[Short Stories] - Birth Of The New Republic (Unknown), Star Wars - Books And Short Stories
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
STAR WARSBirth of the New RepublicWhile Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker defended Bakura from the Ssi�ruuk, Mon Mothma was making preparations to establish a new galactic government. Clearly, it could take years, even decades, to fully eradicate the Empire, but the victory at Endor would be a symbolic starting point to mark a new era.Within days of that victory, the Rebel Alliance officially became the Alliance of Free Planets, established as an interim organization until the details of the government could be worked out. One month after Endor, Mon Mothma formally issued the Declaration of a New Republic.Though the Battle of Endor is viewed as the beginning of the New Republic era, Mon Mothma's declaration marked the "official" establishment of the government. The document was signed by Mon Mothma, Leia Organa, Borsk Fey'lya, and Admiral Ackbar, as well as officials from Corellia, Kashyyyk, Sullust, and Elom. Under the New Republic's first charter, these eight individuals composed the New Republic Provisional Council. Mon Mothma was elected chief councilor.For several months, the New Republic made no large-scale military incursions into Imperial ter�ritory. Instead, they consolidated their holdings and won over hundreds of planets through diplomacy. News of the Emperor's death caused countless worlds to enter the New Republic's fold, most of them in the Rim territories. Captain Wedge Antilles and the X-wing pilots of Rogue Squadron acted as scouts, escorts, and negotiators during this period.Imperial Fragmentation 4-4.5 A.B.Y.The New Republic saw no need for an immediate strike at the Empire, since the Empire was doing a fine job of tearing itself apart. Without Palpatine's commanding presence, the Imperial war machine proved unfocused. After the destruction of the sec�ond Death Star, the Imperial fleet continued to fight the Rebels, but were systematically beaten back by their numerically inferior foe. Captain Gilad Pellaeon of the Star Destroyer Chimaera ordered the fleet to retreat and regroup at Annaj, where the first signs of stress began to show.Admiral Harrsk, commander of one task force within the Endor fleet, viewed the death of the Emperor as a great opportunity. Unwilling to take orders from Pellaeon, a mere captain, Harrsk took his segment of the fleet to the restricted Deep Core at the very center of the galaxy. There, among the secure Imperial safe worlds, Harrsk began building up his own pocket empire.Though Harrsk was the Empire's first breakaway warlord, he wouldn't be the last. The Empire had long rewarded ambition over cooperation; only intimidating leaders like Palpatine and Vader had kept their subordinates in line. Suddenly, post�Endor, everyone wanted to rule the Empire, or at least create their own kingdoms. More than any other factor, warlordism was responsible for the decline of the Empire.Many other warlords broke away in the first few months. Admiral Teradoc followed Harrsk's lead and established a miniature empire on the out�skirts of the Deep Core, just days after the lmperial debacle at Endor. Admiral Gaen Drommel used the Super Star Destroyer Guardian to subdue his home sector. Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, Tarkin's successor, walled off a large chunk of the Outer Rim Territories and dubbed it the Pentastar Alignment. Admiral Zsinj, ruler of the Quelii sector, would later prove to be one of the New Republic's most formidable foes.And unbeknownst to all, the threat of Palpatine did not disappear. As with Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Emperor's spirit form survived when his body died. Palpatine's life essence made a tortuous journey to his hidden Deep Core throneworld of Byss, where it inhabited a fresh young body cloned using his own genetic source materials. Palpatine's clone began to reconsolidate his own forces, though it would be years before he made his presence known to the galaxy.Sate Pestage, the Emperor's former grand vizier and the man responsible for keeping the Empire intact, had been cunning enough to assume the Imperial throne upon learning of his master's death. But the grand vizier lacked the charisma and influence to lead the Empire, and he had a host of enemies within the Imperial Palace. His chief rivals were Palpatine's former advisory staff, who formed a tribunal known as the Ruling Circle. As they schemed to overthrow the new Emperor, Pestage plotted to keep the Ruling Circle in check. Ysanne Isard, head of Imperial Intelligence, acted as a neutral intermediary between the two parties.Neither faction realized Isard's true goal until it was too late. Isard was secretly pitting each side against the other so she could rise from their ashes and rule as empress.BIack Nebula 4-4.5 A.B.Y.In the meantime, behind the scenes, the Black Sun criminal syndicate had never recovered from the death of its leader, Prince Xizor. Various lieutenants, or vigos, began to fight one another for what remained of the syndicate. One of Black Sun's lesser operatives, a Jeodu named Dequc, tried to revive the organization under the name Black Nebula, with himself as its head. The Emperor had ordered Dequc eliminated, and mere days before Endor, Mara Jade, one of the Emperor's Hands, executed him on Svivren.Jade later learned, however, that the victim on Svivren had been a decoy. Dequc continued to expand Black Nebula in the post-Palpatine Empire, until Mara Jade tracked him down and killed him several months later.At the same time, Savan, Prince Xizor's niece, attempted to piece together the remaining factions of Black Sun. The key to Savan's plot was the human replica droid known as Guri, who had been Xizor's second-in-command and knew all the syndicate's secrets. Savan located Guri on Hurd's Moon, where she was undergoing synaptic rewiring to erase her memory and her assassindroid programming.Councilor Leia Organa and Generals Han Solo and Lando Calrissian also journeyed to Hurd's Moon, attempting to prevent the rise of another destructive criminal empire. After a shootout, they took Savan into custody. Guri, her criminal programming purged, was allowed to go free.Black Nebula crumbled without Dequc, and Xizor's vigos murdered each other in an internecine bloodbath. Black Sun was dead, and it would remain defunct until the New Republic inadvertently resurrected the syndicate during the liberation of Coruscant three years later.Isard's ascension 4.5-5 A.B.Y.Ysanne Isard's conspiracy began to bear fruit when the New Republic threatened Brentaal, a wealthy and influential Core World not far from Mon Mothma's home planet of Chandrila. As the New Republic military geared up for an all-out assault, Sate Pestage vowed that Brentaal would not fall.Acting on Isard's advice, Pestage allowed the incompetent Admiral Isoto to defend Brentaal. There, despite the efforts of the Empire's best fighter pilot, Baron Soontir Fel, and the skills of the legendary 181st Imperial fighter group, Isoto's bumblings allowed the New Republic to capture the world. During the final battle, Baron Fel was taken prisoner by the New Republic, and he would later fly with the X-wing pilots of Rogue Squadron.To all appearances, Pestage was responsible for the loss of Brentaal, and the Ruling Circle screamed for his head. Knowing that Isard had sold him out, Pestage made preparations to defect. On Axxila, he held a secret meeting with Councilor Leia Organa to discuss terms. In exchange for leaving Coruscant undefended against a New Republic assault, he asked for twenty-five planets he could rule as he pleased. Realizing that Coruscant was the key to the war effort, Organa agreed to Pestage's offer, despite her own misgivings.Isard learned of the Axxila talks and immediately informed the Ruling Circle of Pestage's treachery. An order was issued for his arrest, and the Ruling Circle set itself up as the new governing body in the Empire.Sate Pestage fled to Ciutric, but was apprehended by the local Imperial governor. Though the Axxila deal was obviously dead, the New Republic had to take action. If Pestage were rescued by the New Republic, it would serve as an example to other high-ranking Imperials and encourage more defections. Rogue Squadron and a commando team were sent to Ciutric to retrieve Pestage.The rescue operation was unsuccessful. Pestage was murdered by Imperial Admiral Krennel, who then seized Pestage's personal territory and set himself up as the Empire's latest breakaway warlord. On Coruscant, Ysanne Isard ruthlessly exterminated the Ruling Circle and assumed the throne. Isard would succeed where the others had failed, and hold the crumbling Empire together for more than tvvo years.Eight months after the Battle of Endor, Ackbar and the New Republic fleet made another aggressive push into Imperial territory. Concerned that the campaign might presage a siege of Coruscant, Isard recalled hundreds of Star Destroyers to defend the capital planet and other key Core Worlds.One of the Imperial armadas that received the order was the Black Sword Command in the Koornacht Cluster, a little-known patch of territory at the fringes of the Deep Core. As the Black Fleet prepared to depart the central shipbuilding planet of N'zoth, the shipyards' Yevethan dockworkers erupted in a shocking uprising. Led by under ground commando Nil Spaar, the Yevetha murdered thousands of Imperials, captured hundreds more, and seized every Star Destroyer in the Black Fleet armada-including the Super Star Destroyer Intimidator.The Yevetha covered up the incident. The New Republic never heard a word about it, and Isard operating on inaccurate intelligence data-believed that the Black Fleet had perished in a debacle at Cal-Seti, several sectors away from N'zoth. The Koornach...
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]