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Your world was one of those hopeless places. Located in the Outer Rim, far out of reach of the decadent and corrupt Old Republic, your world was once a place of misery. It was once a place where your family was ground to nothing, and suffered under the heel of tyrants and warlords, endlessly warring and killing each other, massacre upon massacre for the sake of vengeance and loot. It used to be a drug state. It used to be that your mineral resources were ripped from the ground and shipped for a pittance to the Outer Rim Moguls, giving them enough for their palaces, for their slaves, while the men who labored in the mines would starve and even die, abandoned because rescue operations were considered unnecessary expenses. It used to be that profit was held above life. It used to be that the people of your world did not consider hope real. But the Empire came for you.

The Empire descended upon your world, bringing warships where the Old Republic wouldn't dare to send scouts, bringing soldiers where the Old Republic wouldn't consider sending emissaries, bringing hope where there was none before. Your world, in truth, was liberated in a few years. Hundreds of thousands of Imperial Troopers shed their own blood, most of them never even having heard of your world before being given the orders to go there to free the poor and impoverished. They suffered and fought, and gave the cry, "Glory!", not for pay or for their own power, but for freedom.

The Empire has sacrificed the blood of its own sons and daughters that you might be free.

Will you give the same?

(+)

THE IMPERIAL ARCHIVES
"GLORY"

COMING SOON

>>3250757
>COMING SOON
so, like... you're not QMing today?

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A long time ago, before this board even existed, I wanted to GM a Star Wars quest, so I gave it a shot, and failed miserably. Since that time, I've learned quite a bit and hope not to re-make those mistakes in pacing, in plot development, in freedom of the players. This quest is for you guys. I hope you enjoy it.

Anyone who's interested in playing this quest, please list some availability over the course of the week. I'd like to do postings and runtime at least twice a week. Full disclosure, I might be changing jobs from a restaurant to some mon-fri blue collar thing soon, so my availability will go from mornings and early afternoons (every day) to evenings (every day).

>>3250833
I might if enough people hop on the thread in the next half hour.

>>3250845
I'll play any day, any time

>>3250845
this time of the day works rather well for me too
t. europe gmt +1

>>3250845
That doesn't really say much mate, since we don't know if you're a yank or euro

>>3250833
Pretty much anytime on weekends, like now. Evenings during the week.

Let's crush some rebel scum.

>>3250887
West Coast USA

>>3250845

I'd prefer playing on weekends.

>>3250845
So what's the premise of this? Will we be an imperial captain? Stormtrooper? TIE pilot? Inquisitor?

GMT+10 here. I can do evening/nights.

THE PREMISE

>The thing that the Star Wars Universe lacked across all of its films, was any amount of Imperial Citizenry. This Quest will be an exploration of the life of the MC, a True Citizen, and will not so much be a focus on rolling dice and scoring hits, but on his heart and mind in relation to the Empire that he owes everything to. This is about his choices and relationships with those he comes across. This is not dnd with d4 goblins. This is =collaborative storytelling=, and it is my hope that the players pitch in with ideas, their thoughts, even stuff from the canon as often as possible. I'm going to write a story, incorporating as many of the sensible posts as I possibly can, no idea going unthought over. Of course, not every idea can be implemented but I'll do my best to do stuff that makes sense and adds to the story.

>>3251170
Ideally the Imperial Navy, I'm watching Horatio Hornblower for some inspo, and I've read the Art of War which is going to help in getting strategy based conflicts, but I'm going to leave it up to the players to a major extent.

>>3252990
Has it never occurred to anyone that there isn't a single normal Imperial Citizen depicted in the Star Wars films? The only exception... is Luke Skywalker's family. Does anyone remember the beginning of Episode IV, that Luke wanted, with no qualms, to join the Empire by enlisting in the Imperial Academy? It wasn't a matter of morals to him, it was just the obvious choice for a backwater kid who wanted to do something worthwhile with his life. Food for thought.

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THE IMPERIAL ARCHIVE BEGINS ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH, AT NOON PACIFIC TIME.

12PM PST
3PM EST
8PM GMT

THE IMPERIAL ARCHIVE WILL BE PLAYED TWICE WEEKLY, SUNDAYS AT THE SAME TIME, AND THURSDAYS AT THE SAME TIME. Thursday may change to be 5 PST (8 EST, 1AM GMT within 2 or 3 weeks, sorry bongs.)

I'd like to join, I'm available most of the time

GOING LIVE IN 5 MINUTES
8PM UTC
12PM PCT

Here are some ground rules and suggestions.
>WRITE INS are the lifeblood of this quest. Your character is a 'real person', who goes through 'real stuff', and has to make 'real choices' as his journey goes on, so the more complex or meaningful the write in, the more helpful it will be.
>Anons who realize or understand things about the character's development, or can remember some motivation he has, and then post those things, will be greatly beloved by the masses. They will also be greatly helping me out to make a good story, since I can't remember or realize every little thing about this quest, despite my efforts.
>Every anon who submits a sweet idea or a legitimate reason to do things will have his voice heard, and most likely implemented. I'll try to acknowledge each good post. Some ideas won't be implemented immediately, and will be filed in my notepad for the future.
>actions inconsistent with the character's development and disposition will be ignored for the most part.
>silly or dumb ideas will be ignored. Occasionally the opposite will be considered and implemented so that the silly or dumb ideas aren't a total waste of space.

>Please help me write this by suggesting stuff, please. All kinds of stuff are welcome; character traits, strategic input, scenery, flavor text, twists, secrets, what's happening to characters we don't see, etc. Please.
>recommendations for programs, music, appearances are welcome.
>posting star wars concept art is a very kind thing to do

>CRITICISM and suggestions for the overall quest are highly encouraged, and will be RELIED UPON to help me to make this the best possible quest I can make.

>DICE ROLLING is encouraged every step of the way since I'm going to be using the results for the MC, for the enemies, for 'diplomacy'. Doesn't matter what kind of dice, I don't care.

>CANON is mostly going to be treated as the Rebel's efforts at propaganda; based on real events, but not entirely true. The general events and characters will be treated as if they did exist, but the finer details will have inevitably been skewed by the Rebellion in order to defame the Empire. Please point out the holes in the Rebels' stories so that we can rebuild the Empire's reputation.

>SMUT will not be written.

>>3261942
DATE 2 Years Before Yavin
Planet Atyrau
Outer Rim

“I didn’t have much growing up. Not like you.” Your father sits across from you and smiles. You sit in a cafe, on the fortieth floor of the Center, the literal center of the city of Astana. The Center is a massive structure, ten kilometers high, two kilometers across, towering over the rest of the city, its shadow falling across the seperate quarters to mark the time of day. It was constructed almost ten years ago by Imperial Reconstructionists, and it quickly filled up with businesses, gardens, apartments, clubs, schools. Underneath the columns, the Grand Station of the transit system shuffles millions of people every day across the city. The Center is the beating heart of Astana, a heart that you watched grow as you grew up, from its foundations when you were four to its completion at ten, then to its fillings and vibrant life. You are now 18, used to the sight and presence of the largest building on the planet. Artists and scholars of Atyrau emerged recently from its schools. Your father hopes you will join them and go to a vocational school too.

He is tired. He worked late last night at the shipyards to finish his assignment so that he could take the day off today. It is a special day, Independence Day, celebrating the Empire’s soldiers who first set foot on Atyrau in order to cleanse it of the literal hundreds of warlords that controlled every square meter of the surface, and who owned the billions of tons of minerals underneath, and who obviously valued the minerals more than the miners. They’re gone now. And your father now works manufacturing in the shipyards. Most holidays he gets the day off, but recently the Imperial High Command commissioned an urgent order for frigates, and all of the shipbuilders were given extra hours, unconditional work orders, and a heavy increase in pay. Independence brought those kinds of benefits as well.

Independence Day is a day that, since after you were born, has been celebrated planet wide, a reminder that things before the Empire were desperate for the common man.

“I didn’t have much at all.” Your father continues, his voice grows quiet as he departs to a time that gave him most of the lines across his face, “I worked in the mines for ten hours per day. I did not take breaks. I always made just enough to feed myself, but sometimes they withheld my pay. I did not get any days off. I did not know that on other planets, people could get educations or could ask for new jobs. I did not know that in some places, for some workers, breaks were mandatory. It is a new thing for me.”

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>>3261980
He picks up some of the fresh bread that you share, and tears it open, smelling it. Much of the steam from within it goes straight into his nose. You can see the bliss on his face as his smile grows. He eats a little and takes a long time between bites.

“The house is a new thing for me. To afford hot food is a new thing for me. You do not know how lucky you are, but I do. But if you were to learn how lucky you are, it would mean you would know what it is like to not have things so good. I think it is best if you never learn how lucky you are.” Your father is smiling despite how heavy his eyes look. The sides of his face crinkle as his smile grows. “This day is special to me. Because you grew up safe. Because with the job I have, I can afford to send you to a good school.”

He looks through the window, towards the city and the new buildings that weren’t there for most of his life. He didn’t often tell you about how he grew up, but you knew it was hard. He couldn’t read, so he worked as a miner since he was strong enough to lift machinery. Your father, for a long time, subsisted off of old bread and textured protein, the same meal every day, always saving his money because he didn’t know when his bosses would ‘forget’ to pay him for the week. His cousin was killed by a gangster that he owed money to. You knew that his wife, your mother, died shortly after you were born. It was actually around the time the Empire arrived, coming to rescue everyone, but your mother died anyway. The Imperial Medics arrived too late, held up by the resistance fighters who would not let the hospital go without a fight. That last one is a story he only told you once. The rest of the stories were about hunger and stress, and about tough work that sometimes killed people in the mines. Some stories you also heard once, and never heard again.

Your father keeps his gaze fixed on the quarter that you both live in, and then puts a hand on his face, over his eyes. He stays silent for a long time.

You hear some laughter behind you. Your friends came to find you. There’s Thalia, she’s a pretty girl that was in your mathematics classes. She likes to hang out in public squares and watch people. Sometimes she watches protesters against the Empire, listens to their shouting, and laughs at the fights they get into with supporters. Then there’s Speeky. He’s been a faithful companion as you both occasionally got into trouble at school for being distracted with talk about movies or games. They’re calling you to see the parade with them, up close. They call out your name.
>what is your name?

>>3261988
Mira Celilale

>>3261988
Val Surrel

>>3262000
>>3261988

I’ll second that.

>>3262012
i like it

>>3261988
>>3262012
support

>>3262000
+1
Although I'd prefer Mina than Mira

>>3262031
>>3262000
>>3262012

Your name is Mina Celilale (pronounced ‘chel ill ale’). Your friends call you “Chelly” or “Chel” sometimes, but “Chelly” is more when they’re antagonizing you.

Your father’s name is Val Surrel Celilale. It’s a name too long for his few friends, so most adults call him ‘Surrel’ and leave it at that.

Speeky waves to your father. “Pop. Got the day off eh?” Speeky’s got long blonde hair that he constantly pushes back every time it covers his eyes. The readjustment is so frequent that Thalia mimes him and pretends to groom herself in a display of the worst kinds of vanity. Speeky continues, “We’re going to the Fourth Quarter, going to see the parade up close. There’s a lot of protesters and troopers out today so we might even get to see a fight. Saw one yesterday. Some angry protester with a sign tried getting in a stormtrooper’s way, and the trooper just walked right over him! Didn’t hit him, just kept walking and the protester just collapsed, it was a righteous display.”

Speeky looks at you and pushes his hair again. “Well Mina? Come with us. I heard there’s already been a few fights today.”

Your father tells you, “Go on ahead. I’d rather watch from up here. I moved a lot of material last night and would only slow you down.” He looks very tired.

>Follow your friends. You haven’t seen them in a few days and it’s a promising adventure to go out and enjoy the festivities.
>Offer to stay with your father. You don’t get to see him often because of your recent schooling and the huge increase of hours he put in, and you’ve only had lunch with him today.

>>3262073
>Offer to stay with your father. You don’t get to see him often because of your recent schooling and the huge increase of hours he put in, and you’ve only had lunch with him today.

>>3262073
>Offer to stay with your father. You don’t get to see him often because of your recent schooling and the huge increase of hours he put in, and you’ve only had lunch with him today.

It's decided based on the trips and the virtue of the name, that this character is female.

I need to make this very clear:
>no fanservice
>no smut
>no sex
>no fornication
>no diddle and a doodle, playing with a noodle

And most important
>no mary sue

DESCRIPTORS:
Mina Celilale is a person, with vices, virtues, and not a whole lot of life experience. Because she's only 18, there isn't much to her yet, having only been raised in a peaceful city, with a few friends, and some schooling. But that's not an excuse for a boring character. What's she like? What sort of small things has she done? Again, she's only 18 with a minimum of life experience so far.

Most important in developing this character will be her choices.

>>3262073
>>Offer to stay with your father. You don’t get to see him often because of your recent schooling and the huge increase of hours he put in, and you’ve only had lunch with him today.
It's not every day you can enjoy Independence with your father. It means more to him than us.

>>3262073
>Offer to stay with your father. You don’t get to see him often because of your recent schooling and the huge increase of hours he put in, and you’ve only had lunch with him today.

>>3262073
>Follow your friends. You haven’t seen them in a few days and it’s a promising adventure to go out and enjoy the festivities.
>>3262097
I had hoped you would say no force user, having every MC being a secret force sensitive is boring.

>>3262097
Without a mother's gentle guiding hand, the rough nature of man has been instilled into Mina. Being raised by a single mineral mining father has made Mina a bit more masculine, tomboyish if you will, than other girls her age. While other girls were learning to sew, the rituals of double-speaking with one another, and the frivolities women are prone to, Mina was training her body by tumbling with the boys.
You could say all traces of feminity were stripped from Mina, save one, the art of cooking. Hearing stories about the harshness of her father's life strove Mina to become a galaxy-class chef, partly from this and because she wanted something to connect herself with her mother who could no longer provide this for them.

>>3262140
Mina has learned much from her father, perhaps some unintended. The stories of the greed of the old bosses have made Mina into something of a miser, knowing exactly how much wealth is on hand and lo to the poor soul who asks charity from Mina, for they will only find an cold heart and a closed fist if they were to attempt force.
Mina admires strength of will and character, becoming headstrong when she is in the right, and loathes the homeless, destitute, and weak, comparing them always to her father who always provided, even with the lowest of wages.

>>3262115
I 100% promise that Mira is not force sensitive at all.

>You have chosen to stay with your father.

“Sorry guys,” you say. “I’m going to stay and appreciate the view. It’s quieter up here.” Speeky and Thalia don’t look surprised, they wave goodbye and leave. “See you later Mina,” says Speeky. “Happy Independence day, Sir,” he says to your father. Speeky speaks to your father in a way that you don’t hear often. By this time you’ve recognized that Speeky respects your father. In most of his conversations with adults, he unintentially says something insulting or dismissive, typical of some of the youth of Atyrau’s cities. He and Thalia go out the doors, seeking the best forms of trouble, and leave you two alone in the cafe.

VIRTUES
>Mina is LOYAL TO FAMILY.
>You have chosen to forfeit an exciting adventure in favor of spending time with your father. You’ve kept in mind his efforts at providing for you and have consistently chosen to let go of some amount of freedom in order to repay him with your respect and company. You have supported him when he needed it, being a reliable pillar of your household as you grew up, doing chores, obeying his requests, and keeping out of the worse kinds of trouble that most of the children your age love. This loyalty makes you boring to your peers, and some make assumptions that you’d be a conformist snitch.

Growing up as a girl on Atyrau wasn’t difficult, especially in the peacetime. Most people had the same instilled hardness against all things difficult, making the women on Atyrau boyish according to the standards of most of the galaxy. You however, are boyish for Atyrau standards. Because you never had a mother, you never connected well with most women, so you never learned the basics of mingling, or how to attract boys, or even how to apply heavy makeup. Your father, however, to make up for the loss of your mother, took on not only more hours at his job, but also spent his days off doing chores.

Father taught you to fold laundry. Father taught you to mend clothes. Father taught you to drive. Father taught you how to clean. Father taught you to budget, and how to buy the kinds of foods that provided adequate nutrition, while not emptying your wallet. Father taught you every possible thing that was necessary to live a clean, dignified life, and you both made no distinction as to whether it was a traditionally male or female task.

He showed you by example the virtue of hard, unceasing work. He showed you how to talk simply, and to get straight to the point. He showed you that despite the difficulty of life, one can persevere, and that it’s not necessary to allow negative feelings to rule over every aspect of your life.

You sit together in the cafe, close and strong.
>what do you say to him?
>what do you talk about?

>>3262184
>what do you say to him?
>what do you talk about?

Nothing and nothing. Enjoy the moment

>>3262184
Ask for another story from the past. Ask about mother.

>>3262184
>>3262238

Your friends have gone. You and your father sit in silence, and watch the parade. No words are necessary. The parade began a short time ago, and you can see a column of bright yellow vehicles and the scarlet Imperial standard sauntering down the Throughway. Little groups of white stormtroopers patrol the avenues, only visible because they cluster together in patches. Sometimes your eyes can follow one as he breaks off from his group to accost somebody, but it’s difficult to keep your eyes on any one person due to the multitudes. The parade approaches the Center, a collection of floats, of brand new mining vehicles, of soldiers and policemen, of youth organizations and bands, of dancers and singers. Massive droids, covered with streamers and paint, crawl in rows and lines. Some of the larger businesses have their own floats with comically sized posters and billboards, a few of them readable from the 40th floor where you sit.

Your father pulls out a camera and films the proceedings. He points the camera at you first, saying, “Smile. Happy Independence Day.” He points it back at the parade, you can see the lense retracting and extending as he focuses on different parts of the parade. Eventually he turns it back to you. “Just like your mother,” he says quietly. He hands you the camera. “Your turn.”

“Dad. What’s your favorite part of the parade?” You ask, focusing on him.

He says nothing and smiles, looking down at the procession. He points at the middle of the column, where perfect squares of white stormtroopers smoothly march, each one holding the scarlet flag. “It’s that color. It’s the scarlet,” he says. “In the mines I couldn’t see any colors, it was too dark.” He reaches his hand out for the camera, and you give it to him. He puts the focus back on the parade.

“But on my last day, when they arrived, I went up the elevator after everyone said that the Imperials took over the mining company. The first color I saw when those doors opened was a Stormtrooper with one of those flags. That flag in the sunlight.” He puts the camera down and turns it off.

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>>3262248
“You know, you were almost born, then. Your mother was so close she could barely walk, and the stress of the Imperials walking around, everyone ready to fight each other, she broke water and I took her to the hospital. The fighting broke out while she was in the delivery room. I could hear guns, just a few floors down. It took days for the hospital to be taken by the troopers. They didn’t want to hurt any of the patients so they didn’t use any explosives. But it took so long.” His eyes water a bit. He covers his eyes like he did before. He composes himself and you see the lines on his face furrow a little deeper, his jaw clenching. “I took you out of the hospital, in my own arms, when the fighting was finally over. When I stepped outside, all I could see were the bodies they drug out. Bodies of Troopers. They didn’t use explosives, they made sure to avoid shooting the structure’s supports. It was tough for them. Bad strategy, for them. They died, hundreds of them, compared to the couple dozen rebels. Hundreds died because they wouldn’t sacrifice the sick in the hospital. There weren’t even that many people in the hospital but they did it anyway. I remember the first word that a stormtrooper said to me. ‘Hail citizen,’ he said.”

Your father picks up the camera again and you both sit in silence, as the parade continues.

...

The doors to the cafe open and you suddenly hear loud, heavy footsteps. Three stormtroopers stride directly over to your table. “[Stop the recording],” the lead one says. “[Hand over the recording device.]” Your father puts the camera down, but doesn’t immediately give it to the Stormtroopers. The lead trooper doesn’t flinch and extends his hand. “[Is there something on that recording you don’t want us to see, citizen?]”

What do you do?
>Suggest to your father that he hand over the recording device. The Troopers are doing their job. It is well known that the Rebels have been video recording major landmarks and Imperial events for uses in their propaganda.
>Protest. They’ve just interrupted a very nice moment with your father, and cut his story short. Their efforts at intimidation are severely misplaced.

>>3262281
>>Suggest to your father that he hand over the recording device. The Troopers are doing their job. It is well known that the Rebels have been video recording major landmarks and Imperial events for uses in their propaganda.

>>3262281
>Suggest to your father that he hand over the recording device. The Troopers are doing their job. It is well known that the Rebels have been video recording major landmarks and Imperial events for uses in their propaganda.

Stormtroopers don't take no for an answer. Maybe if they were imperial army.

>>3262281
>>Protest. They’ve just interrupted a very nice moment with your father, and cut his story short. Their efforts at intimidation are severely misplaced.

My father has nothing to hide! We'll show you what's on it.

>>3262300
They're Stormtroopers. Officially, an 'insurgency' still exists on your planet, and the Stormtroopers are a common sight, despite the attitude of peacetime. The Imperial Army is on other worlds, doing trench-style mass warfare.

>>3262300
>>3262290

The stormtroopers on either side of the lead step next to you and your father, essentially surrounding you. “[I encourage you to cooperate, citizen. Please remain seated, and pass over the camera, or you will be interpreted as hostile.]"

Your heart pounds. “Dad,” you say. “It’s their job. Please.” Your father looks at you and silently hands the camera to the speaker, slowly.

You notice that the lead trooper’s armor is a little different from his two companions. The armor is a brighter white, and there are some red and blue squares, signifying rank, on his chest. The lead stormtrooper pulls out a cable and connects it to the camera. Minutes go by as he sorts through your videos. The tension you feel dissapates as you realize he’s listening to the stories your father just told, not finding anything at all of concern. Eventually he finishes and hands the camera back, carefully. You hear a click as the trooper turns off his voice scrambler.

“Thank you for your cooperation, citizens.” His voice is quiet. "I apologize. Everyone's on high alert right now."

“[Sir,]” The stormtrooper standing behind you points toward the parade. “[The parade stopped.]” You look down, and notice that the massive yellow miner trucks taking part in the parade have halted, holding up the rest of the procession. Some of the clusters of troopers make their way over to them and surround them.

The lead trooper turns his scrambler back on. “[Get eyes on the building tops. Something’s happening.]” As you watch the movement of the troops below, you see a sudden flash. You hear a loud pop, and realize that some explosives are going off. In the crowd. The parade goes through a sudden change; and now blaster fire starts flying from every possible angle around the Throughway into the people below, and the miner trucks start turning and racing in every direction, running over people and soldiers indiscriminately.

>What do you do?

>>3262281
>>Suggest to your father that he hand over the recording device. The Troopers are doing their job. It is well known that the Rebels have been video recording major landmarks and Imperial events for uses in their propaganda.

>>3262358
Ignore that one, I'm slow
>>3262354
Look for our friends out the window, hoping they're safe.

>>3262354
Search with your eyes, if there is any window near where we can see someone shotting on the crowd and indicate it to the troopers. Then stay inside with dad and call your friends, they need to escape.

>>3262381
and try not to vomit.

>>3262354
Dad, let's go home.

>Almost forgot
VIRTUES
>Mina is COOPERATIVE WITH AUTHORITY. Mina has learned over the course of her life that it’s better to not stir up trouble with people who have guns, especially if they’re the people who control and administrate over where you live. While some of the youth defy such antiquated concepts as authority and peacekeeping, you prefer to co-exist with the Powers that Be. This is something you learned from your father, who practiced this to survive his time in the mines.

>but what would make your father hesitate in giving up the camera in the first place?

___________
cont.

In shock, you stare at the lights flying below, at the fires burning, at the littered people who aren’t moving, and it occurs to you that you’re facing the fourth quarter. Your brain puts together that Thalia and Speeky can’t have gone far, that they’d be right next to the procession, and your face and hands go cold as you realize the implications. You get dizzy.

But while you stand there, incapable of moving, you force yourself to at least start looking around. The stormtroopers on either side of you pull out their guns, long rifles with scopes. The one closest to you starts kicking at the window, the close noise and force shocking you to move a bit, to at least crouch behind the window sill. But the draw of the thoughts of your friends is too much, you lift your head up and the smallest part of your face stays above the sill so you can see. You can’t take your eyes off the carnage below. The glass above you shatters and the trooper sets up his gun. The percussive ring of the rifle jolts through your chest each time he fires, and you can see the trail of the shot, into the buildings below, at targets only he can see. But you do notice on one of the buildings, off to the right, a few men in camoflauge setting up a large contraption. You realize it’s a giant machinegun. You panic and point at it, screaming. The trooper next to you pushes you down, “[FUCKING, GET OUT]” He shoots in the direction of the gunners while you crawl away from the window.

You see your dad crouched down, next to the officer. The officer is standing far from the window with a pair of visors, looking into the carnage and listing locations and coordinates. The officer stops his deluge of numbers. “[Command. They’re driving the trucks toward the Center. I saw drilling equipment on those trucks. Repeat Command. They are driving all of the trucks toward the Center.]”

He goes silent. Then continues. "[No Command. No, we won't have the capabilities. No grenades. Just small arms. No, Command. No, sir. Yes, sir.]"

Your dad crawls over to you and grabs your arm. “Time to go. Stay close to me.” Suddenly, a hail of blaster fire flies through the windows, and you can hear one of the troopers screaming. You don’t look as your father pulls your arm with all of the strength of his time in the mines, half dragging you out of the cafe and into the hallway, where dozens of other people run, some aimlessly, some huddling as deep in the area as they can, making phone calls, some holding their heads in their hands.Your father runs to an elevator, not letting you go, your arm hurting more than anything’s hurt in a long time thanks to his iron grip. He slams his fists into the buttons of the elevator to go to the base of the Center. He doesn’t even speak. You look back towards the cafe to see the officer as the lone survivor of his small squad. He’s holding a rifle in one hand, crouched behind the window sill among the blood of his companions. You can hear him shouting. The machinegun fire isn’t going into the cafe anymore.

You hear a screeching, grinding noise that shakes through your body and makes your teeth bang against each other. It is so loud and so powerful that you see double. You can see your father’s eyes grow wide, and for the first time, you see a look of shock, which evolves into the fear of death, as he realizes what’s happening.

“They’re drilling at the support columns.”

The screeching and grinding returns, but twice as loud. It incapacitates you briefly as the shudders of the building reverbate through your bones and brain.

You can hear the muffled sound of your father shouting. He points at the elevator and motions downward, grabs you by the arm again and hauls you in. He hits the buttons on the side of the elevator and braces himself against the wall. The screeching returns and the elevator goes dark, and shudders. It drops by a couple feet and your stomach lurches until you bang your head on the floor. Your father is still braced, ready for it to collapse, you can hear him screaming at you. You can barely move, much less take up the same stance.

>>3262462
Hurry, ImperialHistorian! The suspense is killing me!

>>3262497
In the darkness you see your father abandon his safer spot on the wall, and he reaches over, with both hands, trying to pull you up. The screeching returns. You can’t see anything. You feel your father pull you close as the elevator goes into free fall. The angles change. You’re weightless. You hear only a pop, and then you don’t hear anything.

...

...

Everything hurts.

You can’t see anything.

You can’t hear anything. You try to say something but your jaw won’t move.

...


Hours pass. You can only drift through the purgatorial limbo, fading in and out of consciousness. You realize you don’t feel your dad moving. You can only make a sound that you can’t even year, but you feel your lungs moving.


...

A light opens up above you. You still can’t hear. But you can at least see a bit. Your vision is foggy but you can see light drifting through clouds of dust. You can almost hear sirens. The light above you increases, and you see the doors of the elevator opening, but the angle is all wrong. It’s sideways. Your brain processes that the elevator is sideways.

>>3262502
You can see Imperial Troopers walking around behind a single trooper with a massive crowbar prying open the doors. There is dust floating everywhere.

You fade in and out of consciousness as Troopers and Rescue Operatives manage to reach into the elevator to pull you out. You’re carried on a stretcher. Lowered by ropes. Carried again. You see wreckage, everything sideways, gravity having pulled everything loose into neat piles against the unnaturally tall walls. The walls are not walls anymore, just craggy rocks and concrete and glass. The floors are not floors anymore, having become the walls of the structure you’re being pulled out of. It occurs to you again that everything is sideways.

Your hearing starts to return as you look from the stretcher. You’re carried outside. You can see the ruins of some buildings. You can see a few empty miner trucks, blood coating the insides. You can see rows of dead soldiers. You can see rows of dead civillians.

You look from the streets upward. The Center no longer occupies its customary place in the sky. Instead you see ruins. You see that the Center fell. It fell across the city.

You awaken in a bed. You can’t move still, but when you try to flex you realize that you can. You feel soft things covering your face, your arms, your torso, and you realize that you’re wrapped in bandages. You can hear machines whirring and droids babbling softly. You can turn your head slightly and you see that you’re only one of a row of hundreds of people in beds. The amount of white you see is surreal.

A droid approaches you. It is also white. “Celilale, Mina. Daughter of Celilale, Val Surrel. Confirm please.”

You nod as best as you can.

“Celilale, Mina. You will be pleased to know that your closest relative, Celilale, Val Surrel, is still alive. You will be pleased to know that your acquaintance, Nessence, Thalia, is still alive. You will not be pleased to know that your acquaintance, Hauser, Speck, is unaccounted for.”

...

You spend the next couple weeks in bed. You learn from the televisors the official counts of the dead and wounded. Approximately 40,000 dead. Approximately 170,000 wounded. You watch endless cycles of aerial footage of the fallen building, draped over the third quarter, with houses, stores, even a school, underneath it. Day by day, the Rescue Operators dig through more of the rubble and try to remove sections of the building with large ships. The toll grows every day.

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END SESSION. DEBRIEF TO FOLLOW.

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>>3262582

Good run there, OP. A lot better than most of the writing I usually see here.

>>3262582
it was good.
the rebel scum will pay.

You are finally well enough to walk the ten feet necessary to get to your father’s bedside. It’s a bad sight. He’s covered in bandages. His head has a special helmet on it, covered with electronics and hoses. There are some tubes running through his nose. It occurs to you that his bed is shorter than everyone else’s. His legs are missing, replaced by white stumps. Vaccuum tubes run through is torso to regulate his fluids and air. “Dad,” you say. You look at the charts above him and notice that there’s a screen that reads brain activity. While everyone else’s has a constant kaleidoscope of data, his reads with only a slight pulse.

“I’m sorry, kid.” You turn to see a young man watching you. He is dressed in Stormtrooper armor. He has red and blue squares across his chest. “The droids told me that he was basically the cushion to your fall in the elevator. Took about forty floors worth of gravity for you.” The young man’s head is shaved. He has intense blue eyes, intense not with horror but with grief.

“I saw the tapes,” he said. “When I looked through your camera, I listened to that story about your mother. I’m sorry. It’s a weakness of Imperial tactics in civillian quarters, same weakness that got us today. It was our refusal to do anything that would risk collateral damage. So no grenades. No explosives. We couldn’t do anything about the trucks today except climb onto them and try shooting the drivers through the windows. And back then it meant we couldn’t get through the hospital in time to save your mother, while if we had used grenades it would have put people at risk, but it would have also been faster.”

“Imperial Tactics. Purposefully vulnerable.” He says nothing for a while, as you watch your father listlessly go through the motions of breathing. You notice your father’s left eye isn’t facing the same direction as his right.

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>>3262689
“I can’t undo what happened to your father. But I do know that the hospital won’t be able to take care of him forever.” The Stormtrooper stiffens a little. “I don’t want to pressure you. But I do know that you would be of great service to the Empire. It’s also a way to provide for your father. I did some thinking, and I know that if you stay here it’s going to be difficult to get a job. Lots of people are leaving here. But if you take this, you can go to the Academy.”

He hands you a black card, with the Imperial Insignia in silver. “That is an official Recommendation to Service with Compensation. Officers get an allowance of two or three of them, to hand them out to civilians they see demonstrate aptitude for war. It includes the cost of transportation to the academy, where you get quarters and three square meals a day as long as you attend, along with enough comission money sent back to your father to keep him on life support as long as you’re attending. Then if you graduate the comission increases. Might be able to help him recover, even.”

“I’m doing this because I went through the Scout’s helmet camera. I saw you assist my Scout to spot the machinegunners. You saw them before they set up, which gave us a chance to hit them first. If you hadn’t have done that, they would have killed far more than they did. You should be proud for taking the initiative like that. Most people would have run. You know, at first I thought you were just lucky, being in the right place at the right time to see them, but when I think about your father, I realize that you’ve actually got the blood of a very noble man in your veins.

You remember that you were only looking at the carnage because of the shock, and that you simply couldn’t resist watching out of sheer horror. You realize that in a way, you were mostly in the right place at the right time.

>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday.
>Explain your fear first and hope he doesn’t revoke the recommendation.

This will be the last story post until Sunday. Awaiting votes, speculation, comments, ideas, critiques, etc.

>>3262691
It was a brilliant masterstroke. You should be proud of your writing capabilities

>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday.

>>3262691
>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday
Good job op, I'm liking it already

>>3262691
>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday
It seems more in character for her to do this instead of confiding her fears to a person she does not know personally.

>>3262691
>Explain your fear first and hope he doesn’t revoke the recommendation.
Lie and deception is unbecoming of a proud Imperial citizen

>>3262691
>>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday.

>>3262691
>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday.

Good quest. Very well written and has some novel concepts

>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday.

Once, just ONCE there will be a star wars imperial quest where you don't play as a female. The stereotypes are alive and well on qst.

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>>3263998

The power of boners is strong here.

>>3262691
>>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday.
>>3263998
Well we voted for it.

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GOING LIVE IN 1 HOUR AT 20 UCT

Sorry everyone, but I've got work in 4 hours so this session's only going to last about 2 hours.

In the meantime, please enjoy this poster.

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Your votes have been counted. In a nearly unanimous decision, you've chosen to...
>>Take the recommendation. Say nothing. Resolve to be brave like he assumes you already are. This will assuredly secure the comission so that your father can live, and maybe recover someday.

>The officer holds out the card. "Here," he says. "Congratulations." He thinks you're something of a hero in the making. He thinks you took the initiative to help his team combat the Rebel terrorist attack. The truth is, you were scared, and you only happened help by looking in the right place at the right time. And even though you know it would essentially be a lie to keep the officer in the dark regarding the truth of the situation, you choose to say nothing.
>You take the card, and choose to be an honored attendent of the Academy. But your newfound career as a member of the Imperial Armed Forces is based on a lie.

[1 MONTH PASSES]

It's been a long month. You spent most of the time in the hospital, healing broken bones, coming to terms with the fact that you just went through a terrorist attack that destroyed the Megastructure at the heart of your city. The city that you grew up in is in chaos, and most people who have the means to leave, do, in hope of finding someplace more intact. You can see on the news that the city of Astana is practically dead, and Atyrau has gone from being a peacetime planet to a geurilla battleground. You hear about attacks every day. You're also trying to adjust to the fact that your father saved your life, but at the cost of his body and brain.

His only hope of recovery lies with you. You were just given a Reccomendation to Service with Compensation (RSC), an acknowledgement of your actions during the attack. But your reception of the RSC comes at a cost; you have essentially lied to the officer who gave it to you. He believed that your actions were due to bravery and the ability to function under pressure. It was more that you were lucky to see a nest of Rebels, while you looked out the window in horror at the thought of your friends dying. It was not an act of cowardice, per se, but a gut reaction of a girl who had never been through a taumatic event of that magnitude.But you didn't tell the officer that. Despite the fact that you knew, to the core, that you were not the potential hero that he saw. You withheld the truth in order to save your father.

VIRTUES
You have demonstrated LOYALTY TO FAMILY again, taking the option that would 100% ensure that your father stays on life support. But...

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VICES
>You have sacrificed some integrity.
You are essentially a LIAR. By embracing this lie, you have secured the life of your father. But you know this little lie will forever be the basis of your career with the Imperial Armed Forces. You will be forced to either keep it secret, or to reveal that you allowed the false perceptions of the officer to give you a commission. The longer you keep this lie, and the greater lengths you go to uphold it, the more you will become accustomed to lying for your own purposes.

You have chosen to be MORALLY COMPROMISING IN DESPERATE SITUATIONS. You wonder if your father would have accepted your choice to pretend to be a hero in order to save his life. Then again, you wonder if he would have done the same as you, if your life were on the line. While you aren't exactly an unconscionable rebel, you have taken a step in that direction by forgoeing honesty.

>If you had chosen to be honest, and to correct the officer, you would have demonstrated the virtues of NOBILITY and HONESTY. You also would have gained [EXTREME] INTEGRITY. All those things are highly prized traits that the Empire would have been glad to reward.

CONSCIENCE
Your conscience is not exactly heavy because the life of your father is that important to you, but you are aware of the fact that you will need to maintain the lie of heroism in order to keep the RSC. It may get much harder to maintian this lie if you do not demonstrate the bravery and functionality that you are now expected to have. If you do not maintain this lie, your father will be at extreme risk. Lying to Imperial Authorities for money or rank is punishable as the crime of Perjury, which would definitely result in the revocation of the RSC, meaning you will not be able to afford the life support systems that would keep him alive.
>Perjury is a crime that mostly Rebels and corrupt authorities are charged with.

You are also aware that if you had chosen to tell the truth, the Imperial Officer might have insisted on giving you the RSC anyway, as INTEGRITY is a rare thing in the Galaxy, and is something that most men on the ground wish their superiors had.

FEELINGS
Your father is nearly braindead. The quiet life that you both lived is now gone. You almost died when the Center fell across the city that you've lived in your entire life. You've witnesses more death in a day than most people ever will in their entire lives. You spent the last month, nearly immobile, only ever brooding over all of these facts.

>So how exactly do you feel?
>What do you resolve to do?
>What do you hope for?
>What would you have done, if you could go back?

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Mina Celilale has not yet been given a physical description. For the next couple sessions, the floor is open as to her looks. Post pics.

>>3271035
>>So how exactly do you feel?
Fearful of the future yet excited. We finally have the chance to influence the galaxy and leave our dying planet. Yet the condition of father worries us greatly. Is he ever going to wake up? Is he going to be the same?
>>What do you resolve to do?
Repay the empire for giving you the chance and opportunity to excel.
>>What do you hope for?
Father's recovery. A good career in the Imperial Forces that he'll be proud of.
>>What would you have done, if you could go back?
Nothing. Regrets are wasteful.

>>3271035
OK, I actually regret voting to take the recommendation without saying anything now that you explained what It really means, oh well.

>So how exactly do you feel?
Pissed at the rebels for what they did.
>What do you resolve to do?
Get our revenge by fighting for the Empire.
>What do you hope for?
For the Rebellion to be no more, and for our father to recover.
>What would you have done, if you could go back?
Not lie about our bravery, in hindsight it was morally wrong and we only done it to secure the commission that we likely still would have gotten if we were honest.

>>3271104
>>3271130

Hey anons, I'm going to wait for about 15 more minutes. If more people don't show up I'm going to end the session for now, and get it going again on Thursday, at 20UTC.

>>3271130
I'm sorry Anon. I should have made the character's conscience louder at the time. I'll do better to explain the character's perception of consequences before the choice can be made, but my goal is to make a quest where the character has to make difficult choices in morally difficult situations. It's meant to be tough, and there will inevitably be more occasions where the 'wrong' choice was made. I hope this will encourage the players to think about their choices and put some effort into this too, since there's going to be a lot more difficult stuff down the road. But on the bright side, that choice has suddenly made the MC complex and conflicted. We've escaped marysuedom.

>>3271160
yeah mate it's fine don't worry about it.

>>3271035
>So how exactly do you feel?
Angry. Very angry. Your peaceful life was destroyed by terrorists. You lost nearly everything that makes your life.
>What do you resolve to do?
Bringing vengeance and justice to the rebels
>What do you hope for?
The defeat of the rebels and a long career in with the Empire
>What would you have done, if you could go back?
Tell the truth. But you know that you could not have told the truth because you were afraid.

A couple of question qm, do we get to choose the branch we serve after graduation ? Are we going to be an officer or a grunt?

Currently writing. Please be patient.

>>3271221
Depending on your scores, you will be given the option to choose any branch during your stay in the Academy, and your graduation will be your official enlistment in that branch. But Officership is only for those with sufficient aptitude.

That being said, I do have a major bias towards Naval officership, but if the players can't demonstrate sufficient strategic aptitude, then it won't be an option.

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We HERO OF THE EMPIRE now?

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You're well enough to travel, but you're weak, physically. You go to the Transport Station, according to the directions on your RSC card. You've handed off your excess belongings and the things at your home to a Liquifier Corporation in exchange for a lump sum, all of which went towards a deposit at the hospital for your father. It's enough to keep him alive for a few months, if things at the Academy don't work out. At the station, Troopers stand in groups at every corner, checking and rechecking identifications, asking questions, pointing in various directions, confiscating bags. They are all extremely tense, and it's surprising to see how many people they simply turn away from the station, or take away for questioning. You see the aftermath of a beating. One man lay on the ground, blood on the concrete, while some troopers stood around him staring at the passers-by. You can see one trooper emptying out a bag next to him, clothes falling to the ground and soaking up a bit of the blood. A blaster falls out and lands softly among the clothing.

But all it takes for you to pass through is your RSC card. At every checkpoint, the card gets scanned, your face gets scanned, and then you get waved along. No troopers ask you any questions. One says, "[Good luck kid.]"

There are multitudes of people around you. Most would consider themselves refugees. Most whisper questions to each other, questions that aren't for the ears of the troopers on every corner. They are questions of doubt and fear. As you walk towards the transport, you realize that there's a common expression on everyone's faces. The reflective alloys of the station act as mirrors, and through the angles, you can see the faces of the crowd. Almost every person has a slightly hunched look to them, their eyes pointed down, only on the next few steps. They are all afraid of the rebels, of being attacked. They are all afraid of death.

And in a sudden moment of clarity, you realize that you... aren't. You have a slight anxiety about the future; but that's buried underneath an extrordinary swell of wrath in your soul. Your home, as you knew it, is gone. Your father's life was basically ripped from him by terrorists. Everything your father worked for; a quiet life for you, has been taken from you, and you realize that there is no hope for a normal life anymore. Your fists shake, and you can't help but stop and look at the sea of faces, faces of fear. You see your own reflection. You used to be mostly expressionless, a perk of living quietly, but you see instead the expression of rage, your teeth show, your head is tilted, your eyes dark from the shadow of your forehead. You have never seen this look on your face before. It is ugly. But you embrace it. And there is another surge of wrath for the realization that the Rebels have destroyed your innocence and forced you to give up the virtuous life that your father would have been most content for you to live.

>>3271293

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVTN8BGe4-s


You lied in a moment of weakness, making the choice that would save your father, but essentially taking advantage of the Imperial Officer's misperception. But you have chosen to fulfill his expectation, and you resolve to be brave, and to fight to be the woman that he believes you to be. You owe the Empire a debt for taking care of your father, and you will repay it.

To yourself, you make a promise. You realize that the Empire has given you, on a silver platter, a chance to both avenge your father and to save him, and to bring vengeance to the Rebellion for the life that you could have had. It seems like a distant hope, but you know that if you can make it, that you can help heal your father and at the same time, contribute to the eradication of the Rebel scum that infests the Galaxy.

The ramp into the transport is steep and wide. While you walk slowly up it you realize that you are no longer standing on the soil of Atyrau, and won't be for a long, long time. You turn around to look at your home for the last time. The city of Astana seems much smaller without the Center, and you can see a few parts of the skyline where some buildings are gone, swept away when the Center fell.

While you look at the skyline, you hear your name. You look into the crowd going up the ramp, and you suddenly see... Speeky, approaching you. Last you heard, the droid in the hospital said he was unaccounted for.

"Hey Mina." Speck Hauser, your childhood friend, walks up the ramp to you, carrying only a couple bags over his shoulders. "You survived." Something's wrong with Speeky. He's thinner, paler, as if he hasn't been eating much. He looks like he hasn't slept. His hair that he'd normally keep so long that it would hit his eyes, is now about as short as a finger width. Speeky also isn't smiling. He didn't have any sort of snappy greeting. His eyes are red. They're bloodshot, and they look directly into yours. He has an intensity that you have never seen.

You board the ship in silence, finding a table where you can sit alone. He looks exhausted and almost collapses into his seat. He stares at you, not speaking.

You say, "I'm going to Corescant, to attend the Imperial Academy."

"Really?" Speeky looks shocked, on top of everything else. "How'd you get your application processed so fast?" He starts to blink rapidly and stutters, his voice is a little high. "I mean, congratulations. I'm going to the academy too. They just processed mine. I got started early. Great scores. Good medical. Evaluations." He clears his throat and continues. "Wasn't easy." Something's not right with Speeky.


2 SETS OF CHOICES
THE RSC CARD
>Tell him about the RSC Card, omitting the truth about how you don't actually deserve it. He doesn't need to know. It's enough that you're going to the academy together.
>Tell him about the RSC Card, and resolve to tell him the truth about how you got it during the journey.. He's your friend. You grew up together some. Speeky would understand.

SUSPICIOUS
>Ask him about the Application. Something's not right.
>Don't ask him what he's acting weird about. That's his business. And you have secrets of your own.

>>3271333
>Tell him about the RSC Card, omitting the truth about how you don't actually deserve it. He doesn't need to know. It's enough that you're going to the academy together.

We should try to right our lie by our actions, but we shouldn't let people know about the truth. plus if we have a falling out he can't use it against us.

>Ask him about the Application. Something's not right.

>>3271267
Good to have choices. I'm more of a TIE pilot guy myself.
>>3271333
>Tell him about the RSC Card, omitting the truth about how you don't actually deserve it. He doesn't need to know. It's enough that you're going to the academy together
>Ask him about the Application. Something's not right.

Music for the meantime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6nEquwuhM

>>3271333
>Tell him about the RSC Card, omitting the truth about how you don't actually deserve it. He doesn't need to know. It's enough that you're going to the academy together.
>Ask him about the Application. Something's not right.

>>3271333
>>Tell him about the RSC Card, omitting the truth about how you don't actually deserve it. He doesn't need to know. It's enough that you're going to the academy together
>>Ask him about the Application. Something's not right.
The courage we lack today will be shown in battle. No one needs to know.

>>3271079

Speeky's looking at you intensely. He can't figure out how you were given admission into the academy so quickly, but he's acting strangely about his own application. “I got the RSC. The Empire's going to pay for my father to stay on life support.” You search his face and question him; “What's going on, Speeky? Your application.” You ask him this, trying to draw out why he's acting strangely about it, despite your own secrets about the RSC. Everything's changed. The friendship that you had growing up wasn't sufficient for you to confide the truth with him. You realize that the friendships that most people have as they grow up are shallow and based on simply having fun, but when things get tough, there's no loyalty for things as small as a few school adventures. But you hope to prove yourself later, and

VICES
You have chosen to be CONNIVING. Before it was a moment of weakness to withhold the truth, but now you have made it a life choice. You've chosen to hold your own secrets and try to draw out other's. You've chosen to put up a facade, even around people you call friends, in order to preserve the image that others have of you.

VIRTUES
You are SEEKING REDEMPTION. You hope to prove yourself through being virtuous in battle, to be a hero, to make up for the things that weigh on your conscience.

Speeky doesn't respond, at first. You see his face grow cold. He has changed from a mischief making boy to... something else. “Just some beaurocratic hangups.” He narrows his eyes at you. “The RSC huh? Didn't figure you to be a hero.” You aren't used to this. You've only ever had light conversations with Speeky, and never had to keep a secret like this before, and his gaze makes you extremely nervous. He looks away from you. The conversation is over.

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>>3271437
Nearly a week has passed aboard the transport ship to Corescant. While the ship approaches the Imperial Capital, you sit at the observation deck with Speeky. He hasn't said much else during the journey. You can see him brood by himself most of the time. The planet Corescant is massive, covered with lights and cities, more than you could ever imagine being fit onto a single planet surface.

The transport lands, and as you depart with Speeky, the smell of electricity hits your nose. The city of Astana was nothing compared to the Imperial Sector of Corescant, completely made up of housing, schools, training facilities, great halls. The lights at every angle hum and blind you until your eyes adjust to all of the artificial lights. The buildings tower over you. As you walk off of the ramp, you see a row of Imperial Officers, in their crisp gray uniforms. All of them have red and blue on their chest. They stand at perfect attention, and you approach them. A few young adults from the transport walk with you and you gather in a group in front of them. They do not look at you, staring only straight ahead. The rest of the passengers of the transport have left. There are only citizens of Atyrau standing before them, huddled together, alone in the station, waiting for the officers to do something. But the officers display a perfect discipline.

Before long, an officer at the end of the line, more red and blue on his chest than his peers, takes a step forward. He speaks with a commanding force, every syllable clear.

"It is to my understanding that you are citizens of a planet that has recently undergone an attack by a rebel cell. Most of you already had applications submitted before the attack, meaning that you have chosen to be loyal long before the rebels could give you a reason to be. The only exception is a recipient of the RSC. Will that citizen stand forth?"

You take a few steps out of the group. "Here, sir."

The officer looks at you. His face has not changed since you first saw him. "To receive the RSC indicates aptitude worthy of a loyal citizen. Will you explain your actions that merited the RSC?"

>What do you say?

>>3271448
>You suddenly become aware that what you say in front of your fellow cadets will be how they judge you.
>Speeky's watching.
>You are aware that sufficient details will cause jealousy in some.
>You are aware that if you give sufficient details about what happened, you will inspire respect in some.
>You are aware that if you do not give a sufficient response, you will have not answered the Officer's question completely. This will make the officers gathered in front of you think negatively of you.

>>3271448
Tell him that during the attack on the Center we spotted terrorists setting up a machine gun and pointed an Imperial Scout at them before they could finish and murder even more people.

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>>3271079
I have a few pics. Feel free to vote for your favorite.

>>3271463
>>3271466
Hopefully that's enough detail, the only thing I vote to leave out is how we were actually scared the whole time.

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>>3271079

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>>3271079
3

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>>3271079
4

>>3271466
This works. Plus tell them how we got wounded doing that.

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>>3271079
5

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>>3271079
6

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>>3271079
Finally

“During the attack, I was in the Center. I happened to see some rebels setting up a machinegun on a building below and pointed it out to the Scout next to me. I also happened to survive the collapse of the Center. That is all. Sir.”

The officer raises an eyebrow. “Happened to see some rebels? According to the report, you took initiative to look over the ledge, actively helping the scout.” You can feel the stares of the cadets behind you, and the officers in front of you start to look at you, breaking the stiff rank of staring straight ahead.

What do you do?
>Double down. Lie and say you took the initiative. Obviously a full report was made on the event, and if you choose to contradict it, you will be seen as an opportunist by the officers, and the cadets that you're arrayed in front of.
>Fold. Tell the truth. It's still early enough that it can be seen as integrity, just a little belated.

All write ins encouraged, all the time.

>>3271466
Supporting

>>3271511
Make it look like we just downplayed ourselves on purpose because we're humble, humility is a virtue after all.

>>3271511
>>Double down.
It is true. I did not want the terrorists to hurt anyone else. But the true hero in this situation was the brave scout. I was just an unarmed civilian.

>>3271511
Yes. Play it as a little humility.

>>3271523
supporting

“I apologize for the lack of clarity, sir. Yes, I looked over the ledge. To help. There were people dying, sir. But the Scout made the shots that actually saved people, sir.” You've pulled it off. You've posed as humble, covering the slight contradiction that the officer pointed out in front of the new cadets and officers. When you're all dismissed, you look at the faces of your fellow cadets. Most of them look at you with some admiration. One with awe. But Speeky looks into your face, and you can't tell what's going on with him. His face is a smooth glass. "A hero," he says to you.

The officers wave you all into a nearby shuttle. On the trip, nearly everyone is silent. You can see a large square building in the distance, and as it approaches you can see the gargantuan Imperial Standards, massive sails with the Imperial Symbol on it, the crimson of blood and freedom. You depart the shuttle as a group and go into the Academy. You're outfitted with a light gray cadet's uniform, with no red or blue to signify rank. You are shown to your quarters, a room where you can be alone to think. You're given orders to attend an induction ceremony tomorrow, where you will wear the uniform and be presented along with your fellow new cadets before all of the current cadet corps in training.

>You are now Cadet Celilale. Your first name will not be used by the Imperial Armed Forces.
>Speeky is now Cadet Hauser.
>Officially, you are Junior Cadet Celilale, 115th Cadet Corps of Atyrau.

VICES
You have chosen to double down on the secret, outright lying to claim that you were a hero. You have again, chosen to be a LIAR, not just by hiding the truth, but by telling a lie.
You have chosen to feign humility. You CONTROL THE PERCEPTIONS OF OTHERS through your deciet.

>>3271547
Great session everyone.

IMPERIAL ARCHIVES will continue on THURSAY, AT 20UTC

>more write ins, speculation, etc encouraged before then.

Before the next session, I would like everyone to put in as many arguments for what branch to try to join. There are 3 choices:

>Military/Ground Forces
To join the Ground Forces means to be on the ground, facing the Rebel insurgency. It's dirty, it's dangerous, and it involves a lot of waiting to be shot at. These days, it involves a lot of diplomacy with the natives of whatever world you're defending/occupying.
>Navy
By far, the most prestigious of the branches. You would get to explore the outer regions of space, participate in grand strategy, and live a reasonably comfortable life aboard whatever ship you would be stationed on. It is a great way to enter politics, since there's sometimes not much to do aboard a vessel but engage in power struggles with fellow officers.
>Fighter Corps
The most fast paced of the branches. This is a job for daredevils. Most ships don't have shields, but you get to go faster than most people can handle. It's the most adrenaline inducing job, since every fighter pilot has a dance with death every time he deploys.

>pls say Navy

>>3271575
>>Navy

>>3271575
I like the Navy but we already have one imperial admiral quest already so it's the ground forces or fighter corps for me. And being in the navy would take a longer time to be promoted. I'd be absolutely fine if we pick the Navy of course.

I like these two the most
>>3271474
>>3271484

These two can be used if we join the army
>>3271479
>>3271488

Or for the fighter corps
>>3271495

>>3271634
agreed

>>3271575
>Fighter Corps.

>>3271575
>Fighter Corps
It's suicidal but it's fun

>>3271575

I’ll be the one vote for the ground-pounders, then.

>>3271575
>>Military/Ground Forces

>>3271575
>Fighter Corps

>>3271575
>Navy
The only real branch

>yet another navy/pilot preference
>yet another female protagonist
YAWN

>>3271575
Given already defining disposition towards moral flexibility and adaptability, I vote
>Military/Ground Forces
And army intelligence or special forces as the eventual branching choice.

More political conflicts and less personal combat please.

Navy is well-covered as it is and seems like a waste of QM's great writing (even though it's his preferred choice as well). Idk, is there a point in voting for anything else when two out of three options are essentially navy with further branching into starfighter corps?

>Military/Ground forces

Where's the imperial intelligence option qm? It's the most in character for us to pick this to prevent future rebel terrorist attacks from happening.

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This never occurred to me, but dang this is an awesome idea.

>constant power mongering
>politics
>interacting with soldiers/officers from all branches
>spy missions
>extreme use of the virtues/vices the MC has already gathered
>encourages players to constantly think outside the box
>moral grayness galore
>strategizing and control
>SECRET MISSIONS AND PROJECTS

>>3274522
Sorry I forgot my trip, I was referring to this post: >>3273274


IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE CORPS IS NOW AN OPTION LADS

>>3274522
>interior conflicts as to tactics and philosophies of the Empire
>infiltrations
>backstabbing
>double agenting
>triple agenting
>quadruple agenting

>posting from exerpts of the 48 laws of power throughout the quest to encourage the players to be as dastardly as possible

pls vote Intelligence.

>>3273210
Intel sounds super interesting. Changing my vote.

>>3271575

Suppose I’ll change from Army to Intel as well.

>>3274525
k

>>3271575
>Imperial Intelligence

>>3274533
Fine I'll change to Intelligence.
We going for Imperial Intelligence or Imperial Security Bureau?

>>3273274
>>3274522
>>3274525
ok Imperial Intelligence sounds awesome, I'm switching to it.

One of the Rebellion's greatest assets is their Bothan Spies, and the best way to counter enemy spies is with your own spies!

>>3274874
Hell if you think about it, one of a purposes of a spy is to locate and find information about the enemy to make it easier for the soldiers to defeat them, and that's pretty much what we did to get the RSC!

>>3274525
>INTELLIGENCE
We ISB now

>>3271729
>>3274533
Changing my vote from Fighter Corps to Intel

>>3274533
Okay now I am seriously hyped

QM can you run on Tuesdays too? It's probably the only time I can catch this live.

>>3274533
supporting

>INTELLIGENCE

>Intelligence

Also, can I make some original art for cadet Celilale? Feel free to make suggestions, let's make her unique.

>>3279867
For some reason I keep thinking of Heather Mason from Silent Hill 3 whenever I try to think of what Celilale might look like.

>>3280021
Also for fuck's sake internet

>>3274717
This is me.

>>3279867
Please do so. Make it beautiful.

>>3279867
Half Azn qt
Brooding
Brownish or blackish hair

Or something mildly Aryan or Slavic with blonde hair.

Personally I can't stand dyed hair, but that's just me.

Is there a way you could draw up Cadet Hauser too? He's been described as having blonde hair. Apparently he's skinnyer too

>>3279867
Celilale went through the Center's collapse so there are sure to be some scars and remnants of injuries.

She's got to look serious and dignified since her dad taught her so. If she tries to look sexy its going to take away from the seriousness of the quest.

It might be better for her to be a 6/10 or a 7/10 in terms of attractiveness, so beauty isn't a distraction and it seems more plausible.

>>3280101
>>3280114
+1

>>3279867
Distinguishing looks:
a scar or a mark from the terrorist attack.

Hair
I picture her as blond although I have no strong preference

Race
White, her name sounds French to me though so make her one?

Body
Well built and taller than the average women from the years. She has modest but noticeable boobs.

Face
7/10, even without make up. Many would consider her very pretty but few would call her beautiful.

>>3280509
+1

>>3280509
Supporting

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>>3279867
Yes please.

>>3280021
She does happen to look mildly french which would fit in with >>3280509

Full disclosure, these are mine but I was phoneposting.
>>3280101
>>3280114

Posting women that I found on google images as inspo for the kind drawfag

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>>3281103

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>>3281107

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>>3281115

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>>3281162

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>>3281163

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>>3281166

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>>3281170

>I have some homework for everyone. I’m not asking that you study these books and memorize them, but that you look at a couple sections, take a minute to think about how it works, and then look at it later. When any battles come up, you’ll have a chance to use what you know.
>Speaking from personal experience, trying to read from beginning to end will result in forgetting everything. It’s better to just read a bit here, a bit there, whenever you please. Keep in mind Mina is only just beginning her time at the Academy so there won’t be challenges that are too difficult that mean much in the long run. I’ll also post relevant sections from these things on occasion.

http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-Six_Stratagems#Content

>I’d also like to take this opportunity to give some credit to a work or two that I borrowed ideas from.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblower_(TV_series)
Star Trek
The 48 Laws of Power (Book)

Considering what field we’re going into, looking into tradecraft might be helpful as well.

>>3281220
Any suggestions anon?

>>3281743

I’ve picked up most of it scattered around Delta Green’s wiki, and not all of that applies here, but this is a good starter, if a bit lengthy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4F6aqo3Yp8

>>3281846
>>3281220
>tradecraft
>Delta Green
My nigga! I loved the concepts behind Delta Green!

Imp int +1

Thanks for the input guys, I'll post some sketches in a couple of hours

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GOING LIVE IN 1.5 HOURS

Wouldn't cadets normally graduate in one of the main branches and then join the intelligence corps? Asking for clarification (drawing guy here)

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>>3282984
You better be!

>>3282997
>>3282984
Worst case scenario it just means we have to go through extra hoops before we officially join the Intelligence Corps.
But I honestly wouldn't mind if we had a follow up test or even a bit of learning the basic ropes before we end up joining, that way it seems like it actually requires effort since this is basically Secret Agent Man stuff we're getting into.

Before we get started, if anons could roll 3d6 10 times so that I can get a measure of Mina's physical stats, senses, and aptitude. Thanks.

Rolled 6, 3, 2 = 11 (3d6)

>>3283069

>>3283069
4, 4, 2 = 10

Rolled 5, 4, 1 = 10 (3d6)

>>3283069

>>3283069
one roll each, or should we keep going?

Rolled 4, 2, 4 = 10 (3d6)

>>3283069

dice+3d6

>>3283083
Feel free to roll twice or three times in a single post, let's keep going until there's 10 rolls in bold.

>>3283079
Since this is coming up as average I'm going to keep it, but if you use the "dice+3d6" command it's better.

Rolled 5, 2, 1 = 8 (3d6)

>>3283087
woops

Rolled 6, 1, 5 = 12 (3d6)

>>3283069
What an average set of rolls, best of 3?

Rolled 6, 5, 6 = 17 (3d6)

>>3283087

>>3283094
As Mina gets older and trains more, stats will increase. But for now, being an 'average' human is in character.

>>3283098
yay me

Rolled 1, 6, 6 = 13 (3d6)

>>3283099
Sure but a quest is a story about someone special. So maybe best of 2, or a couple bonus points?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTa7CZfYZCY

>>3283103
Mina will prove herself special through her choices. And >>3283098 is a pretty high score so there's that.

dice+3d6

>>3283087

My bad, I'm pretty new

Rolled 5, 2, 2 = 9 (3d6)

>>3283106

Rolled 4, 3, 3 = 10 (3d6)

>>3283113
I haven't done too much dice stuff on here either, it's cool. It actually goes in the 'options' box above the text box.

Rolled 6, 1, 5 = 12 (3d6)

>>3283113
Dammit

>>3283118
Thanks and sorry

11-10-10-8-12-17-13-9-10-12

Meh-ish, but we'll roll with it i guess

So I put the stats in the order that the rolls came in. I replaced the lowest (8) roll with the 11th roll: >>3283120
To help you visualize Mina, a score of 10 is perfectly average for a 20 year old human. A score of 14 would indicate proficiency or talent equal to a varsity sport player at the tail end of high school. A score of 18 would be a surreal level of talent.


STATS
Constitution (General Health)
11
Reflexes (Reaction)
10
Agility (Maneuvering around Obstacles)
10
Speed
10
Sprint (Explosive Intensity)
12
Endurance
12

SENSES
Vision
17
Hearing
13
Smell/Taste
9
Sensitivity to Environment
10


It is morning. All of the cadets were ordered last night to prepare for the Induction Ceremony, to be presented before all of the current classes at the Imperial Academy, Outer Rim School #268. You wear your uniform for the first time. It is a simple suit, with a nondescript gray cap, the humble uniform of a recent recruit. There are no badges to remember, or ways to turn collars. It is Imperial Simplicity, the sacrifice of excess form for efficiency.

You gather outside the Praetorium with your class, and when an officer signals you to enter, you do, as a group. Most of your fellow cadets are as young as you, or a little younger. Some nearly look like children. You all pass through the double doors. It feels like an occasion for awe, considering the volume of the Praetorium, its arching ceilings so high that the light actually fades, simulating the vacuum of space directly overhead. The lights are centered at the stage, where ranks of officers and instructors stand, underneath the deep red of the Imperial Standard, hung up as a massive sail above them, so large and looming that the officers seem small. But you do not feel the awe that some of your fellow cadets do, their eyes searching into the deep of space above and taking in the solemnity of the gathering ahead.

Instead you feel nervous. You keep seeing Cadet Hauser looking at you. He used to dress like a delinquent, in the style of your peers, with large jackets, standing slouched, his gaze only seeming serious to him. But Hauser is unrecognizable. The uniform fits him perfectly. He stands tall, taller than you ever thought him to be. He looks the very image of an Imperial soldier, complete with the intense gaze of those who have seen war up close. Every time you see him look at you, he chooses not to look away.

>>3283140
>Sensitivity to Environment
can you explain what this does pls?

>>3283140
You are signaled to line up in front of the stage, before the ranks and ranks and ranks of cadets. As you get into position, Cadet Hauser journeys farther than the rest of the cadets and purposefully stands next to you. Your heart was beating quickly before. Now it almost skips a beat.

An officer, seemingly faceless, awash in the red reflecting off of the flag behind him, begins his speech. He speaks of honor, of sacrifice, of character, but you can't hear him, only catching snippets of his words. At some point he lifts his arm aloft and gestures to the cadets, proclaiming them the adopted sons and daughters of the Empire. Cadet Hauser grabs your wrist, tightly. He leans to your ear, and you look into his eyes, the clearest blue marred by your rising panic. You try to look away, ahead into the crowd of cadets, some of whom are looking at you and Hauser. He whispers to you,

“Thou native son, ye shan’t return,
For the man you were ye stole from”

Hauser quoted from an old poem you heard in school, a poem from a time on Atyrau many thousands of years ago. Hauser lets go of your wrist. You look into the cadets before you. Some of them continue staring, some of them smirking, most looking again to the speaker. You can’t make out what the speaker is saying. All that rings in your head is that poem; [The Marooned].

“Does it call ye to that native land,
The grasses of thy farthest home
Thou native son, ye shant return
For the man you were ye stole from

Do the grasses whistle in this wind
Do they stand firm in the storm?
Idle as a painted ship
Aboard the Ocean glass unformed

Reeds bend yet do not break
Who then have they exiled here?
A man unbroken
He had left before.”

It is time for the players to discern.
>Hauser is on to you. He could see through your lie, and now he’s trying to intimidate you.
>Hauser is a little crazy, but he can’t be on to you. How could he possibly know? He wasn’t there. Everyone else seems to believe you anyway.

In addition to your discernment, you must choose a course of action. Do you talk to Hauser later and try to figure out what he knows? Do you maintain your distance and hope for the best? Do you try to appeal to the leadership to have classes separate from him?

>As always, all write ins and extra options are welcome.

>>3283148
Sensitivity to Environment is your ability to sense the small things. Changes in wind, changes in temperature, and to an extent, your ability to detect changes in people and their attitudes. People with a high sensitivity can maneuver social situations better. It's a skill that spies need in order to detect when they're compromised or in danger. It is 100% NOT Force based.

>>3283159
i guess we know what to work on then

>>3283150
>>Hauser is a little crazy, but he can’t be on to you. How could he possibly know? He wasn’t there. Everyone else seems to believe you anyway.

Also tell him to quit stalking us, it's getting weird and annoying.

>>3283150
>Hauser is a little crazy, but he can’t be on to you. How could he possibly know? He wasn’t there. Everyone else seems to believe you anyway.

>He is a rebel spy, angry that we helped the storm troopers kill someone. Maybe the ones that got killed were someone close to him.
We need to watch him closely, but distance ourself from him in.
We're totally not paranoid

>>3283150
>Hauser is a little crazy, but he can’t be on to you. How could he possibly know? He wasn’t there. Everyone else seems to believe you anyway.
Stay close to him anyways. Keep your friends close and enemies even closer.

>>3283182
Oh shit, that's actually a possibility now that I think about it. But he really needs to learn some subtlety in that case.

OP, this thread is 3 away from getting archived, maybe we should do this session on a new thread?

>>3283150
>Hauser is on to you, but his remark seems to vague for you to discern his motive.

You can either :
>trust him and tell him the truth later, in private.
>ignore him and keep your secret . You don't know what he's up to.

You sit in a classroom, preparing for your first course on general strategy. It’s a circular room, all of the seats surrounding a raised platform with massive transparent screens all around it. The professer will soon walk in, ascend the platform, and project his lesson onto the surrounding screens. Your desk is outfitted with a pen and a transmitter so he may see your work at all times, if he so chooses. While you wait for the course to begin, Cadet Hauser enters the room and looks at you. He sits at your right. You've spent some time beforehand, trying to figure out why Hauser's been acting so strangely, even going so far as to whisper doom poetry into your ear during the Induction Ceremony.

>At this time you've concluded that there's something wrong with Hauser, mentally speaking. But also that he doesn't know your secret because it's simply not possible.

You take the initiative to greet him first. "Hauser. You're making me uncomfortable again."

He blinks. You can see a bit of the old Hauser emerge. His face goes from blankness to an embarrassed discomfort. This is reassuring.

>>3283277

On your left is a cadet that you've just met. He is Cadet Durand. He had the gall to introduce himself by first talking about his father and the aristocratic stock that he is descended from. His father is currently a high ranking officer aboard the Good Fortune, a frigate, not one known to you. Durand is a shorter young man, with green eyes and brown hair. You’ve been listening to him talk about what it’s going to be like as a cadet for a very long time. He talks as if he knows everything, and based on the length of this conversation, he just might.

“I’m going to be honest with you. There’s nothing really to be concerned about for the most part. We’re going to spend a lot of time in book learning, maybe we’ll take a few trips into the field for training exercises, but it’s going to be safe. You don’t have to worry about hurting yourself. But what you do have to worry about is the move towards more intensive training programs. There’s a giant simulator, it hooks up to your nerves and overrides your senses, and it really feels like you’re doing whatever’s in the simulation. My father told me that it actually used to be a torture device, but I guess they figured out it could be used to help the Empire in other ways. By putting recruits through traumatic scenarios. You know, as training. Or as a test.”

Durand is very calm about all of this.

“Otherwise there’s nothing to worry about. You’ll be safe for the most part and I’m sure if you put in a request early enough you won’t have to go through the simulator. Because if you go through it, and if you can’t handle it, it could break you pretty bad.” He’s obviously assuming that you’re not capable of handling an immersive training exercise.

He begins to talk about his father and how he began his training while the Old Republic was on its last legs.

>Interrupt him. You don't want to listen to a rich boy relay his family history. It might be better to actually talk to Hauser.
>Patiently listen. There might be something useful to learn, and it will keep Hauser from talking to you.

>>3283196
3 away? 3 what away? Days?

I don't have a summary ready for a new thread. I can make a new one after this session and I'll link it.

>>3283283
>Patiently listen. There might be something useful to learn, and it will keep Hauser from talking to you.
>Everyone likes a silent girl
>Never look away when Cadet Hauser look us in the eyes
>The second before the start of the next class tell Cadet Hauser "I know"

>>3283283
>>Patiently listen. There might be something useful to learn, and it will keep Hauser from talking to you.

>>3283283
>Patiently listen. There might be something useful to learn, and it will keep Hauser from talking to you.

He seems to like talking to you, even if it's about himself. You can't pass the chance to make a connection.

>>3283283
>>Patiently listen. There might be something useful to learn, and it will keep Hauser from talking to you.

>>3283283
>Patiently listen. There might be something useful to learn, and it will keep Hauser from talking to you.

You choose to keep your focus on Cadet Durand. He looks pleased that he's found a willing pupil. You're inwardly pleased that you've found a forthcoming source of information.

Durand continues his monologue. “I’m from Corescant. I’ve lived here my whole life, gone to the best schools and read the best books. I’ve learned strategies and warfare, probably better than most of the officers out there today. My father taught me almost everything he knows too. I’ve got some of the best scores of any applicant. I got my father to show me my scores compared to the averages. I read my own document. Nobody gets to read their own document. I don’t know what your aspirations are, but I’m going to be a Naval Officer, get my own ship. I’m not saying I’m guaranteed, I’ve got to put in the time, just like you do, but I do know I’ve got a really good chance. So if you want to learn well, just stick with me, and I’ll tell you everything I know as well.” He elbows you. “We’re on the same side after all. Don’t worry about it. I’ll help you.”

The ‘conversation’ ends when the professor walks in. He ascends the platform and turns on the screens. The first image is a battle. Rebels stand in the open, shooting at stormtroopers who also stand in the open. lasers are flying in every direction. The professor is older. Still mobile. He speaks with the tired emphasis of a teacher who has taught the same lesson for years.

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>>3283399

The Professor speaks.
“This is the first two seconds of a skirmish that happened on the planet Jedha, about four years ago. Imperial Troops had all stormed into a plaza where rebel terrorists were in the middle of boarding a transport. They ran in all at once, and surrounded the rebels first. It was a very intimidating display.” The professor says nothing for a moment, and then says, very slowly, very clearly, “None of the troopers in this photo survived.” He walks slowly around the platform, gauging the reactions of the cadets below. “The troopers were quickly shot to pieces. Because they ran out, no cover, not even firing their guns, expecting the rebels to somehow fall to pieces.”

“This video still is from a piece of rebel propoganda. They had a camera running at the time, and were able to capture the bloodbath. Their little film has been shown almost all across the galaxy. But thanks to the... noble, sacrifice,” The professor couldn’t hide the sarcastic sneer. “The noble sacrifice of these Imperial soldiers, now I can show all of you a most critical lesson.”

LESSON ONE
Know when to fight, and when to retreat.
Always put yourself in a position of perfect defense, unassailable. And then, when you see that victory is assured, do battle. Then you will always win, and you will never lose.
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
To fight when heavy losses are expected, is a loss.
To strike at any time other than the perfect time, is to invite loss.
When you have a chance to inflict the greatest damage on the enemy while taking the smallest amount of casualty, one must take it.
To know when and when not to fight is the foundation of war.
The most efficient strategy is to retreat to a place of perfect defense.

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The hierarchy of Military Strategy is as follows.
To make a steadfast ally > To balk and frustrate the enemy's plans > To prevent the mobilization of enemy forces > To fight the enemy in the field > to put a city under siege.

The professor puts a diagram on the screens.

"This is a Rebel Airfield. The stars are their fighters. The hexagon is a bunker that faces in every single direction. The smaller rectangles are civilian buildings, containing both troops and the civilian workers for their facilities. The circles are turrets that can shoot down transports and fighters, as well as target ground troops. It is known that there are enough rebel soldiers within this airfield to fill every single turret, building, bunker, and even use the fighter craft, to fend off an attack. How can it be taken?"

The professor emphasises, "Taken, not destroyed. Orbital bombardment is not an option. Share your ideas and strategies."

>>3283468
1-Kidnap the families of several civilian workers and pressure them to sabotage the turrets and fighters.
2-Attack the bunker with our own aerial forces
3-Land troops

>>3283469

Well, there’s always cutting off their supplies. Beseige it.

>>3283468
Disguise ourself as a rebel officer, order them to retreat into the next system into an ambush. Base taken, rebs destroyed

>>3283468
Bait the rebel forces in the air field into attacking us away from their base, and then while they're distracted have another force attack the base while it's undermanned.

>>3283468


1- Scout any minor outpost that could supply this base.
2- If it exists take info on transports for supplies/ammo moving between them.
3- Ambush and take this transports, disguise the troops as rebels.
4- the disguised troops go to the rebel base and capture the turrets. they will say to the rebels that they have an urgent task if questioned. further questions without info are to be responded with blaster fire, preferable when already inside the base.

5- attack the base immediatly with the rest of imperial forces, first objective enemy fighters and armor.

>>3283559
>>3283518
This
An army regardless of who it's for will always be reliant on supply lines and such. Finding these lines for the airbase will have to be the first step in declawing the defenders.
On a entirely different note I wonder if it's possible to sabotage special flight weapons like proton torpedoes to instantly explode when fired.

As you draw out your strategy, other cadets upload theirs. You upload your strategy of deception to the mainframe and await the professor’s commentary. He goes through the cadets’ plans, one by one.

>>3283481
“Unfortunately, pressuring civilians by kidnapping their families is a war crime.”

>>3283518
“Yes, and after a month has passed, you may realize that in the course of taking this air field, you’ve kept your forces in the same spot, completely surrounding the rebels. To besiege a location requires exponentially more manpower than a fast attack, and so it takes more supplies as well. During that month, you could have used those forces and supplies to take on rebels at a dozen other locations. Siege is ineffective, inefficient, and wasteful.”

>>3283527
“Dividing enemy forces is an extremely effective tactic, especially if a single area is the objective. Trying to pretend to be an officer, however, is more difficult. Just as the Empire has records of personnel and secret codes, so too does the rebellion.”

>>3283529
“As I said, dividing the enemy works. Baiting them with a target that appears weak, is effective as well, though it is important that the target itself isn’t actually weak, but only appears weak, and is in truth strong enough to force the attackers to stay engaged for as long as it would take to take the base.”

>>3283559
“An interesting approach. Unfortunately there is a severe shortage of good commandos, and elite spies, and so these sorts of maneuvers don’t seem to work too often.”

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The professor uploads his own strategy to the screen. “It is important to be aware of where the enemy is weak, where he is blind, and where he will take the most casualties.

“By far, the most effective strategy would be to, as some cadets said, divide the rebel forces through a long distance diversion. This could be a sudden fighter attack on their supply lines. This would force them to send their fighters away, giving you the airspace above the field. This gives you lots of room for a fast three pronged invasion; fighters, ground troops, and heavy armor, dropped by transports unhampered by their fighters. Your fighters can move just in and out of the effective range of the turrets to keep them occupied, and at the same time keeping whatever rebel fighters from reentering the airspace. At the same time, move ground troops as well as some armor in from the southeast, using the buildings as the bunker’s blind spot. By keeping the troops out of sight of the bunker, you level the playing field. The troops should maintain a distance so as to keep the rebel ground troops merely occupied. If the troops try to enter the buildings themselves, they not only make themselves vulnerable to fire from the bunker, but they also have to deal with all of the civilians inside the building. The southeast will be the location of the most intense engagement. Once the rebel troops are locked in engagement with your forces from the southeast, then send from the west, a rush of heavy armor to attack the bunker and turrets. After that, another rush of infantry from the west to help take the buildings, since the bunker and turrets are gone.

In each of the areas of this battle, I have chosen the path of least resistance. There are no fighters to harass your troops or destroy your transports. Your ground soldiers are not facing the combined firepower from the bunker. The rebel’s soldiers are preoccupied with your ground soldiers and can’t muster enough men to try to take on the heavy armor with explosives, leaving the armor free to destroy the bunker and turrets. This strategy results in minimal losses, while inflicting maximum damage, while abiding by the rules of war."

"Note that by leaving the north end open, you give the rebels inside the buildings an avenue to retreat. Understand that a retreating foe is much easier to capture or kill than a fighting foe. If the compound was surrounded, the rebels would have no choice but to stay and fight to the death. But if you leave an option for them to live, most of the time they will take it. And when they run, they can either be shot down or captured. For every captured rebel, there is a font of information, in addition to a bargaining tool, in addition to the bonus of there being one less piece of scum fighting the Empire. On occasion, some defect as well."

Your brain hums with strategies, with concepts. But it occurs to you that the way the troops on Atyrau fought was completely ineffective, a far cry from the way that the professor just outlined to you. In the name of preserving civilians, there were immense weak points that the rebels mercilessly exploited. There weren’t even heavy weapons or scout walkers. You recall that your mother died because it took so long for Imperial Infantry to clear a building.

>Why do you think this was the case?

File: display_21949711.jpg (110 KB, 700x394)

110 KB JPG

>And is it worth the loss of Imperial Soldiers and Resources to make literally every effort to keep civilians safe?

>>3283719
Because the Imperial Army wants to avoid killing civilians at all costs, because this makes them look bad and fuels the Rebel's propaganda.

>>3283721
No, especially when countless more civilians end up dying because of it.

>>3283719
Because of the established doctrines for the Imperial Army that places the civilian above itself even if it is ineffective.

>>3283721
Only if it saves more lives than it does take. Otherwise you risk massive destruction and even more death that you could have stopped.

>>3283719
>Why do you think this was the case?

>Standard imperial combat doctrine in case of high numbers of civilians in the battle ground

>Rebels fortify positions and the great numbers of civilians taken hostage.

>Urban fight.
>>3283721

>It s always worth if there is really no other solution. But if anything can be done for prevent such advantages to the rebels then it s our duty to do so, even at the cost of some citizens lifes. We will at least honor their death and the mourning of their familys, not like the rebel scum.

While the professor answers some last minute questions, it becomes clear to you that the way that the Empire has been fighting, especially on places like Atyrau, is flawed. When it comes to sheer numbers, as well as to the losses of both your mother and your father, you know that things could have been different if the Empire had demonstrated a willingness to simply progress, to show the rebels that they couldn’t use human shields and survive. But they left that leeway. And they left themselves open. And so your mother is dead, and your father is barely alive.

The class has ended. Durand gives you his contact information so that you can ask him any questions you have. The professor calls Durand over to him, and they speak, looking at one of the diagrams while the professor smiles and pats the cadet on the back.

You walk out, brooding. While you mull these things over, Hauser approaches you. He still has that intense look. “Celilale.” He folds his hands behind his back. “I would like to apologize to you for my conduct.” He does not look you in the eye this time. “I would like to use grief, stress, and fatigue as excuses, but it is clear that I have been straining our friendship with my... erratic behavior. Please accept my apology.”

>talk to Hauser and find out what’s bothering him. He’s demonstrated self awareness, meaning that he can stop his erratic behavior. He has been your friend before, and he could be a useful ally. If his behavior is caused by grief, then you share loss caused by the rebels, united in vengeance against the rebels.
>accept the apology, and let that be that. It occurs to you that Hauser has acknowledged his own behavior, considering it erratic. That behavior might either get you in trouble, or will be considered a reflection of you, staining your reputation, if you don’t distance yourself from him as soon as possible. It is also possible that Hauser, being mentally unstable, may have newfound loyalties to certain unloved parties.

>>3283792
>>talk to Hauser and find out what’s bothering him. He’s demonstrated self awareness, meaning that he can stop his erratic behavior. He has been your friend before, and he could be a useful ally. If his behavior is caused by grief, then you share loss caused by the rebels, united in vengeance against the rebels.

>>3283792
>>accept the apology, and let that be that. It occurs to you that Hauser has acknowledged his own behavior, considering it erratic. That behavior might either get you in trouble, or will be considered a reflection of you, staining your reputation, if you don’t distance yourself from him as soon as possible. It is also possible that Hauser, being mentally unstable, may have newfound loyalties to certain unloved parties.

Despite the apology, he still seems quite shifty.

>>3283824
>It also occurs to you that mental instability is something that effects an 'automatic disqualification' to any Academy Application.
>You remember that Hauser was very uneasy about telling you the full story about the 'trouble' with his own application.

>>3283830
OK, he's more than quite shifty.

We should report him to someone in charge of these matters in the Academy, of course without making it known to him.

>>3283792
>talk to Hauser and find out what’s bothering him. He’s demonstrated self awareness, meaning that he can stop his erratic behavior. He has been your friend before, and he could be a useful ally. If his behavior is caused by grief, then you share loss caused by the rebels, united in vengeance against the rebels.

You still keep an eye on him. You don't know if it's just a passing thing or a more... permanent condition.

Session to be continued on Sunday, at 20 UTC.

Will post new thread once I've made it, and will link it later.

Acknowledgements cont.:
>Legend of Galactic Heroes