In the mainline Star Wars timestream, the Rebel Alliance didn't actually so much defeat the Empire as decapitate it. They made themselves too bothersome and expensive to ignore, then when they saw an opening, pounced on the Emperor and destroyed him.
The defeat of the Galactic Empire came about because Emperor Palpatine had set it up so that it could not survive without him; so it didn't, fracturing almost immediately into thousands of different power structures which tore each other apart.
The Rebels did well to plan their strategy that way, because it worked. And the alternative, an up-front fighting war, was insane at those kind of odds. At points the Empire had FIVE THOUSAND TIMES the starships of the Rebel Alliance, and theirs were bigger, and many times nastier, and you just don't win against those kind of odds without a miracle.
The miracle they got was one of sublime significance. Because with the death of Palpatine the Empire shattered and most of the bits gradually joined the Alliance, turning it from Rebel forces to the legitimate government with gradually increasing resources until it controlled them all.
Hardly a dignified way for a Galactic Empire to fall. But then, are there any dignified ways?
This Rebel movement, not yet an Alliance, was shaping up rather differently. The Empire was still cutting back on old ships, reducing its forces to modernize them. While this was going on and those craft not yet reintroduced to service to fight a rebellion, the Rebels were collecting those old ships to make modern ships out of them. The fleet they were creating by doing so was soon to be of such significance they could be risking open battles on a small scale with the Empire, and even winning some.
This was something the mainline Rebellion didn't dare, for the very good reason that it was impossible for them to win that way. They survived by hitting and running, piracy and sneak attacks, ground raids more akin to spies than armies, and generally doing everything they could to strike without being seen, running when they were discovered, and escaping from direct engagements because they didn't have the strength to win them.
This was chiefly because the Galactic Empire was so mind-boggling huge that any direct confrontation was suicide. They could literally afford to lose a million lives the way Rebels could afford to lose one. They spent a billion credits like the Rebels spent one, and were so bloated, rich and overstocked they could take what were to anyone else crippling, horrible setbacks and virtually ignore them. Things like the loss of a Death Star or two.
Cutting off the head was virtually the only way to kill such a creature.
Of course, a flamberge was a better weapon for decapitation than a tiny dagger, but the enemy to be so deprived of his noggin was far less likely to be lured into range for that killing stroke, and far more likely to be on guard for it, taking it more seriously.
So it was really an open question over the matter. Were the Rebels in this timeline better off? Certainly they were better armed, well fed and happy up to this point, with Jedi and other advantages. But to have a monster that big take you seriously as a threat, instead of gnawing on its scales while it mostly ignores you, substantially increased the danger. The lion might scratch at a flea, but it will kill and eat a mouse.
So it required a drastic change of tactics to deal with effectively. The Rebellion essentially became a rapier wielding swashbuckler fighting off a fully armed and armored knight mounted on horse, with perhaps some archers backing that knight up.
It was a tricky situation.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Lionheart
(Posted Fri, 07 May 2004 18:42)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.