PepeDeLosPalotes
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Governor's Gambit - Star Wars SI into Imperial Governor
- Thread starter Freefaller
- Start date
Yacov
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Omake: Getting an Army to Stand
POV: PDF Colonel Chuna Aquax, PDF Main (and only) Office, Town of Blamordt Central, Blamordt, Myto Sector
Colonel Aquax laid back in his chair in his office. His new office. Colonel Aquax had a larger office back when he was in the Imperial Army, but the regulations had always made it feel sterile. Not so with this office, as he was now the highest local non-Imperial Military commanding officer on the planet. The mounted beast heads attributed to the fact that he could now decorate this office as he wished.
And what a slog it was getting this office. After months of politics and wrangling and being wrangled for concessions from the Farming Clans, Blamordt is finally going to stand up its own PDF. Blamordt may be a world with a minuscule population mostly engaging in subsistence agriculture and industries, but it was older than most of the new colonies in the Myto Sector. The fact that it still relied on militias assembled by the Clans until this point was a disgrace!
"Colonel Aquax, word just got back from the Temporary Gov- I mean Temporary Administrator. They finished their requirements for the PDF."
Ah Grabranga, Colonel Aquax's faithful secretary and advisor, bringing news he had been waiting for. That Temporary Administrator had been on Blamordt longer than he had and it definitely showed with how much influence he had garnered. What was their name again? Klaabingo? Klaabishi? Klabagal? Klaa-whatever. Anyway they had done great work promoting Imperial interests on this minor world. The Colonel's proposals to professionalize Blamordt's local forces would have gotten much more pushback by the Clans without their efforts.
"Wonderful Grabranga! Well don't keep me in suspense, how many troops are we going to have to work with?"
It was going to be less than the several thousand the Clans could raise in the emergency. However Colonel Aquax was optimistic. Support for the local and the wider Imperial government was at an all time high. While Blamordt was still too small to qualify for the big internal subsidy package last year, immigration numbers were relatively massive. They had even broken into the next five figure number.
"After accepting all volunteers and making sure they met physical requirements, we have a total of 300 frontline troops to work with. Plus support staff."
3…300!? W, well there is a difference in training a few days a month and committing to being a full time soldier. Not to mention most of population share a longer ties to their Clan than the local Imperial government. Still he expected the consistent uptick in goodwill to translate into a bit more to work with. We were going to have to go for quality over quantity it seems. Perhaps the budget can make up for our small numbers?
"That is less than I'd been hoping for. What's our procurement budget looking like. How many tanks are we able to buy? Maybe we can get a small gunship to beef up our nascent fleet?"
Despite Grabranga's demeanor remaining professional, there was a hint of pity in her eyes. Right, Blamordt doesn't really have much in economic value. Its soil quality is marginal at best and so only fit for hardy, low yield crops of pitiful economic value. There are only small deposits of extremely common minerals that even their refined products are not worth exporting. To top it all off they are so far from any trade lanes that any commerce and tourism tend to be an accident rather than intentional. If it wasn't for the Temporary Administrator's strange amount of support from the Sector Government, Blamordt would be not be "prospering", relatively speaking, as much as it is.
"Colonel, despite the uptick in what passes for the economy in the past few years, this is still Blamordt. That said, we do have access to more resources than we otherwise would. The local government has assembled a bit of a reserve in addition to securing some financial commitments from the Clans. Still, the Temporary Administrator requested that any proposals to remain in the budget of a quarter of a million credits for all major military equipment and vehicle spending on procurement for the PDF. Although the Temporary Administrator has managed to get shipping fees and tariffs covered by the Sector Government in the name of "vital defense spending" and the Guild has sent assurances that they will put our orders on a higher shipping priority level than we would warrant. So we can take the money a bit farther than normal."
Okay, shoestring budget it was then. At least their small numbers means they won't go over budget just giving everyone a gun. Even then it will be better to go with the cheapest option for most cases and capabilities for the PDF. Colonel Aquax consulted the Guild purchasing site on his office's HoloNet connection. Connection to the wider sector had been improving over the years even for a backwater like Blamordt. Even if the amount of lag would be unacceptable on any more developed world.
"Then let's not wait around any longer and come up with an initial proposal. Our budget means we are going to have look at the bottom of every category in the Guild catalog. At least the Guild's reliable, so we are going to be getting what we order in a reasonable timeframe."
Dredging the listing of the cheapest offers in the Guild's military market database for several hours with his secretary gave Colonel Aquax some idea of what they could afford. Unfortunately it was looking like slugthrowers were the only option as main weapon. If Blamordt was to have any standardization and regular maintenance cycles they would have to be uniform and at least decently new as well. Luckily it looked like Primitech Solutions had an offer that was cheap enough in purchasing and maintenance. At least they can use what mining they do have for the bullets and spare parts they'll need. Used sidearms would have to be enough for anyone not in the only infantry company Blamordt is capable of reasonably fielding.
"Seems like somebody modified an old Republic chassis to act like an IFV. Good, getting parts for such a common and old model should be less of a monumental task than anything more modern or absolutely ancient."
For transport they were probably looking at requisitioning some cargo speeders from the Clans and slapping some cheap armor on them. They were still going to have to pay the Clans and for the modifications if they didn't want a revolt on their hands. The PDF was going to be meant to keep the Clans honest, not cause the Imperial Garrison to come down on the population's heads.
"That takes care of the ground forces as much as we can afford to. Now for air and space. While it is tempting to focus solely on the ground. We are going to need at least some presence up high to help the TIEs dissuade pirates from just strafing our villages with fighters then dropping their raiders from dropships. Also having in house fighter support and not having to beg the Garrison for close air support every time would do wonders for our PDF's operational agility and firepower."
Let's see what listings are rated just above what would classify as an Ugly. Hmm. It appears these starfighters are going for cheap. Apparently there was a successor unit that caused the predecessor to collapse. Three of these "Trigons" should do well for Bladmort's starfighter complement. Can't also forget the noncombat roles. There seems to be this rather cozy looking civilian model that seems perfect such light duties.
"Unfortunately Colonel, any attempts to get any combat built vessel above a starfighter is likely to be out of our price range. We would better off taking the cheapest used light or medium freighter we can find on the market and convert it into a Q-ship. It won't stand up to a proper warship, but it should be good enough for what you put down as the PDF's expected duties."
Grabranga's suggestion mirrored Colonel Aquax's thoughts on the matter. Even a bare bones Q-ship would be taking up a significant portion of their budget. Still they couldn't exactly perform search and rescue missions with just starfighter sized ships alone. With a bit of reluctance he set the budget for the Q-ship at what he had left over in their budget.
It wasn't the largest or best equipped forces he had seen, but at least attempted to cover all its bases. It was mostly just an infantry company with some bloat added to it. They weren't even utilizing all 300 of their troops. However that was by design since replenishment rates were unknown to cagey at best. Most of the rest would be trained up as reserve specialists so they wouldn't be down a third of their combat starfighters if a pilot caught a cold for instance.
"That was much less pleasant than I would thought it would be. At least we have something of a plan put together to present to the Temporary Administrator. The Blamordt PDF are going to be a sorry sight for anyone even remotely familiar with what a military is supposed to look like, but at least it is a start."
——
Blamordt Planetary Defense Force Proposal
Expected Duties
Manpower Available
Space and Air Forces Procurement Budget
I was trapped for 16+ hours doing an activity in a hot gymnasium yesterday and this is what came out. Witness to the birth of the completely stoppable Blamordt Planetary Defense Force! This was mainly done to showcase what kind of standing army a very minor planet in Star Wars is capable of fielding by itself. Also to give an example of what a small, unimportant world would be left to defend itself with should the Empire, Rebellion, or New Republic withdraw its troops from it. Short answer: not a lot. These are the kinds of worlds that would fall even below the Frontier System classification for the Myto Sector. Colonies in the beginning stages or older worlds that just never progressed to being able to contribute anything of value on the sector or even subsector level. Blamordt is technically in a better position than most of its peers due to having access to Myto's more open military market. For inspiration I looked into the militaries of minor Caribbean islands, those that have or had them at least.
It also serves as a bit of a counterpoint to the New Republic's promotion of system self defense. It is great policy for worlds that can field and fund armies by themselves. However once you get below 100,000 population, outside garrisons whether military or mercenary practically becomes a necessity for survival. Without some outside force sending military forces to guard them, founding new colonies or maintaining other low population worlds becomes difficult to impossible as they are easy prey to the moderate to large predatory forces in the galaxy.
Crossposted on SV and SB
POV: PDF Colonel Chuna Aquax, PDF Main (and only) Office, Town of Blamordt Central, Blamordt, Myto Sector
Colonel Aquax laid back in his chair in his office. His new office. Colonel Aquax had a larger office back when he was in the Imperial Army, but the regulations had always made it feel sterile. Not so with this office, as he was now the highest local non-Imperial Military commanding officer on the planet. The mounted beast heads attributed to the fact that he could now decorate this office as he wished.
And what a slog it was getting this office. After months of politics and wrangling and being wrangled for concessions from the Farming Clans, Blamordt is finally going to stand up its own PDF. Blamordt may be a world with a minuscule population mostly engaging in subsistence agriculture and industries, but it was older than most of the new colonies in the Myto Sector. The fact that it still relied on militias assembled by the Clans until this point was a disgrace!
"Colonel Aquax, word just got back from the Temporary Gov- I mean Temporary Administrator. They finished their requirements for the PDF."
Ah Grabranga, Colonel Aquax's faithful secretary and advisor, bringing news he had been waiting for. That Temporary Administrator had been on Blamordt longer than he had and it definitely showed with how much influence he had garnered. What was their name again? Klaabingo? Klaabishi? Klabagal? Klaa-whatever. Anyway they had done great work promoting Imperial interests on this minor world. The Colonel's proposals to professionalize Blamordt's local forces would have gotten much more pushback by the Clans without their efforts.
"Wonderful Grabranga! Well don't keep me in suspense, how many troops are we going to have to work with?"
It was going to be less than the several thousand the Clans could raise in the emergency. However Colonel Aquax was optimistic. Support for the local and the wider Imperial government was at an all time high. While Blamordt was still too small to qualify for the big internal subsidy package last year, immigration numbers were relatively massive. They had even broken into the next five figure number.
"After accepting all volunteers and making sure they met physical requirements, we have a total of 300 frontline troops to work with. Plus support staff."
3…300!? W, well there is a difference in training a few days a month and committing to being a full time soldier. Not to mention most of population share a longer ties to their Clan than the local Imperial government. Still he expected the consistent uptick in goodwill to translate into a bit more to work with. We were going to have to go for quality over quantity it seems. Perhaps the budget can make up for our small numbers?
"That is less than I'd been hoping for. What's our procurement budget looking like. How many tanks are we able to buy? Maybe we can get a small gunship to beef up our nascent fleet?"
Despite Grabranga's demeanor remaining professional, there was a hint of pity in her eyes. Right, Blamordt doesn't really have much in economic value. Its soil quality is marginal at best and so only fit for hardy, low yield crops of pitiful economic value. There are only small deposits of extremely common minerals that even their refined products are not worth exporting. To top it all off they are so far from any trade lanes that any commerce and tourism tend to be an accident rather than intentional. If it wasn't for the Temporary Administrator's strange amount of support from the Sector Government, Blamordt would be not be "prospering", relatively speaking, as much as it is.
"Colonel, despite the uptick in what passes for the economy in the past few years, this is still Blamordt. That said, we do have access to more resources than we otherwise would. The local government has assembled a bit of a reserve in addition to securing some financial commitments from the Clans. Still, the Temporary Administrator requested that any proposals to remain in the budget of a quarter of a million credits for all major military equipment and vehicle spending on procurement for the PDF. Although the Temporary Administrator has managed to get shipping fees and tariffs covered by the Sector Government in the name of "vital defense spending" and the Guild has sent assurances that they will put our orders on a higher shipping priority level than we would warrant. So we can take the money a bit farther than normal."
Okay, shoestring budget it was then. At least their small numbers means they won't go over budget just giving everyone a gun. Even then it will be better to go with the cheapest option for most cases and capabilities for the PDF. Colonel Aquax consulted the Guild purchasing site on his office's HoloNet connection. Connection to the wider sector had been improving over the years even for a backwater like Blamordt. Even if the amount of lag would be unacceptable on any more developed world.
"Then let's not wait around any longer and come up with an initial proposal. Our budget means we are going to have look at the bottom of every category in the Guild catalog. At least the Guild's reliable, so we are going to be getting what we order in a reasonable timeframe."
Dredging the listing of the cheapest offers in the Guild's military market database for several hours with his secretary gave Colonel Aquax some idea of what they could afford. Unfortunately it was looking like slugthrowers were the only option as main weapon. If Blamordt was to have any standardization and regular maintenance cycles they would have to be uniform and at least decently new as well. Luckily it looked like Primitech Solutions had an offer that was cheap enough in purchasing and maintenance. At least they can use what mining they do have for the bullets and spare parts they'll need. Used sidearms would have to be enough for anyone not in the only infantry company Blamordt is capable of reasonably fielding.
"Seems like somebody modified an old Republic chassis to act like an IFV. Good, getting parts for such a common and old model should be less of a monumental task than anything more modern or absolutely ancient."
For transport they were probably looking at requisitioning some cargo speeders from the Clans and slapping some cheap armor on them. They were still going to have to pay the Clans and for the modifications if they didn't want a revolt on their hands. The PDF was going to be meant to keep the Clans honest, not cause the Imperial Garrison to come down on the population's heads.
"That takes care of the ground forces as much as we can afford to. Now for air and space. While it is tempting to focus solely on the ground. We are going to need at least some presence up high to help the TIEs dissuade pirates from just strafing our villages with fighters then dropping their raiders from dropships. Also having in house fighter support and not having to beg the Garrison for close air support every time would do wonders for our PDF's operational agility and firepower."
Let's see what listings are rated just above what would classify as an Ugly. Hmm. It appears these starfighters are going for cheap. Apparently there was a successor unit that caused the predecessor to collapse. Three of these "Trigons" should do well for Bladmort's starfighter complement. Can't also forget the noncombat roles. There seems to be this rather cozy looking civilian model that seems perfect such light duties.
"Unfortunately Colonel, any attempts to get any combat built vessel above a starfighter is likely to be out of our price range. We would better off taking the cheapest used light or medium freighter we can find on the market and convert it into a Q-ship. It won't stand up to a proper warship, but it should be good enough for what you put down as the PDF's expected duties."
Grabranga's suggestion mirrored Colonel Aquax's thoughts on the matter. Even a bare bones Q-ship would be taking up a significant portion of their budget. Still they couldn't exactly perform search and rescue missions with just starfighter sized ships alone. With a bit of reluctance he set the budget for the Q-ship at what he had left over in their budget.
It wasn't the largest or best equipped forces he had seen, but at least attempted to cover all its bases. It was mostly just an infantry company with some bloat added to it. They weren't even utilizing all 300 of their troops. However that was by design since replenishment rates were unknown to cagey at best. Most of the rest would be trained up as reserve specialists so they wouldn't be down a third of their combat starfighters if a pilot caught a cold for instance.
"That was much less pleasant than I would thought it would be. At least we have something of a plan put together to present to the Temporary Administrator. The Blamordt PDF are going to be a sorry sight for anyone even remotely familiar with what a military is supposed to look like, but at least it is a start."
——
Blamordt Planetary Defense Force Proposal
Expected Duties
- Engage small armed criminal groups on the planet that law enforcement cannot handle.
- Defend against any small pirate raids coming from outside the planet
- Suppress and prevent any individual Clan engaging in dissident or otherwise aggressive behavior against the Imperial government or its subjects.
- Deal with any minor military duties to avoid having to call on the local Imperial Garrison
- Fight alongside the local Imperial Garrison in any larger military operations
Manpower Available
- 300 frontline personnel and enough support personnel to keep the units functional.
- Several(ish) thousand militia soldiers from the Clans to be called in case of emergency. Not available for deployment outside of cases of emergency. Second hand, low quality, and/or improvised weapons. Little to no support equipment. Little to no training. Varied and Clan-based organizational structure numbering from 10 to 100+.
- 1st (and only) company of infantry equipped with B-65 Colonial Defense Rifles. (50,000 Credits)
- 3 used Guild Suppressor Landspeeders. (90,000 Credits)
- 2 armored up used Cargo Speeders for infantry transports. (10,000 Credits)
- Various used sidearms for non-infantry. (5,000 Credit budget)
Space and Air Forces Procurement Budget
- 1 used Civilian Model PER-C Light Duty for support duties. (30,000 Credits)
- 3 used Trigon Class Starfighters. (75,000 Credits)
- 1 used light or medium freighter converted into a Q-ship as the "flagship" for the PDF fleet. (40,000 Credit purchasing and refit budget)
I was trapped for 16+ hours doing an activity in a hot gymnasium yesterday and this is what came out. Witness to the birth of the completely stoppable Blamordt Planetary Defense Force! This was mainly done to showcase what kind of standing army a very minor planet in Star Wars is capable of fielding by itself. Also to give an example of what a small, unimportant world would be left to defend itself with should the Empire, Rebellion, or New Republic withdraw its troops from it. Short answer: not a lot. These are the kinds of worlds that would fall even below the Frontier System classification for the Myto Sector. Colonies in the beginning stages or older worlds that just never progressed to being able to contribute anything of value on the sector or even subsector level. Blamordt is technically in a better position than most of its peers due to having access to Myto's more open military market. For inspiration I looked into the militaries of minor Caribbean islands, those that have or had them at least.
It also serves as a bit of a counterpoint to the New Republic's promotion of system self defense. It is great policy for worlds that can field and fund armies by themselves. However once you get below 100,000 population, outside garrisons whether military or mercenary practically becomes a necessity for survival. Without some outside force sending military forces to guard them, founding new colonies or maintaining other low population worlds becomes difficult to impossible as they are easy prey to the moderate to large predatory forces in the galaxy.
Crossposted on SV and SB
Last edited:
AdrianXIV
Not too sore, are you?
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Like, this method (that can be described as "every planet for itself") has as much sense as Nute Gunray saying "Credits can't give you happiness"
Yacov
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Thinking about it. It is quite impressive in Star Wars how quickly a planet can go from sci fi tech being used in grand field battles and war fronts to post apocalypse/Wild West wasteland once all the big factions of the galaxy pack up and leave.
The largest battle on a planet during one decade can be thousands of heavily armored soldiers with blasters and tanks galore. Then the largest battle in the next decade is two groups of a dozen dudes going at it with slugthrowers, blasters outdated by generations, and sci fi versions of medieval weaponry. It all depends who comes along for the fight. long as none of the big boys come knocking, even a pipe gun can be a viable weapon on a backwater world in the Outer Rim.
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Yacov
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Omake: Ponica Microgarden Module
Production Information
Manufacturer: IGCPP licensed manufacturers
Model: Ponica Microgarden Module
Type: House/ship module
Nicknames: Cornucopia in a Closet, Slummer Farm, Spacer's Crutch, Hideaway Garden
Cost:
——
Technical Specifications
Size: 13-14 cubic meters, medium closet, pantry, or small room sized
Average grow cycle: 2 1/2 weeks
Average harvest: Enough for 1/6th of an average sentient's (i.e. human's) food needs over 2 1/2 weeks
Crops (Star Wars equivalents) available:
Usage
Availability: Civilian
Roles:
Description
"Got a good set of leaves if ya interested. Trade ya for its volume in ration cubes?" - Resident on a desert world with a Ponica trying to barter to stock up the calories in their larders .
The Ponica Microgarden Module is a module that can be installed in a ship or home inside a small, enclosed room. Designed to mitigate the food needs of those who use it by providing a small, but steady stream of fresh food to supplement their diets. While not a solution to hunger or famine, the Ponica nevertheless can mitigate supply needs on vessels and provide a fairly robust indoor grown produce market on otherwise food insecure areas.
Design
"The floaty feeling as you tend a Ponica takes some getting used to. However once you're checking in on your Ponica daily, you get used to it." - Owner's review of the Ponica on the Ponica's IGCPP HoloNet page.
The Ponica Module is a small hydroponics set up designed to fit in a small space. Taking up only around 14 cubic meters, this module can fit in most medium sized closets or most small rooms. They come equipped with the decent recycling equipment for water in addition to processing equipment and small biotic vats to convert biological waste into fertilizer to maintain consistent and fast crop yields. This recycling system is designed to be hooked up to the most common plumbing and piping systems. Although some chose to fill it manually to avoid involving their community's local utilities.
The main feature of the Ponica module is the Repulsor Orbit Lighting System. Grow beds are all suspended via repulsorlift technology and "orbit" around one giant glow bulb. This allows the Ponica to maximize growth in a minimal amount of space. The slight changes of gravity when working in a Ponica is unnerving to those who don't expect it, but fairly easy to work through to those experienced.
This slightly more complex set up is the main reason Ponicas are typically kept to small, enclosed rooms out of the away from the main functions of the house. This also assists users of a Ponica in hiding its existence from curious eyes of the public. Although purchasing a Ponica still requires contacting a IGCPP licensed manufacturer and they are subject to the occasional inspection or can schedule a repair or maintenance order as needed.
Ponicas can yield up to a sixth of the food needs of an average human or equivalent sentient. This is insufficient to rely solely upon, however it is a very welcome supplement for those that use it. Should a community have a decent food assistance program for the poor, the addition of a Ponica can cut the food costs of a single lower income sentient by a third to up to half if the program's generous. A captain of a spaceship can also feel the benefits of the introduction of fresh produce to what is normal a monotonous and bland ration diet for their crew in addition to the cheaper resupply cost.
Sales and the Garden Market
"The Garden Market holds a strange place. Operates like a grey market and the suppliers hide their identities from the public, but usually above board with lots of local support." - Vice squad veteran going over the commerce in the darker corners of their jurisdiction for a new recruit.
Price wise, purchasing a Ponica is seen in the same price range as purchasing a used landspeeder or a particularly costly appliance. For most buyers, a Ponica is significant investment meant to pay off over one to a couple of years. Given the relatively long pay off time, Ponicas tend to be purchased by people who intended to stay in a home or ship for the long term. Buyers usually recoup their investment via cost savings in a food budget or by selling the Ponica Produce on the Garden Market.
The Garden Market is what happens when a collection of Poncia users start networking and hold get togethers to exchange Ponica Produce among themselves in addition to the wider public. The Garden Market operates like a more clandestine and collectivized farmer's market. Vendors at the Garden Market and users of Ponicas in general tend to hide their identities and not advertise to the public that they own a Ponica. They do this to avoid being targeted by burglars, the hungry poor, or a mob of rioters in the event of a food shortage. The Garden Market can gather a surprising amount of local influence should they be the only reliable source of fresh food, especially during a time of crisis. For interactions with the government or the Guild the Garden Market tends to send representatives to negotiate collectively.
The Ponica module's most common buyers are independent spaceship owners, residents planetary on planetary objects that lack arable land, and residents on space stations. These have similar but slightly different reasons for purchasing a Ponica. Yet all face a similar circumstance of lack of consistent access to fresh produce.
Spaceship captains typically purchase a Ponica to cut down on food costs and to raise crew morale. Withholding Ponica Produce from the crew is either a punishment, or a sign that the captain does not care for the crew's needs and health. Ships that often undergo longer expeditions may purchase multiple Ponicas in an attempt to survive solely off of Ponica Produce and recycled foodstuffs to reduce cargo requirements and increase their ship's travel range. Some attempts have been made to convert a ship into a "botanical freighter" to sell produce to spacers traveling along the hyperlanes and to stations, but that has been met with limited success.
Ponicas are usually purchased dirtside when the dirt around the buyer isn't fit for growing crops. This could be due to a non-compatible ecosystem, too hot or cold temperatures, poor or nonexistent atmosphere, industrial runoff and poor waste management, excessive urban sprawl, poor relation or alignment of the world with the system's star, or consequences from the deployment of strategic level weaponry. Within these areas of food insecurity, Ponica users provide a vital source of fresh food and community morale. This calming effect on often ignored sections of the populace leads to the world's government often using a light hand when attempting to regulate their world's Garden Market.
Stations tend to have all sorts of nooks and crannies to hold a Ponica. Given the much more limited personal space compared to a planet, station bound buyers of a Ponica will be more likely to have their indoor garden away from their home. This often means a closer relationship with the station's government. While this does lead to more scrutiny on Ponica users, it also leads to more influence on the station. Representatives of a Garden Market sometimes attend government meetings and are always consulted should there be shortages of a specific nutrient or an outright disruption of food shipments.
Attempts have been made to use a Ponica for illegal purposes such as growing drugs. However the licensing process and long term return often dissuade gangs from using the module in favor of more rudimentary alternatives. The Garden Market also takes a dim view of criminals using Ponicas. Often they report said criminal operations to the authorities whenever they notice them in order to keep the reputation of the Ponica clean to avoid attracting unwanted scrutiny and regulation to their legal operations.
Consumption and Food Culture
"*Collective Offended Gasp!*" - Patrons at Sleemo's Slop Diner after an offworlder attempts to order a fresh salad.
The crops that are chosen for use and come with the Ponica when purchased from the IGCPP often focus on reliability and compact size over things like taste or texture. As such Ponica Produce has a deserved reputation for being worse tasting than most other fresh food. However it being fresh food is often enough for those growing and eating Ponica Produce as it is often their only source for something fresh. When the alternatives are yet more rations or other heavily processed and preserved foodstuffs, even a bad tasting vegetable can be seen as delectable.
The most luxurious use of Ponica Produce is to use a variety of vegetables to make a salad. This is rarely done as consuming a meal entirely made out of Ponica Produce is seen as an overindulgence among those that eat it. Someone ordering a salad in an area with lots of Ponica users quickly out themselves as an insensitive outsider to the locals. Committing such a faux pas will tend to earn the ire and disdain of the locals for even attempting to consume a dish made up entirely of such a scarce resource.
The more typical use is as an addition to an otherwise bland meal such as nutritive milk porridge or stir fried rations. When not eaten raw or immediately cooked, Ponica Produce is often preserved in stocks and soups to stretch them out over a longer period. Sandwiches, wraps, or other meals with small additions of produce are seen as the limit of acceptable use of Ponica Produce in a meal and typically reserved for special occasions or as a show of hospitality to guests.
Conclusion
"The Garden Market is a bane on interstellar commerce. How can I hit the profit margins on my routes I need to afford that new gold trim on my ship if every dirtball mining colony can grow their own frakking vegetables?" - Frustrated starship captain ranting while deep in his cups. Later found beaten behind the cantina with unsurprisingly no witnesses coming forward.
A Ponica is not a panacea to all hunger. Trying to encourage mass adoption is a loser's bet that will never be economically viable. Subsisting on solely on Ponica Produce from a single module will only lead to a slower starvation. Yet for those who rely on offworld shipments and only have processed, ration quality food to look forward to, a Ponica may as well be a Cornucopia in a Closet.
——
Meet my partial solution to food import issues on worlds in the Myto Sector. Hydroponics and the food culture surrounding it has always been something adjacent to the Star Wars setting, but never really explored in depth. People have established personal gardens in times of crisis like the Victory Gardens in WW2 and what is the Galactic Civil War but a galaxy wide crisis? With the scare of the HoloNet blackout and the encouragement of planetary self sufficiency, I imagine something is going to be made to help with that. Not to mention the absolute pain it must be for the poor to acquire fresh produce on some space station or airless moon far away from any arable planet. Harvest yields are not enough to make a Ponica anything more than a relatively expensive option compared to open large scale farming or larger scale hydroponics, but the set up should be doable. Having a bunch of sci fi efficient grow beds levitate and slowly orbit around a spherical floating grow light, which describes a Ponica is at its core, should not be hard for a civilization that has mastered and commercialized cheap, small scale antigravity.
However my goodness did the math for this one fight me. I lowered the harvest times down and had to bump up the harvest sizes in calories by an order of magnitude. I mainly justified this due to this being Star Wars and they have access to sci fi tech for more efficient production, antigravity for a much better bed layout, the ridiculousness of Star Wars' recycling and fertilizer tech, and a galaxy's worth of plant life to choose from. For reference I first upped the calorie production a Ponica produces by 16x more calories than a real life closet hydroponics set up occupying a similar size that I spent a couple of hours doing some research and really rough napkin math for. However I felt it still wasn't enough as it could take somewhere in the half a decade ballpark to recoup the cost making it unappealing to the lower income consumer. So I strayed into science fantasy territory to turn it up to 64x more than my modern napkin example to make it at least somewhat economical. I find it amusing that this feels like my most outlandish design Omake to me when it is just a hyper productive garden you can fit in a closet and it can't even feed a single human for more than a couple of days per multi-week growth and harvest period.
Crossposted on SB and SV
Edit: DunHozzie over at SB sent me another art. Enjoy and all credit is his.
Production Information
Manufacturer: IGCPP licensed manufacturers
Model: Ponica Microgarden Module
Type: House/ship module
Nicknames: Cornucopia in a Closet, Slummer Farm, Spacer's Crutch, Hideaway Garden
Cost:
- 1,200 Credits
——
Technical Specifications
Size: 13-14 cubic meters, medium closet, pantry, or small room sized
Average grow cycle: 2 1/2 weeks
Average harvest: Enough for 1/6th of an average sentient's (i.e. human's) food needs over 2 1/2 weeks
Crops (Star Wars equivalents) available:
- Lettuces
- Radishes
- Arugulas
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Beans
- Tomatoes
- Microgreens
- And others
- Integrated watering and fertilizer system
- Biological recycling biotic vats
- Repulsor Orbit Lighting System
Usage
Availability: Civilian
Roles:
- Addition to ration meals
- Food security in poorer areas
- Small food source for spacers and settlements without arable land
- Lower income civilians
- Mining colonies
- Spacers
- Outposts and asteroids
- Small illegal drug farms
Description
"Got a good set of leaves if ya interested. Trade ya for its volume in ration cubes?" - Resident on a desert world with a Ponica trying to barter to stock up the calories in their larders .
The Ponica Microgarden Module is a module that can be installed in a ship or home inside a small, enclosed room. Designed to mitigate the food needs of those who use it by providing a small, but steady stream of fresh food to supplement their diets. While not a solution to hunger or famine, the Ponica nevertheless can mitigate supply needs on vessels and provide a fairly robust indoor grown produce market on otherwise food insecure areas.
Design
"The floaty feeling as you tend a Ponica takes some getting used to. However once you're checking in on your Ponica daily, you get used to it." - Owner's review of the Ponica on the Ponica's IGCPP HoloNet page.
The Ponica Module is a small hydroponics set up designed to fit in a small space. Taking up only around 14 cubic meters, this module can fit in most medium sized closets or most small rooms. They come equipped with the decent recycling equipment for water in addition to processing equipment and small biotic vats to convert biological waste into fertilizer to maintain consistent and fast crop yields. This recycling system is designed to be hooked up to the most common plumbing and piping systems. Although some chose to fill it manually to avoid involving their community's local utilities.
The main feature of the Ponica module is the Repulsor Orbit Lighting System. Grow beds are all suspended via repulsorlift technology and "orbit" around one giant glow bulb. This allows the Ponica to maximize growth in a minimal amount of space. The slight changes of gravity when working in a Ponica is unnerving to those who don't expect it, but fairly easy to work through to those experienced.
This slightly more complex set up is the main reason Ponicas are typically kept to small, enclosed rooms out of the away from the main functions of the house. This also assists users of a Ponica in hiding its existence from curious eyes of the public. Although purchasing a Ponica still requires contacting a IGCPP licensed manufacturer and they are subject to the occasional inspection or can schedule a repair or maintenance order as needed.
Ponicas can yield up to a sixth of the food needs of an average human or equivalent sentient. This is insufficient to rely solely upon, however it is a very welcome supplement for those that use it. Should a community have a decent food assistance program for the poor, the addition of a Ponica can cut the food costs of a single lower income sentient by a third to up to half if the program's generous. A captain of a spaceship can also feel the benefits of the introduction of fresh produce to what is normal a monotonous and bland ration diet for their crew in addition to the cheaper resupply cost.
Sales and the Garden Market
"The Garden Market holds a strange place. Operates like a grey market and the suppliers hide their identities from the public, but usually above board with lots of local support." - Vice squad veteran going over the commerce in the darker corners of their jurisdiction for a new recruit.
Price wise, purchasing a Ponica is seen in the same price range as purchasing a used landspeeder or a particularly costly appliance. For most buyers, a Ponica is significant investment meant to pay off over one to a couple of years. Given the relatively long pay off time, Ponicas tend to be purchased by people who intended to stay in a home or ship for the long term. Buyers usually recoup their investment via cost savings in a food budget or by selling the Ponica Produce on the Garden Market.
The Garden Market is what happens when a collection of Poncia users start networking and hold get togethers to exchange Ponica Produce among themselves in addition to the wider public. The Garden Market operates like a more clandestine and collectivized farmer's market. Vendors at the Garden Market and users of Ponicas in general tend to hide their identities and not advertise to the public that they own a Ponica. They do this to avoid being targeted by burglars, the hungry poor, or a mob of rioters in the event of a food shortage. The Garden Market can gather a surprising amount of local influence should they be the only reliable source of fresh food, especially during a time of crisis. For interactions with the government or the Guild the Garden Market tends to send representatives to negotiate collectively.
The Ponica module's most common buyers are independent spaceship owners, residents planetary on planetary objects that lack arable land, and residents on space stations. These have similar but slightly different reasons for purchasing a Ponica. Yet all face a similar circumstance of lack of consistent access to fresh produce.
Spaceship captains typically purchase a Ponica to cut down on food costs and to raise crew morale. Withholding Ponica Produce from the crew is either a punishment, or a sign that the captain does not care for the crew's needs and health. Ships that often undergo longer expeditions may purchase multiple Ponicas in an attempt to survive solely off of Ponica Produce and recycled foodstuffs to reduce cargo requirements and increase their ship's travel range. Some attempts have been made to convert a ship into a "botanical freighter" to sell produce to spacers traveling along the hyperlanes and to stations, but that has been met with limited success.
Ponicas are usually purchased dirtside when the dirt around the buyer isn't fit for growing crops. This could be due to a non-compatible ecosystem, too hot or cold temperatures, poor or nonexistent atmosphere, industrial runoff and poor waste management, excessive urban sprawl, poor relation or alignment of the world with the system's star, or consequences from the deployment of strategic level weaponry. Within these areas of food insecurity, Ponica users provide a vital source of fresh food and community morale. This calming effect on often ignored sections of the populace leads to the world's government often using a light hand when attempting to regulate their world's Garden Market.
Stations tend to have all sorts of nooks and crannies to hold a Ponica. Given the much more limited personal space compared to a planet, station bound buyers of a Ponica will be more likely to have their indoor garden away from their home. This often means a closer relationship with the station's government. While this does lead to more scrutiny on Ponica users, it also leads to more influence on the station. Representatives of a Garden Market sometimes attend government meetings and are always consulted should there be shortages of a specific nutrient or an outright disruption of food shipments.
Attempts have been made to use a Ponica for illegal purposes such as growing drugs. However the licensing process and long term return often dissuade gangs from using the module in favor of more rudimentary alternatives. The Garden Market also takes a dim view of criminals using Ponicas. Often they report said criminal operations to the authorities whenever they notice them in order to keep the reputation of the Ponica clean to avoid attracting unwanted scrutiny and regulation to their legal operations.
Consumption and Food Culture
"*Collective Offended Gasp!*" - Patrons at Sleemo's Slop Diner after an offworlder attempts to order a fresh salad.
The crops that are chosen for use and come with the Ponica when purchased from the IGCPP often focus on reliability and compact size over things like taste or texture. As such Ponica Produce has a deserved reputation for being worse tasting than most other fresh food. However it being fresh food is often enough for those growing and eating Ponica Produce as it is often their only source for something fresh. When the alternatives are yet more rations or other heavily processed and preserved foodstuffs, even a bad tasting vegetable can be seen as delectable.
The most luxurious use of Ponica Produce is to use a variety of vegetables to make a salad. This is rarely done as consuming a meal entirely made out of Ponica Produce is seen as an overindulgence among those that eat it. Someone ordering a salad in an area with lots of Ponica users quickly out themselves as an insensitive outsider to the locals. Committing such a faux pas will tend to earn the ire and disdain of the locals for even attempting to consume a dish made up entirely of such a scarce resource.
The more typical use is as an addition to an otherwise bland meal such as nutritive milk porridge or stir fried rations. When not eaten raw or immediately cooked, Ponica Produce is often preserved in stocks and soups to stretch them out over a longer period. Sandwiches, wraps, or other meals with small additions of produce are seen as the limit of acceptable use of Ponica Produce in a meal and typically reserved for special occasions or as a show of hospitality to guests.
Conclusion
"The Garden Market is a bane on interstellar commerce. How can I hit the profit margins on my routes I need to afford that new gold trim on my ship if every dirtball mining colony can grow their own frakking vegetables?" - Frustrated starship captain ranting while deep in his cups. Later found beaten behind the cantina with unsurprisingly no witnesses coming forward.
A Ponica is not a panacea to all hunger. Trying to encourage mass adoption is a loser's bet that will never be economically viable. Subsisting on solely on Ponica Produce from a single module will only lead to a slower starvation. Yet for those who rely on offworld shipments and only have processed, ration quality food to look forward to, a Ponica may as well be a Cornucopia in a Closet.
——
Meet my partial solution to food import issues on worlds in the Myto Sector. Hydroponics and the food culture surrounding it has always been something adjacent to the Star Wars setting, but never really explored in depth. People have established personal gardens in times of crisis like the Victory Gardens in WW2 and what is the Galactic Civil War but a galaxy wide crisis? With the scare of the HoloNet blackout and the encouragement of planetary self sufficiency, I imagine something is going to be made to help with that. Not to mention the absolute pain it must be for the poor to acquire fresh produce on some space station or airless moon far away from any arable planet. Harvest yields are not enough to make a Ponica anything more than a relatively expensive option compared to open large scale farming or larger scale hydroponics, but the set up should be doable. Having a bunch of sci fi efficient grow beds levitate and slowly orbit around a spherical floating grow light, which describes a Ponica is at its core, should not be hard for a civilization that has mastered and commercialized cheap, small scale antigravity.
However my goodness did the math for this one fight me. I lowered the harvest times down and had to bump up the harvest sizes in calories by an order of magnitude. I mainly justified this due to this being Star Wars and they have access to sci fi tech for more efficient production, antigravity for a much better bed layout, the ridiculousness of Star Wars' recycling and fertilizer tech, and a galaxy's worth of plant life to choose from. For reference I first upped the calorie production a Ponica produces by 16x more calories than a real life closet hydroponics set up occupying a similar size that I spent a couple of hours doing some research and really rough napkin math for. However I felt it still wasn't enough as it could take somewhere in the half a decade ballpark to recoup the cost making it unappealing to the lower income consumer. So I strayed into science fantasy territory to turn it up to 64x more than my modern napkin example to make it at least somewhat economical. I find it amusing that this feels like my most outlandish design Omake to me when it is just a hyper productive garden you can fit in a closet and it can't even feed a single human for more than a couple of days per multi-week growth and harvest period.
Crossposted on SB and SV
Edit: DunHozzie over at SB sent me another art. Enjoy and all credit is his.
Last edited:
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Freefaller
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Maximillian Veers
Hoth
3.4 ABY
The snowy planet stretched before him as the General held firmly to the handrail above him, his AT-AT stomping through the howling blizzard. As it did, he considered his situation.
The assault had started off poorly already. He wasn't privy to every detail, but suffice it to say the Admiral who had made the sort of mistake Lord Vader wasn't keen on forgiving. Death Squadron had suffered for it. The rebels knew they were coming ahead of time. Multiple cruisers had been shot down as the rebels' surprisingly heavy anti-orbital weapons caught them off guard, forcing an expedited combat landing.
Which was a simply kind way of saying they would have to drop all their ground troops while under fire from heavy orbital weaponry.
He didn't complain. No one ever did. You don't complain to Darth Vader. You nod, and then you figure out how to fulfill his orders without dying miserably. It was something Veers considered himself to have become adapted to, because when you did something to survive for years on end, it became second nature. Or you became a corpse.
"General." A voice crackled through the comm unit. It was one of the scouts. "Rebel fighters inbound. The blizzard makes them unidentifiable, but there's at least a squadron."
"Understood." He replied, staring back out the viewport. "All units, prepare for contact. Maneuver for covering fire."
He had fought fighters using his AT-ATs before. It wasn't easy. The AT-AT was a weapon of ground warfare, a towering behemoth meant to crush the enemy beneath its metal feet and impressive armament. It was not meant to fire at starfighters. Their best bet was to stay grouped together to create overlapping fields of fire, and scare off the enemy fighters until friendly fighters could pick them off.
Through the sensor net, he saw just that. Those new TIE fighters Lord Vader had taken from his daughter's naval stocks ripped through the air, shooting forward into the fray.
He couldn't see what was happening, and his sensors told him only that things were happening. Veers didn't know if the TIEs would win, however, and so he maintained his order to be prepared.
The Navy had a habit of failing the Army whenever it was convenient for them, and while Vader wasn't keen on such dysfunctionality within Death Squadron, he also couldn't squash every little thing.
Yet, at the same time, a part of him wanted to trust in his daughter. She'd been the one to use these TIE's constantly, and to great effect if what the reports said were true. But that was a small part of him, the one proud of her achievements and rank, the one kept locked up.
The rest of him was disappointed she didn't join the army, angry she'd run from their family, and more complex things he wasn't in a position to properly process. He knew that he never quite was in that position. Maybe he never wanted to be.
"General!" The scout again, panic clear in his voice. "Rebel fighters split from the fight! They're inbound, signatures say they're bigger than X-Wings!"
Veers cursed under his breath even as his AT-AT's maneuvered closer together. If only he'd been allowed AA platforms on this mission. Unfortunately, rebel orbital coverage meant only a select number of transports could make it onto the planet, and Lord Vader had demanded heavy armor over all else.
He couldn't even curse the man in his mind, as much as he wanted to. Vader had an uncanny ability to know when one was thinking poorly of him, and calling him a myriad of names for interfering in Veers's operation was a bad idea, even within his own mind.
Once the fighter's signatures blipped onto the display, he gave the order.
"Fire! Spread your shots, lower energy, higher rate of fire! Fill the sky!"
It wasn't perfect. It wasn't even good. Calling it a serviceable tactic would be generous. But it was all he had at the moment.
As expected, it barely worked. A few fighters split off, scared from the massed fire. But one didn't, dodging and weaving as it pierced the snowy veil and made itself clearly seen.
As he got a proper look at it, Veers's mind vaguely recalled seeing it somewhere. A half-remembered report about some blockade in the Jubilar sector. How could a blockade runner be used here?
Then, the wings unfolded, uneven shape taking form, and Veers remembered what the thing was called. A B-Wing.
Maximilian Veers saw green, and thought of his family.
Maximilian Veers saw nothing, and thought of nothing.
–
Las
3.4 ABY
The past few months had been hectic.
Suffice it to say, the Empire didn't like talking about it. But for the first time in a long time, they weren't as certain.
Publicly, the Battle of Hoth had been a resounding success. Rebel forces routed, their base destroyed, thousands dead. It seemed a perfect victory.
But the numbers told a different story. An empire that had just won such a grand victory does not immediately triple down on war material demands. An empire that has just eradicated a major base of its enemy does not demand triple the production from its sectors in such short timeframes.
Sure, the Empire has made unreasonable demands before. But this was beyond the pale.
I didn't know exactly what happened at Hoth. All I knew was that the Empire wanted me to extract three times the amount of resources, ships, labor, and more from my sector.
I distinctly didn't want to do that.
"Sir, while I understand that the Empire requires more fuel, and I am happy to provide it, as it stands, our coaxium facilities simply aren't advanced enough yet. It will be at least another few months before we reach even half of what is being asked. And that's if we cut every safety regulation in the book, which would undoubtedly lead to workplace accidents that would drain the facilities of experienced personnel and cause further delays and costs."
"I sympathize with your problems. I really do." The Governor-General's holographic visage twisted in that way that told me he was playing a part. I don't think I'd ever met the man when he wasn't playing a part, so I'd come to understand his false moods. "But the quota must be met. Perhaps you could put prisoners to work. It's quite popular amongst other Moffs within the Oversector. I know you have your own system of doing things, and it's clearly worked out quite well for you. But if it can't adapt to this…well, my friend, I'm not sure what else I can tell you."
You could shut up and stop being such a prick, is what I wanted to say. But I didn't, because he was my superior and could order me killed.
"I understand. But I've run the numbers. Even if I were to begin using prisoner labor immediately, it would still take nearly six months to build facilities up to what you want. It would be cheaper, in fact, to augment other facilities. More ship-building capacity is available in my sector now more than ever."
The Governor-General gave an almost theatrical sigh. If this was the quality of acting he'd been using with all his fancy friends in the Mid-Rim, then they must either be very foolish to fall for it, or they humored him. I imagined it was a mixture of both, given what I knew about rich people.
"And yet it is not ships the Empire is asking for. At least not from you–I mean us."
Nice save there, dipshit.
"The Empire has more ships being built across the galaxy than ever before. Our Oversector has been producing more than ever. From you it demands only fuel and weapons. And you, my friend, have one of the only coaxium deposits in the Oversector. However you do it, know that it is expected of you to find ways of improving your output. If you yourself cannot find a method of doing so, I will find someone who can."
The call ended not long after, and I sat in the silence of my office.
Not even Mugwuffin was there, as she normally was. She was off hunting mouse droids again, or trying to coerce stormtroopers around the facility into giving her snacks.
I was stuck with this conundrum. As it stood, there simply wasn't enough crime in the sector to allow for the increase in prisoners that would be required to increase production. Not to mention, I hadn't lied when I said I wouldn't trust prisoners with such a valuable resource. A particularly savvy pirate group might strategically plant moles within the workforce to organize convoy robberies.
There was also the morale problem. I didn't want rebels. Rebels had proven time and again that they were very capable at killing people, and I didn't particularly want to be killed. I wanted to live a long, peaceful life, which was not possible if I became the kind of target worth striking. So I had to keep people happy, because a sector full of happy people is a sector in which the rebels have a very hard time gaining recruits, access, and support.
If I knew one thing about the rebels, it was that no matter their recent victories, they were an inherently logical organization. They would not attempt to foment rebellion in a sector where they were not confident of gaining popular support. So long as I kept people happy and treated them well, I got to live.
And now my direct superior was telling me to imprison as many people as possible in order to expand production.
I couldn't tell him no. Not outright, not truly, because that wasn't very Imperial of me. And while I was certain he wouldn't move against me immediately, if I proved unfriendly to his wishes, I had no doubt he would eventually use his position to get rid of me and install someone more agreeable. Which would very likely end with me in either prison or dead.
I quite liked being alive.
So I had to toe the line, which meant I had to find a way to increase production without increasing the amount of forced labor. A difficult prospect, all things considered. Not impossible, but expensive.
The only question was what I would be willing or able to give up in order to succeed.
I couldn't pull money from the military. Lord Vader had taken nearly a dozen Arbiters and twice that in the new Dreadnought-class, not to mention two whole wings of starfighters. Thankfully, the only thing he hadn't grabbed was land-based attack craft, which would've made things significantly worse. But as it stood, it would take time and money to bring the sector's naval forces back up to strength. With trade being the absolute lifeblood of the sector's economy, I couldn't afford to let up on trade security.
So I'd have to find the money elsewhere. And money took time to move. I couldn't will it out of thin air. Not to mention it took time for factories, mining settlements, and refineries to be built. And clearly the Empire wasn't in the mood to entertain ideas of logistical reality.
Somehow, I had to find the money and magic up the resources to more than triple current production. As fast as possible.
–
Yo. Wanted to do a Jir section but shit man its getting hard to write her, gonna have to give it more time in the oven.
Other than that, I'm fairly proud of this section even if it isn't my best work. I didn't go into too much detail regarding Hoth since given its entire thing is to showcase how much better prepared the Rebels are, it only needs to showcase the set up and Veers's death. I could've gone into more detail for a variety of things, but didn't want to bloat the chapter.
As for Las's section, its that classic exposition. I figured I'd end it without him having a solution, because I feel like a lot of these problems end up having a solution within the same chapter and then the next few are just about how that solution is implemented, and I don't really want that for this. Gonna make Las sweat for something, the lazy bastard.
Didn't bake anything super recently, haven't had the time, transferring colleges is really stressful on account of my chronic procrastination. But I did make some chicken and waffles.
Admittedly the waffles were eggos frozen waffles and the chicken was some thighs I tossed in some premade spice combos and tossed in a pan until they were alright. But shit, now I get it. Chicken and waffles fucking slaps.
-Freefaller
Hoth
3.4 ABY
The snowy planet stretched before him as the General held firmly to the handrail above him, his AT-AT stomping through the howling blizzard. As it did, he considered his situation.
The assault had started off poorly already. He wasn't privy to every detail, but suffice it to say the Admiral who had made the sort of mistake Lord Vader wasn't keen on forgiving. Death Squadron had suffered for it. The rebels knew they were coming ahead of time. Multiple cruisers had been shot down as the rebels' surprisingly heavy anti-orbital weapons caught them off guard, forcing an expedited combat landing.
Which was a simply kind way of saying they would have to drop all their ground troops while under fire from heavy orbital weaponry.
He didn't complain. No one ever did. You don't complain to Darth Vader. You nod, and then you figure out how to fulfill his orders without dying miserably. It was something Veers considered himself to have become adapted to, because when you did something to survive for years on end, it became second nature. Or you became a corpse.
"General." A voice crackled through the comm unit. It was one of the scouts. "Rebel fighters inbound. The blizzard makes them unidentifiable, but there's at least a squadron."
"Understood." He replied, staring back out the viewport. "All units, prepare for contact. Maneuver for covering fire."
He had fought fighters using his AT-ATs before. It wasn't easy. The AT-AT was a weapon of ground warfare, a towering behemoth meant to crush the enemy beneath its metal feet and impressive armament. It was not meant to fire at starfighters. Their best bet was to stay grouped together to create overlapping fields of fire, and scare off the enemy fighters until friendly fighters could pick them off.
Through the sensor net, he saw just that. Those new TIE fighters Lord Vader had taken from his daughter's naval stocks ripped through the air, shooting forward into the fray.
He couldn't see what was happening, and his sensors told him only that things were happening. Veers didn't know if the TIEs would win, however, and so he maintained his order to be prepared.
The Navy had a habit of failing the Army whenever it was convenient for them, and while Vader wasn't keen on such dysfunctionality within Death Squadron, he also couldn't squash every little thing.
Yet, at the same time, a part of him wanted to trust in his daughter. She'd been the one to use these TIE's constantly, and to great effect if what the reports said were true. But that was a small part of him, the one proud of her achievements and rank, the one kept locked up.
The rest of him was disappointed she didn't join the army, angry she'd run from their family, and more complex things he wasn't in a position to properly process. He knew that he never quite was in that position. Maybe he never wanted to be.
"General!" The scout again, panic clear in his voice. "Rebel fighters split from the fight! They're inbound, signatures say they're bigger than X-Wings!"
Veers cursed under his breath even as his AT-AT's maneuvered closer together. If only he'd been allowed AA platforms on this mission. Unfortunately, rebel orbital coverage meant only a select number of transports could make it onto the planet, and Lord Vader had demanded heavy armor over all else.
He couldn't even curse the man in his mind, as much as he wanted to. Vader had an uncanny ability to know when one was thinking poorly of him, and calling him a myriad of names for interfering in Veers's operation was a bad idea, even within his own mind.
Once the fighter's signatures blipped onto the display, he gave the order.
"Fire! Spread your shots, lower energy, higher rate of fire! Fill the sky!"
It wasn't perfect. It wasn't even good. Calling it a serviceable tactic would be generous. But it was all he had at the moment.
As expected, it barely worked. A few fighters split off, scared from the massed fire. But one didn't, dodging and weaving as it pierced the snowy veil and made itself clearly seen.
As he got a proper look at it, Veers's mind vaguely recalled seeing it somewhere. A half-remembered report about some blockade in the Jubilar sector. How could a blockade runner be used here?
Then, the wings unfolded, uneven shape taking form, and Veers remembered what the thing was called. A B-Wing.
Maximilian Veers saw green, and thought of his family.
Maximilian Veers saw nothing, and thought of nothing.
–
Las
3.4 ABY
The past few months had been hectic.
Suffice it to say, the Empire didn't like talking about it. But for the first time in a long time, they weren't as certain.
Publicly, the Battle of Hoth had been a resounding success. Rebel forces routed, their base destroyed, thousands dead. It seemed a perfect victory.
But the numbers told a different story. An empire that had just won such a grand victory does not immediately triple down on war material demands. An empire that has just eradicated a major base of its enemy does not demand triple the production from its sectors in such short timeframes.
Sure, the Empire has made unreasonable demands before. But this was beyond the pale.
I didn't know exactly what happened at Hoth. All I knew was that the Empire wanted me to extract three times the amount of resources, ships, labor, and more from my sector.
I distinctly didn't want to do that.
"Sir, while I understand that the Empire requires more fuel, and I am happy to provide it, as it stands, our coaxium facilities simply aren't advanced enough yet. It will be at least another few months before we reach even half of what is being asked. And that's if we cut every safety regulation in the book, which would undoubtedly lead to workplace accidents that would drain the facilities of experienced personnel and cause further delays and costs."
"I sympathize with your problems. I really do." The Governor-General's holographic visage twisted in that way that told me he was playing a part. I don't think I'd ever met the man when he wasn't playing a part, so I'd come to understand his false moods. "But the quota must be met. Perhaps you could put prisoners to work. It's quite popular amongst other Moffs within the Oversector. I know you have your own system of doing things, and it's clearly worked out quite well for you. But if it can't adapt to this…well, my friend, I'm not sure what else I can tell you."
You could shut up and stop being such a prick, is what I wanted to say. But I didn't, because he was my superior and could order me killed.
"I understand. But I've run the numbers. Even if I were to begin using prisoner labor immediately, it would still take nearly six months to build facilities up to what you want. It would be cheaper, in fact, to augment other facilities. More ship-building capacity is available in my sector now more than ever."
The Governor-General gave an almost theatrical sigh. If this was the quality of acting he'd been using with all his fancy friends in the Mid-Rim, then they must either be very foolish to fall for it, or they humored him. I imagined it was a mixture of both, given what I knew about rich people.
"And yet it is not ships the Empire is asking for. At least not from you–I mean us."
Nice save there, dipshit.
"The Empire has more ships being built across the galaxy than ever before. Our Oversector has been producing more than ever. From you it demands only fuel and weapons. And you, my friend, have one of the only coaxium deposits in the Oversector. However you do it, know that it is expected of you to find ways of improving your output. If you yourself cannot find a method of doing so, I will find someone who can."
The call ended not long after, and I sat in the silence of my office.
Not even Mugwuffin was there, as she normally was. She was off hunting mouse droids again, or trying to coerce stormtroopers around the facility into giving her snacks.
I was stuck with this conundrum. As it stood, there simply wasn't enough crime in the sector to allow for the increase in prisoners that would be required to increase production. Not to mention, I hadn't lied when I said I wouldn't trust prisoners with such a valuable resource. A particularly savvy pirate group might strategically plant moles within the workforce to organize convoy robberies.
There was also the morale problem. I didn't want rebels. Rebels had proven time and again that they were very capable at killing people, and I didn't particularly want to be killed. I wanted to live a long, peaceful life, which was not possible if I became the kind of target worth striking. So I had to keep people happy, because a sector full of happy people is a sector in which the rebels have a very hard time gaining recruits, access, and support.
If I knew one thing about the rebels, it was that no matter their recent victories, they were an inherently logical organization. They would not attempt to foment rebellion in a sector where they were not confident of gaining popular support. So long as I kept people happy and treated them well, I got to live.
And now my direct superior was telling me to imprison as many people as possible in order to expand production.
I couldn't tell him no. Not outright, not truly, because that wasn't very Imperial of me. And while I was certain he wouldn't move against me immediately, if I proved unfriendly to his wishes, I had no doubt he would eventually use his position to get rid of me and install someone more agreeable. Which would very likely end with me in either prison or dead.
I quite liked being alive.
So I had to toe the line, which meant I had to find a way to increase production without increasing the amount of forced labor. A difficult prospect, all things considered. Not impossible, but expensive.
The only question was what I would be willing or able to give up in order to succeed.
I couldn't pull money from the military. Lord Vader had taken nearly a dozen Arbiters and twice that in the new Dreadnought-class, not to mention two whole wings of starfighters. Thankfully, the only thing he hadn't grabbed was land-based attack craft, which would've made things significantly worse. But as it stood, it would take time and money to bring the sector's naval forces back up to strength. With trade being the absolute lifeblood of the sector's economy, I couldn't afford to let up on trade security.
So I'd have to find the money elsewhere. And money took time to move. I couldn't will it out of thin air. Not to mention it took time for factories, mining settlements, and refineries to be built. And clearly the Empire wasn't in the mood to entertain ideas of logistical reality.
Somehow, I had to find the money and magic up the resources to more than triple current production. As fast as possible.
–
Yo. Wanted to do a Jir section but shit man its getting hard to write her, gonna have to give it more time in the oven.
Other than that, I'm fairly proud of this section even if it isn't my best work. I didn't go into too much detail regarding Hoth since given its entire thing is to showcase how much better prepared the Rebels are, it only needs to showcase the set up and Veers's death. I could've gone into more detail for a variety of things, but didn't want to bloat the chapter.
As for Las's section, its that classic exposition. I figured I'd end it without him having a solution, because I feel like a lot of these problems end up having a solution within the same chapter and then the next few are just about how that solution is implemented, and I don't really want that for this. Gonna make Las sweat for something, the lazy bastard.
Didn't bake anything super recently, haven't had the time, transferring colleges is really stressful on account of my chronic procrastination. But I did make some chicken and waffles.
Admittedly the waffles were eggos frozen waffles and the chicken was some thighs I tossed in some premade spice combos and tossed in a pan until they were alright. But shit, now I get it. Chicken and waffles fucking slaps.
-Freefaller
AldariSiradla
Spirit Boy, Police Girl
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Things escalate and of course problems arise.
Gotta cajole the Force and whatever else is listening to overcome it...
Oh yes~
Ah, shit.
Looks like a daughter would seek vengeance for a father slain.
Oh no~
Gotta cajole the Force and whatever else is listening to overcome it...
Oh yes~
Ah, shit.
Looks like a daughter would seek vengeance for a father slain.
Oh no~
Heidao
Not too sore, are you?
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Oh, Blade Wings...
It seems the rebel cell in Myto has finally paid off enough to come bite us in the ass.
One of the biggest problems for the Rebellion was their constant worry for war material to supplement their many on-the-move fleets, chiefly food and repair parts. B-Wings had their big fuck off multi-beam attack, but doing so puts a strain on maintenance, to the point they barely used the function. Now that they are fully supplied by safe major suppliers like in Myto, they may be spamming that shit as hard as their Y-Wing bombardments.
The answer, is more migration as well as a propaganda campaign that the Empire needs willing, LOYAL citizens to help with the war effort. We'll give it the Helldiver treatment that Myto's safety is at stake. We'll burn through the fanatics and zealots of the Empire in the sector first, maybe add insurance incentives too for losses to make those diving in. Really balance out the populace if Las needs an opportunity to switch the sector to a neutral stance.
It seems the rebel cell in Myto has finally paid off enough to come bite us in the ass.
One of the biggest problems for the Rebellion was their constant worry for war material to supplement their many on-the-move fleets, chiefly food and repair parts. B-Wings had their big fuck off multi-beam attack, but doing so puts a strain on maintenance, to the point they barely used the function. Now that they are fully supplied by safe major suppliers like in Myto, they may be spamming that shit as hard as their Y-Wing bombardments.
The answer, is more migration as well as a propaganda campaign that the Empire needs willing, LOYAL citizens to help with the war effort. We'll give it the Helldiver treatment that Myto's safety is at stake. We'll burn through the fanatics and zealots of the Empire in the sector first, maybe add insurance incentives too for losses to make those diving in. Really balance out the populace if Las needs an opportunity to switch the sector to a neutral stance.
Leeland0815
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Could he just send out empty ships with the fuel that get conveniently blown up by "rebel ambushes"? Would allow him to up his ship production to "secure the sector" and keep the fuel plants working as they are now. He just have to buy a year or two if i have the timeline right in my head after all...
Masin
Glorious Golden Subjugator
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I liked the Hoth section, but now I'm left with an overwhelming need to know the Reble's pov thanks to the changes you've implemented. Also, the consequences of Death Squadron's new additions. Perhaps a sequence with Vader's thoughts on the new ships' effects/performance maybe? Hopefully?
ReluctantCrusader
Mula sa Masa, Tungo sa Masa
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If I were Las, I would be pretty tempted to hit the self-coup button and defect to the rebellion.
Blackenedthorn
Too many ideas, so little time
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There is another option on the table given Myto's history; B1 Battledroids. Pump out laborer B1's to work where the population cannot fill the ranks and move them out of the way when organics are ready to take their place and then shift them to either supplement said organics or move them on to other projects where the organic population is not not yet available. To ensure they cannot be subverted, make the droids incapable of using any weapons via programing blocks or something along similar lines.
AdrianXIV
Not too sore, are you?
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Given Veers Sr'.s PoV and fact that Ozzel was canonically executed for incompetence after Battle of Hoth, it seems that Ozzel failed to utilize "new assets from Myto Sector" (TIE/Ms & Arbiters) effectively.
Well, let's hope that newly-ranked-up Admirał Piett will not repeat that mistake.
Well, let's hope that newly-ranked-up Admirał Piett will not repeat that mistake.
Gordian_Knot
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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That's just not a viable plan until Endor.
Darth Vader, at this point, would PERSONALLY show up to push bis shit in for daring to rebel.
Qwerty1234
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Fudge the numbers. Have "fuel shipments", definitely not just full on paper fuel shipments, "get raided" or "stolen". Of course sir, the numbers clearly show we are well on our way to meeting the increased demands its only the robberies that are throwing the figures off.
abrandentport4
Getting sticky.
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If somehow General Veers is still alive after Hoth, I suspect that he will be borrowing the Storm Walker to support the AT-ATs; heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Vader does that anyway
PotatOS2
Versed in the lewd.
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It's funny to imagine that engineers graduate from his sector managed to put a cover at the death star exhaust port like a metal grate or just put a lot of lasers around it to shoot down anything that gets near
Starseeker
Know what you're doing yet?
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No he won't.
Las mentioned that Vader did not requisition any ground units.
Yacov
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Oh hey I guess we're at Hoth now.
Turns out there are some downsides to having your walkers be the size of small mountains with minimal AA abilities.
Well that is going to weaken Death Squadron's ground game. Veers was fairly competent from what I remember and his replacement may not be made of the same quality. Perhaps the replacement may be willing to ask for some LECAs and power armor?
Couldn't dodge the Imperial taxes forever Las. Not this deep into the Civil War. At least you got probably less than a year of it before the DS2 goes klablooie.
Obviously the solution is to hunt down more pirates. Hunting pirates always seems like the answer in the Myto Sector. Maybe he can set up a "fund" for syndicates to send their captured foes into the mines?
The New Republic on the other hand, seems to lose some collective brain cells once it forms.
abrandentport4
Getting sticky.
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@Starseeker, reread my comment. I'm saying that if he survives getting shot at by the rebels, I think he or Vader will be heading back to Myto for the stormwalker and other sector-specific pieces of equipment, like the LECA, not that they have them at this time
SwaffleWaffle
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Getting the people of the sector to buy bonds to make up for the lack of cash flow shouldn't be too difficult, given how patriotic they are
Starseeker
Know what you're doing yet?
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Ok.
My train of thought was that he concentrated hard on space assets and didn't actually look at the ground stuff.
So I'm not sure if he would know later on that theres goodies to be had.
Kasikan
Versed in the lewd.
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He needs to remember in the Empire, you don't accommadate the guy above you, you plan how to make them fall so you can rise. Easy solution to the stupidity of the guy above you, kill him and take his place. It worked for every other single guy that's in the position they're in now. Either by directly killing them or getting enough dirt on them to expose them to the Empire's hands as someone to remove. ISB is only really good for that and that's what everyone uses them for. Since they're pretty much useless unless as a toy used by politicians to kill their rivals.
Rando Lurker
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Why can't he get raid neighbor system as pirates?
abrandentport4
Getting sticky.
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@Starseeker That was why I was focusing on General Veers, who, one way or another, would probably know about things like the LECA or the stormwalker as an Imperial Army officer who, at least in legends, was the one who came up with the idea of the AT-AT for use on the world of Jabiim, he then had to create a doctrin for use outside of the original use case
Orphiex
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Okay, main question: what are the obstacles to clawing more coaxium out of the planet it's on? Extraction, refinement, or transport?
I think the best short-term solution might be to cut a deal with one of the galactic megacorps. I know Las has used the Guild to keep them out, but needs must when the devil drives. Unless Las can somehow finagle an exemption out of Vader, he's going to have to choose a least-bad option.
I think the best short-term solution might be to cut a deal with one of the galactic megacorps. I know Las has used the Guild to keep them out, but needs must when the devil drives. Unless Las can somehow finagle an exemption out of Vader, he's going to have to choose a least-bad option.
Starseeker
Know what you're doing yet?
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Ah, you're right.
I somehow missed Veers in your comment because he got overshadowed by Vader.
Veers would indeed have a reason to look at Myto ground units, although he would have to convince Vader if the necessity.
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