350I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned
Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualise. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.
A Reminder of the ranks
Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster
Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster
Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal.
Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace
Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace
Review Responses
The differences between my Supergate and the one seen in the series can be assumed to be because this is an original Lantian Supergate not an Ori one
The current breakdown of the Star Wars galaxy is this:
Yuuzhan Vong Territory = 1%
Chiss Ascendancy = 10%
Imperial Remnant = 10%
Galactic Republic of Planets = 34%
Galactic Alliance = 45%
Chapter 1 The Long Road Home
Republic Citadel – Polaris
The Parliamentary Republic Security Council Committee was one of the most powerful committees of the Parliament which was good because the body it acted as a leash for was the most powerful in the GRP. Under the constitution of the Galactic Republic of Planets the Security Council controlled the Foreign Office, the Intelligence Directorate and all Republic military forces and so to provide a democratic safeguard the Parliament had to approve the amount of money that they would give the Security Council to carry out its role. The PRSC Committee was the body responsible for this and currently the 6 General Assembly and 4 Landsraad members of the committee were not happy
"¬12,000.00 for an arc welder, ¬300.00 for a light strip, ¬832,475.23 on miscellaneous items in one day! They go to far!" The first member exclaimed
"At the rate they are spending Denari the budget will be in negative figures long before the end of the financial year. What I do not understand is why they are doing this" the second replied
"Is it not obvious?" One of the Landsraad members, a former Peacekeeper Disruptor answered "They are paying the proper price for these items and using the extra money recorded to fund the secret projects"
"But why?" another asked "As soon as the Yuuzhan Vong war ended all secret projects had their budgets halved, why now, four months later, has the Security Council not only returned the funding to its original level but quadrupled it as well?"
"They have only done so for one project" another stated "But they did it after this report from the Intelligence Directorate"
"A level Omicron level report?" The former Disruptor questioned. Omicron was the second highest classification level and those who had that level of access were very limited. Only level Omega was higher and information that classified could only be accessed by the 12 members of the Security Council.
"It was slipped in amongst the rest of the report" he replied "I guess they didn't want anyone to know that we had noticed it"
"Notice that the Galactic Alliance has commissioned two more Executor Class Super Star Destroyers?" The first questioned "Of course the GA knows we've noticed, they announced it on the holonet as they disguise their desire for conquest with patriotism"
"Yes why would the commissioning of two more Executors to the dozens they already field concern the council so much?" the second asked
"No.. look at the figures…" another said with growing horror "there is far to much material for a deuce of Executors, their building something much bigger…"
"Impossible!" the first exclaimed "They wouldn't dare build an Eclipse SSD, the only one in existence served as Palpatines personal flagship. Not even the GA could sell the construction of one of those monsters to their people"
"No. But they might just be able to sell a deuce of Sovereign SSDs"*
The committee sat horror struck as the Galactic Alliances plan became clear
"They plan to completely destroy us" one said softly "They don't need Sovereigns to reclaim their former planets, they serve only one purpose, to crack the crusts of rebellious planets and destroy their will to fight"
"Authorise the increase in expenditure" The first whispered "Whatever Project Arcturus is we are going to need it"
Corellia – CorSec System Command
Officer Piers Morton was having a rather quiet shift in the Corellian Security Forces, or CorSec, sensor net control room. "Maybe I'll enlist in the new Corellian Fleet" he thought "The GRP does let the member worlds have their own militaries after all and gives them full autonomy in their home sectors. Maybe being a member world won't be so bad, I've always thought that Corellia should be independent but I'm not stupid enough to think that we would last more than 5 seconds on our own with the way things are at the moment."
The way things were at the moment was unfortunately a galaxy wide cold war. It was barely six months after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war but already the Galactic Alliance, the successor of the New Republic, was making very disconcerting noises about the Galactic Republic of Planets. After the war ended the Empire and the Chiss were powerful but could not hope to challenge the GRP or the GA who controlled the majority of the galaxy. The GA was still the largest with 45% of the galaxy under their control and the largest fleet as well. The fact that their territory had shrunk so drastically also allowed them to concentrate this massive fleet into very large groups that vastly outnumbered any fleets that anyone else could field. Against this the GRP had almost doubled in size while its fleet had shrunk due to the strains of war, though it controlled 34% of the galaxy its fleet was much smaller than that size would indicate. The only thing that had kept the GA from turning on them at the end of the war was the technological advantage that the GRP enjoyed in almost all areas, with the notable exception of capitol ship shields, and the fact that the Republic controlled Thyferra. With Bacta production firmly in the Republics hands and Mannan, one of the very few independent worlds left, supplying Kolto to both sides the Republic could negate the Alliances numbers on the ground with a much higher survivability rate for its troops keeping experienced members in the battle.
Officer Morton tracked a suspicious looking ship heading for the Corellian Shipyards and flagged it to be boarded and inspected. With the shipyards at Vasuda, Fondor and Corellia under Republic control the GRP had embarked on a massive shipbuilding programme to bring the Peacekeeper Armada back up to where it should be and this had attracted a lot of smugglers looking to steal the tech being incorporated into the ships. "Unfortunately" Officer Morton thought as he watched a new Icestorm class light cruiser, Gorgon, clear the yards "The Alliance still controls the shipyards at Kuat, Bilbringi and Mon Calamari and are matching us ship for ship to keep their numerical advantage.
He turned to the holoscreen and tuned into Interstellar Network News in an effort to distract himself from the tense standoff that the galaxy found itself in
"And the Presidential election in the Galactic Alliance continues today with several candidates vying for the position. Citizens will be pleased to know that the firebrand Morgan Clark, who based his entire campaign on an immediate war to reclaim what he calls 'the stolen systems that the treacherous GRP lured away from their rightful government', has already fallen behind in the polls. Several protests have been staged in recent weeks on most of the planets in question declaring their voluntary loyalty to the Republic and that they alone decide who their 'rightful government' is. Hopefully this failure of senator Clarke's presidential bid will help to ease tensions along our borders. Xavier Montoya is currently in the lead and we will be bringing you more updates on this later. In related news the protests in Theed, capitol city of the Galactic Alliance planet of Naboo, have entered their third week and are becoming ever larger. The protesters are against the high rebuilding taxes that the Galactic Alliance Senate has imposed on all its member worlds to rebuild the core worlds devastated by the Yuuzhan Vong. The protestors believe that if they want to bring completely dead Core and Colony worlds back to life rather than the much cheaper option of colonising new ones in the Mid and Outer Rims then the inner worlds should pay for it and not bleed the outer worlds dry. So far the GA Senate has made no official response except to say that they are considering all options. The appointment of Jacen Solo to head of Galactic Alliance Intelligence has…"
Piers turned off the holoscreen and sighed. It just kept getting worse. Even though the relatively moderate Xavier Montoya had never specifically stated that he wished war with the Republic he had been the driving force behind the GA's massive fleet expansion and supply base build up on the frontier worlds. Anyone with military training could add two and two and discover what that meant and with the independently minded worlds like Naboo becoming restless as the Galactic Alliance became more authoritarian by the day it was only a matter of time before something, probably a system leaving the GA for the GRP, set the entire galaxy on fire, again. "The appointment of Jacen Solo to head of intelligence will probably only escalate matters" he mused "He's a loose cannon that sees every disagreement as an act of rebellion. Even the Astarii assigned to CorSec get nervous whenever he is mentioned and they are usually very good judges of character. Nope the whole galaxy is going to hell in a hand basket and I don't know if we can win this time"
He snapped back to the display as every alarm in the building went off as a massive power signature suddenly lit up near the area where Centrepoint Station had been. "This will end badly" he thought
CorSec Corellian Corvette You Can't Run – On approach to unknown artefact
Colonel Richard Domi looked out impassively at the artefact that his ship had been sent to investigate. A giant ring 1.2km in diameter with a command centre and power source located in the large key stone like section at the top of the ring. It did not look very impressive in anything much but its size, but the reports of a massive fountain of water followed by what looked like a stable pool of water forming in the ring before it shut down told otherwise. He hoped that the science and security team CorSec had provided would be able to deal with it without calling for Republic aid but a deep feeling in his gut told him that everything was about to change.
Kailua Galaxy Supergate
As the corvette lined up with what appeared to be a docking collar the expedition members were clambering into their hazard suits. Approaching the door that had, through luck or design, been similar enough to jury rig a connection to they were surprised to see it open upon their approach. Carefully they entered into the dark corridors and the unknown.
Academedician Prokur Zakarof looked around the command centre that he and the team had entered. Everywhere the corridors and windows followed geometric shapes and were constructed out of the same silver and copper coloured materials. Several team members had approached a flashing icon on what appeared to be a crystal based command console but nothing had happened, moving closer for a closer look Zakarof reached out and then promptly leaped back in shock when a very lifelike hologram appeared in front of him
"Greetings" it said "My name is Hippofulralkis and there is much that I have to tell you…"
Republic Citadel – Security Council Chambers
Supreme Chancellor Padme Amidala Skywalker entered the room as the doors sealed behind her. Having been elected just after the start of the Yuuzhan Vong war she was now coming to the end of her 4th year in office. As the constitution stated that the Supreme Chancellor served for a single 10 year term with no re-election she would be in power for some time to come and for that James Koren was very grateful. "After all" he thought "There are few amongst us who hold as true to the Republics ideals as Padme does and at the same time she is absolutely dependable in a crisis and while not afraid to use force if it is required it is never the first option she turns to. No there is no one better to lead us through this crisis and the many more that are to come."
"Now that we are all here" Chancellor Amidala said "Could we have the latest report on the artefact?"
James stood up "As everyone here knows" he began "The construct known as the Corellian Supergate is 120,000 year old artefact built by the Alteran race who constructed the Corellian star system and seeded humans across the core worlds. It is essentially a matter energy converter designed to disassemble whatever enters it and send it through a wormhole to another supergate where the energy is reintegrated. This process is virtually instant and can cross the gulf between galaxies if enough power is provided."
"Does it actually work?" Dukhat asked "and if it does how long can we power it for?"
"Council Master Skywalker, Master Bao Dur and several eminent engineers all say that while exactly how it works escapes them it does work" James responded "As to how long we can power it it's power core is an artificial singularity and so will last indefinitely"
"Why do the Astarii have such a large presence at the artefact?" one of the new member races, the Nebari asked
"Because it seems that the technology is programmed only to respond to someone who is force sensitive." James replied "It appears that the force sensitivity gene was present in the entire Alteran population but only to a small degree. As they never found anyone else with that gene they used it to make sure that no one but themselves could operate their technology and that has had the result that most of the important systems will only respond to a force sensitive and as most force sensitives in the Republic are Astarii" James trailed off and shrugged
"What happened to the Alterans?" Padme questioned to break the silence
"The recording of an Alteran general, Hippofulralkis, stated that they pulled out of this galaxy and their original home galaxy to combat an enemy in the third galaxy that they inhabited. As they did not return it is safe to assume that they lost." James answered "However before we decide to destroy the ring we do know that the supergate leads to their home galaxy not the enemy occupied one"
"Does it make a difference?" the Dilgar Sha'dur asked "With war with the Galactic Alliance only a matter of time can we afford to leap into the unknown and face perhaps a war on two fronts?"
"Is war with the Alliance truly inevitable?" the Nebari representative questioned
"Unfortunately we see no other outcome" Dukhat replied "Since before the Yuuzhan Vong war ended the Galactic Alliance has constantly screamed for the systems that joined us in the conflict to be returned to them as they truly believe that they are the rightful rulers of those systems. The only reason they haven't attacked yet because although the Peacekeeper High Command predicts total defeat for the Republic in six months they also predict that we will take 60%-80% of the Alliance military with us and that is a death toll that their citizens will not stomach so soon after the Yuuzhan Vong war. Make no mistake though, the High Command, the Intelligence Directorate and our embassy to the Galactic Alliance all agree that it is only a matter of time before their resentment of us outweighs their fear of casualties and they declare war.
"And if that isn't enough" Sha'dur continued "Our Astarii friends have been warning that they have been getting very dark visions involving the Galactic Alliance, mostly revolving around a red lightsaber and a name, Cadeus. It doesn't matter whether the Astarii are truly clairvoyant or if they have such an extensive intelligence network that it makes no difference the fact remains that when the Astarii put their collective hand in the air and say 'we have an ominous feeling of impending doom' they have a 100% success rate."
"That fact alone practically grantees war" Padme interjected "The Sith and the Jedi are united only by their hatred of the Astarii. Whether the Alliance is influenced by the Jedi or controlled by the Sith eventually they will move against the Astarii. Once they do it will be all out war, the Astarii have protected this Republic since before its founding, they deserve nothing less than our full support in return"
"Though I have my reservations about the amount of influence the Astarii have I concede the point" the Nebari representative said tentatively as if he feared being screamed at for daring to criticize the Guardians of the Republic
"I take no offence" James replied "If everyone trusted us implicitly then we would soon go the way of the Jedi succumbing to arrogance and belief in our own superiority. It is in everyone's best interest to maintain an honourable and civilised opposition to ensure debate and keep every individual organisations power in check."
The Nebari representative nodded respectfully to James inwardly moving the Grand Master up several notches on his respect gauge. Most would strive for all the power they could get and not encourage opposition to themselves just as the Nebari government had done for centuries in the dark times. That the Astarii themselves were discomforted by the amount of influence and power they wielded went some way to alleviating the deep seated fear all of his race had for authority after their own government turned on them using brainwashing techniques to force conformity "I repeat Sha'dur's question though" he spoke strongly, less afraid of being shouted down by the permanent members after the previous interaction "If war with the Alliance is inevitable can we afford to send chunks of our fleet off into the unknown?
There was silence around the table as the members pondered their responses
"It is the Astarii's opinion that the potential benefits are worth the risks" James replied after a while "There is little to be learned from the supergate itself as it is just an oversized door and harnessing artificial singularities is completely beyond us but any race advanced enough to build it would have to be extremely powerful and they would have left remnants behind. Even a little of their technology would tilt the balance of power back in our favour."
"Agreed" Dukhat said "however we cannot afford to send any of the Peacekeeper Armada through, the Alliance would see it as weakness and it would increase the likelihood that they will strike"
"Who do we send to explore this new galaxy then?" Sha'dur queried
"If we will not send any ships of the main fleets the only significant force left is the Astarii Battle Group" Padme observed
Several centuries after the Republics founding the Peacekeeper High Command finally got fed up of the Astarii Order constantly requisitioning ships and decided to simply place an entire battle group under their command permanently. This allowed the Astarii to attend to their duties in ships that were actually capable of carrying out the missions required without making the sector commands tear their hair out over the destroyed leave, upgrade, repair and re-supply schedules. The 501st Peacekeeper Legion was also placed under Astarii command by the Grand Army of the Republic for the same reasons. This gave the Astarii far more military punch than the Jedi of the old republic had ever had and it had allowed them to do their jobs to a much higher standard and much more efficiently.
"As much as they hate us the Alliance has always underestimated us" James replied "having the Astarii Battle Group disappear will concern them far less than portions of the Strike Fleets going missing"
"Your forces are rather small though" Sha'dur noted "3 Vengeance Command Carriers, 48 Firestorm Heavy Cruisers, 192 Icestorm Cruisers, 594 Hurricane Frigates and 12 Acclamator class assault ships to transport the men, armour and equipment of the 501st. Will that be sufficient if we meet any enemies on the other side?"
"Not for a full scale war" Dukhat allowed "But in that case we can write off that galaxy and seal the supergate before turning for some other way to address the balance of power."
"To say nothing of the fact that no one will know of our existence in that galaxy" James added "They will have no way of knowing that the rest of the fleet cannot come to our aid which may keep any war limited to small skirmishes and border strikes"
"Both astute points" The Nebari representative agreed "But the deployment of the entire battle group will severely reduce the Astarii presence here and may encourage the more undesirable elements of society to step up their operations"
"On the other hand the reduced Astarii presence may lessen tensions with the Galactic Alliance, at least for a little while" Padme mused "And if the technology we desire does respond only to force sensitives the Astarii are the logical group to send"
The debate went on for several more hours before a consensus was reached.
Andromeda Military Complex – Polaris
James Koren had been watching the 501st Peacekeeper Legion board the Acclamator Assault Ships for some time. The Grand Army of the Republic used the same style of armour as the clone troopers of the old republic did upon its fall. The black flexi layer was made of traditional Kevlar and cortosis weave to protect against both energy and physical strikes but the best enhancement was the nanotech gel layer in the centre of the weave. A thick treacle like liquid it crystallized when energy, either electric or kinetic was applied absorbing vast amounts of energy meaning that even on the weak fibre sections it took at least two direct hits from energy weapons to breach the armour giving Republic soldiers much higher survivability than any others although it meant that the gel layer had to be strained and topped up after each battle.
The plastisteel plates were blood red instead of white and the shoulder pads, helmet streak and chest plate streaks had also changed colour. Now gold streaks and shoulder pads indicated a squad commander, black the standard and heavy troopers and the space marines, bronze the jet troopers and snipers, and blue the engineers and pilots. The helmets also relayed information by a heads up display in the goggles and allowed the wearer to zoom and see in multiple light spectrums including inferred. The name and armour design had been based on the old republics clone troopers to show that the GRP had taken up the torch of democracy and hope when the old republic fell, the colour changes to show that they were still Peacekeepers and a lot was going to change.
"The Acclamators look quite good with their command tower removed don't they?" Council Master Anakin Skywalker asked as he came to stand at James Koren's shoulder
"Yes their dagger shape makes for an excellent quick orbital insertion and invasion ship as does their large troop and armour carrying capacity" James replied "They are a complete liability in space combat though, but then you didn't come here to discuss our military hardware"
"Correct" Anakin said softly "I came to ask if you were totally insane"
"Well it depends on who you ask" James teased
"I'm serious" Anakin replied a slight note of panic creeping into his voice "You can't leave me in charge of the entire Astarii Order, I mean look what happened last time"
"You've come a long way since then" James said turning to face him "and you were elected to the permanent council seat when Bylar Crais was killed in the Yuuzhan Vong war. That should show you how much faith the order as a whole has in you."
"I still don't think I'm ready" Anakin said fearfully "Why me?"
"Because of the fact that you even ask that question" James answered "It is true that you need to seek leadership to be good at it but the ones that feel there is always more to learn before they assume it are often the best leaders. Those that are perfectly confident in their abilities and believe that they are being held back usually lead their people to disaster"
Anakin hung his head remembering how many times he had thought that in his youth. He was wiser now but he still didn't feel ready to lead the entire order
"You will do fine" James said as they both turned to walk towards the lead Command Carrier "The rest of the council apart from myself and Atton is staying and they will help guide you, to say nothing of your wife and two children all of whom are intelligent and experienced and will give you the benefit of their opinions. Besides, I have absolute faith in your abilities" the last was said with a slight smile on his face
Anakin stopped dead "Well that's a hell of a thing to tell someone" he said grinning as he hurried to catch up with his friend
Command Carrier Repulse – Corellia
It was a good thing, James mused, that the supergate was so large other wise the three Rs, Renegade, Repulse and Reliant, would have had to be left behind. As the Command Carriers were 6km long, 1km wide and 1km high they would have to go through in singe file with the other ships following in groups behind. Named because the Astarii Order had been founded by a Jedi renegade, had repulsed all opposition and had been relied upon by the GRP since its founding the Command Carriers of the Astarii Battle Group always bore these names.
Jha'dur stood next to him watching the event horizon draw closer. James had successfully argued that if he was to be sent through with so few ships then he needed a military commander who could make the best out of them. The vote had been close but he had succeeded when the Nebari representative pointed out that he could not command all parts of the expedition personally and having a non Astarii viewpoint in addition to General Corazon Santiago's would only be beneficial.
Both held their breaths as Repulse entered the event horizon carrying with it the hopes of a nation and the promise of freedom for a galaxy enslaved
*The Sovereign Class Super Star Destroyer was designed as an intermediary step between the Executor and Eclipse classes. A Google search is best for this but I will be 'sexing up' the Sovereigns stats as the official ones make it weaker than an Executor. Not something a super weapon obsessed Emperor Palpatine would have stood for I think. That is for later however
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