Lit On the Origins of Empire and Rebellion: The Rebel Alliance and Imperial Sourcebooks

Actually, does anyone outside the Resistance know Kylo Ren is Ben Solo?

 

Yeah, the degree to which the new canon has incorporated much of WEG's civilian and military structure for the Alliance is one of my favorite things. I'm not surprised, of course, given we've got awesome fans like Pablo Hidalgo who grew up on WEG. It is why I love his Visual Guide for Rogue One so much. The lore in it reads like a WEG supplement.

--Adm. Nick

 

I'm left wondering what the position of Secretary of the Cabinet (SotC) actually entails. Is it really to preside over the Ministers, a Prime Minister if you will? If so, would it not make sense for the SotC to take over instead of the Minister of State should the CoS become incapacitated? Is the SotC really more of a Chief of Staff to the CoS, or just an aide who keeps the Cabinet meetings running on-time and amicably with little real power?

I am also curious with respect to the Minsters .. are they political figure-heads, subject matter experts, or bureaucrats skilled at effectively managing their portfolios. In Canada, the Deputy Minister is the chief civil servant of the department who runs the organization while a politician is the Minister who speaks on behalf of the Ministry but they are unlikely to be a thoroughly immersed subject matter expert. In the US, the Secretary is the head of the department and serves equivalent to a CEO setting the larger direction of the department while the Deputy Secretary acts as the COO and manages the day-to-day bureaucracy. But still the US President has subject matter expects such as the National Security Adviser.

Each Ministry probably has a bureaucratic head who can manage to organization and a subject matter expect who can provide policy direction to the Ministry and advise the Minster and CoS on related matters. I'm guessing the Rebel Alliance Ministers are likely politically oriented figure-heads rather than bureaucrats or subject matter experts.

 

Here's how I see the Alliance Cabinet in Rogue One and possibly beyond:
Chief of State - Mon Mothma
Minister of State - Bail Organa, unknown replacement *
Minister of War - Raddus, likely replaced with Gial Ackbar
Minister of Finance - Nower Jebel
Minister of Education - Tynnra Pamlo
Minister of Industry - Vasp Vaspar
Minister of Supply - Unknown (absent from discussion) *

* With my characters, it's held by my OT character's father, who replaced Bail Organa after Alderaan went boom.

 

Unfortunately, the role of the Secretary of the Cabinet is left rather vague. We know that they represent Mothma during Cabinet meetings in her absence and chair those meetings, but they aren't described as having any real power or responsibilities beyond that. I imagine that they're a Chief of Staff or senior aide to Mothma, as opposed to a Prime Minister-like figure with any real power. Given that they aren't next in the line of succession, I wouldn't ascribe too much authority to the role. They actually strike me as being similar to the Cabinet Secretary here in Australia, a position which has since been abolished. Despite technically being a Ministerial position, the role of the Cabinet Secretary was essentially just to assist the Prime Minister in handling the day-to-day procedural matters of the Cabinet: providing authorisation for Ministers to bring forward items for consideration, ensuring that the rules are followed during meetings, authorising the minutes, etc.

As for the Ministers, it's likewise difficult to say, since the RASB only mentions them but doesn't actually break down the hierarchy of the Ministries they head. So we don't know if they have Deputies, or if there are bureaucratic heads that run the day-to-day operations. That said, they don't seem to have actual decision-making powers within their portfolios. Instead, it's their job to execute the policies as handed down to them by Mon Mothma, with each being chosen due to their "intelligence, drive, and ability to get things done." As such, I imagine that they are bureaucrats with experience in running their portfolios. We know that they each have a small staff which includes advisors, so I imagine that they're served by policy experts in their field

 

Well, he lives yet, thanks to Jason Fry and Alexander Freed.

 

And yet at the time, I seem to remember somebody actually cursing his canonization.

 

I curse Yarna d'al Gargan's backstory returning to canon. She didn't seem too unhappy with her apparent imprisonment in ROTJ.

 

The phraseology of "Secretary of the Cabinet" is odd because it seems like the Alliance government is vaguely based on the Westminster system, where the position of secretary refers to someone in the civil service, not any sort of ministerial position. There even is a position of "Secretary to the Cabinet" in the UK as part of the Cabinet Secretary's portfolio (as depicted in Yes, Prime Minister if you're looking for a good show about Westminster bureaucracy). So a secretary who works as either a superior to the ministers or a representative of the chief of state would not seem to mesh with that.

 

Yes, it would make sense that there was a Cabinet Secretary. The UK Cabinet Secretary is also the Head of the Civil Service - the most powerful unelected official in the country. They attend Cabinet and are the Prime Minister's most senior non-political adviser. So they'd be appointed rather than an elected politician like Mon or Bail.

 

Personally, I'd love to see someone take many of the unnamed Rebel dignitaries and officers from the Home One briefing scene and make some members of the Alliance civil government. I'd be stoked to see more love for the Ishi Tib, given that they had several members present at the briefing. Ditto for the Dresselians. Plus there are several human dignitaries that look like senators, use them to round out the cabinet.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/5/5f/I****ibRebel_SWChronicles.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170927220306

RE: Minister of War and fleet commander, it does seem likely that these positions were held at the same time by Raddus & then Ackbar. Which is something we've seen in the New Republic in the new canon, with Ackbar being the top military leader, advisor, and commander.

--Adm. Nick

 

...I really have no idea what this has to do with Arhul.

 

I'm glad that we've already generated such a great discussion. I originally typed a write-up on this forum the weekend before last, between work, only for my computer to crash just before I could hit submit. Unfortunately the timing was terrible, since I only had a brief gap before getting back to work. Having met my real-life deadline, I can now pivot us (admittedly for the second time, in my case) to the Imperial Sourcebook, with its first chapter titled "A Primer on Imperial Power." This chapter charts the history of the Empire from the fall of the Old Republic to the framing period (post-Yavin), describes the structure of the Imperial government, and includes some details on a few positions. At the risk of repeating myself ad nauseam, these sourcebooks predate the PT and subsequently lacked direct information on topics such as the Clone Wars, Palpatine's rise to power, etc. On the one hand, this means that a lot of references are outdated, sometimes requiring a bit of creative interpretation of the wording to reconcile information with later sources. But on the other, WEG provided a lot of galaxy-building about this period, and it's very interesting to see which concepts withstood the test of time.

The Old Republic Wanes

WEG was surprisingly prescient in describing the situation that led to the rise of the Empire. Firstly they note that while on the government on the galactic-level was a Republic, this isn't or hasn't always been the case at the more local, planetary-level. Many member worlds of the Republic were once ruled by empires and the nostalgia of such times remained deeply rooted in their psyche. The Atrisi system is cited as an example of this, being ruled by the Kited Phard Dynasty during the golden age of its society. Secondly, they described the bureaucracy as growing increasingly corrupt, inefficient, and consumed with their own desire for self-profit to see to the day-to-day affairs of galactic governance. As these corrupt influences grew more prominent, they also became more deeply wedded with corporate interests, with some even threatening secession(!) It was during this period that Palpatine emerged, a seemingly humble, unaccomplished, and unremarkable leader whose lack of ambition earned the approval of both loyalists and the corrupt. "Through fraud, clever promises, and astute maneuvering," Palpatine was then able to have himself "elected head of the Senatorial Council - President of the Republic."

From there, Palpatine got the wheels of government turning again, restored many of the policies which had lapsed over the years, and in the process supplanted the Senate's power - at least in these overlooked areas. However, as the Senate further collapsed into infighting, factions on both sides became indebted to Palpatine and abdicated responsibilities to him - unwittingly resulting in their constituent planets coming to see him as the face of the Republic. As this continued, Palpatine subjugated the opposition and was able to proclaim himself Emperor with a promise to eliminate corruption and social injustice. However, he instead centralised power, reneged on his promises, and subjugated local authorities. By the time the Senate woke up to what was happening, it was already too late to stop it. The factions had been weakened by infighting, preventing them from presenting a united front against Palpatine, and once he consolidated his power, those who got too vocal started to disappear. Although this section offers only a broad strokes summation of events, it doesn't really get much wrong, all things considered. The Senate grew corrupt, many members became too entangled with megacorporations and even started threatening secession, and Palpatine took advantage of these circumstances to sweep into power hiding behind a mask of humility. The only thing glaring about this section is the omissions of key events such as the Clone Wars and the Great Jedi Purge. WEG can, of course, be forgiven for all of this, but it nevertheless highlights one of the dangers of in-universe documents: new sources come out, the galaxy is expanded, and things that subsequently should be common knowledge are conspicuously absent.

I'm going to jump ahead a couple of pages to a sidebar which, despite being farther in, matches the tone of this section. Titled "By His Own Hand," this sidebar comes from an unattributed author who spends several paragraphs waxing lyrical about how amazing Palpatine is and how is Empire is just the Waru-darned best, you guys. The whole piece reads like a mash-up between the angst-fuelled poetry of our teenaged selves and the average post of GrandAdmiralJello, with the result being more than the product of its constituent parts. The opening line is "Look at the stars," and yet the piece predates the release of "Yellow" by several years, leading me to believe that Coldplay are closet WEG fans/blatant thieves, given that By His Own Hand conveys the same level of sappiness. Essentially, this anonymous authors argues that the very stars themselves have long been waiting for Palpatine to save them from the corruption of the Republic, the ambition of petty military officers, and the greed of crimelords. The Emperor himself is the galaxy and he knows what's best. To quote a particularly interesting paragraph, "My name is not important, as all that I am is dwarfed by the bright darkness that is the Emperor. But I have always been near him, a servant, a happy slave." What I find most interesting about this piece is that the author goes unnamed and that it's in an in-universe document by a blatantly Rebel author. Is this an Imperial-sanctioned propaganda piece demonstrating how the Empire sees itself? Just a minor piece to demonstrate how the average Imperial citizen sees the Emperor despite his cruelty? The insane ramblings of some nutjob completely unaffiliated with the Empire, which the Rebels elevated from obscurity because it proved their point about how insane the Empire is? It doesn't give me enough information to say, and I kind of like that vagueness.

The New Order

Despite its grandiose name, the "Galactic" Empire is still growing. So much, in fact, that the Imperial Survey Corps catalogues a new star system once every 207 minutes! That's a pretty impressive fact. I mean, imagine Bono on stage clapping his hands together, getting the audience to join in with his rhythm, and then announcing that every time he does so, poor Jason Fry has to update the Atlas Appendix. As if that weren't impressive enough, this is occurring despite considerable budget cuts to the ISC since the birth of the Empire. You see, unlike the representation of the Empire most of us know, WEG envisioned an ever-expanding frontier as a bad thing for the Empire and they don't have entirely unconvincing reasons for this view. Every uninhabited rock the ISC turns up means another place for the Empire's oppressed citizens to flee to, and subsequently more space for the Imperial Navy to patrol in order to keep these innocents hemmed in. But, as the saying goes, every cloud has an aurodium lining. Occasionally the ISC turns up an inhabited system, allowing the Empire to seize taxes and resources by offering them the chance to join up. I use the term "offer" rather loosely, since the Empire turns to military conquest if they refuse to join or obey once they do so. This is surprisingly uncommon, since the implied threat of the Imperial war machine is usually enough to inspire unswerving loyalty amongst even the most independent worlds.

Good news for those who fall in line! Every sapient species under the Empire, with the exception of droids (I love how Wuher's bigotry unintentionally tied in with the Clone Wars), is afforded the full rights of a citizen under Imperial law. Even the aliens! But lest you Constitution-waving hippies start projecting your own primitive view of rights on to the Empire, I should point out that the Imperial view of rights is... somewhat different to our own. You see, your first and foremost right as an Imperial citizen is to able to follow the precepts of the New Order fully and without question. Fortunately, if you're somewhat prone to questions, other rights are afforded on a case by case basis depending on whether or not they interfere with Imperial goals and doctrines. For example, you absolutely, undeniably have the right to free speech... provided you use it to criticise those dastardly Rebels! The extent to which these rights are applied depends upon region. The Empire employs a light touch in the Core, where it wants to keep people onside, and the Outer Rim, where it can't really enforce too many of its laws due to the lack of resources. It's everywhere in between that bears the brunt of Imperial restrictions and scrutiny. Naturally, all citizens must obey the laws of the Empire, which vary from system to system. The most universal of these are the Imperial Revenue Codes, which stipulate that all citizens must meet their financial obligations to the Empire. However, under this system, the burden of proof is reversed. It is incumbent upon the citizen to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that these obligations are being met, rather than the Empire demonstrating wrongdoing. As if that weren't enough, failure to prove your innocence is considered tantamount to an admission of guilt, with penalties ranging from the confiscation of goods to the increasingly common sentence of being assigned to a labour camp. I hope they don't do random audits like most real-world tax agencies. It's hard enough realising I can't find all my receipts, let alone knowing that my failure to keep records about my last deduction at the service station on the way to work could get me sent to the Spice Mines of Kessel.

Structure of the Empire

With that positively charming outline of how the Empire came about and a brief overview of what it's like for the average Imperial citizen, WEG moves towards the nitty-gritty of how the government is structured. Much like real world countries, the Empire contains multiple lower levels of government, ranging from systems to sectors to priority sectors. A system, as the name implies, consists of the worlds contained within a star system. The Empire finds it impractical to change the local governments of its worlds, and most are left intact. On occasion, the Emperor, through his Advisors, finds it necessary to alter the portions of a planetary government, such as its procedures or the members of its ruling body, but it prefers to leave them alone. Planets are strongly encouraged to reform in order to conform with the tenets of the New Order, but only 1 in 80 ever ends up being directly modified by higher authorities. What I find most surprising about this fact is that the 1 in 80 figure goes without remark in a pro-Rebellion source. True enough, it seems fairly low. But in a galaxy of tens of thousands of planets (at least), that's a sizeable number of systems which have their internal affairs being disrupted by the Empire without even the Rebels batting an eye about it. At any rate, individual worlds and systems are administered by Governors, who have jurisdiction over their planets and the Imperial forces garrisoned there. However, this authority is only nominal when it comes to the political and intelligence arms of the military. For example. although the Imperial Navy is supposed to consult with a Governor before conducting operations in their system, they treat the feedback as potentially useful but non-binding advice - unless said Governor has the backing of a higher authority like the sector Moff. Governors are usually appointed by the Emperor's Advisors, although some are holo-approvals of candidates personally selected by the Emperor. They are rarely from the system in question in order to avoid split allegiances or conflicts of interest, but this often leads to Governors having no idea about the systems they run - a fact which sometimes leads to resentment. Governors are supposed to let planets administer their own affairs, unless their goals run contrary to the Empire, at which point they step in to steer the local government back in the right direction. In determining this direction, Governors receive their policy directives from the Imperial Diplomatic Service and their sector Moff. However, in the event of conflicting instructions, those from the Moff take precedence as they are presumed to have superior knowledge of how Imperial policies are best applied to their region.

Next we have sectors, which date back to the Old Republic system of organising territories, and their boundaries are subsequently reflective of political and economic divisions. Originally, sectors consisted of clusters of systems containing approximately 50 inhabited planets each. However, over time, the definition of sectors grew rather vague and amorphous, with their average size growing in the later days of the Republic until they became unimaginably large without any regard for limiting factors. To compound this issue, the Empire is constantly growing and new sectors are being formed all the time. Under the Empire, each sector is ruled by a Moff, who has control of all Governors in their territory and answers to an Imperial Advisor, with duplicates of their reports being dispatched to the Emperor. Each Moff commands a military Sector Group, the disposition of which will be broken down in later chapters, and is theoretically responsible for the security of all worlds in their domain. However, most Moffs only take an interest in a handful of worlds and it is not uncommon for them to also serve as the Governor of a particular favourite. For the rest, the Moff mostly just reads the reports from the relevant Governors, along with dossiers from the intelligence units of their Sector Group to make sure local matters are well in hand.

Finally, there are priority sectors, which are ruled by a Grand Moff. As previously mentioned, sectors date back to the Old Republic and were determined by political rather than practical considerations. Consequently, the spread of rebellion has little concern for such borders, with the lack of cooperation and coordination between Moffs threatening the Imperial control of entire sectors. Taking the advice of one of his Moffs, Tarkin, the Emperor created priority sectors: larger territories consisting of a dozen or more sectors, with their borders determined by military considerations: namely, the presence of multiple sectors were unrest has been detected or systems which are in regular contact with other regions in which unrest is chronic. The theory behind priority sectors, as outlined in the Tarkin Doctrine, is that Grand Moffs will have free reign to swiftly react to problems while they are still small and prevent them from spreading without having to worry about jurisdictional boundaries. Grand Moffs are appointed personally by the Emperor and report directly to him, and they don't have to give advance warning to any of the Moffs or Governors in their priority sector before taking action. Furthermore, the number of Grand Moffs and the resources given to them is constantly increasing, with most commanding at least two Sector Groups and some granted even more forces if their territory is of crucial importance to the Empire. Priority sectors are the first to receive experimental equipment and have their losses replaced, with some also being given special missions in which the Emperor has a personal interest - the Death Star being a prominent example, with the Empire pouring resources into a priority sector that could have otherwise been used to form a score of Sector Groups. Naturally, the Moffs and Governors despise Grand Moffs. They argue that Grand Moffs have little knowledge of the systems in their jurisdiction, take actions which only work in the short run, and then hog all the military resources which leaves lesser authorities understaffed to clean up their messes. The Moffs point to the Battle of Yavin as a prime example of a Grand Moff creating a mess, but the Emperor will hear none of their concerns.

Servants of the Emperor

Along with outlining the more regionalised structure of the Empire, this chapter also includes three groups at or related to the top echelons of the Imperial hierarchy: the Advisors, the Imperial Royal Guard, and the Emperor himself. Recognising that he cannot run the galaxy alone, Palpatine surrounds himself with a number of Advisors. All too aware that he founded his Empire on treachery and subsequently cannot rely on trust to maintain his position, Palpatine has ensured that every Advisor is a simpering sycophant that owes all of their political gains to him. Furthermore, each Advisor has more enemies than allies among their ranks, keeping them too distracted fighting one another to plot against him. Palpatine finds this system of fear and greed binding his Advisors to him to be most satisfying, as he regards actual loyalty as an emotion that can only be depended on when it comes to his lesser subordinates. Although there are hundreds of Advisors, the Emperor rarely ever travels or consults with more than a few dozen at a time, with the rest sent on missions to gather information or spread disinformation on Palpatine's behalf. Advisors also serve administrative functions for the Emperor, usually appointing planetary Governors and some of the Moffs, and overseeing the political machinery of the Empire. To prevent them from acquiring too much power in these duties, the Emperor keeps them in check with an adversarial system. Advisors are granted oversight of the administration of systems which are systems for one of their rivals, making it more difficult for Advisors to band together effectively without having to deal with their enemies. Furthermore, politically weak Advisors are given larger territories to oversee, while the reverse is true for powerful Advisors. This system of checks and balances (or plots and counterplots), makes the administration of worlds way less efficient than was the case under the Republic, but Palpatine doesn't care since keeping potential rivals in check is his biggest concern.

Next we have the Imperial Royal Guard, a special detachment of hand-picked Stormtroopers who serve as the Emperor's bodyguards. Each guard is scrutinised for strict size, strength, intelligence, and loyalty requirements, with the best equipment and training being lavished upon them. The exact number of Royal Guards is unknown, with speculation ranging from less than 50 to tens of thousands. Which, you know, really doesn't narrow it down in the slightest. I like to think this is the result of deliberate disinformation by the Empire, rather than the Rebellion just asking each and every one of their members to take a wild guess at it, but the text doesn't say. The Royal Guard is often dispatched into frontline combat on a rotating basis to keep them in fighting shape, with each guard donning ordinary stormtrooper armour in those instances and forming units consisting exclusively of those amongst their ranks, preventing them from mingling with ordinary Army units. Rumours naturally abound about these units, with a legend stating that no member of the Royal Guard has ever been killed in battle. (Although subsequent sources have shown this to be laughably false, I like to think that it is true for these undercover frontline units, since the Guards are only constantly dying when they're around Palpatine in their ceremonial armour). Although ceremonial, the armour of the Royal Guard doesn't hamper their movement or fighting, and is derived from the uniforms of two other groups: "the Death Watch of the Mandalore system and the Sun Guard of the Thyrsus system." I believe that this is the first mention of either group, which makes it so fascinating that both - especially the Death Watch - have gotten so fleshed out. Here, both units are only described as units with ferocious reputations, which the Royal Guard mimic on purpose to inspire fear in the hardest of foes.

Finally, there's the Emperor, a small man clothed in robes which deliberately mimic those of harmless ascetics on a number of planets. Hobbling along with the aid of a gnarled walking stick, the Emperor appears old and fragile, a masterful deception given that he runs the most ruthless Empire in galactic history. The Emperor's genius and strength with the Force given him unique insights into those under his dominion and he understands the value of symbolism. He understood that the Old Republic was a symbol as much as a system of governance, with the Jedi being one of the few untarnished incarnations of that system. As such, he worked carefully to destroy them in order to cement his power. With the Jedi gone, he abandoned all pretence of restoring the Republic and revealed his true ambition to be the master of a thousand thousand worlds. Although his description is rather scant, there is one fact which is striking given that this is an in-universe document distributed to Rebel officers: it's either public knowledge, or at least an openly discussed fact in the Rebellion, that the Emperor is a Force user. That said, Hextrophon never uses the word "Sith," indicating that the extent of his Force mastery is unknown or a more closely guarded secret.

The Grasp of the Empire

In order to cement its control, the Empire has changed the way that systems communicate with one another, restricting the flow of information and intervening in the politics of individual worlds with an arrogance most species were unfamiliar with under the Republic. This has created considerable resentment, but this rarely translates into significant support for the Rebellion. There was a free flow of information under the Old Republic, although this proved to be a double-edged sword: the rapid exchange of culture and ideas led to massive growth, but systems were always updated about the status of conflict and corruption in the Senate, leading to its decline. This communications network was underpinned by the HoloNet, an extremely expensive but sophisticated network of "hundreds of thousands of non-mass transceivers connected through a vast matrix of coordinated hyperspace S-threads... as well as the computing power to sort and decode all of the information." Which I believe is technobabble for a version of the internet where data is transmitted through hyperspace, allowing for real-time communications between worlds. The system was exorbitantly expensive, costing thousands of credits per second per transceiver, meaning that only governments and larger commercial houses used them. However, although smaller concerns and individuals never used the HoloNet directly, there were millions of traders travelling the hyperspace corridors who kept them plugged in to what was going on, giving everyone a sense of belonging.

Because the HoloNet helped contribute to the fall of the Republic by keeping the citizenry informed, Palpatine and his Advisors chose to forego the benefits of such a system. After assuming the throne, Palpatine dissolved the HoloNet, which had two major benefits. Firstly, with the collapse of the galactic communications network, it was almost impossible for anyone outside the Senate to coordinate Rebel groups. Even the wealthiest and most influential systems could not overcome this major logistical hurdle to coordination, leaving them isolated. Secondly, because the HoloNet cost a fortune to maintain, a huge pool of credits was suddenly freed up to fuel his rabid expansion of the Imperial Military. In an astonishing figure that shows the scale of how expensive it was to maintain the HoloNet, Palpatine was able to man and outfit for more troops in the first six months of his reign than the Republic had ever mobilised at any one time by dismantling it. However, Governor Tarkin convinced Palpatine to reintroduce the HoloNet on a much smaller scale, exclusively for the Imperial Navy and only at the level of a Sector Group. The Emperor approved of this plan and awarded Tarkin the rank of Grand Moff for his efforts, with the plan becoming part of the Tarkin Doctrine.

Finally, we conclude with a sidebar, Imperial Communique #001044.92v. As explained by Hextrophon, this is a secret communique from then-Governor Tarkin of Eriadu, Seswenna sector, to the Emperor. Intercepted by the Alliance, the communique details the policies which later became known as the Tarkin Doctrine. These policies are still in effect, although the Empire is in the process of modifying them in light of the Alliance victory at Yavin. Tarkin begins to note the growing unrest in backwater sectors, with pirate bands taking advantage of the inefficient sector design to cause trouble in one Moff's territory, then hop over to the next and use the jurisdictional wrangling to escape justice. This, combined with increased resistance to Palpatine's plans from "hot-headed young senators," has Tarkin worried that rebels will soon adopt similar tactics to spread insurrection. Since the Empire is years away from producing a force capable of securing every system simultaneously, Tarkin proposes five policies for implementation by the Emperor. Firstly, Tarkin recommends the creation of a new system of "Oversectors," the specifics of which are almost identical to those outlined earlier. The only difference is that Tarkin recommends three Sector Groups on average, whereas most get two. Secondly, he proposes that command of these Oversectors be given to a single individual who can bypass any delays caused by the political opportunism of Palpatine's Advisors. It either says a lot about Tarkin's clout or Palpatine's agreement with their irrelevance that he blatantly calls out the Advisors like this and gets promoted for it. Thirdly, he proposes cannibalising existing HoloNet transceivers and modifying them for inclusion aboard every flagship of a Sector Group in an Oversector command. Similar facilities should be constructed aboard the Emperor's own command ship and Imperial City, allowing greater coordination and for the Imperial Navy to respond to threats in minutes rather than hours or days after the fact. Fourthly, he proposes ruling through the fear of force rather than force itself, making the most efficient use of Imperial military resources and control of information. In giving an example, Tarkin recommends having Oversector groups strike at all known planets of resistance and making sure to destroy every vessel before it can flee. Although this would take several days, he then proposes using the media to report than a single Oversector group conducted a single operation in a day (without specifying which day), creating the illusion of overwhelming force. Finally, he emphasises the role of the Imperial Star Destroyer as a central feature of the Tarkin Doctrine, arguing that its sheer size has a psychological impact on dissidents who then compare it to the smaller vessels they have to oppose it with. After raising these points, Tarkin also hints at the creation of a weapon so powerful and inconceivable that it would defy the very notion of mounting a resistance to it. Such a weapon would require the means to singlehandedly dispatch an entire system, although creating it would make it possible to do away with the Senate and keep the galaxy in line through fear alone. Tarkin makes no specific reference to the Death Star, which grants the impression that the weapon was proposed after the rise of the Empire, rather than under construction prior to then. However, since this communique was intercepted by the Rebels, perhaps he was just being cautious or deliberately coy.

I can't make any promises in regards to when I'll be able to do the next write-up. But when I do, we revert to the RASB with a chapter on the Alliance Military structure and its High Command!

 

I remember really liking this chapter back when I read the ISB after the start of the prequels - like you, I was surprised at how much a lot of it matches up. Especially the secession angle, which I think shows up also in the X-wing Farlander Paper stuff (which obviously drew heavily from this chapter) but I can't remember really being emphasized a lot elsewhere (down to basically ignoring the Clone Wars and Jedi Purge).

The use of the term "Senatorial Council" also only shows up here from what I remember, though it obviously comes from Tarkin's "the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently" line from ANH. I always liked the term Senatorial Council, though - as something like the Senate's steering committee or frontbenchers, or an equivalent of the Loyalist Committee.

The description of the Imperial Advisors I also really liked, and their incredibly byzantine, tangled loyalties and dislikes that never allow them to form a majority faction. That's a great exemplar of Palpatine's machinations, and also a good setup on the Empire's dysfunction in post-ROTJ EU.

Speaking of, the description of the Imperial Guards and their training here is pretty accurate both for what gets shown in Crimson Empire and by Grodin Tierce later on in the Bantam era.

 

I really wish they'd used the Imperial Diplomatic Service more. I like the idea of Imperial officials whose job is negotiation and conciliation and advising the governors and Moffs on Imperial policy toward subject worlds, a whole service whose institutional goal is stability and good relations. It would be a very different face of the Empire, more in line with the kind of misguided idealism of tragic Imperial figures, helping keep the Empire's rule from being so obviously dystopian, and it would also create a fascinating tension between people who are trying to give the governors advice and the governors who aren't taking it and the military and Inquisitorius and Advisors and every other institution that's exerting pressure the opposite direction.

 

This sounds an awful lot like the quote from Tarkin on the Star Destroyer page of The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels. I wonder if that book got it from the ISB?

"I maintain that the effectiveness of the Star Destroyer stems from not only its massive firepower, but from its size. When citizens look at a Star Destroyer and then compare it to the craft which might be mustered to attack it, they have a tendency to dismiss such a notion as suicidal rather than approach the problem tactically."―Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin[src]

 

It's a shame that a lot of the original nomenclature from WEG never got picked up and massaged into the depiction of the Republic we saw in the PT. Although "Senatorial Council" could just be an alternate or formalised rendering of "Galactic Senate," I like to think that it refers to a Cabinet or some body of frontbenchers. Although such a body has never been explicitly depicted, at least to my knowledge, we know that such roles existed under the Republic. The Tales of the Jedi comics had a Minister of Defence and the HoloNet News articles mention a Minister of Finance and a Fourth Assistant Attorney General (pretty much all but confirming the existence of a Republic AG). These would be great candidates for a "Senatorial Council."

The Diplomatic Service is tragically underused. If memory serves, I'm not entirely sure that I'd even heard of the branch until the Legacy comics included it as one of the bodies represented on the Moff High Council, which was a neat reference. As if the storytelling potential there wasn't enough, one of the original run of Marvel comics included an issue where the main villain was a Diplomatic Service officer manipulating the local government of the planet Velmor. I would love to see more stories following similar themes.

Well spotted! That's almost a direct quote from WEG, although the wording has been changed somewhat. Here's the full quote from the WEG version: "Your Majesty, it has long been my contention that the average citizen has no grasp of numbers nor a head for calculation. I maintain that one of the reasons for the effectiveness of the Star Destroyer is its size. When citizens look at a Star Destroyer and then look at the craft which might be made available to attack it, even the best mind among them wishes to reject the notion rather than approach the problem tactically."

It's not a quote that's aged particularly well, given that later sources have routinely depicted vessels even larger than the ISD, including those used by the Separatists and even the Rebellion. It seems odd that planets which may have been threatened by bigger ships a mere generation ago during the Clone Wars would suddenly be paralysed by the psychological element of facing an ISD. That said, the vessel is more modern, better armed, and fielded in far greater numbers than previous capital ships of its size and above, so I can understand why people would fear them.

 

Don't forget, it was also Jahan Cross's cover in Agent of the Empire (which was an interesting choice, given that his Bond basis was in the Royal Navy, not anything in the diplomatic services). I'd hope that if Agent of the Empire had gone on longer, we would have seen more of his Diplomatic Service cover.

 

Rebels did a good job with that (and borrows heavily from WEG) where the young Rebels have no idea what a Star Destroyer REALLY looks like.

 

We now return to the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook with Chapter Two: Alliance Military, a breakdown of the structure of the Alliance High Command and some of its arms - particularly, Fleet Command and SpecForces Command. Having looked back over some of the earliest posts, I'm thinking it might be easier to break the chapters down into sections rather than posting on the whole thing. This will (hopefully) help both my post rate and the discussion, since everyone won't have to pick through (as big) a wall of text. The chapter begins with a quote of the "Battle Chant of the Legion of Alderaan," an Alliance Military unit consisting of Alderaanian survivors. Unfortunately, this reference never got picked up on again and their Battle Chant is the only thing known about them, which is a shame, because they sound bad@$$. I can't really do justice to it simply describing how they promise that they're going to kick Imperial backsides despite coming from a destroyed world full of pacifists, so I'll just post the whole thing here:

In the grave of Alderaan,​

In the night of Charenthoth,​

In the sands of Tatooine,​

And the bloody hell of Hoth.​

​

We will meet the enemy;​

We will sound the battle-cry.​

With our comrades at our sides,​

We will fight and we will die.​

​

Though they hunt us across space;​

Though they kill us by the scores.​

Though they crush our blessed home;​

Though the mighty Death Star roars.​

​

We will meet the enemy;​

We will sound the battle-cry.​

With our comrades at our side,​

We will fight and they will die.​

I hate that the Legion of Alderaan never got depicted elsewhere, which is especially weird considering that WEG was quite self-referential, making entire stories about namedrops from previous works. Fortunately, a lot of other stuff depicted in this chapter became foundational elements for the portrayal of the Alliance Military in Legends - with some even getting transferred over to Canon, most notably via Rogue One and its surrounding source material.

Objectives and Structure

The primary purpose of the Alliance Military is defeating the Imperial Army and Navy, as well as bringing down the Emperor, a pretty tall order that every member pledges their lives to achieving. Despite the fact that there are easier jobs (like refusing to let a Wookiee win a game of dejarik or surgically separating Troig heads, for example), and that they suffer constant defeats and setbacks, morale surprisingly isn't much of a problem in the Alliance. Quite the contrary, in fact. Alliance troops are overconfident in the extreme, believing that just 1 Rebel could beat any 10 Imperials. On the one hand, this assessment seems fair based on pretty much every story I've ever seen, where hordes of Imperials are taken down by a few scrappy Rebels. If anything, it might even be a bit generous to the Imperials. But on the other hand, I don't know why they brag about that particular figure when the Empire clearly has way more than 10 people for every one in the Alliance. At any rate, this sentiment is summed up best in a popular and obscene Alliance fighting song, "Yer in the Rebellion Now, Farmboy," in which Rebels boast of being tougher than a Wookiee's stomach and meaner than a Princess' curses - even if the pay is lousy and the food is even worse.

Much like the Civil Government, the structure of the Alliance Military is a product of the Cantham House meetings between Senators Mothma and Organa. Organa in particular had a major role in shaping the Military organisational structure, having been a veteran of the Clone Wars and a longtime member of the Senate Military Oversight Committee. With his military knowledge and Mothma's political savvy, the two created a structure with all the flexibility necessary to combat the single largest military the galaxy had ever seen, whilst still being firmly under the control and oversight of a civilian government. The solution to these conflicting interests of flexibility and control was the separation of the military into two distinct forces: the Alliance Forces, and the Sector Forces, both of which answer to the Military High Command. I find it interesting that Senator Organa is described as a "veteran of the Clone Wars." It fits with Leia's line in ANH that Kenobi "served" her father during the Clone Wars, but he's since mostly been shown leading relief missions into combat zones in his capacity as a Senator, rather than as a strategic planner. I'd like to see that dimension fleshed out a little bit more in future stories, even if it does technically fit as is.

The High Command includes Mon Mothma, her Minister of War, and all of her closest military advisors. They're responsible for setting overall strategy, directing the operations of the Fleet and Allied Forces, and coordinating the various Sector Commands. For this reason, High Command is usually stationed with the Fleet. The Alliance Forces are the part of the military directly controlled by High Command, including the Fleet, attached Starfighter wings, most major support services, and a small but powerful ground force. The AF is designed mostly for flexibility, being able to exploit sudden targets of opportunity as they arise. By contrast, the Sector Forces are semi-autonomous units that operate within a particular sector. They handle most day-to-day operations and can make tactical decisions themselves without consulting High Command, since that can take weeks. However, when Sector Groups need to coordinate with one another, or with the Alliance Forces, High Command usually appoints or supplies a Command Group to oversee the operation. Sector Forces are like a micro-version of the Alliance Forces, featuring their own fighter wings, ground forces, intelligence units, and the like. They're supposed to be complete fighting forces, capable of weeks of sustained combat without external support.

High Command

Alliance High Command is the means through which Mothma directs the war effort, and closely reflects her views on command and control. There's her at the top, in her capacity as Commander-in-Chief, then the Minister of War, then a Chief of Staff, and then the Supreme Allied Commanders who head the seven branches of the Alliance Military: Fleet, Ordnance and Supply, Starfighter Command, Support Services, Intelligence, SpecForces, and Sector Command. Despite coordinating the actions of millions of beings, High Command is surprisingly small, with fewer than 1,000 officers. The emphasis is on flexibility, speed of response, and taking initiative, so "There are no button-pushers in HC, no petty bureaucrats to clog up the works, no officers putting in their time before retirement." If you get assigned to High Command, you're either working full throttle or you get drummed out pretty quickly.

Mon Mothma holds the title of Alliance Forces Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), which is automatically bestowed on her as a consequence of serving as Chief of State. While the position could have been a mere honorific for another leader, Mothma actively involves herself in the running of the war. That said, despite her near-dictatorial powers outlined in the preceding chapter, she isn't foolish enough to try to run the war by herself and relies heavily upon the expertise of her professional military advisors. Mothma considers her role as C-in-C as more akin to a chairwoman of the board than a soldier, spending most of her time in conference: at least once a day with the Supreme Allied Commanders, along with lots of informal meetings with commanders, subcommittees, and task forces. Her skill as a mediator and politician is actually more beneficial to High Command than her "not inconsiderable military savvy," since she keeps morale high and officers productive and focused, despite saying very little during these conferences.

Her second-in-command in the High Command structure is the Minister of War, previously outlined in the preceding chapter as a member of the Civil Government. The Minister of War ensures that the C-in-C is fully briefed on all military matters, with part of the reason that they remain apprised of all operations being that they fill the role of C-in-C in the event of Mothma's incapacity or impeachment. I find this interesting, since the Minister of State assumes control over the Civil Government - presumably this is another check and balance on the dictatorial powers of the Chief of State, ensuring that only a duly elected figure can control both portfolios, with them being split in the case of inheritance. Finally, the Minister has a greater role in policy implementation than Mothma and can call meetings of High Command in her absence, although this latter function is often deferred to the Chief of Staff due to their greater knowledge of the status of Allied Forces and the Sector Commands.

Finally, there's the Chief of Staff, who serves as a crucial buffer between the C-in-C and her subordinate officers. With a galaxy-wide war being raged across thousands of systems, this is a vital role. Mothma can't do everything herself and an inefficient Chief of Staff would see her swamped with details that could be handled by a lower level of authority. Finally, the Chief of Staff is empowered to act in the name of the C-in-C or the Minister of War when either is unavailable, and, when neither is present, has complete authority to act on their behalf if there are pressing matters which must be addressed immediately.

Supreme Allied Commanders

Below these three ranking members of High Command are the Supreme Allied Commanders, the heads of each aforementioned branch of the Alliance Military. The SACs and their staff are expected to run their departments in a smooth and efficient manner, keep up to date on all operations occurring within them, be ready to supply up-to-date information to the C-in-C at a moment's notice, make recommendations on strategy and tactics, and coordinate efforts between their branches. They also serve as the main interface between the military and the Civil Government, and work closely with the Cabinet Ministers whose portfolios overlap with their responsibilities: for example, the SAC of Intelligence works closely with the Minister of Education, the SAC of Ordnance and Supply works closely with the Minister of Industry, etc.

Fleet Command, as the name implies, is responsible for administering the Alliance Fleet, the most important branch of the armed forces. The position of SAC is usually held by the Admiral of the Alliance Fleet itself, at least when High Command is attached to the Fleet or is easily reachable. However, whenever the SAC is on manoeuvres with the Fleet or otherwise engaged, they supply a staff officer to fill the position. Although the staff officer has no authority over the Fleet, they remain up-to-date on its status and the SAC's intentions, allowing them to keep the other branches apprised on its operations. Under Legends, the SAC was Admiral Gial Ackbar. In Canon, Ackbar succeeds Admiral Raddus, the former holder of the title. The staff officer has never been named. However, based on the ROVG, Colonel Anj Zavor strikes me as the perfect fit. Despite his rank, Zavor serves in Fleet Command and acts as the liaison between High Command and the Admiral of the Fleet.

Ordnance and Supply is responsible for procuring the equipment, weaponry, and foodstuffs used by the Alliance Military. Since most Sector Commands are expected to take care of such things for themselves, OaS focuses more on harder to procure items like ships, fighters, and fuel. They keep the Fleet and SpecForces supplied at all times and work closely with the Minister of Supply in the Civil Government to accomplish this. However, for some weird reason, despite being in charge of getting the items, they have no control over shipping them. This is handled by Support Services, forcing them to coordinate closely with them as well. A small portion of the resources available to OaS goes towards weapons and vehicle research-and-development, but they don't have much to spare when it comes to keeping Alliance forces up-to-date with the latest equipment. Under Legends, the Supreme Commander of OaS was General Ral'Rai Muvunc, who was also a Minister in the Civil Government. In Canon, this position is held by General Baccam Grafis.

Starfighter Command is in charge of the Alliance's fighter contingent, with responsibility for training pilots, assigning wings to the Fleet and individual Sectors, and overseeing the "rogue" wings - those attached to the Alliance Forces and not permanently assigned to any particular sector. Once a wing is assigned to a Sector Command, StarCom relinquishes control to the Commander of that SecForce. However, although the local Wing Commander answers to the Sector Commander, they continue to report to StarCom and can submit complaints if they feel their forces are being misused. Finally, in the event of major operations involving strikes against targets of opportunity, StarCom may request these wings be temporarily returned to them. Naturally, this often leads to conflicts given that there aren't enough fighters to go around and a lot of sectors feel like they can't afford to lose them, even if just for a little while. These issues are usually resolved by Sector Command or, in the event of a particularly stubborn SecForce, by the Chief of Staff. Under Legends, the SAC of StarCom was General Jan Dodonna, with an unknown successor(s). I think Adar Tallon would make an excellent candidate for this role. In Canon, the role is held by General Antoc Merrick. One assumes he was succeeded by Dodonna, who often oversaw fighter missions when coordination from a base was more efficient than the frontlines.

Support Services controls the Alliance's limited transportation network of bulk and light freighters, shipping the goods acquired by OaS for reasons which, again, baffle and escape me. They also provide cooks, doctors, mechanics, and repair facilities to Alliance bases and the Fleet, as well as maintaining safe worlds and hospital ships. Although the job isn't particularly glamorous, it's vital - without Support Services, the war effort would grind to a halt in a matter of months. The SAC of Support Services went unnamed under Legends, but in Canon, the position is held by General Dustil Forell.

Intelligence is another self-explanatory one, overseeing the monitoring of the Imperial Army and Navy. Intel operatives are everywhere, serving undercover in the Imperial Military, spying at sector capitals and spaceports, and otherwise popping up wherever military information can be found. In addition to their undercover operations, Intelligence also uses other, less glamorous methods of determining the Empire's strength, location, and intentions. They operate a number of deep space vessels and probe droids on the fringes of Imperial base worlds, with hundreds of analysts scanning the feeds to put together information on the activities of the Empire. Under Legends, the Chief of Intelligence was General Vernan, who was succeeded after his death by General Airen Cracken. In Canon, it seems that Cracken holds that job from the beginning.

Special Forces is responsible for the ground troops of the Allied Forces. These units are shockingly small in number - being just 10 divisions or so - but make up for it with exceptional training, brilliant leadership, and high morale. SpecForces protect High Command, are attached to the Fleet, and are occasionally detached for duty in sectors across the galaxy. Under Legends, the role of Supreme Commander of Special Forces was General Crix Madine. In Canon, the position is held by General Pitt Onoran, although I imagine Madine later succeeded him.

Finally, there's Sector Command, which oversees the various Sector Forces across the galaxy, assigning them assets and coordinating their activities. Since there are thousands of SecForces with various needs and dispositions, it is literally impossible to micromanage (or even keep track of) them all. SecCom doesn't even try, despite being one of the largest branches of High Command, instead limiting its control to important operations and overall strategic guidance. Typically, SecCom only receives general orders from the SACs, Chief of Staff, or C-in-C, and passes those along, but leaves it up to the local Sector Commander to decide the best way to implement the instructions. Despite the immense powers offered by the Alliance Charter, SecCom rarely uses their authority to meddle in the internal affairs of SecForces, only pulling rank when they require cooperation with the Alliance Forces for a crucial operation. SecCom's communications network is massive and expensive, but since only a few systems are equipped with hyperspace communicators, they rely heavily on relays or messages carried via ships or droids. Since this sometimes means communications delays of weeks, they sometimes assign a Command Group to oversee critical sectors if there is an emergency or vital operation which requires a rapid response. Finally, SecCom is responsible for helping establish new SecForces in regions where none exist. While Intelligence handles recruitment and Support Services offers training, SecCom provides a team of experienced officers to lead until the locals are capable of doing so for themselves. Under Legends, General Carlist Rieekan held the role later in the war. In Canon, the position is held by General Jan Dodonna.

With that general overview, the rest of the chapter provides a more detailed breakdown of Fleet Command and Special Forces. Others, such as Support Services and Intelligence, are the subject of their own chapters. I'll be back to complete the rest of this chapter some time later, but for now I think we have plenty of details to pick over.

 

In Leia, Princess of Alderaan Leia recounts some of the war stories Bail has told her from the Clone Wars, which are briefly described like first hand battlefield accounts.

I've always wondered where the split between Fleet and Star-fighter Command (SFC) lies. Does SFC handle only star-fighters? Or do they man the ships which are typically docked in hanger bays like shuttles and gunboats. Who operates the landing craft carrying SpecForces?