. As revenge for being driven off Nevarro, Gideon later sent Gorian Shard's pirates to devastate the planet. However, their efforts were stopped by Mandalorians led by Djarin and Kryze. Kane learnt of this and informed Gideon that both Djarin's tribe and Kryze's unit had joined together in defeating the pirates on Nevaro despite their animosity towards each other, to which he assured her that he would take care of the Mandalorians
====Meeting with the Shadow Council====
Afterwards Gideon attended a meeting with the Shadow Council. He remained silent as he listened to the other members discussion. Irked by Captain Gilad Pellaeon's zealous commitment to Grand Admiral Thrawn, Moff Gideon mockingly remarked on the Chiss commander's recurring absence and expressed doubt at his "imminent return". Pivoting from this point, he further stressed the need for new leadership, hinting at his own ambitions to take the reins. Commandant Brendol Hux instead suggested that Project Necromancer would solve that matter, before questioning Moff Gideon on Doctor Pershing's situation. The warlord denied using the scientist for his own experiments and changed the subject to the Mandalorian threat. Hux and Pellaeon agreed to grant Gideon extra resources as well as three Imperial Praetorian Guards to protect him for the upcoming battle. With his request granted, the Moff ended the meeting with a patriotic chant, joined in unison by his fellow warlords.
====Battle for Mandalore====
=====The trap=====
When the Mandalorians under Kryze and Djarin returned and made their way to the Great Forge, Gideon sent his commandos to lead them into a trap. As Kryze, Djarin, and their forces pursued the Imperials, they found themselves in Gideon's base. Djarin was then separated from the main group and taken prisoner by the commandos and Gideon in his beskar armor. As Djarin was taken away, Gideon thanked him for bringing all the Mandalorians back to one place and sent his interceptors and bombers to deal with the Mandalorian fleet. Gideon demanded the Darksaber from Kryze, remembering how she gave to him when he offered a ceasefire before the Great Purge. Kryze, knowing too well, refused and cut through the blast doors to help her unit escape. Paz Vizsla, despite Kryze's plea, made a last stand to cover their retreat.
=====Fall of the remnant=====
Djarin managed to escape Imperial custody with help from Grogu. Together they infiltrated the base along with Grogu hoping to locate the command center and take Moff Gideon out once and for all. With assistance from R5-D4 they managed to locate the command center. As they approached the command center they discovered Moff Gideon's Force-sensitive clones and destroyed them, thus ruining Gideon's plans to conquer the Galaxy.
This prompted an enraged Gideon to attack Djarin on a platform near the command center when the two arrived there. While fighting with Gideon, the Praetorian Guards emerged and attacked Djarin, however Grogu stopped them causing the guards to charge at him who retreated back into the command center. After the Mandalorians regrouped, they launched an attack on Gideon's base with reinforcements from the fleet. Woves decided to remain on the light cruiser to act as a distraction for Gideon's interceptors and bombers. 
The Mandalorians used their Kom'rk-class fighter transports to deploy an attack force. Using their jetpacks, the Mandalorians flew into the skytop opening, engaging Gideon's commandos, especially Kryze who used the Darksaber to eliminate several of them. After spotting Djarin fighting Gideon, Kryze then landed and fought with Gideon, allowing Djarin to leave and save Grogu. Using Grogu's force powers and Djarin's weapons, the pair managed to defeat all three Praetorian Guards. Gideon crushed the Darksaber with his suit's augmented strength, breaking Kryze's hand in the process and taunting her that without their toys, Mandalorians were weak. As Djarin and Grogu arrived, Kryze declared Mandalorians were stronger together, and the three quickly overpowered him.
With the light cruiser severely damaged, Woves steered it into the base and escaped at the last minute, before the cruiser crashed into the base destroying it. Gideon perished in the resulting destruction. The death of Moff Gideon and the destruction of the Mandalore Imperial base marked the end of Gideon's Imperial remnant.
===Legacy===
Sometime after the conflict on Mandalore, Carson Teva cited Gideon's battle as an example of how there had been coordination among the scattered and dwindling Imperial remnants during General Hera Syndulla's admonishing session at Coruscant for disobeying the orders of the New Republic Senate to ignore the attempts of Morgan Elsbeth's forces to bring Grand Admiral Thrawn from another galaxy. However, Senator Hamato Xiono dismissed Teva's intervention as not a proof that there was a greater conspiracy posing a threat immediately to the Republic, naively opining that Gideon had been a warlord acting on his own.
==Behind the scenes==
Gideon's Imperial remnant first appeared in "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian," the debut episode of Jon Favreau's Disney+ television series The Mandalorian, which was directed by Dave Filoni and aired on November 12, 2019.
For the episodes "Chapter 7: The Reckoning" and "Chapter 8: Redemption," Favreau and Filoni enlisted the help of the 501st Legion fan organization as the crew of the series did not have enough stormtrooper costumes on set. As such, many of the stormtroopers who were seen reinforcing the death troopers were portrayed by members of the organization.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
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==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Imperial Remnants