The latest leader of the Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn, ruled in a far different manner than Palpatine. Make no mistake: he was ruthless to those who failed him, but no longer was there the indiscriminate slaughter of subordinates that was common practice during Palpatine's reign.

Thrawn knew the Empire needed loyal, reliable troops if it was to survive. Wiping out an officer or soldier because they held a different perspective would be detrimental to the long-term viability of his Empire.

Perhaps Thrawn's most important contribution during his tenture as leader of the Empire was the discipline he instilled in his troops. The Emperor was to be feard. Thrawn was respected and trusted.

Thrawn used a small measure of fear, certainly: the Grand Admiral realized that fear of failure was a powerful motivating force in a military the size of the Empire. But Thrawn's ability to invole a sense of pride in his troops was his most powerful asset. Palpatine inspired arrogance and callousness in his officers. Thrawn made his men proud to be Imperial soldiers. And a proud soldier is difficult to defeat: Thrawn's officers would have willingly died for the Grand Admiral.

Thrawn operated aboard the Star Destroyer Chimaera, from which he planned and launched his campaigns against the New Republic. His ability to outguess his enemies was vital to his strategies and in that respect Thrawn was uncannily accurate.

Thrawn used an astonishing number of diverse elements to create his battle plan: the Jedi's historical avoidance of Myrkr, the Emperor's storehouse on Wayland, the discovery of the Katana fleet, and the discovery of how to use the ysalamiri to safley clone soldiers in a matter of weeks. Certainly, the intelligence of Grand Admiral Thrawn cannot be stressed enough: the man was a genius.

The Mount Tantiss project was intend to bring the New Republic to its knees. Combining the Katana fleet with hordes of loyal efficient clone soldiers was a frighteningly effective strategy. Using the best and brightest of the troops under his command, Thrawn planned to make an unstoppable army to destroy his enemies and restore order to the galaxy. Thrawn would rule the galaxy with an iron fist if his plans succeeded. This Grand Admiral, the only non-human ever known to hold that rank, was a tactical genius who brought the New Republic to the brink of destruction.

Thrawn could find any advantage in a given tactical situation. Forging an uneasy alliance with the mad Jedi Master Joruus C'Baoth, Thrawn could coordinate attacks with a precision virtually unheard of in the history of galactic warfare.

By cloaking asteroids and releasing them in orbit over Coruscant, Thrawn managed to effectively blockade the Republic's capital world. Coruscant was unable to lower its defence screens for fear that one of the asteroids would smash into the planet. It was effectively cut off from outside help--a crippling blow to moral throughout the Republic. Unfortunately, the actions of the criminals of Yavin and the unlikely help of the Noghri stopped Thrawn. For once, Thrawn was not able to perceive that which was going on around him, and it cost him his life and destroyed his Empire.