Post-Conquest: Insurgence (ST and SW Crossover)

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghost in the Shell, Assassin's Creed, and any other franchise referenced in this purely fan-made and not-for-profit work.

Post-Conquest: Insurgence

Prologue

Mars, Tharsis Metropolitan Area

The vast cityscape of the Tharsis Metropolitan Area stretched out as far as the eye could see, easily covering an area of 15 million square kilometers. Skyscrapers reached up into the thin Martian atmosphere, gleaming with reflected light from up and below, their windows shimmering with yet more light from within. Other lights flashed periodically along their and other buildings' rooftops, as well as from antennas and countless other spires stabbing up into the nighttime sky.

Below, the streets were rivers of artificial light thronging with vehicles of every size and color, plus crowds of people from various species that never truly went away no matter the time in Tharsis' busiest areas. Other parts of Tharsis were half-lit, such as the massive industrial blocks, from where streams of smoke and other exhaust trailed across the sky as they were blown away from exit stacks by the powerful Martian winds.

With the roaring of powerful engines, a dark-hulled dropship soared over the skyline, headed towards one of Tharsis' urban subdivisions, Memnonia Quadratic City. "Now approaching Drop Zone One." The pilot spoke up over the encoded line.

"Acknowledged." A camouflaged and armored young woman said, getting up from her seat and quickly checking her gear while heading towards the portside door.

"…bringing us in to hover…clear!" the pilot barked as the portside door opened, allowing the young woman to drop down towards an empty rooftop six meters below. She landed in a crouch, the ground visibly shaking from the force of impact, but the young woman was unfazed, already prowling forward while unholstering a flechette blaster.

Meanwhile, the dropship was moving on, climbing slightly higher while picking up speed, and after several minutes, arrived at their destination. Briefly circling the sprawling grounds of a high-class bar and restaurant, the dropship then descended, flagged down by city police. On landing, the doors slid open, allowing the men inside to jump out, most in heavy combat armor over camouflaged fatigues.

However, all eyes, whether they were city police, civilian bystanders or journalists, and even Imperial Stormtroopers, were drawn towards the imposing visage of a Dark Trooper among the new arrivals. Unsurprising, really, considering his towering bulk, made even more so by his heavy powered armor with integral weapon mounts.

"Sorgis, Jochen," a petite woman barked orders while heading for a nearby command tent, from which she could hear the sounds of heated arguing. "You have your orders. The rest of you, take cover. I'll deal with the people in charge on the ground here."

"Yes, ma'am!" the rest of her team chorused before splitting up.

Meanwhile, the woman entered the command tent, the entrance flanked by policemen and Stormtroopers glaring at each other. "Apologies for the interruption," she said before coming to attention and snapping a salute. "I am Major Makoto Okazaki, from the Imperial Security Bureau."

The Stormtrooper captain in the tent was quick and unhesitant to return the salute, but the police captain less so. "With all due respect, major," the man began after Makoto dropped her salute. "This is our jurisdiction. There's no reason for either the military or the ISB to get involved."

"And I'm telling you that's not your call to make," the Stormtrooper captain snapped. "Least of all when we're dealing with anti-government terrorists!"

"Are we even sure these are anti-government terrorists and not just a gang of criminal malcontents?" the police captain demanded while throwing up his hands. "They haven't even made any demands yet!"

"And why should we wait for them to do so?" the Stormtrooper captain barked. "We should take the initiative, and deny it to the enemy!"

"This is not and should not be a military operation!"

"Against anti-government terrorists it would be!"

"You bastard…do you even remember that they have hostages?"

"Even more reason: the Empire does not negotiate with terrorists!"

"Enough!" Makoto barked, the note of command in her voice getting Stormtrooper and policeman's attentions alike. "We don't have time to bicker like this, and as the ranking officer present, I will make the final decision."

"Major…!" the police captain protested.

"I have no issues with superior authority." The Stormtrooper captain coolly replied.

Makoto raised a hand. "Both of you have a point." She said. "We need to take the initiative, but not in such a way that we risk the lives of the hostages."

The Stormtrooper captain raised an eyebrow, and then narrowed his eyes. "There's a VIP among the hostages then?" he asked. "That's probably the reason why the ISB was so quick to respond to this situation."

"A senior staffer from the Secretariat is among the hostages, yes." Makoto said with a nod. "However, the terrorists don't actually know which of the hostages it is, which is why they haven't made any demands yet, as they're still trying to find her. It's also why they chose to attack this place on this night to begin with. And we need to extract her before they can find her."

"Are these terrorists connected to the Majestic Twelve?" the police captain asked, his former hostility gone in the face of the full scale of the crisis.

"We don't know yet," Makoto replied. "But our priority is extracting the VIP, along with the other hostages. With extreme prejudice, if necessary, but even if there is a connection with the Majestic Twelve, this seems a little too small for a major cell."

"Probably just a minor affiliate, if at all." The Stormtrooper captain mused. "Your men will take point, major?"

"We will, yes." Makoto said. "The police will provide backup on request, while the Stormtroopers will maintain the security cordon outside. If any of the terrorists make a break for it, deal with them."

"It will be a pleasure, ma'am." The Stormtrooper captain said with a nod.

"And I'll have our assault teams take up positions then." The police captain said with a nod of his own.

"Good…make a subtle show of it as well." Makoto said before giving a smirk. "I'm sure the terrorists have eyes out, so please keep them occupied."

Then she shimmered into invisibility as a personal cloak engaged, only the sound of her footsteps indicating her departure.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An eight-foot-tall wall surrounded the bar and restaurant on all sides, but that was no real obstacle for an Augment like Makoto. Quickly dropping with only a slight rustle from the grass on the other side, Makoto switched her visor to infra-red, allowing her to see through the walls of the building before her. In addition to the two terrorists standing guard by the side doors, there were another four in a room to the side.

"Sound in." she ordered over an encoded line, using virtual communication via cybernetic implants to avoid breaking silence.

"This is Sorgis." The team's tech specialist replied. "Standing by to cut the power and landline communications on your order."

"This is Max." another one of the team replied from the other side of the bar. "In position."

"This is Oliver." Another member of the team replied. "In position."

"This is Crash." The team's Dark Trooper rumbled even over virtual communications. "In position."

"This is Marjatta." The team's sniper replied in her turn. "I've got eyes covered."

"…go!" Makoto ordered, already bringing her flechette blaster up. In the space of a heartbeat, she fired a pair of bursts, killing both men by the door. Then she was leaping forward, bursting through the door as the power was cut and interior lights failed.

Without missing the thread, Makoto kept going, firing a pair of grenades through the side room's door and killing all four men inside. Simultaneously, she switched from infra-red back to VR-augmented night vision. Across the building, she could hear the sound of shouting and the high-pitched whining of blasters, followed a moment later by the roaring of Crash's heavy rotary blaster cannon.

"Easy, Crash." Makoto warned while quietly loping down a corridor, and turning a corner, aimed and fired several bursts, killing six terrorists in barely five seconds. Then a nearby door opened, allowing another terrorist through, the man quickly taking in his dead comrades before screaming and firing wildly with his blaster rifle. "We don't want any hostages dead if we can help it."

"Hey, give me some credit here, major." Crash Zeskos protested. "You know how good my aim is!"

"Not nearly as good as Marjatta's." Makoto quipped while diving low and rolling forward towards the panicked terrorist. Knocking his weapon from his hands, Makoto briefly grappled with the man before getting behind him with the man's head in an armlock, and with a final crack he went limp from a broken neck.

"Now that hurts…really, it does…" Crash bemoaned.

"Just keep your mind on the mission." Makoto ordered, looking into the room the terrorist had come from, and finding a trio of Orion waitresses and a Human waiter tied up inside. Briefly decloaking, Makoto hushed them, the terrified staff calming down at the sight of her, before she closed the door and cloaked herself again. "Four hostages secure, marking their location and proceeding with the mission."

Loping down the corridor, Makoto checked the rooms up ahead, then around a corner to look into the kitchen, audibly hissing at the sight of two dead bodies in the latter. "Looks like the cook is dead," she warned. "Along with one of the kitchen staff. The latter looks like he was killed execution-style too."

"Bastards…" Crash cursed. "…motive?"

"Could be a hate crime." Makoto replied as she cleared out a room, killing another six terrorists and securing another five hostages, including a girl that couldn't be older than ten. "The kitchen staff looked like he was a cyborg…if I had to guess, the cook was killed because he tried to protect the younger man."

"Hero." The Dark Trooper simply said. "Even if they aren't connected with the Majestic Twelve, looks like we're up against Natural Supremacists here."

"Could be," Makoto conceded while firing a flechette on semi-auto at a fleeing terrorist's back of the head. Then she dropped low, a terrorist firing through empty air from behind her before she dropped him with a quartet of flechettes to the chest. Then checking the map on her visor, she doubled back, checking to see if she'd missed any hostiles. "We won't know for sure until we finish the investigation…area clear!"

"I'm clear here too." Another warning went up.

"Likewise."

"We have a problem…the last terrorist here is using a hostage as a shield…"

"Hold position, and get the police in here!" Makoto ordered while already headed towards Max's position on her visor's map. "All units, converge on Max's position!"

It took barely a minute to get there, and only thanks to the building's mazelike interior. Makoto's cloak flickered off as she joined the rest of her team and the police in front, flechette blasters and blaster rifles aimed at a burly terrorist holding a terrified woman before him. He kept her close with an arm around her waist, while his free hand held a knife against her throat.

"You are surrounded." Makoto said loudly and slowly. "Release the hostage, drop your weapons, and surrender."

The terrorist sneered and tightened his grip on the hostage. "We are the Avengers." He began. "What we do is not evil. We are agents of the Cosmic Will, rising up to strike a just and righteous blow against those who would go against its way, and pollute the cosmos…"

"I have a shot." Marjatta laconically said.

"Take it." Makoto ordered.

Marjatta didn't bother to verbally reply, just pulling the trigger and sending a hypersonic round flying. It didn't even take a second to cross two kilometers of distance and reduce the terrorist's head to mulch, the corpse ponderously falling as the hostage scrambled free with a terrified shriek.

"Nice shooting, Marjatta." Makoto said while lowering her flechette blaster. "Any runners?"

"No, ma'am." A police sergeant replied before joining his men in sweeping the bar, and bringing the hostages out.

"The terrorists had overwatch, though." Marjatta lightly said.

"And…?" Makoto asked.

"Not anymore." Marjatta replied.

Makoto smirked. "Nice shooting." She repeated before turning to face her team. "No casualties or injuries…all hostages secured…and the terrorists are dead…mission accomplished."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It is AD 2406.

Thirty years have passed since the United Federation of Planets fell before the Galactic Empire.

Seven years have passed since the Belsavis Gateway closed.

Six years have passed since the Second Neo-Federation War.

The Empire of the Dragon stands strong. A stable class society, a healthy free-market economy, a functioning civil service, the most powerful military in the galaxy, steady expansion into the northern and western galactic quadrants, and more, all stand as testaments to the strength and endurance of the New Order.

But it does not stand unchallenged. Neo-Federation terrorists, Neo-Luddites, Natural Supremacists, anti-government forces, organized crime and more, all chip away at the façade of empire.

Not unexpectedly, for to think otherwise would be to repeat the utopian mistakes of the failed Federation. Utopia is unattainable, by its own nature, even, and to claim otherwise is to be mad at best, and to be willfully deceitful at worst.

The Empire has many responses to such challenges, sometimes even just by giving a free hand to its constituent worlds. At other times, its fleet and armies take the lead, while at yet other times, a more subtle answer is called for.

And one such answer is Imperial Security Bureau Ops Team Nine.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N

I call it a prologue, but in some ways it's also a pilot. Massive time-skip, thirty years no less, since the Empire conquered the Federation. I've also flipped the perspective, from the previous story's top-down POV to a bottom-up POV, specifically from one of the ISB's field teams as they go about maintaining order and protecting the Empire's citizens from one day to the next.

This way, the changes and improvements in society ever since the Empire felled the Soviet Union…that is, the Federation, can be seen firsthand. And ills, of course, but that's inevitable, and even desirable, because as stated in the chapter, there's no such thing as utopia, no matter how the Federation insisted otherwise.

It was admittedly a beautiful dream, but sooner or later, the dreamer must wake, and face reality. And utopia simply cannot exist in reality. That's even what the word means: no place, or even nowhere.

But it's not all bad. Once a dreamer faces reality, then they can finally make a difference.

iceknight90 · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Thirty years have passed since the United Federation of Planets fell before the Galactic Empire.

Seven years have passed since the Belsavis Gateway closed.

Six years have passed since the Second Neo-Federation War.

The Empire of the Dragon stands strong.

Oh ho. Fascinating. So at some point, the wormhole between the Star Wars and Star Trek galaxies closed?

I'm looking forward to you painting the scenery for what's going on in tthe galaxy since the first story.

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

iceknight90 said:
Oh ho. Fascinating. So at some point, the wormhole between the Star Wars and Star Trek galaxies closed?

Yes. Q closed it at some point, to keep the Coruscanti Galaxy from turning into a crutch. That would go against his reason for opening the wormhole in the first place, after all.

I'm looking forward to you painting the scenery for what's going on in tthe galaxy since the first story.

So do I.

CrazedGamma1721 · Apr 10, 2023

Will The Gateway Ever Open Again?

iceknight90 · Apr 10, 2023

CrazedGamma1721 said:
Will The Gateway Ever Open Again?

Hopefully in time for Empress Targaryen to show up with her fleets and discover the shit show that the New Republic made of the Galaxy.

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

CrazedGamma1721 said:
Will The Gateway Ever Open Again?

iceknight90 said:
Hopefully in time for Empress Targaryen to show up with her fleets and discover the shit show that the New Republic made of the Galaxy.

In all honesty...I hadn't planned for it.

WhiteDragon25 · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
A/N

So let me get this straight:

- You jumped ahead 30 years in time to avoid having to explain any of the events in-between aside from in-passing ex-post-facto mentions with obvious biases;

- You closed the wormhole connecting the two settings to give the convenient excuse of not having to answer for giving the Genesis Device to the Emperor, as well as giving yourself free rein over your private little fiefdom;

- You're continuing the slanderous character assassination of the Federation and Starfleet and equating them to the Soviet Union, of which there is no evidence that suggests such comparison;

- And your point-of-view character for this sequel is a member of the Imperial Security Bureau, i.e. the Empire's secret police. Oh, and laughing at the concept of separation of powers between the military and the police, which is a wonderful starting point to have for a 'protagonist'.

Am I getting this right?

It's laughable how you claim to be a 'realist' and that utopia is unattainable, yet what you have here is exactly the utopia a fascist envisions: the rich stay rich, the poor stay poor, the dissident gets a boot stomped on his face forever, while the Dear Leader (i.e. You) gets worshiped as a god above men.

Guardian Box · Apr 10, 2023

WhiteDragon25 said:
Am I getting this right?.

Fuck yeah you are

The time skip was expected from a story-telling perspective, since the story now skips to a much more interesting part of the in-story universe.

The wormhole would obviously be closed at some point, it was painfully obvious there'd be a separation of the old and new empire, especially with how blatantly Q commented on it.

Of course there's no comparison of the Federation with the Soviet Union. The Union had the good grace to collapse economically while the Federation persisted in their deranged anti-human philosophy.

Go ISB, hunt down all the commies and hang them from the rafters I say.

It's laughable how you claim to be a 'realist' and that utopia is unattainable, yet what you have here is exactly the utopia a fascist envisions: the rich stay rich, the poor stay poor, the dissident gets a boot stomped on his face forever, while the Dear Leader (i.e. You) gets worshiped as a god above men.

Saw no evidence there's no social mobility in the new empire here, only that commie terrorist are being rightfully slaughtered like the animals they are.

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Fuck yeah you are

The time skip was expected from a story-telling perspective, since the story now skips to a much more interesting part of the in-story universe.

The wormhole would obviously be closed at some point, it was painfully obvious there'd be a separation of the old and new empire, especially with how blatantly Q commented on it.

True on both counts.

Of course there's no comparison of the Federation with the Soviet Union. The Union had the good grace to collapse economically while the Federation persisted in their deranged anti-human philosophy.

LMAO, this so true.

Well, not so funny with regard to that last bit, as it's very seriously true. The Federation proclaims that Human nature is evil, that want and ambition is evil, that Humanity should be ashamed of itself and reject its identity if it wants to deserve a place in the stars...

...why not just commit mass suicide then, when being Human is a crime in itself to begin with?

Go ISB, hunt down all the commies and hang them from the rafters I say.

Just shooting them will suffice, unless they surrender, in which case they'll get their day in court. I mean, sure, it'll still likely end with them getting hanged for being terrorists, but still.

Saw no evidence there's no social mobility in the new empire here, only that commie terrorist are being rightfully slaughtered like the animals they are.

Let me guess, it's that White Dragon dude? Ignore him, he didn't have anything constructive to say in the previous story (even eventually getting thread-banned for it too), and I doubt it'll be any different here.

TLDR, don't feed the trolls.

Guardian Box · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Well, not so funny with regard to that last bit, as it's very seriously true. The Federation proclaims that Human nature is evil, that want and ambition is evil, that Humanity should be ashamed of itself and reject its identity if it wants to deserve a place in the stars...

...why not just commit mass suicide then, when being Human is a crime in itself to begin with?

Preach. A proper functional human society would channel natural human urges towards productive and positive ends, instead of denying basic human nature as inherently evil.

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Let me guess, it's that White Dragon dude? Ignore him, he didn't have anything constructive to say in the previous story (even eventually getting thread-banned for it too), and I doubt it'll be any different here.

Lol. Please tell me you are joking.

WhiteDragon25 · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Of course there's no comparison of the Federation with the Soviet Union. The Union had the good grace to collapse economically while the Federation persisted in their deranged anti-human philosophy.

Go ISB, hunt down all the commies and hang them from the rafters I say.

Saw no evidence there's no social mobility in the new empire here, only that commie terrorist are being rightfully slaughtered like the animals they are.

First of all, just how is the Federation anti-human in any way?

Second, you're cheering for a fascist secret police to go hunt and murder dissidents.

Thirdly, you're dehumanizing fellow human beings just on the basis of having a different ideology to you.

And you say there's no evidence there's no social mobility in the Empire here? Well, by that same argument, I say there was no evidence that the Federation was an authoritarian state with a Soviet-style centrally-planned economy. But of course, both you and Jaenera ignore that inconvenient little fact in order to maintain your thinly-crafted narrative that the UFP was an Evil Stalinist Empire.

But of course, there is evidence that there's no social mobility in the Empire, and that's: a) what's presented throughout all Star Wars media depicting life inside the Empire, and b) the very existence of a class system and free-market economy itself.

By design, hierarchical class systems are built around a small upper class of wealthy elites at the top, a massive impoverished underclass at the bottom, and a moderately well-off middle-class constantly on edge. The elites at the top are insulated from any consequences from their actions, the poor at the bottom are punished for any attempt to rise above their standing, and the middle-class bribed with the (false and forlorn) promise of joining the ranks of the elite and simultaneously threatened with the (all-too-real) prospect of becoming another one of the exploited poor below them. The middle- and lower-classes are constantly pitted against themselves and each other in order to prevent them from posing any threat to the upper-classes, and any time the upper-classes are overthrown in a revolt, the middle-class just becomes the new upper-class, with select supporters from the lower-class becoming the new middle-class, with the rest staying stuck where they started out; rinse and repeat.

Additionally: there is no such thing as a 'free' market. Markets are always controlled and regulated by some degree and fashion, with the only meaningful differences being who controls and regulates it. Under a capitalist system, it's the already-extant wealthy elites, who have a pre-existing source of wealth afforded to them - most frequently acquired by hereditary inheritance - who then use said wealth to generate more wealth by monopolizing the means of production (i.e. financial capital, land, natural resources, machinery, etc.), before coercing the impoverished laborer class (who have nothing to their name aside from their labor power) to work in the upper-class's production centers (i.e. factories and plantations) for a paid wage, or else starve. As the upper-class controls both how much they pay their workers and the prices for the products they produce, the outcome is always an increase in wealth for the upper-class, while the working-class steadily gets less and less.

Wealth always flows to the top, and little to nothing ever trickles back down on its own... aside from the piss of the rich and powerful onto the hapless peasants below. The only time wealth is redistributed more equitably from the top to the bottom is through force, i.e. government intervention via taxation and welfare programs... but said government intervention is vulnerable to being hijacked and subverted by the wealthy elites to their own private interests. Regulatory capture is frequently the end-result in any government structure that allows wealth to dictate political policy - especially so in fascist and authoritarian states... like, say, the Galactic Empire.

Any attempt to rectify, reform, or alleviate these issues? Results in labor unions being banned, strikes getting crushed, political opponents jailed or disappeared, free speech and assembly curtailed, books burned, and mass media weaponized to gaslight the populace and demonize anyone trying to change the status quo to something better.

And that's exactly what Jaenera supports and advocates for here. She's an outright fascist, and by cheering on such behavior, that makes you by extension a fascist-sympathizer yourself.

Of course, what more should I've expected from someone who has "Theocratic Capitalist" as their title under their nametag?

WhiteDragon25 · Apr 10, 2023

Technically double-posting since I only just now saw the new posts right after posting my last one, but I must respond to this:

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Let me guess, it's that White Dragon dude? Ignore him, he didn't have anything constructive to say in the previous story (even eventually getting thread-banned for it too), and I doubt it'll be any different here.

Nothing constructive to say? No, it's that you simply ignored everything I had to say, and in fact doubled-down on what you wrote after I extensively and thoroughly criticized it, and rightfully so, I might add.

I had plenty constructive to say, pointing out how everything you wrote is horridly inaccurate to the source material for both franchises, but not only did you refuse to heed said criticisms, you went and gleefully went into detail about committing various atrocities and war crimes, and to top it all off with the epilogue of the previous story, you gave a weapon of mass destruction to a genocidal maniac.

How the fuck are you anywhere on the moral high ground here?

ChackMete · Apr 10, 2023

Okay, dude, why don't you have the decency to see yourself out before you inevitably get threadbanned again since you clearly can't just back out with grace, recognize that you aren't coming off nearly as righteous as you might think, and see that your arguments are getting nowhere?

WhiteDragon25 · Apr 10, 2023

ChackMete said:
Okay, dude, why don't you have the decency to see yourself out before you inevitably get threadbanned again since you clearly can't just step back with grace, recognize that you aren't coming off nearly as righteous as you seem, and see that your arguments are getting nowhere?

This is rich, accusing me of being self-righteous, when Jaenera constantly acts 'Holier Than Thou' with everything she writes, while hypocritically having her self-insert willfully giving the schematics to a weapon of mass destruction to a known genocidal madman.

Dear fucking god, am I the only sane one here? I can't be the only one who notices the blatantly fascist white elephant in the room?

Guardian Box · Apr 10, 2023

WhiteDragon25 said:
Dear fucking god, am I the only sane one here?

Nah, you are just high on the smell of your own farts.

WhiteDragon25 · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Nah, you are just high on the smell of your own farts.

You have no room to talk, you self-admitted theocrat. Why the fuck are you on a forum board dedicated to smut-peddling anyways?

Fuck, why is Jaenera posting this story on a forum board dedicated to smut-peddling? Given that she's an all-but-admitted fascist, you'd think she'd despise being associated with such 'degeneracy'.

Megaolix · Apr 10, 2023

ENOUGH.

Take it to Rants or else.

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Preach. A proper functional human society would channel natural human urges towards productive and positive ends, instead of denying basic human nature as inherently evil.

I would put it more simply: people living their lives freely for good or ill.

Lol. Please tell me you are joking.

I'm sure you can see by now that I wasn't.

Guardian Box · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
I would put it more simply: people living their lives freely for good or ill.

Yeah. Can't really engineer an utopian society and make it last. People should be allowed to make mistakes and fail or succeed on their own merit.

Kinda wondering how are you are going to present relationships between this Empire and the Ferengi now.

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Yeah. Can't really engineer an utopian society and make it last. People should be allowed to make mistakes and fail or succeed on their own merit.

Utopia by its very definition cannot exist. It's not possible, a contradiction in every sense of the word. It's like me taking a piece of coal and saying it's gold when it obviously isn't.

Kinda wondering how are you are going to present relationships between this Empire and the Ferengi now.

At the very least, no more piracy. That, or they learn to stop complaining after Vindicator cruisers start regularly blowing Ferengi pirates out of the stars.

Making money, though? Not a problem. Money makes the galaxy go round, and nothing's stopping anyone from getting fair chances at making it.

Guardian Box · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
At the very least, no more piracy. That, or they learn to stop complaining after Vindicator cruisers start regularly blowing Ferengi pirates out of the stars.

Ah right, your SI did have some in-story experience with hunting down pirates didn't she? Combined with the recent war that brought down the local superpower to its knees and made them beg for mercy, and how Imperial doctrine isn't known for taking shit from anybody... Yeah, I can't see how any pirate would last for a second longer than a hasty reclassification as 'target practice'.

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Making money, though? Not a problem. Money makes the galaxy go round, and nothing's stopping anyone from getting fair chances at making it.

Yeah, I was thinking more about establishing proper economy here. The Federation had none economy as we understand it, they got some corps from the SW galaxy being an influence, true. But with the gates closed, I was simply wondering about how much of this opportunity the Ferengi Alliance would take advantage of? The former federation territories are a prime and untapped market for just about everything.

Depending on how the New Empire is open to it, they may take advantage of Ferengi investments and open market practices. Some may look askew on alien interests so heavily influencing internal markets and industries of the Empire, but the political consideration might be that of drawing the Ferengi closer into the Empire's orbit by having them heavily, well, invested in the continual economical prosperity of the Empire.

Sorry if I sound like I'm rambling here, I just find this topic fascinating.

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Ah right, you SI did have some in-story experience with hunting down pirates didn't she? Combined with the recent war that brought down the local superpower to its knees and make them beg for mercy, and how Imperial doctrine isn't know for taking shit from anybody... Yeah, I can't see how any pirate would last for a second longer than a hasty reclassification as 'target practice'.

Yeah, she was on anti-pirate duty even before the Clone Wars started.

And the Federation isn't even really a superpower, apparently. TNG has a couple of episodes set in an alternate timeline showing the Federation in a cold war gone hot with the Klingons and slowly but steadily losing. They're a Great Power, definitely, but a superpower. Nope.

Yeah, I was thinking more about establishing proper economy here. The Federation had none economy as we understand it, they got some corps from the SW galaxy being an influence, true. But with the gates closed, I was simply wondering about how much of this opportunity the Ferengi Alliance would take advantage of? The former federation territories are a prime and untapped market for just about everything.

Depending on how the New Empire is open to it, they may take advantage of Ferengi investments and open market practices. Some may look askew on alien interests so heavily influencing internal markets and industries of the Empire, but the political consideration might be that of drawing the Ferengi closer into the Empire's orbit by having them heavily, well, invested in the continual economical prosperity of the Empire.

Sorry if I sound like I'm rambling here, I just find this topic fascinating.

Oh, definitely. I'd prefer to show details in-story, but at the very least, I can say the Empire won't be using commodity currency like latinum or even representative money like antimatter credits (although since others use them they can be converted as needed), but a fiat currency. If nothing else, it should keep the Empire from being dependent on limited material resources to back their currency with...that, and partly-neutralize inflation as a concern.

Stagflation, in contrast, yeah, that'd be a problem.

WhiteDragon25 · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
I would put it more simply: people living their lives freely for good or ill.

Guardian Box said:
Yeah. Can't really engineer an utopian society and make it last. People should be allowed to make mistakes and fail or succeed on their own merit.

Tell me, how the fuck does the Federation not allow for people to live freely, make mistakes, and fail or succeed on their own merits? And no, not the absurd totalitarian parody of a strawman that Jaenera depicted, but the actual Federation as seen in the franchise?

You're extrapolating oppression out of thin fucking air, while ignoring the actual oppression that is quite clearly visible in the Empire. Hell, not even ignoring it at this point, as the very first chapter of this fic here centers around a fascist secret police unit.

And how is it utopian to want a world without war, poverty, hunger, disease, prejudice, or inequality? All of which the Federation had quite handily solved, without any sort of authoritarian nonsense, I might add? Especially as it's quite easy to do, when you have interstellar FTL travel, advanced matter manipulation technology, and more raw materials in just the asteroid belt than you know what to do with, let alone hundreds of thousands of star systems.

If you're a space-faring civilization spanning a not-insignificant slice of a galaxy (or one that dominates an entire galaxy), and you still haven't solved any of these issues, then it is entirely by choice to have them.

Guardian Box · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
And the Federation isn't even really a superpower, apparently. TNG has a couple of episodes set in an alternate timeline showing the Federation in a cold war gone hot with the Klingons and slowly but steadily losing. They're a Great Power, definitely, but a superpower. Nope.

Well, I did call them a superpower since they apparently defeated just about everyone in canon who challenged them and have enough superscience black magic they can pull out of their assess on a seemingly weekly basis. But yeah, Great Power is an apt description.

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Oh, definitely. I'd prefer to show details in-story, but at the very least, I can say the Empire won't be using commodity currency like latinum or even representative money like antimatter credits (although since others use them they can be converted as needed), but a fiat currency. If nothing else, it should keep the Empire from being dependent on limited material resources to back their currency with...that, and partly-neutralize inflation as a concern.

Stagflation, in contrast, yeah, that'd be a problem.

Say no more. I'm looking forward to experiencing this in the story proper.

WhiteDragon25 said:
Tell me, how the fuck does the Federation not allow for people to live freely, make mistakes, and fail or succeed on their own merits? And no, not the absurd totalitarian parody of a strawman that Jaenera depicted, but the actual Federation as seen in the franchise?

I want to be a genetically augmented cyborg.

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Well, I did call them a superpower since they apparently defeated just about everyone in canon who challenged them and have enough superscience black magic they can pull out of their assess on a seemingly weekly basis.

Not quite. The Romulan Wars apparently ended in a stalemate, with the Romulans fucking off into isolationism for about a century or so, while the Klingon Cold War was only won thanks the Klingons fucking up their own homeworld by blowing up its moon. That, and they apparently found common cause against the Romulans, but even then the Klingons are more than capable of acting unilaterally without consultation with the Federation.

The Federation did have an advantage over the Cardassians...but then fucked themselves up by doing the equivalent of the USA giving up Wisconsin to Canada and the British Empire. Right after the Civil War. When the Union had the biggest, most battle-hardened army in the world, and the industry to support it. Simply because the other side was whining and bitching over it.

But yeah, Great Power is an apt description.

Yup. But on the other side, the Empire isn't just a superpower, but an actual hyperpower (yes, that's an actual term).

I want to be a genetically augmented cyborg.

So do I. So do a lot of people in the Empire. And if they have the money for it, they can be. The Empire isn't as backward as the Federation, denying people the right to alter their bodies as they see fit. Whether on a whim, or just wanting to be more than Human, that's their choice. The Empire only gets involved if things get out of hand afterward, but if they don't, then there's no point in mucking about.

WhiteDragon25 · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
I want to be a genetically augmented cyborg.

And? The genetic engineering ban was put in place due to trauma from the Eugenics Wars, but it would've been eventually lifted after the case study of Bashir proves it is no longer necessary (or at least, that should've been a good plot arc to explore in a later series, if Star Trek had any competent writers after DS9).

As for cybernetics, there's nothing that says that it's discriminated against or banned in any fashion, and the anti-Borg hysteria is less about the Borg being cybernetic, and more about them being a self-homogenizing swarm of locusts who want to consume everything as raw materials.

What you are is not a factor in people's consideration, it's what you do that matters in the Federation.

Besides, there's nothing stopping you from just, you know, getting those augmentations anyways, you aren't going to get arrested for it in the Federation unless you commit an actual crime. Sure, you won't be allowed to enter Starfleet circa 2375, but that's just purely policy, and policy can change (which it has).

Guardian Box · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Not quite. The Romulan Wars apparently ended in a stalemate, with the Romulans fucking off into isolationism for about a century or so, while the Klingon Cold War was only won thanks the Klingons fucking up their own homeworld by blowing up its moon. That, and they apparently found common cause against the Romulans, but even then the Klingons are more than capable of acting unilaterally without consultation with the Federation.

The Federation did have an advantage over the Cardassians...but then fucked themselves up by doing the equivalent of the USA giving up Wisconsin to Canada and the British Empire. Right after the Civil War. When the Union had the biggest, most battle-hardened army in the world, and the industry to support it. Simply because the other side was whining and bitching over it.

Fair enough, fair enough.

Jaenera Targaryen said:
So do I. So do a lot of people in the Empire. And if they have the money for it, they can be. The Empire isn't as backward as the Federation, denying people the right to alter their bodies as they see fit. Whether on a whim, or just wanting to be more than Human, that's their choice. The Empire only gets involved if things get out of hand afterward, but if they don't, then there's no point in mucking about.

Now, there's a thought, what would be the Empire's stance on all of those worlds / civilization the Federation ignored due to the Prime Directive so far? This is bound to be a fun avenue to explore.

Jaenera Targaryen · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Now, there's a thought, what would be the Empire's stance on all of those worlds / civilization the Federation ignored due to the Prime Directive so far? This is bound to be a fun avenue to explore.

Well, the Empire doesn't follow the Prime Directive. It could swing either way, so they won't penalize charitable people or groups from helping, but neither will they care about technological proliferation or corporate investment.

At least so long as taxes are paid, of course.

*shrugs*

Based on Tatooine, and the Jawas and Tusken Raiders thereof, it doesn't seem that onerous at all.

WhiteDragon25 · Apr 10, 2023

Guardian Box said:
Now, there's a thought, what would be the Empire's stance on all of those worlds / civilization the Federation ignored due to the Prime Directive so far? This is bound to be a fun avenue to explore.

Opening them up for oppression, corporate exploitation, and genocide if they decide they don't want the Empire around.

There's a reason why the Federation has the Prime Directive, and it's to avoid that exact sort of scenario with pre-warp worlds.

EDIT:

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Well, the Empire doesn't follow the Prime Directive. It could swing either way, so they won't penalize charitable people or groups from helping, but neither will they care about technological proliferation or corporate investment.

At least so long as taxes are paid, of course.

*shrugs*

Based on Tatooine, and the Jawas and Tusken Raiders thereof, it doesn't seem that onerous at all.

The Empire. The one that actively supports Trandoshan slaver operations on Kashyyyk, and attempts to stop any third-party attempt to liberate those Wookiee slaves, is not going to 'penalize' (read: arrest on trumped-up charges) charitable people or groups?

And your supporting evidence is Tatooine. The sand-covered dust-ball ruled by a crime-lord slug? That the Empire tacitly approves of, and does nothing to curtail said slug's operations? While at the same time, murders the aunt and uncle of the protagonist of the entire Original Trilogy and burns his family's farm down, all on the suspicion of harboring two droids that contain the schematics to their planet-destroying superweapon? Oh, and slaughters an entire group of Jawas for having sold said droids to said farmstead?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. What sort of delusion do you live in?

Guardian Box · Apr 10, 2023

Jaenera Targaryen said:
Well, the Empire doesn't follow the Prime Directive. It could swing either way, so they won't penalize charitable people or groups from helping, but neither will they care about technological proliferation or corporate investment.

At least so long as taxes are paid, of course.

So as long as the proper Imperial law and order is maintained, all of those worlds would be open for integration into wider galactic society?

That's a reasonable enough stance I suppose. Not something I see the Empire actively pursuing, integrating primitive worlds that is, since they seem to be busy enough just holding onto what gains they've acquired through the conquest. But if a world presents some opportunity like a rare resources or exotic tech, yeah, I can see the Imps making some effort to integrate that particular world into their wider galactic society.

Post-Conquest: Insurgence (ST and SW Crossover)

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Generally facetious

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Getting sticky.

Generally facetious

I trust you know where the happy button is?

White Lightning FTW!

Theocratic Capitalist

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Theocratic Capitalist

White Lightning FTW!

White Lightning FTW!

Getting some practice in, huh?

White Lightning FTW!

Theocratic Capitalist

White Lightning FTW!

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Theocratic Capitalist

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Theocratic Capitalist

I trust you know where the happy button is?

White Lightning FTW!

Theocratic Capitalist

I trust you know where the happy button is?

White Lightning FTW!

Theocratic Capitalist

I trust you know where the happy button is?

White Lightning FTW!

Theocratic Capitalist

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