Surely you must understand, that for every few who voice their discontent, their are thousands of others who are thinking it, waiting for the moment to take action.
—Emperor Palpatine to Darth Vader
The Free Officers Movement was a group of dissatisfied officers of the Galactic Empire that sought to remove Emperor Palpatine from power. Formed in 1 ABY by Grand Moff Vylor Sarkan, it was a response to what many in Imperial Military Intelligence saw as abuses of power by the Emperor early on during the Galactic Civil War. The Movement included members from different branches of the Imperial military. It attempted a coup d'état shortly after its formation, which ended in failure. Many members were killed though some of the conspirators were able to escape. Grand Moff Sarkan was among the dead, but other officers kept the movement alive up until the Battle of Endor—Captain Jax Martel and Lieutenant Riza Xi, who worked with the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
Led by Martel and Xi, the Movement continued its work to undermine Emperor Palpatine with limited backing from the Rebel Alliance. The most significant action of the organization after the coup attempt was by a group of three officers aboard the Tarkin battle station. Under the leadership of Free Officers conspirator Colonel Nord, the trio of officers attempted to kill Darth Vader when he visited the station. However, the attempt also failed when Vader left the station and it was destroyed by Rebel sabotage, killing all aboard. The Movement's actions were limited to intelligence gathering for the attack on Endor after that. Following the deaths of Papatine and Vader aboard the Death Star II, the organization was disbanded.
History[]
Formation[]
No more.
—Grand Moff Sarkan

Grand Moff Vylor Sarkan.
By 1 ABY, the Galactic Civil War had been raging for three years between the forces of the Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The massive Death Star battle station had been destroyed by Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance recently at Yavin. Many in the military had viewed the battle station to be an unnecessary waste of resources, including Grand Moff Vylor Sarkan. He was a former Republic official that initially supported Palpatine but was becoming more and more disillusioned with what he saw to be tyrannical and unjustified actions. In early 1 ABY, shortly after receiving the news of the Death Star's destruction and reading over the list of his many comrades and old friends who were killed aboard it, the Grand Moff decided he had enough. His aide-de-camp in Military Intelligence, an officer by the name of Rayce Aldroma, and the deputy head of the organization, General Anora Thax, both agreed with him that it was time to do something.
The Emperor trusted the Imperial Security Bureau far more than Military Intelligence, because it was, in essence, a political police. As a result, many in Military Intelligence were becoming disillusioned as well, and there was no shortage of officers in the organization who were becoming quite open about their opinion on the matter. Sarkan organized a meeting at the military intelligence central office in the Imperial Palace of some of the top officers of the organization, most of whom he knew to have anti-Emperor Palpatine views. Sarkan informed them of his agreement with what they were thinking, and told them that it was time to act. The group decided that they needed to remove the Emperor from power for the good of the Empire. Sarkan came up with the name of their conspiracy, and thus the Free Officers Movement was born.
The coup[]

The Palace during the coup.
Sarkan and his associates established connections in the Imperial military, speaking with officers who also harbored negative views of Emperor Palpatine. Over time, the majority of the Military Intelligence apparatus based on Coruscant agreed to join their side. Sarkan continued running operations smoothly in order to get rid of any suspicions from the ISB or anyone else in the government. At the same time, the Free Officers Movement put together a plot to kill the Emperor. In several months' time, a meeting was scheduled to take place between Palpatine and a number of moffs and planetary governors from different Imperial systems. Since Sarkan had to attend the meeting, being a Grand Moff, he was going to take a bomb inside of a case to the meeting chamber, leave it there, then leave and set it off. It would eliminate Palpatine and many of his supporters at once. As that happened, Military Intelligence and its fellow conspirators in the Imperial Army and Stormtrooper Corps would take control of the Imperial Palace and other government centers on Coruscant. Sarkan would become the head of a provisional government, as regent.
The coup began largely as planned, with the Grand Moff attending the meeting with explosives. After planting them and leaving the chamber, detonating them, he left to begin the next phase of the plan. However, unbeknownst to him, the Emperor and several governors survived because Darth Vader blocked much of the impact of the explosion by moving a large object between them with the Force. However, since the Grand Moff did not know this, the Movement continued as planned. The Imperial Palace Guards were overwhelmed by the pro-Movement stormtroopers and Imperial Army troopers that took control of the area. Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin attempted to put up a resistance and trap a unit of conspirators as they secured the Emperor's throne room, but the team leader expected something from the Royal Guards there and outmaneuvered them. Many were killed, but Tarkin's trap failed and he was taken prisoner.
Much of the Palace and surrounding grounds were secure when Palpatine arrived at the Imperial Palace audience chamber and gave a speech that he was alive and well and that a coup was being attempted. The Grand Moff and his conspirators then realized their mistake, and ordered for everyone to begin fleeing.
However, it was too late by then. Reinforcements loyal to Palpatine soon arrived and began fighting the upstarts, taking back many of the areas taken by the Free Officers Movement conspirators. The troopers fighting against the loyalists, in most cases, fought until the end because they were trapped with no where to run. However, this was not the case for all of them and many either fled or defected to the loyalists. The coup attempt was over within several hours. Grand Moff Sarkan shot himself rather than be captured. His deputies, General Thax and Colonel Aldroma, were both killed: Thax was killed in combat while Aldroma was captured alive and later tortured to death by the Emperor. All officers and men involved in the coup who survived attempted to flee Coruscant, and many were captured and publicly executed. Some attempted to pretend that they were not involved, and the ISB later discovered and executed many of these former conspirators. The ISB estimated that about 30% of the organization's members were able to flee from the planet and survive.
Further actions[]
Among those who fled were two of Sarkan's top officers, Captain Jax Martel and Lieutenant Riza Xi. The pair managed to escape Coruscant in the aftermath of the attempted coup and made it to the Outer Rim Territories with many other conspirators, aboard a stolen Imperial escort carrier. Martel and Xi both surrendered themselves to the Rebel Alliance and essentially defected to their cause. This route was unpopular among the rest of the conspirators, who may have been against the Emperor but were not willing to collaborate with the Rebels. Martel and Xi were both accepted and their Free Officers Movement was aided by the Rebel Alliance. The two Imperials tried to win over others to their cause, with some success, establishing a network of spies within the Empire. Leia Organa heard of their work and took an interest in it, while most of Alliance High Command was distrustful towards the defectors.
The Free Officers Movement became a sort of legend in the Imperial military, with many considering its existence to just be a rumor. But in reality, many officers were secretly a part of it, including generals and admirals.
In 3 ABY, the Free Officers Movement infiltrated the Tarkin—a superweapon built as a smaller Death Star. A trio of Free Officers conspirators aboard the station, led by Colonel Nord, attempted to kill Darth Vader when he left the station to pursue fleeing Rebel agents. The attempt failed, though, as the station was destroyed by Rebel sabotage, killing everyone aboard it. The Movement provided support to Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin, who became a member. They provided him intelligence about Imperial fleet movements and locations of secret facilities. The Zaarin insurrection was eventually put down, though, and Zaarin himself was killed.
After those incidents, the Free Officers Movement's activities were limited to gathering intelligence for the upcoming attack on Endor. Following the major Rebel victory at Endor, which included the deaths of Palpatine and Vader, the Free Officers Movement initially celebrated along with the Rebels. But later Martel and Xi both realized that the Empire was now on the brink of complete collapse.
Disbandment[]

The Battle of Endor.
With the deaths of the Emperor and his right hand man, there was no reason for the Free Officrs Movement to continue existing. As much of the galaxy celebrated the events at Endor, Captain Martel and Lieutenant Xi made an announcement that went mostly unheard—the Free Officers Movement, with its objectives met, was dissolved. Its two coordinators left the Rebel Alliance and struck out on their own, finding employment under various individuals, including different warlords and Grand Admiral Thrawn. The Rebel Alliance/New Republic did not notice their disappearance for several months due to the chaos immediately following the Battle of Endor. The contacts of the Movement across the Empire assumed that it was disbanded for the fact that Palpatine was dead, and many conspirators forgot about it completely as the Empire began falling apart around them.
Legacy[]
Senator Leia Organa appreciated their efforts to fight the Emperor, and in 8 ABY, a small monument was built on Coruscant near the Imperial Palace that honored the Free Officers Movement and its efforts. Post-war analysts and historians debated its effectiveness and actions, but its role in the fight against Emperor Palpatine was noted. Ultimately, the Movement's goal of removing Palpatine was realized, just not in a way they expected it. When the reborn Emperor emerged, Jax Martel briefly considered starting up the Movement again, but the Emperor was killed for the final time before he could take any action.
Much later in 138 ABY, a few days after the liberation of Coruscant from Darth Krayt and his One Sith, Imperial Knights Ganner Krieg and Antares Draco of the Empire-in-exile visited the memorial to the Movement near the Imperial Palace and considered what they did to be similar to the cause of the Free Officers Movement.
Organization[]
As a small, secretive movement, the level of organization was low. Before and during the coup of 1 ABY, under the Grand Moff's leadership, the Free Officers just relied on a hierarchy based on everyone's rank under the Empire. Military Intelligence officers were organized into small teams to carry out individual tasks during the coup, while stormtrooper and army forces were organized into traditional military formations. After the failed coup and the fragmentation of the Movement, the structure became even less formal, with Captain Martel and Lieutenant Xi being recognized as the leadership. Their informants throughout the Empire were considered to be equals, and individual cells relied on their own organization. Within the Rebel Alliance, Martel and Xi were given the same ranks they held in the Empire.
Known members[]
† indicates members killed in action
1 ABY[]

Rayce Aldroma.
- Grand Moff Vylor Sarkan†
- General Anora Thax†
- Colonel Rayce Aldroma†
- Captain Jax Martel
- Lieutenant Riza Xi
2 ABY—4 ABY[]
- Captain Jax Martel
- Lieutenant Riza Xi
- Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin†
- General Biel†
- Colonel Nord†
- Captain Voal†
Behind the scenes[]
The organization is loosely based on the 20 July plot, a plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 by Wehrmacht and Abwehr officers that failed. The relationship of the Emperor and Military Intelligence is somewhat inspired by the situation of Abwehr, with much of it becoming disillusioned with Hitler by 1944. The name is taken from the Free Officers Movement of Egypt, which instigated the Egyptian revolution of 1952.