Remove ads

Monster (A Star Wars Imperial Navy Defector Quest)

Voting is open
Reader mode
Ct613hulu said:
The problem with the whole idea of honorable Imperial officers secretly hating Palpatine's Empire is that it over simplifies the moral complexity of service to a force of evil. It makes it to easy to simplistically portray Imperial officers as either figures of pure evil with no real moral code or Noble Adversaries trapped in a system they don't know how to escape without giving room for all the idealistic and practical reasons why so many people were loyal Palpatine's Empire and would continue supporting the ideology it was based on.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
In theory, sure, but how can someone who genuinely believes in the false security that fascism promises have a redemption arc?
 
Gladsome said:
Fuck, Excitement is winning. Looks like we're in for a proper maniac if that wins, which, to be fair, can be fun as Squadrons demonstrates. I was just hoping we'd get a chance to be a terrible person failing miserably to become a good one.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Terror could easily result in much greater evilness than excitement.

Terror is fear about not knowing what's going to happen now, so imagine what happens once Palpatine's emergency orders start going out. Following Palpatine makes sense, it's a return to normalcy. And sure, the orders are weird, transfer of special munitions, orbital bombardement on certain planets. But they seem to come from a central authority and that gives you once again certainity that someone knows what's going on.

So, Terror could easily lead to a character which uses Project Cinder or whatever equivalent Palps came up with as a lifeline in the chaos. Palps must have a plan, and if that plan requires billions of deaths, so be it.

-----
In contrast, excitement is about finally taking charge of your own destiny. That could result in obvious megalomania, or it could result in an attempt, however doomed it might be, to create a better empire, one that truly follows it's promises.
 
Last edited:
[X] -Terror. Utter terror.

Shara doesn't get to commit atrocities in Imperial service and then turn around and act happy that it's gone as if she didn't murder countless innocents in order to avoid this very outcome.
 
[X] -Excitement. Invigorating excitement
[X] -Terror. Utter terror.

I have a feeling that though Shara was very much a true believer, with all the terror implied from the beheading and collapse of it, i tmay also present an opportunity for her to, ahem help guide it to a more pure form. Of course, it would be a pure coincidence that said pure form happens to line up with her own goals. The problem now is having to deal with the ensuing dumpster fire of a collapse.
 
Winged One said:
In theory, sure, but how can someone who genuinely believes in the false security that fascism promises have a redemption arc?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

That is pretty key to the story of Germany in the latter half of the 20th century. I am hardly an expert on that period of time but I believe that you could probably find some fascinating and inspirational figures if you do some research.
 
Ct613hulu said:
That is pretty key to the story of Germany in the latter half of the 20th century. I am hardly an expert on that period of time but I believe that you could probably find some fascinating and inspirational figures if you do some research.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's highly debatable at best how many former Nazis were "redeemed" in the sense that they actively tried to make amends for the murders they committed or abetted, instead of just being let off the hook to participate in government with no consequences.
 
Kirook said:
It's highly debatable at best how many former Nazis were "redeemed" in the sense that they actively tried to make amends for the murders they committed or abetted, instead of just being let off the hook to participate in government with no consequences.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I was thinking more along the lines of German Military officers in the normal military. The reference to that period of history may have not been the best anyway given that the situation in regards to available military forces is very different.

My perspective is that in this particular setting the Rebellion / New Republic is going to have to find a way of dealing with all the Imperial officers that is more nuanced than "Kill the Evil" or "Redeem the Misguided" if they want to give these powerful figures options that are more than just total war or complete ideological submission. This is something they should place a high priority on as getting many of the former Imperial Forces to join them or at least preventing these forces from all treating the Rebellion / New Republic as their greatest enemy is going to be needed for any successful campaign to defeat the Imperial Remnant Factions and establish a new peaceful order for the Galaxy.

I think that there is a really interesting story here exploring both the moral compromises that the Rebellion / New Republic is going to need to make in order to acquire this "Monster" as an ally and the path that this "Monster" is going to chart once she is acting in accordance of her own principles and goals rather than blindly serving as a component of an inherently evil system. This seems much better than yet another story of the "Good Guys" showing their inherent nobility by being willing to ignore little things like war crimes and massacres once their "redeemed" opponent decides to switch sides and fully accept "Good" ideology.
 
Last edited:
[x] -Terror. Utter terror.
This one seems the most appropriate to me, given the preceding chapter. She's been talking about how much she understands the empire, that it's a system that makes sense, even if it's harsh, when the Republic had stopped making sense, and she also clearly knows that there is no succession, and the Empire is dead.
 
[X] -Terror. Utter terror.

Our Monster is not a moustache-twirling villain who kicks puppies and eats babies. She really believes that the awful things she did were for an ultimately good purpose - securing the Empire, and the 'civilization' it represents.

But now she has to be confronted with something truly awful - that the oceans of innocent blood spilt, the countless acts of petty cruelty, the whole merciless edifice of imperial control, that chewed up and spat out so many innocent people - it was all for nothing. The Empire she so prized has turned to ash, and so are all of the excuses for the atrocities she committed in its name.

What can one do but feel horrifying, cloying despair?

EDIT:

There's also that little voice in the back of her mind - the one that never really accepted all of the excuses she gave - that will be happy to remind her that without the Empire to run interference for her, she might be held accountable for all of the terrible things she's done, and that is likely the most horrifying prospect of all.
 
Last edited:
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Voting is open
Remove ads
Back
Top