Assassination is in its strictest sense the killing of an individual by another or a group at the behest of another, or for a concept or purpose beyond emotional response to a threat. Furthermore the target will invariably be a political or important figure. An added distinction between assassination and other forms of killing is that an assassin usually has an ideological or political motivation, though many assassins (especially those who are not part of an organized movement) also show elements of insanity. Other motivations may be money (as in the case of a contract killing), revenge, or as part of a wider military operation.

The euphemism targeted killing (also called extrajudicial execution) is also sometimes used for sanctioned assassinations of opponents, especially where undertaken by governments. 'Assassination' itself, along with terms such as 'terrorist' and 'freedom fighter', may in this context be considered a loaded term, as it implies a despicable act - whereas the proponents of such killings may consider them justified or even necessary.

As a governor of a Directorate controlled world the recourse to extrajudicial executions should always be carefully considered - whilst effectively decapitating a rebellious or opposition movement to the Imperial government, the consequences of failure can often include mass demonstrations in a kneejerk response to the perceived 'first-strike', or even in the case of success can cause the target's idolization as a martyr and the movement's rapid increase in influence and the threat against the government you sought to stabilize.

Therefore the decision to remove a figure or group of figures through force, beyond that of conventional actions through planetary or Imperial security elements, must be carefully considered and only utilized in either a scenario with no other foreseeable course of action, or where the assassination of a figure and the consequences can be predicated with a degree of assurance.

There is also the problem regarding motivation: the risks associated with assassination, beyond the mundane of failure or of the attempt being exposed. Assassination must only be ordered in the defense of the state and Imperial rule - it is never acceptable to simply remove a political rival or to settle a personal score, if such actions were ever exposed the damage to a government would be nigh on irreparable, despite state control of media. Extrajudicial execution must always remain a last option, despite the temptations to utilize it in place of more conventional methods of dealing with problems; negotiation, bribery, threats etc.