The Pius Dea Crusades and the Atlas

I quite enjoyed looking at Revan's Sith Empire in the Atlas and mapping the conflict, so I thought I'd have a stab with the Pius Dea Crusades, too.

[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/a/a6/GalacticExplorations.jpg]

I started with the Galactic Explorations map on page 121, which shows the systems which were explored in the period 15,000 BBY to 8,000 BBY in yellow. I then popped to the index, and looked up the Ordnance/Regional Depots, as these were established during this era. It was possible to posit, by looking at which Ord systems were within the yellow on the map, and those that were not, this indicating which depots were established but did not hold - that were abandoned by the Old Republic because of the war, and notably there were 'territorial losses' in this engagement.

It struck me as quite unlikely that the Republic in subsequent millenniums would resurrect the title of Ord what with its connotations, and only Ord Antalaha has an entry which suggests it was discovered late - i.e. during the Clone Wars - and even that entry has continuity issues, and it is in the Colonies so I'll assume it's a rediscovery.

Obviously, this is extreme guesswork in one regard, because the Crusades lasted a millennium and were interspersed with 'hot' and 'cold' wars.

Nonetheless, the Crusades can be distilled into five distinct fronts.

The Hutt Front

Ord Wylan Oktos Mid Rim R-12
Ord Dycoll Lannik Wilds Mid Rim R-13
Ord Pardron Dufilvian Mid Rim R-15
Ord Segra Dufilvian Mid Rim Q-15
Ord Klina Klina Outer Rim Territories S-13
Ord Vaxal Callia Inner Rim N-13

I place this first if only because it seems that the war opened with anti-Hutt action, as a pretext for using more vicious anti-alien assaults later on. The war seems to start with a border of posts at Ord Pardron and Ord Dycoll, fencing off the rim of the Republic, followed by strides into Hutt territory at Ord Wylan and Ord Klina, which penetrate fairly deep into the Outer Rim.

Later in the conflict further coreward depots emerge, perhaps representing territorial losses to the Hutts, such as Ord Segra and Ord Vaxal, or the secession of systems such as Ando and Bothawui, with their nonhuman population. There are also likely to be nonhuman issues up the Corellian Run, what with Falleen, Rodia and Tynna all being along this route, which may explain why the Republic also were forced to found the fortress of Ord Vaxal near Spirana - the Republic was routed that far at one point.

It is worth noting the cataclysm of Zarracina II, located in O-14, which took place circa 11,660 BBY. This is three centuries into the crusades and is deep within Republic territory (as defined in orange), and represents a hardening of Republic power as the border becomes more porous - the simple discovery of a new alien species sees them obliterated, and they flee rimward.

Overall it is possible to posit that the Republic made advances rimward, before being routed, and then, inevitably, the situation was smoothed over and the Hutts and many of the species in the area either reaffirmed their membership or rejoined, after Pius Dea were defeated. I imagine, however, that the loss of territory all the way to Spirana would have placed a severe damper upon the campaigns near Kerkoidia, as noted later on, resulting in a more defensive act near Darknell.

The Tion Campaign

Ord Bueri Nilgaard Outer Rim Territories S-5
Ord Torrenze Sertar Outer Rim Territories S-5
Ord Zat Jospro Outer Rim Territories S-7
Ord Namurt Tharin Outer Rim Territories S-8

With the Tion Cluster so far away from Coruscant, the Republic seeks to fortify their gains and push against the Hutts from this direction. On the south flank, depots lead south from the Tion to Ord Namurt, securing territory as far south as Boonta. These represent annexations, and it is likely that the ability of the Republic to reinforce the Tion via the Perlemian prevented the catastrophe in the Northern Dependencies that would follow, and allowed them to make so much headway specifically against the Hutts.

 

This is aimed at CeiranHarmony, as well:

That's a very good point, in that it has been described as an internal 'inquisition' as many times as an external crusade. But as the Atlas made reference to territorial losses specifically, and those were the only ones I could imply using the Ord system, I assumed it took place here - though as noted Kinyen ends up on the wrong side of the Ord line, ditto Ando, Bothawui and so forth on the Corellian Run, so the civil war could have taken place there.

I imagine that Corellia and the nearby systems would have represented a major problem with the Drall, Selonians, Nosaurians and Froz all being in close proximity, severing the Corellian Run and causing no end of problems. Alsakan wouldn't have been able to help itself, either, I imagine, resulting in conflict in the Colonies too.

I found Ord Cestus to be an oddity, as well. We were told Cestus joined the Republic circa 321 BBY, but then we have the map showing it in yellow showing it thoroughly explored in the Pius Dea era, which implies it was held onto, and then Ord Cestus is a lynchpin of rimward territory during all the following maps - this sells the idea that the Republic lost the membership of Ord Cestus and it rejoined at a much later date.

I wouldn't be surprised if in some regions it did take seven centuries to restore the Republics control of systems it had formerly held in 2000 BBY, and that would also explain the rise of the Mandalorians by 750 BBY as they are free to conquer systems beyond Republic reach (as they did post-4000 BBY).

A lot of guesswork, but good fun nonetheless, but thank you nonetheless.

And I'll be eagerly looking forward to that. Are we likely to have the "famous encounter" that ends Pius Dea detailed or is that to be left open for future works?

 

Tinker Tailor Soldier actually details the impeachment of the previous Chancellor that leads to Constipex rising in broad strokes, but its detailed enough.