Maximian Tranner

"A fruitful peace does a quiet people make."

- Quote attributed to Moff Tranner encapsulating the central tenant of Tranner Doctrine

Maximian "Ximian" Tranner was a   who served in the militaries of the  and.

A career officer in the, he served as a in the  during the , and was one of twenty men selected to occupy the Imperial rank of  following the.

Promoted to following the death of his mentor, he revitalized the faltering Empire in the aftermath of the , reorganizing it as the Galactic Empire of the Core Worlds and Colonies and instituting a number of popular reforms that drew parallels to the old Republic.

His unsuccessful attempt to hold the Empire against the nascent and various Imperial warlords led to his defeat in the Republic-Imperial War, and he was tried and found guilty of crimes against sentient races. For his restraint during his tenure as Moff and popular reforms during the Republic-Imperial War, his life sentence was commuted to thirty years' imprisonment, of which he served fifteen years before being released.

He retired to and spent his remaining years writing his autobiography Thoughts of a Dying Soldier and giving lectures at the new  on.

Early life
Born to a wealthy family on, Maximian Tranner elected to pursue a military career upon coming of age. After receiving a number of refusals, he gained Senatorial sponsorship to attend the on. He graduated and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Judicial Forces Army in, and enjoyed a lengthy if uneventful career as a peacekeeper until the outbreak of the.

Clone Wars
When the Judicial Forces were absorbed into the, Tranner, then a Major, was ferried about across many fronts in support of the war effort. Along with fellow Judicial Forces alumnus and mentor, Tranner developed a distinct dislike for his Jedi Generals, whom he believed were prone to rash and thoughtless military strategies on account of their inexperience in battle.

The and the execution of  left the Grand Army forces with significantly fewer non-clone field-grade officers to direct the war effort. Tranner was among a number of former Judicial Forces personnel given battlefield promotions on account of these vacancies, moving from to.

Western Reaches pacification operations
Some time after the formal end of the Clone Wars, Tranner was named to the post of at Tarkin's recommendation. His appointment to the Moffs' Council was generally well-received, as his moderate political bent and talent in diplomacy made him the perfect buffer between hardline conservatives like Tarkin and more free-thinking liberals like.

He assisted Tarkin in the, wherein sympathy for the CIS cause still ran strong in the scattered throughout the region.

Though Tranner remained a trusted adviser, he and Tarkin disagreed about the best approach to the Imperial occupation of those worlds. While Tarkin advocated a policy of towards the former Separatist worlds, a policy which came to be known as, Tranner emphasized the importance of winning over the greater population through positive actions, such as revitalizing planetary economies and rebuilding infrastructure. In a quote that came to summarize Tranner Doctrine, "a fruitful peace does a quiet people make."

Following the media backlash that accompanied Tarkin's actions in the, Tarkin was thrust far from the spotlight and dispatched to the furthest worlds of the Western Reaches, and Tranner was given the responsibility of calming the enraged and fearful populations of other occupied worlds. His talents in administration and diplomacy were instrumental in solidifying Imperial hold over these regions, and his use of armed force only as a last resort made him popular throughout the Empire as a fair governor and force for positive change.

Galactic Civil War
Moff Tranner was present for the inaugural weapons test of the first, which saw the destruction of. Though Tranner privately expressed his reservations about the test to Tarkin, stating that the destruction of an occupied Imperial settlement for no justifiable reason would only serve to destabilize the Empire and undermine its legitimacy, Tarkin disregarded his concerns and proceeded with the test.

Tranner similarly disapproved of the destruction of several days later, believing it fatal blow to the view of the Empire as the legitimate spiritual successor of the Republic. He departed the Death Star for Coruscant soon thereafter to engage in public relations damage control.

Tarkin's death aboard the doomed battle station several days later left the office of unfilled. Though the vast majority of the Moffs' Council squabbled amongst themselves for the Emperor's favor in an attempt to win the title, Tranner expressed no desire for the post, and simply continued his slew of public appearances aimed at restoring some legitimacy to the actions of the Empire. For this and for his talent at diplomacy and positive reputation among the greater Imperial citizenry, Tranner was named to the position of Grand Moff by the Emperor's decree.

For the next few years, Tranner did what he could to maintain control over the more troublesome Imperial systems, pumping credits into the economies of worlds decimated by the Clone Wars and Western Reaches operations and holding Imperial forces responsible for abuses inflicted upon occupied worlds. Though public opinion for Tranner ran high, the damage had already been done, and with the destruction of the second Death Star and death of the Emperor, the Empire fractured.

Republic-Imperial War
With the death of the Emperor, Tranner found himself stuck in the serving a nation that technically no longer existed. Faced with the prospect of holding down region-wide revolts with a handful of unpaid soldiers and minimal supplies, he evacuated what military forces remained loyal to him and retreated to Coruscant. With ranks buoyed with more loyal soldiers from the Core Worlds, he personally overthrew the attempted successor government of  and the  in a bloodless coup.

At his allies' insistence, the Grand Moff claimed control over the remaining loyal elements of the Empire. He refused to claim the title of Emperor, stating that he intended to serve as an interim governor until a stable system of government could be drawn up. As such, the only ceremonial title he took was that of the Steward of the Empire, retaining his rank of Grand Moff. In reorganizing the government as the Galactic Empire of the Core Worlds and Colonies, he reestablished the, previously dissolved by Palpatine several years prior, and instituted a number of legal reforms to more closely emulate the government structure of the old Republic.

The birth of the brought the greater galaxy into conflict with the Empire in a seven-year war known as the Republic-Imperial War. Though both powers were weakened by the attacks of rogue Imperial warlords, the Empire was increasingly less able to repel incursions into its sovereign territory, and the war came to an end with the invasion of Coruscant by the New Republic. Rather than risk the lives of his remaining soldiers and the trillions of citizens on the Imperial capital, Tranner instead surrendered the Empire and turned himself into the Republic.

Tranner did not escape the subsequent Coruscant Trials, held to punish the crimes of Imperial personnel during the. While many Imperial officers and governors were sentenced to death for their crimes against sentient races, Tranner and others like Panaka were rewarded for the restraint they showed by meriting only life prison sentences. Though his sentence was commuted to thirty years' imprisonment, Tranner was released after fifteen years.

He retired to his estate in the of, where he penned his autobiography Thoughts of a Dying Soldier and, apart from a few lectures given at the new  on Coruscant, lived until his death.

Legacy
As one of the more restrained Imperial governors, with an long military career and political pedigree to boot, Tranner was widely respected throughout the Empire and New Republic. His funeral was attended by a number of New Republic Senators and retired military figures, an honor unheard of for most Imperial personnel, and while little public mention was made of his passing, a statue of his likeness was added to the museum of famous Judicial Forces officers in the library of the Academy.

Personality and traits
Though by his own admission he was little more than a middling military tactician, Maximian Tranner was widely known as a paragon of probity and an excellent diplomat during the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War. Driven by a strong sense of morality, he refused to compromise upon his values, even when thrust into political positions that knew little oversight and offered largely unrestrained power.

However, he felt, perhaps due in part to his military background, that he had no right to call into question the morality of decisions made by his superiors, which meant more often than not that he went along with ethically-suspect dictates issued by the Republic and Imperial leadership. His compliance with Order 66 and his silence when confronted with the opportunity to hinder or question Tarkin's controversial, often criminal actions was justified in his eyes as the action of a soldier "simply following orders." In his own words, taken from his autobiography, "compliance with orders, even when arguably distasteful or morally reprehensible, is the defining difference between a professional military and a band of armed rabble."

A natural negotiator, he often played the voice of reason in the Moffs' Council, offering counsel and insight divorced from the political maneuvering of his fellow Moffs. As he had little interest in personal advancement, he was often relied upon by his direct superior Grand Moff Tarkin, who benefited much from Tranner's thoughtful advice and diplomatic talent. In many respects, Tranner served as the public relations professional of the Moffs' Council, frequently making himself available for interviews and interacting often with the media.