Star Wars Source Compendium
(v1.1 - 17 AUG 2025)

Star Wars: A New Hope

• PRINCESS LEIA: The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this....When they hear you've attacked a diplomatic-- [she gets cut off by Vader] -- I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan.

• IMPERIAL COMMANDER: Holding her is dangerous. If word of this gets out, it could generate sympathy for the rebellion in the senate.

• DARTH VADER: Send a distress signal, and then inform the senate that all aboard were killed.

• GENERAL TAGGE: The rebellion will continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate...
  
  TARKIN: The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.
  
  GENERAL TAGGE: That's impossible. How will the emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?
  
  TARKIN: The regional governors now have direct control over their territories.
  
  COMMENTARY: [These statements point out that right up to it's dissolution in ANH, the Imperial Senate was still a source of power to be respected, even 19 years into the New Order.

• HAN SOLO: Well, that's the real trick [avoiding Imperial entanglements], isn't it?...and it's gonna cost you something extra. 10,000, all in advance.
  
  COMMENTARY: [Gives you an idea of general smuggling costs for two people and two droids, no questions asked.]

• LUKE: Ten thousand? We could almost buy our own ship for that!
  
  COMMENTARY: [Gives an idea of the general price of the used ship market.]

• BEN KENOBI: We haven't that much with us. But we could pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan.

• HAN SOLO: Seventeen, huh? Okay, you guys got yourselves a ship.
  
  COMMENTARY: [This exchange shows just how in debt Han is to Jabba -- if he's willing to undertake a somewhat dangerous run with possible Imperial Most Wanted beings onboard, for only a 20% advance. Reasonable speculation is that Han needed the two grand to pay off Jabba immediately to bring down the heat on him to a tolerable level.]

• HAN SOLO: Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dustin' crops, boy! Without precise calculations, we'd fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that would end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?
  
  COMMENTARY: [This is why the hyperspace skipjumping in RISE OF SKYWALKER was so obnoxious and lore/canon breaking. They should have ended up smeared across half the galaxy for trying that trick.]

• BEN KENOBI: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.
  
  COMMENTARY: [If Kenobi is feeling this so far away from the Death Star; what would it have been on the Death Star itself? It makes you wonder about why the Emperor insisted on a throne room to be on it besides pure vanity...]

• HAN SOLO: The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It would take 1,000 ships with more firepower than...
  
  COMMENTARY: [This is one of the few statements in the films that quantify firepower semi-directly.]

Empire Strikes Back

• GENERAL VEERS: ComScan has detected an energy field protecting an area of the sixth planet of the Hoth system. The field is strong enough to deflect any bombardment.
  
  COMMENTARY: [If a semi-portable system for a temporary base could deflect the firepower of a full Squadron of ships (including a Executor), what does that mean for a planet like Alderaan?

• LANDO: You see, since we're a small operation we don't fall into the jurisdiction of the Empire.
  
  LEIA: So you're part of the Mining Guild?
  
  LANDO: No, not actually. Our operation is small enough not to be noticed.
  
  COMMENTARY: [This implies that even the Empire can't track down every little operation, even one with as much capital investment as Cloud City.]

Return of the Jedi

• HAN SOLO: Now, don't get jittery, Luke. There are a lot of command ships.
  
  COMMENTARY: [Implies the existence of more than one Executor-scale ship.]

• ACKBAR: Our cruisers can't repel firepower of that magnitude.
  
  COMMENTARY: [Establishes a semi-upper limit on large capital ship scale shielding in the SW universe.]

Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker Novelization (December 1976) by Alan Dean Foster (ghostwriting for George Lucas)

• So it was with the Republic at its height. Like the greatest of trees, able to withstand any external attack, the Republic rotted from within though the danger was not visible from outside.
  
  Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic.
  
  Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears.
  
  Having exterminated through treachery and deception the Jedi Knights, guardians of justice in the galaxy, the Imperial governors and bureaucrats prepared to institute a reign of terror among the disheartened worlds of the galaxy. Many used the Imperial forces and the name of the increasingly isolated Emperor to further their own personal ambitions. – Preface
  
  [I can see why the later WEG material refers to Palpatine as “President”, because they were going off the 1976 Novelization of ANH.]

• “He [Anakin] was betrayed and murdered,” Kenobi declared solmenly, “by a very young Jedi named Darth Vader.” He was not looking at Luke. “A boy I was training. One of my brightest disciples … one of my greatest failures.”
  
  [This early version establishes that Anakin was Obi Wan's disciple as far back as 1976, some 23~ years before the Prequels.]

• “Senatorial representation has not been formally abolished, you must understand,” Tarkin explained. “It has merely been superseded for the—” he smiled a bit more—“duration of the emergency.”
  
  [Tarkin's response to Tagge about how would the Emperor maintain the bureaucracy with the Senate dissolved is a bit different in the novelization; and it might well be the 'official' in-universe version given to the general public.]

• “I am a dedicated man, and the pleasures I reserve for myself are few. One of them is that before your execution I should like you to be my guest at a small ceremony. It will certify this battle station’s operational status while at the same time ushering in a new era of Imperial technical supremacy. This station is the final link in the new-forged Imperial chain which will bind the million systems of the galactic Empire together once and for all. Your petty Alliance will no longer be of any concern to us. After today’s demonstration no one will dare to oppose Imperial decree, not even the Senate.”
  
  [This early version of Grand Moff Tarkin's monologue to Princess Leia is the first time we encounter the 'million worlds' statement.”]

Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back Novelization by Donald Glut

• Supreme confidence reigned in the heart of every crew member in this Imperial death squadron, especially among the personnel on the monstrous central Star Destroyer.
  
  [This is the first official appearance of Vader's “Death Squadron” title/designation/name in canon.]

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Novelization by James Kahn

• At the feathered edge of the galaxy, the Death Star [II] floated in stationary orbit above the green moon Endor—a moon whose mother planet had long since died of unknown cataclysm and disappeared into unknown realms. The Death Star [II] was the Empire’s armored battle station, nearly twice as big as its predecessor, which Rebel forces had destroyed so many years before—nearly twice as big, but more than twice as powerful. Yet it was only half complete.
  
  [The size of the Second Death Star compared to the first.]

• “What is it?” the officer demanded.
  
  “That shuttle has a class-one priority ranking.”
  
  He tried to replace the fear in his voice with disbelief. The officer glanced at the view-screen for only a moment before realizing who was on the shuttle and spoke to himself: “Vader!”
  
  [Vader has a Priority One ranking; presumably the Emperor is Priority Zero...]

• “When I saw what had become of him, I tried to dissuade him, to draw him back from the dark side. We fought … your father fell into a molten pit. When your father clawed his way out of that fiery pool, the change had been burned into him forever—he was Darth Vader, without a trace of Anakin Skywalker. Irredeemably dark. Scarred. Kept alive only by machinery and his own black will …”
  
  [The fight on Mustafar in ROTS was foreshadowed nearly twenty years beforehand.]

• Senator Palpatine had seized the moment. Through fraud, clever promises, and astute political maneuvering, he’d managed to get himself elected head of the Council. And then through subterfuge, bribery and terror, he’d named himself Emperor.
  
  [An early version of his outmanuvering Chancellor Valorium in The Phantom Menace to install himself as Chancellor Palpatine.]

• Like Leia’s adopted father—like Palpatine the Emperor himself—Mon Mothma had been a senior senator of the Republic, a member of the High Council. When the Republic had begun to crumble, Mon Mothma had remained a senator until the end, organizing dissent, stabilizing the increasingly ineffectual government.
  
  She had organized cells, too, toward the end. Pockets of resistance, each of which was unaware of the identity of the others—each of which was responsible for inciting revolt against the Empire when it finally made itself manifest.
  
  There had been other leaders, but many were killed when the Empire’s first Death Star annihilated the planet Alderaan. Leia’s adopted father died in that calamity.
  
  Mon Mothma went underground. She joined her political cells with the thousands of guerrillas and insurgents the Empire’s cruel dictatorship had spawned.
  
  [This is the earliest possible version we have of Mon Mothma's backstory as a secret organizer of the Rebellion. It also alludes to the "everyone fights their own war" feel we see in ANDOR Season 1 with Saw's group and the others.]

Guide to the Star Wars Universe (First Edition) by Raymond L. Velasco, 1984

DEATH STAR: “The Death Star’s destructive power was equivalent to that of the entire Imperial fleet. Roughly the size of a class IV moon...” (p.46)

DEATH STAR II: “Because of the first Death Star’s great success a second Death Star was later constructed over the Moon of the planet Endor. This battle station was larger than the first (approximately 100 miles in diameter) and more than twice as powerful.” (p.46)

EMPEROR: “malevolent dictator of the Empire, leader of its military forces, and superior of Lord Darth Vader. Formerly a member of the Imperial Senate, the Emperor, then called Senator Palpatine, began on his road to power during a time in the Old Republic when social injustice and corruption were rampant throughout the galaxy. Through fraud, clever promises, and astute political maneuvering, Palpatine managed to get himself elected President of the Republic. Soon afterward, he repayed his political debts and declared himself Emperor. One of his first acts as Emperor was the extinction of the Old Republic’s guardians of peace—the Jedi Knights. Anakin Skywalker, the young Jedi apprentice who aided him and who was later to be known as Darth Vader, was turned to the dark side by the Emperor when the latter recognized Vader’s abilities.” (p.59)

EXECUTOR “Lord Darth Vader’s personal flagship; classified as a Super Star Destroyer—approximately five times larger and more destructive than any Star Destroyer in the Imperial fleet. Executor represents the best and newest vessel available in the Imperial inventory. Like most ships in its class, Executor is used as a command ship, a spacegoing headquarters from which to guide planetary invasions, space battles, and the like.” (p.63)

[I believe this is the start of the “five mile long Executor” brainbug by WEG.]

SPACE SLUG a colossal wormlike creature residing within the furrows and craters of asteroids and planets. The slug’s metabolic systems allow it to survive on airless worlds and subsist on just about anything. Scientists have speculated that space slugs may grow to lengths as great as 750—900 meters. (E) (p.175)

[WEG seems to have recycled that 900m length into their description of space slugs for maximum possible length.]

Dark Empire Trade Paperback, 1993

• HAN SOLO: Sure, Why not? There’s only twelve million inhabited star systems out there....shouldn’t be too hard... [Image in context]

WEG Star Wars Style Guide, Version 2.0 (August 1994)

NOTE: I've chosen to reproduce certain chapters from their Style Guide completely; as this was a product that was never distributed commercially, and it provides some really great information on how to "get" the "feel" for Star Wars.

It's rather sad that so many later authors who played in the Star Wars universe (Kevin J Anderson and his Sun Crusher) didn't read the WEG Style Guide, which explictly called out such "power scaling" attempts in "No Superlatives or Absolutes".

Snippets

• Cargo Capacity: In metric tons or kilograms. Fighters carry only a few kilograms; small transports (like the Falcon) carry about 100 metric tons; bulk transports can carry thousands of tons (space barges can carry 15,000 metric tons, bulk freighters can carry 80,000 metric tons). You do not need to list a ship’s cargo volume since a ship’s tonnage capacity is more important than its volume. Ships may have excess volume to handle lighter than water cargos, like food stuffs, etc. – Chapter Eleven: Stat Formats (page 50)
  
  [This provides a handy "scale" of how big commercial shipping is in the SW universe.]

Chapter Three Writing in the Star Wars Universe
(Complete Section, Pages 10-14 – PDF)

Star Wars writers must write with the same tone, spirit and atmosphere as the Star Wars movies. They must be consistent with what has been done in the universe in the past, including game products, novels and comics. Here are some hints and rules to make sure you’re writing best fits the Star Wars feel.

All these areas are general guidelines. Talk to us. We do offer some flexibility for exceptional ideas. But these are cliches and poorly executed concepts we see repeatedly.

No Juvenile Writing

A lot of authors write for an audience composed exclusively of 12-year-olds. We expect writing that is serious, exciting, original, and interesting. Don't be redundant, condescending or simplistic. Your audience is a group of highly intelligent high school, college and older age individuals.

If you’re looking for suggestions on appropriate tone and style, look at the writing styles used in Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition and The Star Wars Sourcebook.

PG & PG-13

The Star Wars universe is a PG and PG-13 universe. Profanity should be limited to hell and damn (or Star Wars slang equivalents such as Stang). And we should see very little blood (and only in very dramatic situations) and no extreme violence. We should see no nudity. Sexuality is a topic best left undiscussed — romance in a traditional, non-graphic nature is acceptable.

Potentially disturbing situations, such as torture, should be “faded out"—just as when Darth Vader interrogates Princess Leia in Star Wars. We know what’s going to happen and the camera doesn’t have to show us to get across the dramatic impact.

Like the movies, do not glamorize negative traits, such as people who look down on aliens or members of the opposite sex: these characters can have these traits, but they should be presented as negative traits. These traits should also be limited exclusively to the characters — these traits shouldn’t be part of the narrator’s point of view. Likewise, players and their characters shouldn’t be encouraged to use abusive slang or dehumanize characters. Remember, what comes around goes around.

Likewise, do not glamorize the abuse of alcohol. Drugs are off limits —we often use the term “spice” as a substitute. You may also name something, “ryll” for example, but don’t describe its drug-like qualities.

If you have any questions, ask yourself, “Does this fit in the Star Wars movies?” If you even hesitate to say yes, then your material is questionable and you should send this material in advance to West End for commentary.

Don't Be Redundant

Too many authors pad-out their word counts by saying the same thing three times, or using “As we said before ..." We trim mercilessly, and more importantly, this means that you’ll have to come up with completely new sections to fulfill your word count obligations outlined in your contracts.

Don't Make Fun of Star Wars

Material may not make fun of the Star Wars universe. You may certainly present humor from the point of view of a character, or humor inherent in a certain situation, but you may not make fun of or be degrading to the Star Wars universe. Have fun with Star Wars instead.

Use the Star Wars Setting

The Star Wars universe is a lot more than the Rebels versus the Empire. There are independent companies, hostile bounty hunters, intelligent aliens, and so forth. When creating plots, villains and settings, use this setting to the utmost. Remember, it’s a big galaxy out there, and you can help fill it — if what you create fits existing material and has that Star Wars feel to it.

Be exciting! Star Wars should be chaotic, fast-moving action adventure. The worlds and characters should be interesting.. If you want guidelines on pacing for adventures and how to make believable worlds, see the adventure The Abduction of Crying Dawn Singer.

However, the largeness of scale must have context. You may not create something that’s too big, powerful, destructive, or valuable, or else the Empire would have taken control of it. Before the death of the Emperor, if it was really important to the Empire, it would crack down and assert control. On the other hand, if it would be cheaper and easier to intimidate others into doing their bidding, the Empire would use that tactic.

For example, most large businesses stayed Independent by swearing allegiance to the Empire and keeping any illegal activities very quiet.

Writing in the New Republic

The era of the New Republic is an era of decay. The Empire has steadily lost ground and it has fragmented into many, many factions. However, the Republic isn’t all that much better off. Constant infighting prevents the Republic from making any real gains, and the economy has stagnated. Credits, weapons and ships are scarce. By the events of Heir to the Empire, the New Republic is barely maintaining power. A year later, in Dark Empire, the Empire has reunified just long enough to take power again, but after the Alliance was defeated and forced to flee Coruscant, the Empire factionalized again, triggering a major civil war. Lots of new, experimental weapons are being developed, but beyond that, the economy is still in a shambles.

Minimize Real World References

Since we are trying to maintain the Star Wars universe as an independent fictional universe, don’t use real world references unless absolutely necessary.

Limit references to objects that could conceivably exist in the universe — as in the Tim Zahn novels: cigarra, hot chocolate and tea. When you want to refer to a specific type of technology, you can refer to it with a synonym — for instance, walkie talkies are comlinks, video phones are vidcomms, cars are ground transports.

Never use references to real world locations, events, or people — don’t draw comparisons to fictional characters, celebrities and so forth.

Never use the names of other people’s trademarks —for example, no characters named Bilbo or Gandalf or Judge Dredd.

Create Real and Logical Characters

Star Wars is a real universe. Star Wars is more than good guys versus bad guys. People in the Star Wars universe are real people, with real motivations, goals, faults and weaknesses. Create three dimensional, interesting, complex characters with depth. People have real motivations, just like people in our world: to get a good job, to get rich, to find a date. They don’t do things without reason. People are good and evil, and many have high and lofty ideals, but many also have realistic motives.

Granted the Empire is evil, but let’s see some realistic evil: the Empire is trying to control people and maintain power. They’re not going to execute people unless they think it will get them something — obedience from those who are around, for instance. The citizens of the Empire are, more often than not, Just folks who don’t realize how evil the Empire can be because it never affects them personally.

The Empire has a great deal of control of information, so most of the time people don’t hear about atrocities on backwater worlds. In the Empire proper no one is going to think about revolting against what they perceive as a “not perfect but could be worse” government. Besides, if someone does hear about an atrocity, they figure the victims were criminals and rabble-rousers who deserved what they got. It’s not that people don’t care, but they, like lots of Americans, choose not to get involved.

Be Logical, Be Consistent, and Do Your Research

Be internally consistent. Authors often contradict themselves in their own writing. If a character is a “really good bounty hunter,” then he should act like one, and not make juvenile mistakes (this comes back to researching your subject).

Think the universe through: if you are putting a military base on a world, ask yourself, why was it put here in the first place? What was the objective?

Likewise, it’s not very believable to have a “hidden” pirate base in the heart of a highly populated system. Now, on the other hand, you could have a crime lord’s enclave in the depths of Nar Shaddaa, but that’s because it is a lawless world where the police don’t really care. Think things through logically!

Do your homework! If you are inventing a new world that's really unusual, call up an astrophysics professor at a local university to see if it’s plausible. If you’re inventing a gang, do research on Earth gangs to see how they operate, and then modify that information to fit the Star Wars universe. Remember, any costs incurred while doing research are tax deductible if you keep your receipts.

People make the most mistakes when covering military tactics and procedures. Research the deployment of warships, or troop movement, or army organization, or whatever else is relevant. The bottom line is people who really know how these things are done in the real world will be reading your material, so make sure you know what you're talking about.

Think new planets through: we’ve had too many worlds that are too much like Earth or “there is one settlement and the rest is wilderness.” This is fine once in a while, but it seems that every planet in the galaxy is like that. Develop worlds with unique cultures, industries, attitudes, and so forth.

If a planet has been settled for thousands of years, it could have some amazing architecture, huge monuments and other things that make anything on Earth look downright piddly.

When building a planet, figure out its economy. What do residents do for a living? What is the economy based on — manufacturing goods or exporting natural resources? Is it just getting by?

What are the various climates like? Don’t do one planet/one climate worlds — Tatooine and Hoth were extreme examples. Make this a believable universe. Why do people come here? Why do they leave? What happens here?

Think Big

Don’t underestimate the size and scope of the galaxy. There’s a galaxy of billions of stars, with a hyperspace-linked culture that has been around for over 20,000 years. There is room for an astounding amount of diversity. Likewise, not everything or everyone should be from Tatooine or Bespin (just like not everything interesting happens in Boise, Idaho).

It is a universe of neat gadgets, cool aliens, mystery and a hint of magic. Espionage, military scenarios, Indiana Jones in space, westerns, old Star Trek, simple combat, lost cultures, lightweight cyberpunk, smuggling, “pirates in the Caribbean” and even horror themes all fit into the Star Wars universe if done properly.

Trouble Spots

Feel free to introduce new elements to the universe, like aliens, ships and planets, but be careful to maintain the balance of the universe. Don’t advance the technology, change the power structure of the galaxy, or anything like that. We aren’t interested in teleportation gadgets, super-duper hyperdrives, or “aliens invade the galaxy’ plots. Likewise, we are not Interested in time travel, alternate dimension or alternate universe stories.

We are not interested in tired cliches ... no planets obviously stolen from other science fiction stories, no cat, lizard or bug aliens. When creating something new, make it original. For example, Wookiees have canine and simian aspects, but are a wholly unique invention.

Do Not Talk About the Past

You may not discuss anything of galactic significance which occurs prior to Star Wars: A New Hope. This includes subjects such as the Clone Wars, specifics about the Old Republic, how the Emperor rose to power, how the Rebellion stole the X-wing prototype, the fall of the Republic, the extermination of the Jedi Knights, the history of Emperor Palpatine or Darth Vader, the Mandalorians or anything about the history of the Jedi Knights.

No Superlatives or Absolutes

Don’t make stuff the “biggest” or “best” or “worst" or “most" anything. You can make something big and impressive and nasty by sheer description. You may not use these absolute descriptives because somehow, somewhere, somebody will come up with something bigger and badder (and they probably were inspired by your idea in the first place).

Similarly, don't make sweeping statements about the nature of the Star Wars galaxy. Instead of saying, “All customs inspectors in the galaxy will do this," limit your perspective to something more local—“Customs inspectors on this planet ..." People will do things differently in different parts of the galaxy, so you will have worlds that are wildly different.

Stormtroopers Are Loyal!

Real stormtroopers are fanatically loyal to the Emperor. After the death of the Emperor, some Imperials might dress up normal soldiers in stormtrooper uniforms, but “real” stormtroopers still loyal to the remnants of the Empire are unswayable.

Use the Major Players Sparingly

Don’t submit plots in which the major movie characters play a significant part. Maybe they guest star or have a short cameo for a scene or two. Think of Sean Connery’s role in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Don’t use Darth Vader, the Emperor, or other heavy adversaries.

COMMENTARY: [With what we now know about the early Imperial era circa ROTS (19BBY); it's possible if you're role playing an early-Empire game in 17BBY, to encounter Vader while he's still "establishing" his brand (i.e. he's an unknown within the Empire) and possibly survive through sheer luck. But by 3BBY, pretty much everyone should 'know' that Darth Vader is bad news; and you should immediately abort the mission or flee if you catch a glimpse of him from far away.

This could be useful for a gamesmaster in establishing "boundaries" for the players to follow -- they want to go to planet 'X', but you don't want them to go there. So you let them go there, only to find upon dropping from hyperspace that Lord Vader has arrived in the system in the Devastator and is doing his typical brand of stuff there. Now your characters must carefully back out towards the exit(s) without being too obvious.]

Be Fluent in Star Wars

Know your Star Wars history and the universe. You are expected to know the history in the Star Wars universe chapter in Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition. There is also a lot of information out there in our various products that you probably don’t know, as well as Information from the novels and comics you should be familiar with.

As a bare minimum, you are expected to have and be familiar with Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, The Star Wars Sourcebook, The Imperial Sourcebook, and The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook.

A handy reference for anyone writing Star Wars is Bill Slavicsek’s A Guide to the Star Wars Universe published by Del Rey. It’s a fairly comprehensive encyclopedia of much of the material which has appeared in the films, the radio plays, the comics, the novels, and even the roleplaying game.

If your product is set after the Battle of Endor, you must also be familiar with the sourcebooks for Timothy Zahn’s trilogy of novels. If you are using locations or places from the movies, you must have The Star Wars Movie Trilogy Sourcebook. You are likely to find other supplements, like The Death Star Technical Companion, Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters, and Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley handy as well.

Do not hesitate to call the Star Wars editors at West End Games with history or continuity questions.

Other points about the Star Wars galaxy you might find useful include:

•    Hyperspace has been around for thousands of years.

•    The Republic lasted for 1,000 generations, or 25,000 years. It is so old that a lot of the past isn’t too well known.

•    There are millions of worlds in the Known Galaxy (the Empire, New Republic, settled space); there are lots of worlds beyond the Known Galaxy that are unexplored or rumored to exist. These outer worlds may have ancient technology, such as really old hyperdrives.

•    There are billions of suns in a galaxy.

•    The Empire had at least 25,000 Star Destroyers.

Star Wars Timeline
(*) NOTE: You may not discuss this era since it occurs before the films.

25,000+ years before Star Wars *

Hyperspace has been around for thousands of years.

25,000-20,000 years before Star Wars *

The Old Republic founded. This was so long ago that a lot of the past isn’t that well known.

4,000 years before Star Wars *

Tales of the Jedi and Dark Lords of the Sith from Dark Horse Comics. At this time, West End hasn’t produced any material for this time period.

Before Star Wars *

The Clone Wars

5-10 years before Star Wars *

Droids comics series from Dark Horse Comics

Before Star Wars *

Lando Calrissian books by L. Neil Smith

Just before Star Wars *

Han Solo books by Brian Daley

Star Wars

Between Star Wars and Empire

Classic Star Wars, the Al Williamson/Archie Goodwin comic strips

Between Star Wars and Empire

All West End materials bearing the simple Star Wars logo.

3 years after Star Wars

The Empire Strikes Back (we believe the movie takes place over about six months).

4 years after Star Wars

Return of the Jedi

Immediately after Return of the Jedi

The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers

After Return of the Jedi

New Republic established. All West End material bearing the The New Republic banner is set after the Battle of Endor. At this time the Republic is plowing across the galaxy. At the two year mark, we think they’ve got about 50% of the galaxy. The Empire has fragmented into many factions, all paying allegiance to the “Empire" in name, but none supporting each other.

3-4 years after Return of the Jedi

The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton. Han and Leia married.

5 years after Return of the Jedi

Heir to the Empire. By now, the Republic has 3/4ths of the galaxy and the Empire has been forced back to the galactic backwaters. The New Republic has moved its seat of government to Coruscant, the former Imperial capital. The time encompassed by Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command is six months. At the end, Thrawn is defeated, but has retaken about half the galaxy in the name of the Empire. Leia gives birth to Jacen and Jaina, her twins.

6 years after Return of the Jedi

Dark Empire. Occurs soon after the conclusion of Zahn’s novels. The Empire, inspired by Thrawn, has reunited, retaking 3/4ths of the galaxy and forcing the New Republic on the defensive. The Empire retook Coruscant, but once again fragmented, triggering an all-out civil war. Coruscant is leveled in the fighting. The New Republic establishes a new base on the Pinnacle Moon. The Emperor returns with his World Devastators, destroying most of Calamari. Luke embraces the dark side in an attempt to defeat the Emperor.

6 years after Return of the Jedi

Dark Empire II.

7 years after Return of the Jedi

Kevin Anderson trilogy of novels — Jedi Search, Dark Apprentice, Champions of the Force. Focuses on Luke’s efforts to reestablish the Jedi Knights.

11 years after Return of the Jedi

Vonda McIntyre’s novel, The Crystal Star.

Chapter Five Writing Source Material
(Complete Section, Page 17 – PDF)

The trend these days among gamers is they want source material. Adventures are good for one run, but good source material can be the foundation of an excellent and rich campaign, and it can help spice up an existing campaign.

What Is Source Material?

Many of our sourcebooks and supplements fit the description of source material — anything that helps fill in the gaps and details the Star Wars galaxy. Unlike adventures, source material doesn’t require a plot, although exciting characters and settings are much more important. Source material can be picked up by gamemasters and players and used in their own campaigns.

Some examples of Star Wars sourcebooks Include The Heir to the Empire Sourcebook, Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, the numerous Galaxy Guides, and the General Cracken books. Articles featuring source material on new planets, ships, or campaign ideas can also be used in the Star Wars Adventure Journal.

Be Organized

Since source material isn’t usually held together with a plot like a story or adventure, organization is very important. Begin with a brief overview of what you’re writing about — avoid phrases that state “this supplement/article will talk about the Ison Corridor and the many interesting worlds found there.” Be direct. Tell readers something useful right away — “The Ison Corridor is a little-known trading route in the Outer Rim Territories, home to numerous smugglers and the infamous gangster Greasy Boab."

Be Logical

Source material must all fit together in a logical way. Remember, although the Star Wars universe is a fictional universe, it does operate along many laws of reality. Characters must have reasonable motivations, planets must have believable climates and terrain, governments, cities and starports must all fit together logically. And in many cases when writers are describing new systems or characters, everything is inter-related.

Be Original

Original themes are cool. Stay away from Star Wars cliches (ice and desert planets, Hutt crimelords, smugglers with Wookiee copilots...), and don’t do something that's an obvious swipe from someone else’s stories (ringworlds, federations, space stations near wormholes ...). Your readers want new, exciting and original source material to work into their games. Give them plenty of ways to use your source material — adventure ideas, new gamemaster characters with stats, new planets to explore, new ships to play with, small sidebars detailing other aspects of your subject. Look at what's been done in West End’s Star Wars products and you’ll see the wide range of subjects and presentations that source material covers.

Chapter Six Writing Game-Related Fiction
(Complete Section, Page 18 – PDF)

The Star Wars Adventure Journal accepts game-related fiction — short stories about people in the Star Wars universe (no main characters from the movies!) with adventure ideas, informational sidebars, and character, alien, ship, and planet stats for those that appears in the story.

Although this game-related fiction is similar to other fictional sidebars and introductions in both source material and adventures, it is much more difficult to write. Short game-related fiction for the Journal must be excellent. Not okay, not passable, not mediocre. The Journal only accepts the best of the fiction available. It is a privilege for the Journal to publish game-related fiction, so writing game-related fiction for Star Wars is a privilege.

Warning!

Short story writing is not like writing source material or adventures. There is much more emphasis on a tight and logical plot, deep and developing characters, and a strong sense of setting, tone, and atmosphere. In adventures and source material, the actual ideas are most important, and the writing is secondary. They can usually be fixed by an editor. But a short story is carried by the ideas, the writing and the style.

If you have never written fiction or short stories before, do not attempt to write game-related fiction for Star Wars. If you wish to pursue writing fiction, go to your local bookstore and pick up a book on writing. We recommend a book by science fiction author Damon Knight called Creating Short Fiction (published by Writer’s Digest Books). It has some good tips on writing and developing your writing style, and contains some fun exercises on creating setting, tone and characters.

Some people get degrees in creative writing. Others learn to write creatively on their own. The key is to always keep writing and to be willing to use your mistakes and other people’s criticisms to improve your work.

Relating Stories to the Game

All fiction in the Star Wars Adventure Journal must be “game-related.” This means you must provide complete game stats for all characters, ships, creatures, planets, aliens, new equipment, or anything else included in your story. You must also provide adventure ideas so gamemasters can try to integrate the action, characters, settings and situations in the story into their own game campaigns.

The same rules that apply to writing adventures and source material also apply to stories. Be logical and original. If your story doesn’t make us sit back and say “Wow!” when we finish reading it, we probably won’t buy it.

Look at some of the work that appears in the Star Wars Adventure Journal to get a better sense of what we expect and what’s been done.

Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, 2nd Edition

• A universe where travel from one star to another is as easy as it is for us to travel from one city to another. A galaxy of millions of planets, populated by brave heroes, despicable villains, and shady smugglers. Visit the Star Wars universe, where adventure awaits you! – Introduction (p.5)

• It’s also important to remember that it's a big galaxy. BIG! There are millions of stars. The Empire has over 25,000 Imperial Star Destroyers. There are quadrillions of beings. Make use of this big a setting. The Star Wars universe is also one of majestic history and epic stories. This civilization has been around for over 20,000 years (actually, if you include warlords like Xim the Despot, a lot longer than that). There is plenty of room for lost ruins, ancient artifacts, heroic myths. This is also a modern galaxy of huge corporate conglomerates and planets with billions of people. In short, if you want to tell any kind of story, somewhere in the Star Wars galaxy, there is room for it! Have fun! – Chapter Two: Gamemastering (p.46)

• Planetary Systems [Pages 77-78]
  
  This skill represents a character's general knowledge of geography, weather, life forms, trade products, settlements, technology, government and other general information regarding different systems and planets.
  
  The base difficulty is based on how obscure the system is:
  
  Very Easy — System that everyone has heard of and knows something about. Coruscant, the former Imperial capital and the capital of the New Republic. Endor since the Battle of Endor. Alderaan. Corellian system.
  
  Easy—Systems that most people will have heard of, but they will only know one or two things about. Kessel has spice mines. Lianna is the home of Sienar Fleet Systems.
  
  Moderate — Systems that the average person might have heard of, but they probably know nothing about. Sullust, home of the Sullustans. Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld.
  
  Difficult — Very obscure systems that most people will never have heard of, or maybe they’ve heard of it but have no interest in learning anything about it. Bespin. Questal.
  
  Very Difficult — System that very few people have ever heard of, and even then, only a small percentage know anything of it beyond its name. Dantooinc. Ord Mantel). Tatooine before Luke Skywalker became famous.
  
  Heroic — System that almost no one has ever heard of. The system may not even be on the star charts or be officially registered. An unexplored system that might have been visited by traders. Dagobah. Hoth. Yavin. Endor before the Battle of Endor.
  
  Modifiers:
  
  A basic modifier is dependent upon how obscure the information is:
  
  No modifier — Information is very common or easily figured out from quick observation. All natives and most visitors know this. Dagobah is a swamp world without any advanced settlements. The only reason to go to Tatooine is Mos Eisley Spaceport and Jabba the Hutt's crime syndicate.
  
  + 1 to +5 to difficulty — Information is common, but requires some observation or investigation. All natives will know this; many visitors might. Cloud City is powered by custom designed repulsorlift generators. The basis of Coruscant's economy is the huge bureaucracy.
  
  +6 to +10 to difficulty — Information is obscure and requires detailed observation. Most natives know this information, but most visitors don’t. Tatooine is populated by a hostile species known as Tusken Raiders. Kashyyyk’s lowest eco-levels are extremely dangerous.
  
  + 11 to +20 to difficulty — Information isn't well known and many natives may not know this. Significant observation and investigation is necessary to turn this up. In Cloud City, Lando Calrissian siphoned off a small portion of Tibanna gas to produce spin-sealed Tibanna gases for blasters. Hoth is populated by dangerous predators called Wampas.
  
  +21 or more to difficulty — Only a select few individuals know this. The information is restricted or not well distributed to the galaxy at large. Before the Battle of Yavin, knowledge that Yavin was the site of the main Rebel base. [Pages 77-78]
  
  [COMMENTARY: I reposted this entire segment in full, because it's a vital continuity rule that many authors forget IRL.]

• A ship in hyperspace must still go around all objects in our dimension, called realspace. Therefore, ships can seldom travel straight from one star to another — they must avoid the mass shadows and gravitational affects of every star, planet, asteroid and other galactic phenomenon in the way. The solution to this was the creation of established, known hyperspace routes. As these routes were traveled, the obstacles along the route became better known, and ships could risk going faster and faster. In simple terms, using an established, well-known route allows for very fast travel, even between distant stars, while using a poorly traveled route, even if only over a short distance, takes longer and is often more dangerous.– Chapter Six: Space Travel (p.110)

• The advanced technology of hyperdrive has linked the entire galaxy together, allowing people to travel to other stars in the space of days, or even hours.– Chapter Six: Space Travel (p.112)

• Just as there are millions of member worlds in the Empire, there are millions of different ships.– Chapter Six: Space Travel (p.112)

• False transponder codes give the ship a false registry All ships are required to register with BoSS (Bureau of Ships’ Services), which assigns a unique transponder code to each ship’s engines. Clever captains can alter the transponder code (this is very difficult to do), so that once a ship is detected, it is identified as another vessel — for example, with a false transponder code, the Millennium Falcon might be identified as the Cool Shot, another YT-1300 transport registered to a completely different captain.– Chapter Six: Space Travel (p.114)

• There is no known “straight route” travelling across the galaxy. Even the fastest ships in the galaxy, such as the Millennium Falcon, would take over a month to cross the entire galaxy, if such a route did exist.– Chapter Six: Space Travel (p.115)

• Most ships have a hyperdrive back-up. This is a small, slow unit which can bring a ship limping into the nearest port if its main hyperdrive has been disabled by some mishap.– Chapter Six: Space Travel (p.115)

• The Imperial Star Destroyer was among the most fearsome weapons of the Imperial war machine. With over 25,000 of these awesome ships at his disposal, it is no wonder that Emperor Palpatine could instill fear in the hearts of the galaxy’s citizens.– Chapter Six: Space Travel (p.118)

• Reaching out from what came to be known as the Core Worlds, the Republic eventually embraced over a million member worlds, and countless more colonies, protectorates and governorships. Nearly 100 quadrillion beings pledged allegiance to the Republic in nearly fifty million systems..– Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.126)

• The Rebel Alliance gained a great deal of support in the Outer Rim Territories and other remote regions, where the Emperor's forces acted with impunity, committing atrocities beyond belief. While many of these worlds couldn’t openly declare themselves in rebellion, lest they face direct response from the Emperor’s massive star fleet, they did succeed in funneling arms, money and soldiers to the Alliance.– Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.128)

• The Empire’s ability to control all official communications effectively prevented those in the influential Core Worlds from knowing about the massacres that occurred on the outer worlds. Because the war, and its brutal realities, never touched the lives of the average person in the Core Worlds, Palpatine retained a great deal of popular support in these protected regions.– Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.128)

• It is unknown whether hyperdrive was invented by the Humans of the Core Worlds, or simply introduced by alien traders from far off in the Unknown Regions, but it is known that this miraculous technology, known to predate the Republic, allowed the creation of a galactic civilization.– Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.130)

• The Star Wars galaxy is unimaginably large, with over a hundred million stars in an area of space over one hundred thousand light years from end to end. There are millions of officially logged inhabited planets, and quite probably millions of planets that have little more than a single settlement or for some other reason remain officially unlogged, but nonetheless inhabited. Even with the miracle of hyperdrive, travel from one end of the galaxy to the other could take many months simply because there are so many unknown regions of space. The areas of mapped and settled space are called the Known Galaxy. Those areas which remain unmapped and unsettled are called the Unknown Regions. Because of the size of Known Galaxy, the Old Republic created regions for a convenient means of tracking economic, demographic and bureaucratic data. Each region was comprised of many sectors. The Republic's original definition of a sector was any area of space with 50 inhabited planets, but as colonization and exploration added more and more worlds to the society, many sectors grew and expanded far beyond their original borders. As the Empire continued to expand under Palpatine, even at a reduced rate compared to that of the Republic, the numerous new planets required the addition of many new sectors.– Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.131)

• SUMMARIZED: [The SW Galaxy's most important area is called “the slice” because it forms a “pie” shape bounded by two ancient hyperspace trade routes leading from the Core Worlds into the Mid Rim regions. A significant amount of “important” planets and areas are contained within 'the Slice'] – Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.131)

• There are sixty standard seconds in a standard hour, 24 standard hours in a standard day. five standard days in a standard week and seven standard weeks in a standard month. A standard year is 368 standard days, or ten standard months, plus three standard festival-weeks (devoted to festive celebrations) and three more standard holidays that make up a year.– Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.132)

• In the Star Wars universe, there are quadrillions of sapient beings, but only a few of them, numbering in the millions at most, are Force-sensitive. The number who actively use the Force is perhaps a tenth, or even a hundredth, of that.– Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.140)

• If the adventures are set during the time period of the Star Wars movies, players must bear in mind that Force-using characters are extremely rare. The Emperor and Darth Vader expended a great deal of time and energy hunting down any Force-users that they were aware of. Therefore, most Force-users, unless under the direct control of the Emperor or in hiding, will be of a relatively low level of ability (below 6D in all Force skills). Characters who progress above this level (or who are witnessed as having Force abilities) will be actively — and fanatically—hunted by the Emperor’s servants and assassins.– Chapter Seven: The Star Wars Universe (p.140-141)

Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, 2nd Edition; Revised & Expanded

[Page 116] Sublight Benchmarks. While starships move at relatively slow speeds in orbit, they can achieve incredible velocities in open space. Here are some very rough guidelines for sublight travel times.

•    Five minutes to fly from orbit to a safe hyperspace jump point.

COMMENTARY: [This puts the emergency jump from Jedha in ROGUE ONE into context -- it was incredibly dangerous, but it offered a 1% chance of survival; versus 99% death if they continued to fly in sublight below the ejecta from the Death Star's superlaser impact point.]

•    Half an hour to fly from a planet to one of its moons.

•    Two to six hours to fly from one planet to the nearest planet in the system. (Two hours for relatively close terrestrial worlds; the upper limit is for flying between distant gas giants.)

•    Anywhere from 10 to 48 hours to fly from a star to the outer limits of the system, depending upon distance and the presence of any hazards such as asteroid belts or gas clouds. (It takes about 15 hours to reach the outer limits of a "representative" system composed of a single yellow star and less than a dozen significant planetary bodies.)

Star Wars Sourcebook, 2nd Edition, Revised & Expanded

• Many droids and astrogation computers used on starfighters are capable of containing data for only one hyperspace jump at a time: others, such as the Rebel Alliance Y-wing. can hold up to ten jumps without being reprogrammed.
  
  Larger starships, such as Imperial Star Destroyers and similar models, have large onboard astrogation computers capable of virtually unlimited jump calculations and actually store jump coordinates for almost every foreseeable destination the ship may wish to reach.
  
  Even with sophisticated astrogation machines, mistakes are not uncommon. There are millions of stars in the galaxy, and billions of planets (not to mention asteroids and other debris), and space is not static — what was a safe course a few days ago may now be filled with debris from an exploded starship or collision between larger bodies. Authorities estimate that the locations of more than 90 percent of all large bodies in the galaxy are unknown! With all these variables, even the largest, most sophisticated computers, operated by the most experienced astrogators can plot a fatal path through hyperspace — even along well-traveled routes. While it is possible to change course while in hyperspace, this tactic is especially dangerous — the most minor error can send a ship careening thousands of light years off course. Still, space is largely empty. Millions of jumps are made daily — only a small fraction fail. – Chapter One: General Spacecraft Systems (p.7)

• The terms "laser" and "blaster" are synonymous, except that "blaster" usually implies a smaller, lighter weapon."– Chapter One: Spacecraft Systems (p.8)

• The Alliance has so few X-wings it uses them almost continuously, grounding them only for refueling, rearming, repairs and overhaul. – Chapter Two: Starfighters (p.19)

• SUMMARIZED: [ISDs carry a full TIE Wing of 72 starfighters broken down into six squadrons of 12; of which five are fighter squadrons, one is reconnaissance and one is a bomber squadron. The amount of TIE Interceptor squadrons in the diagram is one of the fighter squadrons; but obviously it'll vary according to time period and/or support levels] – Chapter Two: Starfighters [p.29]

• Fortunately, several [Nebulon-B] Frigates have defected to or been captured by the Rebellion. Not only has this given the Rebel fleet some much-needed firepower and ship transport capabilities, but it has also resulted in the bloodless capture of several Imperial convoys in their entirety. More than one transport convoy has set out under protection of an escort Frigate, only to discover, once in deep space, that their “escort” is a Rebel privateer. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.32)

• By the end of that battle-marred era [the Clone Wars], warship technology had advanced further than in the 200 years previous. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.32)

• In addition, each Victory-class ship carries starfighters for escort and patrol. Those in Imperial service carry two TIE fighter squadrons; Victory-class ships purchased by allied or subordinate powers, such as the Corporate Sector Authority, carry other craft. It is not uncommon to encounter Victory-class vessels with mothballed flight decks. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.33)

• Years later, when the first Imperial-class ship lumbered out of drydock (only 50 million credits over budget) and assumed active duty, the Navy was proven correct in its belief. The Imperial-class Star Destroyer has enough firepower to reduce a civilization to slag or take on a fleet of enemy vessels. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.34)

• There are whole star systems whose gross domestic product is less than the cost of a single Star Destroyer. There are whole nations which, throughout their entire history, do not use as much energy as a Star Destroyer expends to make a single hyperspace jump. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.35)

• The galaxy is huge; even the Empire has never visited a majority of the stars within it. Controlling it all is impossible. The best that can be hoped for is to frighten all into submission with the threat of destruction — and swiftly and ruthlessly crush any opposition that appears. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.35)

• The Imperial Star Destroyers are the weapons the Emperor uses to rule the galaxy. By deploying a Star Destroyer and support ships to a system, the Empire can destroy virtually any foe. It would be impossible to garrison every system in the Empire — but its Star Destroyers give the Empire the ability to project its power anywhere it wishes on short notice. Much of the Imperial Navy is permanently deployed in reserve in the Galactic Core, ready to swiftly respond to any threats, anywhere. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.35)

• An Imperial Star Destroyer is more than a weapons platform: because of the variety of its duties — planetary defense, planetary assault, and ship-to-ship combat — it must also be something of a space station, repair dock, and heavy transport as well, in addition to combat craft, an Imperial Star Destroyer carries eight Lambda-class shuttlecraft and many repair and recovery vehicles. Since they are not designed to enter planetary atmospheres, each Star Destroyer also carries 12 landing barges for crew and cargo transfer and for ground assault. Landing barges are shielded and armed, and carry up to four AT-AT’s (or eight AT-STs) and 1,000 troops each. They can also haul the heavy weapons, supplies, and equipment required for planetary operations. Many Star Destroyers carry complete pre-fabricated ground bases, which can be dropped and installed within days. When a base is deployed, the Star Destroyer dispatches 800 troops. 2,200 support personnel. 10 AT-ATs, 10 AT-STs. and 40 TIE fighters as a garrison. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.35)

• Naturally, most Imperial Star Destroyers carry TIE fighters to deal with small opponents; this fiscal year's Imperial budget provides funds to retrofit the remainder with TIE flight decks. However, in light of the disaster at Yavin, funding may be diverted to more vital purposes. – Chapter Three: Combat Starships (p.35)

• There are many densely-populated planets in the Empire, some with tens of billions of inhabitants. These worlds are totally urbanized and completely unable to feed themselves; to avoid starvation they must be continually supplied from off-planet. – Chapter Four: Space Transports (p.38)

• To reduce operating costs and increase utilization. most bulk freighters are small to mid-sized craft [around 50,000 to 75,000 tons of cargo]. In addition to saving credits on fuel (a freighter's largest expense), the smaller freighters can dock at almost any port, no matter what its size or location, landbound or in space. Most star systems have at least one port, and many of the major trading centers have numerous docking facilities suitable for small bulk freighters. Larger craft must be more selective, and sometimes have to rely on space barges to bring their cargo to a planet's surface, an expense that only the largest shipping combines can afford. – Chapter Four: Space Transports (p.44)

• SUMMARIZED: [The KDY Super Transport XI Container Ship can transport about 25 million metric tons with a crew of only 100~ using standardized cargo containers (500m3 + 1000 MT is the smallest size) that are moved to the Container Ship by other smaller craft/light freighters as they cannot land on planetary surfaces] – Chapter Four: Space Transports (p.45-46)

• Many Rebel transports began as passenger liners; engineers stripped out the luxurious suites and recreation facilities to make room for cargo holds and loading gear. The Alliance acquired most of its true transports in ones and twos as their crews joined the Rebellion. Several crews even defected from the Imperial Navy, bringing their fleet resupply vessels with them. A few transports were captured in battle: taken from pirates or Imperial convoys. – Chapter Four: Space Transports (p.48)

• The Rebellion operates many small freighters, and often prefers them to larger ships because few Rebel ports are large enough to handle true transports. In addition, smaller vessels are easier to conceal. Repairs and modifications are also easier and quicker on older and smaller ships. – Chapter Four: Space Transports (p.48)

• Despite a frequent and critical shortage of transports. the Alliance rarely builds transport ships. Rebel shipyards almost exclusively build combat vessels because they’re much harder to obtain by other means. – Chapter Four: Space Transports (p.48)

• Probots were first developed well before the Clone Wars by Galalloy Industries to search planets and asteroids for metals to fuel the then booming alloy development industry. Later, when the Old Republic was expanding rapidly on all frontiers, probots were used to survey and chart new systems, space routes, and colony locations. Now. most probots serve military functions for the Empire. Although probot missions cost only a fraction as much as manned missions, probots are prohibitively expensive for all but the largest companies and Imperial forces. A few are still used in commercial and scientific service, mostly with mining and forestry companies. It is rumored that some bounty hunters employ probots to a limited extent. The Rebel Alliance is not known to own or use probots — but if they did it would certainly be a closely guarded secret. – Chapter Five: Droids (p.55)

• Although illegal for several decades now, these deadly robots [assassin droids] still roam many sectors of the galaxy in untold numbers. Estimates range from just a few thousand (in the Outer Rim Territories) to several million scattered throughout the galaxy. Of these, it is unknown how many are dormant and how many are actively following primary programming. Few reliable records exist to indicate how many were originally developed or put into service, and most of these documents are highly classified. – Chapter Five: Droids (p.56)

• Mistaken targets, innocents assassinated, and bystanders wounded or killed became more and more prevalent during the waning days of the Old Republic. Strong opposition to assassin droids developed after several well-publicized incidents where droids, usually trapped or surrounded, slaughtered scores of people. On Caprioril, a normally tranquil Core World, one droid murdered 20,000 spectators at a swoop arena. (It saw this as the most efficient method for eliminating its target. Governor Amel Bakli. who was on hand to watch the competition.) Assassin droids were not banned until the rise of the New Order, after they were employed against the Empire itself. – Chapter Five: Droids (p.57)

• Most [space] slugs measure less than 10 meters (between 6 and 9) from mouth to tail; the largest slug known to science was measured at 20.4 meters. Interestingly, this slug did not eat mynocks. Instead, mynocks were found living inside it like parasites. Wild spacers' legends of huge slugs large enough to swallow whole ships are generally discounted by reputable authorities. – Chapter Nine: Creatures (p.91)
  
  [the official WEG stats say that they can be as long as 900m; presumably this is the slug from ESB.]

• Colony: The galaxy contains countless millions of stars. Most have never been explored. The Rebellion has discovered a number of habitable planets unknown to the Empire, and established colonies of civilian evacuees, defectors, survivors, and the families of Rebel fighters on them. The hyperspace navigation codes necessary to find these colonies are among the Rebellion s most closely-kept secrets.
  
  Very little is known about these colonies, but some things can be surmised. Anyone related to a known Rebel is in danger from the Empire; if a Rebel's allegiance becomes known, how best to preserve his usefulness to the Rebellion than by evacuating his family to a safe world? Life on some colony worlds must be spartan, as colonists eke out their existence in strange environments. Military protection must be minimal; their security relies on remaining hidden.
  
  Most colonies must hold only a few thousand people, as the Rebellion cannot devote large portions of its transport capacity to the movement of civilians; but some may have much larger populations, with real cities. Perhaps some colonies are advanced enough to support shipbuilding facilities which can construct new cruisers, fighters and transports for the Alliance.
  
  The Empire has not so far acted against these Rebel colonies. A few thousand people struggling against the wilderness pose no immediate danger to the Empire, and the rumors of more advanced colonies remain just that — only rumors. The Empire concentrates instead on pursuing and destroying active Rebel forces. – Chapter Thirteen: Rebel Bases (p.111)

• When Imperial forces discover a Rebel facility, they usually assault the base — and retaliate against nearby civilians. The Imperial Navy has. on occasion, bombarded neighboring cities into rubble. Stormtroopers have been known to round up entire populations for “reeducation" or exile to labor camps. – Chapter Thirteen: Rebel Bases (p.111-112)

• Considering Alliance activity in the Sumitra sector, local Imperial forces may suspect a Rebel outpost exists, but they face the daunting task of searching through 12,387 planets and moons to find it [Tierfon Starfighter Base]. – Chapter Thirteen: Rebel Bases (p.112)

• In most cases, an Imperial garrison base houses 3,000 combat, command and support personnel. The largest single unit is the Stormtrooper detail, composed of 800 highly-trained soldiers […] A general commands the base, aided by an adjutant... – Chapter Fourteen: Imperial Garrisons (p.117)

• At the highest level of readiness, bases in Imperial hot spots keep half of their [TIE] complement on constant patrol. The remaining fighters can launch within five minutes. On normal readiness levels, TIE fighters need 10 minutes to launch. – Chapter Fourteen: Imperial Garrisons (p.119)

• While the [TIE] pilots could handle much of the [takeoff/landing] maneuvering manually, garrisons employ the tractor beam system [for launch and landing] to avoid costly accidents. Set on reverse polarity, the tractor beam projector catapults the TIE fighters off the flight deck and into the air. When the TIEs have cleared the base, control is returned to the crafts' pilots. – Chapter Fourteen: Imperial Garrisons (p.119)

• SUMMARIZED: [As part of a memo listing Solo's debts to Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett's services are given at 500 credits/day, while the average bounty hunter is only 50 credits/day.] – Chapter Fifteen: Heroes and Villains (p.128)

A rather short bibliography is given at the end of the sourcebook:

• Films (ANH, ESB, ROTJ)

• Novelizations (ANH, ESB, ROTJ)

• Han Solo Trilogy by Brian Daley

• Lando Trilogy by L. Neil Smith

• The Art of Star Wars, Carol Titelman, 1979

• The Art of The Empire Strikes Back, Deborah Call, 1980

• The Art of Return of the Jedi, 1983

• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe by Raymond L. Velasco, 1984

• The Star Wars Album, 1977

• The Star Wars Sketchbook by Joe Johnston, 1977

• Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Sketchbook by Joe Johnston and Nilo Rodis-Jamero, 1980

• Star Wars Return of the Jedi Sketchbook by Joe Johnston and Nilo Rodis-Jamero, 1983

• The Empire Strikes Back Notebook, by Diana Attias and Lindsay Smith, 1980

Imperial Sourcebook, 2nd Edition

• “The Galactic Empire consists of a thousand-thousand worlds caught in the iron grip of tyranny. Using overwhelming armies and vast navies, the Empire instituted a reign of terror among the disheartened and enslaved planets.” – Introduction

• “The galaxy was once a great Republic of stars. The thousand-thousand member worlds were governed fairly and efficiently by the Senate, and cared for and protected by the Jedi Knights.” – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• “The Empire is still growing. Policies of expansion established by the Old Republic were never rescinded, and exploration - and now conquest - continues. The Imperial Survey Corps, scientists and scouts charged with exploring the galaxy, has seen its funds cut sharply over the years. Still, a new system is being catalogued for the Empire every 207 minutes by the under-staffed ISC. Most of the recently surveyed worlds have remained untouched by Imperial colonization.
  
  The Empire has little use for an expanding frontier. Frontier settlements offer greater freedom to Imperial citizens and stretch Imperial forces even further. That is not in the best interests of the Empire.
  
  However, an ISC team occasionally turns up an inhabited world in the process of cataloging. Inhabited worlds mean taxes and other valuable resources for the Empire. These worlds are initially offered a place in the New Order, provided they agree to fall in line with the will of the Emperor. If a world refuses or reneges on its oath of allegiance, then the Empire resorts to military conquest.” – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• “The Empire has not completely altered the governments of hundreds of thousands of worlds. Such a task would be impractical. The Emperor has left it to his advisors to modify the portions of a planetary government, be it government procedure or members of the ruling body, to conform to the will of the Empire. Less than one planet in 80 has been so modified.” – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• Planetary governors are Imperial agents who represent the Empire’s authority on a single world. Usually that representation extends to an entire system, giving him jurisdiction of all the planets orbiting a single star. A governor has command of all Imperial troops garrisoned on his planets. […] The Imperial Navy is supposed to consult with a governor whenever they are on maneuvers or engaging hostiles in his system, and to carefully consider the advice the governor can provide. The Navy routinely ignores this and most other forms of protocol when dealing with planetary governors, unless the governor is well supported by a Moff. […] Governors are appointed by the Emperor’s advisors, although afew are just holo-approvals of candidates the Emperor has chosen. Governors are rarely native to the planet or system which they govern.– Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• Governors are expected to let a planetary government run its own affairs unless the local course of action puts the planet in conflict with Imperial goals. The governor is then expected to step in and maneuver the policy back toward a direction more acceptable to the Empire.– Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• Imperial policy exists in two different forms for a governor. There are the generally stated policy goals which are distributed by the Diplomatic Service, and there are direct orders received from the Moff. In case of a conflict, the Moff’s orders are to be followed, as a Moff presumably has superior knowledge of the specific Imperial policy currently being employed in a particular sector.– Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• Secure in the knowledge that an Empire founded through treachery cannot be run through trust, he [Palpatine] has surrounded himself with advisors who owe all of their political gains to the Emperor. He has made sure that each advisor has more enemies than allies among the other advisors. Fear and greed serve to bind each advisor to the Emperor. Palpatine finds this arrangement more satisfying than mere loyalty, an emotion on which he will depend only in the case of lower subordinates.– Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• [Imperial] Advisors perform many administrative functions for the Emperor. They usually appoint the planetary governors, as well as some of the Moffs, and oversee the political machinery of the Empire. To ensure that no advisor builds too large an enclave of political power, the Emperor has devised a system of adversarial administration for advisors. […] This system of checks and balances virtually guarantees the Emperor’s hold on political power within the Empire, but the administration of the myriad worlds is not as efficient as it was during the better days of the Old Republic. This inefficiency is of no concern to the Emperor. – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• COMMENTARY/SUMMARY: [At the very end of Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power; there's a lengthy textbox (The Structure of the Empire) describing how Palpatine maintains power through a bewildering maze of contradictory power structures all at odds with each other, concluding with this statement:
  
  "The Emperor maintains power through a bewildering array of crossed authorities. By using this convoluted structure, Palpatine insures that only he can speak with complete authority, while all of the advisors, military officials and bureaucrats below him must carefully guard their words and justify their actions [...] advisors are allowed to play their competing interests off each other, often resulting in the bureaucracy’s various agencies working at cross-purposes [...] In effect, almost every individual within the Empire has multiple agencies or individuals to answer to, keeping every petty and ambitious bureaucrat and soldier off-balance. The Emperor knows that no Empire seized through deceit can be managed by trust in his "supporters" - he insures his continued position by making sure that no one below him truly knows their position within the Imperial bureaucracy."]

• No firm figures are available on the exact number of Royal Guards serving the Emperor, but speculation ranges from fewer than 50 to the tens of thousands. – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• A sector is an economic and political division which originated in the early days of the Old Republic. Originally a cluster of star systems with approximately 50 inhabited planets, the definition of a sector became vague and the average sector grew in size during the latter days of the Republic. Now unimaginably large sectors contain vast numbers of inhabited worlds with no regard to limiting factors. Sectors are governed by Moffs.
  
  Sectors are grouped together into larger territorial entities called regions. The Empire has countless regions, which can contain from as few as three to upwards of thousands of sectors. The establishment of a region depends not only upon galactic geography, but also upon wealth, influence, historic "sentimentalities," economic diversity and the level of direct control exerted by the Empire. Regions are governed by Grand Moffs (the title "regional governor" is commonly used). Some well known regions include the Outer Rim Territories (a vast expanse of space with many frontier colonies), the Galactic Core (historic "birthplace" of the Republic, containing Coruscant, the capital of the Empire, as well as several other vital systems), the Deep Core (a restricted area of space - essentially a giant "preserve" in the heart of the Empire), the Colonies, and the Inner Rim.
  
  Under the New Order, the Galactic Empire continues to grow and expand, and new sectors and regions are being formed all the time.
  
  The Empire also maintains a number of "client states" - regions of space almost entirely controlled by another economic or political entity, yet ultimately loyal and subservient to the Empire. The Corporate Sector, under the control of the Corporate Sector Authority, is one such client state, as is the infamous area of the galaxy known as Hutt Space. – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• A Moff is the being in charge of an entire sector. The planetary governors of a sector are under a Moff’s control, and a Moff reports to an advisor, with duplicate reports being sent directly to the Emperor. A Moff has command over a military Sector Group, and is responsible for the security of the entire sector. Being responsible for hundreds of systems, Moffs take a personal interest only in a handful of worlds. For the rest, they first rely upon communications with their subordinate governors, and then upon reports from intelligence units within their Sector Group. It is not unusual for a Moff to also serve as a governor of a particularly favored world within his sector. – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• The situation [for the Empire] is made more difficult by the fact that the infection of freedom has no respect for sector boundaries; coordinating efforts between sectors is often impossible to accomplish in time to stop the spread of unrest. […] Taking the advice of one of his Moffs, Tarkin, the Emperor formed priority sectors [aka Oversectors]. A priority sector is a sector consisting of systems on which signs of unrest have recently been detected, or systems which are in regular contact with systems in which unrest is chronic. A priority sector often crosses the boundaries of standard sectors, containing the worlds from a dozen or more sectors. The title of Grand Moff is also granted to the being in charge of a priority sector. The theory behind priority sectors, codified in the Tarkin Doctrine, is that Grand Moffs will be able to react quickly to problems when they are small, eliminating them before they have a chance to grow and spread. Grand Moffs are therefore given complete freedom to act as they see fit, without giving advance warning to the Moffs or planetary governors of their actions. – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• The Emperor personally appoints each Grand Moff, and they report directly to him. Each Grand Moff commands at least two Sector Groups, or the equivalent in other military resources. Some Grand Moffs are given even greater military strength if their priority sector is of crucial importance to the Empire. – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• Priority sectors are the first to receive experimental equipment, and theirs are the first to have losses replaced. Priority sectors are sometimes given special missions in which the Emperor has a personal interest. – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power

• The Death Star Project is an example of a priority sector into which the Empire poured resources enough to have formed perhaps a score of Sector Groups. – Chapter One: A Primer on Imperial Power
  
  COMMENTARY: ['score' is an archaic English word meaning twenty – i.e. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address uses the term four-score (80 years) in it. In the context of SW, it means that the Death Star I project took up about 20~ sector's worth of war materiel.]

• “SAGroup is a contraction for Sub-Adult Group. SAGroup is the largest branch of COMPNOR. SAGroup has recently exceeded two trillion members, and it is still growing.” – Chapter Two: COMPNOR

• “The ISB was created [as part of COMPNOR] to increase the Emperor's knowledge of political events, and as an intentional rival to Imperial Intelligence. While the ISB does not have the quality of intelligence operatives that Imperial Intelligence does, it is now the larger organization and is staffed solely by those loyal to the New Order.” – Chapter Two: COMPNOR

• “The ISB has a more public presence [than Imperial Intelligence]. Its operatives, especially in Surveillance, will often identify themselves as members of ISB, the intimidation value being worth the loss of secrecy.” – Chapter Two: COMPNOR
  
  COMMENTARY: [Shades of ANDOR S2 when an operative shouts "This is an ISB authorized arrest!"]

• “Imperial Intelligence is one of the few New Order organizations which has remained largely unchanged since the days of the Old Republic. There were four organizations which gathered and analyzed intelligence for the Senate and other agencies of the Old Republic - the Republican Security Organization, the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, the Interstellar Consortium on Technology, and the euphemistically labeled Special Acquisitions Branch of the Library of the Republic.” – Chapter Three: Imperial Intelligence

• Once Palpatine was in power and the Empire was formed, the Ubiqtorate [of RSO, SBI, ICT, and SAB] could operate with the Emperor’s blessing, and the pretense of four distinct organizations was discarded. Imperial Intelligence was born. – Chapter Three: Imperial Intelligence

• Destab operations make a large number of Imperial Intelligence agents queasy. Destab has been known to move from what agents consider legitimate intelligence operations into full-fledged atrocities. Given the shadowy ethics of Imperial Intelligence, this says quite a bit about Destab. Officially, Destabilization is the branch which specializes in "taking the fabric which holds a people, society or government together and unraveling it." Agents from other branches suggest Destab’s methods more closely resemble shredding. – Chapter Three: Imperial Intelligence

• Since the disbanding of the Senate and the Battle of Yavin, no expense has been too great for the Empire. The Emperor has ordered the pace of military build up – already staggering since the start of the New Order – increased even more. He does not want his forces found lacking when the next battle takes place. – Chapter Four: The Military

• Assault shuttles are among the most-heavily shielded vessels in the Imperial fleet. Most combat starships funnel approximately 25 percent of their total power through the shield generators. An assault shuttle uses up to 62 percent power on shields, and over half of that power is channeled into the front arc. This allows the shuttle to withstand even the most concentrated barrage of fire for at least a short time. – Chapter Five: Capital Ships

• The Imperial Star Destroyer has enough firepower to reduce a civilized world to slag or take on a fleet of lesser enemy vessels. – Chapter Five: Capital Ships

• There are whole star systems whose gross domestic product is less than the cost of a single Imperial Star Destroyer. There are whole nations which, throughout their entire history, do not use as much energy as an Imperial expends to make a single hyperspace jump. – Chapter Five: Capital Ships

• A mission which has been de-emphasized is the protection of scientific missions, as well as acting as the official clearinghouse for information on new worlds. As the Empire has practically ceased to sponsor exploration, this mission has atrophied to the point that many of the newer commanders are not even aware that such missions are part of the Navy doctrine. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization
  
  [Remember when we used to be explorers?]

• If Army commanders deem the surface situation [on a contested world] to be beyond hope of victory, or if the proper political authorities directly command it, the Navy is to execute a series of punitive attacks upon the target. The attacks are given code names which vary according to the mission and change frequently. The only code name which has not yet changed is "Base Delta Zero," the code for complete destruction of all "assets of production," including factories, arable land, mines, fisheries, and all sentient beings and droids. The code name has not yet changed so there can be no possibility of confusion when a Base Delta Zero is ordered. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

IMPERIAL ARMY INFORMATION

• SUMMARIZED: Army organization is given as follows in Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization as:
  
      Squad (Sergeant – 8~ men)
      Platoon (4 x Squads; Lieutenant – 30~ men)
      Company (4 x Platoons; Captain – 200~ men)
      Battalion (4 x Companies; Major – 800~ men) <-Min. Size Unit for Surface Ops
      Regiment (4 x Battalions; Lt. Colonel – 3500~ men)
      Battlegroup (4 x Regiments; High Colonel – 14,400~ men)
      Corps (4 x Battlegroups; Major Gen. – 69,200~ men) ← Typ. used for planetary invasions.
      Army (4 x Corps; General – 293,700~ men) ← Rarely seen in the Field.
      Systems Army (1 to 3 Armies; High Gen.) ← All Ground Units in a System
      Sector Army (2 to 4 Systems Armies; Surface Marshal) ← All Ground Units in Sector

• When viewing the Order of Battle, it is important to realize that this represents a baseline, a starting point for Imperial military ambitions. […] The OB is built upon the assumption of continued explosive growth in the military. Every unit from a platoon up is expected to under go an "upgrade" to its full strength. The exception to this rule are the scouts, which are difficult to man with qualified troops even at current levels. This buildup will filter up through the ranks - larger platoons joining larger companies which are a part of larger battalions. The process is exponential.
  
  For example, a baseline armored battlegroup has 10,090 troopers out of a unit strength of 16,346, with 1,132 repulsorlift vehicles and 318 tanks. If every unit were augmented in accordance with the planned growth of the OB, a full strength battlegroup would have 318,062 troops in a unit total 324,318, as many support droids as troops, 36,084 repulsorcraft and 14,480 heavy tanks.
  
  The limiting factor is not a lack of resources in the Army, but limited expansion of the Navy. The Army cannot expand faster than the fleets which are designed to carry it, and the fleets cannot be built any faster than they are now. For the present, expansion will be limited to those sectors with heavy recurrent fighting where the need for a large land-based force, regardless of naval support or transport, is evident. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• If the mission is to be of a longer than usual duration, or if the [Army] company is to be completely isolated from all other support, the support personnel will be augmented with additional droids. Droids are almost never accounted for in Imperial scandocs on organization and equipment, forming an almost invisible support network within the military.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Any [Imperial Army] unit from company size on up is almost always augmented in the manner dictated by doctrine; adding whole subordinate units to the base unit, usually in the order outlined by the Order of Battle (OB). – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• A battalion is the usual minimum Imperial commanders will consider dropping for a surface operation. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Regimental HQs often stay aboard the mother vessel […] If regimental HQ is dropped with the attacking forces, it is an indication that the Empire expects to maintain a ground force for at least a month and that the naval presence will be not be continual. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Battlegroups are a recent addition to the Army, replacing divisions, which were common in the Old Republic. The change was made because divisions were commonly commanded by planetary governors or used as honor guards for ambitious senators. Divisions were associated with a particular planet or being, a detrimental attribute that was hard to shake. […] As usual, the Empire kept a few elite divisions where unit identification was strong and useful, both from a military and a propaganda standpoint. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Battlegroups are committed to major offensives against known concentrations of resistance. The Empire doesn't drop a battlegroup on a world just to take a look around - a battlegroup drops when the Empire knows it has a tough fight on its hands.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• There are far more corps HQs than there are corps. […] the corps HQ is the basis for the Imperial garrison. The Empire wants garrisons to be organizing points for rapid mobilization. Realizing that in a crisis units may have to be sent from many parts of sector, the Army wanted HQs in place which could take command of all the parts. As Imperial doctrine currently holds that a corps is a sufficient force to retake any planet, corps HQs are set up as the basis of Imperial garrisons. Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• The corps is one of the few instances of real cooperation between the Army and the Navy. Imperial military planners from each branch designed the transport ship to hold all corps types, building in the possibility for expansion into both the starship and the unit. The fact that the corps transport ships are among the newer model of ships in the fleet is perhaps a sign that the two branches are ready to cooperate more closely so that the New Order may expand.. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• When the Empire deploys a corps onto a world, it is retaking that world, regardless of the propaganda beamcasts. The military considers a corps to be a sufficient force to retake a world which has only recently slipped from the grasp of the Empire. Such a world would still contain a significant number of loyalists, and the Rebels would not have had time to build up an organized defense. This does not mean that the corps outnumbers its opponents; usually the opposite is true by a factor of at least four to one. What is true is that the opposition is not organized enough to coordinate all of the military power available to it. Moving quickly, the Empire can destroy each opposition element in turn.. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Corps HQ is often augmented with a huge number of MSE-6, 12F-5 and 12F-73 industrial droids - as many as 2,000 in some instances. These droids serve as a mobile processing and manufacturing plant, particularly with the introduction of repulsorlift-enabled models of the 12F-73 which acts as transport for most of the other droids. Such a complex can manufacture everything from glow rods to blaster packs to repulsorlift engines upon demand, using the crudest and most impure raw materials. If the corps can keep the complex producing, it can operate without Imperial resupply indefinitely.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• An army is built to be transported by a naval troop squadron. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Armies rarely see action in the field as a coordinated unit. Increased success by the Rebellion has led to a revival and redevelopment of doctrine concerning the use of an entire army in the field. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• The systems army is more of a bookkeeping level of organization rather than a unit that ever sees action in the field. […] The primary function of the HQ is to make sure that all of the subordinate commanders know where all of the other military resources in the sector are. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• A surface marshal commands the sector army, although more often than not this is merely an additional title bestowed onto the Moff or Grand Moff who commands the Sector Group. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

IMPERIAL NAVY INFORMATION

• ...a naval squadron may be composed of ships two years, 60 years, and 210 years old.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Navy organization is completely different than the Army’s method - while the Imperial Army has a "baseline" Order of Battle (OB), with carefully classified exceptions to this OB, Navy command simply assigns the most appropriate force to the most appropriate mission. Therefore, while the listings below are "theory," Naval mission assignments in practice often bear little resemblance to the OB.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• SUMMARIZED: Naval organization is given as follows in Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization as:
  
      Ship (1 Ship – Captain)
      Line (1 to 20 ships – Line Captain)
      Squadron (14 to 60 ships – Admiral) ← Assigned to single system
      Systems Force (90~ ships – Systems Admiral/Commodore) ← Assigned to several systems
      Fleet (6 Star Destroyers + 390 Combat Ships – Fleet Admiral)
      Sector Group (24 Star Destroyers + 1600 Combat + 800 Non Combat Ships – High Admiral)

• A troop line consists of two Evakmar-KDY transport vessels and two escort vessels - frequently two strike cruisers. As a troop line’s function is intimately connected with that of the Army, troops lines vary less than other lines. The Army considers consistency a virtue. A single transport is designed to carry a corps, but often carries less than a full corps as subordinate elements are assigned to other vessels. It is not unusual for a ranking admiral to oversee an important surface operation, as captains of the line are accused by Army officers of being far too concerned with just the safety of their line rather than with the success of the mission.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• A Star Destroyer is considered a line in itself. A naval staff study concluded that a Star Destroyer was the equivalent of at least the squadrons of the time, and would be more properly categorized as such. The Admiralty agreed with the analysis, but disagreed with the conclusion. The Admiralty felt that as there were more lines than squadrons, designating the Star Destroyer as a line unit would get them more Star Destroyers. The Admiralty’s thinking prevailed.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• A squadron is the largest concentration of ships which is normally assigned to a single system. A direct order from a Moff, Grand Moff or the Emperor is necessary to gather more ships in a single system. A measure of the extent of Imperial military growth is the squadron. Under the Old Republic, units of identical configuration were called fleets, and were sometimes the total Naval presence in a sector. The usage "fleet" is still common among senior officers for ship groups of squadron size and up. Recent recruits and junior officers are more likely to use the terms listed in the OB. A full troop or battle squadron packs enough firepower to subjugate any system not protected by a equivalent fleet; no ground defense yet devised is sufficient to hold off a determined attack from these elements of the Navy. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• A systems force is responsible for several systems, the admiral being in charge of organizing and coordinating all of his ships throughout a sphere of command spanning hundreds of light years and dozens of worlds, the normal method of communications being no faster than the ships themselves. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Space superiority is defined as "the complete absence of hostile craft within the orbital space of controlled worlds, and no chronic enemy ship activity within the entire system." The Navy has striven for that goal ever since the inception of the Empire. The goal is even farther away now than it was at the beginning, but the gigantic increase in Naval resources is expected to reverse the trend. – Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• A fleet is designated as a "sector resource," which means it should be available for action anywhere within the sector. A fleet is the smallest unit transferred between sectors.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• With six Star Destroyers and an average of 390 other combat starships, a superiority fleet is presumed to be a sufficient force to maintain space superiority in calm sectors (those with four or fewer worlds confirmed hostile to the New Order, with no more than 16 additional worlds with confirmed significant hostile elements).– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Assault fleets are built to sustain what is called the "1/4/16/64 Plan." The fleet is expected to be coordinating and sustaining four types of efforts: one corps-level continuous mission on a surface, four continuous operations at the battlegroup level (occasionally shifting troops from other theaters to temporarily reinforce one mission to corps level), 16 continuous missions of regimental level (with potential for shifting troops to temporarily reinforce one area to a battlegroup), and 64 missions of irregular duration at the battalion level or lower.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Bombard fleets are assigned to sectors where the Empire has determined the probability of repressing the Rebellion in the sector to be less than even. System bombards are used when the Empire would rather completely destroy a world rather than see it fall into Rebel hands.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Deepdocks [in Deepdock Fleets] are floating shipyards, able to make extensive repairs and modifications. When not repairing vessels they are building new ones to join the fleet. The smallest deepdock complex still in service has three work bays, the largest of which can hold a Victory Star Destroyer with the other two able to accommodate any ship smaller than a carrier. […] The largest deepdock now in operation is the Rendili R/M Facility Number Four, currently in the Mahrusha sector. It has 125 work bays, each of which is large enough to hold a strike cruiser. These work bays are modular […] This allows the work bays to be combined to form larger work bays; four work bays can be joined to repair or manufacture a Victory-class Star Destroyer, 15 can be combined to work on an Imperial Star Destroyer, and 18 can be reconfigured to produce a torpedo sphere.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Deepdock facilities, while not as efficient as the shipyards of the major starship manufacturers, have the advantage of being hyperspace capable. This not only shortens the time required to get damaged combat starships repaired, but makes deepdocks more difficult targets for Rebel attacks.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• SUMMARY: [Imperial Support Fleets contain about 125~ Loronar FSCVs (Field Secured Container Vessels). These massive ships are composed of 800m diameter force spheres, each containing 250 million m3 of cargo space. FSCVs can carry up to 20 force spheres; for a total of 5 billion (!) m3 of cargo space. Due to their immense bulk, FSCVs cannot stop easily, so instead smaller craft service them as they move through a system. Due to their insecurity, Naval Ordnance does not normally use FSCVs for ammunition supply, preferring the smaller corvette-sized craft in a Support Fleet for this task.]– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• A Sector Group is commanded by a high admiral, usually a title granted to the Moff who heads the sector. If the sector is involved in constant and severe naval actions, the high admiral is a man distinct from the Moff, so the Moff does not have to devote all of his time to the naval conflict.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• A Sector Group HQ always has a squadron under the personal command of the Moff. If the Moff is particularly competent or politically well connected, they can have many more squadrons at their disposal. Men such as Grand Moff Tarkin and Moff Carlinson could easily have 15 additional squadrons attached to their Sector Group HQ [on top of the authorized ship complement for the Sector Group itself].– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• Thousands of Sector Groups are at the Emperor’s command as he seeks to bring the galaxy firmly under his control.– Chapter Eight: Sector Group Organization

• V-150s [Ion Cannons] are often used in conjunction with planetary shields. These shields are extremely expensive to maintain, so systems typically leave them down until hostiles arrive. To further complicate matters, most large shields take several minutes to reach full power. It is during these critical minutes, between an attacker coming out of hyperspace and the shields reaching full strength, that the v-150 is expected to perform. Shield generators are always the first target of orbital bombardments. V-150s are designed to disrupt attackers until the shields reach full strength. The v-150 is well designed for this mission. Superb fire control allows the v-150 to hit orbital ships almost at will, and a single ion bolt from the gun can disrupt even Imperial Star Destroyers for short periods. The biggest draw back to the v-150 is its extremely high price, nearly one-quarter the price of a full planet shield. Still, many Imperial planets have elected to buy 150s as an alternative to keeping shields on full power. – Chapter Nine: Combat Artillery

• Thermal detonators are small grenade-sized explosives; the Empire’s combat engineers uses ones manufactured by Merr-Sonn Munitions. These bombs produce an extremely powerful but tightly contained explosion capable of blasting through two meters of pure permacite. – Chapter Ten: Infantry Support Weapons

• “Rebel blaster fire lifted the first three stormtroopers into the air and flung them against the sides of the walker.” – Chapter Eleven: Special Military Forces
  
  [This shows that blaster bolts can have decent physical force in some cases]

• While members of the Imperial Army and Navy have been known to accept bribes, or even defect to the Rebel Alliance, no stormtrooper has ever done so. – Chapter Eleven: Special Military Forces

• Often stormtroopers are used to clear away the enemy's first line of defense and establish a ground base to allow the unopposed landing of transports carrying regular Army units. The Army, in these situations, is used to mop up resistance and maintain an Imperial presence. – Chapter Eleven: Special Military Forces

• Except in systems where prolonged struggles threaten to disrupt the Empire's industrial capacity or weaken its strategic positions, stormtroopers will be withdrawn once they have secured a landing zone. The complete subjugation of a world is left to the Imperial Army. – Chapter Eleven: Special Military Forces

• Stormtroopers can be transported and deployed far more rapidly [through Star Destroyers] than regular Army units, who rely on large transport ships or the Navy for interplanetary travel. – Chapter Eleven: Special Military Forces

• In situations where Imperial Command expects heavy opposition, task forces of three Star Destroyers, accompanied by huge transports carrying extra stormtrooper divisions, are dispatched. This is, of course, on worlds the Empire wishes to preserve either as forward bases, for their natural resources, or for their industrial capacity. On worlds of no strategic importance to the Empire, stormtroopers are rarely landed. Imperial command will instead land Army units, or even resort to reducing the planets to piles of smoking rubble using the devastating power of the Star Destroyers.– Chapter Eleven: Special Military Forces

• Units of stormtroopers are also used as honor guards to protect influential Imperial personages. No Imperial Ambassador, Grand Moff, Moff, Admiral or Governor General goes anywhere in public without an honor guard of at least 10 stormtroopers..– Chapter Eleven: Special Military Forces

• Following the defection of the Imperial Army infantry units of Wazta (see Imperial Communique #2734.19g), an unspecified number of Imperial Navy vessels and their crews have deserted. This spate of defections to the Rebellion must stop. […] . In light of recent desertions, we can no longer rely on troops or officers whose loyalty is in any way questionable. You will therefore cease to recruit on worlds which have been subject to Imperial bombardment or planetary assault in the last 10 standard years. Worlds which have a history of liberal or independent traditions are also to be avoided as these worlds are known to be breeding grounds for the Rebellion. – Chapter Twelve: Recruitment, Training and Indoctrination

• Of all the Imperial Army Officer Training Academies, Raithal Academy is renowned for producing the best officers in the Army. Here, young hopefuls receive a year’s training designed to turn them into the competent officers that the Imperial Army needs for its regiments. – Chapter Twelve: Recruitment, Training and Indoctrination
  
  COMMENTARY: [Implies there are multiple Service Academies; and that Imperial Officer training is accelerated to 12 months, compared to your typical four year (48 month) service academies on Earth's present day.]

• Many [Imperial Navy candidates] with officer potential come from regional or sector military schools, where the best of a world’s inhabitants are groomed for local and Imperial military careers. – Chapter Twelve: Recruitment, Training and Indoctrination

• Although often called an "Imperial Naval Academy," such institutions are more properly termed Sector Naval Academies, to differentiate them from the original Imperial Naval Academy after which they are modeled. Each Sector Naval Academy is an Imperial institution which shares a uniform training program and curriculum with others of its kind. Officer training occupies one standard year. [...] Officer candidates who rate in the top two percent of their qualifying tests have the opportunity to attend the Imperial Naval Academy, the original and oldest of the academies. An applicant must receive the endorsement of his Moff, and undergo a more thorough background investigation than other officer candidates. – Chapter Twelve: Recruitment, Training and Indoctrination
  
  COMMENTARY: [The 'official' Imperial Naval Academy's course of study is 30 months; therefore INA cadets spend almost four years studying. This may indicate a “dual track” system for officers in the Empire; where personnel evaluated as “average” get the one year track to officerdom at local/regional Academies, while those rated as “superior” and/or “politically reliable” get the 1 year at the Local Academy + 3 years at INA track, and presumably choicer personnel assignments leading to higher ranks faster.]

• Only [Imperial Navy] officers who graduate in the top five percent of their class qualify for flight training. The remaining top third of their class qualifies for flight-related specialties such as astrogation, weapons systems, and other support skills. – Chapter Twelve: Recruitment, Training and Indoctrination

Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, 2nd Edition

• “The Old Republic is dead, gone beyond any hope of recall. The Jedi Knights are no more, their flame extinguished — possibly forever — from the galaxy. Across millions of worlds, untold billions writhe in the terrible, implacable bonds of tyranny. There is a darkness in the galaxy, and it is called the Empire.” – Introduction

• There was Rebellion long before there was a Rebel Alliance. Almost immediately after Senator Palpatine became President Palpatine and began his long campaign of oppression, Resistance units sprang up in every corner of the galaxy. As guerrilla operations in isolated systems, these units were moderately successful in presenting a rather painful thorn in the side of many an Imperial governor or Moff. But with limited resources and a lack of overall direction, they could not do much more. – Chapter One: Birth of the Rebellion

• Ghorman is a small planet located in Sern Sector, just outside the Core Worlds. The citizens of Ghorman were staging a peaceful demonstration against new taxes; they staged a sit-in at the spaceport, blocking all of the port’s landing pads. A Republic warship, arriving at the planet to collect the taxes, landed in spite of the citizens, killing dozens and wounding hundreds more. The commander in charge of the warship, one Captain Tarkin, was not prosecuted [for] the murders; in fact, he was promoted. – Chapter One: Birth of the Rebellion
  
  COMMENTARY: [This is the very first mention of the "Ghorman Massacre" in SW canon; nearly forty years before it was used in ANDOR. The original WEG version is referred to in passing by one of the Ghorman characters as backstory on ANDOR.]

• Within the Core systems, the Alliance has no allies; In fact, it has few political connections at all. Even if a planetary governor or Moff were to wish to open discussions with the Alliance, their staffs are usually riddled with Imperial Security Bureau agents, making any kind of contact extremely risky for both sides. The huge businesses of the galaxy are even more tightly monitored. Consequently, the Rebellion looks to the outlying systems, underground organizations and nomadic free-traders for political support. – Chapter One: Birth of the Rebellion

• The Empire is fully aware of the help which the Alliance receives from the planet Calamari, but the Calamarians maintain a formidable defensive fleet in the system. The Empire has yet to be able to spare the ships from other, more important, duties to break through the Cals' defenses and reduce the annoying planet to rubble. – Chapter One: Birth of the Rebellion

• For a structure which directs the efforts of millions of beings, [Alliance] High Command is surprisingly small, containing fewer than 1,000 officers. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• This department [Starfighter Command] is charged with strategic control of the Alliance's starfighter contingent. It is responsible for training pilots, assigning wings to the Fleet and to individual Sectors, and for operational control over "rogue" wings those wings in the Allied Forces and not permanently assigned to Sectors. Once it has assigned a starfighter wing to a Sector, StarCom relinquishes operational control of that wing to the Commander of the Sector. The Wing Commander will then answer to the Sector Commander, but will also file reports to StarCom - if, in StarCom's opinion, the wing is being poorly used, it can submit a complaint to Sector Command. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• These [Special Forces] are the ground troops of the Allied Forces. Small in number - totalling perhaps 10 divisions - SpecForces make up for this by the excellence of their training, the brilliance of their leadership and their high morale. SpecForce units defend High Command, are attached to the Fleet, and are sent on detached duty to sectors across the galaxy. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• When not engaged in combat, SpecForce is organized into divisions, regiments, companies, platoons and squads, similar to the Imperial armed forces. However, they rarely operate in these formal groups in the field. Instead, in battle, SpecForce soldiers are organized into task forces, consisting of as many soldiers and as much equipment as is necessary to complete the job. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• The Alliance Forces is that part of the Rebellion's military under the direct control of the High Command. It includes the Fleet and attached starfighter wings, most major support services, and a small but powerful ground forces unit. The AF is designed for rapid response - to take advantage of any opportunity, or to counter any particularly dangerous Imperial threat, as it is discovered. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• Sector Forces are semi-autonomous military units, charged with keeping the fight alive in their particular sectors. On most day-to-day business they are independent, able to make tactical decisions without consulting High Command (which can take weeks). – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• Sector Forces are microcosms of the Alliance Forces, usually consisting of starfighter wings, ground forces (usually a larger part than in the Alliance Forces), intelligence units, and so forth. Each SecForce is a complete fighting unit, capable of weeks of sustained combat without outside support. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• While the Alliance Forces are mobile, fighting the Empire wherever and whenever Alliance High Command sees fit, the Sector Forces are static. They fight the Empire in their sector of space. They fight it on a daily basis, for miniscule gains and potentially catastrophic losses. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• Sector Forces are created out of whatever resistance organization is in place when the sector is recruited into the Alliance, built out of whatever manpower, equipment, and level of commitment is available. Some SecForces are powerful, smoothly-integrated military units, with complete ground, air, and space forces at their command. Other units are mere shells or fragments, with perhaps several thousand part time guerrillas and a few motley spacecraft - if that. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• There are thousands of Alliance Sector Forces in existence, each with its own peculiar tactical and strategic problems, each with varying amounts of manpower. weaponry, command, competence, and Imperial opposition. It is literally impossible for any organization to closely coordinate (or keep track of) all of the Sector Forces; SecCom [Sector Command] doesn't even try. Instead, it attempts to provide overall strategic guidance to the sectors, limiting its direct control to only the few most important. SecCom is one of the largest branches in [Alliance] High Command, employing hundreds of officers, soldiers and droids. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• Usually, if a Sector Force is not trusted, the Alliance merely does not commit any starfighters, men, or secret intelligence to it. When the Sector Force eventually falls apart, as it inevitably does, Alliance Command then steps in and rebuilds it from scratch. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• On datafiles, Atrivis Sector is equipped with a full wing of 36 starfighters, but, in reality, Sector HQ can rarely put more than 18 into an offensive operation at one time. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military
  
  SUMMARIZED: [This is due to standing orders for 6 ready alert fighters at any one time to defend the main base, plus diversions of Atrivis' starfighters to other sectors for special operations, lack of spares and the fact there are only about 20~ competent Rebel pilots in the entire Atrivis sector.]

• The Imperials are not unaware of Atrivis's [Sector's] role as food supplier to the Alliance Fleet, so they employ highly-toxic defoliants to ruin farms which are suspected of collaboration with the enemy. It takes a tremendous amount of courage for the poor farmers of Atrivis [Sector] to risk their land and the lives of their families for something as nebulous as the Rebellion. – Chapter Two: Alliance Military

• [Alliance Intelligence] Agents who survive 20 missions - "23ers," in Intelligence slang - are barred from further field duty and forced to take desk jobs in Operations or to transfer to another department. The Alliance would rather "chain a good operative to a desk" than lose them because they were getting careless. – Chapter Three: Alliance Intelligence

• At present, the Alliance has only one planet with the facilities to construct capital starships: Mon Calamari. The Cals are tireless workers, driving themselves and their orbital ship-construction facilities far beyond capacity, but, even at this killing speed, they are capable of producing perhaps one frigate or corvette a month, or one cruiser every six months. – Chapter Four: Combat Starships

• The Alliance maintains a formidable presence in the Calamari system, including enough capital vessels to deal with a standard Imperial battle line or perhaps even a squadron. – Chapter Four: Combat Starships

• In the Alliance Fleet, the primary unit of maneuver is the battle line. A battle line consists of between two and 10 cruisers and any number of escort craft and starfighters. – Chapter Four: Combat Starships

• SUMMARIZED: [Alliance Starfighter Wings contain 36 craft divided amongst three squadrons. One squadron is always a Recon squadron. Each squadron is generally of a different type; so you might have an X-Wing Sqd, B-Wing Sqd and A-Wing Sqd. Each Squadron is broken into three flights of four fighters each, which is in turn broken up into two elements of two ships each.] – Chapter Four: Combat Starships – Based on Diagram

• As our main fleet must avoid combat except where absolutely necessary, starfighters are virtually the only forces in daily contact with the enemy. Roughly 35 percent of the Alliance's military budget is dedicated to the creation and maintenance of starfighters. – Chapter Five: Starfighters

• The main purpose of combat starfighters is denial of control of space to the Empire's forces, not the control of that space itself. Denial of space means to curtail the free movement of the enemy's vessels without significant protection. – Chapter Five: Starfighters

• Unlike the larger capital ships, starfighters are not self-contained; they require a staggering amount of fuel to operate and an equally staggering amount of expensive maintenance to keep in space, For them to control a system, therefore, requires expensive and extensive base facilities within that system or nearby. Unfortunately, this is a luxury which we enjoy only in systems so firmly under our control or off the beaten track that Imperial starship attack against those bases is unlikely or prohibitively expensive. Therefore, our starfighters operate primarily from hidden bases (which limits the amount of starfighters which can be deployed safely), or from bases far from Imperial scrutiny, necessitating long, fuel-consuming voyages to the battle area. Within these tactical strictures, our starfighters concentrate upon harassment and hit-and-run raids rather than attempting to defeat the enemy outright. – Chapter Five: Starfighters

• The Alliance gained the majority of its original complement of starfighters through the wholesale defection of planetary and systems defense forces after President Palpatine took the title of Emperor and before he had solidified his hold on the Navy. – Chapter Five: Starfighters

• A starfighter requires expensive fuel cells for power. The most efficient fighters drain their power after a few short weeks of standard flying - and the same amount of energy is exerted in just under an hour of combat flight. Starfighter fuel cells consist of refined radioactive metals mixes; these cells must be roughly twice as pure as standard starship-grade cells. Few civilian manufacturing facilities are capable of producing them. – Chapter Five: Starfighters

• To keep in peak fighting condition, a starfighter requires about an hour's heavy maintenance for each 10 minutes of combat flight time. – Chapter Five: Starfighters

• If a squadron has been in active combat for more than a week, odds are that they will suffer almost as many casualties from ship malfunction as from the enemy's fire. However, it must be noted that this applies equally to both sides in the conflict. Imperial starfighters usually operate from superbly-equipped bases, often aboard Star Destroyers, but their ships are generally inferior in design and construction to ours, and their mechanics of a low grade of competence indeed. Downtime for TIE craft between battles is roughly four times as long as it is for Alliance ships, and TIEs have a reputation for severe loss of effectiveness if flown into battle without being properly maintained. – Chapter Five: Starfighters

• Because all Alliance fighters are hyperdrive-capable (unlike their Imperial counterparts), strikes can be rapidly executed on Imperial targets far away from the base. This is the starfighter's preferred tactic - striking quickly from out of hyperspace, taking full advantage of the element of surprise, then disappearing back into the hyperlanes before substantial resistance can be organized. – Chapter Five: Starfighters
  
  COMMENTARY: [One of the points made throughout this sourcebook is that even with hyperdrives; Rebel Starfighters' operational ranges are limited by wear/tear on the ships, hyperdrive fuel, and the time spent in hyperspace -- i.e. damaged ships escaping into hyperspace might not make it back at all. Thus, this is why the Rebels spend an inordinate amount of time in setting up scores of smaller tactical forward bases so that starfighter wings can be based as close as safely possible to the battle area(s).]

• There are no Z-95s in the Alliance Fleet (the Z-95 has no hyperdrive engines), but the Alliance still employs a few on defensive stations in low-risk sectors. – Chapter Five: Starfighters
  
  COMMENTARY: [Implies that the Alliance Fleet uses 100% “modern” starfighters, while local Sector Forces use older, less capable fighters.]

• It must be noted, however, that the A-wing is notoriously prone to breakdown. The engines, chassis, and weapons systems are routinely subject to stresses far beyond design specifications, and the fighters' maintenance to flight ratio is the second worst of any Rebel starfighter in service. – Chapter Five: Starfighters

• “The Empire's forces outnumber the Alliance forces by a factor of almost 30 to one in raw manpower, by better than 12 to one in equipment, and by about 15 to one in warships and transports.” – Chapter Six: Ground Combat

• As a rule, Rebel equipment is somewhat clumsier than Imperial equipment. Much of the Imperial stormtroopers' gear is built into their armor, while the Rebels' equipment is external, and often improvised. The Imperial army can afford to expend lavish amounts upon each of their soldier's equipment, while the Rebels must make do with whatever is available. – Chapter Six: Ground Combat

• In general, Rebel comlinks have an effective range of 50 kilometers and can, in fair weather, communicate with friendly ships in orbit. Company commanders and higher-level officers are often equipped with larger and more powerful comlinks, either carried backpack-style or mounted on a command vehicle. These communicators have an effective ground range of over 200 kilometers, and can punch through the most inclement weather to communicate with ships in orbit. – Chapter Six: Ground Combat

• Many Alliance airspeeders are built from the controls and chassis of starfighters no longer suitable for space combat.... – Chapter Six: Ground Combat

• Since both of these [droid] corporate giants are firmly in the Empire's pocket, the Alliance has had to struggle to purchase droids in the quantity it requires. Fortunately, when the smaller droid companies first began to go bankrupt, the Alliance was able to acquire a good deal of droid manufacturing equipment quite inexpensively - at least until the Empire banned the sale of the equipment. Before that occurred, however, the Alliance got enough equipment to set up complete droid factories on several of its safe worlds. – Chapter Seven: Droids

• Both the Empire and the Alliance have pilot droids, and both sides have programmed enemy ship recognition into them. But efforts to turn the droids into combat pilots have met with dismal failure - they can raise shields and perform some evasive maneuvers, but they cannot fight with any proficiency. – Chapter Seven: Droids

• Though not large when compared with heavy manufacturing bases or safe worlds, Echo Base Hoth is a busy place, teeming with representatives of most branches of both the civil and military government. There are well over 1,000 government officials on Hoth: high-level civil servants, their assistants, diplomats, planners, and the other functionaries crucial to the operation of a galaxy-spanning government in exile, There are almost as many high-level military and Intelligence officers on Both, keeping the war on track. All of these beings are served by hundreds of maintenance personnel, cooks, technicians, medics, secretaries, communications specialists, supply clerks, droids and others. Counting the Infantry men and starfighter pilots, Hoth contains well over 4,000 beings - enough to populate a small city. – Chapter Eight: Alliance Bases

• The Alliance has built many small starfighter bases in systems across the galaxy. Though this information is classified, the number of bases is estimated at anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000. It should be noted, however, that only a fraction of these bases are operable; most are dormant, empty of starfighters, personnel, and equipment. – Chapter Eight: Alliance Bases
  
  COMMENTARY: [The idea is that the Rebels are constantly activating and deactivating bases to keep up with the moving war fronts].

• Many manufacturing bases are located on Alliance safe worlds, where large number of families of Alliance personnel have been relocated to protect them from Imperial reprisals. These bases tend to be large, but they are often on newly-colonized planets, without the equipment to manufacture sophisticated components. Instead, they concentrate upon labor-intensive, low-technology manufacturing - clothing, shelters, foodstuffs, and the like. Alliance manufacturing bases on more developed worlds have the equipment and trained personnel on hand to manufacture more complex equipment - starfighters, blasters, communications gear, and medical equipment. – Chapter Eight: Alliance Bases

• Safe worlds are planets where the families of Alliance personnel can live in peace, safe from the long, merciless arm of the Empire. In addition, once a safe world is established and viable, it may produce enough food or other raw material to help feed and supply the Alliance forces. – Chapter Nine: Support Services

• Select teams of Alliance scouts are constantly scouring the galactic fringe, looking for worlds which, as yet, have not been discovered by Imperial Survey Corps scouts. If the world is habitable by Human (and alien) life but unpopulated, and light years from all space lanes, it may be suitable as a safe world. – Chapter Nine: Support Services

• The population of a safe world averages between 5,000 and 20,000 beings. This number is large enough to create a safe environment, but small enough to avoid undue attention. – Chapter Nine: Support Services

• Life on a safe world is primitive, harsh, and demanding. Inhabitants of safe worlds are pioneers, attempting to wrest subsistence from the planet without modern equipment. They live in crude dwellings created from local materials. They farm the land with animal-powered machinery, and hunt the forests with bows, slings, and other easily-created weaponry. The inhabitants have few or no repulsorcraft, medical facilities, blasters, or other "luxuries." – Chapter Nine: Support Services

• ... the more primitive the settlement, the smaller the chance of Imperial discovery. ISC scouting ships are capable of picking up the signature of power generators, gravity anomalies caused by repulsorcraft, comlink communications, and so forth from the very edge of a planetary system. Settlements wealthy enough to afford these items are likely to be wealthy enough to be taxed, and thus ripe for Imperial conquest. If the settlement is poor, however, the ISC scouts may just ignore it as just another “two-credit ball of dirt.” – Chapter Nine: Support Services

• Flitter is a graphic example of exactly why the Alliance attempts to keep the location of its safe worlds secret. At one time, Flitter had a population of over 40,000 men, women, and children on it and was a major producer of ores for conversion into fuel. Tragically, a Support Services space transport was captured en route to Flitter, and the craft’s pilot talked under Imperial Interrogation. Within a month, Flitter’s one major city was rubble and all of the land and forests nearby poisoned with air-dropped toxins. It was in the dead of winter - and Flitter’s winters are cold. The Imperials didn’t even bother to send ground troops down to the planet; they merely posted a pair of corvettes in orbit above, and let the elements do their job for them. By the time spring arrived, over 95 percent of Flitter’s population was dead of starvation or exposure. The rest scattered, hiding in caves, living on grubs and tree bark. The Alliance desperately wants to rescue the survivors on Flitter, but, as yet, they have not been able to get enough firepower together to challenge the blockade. – Chapter Nine: Support Services

• Light Freighters: Too small to be useful in fleet replenishment, they are usually employed to supply individual ships deep behind enemy lines, where their small size is actually an asset (it helps them avoid detection). Light freighters are also used to make stealth supply drops or pickups on Imperial planets. In some cases, the freighters are given forged documents declaring them to be tramp merchanters, in which case they land quite openly at Imperial space ports. In others, the freighters attempt to land unseen on a planet, far away from the Empire’s ground and space sensor platforms...These ships are cheap, hard-working, and refuse to die no matter how they are abused. – Chapter Nine: Support Services [These have cargo capacities of around 200 metric tons]

• Medium Transports: These transports are just large enough to be useful for some Fleet replenishment tasks - medicine, clothing, small arms, light equipment, and so forth - though they are not big enough to economically transport bulk items such as food or fuel. Unfortunately, as the Alliance hasn’t got many large craft, they are forced to push these transports to their limits. Though not specifically designed as such, medium transports can also carry passengers. A few have been converted into miniature hospitals, communications centers, and so forth. – Chapter Nine: Support Services [These have cargo capacities of around 19,000 metric tons]

• Bulk Freighters: The Alliance has only a few bulk freighters but those few they have are worth their weight in gold. Though not much larger than medium transports, bulk freighters are designed to economically carry far more cargo. They are stronger, faster, and all-around better craft. They are also about three times as expensive as medium transports, which is why the Alliance does not have very many of them. Most of the bulk freighters in the Alliance fleet have been involuntarily “donated” to the Alliance by the Empire - that is, captured in battle.. – Chapter Nine: Support Services [These have cargo capacities of around 90,000 metric tons]

• Medical Ships: Probably the best-known medical ship is the Hospital Frigate, which travels with the Alliance Fleet. However, a number of smaller craft also serve in this capacity as well, traveling the galaxy, picking up very badly-wounded soldiers from planets which do not have the facilities to treat them and bringing them to one of the Alliance’s hidden hospitals.....The Alliance Medical Frigate has 745 beds, with 80 medics and 30 medical droids (a variety of Emdee and Two-Onebee models). – Chapter Nine: Support Services

• At one time, when it was called the Navy of the Republic, the Imperial Navy was used for defense and to keep down piracy in the space lanes, It was known as the best place in the galaxy to learn the ways of space: a young being could join the [Republic Naval] Academy, see the galaxy, and serve his people all at once. When he retired in 20 or 30 years, still relatively young, he could find a job on any spacecraft in the galaxy. Over 14 percent of all the freighter captains in the galaxy had gone through Academy training.– Chapter Ten: Recruitment and Training

• Many young men are not aware of this [changes in Academy doctrine] until they enter the [Imperial Naval] Academy. They join because their father, and their father’s father were Academy men, because all their lives they have heard stories about the Academy. Others join simply to escape the tedium of their everyday lives — the lure of space is strong. For the young idealists (there are still some left in the galaxy, even today), the shock of discovering what the [Imperial] Academy has become is tremendous. .– Chapter Ten: Recruitment and Training

• Frontier Worlds: These are the recently-settled worlds of the Outer Rim Territories. Life is hard, and the people are in a constant day-to-day struggle to survive. The hand of the Empire is light on the frontier worlds — there’s not much worth taxing on a frontier world, and no industry worth stealing or protecting. However, they do have one very valuable resource: the young people of these planets tend to be sturdy, self-sufficient, and they make excellent warriors. The Empire attempts to tap this resource by imposing mass troop levies on the planets. The planetary government is told to provide a certain number of troops per year for service to the Empire, and if they fail, the Imperial military will come and take them. This is bitterly resented by the population, many of whom moved to the frontier to avoid government interference in their lives in the first place.– Chapter Ten: Recruitment and Training

• Imperial Survey Corps: As the Empire cuts back on the size of the Imperial Survey Corps, many fine spacefarers have suddenly found themselves out of a job. They are offered a chance to join the Imperial Navy. However, the ISC tends to breed hardy individualists (one of the reasons the branch is being disbanded!) and these beings are completely unsuitable for the rigidly regimented life in the Navy. They may attempt to find themselves a career in the private sector, but the harsh new Imperial laws covering space travel make this very difficult to achieve, unless one is willing to work for one of the huge corporate giants — the small-time ship operator is all but gone from space.– Chapter Ten: Recruitment and Training

• As aliens’ physical characteristics can vary wildly from the Human norm, it is usual for the training squads to be segregated by species. Mon Calamarians simply are not physically designed to run as far as Human beings can, and it would be cruel and foolish to force them to try. Similarly, a calisthenics course designed for a Wookie would probably kill most Humans. Naturally, all Alliance soldiers claim that the course designed for their species is the worst...– Chapter Ten: Recruitment and Training

Death Star Technical Companion (1991)

• “You are now Grand Moff Tarkin, the first of a new order of Imperial officials...You have complete authority and control of Oversector Outer, which includes most of the sectors considered the Outer Rim Territories...You have command of four Sector Groups to use to maintain the peace and to provide security for the Death Star Project.” – Chapter One: A Brief History of the Death Star
  
  COMMENTARY: [I believe this is the first mention of an "Oversector", which replaced the earlier "Priority Sector" concept in WEG back-canon. Also gives a rough bound of how many Sector Groups a Grand Moff might have under their direct command to use as they wish. It's unknown how much of the Death Star project was "folded into" Oversector Outer as a way of hiding the manpower and materiel requirements.]

• Admiral Motti is to serve as my chief aide and protector. He will have direct command of the four Sector Groups assigned to my jurisdiction. – Chapter One: A Brief History of the Death Star

• The battle station carried the equivalent of an entire Sector Army within its armored shell, including no less than one hundred TIE fighter wings [7,200 TIEs] in operational order at any given time. – Chapter Two: Technical Specifications

• The majority of the habitable areas were on the surface or within the two to four kilometer thick crust. . – Chapter Two: Technical Specifications

• Rank Cylinders: Rank cylinders are issued to Imperial officers and, if acquired by Rebels, can be very helpful in navigating the Imperial computer network. Each rank cylinder has a specific entry code to insure that only an authorized user is attempting to display sensitive information. Each rank cylinder is labeled by sector, level of sensitivity and zone. Within its area of authority, a rank cylinder could display any information. For example, a Zone N8 Moderate General rank cylinder would allow a user with the appropriate access code to display and use any information from zone N8's general sector of Moderate or lower difficulty. If the appropriate code is known there is no roll necessary to access the information - It is automatically available. A character must make a Difficult security check to falsify a code. However, if an incorrect code is entered or the user attempts to access information that is not authorized for the user, a warning is immediately relayed to the command sector for the battle station and a full investigation begins shortly thereafter. A rank cylinder may also be used in the same manner to access secured areas and doors. Rank cylinders are normally restricted to access for just one vessel, or perhaps one portion of a vessel, but high-ranking officers, such as Grand Moff Tarkin, had rank cylinders that allowed them virtually unlimited access to any portion of the battle station and a great amount of leeway within the entire Imperial network.
  
  Low-ranking officers (such as lieutenants and captains) have rank cylinders accessing Moderate information within their sector and zone. Officers of rank commander through colonel had cylinders accessing up to Very Difficult information within their sector and zone and Very Easy or Easy cylinders for other zones. Admirals and generals had Very Difficult cylinders for all sectors aboard their craft or fleet, while the Grand Moff had Very Difficult cylinders for all sectors aboard the craft as well as at least Easy access to the entire Imperial network. The specific rank cylinders allotted were determined by the particular officer's duties, and since these cylinders were constantly monitored by security sector few officers were willing to abuse the power entrusted to them.
  
  Characters who somehow acquire rank cylinders may be in for an unpleasant surprise if they are not cautious. Attempting to access unauthorized information or accessing data in a "suspicious" manner often alerts Imperial authorities in the zone bridge, the overbridge or one of the security sectors. Since representatives from security are constantly monitoring the computer systems of any Imperial facility, it is likely that such officers will be alerted to unauthorized computer use unless the characters' efforts are inconspicuous. – Chapter Two: Technical Specifications

• Some areas of the station were off limits to certain crew designations and ranks. If a crewman requested a turbolift car to take him to an area that was either closed to his classification or required a specific rank cylinder key to access. the car simply refused to move. If the requested destination was particularly sensitive, the turbolift computer informed security of the request. – Chapter Five: General Sector
  
  COMMENTARY: [This statement shows that the Empire, at least in WEG-verse; understood basic operational security.]

• Science and research are underutilized fields within the Empire during this period of civil war. Indeed, since the rise of Emperor Palpatine and his New Order, science and research grants not specifically assigned to the war effort have undergone drastic fiscal cuts. A token force of science and research labs had been allocated to the Death Star... – Chapter Six: Service and Technical Sectors

• System-specific operator Droids, modelled after starfighter astromechs, were plugged into stations throughout the battle station. These Droids assisted in astrogation, diagnostics, piloting, and most other tasks also assigned to human crew on the Death Star. Without these Droids, the battle station would have needed perhaps twice as many biological crew than it normally employed. – Chapter Six: Service and Technical Sectors
  
  COMMENTARY: [This might be why the Death Star in so many "backstory" publications has been chronically undermanned for it's size – it may have been significantly easier (even for the Empire) to stuff it full of droids than to carefully screen personnel in the quantity needed for the overall Death Star project.]

• A specific branch of the Navy had been created to pilot and maintain the battle station. This branch fell under the heading of Battle Station Operations. All personnel serving in this branch, from technicians to gunners to astrogators to pilots, hail from the Navy. To the best of our knowledge, this branch remains active despite the Death Star's destruction. – Chapter Seven: Military Sector
  
  COMMENTARY: [This may be why there are so few Torpedo Spheres (just six) officially on Imperial Naval rolls; they were providing the 'official' cover for the Death Star's organizational impact on the Imperial Navy through the newly-established Battle Station Ops Branch.]

• Tarkin envisioned a new type of soldier [the Death Star Trooper] to protect his ultimate weapon. These men were trained during the construction phase of the battle station, being molded and re-built as the Death Star was being put together. Besides the normal training all combat forces undergo, the Death Star troopers received advanced special forces training to make them a step above the average soldier. They were even given the distinct privilege of receiving independent command training so that they could react and adapt to changing situations. But Tarkin demanded that this independence be tempered with devotion, fierce loyalty to the New Order, and the need to obey any command issued by a ranking officer. – Chapter Seven: Military Sector
  
  COMMENTARY: [This points out that Tarkin recognized the need for absolute personnel reliability; i.e. he needed to know that when he gave the order to fire on a Core World, his men would salute and say “Aye, Aye, Sir!” with no hestitation at all; because the first rule of command is "Never give an order you know won't be obeyed.". However, the Special Forces training is a bit too 'on the nose' power-leveling/superlative.]

• The superlaser can only be fired as fast as its energy can be restored. At its weakest power output (2D) it can fire once every minute. At its strongest power output (16D) it can fire once every eight minutes, although it's current design only provides enough energy to produce a maximum power blast once every day. – Chapter Seven: Military Sector

• ISB also leashed several undercover agents aboard the Death Star. Many slipped into the roles of common soldiers, administrative personnel and even low-level officers. In this capacity they were much closer to the "men in the field" than known ISB agents and were better able to investigate suspicious activities. It is known that at least one of Grand Moff Tarkin's personal aides was an ISB agent. ISB agents were also known to spy upon each other for both personal gain and out of "concern" for the health of the Empire. – Chapter Eight: Security Sector

• Because of the long-standing rivalry between Imperial Intelligence (an official arm of the military) and ISB (a division of COMPNOR, which most of the military considers a waste of time and resources), ISB agents had a particularly difficult time performing their duties. While Imperial officials didn't deliberately obstruct the investigations of ISB agents, they did nothing to help these agents either. More than one agent who got too nosy was reassigned or simply disappeared (it is widely believed that Imperial Intelligence's Assassination Bureau decided to "set a few examples".) – Chapter Eight: Security Sector

• In addition, the Death Star included a throne room for the Emperor in its finished design, and the maintenance and management of this chamber fell to the command sector. The practice of setting aside a specific room from which the Emperor could rule began when throne rooms were built within Star Destroyers of Imperial-class or better. While the Emperor rarely, if ever, makes use of such facilities, his decree demanded that they be available for those rare occasions. – Chapter Nine: Command Sector

• The Imperial command structure aboard the Death Star was as strict as any organization found in the Empire. The Death Star was under the command of a triumvirate headed by a Grand Moff, in this case Tarkin. The rest of the command trio was made up of General Tagge of the Imperial Army, and Admiral Motti of the Imperial Navy. Thus, both branches of the armed might of the Empire were represented, as well as the political branch of the Empire. The Chiefs of Navy, Army and Battle Station Operations were held by officers with the rank of colonel. Below each Operations Chief were eight majors who served as chiefs of specific departments under their branch of operations. There were also four majors who were responsible for the general. service/technical, military and security sectors.– Chapter Nine: Command Sector
  
  COMMENTARY: [This early scheme of the Death Star TO&E represents how everyone was worried about the power the Death Star; if Tarkin, Motti and Tagge had to all 'sign off' on key targets for the superlaser.]

• The Emperor's emissary to the Death Star, Lord Darth Vader, answered to the Grand Moff as a practice of military and political courtesy. He was not, however, subject to any other authority aboard the battle station. He issued direct and unquestioned orders to everyone of the rank of colonel and below, and had been known to force the admiral and general to bow to his will on more than one occasion.– Chapter Nine: Command Sector
  
  COMMENTARY: [Vader's fitting into the command scheme is detailed. Also, pre-Yavin, Vader's authority wasn't yet absolute. He still had to somewhat justify himself to General/Flag officers before force-choking them. Presumably the discovery that he had a son in Luke pushed Vader over the edge in regards to the amount of 'guff' he was willing to tolerate.]

• The overbridge could control the entire battle station, but it was easier and more efficient to let each zone's active bridge handle its share of the work. In emergency situations, the overbridge could cut off all lesser command centers and run the Death Star. Only the throne room's command center (located one deck directly below the throne room itself) could supersede the overbridge.– Chapter Nine: Command Sector

• While many believe that the Imperial throne room constructed aboard the Death Star was merely a figurative gesture to appease the Emperor, it was in fact a fully functional command center. The Emperor could control, monitor, and communicate with all areas of the battle station from his throne, effectively wielding the ultimate weapon as his own will dictates. The throne responded only to the Emperor's commands. however, using technologies tuned to his particular physical and mental patterns. The throne could not have been wielded by anyone but the Emperor.– Chapter Nine: Command Sector

• If the throne room and royal apartment were unoccupied, four squads of stormtroopers guarded it in the Emperor's absence. If the Emperor was present, the stormtroopers were replaced by four squads of the Imperial Royal Guard. – Chapter Nine: Command Sector
  
  COMMENTARY: [A full platoon of 30+ men is permanently assigned to guard the Throne Room at all times for security reasons – i.e. prevent a bomb from being planted in the Throne Room+Apartments, or someone gaining access to computer banks that only the Emperor has access to. This also provides a baseline for security details for "important" areas in RPGs -- i.e. the control room of the largest hydropower dam on a planet that is used to charge repulsorlift cells for a co-located repulsorlift factory.]

• [T]he Death Star was designed without regard to starfighter-scale opponents, it was believed that the massive armor and sheer size of the battle station would be enough to dissuade starfighter attacks. If foes still managed to work up the nerve to attack, it was reasoned that no starfighter packs enough energy to do more than raise a welt on the Death Star's thick skin. As an after thought, anti-starfighter turbolaser towers were installed across the Death Star's surface, but these were not placed to create an impenetrable screen of blaster fire. They were positioned almost randomly, leaving great holes in any defense they could provide. In the Battle of Yavin, the Zone Commanders frantically employed the capital ship batteries in an attempt to eliminate the Rebel starfighters, but these weapons proved almost useless against the quick, tiny ships..– Appendix One: Design Flaws

• Tagge moved up through the Imperial chain of command despite his steadfast refusal to play political games with his competitors. Perhaps it was this trait that inspired the Emperor to assign Tagge to the Death Star Project. Even if the Emperor was behind the general, Tagge's opinion that the Senate was a necessary evil for controlling the Empire lost him favor in Tarkin's eyes. For this reason, many of his warnings about the battle station's defenses were ignored. –Appendix Two: Death Star Templates

• Ars Dangor has been an aide to Palpatine since the man's days in the Republican Senate. Now he is one of the many advisors who surround the Emperor and dote upon his every movement. But Dangor is much more than a court buffoon. He is a powerful and dangerous man who sits at the Emperor's side. The Emperor, too important and wrapped up in thoughts beyond the veil of normal humanity, has assigned all public addresses and the day-to-day running of the Empire to Dangor. The Emperor deals with the big picture; he leaves the little pieces for Dangor to take care of. Ars Dangor is the perfect politician for these times of civil unrest and outright war. He is a charismatic and powerful speaker, like the Palpatine of old who swayed an entire galaxy to fall down and worship him. He is also ruthless to an extreme degree, and any who fail him do not live to do so a second time. Only his admiration for the Emperor keeps his own ambitions in check. He is content to forever serve — something that not even Lord Vader can truly admit to. –Appendix Two: Death Star Templates

Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook

• The Corporate Sector was one wisp off one branch at the end of one arm of the galaxy, but that wisp contained tens of thousands of star systems. The Corporate Sector Authority had been chartered to exploit— some called it plunder — the uncountable riches there. Its wealth and influence eclipsed that of all but the richest Imperial Regions, The Authority was owner, employer, landlord, government, and military, and not a benevolent one. – Introduction

• While the so-called "modern" Corporate Sector's history parallels the history of the Empire, few people recall that the Corporate Sector existed for several centuries before the current era, This was due to failures within the so-called Expansion Region.
  
  The Expansion Region; within "The Slice," was originally an experiment in corporate-controlled space. While the profits from the region were enormous, internal strife and disturbances continually upset the region. Residents of the region were forced to live under horrible conditions, while the corporations stripped the star systems of all resources, Because the corporations had strict control of communication and transportation, few outside the Expansion Region were aware of the conditions in that area of space. Eventually, the anger of the people peaked and civil unrest spread from system to system. Due to mounting pressure from constituents, the Republic Senate took control of the Expansion Region, limiting or evicting the corporate interests.
  
  Still, the Republic had to placate the corporate interests. The Corporate Sector was established in a far-flung and minimally explored corner of the galaxy. The Sector encompassed several hundred systems, all of them devoid of sapient life. The companies had a right to lease or buy whole systems of space, and develop those systems as they saw fit. – Chapter Two: History of the Corporate Sector

• Tax rates were comparably low [in the new Corporate Sector]. While a general tax was paid directly to the Republic government, the companies could avoid the myriad of sector, system, planetary and local taxes found on most worlds. While the companies had to work within carefully defined parameters, they generally had much greater freedom than on worlds with their own native governments. The companies also knew laws would be consistent throughout the sector. The biggest benefit of the Corporate Sector was the lack of competition. Since companies could buy whole undeveloped systems directly from the Republic. the corporations developed industrial and manufacturing facilities at a much faster rate. – Chapter Two: History of the Corporate Sector

• Baron Tagge, informal leader of the [Galactic Corporate Policy] League. formulated a plan centered on changing the way the Corporate Sector was administered, He proposed that the region of space known as the Corporate Sector be expanded to include nearly 30,000 unclaimed stars. He proposed that a new corporation, the Corporate Sector Authority, be formed. The Authority would be the sole owner, employer, government and military of the region. The Authority would buy all the existing corporate facilities within the Corporate Sector, as well as shepherd the development of all future resources. – Chapter Two: History of the Corporate Sector

• To interest Palpatine, the [Corporate Sector Authority] proposal would provide an operations tax directly to Palpatine. While the net would be considerably smaller than the taxes for comparable worlds within the Empire proper, the revenues would go directly to the Imperial government, rather than be split amongst sector, planetary and local governments. Likewise, because the Authority would be responsible for maintaining order and policing the region, there would be no investment in the region by the Empire. – Chapter Two: History of the Corporate Sector

• As a compensation to the Empire, there would be a yearly stipend of 3% of the total gross product from the Sector. Furthermore, all funds would be paid directly into the Imperial treasury. Lastly, 9% of all materials and 20% of strategic rare elements would be given directly to the Empire for its military buildup. – Chapter Two: History of the Corporate Sector

• The resources and materials provided by the Corporate Sector Authority would pave the way for the Emperor to assert complete and total military supremacy over the galaxy.... – Chapter Two: History of the Corporate Sector

• SUMMARIZED: [The CSA itself has about ten original signatory (voting) sponsors, amongst them KDY, Rendilii StarDrive, TaggeCo, Bank of the Core, and Cybot Galactica.
  
  There were about twelve (or more) original contributing (non voting) sponsors, including CEC and Industrial Automaton. All of the original contributors have been upgraded to voting sponsors, while several new non-voting sponsors, amongst them Santhe/Sienar have been added.
  
  Since the establishment of the CSA, over a hundred contributing (non-voting) sponsors have been added to the rolls, including SoroSuub.] – Chapter Two: History of the Corporate Sector

• The [Corporate Sector] Authority has fairly broad latitude in enforcing the Emperor's general directives — however, Direx Board members have no illusions about their own position. The Corporate Sector Charter is only legally binding as long Palpatine wills that to be the case and avoiding his wrath has always been a top priority. – Chapter Three: The Corporate Sector

• SUMMARIZED: [The CSA retains the right to nationalize anything, anywhere in the Authority. This encourages companies to invest in the Authority, rather than opening their own facilities. Likewise, the Authority uses the threat of Nationalization to control the small businesses it allows to operate to provide the illusion of choice inside the Authority, and to:
  
  “occupy inventive and individualistic beings who might otherwise direct their efforts toward undermining the Authority. If any company becomes too big or too successful, the CSA will seize the company and all of its assets, with no restitution for the company owners. Due to this managed economic system, there are millions of thriving small companies that service cities, planets or a few systems: the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well.”] – Chapter Three: The Corporate Sector

• The Authority knows that it has no competition [and a captive market] and dramatically raises the prices of goods. For example, medpacs sell for anywhere from 75 to 125 credits in most areas of the Empire. The Authority's markup for medpacs is so high that they often sell for the equivalent of 150 to 175 credits. – Chapter Three: The Corporate Sector

• “Many Imperial worlds are under some austerity program, and the ones that don't have New Order on the brain. There, you wouldn't know a decent holoboard if you saw one. Celanon, Nar Shaddaa, Ixtlar—plenty of worlds got a multicolored skyline —but even they pale before the shine of a Corporate Sector world.” – Chapter Three: The Corporate Sector

• Palpatine realized what an opportunity it would be to have a whole region providing unbridled revenue with no costs to maintain order. – Chapter Four Security Division

• The Authority began a program to hire line officers [for it's Picket Fleet]. The best place for officers was the Imperial Navy, and few officers were willing to abandon promising careers in the Navy despite better pay. The Authority had to make due with retiring elderly officers long past their prime or those whose marginal talents limited their careers in the Imperial Navy. This has hampered the fleet's effectiveness and various suggestions to solve it have been tried with little success. Finally, the Authority accepted the need to provide its own quality line officers and opened its own naval academy. Open for the past five years, its graduates are gradually whipping the fleet into shape. – Chapter Four Security Division

• Rather than commission entirely new vessels [for the Picket Fleet], as was done with the ground forces, the Authority decided to salvage older ships obtained at a discount. What the Authority got from Imperial surplus were dozens of older ships, many predating the Clone Wars. Victory-class Star Destroyers, Marauders and Invincible-class ships are obsolete and their archaic systems made training difficult at best. – Chapter Four Security Division

• In the Corporate Sector, there's a huge demand for smuggled goods. With high tariffs, taxes and more regulations than the Empire (or so it seems), it's cheaper to hire smugglers to bring in food, medicine, entertainment holos, weapons, spice and just about everything else. – Chapter Eight: The Fringe

• One problem in eliminating slavery was the New Order's policy toward aliens. The Empire showed increasing reluctance to classify newly discovered species as sapient. If a species wasn't sapient, according to Imperial law, forcing them to work against their will was not slavery; it was domestication. – Chapter Eight: The Fringe

• The Authority acquired the [Victory-class] ships at bargain prices when the Empire decided to remove 520 of these cruisers from the 27th Denarian Fleet to make room for the newer Imperial-class Star Destroyers. The ships were stripped of weaponry. However, the Authority then purchased surplus weapons through a third party company, refitting them. – Chapter Nine: Starships

• These [Invincible-class Dreadnoughts] mammoth ships were first designed over 3,000 years ago, and drew their inspiration from the titanic battle cruisers from the eras of Xim the Despot and the Alsakan Conflicts. At the time, it was one of the largest battle cruisers in the Old Republic fleet. For the time, these ships were an amazing feat of engineering. They were equipped with weapons that could shred any ship of the day. These two-kilometer long vessels were feared throughout the civilized worlds. – Chapter Nine: Starships

• The design [Rin Assid Bulk Hauler] has been around, in one variation or another, for over seven centuries, making the ship almost as enduring as its namesake. – Chapter Nine: Starships

• “All space transports and freighters are bound to a very detailed code of specific regulations, collectively known as the Authority Starship Code Safety Registry, or ASCSRs (known among spacers as "askers"). ASCSRs regulate every aspect of starship systems and operation, including offensive weaponry, defensive systems … due to these regulations, the Espos can be sure they always have the upper hand in combat …
  
  ...The Authority will, however, acknowledge that certain ships do need a certain amount of modification. Ships that handle especially valuable cargoes are allowed to install more powerful weaponry, for example. Thus, the Authority has the Waivers List, which lists all ships and the ASCSRs exclusions they have been granted....
  
  ...As one might suspect, an Authority Waiver is a most cherished document. Of course, the Authority is stingy with Waivers and often assignment is based more on connections within the Authority's corporate structure than actual demonstrable need for a Waiver. Those who have performed favors in the past (or paid the appropriately enormous bribes) get on the List while many reputable shippers don't. – Chapter Nine: Starships

• For centuries, the goal of isolating objects from the ravages of time has been a quest for scientists. Legend had it that stasis technology predated the Republic, but no one has ever discovered proof....Eventually, stasis was developed, although like hyperspace, even the most advanced physicists in the field don't entirely understand why it works; it just does. Even though stasis technology has existed for nearly a century, it remains an exotic curiosity: stasis fields require immense reserves of energy and the machinery necessary to keep them operating makes them impracticable for all but very limited applications. Small plants, animals and beings may be preserved, but as the field grows larger, the energy use grows logarithmically. Unless dramatic technological breakthroughs are made, the old myths of stasis planets — whole worlds in perfect preservation — are just that: myths. The Empire has also kept tight control over stasis technology. While the Empire's scientists haven't developed viable military applications for stasis, the bureaucracy knew that it would be unwise to allow others to experiment with the technology. One exception was granted to the Corporate Sector Authority for use at the Stars' End project. – Chapter Eleven: Equipment

• Agrirobots are one of the tools of the modern farm. Able to care for thousands of square kilometers per season, these droids provide top quality food for a low price. Many larger, corporate run farms are totally automated affairs, controlled only by an overseer unit or engineer staff.. – Chapter Twelve: Droids

Chapter 6: Tramp Freighters and the Rebellion (page 24~ ish) – Complete due to importance.

The Rebel Alliance has, for many years, used tramp freighters for much of their cargo transportation (often to the shock and dismay of unwary freighter captains).

The Empire: Unlimited Cargo Capacity; Control of Bulk Transport

Either directly through Imperial ownership, or indirectly through intimidation of large shipping corporations, the Empire controls virtually all of the bulk cargo vessels plying the spaceways. Roughly one-third of the large ship cargo carried in the galaxy is war materiel for the Empire’s forces: weaponry, equipment, supplies, fuel, and whatever else needs transporting. The remaining space is taken up by private goods, and these are so heavily scrutinized that it is nearly impossible for the Alliance to transport anything that way. The major transport system of the galaxy supports the Empire.

The Alliance: Too Few Ships; Too Many Purposes

This places a crushing burden on the Rebel Alliance. The Empire has an almost limitless cargo carrying capacity with which to supply its bases and fleets: the Rebellion would be pleased to have the Alliance’s yearly cargo capacity equal the Empire’s monthly capacity, but they are not yet even close.

Part of the problem is, of course, that the Alliance simply does not possess enough manufacturing capacity for all of its pressing needs. Its few heavy factories are stretched to the breaking point trying to produce enough warships and repulsorcraft to keep the battle going; cargo transports are of secondary importance.

An additional problem is that, even given their lack of cargo ships, the Alliance must use the ships they have for purposes other than simple transport of goods. Rebel transports shuttle cargo from one point to another; they also carry troops into battle or evacuate personnel from discovered bases, serve as hospital vessels, and, in desperate circumstances, may be converted into warships.

One Further Complication: Imperial Interdiction

Finally, the Alliance suffers because its transport ships can rarely take the most economical, direct route available. There are usually several different hyperspace routes available between planets, one of which is the fastest and thus the most fuel-and time-efficient. Naturally, this means that everyone will want to take that route — transports, bulk freighters, and Imperial warships.

Also, such routes are often frequented by Imperial Customs agents. A freighter captain who encounters one of the enemy customs vessels is subject to search at any time — and while it is difficult enough to explain away replacement starfighter parts — “er, you see, I was selling them for scrap on Ord Mantel!" — it’s nearly impossible to explain away a load of injured Rebel troopers. On popular routes, the risk of meeting an Imperial Customs ship is about one in 20; rather than risk it. Rebel ships commonly take longer but less-traveled routes.

One Solution: Grand Theft, Imperial Spacecraft

The Alliance supplements its meager construction capacity through the simple expedient of stealing the Empire’s ships. In the early days, Alliance craft had good success in luring Imperial combat vessels away from the transports they were escorting and then closing in and capturing the defenseless cargo ships, thus winning both the ships and their cargo.

This practice, however, is quickly becoming more dangerous than it is worth. Though it is often unable to anticipate new Alliance tactics, the Imperial Navy has shown itself adept at restructuring its operations to counter Alliance tactics it is familiar with.

These days, most Imperial sentry ships refuse to take the bait and leave their charges when attacked; if they do so, it is quite likely that it is as part of a trap, designed to sucker in the Rebel forces for destruction. Pretending to be lured off, the Imperial warships obligingly race off into space after the decoy Rebel force. Once they are gone, the second Rebel force appears and confidently close in on the “helpless" transports — only to discover, sometimes too late, that the transports are bristling with camouflaged weapons and tractor beams to hold the attackers until the warships return.

Theft of Passenger Spacecraft

Ever innovative, the Rebel Alliance has recently discovered another source of transports. The Rebellion now seeks to capture large passenger vessels and convert them into cargo ships. Non-essential areas (everything except the engines, navigation equipment, etc.), are stripped from the vessel to make room for cargo holds and loading gear.

However, these are relatively uneconomical craft, unable to carry very much weight compared to the amount of fuel they consume. They are also rather fragile, and easily disabled by enemy fire. Though still quite useful behind the lines, a converted passenger liner is dead meat in battle — they explode so easily and so spectacularly that enemy forces take them out in the early seconds of conflict.

Finally: The Tramp Freighter

The Alliance has found that it can supplement its meager supply capacity through the use of tramp freighters. In many cases, the captains of the tramps are not even aware that they are carrying Alliance goods (though some certainly suspect, but, being desperate for the work or in general sympathetic to the Alliance’s cause, turn a blind eye). Unfortunately, these captains are often incarcerated (or executed) for being Rebel sympathizers, even when they are unaware of the true nature of their cargo.

A large portion of the Alliance’s material is produced in small factories hidden on thousands of worlds scattered across the galaxy, far from where the fighting is and far from where it is needed. In many cases, it is impractical for the Alliance’s ships to collect this material themselves, being preoccupied with maintaining the Alliance’s Fleet or other, more important, duties.

Instead, tramp freighters haul the cargo. A freighter may get a job carrying, for instance, a load of foodstuffs from a farming world to an industrial world. At the same time, dozens of other freighters have similar jobs, collecting a variety of goods from other planets. Each load is innocent enough — protein, plant fibers, electronic parts, and whatnot, to pass Imperial inspection.

What the freighter captains do not know, however, is that the goods come from Alliance-sympathetic farms or hidden factories, and they are being shipped to Alliance-owned warehouses on the industrial world. When enough cargo has collected at the warehouses, a large Alliance ship stops at the world and collects the cargo in bulk. This method of transport is expensive, but it serves to stretch the Alliance’s transport capacities as far as is possible.

It is rather hard on the tramp freighter captain who discovers the hard way (say, through being arrested and having his ship confiscated) that he is carrying goods for the Alliance. The ethics of this system bothers Alliance High Command, though they have few options at this point. However, to the best of their abilities, they are recruiting freighter captains to take over these runs and thus ensure that the carrier has some idea of what he is risking.

BULK FREIGHTERS

After many years of association, the planets of the galaxy have become interdependent. A galaxy-wide economy based on the import and export of goods has allowed some worlds to specialize in areas of production, knowing that their other needs would be taken care of by other worlds. A complex system such as this is impossible to maintain without a huge fleet of freighters able to transport goods from one world to another.

In years past, the transport was primarily carried out by small, independently-owned stock light freighters. However, this old method of trade is slowly disappearing and being replaced by the more economical bulk freighters. The container ships, space barges and other huge ships which now ply the spaceways are largely corporate-owned, but the Empire maintains its own fleets of such vessels, and some wealthy individuals have purchased one or more of the craft to get in on the money.

The Alliance has very few of these ships at its disposal, as they are expensive to maintain, hard to come by through “unofficial” channels, and are fairly impossible to hide.

It is interesting to note that the advent of the bulk freighter did not mean the demise of t he light-freighter industry; on the contrary, it has thrived. This may appear illogical on the surface, though the reasons for the continued success of the tramp freighter lies in their ability to go anywhere, fast.

Captains of bulk freighters are often ordered to bypass planets, systems — even sectors — that are deemed unprofitable; smaller worlds that do not command enough resources to attract the services of bulk ships become hungry markets for the smaller transport ships. Simply by overlooking a system, the bulk freighters are creating a huge market for the smaller, independent freighter captain; while the tramp freighters do not often see the level of profit a bulk freighter routinely earns, it is possible to make a comfortable living.

Planets of the Galaxy Volume 3, West End Games, 1993

COMMENTATOR'S NOTE: The book is summarized due to sparsity of information:

Elrood Sector (Outer Rim), has just five major worlds of note (including the Sector Capital); they are:

Elrood (Capital): 6 billion
Coyn: 800 million
Kidron: 20 million
Merisee: 310 million
Derilyn: 2 billion

To patrol Elrood Sector, the Empire maintains a force of two ISDs: Thunderflare and Stalker, one Bayonet-class Light Cruiser Rintonne’s Flame, several Skipray Blastboats, and twelve minor hyperdrive equipped patrol craft which can carry a pair of TIE Fighters.

Flashpoint! Brak Sector, West End Games, 1995

• Dara looked around the room. "First, a few facts. Brak sector is located on the outer edge of the Expansion Region, about 20 light years away from the Corellian Run Trade Route on The Slice. We're a sidestep, astrographically speaking, from important Imperial military and trade lanes. The sector officially contains 67 inhabited and over 350 uninhabited star systems, but we figure small colonies and other unofficial operations bring the number of inhabited systems to around 90. [p.2]

• [Imperial METOSP says for Brak Sector]
  Inhabited Systems: 67
  Uninhabited Systems: 355
  [page 9]

• The Imperial Naval forces in Brak sector consist of a standard Sector Group of 2,400 ships, including 30 Star Destroyers and about 1,600 other combat starships. Most of these ships patrol various systems and trade routes within the sector. Due to the large number of abandoned mining worlds, a fourth of these ships are routinely used to make detailed sweeps of these uninhabited systems, following up reports from scout ships and probots. The Empire fully realizes how easily these worlds could (and have) become bases for pirates and Rebels. Because of the fleet staging areas in Brak sector, the actual number of Imperial forces can change rapidly. [Page 12]

• Imperial Staging Areas: The Empire has established four fleet staging areas within Brak sector. Each area is located in a system containing at least one world with agricultural or food-stuff production and some manufacturing capacity.” [p.12]

Lords of the Expanse: Sector Guide, West End Games, 1997

• Tapani sector is located in the Colonies on the Shapani Bypass, a trade route which is an offshoot of the Rimma Trade Route. The sector capital is Procopia, though the world of Tallaan is actually as important, because the main Imperial regional depot is located here. [p.5]

• There are about 70 systems in the sector, roughly a fifth of which have inhabitable worlds which are heavily settled. Other systems also have settlements, but much smaller ones: research stations, military outposts, mining facilities, and so on. [p.5]

Tales of the Bounty Hunters, Edited by Kevin J. Anderson, December 1996

• In a sector of the galaxy Boba Fett had never heard of, a star went nova; it murdered a world and an entire sentient species. It aroused less comment than had the destruction of Alderaan, only a decade prior; the galaxy at large barely noticed the tragedy, and Fett never heard about it. In a galaxy with over four hundred billion stars, over twenty million intelligent species, such things are bound to happen. [p.301]

Heir to the Empire by Tim Zahn

• Even after five years Pellaeon couldn’t help but wince at the memory of that image: the Executor, out of control, colliding with the unfinished Death Star and then disintegrating completely in the battle station’s massive explosion. The loss of the ship itself had been bad enough; but the fact that it was the Executor had made it far worse. That particular Super Star Destroyer had been Darth Vader’s personal ship, and despite the Dark Lord’s legendary—and often lethal—capriciousness, serving aboard it had long been perceived as the quick line to promotion.
  
  Which meant that when the Executor died, so also did a disproportionate fraction of the best young and midlevel officers and crewers.