Resource The Fanon Thread

Suggest: "Among the Jedi order, the members that bear the title Archivists see themselves as the beating heart of the Temple."
So the reader from the start know that we are talking about the Jedi order and their temple.

Maybe something about them developing great networks also

Fells like they should also be going out to collect, identify, help decrypt, help restore, inform how to best preserve and such regarding books, datacards, and similar. And to interact with other librerans and liberies.

Maybe more comments later, don't have the time rigth now

 

Extra Galactic Study and Exploration Post Vong war

A review of public interest, circa 60 ABY

Institute for Galactic Research and Science Valorum University Coruscant

Throughout the majority of galactic history-the galaxy was all that was possible to traverse for the countless septillions of beings that lived throughout its many ages. That said, it was of course known that other galaxies existed, both the seven satellite galaxies (of which only the Rishi Maze, otherwise known as Companion Aurek) was relevant for most of galactic history, with Besh and the other satellite galaxies being much further out from the main galactic volume, as well as countless quadrillions of galaxies beyond. Republic cosmologists estimated the total number of galaxies in the observable universe numbered in the hundreds of quintillions, with other estimates numbering as high as 100 centillion, to "mere" trillions by more conservative imperial scientists.

While various scientific initiatives existed to study and chart other galaxies, not to mention the Outbound Flight project-an endeavor to use Jedi force abilities to chart the void between galaxies, which ended in baleful tragedy, less than a decade before the clone wars, however the Ex-Gal initiative was the most famous. Founded in the centuries prior to the clone wars and coming to historical fame in the opening days of the Vong war-it was a government, as well as private founded scientific initiative that operated a number of outposts on the edge of the known galaxy. One of which was attacked and most of its staff destroyed when the Vong made galaxy fall.

The impact of the Vong war on galactic science and understanding of the broader universe cannot possibly be understated. While it was known life existed in the satellite galaxies, and there had even been occasional contacts with yet more exotic beings...many recorded by Luke Skywalker and his family, this was the open and undeniable verification the ex-gal initiative had sought, life existed in other galaxies, and it could traverse the great intergalactic void between them.

Many scientists and researchers made an attempt to study Vong technology, biology, and sociological structures during the course of the war itself, often under NR military or intelligence patronage, though given the desperation and necessary exigencies of war-these studies were limited to what was deemed useful for the war effort, and what else was learned, was often classified. Petitions for access are still ongoing.

Some attempts have been made to contact the Vong exiled to the living world of Zonama Sekot, itself a refugee from the devastated Yuuzhan Vong galaxy, so that studies and interviews might be conducted. Such attempts have been entirely unsuccessful, as Zonama Sekot does not wish to be found, and searching the unknown regions is difficult enough as it is.

Other Vong remain in the galaxy, uncommon but not utterly rare. Finding Vong to interview for research has had at best...limited success.

More broadly, this has created a great many new scientific fields throughout the galaxy's academic and scientific domains. These include-extra galactic sapient studies, extra galactic zoology, extra galactic botany, extra galactic linguistic studies (mastery of the Vong language has been of particular interest, comparing and contrasting it with "native" languages is an ongoing endeavor).Yuuzhan Vong studies-focusing on the Vong themselves, their culture, history, technology, and language. Broader fields include ex-galactic anthropology, zoology, archaeology, extra galactic propulsion and mechanics, and many fields more. Some more scientific, others leaning towards a more qualitative focus, and hence more speculative.

The general public's interest in the subject has been nothing short of extraordinarily divisive-many graduate and undergraduate students from Csilla to Nal Hutta have expressed interest in any of these career fields, so much so it has produced more demand than supply. Others have responded with a sort of pan-galactic isolationism-not wishing to know, what might exist beyond our galaxy's edge. Such "nativist"(if such a term can be applied to a political entity as vast as a galaxy) are perhaps understandable given many worlds remain utterly devastated to this day, and untold trillions died at the Yuuzhan Vong's hands. Others have been excited, and demands for new telescope construction have skyrocketed with an aim of observing other galaxies or the void between them.

Many researchers caution that the Vong are but a single case study, the remnants of a single galactic metacivilization and this includes their transported biots, their former Chazrach slaves, and the ancient droid civilizations cited in their records. Other galaxies may have vastly different social and political histories, indeed vastly different biochemistries, and thus modes of technology. This has not prevented many from presuming the specific history of the Vong is somehow an intergalactic norm.

Government interest has risen as well, a far cry from the days prior to the clone wars-where Ex-gal struggled to maintain a balanced budget. Ex-gal itself is no more, its purpose largely completed (if in a tragic way), and many GA and Imperial government grants exist for extragalactic studies, as well as funding from corporate, and private sources, with a large emphasis on defense and threat prevention. Interest in further outbound flight projects or similar endeavors has been more mixed, an emerging consensus amongst galactic policy makers is that extra galactic travel and exploration presents far too many unknowns-the Vong have revealed the reality of such risks, and opened new possibilities, and dangers. Though this is not entirely universal, and some research has been done in seeking to understand the Vong's intergalactic trek with the aim of emulation, especially by private interests. Especially as a contingency in the event of galactic cataclysms, of which we have experienced no small amount in the last century.

What is certain is this, extragalactic life exists, it can reach us, and we must respond to this reality.

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*I always felt it was a missed opportunity we don't get an idea of how the larger galaxy addresses an extra galactic invasion and its implications. This is an attempt at showing how an IU academic report on the subject might address it.

 

Transgender in the GFFA


In general most world in the GFFA accept the concept of Transgender, (Non)Binary, Gender fluid, Intersex and related kinds of people. That said, the way these people are treated does differ quite a bit from place to place. (This article though focuses primarily on Transgender specifically)

The Transition by the Example of Humans
For humans the bare minimum Transitions (Hormone/Testosterone Therapy and sex reassignment surgeries) are usually paid by most insurances in the GFFA and main planets in addition do offer it to its people as well, ones the bureaucratic barriers have been overcome. Some further therapies, like the removing of beard and body hair for trans women are also often covered in that relation and not too expensive. Anything further beyond that though is usually left to the trans person in question to afford themselves. If they are wealthy enough the sky is pretty much the limit on what is possible, the very top of the possibilities being a special gene therapy offered by the Arkanian Dominion, that would make a trans person utterly indistinguishable from a Cis Person of their sex, with the only caveat being an inability to bear/sire children for trans women and men respectively.

The Galactic Republic
In the Galactic Republic Transgender people were generally tolerated (though in practice several worlds outlawed it) but depending on the world trans people could be considerably hampered by bureaucracy, often requiring numerous documents and psychological assessments to legally change their sex. Getting Government or Insurance Support for the Transition was generally even more complicated and rife with corruption on many worlds, often requiring knowing the right people or paying bribes to make things progress.

The Empire
In the Empire all Government support towards providing transition was cut as it was one of many "needless" expenses cut to make the Empires giant military budget working. Despite the Empires sexism transgender people weren`t outright prosecuted, yet due to, in some parts, being seen as strange and subversive could fall victim to being assaulted and beaten by Imperial Soldiers. Though this continued to vary from world to world and often were at the direct decision of the individual warlord/Moff in Question. In the Remnant things largely stayed the same, even if violence against "subversive folk" in general was toned down. That said many Imperials privately looked down on Trans people, due to their sexism.


The New Republic and Galactic Alliance
During the New Republic things mostly stayed similar to the Empire, mostly out of necessity as with the constant war against Imperial Remnant the NR also needed to allocate a large military budget, not to mention the huge costs of rebuilding worlds ruined by the war. The peace after the Treaty of Bastion might have brought change in that regard eventually but ultimately the Vong War cut any such hopes short. And so things saw little change under the Galactic Alliance, where, due to the membership of worlds outright outlawing transgender activities. This lead to a greater rise of privately financed initiatives, offering legal and financial aid to less fortunate trans people.

Hutt Space
Ironically enough, despite usually being one of the worst places in the galaxy in most other regards the Hutt Space is one of the most tolerant place when it comes to Transgender. This is no doubt due to the Hutts own ability and tendency to change their sex during different times in their lives. On Nar Shaddar a person with enough money can get some of the best transitions available. Though on a darker side the Hutts might, for one reason or another, enforce a involuntary gender change on their slaves.

Eriadu
Following the creed of "as long as it's a human, everything is good" Eriadu, in addition to not sharing the Empires sexism also is openly tolerant towards trans people. The legal procedures are relatively easy and the state will pay for the basic therapies for those who can`t afford them. Though the latter was, up until the Malek/Idril Government, only afforded for humans. Eriadu is also notable for housing the "Cedryc Kyr Foundation for Trans People" set up by his daughter Elena, a trans woman herself.

Ryloth
On Ryloth Transgender People are openly prosecuted, if they are no Twie´lek they are usually just removed from the world, but Twie´lek can be punished with long prison sentences up to execution in some cases for transgender activity. It's in general seen as "a dangerous corrupting influence". Trans Twie`leks will try and flee from Ryloth, leading to a few communities of them existing in other places of the galaxy.

Dathomir and Hapes
As ones gender is, same as on Ryloth, integral to the Hapan and Dathomirian cultures both are pretty intolerant towards trans people. On Hapes it`s in the lower classes generally ignored, though of course there are no ways of transitioning. But in public its outlawed, with Trans woman being hit more than Trans men. Those who exist can be mostly found with the Hapan pirate clans or as exiles in other parts of the galaxy. On Dathomir its unthinkable within the witch tribes, even if some, those outside of Hapan influence, begin to slightly relax their stance on it. Trans people that exist are found usually with Nightsisters and/or Warlocks (though as with those two groups in general that doesn`t mean they're darksiders at all)

 

Hi all! A quick announcement of new happenings in our thread:

@Mira Grau has a new post on Transgender in the GFFA (right above this post, in fact!).

I'm also still pondering the possibility of hosting another challenge in this thread. Once again, if anyone has any particular ideas, feel free to shoot me a PM!

 

Tactics and Strategies of the New Sith Wars-a Military Historian's Analysis,

University of Coruscant 500 BBY.

The New Sith wars were a conflict that endured for a thousand years-beginning with the fall of Phanius, an esteemed Jedi Master to an eclectic form of force induced solipsism, and ending with the climactic battles of Ruusan a millennium later. Given the sheer scale and scope of this conflict, it is impossible to do more than generalize its broad themes in terms of tactics used, battle formations, strategic planning by both sides(as well as various other actors and factions that participated at various points). This article will aim to provide a general summary and analysis of the tactics, battle formations, and field level strategic planning of the main two sides-the Jedi and the Republic and the Sith. Specifically planet side engagements-as space battles, or battles fought in atmosphere were built around vehicles, however much the force affected the abilities of pilots, tank drivers, and fleet admirals.

One of the most important points to start with is Jedi and Sith were not and have never been conventional military forces. They are orders of warrior monks, blessed with force sensivity that allows them access to abilities far beyond that of "normal" sapients. This is reflected in the tactics both sides used, of course the differing philosophies, attitudes and ideological prejudices of both orders also had massive impacts on the way battles were fought.

A few notes on this complex subject matter.

Battles in the New sith wars can be divided into a few main categories:

Battles solely between force users. These engagements were solely between Jedi and Sith, with no conventional military forces present on either side. Or very minimal presence.
Battles that included conventional forces and force wielders. These battles often included large detachments of both force users and conventional armies.
Battles solely between conventional forces-minimal force user presence, command roles, or specialized roles(e.g. sabotage, assassination, coordination, etc...)
battles between a primarily non force using force, and force users.

A battle is a very subjective term-it connotes a scale larger than a duel or skirmish, but is not a campaign or a war, or irregular kinetic action-such as assassination, sabotage, terrorist campaigns, and the like. For the purposes of this article-a battle will be defined as having combatant numbers at least in the tens to dozens, which may be classified by the also subjective term of "skirmish". The largest battles in the New Sith wars often had tens of thousands of Jedi and Sith engaged, with countless more with thousands, hundreds, and less. Less than a skirmish would be a duel-between two individuals, though for the purposes of this article-a duel may be extended to less than 20 combatants present on both sides-for example 5 Jedi masters engaging six sith lords. Skirmishes had combatants defined in this article as numbering anywhere from a dozen to a few hundred, though other historians, military analysts, linguists and the like can and do dispute this definition.

With the notes out of the way, let us begin.

To use the most famous example-Ruusan. The battles of Ruusan occurred in open or semi open terrain; plains, glades, and in valleys. This often allowed for the massing of numbers on both sides-though it must be noted, both sides were desperate and exhausted and the "mosh pit" tactics of the battle-were not representative of the tactical acumen or finesse of commanders throughout the millennium prior.

One of the most important aspects of battles in the New Sith Wars was the art of battle meditation-this is a force ability allowing for coordination, morale support, and demoralization of the enemy all at once. Battle meditation countered the potency of numbers as well as the psychological hurdles of exhaustion, despair, and intimidation. Allowing smaller forces to smash larger ones, and inferior troops in terms of quality to inflict staggering defeats on better equipped and trained armies. However-the elimination of a practitioner was often disastrous-notably at the battle of Mizra, the elimination of the Jedi master coordinating the Jedi's forces led to a route, and a massive republic defeat, with thousands of Jedi dead, and hundreds defecting to the Sith side.

Non force users often noted the astounding precision and grace of Jedi and Sith armies when battle meditation was applied-one republic logistics officer(name lost) noted "The Jedi operated in total harmony and concert, moving from left to right and back to the left, with a precision that was greater than the best droids. when engaging the Sith, their line remained stalwart, fluid yet stronger than the hardest duracrete. In spite of direct artillery strikes at its center."

When both sides had the use of battle meditation-non force users often found themselves blind sided into simple inaction-watching armies dance as they fought. The use of battle meditation was thus for the purpose of maintaining the cohesion, purpose, and will of an army-regardless of circumstance or odds.

Jedi and Sith did not operate in normal military units-such as brigades or squads or divisions. They did however coordinate at the smaller scale, often with the direction of leading Jedi masters and Sith lords.

Objectives:

Engagements between Jedi and Sith-even in smaller numbers were often decisive to a world's fate or a campaign's outcome. For this reason, both sides fought for the destruction of the opposing force-either through total extirpation or a total rout. This presented little incentive to hold back numbers when battle was joined, and when routs did happen-it was usually a slaughter if the Sith won, and if the Republic won, could end with large amounts of prisoners taken, or the defeated Sith fleeing at the Jedi's allowance, occasionally however the Jedi ordered no prisoners taken, and republic directed massacres did on occasion occur.

Both sides usually aimed to disrupt coordination as much as possible-this meant targeting a practitioner of battle meditation, as the Sith did at Mizra if possible, or otherwise eliminating a commander. When leading Sith were slain, either by sustained artillery or weapons fire, or by assassination, or direct dueling, Sith had a tendency to dissolve into infighting-leading to republic victories. Unless of course the Sith faction engaged was either motivated by fanaticism, enforced indoctrination, or other means of compliance, or his or her followers were especially disciplined. The deaths of leading Jedi were less deleterious on average to battle outcomes, but could on some occasions, break the morale of Jedi in the field-especially if the battle was already going poorly. Though this rarely lead to the sort of slaughter seen at Mizra.

Weapons and Armor:

Jedi and Sith in general used only their recognizable light sabers in battle. However, the use of vibro blades, force swords, blasters and even slug throwers was not uncommon depending on the circumstance. The use of snipers in particular was quite common. In terms of armor-things varied immensely, during the Republic dark ages, Jedi wore armor, and Sith often did as well. Extremely resourceful Jedi masters or sith lords often had armor composed of cortosis alloys, expensive synthetic fibers and other materials that offered at least cursory resistance to lightsaber strikes. They just as often did not wear any armor at all, beyond their robes or other clothing.

One of the ways a battle was turned was to "force dueling"-that is to break any sense of cohesion by the opposing army. For example-five Jedi instead of fighting and coordinating as a team would engage the sith on their own, or the reverse. This was often done with psychological tactics-deception, Dun Moch, as well as feigned retreats, ambushes, and the use of battle meditation offensively. While Jedi and Sith could both fight as individuals-forcing the opposing side to losing any sense of cohesion or discipline and engaging one's own forces as individual warriors often ended disastrously for the provoked side. (Though this was not always the case).

The use of non-force users:

It is often forgotten in the holodramas and documentaries, books, and other media depicting the New Sith Wars that non force users-of either the Republic Army or Sith controlled forces made up the overwhelming bulk of the troops in the war total. Their role was essential for the victories of both sides, and their tactics often more complex than their Jedi and Sith comrades considered or gave credit for.

During one campaign in the mid rim-in which the Jedi engaged a Sith host inside a ruined city, the Republic's armor sped up around the city, encircling it, as republic infantry-specifically shock troops and assault formations fanned out behind the Jedi, providing sniper and explosive support to the Jedi that pushed to the city's center-engaging the Sith that rushed out to meet them. Brutal fighting ensued in which the Jedi may have lost-but it was due to the use of sniper fire, demolitions of key defensive buildings and heavy munitions the Sith war band was destroyed with Jedi losses much smaller then otherwise.

Such coordination was not always demonstrated-on occasion "Ruusan" situations of Jedi and Sith rushing against one another mass duels occurred, forcing their support troops to either commit to costly melees with the enemy, stand aside and hope for victory, withdraw or push on the flanks. This caused no small amount of consternation amongst republic commanders.

Famously Colonel Lavandon of the Alsakani Heavy infantry bemoaned Lord Hoth's aggressive assault on a Sith holding on Trandosha-about five years before the Ruusan campaign. Hoth advanced upon the confused Sith who had recently concluded a bout of **civil war in the jungle city-forcing the Republic troopers to follow Hoth into the battle-a costly republic victory in which thousands of Republic soldiers were slaughtered easily. * Cut down attempting to aid their Jedi comrades in facing the enraged and exhausted Sith they fell upon.

*This is an important factor to consider for all students of the New Sith wars-the skillsets, and super sapient power of jedi and sith, especially massed as armies was functionally impossible for non-force using formations to overcome in direct combat. When direct battle was joined in 1607 BBY between a Jedi strike force under Master Velso and the private armies of a Sith warlord-the latter were butchered without a single Jedi casualty.

This reality often meant non force using armies had to rely on their own side or withdraw in the event of defeat or lack of support-occasionally surrender was offered, and occasionally accepted. On rare occasions (though we must be clear given a thousand years of warfare-"rare" means something else than next to absolute zero) regular military forces did achieve some victories-either through deception, ambush, or on the absolute rarest occasions direct battle. To engage Jedi or sith in open combat and win however required exceptional circumstances, and even more exceptional soldiers (often the most elite commandos or special formations with the most advanced weaponry available).

In one instance-the Jedi defeated a Sith army on the ground only for the concurrent space battle to end in a Sith victory-the admiral in question lacking any Sith to engage the Jedi ground side, ordered an orbital bombardment-wiping out all life on that world's continent. Another instance had a skirmish between roughly forty nine Jedi and 46 Sith with the Sith accompanied by a thousand Mandalorian mercenaries-the Jedi managed to defeat the Sith handily-though the Mandos charged the exhausted Jedi with beskar blade, flame throwers, and heavy repeating blasters-after hours of hand to fight fighting, the senior Jedi knight was decapitated by a Mandalorian Beskar sword. However 60% of the Mandalorians were killed in the melee.

Defeating Jedi and Sith armies without being the other required either orbital strikes and bombardment, or concentrated artillery barrages or both. Pinning smaller groups in ambushes was somewhat more common. Upon seeing one's own force users destroyed-the best hope was a quick evacuation, as a slaughter often ensued otherwise.

The use of droids and vehicles:

As mentioned-tanks, personnel carriers, and the like were used regularly-with Jedi and Sith often using speeders or even live animals as command mounts, or as rapid reaction vehicles. Famously-during the skirmish at Ogalla IV Jedi and Sith engaged each other over the liquid ammonia lakes on speeders-meeting in a sort of cavalry charge, slashing with lightsabers, firing blasters and even ramming into other speeders.

Droids were used for a variety of roles-combat support, combat, area defense, as well as to stymie or exhaust opposing forces. Elite droids such as assassin models were occasionally deployed to kill enemy commanders, whereas battle droids were used to supplement regular forces-often defending bunkers, computer networks, docking bays and other sensitive locations. Very rarely were droids deployed on ground battles as they were simply cut down whenever present in noticeable numbers. Sith techniques often made droids more dangerous-though most Sith did not use them in any military capacity, Jedi even less so. On extremely rare occasions-droid armies were used in conjunction with force wielders-this was done most often by Sith warlords that had specific inclinations towards machinery or computers. In this vein-they were simply lightsaber fodder, distractions and delays. The Republic did look into more advanced droid models-more versatile Humanoid Replica Droids, Assassin droids, and the like-though this was opposed by the Jedi, Republic military forces, and the general public. Whenever the Republic had droids engaged it was usually when things had badly deteroriated or a battle was happening somewhere that involved security droids defending sensitive equipment or locations.*

To summarize so far-Jedi and Sith armies varied wildly in numbers, were preternaturally coordinated(even without battle meditation), and could easily run through non force users most of the time. The longer the war continued these facts became internalized by commanders and leaders.

With this in mind some tactics in the mid to late war developed, specific to the New Sith Wars.

Envelopment: Often regular soldiers were used to envelop and surround opposing forces-and use snipers, regular blasters and even artillery to destroy the opposing side in one go.
Massed charges-the tendency to devolve into a thousand duels aside, in times of extreme desperation (or elation) it was not uncommon to see Jedi and Sith lines crashing at speeds faster than eyes could process.
Static defense: When facilities, space stations, fortresses, urban zones, and the like were under attack-a standard tactic was to force the attacking side to fight in enclosed spaces-often no wider than a regular door's length. A legendary Sith duelist defeated a Jedi strike force by herself this way-forcing dozens of Jedi to engage her one on one in a hallway in the battle of Durlas Bon-a major space station used to coordinate Sith offensive efforts in the southern galaxy around 1363 BBY. The Jedi were funneled into tight corridors-unable to widen the hallways without cutting off their own oxygen supply(though Lady Sirlas had rigged them to explode regardless)-meeting her at the hallway's end. 193 Jedi were dead within five hours. Sith Lady Sirlas went onto carve out her own empire near the Southern edge of the galaxy, as far North as the Chommel sector-only to be assassinated by her followers, thirty years later.
Terrain altering-given sufficient time, it was not uncommon for Sith and Republic commanders to effect major changes to the battlefield environment to allow for better outcomes. This included the construction and removal of obstacles-the creations of large craters, ravines, and sinkholes, or the use of poison gases, biological weapons and even limited orbital strikes to make assaults extremely hazardous.
Starship drops-in some instances, especially however in the event defeat seemed likely-space and atmospheric craft were brought down via telekinesis or by command on top of engaged armies-famously the Jedi Knight Nelko Sansarr upon seeing the Jedi morale broken after Master Valdak perished at the battle of Zetalee in 1842 BBY called on the force and brought down a Sith battle ship engaging a small republic detachment of light cruisers on top of himself and the rapidly advancing Sith. The battle was tactically a draw, but ended with the republic holding the world, if tenuously.
Youth targeting-a specific Sith technique was to target younger looking Jedi, often apprentices and newly minted knights-isolating them from their more experienced colleagues and either capturing them or killing them-in the chaos of mass battle this was rarely possible, but upon Sith assaults of worlds with sizable Jedi presences-this did occur as a to way demoralize the Jedi and weaken their numbers by going after the weakest of their members.
Aerial descents-a favorite of Caamasi master Sekna Loral-Jedi descended from high atmosphere using the force to break their fall upon Sith fortifications and defenses. This often ended with lopsided Jedi victories as it did in hundreds of jedi blasted to pieces with anti-orbital cannons and turret fire.
There were many other unique tactics used during the war-a full accounting of which needs its own analysis to cover. But given the versatility of Sith warriors and Jedi knights the amount of options available for attack or defense was multiplied many times over than what a regular army could do.

In the event force users were commanders and the bulk of their forces were regular soldiers-"leader duels" were a common phenomenon, though this rarely prevented battles(often massacres) in the aftermath.

One of the most important things to note is Jedi and Sith never submitted to strict military logic or reasoning-even at their most militarized states. Nor did they fight this way. This often-made battles haphazard affairs-ruining the painstaking developed calculations, strategems, and projections of regular officers, generals, and general staff.A well-executed attack plan might be thrown entirely awry by a Jedi apprentice captured pre battle, forcing his master to launch a rescue, which then forced the rest of the Jedi to follow-which forced an early or unprepared attack. Sith were even less considerate to mundane military considerations-often using regular forces as pawns in power plays against other sith lords, occasionally as ritualistic sacrifices to gain increased power, or simply thrown into blaster lines for their amusement. Some Jedi and Sith especially those that had military backgrounds before becoming either did try to integrate them into a more formal command structure and strategic plan. Often with wildly successful results. Though this was not common.

*It should be noted some degree of periodization is possible with specific tactical planning and techniques. In the early New sith wars-the Jedi and Sith were often rusty, having not engaged in mass warfare since the Great Galactic War-battles were often smaller in scale, involved more commando raids-including the famous one by Master Murtaggh. By the middle New Sith Wars-a sort of steady flow had developed-leading to tactical innovation and strategic thought on both sides.
By the late New Sith Wars-in some ways tactics had "devolved" due to the sheer timescale of the war, the loss of institutional knowledge, industry, and technological regression. As military historian Bo Kax notes-"Lord Hoth and Kaan if placed 600 years before would have been seen as simplistic brutish commanders, likely relegated to minor command roles if they were given them at all."

As one Republic General described the order "the Jedi are like a raging inferno-when they want to be helpful they smash the enemy and few if any of my men and women lose their lives, when they don't coordinate with military command, when they follow their own esoteric agendas, when they act in fits of pique or religious zeal I'm left scrambling to shore up the front ranks, either running in behind them, or even running away before the battle even begun."

That said-it should be noted there was something...sublime about the conflict in a way modern engagements, with their precise time tables, lack of individual gusto and heroics, and mathematical certainties lack. Jedi and Sith battles were often incredible to witness, even if one was terrified for one's life.

As a trooper in the Sith's death giver infantry noted "As much as they(the Sith) ignore us and belittle us, I can't help but be stuck in awe when they engage their cousins-the bladework, the speed, the force used in its most destructive and yet most subtle ways, the sheer passion when they fight, when they dance their dance of death with blades of light-its like being taken away to some age of heroes and myths, I forget sometimes I'm even there, fighting them, sometimes the republic's men forget too."

Similar sentiments of awe, wonder, and wide-eyed amazement can be found elsewhere-the Jedi Sith battles from the first engagements with Ruin's disciples, to the last gasp of Ruusan-beings connected to the all-encompassing field that pervades life itself met to determine the future of the cosmos, leaving those without their blessings trembling and gasping at the awesome artistry displayed.

**Intra sith conflict is known to have happened in large quantities-often with sith empires rising and falling over decades and centuries with nary a Jedi a thousand light years from their borders. However historical records on the tactics of such intra Sith affairs are far scarcer. Occasionally massed battles did occur, though knives in the back, sudden eruptions of violence before dark thrones, or carefully planned coups led to engagements lacking the characteristics we would consider "battles".

 

Happy new year, everyone! Just one update to announce for now:

@Darth Invictus has added a new post titled Tactics and Strategies of the New Sith Wars: A Military Historian's Analysis.

If you have a post you’d like to add to the Fanon Thread, or if you’d like to update an existing post you’ve made, check out the threads’s OP for details. Thanks!

 

Coalition of Free (Southwestern) States

The CFS, generally just called “The Coalition” is one of the three Major Galactic Powers in 66 ABY, alongside the Fel Empire and the Hutt Space. (With the Galactic Alliance remaining the only real Superpower dwarfing each of these three in power) In contrast to their rivals the Coalition sees itself behold to the values of democracy and lawful government. Which in and of itself is quite ironic because they and their wider alliance the Qaelan Accords are commonly seen as the “faction of former bad guys” by the rest of the Galaxy.

General Information:

Structure: Federation of individual Planets and Nations under a Representative Democracy.

Head of State: President

Head of Government: Chancelor

Commander in Chief: Triumvirate between the ORSF Commander, Ranger Chief and the Minister of Defense

Armed Forces: Outland Regions Security Force (ORSF), Rangers, various local PDF forces

Capital: Eriadu

Official Language: Basic, also includes various other dialects

Forced From: Eriaduan State, Southwestern Liberation Front, Imperial Colonies in the Southwest, various Independent Worlds, Liberated Territories of the Iron Alliance

Date Established: 46 ABY

Background: The History of the Coalition begins in a series of rather unexpected events, unplanned success, and the necessity of adapting to a situation that had grown far beyond the control of a single nation. As such, while Eriadu is rightly seen as a driving force behind the formation of the Coalition, the nation is certainly not just an extension of Eriaduan power.

Despite its quarrels with both the Jedi Order and several Core Elements Eriadu had, for most of its history, been a loyal member state of the Galactic Republic, voices for independence had never amounted to much and neither had attempts from the Sith to sway the world on their side. At least up until the rise of the Galactic Empire, which, at least at first, received warmly by the Eriaduan Elites and people, in large parts of course due to the close collaboration between the Empire and the Influential Eriaduan Houses Tarkin and Delvardus. And yet the Empires latent Core centrism and anti-religious doctrines were seen as troubling by many Eriaduans. The breaking point was finally reached shortly after the battle of Yarvin, the destruction of a Human Core world, the dissolution of the Imperial Senate was seen as an outright betrayal of “the values under which humanity had taken their place as hegemon amongst the Stars”. It certainly helped that with Wilhuff Tarkins death the largest pro Imperial Faction on the planet had lost its leading figure which in the long-term lead to the family losing its position amongst the Quintad.

For now, though Eriadu was secured under the rule of Sander Delvardus, an Imperial Commander with close ties to the Tarkin family, who in the chaos after the Battle of Endor four years later proclaimed the “Eriadu Authority” a state that sought to combine both Elements of the Empire but also an Eriaduan nationalism and a stronger relationship with the Pius Dea Church. With some clever alliances including amongst the nobility and militant group such as the infamous Goddess´s Militia, Delvardus was able to hold a position of power in the Southwest for a little under two years before his growing eccentricity and military defeats lead to most of his allies withdrawing their support.

Abandoned by all but his most loyal subordinates Delvardus fled to the Deep Core where he would be killed seven years later in the Warlord Purge. Meanwhile Eriadu integrated itself back into the evolving New Republic. But as short lived as Delvardus´s state had been it had if nothing else given rise to a new Nationalism and Rim Patriotism both amongst his supporters and enemies, seeds that fell on fertile Earth a Generation later.

For now, Eriadu remained a part of the New Republic for its about two decades of existence, but the ties with the Core Democracies were troubled and only deteriorated further as time went on. The New Republic was seen as a weak indecisive state that didn`t seem to know whether it wanted to follow in the same Path as the Old Republic or seek a radically different course for themselves. A problem ultimately brought to the forefront with the Vong War and the New Republics disastrous response to it.

With the following Galactic Alliance the Eriaduan ties were even weaker, as was the case with many nations who had largely survived the Vong War unharmed and now saw themselves reduced to paying for the rebuilding of many of the ravaged worlds. This climate lead to the rise of various Nationalist Movements from Correllia to the Bothan Sector and in 40 ABY the tensions boiled over and ignited the second Galactic Civil War, in which Eriadu stayed neutral longer than most worlds, but eventually the promise of dominion over both Sullust as well as Sluis Van was too tempting an offer.

Despite the War being, on paper, considered a victory for the GA in it was, at least in the short therm, anything but, the Confederation had successfully achieved their independence and brought various swing worlds under their wing. And yet, despite this success it would soon tear itself apart, loosing most international credibility when many worlds crawled back to the GA only months after the end of the war, asking for a “strengthening of relations” once more.

On Eriadu the so called “Unification Summit” was seen as a spinless betrayal by the Confederacy and so the World left the organization, forming the “Eriaduan State” in early 42 ABY with its neighboring and dependent worlds. This new Nation also included the large Independent Protectorates of Sullust and Sluis Van (who at this point preferred Eriadu´s protection and business deals over the distant and schizophrenic GA).

But it was another incident in 42 ABY that would incidentally the Coalition formed. For the Tensions at the Southern Border of the Eriaduan State with the Iron Alliance ignited into open war (more information on the IA and the situation in the Far Southwest in my Fanon article for it: )

At first the only Eriaduan goal had been to enforce an end of the taxation enforced on them by the Pirates and Warlords, but in short order it became a fight to liberate the second largest slave population in the Galaxy (after you guessed it the Hutt Space) and in this fight Alliances with both the Southwestern Liberation Front as well as the Imperial Remnants in the Southwest were formed. A shakey Coalition that was soon joined by a growing number of independent worlds throughout the Southwest, many former tributaries of the IA who now threw of the shackles of their oppressors.

The success of this Coalition surprised even the most optimistic members, as only about a 18 months after the outbreak of the war the Alliance was able to jumpstart a massive slave rebellion on the world of Qaelan which held the largest slave population within the GA and in the process not only liberate the World but also slay the current Iron Lord and many of his inner circle, throwing the Iron Alliance into chaos.

This massive success was taken with surprise all over the Galaxy, but also put the Coalition into the situation where they had to begin determining the future of the Southwest, a future most people agreed did not lay in the past, while the common enemy of the IA had united Eriaduans, Imperials, Rebels, CIS Remnants, Rebellious Slaves and independent worlds, their internal divisions and grudges against each other threatened to tear their Alliance apart.

Fearing that such a collapse would invariably lead to the return of the barbarism akin to the Iron Alliance, the various groups instead came together to formalize a new state, a loose Coalition of the various individual groups united by common values as well as a united foreign policy.

And so, only about three years after the battle of Qaelan were the accords of the Coalition signed and a new Nation began making its first steps onto the Galactic Sphere.


Government

The Coalition a loose collection of individual nations and planets, who all share a common set of basic laws, have both a joined military but also local forces, are represented by the Coalition in terms of diplomacy and come together in the Coalitions Senate.

The basic laws include:

-acceptance of all intelligent lifeforms as full citizens

-outlawing of slavery and similar forms of forced labor

-full and complete religious tolerance

-generally democratic government and a general right to vote for all adult citizens

-outlawing of torture as a form of gaining information

-absolute and full guarantee of private property and personal holdings

-a common military force financed by payments from member states

-strong coordination in police, state sec and disaster relief services

-no trade with hostile and/or embargoed nations

-outlawing of the death penalty (the last bit is a rather recent addition from the Malek/Idril Government, the controversies surrounding it make it questionable whether it will stand under their successors)

In general, most worlds of the Coalition practice their own local democracy, meanwhile the citizens are also allowed and encouraged to participate in the elections regarding the government of the entire nation.

Political Parties

Unlike many the old Republic in which the constantly shifting political alliances and planetary interests made political parties hard to keep to together or to sustain, the Coalition has a political party system stronger engrained into their structures, which in part was born out of the various different factions who came together to form the nation, though at this point no political party is a direct stand in for one of the founding states alone. The Political Parties are in vague “left to right” order:

-The Progressive Party, the most radical reformist party, accused by their opponents to rely on extreme and shameless populism to gain votes. The party openly decries the still strong influence of the Mega Corporations on the Coalitions society, seeking to introduce an unconditional base income and a max limit as to how much a single person could own and earn in a year to create a more equal society. To achieve this goal, they lobby for a stronger central government and more oversight for the President over the individual members of the Coalition. In terms of foreign policy, the Progressive Party has in the past fluctuated between Hawkish and Dovish generally following the main public polls on the matter. Members of the party have also been accused of using legal loopholes and other half legal means to achieve their goals.

-The Democratic Union is a moderate liberal party that shares many goals with the Progressive Party but is far more restraint and willing to compromise in achieving them. This includes a desire for a less strong central government and more rights for the individual planetary governments. The party attracts both Eriaduan reformists in the tradition of Ethan Malek and Rivoche Tarkin, as well as most of the Rebel Alliance part of the Southwestern Liberation Front. In the foreign policy they are strongly hawkish, openly opposing any ‘tyrants’ in the rest of the Galaxy, be they the Hutts or Jagged Fell

-The Faithful League is a moderate conservative party that serves as the counterbalance to the Democratic Union. They are generally more sympathetic towards big business and while they also seek to keep the welfare state, they see the best way in achieving it lies in a close relationship with the Pius Dea Church. Stressing that in the Faiths tenants of charity and compassion lies the foundation of a better future, and not in alienating the wealthy by enforcing higher taxes on them. They stand for a slightly stronger centralization of the government than the Democratic Union but share their hawkish foreign policy outlook against non-democratic nations all over the galaxy.

-The Old-World Alliance is something of an unusual party within the Coalition as it’s hard to certainly put them into either a liberal or conservative camp. Their general ideal is an inherently conservative one: The return to the Good old Days of the Old Republic. But at the same time, it is not the heavily corrupt, megacorp dominated Twilight Years of the Republic they dream of returning to, but instead the days of the Sith Wars, the times when the Republic stood at the forefront of the war against the Sith and the Mandalorians. Still the Old-World Alliance has some of its supporters amongst the big business but also amongst the political idealists of the Kathol Republic. They also are the party with the strongest connections to the Jedi Order. In terms of foreign policy, the Old-World Alliance is relatively dovish, which has gotten them a reputation of being ‘appeasers’ from some of their political enemies, meanwhile the party sees itself as merely patient and pragmatic, yet no less determined in seeing the Galaxy freed from tyranny as the other parties.

-The National Vanguard, the furthest right party in the Coalition of any significance, is the black sheep amongst its major, having been formed both from Eriaduan Human Centrists as well as various loyalists of Maximillian Palpatines Empire, as well as a broader spectrum of ultranationalists from various member worlds. Some also consider them the heirs of the old Eriaduan Goddess´s Militia movement, even if they lack the more faithful aspects of it. They do not openly champion human centrism but openly admire the Empire and Jagged Fel. To them the Fel Empire is the clear paragon to follow, a state with a strong leader who ‘does what is best for the people’. Like Jagged Fel they are also willing to downplay their human centric rhetoric and in fact there are even several nonhuman members of the party, yet many of their members have a rather poor opinion on nonhumans and the cruelties of their paramilitary ‘greyshirts’ are an open secret in the Coalition.


Extend:

The Coalition has seen a considerable growth in the roughly two decades of its existence, at the start encompassing mostly just territories in the Southwest, since then several worlds across the Galaxy joined, leading to the Coalition dropping the “Southwestern” part of its name.

The first major faction to join was the Kathol Republic, who had in the later years of the war with the Iron Alliance become close allies to the Coalition, eventually fully joining due to both nations shared idealistic foundation.

The presence of some scattered CIS remnants in the Coalition also lead several former CIS strongholds who had in the past decades often followed an isolationist foreign policy to seek membership, most prominently amongst them Geonosis and Falleen, but also minor worlds like Christopsis and Mustafar, expanding the Coalitions Territory into the Southeast of the Galaxy (even if most of these worlds remain exclaves of the Coalition within GA controlled Space).

With the Coalition´s rise they also became a beacon for other Rim Worlds seeking shelter, especially with the growing core focus of the Galactic Alliance. Worlds like Bakura and Malastare rather south Eriadu´s protection rather than Coruscant´s or Bastions.

The most recent addition came in the form of a former enemy, the Senex Juvex Sector. The SJ had been one of the last bastions of slavery outside the Hutt Space and because of that become more and more of a Galactic Pariah embargoed by most of the Galaxy and under greater and greater internal and external pressure, much of which was coordinated by the Coalition who didn`t took kindly to their slavery support neighbor. This massive pressure and growing internal instability eventually forced the old elites of the SJ to step down and, in exchange for immunity from prosecution, help organize free elections. These were won by the leader of the internal opposition Alejandra dem Comte, a noble abolitionist who, prior to her election had spent almost two decades in prison for speaking out against the government. Under her leadership slavery was officially abolished and the Senex Juvex Sector began the process of joining the Coalition.


Military

The Coalitions Military is largely divided into three groups: The Outland Regions Security Force (ORSF), the Rangers and the individual planetary defense forces of the various member worlds.

The ORSF forms most of the regular army having expanded from being a largely Eriaduan based force to encompass the entire Coalition. Thus, returning to Ranulph Tarkins plans to expand the ORSF into a Rim wide military. The ORSF is commanded by either a High Admiral or High General depending on the persons pervious branch of service (this is only a matter of titles though as the ORSF commander oversees both the army and the navy).

The Rangers are in some ways a continuation of the old ORSF Special Forces, but also encompass all sorts of irregular units. In that the Rangers include units from all sorts of backgrounds, from political exiles to species not included directly into the ORSF. In addition to that they are also the home of the Coalitions main force using unit. The Rangers are led by the Ranger Chief.

The various PDF Forces are extremely diverse and include everything from small militias to professional soldiers as well as droid contingents on some of the former CIS worlds. The PDFs are in general bound to their respective planetary governments, but the Minister of Defense of the Coalition is considered their overall commander in times of crisis.

The Coalition deliberately doesn`t have a single supreme commander of their military as the pervious galactic history has delivered several warning examples of the risks of accumulating too much military power into the hand of a single person.


The Qaelan Accords

The Qaelan Accords were signed in 49 ABY by several factions with the common goal of combatting the rise of the Fel Empire and the growing power of autocratic governments all over the Galaxy. Being the largest power and main initiator of it the Coalition is generally seen as the leader of the Accords, with some accusing them of being merely an extension of the Coalitions power not an alliance of equals. Other members of the Accords include: The Corellian Republic, the Arkanian Dominion, the Centrality and the Teris Sector (though in their case in a somewhat unofficial capacity). Both the Botan Space and the Tapani Freeworlds are associated members.


Timeline

43 ABY the Battle of Qaelan, the allied forces defeat the Iron Alliance decisively, the Iron Lord is killed, and his faction is shattered. A few months later the first plans for the Coalition are proposed.

44 ABY Maximillian Palpatine stepps down as Regent of the Imperial Faction. His successor Cassandra Weir begins the process of dismantling the remaining Imperial structures in the Southwest.

45 ABY the Rangers are officially formed, at this point as an Eriaduan military unit. Their founder Ulrika Grau becomes the first Ranger Chief

46 ABY the Coalition is officially founded, in the same year most of the fighting against the Iron Alliance is over as most remaining warlords are forced to capitulate. Elections begin on planetary and sector level, Coalition wide Elections are scheduled for two years, in the meantime the Coalition is governed overall by a council of members.

48 ABY in the first Coalition wide elections the Democratic Union and Faithful League achieve a landslide victory and form a coalition government. Ilona Malek becomes the first President, Florianne Idril the first Chancelor of the Coalition.

49 ABY Corellia falls into chaos as the Thurr Phennir´s Confederation Government is overthrown; people protest in the streets for democracy and an end of political persecution. Jagged Fel, recently crowned Emperor sends “peacekeeping” military forces to Corellia, alongside his father Sontir and father-in-law Han Solo. The actual purpose of the peacekeepers is to secure Corellia for the resurgent Empire. This aggressive act, and the lack of GA responses leads to the formation of the Qaelan Accords later in the year. The Accords first order of business is to back the Corellian opposition.

50 ABY The at the height of the Corellian crisis a peaceful protest escalates into violence as Imperial Peacekeepers open fire into the crowd. This utterly tanks imperial support both on Corellia and abroad. Jagged Fel has to pull back the peacekeepers and open elections are set up. Alek Fenton and the left opposition win in a landslide, Han Solo can just barely escape his old home world, meanwhile Phennir and Baron Fel are both arrested for treason. Corellia joins the Qaelan Accords only a few weeks later. The Corellian Crisis becomes the first major political victory for the Coalition and cements their position as a major galactic power.

51 ABY In a tense meeting Ilona Malek and Jagged Fel discuss the aftermath of the Corellian Crisis, Baron Fel is released alongside other Imperial VIPs, in exchange for the Empire´s official recognition of the Corellian Republic. Even though the meeting brings a certain de-escalation it becomes clear to the Galaxy that the Coalition led Qaelan Accords and Fel Empire´s Unity Pact are now in a state of cold war.

52 ABY The Kathol Republic fully joins the Coalition, marking the first major territorial expansion since the foundation.

54 ABY Ilona Malek and Florianne Idril are reelected in another landslide thanks to the recent political successes.

55 ABY A small border skirmish on Dathomir between two witch Clans begins to escalate. More and more tribes are called into the fight as the planets division between more reformist Clans and the loyalists to the Code of Allya breaks into open war. Hapan support for the traditionalists lead by the Singing Mountain Clan leads to the Coalition sending support to the Mysty Falls and Stinging Mantis Clans who they have ties to.

56 ABY To combat the growing Coalition support on Dathomir Hapes calls for further support from their allies in the Empire. The Dathomirian Civil War turns into a full-on proxy conflict between Qaelan Accords and Unity Pact. Both sides support their Dathomirian allies massively with weapons, military advisors and `volunteers’. The war turns into a messy slog as both sides resort to asymmetrical warfare in the dangerous wilderness of the planet.

58 ABY the GA´s continued passivity and indecisiveness in Galactic Affairs leads to several Rim Worlds to seek protection with the Coalition, Bakkura and Malastare join.

59 ABY Geonosis leaves its decades long isolation and applies for membership in the Coalition, beginning the process of several former CIS worlds joining. Around this time the Coalition drops the “Southwestern” part of their name.

60 ABY Ilona Malek and Florianne Idril are reelected one final time though this time considerably narrower than the previous two elections as the growing unpopularity of the Dathomirian war and other internal trouble lessen the people’s faith in the government.

61 ABY the Bacta Crisis, a series of murders on the planet of Tyferra threatens the Bacta supply for the entire Galaxy as both the Coalition and the Empire attempt to wrestle control over the planet, both sides accusing the other of begin responsible for the murders. Eventually the escalation is stopped as Coalition born Jedi Knight Mira Grau and the Imperial Knight Yoshihisa Pandionne uncover a secret conspiracy by a group of changelings trying to deliberately escalate tensions between the two major powers, the ultimate goal and the architects of the conspiracy remain a mystery, but the crisis is avoided and Tyferra´s absolute neutrality reestablished.

62 ABY the War on Dathomir finally comes to an end as Matriach Tenel Ka of the Singing Mountain Tribe and Merrin Kestis of the Stinging Mantis tribe sign a peace accord that largely restores the prewar status quo. Dathomir becomes a divided, neutral world with the system itself being declared a DMZ. Both the Qaelan Accords and Unity Pact send humanitarian aid to help the ravaged world recover

63 ABY A Coalition backed Coup attempt against Queen Mother Allana Djo in Hapes fails spectacularly as the conspirators are betrayed by one of their own. The whole thing turns into a major diplomatic defeat for the Coalition and cements Hapes´s place in the Unity Pact.

64 ABY A slave revolt breaks out in parts of the Senex Juvex Sector, as the government mobilizes its troops the Coalition makes it clear that they will fight to defend the slaves. The standoff lasts about a week before the government of the SJ surrenders and stepps down, organizing open elections that are won by the abolitionist Alejandra de Comte who begins the joining process to the Coalition while receiving their aid in ending slavery in the Sector. The success helps somewhat in stabilizing the Coalition again after the Hapan disaster.

65 ABY The Tof, exiled from their home in Firefist and driven to a meager existence at the edge of the Galaxy launch a surprise invasion of the Coalition, despite their extreme military inferiority the sheer shock of the attack allows them to score several impressive early victories. The Coalition accuses the Empire of arming the Tof, Emperor Jagged Fel denies any such accusations.

66 ABY Today. With the aid of the Jedi Order lead by Master Hett the Tof are largely defeated by the Coalition, but the war has left its scars on the nation. Respecting the term limit, they themselves set up Ilona Malek and Florianne Idril don`t run in this years elections. Instead, a coalition of the Faithful League, Old War Alliance, and National Vanguard wins. Old World Alliance candidate Saul Cameron becomes President while Faithful League senator Creon Damask becomes Chancelor signaling the beginning of a new era for the nation…

 

The Faithful Houses (Also includes some Lore developed by my friend Kenny)

The Faithful Houses are one of the oldest organizations in the Galaxy having originated from the families cast out of the Elder Houses for their continued adherence to the Pius Dea Faith after the end of the Pius Dea Crusades.

Origin

Noble Houses have existed in human history ever since the dawn of the species before they even took their first steps into space. The same is true for many other species. So in the early Republic many noble families from various worlds and species came together to form the Elder Houses, a collection of Royals and Nobles with the goals of cooperation amongst each other.

Eventually, during the Pius Dea Era, most of the human nobles families followed their religion, casting out nonhumans from the Elder Houses and becoming leading families under the new Regime. Many of the Houses committed themselves to the various Crusades being involved in brutal warfare, mass enslavement and even outright genocide in some cases. Other Houses, disgusted at the violence and fanatism turned their backs on the Republic and joined the Jedi in fighting against it.

After the eventual defeat of the Pius Dea Church the Elder Houses were restored to their original intention, but every House involved in war crimes or who refused to give up the Pius Dea Faith was officially cast out.

Seeking to continue their ancient traditions and heritage these families instead eventually formed a new Organization for themselves: The Faithful Houses. Or in short, the Faithful. Not recognized by anyone outside of their own ranks they stubbornly continued to follow their rules and traditions while themselves in turn not recognizing the Elder Houses as a legitimate organization.

Stripped of their lands and holdings they instead turned to another avenue of power… Industry. Turning from land holding noble families into Megacorporation’s, investing not only in military as well as civilian industry but also every other level of society. Seeing the Sith as godless abominations the Faithful Houses were in the following millenia as committed to the Republic as the Elder Houses, which allowed them to regain some of their old influence and power.

In time, desire for a world and a sphere of influence of their own lead to the Eriaduan project and the world was eventually colonized by the Faithful seeking to build a heaven in the Outer Rim. And even though the project was marred with many troubles and setbacks eventually Eriadu became a powerhouse in it´s own right and the Faithful pretty much completely migrated there and in time began settling other colonies in the Galactic Southwest as well.

To this very day the Faithful Houses have a strong influence in Eriaduan government, even after Eriadu became a democracy. During this time the families number grew, as workers and soldier rose through the ranks of society, investors from other worlds moved there and younger siblings split from their families to form their own houses.

Traditionally the heads of the five most influential families of Eriadu come together in the Quintad, which on paper is a powerless “advisory council” to the democratically elected governor. Though in truth the Quintad controls the entire economy of the Eriaduan Sphere, each of their “suggestions” is pretty much impossible to ignore by the government. In addition to that pretty much every candidate running for the post of governor itself usually comes from the Quintad and in some cases is even a direct member.

In addition to the wealth and corporate influence, service in the ORSF (or other militaries related to Eriadu) is seen as a source of great honor for the members of the Faithful. Successful military careers also can improve the standing of a family within the organization. In many Faithful families its by now tradition for the oldest child to be groomed for a career in politics and economy, while the second child is prepared for one in the military. In some families a third child is also expected to join the Faith and become a priest.

Just as with the Elder Houses the Faithfully fully recognize adopted children as legal heirs. Eliminating any need for blood heirs for the member families to ensure the continuation of the family line.

The most important rule of the Faithful is that nobles don`t kill other nobles. Disputes between noble families are to be solved either through heavily codified personal duels (which are usually non lethal as they only last until the first blood) or on a political level. Assassinations are thus practically unheard of, as any family caught using this method would be instantly expelled and stripped of their belongings. Instead the rivalries take a more indirect approach were enemy nobles are rather dishonored, humiliated, outmaneuvered or at worst send into exile.

Joining the Faithful is only possible on invitation from the members and every new entry needs to be approved by a two thirds supermajority. Up until very recently only human families have been eligible to join but in the last two decades, since the founding of the Coalition, the ranks of the Faithful have been opened for non-human families of status as well. What is required though is a positive relation with the Pius Dea Church. Prospective members don’t have to be believers of the faith but take an oath to stand in the defense of the church when they join the Faithful. A family can be expelled from the Faithful by the same two thirds majority that joining requires.

In the modern-day Coalition, the Faithful have expanded beyond the Eriaduan Sphere, with several nobles’ houses of Coalition or Qaelan Accords members having integrated themselves into it, making it these days a legitimate rival to the Elder Houses (who these days are closely associated with the Fel Empire). This is congruent with the recent resurgence of the, reformed, Pius Dea Faith especially in the Coalition.

Being a member of the Faithful doesn`t actually bring any legal or otherwise political privileges (though as stated above most families within the Faithful enjoy various privileges due to their wealth and corporate ties). Though it does allow members to take the honorific “Sir/Madame” as part of their legal name. While the current head of a family can take the title of “Lord/Lady”.


Important Families:

Current Quintad:

House Redan TO THE LAST MAN

House Redan is the post child for an Eriaduan Soldier family who reached the highest ranks of nobility due to their service in the ORSF or other militaries. Originally just a small minor noble family the Redan rose to the top of Eriaduan society during the invasion of Darth Zul during the New Sith wars. When the Head of the House, Arien Redan (whose promise to defend Eriadu to the last man, became their family motto) was ORSF Commander. Being one of the few non force users to ever kill a Dark Lord of the Sith in single combat, Redan is still one of Eriadu´s greatest heroes and his family has enjoyed a seat on the Quintad ever since. After the expulsion of the Empire from Eriadu and the fall of the Tarkin from the Quintad the Redan have taken the lead on Eriadu, being responsible for the path of slow liberalization and Rim focus since. The Redan are said to be honorable soldiers and dedicated allies. They are religious but keep their distance from the more fanatical members of the faith.



House Idril THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

House Idril is one of the oldest Houses within the faithful. Their history dates back to the days before even the Pius Dea Crusades. Ever since they have been a leading family in the organization and been a part of the Quintad ever since its inception. They have a strong bond with the Eriaduan merchant Fleet and Navy being primarily a producer of Ship parts. The Idril are known for being stoic, rarely displaying any real emotions or charisma. They despise much of the pomp and circumstance of other nobles and can be considered the most straightforward of the Quintad Houses. They are in an ancient rivalry with House Sturm. They are gaunt, pale humans with often white, blonde hair.

House Sturm WE ARE THE STORM

House Sturm seems in many ways to be the exact opposite of House Idril. Dark where the Idril are Pale, Emotional where they are Stoic. House Sturm embraces their role in nobility with a passion and are known to never hide their emotions. Like their rivals, House Sturm dates back into the earliest days of the Republic and they are the other family who had a seat of the Quintad for the entirety of its existence. Their main focus is on ground combat equipment, and they consider themselves the closest allies to the Eriaduan ground forces. House Sturm is known for the large number of illegitimate children their members tend to have. These are, however, fully and openly embraced in the family and usually stand on equal footing with their legitimate half siblings.

House Caer WE GUARD THE VOID

House Caer has only recently been added to the Quintad and are something of an odd ball as they originally trace their lineage back to a Corellian Family who invested in the Seswenna Sector. The Caer don`t control any industry on one of the Eriaduan worlds but instead have invested their money in Space Infrastructure, primarily space stations as well as nav buoys. In addition to that the Caer also finances expeditions and astronavigation to further map out the Galactic Southwest. Sometimes insulted as “Void Dwellers” by other Nobles House Caer´s main holding and seat is even aboard a space station.

House Vist MIND IS THE LIMIT

House Vist is a comparatively recent member of the Quintad, ennobled during the Old Republic´s dying days. Back then the Vist family was already known as Eriadu´s most important investors and owners of research & development enterprises. It was the stated ambition of the Vist Foundation to raise Eriadu from the mere manufacturing center of the Galactic Southwest to an independent economy. Ironically enough was the patronage of Wilhuff Tarkin that enabled House Vist to join the Quintad...although that alliance ended soon enough with the fall of House Tarkin´s fortunes. Nowadays House Vist is involved in a vast variety of of business, from pharmaceuticals production to weapons research. House Vist has a history of endorsing equals rights for non-humans due to their close partnerships with Arkanian Microtechnologies and other non-human led corporations. But they are also known for elitist ideologies, favoring a system of "voting rights earned through accomplishements" for the so-called commoners (while member of nobility have already earned this by birth and education). During the last few years things got complicated because the current Lord Vist was born out of wedlock and raised in the working class. With a big heart only rivaled by his brilliant mind the young Lord Vist shows a lot of promise of become a real troublemaker in Eriaduan politics.

Former Quintad Houses:

House Tarkin STRENGTH THROUGH ADVERSITY

Once the most powerful House on Eriadu House Tarkin has fallen deep since the expulsion of the Empire and is at this point struggling to even remain inside the faithful. Where other Eriaduan families nursed their grudges against the Republic and the Jedi House Tarkin opened itself to the Core and with the growing Republic profited a lot from trade and commerce. Their desire to emulate the Core nobility lead to them adopting a Core accent in addition to their strong loyalty to the Republic, which eventually lead them to give up their faith. Their high time came when the Empire rose and by forming a marriage alliance with their old Rival in the Redan they managed to gain near total control over Eriaduan society. When the Empire fell it was ironically this marriage alliance that saved the Tarkins from falling apart completely, as the Redan so merely subsumed them, turning the once so powerful Tarkins into nothing more than a vassal to them. Under the current head Rivoche Tarkin (whose mother was a Redan) the family tries to adapt to the new realities, while the shadow of Alderaan hangs above them…


House Kyr ETERNALY FAITHFUL

Possibly the oldest House, the Kyr can trace their lineage back for centuries before humanity even took it´s first steps into the stars. They have been known as fanatical supporters of the Pius Dea Church ever since its inception, and severed in a close advisory position to the Contispex Dynasty. After the end of the Pius Dea Crusades their current head Jacen Kyr founded the infamous “Goddes´s Militia” that haunt´s Eriaduan society to this day. On Eriadu though the influence of the Kyr began to dwindle and they soon lost their seat in the Quintad after a series of faulty business deals and the Militia was taken over by the Hiran Family. The Kyr briefly returned to the Quintad in the Imperial Era when the Comparatively Liberal Cedryc Kyr became an influential politician on Eriadu. Though this almost would mean the end of the family, as the Kyr were turned into the main scapegoat for Eriaduan Collaboration (though in truth they were mainly singled out because of Cedryc Kyr´s anti Megacorp stance) with the Empire and was not only expelled from the Quintad but the Faithful as well. Though several decades later they were restored with all honors by Cedryc´s daughter Elena who has since radically changed her family’s direction. While still religious the Kyr have gone from one of the most conservative families of Eriadu to one of the most liberal.


Minor Noble Houses:

House Malek LIBERTY THROUGH EQUALITY

One of the youngest Houses amongst the Faithful the family only entered the ranks of nobility shortly after the battle of Endor when Ethan Malek served as first the Rebellions Ambassador to Eriadu, then the Eriaduan Senator to the New Republic and early Galactic Alliance. The Malek family became one of the loudest voices for reforms to the Eriaduan society and stands by their strong commitment to progressive values. Raising the banner once more that the Grand and other liberal families purged by the Empire dropped. Despite only owning some small businesses their political power can rival that of every Quintad member, especially since Ilona Malek served eighteen years as President of the Coalition, a state that some consider to be primarily the Malek´s Legacy (though they themselves are far too modest to even consider such thoughts).

House Grau FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD

On Eriadu its an open secret that Magdalena Grau, the Founder of the House was in fact a professional criminal, ruler over the remains of a criminal Empire her ancestor Helena Grau had build in the days of the Old Republic. Though by Magdalena´s time only little was left of it, which might have influenced her decision to sell what remained of her criminal enterprises to Arien Redan in exchange for a pardon and a noble title. Since then, House Grau has been involved in all sorts of legal business all over the Eriaduan Sphere, being generally more well known for their eccentric and often colorful members than political or economic influence.

House Hiran GODESS NATION LABOR

An offshoot from House Kyr, House Hiran was founded by Hiran Kyr who changed his family name to his first to symbolize the beginning of the new House. House Hiran shares many of House Kyr´s ultraconservative values and is especially closely linked to the Goddess’s Militia whose Grand Magus is since identical with the Head of House Hiran.

House Crean REMEMBER HER SACRIFICE

House Crean is only about twenty years old, but what makes it truly stand out is that it´s the first House that is not fully human. And in fact, was elevated to nobility specifically because of the sacrifice of Xenia Crean, the first Falleen and first (official) non-human in the ORSF who gave her life during the battle of Qaelan. In recognition of her sacrifice her family was elevated to nobility, with her half Falleen half sister (child of her Falleen mother and human stepfather) becoming Lady Crean, though she and her parents still consider Xenia the first true head of the House.

House Damask YET HERE WE STAND

The story of the Damask family is one of betrayal, war, suffering, manipulation, displacement and revenge. An epic tale that might one day put to holofilm... for a price of course. What today forms House Damask originates from some distant cousins of the infamouse Hego Damask, who lead the family after his passing into an alliance with the CIS, then into the exile in the Southwest, into becoming part of the Iron Alliance. After the liberation of Qaelan Creon Damask, a younger scion of the House became the most eager collaborateur with the Coalition from the planets former upper class. Becoming a brige between the winners and loosers of the war his actions and influence helped keep the peace and form a new society. As part of his efforts Damask converted to the Pius Dea faith and eventually became the political protege of Chancelor Florianne Idril. Eventually following her in that position after the most recent election. As a non human running and winning for the Faithful League Creon Damask is seen as sign of how far the old order has changed in the last twenty years...

 

I'm certainly likely to use what you have about the Talz, blended with Legends and Canon material as I write my fanfic.

In my own case I'm thinking that as the New Republic grows, starfighters are the province of the New Republic Navy while the New Republic Army runs the Airspeeder Corps.

Quarren allegedly value the wisdom of advancing years, and also have ink pouches like the cephalopods they evolved from.

Addendum, 10 December 2023: I've co-opted the real world martial art of Pankration and made it a Mandalorian fighting art with both a sport and self defense variant. As a martial arts guy myself (Brazilian Jiujitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, Judo and MMA) and longtime MMA fan I was inspired to do so over the last couple months.

 

(Just as a heads up, the following deals with dark themes of slavery, dystopian society, total surveilance and opression. It should be self explanatory that I do not endorse any and all of the cruelties talked about in this lore article.)

The Senex Juvex Sector
Fanon Lore for the Canon Nation of the Senex Juvex: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Senex-Juvex/Legends

The Senex Juvex Sector, for the vast majority of the Galaxy the name might not ring a bell, for those who do know about it, it usually brings about disgust and hatred. And for good reason as the Senex Juvex Sector (or for short SJ) was founded with the primary intent of circumventing the Galactic Republics Anti-Slavery laws and created a heaven for slavery in the Outer Rim. Though unlike the Hutt Space the SJ has for a long time managed to keep a decent international reputation and thus avoided becoming a complete pariah state up until it`s last few decades.

Internally the Sector became more and more divided between the Old and New families, both of them evil slavers, but with very different ideas on how exactly to run the sector. And of course, various resistance movements struggling against the tyrannical government but also divided in their concrete goals and methods.


General Information:
Structure: Decentralized Plutocratic Oligarchy
Head of State: President
Legislative Branch: Senex Juvex Council
De facto Leader: Old Families, Young Families
Commander in Chief: SJ High Command
Armed Forces: SJ Guard, SJ Navy, Various Household Militias
Capital: Nantama
Official Language: Basic, also includes various other dialects
Founded by: Various human noble houses lead by Thull Vandron
Date Established: Around 1000 BBY
Date Reorganized: 66 ABY
Reorganized into: Coalition of Free States (as a member state)


History: When the New Sith wars ended the Galactic Republic began a series of wide sweeping reforms, known as the Ruusan Reformations. These reforms included stricter regulation against various forms of indentured servitude and de facto slavery, which was still practiced on many Republic Worlds and had grown considerably during the New Sith Wars with the Jedi being distracted elsewhere. Trying to fight these changes was a man named Thull Vandron, a human noble and war hero who had gathered considerable renown during the final years of the New Sith Wars. He generally supported the de centralization of the Ruusaan Reformations, but alongside likeminded human nobles opposed the anti-slavery parts of it. Eventually, as the pressure of the Jedi and government against his party became too strong, he and his supporters did what the Faithful Houses of Eriadu had done five hundred years ago: They left the core behind in search for a new place to settle in the Outer Rim.

Though unlike the families of Eriadu Vandron’s followers completely cut contact with the Republic and headed for a remote nebula Vandron had discovered years prior and which has since been known Thull`s Shroud in his honor. Here the nobles and their hired mercenaries quickly subdued the primitive local alien civilizations, completely enslaving them to build up a slave based agricultural state.

The Nebula and its words were divided in an easter and western part but in effect remained a single political entity. The eastern systems were divided between the Houses of Vandron, Garonnin, Elegin, Anturi, Taneel, Petro, Araba, Hax, and Viholn and became the Senex. The western systems were divided between the Houses of Sreethyr, Carbinol, Hallikeenovich, Sisemon, Kassido, Kellermin, Pilor, and Mekuun and became known as Juvex.

By 900 BBY the seventeen noble Houses had achieved near total control over the Senex Juvex Sector, and all native species had been enslaved, most of them toiling on large plantations but also mines and industrial worlds were established. About one hundred years later the sector was rediscovered by Republic explorers and thus was dragged out of their isolation. Conflicts began to arise with neighboring Eriadu over territories both of them claimed for their own settlers. After several decades of skirmishing with each other an open war broke out between Eriadu and the SJ. Despite Eriadu having the support of the Republic in the conflict, not to mention the ORSF, the Senex Juvex Sector managed to win the conflict largely on the back of their extremely powerful secret service Section 121. The victory allowed them to seize nearly the entirety of the contested border region, turning it into a buffer zone against Eriadu and the Republic and an uneasy peace settled over the Southwest.

In 553 the civil conflict known as the Crimson Days shook the Sector, leading to the Hutlar species gaining relative freedom within the sector. Several of their leaders formed the first of what would become the Young Families of the SJ as they began enslaving both their own people and captured humans. Eriadu used the weakening of the SJ to lead a rapid invasion of the border regions, reclaiming nearly all the territory lost in the war a few centuries earlier avenging their loss. This would be the last conflict between the two powers of the Southwest for several centuries as both settled back into a watchful peace.

In the final years of the Galactic Republic the Senex Juvex Sector actually joined the Republic, in large parts thanks to the work of Chancelor Palpatine. The SJ was in return forced to allow some “reforms” in terms of slave rights as well as promise an “eventual” release of the entire slave population. When the Clone Wars broke out the CIS supported a massive uprising in the Senex Juvex Sector that the SJ armed forces struggled to put out. Causing the long rebellious Celonia system to break free and establish the Celonian Republic that would survive up until the early days of the Empire, when now Moff Wilhuff Tarkin lead an Imperial strike force into the SJ and destroyed an entire city on Celonia Prime, forcing the Republic to surrender.

The Elites of the Senex Juvex profited strongly from the Empire`s legalization of the slave trade and thus were eager supporters of the New Order. When the Empire rule eventually fell apart in the Southwest the Iron Alliance became the new closest ally and trade partner of the SJ. But the New Republic and now Redan lead Eriadu were considerably more hostile towards them than the Old Republic had been and thus the SJ suffered through embargos, becoming more and more of a Galactic Pariah state. To counteract this the SJ tried various forms of propaganda and even send a few token forces to support the Galaxy in the fight against the Vong. For a time the strategy seemed to work and some of the embargos were lifted, but with the beginning of the war between Eriadu and the Iron Alliance the SJ`s fortunes turned worse once and for all. Despite their support the Iron Alliance broke just in a few years leaving the SJ completely isolated and under heavier and heavier pressure. Their coffers running dry and more and more of their own citizens demanding radical changes, the SJ began to fall apart, trying to fight the unrest with harder and harder crackdowns but the writing was on the wall.

When in 64 ABY a slave revolt broke out the Coalition sent the SJ an ultimatum: If they would attack the slaves the Coalition would consider it an act of war an intervene on behalf of the slaves. Left with no other option the Elites of the SJ tried to rescue that whatever possible. A treaty was established with forced the entire SJ government to step down, release all the slaves and to allow free elections, in exchange everyone involved with the regime would receive full and complete immunity from prosecution for the crimes they committed. Thus, ending the slavery in SJ without any bloodshed, but not without controversy as many felt letting the slavers off the hook was a betrayal of all their countless victims. Though the Coalition, having seen positive results for having been merciful on the Iron Alliances Elite remained firm in their decision.

The Elections were won in a landslide by Alejandra de Comte, a noble abolitionist and leader of the internal opposition who had spend the last twenty years in prison for her anti-slavery campaigns. Her new government staffed by a mixture of freed slaves, middle class citizens and noble reformists began passing various legislations to fully end slavery and turn the sector into a better place for all it`s citizens. This included giving the Celonia system it`s long desired independence and beginning the process of joining the Coalition which was complete in 66 ABY when they became a full member signaling the beginning of a new era…


Those in Power

In terms of government the Senex Juvex Sector was a plutocratic oligarchy for all but the last two years of its existence as an independent nation. Though the central government was never particularly strong, most of the noble houses had near complete control over their territories. The heads of these noble houses come together in a council to take care of the most important government matters and to solve both internal and external disputes. At the start of something of an echo chamber between the various likeminded human nobles, the rise of the Young Families turned the council into a political battlefield between the two factions controlling the SJ.

The Old Families are the members of the seventeen original noble Houses and their various cadet branches that were formed during the last thousand years. They are strongly human centric, largely refusing to enslave humans but instead enslaving every other species. Also advocating for a weak central government, they mostly just want to be left alone to rule their fiefdoms the way their ancestors did before them. They despise the young families as crude and cultureless wannabes, to them slavery is doing the enslaved a favor, as these unintelligent Aliens just need wise and benevolent humans supporting them throughout their lives. If there is anything positive to be said about the Old Families than that they do have a twisted sense of honor, they will stick to promises and deals they made and generally despise political assassinations. The Old Families tried to keep diplomatic relations with other nations, such as Eriadu or the Republic and despised working with pirates. In the Coalition some of them support the Faithful League and Old-World Alliance but most are members of the National Vanguard (where they continue their struggle against the New Families who also mostly flocked there).

The New Families are members of the various nonhuman noble families that have sprung up in the SJ over the last thousand years as well as various smaller human families who have broken with the Old Families. Where the Old Families try to justify the practice of slavery with honeyed words the New Families don’t even bother with such excuses, they are strong, the slaves are weak, so they deserve to rule. The New Families don’t care at all about a person’s species, gender, or background, the strong and smart should rule over the weak, it is the nature of the universe. And to reach the top every tool is justified and imaginary things like honor shouldn’t hold anyone back. Backstabs, Assassinations, acts of terrorism if it allows you to get ahead everything is fair game. The New Families favor a much stronger central government, reasoning that a nation should be led by a strong leader. They were also the ones to favor the pact with the Iron Alliance and other pirate groups, they openly admired the Hutt Space and wouldn’t mind turning the SJ into something comparable. In the Coalition most of them support the National Vanguard (where they continue their struggle with the Old Families, see above) or try to benefit of the corrupt elements of the Progressive Party.

Despite most of the noble class of the SJ openly supporting slavery there exists a small but noticeable opposition within the elite class. Nobles who fight the system of slavery either out of compassion and morality or because they consider it pragmatically impractical. These Reformists seek to reform the SJ through political change rather than violent revolution, but still are often accused by both the Old and New Families of having secret ties to the resistance movements, which to be fair isn’t entirely unfounded. These Reformists make up the hard core of Alejandra de Comte’s government seeking to change the sector, in the Coalition many of them now support the Democratic Union.


The Middle Class

When people from outside the SJ think about the Nation, they generally only think of two groups: The Slavers and the Slaves. But in doing so they overlook that the Sector actually has a many billions strong population of citizens who are neither slaves nor do they own any. Some of them are actively supporting the system of slavery as soldiers, guards, bureaucrats without whom the running of the Sector would be flat out impossible, as would keeping such a large slave population under control.

In addition to these low to mid-level public servants there also exist billions of free people who are not intertwined with the slavery at all but instead serve in all kinds of normal jobs and occupations, doctors, factory workers, clerks, entertainers, teachers, farmers, colonists, space truckers, technicians… In several branches of the SJ various kinds of free workers even work alongside slaves in the same jobs, only that they get paid for it and can go home after work instead of being huddled in a slave barrack for the night.

The SJ generally keeps it`s middle class under control by using means of propaganda to downplay and sanitize the horrors of slavery, while raising the fear of possible slave uprisings, portraying revolting slaves as blood crazed berserkers who mercilessly kill every free person including children. In truth most of the free population never even get to see much of the slave population outside of propaganda holoshows, often being unaware of the sheer level of abuse.

Where the propaganda isn’t enough to keep the people in line fear is used. The citizens are closely monitored by the Secret Service and any possible dissenting voices are quickly and discreetly dealt with. Legions of stool pigeons report any signs of rebellious activity to Section 121, many of them themselves under threat by the powerful spy agency. Those who are caught trying to rebel are quickly ‘disappeared’ from society, often alongside their families. If they get lucky, they just have to spend a few decades in prison for their ‘acts of treason’ if not they are enslaved themselves or simply killed.

Still there exist several networks of rebellious free citizens who work in secret against the government, hiding escaped slaves, smuggling in weapons and equipment to resistance movement, trying to spread information about the true conditions in the sector to their fellow citizens. Without their support none of the rebel groups could live up to becoming a real threat to the SJ.

When the SJ capitulated in the face of the Coalition many free citizens were horrified at the revelations that soon reached them about the conditions in their nation. Whether they had honestly not known or just protected themselves via walls of denial it did drove many of them into a personal crisis, leading many to vote for the reformists in the free election and supporting the party since. Now in the Coalition the middle class is the group with the widest array of political preferences including supporters for all the major parties.


The Slaves

Billions of thinking, feeling individuals forced to live their entire lives in hard labor in horrible conditions. The true suffering of the billions of slaves who lived and died under the heel of the SJ during the thousand years of its existence is truly uncountable, with possibly only the Hutt space being responsible for even more suffering in the Galaxy.

Most of the original slaves were the species native to the Senex Juvex Sector, most of them hadn’t even reached proper spaceflight by the time Thull Vandron and his supporters arrived in the region. Utterly helpless to properly fight back against the high-tech invaders, many worlds fell quickly to the might of the nobles and their mercenaries. Others though managed to fight on, stealing technology from the invaders and reverse engineering their technology to fight them on equal grounds. Some managed to hold out for about one hundred years before eventually being overcome by the invaders.

Much of the history and culture of these species has been erased by the SJ in the following centuries. All their achievements, beliefs, ideals were burned away by the cruel masters who didn’t care for any of this. They just wanted obedient, hardworking slaves. Now that slavery has finally ended some species have begun trying to rediscover their past, but it is clear that much will forever be lost to history.

Originally the masters were human and the slaves’ nonhumans, but in time the boundaries began to loosen. Humans were enslaved because of poverty or as punishment for crimes while some nonhumans managed to rise up, eventually even becoming slaveowners themselves (see above). In the modern age the slave population in the SJ was very diverse, with captives and prisoners from all over the Galaxy sold to them, first by the Empire, then the Iron Alliance.

What culture the slaves do have is generally an amalgamation of their various backgrounds as well as influences from the SJ itself. One central figure for many slaves is the Joygirl, a mystical young woman of varying species who brings joy and hope to the oppressed of the Galaxy. Some scholars have connected the Joygirl to the Eriaduan Goddess or even the Daughter of Mortis but others believe her to be completely disconnected from them. Either way many, many slaves claim to have actually met her and how she helped, healed or otherwise cheered them up.

The slaves of the SJ work primarily in agriculture, large plantations where they harvest all sorts of agrarian products that are sold as high-quality food all across the Galaxy. Other slaves worked in mines or quarries to gather resources for the factories of the SJ and beyond. A little better is generally the lot of the factory working slaves as they tend to be given at least some education and are thus considered valuable. Generally considered the least terrible position is that of home servants who serve the nobles directly, yet the pleasure slaves might have the cruelest fate of all.

Since slavery ended in the SJ most efforts have been going towards helping the former slaves find a place in society. Given their usually abysmal educational level most of them simply only know how to perform one job. This has led to the offering of various courses and afternoon schools to teach them skills to branch out into different positions in society. Many others though largely still work in their old positions, only now in humane conditions and being actually paid for their work. Many other recently freed citizens have begun to take advantage of professional support to help them with the traumas their life of suffering caused them. In this regard many of them are mentored by freedmen and women who were freed from the Iron Alliance twenty years earlier and who now help the people in the same situation reclaim their lives.

Naturally quite a large number of former slaves are quite upset that their former oppressors escaped any and all justice for their crimes, some take matters in their own hands trying to find justice in vigilantism. Others however acknowledge that the Coalition made this choice because saving innocent lives was more important than punishing guilty ones. And that the SJ elites had never stepped down if not offered protection but instead likely begun a long and blood war. In the Coalition many freed slaves support the Democratic Union and especially the Progressive Party.


The Resistance

Resistance against the SJ started pretty much from the first day Thull Vandron and his followers made planetfall on the first planet within the sector. For none of the native species took their subjugating laying down, some managed to resist longer than others, some fought the slavers head on, others turned to a war in the shadows. From the first conquest over the crimson days to the eventually capitulation, there never was even a year in the SJs history without some form of rebellious activity. But just as hard as the rebels fought, as cruel would the SJ crack down on them time and time again. Many, many resistance movements have risen and been destroyed, many hideouts were stormed, rebels’ leaders publicly executed, escape plans discovered. Only a few groups managed to survive in the harsh conditions, and each of them proved to be a painful thorn indeed…

The Railroad is an alliance of reformist nobles and rebellious middle-class citizens whose primary focus lies in rescuing slaves and helping them create new lives for themselves outside the SJ. A secondary goal is to spread the word about the SJs atrocities to the rest of the Galaxy to entice other states to put in place sanctions against them. The Railroad as a whole abhors violence of any kind, resorting to stunning enemies as the last resort, arguing that dead bodies will only cause harsh reprisals. Instead of using deception to operate, hacking slave transmitters to deactivate them, raising money to buy slaves then set them free. An important part of the Railroad are space truckers who smuggle escapees and information out of the nation. The Railroad is closely connected to the small legal opposition in the SJ and seeks to bring change through reform rather than revolution. They grew in influence in the final decades of the SJ when the SJ war hero Francesco de Comte and his with Eryl and sister Alejandra became prominent figures within it.

The Green Hand. A green handprint at the sight of an uprising, inside a slave barrack, near to a bomb explosion or assassination. No other symbol causes as much hope in the enslaved and as much terror in the free population of the SJ. The Green Hand is the largest and most persistent rebel group within the SJ. Branded as the most vile of terrorists by the sector propaganda the Green Hand has managed to resist each and every attempt at destroying them by the SJ government. No matter how many members of the network are captured, how many hideouts are raided, the Green Hand always returns. Despite existing for several centuries by now no one has ever been able to identify the leader of the group, a mysterious individual sending occasional messages of resistance through the SJ. In these holo messages only their green hand is visible, the rest of the vaguely humanoid figure stands cloaked in shadow. No one, even within the network seems to know their identity and what data is found in the various hideouts is often cryptic and contradictory. In truth the Green Hand doesn’t have a leader, and the various groups are far less connected to each other than the SJ, and most GH members think. Most of the data and manifests left behind for Section 121 agents to find is nothing but pointless gibberish, intending to merely cause the illusion of connection. The various holo messages are recorded by various beings in different places, just imitating the style of those which came before to give the impression of a singular producer. This extreme decentralization is in truth what allows the Green Hand to survive where so many other resistance groups were brought down. Not having a singular leader or command structure the SJ can’t launch a decapitating strike nor torture too much information out of captives, nor do agents infiltrating the movement able to find out more beyond the group they have joined. This decentralization also means that the various Green Hand groups are quite different in ideals and methods, ranging for idealists who go out of their way to avoid innocent casualties to revenge driven extremists who plant bombs in hospitals and schools.


Smaller in number but better equipped and organized than the Green Hand are the Unionists. Trade Unions are of course outlawed in the SJ depriving the free middle class of any real protection against salary cuts, mass firings and other ‘cost cutting measures’. Worse, losing one’s job or being unable to pay the bills is one of the most common ways for free citizens to fall into slavery. Meanwhile free miners and farmers suffer from being unable to sell their products against the cheaper products coming out of the slave economy. This even includes various small communities outside the SJ who struggle to stay alive and afloat in the Mega Corp dominated markets in the Southwest. From these farmers, miners, truckers, factory workers both within and without the SJ the Unionists recruit their fighters. Striking at plantations and production centers the Unionists free slaves and destroy means of production to cripple the slave/Mega Corp based economy. Also organizing strikes and trying to unionize workers in secret, the Unionists don’t just want to end slavery but to fully transform society along Anarchic Syndicalist lines, citing the Teris sector as an inspiration for their desired society. Still their common enemy and many shared goals have led them to work together with other resistance movements within the SJ on numerous occasions. The freed slaves often settle in the small communes outside the SJ sector from which the Unionists received much of their supplies. For many Unionists the Mega Corp dominated Eriadu was for a long time an enemy just like the SJ, though the reforms inducted by the Coalition in the last twenty years have begun to heal this rift, as the nation now has legalized trade unions and often works to compromise with them. In the Coalition most Unionists either support the Progressive Party or even further leftists’ small parties.

The fourth large Resistance Movement within the SJ are the Sons and Daughters of Celonia. Unlike the others three, ending slavery isn’t their primary goal (though in truth many of them also consider it a top priority). Instead, they seek to liberate the Celonia system, and it`s immediate neighbors from the SJ tyranny. The system was originally colonized by farmers and miners dissatisfied with their nation who sought to create a small nation for themselves in the border territory of the SJ. Yet their hopes of independence were quickly quashed by the SJ after the slaver nation learned of the rich resources in the system. Forced back into the fold Celonia has been a hotbed of rebel activity ever since, especially since the Clone Wars where the sector actually broke free and formed the Celonian Republic which lasted for several years even into the early Imperial Era. The Republic was also supported and became a rally beacon for many Unionists and Green Hand members, sadly it wasn’t to last and eventually the Empire sent a fleet to help the SJ regain the region. Lead by Wilhuff Tarkin the Imperials destroyed a city on Celonia Prime via orbital bombardment, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and forcing the Republic to surrender unconditionally. But this massacre didn’t end the war, on the contrary it only enraged the Sons and Daughter of Celonia who fought on harder than ever. When the SJ finally capitulated to the Coalition Celonia and its neighboring systems finally received their independence but sadly by then the people and leaders of the group had become extremely radicalized, forming the Celonian Directorate, an ultranationalist regime that went on to closely ally itself to the Empire under Jagged Fel. (Celonia will get it`s own fanon article in the future)

In addition to these four big movements there exists a countless number of smaller groups, dissatisfied civilians, rebellious slaves, opportunistic pirates, small bands of Abolitionists from all layers of society, mutinous soldiers, and guards. There exist many who resist the regime in their own little ways.


Section 121

In opposition to these rebels stands the Senex Juvex feared secret service, the main reason how the sector could keep itself together for a thousand years. Section 121 is one of the largest secret service agencies in the Galaxy, especially when considering the small s ize of the nation. A huge amount of each year’s budget is invested in the Agency and the near total surveillance they have created over the state. Thousands of informants and infiltrators litter both the SJs society as well as many other nations in the Galaxy, delivering information to the leaders of the sector so they may always be a step ahead of their enemies. Many members of the organization are recruited as orphans from a very young age to be utterly indoctrinated in serving their nation. Many recruits are children of slaves, taken away from their parents shortly after their birth to be molded into perfect agents, obedient and fearless. The training of the agent goes on for years and includes exact instructions on how to fake certain types of behavior while their minds are conditioned into absolute loyalty. A percentage of these children not deemed good enough for the cause are quietly disposed of, leading to hundreds of kids being murdered each year when not meeting the agency’s high standards. Those recruits who survive the training are then inducted as agents either inside or outside the SJ, especially in the Galactic Southwest and nations such as Eriadu. Other agents are sent back to the slave plantations to monitor the slave populations for possible rebel groups and dangers individuals. Others are given civilian identities to monitor the SJs middle class often also relying on a wide variety of informants to gather information. To gain these information the agents will use every tool availabe to them, from bribery, blackmail and secudtion to torture, threats of violence and death.

In addition to the agents Section 121 also closely monitors the citizens’ holonet activity, generally access of the public holonet of the Galaxy is prohibited at the threat of enslavement. Instead, the citizens are provided with a SJ own version of the holonet where they can only access information and entertainment that the state deems acceptable, furthermore any and all communication in this net is monitored by Section 121 who make large use of AIs to check the communications for every hint of rebellious activity. To keep track of possible troublesome individuals every citizen is given a social score that is raised by government approved behavior while lowered by anything deemed inappropriate, should a person’s score get too low Section 121 will take interest if not simply ‘disappear’ the person and their loved ones. The people of the SJ know of the score but have no way of actually finding out theirs, leading to an atmosphere of constant fear and paranoia in the nation’s free population. Individuals with low scores are also often recruited as spies and informants for the secret service, offered an improvement on theirs if they rat out others illegal behavior.

After the election of Alejandra de Comte, the activities of Section 121 were made public, including every citizen’s social score, leading to many being horrified at just how closely their nation was watching them. Most of the agents embedded in society have since them removed from their posts though most of the external parts of the spy network were kept intact and integrated into the Coalitions own secret service. A decision that would prove smart in the dark times to come.

 

Can’t believe I haven’t, to my knowledge, posted here.

RELIGION OF ALDERAAN AND THE FORCE

Most of Alderaan was settled by pacifists from several human cultures who wanted to establish a place where they could practice their beliefs in a pluralist way, not according to a specific faith.

The original pilgrims’ writings mention that they felt welcomed by the world. Several clairvoyants even claimed to feel a consciousness that was watching over them. Though the writings were never brought into concordance until years later, each person who identified a higher being in their awareness of Alderaan spoke of it as Taia, their word for “I consider.” In one notable legal case, a witness swore v’taiori, by the one who considers. The legal victory set a precedent and soon justice was associated with the will of Taia, the power who considers all things on this world and this higher power was considered to be a goddess.

As her following spread, the disparate nations that had formed were heavily influenced by those who considered themselves to be nurtured by this power of justice. Visitors to this world often heard of v’taiaketh, the children of Taia, and when the world registered its sovereignty, many believed it should be called Taialderaan, Home of She Who Considers. More secular people shortened it to Alderaan, Home of Wisdom. The native language remained Taiald and the v’taiaketh name stuck.

To this day, the monarch is crowned by the grace and wisdom of Taia. Those in the Jedi Order recognize that this is how the Force manifests itself and appreciate that so many in the world have reverence for that. This is also why the Alderaanian Jedi are considered to be a peculiar subset of the order.

Another connection between the monarchy and the goddess is that of Evesight. Regardless of strength in the Force, every monarch is given a night of communion with their patron on the night before their coronation. They are granted revelations for the years ahead and counsel for their stewardship. This relationship has the power to continue throughout their life, though the content of these discussions is not something that is published.

In empire-era society, the religion is mostly a casual thing, invoked in practice, but not often in faith. Adherents often meet once a week for communal considerations and can visit with a priest for release to absolve themselves of guilt over having committed injustices.

On Hoth, Princess Leia is known to have prayed during the night that her brother and friend were lost on the plains. (ESB novelization)