If you want excitement and action, go and live in the Rim. If you want to live, go to the Centrality.
—A Centran immigration propaganda poster
The Centrality was a faction in the eastern Outer Rim Territories. Originally a buffer state, it evolved into a dependency of the Galactic Republic before achieving independence in 22 BBY, during the Clone Wars. After the conflict was resolved, the Galactic Empire that succeeded the Republic maintained good relations with it, funding its fleet and army of hundreds of warships and twenty million soldiers. However, the Empire's fragmentation in 4 ABY brought about economic depression and subsequent demilitarization. This, combined with the interest in the region's mineral wealth, saved the Centrality from collapse but made it dependent on foreign corporations. During Vilos Cohaagen's ministering, the government took steps to nationalize key companies and reduce the state's economic vulnerability. The period also saw the revitalized army seize the two independent sectors spinward of the Centrality, though the colonization ended in 30 ABY and the government would focus on economic reforms in the following period.
Initially being a democracy, the Centrality's devolution in the post-Endor recession expanded the power of the government, and by Cohaagen's time, slave labor and military repercussions were common. Following the minister's assassination in 25 ABY, the authority of the state was reduced, as the leaders feared that continuing the old standard would trigger a New Republic intervention. The Centrality continued to vegetate until 130 ABY, when the resurgent Empire annexed the government.
History[]
Establishment[]
In the millennia succeeding 6,000 BBY, the Galactic Republic continued to explore the space trailing the Perlemian Trade Route, discovering colony worlds and dependencies controlled by the Hutt Empire. The Hutts were alarmed by the expansion, and, by 2,000 BBY, tensions had grown sufficiently to bring about the risk of an armed conflict. To avoid a galactic war, the two powers called a congress on the neutral planet Bothawui, inviting other lesser factions that held interest in the region.
The Hutt diplomats strove to preserve their affiliates in the region, deeming Republic colonization a violation of their territory. The Republic then proposed a compromise: it would be free to settle worlds spinward of Hutt Space and the newly-built Junkfort Station, while the Hutt dependencies' status quo would not change. The plan was approved, with some extensions: the station was declared a free port and a buffer state was established Rimward of it. Both the state, deemed the Centrality, and the station were named neutral territories by the two powers.
Contested territory[]
In the following millennia, both governments sought to bring the Centrality under their control and thus increase their influence in the region. The Hutts managed to gain control of the Centran administration several times, but Republic threats prevented them from annexing it. Therefore, the Hutts remained in the shadows, pulling the strings of the Centrans and powering their economy in an effort to acquire it when the Republic was bogged down in another galactic affair. This occurred during the Sith conflict of the era, the New Sith Wars, but the Republic reestablished the state set in the treaty after the war had ended. By the time of the Great Peace of the Republic, Hutt influence had waned, as the organization was seeking expansion in the inner galactic regions. The territorial and political changes in the aftermath of the New Sith Wars also saw the Centrality receive independence, which resulted in the buffer state becoming a democratic government.
Dependency[]
In 24 BBY, the Galactic Republic annexed the Centrality to prevent it from joining the fledgling Confederacy of Independent Systems. During the subsequent Clone Wars of 22–19 BBY, the Republic operated a naval support base and a garrison of 40,000 clone troopers inside its territory, with the navy launching strikes on Outer Rim Confederate holdings and protecting the Perlemian Trade Route against Hutt incursions. Separatist intelligence was also present, attempting to undermine the Republic mission.
After the war had concluded with the Mission to Mustafar, the reorganized Republic, renamed the Galactic Empire, maintained close ties with the Centrality, with the Empire financing the Centran navy and army of two hundred warships and twenty million soldiers. Imperial companies also moved in to capitalize on the region's mineral resources, which resulted in the Centran industry being expanded.
In 3 BBY, Rokur Gepta, the governor of the region, launched an assault on the ThonBoka Nebula in the southern part of the Centrality in an attempt to root out the gambler Lando Calrissian. The battle saw the Imperials lose from the combined armada of the native Oswaft, and Gepta was killed by Calrissian.[1]
Post-Endor crises[]
Following the defeat of the Imperial Navy and the death of Galactic Emperor Palpatine at Endor in 4 ABY, the Galactic Empire pulled back and consolidated its armies and fleets around key fortress worlds situated on strategic points as part of a defensive military doctrine invoked by Sate Pestage, the temporary replacement of the Emperor. This saw the Empire withdraw its presence from the Centrality and end financing the Centran armed forces. Thus, the government sank into an economic recession and a political crisis, as the economy was powered by export to the Empire and Imperial fiscal support. As the value of Centran debt securities shrunk to a tenth of their original, foreign investors and traders avoided the Centrality.
During the period between 4–12 ABY, the Centrality saw fifteen elections due to the governments' inability to cope with the depression. Eventually, the newly-founded Centran Association was elected to power and proceeded to open the country's isolated market to foreign companies, offering tax discounts and other attractive measures. The interest in local mineral wealth led to stabilization and minor growth, but the open market also brought dependence from outside economic status. His additional actions, such as the confiscation of mills and processing plants owned by non–Centrans, were presented as patriotic, which brought him fame amongst the conservative population.
Stabilization and early Cohaagen era[]
By 14 ABY, the economy had stabilized but was dependent on foreign investors. During this year, a former Imperial governor named Vilos Cohaagen participated in the gubernatorial elections of the Dilonexa system, a major exporter of Centran agricultural products, as part of the Rim Front, which sought to free the Centran economy of "alien" influence. Thanks to a carefully organized propaganda campaign, he won the position and reorganized the system: he nationalized former state–owned companies again, ended the tax discounts for foreign organizations and expanded the system's military force from 15,000 to 25,000 men.
The elections for government in 16 ABY saw the Rim Front win and form a cabinet of conservative politicians. Cohaagen, who had been elected minister of economics, proceeded with his reforms and continued to rid the Centrality of what he deemed dependence on foreigners. The income brought in by nationalization allowed for rearmament: the army, which had previously been reduced to 500,000 soldiers, was boosted to the strength of a million by 18 ABY, with the ultimate goal being 15 million by 22 ABY. The percentage of unemployment began shrinking as many youngsters joined the army and the navy, attracted by the higher pay and the secure environment. Most of the slugthrowers that previously made up the bulk of the weaponry were also phased out in favor of railguns, which provided destruction power comparable to blasters and laser batteries while being cheaper due to the fact that the tibanna gas required by the latter was costly to import.
By 21 ABY, the army consisted of ten million soldiers divided into multiple corps and divisions. Vilos Cohaagen proposed that the Centrality use the newly formed units to annex the two freestanding sectors spinward of the Centrality, but the plan was met by opposition from both military command and governmental institutions, as most of the recruits were still untrained and the army lacked cohesion. Thus, the parliament voted for the use of foreign mercenaries and officers to help the armed forces gain experience in a two-year period of practicing and training.
Approximately a billion credits were spent on rearmament, with the weapons being produced by local factories to support the fledgling economy. This move further reduced unemployment and helped the workers achieve expertise in their field, which eventually resulted in higher quality.
Colonial wars[]
In 23 ABY, Cohaagen managed to convince the government—partly with impromptu protests incited by his propaganda agents—to invade the Centrality's two northern neighbors, a move which, according to Cohaagen, would further aid the nation in supplying itself and increasing its influence. The armed forces were mobilized and, after a suitable casus belli—the killing of a Centran individual in one of the sectors—was found, invaded the two territories, seizing their capitals and securing the goals in a week without further resistance. The bulk of the sectors' politicians fled to the New Republic and formed a government-in-exile, aiming to restore the previous status of the region. However, the New Republic was kept occupied by political debates and threats of a possible attack by the strengthened Empire of the Hand and did not wish to utilize its reserve fleets to assist the sectors.
With the colonies captured, the Centrality moved in its national companies to make use of the nebulæ and mineral deposits of the region. Local population was conscripted and utilized as slave labor in the quarries and harvesting facilities in eighteen hour shifts. The corporations constructed habitats from prefabricated barracks near the employment hubs; such sites lacked basic commodities and the diseases caused by the overcrowding decimated the workers. Centran authorities had no interest in improving the conditions due to the potential costs, though they allowed foreign agencies to send humanitarian supplies, which were analyzed and stripped of the most useful items before being sent to the camps.
By 24 ABY, the inhabitants of the largest slum formed a rebel movement, intending to end the Centran domination and reestablish the sectors. Initially, 60,000 workers joined the organization, which started with sabotaging machines and equipment before beginning a guerrilla war against the Centrality's authoritative personnel. The governments-in-exile of the two sectors lobbied the New Republic Senate for covert aid, thus providing the rebels with ammunition and consumables to help them continue the fight. Not wanting to trigger an intervention, the Centran leadership avoided accusations and introduced martial law to try and deal with the resistance, authorizing its troops to use lethal force as necessary.
Although the new doctrines temporarily proved successful in reducing the number of attacks, the rebels continued their assault; in 25 ABY, they managed to assassinate Centran minister of economics Vilos Cohaagen and injure other members of the cabinet. The death toll of colonial forces continued to raise and when it surpassed 200,000 in 30 ABY, the Centrality's government ordered a retreat from the two sectors. Civilian casualties of the seven-year conflict numbered around one million, while the rebel forces lost about a hundred thousand men. A New Republic committee estimated the war's total costs as a trillion credits.
Later history and annexation[]
The Centrality began to follow a policy of disarmament after 30 ABY, which resulted in the army being reduced to a million soldiers under a period of fifty years. Many military vehicles and multiple warships were sold to private enterprises and gangsters in the region. Thus, when Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire invaded the Centrality in 130 ABY, the armed forces showed no opposition, save for the commander of the Scillal Fleet, who had been suffering from a chronic mental problem and attacked the Sith forces. In retaliation, the Empire destroyed all Centran navy ships before publicly executing the acting Supreme Commander. Approximately 30,000 military personnel fled to outlying systems rimward of the Centrality or situated above the galactic plane, where they formed a movement dedicated to restoring sovereignty.
Government and politics[]
The Centran parliament
Here, life is provocation, every single bit of it. We're caught up between two superpowers whom we can only evade if we possess the key to all fields of political maneuvering.
—A Centran political axiom
During its existence, the Centran cabinet consisted of five ministers and a chancellor, who headed the government. The incumbent Chief of State was to review and either ratify or return any proposals accepted by the legislative body, a single chamber parliament that consisted of representatives from all Centran member worlds as well as a delegate projecting the needs of Centran civilians living outside the country.
From the Centrality's formation to the Great Peace of the Republic, politics were shaped by the Hutts' efforts to bring the country under their sway and thus extend their sphere of influence to include Dac and the rimward leg of the Perlemian Trade Route. This tug-of-war between the two powers, while keeping the Centrality subjugated, also preserved it, as neither of the two factions intended to abolish it and prevented Sith attempts to do so. Although the cartel succeeded in electing a puppet chancellor twice, Republic threats of intervention and the population's dissatisfaction forced them to retreat and no more Hutt coup attempts were recorded after the end of the New Sith Wars in 1,000 BBY. However, as the Galactic Republic also suffered losses in the conflict, it did not return its 5,000 peacekeepers, which allowed the Centrality to declare its independence.
With the independence came a shift in foreign policy, with the government in power continually trying to satisfy both the Republic and the Hutts while pursuing territorial expansion, a longtime goal that would allow the Centrality to strengthen its army and make use of its highly trained workers. These initiatives were suppressed between 19 BBY and 4 ABY, when the Imperial connection lessened political space but jump-started the economy by providing funds for the armed forces and offering jobs in its national companies. The period also saw the rise of the Inner Council that consisted of Imperial officials as well as Centran military leaders and the Chief of State. The council assisted the Chief of State in decisions and became the true governing body, retaining its influence well into the post-Endor era. It also catalyzed the rise of state–owned corporations that gained strength during Vilos Cohaagen's ministering; their representatives would assert their goals in the council and thus shape the era's foreign policy, primarily by calling for territorial expansion and ousting most non-Centran competitors. These directives were not fully abandoned until the years following 30 ABY.
The judicial body of the Centrality was the Court of Scillal that consisted of two individual branches concerned with criminal law and constitutional law, respectively. The initially independent body became more and more biased towards the government after 4 ABY, a process only reversed decades later, when the New Republic sent observers to advise on the workings of the court.
Following the Centrality's annexation in 130 ABY, the region was brought under Imperial administration and the organized government was dissolved.
Economy[]
The Centran credit symbol
The Centrality was used as a transportation hub by various nearby Wild Space planets to connect themselves with the wider galaxy. Minerals like uranium and titanium—necessary for producing alloys for starship hulls—had been mined since the country's establishment before being refined in one of the local refineries operated by foreign corporations. Gaseous resources, including helium and tibanna gas, were harvested from the nebulæ of the region and transported in a liquid form to the Galactic Republic or to planets rimward, where most of the gas was used for heating.
For much of its history, the Centrality had a free market economy characterized by its strong dependence on foreign investors and reliance on exports. The Galactic Empire's corporations increased this even further, which resulted in a recession when Emperor Palpatine was killed at Endor in 4 ABY and the Inner Circle withdrew from the Outer Rim Territories. As the industry operated by non-Centrans began to shut down, unemployment rose to thirty percent and the Centrality lost demand for its minerals. The process was only reversed after 15 ABY, when minister Vilos Cohaagen confiscated much of the factories and recruited most jobless persons into the revitalized armed forces.
Throughout its history, the Centrality used localized versions of the Galactic Credit Standard with different symbols and chips, save for a period between 19 BBY and 4 ABY, when the Empire introduced its dataries. After the Battle of Endor, the Centran credit became a freestanding currency and lost most of its value in the economic depression that followed, regaining strength in the Cohaagen era.
Military[]
Organization and numbers[]
The Centran Armed Forces, founded in 1,000 BBY, was divided into a spatial navy force, special forces and ground units. The first constitution of the Centrality, in effect from 2,000 BBY to 19 BBY, limited its role to self-defense but the suspension of the document during the Imperial period and its redeclaration in 4 ABY led to the passage being erased.
The initial armed forces numbered 50,000 navy personnel and 200,000 soldiers as well as 4,000 marines and less than a thousand special forces commandos. The Galactic Empire used conscripts from the Expansion Region to inflate the navy to 500,000 and the army to twenty million men. The Imperial retreat after the Battle of Endor saw most of the recruits disbanded and many warships decommissioned before Vilos Cohaagen initiated rearmament as part of his program to restart economic growth. The ensuing boost increased the forces' size to fifteen million in a ten–year period and led to the purchase of new weapon systems, mostly produced by the local industry.
Armament[]
A Centran anti-air/space missile hits a target
Until 19 BBY, the Centrality leased ships from the Galactic Republic, mostly Hammerhead-class cruisers that were relatively cheap due to their obsolescence but were still adequate to counter local piracy and smuggling. The aging warships were scrapped during the Imperial period and largely replaced by Dreadnaught-class cruisers and newly-built corvettes. After the navy recovered from the loss of many of its units in the post-Endor crisis, it purchased frigates and cruisers from the New Republic and the Hutt Cartel.
Due to economic restrictions, the Centran ground forces favored missile systems over turbolaser- and ion cannon-equipped vehicles. The proportion of railguns and blasters was also in favor of the former for the same reason, with the guns initially being imported from foreign arms dealers and locally produced after 15 ABY. The missile systems as well as other heavy weapons were manufactured in the New Republic and the Corporate Sector Authority.
Astrography[]
A map of Centran space
The Centrality occupied a stretch of space rimward of the Triellus Trade Route and Hutt Space, and trailing Dac. Its borders were determined by the Hutt–Republic committee that elaborated upon the points set in the treaty that established the Centrality in 2,000 BBY. The resulting territory was connected to the Triellus Trade Route by a hyperspace corridor known as the Cadma Conduit, kept open near its end at Oseon by S-thread boosters.
The planet Erilnar was declared the capital of the Centrality, with its population of five billion and its developed industry. Other principal worlds were Oseon, famed for its gambling establishments, Dilonexa, an agricultural production and research center, Scillal, a hub of higher education and Douglas III, favored by hunters for its largely untouched wildlife.
Between 23–30 ABY, the two freestanding subsectors spinward of the Centrality were annexed by the government. The sixteen habitable planets of the region contained ores necessary to fuel the Centran starship industry and refineries, but the strip–mining project failed due to slave revolts.
Behind the scenes[]
The article that would become the Centrality was created by Star Wars Fanon contributor “TK-999” on June 11, 2011 as the government to be created by Vilos Cohaagen in a coup d'état.[2] However, during the latter's featured article nomination,[3] fellow user and Seer “Solus”—also known by her pen name, Susan Donnam[4]—pointed out multiple significant realism errors that led to a complete rewrite[3] finished on October 7, 2011.[2]