Governor's Gambit - Star Wars SI into Imperial Governor

[Treangulator]

The company, Pathline Inc., was a logistics company.

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Hmmm,Talon Karrde used smugglers for his information network. Coincidence? Think not!
The Web grows, for Minda!

 

[Darkban]

D'awww i really wanted people to react to our MC Ciphas-Cain-but-not-really moment in his interview


Thanks for the chapter tho

 

[Yacov]

They saw the miles and miles of farmland stretching out from the city, stopping only at the base of the mountains that surrounded the valley. On some mountain sides, terrace farms could be seen.

As they traveled throughout the city, they saw much. Not just the markets, but the refineries. Once just a single complex, they had grown much to accommodate the influx of grains.

Towering vertical farming complexes could be seen in a ring around the city, with more in construction. A necessary step, considering the fact that there was little room for the city to expand outwards without demolishing farmland.

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It's amazing how far farming on Ugea has come. If these farms are as productive as the modern average, then it would probably take just under 1,000 square miles worth of farmland to feed the about a half a million permanent residents and another half a million of transitory population in the Minda system. Rolling Greens' valley is probably larger than that even with subtracting the city space.

My guess is these farms are even more productive than modern ones given sci fi tech.This bring the required number of farmland to feed everyone in the system down even further. Everything else above that number, that is food exports across the sector.

Given some worlds are probably just 10,000 or under small towns, Rolling Greens alone could be providing the entirely of those staple food imports for dozens of these worlds comfortably while still feeding everyone on Edin. All that, from one valley on one world.

First, the spaceport. Smaller than the Accordian port, and therefore less secure. Within sat the junction for the many, many train lines that ran from the city. Hitting both would disrupt trade and cost the city millions.

Second, the water purification system. Much of the water needed to sustain the massive farms that filled the valley was purified through a large purification plant that sat on the edge of the city. If destroyed, it would leave thousands of farmers without the water needed for their crops. And with the Shubeon continent's summer at full blast, many crops were sure to wither and die. And that's if they just destroyed it. If they contaminated it?

The effects would be devastating.

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Seems like Agent Fingernail doesn't realize if they screw with Rolling Greens' agriculture, thousands of people on other worlds may not get that food. Then again if they did, they would probably see it as a bonus.

Also hitting Ugea agricultural sector is going to make the Minda system hate the Rebels even more than they do now. They know exactly what is going to happen if food gets disrupted. These people are the desperate ones from across the Rim, either they or a family member knows what starvation feels like. Especially those that lived through the Clone Wars

So, the Governor. She would have to not just prove her worth, but somehow undermine Shal at the same time. It would be difficult, as the two are family, but maybe?

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A reminder that the people on Las' team are loyal to him, but not necessarily loyal to each other.

This wasn't just an advantage for the company, but a boon for Minda. Darna wanted this to be an Imperial company, one that made Imperial logistics better, faster, smoother. One that paid a larger portion of profits to the Empire. One that expanded for the Empire's benefit. And by Empire, she meant Minda.

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Darna wants to grow Minda's influence? Have Pathline Inc take over the food shipment contracts for the sector. Those drudge work contracts probably aren't profitable to the Imperial Companies that currently have them.

Those money grubbers will probably want to use that shipping on more profitable and prestigious contracts, so it shouldn't be too difficult to outbid them. Pathline Inc will gladly do these companies the favor of taking on the burden of these contracts, as maximizing profitability is not the purpose of the company.

Once Pathline has those contracts, they can direct a majority of food to come from Ugea citing "economies of scale" and "local connections". If any of these worlds get in a dispute with Minda, they need only to look at their grocery stores to see the potential consequences of that choice. It would be a shame if a downturn in relations led to delayed shipments and higher food prices after all.

Perhaps these vital shipments will need protection, luckily there is this pool of available manpower in the form of the Guild. Pathline would be more than willing to lease company land to build a Guild outpost to facilitate operations. Of course the Guild will be accepting of local recruits to appease those uncomfortable with all these armed outsiders coming in.

Yes I can see Pathline Inc being a vehicle of order and stability in the Sector. Just like the Trade Federation, but with somewhat less exploitation.

Did Ife understand all of it? No, she wasn't trained in reading commercial contracts. She was, however, adept at seeing opportunity. If she helped found this company, invested in it, involved herself in it, especially in the more public roles?

Lowering her hands to the keyboard, she began to type. For years her bank account had been filled with credits she rarely felt the need to use outside of creature comforts and some small investments. Now? It was time to put that money to use.

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By the Force Veers. Starship captains probably earn thousands of credits a month. Years worth of savings is probably hundreds of thousands of credits of liquid capital just lying around. You are going to be a major shareholder and be a very wealthy woman.

 

[Mistroz]

excellent chapter.

 

[Nickjr104]

Regardless, what really angered her was the newest arrival. Shal Mola, the Governor's older sister and Captain of the ISD Heavy Judgement.

Apparently, from what she heard, Shal had been disgraced. The Governor must've used his own connections to get her a spot here. Not prestigious, but safer than other assignments, and without a Governor that might go behind her back.

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god it would be funny if las keeps trying to push for his sisters to be promoted so they can leave him but they see him doing it as he doesn't want to spend time with him which is true, but those who have been under him for years like veers think he's pulling favors for family. more so if the sisters think that if he's trying to push them out and keep his veterans in because he "Likes" them so he can go back and spend time with just them without his sisters interference, and that's why he's not pushing them for major promotion that could get them out of his current system like he is with his sisters. so both side are jealous of each other for similar reasons which only one side is partly right about why. all while las' Sith just eggs both side on via rumors because he needs entertainment and they've just been banned for their games for the next month.

 

[Aeroeng]

Ahh yes, "How to get a group of people that might be sympathetic with you and turn them against you" 101. If I'm reading this correctly, these guys aren't even connected to the ACTUAL rebellion, just some random fucking partisans. Because otherwise they'd have connected to the existing Rebel Alliance intelligence of "do not mess with Minda we have our hands all over its infrastructure."

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Nope, in a early chapter the Rebellion literally told them not to, then warned Darna when they decided to do so anyway, they are/were a part of the rebellion, but this action has severed that tie, but far too late for the rebellion to not get some splash damage.

 

[Gamerboy999]

Here's a fun fact for wannabe revolutionaries, both che Guevara and Mao Zedong have both written books about their methods of anyone wants to learn from the professionals

 

[Talimancer2]

They needed something centralized. Something that would disrupt the economy, yes, but also something that would cause fear. Anger. If people suffered, and they would, then they would hate. First, the Hand, an understandable reaction for those clouded by anger. But then, the Empire would show its incompetence, and the people would turn.

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Honestly? It's a plan that would probably work in any other Imperial system. You prod at the imperials and then they inevitably do a heavy handed crackdown that impacts the safety and freedom of the residents. Maybe the Empire even ends up massacring some innocent people.

Of course the MC is well aware of this and so is a rare type of Imperial governor. Not (too) corrupt, not too proud, not an asshole and not caring if he looks weak to other governors. He's unlikely to overreact

 

[ThatLurkerGuy]

Love the contrast with the previous chapter. Last chapter had someone thinking about their tragic past and being happy they could help other people avoid the same fate. This chapter had someone thinking about their tragic past and being furious that other people weren't suffering the same fate.

 

[Vergil1989 Crossover King]

It's so amusing to see a so called Rebel acting like the very thing they hate with every fiber of their being. When or if this prick is caught, preferably after he's been crippled for life or at least seriously injured and possibly castrated, I say we have them wear a special pair of headphones that feed them a constant stream of the people they've hurt with this plan they're concocting screaming in pain while condemning the Rebels, instead of the Empire like they want. Just REALLY drive the point home that all they've done is the exact opposite of what they were trying to achieve.

 

[ImperialMage701139]

Fun fact about Veers that I'm not sure I ever talked about, but I named her without knowing about General Veers. In fact, her last name was Veer. After someone commented about the similarities, I saw an opportunity for some shenanigans and family drama, plus a chance to create some motivation.

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So what you're saying is you gaslit us

 

[Freefaller]

So what you're saying is you gaslit us

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I'm on that Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss type shit.

 

[Sam I Am]

Oh, bro, these fucking REBELS MAN!

You want the population to grow hateful??? Well, monkeys paw! They hate YOU now!

Seriously, targeting food supply and water supplies?? Bro, if the attempted decapitation strike isn't enough to radicalized the population against the Rebellion, then the destruction of vital resources like food and water absolutely will.

Ffs, man, who let these rebels cook, dude? They're singlehandedly fucking over the Rebellion by doing one of the worst things a rebel group can do: Attacking civilians.

Now who's gonna see either of these two factions as different from one another? They both disregard Life, they both have no qualms attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Literally handing the Empie the propaganda victory.

 

[Morkail]

Eventually when the rebellion wins all he had to do is invite a republic observer and hold an election and he will win be default since he doing such a good job. And the new republic won't have a leg to stand on

Doesn't help with the terrorists sadly lol

 

[Mastert3318]

And the new republic won't have a leg to stand on

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Since when has that stopped them?

 

[MorbiIIionaire]

And the agent?

They hated it. Hated that these people were happy, jovial, content even, when their people were never given the chance.

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There it is lol, leave it to the empire to hate one of the few shining beacons of the empire hahaha.

 

[RedDeadShyguy]

There it is lol, leave it to the empire to hate one of the few shining beacons of the empire hahaha.

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Nah, these are the rebels that rocked up in recent times, the ISB agent has yet to arrive or have they?

 

[Fearless444]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[DarkNacho]

Oh, bro, these fucking REBELS MAN!

You want the population to grow hateful??? Well, monkeys paw! They hate YOU now!

Seriously, targeting food supply and water supplies?? Bro, if the attempted decapitation strike isn't enough to radicalized the population against the Rebellion, then the destruction of vital resources like food and water absolutely will.

Ffs, man, who let these rebels cook, dude? They're singlehandedly fucking over the Rebellion by doing one of the worst things a rebel group can do: Attacking civilians.

Now who's gonna see either of these two factions as different from one another? They both disregard Life, they both have no qualms attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Literally handing the Empie the propaganda victory.

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Just perfect to pin almost every Bad thing the Empire did as Rebels doing it pretending to be the Empire or just Rebels actually hiding within the local civilians to use them as shields .

 

[Notsae66]

Bit of a short chapter
As good of a captain as veers is the wavering loyalty is gonna be a big problem down the line. The self righteous zeal of a fanatic is scary they need to be pulled root and stem quickly. It's already proven they simply don't care about collateral damage.

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No no, they care a lot about collateral damage; they want to maximize it as much as possible. Their only real cause is maximizing suffering and death, everything else is bullshit obfuscation.

 

[Vengeful-Astartes]

Time to use the attacks as a reason for a military buildup. Ground forces.

 

[Freefaller]

Chp-61: A Mountain of Flimsi

Trade. Deals. Politics.

The kind of stuff that was actually decently interesting, the kind of stuff I liked to mess around with in 4x games. Not that I was very good at them. My Endless Space 2 save files can attest to that.

Hell, if my reincarnation/isekai adventure had turned out a little different, I could be heading a company right now! It sounds fun, all things considered.

But no. I have to sit at this desk, reviewing report after report about the Guild, about the Hand, about Edin, and about all the corpos and political slimeballs that want a piece of the pie. Partially because of the shipyards, and partially because of the Moffs investment and interest in the project.

Honestly, I can't really blame them. If I was them, I'd be doing the same goddamn thing.

Of course, I'm not them, so I'll despise them to my heart's content.

At that moment, I was at my desk. Like I was most of the time. Honestly, I spent more time behind this desk than I did sleeping, eating, or generally enjoying life.

Real Japanese salaryman type shit.

I was responding to various Governors across the sector in regards to Guild membership. There was an alliance of three systems that had started their own trade deals who joined as essentially one group, while half a dozen other systems had expressed interest.

In total, 9 new star systems joined the Guild, totaling 11. There could've been more, make no mistake. With Minda's prosperity, and the upcoming shipyards, many governors were scrambling to secure a spot.

The problem? Most didn't really qualify for Guild Membership. Their worlds either relied on slave labor, had local laws that caused conflict with the Guild, and more.

The world of Otho-3, for example, of the Otho system. 3 planets, 4 moons between them, a decent asteroid belt, and nothing else. Otho-3 was primarily an agricultural society that relied heavily on the enslaved native population, which had been enslaved for decades now. Apparently they had been classified as "non-sapient" under the Republic, likely due to some bribes, and no-one ever looked close enough to ask questions. Outer-rim, after all.

Now, to all those who were incompatible with the Guild system, I sent them messages detailing why they wouldn't work.

Exclusivity contracts with large companies for large portions of the local market meant the Guild couldn't do its thing.

Slave labor meant local workers and businesses would suffer, which meant the Guild couldn't do its thing.

Excessively high taxes ruined small shops which meant the Guild couldn't do its thing.

Each message was essentially some or all of these things, worded more professionally. Like;

"I am very thankful for your application to the Imperial Guild, however your current labor force is incompatible with the Guild's bylaws, as they remove jobs and opportunities from the market that the Guild is built to encourage."

I've written no less than a dozen variations of that statement alone. It appears that slavery is far more common across the Empire than I thought. I suppose that so long as the Core thinks everything is fine and dandy, then little else matters. After all, the Core holds such a ridiculous portion of the population and even more of the power.

Coruscant alone has at least a trillion people, if not more.

Still, those that joined held promise. The three that joined together had promise, and well established trade routes between themselves. There was still some negotiation underway, but Oioro was taking care of that. She was essentially the primary negotiator for many things nowadays.

And of course she is. She's very scary in a professional way. Veers will turn you to dust from orbit, and Grant will rip your head off, but Oioro will somehow make you thank her for bankrupting you.

Makes me appreciate Gary all the more. Not his real name, it's Garpastealap Hath, but I call him Gary in my head.

Gary had found employment here on Minda as a secretary after leaving Muunilist itself. The planet was a metropolis, and one of the most populated in the Outer Rim.

Muun culture heavily pushed for economic pursuits, which was exemplified in the Banking Clans. Gary, however, was less than thrilled about the expectations placed upon him.

He didn't mind running numbers or doing business, but he hated the constant political games that just about every member of Muun society played throughout their lives. He wanted away with it, to find a place where he could more easily express himself.

That place was Minda. He was originally hired as part of the propaganda department, and was actually behind the design of my winter overcoat/cape. My snazziest outfit, if I do say so myself.

He even made the designs for Darna's outfit, which features some softer flowing silks that resemble more classical Twi'lek outfits. They look good too. Adds an almost divine air to her when she arrives.

When I walk into a room, people shut up cause I'm the Governor. When Darna walks into a room, people shut up cause she looks like she stepped out of Heaven.

Weirdest part? It's not even about her beauty either, at least not solely. It's a combination of her looks, demeanor, the way she carries herself, and the outfit.

Really impressive shit. Glad I made her Vice-Governor.

And Guild Director.

And she just started a company. Which I invested in, actually. Not with my money, of course, but with Imperial funds, making it an Imperial company. More trade, controlled in some part by Minda, with more money flowing in. A good deal, expands things, makes things flow smoother.

Makes it more likely the shipyards work well. The shipyards that act as my blessing and curse, for they invite protection from above, yet scrutiny from below.

Regardless, while Darna is a founder, and not CEO of the company, she has been taking on a great deal of work, an unhealthy amount some might say, and I can't have one of my most competent subordinates die of stress.

I made a note to call her about which position she would rather stay in, and who she recommends as a replacement for the other. Both seats are very, very important, but I already have enough problems managing Minda, much less the Guild as well.

Maybe I should get her to take a holiday?

Regardless, I make a note to do something later, and get back to my work.

Soon, the new Stormtrooper Battalion would be landing here, alongside ISB Agent Thorne. Now, the fact that it was an ISB agent wasn't just scary, it was odd. Hiral? Sending an Agent from an organization that he has no power over?

The ISB operates independently from the rest of the Empire, answering only to the Emperor himself.

There must be a ploy. Maybe he wants to hide behind the ISB? Have records stating that he called them, got the proper authorities? And if things go wrong, it's the ISB's fault, not his.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Hiral wants this done quickly, by people who, on some level at least, know what they're doing. The ISB may be a political shitshow, but at least they kinda know what they're doing.

What really worries me is the fucking Stormtroopers. A battalion has at least 800 or so troops! I'm gonna need to feed them, house them, etc… Even if they come in their own ship with their own supplies, that will need to be supplied as well.

Now, all of this is, despite my panic, a good thing. I can site a lot of these things, along with increased security measures, as reasonable slowdowns of the shipyards. After all, things need to be double checked, security measures doubled, etc…

All of this? A means to stall for time. Time to get Minda working properly. Once all 20 shipyards are at full blast, Minda and Edin will struggle to keep up with demand, if the list of pre-orders the Moff handed me is anything to go by.

The slimy bastard secured over 30 deals with Moffs and Governors alike for a bevy of ships, meaning before we ever get to selling them off the rack, we gotta get through something like nearly 300 ships. Sure, it's all corvettes and frigates, but some of the ships on this list are larger. Much farther down the list, of course, but from what I gather, Hiral expects production to be higher by the time we get to that point.

Which is bad. Cause frigates? Corvettes? Doable. The RnD team has been hard at work taking examples apart to figure out how to cut costs without cutting quality.

But a cruiser!? Those things could be up to 1km!

Problem is, these were requested by Moffs! So it's not like I can say no, cause if I say no, the Moff Hiral gets shit on, and takes it out on me!

Which, again, is why I'm trying to slow things down. RnD is currently all in on trying to optimize the current line of frigates and corvettes, which is 3 at the moment. That number will grow, as other frigate types have been requested. Currently, the plan is to finish the current projects, and then go all in on one type of cruiser. They're getting quite close to finishing the current base optimizations, which will cut our costs by around 2% and operating costs by about 5%. The kind of numbers that stack with time and scale.

It's far more reasonable(to a Moff) to say 'Sorry, but we are building so much that we can only build one type of cruiser right now. In 6 months we might be able to add another to the roster rather than tell them to their face that their request is unreasonable.

I'd left it up to both Veers and the RnD team to decide which cruiser would best fit this position, since it needs to be effective enough that people don't complain, but also something that can be built, after optimization.

It was as I was contemplating all of this that Myr'thos walked in.

It was around the time that they finished their daily spars with the Commander, but I noticed something as they removed their helmet.

A small red mark on their cheek. A hit.

I smirked.

"Grant got you this time, ey?"

They snorted in disdain, already firing up their console.

"The Commander is a diligent and focused opponent. I was merely testing her. She is still far beneath me."

"Of that I'm sure. Still, she's impressive. How about the Stormtroopers? I know they've undergone more extensive training under her."

Another snort of disdain.

"They are barely adequate. Passable for Imperial Soldiers I suppose."

Myr'thos's 'barely adequate' meant that they were actually pretty good. Which was nice, as I doubted the new incoming stormtroopers were as well trained.

Not to mention the troopers Shal brought with her. Thankfully, they lived full time on the Heavy Judgement, so I didn't need to worry about housing or nothing.

As Myr'thos started yelling slurs in a dead language that the censors didn't pick up on, I returned to work.

Elections were underway to replace the reps that died, plans to expand the Militia Academy were underway to account for the influx of recruits, and a large batch of immigrants was incoming, one of the few that were still allowed in to keep things growing, all set to settle in a set of growing cities that surrounded Rolling Greens. Lots of farms planned for that area to keep food production up. The hope was to eventually start exporting larger and larger amounts of food.

There were many other things. Reports on new roads, rail-lines, Darna's people(I have no idea where she gets them but they're super effective) catching corrupt officials, energy infrastructure, the Mindan Collegial Program making new campuses, and more.

So much more.

It never seemed to end. My inbox was filled to the brim. I would have a hundred emails, read through forty, refresh the page, and have a hundred and ten.

As Mugwuffin purred in her newest napping spot around my legs under my desk, I took a quick shot of hot cocoa, and locked the fuck in.

I was going to bureaucrat the shit out of this.

Then? Retire rich as fuck.

Let's get this bread.

-

Hi there folks! Wanted to do a more Las-centric chapter, since I jump around a lot. I know it can be kinda odd to go a chapter or two without seeing the MC, but the perspective changes are how I show other sides of the story.

Las is mostly in his office, doing Governor things, and that isn't always super interesting. Are there other interesting things he could be doing? Maybe, maybe…But right now he's stuck in his office because of the Hands attack. And, I can't really think of anything else right now, so I instead jump between characters. Allows me to explore them a bit more as well, which I enjoy, even if it does feel like I end up neglecting some characters for a little too long.

Also! Ship time! I have found some cool fanart for cruiser concepts that the shipyards will struggle to build in the future. The thing is, I don't want to always use fanart all the time, cause as much as it is cool, it can be a little much at times. So, I would prefer to use an existing Imperial Cruiser. A real one.

By the definition of the Anaxes War College, a cruiser is between 400-1000 meters, so not those little Arquitens which are technically frigates. Can't really find anything, since the Empire seems to be top heavy at the best of times. Any help with this is greatly appreciated.

As always, feedback and commentary are appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

-Freefaller

 

[apocolypse1011]

Great chapter and it was nice to see things from his point of view again!

 

[AldariSiradla]

Let's get this bread.

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Then someone comes in from behind with a Durasteel Chair!

Righto!
Looks like things are looking up...
Well, relatively anyway!

 

[auraofcalm]

locked the fuck in.

I was going to bureaucrat the shit out of this.

Then? Retire rich as fuck.

Let's get this bread.

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Stay on target.

 

[Yeetboi]

I was going to bureaucrat the shit out of this.

Then? Retire rich as fuck.

Let's get this bread.

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Aim at the shirt and miss by a foot.
Aim at the button and miss by an inch.
Stay Locked-in Las, I swear fate and the force won't make the times you live in more interesting than they already are.

 

[Scholar of Time]

Thanks for reading!

-Freefaller

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Thanks for writing! Quite a good pace and tempo, and it leaves me 1) happy that the slice of life is continuing, 2) waiting for the next wild happenstance, and 3) eager for post-gubernatorial hijinks (without feeling impatient).

A rare treat! Light fare that is filling, with a sense of a larger repast to come.

 

[Cthugha]

I was going to bureaucrat the shit out of this.

Then? Retire rich as fuck.

Let's get this bread.

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10 years later: "ALL HAIL EMPEROR LAS! FIRST OF HIS NAME AND RULER OF THE SECOND GALACTIC EMPIRE!!!!!!!"

A quadrillion souls spread out across a million worlds: "HAIL!!!!"

Las: " Godammnit"

 

[DeviantSix]

An excellent chapter here.

As for cruisers, I have a couple ideas.

The first thing you can aim for is the cruiser platform that the Vindicator and the Immobilizer-418 Cruisers use. But I can imagine that these don't have to be the end goals, after all, it was from this platform that the Enforce Class Cruiser was created by the future Pentastar Alignment. Perhaps that could be something to look into, especially if RnD crews 'discover' this through their optimization efforts.

The other thing you could go for (but probably won't) is the Victory Class, as it is at 900 meters. With it being a well used design, if overshadowed, perhaps those can be useful to gain some appreciation from the Moffs and others in getting a warship that counts as a Star Destroyer. The RnD teams could also work the design over to improve and refine it going off of either the Victory-I or Victory-II, possibly bringing around a Victory-III type improved model.

 

[vtkun]

thanks for the chapter