Tanjay (INB) - In a direct public address, Imperial Intelligence officials have issued a statement on the recent defections of a small number of personnel, offering the galaxy a glimpse behind the facade of the group who have taken to calling themselves The Restored Empire.

The man who appointed himself as the leader of this new group, Hatori Hoorl, had been designated Supreme Commander of the Imperial Military nearly a year ago. The appointment had not come lightly, placing him within the upper echelons of Imperial High Command, a group which oversees the day-to-day functioning of the Empire.

Despite the prestige his role and rank carried with them, Hoorl hungered for more, driven perhaps by pride in his achievements and his vanity in his ever-increasing belief that his judgment was above reproach. This exponentially growing desire for power and personal wealth, as well as anger with those who questioned his diktats, ultimately completely overcame the man who spent years building a reputation as a pillar of military society. Then, frustrated with the Empire’s federal government and its supporting agencies being outside his own direct control, the former Imperial turned to the anathema of the Empire, the Rebel Alliance.

Recognising the signs of a threat to internal stability, and with increased signs of external influence, Imperial Intelligence activated previously deployed sleeper agents abroad and began casting its net. It did not have long to wait. Seeking allies, the turncoat leader inadvertently recruited a clandestine agent under contract with the top echelons of Imperial Intelligence. The Ubiqtorate, upon receiving intelligence summaries from its analysts alongside compelling reports from other field agents, convened an emergency meeting. Having clear evidence that the defectors’ group-to-be was nothing more than a shell controlled by the Rebel Alliance, and that Hoorl himself had been selling information to the Rebels, putting his own officers directly at risk, the Director of Imperial Intelligence met with the Throne to discuss the impending desertion.

The Emperor, having reviewed the evidence presented, authorized Imperial Intelligence to conduct further covert operations. As the net tightened the Ubiqtorate began to incorporate members of the Imperial Security Bureau in the response and ultimately forced Hoorl’s hand. As previously reported by the Imperial News Bureau, these actions led the traitor to radically accelerate his plans, culminating in a last-minute escape from the Empire which saw him happy to leave his own conspirators and their families in harm’s way to ensure his own exit and the abortive launch of his so-called The Restored Empire group.

Much of the account above will be familiar to those who have read the Imperial News Bureau’s recent release via the Galactic News Service. However, Imperial Intelligence has now received authorisation from Emperor Jai Meridan to release additional intelligence information, which no doubt will be welcomed by the man who professed to admit his sins to the galaxy. This material makes it explicitly clear that the disgraced former Navy man does not lead an Imperial splinter faction as he claims, but a Rebel Alliance honeypot designed to lure otherwise loyal Imperials into betraying their colleagues.
 

The documents -  including a facsimile of the treaty documents as they were during the defection - show clearly that, far from establishing an alternate Empire, the future Hoorl envisioned for his officers was toiling to build for the Rebel Alliance directly in the far Outer Rim - efforts for which they would receive nothing of lasting value.
Director Elaine von Veritrax offered a statement on the now-declassified recording of negotiations taken by Imperial Intelligence during the initial stages of the defector-in-chief’s insurrectionist planning.

“All governments suffer a recurring problem with hostile actors and as security and intelligence professionals we must be vigilant to internal threats. Sadly, power attracts pathological personalities.” She stated.  “It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on this power, a condition to which they are quickly addicted, and we have seen it before. We need to only look at his allies as evidence of this ethical and moral deterioration. Hatori now stands among those whose desire for personal power was so great he failed to see the prominence of his station. He now sits amongst the dregs of traitors past such as Orphaea Imperium and Crueya Vandron.”

The Director continued, “It is unfortunate that he entered into employment with Kanuteau. For in his desire for more power he was manipulated throughout the negotiations in a way which completely outclassed the diplomatically inexperienced former Imperial. The end result is a masterful display of one-sided control. The Restored Empire will be left with nothing, no ownership or lands, and in return they get the privilege of paying to build and resource the Rebel Alliance’s planetary developments. The rebellion gets cheap labor to expand their exploitation of worlds to try and save their dying economy.”

It will no doubt come as a shock to many of Hoorl’s former subordinates that despite his claims of being motivated by their best interest he has instead gladly agreed to mislead them, and send his own officers into exile deep in lawless Outer Rim space to toil for no reward in the service of the Rebel Alliance.

Leaders of the Empire, concerned for the families now separated due to the schism, have sought to look after those left behind. Grand Vizier Marcus Elensar offered remarks from Kuat “I would be remiss to not tell you of a new charity that Grand Moff Nordstroem, Director Veritrax and I have sponsored in light of recent events” The Grand Vizier continued. “All three of us have pledged the income from one of our cities granted to us through our Imperial Service to help support the loved ones of conspirators that they so dishonorably left behind while they fled."

Donations can continue to be made to help these still-loyal Imperial families by contacting either of the three founders to this Trust Fund.