
I Am Part of the Rebellion Inside the Galactic Empire
I work for Darth Vader, but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.
Darth Vader is facing a test to his leadership unlike any faced by a Galactic Supreme Commander.
It’s not just the resurgence of the Jedi from what was thought to be total extinction, the destruction of the Death Star, or even that our opposition appears to be spearheaded by Vader’s actual children themselves.
The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials within the Empire are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.
I would know. I am one of them.
To be clear, ours is not the popular “rebellion” of Skywalker and his gang of freeloaders. We want the Empire to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made the galaxy safer and more prosperous. But we believe our first duty is to the Empire, and Vader continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to its health. That is why many Vader appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our unwaveringly fascist vision while thwarting his more misguided impulses.
The root of the problem is Vader’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.
Although the Emperor personally recruited him, Vader shows little affinity for the totalitarian ideals upon which the Empire was founded. At best, he has invoked these ideals in scripted settings. At worst, he has attacked them outright.
In addition to his mass-marketing of the notion of the existence of “the Force” (one of the many hallmarks of his sad devotion to that ancient religion), Vader’s impulses are generally self-serving and ultimately undermine the Empire’s aims.
Don’t get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the Galactic Empire fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military, and more. But these successes have come despite — not because of — Vader’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.
From the Imperial Palace to colonial outposts, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at Vader’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims. Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in frequent telekinetic choking episodes. “There is literally no telling whether he’s going to stick to the daily policy agenda or hop in a TIE fighter to go engage in a firefight with his kid,” a top official complained to me recently, exasperated by a meeting in which Vader ranted about the Force for 10 minutes before telekinetically throwing people against the walls.
The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the Imperial Palace. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the Rebellion. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to Coruscant, though they are clearly not always successful.
It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Galactic citizens should know that there are adults on the ship. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right, even when Lord Vader won’t.
The result is a two-track Empire. Take foreign policy: while the Empire is committed to the enslavement or annihilation of all nonhuman races, Vader shows little public or private interest in furthering these aims unless they suit his religious or familial ends. Astute observers have noted, though, that the rest of the Empire is operating an another track, one where Wookiees, Ewoks and the like are swiftly scrubbed from the galaxy.
This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.
Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers among senior officials of invoking Order 151, which would swiftly remove Lord Vader, but no one was brave enough to ask the Emperor about it. So we will do what we can to steer the Empire in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.
The bigger concern is not what Vader has done to the Empire, but rather what we as an Empire have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility. There is a quiet rebellion within the administration of people choosing to put Empire first. But the real difference will be made by everyday citizens rising above politics, reaching across the galaxy and resolving to shed the labels in service of a greater good: uniting to build the second Death Star.
