Governor's Gambit - Star Wars SI into Imperial Governor

[Athain]

Been looking into expanding info on the Myto Sectors ground forces. After all, outside of the LECA's and the Broadsword hover IFV's its all bog standard. Obviously the Imp military has some decent stuff, if it was all awful they'd lose all the time. But I figure there has to be places they can improve, so tossing ideas/art of vehicles/weapons/strategies and more in the comments would be amazing, cause I am as far from a general as possible. Not even an armchair general. Mechs can be included, given the LECA, but keep them star wars themed and grounded to an extent. No Gundams flying around lobbing battleship killing nukes.

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How about rotary cannons for anti-fighter/anti-missile duty? Multi-layered shields? Or maybe ask why the bridge on the Star Destroyers is sticking out so much? Some Veritech fighters would be nice, but that's probably pushing it. Oh, here's a basic one: Flares. Something for the fighters and other spacecraft to shake off torpedoes/missiles. Maybe give the ground troops an E-tool.

 

[ActionJHW]

You know, considering how most authoritarian governments tend to really hate the intellectual culture of science even if they love the tech, I wouldn't be surprised if the examiners were expecting the standard Moff approach of arguing which form of torture is most cost-effective in keeping slaves docile and productive and got a Moff that actually understands and has implemented genuinely good economic reforms that aren't ethically shit.

 

[klip04]

A suspicious 6 or 7 there. Should have known

 

[Yacov]

They were, in a single word, large. Like, at least 6 or 7 stories tall. At the base sat a series of perfectly normal sized doors instead.

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Why yes, I would like to fit an AT-AT into the university in case of purges.

They were enjoying their new armor way too much. The hooded helmet and monochrome color scheme made them a walking shadow, and Myr'thos took every opportunity to make the drip clear as day to all.

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Now that is a Dark Sider outfit. Could even pose as an inquisitor with that look. Then again most would assume they are just cosplaying.

One of them fell over, faceplanting so hard I was certain I saw blood. From Myr'thos's quiet snickers, I had a suspicion it was no accident.

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Truly an evil act. A Jedi would faint from the wanton cruelty displayed by the Sith.

Though they shot curious looks at Mugwuffin on my shoulders,

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Pay no heed, that is just Las' support sentient.

As it stands, a non-humans needs or wants are irrelevant, only their productive capability. And the data shows that these concessions allow that capability to rise."

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i.e. the galaxy has been multi-species for millennia, we have figured it out for a long time.

"The average cost of security per slave per capita is 237% higher than what it would take to pay even the barest minimum wage. They are effectively running expensive prisons that happen to produce something as a byproduct. This, combined with all the other evidence, is inefficient."

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Slavery at the end of it all does wealth distribution, not overall wealth generation.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere came to an end as an alarm rung out, my alarm. A quick tap at my PDA silenced it.

"My apologies, my alarm was ringing to remind me of a dinner reservation I made this morning." I glanced at the clock. "Unfortunately, I'll have to take my leave within the next half an hour if I wish to make it . It's at The Pinnacle, you see."

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Congrats Las, you managed to make a bunch of tenured professors actually stand up and engage with your material.

Honestly fairly proud of this chapter. Really wanted to showcase how Coruscant is kind of a glittery shithole through the academy. But at the same time, I figured there had to be people who were actually passionate about their field of study under the pomp. After all, this is just one lowly Moff, so they wouldn't send the trust fund babies with 0 passion, just the ones who are 50/50 on passion and profit.

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One thing Las could do while on Coruscant is go head hunting. It might be the galaxy's black heart, but by sheer numbers there are going to be specialists that he can't find back home. Might not be the greatest quality willing to go out into the Outer Rim, but at least they'll be takers.

 

[Filehej]

For army upgrades? Depends on how you actually define the imperial army. Simple stuff would be actually implementing current stuff into sw for in planet fighting ie over the horizon engagement, artillery, missiles, air support that doesn't just do strafing runs, actual athmosphere fighters, bombers, ciws, mortars, if you want to get fancy get drones and droids into the mix ala stuff we see now. Combined arms actually showed, specialists troopers.

It all depends how into the weeds you want to actually go.

Off the top of my head missiles is kinda the low hanging fruit there. I don't think the concept of cruise missiles is used that much. The jericho missile from iron man comes to mind. Concussion missiles just kinda do whatever the author wants them to. Proton torpedoes are either fucking stupid or the pants shiting thing like Halo plasma ones.

 

[PepeDeLosPalotes]

Thanks for tje chapter

 

[Venerable Ro]

He's accidentally made a compelling economic argument against slavery where it would actually get heard, and did it without even a hint of anything but pure mercantile calculus.

"No I'm not in favor of forced labor, do you have any idea how expensive that is? The ROI is nonexistent. Slaves don't pay taxes, don't contribute to the economy, and instead cost a fortune in upkeep. Incredible waste of budget allocations that could be profitably invested in anything else."

 

[theoretisch cool]

He's accidentally made a compelling economic argument against slavery where it would actually get heard, and did it without even a hint of anything but pure mercantile calculus.

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The only question is how the rebellion will react to this statement.

 

[Deathwings]

The only question is how the rebellion will react to this statement.

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"Trust an Imperial to realize the evil of slavery in the most cynical way possible."

 

[AldariSiradla]

I must agree.
Slavery is inefficient and economically ruinous.
After all, as already said, slaves do not pay taxes.
But...
Congratulations, Doctor Mola!

 

[Civil Reader]

Slaves don't pay taxes.

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Yes this chapter reminded me quite a bit of the wisdom from Victoria II.

Spoiler: Wisdom

View: https://youtu.be/AkfbxC68EVk?si=fn3GLtl4HJDXd4po&t=120

 

[Inbredmartian]

Forgot to edit this bro.

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Honestly thought this was something Myth had written on the cup by the barista lol

 

[Watching]

keeping my arms held behind my back despite the growing pain in my elbow.

Why is their armor so damn hard? I should've never given that program adequate funding.

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Huh, did he get new armor?

She then proceeded to poke at my belly. So what, I like hot coco, sue me!

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Is Las fat? Does he have a Santa beer belly or something now?

Another projection, this one from the Veragi sector I had scrounged up.

"The average cost of security per slave per capita is 237% higher than what it would take to pay even the barest minimum wage. They are effectively running expensive prisons that happen to produce something as a byproduct. This, combined with all the other evidence, is inefficient."

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You know, this reminds me of a hero unit from Endless Space that dismantled slavery using a scientific paper she wrote and got put on the wanted list by the human empire faction she lived in for the trouble. Hopefully, the same doesn't happen the Las.

Wonder if some slaver factions will put a bounty of Las's head for this?

When the doors opened once more, we were ushered back inside. There, the entire committee stood, Doctor Butra at its center.

"We've come to a decision, Doctor."

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Our boy did it! He's getting his doctorate!

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Is this written in braille or some sort of code?

Edit: never mind, I guess the images dots were misaligned before.

But I figure there has to be places they can improve, so tossing ideas/art of vehicles/weapons/strategies and more in the comments would be amazing, cause I am as far from a general as possible. Not even an armchair general. Mechs can be included, given the LECA, but keep them star wars themed and grounded to an extent. No Gundams flying around lobbing battleship killing nukes.

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Well, you could always look up Hearts of Iron 4's land, air and naval doctrine tree's if you're in need of ideas or inspiration for doctrines I guess? Space battles in Star Wars is based off of the world wars after all.

Maybe make a Star Wars equivalent of the Mule to help with logistics would be a good idea? Basically just a small super cheaper platform you can put supplies and equipment on that can pretty much go anywhere. Jury rig a mouse droid onto it for the funny.

I wouldn't be surprised if Yssane Isard was watching Las' presentation, judging him and taking notes.

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Hope not, pray she got scared off by Las boring her to death with taxes. The less attention from her the better.

Oh, here's a basic one: Flares. Something for the fighters and other spacecraft to shake off torpedoes/missiles.

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I think tie fighters already have missile jamming equipment built into them, it's just it requires the pilot to manually tune the jammer to the right frequency since there's no droid to assist which distracts from flying.

 

[Heidao]

Yeah, odds are they were expecting the level of a kid proudly showing off their macaroni art, instead they had a comprehensive and prepared presentation with evidence from data before and after the changes, as well as the comparison to the other systems.

Now they're engaged, and the fact they're listening and poking at the data means they see merit and may be keen to start using some of his systems.

"We've come to a decision, Doctor."

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Congratulations, Doctor Mola


I can see a changing of the board and battlefield, if enough of Las' ideas are adopted and given enough time for public perception to shift to positive, that might make rebel infiltration and incitement more difficult.

He probably got them at the idea that a happy, taxable populace can feed military spending than waste said forces guarding irrate slaves

 

[zack1224]

Thanks for the Chapter.

 

[vtkun]

thanks for the chapter

 

[An-Eager-Reader]

...why does myrthos keep saying mensch?

 

[OrderedOrb]

...why does myrthos keep saying mensch?

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It's probably supposed to be some kind of insult or a slur for non Force Sensitives. Far as I know in irl, it's also German for Man.

 

[averagejoe32]

...why does myrthos keep saying mensch?

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It's probably supposed to be some kind of insult or a slur for non Force Sensitives. Far as I know in irl, it's also German for Man.

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It's literally in the English dictionary?

mensch

noun

ˈmen(t)sh

Synonyms of mensch
: a person of integrity and honor

Definition of MENSCH

a person of integrity and honor… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

 

[OrderedOrb]

It's literally in the English dictionary?

mensch

noun

ˈmen(t)sh

Synonyms of mensch
: a person of integrity and honor

Definition of MENSCH

a person of integrity and honor… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

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.......Wait. Does that mean he's just being tsundere about respecting Las?

 

[Zecevic081]

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I hope you choke, in Star Wars of course.

 

[Yacov]

Omake: B-65 Colonial Defense Rifle

Production information

Manufacturer: Primitech Solutions (Guild of Commerce, Production and Protection Subsidiary)

Type: Slugthrower rifle

Cost: 300 Credits

Physical and technical specifications

Size: Medium

Materials: Common metals

Weight: 3 Kg

Capacity: 20 round magazine

Range: 150 meters

Rate of fire: 30 rounds a minute

Usage

Availability: Civilian

Roles:

• Minimum industry service rifle

Affiliation:

• Colonial militaries
• Fringers
• Remote farmers

——

Description
"Alright got a good number of generators, some air and water filters, some rations, the prefabs, and some B-65s. Anything else we need before setting out?" - Expedition leader prior to setting out to establish a colony on a remote world.

The B-65 Colonial Defense Rifle is a weapon designed by the Outer Rim for the Outer Rim. Following increased interaction between the Myto and Braxant sectors, Primitech Solutions started exploring potential opportunities in the latter's primitive firearm market. The result was a semiautomatic slugthrower marketed as "a young military's first service rifle". A low power, yet reliable firearm meant to allow colonies isolated by choice, age, or circumstance to be able to field a standardized military.

Design

"What makes a B-65 so easy to maintain? I can count the amount of moving parts in the thing with one hand." - Toydariantalking about the B-65.

The B-65 was designed from the ground up to be simplistic, easy to maintain, and requiring next to no offworld support outside of the initial purchase. To accomplish this both the firearm and the ammunition were made out of metal and other materials commonly that could be produced on most worlds such as steel, aluminum, and brass. The chemical makeup for the gunpowder was also kept to commonly available variants.

Weight was kept light due to expecting soldiers not to have access to vehicles and have to march on their own feet. Most able bodied sentients could lug a B-65 around in long marches without too much difficulty. A wooden stock was sometimes used to further lighten the weapon, but a metal option was more widely used.

However what truly made a B-65 a dream for armorers was the lack of moving parts. There were only three moving parts in the whole firearm: the trigger assembly, the magazine and the recoil spring. B-65s had no firing pin, rather they relied on a milled-in nub that served to smash into the rimfire primer and set off the cartridge as the bolt slammed forward. There wasn't even a dedicated ejector for the shell casings. Instead the B-65 was manufactured in such a way that the blowback was directed so the casing would be ejected out of the barrel in reaction to the gun being fired.

Overall the B-65 is an efficient slugthrower that sacrifices quality and performance in exchange for ease of manufacture and reliability. The simplicity and cheapness allowed the B-65 to be produced en masse without too much industrial investment on Primitech's part to keep costs low. The firearm can be used for decades without much decrease in functionality if it is kept in decent condition and storage.

Performance
"Might not have the same punch as a high quality hunting blaster, but I can crank out the parts and ammo in my workshop and I don't have to take a trip to the Starport every month. - Fringer discussing the maintenance benefits of the B-65.

Performance wise the B-65 is fairly lackluster. Choosing to scrimp on the materials did lead to a decrease in long range accuracy. The B-65 was designed with unarmored sentients or local wildlife as the main intended targets. It can penetrate leather and armorweave even if it may struggle a bit. However things like durasteel are almost entirely resistant to a round from a B-65, let alone things like an armored vehicle or a megafauna. Droids were also fairly resistant, although of a round can hit the joints or make it to the internals it can still do some damage. Even a sentient with fairly tough skin such as a Trunsk can take over a dozen good hits to incapacitate. Most of the time colonial militaries use things like explosives such as grenades or rockets, or fixed defenses like turrets rather than relying on their B-65s for the heavier opponents.

So how does a B-65 make up for its poor firepower? Mainly through quantity and volume of fire. Remember the B-65 is designed to be used as a service weapon. It is meant to be used on the squad level, not the individual level. When you are being shot at by a B-65 it is usually not just one rifle, but rather ten to a dozen firing at once. Whatever small raid or pack of animals that is attacking tends to be smaller than a colonial military in total. If they can bring those numbers to bear, then quantity can usually outweigh the quality of the weapon.

For that reason the B-65 is encouraged to be used in a defensive manner. In order to more easily concentrate as many firearms to the location under attack as possible. B-65s are optimally used behind a fixed position in a large group. Thankfully most new colonies only have one or two locations worth defending anyway, so this situation tended to happen without much intention. As an added benefit, a defensive stance usually meant most colonial militaries are right next to their main supply base, negating most of the logistical downsides of using large amounts of slugthrowers.

Sales
"Do you know far out from the common hyperlanes we are? The shipping costs for the gas alone would break our budget. Just order some B-65s, spend a few weeks training a new armorer to keep the things working, and move on." - A yearly budget meeting on a newly settled world discussing defense spending.

The B-65 targeted a very specific clientele at a specific point in their lives. B-65's were marketed towards new colonies in the process of setting up their first military formations. While it is not that hard to acquire a blaster in the Outer Rim, getting hundreds of fairly uniform blasters and the infrastructure to keep them running was beyond most colonies in their initial years. Even more so if they were in a remote part of a sector away from the main hyperlanes. Also at those amounts an organization had to almost always buy new instead of used given tracking down hundreds of used guns of a specific model is usually not worth the additional effort and time needed. To say nothing of the erratic rate of equipment failure that would cause in a military.

Analysts at Primitech estimated the period a colony starts forming a military beyond an emergency militia was around when the main settlement started getting above the 20,000 number in permanent residents. Large enough that the colony could sustain raising a company of soldiers out of the unemployed and the unspecialized, too large for the few squads of law enforcement to handle every threat, and still too small to reliably import or manufacture blasters. The B-65 was meant to arm these initial colonial militaries with cheap and reliable weapons until their budget and infrastructure grew large enough to equip their military with blasters like most PDFs. The B-65s were often kept past this period as a weapon to be given to third and fourth line formations instead of spending the extra Credits on blasters for soldiers unlikely to see any action.

Primitech primarily sold in bulk orders with their most popular size being the company size. Company size was enough B-65s in to arm every soldier in a company and enough ammunition for a quiet training year for about 50,000 Credits plus shipping. By the time the purchased ammo runs out a local workshop is usually converted to make spare parts and ammo which means no more reliance on offworld trade or industry.

For reference, arming a similarly sized company with new A280 blaster Rifles would cost 187,200 Credits. To say nothing of the additional cost in infrastructure and supplies needing to be built, shipped in, and staffed to maintain all those blasters. If a frontier colony could acquire that kind of machinery in the first place, which it likely could not in its starting years. Even if a colony had the option to outfit their military with A280s, most would probably prefer a company of poorly armed soldiers over a platoon of decently armed ones to patrol all the hopefully empty land surrounding their still developing colony. If a patrol with the B-65s gets eaten, then at least it was a smaller percentage of their forces and the colony now knows which direction to position the rest of the military.

In a bid to make the B-65 more marketable to its customers, every order of over fifty rifles came with complementary detailed technical manuals for how to set up manufacturing for spare parts and ammunition for the B-65. The manuals used simple language and had options for manufacturing by hand or with whatever machinery could commonly be found in a workshop in a new colony. This often meant Primitech lost sales in those ammo and parts, but its buyers were often so remote that the shipping costs would have eaten up all the profit anyway. Also a colony that survived was more likely to purchase B-65s for a second and third company than one that ran out of supplies and died to pirates or hostile wildlife.

Another group of buyers Primitech found for their weapon was among isolationist worlds and communities. Worlds that for one reason or another wished to keep industry and starship traffic artificially low. These could be Luddites who reject advanced technology, nature worshippers who despise pollution, hyper-specialized artisan communities who do not want to commit the resources for extensive arms production, or just isolated exclaves seeking to remain separate from the wider galaxy for ideological or other reasons. These fringe communities saw the B-65 as a way to increase their self sufficiency while not sacrificing too much collective self defense capability.

Sadly the B-65 found far less success among individual buyers. Outside of the occasional fringer wanting to play hermit, a farmer looking for some self defense, or the occasional slugthrower enthusiast, most individual buyers preferred purchasing blasters over the B-65. This was especially true in the Guild with its robust logistics network. Mercenaries saw the rifle as a weapon meant for hicks in remote worlds and generally not worth the space it would take up in their loadout when even a sporting blaster could perform better in a lot of metrics.

Overall the B-65 is considered a financial failure by Primitech. The target market was too niche and the profit margins were too small to warrant the capital spent on the project. For every military contract they made with a colony, that often equated to less than 250,000 Credits in sales with higher expenses than was standard due to the remote nature of their clientele. Other military firearm contracts broke a million Credits per world easy even if it was just a support weapon. Even if the B-65 did break even, it barely did more than that. Prices couldn't be raised and improvements couldn't be added lest the B-65's small market share dry up to the then cheaper alternatives. Add in its durable nature and ease of maintenance and repeat sales per world were limited at best. The gun was made too efficiently for the company's own good.

Production was only kept open due to a combination of good PR, government subsidies and contracts, the current rate new worlds are being settled in the galactic area, and the prestige that came with the B-65 being included in development aid packages. The moment any of the above four start waning, Primitech is likely to halt production. However that would do little to stop the usage of the B-65, as the dissemination of technical specs in the manuals means copycat designs are liable to appear to pick up the slack should that occur.

Conclusion
"How did this dirtball get so many frakking guns!? *gasp!* Killshot nooooo! Don't go off into that bright looiiiiight! - Pirate experiencing the effectiveness of coordinated B-65 fire.

Two words that can be used to describe the B-65 would be purpose built. The gun was made for colonial militaries in their infancy to defend themselves and it does that job well enough. It gives any world in the galactic area a solid dependable floor in terms of military strength. B-65s may not be used for long in the relative scale of a world's history. However more and more planets are going to have their PDF's history started with some former day laborer clad in nothing more than fatigues and a helmet, carrying a B-65 in their arms.

——

Meet the B-65. A tier zero rifle designed to be used by military formations on distant underdeveloped worlds. Something you would see starter units use in a RTS game before you did any research in the tech tree or built any special buildings. Worlds isolated enough from the rest of the galaxy's logistics network can often struggle to maintain blasters long term. No matter how snazzy a gun is, most militaries won't adopt something en masse unless they can maintain it reliably.

The B-65 was created to showcase the difference between a mercenary wanting to arm themselves out of their own pocket and a squad of infantry being armed with a defense budget. In the latter case, quantity and reliability often win out over quality and flashy bits. The B-65 was tailor made for the best case scenario for using large numbers of slugthrowers in Star Wars, and even then I struggled to justify making it more than a barely profitable niche product due to the logistical costs and the Forever Pencil Problem. Blasters won the war for logistics and mass quantity for a reason.

Inspiration for this one is the Gevarm E1, a semi-automatic rifle made by the French in the 50s.

Crossposted on SB and SV

 

[UndeadLord22]

Fuck that 6 7 joke

Anyways, bring back that Helmet drip yo. Or at least make a compact helmet he can pop up incase of gas attack.

 

[Watching]

Been looking into expanding info on the Myto Sectors ground forces. After all, outside of the LECA's and the Broadsword hover IFV's its all bog standard. Obviously the Imp military has some decent stuff, if it was all awful they'd lose all the time. But I figure there has to be places they can improve, so tossing ideas/art of vehicles/weapons/strategies and more in the comments would be amazing, cause I am as far from a general as possible. Not even an armchair general. Mechs can be included, given the LECA, but keep them star wars themed and grounded to an extent. No Gundams flying around lobbing battleship killing nukes.

Click to shrink...

Forgot to mention before but I think people said something about creating a reservist position/division for military forces? Should give the sector and planets somewhat trained reserves of personnel to draw from in times of emergency and I imagine it would be popular idea among the troops for being the closest thing they can get to retirement without breaking that one rule that says they can't retire.

Could try developing exoskeletons for ground troops to augment their movement? The only example I know of are the exosuit heavy armor clone Blaze troopers wore. Then again, It might just be better to slap a jet pack on the infantry or shove them into a vehicle.

Maybe hand out more light rocket launchers if you haven't so infantry can do more than just ineffectively fire at air or ground vehicle with just blasters? Could probably get some sort of HE or fragmentation rockets to deal with enemy infantry too.

 

[AdrianXIV]

Myto Sector is probably "only place in the Imperium", where KX-series Security Droids are actually tasked with security, and not with massacring protesters (whose actions are caused by governor being incompetent idiot)

 

[Watching]

Myto Sector is probably "only place in the Imperium", where KX-series Security Droids are actually tasked with security, and not with massacring protesters (whose actions are caused by governor being incompetent idiot)

Click to shrink...

Wasn't the KX series an attempt to side step the senate law banning the creation of battle droids after the clone wars ended by being totally not a super battle droid/technically a security droid?

 

[AdrianXIV]

Wasn't the KX series an attempt to side step the senate law banning the creation of battle droids after the clone wars ended by being totally not a super battle droid/technically a security droid?

Click to shrink...

They were, but below quote (Chapter 56) implies that they're present in Myto Sector, and I doubt that they're only KX Droids present in Las Mola's "domain":

They stayed in their miniature bunkers, with at least one officer outside to keep a sense of peace, and address any concerns. Within, at least 3 more stood. A few KX Model Security Droids were standing in charging bays, waiting for activation.

Click to shrink...

 

[Freefaller]

Chp-112

Las

The rest of our time on Coruscant was oddly peaceful. A dinner in a private booth at The Pinnacle and plenty of rest in a hotel orders of magnitude nicer than any accommodation I'd ever lived in was a pleasant way to end the trip.

Yet, despite this, I was firmly of the belief I'd never wish to return. Sure, I was walking away from the place a Doctor of Political Science, and the only thing the planet had really taken from me was money and time.

But that didn't change the fact that it felt slimy on an almost spiritual level. Maybe it was the Force bond with Mugwuffin, maybe it was just my preconceptions of the place, but it was almost as though every surface was covered in a thin coating of lies. The glitter only served as a cover.

Stepping foot back into the Vigil was in a weird sense comforting. Even more comforting was sitting in my quarters and reviewing the reports sent back from the Myto sector.

Things had gone surprisingly well since I'd been gone. A part of me feared I'd return to ash, but if these reports were correct things were moving smoothly.

Darna, as Guild Headmistress, was putting a great deal of interest in helping build the BGES up. The report stated she wished to create more economic prosperity by ensuring the sister guild was well built and efficient.

I was certain once I returned, an encrypted report would detail exactly how many spies and she'd embedded all throughout the BGES. And then another report from Thorne on how he curtailed her worst habits, then another from Darna complaining about Thorne and so on.

If not for the extremely secretive nature of our operations, I'd force the two of them to attend some sort of HR team building exercise or something. As it is, I'll just have to maintain their stupidity.

Aside from that, the funding increase born from an increased tax base which itself was born from the economic boom had born fruit!

Ever since I'd taken the seat of Moff, I'd been inundated with work. And it wasn't all sector development. Oftentimes I was dealing with disputes between Governors. I was dealing with minutia that frankly speaking was inefficient.

What made it worse was that I wasn't massively familiar with the cultures of those subsectors. I wanted to tour the sector properly, visit every single world and get something akin to a read on them but with so much work it wasn't really a viable option for me.

So my solution? Subsector capitals! These roaming administrative centers would exist for the purpose of ensuring taxes were paid, mediating trade and political disputes between governors, and auditing subsidy money to ensure it was being used properly.

Essentially, it would take a load off of the work I and others at the capital deal with on the daily.

Each would have an escort element, Arbiters not yet retrofitted to newer standards. This gave the older models something to do other than sit around in sector with a far reduced pirate presence. And it's not as though these sub-capitals would be juicy targets, since they aren't carrying around precious cargo.

The vessel to carry each sub-capital was to be a Strike-Class Cruiser. An unusual ship in the Imperial line up, and not the first choice. Originally, it was to be Imperial Complexes towed through hyperspace given they are capable of space flight.

However, it was deemed cheaper to simply design an in-house administration module for the Strike-Class. Especially since it shared many parts with its sister ship, the Eidolon-Class which itself was a modified Strike-Class design.

These administrative models would expand the living quarters to more comfortably accommodate the expanded crew, alongside adding extensive offices to give said crew the ability to do their jobs effectively.

As for who runs these things? Well, as far from career politicians I could find. They would be paid generously, and their finances monitored extensively to ensure they weren't taking bribes. Them, and all those working there, would not be from that subsector at all to ensure few if any local connections.

And most of all, they would be on mandatory rotation. No more than 3 years in any given subsector for the higher leadership, 6 years for lower workers. Meant to prevent corruption. Of course, information from these rotations would be given to the next rotation to ensure continuity of information flow and that the next workers knew what they were dealing with coming in.

Admittedly, if this was a tool of direct governance, it would be a poor one. But it's not, its duties are well defined and narrow enough that the scope won't overwhelm them. They exist to take a load off of the capital's shoulders by helping locals deal with local problems.

Anything past that isn't what they're paid to do, and I will never ask a worker to do more than their job requires without compensation.

A few more reports were read through, though nothing of massive importance. Subsidies were going well, staggered as they were and requiring thorough auditing. Immigration was on the rise, with people coming in from neighboring sectors after finding job opportunities on planets with growing economies.

The reports were clear that production of essential goods like food, water, fuel and more were still well within projections, capable of sustaining a population roughly double the sector's current ~500 million.

After all the reports, however, was a meeting.

"General Zantara. Good to see you."

"And you, Moff Mola. Was your trip successful?"
"Considering I'm Doctor Las Mola now, yes, thank you. Now, the meeting request stated a desire for more funding towards the army."

Yulitra's hologram flickered for a second, the connection not the best in transit. We were half a galaxy away, and honestly I found it incredible that we could even communicate. The wonders of this universe would never cease to amaze me.

"Congratulations, sir. And yes, I do believe the Sector Army requires greater funding."

Her hologram disappeared as a series of charts and diagrams took her place. At a glance, they indicated readiness levels and average equipment age.

"As it stands, the Sector Army is not up to snuff. While individual governors outfit their troops as they see fit, the wider army apparatus is pockmarked at best in terms of readiness. The pirate surge has seen the vast majority of engagements be on a naval level, and most ground engagements therefore utilizing Stormtrooper forces. Army engagements outside of that showed far worse outcomes."

Another graph. This one made the data clear. Casualties for army engagements with pirate forces were noticeably higher than those with Stormtrooper forces.

"While this can partially be attributed to incompetence in the officers, the effect of shoddy equipment and lackluster training cannot be ignored. With the pirate surge mostly over, the importance of the sectors naval forces has dropped somewhat. I believe that funding that was used to accelerate naval development can now be redirected towards the army for the same purpose."

Ah, now I get it. No wonder Ife wasn't on this call.

"I see, General. It's understandable. And the state of the sector army isn't acceptable. Once funding permits, which shouldn't be too far in the future, Army academies will be opened, or already existing academies will be expanding to provide you with a better stock of officers."

I pause here, pulling up sector funding tables from my PDA while the hologram switches back to Yulitra herself.

"As seen here, the extra funding for the navy is no small amount. Much of that funding is now be allocated towards refitting and revamping the original, flawed Arbiter's. However, upon such completion a naval audit will be done. The funds freed will therefore be allocated as needed. I'll be sure to send some of that your way, though as always a proper audit of that money will be expected every month, as always."

"Of course, sir."

"Oh, and try to keep as many military procurement contracts in-sector as possible. It works best to invigorate the local economy."

"I will try, sir. But the local military contractors are not up to standard. Multiple companies have contacted me in an attempt to acquire contracts for new walker types, and none have been anything more than expensive wastes." Her eyes narrowed slightly at that part, shoulders ever so slightly tensing before relaxing once more.

"That's…not ideal. Alright, how about this. I'll send an order over to the Mindan labs. They'll get into contact with you and you can try to hash out what they can build for you. Then you can take whatever tech they magic up and contract its construction out to local factories. If the skunkworks down there are good at anything, it's making entirely new vehicles out of ones we already produce."

"Understood, sir. I'll work closely with them and the administration to choose the best manufacturers. Also…'skunkworks', sir?"

"Ah, just a nickname. From an old story, older than both of us I reckon. Regardless, I wish you luck, General Zantara. Be sure to keep in contact with the Navy to ensure their ships can properly carry the new units."

"Of course, sir. Good day, and safe travels." With that, the hologram blinked from existence, its glow disappearing with it and leaving the room dark.

A second later, the lights flickered on. A swig of coco sent a jolt of energy through my tiring frame and I turned back to my temporary desk. Mugwuffin lay curled in that lizard-cat-tree of hers she refused to part with for anything more than a day.

The terminal flashed back on, as reports came streaming back in. Including a real time data stream that kept a tab on the sector's economy. Prices for all goods lined up and down, changing in miniscule amounts in real time as factors changed.

I started reading through the reports, lamenting that it would still take another month at least to fully implement the subsector capital plan.

As I got lost in fiscal allocation and more, I noticed something from the corner of my eye.

The economic tracker. It'd stopped. Each price was frozen solid on the screen, not changing an inch.

A second later, the screen flashed.

CONNECTION LOST

Huh. Well, shitty wi-fi is a problem even in Star Wars I guess.

–

Kaela Grant
Rykeeor System


Lighting flashed through a dark sky, though no rain fell. The lower atmosphere was too hot for that during these months.

Kaela approached the door before her. It belonged to a tall building, a skyscraper. Rykeeor had just enough people in the system to justify a large capital city with buildings this size.

LAAT/le security gunships hovered above while additional security forces encircled the building. Lights shone on its every surface, ensuring none could exit.

A simple scan of the door revealed two life signatures beyond it. Guards there to make sure none entered through the service entrance.

The Beast snarled, hungry. She complied.

Her food slammed the door open, cheap metal bending under her armored heel. The first guard snapped up, blaster moving to track her.

But he was too close. Her fist lashed out, his neck snapping as she twisted her body behind the new corpse. The second guard was already firing, panicked, every bolt of red finding purchase either on the walls or on his friends body.

A blast of green burned through his skull, the shooter a stormtrooper already moving into the hallway. Their matte black armor seemed to absorb the light itself as they and three others moved to cover the hallway.

By then, Kaela was already moving forward. Around the corner, six more lifesigns. Four in the hallway, another two in an adjacent room. Grabbing a grenade from her chest, she activated it and moved.

Around the corner, her blaster fired. It slammed into the knee of the first man, a mere meter from her. She kicked him forward, the movement putting him into his allies line of fire.

One second.

Her blaster was already up. One shot to the head of the one she kicked. As the force of the blast tilted his head back, it opened up a shot onto the second one. One more trigger pull, one more corpse.

Two seconds.

The third is moving away, body twisting to run. His friend is the opposite, bulky Gamorrean frame hoisting a heavy blaster. Her eyes track the barrel's trajectory. A step to the right just as he pulls the trigger sends a stream of red just inches past her. Her own shot doesn't miss, slamming into heavy blasters trigger.

Three seconds.

A second shot slams into the Gamorreans shoulder as his mouth opens in pain and anger. A third lands in his mouth, blasting out the back of his skull. A fourth shot is sent into the neck of the one running, right in the gap between his helmet and chest piece. The door to her left is opening.

Four seconds.

Her foot lashes out, connecting with the woman opening the door. The grenade is tossed in after her, Kaela slamming the door shut with the same arm as she walked past it.

Five seconds.

An explosion rips the door off its hinges, cracking the wall across from it as it lands. The other troopers follow up behind her as she stalks forwards.

The Beast hungers, and now for the first time in months she's been given the chance to slate that hunger. The newly installed Governor of Rykeeor had requested assistance in a purge of meticulously documented criminal elements, and Kaela was both experienced and more than happy to comply.

The hallway opened up into a larger room, some kind of cafeteria. A dozen lifesigns at least.

Her troopers flanked her, taking cover as the blasterbolts flew. Kaela instead got low, grabbing the end of the metal table before her and pushing it upwards.

Armed with her new mobile cover, she pushed it forward, the metal screeching on the ground as she fired from around it.

The Beast hadn't always been there. Once, when she was very little, she remembered a time where it wasn't. But that had been so long ago, it felt like a dream.

A disarmed ganger came at her, vibroblade in hand. A simple chop disarmed his blade and broke his wrist, then the same hand grabbed his head and slammed it through one of the tables legs.

And for so long, the Beast had simply been a fact of life. For a while, she'd even assumed everyone had their own Beast, and that they must've been far better at keeping it in check.

Her foot kicked the falling vibroblade up while her blaster turned a man's eye into ash. She caught the blade in her other hand, deftly throwing it into the spine of a ganger trying to crawl away. A few new gangers tried to join the fight, busting into the cafeteria through a separate hallway only to be gunned down by her troopers.

But now she knew they didn't. For a little bit, she thought maybe Myr'thos had one. But no. They were their own Beast. She was…different.

Another Gamorean, this time with a vibroaxe, charging from around the corner as she moved towards the exit. A bolt to the leg sent him down, her armored boot following soon after, leaving only the rough idea of a head.

She'd kept going to therapy, even after her mandated period was up. It felt nice to be able to simply speak about her life, and not have an endless parade of disgusted looks and whispers sent her way. And there she'd learned a few things.

The next hallway started filling with corpses fast. Gangers burst from doorways only to be gunned down by the troopers. One shot for most, two or three for those with armor or heft.

The Beast was not her. At least, not entirely. It couldn't be. After all, the Beast hungered for only one thing. But she hungered for more.

At the end of the hallway, a scrap built LECA frame trundles out, slapped on rotary blasters spinning up in preparation. Only to find an implosion grenade plopping down before it.

The Beast always snarled at woodworking. As though the knife she used to shape wood should be thrown into someone's jugular. As though the wood should be turned to a bludgeon or spear instead of a building.

The path beyond was clear. The squad crammed themselves into an elevator, shooting themselves up to the highest floor. After all, the problem was at the top.

As the doors opened up before her, two things happened at once.

First, her team moved forward, blasters raised as a horde of gangers turned to the elevator, weapons in hand.

And second, her comm rang with a message from her second in command.

"Ma'am, something's gone wrong. The local holonet seems to be down, I can't get a signal out of the system."

Truth be told, by the time her second finished that sentence, Kaela was too covered in blood to care.

–

Honestly I was legit considering the Imperial Complex from Lothal as the subsector capital, but then I did some research on how many people it takes to administrate such a small amount of duties for a region with tens of millions of people and its surprisingly little, like at max 1-1.2k people, though apparently in the EU its closer to 400-700.

As for the Strike-Cruiser, I realized it was kind of the perfect option. Armed enough it's not defenseless in a fight. Modular so no big interior retrofit. It's an Imperial design, so no having to fiddle with Republic ships and older parts that aren't made anymore. And it's a sister to the Eidolon, which is already produced in sector and likely shares a decent amount of parts, making it cheaper and logistically easier.

Second real action sequence, this time in CQC. Different tone for sure, since Grant is far calmer and in her element. Quite proud of it, since before this and the TIE scene a few chaps ago my action scenes were drier than a 30 year marriage.

Also, been trying to find mechs that actually fit star wars and holy shit is it hard. Nothing seems to fit aesthetically, and the two I used for Yulitra's POV previously were not what I consider particularly up to snuff. Maybe it's just me, but most of it lacks that star wars vibe, that lived in mechanical aesthetic. It's either too clean, too realistic, or too dirty in a way that's more post-apocalypse than star wars.

Also, I made some more stuff. Chicken cubed and seasoned with that classic paprika/cumin/salt/black pepper/garlic/sugar mix, alongside pasta with some sauce just hits so good. Then for dessert, a triple whammy of cinnamon sugar cookies the first day, a chocolate chip pizookie (pizza cookie) the next day though I fucked up the salt on the syrup so it was kinda ass, then white choco chip cookies tonight. God I love my life.

Keep cooking good looking! Unless you're ugly, then keep doing it but not where I can see.

–Freefaller

 

[Trentevil]

Damn space sharks chewing the space cables again....

 

[GrimmKenway8646]

"Ma'am, something's gone wrong. The local holonet seems to be down, I can't get a signal out of the system."

Click to shrink...

Oh dear, either thats the pirates surging back after pretending to be weakened by the new ships and patrols or its a 3rd faction (extremist Rebels or Imperial black-ops?)