Galactic Empire (4 ABY—9 ABY)

A vastly change Galactic Empire existed after the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader at Endor in 4 ABY. In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, the Empire began collapsing into warring fiefdoms run by various warlords (mainly former Imperial Military officers). However, on Coruscant, the Imperial bureaucracy survived and continued acting as the central government of the mainstream Empire. Those loyal to it were referred to as the Imperial loyalists, and the institution itself just continued to be referred to as the Empire.

At first, Palpatine's second in command, Grand Vizier Sate Pestage ruled as the "interim emperor", but this was ended by, the Director of Imperial Intelligence. However, most of the Imperial military forces and citizens who remained loyal to the central government ignored the details of the politics on Coruscant and simply carried on with fighting the many warlords that sprung up, and the New Republic, which was the government created by the Alliance to Restore the Republic after their victory at Endor. In 7 ABY, though the Empire suffered a major blow as the New Republic was able to take Coruscant. After that, the Empire had no exact capitol, until 9 ABY, when the remaining loyalists (and many warlords) aligned with the reborn Emperor Palpatine, who emerged from the planet Byss in the Deep Core. It was known as the Dark Empire after that, and collapsed with Palpatine's final death.