Officially, the Imperial Naval Forces had been fighting the Imperial Senate's loyalists for a number of years come the beginning of 2617, and while the royal family was believed to still largely be in control of the INF, the fleet itself was said to be in disarray. The fleet admiral, Jason Zackaria, and his second-in-command, Julian Rissard, headed up the fleet, until they were said to have both defected to side with the Imperial Senate.

In mid-2617, the CSN and INF engaged in combat in the Aster system (and again later that day in the Phylent system) as the Confederacy attempted to take back their stolen battleship, Dragon. A number of participants in the battles, including Simon Dodds, voiced concerns that their opponents were not actually members of the INF, but a completely different force altogether. His beliefs were later largely confirmed when he discovered that Pandoran soldiers had been piloting the starfighters.

In late 2617, it was confirmed that the Imperial Naval Forces had been wiped out during engagements with the Senate's loyalist, who later went on to become the Pandoran army. The navy no longer exists, and the starships that had made up the fleet had been completely assimilated into the Pandoran's own.