The entire structure of the Galactic Empire was built on the premise of fear, which extended
to worlds it oversaw to even those who worked within the Imperial military itself.
This underlying state was effective in keeping numerous planets from rebelling as well as
countless Imperial Officers from committing any possible traitorous acts.
This presence of fear was installed and maintained by the Imperial Security Bureau, also known
as the ISB, and it was the infamous secret police which kept the subjects of the Empire
in line of the Emperor’s vision.
Created by Palpatine’s greatest sycophants during the late days of the Republic, the
ISB did everything in its power to achieve their objectives in maintaining galactic order
and ensuring their Emperor’s plans did not fail.
Kidnapping, torture, full scale planetary surveillance, and even mass executions of
civilians were just a few things the ISB was known for doing, and no one was fully safe
from its reach.
Although this organization was created by Palpatine’s sycophants, many level-headed
individuals came to work for it as well, especially those who were dedicated in maintaining order
in the galaxy and doing everything to prevent another devastating galactic war.
One of these individuals was Wullf Yularen, Anakin’s Admiral from the Clone Wars.
Perhaps after seeing the true horrors of war from being in the frontlines of one, Yularen
decided to dedicate himself to an organization that practiced in rooting out corruption from
the government, which he believed was one of the main causes of the Clone Wars as the
former corrupt state of the republic senate allowed it to happen.
Yularen quickly became a prominent and trusted leader of the ISB, having a close relationship
with Palpatine himself.
One of the largest branches of the ISB was surveillance, which consisted of millions
of officers whose job was to tape and listen in on conversations among citizens and military
personal, and to report on any suspicions of possible treason.
A large chunk of the members of the surveillance branch was made up of the Imperial sub-adult
group, which was essentially Palpatine’s youth, a group of young enthusiastic Imperials
who deeply believed in the New Order and the ideals of their Empire.
And they of course had no trouble turning in fellow Imperials whom they believed wished
to undermine the Empire’s goals.
Another thing the surveillance branch was known for was shutting down all communications
on planets and even entire solar systems, which they tended to do when the Empire was
about to commit a mass killing spree on a civilian population and didn’t want the
rest of the galaxy to know about it, as well as to capture a rebel cell and prevent them
from leaving the planet.
Being captured by the ISB was among the biggest fears of both traitorous Imperials and rebel
fighters.
Typically two things happened to those who were captured: they either were sent for re-education
or for interrogation.
Those sent to re-education tended to be Imperials who were caught questioning the Empire’s
policies on multiple occasions and were deemed suspect to likely defection.
The re-education process was believed to involve both brainwashing and possible drug infusion
that made the victims more compliant to following orders, as those who returned back were reported
to react strangely, with both their speech and emotions being slightly off and disjointed.
The so called graduates of the re-education program typically were sent to work for the
Commission for the Preservation of the New Order committee, where they were placed in
lower level positions that had high oversight, and they tended to be tasked in helping create
Imperial propaganda and the like.
When it came to interrogation, this branch was usually reserved to rebel soldiers who
were believed to having high intel or Imperials who were already involved in traitorous actions.
The ISB was proud of its high record of obtaining information from its victims under this branch,
and it was known for using every known interrogation method possible, from brutal torture to drugging
the victims.
Another infamous aspect of the interrogation branch was that all those who were sent to
it were never seen again, suggesting that they were all killed after the intel was taken
from them.
Among the surveillance and torture practices of the ISB, the secret organization also had
it owns department of enforcement, which involved both the Infiltrators and undercover stormtrooper
core.
The ISB infiltrators were essentially enforcement officers of the organization that were sent
to deal with highly sensitive information that only the most loyal members were trusted
to acquire.
The undercover unit on the other hand was created as a means to ensure loyalty within
the stormtrooper core, where an ISB agent would be sent undercover as a stormtrooper
within a squad, implemented to ensure that everyone within the unit was 100% loyal to
the cause and took all orders without question.
Those caught disobeying orders were either discharged from the military or possibly sent
for re-education.
And so the ISB was the backbone of the Empire’s fear structure, and while on the surface level
it rooted out genuine corruption from the political hierarchy that made it an attractive
post to people like Yularen, in its deep underbelly laid some of the worst and most brutal aspects
of the Empire’s willingness of matining loyalty and order across its subjects.
Which made it the most feared unit within Palpatine’s regime as a result.