Lit The First Time Around: The Legends Post-Endor Journey

True, but when I was going over the original material it struck me that the New Republic was supposed to be the legitimate heir to the galactic government, and was not a separate nation; and, as such, I would imagine that they would (for diplomatic reasons) try to have a central location for its government to demonstrate that it was no longer a rebellion movement, but a regular government. Certainly the drive for Coruscant was, in part, to gain that legitimacy; but they may have been pragmatic enough to consider the possibility that it might be a while before they could claim the planet.

Edit: I did a search of various sources, and found an interesting quote from HTTE: "But that's also about the time Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar were pushing to move the government seat here to Coruscant." - a quote from Leia, indicating that the capital was only recently moved there at the start of the novel. "Move" seems to imply that the government seat had a specific location prior to Coruscant.

CWAS gave the "Congress" its HQ on Raxus. (unfortunately, little to nothing was ever developed on the concept, sadly enough)

Sinrebirth in another thread had put forth the supposition that there might have been a proto-Senate in the early days of the NR; there has been references to the Galactic Caucus held about a week after Endor (held on Endor, I believe) where the "Alliance of Free Planets" invited various governments to send representatives, which may have evolved into this.

I think Zsinj was going for the big prize, considering that he was taking on everyone else at once - Teradoc, the Empire and New Republic. The hallmark of a warlord trying to carve out his own fiefdom was Kaine. That isn't to say he was stupid - he managed to be a major problem for the New Republic, and if he had gotten that second SSD he would've been a dangerous threat.

 

Hmm. Now that you mention it, that wasn't very bright, was it? Attacking the New Republic AND the Empire at the same time? Blofeld would've whacked him with a rolled up newspaper and given him the Siamese fighting fish speech.

On second thought, Zsinj did have the same basic flaw as all the other warlords - overconfidence. I suppose the difference is that despite that, Zsinj was almost as good as he thought he was, whereas Teradoc and the others weren't even close.

 

I'm inclined to think that sort of mad overconfidence is pretty much an innate part of being a warlord, except for maybe a few who operated in more isolated areas. After all, just because Admiral or Moff X feels no loyalty to the Empire, that doesn't mean he thinks he can successfully defy it. It would generally only be the ones who did that went warlord.

 

Thinking more on Zsinj: it's interesting to see that he made Serenno as his capital. Why? Because Serenno had also been a hotbed of anti-Republic organizations... and supported the Separatists as well. (Plus being a major interstellar mercantile hub). Maybe Zsinj courted the former Separatist holdings, which were abundant in the territory that he claimed...

 

I think Zsinj was going for the whole enchilada, but playing the long game. He wasn't trying to claim the whole galaxy right now -- but he was setting himself up to keep expanding and expanding, with the goal of usurping Imperial preeminence and driving the New Republic back. I don't think he was content with a balkanized galaxy so much as he understood it and was prepared to operate within it far better than most warlords. Only Kaine, who appears to have been genuinely content with a balkanized galaxy, grasped the geopolitical situation better, I think.

As for the capital, I seem to recall the EGTW establishing a little something about the interim capital. Noquivzor, where the Provisional Council met in Wedge's Gamble, may have been mentioned.

 

Well, possibly; but I'm thinking of a 'capital' moreso as a central location for the bureaucracy of the early NR government, where diplomatic meetings can be held with neutral states, and where the theoretical 'proto-Senate' might meet. The Provisional Council (which I need to go and check the Rogue Squadron comics about) seemed to meet wherever was strategically apt to do so.

True, they did lose the Negs, but they were not considered important in of themselves; the NR apparently never considered it a viable backdoor to Coruscant (or at least not as viable as Borleias).
Most of the 'city-worlds' seem to be under control of the main government; and there were plenty of loyalist holdings (Anaxes, Corulag, Tepasi). We'll see about the state one and half years later, but IIRC the NR doesn't really make much in the way of gains by the start of Rogue Squadron.

 

Yeah, but I think there was some mention establishing that it was the fully-functioning capital, and that's why we were seeing the Council there.

Though I might be confused by the fact that we did get the location of the mysterious Imperial post-Coruscant capital out of it.

 

Do you know where that might have been in the EGTW? I checked the sections dealing with the early NR and couldn't find any mention.

 

Then I'm probably just confused. If I had my copy with me, I'd look for it, but I don't.

 

If you go by the SPIN Declassified article:

http://www.starwars.com/news/the-star-wars-spy-game-spin-declassified

the Provisional Council "maintained a roving command post" - albeit with Yavin IV as SPIN's base.

 

I've got to save those articles before they vanish into the limbo of the Wayback Machine.

That also seems to be the case in the Rogue Squadron comics... which puts them similar to the Separatist Council, which seemed to roam about. But I was thinking more of the 'temporary' government digs - central location for the bureaucracy, diplomacy, the proto-Senate, that sort of thing... a de facto seat of government, prior to the recovery of Coruscant. Some of implied choices - like Endor or Mon Calamari - are too far from the thick of things to be effective. My hypothetical choices - Terminus and (later) Denon, are more centrally located to the NR area of control and sit at the crossroads of two major galactic trade routes.

But I digress, time to move on for...

Eighteen Months Later - 2.5 ABE

(Late because I misplaced my copy of the Essential Atlas)

What a difference a year and a half makes. While the NR really hasn't made inroads in the Core Worlds, they managed to consolidate their holdings elsewhere. The Eriadu Authority, the largest threat in the area, was broken up, Oplovis Sector was captured, and Lambda Sector isolated. The main Imperial holdings outside the core was driven back - worlds like Gyndine, Reytha and Denon all falling to the NR. The exception was the region 'north' of Coruscant, where a drive to Bilbringi failed (and later became the central region of the Empire after Coruscant's fall). The Rim spinward was mostly out of the NR's control (with exceptions around Mon Calamari space) - divided into neutral Hutt Space, the major warlord-doms of Zsinj and Teradoc, and the marginally Imperial-loyal Pentastar Alignment (plus some minor warlords).

The biggest problem, however, was that the vast majority of the Core was not in the NR's control... and a long and bloody campaign to take it over would be impractical and leave the fledgling New Republic weakened and open for a counter-assault. They needed to keep up their momentum, and make the final statement of legitimacy as the successor of the Old Republic - the taking of Coruscant.

New Republic holdings near the Core

Most of the territory south and east of the Core was in NR control. The shipyards at Fondor had joined the NR, a major coup; the city-world of Denon has just been taken after a brutal fight. Gyndine, Zeltros, Contruum and Commenor are also under control. The precarious holdings supporting Brentaal include Uviuy Exen blocking the Hydian Way from attacks by Zsinj and the Rimward Imperial forces, and the forward base at Noquivzor.

The Imperial Core

The Empire still holds the majority of the Core; the fortress world of Anaxes blocks any assault along the Perlemian, and the worlds of Corellia, Kuat, Humbarine and Rendili are all still firmly under Imperial control as well. Outside of the Core, there are isolated fortress worlds like Carida and Quellor in the Colonies, and holding positions on major lanes such as Exodeen on the Hydian and Bestine plus Kelada on the Corellian Trade Route. However, they have effectively abandoned the Negs region, the Deep Core warlords are refusing to assist them, and the connection to the Rimward holdings near the Pentastar Alignment is weak.

Thus the stage is set for Rogue Squadron!

 

There is the reference in the EGTW about "New Republic leadership" being on Mon Calamari and being protected by the Second Fleet, IIRC. Mon Cala makes most sense for the first provisional capital, if for no other reason that it being the best defended NR world and being surrounded by a sector that is loyal to the NR.

--Adm. Nick

 

The problem is that it makes a good place for a redoubt and a military base of operations, but it's a lousy central location for a government - it lies tucked within a pocket of the Outer Rim where any connection with the rest of the NR territory having to pass through the territory Rimward of Hutt Space.
And, if anything, the Bothans would mightily press for Bothan Space to be the temporary head of the New Republic... and if not them, certainly they'd fight against Mon Calamari being chosen.

 

So near as I can tell, at this point, the Empire proper is in control of the Core and much of the surrounding areas, while the Rim is... about evenly split between warlords and Rebels/New Republic?

 

I don't recall there being any special animosity from the Bothans towards the Mon Calamari - just Fey'lya towards Ackbar. Though I guess the distinction is somewhat academic.

I'm sure there's no personal bias involved in this answer.

 

BTW, for those interested in the geography of the Legends galaxy - take a look at the Atlas companion page.

 

One of the things I find most fascinating about the post-Endor era is the Empire's(including warlords) ability to sustain losses and survive. Over the years they suffer defeat after defeat, at the hands of both the New Republic and fellow Imperials, take devastating losses, yet they stay in the fight in some form or another. Their morale never seems to shatter. It really shows Palpatine created such a huge war machine that it took many years to grind it down to a size where it was finally no longer a serious threat.