#SoroSuub Corporation

[sw5w]

...Our People...

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 02:06:15

[klmwrites]

As promised, here is the 1st of 2 deleted scenes from my now completed fanfic: When Generation X met Z! Pls enjoy ☺️

2nd deleted scene

DELETED SCENE #1: The Talk (original draft) - from When Generation X met Z

With a grimace on his face, Count Dooku stepped off his ship and held in his breath in a poor attempt to not breathe the smog that choked the breathable air of the planet that was Sullust.  Amongst the sea of smog stood a petite figure, who clearly had been expectant of his arrival. 

“I am representative Kap Klyp of the Sorosuub Corporation. We are so pleased that you could join us to continue the contract negotiations in person.”

“As am I, Representative.” The lie slipped through his teeth as easily as breathing. An experienced diplomat in his own right, Dooku knew what was coming next: a substandard tour of the city in which the representative would attempt to sell Sullust as the ideal planet in which Serenno could become long term trading partners with. If he had his way, he would march straight into the corporation's office, make them sign the piece of paper and leave. But unfortunately for him, he wasn’t here solely on Serennian business. His Master, Darth Sidious, had instructed him to seek out a group of rebel Syndicates whose interests, he believed, aligned with theirs. Even if they didn’t align he was given the free hand to make it so.

Just as Dooku predicted, the tour in itself was lacklustre and generic. Dooku’s mind mulled on the various possibilities of where the Syndicate could be hiding as his host droned on about the metalworks Sullust had to offer that could complement Serennian Silver. Dooku almost pitied the representative - he was nothing but a glorified salesman in these circumstances. 

From the corner of his eye Dooku noticed a shadow not too far away from his person. He was being followed, ever since he and the representative had stepped foot into the town square. The person who was tailing them was skilled in their own right, but this was Count Dooku, former master Jedi that they were up against. They never stood a chance. The shadow now moved abruptly, causing Dooku’s hand to twitch slightly. He could not draw his sabre here - in an environment that was so exposed. His keen eyes now roved along his peripheral vision, wondering where the shadowed figure would end up next. Normally, he enjoyed the game of cat and mouse, but not when he was at the disadvantage. 

A movement flickered on his left side, and it was approaching rapidly. Dooku's right hand curled slight, bracing himself to draw his blade -

“Master Dooku? It is you!”

Dooku took a double take, surprise etched onto his face. A Togorian Jedi? This was unexpected. At this revelation, Dooku relaxed and allowed himself to focus entirely on the conversation at hand. As such he failed to notice the figure that was in the same direction, behind a pillar not far away from the group eyeing his every move before disappearing into the darkness once more.

.

.

.

.

With a huff, Dooku walked away from the warehouse which was now the resting place to several dozen corpses, including that of the Togorian Jedi Jak’Zin. He was pleased with himself - he had managed to kill two birds in one stone, the two birds in question being subjugating the syndicate and making sure that the Jedi Order had one less member. 

Walking back to his quarters, the Count of Serenno passed by what looked to be an upscale bar, and decided that after all his hard work, he deserved a drink. The location did not disappoint: soft jazz music greeted his ears as he walked past the clientele - all men and women from the upper class. He slid into an empty booth and ordered his drink: whisky neat. As soon as the waiter walked away he noticed a figure walk in his direction and take a seat at the booth behind his.

Dooku sighed. He started questioning why the force had chosen on this very day to make his accomplishments a bitter pill to swallow. 

“Isn’t it lonely sitting by yourself there?” He now asked, making sure his voice was loud enough for the person behind him to hear. “It just so happens I’m nor expecting anyone either.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not here for you.” the figure hissed back. “I actually have a genuine appointment. Now keep quiet, here he comes.”

Another figure approaches that booth. After an exchange of pleasantries the two figures got down to business. They were speaking in a language Dooku did not understand, and after a few minutes of trying to decipher he decided to concede defeat and allowed the pair their privacy by deliberately tuning out their conversation in favour of listening to the repertoire of music the pianist had to offer. The next time Dooku’s attention was on that booth was when the distinct sound of a body slumping against the table could be heard, followed by the sound of the waiter being hailed over. The figure claimed that their companion had drunk too much, and was unsure on what they should do next. After apologising profusely to the poor waiter who had to carry the man into the sick room and giving him a generous tip, the figure now made their way to Dooku’s booth and slid in the space opposite him. 

“Hello Dooku.” the figure’s tone of voice had now completely changed - from sweet to that of a tired and jaded individual.

“Lokun.” Dooku acknowledged, taking a sip of his drink. “What brings you here to Sullust?”

“Private business for the Council. I’m sure you understand.” Dooku stiffened involuntarily at her choice of words. Lokun laughed in response. “I’m sure you wouldn’t pull the same trick twice, and even if you did I’m sure I wouldn’t fall for it - don’t want to end up like poor Jak’Zin, would I?” 

“Your apathetic response to your colleague’s death is concerning.” Dooku deliberately chose not to directly respond to the question.

“Says the man who lured the Jedi into doing your dirty work before snuffing him out as soon as he had fulfilled his purpose.” Lokun laughed once more, bitterly this time. “I have lost so many colleagues in this line of work to even give a shit anymore, frankly. One death is a tragedy; many is simply a statistic.”

“You are clearly not coping well.” Dooku responded sternly. “Pull yourself out of the field, and go see a psychiatrist.”

“If it’s not me, then it's another Jedi. What difference does it make in the end?”

“The difference being that I am concerned for your wellbeing. The Order kept pushing you, even after Katri’s death. You were not given any proper time to grieve and cope with your sudden change of circumstances. Instead you have been thrown hastily into knighthood and out to do their bidding that’s where you have been ever since. You were not even given the opportunity to mentor a padawan of your own, were you not?”

Lokun looked down. “No. It doesn't matter, because I never wanted any. Why do you care?” the woman now huffed, one eyebrow raised stubbornly. Dooku resisted the urge to reach over and shake the woman to her senses. For all her brilliance, she was indeed rather idiotic when it came to the emotional quotient. 

“You know why.” Though his tone of voice conveyed a sense of confidence and absolution in his convictions, the truth is he didn't have a proper answer. Why her indeed? It was the one question that reappeared time and time again in the recesses of his mind. Though he prided himself as being an individual who deals with adversity head on,  this was the one question in which for the past 10+ years since knowing her he never committed to answering.

“Spare me the bullshit.” Lokun spat through gritted teeth. “Don’t think you can pull off that same trick you did with Jaz’kin in order to get him to reveal information to you. I know you too well to fall for that.”

“And I’m not asking you for any. I’m just suggesting that whatever you need to do here, finish it up and get back to Coruscant with haste. Step down from your role as espionage agent and take on a padawan.” Dooku now looked towards his former student. “You have always been a natural with the younglings. You will make a better teacher than I ever had been.” the last sentence was muttered softly mostly to himself, almost like a confession. 

Lokun now exhaled sharply from her nostrils and the duo fell into an awkward silence, each deep in their own thoughts. After a few minutes the Jedi got up to leave.

“What about the man in the back? What are you going to do about him?”

The woman turned around and simply smiled, the dim lighting of the bar giving her heavily made-up face an eerie undertone.

“Nothing. He died 5 minutes ago.”

[oh-no-eu-didnt]

Nien Nunb was a Sullustan smuggler who eventually fell into service with the Rebel Alliance. A successful spacer, Nunb started working illegally against the SoroSuub Corporation after their Imperial takeover. After officially joining the Rebellion to effect further change, Nunb was chosen by the illustrious Lando Calrissian to serve as his copilot during the Battle of Endor.

Source: The New Essential Guide to Characters (Art: Michael Sutfin; 2002)

First Appearance: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi novel (1983)

Read more on Wookieepedia.

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Sarkan

Sarka was a Mid Rim planet and the homeworld of the Sarkan species.

Sarkans were noted for the wealth of their society, thanks to the mineral riches of their home world. Sarka was the only known source of nova rubies, a gemstone common on Sarka but impossible to find on any other known world. Sarkans often wore loose robes decorated with gemstones. Though valued by non-Sarkan "barbarians", Sarkans actually considered the gems to be mostly useless.

Sarkans were also noted for their excruciatingly complex and protracted protocol rituals. For example, when greeting an ambassador, it was necessary to begin with a greeting in one of the five major Sarkan languages. This greeting had to include the greeter's life story, an account of all of the battles the greeter had won, the value and number of gems mined, and all of the mates acquired in the greeter's life. If a greeting took less than one full hour, the ambassador would either take it as an insult (thinking the greeter considered the ambassador not worth a proper greeting) or as proof that the greeter was unimportant and could be ignored. Diplomatic greetings could take up to eight hours. After the greetings came ritual dances, which could themselves take three hours. Though tailless species were excused this duty, any breach in the protocol of the dance by someone with a tail would be taken as a flagrant insult. Those who violated the protocols of the greetings or of the dances would be removed from an ambassador's presence, sometimes violently.

Sarkan culture originally revolved around a caste structure. As a hold-over of this time, Sarkans in later years almost always traveled in groups of three or more. Lone Sarkans were usually outcasts from Sarkan culture, exiled for some offense committed on Sarka.

Sarkans valued the natural beauty of their homeworld, especially its dense jungles and its bejewelled mountains. Their few cities were located in complex cave systems, usually near underground hot springs to keep the cold-blooded Sarkans warm at night. These cave cities, while apparently crude at first glance, contained all forms of modern luxuries and amenities. The Sarkan cave networks were also connected to their rich gem mines.

When the Galactic Empire was in power, the Sarkans reluctantly relaxed their protocol requirements when dealing with Humans and while negotiating with corporations with strong Imperial connections. This changed after the Sarkans learned of Palpatine's death. Refusing to countenance any further insults, they quickly reverted to their old standards. In one incident, they surprised a representative from SoroSuub by demanding a formal greeting, and cut off trade relations with SoroSuub for several years when their demands were not met. After the fall of the Galactic Empire, the wealthy Sarkans became one of the more powerful factions in the New Republic. During the Thrawn campaign, the New Republic and the Sarkans were negotiating a shipping treaty. In return for access to Sarkan trade, the Sarkans hoped to have the Republic establish a military presence on Sarka. By 19 ABY, Sarkan traders were seen as far from Sarka as Iphigin in the Core Worlds.

Sarkans, a tall species, with sharp fangs, thick scaly skins, and small claws on their fingers. The Sarkans' yellow eyes gave them excellent night vision. They were a cold-blooded species, who could die in less than twenty minutes if exposed to freezing temperatures.

Sarkan claws were not their most effective natural weapon — instead, trained Sarkan martial artists whipped or bludgeoned their opponents with their thick, muscular tails. Sarkans varnished and painted their claws for decorative purposes.

Sarkans were apparently related to the Barabels, though no conclusive genetic links were known.

Sarkans were a tall species, often over 2 meters or 6.6 feet tall.

Sarkans age at the following stages:

1 - 2 Child

3 - 18 Young Adult

19 - 50 Adult

51 - 79 Middle Age

80 - 95 Old

Examples of Names: B'neer, Demesk, Fisuran, Ganis, Jilieren, Melas, Siran, Sonus, Tybellor, U'vala.

Languages: Sarkese, the native language of the Sarkan species. It was a complex language that used subtle body gestures as well as sounds.

Most Sarkans, specially diplomats and scouts, were fluent in both Sarkese and Basic, although they were only literate in their own language.

[dettiot]

News of the Galaxy 2

Announcer: Welcome to Face the Galaxy, the weekly current-affairs show. Today, a very special panel will debate the Military Creation Act. Now here’s your host, B’ob Sch-Ieff-Er. 

B’OB SCH-IEFF-ER: For nearly two years, the galaxy has been gripped by one question: will the Republic create its own army? With the Separatist Crisis growing increasingly dire, do we finally have to concede that planetary forces and the Jedi are unable to protect us? Now that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has set a vote on the Military Creation Act, soon these questions and more will be answered. But who will speak to the impact upon the Republic’s soul? That’s why we have a very special panel for you tonight. 

Camera: [shows two humans, a Rodian, and an Ithorian sitting in chairs on either side of B’ob Sch-Ieff-Er.]

B’OB SCH-IEFF-ER: To my left, we have Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan and Senator Onocanda Farr of Rodia, speaking in support of the Military Creation Act. On my right, speaking against the proposed bill, we’re joined by Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo and Senator Tendau Bendon of Ithor. Welcome, Senators. 

ORGANA: Wonderful to be here, B’ob. Thank you for this opportunity. 

B’OB SCH-IEFF-ER: Right now you face an opportunity unknown in our history. Not in anyone’s living history--not even Master Yoda, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, I suspect. Senator Organa, could you and Senator Farr tell us why you support the Military Creation Act?

FARR: It’s very simple. I believe that there is no possibility for negotiation, for diplomacy, with the Separatists. Count Dooku and his hordes of droids could crush the galaxy under their boots, and unfortunately, the Senate and the Chancellor keep to the same tactics that have failed before. The Jedi are not enough to beat back the Separatists--it’s time for the Republic to use arms to fight back. 

ORGANA: [eyes Farr, looking a bit disturbed by his militaristic attitude] Although I don’t believe the time for diplomacy is fully past, I do feel that at this point, the only way to bring the Separatists back to the bargaining table is at blaster point. And it’s not fitting for the Jedi alone to fight a war for us. It will take the entire Republic, pulling together, to confront the Separatists. 

B’OB SCH-IEFF-ER: [tilts his head to one side] Valid points. Senators Bendon and Amidala, your thoughts?

BENDON: I do not agree with my esteemed colleagues that it is time for military action. Up until now, this crisis has been relatively peaceful. But if we vote to create an army, make no mistake--it will plunge the galaxy into warfare. And that is not something to be entered into lightly. 

AMIDALA: [leans forward, her eyes snapping with anger] Violence cannot be met with violence! 

FARR: A naive perspective!

B’OB SCH-IEFF-ER: Please, Senator Farr, allow Senator Amidala to finish. 

FARR: [swallows and then nods his head] My apologies, Senator Amidala. 

AMIDALA: [takes a deep breath] Thank you, Master Sch-Ieff-Er. Perhaps my perspective is naive, Senator Farr, but I saw what happened when my planet was invaded. I thought that we needed protection, a strong defense against the Trade Federation. Yet we lost a part of ourselves during that conflict. A part that I do not believe we can ever recover. And if the Republic creates its own army, the same will happen to the entire galaxy. 

ORGANA: But we cannot deny that action must be taken against the Separatists. 

AMIDALA: We must protect those who are attacked, of course. But if a planet wishes to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems and follows the procedures in the Galactic Constitution, and the CIS welcomes them peacefully, how can the Republic interfere?

FARR: So you would have planets like Alderaan or Corellia or Naboo secede from the Republic, Senator Amidala? 

AMIDALA: I don’t wish any planet to leave the Republic. But the CIS is offering something that many planets are not receiving from the Republic. We would be better served by investing the money spent on an army into social programs to lift up the planets who are most attracted to the CIS.

FARR: [sounding outraged] Bribery, you mean!

BENDON: I think of it more as promoting equality. Why do we allow the Core Worlds and the Colonies to have such a high standard of living, while on the Outer Rim, lawlessness and violence persist? 

AMIDALA: Exactly. On planets like Tatooine, slavery still exists, despite every law against the practice. Why do we allow it to continue? Either we are all full members of the Republic, or we are not. No in-between. 

B’OB SCH-IEFF-ER: Bringing this back to the question of the Military Creation Act . . . 

BENDON: Yes. Another point I would like to make is that any army created will be soldiers only. We will still need generals to lead them. And I do not like the idea of Jedi pressed into service to lead men into battle. It is not meant for them.

ORGANA: Jedi are peacekeepers who carry lightsabers. That is a contradiction, you must agree, Senator Bendon.

BENDON: True, I suppose. Yet their nature is to be sensitive to the Force, to the life force that surrounds them. 

ORGANA: And you believe that exposing them to the death and destruction of war would . . . ?

BENDON: [looks at Organa] Create Jedi at risk of falling to the Dark Side. 

AMIDALA: [looks very disturbed and worried]

FARR: With all due respect to all of you, I believe you are worrying more about the long-term problems than our current short-term situation. The Separatists are gaining more power every day. Chancellor Palpatine abased himself, pleading with Count Dooku to establish peace talks, for naught. We cannot continue to be the floor mat the Separatists walk all over. 

B’OB SCH-IEFF-ER: Our time is nearly up. Any last words?

ORGANA: It is unfortunate that we’ve come to this point, yet I don’t see any other options. But I will continue to hope for peace, by any means necessary. 

AMIDALA: [clasps her hands together in her lap] We all want peace. So forming an army to achieve it seems like another contradiction. One we should not accept. 

B’OB SCH-IEFF-ER: Thank you to my guests, Senators Farr, Organa, Amidala and Bendon. Coming up next, our business round-up, highlighting the SoroSuub Corporation. 

End.

[gffa]

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS is that we really don’t know how sincere Dooku is and I would doubt that even Dooku himself knows how sincere he is at this point. Is he genuine about wanting to recruit Jak’zin to their cause, is there something in Dooku that still wants to save another Jedi, as he couldn’t save Qui-Gon?  Or was it just a tool that he wanted?  He seems to have been sincere at least about contemplating the idea of bringing in another Jedi, but he also murders Jak’zin in the back and kicks his corpse in a show of disdain--how serious could he have been about wanting to recruit him if he views him with such offense? It’s designed to bring to mind the scene from Attack of the Clones where Dooku tries to recruit Obi-Wan, by saying that there’s a Sith Lord in control of the Senate, that Obi-Wan should join him.  Is he serious about that?  He’s telling the truth, but how genuine is Dooku’s offer?  He’s at the point where he’s ready to go to war with the Republic, ready to launch an army against them, ready to kill anyone who stands in his way, ready to enslave entire planets for his own benefit.  If Obi-Wan hadn’t gotten away, would he have stood over his grand-apprentice’s corpse, kicked the body, and said, “Pity.” in the same exact tone? The post-script of this issue brings up these very issues:

We have no idea if Dooku was even being sincere about offering to let Obi-Wan join him or if he was just toying with him for ulterior motives.  Dooku left the Jedi before Qui-Gon’s death, that wasn’t part of his reasoning or motivation, but how much did Qui-Gon’s death affect him or catalyze the things that were already brewing in him? The thing that I love about Dooku’s character is that he’s too complicated and murky to really tell for sure.  In many ways, he is like Anakin Skywalker in that sense, that he does these incredibly terrible things, that he doesn’t actually hold to the ideals he supposedly touts, that he believes the ends justify the means, no matter what, that he’ll go all the way into monstrous acts for what he wants, to shape the galaxy into what he believes it should be. But he’s also like Anakin in that I believe his affection for Qui-Gon was sincere, that his guilt about wondering if he might have saved him, had he been there, are genuine.  That he would have had Obi-Wan join him, if Obi-Wan had agreed to do it exactly Dooku’s way.  But that he’s also like Anakin in that, when these things don’t go his way, when Obi-Wan doesn’t believe him (despite that Obi-Wan has incredibly good reason to not believe him!), when Jak’zin sees his red lightsaber, even probably had Qui-Gon refused to join him, he doesn’t hold to that affection and would kill them without more than a few whispers of quiet regret. His entire act in front of Jak’zin in this issue is made explicitly clear--he’s manipulating him to lead Dooku to the Kaldana Syndicate, his kind face and sympathetic moue are contrasted against the cold thoughts in his head and his final actions towards Jak’zin.  Everything about Dooku in this comic is thrown into shadow, he uses Qui-Gon’s memory to bring up the idea that, well, I couldn’t help my former Padawan, perhaps you would allow this old man to help you instead?, when Dooku knew all along that he would likely be killing the young Jedi. That the final image we’re left with, after he’s made contact with the Kaldana Syndicate and coerced them into working for Sidious, after he’s shot Jak’zin in the back, is:

“Soon the galaxy will be what we make of it,” he says, while smiling in a way that’s contrasted against the severe looks he’s been giving the SoroSuub Corporation representative up to this point.  This is such an Anakin parallel, who says in AOTC that people should be made to agree on things, showing us that he doesn’t really care what other people think is the best thing, but instead what he wants to make of the galaxy. The incredible thing about Dooku--and why I would love for canon to really explore him fully again, to give us his reasons for why he did what he did--both in a broader sense and in the delicate line this comic walks, is that there might be something of genuine sincerity in his actions and words and thoughts.  Or he might be a total monster.  The truth isn’t clear to us, even within Dooku’s head, he may be convincing himself that he cares about these things and people, that he has these lofty ideals, that he doesn’t see any problem with that conflicting with how he’ll murder Asajj if Sidious tells him to, that he’ll side with (or sometimes outdo) slavers and the most corrupt politicians and Banking Clan and Trade Federation executives, when espousing how corrupt the Republic is. This comic nails all of that, that you can read so many things into Dooku and yet you can also read the opposite and who knows how much of each one is true? Nobody, not even Dooku himself.  And that’s entirely fitting for someone falling to the dark side--because the dark side lies, not just to people around them, but to the person themselves.  Dooku’s lies are to others around him just as much as they are to himself, and every step forward he talks with Sidious, those lies become all the murkier and harder to see through for Dooku, until he’s completely blindsided by Sidious’ betrayal and his own loss of this galatic game of chess he was playing.

[piermanwalter]

Star Wars Army Swap AU Part V: Condensed History of the Droid Wars

Due to my ipad dying, Part 5 is coming out before Part 4, and there are no arts. Sorry about that.

In a galaxy where the Confederacy of Independent Systems went super into biotech instead of mass industrialisation, and the Jedi’s secret deal with the Kaminoans fell through so they had to create a different army, the Republic soldiers are droids and the Separatist soldiers are clones. 

SUPER SUMMARY: Darth Plagueis makes some contingency plans in case he dies. Nobody could have predicted how far the ultimate plan of galactic domination of the Sith spiralled out of control because of that. Palpatine is in denial about how uncooperative and dangerous the Separatists are and eventually gives up on controlling anything further than the Mid Rim.

Before the War

After millennia, the Sith, once though to be extinct, begin plotting to take over the galaxy by splitting it in two, forcing the sides to fight, then seizing control of the galaxy after they wasted their lives fighting each other.

Darth Plagueis uses his industry contacts of his public identity as Magister of Damask Holdings to slowly shift the huge corporations from mass manufacture to biotech in order to further his goal of immortality by skimming lab data off their work. He sets up the foundation for a fully fledged clone army.

His apprentice, Darth Sidious, uses his political clout as Senator Palpatine to increase resentment of the Outer Rim planets towards the better funded and protected Core, and eventually gets elected as Chancellor of the Republic. Right after the day of his election, Sidious kills his master. Unbeknownst to him, Plagueis planned so if he ever died, nobody could control the galaxy in his place.

After the death of Plagueis, there is no one to keep an eye on the experiments he secretly planned, and the biotech of the galaxy is able to advance unchecked. Made-to-order organs become nearly as cheap as cybernetic replacements. Cloned celebrities and war heroes are mass produced and sold illegally to crime syndicates as slaves and enforcers. 

Count Dooku abandons the Jedi Order as Darth Sidious’s new apprentice. His first mission is to procure an army for the demilitarised Republic to fight the biotech clone armies of the newly formed Confederacy of Independent Systems. Erasing Kamino from the Jedi Temple archives, he sends fellow Jedi Sifo Dyas to order the Kaminoans to produce another clone army. A squad of Dwarf Spider clones from the vehemently anti-Jedi Commerce Guild managed to kill Sifo Dyas before he could get to Kamino, so Dooku is forced to commission the army himself. 

The Techno Union is able to isolate a strain of Force-sensitive single-celled algae from the Dathomiran Water of Life, and are trying to find medical applications for it as a lucrative bacta replacement. SoroSuub Luxury Consumer Products releases a line of extravagantly expensive anti-aging creams filled with deactivated midichlorians. Count Dooku is incredibly concerned about these new developments, but Darth Sidious dismisses them as false advertising and mad science that is scary to the weak-minded, but will ultimately go nowhere.

Five years later, Dooku visits Kamino to discover legions of well-trained clone cadets, but an enormous mistake was made. All of them were being indoctrinated to serve the Confederacy. The Trade Federation hacked into his comm lines to discover Dooku, the head of the Separatist Council, ordering a massive secret clone army. Assuming the new clones were for them and not the Republic, as any sane person would, Viceroy Nute Gunray sent vast shipments of food and supplies to Kamino in thanks, leading to the Kaminoans believing that they were the true clients. Dooku is unable to correct himself without everyone knowing he is playing both sides.

The galactic civil war is put on hold for six months so Dooku can sort out this unmitigated disaster. Instead of two equal armies to fight an endless stalemate, the CIS gets a colossal super army, and the Republic gets no army. Eventually he is able to commission Kuat Drive Yards and Cybot Galatica to put together the best droid army they possibly could at short notice. Five years had already been wasted. The Battle of Geonosis, the first conflict of the Droid Wars, begins two years behind schedule.

Now, finally, rebellion stirs in the Outer Rim.

Early Droid Wars

Following this truly embarrassing series of insubordination, Sidious orders the entire Separatist leadership together and electrocutes hundreds of them, including Dooku, in a single devastating wave of Force lighting. Threatening them all with the terrifying legends of the Sith of the Old Republic, he tells them all that the Sith will rule the galaxy again and there is no way to stop them.

The Confederacy ruins the mystery of the Sith by announcing everything they learn about them on public broadcast. Once arcane Sith legends like Bane, Nihilus, and Plagueis become household names. 

The Trade Federation disobeys because their cloned ysalamiri renders them immune to most types of Sith attack. The InterGalactic Banking Clan disobeys because they hold too much sway over the galactic economy and the clone army itself. The Techno Union disobeys because Foreman Wat Tambor has threatened to release the entire Sith data archive left by Darth Plagueis in Tambor’s estate on Hypori.

The Confederacy of Independent Systems officially announces its rejection of Sith control. The Jedi have no idea how to react, but are pressured by the rest of the Republic to keep fighting. Many Jedi, such as Bariss Offee and Pong Krell, abandon the Republic to fight for the CIS.

Without a firm leadership, the Separatists dissolve into in-fighting, clone rebellions, and near-constant treasonous conspiracy. Republic propaganda mocks them as being dysfunctional and unfit for government, whereas the CIS itself views the successful revolutions and constantly shifting balance of power as a true example of Separatist spirit. If anything, since the CIS never had a centralised leadership to begin with, all it does is make them even less predictable. 

Count Dooku still keeps in contact with the Separatist council, even leading clone armies by himself, partially to maintain some semblance of Sith control, partially to keep tabs on these dangerously subversive alien freaks at all time, and partially because he is legitimately proud of what the Separatist cause has become, but Sidious doesn’t need to know that. One morning, he wakes up to check the holonet and receives a message about Wat Tambor cloning himself 600 times, listens to three minutes of a two-hour paranoid rant from Admiral Trench about how everyone wants to kill him, a report from a spy droid about Asaji Ventress’s death cult, a report about the Republic droid troopers turning sentient, and a message from Sidious threatening to dismantle him chromatid by chromatid if he is unable to get the Separatists to spend much more money on the war, then he goes back to sleep because that’s just the way things are now.

Late Droid Wars

Leading machines to fight against living beings is beginning to take a psychological toll on the Jedi commanders. The Grand Droid Army of the Republic splits in half by leadership, with conflicts of Jedi-led armies being more for show and protection while the Jedi try to negotiate peacefully with enemy leaders, while conflicts of non-Jedi-led armies are the most brutal in history, as many human Republic military leaders do not see their cloned enemies as sentient beings. Republic news castigates the Separatists for using child slaves as soldiers, while the Separatists argue that Jedi Padawans are also child slaves.

Piecing together old lab data left behind by Darth Plagueis, the CIS tries to make their next generation of new soldier strains Force sensitive, with partial success. Strange supernatural occurrences begin to appear among the battle clones. Commando Tup is able to sneak across an active battlefield and shoot two Jedi one after the other. An Aqua Clone survives a hull puncture of a Mon Cal space station by somehow swimming faster than water being pulled into the vacuum of space. An injured pilot-class B2 regrows an entire lung in one week without medical attention. General Kraken sends Dooku a heartfelt video thanking him for such useful electromagnet arms, levitating a metal blaster between his new mechanical hands. The cybernetics do not contain electromagnets.

Asaji Ventress, Savage Opress, and other Sith acolytes are terrified of this new development. The Force powers that once made them so indispensable are now being thrown around by lab-grown barely sentient meat. They leave to the Unknown regions to start a death cult together before their masters realise how obsolete they are. 

General Grievous attacks Coruscant, the capital of the Republic, and managed to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. Sidious intended to let himself get captured on purpose while remaining completely safe at all times, but at this point, he can’t be sure anymore. Although Palpatine was later rescued by Kenobi and Skywalker, the residential district near the intended target, the Jedi Temple, was destroyed when half of Grievous’s flagship crash-landed into it, killing over a million people. Count Dooku dies in the process.

Anakin Skywalker is rejected from becoming a Jedi Master and joining the Jedi Council because of the many needless deaths in the Battle of Coruscant. He is extremely angry at this verdict. It was Obi-Wan’s fault as much as his, but he still gets to be a Master. If it weren’t for the Super Tactical Clone Tey-Zuka punching them both while they were trying to steer half a ship and seizing the controls, nobody would have died.

Darth Sidious orders the Separatist Council to meet on Mustafar. Naturally, none of them listen to him and they all disperse to random corners of the galaxy.

Darth Sidious enacts Order 99, not as the capstone of a perfectly executed plan, but out of desperation. There are no other choices for him. Turning against their leaders, the clones gunned them down, then each other.

Chancellor Palpatine, in the middle of the greatest wave of Republic victories in the Droid Wars, suddenly shuts down the Grand Droid Army. The Jedi, fighting easy battles against confused and leaderless opponents, find themselves without soldiers and are slaughtered. Mace Windu survives and leads a Jedi team to assassinate the Chancellor. Skywalker fights them off, but not before Palpatine is disfigured.

Anakin Skywalker follows the intel trail and goes to Mustafar, but nobody was there. Sick with rage, he massacres the native Mustafarian miners until Obi-Wan and Padmé Amidala try to stop him. After Anakin killed Padmé, Obi-Wan kills Anakin and disappears. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Order 99 had limited effectiveness, since the low standards of manufacture meant that not every clone was implanted with a brain chip, and the higher level clones with more willpower were able to intercept the signal anyway. Many Separatist leaders are still at large. Sidious sends his mysterious new apprentice Darth Vader on a mission to kill them all. This takes two and a half years.

In the meantime, the Jedi Temple, heavily damaged by the debris from the Battle of Coruscant, loses funding and support from both the Republic’s government and its citizens. The newly discovered Sith faction is much more effective than the Jedi in fighting Separatists and the Jedi are blamed for the civil war stretching on for so long. Some Jedi with good foresight were able to evacuate, but when Darth Vader assaulted the Jedi Temple, he left no survivors.

Beginning of the Galactic Empire

Palpatine announces that both the Republic and the Confederacy were weak and corrupt because they both rejected the teachings of the Sith. The remains of the Republic are reforged into a Dark Side theocracy, the Galactic Empire.

The Death Star is finally completed, bringing much stability and pacification to the newly formed Galactic Empire. In a shocking move, instead of destroying any of the dangerous Confederacy-aligned planets such as Skako or Kamino, the first planet to be destroyed is Alderaan, a peaceful low-populated planet with no military, simply for their leaders possible ties to the Rebel Alliance.

Under control of Order 99, the human Commando Clones are incorporated into the Imperial Army. Supertac Tey-Zuka is finally captured in the Coruscant underlevels on the opposite side of the planet he crashed on. All Banking Clan assets are taken by the Empire, including their private army of IG-Strain Assassin Clones. After brainwashing and threats, many previously Separatist clones now work for Palpatine.

The Empire cuts off all transmissions in a radius of 40,000 light years from Coruscant. There is nothing beyond it. All of the Separatists are dead. All of the Jedi are dead. Good obedient Imperial citizens have nothing to fear. The old maps with so many planets in Wild Space are wrong. They are Separatist propaganda to make their territory look bigger than it truly was. Anyone who claims to come from a planet that does not exist, such as “Tattooine”,  “Felucia”, or “Utapau” is lying. Report them. We should not worry about Separatists when there are space accidents to worry about. The asteroid storms are getting worse and we are losing more ships than ever. Do not waste time and energy reporting Jedi or battle clone sightings to us. All of them are dead, except for the fortunate few we rescued and reformed. You have nothing to fear.

A PIRATE SIGNAL BREAKS THROUGH THE FIREWALL!

Once again, rebellion stirs in the Outer Rim.

Many anti-Imperial organisations were able to form outside the jurisdiction of the Empire, but it was a real challenge for any of them to communicate with rebels within Imperial territory. Travelling freely from the Outer Rim to the Core is borderline impossible. Instead of directly aiding the Core Rebels, the Outer Rebels indirectly fought against the Empire by disabling signal blockade satellites, smuggling datachips, and other ways of spreading subversive information. 

Despite Imperial propaganda, entire communi    of battle clones and droid troopers can be found all over the galaxy. With the clones seeing the Empire giving up entirely on controlling the Outer Rim as a Confederate victory, and the droids seeing the Empire’s absolu   control of the Core as a Republic victory, the two armies were       to reach a compromise. Although some small skirmishes between droids and clones still occur, they are nowhere nea  the scale of the conflicts of the Droid Wars.   wever, many clones and droids still do not believe the war has ended and   ntinue fighting the each other, the Empire, and the rest of the galaxy.

   eral Kalani, a Separatist Super Tacti   Clone, is confirmed to still be in operation.  e Empire turned a blind eye to his actions, since most of his attacks seem      e  gainst  he cell of Rebel terrorists led by Saw Gerrerra.

Many clones  nd droids found ne  jobs as bounty hunters. IG-88 is obv ously an unauthorized indepen     IG-Strain          ssin Clone. Boba Fett, regarded as the greatest bo              in the galaxy, is rumored by some to      a Separatist Commando Cl      , and by othe    to be an ARC-Class Republic droid troope

Jedi sightIngs abouND in the Outer Ri      ee from the tyranny of the Empire,         have jo ned th   ebellion, whi   some    re content to live            in peace     bscurity. A few new Temples                        

Ahsoka Ta  , Jedi     n               Rebe              Core Rebels, the Ghost              influen                   oid trooper Captain Rex                        he wAs a Padawan when                      possi      l       smuggli                     connections wi    w Gererra                       ered Kalani                  small but dangero    nough to the Empire that                          arkiN, the Inquisi        Vader, and Palpatine himself.            

h         Sk              r                                 Bai                                        Lars     l             are, in fact, the childre        nakin Skywalker   s                                      ei                   ed          t            g                h          wa                          c    

[teagrl]

From the break up fic I’ll keep writing once I finish rewriting chunks of my Halloween fic’s final installment. 

This is just another evening at the Skywalkers:

(CEC is Corellian Engineering Corporation. The company that made the Falcon)

That reminds her. “He show you the CEC production catalog that came with it?”

“The CEC production catalog came with it?”

“You didn’t know?”

Luke gives a shake of his head. “We mostly talked about the afterburner.”

Mara grins.

“Wait, you have the whole catalogue? Really? I thought it wasn’t out yet.”

She makes her grin coy. “I might.”

Luke mirrors the expression. “Well, I might have just updated Artoo’s imaging interface...”

Her head snaps to the side. “That’s what you were doing?”

He nods. “The specs and models would look really...crisp.”

Mara’s on her feet in an instant with her dish and heading towards her datapad in the living room. She places her plate beside her as she looks for the file. Luke joins her a second later. Artoo at his heels.

She sends the file to Artoo, then grabs her plate. She hasn’t gotten a chance to look through the catalog yet, and to see it on high-quality imaging software makes her glad she waited. “That’s it.”   

Luke drops down beside her on the sofa with his plate, not for the first time she feels a strong urge to close the sliver of distance between them. More so since last week, which is infuriating. She pulls her attention to the shiny, brand new models she can stare longingly at. It’s not SoroSuub, true; she could spend days drowning in SoroSuub’s offerings, but CEC is nothing to ignore either.

“There’s been chatter than they’re going back to the YT designs,” he comments. “But with added features for defense.”

“Really?” She thinks of what she heard through her contacts. “Everything old is new again, I guess. Like those arsix models, like an artoo unit, but better,” she blurts out shifting a little and leaning forward as she waits for the image to come on.

A minute passes in silence.

Luke beats her to the punch, looking towards the droid. “What is it? Something not working right?”

Bafflingly, it’s a beep that sounds negative. A long string of binary follows.

Luke turns briefly to Mara and then turns back to the droid. “She didn’t mean it that way.”

Mara gives him an exasperated look. The droid couldn’t possibly still be miffed. Why the hell is the catalog not coming on?

Luke lets out a resigned sigh and looks over to her. “He’s not going to put it up until you apologize.”

“What? Why should I apologize to that rolling--”

“The arsix mentions. Artoo finds them,” he looks over at the droid who warbled something, “to presume an inaccurate assessment of his capabilities and worth.”

“What’s inaccurate?” she shoots back.

Luke shakes his head wearily. “Just say you’re sorry. You did instigate it this time. You can’t blame him for being touchy now.”

There’s some sharp beeping.

“Okay, not touchy,” Luke corrects with that same put upon air, “knowledgeable about his capabilities and upgrades.”

“I did not instigate anything; it’s a droid.”

“I was really looking forward to looking through the catalog.” Luke adopts a kicked cub look.

“Fine,” Mara grunts. “I apologize.” Karking metal can.

The binary that follows is in a tone that can’t be described as anything but imperious. Mara rolls her eyes even before Luke translates, “He accepts your apology.”

There’s a low whir and a holo of the logo of CEC appears before them. Mara instantly forgets her annoyance.

The images look <i>very</i> crisp.

[sw5w]

The Queen's Signal

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:46:22

[perksofwifi]

How One Man Built a Replica of Luke Skywalker’s X-34 Landspeeder

Stuck on a desert planet with two blazing suns and an unseemly reputation? Might as well blast around in a hovering hot rod! But you only have 2,500 galactic credits, what vehicle do you choose? The SoroSuub Corporation X-34 Landspeeder, of course!

For those not familiar with the Star Wars universe, the X-34 Landspeeder was Luke Skywalker’s transportation of choice while he was stuck on the Outer Rim planet of Tatooine before he joined the Rebel Alliance and learned the Jedi arts. Andy Cohen of Junkyard Empire and owner of Andy’s Auto Parts in Bladensburg, Maryland, is a lifelong Star Wars fan and has always wanted an X-34 of his own. But movie props like that don’t grow on trees, so he had to make one himself. Good thing he’s friends with Tommy Bostic of Damascus Motors, another big Star Wars fan and master fabricator. One Halloween not too long ago they did just that—built their own X-34 Landspeeder. But first, some (fictional) history.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … there was a galactic vehicle manufacturer that made a popular personal landspeeder. That manufacturer was SoroSuub Corporation and that landspeeder was the X-34. The X-34 was a 3.4-meter-long, repulsor-lift hovercraft capable of reaching speeds of up to 155 mph that comfortably sat one pilot and one crew. It featured holographic instrumentation, easy to use foot controls, and three air-cooled turbine thrust engines. Capable of up to one meter of levitation, the X-34 could easily glide over rough terrain in style! The X-34 was the terrestrial civilian landspeeder of choice until the X-38 was released, at which point resale values dropped considerably. This was good news for young, bored, and broke galactic hot-rodders.

Stuck inside? GET THE BEST DEAL EVER, just $1 per month for the MotorTrend App, and start streaming 3,500+ hours of automotive entertainment like Junkyard Empire today!

How ILM Built the Real X-34 Landspeeder for Star Wars: A New Hope

The real deal X-34 was built by the British company Ogle Design, and was based on a Bond Bug—a three-wheeled, fiberglass-bodied microcar sold in Great Britain between 1970 and 1974. It sat two, had a 29-hp engine, and could reach speeds of up to 76 mph, equivalent to the speed of popular and cheap sedans of the day. The impracticality and comparatively high price of the Bug made them more of a fashion statement than a realistic commuter or family vehicle, though.

To achieve the hovering effects seen in A New Hope, Industrial Light & Magic attached mirrors to the skirts of the X-34 and mounted a broom to kick up dust (George Lucas called this “the force spot”) for far away shots. Up close, it was mounted on a large swingarm that could be edited out or hidden with fancy camera angles. A little gelatin on the camera lenses helped too. Of course, Luke Skywalker wasn’t some well-to-do politician’s son from Coruscant (the political nexus of the Galactic Republic), so the X-34 was painted to look like a weathered and patina’d galactic rat rod.

How to Build a Replica X-34 Landspeeder

Building a replica X-34 isn’t as impossible as it seems, if you know the right person, like Daniel Deutsch, a master prop maker for Disney in Orlando, Florida. He built his own replica X-34 in 2007 and it was popularized on the internet by the likes of Kanye West and Joey Fatone. Tommy reached out to Daniel, who was more than happy to let the Junkyard Empire guys come down and make their own X-34 body using his highly detailed, handmade mold.

The bodywork is the hard part, even if you’re friends with Daniel. Fiberglass chop mat is sprayed into the individual pieces of the five-piece mold, then the mold needs to be assembled with fiberglass chop sprayed inside to join the separate pieces. The whole thing needs days to cure and be de-molded successfully. Once you get that far, let’s hope you can fit it in your van if you need to transport the body to another shop—Tommy had to chop six inches off one wing of his X-34 to get it safely back to Maryland.

Once back in Maryland, it was a simple matter of harvesting the running gear (minus one front wheel), motor and battery out of an electric golf cart. Well, there was also the challenge of making the characteristic windscreen. Tommy had to suspend a sheet of plexiglass over carefully placed and constantly adjusted propane heaters to get the complex curvature right. All that is held together with a simple, yet sturdy aluminum tube chassis and voilà! A little paint, some LED lights, and simulated patina, and Andy and Tommy were ready to roll in Skywalker style!

You can watch the entire Junkyard Empire Landspeeder build episode right here on the MotorTrend App.

The post How One Man Built a Replica of Luke Skywalker’s X-34 Landspeeder appeared first on MotorTrend.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/junkyard-empire-star-wars-landspeeder/ visto antes em https://www.motortrend.com

[oh-no-eu-didnt]

SoroSuub Corporation was a large corportation based on Sullust. Mainly an mineral processing company, SoroSuub’s lengthy history and wealth allowed them to expand to many other industries, including starship, weapon, droid, and technological manufacturing. Aligned with the Commerce Guild, SoroSuub was part of the Seperatist movement consequently, and eventually supported the Rebellion.

Source: The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology (Art: Ian Fullwood; 2004)

First Appearance: Champions of the Force (1994)

Read more on Wookieepedia.

[starwarsisair]

Sullustans were a species of humanoids that hailed from the planet of Sullust, and were experts at manufacturing, scientific and technological development, and economics, having founded the prosperous SoroSuub Corporation. Humanoids native to the planet Sullust, the Sullustans were distinguished by the two flaps of jowls around their cheeks, and large, mouse-like eyes that were typically dark and beady. They also had large ears. The species wore native headgear to cover their wide heads

[holonetnews]

TAXES TO BE RAISED ACROSS OUTER RIM

The Ministry of Finance today reported that taxes would be raised across the Outer Rim territories. Following the loss the Death Star, it is thought this move will help curb Rebel operations in the Sector by limiting their ability to acquire resources through financial strangulation. 

With the recent loss of the planet Sullust and a cessation of export from the world’s SoroSuub corporation, it is expected further taxation adjustments  in the Mid-Rim will soon follow.

- Deena Tharen, HoloNet News.

[sw5w]

Amidala Peers Out

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:46:21

[sw5w]

Three Speeders Arrive

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:42:46

[sw5w]

Good, They Made It

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:42:43