The Imperial: Tales from the New Republic I
The following is a transcript recorded on [39:5:20, at 0735. At the request of the Office of the Chancellor of the New Republic, this record has been sealed for internal usage ONLY.
Attendants:
Mothma, Mon - Chancellor
Xiono, Hamato - Chair for Committee of Military Appropriations
Nammo - Admiral, Third Fleet
Omas, Cal - Representing Ministry of Finance
Syndulla, Hera - General, 61st Mechanized Infantry
Ossk, Lyra - Secretary
HEARING ON PROJECT STARHAWK
[0736] XIO: -Think we can start this meeting? Admiral Nammo [Unintelligible]
[0737] NAM: Yes. Yes, I'm here. Apologies, I was held up.
[0737] MOT: Thank you. I believe that can be forgiven, these have been busy days. Now… I call this Hearing on the fate of Project Starhawk to order. Miss Ossk, please call roll.
[0738] OSS: Chancellor Mon Mothma?
[0738] MOT: Present.
[0738] OSS: Senator Hamato Xiono?
[0738] XIO: Present.
[0739] OSS: Admiral Nammo?
[0739] NAM: Here.
[0739] OSS: Cal Omas?
[0739] OMA: Present.
[0739] OSS: All members of the hearing are present, Madam Chancellor.
[0740] MOT: Thank you. There is only one item on the agenda today. It has been deliberated on by the Senate, where it was shot down. General Syndulla has pushed for Project Starhawk to be given an executive overrule and put into action. Before I open the floor for remarks from the presiding representatives, we will review the Project at hand. Miss Ossk?
[0742] OSS: Project Starhawk refers to the creation of a new class of battleship for the New Republic navy. The specifications of this theoretical ship have been provided to all members on the datapads before you. The first ten pages include the expected armaments of the vessel, expected crew complement, and storage needed to maintain its crew. The subsequent five pages are revisions recommended by the Admiralty Board, Ministry of Finance, and Committee for Military Appropriations-
[Sounds of disturbance, someone speaking outside the range of a microphone.]
[0745] MOT: - You will be given your time to speak, General Syndulla. For now, I ask that you respect Hearing etiquette. Thank you. Miss Ossk?
[0746] OSS: Yes, Madam Chancellor. The remaining pages are dedicated toward the recommendations made by the Committee and Ministry regarding the fate of Project Starhawk.
[0747] MOT: Thank you, Miss Ossk. I will now open the floor to any initial comments the present members wish to make. Senator Xiono?
[0747] XIO: Thank you, Madam Chancellor. Frankly, I cannot understand why we are having this conversation again. Project Starhawk has been nothing but a tremendous waste of resources and time - resources and time better spent building ships we know work rather than those we do not. The one prototype General Syndulla had built cost more than twelve standard cruisers-of-the-line - indeed, we may have found more use out of the two Imperial Star Destroyers she appropriated for this fool's errand.
[0749] MOT: Senator, I would like to remind you that General Syndulla did not make this decision in a vacuum - let us refrain from personal attacks.
[0750] XIO: Of course, Madam Chancellor. However, we cannot deny the fact that the New Republic simply cannot afford these distractions. The simple fact of the matter is that we are fighting a war of attrition. If we pursue these pipe dream projects, then we cannot match the Empire's production. Every ship lost by Grand Admiral Takel can be replaced, every ship we lose cannot. I do not question the service General Syndulla has provided to the Rebel Alliance, what I question is her judgement. It has always been the stance of my Committee that technological advancement should be along a path we know works.
[0752] MOT: Thank you, Senator. Admiral Nammo?
[0752] NAM: Thank you, Madam Chancellor. General Syndulla, I have been a noted critic of your Project Starhawk. I can accept results when I see them - Jan Dodonna's Spearhead and A-type Projects, as an example. While I respect your attempt to modernize the Republic's navy, I cannot abide the manner in which you tried to accomplish this. The Empire's greatest weakness has been its over reliance on wonder weapons, something your Starhawk is built around. Many of the Empire's greatest weaknesses I see reflected in this Project, something I expected you of all people to appreciate. Madam Chancellor.
[0755] MOT: Thank you, Admiral. Minister Omas, would you like to add anything?
[0755] OMA: I would like to make a correction to a comment made by Senator Xiono. The total cost of the Starhawk would be roughly equivalent to eleven star cruisers, not twelve.
[0756] MOT: Thank you, Minister. If there is nothing else? General Syndulla, the microphone is yours. Please keep your comments limited to the matter at hand.
[0757] SYN: Thank you, Madam Chancellor. Senator, Admiral, Minister, your concerns are not unfounded. Project Starhawk is untested, using untested technology, but no war has been won relying solely on what has worked before. The Clone Wars were not fought relying on old Invincible and Dreadnaught Cruisers. This current stalemate showcases the need to develop new technology rather than feeding old cruisers into the Empire's lines. The Starhawk is that future, a ship capable of combating Imperial Battlecruisers at rough parity.
[0801] OMA: Madam Chancellor. General, while there is some truth in your words, my concern is the tremendous cost of operating this… tractor beam array on the cruiser. If these reports are accurate, and I will be addressing that, then the tractor beam represents nearly forty percent of the total production cost for this vessel. A tractor beam that was proven to not function in the Starhawk's first and only direct engagement with an Imperial Star Destroyer. How can we justify this cost when the same effect might be achieved by a handful of space tugs?
[Brief disturbance, several voices try to speak. Chancellor Mon Mothma allows General Hera Syndulla to speak first.]
[0803] SYN: Thank you, Madam Chancellor. Minister, I need to remind you that the Starhawk successfully arrested the movements of that Imperial Star Destroyer. A series of tugs are not applicable in military situations - the Starhawk has the armor and shielding to get close enough to activate its tractor beams.
[0805] NAM: General Syndulla, you say that the Starhawk was successful in capturing the Imperial Star Destroyer it engaged at the Zavian Abyss. However, our reports indicate that this Star Destroyer managed to jump into hyperspace and escape your battleship.
[0806] SYN: That is correct, Admiral. The Star Destroyer Overseer activated its hyperdrive to escape the Starhawk.
[0806] NAM: Then the Starhawk is incapable of stopping escaping ships?
[0806] SYN: Not in hyperspace, but in realspace we estimate that the upper limit of ships the Starhawk can arrest are in the range of the Bellator Star Dreadnought.
[0806] XIO: A Star Dreadnought?! This is absurd, Madam Chancellor.
[0807] NAM: A Bellator, Senator. A smaller variant. Closer to the Mandator in size.
[0807] XIO: I see. I apologize.
[0807] MOT: Let us keep outbursts to a minimum, Senator. Admiral, does this answer your question?
[0808] NAM: In part. General Syndulla, to reiterate, your Starhawk cannot stop ships escaping into hyperspace?
[0808] SYN: Imperial ships do not make a habit of fleeing, Admiral. Nor have they made a habit of abandoning battles just to get out of a tractor beam. Especially not on the Trade Spine.
[0808] NAM: A simple yes or no will suffice, General.
[0809] SYN: Yes, Admiral.
[0809] NAM: The effective range of this tractor beam is around a few hundred to a few thousand kilometers, correct? Rating the effectiveness on Star Destroyers, I mean.
[0810] SYN: Yes, Admiral.
[0811] NAM: I see. I am failing to see an application for this super weapon, General. If the Starhawk cannot stop ships escaping into hyperspace, then it cannot be used to track hit-and-fade attacks. If the tractor beam has such a tremendously short range, then it cannot be used in large-scale fleet engagements.
[0813] SYN: The Starhawk is more than just its tractor beam array, Admiral. It is intended to be capable of engaging battlecruisers of a similar or greater tonnage alongside the weapon.
[0814] XIO: Similar or greater tonnage? General, your Starhawk failed to destroy a single Star Destroyer and was subsequently destroyed by a small Imperial strikeforce after the Imperial Navy refused to engage it directly. All I see is a colossal waste of resources and credits for a ship that cannot fight with any of its weapons. As Admiral Nammo so succinctly put it, your Starhawk carries many of the same weaknesses we have exploited against the Empire. I cannot see any situation where such a ship could be useful for the New Republic navy, least of all in a role that Star Destroyers of our own could not fill just as well.
[0817] SYN: Did you fight in the Rebellion, Senator?
[0817] XIO: No, I did not. I fail to see the relevance of that question, General.
[0817] SYN: Just sat back to see who came out on top? I cannot see any situation where you are an expert on what the fleet does or does not need.
[The following was cut out of the official transcript at the request of Chancellor Mon Mothma]
Hamato Xiono: Excuse me?
[Arguments]
Nammo: This is getting absurd.
Mon Mothma: Order! Hera, Hamato, control yourselves. I will not allow this meeting to devolve into childish bickering. Miss Ossk, strike this from the transcript.
Lyra Ossk: Yes, Madam Chancellor.
Mon Mothma: This hearing will not become another schoolyard brawl between the Senate and Alliance Old Guard. Hera, Senator Xiono presents the interests of the Hosnian system. If our current offensives prove unsuccessful or, worse, the Empire launches a counter offensive, it will be his home under threat. Whatever your disagreement with him is, no one can deny that Senator Xiono has been steadfast in his support of the military and New Republic.
Hera Syndulla: Yes, ma'am.
Mon Mothma: And Senator, this New Republic is new. The transition from stateless rebellion to functioning government is never easy. It takes time to change the mindset of old Alliance officers - some more than others. All of us are guilty of that at some level.
Nammo: Some more than others.
[Mild laughter. Brief quiet discussion.]
Mon Mothma: Thank you, Nammo. My point is, this antagonism does nothing but aid the Empire. Senator, while I understand your issues with the Rebel Alliance old guard, we can not allow personal feelings get in the way of our jobs.
Hamato Xiono: Yes, Madam Chancellor.
[Official transcript begins again.]
[0827] MOT: Miss Ossk, continue the transcript here.
[0827] OSS: Yes, Madam Chancellor.
[0827] MOT: I believe that it would be fortuitous to wrap this up. General Syndulla, do you have anything more to add to this hearing?
[0827] SYN: Only that the New Republic cannot rely solely on the weapons of the Alliance. We can not fight the Empire as we are without modern ships - the Starhawk is the first step of a full modernization project.
[0828] MOT: Are there any further questions? No? I see. Thank you all for your time. No deliberation will occur at this time. A decision regarding Project Starhawk will be rendered and posted by tomorrow morning. Do we have a movement to adjourn?
[0829] NAM: I move to adjourn this hearing.
[0829] OMA: Seconded.
[0829] MOT: Movement to adjourn by Admiral Nammo, seconded by Minister Omas. All in favor say 'aye'?
[ 5 AYE 0 NAY ]
[0830] MOT: Then this meeting is adjourned.
[Transcript stops at 0831]
On 39:5:21, at 0800, the Office of the Chancellor of the New Republic rendered the Project Starhawk will be indefinitely tabled. General Hera Syndulla would make a number of comments publicly, earning an unofficial reprimand from the New Republic military.
A little tidbit that will become relevant much later in the story - if the course stays the way I have it outlined. This also includes hints as to what is going on in the galaxy. And to further my patchwork attempt of connecting Canon and EU material.
A special thanks goes out to my Captain of the Empire:
Ivan Chechnya
Without their support, the borderlands would have fallen long ago. As always, I appreciate your support!