Young Ysanne Isard followed in the footsteps of her father, Armand, who was director of Imperial Intelligence. Despite such highly placed parentage, she excelled on her own merits, proving a capable student and remarkable field agent. In fact, it's testament to her skills that she was able to surprise her father by engineering his downfall.
Prior to the first Death Star's completion, Rebel agents were able to steal a
datapack containing coordinates for Despayre, the barren world that was the
battle station's cradle. She was dispatched to gather that data, but failed.
Rather than be punished, Ysanne instead turned the tables on her father, who had
assigned her that mission. She claimed that her father had allowed the data to
fall into Rebel hands in the first place. The elder Isard was summarily
executed, and Ysanne became director of Imperial Intelligence.
From this position, and from her icy, cruel and vengeful personality, Ysanne
earned the nickname "Iceheart." Though she was beautiful -- with a
striking face with one blue and one red eye -- her chilling demeanor was
anything but inviting.
At Isard's suggestion, Palpatine allowed her to construct a terrifying prison
complex that would also serve as a brainwashing facility. The Lusankya was
actually a functional Super Star Destroyer secretly constructed beneath the
towering skylines of Coruscant. In here, prisoners toiled under the illusion of
being trapped on some barren rock-world, never aware of the bustling cityscapes
surrounding them.
After the Emperor's death at Endor, Isard allied herself with Grand Vizier
Sate Pestage, the Emperor's advisor who assumed command. The ever-scheming Isard
allowed Pestage to be captured by the New Republic at Brentaal. The Ruling
Circle of Imperial officials came to power next, but it was only a matter of
time before Isard had them slain as well, seizing control of the Empire for
herself.
Isard's rule was hardly absolute. From all corners of the galaxy, a parade of
would-be successors, warlords and charlatans all claimed ownership of the
Empire's corpse. But Isard had one key asset that they did not: Coruscant. She
knew it would soon be a target to the ever-growing New Republic.
Knowing she'd be hard pressed to defend the Imperial capital world, Isard
left an insidious gift to the New Republic invaders. Her scientists engineered
the Krytos virus, a fatal virus that targeted non-human species. She unleashed
the deadly pathogen into the planet's water supply, leaving the Republic to deal
with the chaos that ensued.
Isard fled Coruscant, tearing a huge portion of the cityscape apart as she
blasted away aboard the Lusankya. She headed to Thyferra, home of the bacta
cartel, and seized the world and its life-saving assets. Rogue Squadron engaged
Isard in a conflict that became known as the Bacta War, and she was eventually
defeated. The New Republic captured the Lusankya, though Isard had managed to
scatter most of the prisoners. She herself escaped the battle.
While Isard recovered from her defeat, she watched as Grand Admiral Thrawn
attempted to conquer the New Republic. After his failure, she approached her old
hated foes, Rogue Squadron, to enlist their help in stopping an Imperial
warlord. Prince Admiral Krennel had allied himself with a clone of Ysanne Isard.
It was this clone that had hidden the Lusankya prisoners; Rogue Squadron agreed
to help Isard if they could secure the release of the prisoners to New Republic
custody.
Isard agreed. A New Republic taskforce attacked Krennel's Ciutric Hegemony and managed to free the prisoners. Isard still found a chance to betray the New Republic, as she tried to retake her beloved Lusankya. Her betrayal was predicted by Iella Wessiri, who shot Isard dead.