Ghost Prison incident

The Ghost Prison incident was a military coup that occurred in the early days of the Galactic Empire's reign. The coup was orchestrated and instigated by Gentis, the Headmaster of the Imperial Academy and a hero of the recently-ended Clone Wars. After serving Supreme Chancellor-turned-Galactic Emperor Palpatine throughout the Clone Wars and the early Imperial Era, General Gentis grew weary of war and angry over the continued deaths of thousands of young Imperial soldiers. In 19 BBY, he resolved to betray the Imperial establishment by enlisting the first class of Imperial Academy graduates in a conspiracy to overthrow the Emperor and seize control of the Empire, thereby putting an end to destructive campaigns of oppression and expansion.

The coup began on the Imperial capital world of Coruscant, the evening of the Academy's graduation ceremony. Gentis-allied saboteurs and bombers detonated explosives at critical targets throughout Galactic City, while the Empire's newest class of officers disguised themselves as terrorists and attacked stormtroopers outside of the Imperial Palace, General Gentis and several of his most trusted students personally met with Emperor Palpatine in his throne room, where they detonated bombs containing the deadly Aorth-6 virus. The bioweapon quickly killed all of Palpatine's defenders, but the Emperor was spared from death by his own Force abilities and the intervention of Imperial Moff Trachta. Although Supreme Commander Darth Vader and the faithful Lieutenant Laurita Tohm defeated the attackers outside of the Palace, Emperor Palpatine's weakened condition and Headmaster Gentis's influence on Coruscant forced the loyalists to flee the planet.

Lord Vader and Moff Trachta agreed to take Emperor Palpatine to a location far removed from General Gentis's influence. Calling upon his past experience as a Jedi, the Dark Lord suggested The Prism, a secret prison facility previously maintained by the Jedi Order and entirely unknown to the rest of the galaxy. Vader, Tohm, and Trachta ferried Palpatine to The Prism, where he was rehabilitated; meanwhile, Gentis consolidated power on Coruscant and moved forward with his plan to seize total control. Given that he was uncertain of the Emperor's survival, he maintained the facade of a terrorist attack and instead decided to target Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin—one of the Empire's most prominent military and political leaders and the head of the secretive Death Star project.

On The Prism, Vader and Tohm hatched a plan to retake Coruscant by recruiting an army comprised of the prisoners in the facility. After instigating violent riots to cull the weak and find the strongest of the inmates, the Imperials selected thirty-three former criminals to pardon and reform into a pro-Palpatine fighting force. Their plan reached fruition when the loyalists were able to intercept Governor Tarkin's shuttle en route to Coruscant and confront Gentis. A fierce battle erupted between Palpatine's forces and the insurgent officers upon the shuttle's arrival on the planet, but in spite of the revolutionaries' superior numbers, they were quickly overcome. Emperor Palpatine personally killed Headmaster Gentis during the battle, finally ending the coup and reclaiming Coruscant. In the aftermath of the conflict, later dubbed the "Ghost Prison incident," the surviving conspirators were rounded up and executed by firing squad and the events of Gentis's coup were deemed classified by the Imperial government. Trachta and Tohm were promoted to the positions of Grand Moff and Admiral, respectively, and the remaining prisoners from The Prism were killed.

Text and facts from the “Ghost Prison incident” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.