The naval rank of High Admiral (HA) has been officially discontinued ... Even during pre-Endor times when the Empire was at its height, the rank was largely unused.

Traditionally, a High Admiral would oversee the sum total of naval operations in a single sector of space... However -- as overseeing military & political operations in a single sector of space was the standard purview of a Moff -- this rank did not exist unless a Moff specifically appointed a High Admiral to oversee his naval responsibilities.

Although rare, this was sometimes necessary in the busiest of sectors, when the Moff's ability to oversee multiple Fleet Admirals and their subordinate forces was stretched thin... One such Fleet Admiral would gain this rank, and technical seniority over the others.

This practice was outlawed by Grand Admiral Daemon after a serious re-evaluation of the role of the Council of Moffs in the modern Empire, and in recognition of the fact that many sectors of the Empire are being patrolled by only a fraction of the vessels that would have been available at its height... In effect, lower variants of admiral now have much larger regions of space within their designated commands, and appointing ranks of this extreme calibre no longer makes proper sense.

The second major change that was enacted as part of that reform was to elevate the rank of Fleet Admiral above the level of High Admiral. This change was precipitated by the decree that the successor to the Grand Admiral would carry the rank of Fleet Admiral, making it the second highest rank in the Empire.

The sole remaining usage of this rank is within the Secret Order of the Emperor, as a brevet rank. If a Commander of the Navy has reached the level of Full Admiral and demonstrated his unquestionable devotion to the Secret Order and Scimitar Squadron, the honour of brevet of High Admiral may be conferred upon him or her by the Supreme Commander. This is, however, an exceedingly rare circumstance, given that very few officers ever reach the level of Full Admiral in the modern Empire...

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