#Galactic Civilizations

[whereserpentswalk]

Imagine if it's the far future, thousands of years after humanity has left the womb of earth. And you're exploring human space that your civilization hasn't had any contact with for thousands of years.

When you go to the main planet in the region, the first place they take you in the largest temple of their dominant religion. They hand you a copy of their holy book, a book for pre space travel earth, translated into a language they think you'll be able to read.

You want to say "this is fiction". Not just that you don't belive this, not just how you'd view any religion you don't personally follow as fiction, but this is fiction from ancient earth, you know when it was published, know that it was published as fiction.

From what it seems, the main holy text on this planet is Tolkiens Legendarium. Combined with a few pieces of missattributed fanfiction, a few passages added much later to bind them all into a religious text, and a few bad translations. Obviously out here the historical record of the book's publication is long gone, and all that remains is the text itself, something that seems like it always was, like the pages could be written by the spirits themselves.

When you first see what they're worshipping you want them to be barbaric in their practices, want their actions to be in line with the tangible falsehood of their God. But they aren't. They're the same as anyone else. They have the same religious debates almost every religion with such a structure would have. They have legitimate spiritual experiences, even with the Valar, gods you could prove in an instant were false.

Questions of the nature of the universe fill your mind the entire trip. You think of telling them what you know. You think it might do then some good if you tell them the truth about their holy book. You wonder if they'd even all stop believing it. Either way, you think to yourself that someone will tell you someday...

[devileaterjaek]

[2stepadmiral]

Something I love about Luke, Leia, and Han is that before the Skywalker twins reached their mid twenties, the trio shared about three braincells.

I mean, before the Death Star, Leia and Han probably had a respectable amount each (Leia needed to be smart as an up and coming Rebellion leader and Han definitely was clever as a smuggler and conman), but after that first argument in the detention hall in the middle of a desperate firefight that culminated in a dive into the trash compactor, some cosmic alignment of their inner natures mixed with the will of the Force resulted in both of them being brought down to Luke’s level.

Now, over the years, they all became much smarter and better at working together, but right from the death star onwards for the first few years, they shared about three brain cells. Individually, each of the three were in possession of maybe one at all times, and were decently competent on their own. Luke was a great pilot and field commander, Leia was a fine strategist and mission planner and inspirational leader, and Han, of course, was a very competent smooth talker and mechanic, as well as a brilliant pilot. But put them together in a room, or on a mission together, and usually one of them is going to end up with all three brain cells while the others are up on their shit.

Luke usually ends up with the brain cells when Han and Leia are bickering. The slightest thing sets them off, and suddenly Luke is the voice of reason, which she is very much not used to being.

“I thought you said this was a shortcut, not the front doorstep to an Imperial station for the sector.”

“Hey, I’ve slipped through this way a dozen times before, and never had any trouble. You were supposed to be monitoring the base.”

“Oh, sure, captain, blame me for you forgetting there is an imperial outpost over here.”

“ < exasperated sigh> Alright, Chewie, let’s power up the guns, and hope that these two don’t crash into a Star Destroyer.”

When Leia has all three, it’s usually because Han is on some reckless Corellian daredevil kick, and Luke is in adventure crazed teenager living his dream mode and is too focused on his x-wing or his squadron to see the big picture. Both mindsets are often at least indirectly because of the influence of Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu.

“Luke, stop fiddling with your X-wing, we have a scouting mission.

“One second, I’ve almost got the inertial dampeners just where I need them. Wedge and I were talking, and I think if we have these in sync during our next mission, we should be able to reduce drag by 1.56%.”

“You can finish when we get back.”

“ Wait, we’re not taking Rogue Squadron?”

“<sigh> what part of scouting mission did you miss? and where is Han?”

“I think he’s with Wedge and Tycho.“

“Oh no. What laser brain stunt did they dare him to try this time?“

“…Well, they might’ve said something about flying the falcon through the gap of a communication tower on an Imperial II Star Destroyer?”

“Kriffing Corellians. And you didn’t think to order Wedge and Tycho to stay away from Han?”

“…Han is good for squadron morale.”

“<sigh>”

And on the disturbingly frequent occasions when Han is in possession of the brain cells, it is, without fail, because Leia is in full devotion to the cause of the rebellion mode, and Luke is in strange-mystic-Jedi-shit-is-calling-me-and-I-must-answer-the-call mode.

“Hey, princess, are you still on that Agamar campaign?”

“The people of Agamar need our help, Han. I need to figure out a way to neutralize these Golan batteries.”

“Um, sure, OK, but we’re currently on a completely different mission, and I kind of need you to be ready to man the guns when we get there.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine when we get to Ord Mantell.”

“Ord Mantell? Uh, this is a mission to Taris.”

“What? oh, you’re right, sorry. I’ve just planned so many of our next few missions, I kind of forgot which one we’re on.”

“… When’s the last time you ate?”

“I’ll eat once I figured out how to bring down these Golan shields.”

“…Hey, Luke? Any chance you could talk her worshipfulness into having some rations? …Kid?”

“ what? oh, sorry, Han, I was reading this account on spirituality by Plo Koon, and I thought I might’ve heard Ben’s voice coming from the engine room.”

“…Ben Kenobi is dead, Luke.”

“I know, Han, but sometimes, I can hear his voice through the Force, guiding me, helping me. I’ve been trying to research why and have been reading these journals Ben had in his home on Tatooine, and…”

“Kid, when’s the last time you ate anything?”

“… now that you mention it, I’m not sure.”

“…”

Moments like these are frequent until maybe Hoth, and after Endor, these moments become very occasional and much more casual as the trio becomes closer and more accustomed to each other’s quirks.

“I thought you fixed the deflector oscillator before we left!”

“I did! Don’t blame me if the Alliance stuck me with substandard parts.”

“Save it for later, you two, or you’d better let me and Chewie take over while you sort it out. I have a Star Destroyers coming up on our bow, and Zsinj would love to hear that the Falcon was shot down.”

“Fair point, kid. We’ll discuss this later, princess.”

“Fine by me. I’ll try and get those shields dialed in.”

Or,

“Luke, I need you to come with us. I’m meeting with the Queen of Naboo, and I need you as an escort.”

“Sure, Leia. Let me just finish these adjustments and I’ll be ready to fly. Oh, no X-wing?”

“Not this time. Have you seen Han?”

“I think that he went to help Wedge and Tycho perform reflex tests on the new rogue squadron recruits. They should be down at the gorge.”

“With speed bikes, I presume?”

“I think so, but Han told me to tell you he would be careful. And wear a helmet.”

“Well, I guess that’s something.”

Or,

“Han, give me my data pad, I need to prepare for the meeting with the delegation from Ryloth.”

“The Twi’lek research can wait until you finish your supper, Leia. It’s in the gallery, I made plenty, and don’t come back until you’ve had at least two portions. You need to keep your strength up while you’re helping to build the New Republic. Mon Mothma can’t expect you to do everything without even having a proper meal every now and again.”

“… Can I continue while I eat?”

“Not until you’ve had at least one full plate. <sound of grabbing a holocron> You too, kid. You need to stop making me be the responsible one around here.”

“Han, you know that I can just grab that back from you with the Force?”

“Yeah, and what kind of message would that send to the galaxy about the new Jedi? They go around stealing holocrons instead of just eating their dinner like a normal person? Go on, have some food. I made some Karkan ribenes with tomo-spice.”

And right around the time they start figuring this dynamic out, they start to notice that Chewie is less irritated with the three of them. Little do they know, because, again, three brain cells shared between the three of them, that Chewbacca has been actively trying to loan them any of the hundreds of brain cells he’s accumulated over the course of his 200 year long Wookie life and has been furious with how unresponsive to his wisdom they have been.

[epically-epic-epicosity]

[star-wars-forever]

[pangeen]

undefined

“ Orbital “ // AstrooSpace

Music:  RÜFÜS DU SOL - Innerbloom (Radio Edit)

[noosphe-re]

I want to create a great Encyclopedia, containing within it all the knowledge humanity will need to rebuild itself in case the worst happens—an Encyclopedia Galactica, if you will.

Hari Seldon, Forward the Foundation, by Isaac Asimov

[ospreyeamon]

some heads are not fit to wear the crown

Houses Ulgo and Rist’s assassination of Price Gaul and Queen Silara Panteer is one of those decisions where – though murder is wrong, though it triggered great strife – I absolutely understand why they did it. Ulgo and Rist removed what they viewed as dangerously incompetent leadership because they believed it was necessary to protect Alderaan.

The Galactic Republic agreed to sign the Treaty of Coruscant because they lost the Great Galactic War. The Imperial fleet had succeeded in occupying Coruscant’s skies, giving them the ability to launch an orbital bombardment at will, while the Republic lacked the means to dislodge them. Imperial troops had taken the Galactic Senate hostage and killed the Supreme Chancellor. Because the Empire had already been winning the war even before they seized the capital to use as a bargaining chip, the Sith Emperor was the one to set the terms of the frosty peace.

The Treaty of Coruscant was a shockingly good deal for the Republic under the circumstances (which is why many in the Empire were so resentful of it). The only territory the Empire demanded they cede which the Empire had not already occupied or was actively contesting was seven uninhabited star systems, when the Republic did not expect to be able to hold most of those fronts. The Empire had Republic representatives followed around by droids to monitor their adherence to the Treaty, but did not demand any Republic citizens be handed over to stand trial in the Empire for crimes real or invented. Crucially, Empire set no caps on the Republic’s ship building or military expenditure and extracted no economic reparations.

Those like Gaul Panteer, Leontyne Saresh and Elin Garza who publicly decried the Treaty, saying that the Republic should have kept fighting rather than accept peace with the Empire, were in denial about the political reality of the situation. At that time, the Republic had no prospect of being able to swing the tide of the war to put themselves in a stronger position in the peace negotiations. If the Republic had refused to ratify the Treaty the Empire could have levelled its capital, killing billions and decapitating institutions like the SIS headquartered on the planet. The only meaningful blow the Republic was dealt by the Treaty of Coruscant was to its pride.

Bouris Ulgo hated the Sith Empire, but he wasn’t an idiot. The Treaty of Coruscant, humiliating though it may have been, gave the Republic the perfect opportunity to rearm itself in the breathing space provided by the Cold War. The Republic was bigger than the Empire – bigger economy, bigger population – so given the opportunity they could out produce and out recruit the Empire. If the Republic was patient, then they could have their vengeance and victory.

But being protected by the Treaty of Coruscant long enough to rearm required remaining part of the Galactic Republic, because the Empire made the Treaty with the Republic. The moment Alderaan seceded, it was no longer protected by the Empire’s promise to withdraw, and the Imperial Military could launch a second invasion without breaking the Treaty. And why wouldn’t the Sith Empire invade Alderaan? What else did all their forces ordered to break off the attacks on Coruscant and other Republic worlds have to do? Gaul Panteer’s very loud and public removal Alderaan from the Republic must have looked like an open invitation for the Empire to come and conquer some beautiful new camping sites.

And for what? Was Gaul Panteer arrogant enough to believe Alderaan so important that he could manipulate the Republic into abandoning the Treaty of Coruscant? Was he so myopic that he imagined he could sit on Alderaan feeling self-righteous with no consequences he hadn’t considered in the heat of the moment? Did he think that he could leverage Alderaan’s status as a Core Founder to extract concessions from the Republic to undo the cessation and stop opposing the Treaty – is that what his secret negotiations with the Republic were about?

Declaring the secession was an act of short-sighted rage. Failing to walk it back was self-absorbed irresponsibly. He placed his people in the firing line of a second invasion without so much as a warning, let alone a consultation.

Gaul Panteer was Alderaan’s senator, not Alderaan’s head of state. He wasn’t the elected monarch, just the reigning Queen’s heir. The decision to take Alderaan out of the Republic never should have been his to make; the question should have been decided by Queen Silara and the aristocratic assembly at the Elysium (and, if Alderaan were actually a democracy during this period, a general referendum).

This raises the question of why Queen Silara didn’t countermand her son’s declaration of secession. Maybe Gaul inherited his lack of strategic acumen from Silara. Maybe she disagreed with the secession, but decided that it was more important to avoid undermining the son she had appointed senator than to keep Alderaan in the Republic; that risk of House Panteer losing face took precedence over the risk of the planet being invaded. Or maybe Queen Silara, who suddenly fell ill upon her son’s return from Coruscant, lost control over the situation because Gaul took advantage of her poor health to usurp her authority.

Whatever the reasons, House Panteer was not doing a good job of fulfilling one of the most ancient traditional functions of any monarchy: making sure your lands won’t be conquered by an external power. Alderaan’s other great noble houses were not doing a good job of encouraging House Panteer to take their job more seriously. Probably the Elysium was already bogged down in the gridlock which would later prevent them from electing Queen Silara’s successor.

Bouris Ulgo was the head of the Alderaani military, its planetary defence force. It was his job to protect Alderaan from invasion. Gaul Panteer had made that job impossible. House Rist, infamous as spies as well as assassins, agreed with his assessment. Possibly the Rists had gotten wind of the Imperial Diplomatic Services overtures to House Thul.

Bouris Ulgo was a soldier, who had killed many times before in defence of his homeworld. Everyone and their pet Thranta on Alderaan seems to know the Rists are assassins; the nobility tolerating a house of assassins among their number implies a tactic approval of the occasional convenient murder.

To protect Alderaan, Ulgo and Rist decided, Gaul and Silara Panteer had to die. Only by killing them could they instigate the election of a new monarch – a monarch who would return Alderaan to the safety of the Republic before the Empire could take advantage.

According to his lore entry, Bouris Ulgo didn’t return to Alderaan after the Treaty with any ambitions of becoming king. I suspect he came back to see to the wellbeing of his lands and his vassals as he hadn’t been able to after the Battle of Alderaan, to keep an experienced eye on the planet’s defences during Panteer’s foolishness, expecting to soon leave again to assist in the Republic’s preparations for the anticipated second war. While some sources say he intended to usurp House Panteer, if that were true it would have made far more sense from him to announce the imposition of martial law and declare himself king immediately after the Panteers’ assassination while loudly denouncing the murders as obviously the work of the Sith Empire, not wait until it was clear that the election of Queen Silara’s successor had ground to a holt because of the assembly’s bickering and House Thul had appeared, plainly planning on letting the Empire in by the back door.

To me, Bouris Ulgo is a deeply tragic figure because his assessment that he alone of the heads of the Great Houses cared more for the good of Alderaan than petty politics was correct. Unfortunately, he was a military man with a military mindset who lacked the skill at political manipulation to achieve his desired goal of returning Alderaan to the Republic, falling back to military tactics inappropriate to the problem he was attempting to fix out of desperation. It feels unfair that Ulgo should be saddled with blame for the civil war over Panteer, when Gaul Panteer’s decision to secede was the pivotal domino in the chain of events which resulted in Alderaan becoming the stage for an Imperial-Republic proxy war.

It really says something about House Panteer that in their planetary missions they accept both factions’ solicitations of alliance and can be swayed to either side. Organa or Thul, Republic or Empire, Jedi or Sith – one is as good as the other if vengeance on Bouris Ulgo will be reaped.

Gaul Panteer claimed such outrage that the Republic conceded to a frankly beneficial peace with the Sith Empire that he took Alderaan out of the Republic, drastically increasing the odds the Sith Empire would launch another attack on the planet. The surviving members of House Panteer claim such outrage that the heads of their house were assassinated because they put the planet in incredible danger that they are willing to support the Thul puppets of that same Sith Empire Gaul Panteer deemed it unacceptable to compromise with, even at the cost of billions of lives. House Panteer’s effective foreign policy is that the last attacker to have assaulted Castle Panteer is the devil who must be destroyed, regardless of the potential cost to Alderaan. Truly, some heads are not fit to wear the crown.

[femsanzo291]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Peter Nureyev & Jet Sikuliaq Characters: Peter Nureyev, Jet Sikuliaq, Ruby 7 (Penumbra Podcast) Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, First Meetings, Injury, Minor Injuries, Mentioned Slip Jackson, Galactic Civil War, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Military Series: Part 2 of Juno Steel and the War AU Summary:

Peter Nureyev knew he was lucky to be alive, but he never thought that having been shot while part of the Outer Rim military would have lead to him meeting one of his idols.

[mann-walter]

there remained under the New Republic groups who idolized the Imperial aesthetic and tried to present a “clean” version of the Imperial military, which championed their training and military effectiveness while ignoring their war crimes and atrocities. This should not be allowed to stand unopposed.

-The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire (2024)

Holy shit, we got Wehraboos in the GFFA, LOL.

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002, George Lucas)

07/07/2024

[2stepadmiral]

Under things the EU did better than Disney for $300, we have portrayal of the Empire.

In Disney Star Wars, the Empire is simply an exaggerated portrayal of the Third Reich. Most everyone in the Empire is shown to be fanatically loyal to the regime, and even when their motives are based in relatable reasons, like preserving order or stability following the turbulence of the Clone Wars, are usually portrayed in a fanatical light that seems excessive. Plus, the utter incompetence of most every trooper and officer in Rebels makes the Empire feel bloated and often like a parody.

In the EU, there was much more nuance to the Empire. Obviously, Palpatine, Tarkin, Isard, and other higher ups who are decidedly evil, and there are sadistic troops and officers spread throughout the ranks, but there are honorable individuals as well, and after the death of Palpatine and his immediate successors, the more noble members of the Imperial military become prominent.

Beginning especially during Thrawn’s campaign, when merit and creativity were rewarded, respectful decorum towards opponents was the order of the day, and incompetence, violent excesses, or conduct unbecoming of an officer were never tolerated, the Gilad Pellaeons of the military had a chance to shine and become the rule rather than the exception. Sure, Pellaeon himself took some more time after Thrawn to fully shake off some of the more violent tendencies of Imperial Officers and the anti-alien bias, but by the time he was supreme commander of the Empire, he had decidedly evolved into a truly good man and leader, the exact one that the Empire needed to lead it from being the absolute image of totalitarian tyranny to a well integrated society that embraced the same diversity of the New Republic and was just a bit more structured.

And don’t even get me started on the competence. It was clearly established that Stormtroopers were elite soldiers, and that their failures in the OT were due to direct orders not to kill (Death Star and Bespin) or due to being surprised and overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers (Endor). There was one novel by Timothy Zahn, Survivor’s Quest, where two 501st stormtroopers, worn down by the hundreds of adversaries they had killed, were reinforced by the arrival of two of fresh troops, and the two unharmed and non-weary troops completely finished the remaining few hundred.

Summed up, the Empire had a more complex portrayal in the EU than simply getting beaten and reformed as the even more radical second Empire, and that made the story more interesting. It’s a shame that we aren’t getting that now.

[short-wooloo]

The "Jedi no fight in war because that's wroooong" crowd never seem to have anything to say about original trilogy era Jedi fighting in the galactic civil war

"But that's different!" They say

Is it?

The reasons for the Jedi to fight in clone wars are the same as the reasons to fight in the galactic civil war

The separatists: are lead by sith, are an oppressive tyrannical regime, committed multiple genocides/atrocities, and intended to wipe out the Jedi

The empire: are lead by sith, are an oppressive tyrannical regime, committed multiple genocides/atrocities, and intended to wipe out the Jedi

The only thing that makes the empire worse than the separatists is that they're a human supremacist regime

(Also it's never a good idea to sit out a conflict where one side wants your culture/group dead, your neutrality will not save you, it will in fact get you killed)

[star-wars-forever]

"Mandatory Retirement"

by John Nadeau

[king-of-the-dots]

what game from my absolutely desolate steam library should I play on stream so people can watch me fail at it

anyway I'm probably gonna stream something because I'm unemployed and have nothing better to do

[devileaterjaek]