From: "Doomriser" <doom.riser@3web.net>
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.vs.starwars
Subject: [PDD] The Imperial Sourcebook, Prologue-Ch1
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 20:47:19 -0400

Few have time to read through the entire sourcebook, so I have highlighted
the most important and useful elements for you to read through.

This is just the intro-prologue-CH. 1. This is so that if you do not like
the way I am compiling the PDD, you can offer suggestions as to how I can
improve my analysis.

INTRO

"The Galactic Empire consists of a thousand-thousand worlds caught in the
iron grip of tyranny. Using overwhelming armies and vast navies, the Empire
instituted a reign of terror among the disheartened and enslaved planets. No
world, no system, no species was immune to the terrible machinations of the
New Order."

-proves the galactic reach of the Empire

"But some worlds resisted. At first this rebellion was disorganized and
ill-equipped, but as more planets joined against the tyranny the new
Alliance became a force to be reckoned with."

-this is true. Even by Yavin, the Alliance was losing its 'ragtag' roots and
becoming a true military power, like the Confederacy in the U.S., or a
'fifth column movement in human space' as Saxton likes to put it.

"With the Senate dissolved, the Emperor gave his regional governors direct
control and a free hand in administering their territories. From this point
on, the Empire would be ruled by fear. Fear would keep local governments in
line. Fear of the Imperial Fleet - and fear of the Death Star."

-rule through fear is one of the major reasons behind the Death Star's
construction

"The Imperial Sourcebook is packed full of descriptions, explanations,
histories, photographs, illustrations and diagrams. It is an extensive look
at many of the things that contribute to the unyielding might of the
Galactic Empire, the greatest armed force ever detailed in fiction."

-Well, at least somebody got it right. But how 'great' is even an Imperial
Navy if it can be ripped apart by interal conflict? The answer is irrelevant
in the context of this NG since the GE on its own would be able to crush any
Milky Way power.

PROLOGUE

-The prologue brings into question the accuracy of the data contained within
the documents, that it is a probability that they are 'paper figures' as
opposed to the true strength of the Imperial Navy, or even deliberate
deception (unlikely, given the consistency of this info with other more
intrinsically and extrinsically recent EU sources.) Hextrophon, however,
explains that if one reads between the lines, the truth can certainly be
found.

CHAPTER ONE

"The galaxy was once a great Republic of stars. The thousand-thousand member
worlds were governed fairly and efficiently by the Senate, and cared for and
protected by the Jedi Knights."

Again, the "thousand-thousand member worlds." Note that there is a
difference between member worlds, colonies, protectorates, etc... giving a
much larger figure for the total number of planets.

"The Empire is still growing. Policies of expansion established by the Old
Republic were never rescinded, and exploration - and now conquest -
continues. The Imperial Survey Corps, scientists and scouts charged with
exploring the galaxy, has seen its funds cut sharply over the years. Still,
a new system is being catalogued for the Empire every 207 minutes by the
under-staffed ISC."

-Say bye-bye to the Trekkie bullshit about 'no exploration'

"Most of the recently surveyed worlds have remained untouched by Imperial
colonization. The Empire has little use for an expanding frontier. Frontier
settlements offer greater freedom to Imperial citizens and stretch Imperial
forces even further. That is not in the best interests of the Empire."

-Bingo! Thank-you! Bye-bye 'Empire technologically incapable of settling
useless pisswater planets on the edge of the galaxy.' It is a matter of
choice!

"However, an ISC team occasionally turns up an inhabited world in the
process of cataloging. Inhabited worlds mean taxes and other valuable
resources for the Empire. These worlds are initially offered a place in the
New Order, provided they agree to fall in line with the will of the Emperor.
If a world refuses or reneges on its oath of allegiance, then the Empire
resorts to military conquest."

-There's your answer to 'Empire meets Federation.'

"All citizens are subject to the laws of the Empire, and all must pay some
form of tribute to the New Order. Laws vary from system to system, but the
most uniform are the Imperial Revenue Codes. Under these laws, the burden of
proof is upon the citizen to show that he has met all of his fiscal
obligations to the Empire. Failure to provide adequate proof is considered
an admission of guilt, penalties for which range from confiscation of goods
to the increasingly common sentence to labor camps."

-They send you to the concentration camps if you don't pay your taxes.

"Planetary Governments

The Empire has not completely altered the governments of hundreds of
thousands of worlds. Such a task would be impractical. The Emperor has left
it to his advisors to modify the portions of a planetary government, be it
government procedure or members of the ruling body, to conform to the will
of the Empire. Less than one planet in 80 has been so modified.

The preferred option is to let a planet run itself much as it has for years,
but maintaining a visible Imperial presence so that the rulers know who
their ultimate master is. The Empire also encourages the constituent planets
to reform their own governments to conform to the Imperial method. In this
way, individual worlds eliminate laws and freedoms, replacing them with
doctrines and statutes more in line with Imperial edicts."

-Rule by proxy is traditionally more efficient than direct-rule [The
document then goes on to highlight more similarities between the GE and
Earth's colonial empires, e.g. not implementing local governors - i.e. not
having someone govern in their birthplace.)

"Sectors and Regions

A sector is an economic and political division which originated in the early
days of the Old Republic. Originally a cluster of star systems with
approximately 50 inhabited planets, the definition of a sector became vague
and the average sector grew in size during the latter days of the Republic.
Now unimaginably large sectors contain vast numbers of inhabited worlds with
no regard to limiting factors. Sectors are governed by Moffs.

Sectors are grouped together into larger territorial entities called
regions. The Empire has countless regions, which can contain from as few as
three to upwards of thousands of sectors. The establishment of a region
depends not only upon galactic geography, but also upon wealth, influence,
historic "sentimentalities," economic diversity and the level of direct
control exerted by the Empire. Regions are governed by Grand Moffs (the
title "regional governor" is commonly used). Some well known regions include
the Outer Rim Territories (a vast expanse of space with many frontier
colonies), the Galactic Core (historic "birthplace" of the Republic,
containing Coruscant, the capital of the Empire, as well as several other
vital systems), the Deep Core (a restricted area of space - essentially a
giant "preserve" in the heart of the Empire), the Colonies, and the Inner
Rim.

Under the New Order, the Galactic Empire continues to grow and expand, and
new sectors and regions are being formed all the time.

The Empire also maintains a number of "client states" - regions of space
almost entirely controlled by another economic or political entity, yet
ultimately loyal and subservient to the Empire. The Corporate Sector, under
the control of the Corporate Sector Authority, is one such client state, as
is the infamous area of the galaxy known as Hutt Space."

-scope and division of Imperial sectors. Sorry about the size, but it
clearly contains loads of useful information.

"Priority sectors are the first to receive experimental equipment, and
theirs are the first to have losses replaced. Priority sectors are sometimes
given special missions in which the Emperor has a personal interest. The
Death Star Project is an example of a priority sector into which the Empire
poured resources enough to have formed perhaps a score of Sector Groups."

-This should answer some questions on SD.net's Death Star thread. The DS1 =
20 Sector Groups in terms of production cost.

"During the time of the Old Republic, there was a HoloNet which transmitted
information throughout the constituent worlds. The HoloNet was extremely
expensive to maintain, but it provided the Republic with a sophisticated,
flexible means of communication. Consisting of hundreds of thousands of
non-mass transceivers connected through a vast matrix of coordinated
hyperspace S-threads (popularly known as Simu-Tunnels), as well as the
computing power to sort and decode all of the information, the HoloNet was
the only method available for real-time holographic transmissions between
worlds.

It was horrendously expensive to maintain, costing many thousands of credits
per full-channel transmission second per transceiver. The HoloNet was used
almost exclusively by the government and the larger commercial houses of the
Old Republic. But it did connect the constituent worlds, giving a sense of
belonging to the average citizen.

Smaller commercial concerns and individuals never used the HoloNet directly;
they relied on the literally millions of traders who traveled the commerce
corridors of the Old Republic."

-description of the Holonet. It seems expensive to maintain. Looks like
public-access info like HoloNetNews is probably sent in packets and then
distributed on planetary servers, at least that would be the cheapest way,
wouldn't it? This also shoots down Rob Wilson's desire for a HNN "Pirate
Broadcast," IMNSHO, since it would be too expensive and complicated for
most. Or at least you can see the inherent concerns.

"Smaller commercial concerns and individuals never used the HoloNet
directly; they relied on the literally millions of traders who traveled the
commerce corridors of the Old Republic."

-Size and scope: "literally millions of traders." Are there even that many
is Asimov's GE?

"Soon after Palpatine assumed the throne he dismantled the HoloNet,
achieving two objectives. First, he made it difficult for any foes not in
the Senate to coordinate any resistance to his designs. Any individual
system, no matter how wealthy or influential, could easily be crushed by the
Empire. Second, the constituent worlds were used to absorbing the cost of
the HoloNet, even though most worlds received little benefit from the system
during the final days of the Republic's collapse. This gave the Emperor an
enormous flow of credits with which to initiate the rapid build up of
Imperial forces, manning and outfitting more troops in the first six months
of his reign than the Republic had ever mobilized at any one time."

-Holonet cutbacks were able to fund a military build-up? Also note that the
first 6 mo. of his reign saw more Imperial forces constructed that whatever
we see/will see in AOTC and Ep. III.

"I have also noticed that even the excellent pace with which Your Majesty is
strengthening his fleets can scarcely provide security for the Empire should
a significant number of planets begin to defy your will. We are many years
away from a force vast enough to secure every system simultaneously."
[Tarkin]

-The Imperial Starfleet is still many years away from the guaranteed,
fait-accompli dominance of the galaxy

"Cannibalize existing HoloNet transceivers, modify them for use and put them
in the flagship of every Sector Group in an Oversector command. Place
similar facilities within His Majesty's command ship and within Imperial
City. This will enable your forces to respond to threats in minutes rather
than hours or days after the fact. Imperial forces will be able to
coordinate to a degree impossible among an enemy, whose fastest means of
communication is a rendezvous at a common system."

-Without HoloNet transceivers, it will take hours or even days to respond to
threats. With them, it will take minutes.

"I think this effect could be exploited to a far greater degree. The average
citizen deals in symbols, not rational analysis. If we present the citizen
with a weapon so powerful, so immense as to defy all conceivable attack
against it, a weapon invulnerable and invincible in battle, that shall
become the symbol for the Empire. We may need only a handful, perhaps only
one of these weapons, to subjugate thousands of thousands of worlds, each
containing millions upon millions of beings."

-Tarkin on why the DS would be cost-effective

Questions? Comments?

--
-=Doomriser

"We've been very careful. The continuity is airtight. Believe me. We know.
We know."
-Brannon Braga
