Star Wars: 10 Strange Laws ALL Empire Employees Follow
5. An Officer's Service Can Be Indefinite...On Threat Of Death
If you're at all familiar with the U.S. military, you'll be aware of their controversial "stop-loss" policy, whereby a member's period of duty can be involuntarily extended beyond its contractually stipulated period - typically while the U.S. is involved in a major conflict.
This ended up bleeding into the world of Star Wars in the aforementioned Legends Death Star novel, where an Imperial Military Stop Loss Order (IMSLO) was instituted for those in service of the Empire.
The IMSLO can be used to retain anyone employed by the Imperials, from soldiers, to doctors, to special operators, but unlike a real-life stop-loss, the implication is that anyone who attempts to challenge the extended duty would face fierce reprisals, and perhaps even execution.
Given that the Empire is a colossal juggernaut - both literally and figuratively - one imagines that mounting a legal challenge against an IMSLO is virtually impossible, and so it's easy for a wrong-minded Emperor to retain officers in their employ in perpetuity.
If you've ever wondered how the Empire amassed quite such large numbers, this might be how.