What exactly happened to Coruscant during Dark Empire?

I'm running a Star Wars RPG campaign, and we are approaching the Dark Empire timeframe. Since I always use most of the EU literature in my games, I want to keep truthful to it. I've managed to aquire the Dark Empire Sourcebook, by WEG, but that didn't give me enough information about the question I ask in my topic line.

What I've gathered is that some months before the reborn emperor's final comeback, the Empire gathered its forces and attacked Coruscant, driving out the New Republic and trashing the place. After some months of domination, the Empire began fighting among themselves and trashed the planet even further. After Palpatine was defeated (again) the New Republic retook Coruscant and by the time of the Jedi Academy Trilogy it was well on its way rebuilding it.

Now I'm left with some questions, if you could answer any of them, I would be truly thankful:

- How long was the battle to drive the NR out of Coruscant?
- How big was the imperial and republic fleets in this battle?
- Was there a siege?
- How did the Empire manage to bring down the planetary shields?
- Any more details on the battle, was it exclusively space-based, was it a street by street fight?
- How did the NR evacuate all the government and other insitutions during this battle?
- What happened to the citizens of Coruscant?
- How was life on Coruscant during the new imperial domination?
- How did the NR retake Coruscant? Was there a battle or did the Empire just withdrew from there?

Speculation is also very much welcome, thanks.

 

I just figured that that was a small area of coruscant that the republic couldn't get the Empire out of.

 

No, the Empire took all of Coruscant, which is why the Alliance had to flee to Pinnacle Base.

 

There's a short story in Tales of the Empire which deals with the Imperial attack on Coruscant.

 

By analogy with the later Vong invasion, if the Rebs knew the Empire was coming the fleet clash would have been huge! Probably several thousand ships as a bare minimum. However, if the GE was able secretly to coordinate their attack, then the Reb defence would only have been token. Perhaps along the lines of either the 3 or so SDs that are Coruscant's standard defence during Isard's tenure, or the slightly larger fleet used in defence during the Hapan visit - which seems to suggest that the 63 vessels brought by the delegation would have posed a serious threat to the Reb defenders.

The occupation always struck me as an unimaginably vast thing. Certainly the whole area around the Imperial Palace was flattened, suggesting maybe a division or more, minimum. Naturally, because it was civil war, there's no telling the precise troops on either side, nor whether they switched sides midway. Sorry for vagueness, but any precise estimates would be only my opinion only! Good luck!

 

Thanks for the answers. I actually had the Tales of the Empire Book, but I lost it midway, could you tell me anything useful from that story?

I would think that the Imperial attack was a big surprise. I imagine that after Thrawn's defeat, the NR was thinking it had seen the Empire's last dying actions. So the NR fleet around Coruscant would me minimal, but they still had the planetary shield, which I don't see how the Empire managed to bring down.

 

The sheer amount of ships the Empire attacked Coruscant with basically blasted their way through the shields within a day or something without much of a token defence, and a swarm of ships lifted off the planet and evacuated as soon as the shields dropped, allowing government, military and civilian personnel to break through the blockade and escape.

 

Going to post as much as I can surmise...

- How long was the battle to drive the NR out of Coruscant?

Going by the DESB, it happened "within days" of the fleet commanders teaming up with the Ruling Circle.

- How big was the imperial and republic fleets in this battle?

No concrete numbers to be had, likely the Imperials greatly outnumbered the NR. The DESB implies that Thrawn never controlled the mainline Empire's entire military might, the bureaucrats always hamstrung him, forcing him to look elsewhere for ships. In this case, the massive infrastructure they had at their fingertips was unleashed

- Was there a siege?

The short story "Retreat from Coruscant" says that Coruscant was "surrounded" and their forces had to retreat. Rather than bring the war to the civilian populace, the NR government was happy to relocate in an attempt to save civilian lives.

- How did the Empire manage to bring down the planetary shields?

Everything seems to point at superior firepower, probably an armada on the scale of what we see sometimes in DE. The EC speaks of a merciless bombardment.

- Any more details on the battle, was it exclusively space-based, was it a street by street fight?

The Jedi Academy sourcebook indicates that 60% of the Army command staff was lost between a sneak attack during a victory parade over Thrawn's defeat and the evacuation. Ackbar informed Wedge that pretty much everyone above the rank of Colonel was dead. There wasn't much of a space battle beyond the token defenses being overrun and forced to retreat. That is, until the Imperials turned on each other. The DESB says that after months of political maneuvering, the war spilled beyond Coruscant, fleets bombarded rival worlds at will, destroying whole planets. The EC named that Ralltir, Chandrila, Esseles, and other key Core worlds soon fell. Personal speculation is that this kind of destruction was unheard of before Endor, and not again until the NJO.

- How did the NR evacuate all the government and other insitutions during this battle?

Using any and all means necessary, such as commandeering civilian couriers, i.e. the one in Retreat from Coruscant used to get Colonel Bremen offworld. My speculation is that Mon Mothma, the Provisional Council, and the military brass got away, leaving the social services behind.

- What happened to the citizens of Coruscant?

The NR believed that they'd be left mostly alone if they left the world to the Empire. They believed that the Empire really wanted the NR's heads, and were not concerned with civilians. This was true until the Imperial factions took sides and went to war. After that, any and all weapons available to the Empire were used. This was evidenced by the mechs and droids left lying around when the Falcon goes in to pick up Luke and Lando.

- How was life on Coruscant during the new imperial domination?

My speculation is that it was a tenuous martial law, people still worked, but social services were limited while the Empire deliberated over who would be the new leader.

- How did the NR retake Coruscant? Was there a battle or did the Empire just withdrew from there?

My speculation is that the NR didn't have to fight for it, at least not very hard. Once Palpatine revealed himself again, most of the remaining Imperials were out conquering again instead of fighting over one devastated world. Combined fleets of the new Dark Empire conducted costly but effective blitzkriegs (like Operation Shadow Hand) to win huge swaths of territory, but reverted to infighting after Palpatine's last death. We know from the EC that the Empire proper quickly shrunk to a narrow band stretching from the Colonies to the Outer Rim, while most of the warlords again retreated to the Deep Core.

 

Now THAT's what I call a comprehensive response!! thank you very, very much! You have managed to solve most of my doubts.

-Now how about Torpedoe Spheres? Could the Empire have used one of those to bring down Coruscant's shield? That's what they are for, arent's they?
-And would the Eclipse Star Destroyer be at this battle. Or possibly a Super Star Destroyer?
-Just to clarify, you said the battle happened "withing days" of the forming of the coalition, but does that mean that the actual battle took a few days, or was it shorter?

Thanks again.
...my players have no idea the caliber of apocalypse about to fall on their heads...

 

Glad I could help

Just to clarify a few things, the Emperor was NOT directly part of the chain of command at the siege and takeover of Coruscant. He did orchestrate the Imperial Civil War, and fanned the flames to thin the ranks of the "unworthy". He did not reveal himself or the fleets of Byss until Luke actually landed a Star Destroyer on the Imperial City.

-Now how about Torpedoe Spheres? Could the Empire have used one of those to bring down Coruscant's shield? That's what they are for, arent's they?

It's very possible that one was used, but I don't think so. As of the Imperial Sourcebook's writing (shortly after Yavin), only six Torpedo Spheres actually existed. They were something of a one-trick pony of an offensive weapon. It was probably cheaper to blockade a troublesome world with Star Destroyers and starve it of offworld supplies than to directly apply that kind of force. I suspect the Empire built a few more torpedo spheres in the pre-Endor years, but most of them were lost in the post-Endor confusion and warlordism.

-And would the Eclipse Star Destroyer be at this battle. Or possibly a Super Star Destroyer?

Definately no Eclipse or Sovereign at the initial battle, this was Palpatine's personal flagship, and he hadn't yet revealed himself. The Eclipse herself was built largely at Kuat, and when that world was captured two years before, its keel was spaceworthy enough to make a run for Byss. It was completed there over the next two years. However, I wouldn't put it past one of the warlords who participated in the battle to have some 8km or 12.8km behemoth.

-Just to clarify, you said the battle happened "withing days" of the forming of the coalition, but does that mean that the actual battle took a few days, or was it shorter?

The DESB wasn't really clear on that, but I'll throw up a few quotes:

From page 33 of the DESB:

After Thrawn's defeat, the remaining fleet commanders joined with the Ruling Circle and within days had recaptured vital Imperial systems. But they still weren't satisfied: although bloodied, the New Republic still controlled much territory. The ministers, munitions tycoons and functionaries turned immediately back to their plotting. Only now, there was more to be won.

In the next section, it indicates that the Imperials gathered at the old Senate building to discuss sucession, not really detailing the siege itself.

However, the opening crawl of DE says:

But within days of Thrawn's downfall, surviving members of the Emperor's Ruling Circle, in concert with six former Starfleet commanders, staged a stunning assault on Coruscant, and the vital Imperial system once again fell under Imperial control.

My feeling is that the capture of the Core Worlds was a complete shock, there was little warning to be had. After all, only weeks before, Thrawn's campaign came to an abrupt halt, and the NR had already begun prosecuting a war against the remaining warlords, starting with Krennel's Ciutric Hegemony. I get the feeling it was like the 1940 invasion of France, they never expected the Germans to invade through the low countries, and they paid for it dearly. Also like said invasion, it was all over in a matter of weeks. I think the NR brass knew better than to stick around, they saw the wave assaults sweep across the core, and knew better than to stay around and wait for one to get Coruscant. When the massive Imperial armada appeared, they made way to the Pinnacle Moon.

In retrospect, it would seem that either Palpatine was a hidden player behind the new Imperial reunification after Thrawn's fall in that he masterminded the wave assaults. Either that he took a page from his subordinate's book when he had Sedriss execute Operation Shadow Hand after his death at the end of DE.

 

By they way, I'd be curious to know how the campaign went after the siege.

 

Thanks again for your further responses. I think I already have enough information to run this adventure. Now I just have to figure out how my players can get involved in this battle without being promptly vaporized. Maybe they can try do stop a squad of infiltrated commandos who are trying to sabotage a shield generator. Coruscant is doomed anyway, but if the players manage to stop this sabotage, it will buy more time for the evacuation.

What do you mean about wanting to know about the campaign? The Empire's campaign, or my rpg campaign?

 

Yours. I'd like to hear how it plays out afterwards.

 

Oh, sure thing. I expect my players to escape Coruscant the first chance they get, I don't think they would last very long in that war zone. However they might have to come back and stage a rescue mission down there later on.

I had already planned for them to got to Mon Calamari eventually on a search for someone, and I think they are just going to be so unlucky as to be right in the middle of it when the World Devastators arrive. But that would be some months after the taking of Coruscant, right?

Poor guys, they don't get a break...

 

Weeks anyway, not sure about months. Luke was already with the Emperor by then.

 

How can Isard's Revenge be reconciled with all of this? The attack on Coruscant takes place 'within days', yet IR lasts several weeks and occurs right after TLC without any attack on Coruscant.

 

That's a good question. I think IR is situated right between Thrawn's defeat and the fall of Coruscant, I believe there is enough time there.

 

We Fleet Junkies had a pet theory that the NR forces in the Hegemony had their comm cut off from Coruscant (which might explain why it fell so easily)

 

Somehow I'd missed that theory, but I like it.

 

Hey, one more question around this same subject:

At what time would the general population learn that Palpatine had returned? When would someone connected to the Alliance and when would someone with good underworld connections such as Booster Terrik know?

Thanks again.

 

I thought that many civvies were evacuated when the NR pulled out?

 

Palpatine reveals himself to the NR forces at the end of Dark Empire, when his Super-dee-duper-class Star Destroyer arrives at Pinnacle Base. Info about his return probably leaked out shortly after that.

 

Gry Sarth

That one's a little tougher, because to my knowledge, the general population gets left out of the loop when this kind of thing happens. After all, Thrawn's campaign was well underway long before anyone knew who he was, beyond "a Grand Admiral".

By the time the Falcon returned to the Pinnacle Moon from Coruscant, Mon Mothma already knew that there was a "great war fleet emerging from the very core of the galaxy...while the feuding Imperial factions distracted our attention". Leia knew that the Dark Side was what took Luke, but Mon Mothma said that those storms were not isolated incidents, they had ocurred elsewhere lately. General Dodonna (as far as I can tell, the panel didn't show his whole face) presumed that a Dark Side genius is at work, creating devastating new technologies. Once he was on Byss, Luke informed Leia through the Force about switching sides. He told her when she arrived at Byss who he was currently working for. After Artoo brought down the World Devastators at Byss, it was pretty well common knowledge to the Rebel brass who was running the show for the Empire.

To answer your question directly, I don't think someone like Booster Terrik would have known until the Rebel brass knew. Talon Karrde might have, since he did know who Thrawn was before the Provisional Council did. I think after the brass found out, the secret filtered down the chain of command and then to the civilian population.


RogueWompRat

I thought that many civvies were evacuated when the NR pulled out?

Depends on what you mean by "many". There were trillions of people on Coruscant, there was no way that the hasty evacuation could have even grabbed 1/10 of 1% of the population. Even if they did, where would they go? We saw in Traitor how the YV sent hundreds of billions of people to other worlds as weapons to starve that world into submission.

 

Super-dee-duper-class Star Destroyer [/blcoquote]

Eclispe-class Super Star Destroyer, not Super-dee-duper-class.

Personally, I believe that the events which lead up to the rescue of the Liberator's crew, which opens DE, took place after Isard's Revenge. At that point the NR fleet is streched too thin to have been of any use defending Coruscant against the Imperial onslaught which forced the NR to retreat. You'd have forces in various locations all over the NR dealing with the mop up actions after the Thrawn War which had just occured not too long ago, many other ships in the shipyards for repairs after the Thrawn War, and a large number having been sent to fight the war in the Hegemony and which would have still been there mopping up the last of that war. There was really no way the NR at that time could have mounted a defense of Coruscant even if they had known in advance of the impending Imperial attack. And to make matters worse, they figured the Empire was in worse shape than they were after the Thrawn War and didn't accept the possibility that the Empire might recover from the war faster than they could.

 

Ooooh please could i join the RPG? iv been in and owned a ran a few myself, though the only one that lasted a long time was a Matrix one...

Its not a Jedi fest is it? while RPG's are good if anyone can be a jedi, because that makes Jedi-lovers happy, it doesnt do well story wise, because no one will die (unless forced by an Admin/Mod) and there are never any normal people, whitch basicly turns it into Jedi Outcast Multiplayer lol.
"I killed you!" "no you didnt!" rinse and repeat