Very well. At least that would be consistent. You believe principles are more important than lives. Attempting to "maintain control over them", by the way, is just the negative phrasing of the "order-keeping" effort.Graeme Dice wrote:Yes. That's correct.
365 trillion is AFAIK the official death count. I don't have the book, but it is supposed to be in The Unifying Force (the last book of the NJO series, which would tally such things). Which is quite reasonable considering how far the Vong was allowed to enter - Core Worlds and all. It might even be an underestimate.You've also still not provided any reasoning why your made up trillions number is fewer casualties than how many would have died when the VOng showed up under the Empire.
See the TIMETALES record. I really doubt it'd lie on this kind of number.
While of course, no one can be 100.0000% sure of what would happen to the war if the Empire was running strong, it is just about impossible to have run the war effort less competently than the NR.
I'd try and put my logic in a few paragraphs:
1) The Vong have a few cute tricks, but do not have a massive general tech superiority. So strategically, the war is generally about Fleet Strengths and Resource Mobilization.
2) The Empire has more ships patrolling one Sector than the NR and IR together could assemble in three books (in which the Vong captured everything in a beeline to Ithor.
3) There is a huge strategic fleet at Byss (Dark Empire), and of course the numerous superweapons. The NR's idea of a strategic Fleet is an understrength Sector Group (I think CTD, but here's a website for your appetite).
4) The Empire can mobilize enough to station a Sector Group in just about all the Sectors, build Death Stars in months ... etc. The NR are struggling just to get a few more Star Destroyers (SbS and Bilbringi). Three Star Destroyers are actually still critical to the war effort (P.151 SbS), and Bilbringi is forced to build mostly small warships (P.105).
5) The Empire is less vulnerable to people with weak stomachs. The farce with the hostage ships is just shameful.
6) In short, the Empire has superior fleets and mobilizations, and thus would be in an insanely superior position to stop the Vong. But then, this isn't very hard. Any half competent government coulda done it.
7) In fact, everyone knows it. Han Solo knows it, which is why in Destiny's Way, he made a joke about the Emperor's love for superweapons (and the misfortune that seems to unfairly befall on them), apparently to try and cover up the fact even such a superweapon would have been something decisive. And the Vong know it, which is why they've been probing the GFFA ever since before the end of the Old Republic, and hung back all the way to the New Republic. That despite the fact they were clearly running out of time - their worldships were literally reaching the end of their service lives. This is perfectly logical. They are, at base, a small time power that can all fit onto a single planet. If they don't find that weakest point, they'd just be exterminated to the last Vong.
