The leader of the state was Imperial-appointed Vladimir Kriško, a former general of the Darkon Army, who agreed to take up the post in order to do his best to protect the people of Darkon III from the brutality of the Imperial regime. He was portrayed by propaganda as the 'Father of Darkon' and he urged the Darkon people to join him and the Empire in 'cleansing the galaxy from the Rebels'. He also urged the people to obey the occupational authorities. However, his regime had failed to win over the Darkon people, who mainly supported the Partisans. Despite his efforts to protect his people, the Imperial forces (and collaborators in the State Guard) killed more than 800,000 Darkon civilians.