Star Trek/Wars: Amalgam Universe

[Evilchumlee]

(This is a recounting of the history of a merged Star Trek and Star Wars universe, written in more of an overview fashion.)

Part 1: The Vulcan/Romulan Jedi Schism

In the sands of The Forge on the desert planet Vulcan sometime around 5,000 years ago, the first Vulcans to harness the power of The Force met and formed a council. Realizing their peoples tendency towards violence, the early Vulcan force users strived to find a way to balance their powerful emotions and prevent disaster on their world. Master Surak would lead the council towards adopting a philosophy of emotional suppression and logic, tempering the fire within the Vulcan people with the help of The Force. Many started to join Surak, his Jedi teachings spreading to non-force users as well and becoming synonymous with Vulcan itself.

However, not all were quick to adopt Master Surak's teachings. It would be Surak's own pupil, Ajunta Pall, who would reject the teachings of emotional suppression. Pall would not be chained to suppressing his passions. Instead, he would harness that passion to grow more powerful with The Force. Surak warned Ajunta Pall of the dangers of meddling with the unknown parts of The Force, but Pall would rebel against his master. While most Vulcans would come to adhere to Surak's teachings, a sizeable group did not and would look to Ajunta Pall as their leader.

The two groups could not coexist peacefully and war broke out. The followers of Surak branded Pall's group "Sith", a Vulcan word for "traitor". Ajunta Pall and his followers proudly claimed the title and began to use the term to describe themselves. The war would ravage Vulcan, but in the end, the Surak's Jedi Order would claim victory. Rather than destroy the Sith, Surak made one last, impassioned plea to his former apprentice, offering amnesty to all and a place once again within the Jedi Order. Pall would not accept being under the thumb of the Jedi and sacrificing his passions. Rather than accept defeat on Vulcan, the Sith made one final stand and choose to leave their homeworld. Surak would try to stop them, resulting in a final confrontation between Surak and Ajunta Pall. Pall would defeat Surak in single combat, utilizing the newly discovered powers of the dark side of The Force and his newly-created energy-enhance lirpa, an ancient precursor to the lightsaber. As the exodus of the Sith began, Pall cursed his former homeworld and unleashed the last of his weapons, burning Vulcan in nuclear fire as his ships began their journey to find a new homeworld.


Part 2: The Rhinnasu, Sith, and Korriban.

A new society would be born on the exodus ships, with the force-using Vulcans-in-Exile referring to themselves as "Rhinnasu", and the ruling force user class retaining the title of "Sith". Ajunta Pall would discover the secret to unnaturally long life through the dark side and lead his people through space for several centuries in their search for a new world. While they had made temporary stops along the way, a true new homeworld had eluded them until they came upon a world they would call "Korriban".

Ajunta Pall decided Korriban could be their new home and they began to settle. A pre-warp civilization was already present on the planet, people calling themselves "Klingons", and were quickly subjugated as a servant-class. Ajunta Pall and the Sith Order would be surprised to discover that some of these Klingons were sensitive to The Force, and took some of their warriors as apprentices to expand their order. As if a cycle, this would eventually lead to Rhinnasu and Sith leaving Korriban behind.

The ultimate fate of Ajunta Pall is unknown, having finally either succumbed to old age, or possibly slain by his apprentice, Darth Molor. Pall would be laid to rest in an area called the Valley of the Dark Lords and Molor would take over his place as the Master of the Sith Order and ruler of the Rhinnasu. Darth Molor would quickly become known as a tyrant, being especially cruel to the native Klingon population, viewing them as nothing more than slaves. A young Klingon Sith apprentice, Kahless, would reach his breaking point and lead an uprising of the Klingon people against the tyranny of Molor. Kahless' rebellion would prove victorious, the Sith deciding that they would never be able to maintain control over the Klingons, and leaving behind Korriban in search of yet another world to call their home.

Kahless took control over Korriban, reverting it's name to the Klingon "Qo'nos" and establishing the first Klingon Empire. The rule of both Pall and Molor had uplifted the Klingons into a technologically advanced people, and enough had been trained in the ways of the Dark Side that a uniquely Klingon version of the Sith Order remained. It would not be long before Kahless' rule would be tested again with the arrival of new invaders, the Mandalorians, but that is a story for another time.


(More parts to come, Part 3: The Romulan Galactic Empire, Part 4: Vulcan, Jedi and the Republic, Part 5: Klingons and Mandalorians, Part 6: Palpatine and the Clone Wars, Part 7: The United Federation of Planets, the Jedi Purge, and the Skywalkers.)

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Watched, with interest.

 

[Evilchumlee]

Part 3: The Romulan Galactic Empire

Some time after abandoning Korriban and the deaths of both Ajunta Pall and Molor, the Rihannsu/Sith would finally discover a planet they would call their permanent home. This new world would be named "Romulus" and all of it's people collectively "Romulan". The Romulans were growing their Empire around the same as, on the other side of the galaxy, worlds were coming together to form The Republic. By this time, humans had also become ubiquitous throughout the galaxy, with large populations making their way into the borders of the now-dubbed Romulan Galactic Empire. Humans were largely accepted within the Empire, although pure-blood Romulans would remain the highest class.

Romulan society had reorganized from the old rule of Ajunta Pall and Molor. No longer did the Sith hold absolute power, instead being ruled with absolute authority by an Emperor. The Emperor did not necessarily need to be Sith, although in practice, it was near impossible for a non-force user to challenge a Sith Emperor. The Sith Order maintained a position of power, with the Dark Council holding status just below the Emperor. With Sith being few in number and prone to in fighting, a meritocracy of non-force users was established to hold almost as much power as the Sith themselves, the Tal Shiar. While the Sith devoted themselves to studying The Force and growing their mystical power, the Tal Shiar was more focused on military might and intelligence. The day to day running of the Empire was left to the Imperial Senate.

As the Galactic Empire grew in strength, as did their neighbors, wars would be inevitable. Multiple wars would be fought over centuries between The Republic, the Romulan and Klingon Empires. After one such war between the Romulan Empire and Republic, a buffer zone was created between the two, simply known as "The Neutral Zone". Some worlds from both would end up within the boundaries of the Neutral Zone and would continue to be a source of strife between the two.

 

[Evilchumlee]

(Note on these, they are not always directly in timeline order. The entries are sorted by subject, the timelines can be quite expansive within those subjects. The original headings got moved around as I revised some ideas.)

Part 4: Vulcan, Jedi, and Coruscant

The Vulcans were the first recorded people to discover "The Force", and the initial force users would call themselves "Jedi". They would form a Council to handle the affairs of the Jedi, and would establish the Vulcan Jedi Academy in dedication to studying this new, mystical art. Master Surak would quickly rise to prominence in the Council, and was concerned with how some of the younger Jedi were applying the force.

Surak observed that strong emotions, hatred, passion and fear could be used to fuel what could only be described as a "dark side" of the force. To help himself and the rest of the Jedi, Surak began to reject emotions and seek pure logic as a way to combat against falling to the dark side. As we know, Surak was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the fall of his own apprentice, leading to the exodus of the Sith.

In the immediate aftermath of Surak's battle with Ajunta Pall, the Jedi Council rushed to Surak's aid. His injuries were too great and Surak would succumb to death, surrounded by Jedi and non-force users alike who had adopted his philosophy. However, Surak had already anticipated his death and been communing with the force, enabling his katra... his "soul" within the living force... to continue on. As Surak drew his last breath in his physical form, he faded from existence. The Vulcans mourned in their own unique way at the loss of their leader but were moved... Surak had appeared before them, having ascended into a non-corporeal form of pure force energy. Surak gave one last speech to his followers and implored them stop the Sith wherever they may be, and spread the way of the Jedi to the galaxy at large.

The Vulcans would take Surak's final request to heart and began to spread among the stars, in the process establishing many of the early warp lanes around the Core Worlds, contacting many different races for the first time. The Vulcans discovered a galaxy filled with less advanced races and initially spread warp technology to them along with their evangelizing their religion/philosophy. Along the way, they also began to discover people of other races who were attuned to the force and began to train them in the ways of the Jedi back at the Vulcan Jedi Academy.

The Vulcans were not always met warmly, with many worlds rejecting the approach of the Jedi. Over time, the Vulcans became less interested in sharing their warp technology with newly discovered races, but by that time, the technology had spread through the galaxy. By sheer chance, a fairly unassuming planet became a center of galactic trade, being situated at a nexus of many warp lanes. The Vulcans would establish a trading outpost there, and the Jedi would establish a satellite Academy to foster the training of new Jedi. This initial settlement was named "Notron" by the Vulcans, but that name would largely be lost to history.

As galactic trade became more and more common, the settlement of Notron grew exponentially, being built upon by many different races, become one massive city spanning the entire planet. At some point along the way, the mixture of languages birthed the name "Coruscant", as it would continue to be called. Coruscant quickly became the center of galactic trade as well as become a major source of Jedi training. As more and more people flocked to Coruscant, the Jedi's numbers swelled, but not everyone was ready to accept the Surakite teachings. A new generation of Jedi began to learn the ways of the force but reject the Surakite teachings of strict emotional control and logic. They did not turn to the dark side as the ancient Sith did, they merely evolved the original Jedi teachings. In time, the Coruscant Jedi Academy differentiated itself to become the Jedi Temple, and became the primary headquarters of the Jedi Order. The Surakite Jedi Order would still exist as a branch, but would largely consist of Vulcan Jedi.

Coruscant would hold a special place in galactic affairs, being under no particular jurisdiction and forming a government all of it's own, with the new Jedi Order become it's defacto protectors. A coalition of races would agree that Coruscant was too important to fall under any one particular government's influence. The coalition laid the very first building block what would become The Republic.

 

[Evilchumlee]

Part 5: Earth and The Republic

As the Vulcans expanded their warp routes and discovered new planets and new civilizations, they would encounter a race that would forever change the galaxy. By the time the Vulcans had discovered a small, backwater Outer Rim planet called "Earth" by its natives, they were much less inclined to share technology or uplift pre-warp civilizations, given some bad experiences. The world was just recently embroiled in a global nuclear war, so the Vulcans decided not to approach the apparently barbaric, violent planet.

They changed their minds when something happened that the Vulcans had never experienced before. By coincidence, a Vulcan ship was nearby the system when they detected a vessel traveling at warp speed. Earth had seemingly created a warp drive of their own, independent of Vulcan. All warp technology in the galaxy, as far as they knew, originated from Vulcan. Seeing that these humans had developed their own, the Vulcans reconsidered and approached them. As it turned out, the humans were friendly enough to the contact party, and the Vulcans quickly learned that the human warp drive was different, much slower than Vulcan warp, but worked without the need for mapping lanes. Over time, the Vulcan-developed drive would be called "hyperspace" while the human developed drive would continue on with the "warp" name.

Now introduced to the galactic community, the inherent inquisitive nature of humans led them to rapid development and spreading their influence to every part of the galaxy. Being an extraordinarily adaptable race, in short order humans had physically spread across the galaxy as well. Humans would become a ubiquitous race in the galaxy, became the most populous of any, and ingraining themselves into the population of most worlds. The early human explorers showed a strong interest in Coruscant and being involved in the galactic community. It was human representatives who initially suggested The Coalition of Coruscant. The Coalition of Coruscant evolved from being a declaration of autonomy for Coruscant to being the framework of larger galactic cooperation, and was a mutual defense pact between various worlds cooperating through trading on Coruscant against hostile empires, especially the Romulan Galactic Empire, the Klingon Empire, the Hutt Syndicate and Chiss Dominion.

After a few centuries, the Coalition members were so intertwined economically, politically and militarily that the Coalition gave way to The Republic, formalizing what had essentially been a default alliance ruling from Coruscant. The Republic consolidated more power into Coruscant, making it the capital of The Republic and the center of government. The Coruscanti Jedi Temple would remain a peacekeeping force within The Republic, while the various members of the Republic would reorganize their forces into a single, unified command modelled off of the Earth-based Starfleet, an indication of humanity's power of influence over The Republic.

The Republic would stand for thousands of years, but all good things must come to an end...

 

[Evilchumlee]

Part 6: The Klingon Empire

The Klingon world Qo'nos was a harsh world filled with predators, giving rise to an intelligent species uniquely adapted to survive. The Klingons were a hardy, strong warrior race who valued honor above all else. Nothing could have prepared the Klingons for the arrival of the Rihannsu, but it would change the course of their history.

Having fled their homeworld of Vulcan, the people now calling themselves the Rihannsu had arrived on their planet from the stars. The Klingons had means of defense against the Rihannsu, and were quickly subjugated as a servant race. As with most races in the galaxy, some Klingons had shown sensitivity to the Force. Ajunta Pall, ruler of the Rihannsu and Lord of the Sith, decided to bolster his forces by taking some of these Klingons and training them in the way of the Sith. Pall took a keen interest in a young Klingon child by the name of Kahless. Pall took Kahless and several Force sensitive children to train in the ways of the Sith. Kahless had an affinity for the Force, the likes of which Pall had never seen before.

Pall would pass away shortly before being able to name Kahless a Sith Lord. After his passing and entombment, Darth Molor would take his place as ruler of the Rihannsu and Lord of the Sith. Molor disagreed with training Klingons as Sith, seeing them servants and slaves, unworthy of the title of Sith. While Ajunta Pall's reign of Qo'nos (or Korriban as the Rihannsu called it) was not particularly benevolent, Molor's reign was malevolent and tyrannical. He banished all Klingons from the Sith Order and ruled over them harshly, stripping what meager rights they had and punishing any misdeed with cruelty.

Kahless had taken to exile, knowing he would be a target for Molor's assassins. Kahless was to be a Lord of the Sith, but his master died before it could be so. In his exile, Kahless had begun to be looked upon as a leader to the Klingon people. Kahless would bide his time, secretly creating an army of Klingon warriors, and waiting for the time to attack. Some of his people who had been sent as slaves into mines bestowed a gift upon Kahless, a boulder of pure cortosis ore. The ore had untold value due its exotic properties of being resistant to various forms of energy… including the lightsabers favored by Sith Warriors.

Kahless was unsure if he was powerful enough with the Force to face Molor, but given his newly found access to cortosis, he felt the balance of power may have shifted. Kahless knew his people needed a boost to their morale, and was well aware of their penchant for story and superstition. He had a weapon and armor forged of the cortosis ore, and made a great show of it to his supporters. The tale of this larger than life demigod who forged his weapon from his own hair in the river of lava at Kri'stak's summit, cooled in the Lake of Lusor, would go on to inspire his slave army. The image of Kahless' Bat'leth would serve as a symbol to the Klingon people.

Kahless led the Klingon uprising against the Rihannsu and Sith Lord Molor. The attack was quick and unexpected, and Kahless was able to fight his way into Molor's throne room. The two fought a great battle, ultimately ending in Molor's death after being caught off guard at the ineffectiveness of his lightsaber against Kahless' weapon. Kahless beheaded Molor, and took his throne. Word quickly spread across Qo'nos of the victory of Kahless the Unforgettable, and being woefully outnumbered and leaderless, the Rihannsu once again fled a world in search of a new home.

The Rihannsu ships had barely left the planet before the Klingon people began celebrating their victory, with those present at the Sith Temple declaring Kahless their leader. Taking Lord Molor's throne, Kahless announced his intention to unite the Klingon people under the first Klingon Empire. The Klingons still had access to a trove of technology left behind by the Rihannsu, allowing Kahless to quickly establish order on Qo'nos.
As the Klingon Empire blossomed and the Klingon people developed a better understanding of the technology left behind as well as continuing to study the Force, they began to set their sights on the stars, mostly because their warrior culture demanded wars to fight. Before they could look outward to find new planets to conquer, another people came from the stars, bringing war to them.

Another warrior people, the Mandalorians, waged war across the galaxy, and made their way to Qo'nos. The Mandalorians were taken aback by the tenacity of the Klingons, many finding parallels between their two cultures. Nevertheless, the Mandalorians invade Qo'nos and Kahless' fledgling Empire would be put to the test. While having a technological edge, the Klingons vastly outnumbered the invading force. Both sides knew this war could become a protracted endeavor, and given the similarities of their cultures, the two leaders met.

Mandalore had been invited to the Klingon Great Hall, once Ajunta Pall's and Darth Molor's fortress, on a challenge from Kahless. Rather than test empire vs. empire, Kahless suggested the two duel to decide the victor. Mandalore agreed to the battle, and the two faced off against each other. The fight was epic, so epic that the particulars had been lost to myth and legend. What is known is that both men fought each other to a standstill. Neither would yield, yet neither could gain the upper hand. The two leaders eventually realized they were equals in combat and honor had been satisfied. The Mandalorians agreed to leave Qo'nos, not in defeat, but in friendship. The war had somewhat paradoxically brought the two empires closer together, forming a friendship and an alliance that would come to define them both.

 

[Evilchumlee]

BACKGROUND - OTHER POWERS/EMPIRES

The Hutt Syndicate -

The Hutt Syndicate rules a swath of the Outer Rim territories, although its organization is much less centralized than that of other powers. Rather than a single polity, the Hutt Syndicate is ruled over by various Cartel's who are constantly at odds with each other, with territories constantly shifting. In times of general crisis from the outside, the Cartels can and often do band together to repel invaders and are considered to be quite a threat. The Syndicate is also responsible for a large amount of organized crime throughout not just their own territory, but every corner of the galaxy.

Thousands of years ago, the Hutts encountered another conniving race, the Orions. The two initially fought a war against each other but were fairly evenly matched. Realizing that both peoples had similar goals, the end to the war actually ended up in an alliance between the two... it made more financial sense to join forces, rather than ravage each other. The Hutts would generally rise to prominence, leading most of the Cartels. There are some with Orion leaders, but by and large the Hutts have maintained social dominance in the Syndicate. Together, the Hutts and Orions conquered several races and made them servant classes, the Nausicaans and Trandoshans being most notable.

The Syndicate is usually too embroiled in its own conflicts to be a true power on the galactic stage, but remains powerful enough that most galactic powers choose not to test them.

The Trade Federation -

The Trade Federation is not a unified polity, but an alliance of worlds with similar economic systems and goals. What sets the Trade Federation apart is that while some of its members are Republic worlds, some are non-aligned, and the Trade Federation itself has representation within the Republic Senate. The two largest contributors to the Trade Federation were Cato Nemoidia and Ferenginar. The Trade Federation was most notable as being an economic powerhouse within the Republic, holding near unlimited power of the markets.

The Cardassian Union -

The Cardassian Union was a fairly minor, independent faction bordering the Republic and Klingon Empire. It was most notable for its long-standing occupation of the planet Ryloth. The Twi'leks of Ryloth would eventually force the Cardassians out and become a member of The Republic.

The Chiss Dominion -

The Chiss Dominion has been a mystery for most of galactic history. An enigmatic empire in the Unknown Regions, the Dominion was ruled over by the Chiss and their genetically engineer soldiers, the Jem Hadar. It would eventually become known that a higher ruling class of shapeshifters held ultimate authority over the Dominion, although they generally left most of the day to day running to the Chiss people.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Interesting choice of what you fuse with what, but it tends to work. Nice updates. ^^

 

[Evilchumlee]

Part 7: Palpatine, The Clone Wars, and the New Order of the Galactic Empire

The galaxy was enjoying a prolonged period of peace and prosperity, with the three major forces in the galaxy remaining relatively conflict free with each other while keeping each other in check, each a potential ally or enemy. The Republic was flourishing, if somewhat politically stagnant and bloated, under the protection of the Jedi and Starfleet. The Galactic Empire had been consolidating its power under the machinations of the Sith. The Klingon Empire was stronger than it had ever been, working with their Mandalorian brethren to expand their mighty Empire.

The peace would come to an abrupt end with the explosion of the moon of Qo'nos, Dxun, their key energy production facility and headquarters of the Mandalorian presence within the Klingon Empire. The destruction of Dxun threw the Klingon Empire into disarray. The already tenuous relationship between the Great Houses began further strained, as well as the Mandalorians and other representatives from within the Empire all pointing the finger at who was to blame. The other powers would notice this as well, with one of the first being the Republic ship Excelsior being one of the first to respond. Jedi Padawan Tuvok had been on board, pledging the support of the Jedi to the Klingons in their time of need, but their help was rejected.

Civil war became a very real possibility, and seeking to avoid that, Klingon Emperor Gorkon reluctantly began attacks on both Republic and the Galactic Empire to expand and secure resources, despite his past leanings towards peaceful coexistence. With the galaxy now being at war, the Galactic Empire used the opportunity to strike into the Republic Neutral Zone to reclaim former territory and annex Republic-aligned worlds. The Republic would attempt a diplomatic solution, responding slowly to both Klingon and Romulan aggression. This tactic would ultimately fail and Supreme Chancellor Vallorum would be removed from office due to his inaction. Then-Senator Palpatine succeeded Vallorum, quickly marshalling The Republic into a full wartime stance, moving the Jedi and Starfleet to the frontlines to combat both aggressive Empires, bringing the Republic into the conflict that would later be called the Clone Wars.

An early issue in the war for the Republic was a lack of dedicated ground forces. Starfleet was primarily concerned with space operations and Jedi were too few in number to act as infantry. Coming to the aid with a solution was Jedi Master Arik Soong, who on an exploration with a Starfleet ship had encountered an ancient vessel that appeared to originate from Earth, untold thousands of years ago. On this vessel, a warrior was discovered, frozen but alive. Introducing himself as "Khan" upon being resurrected, the ancient man would prove to have extraordinary abilities, having been genetically modified. Soong realized that Khan's engineered DNA and incredible abilities made him the perfect template for a clone army, and had the cloners of the planet Kamino begin work immediately. Soong had already contacted the Kaminoans before the war even broke out, and upon Palpatine's approval, the cloned Khan soldiers were immediately deployed, utilizing the Jedi as Generals.

*EDIT - (forgot add a piece here that's not super relevant but... neat?) It is discovered that Khan's ship was a lost part of a convoy of ships of people exiled from Earth, and who would become the first Mandalorians.

Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious/Emperor of Romulus, was always the mastermind behind the war and it his he who created the force storm that destroyed Dxun. The war had been crafted to consolidate his power and ultimately destroy the Republic, existing as a phantom menace of sorts within the Republic. Sidious knew the true threat to his power grab would be the Jedi, so he also created a plan to deal with them. One part of his plan was to take an apprentice, a young Jedi whom he had been grooming since childhood, Anakin Skywalker. Manipulating Skywalker's fear of losing his love, Palpatine was able to guide Anakin's fall to the Dark Side. The second part was to implant the Khan clones with a DNA override built into their brains to follow a series of potential orders based on various contingencies.

This would all play out exactly as Palpatine intended. Chancellor Palpatine would call for a peace summit to discuss a potential end to the war. Delegates from the Republic, Galactic Empire and Klingon Empire were to meet on the non-aligned world of Khitomer for the historic peace conference. Palpatine knew Starfleet and the Klingon Empire could be a thorn in his side and created a diversion to occupy them. He utilized Sith loyalists within the Klingon Empire to engineer a crisis... a Starfleet ship would be assigned to escort Klingon Emperor Gorkon to Khitomer, but instead, the Starfleet ship would attack the Emperor's ship. The Klingons withdrew from the Khitomer Summit and Starfleet retreated, attempting to figure out how such an event could occur. In the confusion, Starfleet was too preoccupied with its own internal issues to deal with what else would come.

The Jedi would learn of Palpatine's connection to the Sith just prior to the Khitomer Summit and would move to arrest him in his office. The Jedi would not be prepared for Palpatine to fight back as he did, and he was able to defeat them. With the Republic and Imperial delegates gathered in Khitomer, Palpatine sent Anakin Skywalker... now dubbed Darth Vader... to massacre the room. Palpatine was able to use the attack on himself, and frame Skywalker's massacre of the Khitomer delegates as proof that the Jedi had gone rogue and were attempt to take power for themselves. Palpatine enacted Order 66... triggering the Khan Clones to turn on their Jedi Generals, as well as turncoat in to the service of the Galactic Empire... the charade was over, Palpatine no longer had to move through shadows. The Chancellor of the Republic and the Galactic Emperor were one in the same and with the Republic's clone army now in Imperial control, the Republic quickly fell to Imperial forces. Coruscant was seized and Republic worlds were annexed. The Clone Wars ended with the defeat of the Republic, and now Emperor Palpatine took to the former Republic Senate chamber to announce the reorganization into a New Order of the Galactic Empire with the former Republic now unified along with the former Romulan Galactic Empire. The New Galactic Empire was formed, but all hope was not lost for democracy in the galaxy...

 

[Evilchumlee]

(this is where things start really getting out there, and nomenclature note, "The Empire" generally refers to the Romulan/New Galactic Empire. "The Klingon Empire" is usually "The Klingons" or "The Klingon Empire" proper.)

Part 8: The Jedi Purge, the Skywalker Children, the Rebellion and the United Federation of Planets

In the wake of the Khitomer Massacre and subsequent fall of the Republic, some Republic leadership did manage to flee and find refuge on Earth. Starfleet had largely retreated back to their headquarters world and offered safe haven to those fleeing the Core Worlds of the (former) Republic, except for the Jedi. Earth leadership did not believe the Jedi had actually gone rogue or attempted a power grab, but they did know that if they were to allow Jedi safe haven within their borders, the Empire would pursue. The surviving members of the Jedi Council agreed with Earth and opted to hide out within Imperial territory, so as not to draw attention towards Earth.

Backed by a still-powerful Starfleet, Earth declared secession from the Republic while acknowledging the Empire as a legitimate government. Several other worlds followed and lead by Earth united into a new organization, the United Federation of Planets, with the remainder of Starfleet pledging its loyalty to the new organization. The first elected President of the Federation, Johnathan Archer, would sue for peace with the Galactic Empire, citing that the Empire was at war with the Republic and the Federation is now an independent polity. Palpatine's Empire reluctantly agreed... the Klingon Empire had inflicted more damage than expected and Starfleet was still powerful enough to cause the New Order problems. It served his purposes for the time, but the Federation knew long-term peaceful coexistence was probably not possible. The Klingon Empire would never formalize peace with the Galactic Empire and would maintain only rocky negotiations with the Federation.

Within the Galactic Empire, there was alot to do to establish order. Former Republic worlds were annexed under the thumb of the clones, some of whom had been bred with more free will and took to administrative roles governing those worlds. Not all of the Jedi had been eradicated by Order 66 and a hunt began to destroy the last vestiges of them. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant was converted into an Imperial Palace for Palpatine. The older, original Vulcan Jedi Academy would suffer a much worse fate. Sith Extremist Darth Nero would lead a fleet to Vulcan, boring a massive hole into its crust and unleashing a wave of unprecedented dark force energy into the planet. Some of the last remaining Vulcan Jedi banded together to try to stop Darth Nero, with Jedi Master Spock leading them. For a time, the collected energies of the Vulcan Jedi pushed back Nero's hateful rage but in the end, the dark side power overwhelmed the Vulcans. Vulcan imploded into a fissure of pure dark side essence, but Spock's Jedi were able to muster one final push, pulling Darth's Nero fleet into the void with them. Vulcan, Master Spock, and Darth Nero were never heard from again...

Darth Vader had the task of hunting down the remaining Jedi and eradicating them. He had two children, who the other Jedi knew would grow up to be powerful force users. Obi-Wan Kenobi took the children, born in secret, and hid them away from their father. His daughter, Leia, would go to Bail Organa of Alderaan, a former Republic senator who decided it would be in the best interest of his people for him to stay on and integrate into the new, Imperial Senate. His son would be smuggled to Earth along with Kenobi, the only Jedi hiding within Federation space. Kenobi dared not raise young Luke himself and left him in the care of his friend, Owen Kirk, who took to calling the boy "James". Luke... James... would be told his father was George Kirk, a Starfleet Captain who perished in the war. Young James Kirk always wanted to live up to the legend of his father and eventually joined Starfleet himself. Kenobi protested to Owen, but Owen would not allow James' past to dictate his future. James Kirk would go on to become a Starfleet Captain, unaware of his true family origins...

Within Imperial-occupied Republic space, those who were either not able to, or chose not to, flee to Earth did not simply give up the fight. Multiple rebel groups would form, harassing the Empire and disrupting operations. These groups were comprised of anything from normal citizens taken to fighting to former Republic military units. Over time, the various rebel groups would become more organized, forming into cells and ultimately creating a unified command, "The Alliance to the Restore the Republic." For a time, the Federation attempted to supply the Rebel Alliance, but their efforts were discovered and Palpatine turned his gaze towards the Federation. Not wanting to risk open war with the Empire, the Federation cut all "official" support for the Rebel Alliance. Some within the Federation felt it was their duty to support the rebels, seeing the Federation as a successor state to the Republic. Senator Leia Organa eventually became the leader of a rebel cell, leaving her official position and taking the fight directly to the Empire. Her "Maquis" cell would maintain contacts within the Federation and once the UFP was forced to end official support, some took what material they could and left the Federation to join the fight against the Galactic Empire. "The Resistance", as the Federation breakaway group would call themselves, would join with the Maquis and eventually the Rebel Alliance proper.

One rebel unit composed of former Republic soldiers, Clone Force 99, was a group of clones who were thought to be "defective", giving them differing abilities from the main-line more pure-Khan clones. It also had the side-effect of the DNA programming not taking hold and them ignoring Order 66. An interesting member of Clone Form 99 was Data, an experiment by Arik Soong's son, Noonien, to move on from clone soldiers and utilize droids as soldiers. Droid armies were not uncommon, but often performed poorly and usually had to be within range of a ship or station with a complex droid brain controller. Soong's droid creation worked on a positronic system, giving the droid apparent sentience. Initially constructed with the frame of C-series protocol droid as it's chassis, Data received several upgrades. Eventually, his rigid, gold-plated exterior was upgraded into a synthetic skin, making Data feel and appear mostly human. Data would continue on in service of the Rebel Alliance.

On the political side within the Federation, there was much debate in the Federation Council about what would become of them in the unlikely even the Alliance to Restore the Republic was successful and drove the Empire out of Republic space. Some argued that the Federation was only set up as a temporary refuge until the Republic could be restored, while others debated that the United Federation of Planets was a superior successor and that the Republic should be relegated to the history books. There were also who took a more centered approach, believe that both the UFP and Republic could exist alongside one another. As it turns out, the galaxy would get the answer to this question...

 

[Evilchumlee]

Notes and Such

Ok, so getting up to the Federation and all of that is a good point to pause for some notes.

The general vibe here is that the makeup of the galaxy is very similar to Star Wars, with the timescale being condensed from SW's massive 25,000 some odd year history down to closer to 5,600 years. Some timespans are left intentionally vague, such as the Vulcan first contact of Earth to when humans end up inhabiting everywhere in the galaxy.

To that point, this universe is like Star Wars in that... humans are everywhere.

The Rhinnasu/Romulan/Sith/Galactic Empire has a ton of humans in it and by and large, they're the most common race to see. "Pureblood" Romulans proper hold a slightly higher social position and would be core of what you see as military officers and government officials and what not. You would still see plenty of humans there, too, but the Romulans are the ones in the highest command positions. There's all manner of "mixed" people, as they've been intermingling with humans for a few thousand years.

The biggest difference from, obviously ST and even the SW Empire is that this is kind of a hybrid of the ST Romulan Empire, the SW Galactic Empire, and the SWTOR Sith Empire. The Sith still sit at the top of everything, and this universe never had a "Rule of Two". There's just as many Sith as there are Jedi. The Sith don't care about race (an odd "progressive" trait for them?) Palpatine is human. Vader is human. There's Sith of every... most... races. Aesthetically, pre-Palpatine/New Order/Clone Wars, we have a mishmash of Romulan and general Empirey looks. For military uniforms, think Nemesis-style Romulan uniforms, but with SW Empire style rank insignia, code cylinders, hats, etc. Ships of this iteration of the Empire are going to be closer to ST Romulan designs, but with a few more angular, Star Destroyer-type ships mixed in. Sith sanctums and what not will have some SWTOR Sith flair to them.


The Republic is... basically just the Republic. Starfleet ships are mostly straight up, ST starships but augmented by ships operated by the clone army, which will be much closer to SW clone wars era stuff. The Khan clones fly around in straight up, SW LAAT's that can get launched from things closer to a Venator, or they could be coming out of a Galaxy-Class. There's a command division between Starfleet and the newly created "Grand Army of the Republic", that got its own hardware. Starfleet's mission is alot more generalized, but the Grand Army's mission was straight combat. So they got some new designs that pulled alittle bit of inspiration from Romulan (and Klingon) designs, both them being generally more geared towards war. Republic Starfleet uniforms are going almost straight up movie-era monster maroons, but with potentially alittle bit more added panache because, Star Wars (think capes, pauldrons, sashes, etc.) And I think they fit better with the world. When they get to the formation of the UFP, Starfleet will change it up and go with a more DS9 look.


The Klingon Empire is... the Klingon Empire. Throw a dash of some general Star Wars interior aesthetics and such from Mandalorian influence, as well some funky Sith type architecture here and there too. We aren't quit there yet, but in a future entry to Klingon lore, they mostly shed any devotion to the Sith. General force stuff is integrated into the Kahless-centered religion, but it's kind of their own, Klingon-based force using ideology that not's Sith or Jedi, nor is it organized into an order or anything. Just... some Klingons can use the force to varying degrees. Of note though, the Klingons have a natural resistance to dark side corruption... they just... use the force, however they see fit, and it doesn't really effect them one or the other. They don't use lightsabers, they use cortosis-bat'leths. They're already ambitious and aggressive...

 

[Evilchumlee]

Luke Skywalker / James Kirk

Upon defeating Anakin Skywalker at the close of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi helped whisk away the newborn Skywalker children to hide them away from the Emperors grasp. Skywalker's son, Luke, was taken to Earth to be adopted by an old friend and retired Starfleet Captain George Kirk. George would take on the child as his own, renaming him "James", after his wife Beru's father. Beru had suggested he be named after George's father, but he really didn't see the child as a "Tiberius". Obi-Wan would continue to watch over young Luke... young James... laying low and hiding out on Earth.

James Kirk would grow up on a farm in Iowa on Earth. He had a great intellect and abilities, being able to intrinsically utilize the Force, despite being unaware of this at the time. James knew he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and went off to Starfleet Academy when he was old enough. He breezed through Starfleet Academy and was fast tracked into the command route, as Starfleet was undergoing an expansion out of fear of Imperial aggression. It seemed to most in the Federation that a new war with the Empire was looming and Starfleet needed to be prepared. As he graduated, Kirk was assigned directly as first officer on board USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike.

As Kirk was preparing to head to his new ship, he was approached by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kenobi informed Kirk about a message he had received from Leia Organa, pleading for his assistance on Alderaan to combat a new weapon created by the Empire. It was at this time that Kenobi revealed parts of Kirk's true past and his connection to the Jedi. Kirk was suspicious but knew somewhere deep inside that Kenobi was telling him the truth. Kirk was given Anakin's lightsaber, and Kenobi began to instruct him in the ways of the Force. He also took the time to ask for assistance in getting to Alderaan. Kirk protested, there was no way he could get the Enterprise to Alderaan, deep in Imperial space. Captain Pike would never allow it, and such a move could pull the Federation into a war with the Empire.

Kenobi had made a very good argument to Kirk, who brought it to the attention of Pike upon reporting for duty. As expected, Pike dismissed the idea immediately, until Kirk had told who it was who was asking.

"Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi?", Pike replied, moving forward in his chair, "A Jedi Council Master is still alive? Jim... you should have led with that. We can't take Enterprise into Imperial territory. But if a Jedi Master needs my help, he's got it. I know a guy..."

Pike's reverence of the Jedi was cause enough for him to call in some favors from old contacts. In some previous missions, he had dealings with Harry Mudd, galactic con man and criminal. Pike had reluctantly saved Mudd from some precarious positions in the past and Mudd owed him. Harry Mudd was apologetic about not being able to personally provide passage, but was happy to recommend an associate. Kirk and Kenobi made their way to Ferenginar, where they would meet up with their passage into Imperial space. Tucked away in a small cantina the two met with Han Solo and his first mate Chewbacca to book passage on his ship, the Millenium Falcon. Solo was a smuggler who routinely made runs back and forth from the Federation and Empire. They were en route to Alderaan when they had discovered its fate... the Empire had used its Death Star to fire the Genesis Beam, destroying all life on the planet, punishment of openly supporting the rebellion.

Kirk, Kenobi, Solo and Chewbacca had no choice but to be tractor beamed into the Death Star. Once on board, they managed to evade capture and discovered Leia Organa being held prisoner. They devised a plan to rescue her, Kenobi giving his life in the process in a duel with his former student, Darth Vader. Upon rescuing Leia, she informed of them the reason she needed Kenobi's help, to get the Genesis Beam data to the rebellion. The Millennium Falcon returned Leia to the rebel alliance base, as Kirk said his goodbyes, needing to return to Starfleet. Leia implored for him to stay and help the rebels fight, and Kirk had difficulty refusing. She tried to convince Solo too, but he went along his way. Kirk knew he was probably throwing his Starfleet career away but couldn't help but feel for the rebel cause, given what he had witnessed at Alderaan.

Kirk joined with the rebels and participated on the attack on the Death Star piloting a fighter craft. Many of the rebel pilots were shot down, but Kirk managed to stay ahead. Eventually Vader himself would join the fight and had Kirk in his sights, just as the Enterprise would drop out of warp and begin to barrage the Imperial forces. Han Solo could be heard over the comm cheering on Kirk to take the shot and destroy the Death Star, and also saying how he owed him one for convincing Pike to come to the rescue. The Death Star was destroyed and Genesis along with it.

Enterprise helped in the evacuation of the rebel base... its location now known to the Empire. Pike and Kirk knew full well their actions might drag the Federation into open conflict with the Empire, but after what happened at Alderaan, they couldn't stand by. One their way back to Federation space, they faced an Imperial Star Destroyer who had managed to tail them. Enterprise had already taken heavy damage from the Death Star and was having trouble putting up a fight. After some diversionary tactics involving Solo launching the Millenium Falcon to harass the ship, the Enterprise did come out on top, destroying the Imperial craft. However in the battle, the Enterprise's warp core was damaged and had to be manually ejected. Pike took this task on himself, knowing whoever would do it would not be coming back. Upon hearing what Pike had done, Kirk raced to engineering. A dying Pike would encourage Kirk to continue to do what is right, and to follow the example of his father and Master Kenobi. With Pike dead, Kirk assumed command of Enterprise and returned to Earth, parting ways with Han Solo, Leia and Chewbacca for the time being as they headed back to a rebel rendezvous point.

(Of note here, I kind of retconned something here but it still works if we don't take everything written in strict timeline order.)

Arriving back at Earth, Kirk was quickly stripped of command and put on court martial for his actions. He would continue to argue for the Federation to support the rebel cause, after first what happened to Vulcan, and then Alderaan. Kirk knew he could possibly let those people fight on their own and knew he had to get back there, one way or another. The Enterprise was taken for Kirk and scheduled for decommission. Kirk was scheduled to put on trial, but the trial would never get to happen. A group of Starfleet officers also sympathetic to the Rebel Alliance would break him out of his holding cell and hatch a plan to take whatever they could and join the fight against the Empire if the Federation refused to act. Kirk, along with many of his Enterprise crewmembers, stole the Enterprise from Spacedock and joined a small, ragtag fleet.

Harry Mudd was once again able to facilitate communication with Han Solo, who was then able to direct the rag tag Federation fleet... now dubbed "The Resistance" to the rebel base on Hoth.

To Be Continued...

 

[Crashdash]

Love this story it's well done.

 

[Evilchumlee]

Love this story it's well done.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, appreciate it.

Definitely something of a first draft. I have some things I want to tweak.

This is all really just a fun world building exercise. I welcome any input anyone might have.

I mostly like my A New Hope scenario but it needs some tweaking. I want to make a tweak to the post-Death Star Trench Run. Rathe than "...and then a battle with a Star Destroyer The End." I want an encounter with OG Khan, not a clone, with the end/return to Federation space being kind a stand in the for the ass end of Wrath of Khan. Basically something along the lines of OG Khan being kept in service to the Empire, escaping the DS and hunting down Enterprise as it fled. Then we essentially get the Mutara battle, but instead it's battle-damaged Enterprise vs. Khan, with the Millenium Falcon pulling an assist (and getting Solo and Leia back to the Rebellion.) That part could definitely use a tweak/more in-depth description. I don't want it to just be another surprise... the Enterprise showing up at the Death Star Trench Run is an obvious replacement for Solo showing up in ANH, but I don't want to just do it again a few minutes later with the Falcon popping in and saving Enterprise in turn. I'm thinking something more like a combo of Wrath of Khan and the Kessel Run from Solo.

I'm trying to think of a way to make Jango/Boba Fett work with the Khan Clone situation. Jango i'm not so worried about, but I do obviously still want Boba Fett around. I *COULD* just axe the clone background and just make a bad ass bounty hunter with a Mandalorian link. I'm not sure I want to make Boba Fett another Khan clone. Leaning towards taking some heavy artistic license and making Boba Fett more intrinsically linked to the Mandalorians/Klingons. As i'm typing this, i'm getting an idea of flipping the script a bit and making the Clone Wars a larger, much... clonier thing. I'm thinking Jango IS a Mandalorian, and when the Clone Wars break out, the Klingon Empire gets in the clone soldiers too... which end up being the Star Wars Jango Clones... which in turn are essentially this universes' version of the smooth-head Klingons.

I haven't posted the next part of the Klingon story, but essentially the Galactic Empire still razes Mandalore. Instead of the Mandalorians splitting off and factionalizing around the galaxy, they they just consolidate into the Klingon Empire, who had been close allies anyway.

 

[Evilchumlee]

Here's an idea i'm running with... might not make it to the "final cut"... this one might get alittle in the weeds and also serve to establish some more world building lore. I'm freestyle riffing this one.

Jean-Luc "JL/'Gil'" Picard

Jean-Luc Picard began his career in Starfleet prior to the Clone Wars. One of his earliest assignments was on a Starfleet outpost on Nar Shadaa, outside of Republic space proper. Outpost Earheart served as a diplomatic liaison station with the Hutt Syndicate. The most notable event from this point in his career was his unfortunate bar fight with a group of Gamorreans, who ended up stabbing him through his heart. He was able to get a cybernetic replacement, but this event changed him from a brash young man into a more disciplined one.

Once the Clone Wars started up, Picard was now a Captain of the USS Constellation. Constellation served with distinction throughout the Clone Wars, often assisting the 501st Legion. It was among these adventures that Picard would form a friendship with Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Clone Captain "Rex". Picard would come to have a great respect for the clone troopers and the Jedi alike.

As the Clone Wars came to a close and Order 66 was given, Picard faced a crisis of conscious. He was loyal to both Starfleet and the Republic, but something felt wrong to him about fleeing. While he did not want accept Imperial rule, Picard made the decision to stay on in service to the New Order, feeling he could do more good from within and still felt a loyalty and duty to the people her served, if not necessarily the government presiding over them. To simply tuck his tail and flee he felt would be doing the people he swore to protect a disservice.

As a reward for his service, Picard was given command of one the newly constructed, Imperial-Class Star Destroyers. He would serve as Captain of Chimera for some time, although often at odds with Imperial Navy leadership. While his attitude may have gotten him into more trouble under other commands, Admiral Thrawn shared some ideologies with Captain Picard. Thrawn was overall more loyal to the Empire proper, but appreciated the fact that Picard was loyal to the people he served above all else and used his influence to deflect unwanted attention away from Picard.

One of Captain Picard's more notable relationships would be with the Force-entity known as "Q" and the Borg. While not force sensitive himself, the Living Force would occasionally make manifest to Picard and the crew of Chimera in the form a being known as "Q", often putting them through some sort of trial. In one such trial, Q flung Chimera beyond the Galactic Rim to first encounter The Borg. Chimera was able to survive the encounter, but it did serve to make both the Empire and the Borg aware of each other. This encounter would have grave consequences later.

The first of such consequences came when a single Borg ship began an incursion into the galactic Core Worlds, headed to Coruscant. In the fight, Picard was captured by the Borg and "assimilated" into their Collective. As "Locutus", Picard would unwilling help the Borg's attack on the Empire through the knowledge gained from him. The Empire was able to repel the Borg attack and rescued Picard. Their mental link to Picard work both ways... once rescued, Picard was able to warn the Empire of an impending threat... the Borg were but a servitor race of a greater threat, the Yuuzhan Vong. Picard gain incredible insight into both the Borg and Vong, understanding their origins. Both started out as the same race of people, who looked to improve upon themselves through technology. Some chose the route of using mechanical technology to enhance themselves via cybernetics, while others chose to go an organic route. The cybernetic faction eventually formed a hive mind and attempted to forcibly assimilate the rest of the race into their collective. The organic-based faction was able to resist... some among them had use their biological technology to enhance their minds and bodies to the point of resistance to Borg assimilation. Some Vong would be unsuccessfully assimilated found they were able to retain their free will... while also being linked to the Collective. Eventually, they discovered they could actively control the Borg... the "Queens" as the Vong would dub them would serve as Vong commanders of Borg forces, essentially turning the Borg into a slave-race to the Vong proper. While the Vong detested the technology, they were not above using their servitors to expand their influence...

Picard would face difficulties when tasked with hunting down rebel forces. He would often struggle with the moral dilemma of empathizing... even sympathizing... with the rebels goals, but finding their methods to be abhorrent and putting even more people at risk. One more than one occasion, Picard would draw the ire of Darth Vader. While Vader would predictably take a "shoot first, ask questions maybe" approach, Picard would always search for a more peaceful solution. Picard was never afraid to stand up to Vader, but also was aware enough of when to step back, for Picard was one of the select few people who knew the truth about Darth Vader. Jean-Luc was aware that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, and when in disagreement, would appeal to the good man he once knew while also taking care to preserve Vader's secret. The vestige of Anakin that may have still existed within Vader, remembering his old friend, stayed his hand where he may have lashed out at others.

To be continued...

Still working out the eventual Fall of the Empire and what all happens there, will be a big deal in Picard's (mildly fused with Palleon, if not obvious), story beyond.

I have a nugget of an idea that after Palpatine dies, the rebels, with the support of the Federation, establish the New Republic. The New Republic and Federation remain as separate entities with mildly differing ideologies. Now that general peace had been restored the galaxy, Picard... still in command of Chimera and in a sort of limbo between New Republic and Federation service as the two entities figure out how the divide up former Imperial forces... makes a plea to both about the impeding conflict with the Vong/Borg.

I'm going really off the rails with Picard I think, but I have those notion that Picard is super obsessed with the Vong/Borg and when both the NR and UFP basically tell him to "go away old man", he fucks right off and joins with Thrawn to establish the First Order. While he's like, 85% Picard, I want some Palleon in him too. The First Order, in this case, will be analogous to the Legends Imperial Remnant. Picard is going to be a really confused guy, especially post-Empire. He knows there's a threat coming, and nobody wants to listen to him. The New Republic goes right to being the ineffectual Republic, this time with even less central authority and utterly unprepared. The Federation is going more along the lines of how it is in PIC, dismissive towards what they see as traitor who didn't join with the rest of Starfleet when the Empire took over. The First Order will NOT be a "good guy" faction, and Picard will struggle with this. They also won't be as evil as the OT First Order... at least at first. It starts with good intentions, taking some of the best people with an eye towards protecting people and letting them do it. Almost something of a mix of the Imperial Remnant and Fenris Rangers.

Post-Vong/Borg, Picard will finally get to join the "good guy" faction he always deserved to serve, i'm just not sure exactly what form that takes.

 

[6f5e4d]

Reading through all these posts, this is an interesting take on combining Star Trek and Star Wars.

 

[Evilchumlee]

*very minor retcon inbound... Republic Khan Clones are from Darwin Station and Mariposa, Klingon Jango Clones are from Kamino. On a bit of a confusing note, to make the story work better, most of the OT SW clone characters are actually Khan Clones, in this universe, the Jango Clones are physically clones of Jango but otherwise are aesthetically more or less TOS Klingons. Khan Clones wear the Clone Trooper armor, characters like Rex and Cody are Khan Clones. Kang, Kor, Koloth etc. are Jango clones.

The Mandalorian's and the Klingon Empire

The time after the Mandalorian invasion of Qo'nos and the fight between Mandalore and Kahless was marked by a strengthening of both peoples. Having discovered a kindship with each other through battle, embassies were quickly established and close ties were form between Mandalore and Qo'nos. The Mandalorians had set up a headquarters on Dxun, a moon of Qo'nos. Dxun would eventually grow to become a large Mandalorian colony, an in exchange for the land, the Mandalorians brought their advanced energy production technology and established the moon as an energy production center.

After Dxun's destruction, relations throughout the Empire would become strained. Great Houses began power plays against each other and Mandalorian clans began to doubt their alliance with the Klingons. Emperor Gorkon needed to find a way to restore unity and despite being a man of peace (relative to Klingon and Mandalorian ideals), decided the only way was to unite them in battle. Gorkon opened a multi-front war, attacking the borders with both the Romulan Galactic Empire and the Republic. The war did have the intended effect... as soon as blood was shed, Klingon and Mandalorian alike were united in purpose. The Klingon attacks sparked a galactic, three-way conflict that would come to be known as the Clone Wars.

The combined Klingon and Mandalorian forces initially overwhelmed both the Empire and Republic, gaining territory quickly. The Republic especially faired poorly against the Klingons, as while Starfleet was an exceptional space force, they had little in the way of ground troops, relying mostly on policy/security forces and local militias. Once the Republic addressed their issue and deployed their Clone Army, Klingon gains became less dramatic and the Klingon Empire knew it had to counter the Republic forces. While the Klingons, along with their Mandalorian brethren and several vassal races, already fielded impressive warriors, they simply couldn't compete with the sheer numbers of clones being fielded by the Republic while also campaigning against the Galactic Empire on the second front.

An idea was proposed to not only bolster the number of troops, but also bring the Klingons and Mandalorians even closer together. If the Republic was using clones, why couldn't the Klingon Empire do the same? The Mandalorians had been in contact with a planet with advanced cloning facilities and offered one of their finest warriors, Jango Fett, as a template for their clones. Not only would the two create a joint clone army, it would be the first time their forces would be fully integrated from the ground up, with an entire command structure established as a dedicated joint force, collectively known as the "Klinzai". The two would also collaborate and combine their knowledge to design new equipment for this new joint clone service, including a new fleet of starships.

The D7 Battlecruiser was to be the workhorse of the Klinzai fleet, a hybrid vessel of Klingon and Mandalorian design. The Klinzai had access to several vessels, including the omnipresent B'Rel Bird of Prey and Firespray attack craft. This force would primarily be deployed along the Republic front as a counter to the Republic clones, while the standard Empire and Mandalorian forces focused on the Galactic Empire. Not being part of a Mandalorian clan, Klinzai warriors were not given Beskar armor, instead wearing a more Klingon-style uniform. Differing from the Republic clones who relied on Jedi Generals and Starfleet, the Klinzai were designed to operate semi-autonomously, with their own command structure. As such, they tended to have a greater capacity for free thought than Republic clones did, and by the middle of the war were even starting to develop a unqiue culture that had shades of both Klingon and Mandalorian influences. After the war had ended, while the Republic clones assimilated into the Galactic Empire and were largely replaced, the Klinzai would thrive and remain active long after the war. They were so prevalent along the border areas that those not from the Klingon Empire often mistook Klinzai as Klingons proper. Eventually, the Klinzai would breed and mix with both Klingons and Mandalorians, to the point that Klinzai were recognized as a client race of the Klingon Empire, not just as a wing of the military.

After the Clone Wars proper ended with the Khitomer Massacre and the death of Gorkon, Gowron took his place as Klingon Emperor. While the Republic had surrendered, the Klingons and Mandalorians never recognized any end to the war and continued their campaigns. Gowron turned some of his ire towards the newly fledging United Federation of Planets, still blaming Starfleet for killing Gorkon. Although the Klingons had chosen not to participate at Khitomer, the Federation was ultimately able to broker an uneasy peace with Gowron. The Klingons accepted mostly because Gowron knew if they were to keep up their fight against the Empire, they would be spread too thin. The decision to keep fighting the Empire spelled doom for the Mandalorians. To make a statement about the power of the Empire, Palpatine sent a massive fleet to Mandalore and ravaged the planet, rendering it uninhabitable. The Mandalorian Purge nearly wiped out the Mandalorian people, but they found refuge within the Klingon Empire. Mandalorian Din Djarin had managed to rally the remaining Mandalorians after acquiring the Darksaber and led them into the Klingon Empire, their people no longer merely being allies, but fully integrated citizens.

The Klingon High Council recognized the Mandalorians with the same legal status as a Klingon and the organization of the Empire was easily reorganized to recognize Mandalorian Clans as legal equivalents to Great Houses. In honor of the Empire's accommodation to the Mandalorian survivors, Gowron was presented with a personalized Klingon-inspired set of Beskar armor.

 

[Crashdash]

I like it I like it alot. keep up the good work.

 

[Evilchumlee]

(skipping over what would-be Empire Strikes back and Return of the Jedi... different details, similar outcomes.)

Post-Galactic Empire State: Romulan Empire, First Order, and the Chiss Dominion

After the death of Emperor Palpatine, the Galactic Empire would be thrown into disarray. There was no clear line of succession... likely by Palpatine's design... and most of the Sith of the Inquisitorious had been systemically defeated over time... which lead the Empire to a rapid decline. Coruscant would remain in Imperials hands for an amount of time, but the rebels... now established as the New Republic... soon had help from the Federation in clearing out Imperial remnants. The Empire was to make its last organized stand over Nimbus III, ironically once dubbed "the planet of galactic peace". The combined forces of the New Republic, Federation and Klingon Empire devastated the Imperial fleet and turned their sights on liberating Coruscant. Vizier Rom surrendered, placing Coruscant back into the hands of the Republic and officially ending the war. (The short reign of Rom as defacto "Emperor" would be looked back upon fondly, as several reforms were made and despite being in a difficult situation, Coruscant and the remaining Empire became a better place to live.)

Not all vestiges of the Galactic Empire ceased to be. Pockets of Imperial remnants still remained, as well as two larger organizations. Receding to the original capital and homeworld of the Romulans, Shinzon lead a group to fortify that area of space. Taking the title of "Praetor", Shinzon was popular among the ethnic Romulans and Remans, and established a new Empire out of the ruins of the old one. This Empire rejected the Sith... both the few actual Sith who remained and their ideology... instead becoming a unique, Romulan Empire. Shinzon's Romulan Empire cast out most non-Romulans or Remans, to what many in that new empire felt was freeing the Romulan people from the chains of the Sith that had dominated their society for millenia.

A majority of the cast offs from the Romulan Empire were humans, with no place to go. Now-Admiral Picard had retreated with Grand Admiral Thrawn's 7th Fleet into the Unknown Regions, having making the decision to note participate in the Battle of Nimbus III, made an impassioned plea to Thrawn to help the refugees exiled from now-Romulan space. Thrawn initially dismissed Picard, arguing that his fleet just didn't have the resources to deal with that situation. They existed outside of any polity; the Empire had imploded. The New Republic was not particularly kind to former loyal Imperials, and the Federation also likely wouldn't welcome a notorious Imperial Admiral into their ranks. Admiral Picard made the case that it was their duty to help those people, being citizens of an Empire that had failed and abandoned them, and if compassioned was shown to them, Thrawn's people would have a much better standing in the galaxy.

Thrawn was still trepidations about committing what resources they had, but he also knew Picard wouldn't stop, and ultimately that he was right. The true opportunity presented itself in the form of more Imperial forces appearing in the Unknown Regions, survivors of the Battle of Nimbus III. Lost and without direction, Thrawn was able to use his authority to bring these forces together. Thrawn and Picard, along with General's Jellico and Hux, quickly organized their forces into what they were calling the "First Order". With a new military authority, the resources were now present to engage in Picard's humanitarian mission. In retrospect, Admiral Picard may have been blinded by duty and purpose to fully grasp what the First Order was going to be, and how his humanitarian effort was actually looked on as recruitment by the rest of the First Order. It was an all-too familiar situation for Jean-Luc Picard... a good man bound by duty to a bad organization, risking everything to try to create a better situation for the people he served.

The evacuation of non-Romulans from the now-Romulan Empire was mostly successful, with the First Order fleet resettling the displaced people into the Unknown Regions under the First Order. With the influx of people, the First Order quickly turned from a rag tag survivor fleet into a full fledged government. Just as the rebel alliance was struggling to reorganize itself into the New Republic, the Imperial castaways were in the process of reorganizing themselves into an actual polity. While Grand Admiral Thrawn held the highest military rank, thus being the leader by default, political factions and alliances quickly began to take shape within the First Order, settling into two main camps. Thrawn and Picard considered themselves the originators of the First Order and wanted to be something different than the Empire. They wanted to remain strong and create a society based on order, while also not ruling as a totalitarian regime. Hux and Jellico, on the other hand, were more true Imperial loyalists and wanted to recreate and even more extreme version of the Empire.

Hux and Jellico's faction would soon gain the upper hand with the appearance of the Sith Lord Snoke and his Knights of Ren. Most had thought the Sith to be all but defeated with the collapse of the Inquisitorius, but it was not the case. Snoke had been a fairly low level Inquisitor, constantly involved in machinations behind the scenes and trying to improve his standing. Sensing that the Empire was heading towards its end, Snoke abanonded the Empire and headed into the Unknown Regions himself. He would come into contact with the Chiss Dominion... Thrawns people... and ingratiate himself into their society. The Dominion had little in the way of experience with the Force, and Snoke was able to gain great power within the Dominion. Snoke would learn of the Founders, the changelings who truly held the power within the Dominion. Having risen to prominence and favor with the Chiss population of the Dominion, Snoke made a powerplay and lead a Chiss fleet to destroy the Great Link of the Founders. The Chiss were happy to cast off their "gods", but untold generations of programming remained in them and the Chiss now looked to Snoke as a god. Snoke took control of the Dominion, reigning over the Chiss population and gaining control of the genetically engineered Jem 'Hadar army of the Founders. While the Jem 'Hadar were genetically engineered specifically to view the Founders as gods and be completely subservient to them, they were also bred as warrior who valued strength and victory above all else. Snoke, having defeated their literal gods, was able to break through much of that programming to win the favor of the Jem 'Hadar.

Snoke had noticed an aberration among some of the Jem 'Hadar soldiers. While those in the Dominion believe the Chiss and Jem 'Hadar to be non-force sensitive, Snoke began to suspect this was only due to the Founders having no connection to the Force. While a rarity, Snoke sensed force sensitivity among some Jem 'Hadar. He gathered a small group and began to train them as pseudo-apprentices, Sith soldiers. Snoke repurposed an old Chiss mythological force known as "Ren" to name his new group of Dark Side-wielding Jem Hadar the "Knights of Ren".

Already in command of the Dominion, once Snoke learned of the Imperial remnant building its forces in the Unknown Regions, he saw an opportunity to expand his power. Coming into contact with General's Hux and Jellico, Snoke demonstrated the power of the Dominion and displayed his own Sith powers. Hux and Jellico, being ardent supporters of the Empire and not expecting to encounter a true Sith, pledged themselves to him and his Dominion. It did not take long for Snoke to challenge Thrawn, who was willing to bring the new First Order to civil war. Picard talked him down... such a war would only bring more pain and suffering to the people they sacrificed so much to protect. Feeling betrayed by Picard but understanding his point, and knowing when he was beaten, Thrawn took his flagship and a group of his most loyal and fled the First Order. Picard had grown tired fighting, wanting nothing more than to live in peace. Picard's first and only act upon assuming the title of "Grand Admiral" was to step down, naming Snoke as his successor. As Snoke merged with the Dominion into the First Order, Picard retired to a small vineyard on a backwater planet. He was ready to be done, having given up on good in the galaxy. The galaxy would call on him again... but that is a tale for another time.

Background: The Unknown Regions and Deep Space Nine

The Unknown Regions are an area of the galaxy that is particularly difficult to access and traverse. Hyperspace lanes tend to be erratic and unstable, there is massive subspace damage hindering warp drive, unstable anomalies abound, etc. Even entering the Unknown Regions is difficult, due to all the instability. There are routes in and out, but navigating it requires extensive knowledge of the region and specialized equipment.

However, the increased activity in the Unknown Regions from the First Order lead to a discovery... a wormhole, providing reliable access in and out of the region. This wormhole would connect the UR to the Ryloth system, now independent of Cardassian, Republic, or Imperial rule, and sharing a border between the New Republic, Federation, and Cardassian Union. The wormhole into the Unknown Regions would prove to be a galactic hot point. The Twi'leks, lacking the resources to properly defend or regulate wormhole activity, begrudgingly looked to outside help. The Cardassians tried to make a grab, but the Twi'leks resisted, refusing to fall under occupation from them again. The New Republic was still cleaning up Imperial remnants and organizing itself in the wake of the Imperial collapse. The Federation was the most stable entity, and while the Twi'leks were suspicious of any outsiders, swallowed their pride and asked the Federation for help. Starfleet was happy to help and set up their Rylothian headquarters on an old Cardassian space station was able to be moved in range of the of the wormhole. Renamed "Deep Space Nine", Commander Ben Sisko would take command. Wanting to ensure the Twi'leks felt represented, Sisko pressed hard to have a Twi'lek first officer and a strong Twi'lek presence on the base. Former rebel fighter Hera Syndulla accepted the posting. It was through Deep Space Nine that word began to spread of the First Order and the Dominion.


(Lore note: The general idea is that during the Republic years, there were alot of smaller powers that remained independent of it or only had relations with them without being actual Republic members. During and post-Clone Wars, alot of these powers were conquered by either the Galactic Empire (mostly) or the Klingon Empire (a few). As the Galactic Empire fell, the galaxy became much more Balkanized, with recently-conquered governments returning, and some long-standing Republic members becoming independent. Post-Galactic Empire, the galaxy looks alittle more like the Star Trek galaxy. Pre-Clone Wars, the galaxy is essentially divided between the Republic, Galactic Empire and Klingon Empire.)

 

[Evilchumlee]

List of established characters

Here's just a list of characters, some established from the above, some not included yet. Includes a brief blurb of who they are, what they do, and if there's any kind of fusion between characters from either universe. By no means it's in an exhaustive list, just some stuff I had on my mind.

(There is no set rule here on how things get fused. Sometimes, a character is just... the character. Sometimes, the character is fused between two, one from each universe, sometimes not always a 50-50 split. Events/places tend to follow a general guideline of mix-and-match 1 for 1... if i'm doing a Star Wars event, replace the location with a Trek location. If a Trek event, place it in a Star Wars location, etc. For example, Kirk/Luke confronts Vader and learns of his parentage on the Cloud City of Stratos.)

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader: Anakin/Vader's character is essentially unchanged from Star Wars. The only differences here are just general universe related, some specific events might be different due to general universe differences. The real differences are just in some relationships... Anakin had a fairly close relationship with Picard in the Clone Wars and continues that relationship, albeit in a modified form, after the Empire rises. As noted in the writing above, Vader isn't quite as quick to the trigger as he is in OT Star Wars... he still respects Picard deeply, and lets him get away with things he wouldn't let others get away with. Also... partly because Picard knows who Vader is, and Picard had become very adept at using that leverage. Vader doesn't want the galaxy to know he's Anakin Skywalker, and Picard knows that.

James Kirk/Luke Skywalker: This is the most difficult character to describe in terms of the split. "James Kirk" is really just a made up name here, he is Luke Skywalker. Physically i'm envisioning the character as Shatner. Kirk here is essentially taking OT ST Kirk, but dropping him into largely OT SW Luke Skywalker events/storyline. Post-Empire Kirk would start to become more Skywalkerish. Kirk is the most... amalgamated character in the story. There is quite a fused story though, as Kirk is really only a true member of Starfleet for a short time before joining up with the rebellion with the stolen Enterprise. However, his crew is largely the OT ST crew... Bones, Scotty, Chekov, Sulu, Uhura all came with him. The obvious missing is Spock, who walked a different path as a Jedi Master.

Jean-Luc Picard: Picard is about an 90% split Picard and 10% Gilad Palleon. Some close to him call him "JL", which tends to be pronounced "Gil". I've described Picard at-length so won't spend much time here. Picard is... potentially the most "artistic licensed" character in the story as while he IS mostly Picard, he's in a WILDLY different situation and doesn't get to something approaching OT ST Picard until he's much older.

Leia Organa: Leia is Leia. Really not much difference at all. Just again some circumstances are different... there's people who fled the Republic to form the Federation, and there's some who stayed on to try to fight the Empire from the inside. Leia is the latter. She'll become "General Leia" much sooner, though.

Han Solo: Han Solo is a work in progress for me... initially he was to be just mostly unchanged Han. However as I work out some specifics, i'm starting to kind of fuse Han Solo and Tom Paris. My current, not set in stone, backstory is that Han was in the Federation early on, went to Starfleet Academy, but got in trouble due to his hotshot streak causing an accident got kicked out. He was directionless, and had a job on a freighter. He ended up having a chance encounter with Harry Mudd, who introduced him into the world of smuggling. Solo would start to do cargo runs between the Federation and Empire. Once he joins up with the rebellion, we're basically at Full On Han. Basically just Han Solo with some Tom Paris backstory.

Ben Sisko: Sisko is probably one of the least changed characters in the whole thing. He's Sisko. Haven't really gotten there yet, but I might keep some of his cosmic origin in tact, replace wormhole aliens with "yada yada Force".

Hera Syndulla: Here we have another fused character, mostly Hera, with a dash of Kira. During the later Empire days, she fought to throw the Empire off Ryloth and aided the overarching rebellion proper. Once the New Republic was established and Ryloth decided to stay independent, Hera returned home to ensure Ryloth would not be occupied once again. When the wormhole to the Unknown Regions was discovered and Ryloth became a galactic hotspot and the Federation showed up, Hera was at first very against it, thinking Ryloth should just take care of it themselves. After getting assigned to DS9, Sisko played a hand in getting to her to understand the Federation wasn't the Republic, Cardassians or Empire and had no interest in controlling Ryloth. She served on DS9 with distinction.

Gul Dukat: (Ryloth retcon, it was a Republic world. Under the Empire was occupied by Cardassians.) With Ryloth now independent and becoming of greater importance due to the wormhole, the Cardassians made moves to reassert their influence onto Ryloth again. The Cardassians had been one of the first non-human, non-Republic governments to willingly join the new Galactic Empire. The Empire showed its appreciation by allowing the Cardassians to maintain a semi-autonomous region and administer the occupation of Ryloth. The Cardassians would strip mine the planet and provided resources as well as Twi'lek slaves, and in return the Empire would look kindly on them. Dukat played an instrumental role in the occupation of Ryloth, and would continue to be a thorn in the side of the Twi'leks after the fall of the Empire and the Cardassian withdrawl from Bajor. Perhaps out of spite, Dukat would try to repeat their relationship with the Empire when the First Order emerged from the wormhole and pledged Cardassian support to their efforts.

Din Djarin: Din is... a particular departure from OT SW. He's the same character, but his situation is wildly different. During the Mandalorian Purge, Din wasn't a particularly noteworthy Mandalorian. He was just a bounty hunter, nobody particularly notorious. He joined with the rest of the Mandalorians to try to fight the Empire and defend Mandalore, which ultimately proved to be in vain. However, Din was part of a force that tried to decapitate the Imperial leadership, boarding Moff Gideons command ship. The Mandalorians would manage to wrest control of the command ship from Gideon, with Din would make it to Gideon himself. Gideon had already taken the Darksaber, but when Din defeated him in combat, became the new weilder of it. Din couldn't help but to witness the final assault on Mandalore from the captured command ship. The Klingon forces had arrived too late to prevent the destruction of Mandalore, but drove off the Imperial forces. Din saw it as his duty to utilize the Darksaber to marshall the remaining Mandalorians, and led to rescue effort. He rallied what was left of the Mandalorian people into the haven of the Klingon Empire, integrating their culture into theirs.

Data: Data is a fun one I threw in mostly for giggles but he's a serious character. He's Data and C-3P0, but also kind of his own thing too. He starts off almost as straight up C-3P0. In some adventure somewhere in the galaxy, he gets wrecked. Meanwhile, Noonien Soong is working on a new version of battle droids. The common battle droid is cheap to produce by requires a centralized droid brain to be effective. More independent assassin droids are a thing, but are still somewhat limited by programming. Soong set out to create a truly autonomous, aware droid that could serve in an infiltration role and go essentially undetected as a droid. His first experiments just needed a frame to tinker with, and an old C-series unit that he obtained worked fine. He replaced parts as necessary, ultimately replacing most of the old droid. He had replaced the old droid brain with his new positronic brain, but needed to retain the old memory circuit as it was ingrained into the motor function of the droid. Soong would largely succeed, this new droid coming online and being much more aware and self-reliant than others. Soong would die shortly thereafter, leaving only "Data" as his legacy. Data would continue with Soongs research to make improvements upon himself. He eventually became attached to Clone Force 99, served with the rebellion against the Empire for a time, before ultimately deciding to leave the New Republic to join with Starfleet. While the new being based off the positronic brain was a unique individual, Data was able to access the memory circuits of his former being, C-3P0 to the point that there was a piece of 3P0 who continued to exist within him, serving a sort of a voice of reason and caution.

Johnathan Archer: Archer been a notable Captain in the Republic Starfleet during the Clone Wars and was instrumental in Starfleet largely fleeing back to Earth upon Order 66. The Empire's reach was weak out in the Outer Rim where Earth was located, along with several other worlds. Archer was among the first to suggest that Earth and several other planets officially break away from the Republic while there still was a Republic to help ensure their safety from the Empire. A summit was called on Earth, and a draft of a Federation Constitution was fairly quickly laid out. It was ultimately Archer who took the initiative and implored the would-be members to ratify. Given his influence in the creation of this new alliance, Archer was elected the first Federation President. Archer had established a line of communication with rebel leader Mon Mothma, and did whatever he could to funnel aid to the rebellion while maintaining the illusion of neutrality in the conflict.


What's next:
There's... alot of war and hardship coming for our poor galaxy. After the fall of the Empire, the galaxy gets alittle bit of a break. But not too long. After Snoke gains control of the Dominion and the First Order, he merges it all under the First Order banner (The Dominion proper having been imposed by the Founders, who are no longer an issue.), absorbs the Cardassians as a client state (kind of a theme in this universe, the Cardassians jockey for power by just... joining someone more powerful) and eventually launching an attack on basically everyone. A dash of ST Dominion War, a dash of Sequel Trilogy war. Kylo Ren will be there, not exactly sure of his role just yet. We'll have Weyoun too, but he's Chiss now. The Vorta proper don't exist here, they're just Chiss. "Vorta" may still be used, but it's more a title. Weyoun is a Vorta, which means he commands Jem Hadar forces, but he is racially Chiss. Things get worse before they get better, but eventually the Federation/Republic/Klingon Alliance comes out ahead... they're even joined by the Romulan Empire. I'm totally somehow having Palpatine return here... I feel like I need to a Rey/Michael Burnham fusion for that. I'm going to hate myself for it though.

After the First Order War, things are in rough shape. The First Order is absolutely gutted, having lost essentially all of its leadership. The other powers are licking their extensive wounds. And then... remember how the Vong were controlling the Borg? Yeah. Now we get the Vong War. The Borg are the initial heralds and do a number on the recovering galaxy. The Vong proper come in next. Earth is in tatters. Coruscant is occupied by the Vong. Qo'nos is half assimilated. Romulus is doing it's best to hide out. There's nobody left to take control... finally, we get Picard in true form. He knew this was coming from way back when he was Locutus. He didn't CARE anymore, but some came to him, and asked for his help. It took some convincing, but Picard was swayed. He still had enough influence... he WAS one of the core founders of the First Order, afterall... and marshalled the remaining forces through the wormhole to go kick some Borg/Vong ass. The Vong-Borg War story mostly consists of Picard galavanting around the galaxy, gathering forces, and leading a charge to fight back. There's not much in the way of Jedi left... Kylo Ren saw to that... but our Rey is still around, and so is James Kirk (fuck off TLJ, he doesn't die.)

By the end of the Vong-Borg War, the galaxy is absolutely devastated, but the Vong are driven off, and the Borg are disconnected from their Queens as Hugh and Seven of Nine try to reclaim their people. The entire galaxy now looks to Jean-Luc Picard as a hero, himself and Kirk inheriting the task of rebuilding not just one government, but the galaxy itself.

The story "ends" with a (mostly) unified galaxy. The Galactic Alliance forms, Picard and Kirk becoming the greatest heroes of the galaxy and taking on the task of rebuilding.

 

[Evilchumlee]

Been a bit since I did an update. Wanted to expand on the First Order War and bring in some SW sequel trilogy stuff.

Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, Snoke, Palpatine, and the New Jedi Order

After the defeat of the Galactic Empire, James Kirk was reluctantly convinced to stay and help in the rebuilding effort, especially in regards to the Jedi. Kirk had always considered himself a Federation citizen, and a Starfleet officer more than a Jedi. Circumstances just led to him taking up the cause of the Republic. He knew he was needed and for the greater good, he took to creating a new Jedi Order. Kirk's Jedi Order would not just be a recreation of what was lost... Kirk had little connection to it... instead, he called upon his greater experience and modelled this new Jedi Order with his Starfleet ideals in mind. He didn't want the new Jedi to be a cloistered, monastic order living in their gilded temple. He was not looking to lead a religion, he was creating an organization to train force sensitive people and offer a direction for them to live, and most importantly not be seduced by the Dark Side. The New Jedi Order would not just be "Peacekeepers", they would harken back to the ancient Jedi setting forth from Vulcan to explore strange new worlds, and seek out new like, and new civilizations while also seeking out those attuned to the Force.

Kirk eschewed the ritual of the Jedi way, looking to move away from the religious aspects of being a Jedi. As such, he would not build a Jedi Temple, he would construct a Jedi Academy and Headquarters, choosing Khitomer as the location. Khitomer, the place where his own (biological) father had begun the massacre of the Jedi and the place where the Galactic Empire was born. From this dark place, Kirk hoped, peace and prosperity could shine across the galaxy.

Once Han and Leia's son Ben was old enough, he was sent to the Academy. Kirk was thrilled to take his nephew under his wing, sometimes lamenting that he never had the time to raise a family of his own. Ben would prove to be powerful in the Force, and equally as impressive in other studies. Kirk was concerned about Ben's growing interest in his family history... particularly that of his Grandfather. Han, Leia and Jim decided early on to not try to hide the truth from Ben. Regardless, Ben seemed almost proud of his grandfather.

Ben and his parents never had a close relationship. Senator Leia Organa was often pulled in various directions in her political duties and had little time to spend with Ben. Han Solo discovered quickly he was unsuited for the type of life he had inherited and took every chance he could to get away from all of Leia's political functions and gatherings. Han just wasn't the type to be dressed up at fancy parties with politicians. He was a scoundrel and always would be. Some time after Ben had been taken into the Jedi Academy, Han and Leia broke off their marriage.

Despite Ben never being close to his parents, it tore him apart. He blamed himself. He was angry he couldn't have a normal life. He was angry his parents were galactic saviors, angry his uncle was the great Starfleet Captain and Jedi Master James T. Kirk. He was angry his grandfather was Darth Vader. This anger grew in him for years, and coupled with his innate curiosity about the galaxy he lived in, led young Ben to experiment with the Dark Side of the Force in secret.

The discovery of the wormhole leading into the Unknown Regions became the perfect opportunity for Ben Solo to test himself. Master Kirk was happy to allow Padawan Ben to join the early expeditions leaving from Ryloth. It was there that Ben had a chance encounter with Snoke. Ben had been working with a Starfleet ship charting the Unknown Regions and exploring when an anomaly of some sort caused the ships work core to breach and the crew forced to abandon ship. Ben made it to an escape pod and managed to make it to a habitable planet. The others who had made it onto the escape pod did not survive the crash landing. Ben tried to use his force abilities to save them but the crash was too violent and he had to concentrate most of his will on saving himself.

Stranded, Ben knew he had to find shelter. Starfleet would surely send someone, but he had no idea how long. While on the planet, he realized he was not alone. He encountered a man, tall, slender and horrible disfigured, but surviving. Snoke introduced himself to Ben, who could feel the dark side energy within him. Ben wasn't scared... Snoke was not hostile towards him, and he had been interested in dabbling into the dark side. Snoke explained his story to Ben, coming clean that he had been an Imperial Inquisitor during the Jedi Purge. He claimed he had fled away from the Empire, regretful of his actions. In reality he had fled, biding his time and seeking an opportunity to seize power. Snoke educated Ben on many dark side mysteries before Starfleet was able to send a ship to rescue him. Snoke decided to stay behind, and Ben thought it would be the last he would see of him...

To be continued...

 

[Evilchumlee]

Ben respected Snoke's wishes to remain hidden. Ben knew full well that what the Republic would do to a former Imperial Inquisitor, and Snoke had helped him... potentially saved his life, not to mention having to deal with the reaction of Jim when he found out. Once back at Academy on Khitomer, Ben realized a part of Snoke stuck with him. They had formed a bond, able to communicate with each other, if only in vague terms with great concentration. Ben would become consumed with communing with Snoke and tinkering with the dark side.

Ben had generally hid his connection well, until one night when he let his guard down while communing with Snoke in his quarters. Kirk sensed a strong, dark side presence and leaped to action, lightsaber in hand. Thinking he was rushing to save Ben from some unknown threat, he burst into his nephew's quarters, lightsaber ignited at the ready. Upon entering the room, all he saw Ben, caught off guard, hurriedly tying to hide whatever he was doing. Kirk still sense the dark presence and reached out to Ben. Ben took the gesture as a threat... under the influence of Snoke... and called his own lightsaber to his hand and struck at Kirk.

It was almost instinctual that Kirk parried the blow and counterattacked, holding himself back at the last possible second, realizing he was attacking his nephew. Ben's expression turned from scared to angry, and Ben lashed out, fighting off Kirk. Kirk was unprepared for the dark side rage fueled attack by Ben and was knocked unconscious in the battle. When Kirk awoke, his Jedi Academy was a smoldering ruin. Ben had not only destroyed the structure, but slaughtered the other Jedi students.

Ben fled Khitomer, setting a course for the Unknown Regions to reunite with Snoke. Snoke had, by this point, already become ingrained into the Dominion and took Ben as his apprentice, redubbing him "Kylo Ren" and placing him in command of the force sensitive Jem Hadar "Knights of Ren".

James Kirk was overwhelmed with emotion at what had happened. He needed time away, fearing his anger at what had happened would drive him to the dark side. He took refuge on P'Jem, an ancient Vulcan monastery world and the site of an ancient Jedi Temple. There were a small population of Vulcans still living there, but they were not force sensitive. Kirk would remain on P'Jem for many tears...

Unbeknownst to most the galaxy, Emperor Palpatine had not truly perished. While his physical body died, his essence survived, existing as a non-corporeal entity of pure dark side energy. He had made preparations for the event of his demise, having amassed a secret fleet on the ancient Sith planet of Exegol... a long forgotten world that served as a temporary home for Ajunta Pall and the early Sith after their exodus from Vulcan. The population of the world, under a quasi-governmental organization known as the Zhat Vash, had always been devoted to the Sith Lords and quickly began to devise a way to create a new body for Palpatine, capable of holding his powerful essence.

First, the Zhat Vash scientists attempted to clone Palpatine. Through several iterations, it turned out to not be a viable option. Palpatine's essence would quickly degrade the cloned bodies, and often times the cloned Palpatine bodies had enough force sensitivity and free will to be problematic. Although the Zhat Vash had always been vehemently against any form of artificial intelligence, two Imperial scientists who had joined the Zhat Vash after the fall of the Empire came with a new suggestion. Bruce Maddox and Alton Soong had been working on advancing droids, to create true life from them. Presenting one of their creations to the Zhat Vash, the "golem" was theorized to be able to hold Palpatine's essence. Begrudgingly, they accepted and planned to create the perfect vessel for the return of Palpatine.

 

[Evilchumlee]

Rey Burnham (marking I believe the first time i've staight up combined a character name) / The Resistance Continued / Finn

Abandoned on Nimbus III at a young age, a young girl by the name of Rey was taken in by a small commune of Vulcans living on the desert planet. Once she was old enough, Rey earned her keep by scavenging through the debris of the Battle of Nimbus III and trading what she could find in the city of Paradise. Although the Vulcans did not expect payment for taking her in, Rey nonetheless felt the need to contribute. Having little experience with human children, the Vulcans raised her much in the Vulcan tradition. Rey was never able to totally master their emotional suppression techniques, but did use some of their wisdom to help center herself.

Once of age, the Vulcans helped Rey leave Nimbus and apply to Starfleet Academy. Rey would go on to serve on several starships as a science officer, never doing much of particular note or drawing much attention. However, prior to the onset of the First Order War, Rey had discovered some anomalous readings while on a mission scouting the Unknown Regions through the Rylothian Wormhole. Although the unique geography of the Unknown Regions made sensor data unreliable, Rey was certain that there was a warfleet amassing. She tried to warn her Captain, but was told that the readings were inconclusive.

Rey knew her readings were true, and she knew she had to warn somebody. Starfleet dismissed her claims. The Republic was too busy with reconstruction and hunting down Imperial remnants. Rey made a gamble and sent a coded transmission out the last group she felt might be able to do anything, The Resistance.

Although initially formed by renegade Starfleet officers during the war with the Galactic Empire, after the restoration of the Republic many members of the Resistance kept the group alive. Returning to Federation space would be problematic, as they all awaited court martials upon their return. The Republic could not officially take them in for fear of creating a political incident with the Federation. The Resistance was a not-insignificant force in and of itself and simply opted to continue on as a paramilitary organization, filling a gap in the galaxy that had once been held by the Jedi, committed to preserving peace and humanitarian aid.

Both the Republic and the Federation tolerated the activities of the Resistance. There was an unspoken agreement that the Federation wouldn't actively pursue members of the Resistance, who were officially criminals and in possession of stolen Starfleet equipment, so long as their mission continued to be focused on those humanitarian efforts. The Republic reciprocated the feelings of the Federation and for the most part would accept aid from the Resistance, usually in the form of simply... looking the other way. With the New Republic stretched thin, it was happy for help in whatever form it took, especially in the Outer Rim, where the Republic had little in the way of forces and the Resistance was able to operate freely.

Despite trying to encrypt her transmission, Rey's communication to the Resistance was caught. Captain Georgiou had ordered her to the brig for disobeying orders and contacting wanted criminals. Rey maintained that there was a threat out there that couldn't be ignored, but it continued to fall on deaf ears. Rey had to act, but she had already been by security. Strangely, the security officer escorting her to the brig completely bypassed it and headed in the direction of... the shuttle bay? She began to question the security officer, who gave her a "hush" gesture. He brought her down a vacant service corridor, and explained that he believed her and he was going to help her get to the Resistance. The two fled on a shuttle, Rey still confused at what had happened.

The young security officer introduced himself as "FN-2187", or "Finn" as he had been called. He knew Rey was curious as to why he helped, so Finn explained his motivations. "FN-2187" originated in, the best he could gather, an alternate universe. A MACO soldier on the I.S.S. Shenzhou, FN-2187 had been on deployment to put down a rebellion on the planet Jakku. FN-2187 never felt right about his service to the Terran Empire, but there was little he could do. By sheer happenstance, as he was transporting back to the ship, an ion storm rocked the ISS Shenzhou just as he was materializing. When the transport was complete, FN-2187 found himself to be in the same place, but different. He tried to blend in the best he could, realizing he had replaced a security officer from the ship... from what he learned was his doppleganger... "Finn".

Finn knew he couldn't keep the charade up. He was in a completely different universe, and his paranoia bred into him from his home universe meant he wouldn't be able to continue to serve in a military organization. He didn't want to know what would happen if he was found out, especially the worst case of scenario of sending him back. Not to mention, when he overheard the situation with Rey, he thought he could be useful. He knew very little of this universe, but in his universe, a terrible enemy emerged from the Unknown Regions and the Dominion and Terran Empire had been at war for some time. From what little he could gather, this didn't happen in this universe. At least. Not yet, but when he heard of Rey claiming to have detected a massive fleet in the Unknown Regions... Finn couldn't ignore that.

Rey and Finn had made contact again with The Resistance and were to meet with Resistance agents Poe Dameron and Chakotay on Nar Shadaa. It turns out that the Resistance had also been gathering intelligence on a force in the Unknown Regions. Rey was right, and would join the Resistance along with Finn. Chakotay and Dameron told Rey and Finn of an apparent new Sith who had been causing trouble known as Kylo Ren. They all knew nobody was equipped to deal with a Sith but a Jedi... and the only Jedi they knew still existed somewhere was James T. Kirk. Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron and Chakotay would embark on their mission with one goal... find James Kirk and enlist his help against this new Sith threat...

Lore Notes:
Finn is like, 90% Finn with some inspiration from Lorca, with the Mirror Universe stuff rather than Stormtrooper origin. Poe Dameron and Chakotay are just straight themselves, it's just sort of a pre-Voyager type Chakotay.

Despite actually knowing very little about them, the Resistance takes some inspiration from the Fenris Rangers and Mariposas from Picard, and they were already literally the Maquis. The Resistance is larger than it is in SW, probably closer in scale to late-stage Rebel Alliance in canon SW, maybe even larger. They have just enough resources that it makes attacking them outright unattractive. Think like, how the Cardassians are portrayed in TNG... the Federation could absolutely beat them, it would just be an investment in resources and manpower they really didn't want to expend.

Stylistically, the Resistance is always a hodge podge. The core of its fleet are more movie-era Starfleet type ships, but also have access to X-Wings, and a smattering of Clone Wars materials. For funs sake, there's at least a few Mandalorians who ended up with the Resistance rather than heading to the Klingon Empire, and a few Jango-Clone Klinzai who weren't content to sit at home and nation-build post-Clone Wars.

While much less formal than other powers, those that DO wear a uniform in the Resistance are styled in similar fashion to Old Republic Starfleet, i.e. jazzed up ST monster maroons.

Leia will be involved with the Resistance, probably ending up there in a very similar fashion to how she did in SW canon. Might not even bother to write it, if it's just bolt-on.

 

[Evilchumlee]

The First Order War

Supreme Leader Snoke had now successfully integrated his Dominion forces with those of the First Order, a generally smooth transition, although there was a latent animosity between the largely human-dominated forces that existed within the First Order and new additions of the Chiss and Jem' Hadar. Hux and Jellico would have preferred to remain a more human-centric organization, but the reality of the matter was that the First Order would never be able to compete in the galaxy without the Dominion, nor could they stand to deft Snoke lest the First Order and Dominion come into conflict rather than unify. And so they swallowed their pride, maintaining top leadership positions under Snoke.

The reorganization of the newly Dominion-bolstered First Order came into place quickly. Supreme Leader Snoke reigned as an absolute dictator, General's Hux and Jellico took positions as top military leaders, Hux being in command of the First Order Army and Jellico taking up command of the Navy. The Chiss tended towards officer and administrative roles, while the humans took over domestic roles and formed the core of the Stormtrooper Corps., while the Jem' Hadar remained as elite troops. Weyoun was a prominent Chiss who became the right hand of Snoke, responsible for most day-to-day operations of the regime, as well as eventually acting as the First Order's top diplomat.

Seeing themselves as the heir to the Galactic Empire, the First Order had a laser focused goal... the destruction of the Republic and the Federation, reunifying the galaxy, and establishing the order they thought it so desperately needed. The Dominion had similar goals of imposing order, but had a more tempered approach. The two ideologies turned out to compliment one another... the Chiss were suited to diplomacy and subterfuge, while the human core of the First Order was a war machine. Both would be necessary to accomplish their goals.

The First Order's strategy was two fold; first they would infiltrate both the Republic and Federation, establish themselves in position of power and destabilize them from within. They would seek to orchestrate conflicts to weaken all the powers prior to a military invasion. Once the time was right, the First Order would launch an assault.

*Retconning a bit here, this is mostly a rough draft riff i'm doing. More just timeline stuff than anything.

*Sinzon's takeover of the Imperial Remnant and subsequent explusion of non-Romulans happens later, much closer to the time of the First Order War. Timeline here gets a bit more focus... follows roughly the same time split as the SW Sequel Trilogy and ST Picard, so 25-30 years ish from the fall of the Empire to "the present".

* Battle of Nimbus III is roughly 3-5 years post-Palpatine. Ben Solo is born a year or two post "Endor" or whatever it ends up being.

*Ben goes to Kirk's Jedi Academy at around 10 years old, meets Snoke around 16 years old, destroys the Academy around 19 years old.

*Snoke manipulated events to get Ben into position, around that time he was already in the Dominion if not in full control. By the time Ben destroys the Academy, roughly 20 years "Post-Endor" as i'll keep saying, the Dominion and First Order are unifying. We will pick up Kylo Ren at about 30 years old.

*That means the Romulan expulsion occurs somewhere around 25 years "Post-Endor", giving a rough time frame of 5 years-ish for that evacuation effort, Snoke to solidify power over the First Order and Thrawn/Picard leaving, with the First Order War happening in the ball park of 30 years "Post-Endor".

*Rey Burnham would join the Resistance just prior to the refugee crisis... her warning even more shattered when her "invasion fleet" turned out to be a humanitarian armada. It will take the foursome several years to track down Kirk.

(Back the story)

The expulsion of non-Romulans from the former Imperial Remnant and now "Romulan Star Empire" was the perfect opportunity for the First Order to introduce themselves formally to the rest of the galaxy. The humanitarian crises arising from a staggering of refugees fleeing the Romulans, coupled with the general ineffectiveness of the Republic and the hesitation from the Federation to get involved. Different forces within the First Order saw this as an opportunity, with their own agendas.

Picard, always duty bound, demanded that the First Order help these people out of principle. The Republic wouldn't, the Federation wouldn't. The First Order had plenty of territory and space for them. Thrawn was less interested, but saw the value in taking in numbers. Hux and Jellico viewed it as an opportunity for recruitment. Snoke, and his lackey Weyoun, saw it as both an opportunity for recruitment and for political gain. What better way to subvert the existing order than to become "the good guys" over the Republic and Federation?

The First Order would emerge from the Rylothian Wormhole publicly, announcing their support for the refugees. The rumors were true, there was a force out in the Unknown Regions. Weyoun would quickly become commonplace on Deep Space Nine, constantly espousing the virtues of the First Order. Ben Sisko in particular was skeptical, warning Starfleet that they should restrict access to the wormhole. Ryloth was not as sure, the First Order had seemingly good intentions, perhaps better than the Federation. The issue would soon become moot, at least for a time, as a political coup on Cardassia saw Dukat installed their new head of government. This coup was orchestrated by First Order agents, but that was not known at the time. Dukat immediately announced a welcome to the First Order, and pledged Cardassia as a member state. Ryloth was treaty bound to allow Cardassia free access to the wormhole... the issue of the First Order's use of the wormhole was settled, for now.

 

[Evilchumlee]

(I'm realizing Picard is... probably really damn old here... but I think it still plays. It's roughly how it worked out in ST canon. Figure he was just out of the academy just a bit before the Clone Wars, probably Captain of the Constellation by about 25 (assuming the Clone Wars caused some high-talent officers to get fast tracked into command). The Empire existed for roughly 25 years, so by Post-Palpatine, he's 50ish. By the time of the First Order War, he'd be in his early 80's... the Vong/Borg War he would probably be in his 90's, which pretty much tracks with PIC.)

As more and more former-Imperial citizens were moved through the wormhole into the Unknown Regions, the ranks of the First Order began to swell, both in military recruits and industrial capacity. Unsuspecting refugees, thinking they were getting the opportunity to settle a new land and begin their lives again, were conscripted into the First Order military. Those who weren't were sent to labor in factories. This drew the ire of Picard, who had been undertaking this mission to protect these people and preserve order. Thrawn was somewhat torn. He saw the military value in their conscription efforts, and could help but face the reality that in order to accomplish their goals, more industrial capacity was needed. The interim ruling council of the First Order held a meeting to discuss the issue.

The interim council, established to facilitate the unification of the First Order and the Dominion, consisted of Thrawn, Picard, Snoke, Hux and Jellico; all the most prominent, powerful people within the organizations. Weyoun was present at the council as a representative of the Chiss people, but did not get a participating vote. Picard called the council together to protest the treatment of the refugees. Snoke, Hux and Jellico were already a united bloc and could counter Picard regardless, but Picard was defeated personally when Thrawn decided to stand with the others on this issue. Thrawn tried to get Picard to come around, and accept what was a regrettable but necessary action.

It was at the moment Picard truly realized the First Order was no better... perhaps worse actually... than the Empire. He would no longer have any of it. He didn't expect his ultimatum to work, given the present company, but he was left with nothing else. Picard tore the rank insignia from his chest and declared he would resign if things did not change. Snoke, Hux, and Jellico were happy to accept. Thrawn was saddened, knowing he would lose his closest ally and the defacto voice of reason within the First Order. Picard left, having given everything in him to try to do right by the people of the galaxy, now a broken man who no longer cared.

With Picard out of the picture, Thrawn's power base began to quickly erode. He could see the writing on the wall, the power that Snoke had over Hux and Jellico was apparent, not to mention his two two lap dogs with differing but equally devastating power sets of their own, Weyoun and this "Kylo Ren". Without Picard's general popularity within the ranks keeping things in check, Thrawn understood his days were numbered. Snoke intended to seize full control, and would eliminate anyone in his way. Getting ahead of it, Thrawn was able to gather a small core of those loyal to him and a fleet of his own, leaving the First Order, allowing Snoke to get his wish and assume command as Supreme Leader.

(I realized only this far in that Thrawn, a Chiss, seems to lose a ton power once his faction unites with... the Chiss. While not explicitly written in here, i'm getting the idea that a big reason why the Chiss Dominion was convinced to join up with the First Order was Thrawn's influence, along with for-sure Dark Side manipulation from Snoke. But Thrawn is different than other Chiss, many of them look to Snoke as a god. Thrawn was away from the Dominion long enough that he moved away from the cultural programing of the Changelings and didn't have that reverence built-in. Despite Thrawn being well-liked by the Chiss population, given the choice between "Guy they like" and "Literal god"... god wins. Meanwhile, Hux and Jellico are mostly kept around in positions of power to appease the human side and have them not feel that despite the Dominion joining the First Order, they were actually backdoor invaded... which they basically were.)