Merlon Campaign

The Merlon Campaign was a series of engagements between the loyalist Galactic Empire and the renegade High Admiral Freyja Merlon's forces in 5 ABY.

Background
With the death of Emperor at the, the Imperial Ruling Council took control of the Empire in an attempt to keep it together. However, many Moffs, officers, and other officials broke off from the Empire and formed their own warlord fiefdoms, with some making claims to the Imperial throne. The New Republic, meanwhile, began an offensive towards the, which culminated in the fall of in 4 ABY. The loss of the capital further weakened the Interim Ruling Council's standing among the upper echelons of the military.

One of the first to go warlord was High Admiral Freyja Merlon, an officer of the Imperial Navy who commanded a sizable fleet and took control of a large territory in the. An ambitious man, Merlon took the opportunity created by the Emperor's death to seize power for himself, and managed to provide some stability to the territories he commanded. This contrasted with the Interim Ruling Council, which had a change of leaders every several months and was on the retreat from New Republic forces. The High Admiral's regime, therefore, had some attraction to Imperial military personnel who were tired of the Imperial government's weakness.