[SD.net Database] Bloodline

[Balrog]

Compared to previous Disney books, Bloodline was a pretty middle-of-the-road book, in terms of writing style, pacing, and plot. This is a book which definitely focuses on characters first and foremost, primarily Leia but others as well, with galactic politics an important secondary focus; expecting extended battle scenes will leave you only disappointed. I thought Claudia Gray managed to get the characterizations down decently, and the story was sufficiently interesting to keep me reading, with only a few parts that were more miss than hit (either action is not her strongest suite or something she doesn't like to write, because a couple scenes seemed to brief or were wrapped up rather quickly). I can't say out and out that you ought to buy this book, but it will make for an enjoyable reading if it seems like your cup of tea.

Perhaps more importantly though this book gives us a glimpse into the state of the galaxy post-RotJ but pre-TFA. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but essentially there is only the New Republic and a scatter of independent planets and other organizations. There is no Imperial Remnant at this point, and no one has heard of the First Order (yet). Of course, with no external enemies to contend with, the New Republic is of course busy tearing itself apart...

An entire generation has prospered during an era of peace. The New Republic, governed by the Galactic Senate, has held power for more than two decades. The wars that divided the galaxy are fading into legend.

Yet conflict has begun to take shape within the Senate. In the absence of MON MOTHMA, former leader of the Rebellion and first chancellor of the New Republic, two unofficial but powerful factions have formed - the POPULISTS, who believe individual planets should retain almost all authority, and the CENTRISTS, who favor a stronger galactic government and a more powerful military.

Only the greatest heroes of the war are still honored by all. A ceremony honoring the memory of BAIL ORGANA has drawn the Senate together in rare harmony. It is a day of celebration, but even now, the divisions among the worlds of the galaxy are growing wider...

Basic summation, as are all opening scrawls.

"The Senate is turning into a political quagmire." She folded her legs beneath her on the sofa and began unbraiding her hair, a lengthy process she had always found calming. "And it's our own fault. After Palpatine, nobody wanted to hand over that much power again, so we don't have an executive, only a chancellor with no real authority. Mon Mothma got things done through sheer charisma, but almost every chancellor since her has been..."

Han finished her sentence for her: "Useless."

"Pretty much." At the time, Leia had been grateful for Mon Mothma's leadership, but now she realized that one individual's ability had disguised the fundamental flaws in the New Republic's system. If Mon Mothma had stepped aside earlier, might they have realized their errors? Amended the constitution in time? At this late date, it was impossible to know. "The conflict between the parties gets worse every day. Most Centrists and Populists are still polite to each other, but barely. Every debate on the Senate floor turns into an endless argument over 'tone' or 'form' and never about issues of substance-"

I see some frightening similarities here, but not sure where...

Like Leia I understand the reasoning why they did what they did, but as we'll see this is a perfect example of the pendulum swinging too far in the opposite direction.

"To the esteemed representatives of the Galactic Senate, greetings." Yendor stood tall and straight, despite his advancing years and the long staff he used to steady himself. "The history of my planet and my people is well known. For centuries, we suffered under the oppression of the Hutts and their criminal enterprises. The Empire's domination doubled our difficulties. Only in the past few decades, in the era of the New Republic, have we been able to assert our own independence and our own rule. Though we stand apart from you, we salute you, and appreciate the peace the New Republic has given to the galaxy."

Leia applauded, as did many others - both Populists and Centrists. Ryloth was an independent world, apart from the New Republic, and so one that could not said to belong to either party. Besides, the Hutts had earned bipartisan loathing.

Yendor bowed his head briefly, acknowledging the response, before he continued. "Now, however, our independence is again endangered. The Hutts have lost much of their old power, which means others are rushing in to fill the gap. Of these, the most dangerous are those cartels run by the Niktos."

"The Niktos served the Hutts for centuries," C-3PO said to her. Leia understood this perfectly well, but she didn't waste time interrupting him to say so. She knew the droid well enough to be sure he'd keep talking anyway. "They've never had a truly independent government of their own. Hardly even a world of their own, really."

Then Emissary Yendor's tone took on a sharper edge. "Among the many promises of the New Republic made after Palpatine's fall was that organized crime would never again become as powerful a force as it had been during the age of the Empire. Financial regulations and comprehensive patrols of the shipping lanes were meant to protect Ryloth and every other world in the galaxy from large-scale criminal corruption. But those regulations are enforced only sporadically, and the patrols have yet to materialize, even though more than twenty years have passed. In that time, the cartels have begun to assertt their power again." Leia felt ashamed for her part in this and hoped others in the Senate did as well. By bickering over the minutiae - who would enforce what, and when, and how - the Senate had once again failed to take the bigger picture into account.

Self-explanatory exposition, Ryloth seems to be very popular in the new EU so we get a little update on their progress.

The senatorial complex on Hosnian Prime was a vast structure, mostly housed in a single long, flat building only one story tall. This had been done to avoid any sense of offices on higher towers being "more prestigious" than others - which had seemed to make sense at the time - but it meant Leia would need to travel nearly a kilometer and a half to reach Casterfo's office. She stepped onto one of the automated sidewalks, drawing her white hood over her head.

Another instance of ideology trumping practicality. Also we get to actually know something about what the hell we saw blow up in TFA.

"Don't misunderstand me. Obviously the Rebellion was right to oppose Palpatine. Something had to be done. But if you ask me, that hardly condones the terrorist tactics of the Rebel Alliance."

"Terrorist tactics?"

Casterfo stopped mid-pace; the two of them now stood in the heart of one of the long, dark tunnels, the wind rippling their robes and chilling Leia to the bone. He said, "Destroying the Death Stars, for a death toll of nearly one and a half million people, the vast majority of whom were low-level Imperial officers or even civilian workers? The slaughter of Noult after the rebels had left, and the planet was discovered to have housed a secret base? Or what about the rebel assault on Vivonah? Or the campaigns of Saw Gerrera's Partisans? Can you condone that?"

"We did what had to be done." Leia's voice shook. "We went up against a power so much greater than ours, whose tactics were so much bloodier. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Death Stars had remained operational? What act of terror could be more horrible than what happened to Alderaan? Have you forgotten that? I was there. I saw it happen, stood there watching while they destroyed my world, my home, everyone I had ever loved-"

Clerks reference! Besides giving us the death toll for the Death Stars of course, and a bit of moral ambiguity to the Rebellion. Which raises the question: is there something the Rebellion could have done which would have been any less terroristic than the Death Stars? Are what would otherwise be condemned as horrible terroristic actions excusable in certain circumstances?

The term length and limits were still being debated in the committees, but a seven-year term seemed most likely. Seven years - almost twice as long as the main campaigns in the war against the Empire.

A sense of how long the Rebellion considered to be the "main campaigns" against the Empire, which probably encompasses the three OT movies and at the very least a a period of time after RotJ; whether any time before ANH counts is debatable.

"Riosa's economy was wrecked by the Empire, wasn't it? That makes it hard for me to understand your - let's call it fascination."

To her surprise, Casterfo nodded. "Yes, we were wrecked. Deliberately, even maliciously. Our factories and our people were pushed to the limit and beyond to manufacture components for both Death Star stations, and when we could supply them with nothing more, they case us aside to starve." He took a sip of the pink juice they'd been served. "My belief in an empire is not belief in the Empire. It never could be, not after what happened to my world."

The toll taken by the DS constructions on at least one world, and at bit of nuance to seeming Empire supporters.

"They" meant prominent representatives of both the far-left and far-right branches of the Populist faction. The far-right branches wanted to dissolve the Senate so each world would again become a totally separate entity; the far left hoped to open voting to the general populace, so that instead of thousands of senators refusing to agree, they could have countless citizens refusing to agree.

I wonder which one is "Feeling the Bern"?

"All right, all right." Leia tucked escaped strands of hair back into her braid, slipped the breathing mask on, and dropped into the bacta.

Disgusting stuff, bacta - its viscosity seemed to mark the exact halfway point between "liquid" and "slime." Leia's eyes remained tightly shut, and the fluid's temperature was warm, but she couldn't escape the feeling that she'd been swallowed alive.

Many bacta patients reacted this way, which was why doctors injected sedatives first.

Bit more on the properties of bacta.

Hadrassian walked to a long corrugated metal locker and flipped open the top. "Force pikes," she said, taking two from the locker. "At their strongest setting, capable of cutting through durasteel. At their lowest, capable of causing excruciating pain."

She tossed one of the pikes towards Ransolm, who caught it in his dominant left hand. Fortunately, the pike hadn't yet been activated, but he remained vividly aware of its power and its dark legacy. Force pikes had been used for torture. Their shocks could cause paralysis or even death; researchers were unsure whether the deaths were caused by electrical voltage or from the intensity of the pain alone.

Properties of force pikes.

[NecronLord]

Great as always, nice to get some details on the New Republic.

[Adam Reynolds]

Would something like Thrawn count as a "main campaign" against the Empire? Because if it was a mere seven years, that would imply that the Battle of Jakku was roughly the true finale of the Galactic Civil War. Which would thus imply that Thrawn did not return.

Though given what we currently see in Aftermath(haven't read this one, so it is secondary information) and Lost Stars, the Empire is down but not out after both Jakku and the Galactic Concordance. With a mysterious admiral around. Yavin to Jakku is also only five years...

[Balrog]

Slight spoilers in this last post.

"Hadrassian says they've got at least fifty starfighters at this location alone, with at least two pilots fully rated to fly each one."
-
"She gave no exact numbers, but to judge by the exercises, the maneuvers and drills they've performed, I would estimate approximately one thousand Amaxine warriors are linked through the Daxam Four base. But they are only a fraction of the whole."

Greer swore under her breath. "How many bases can they have?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Casterfo had managed to uncover the answer. "Only a handful, five or six, all but one of those even smaller than the base on Daxam Four. But one base is their true center, the hub of their activity - and the place from which they'll strike."

Estimate size of a paramilitary group, noted in an earlier chapter to be much larger and more dangerous than the typical militia (aka guys playing weekend warrior).

"To claim this group of toy soldiers forms a threat to the New Republic, an organization of thousands of worlds - you sound ridiculous."

Size of the New Republic in terms of worlds.

"If the will of the galaxy were truly so anti-Empire, there's no way so much of the Imperial fleet could have escaped. No way they wouldn't have been hunted down no matter where they tried to hide. There are still friends of the Empire out there."

"To this day, they've never adequately explained what happened to the first Death Star. Yes, we all know the big story, Luke Skywalker single fighter blah blah blah, but honestly, does that sound credible to you? The Empire had the greatest engineers in the galaxy, and the Death Star was their finest achievement. There's no way it could've been vulnerable to that kind of attack. The Emperor had to have been betrayed by someone on the inside."

Some thoughts of decidedly pro-Imperial people, as well as the revelation that the Imperial fleet was not wholly destroyed and its fate is officially unknown.

Leia breathed a small sigh of thanks for the sonic neutralizer she'd tucked into the pocket of her mauve tunic. Even if any of the merry picnickers around them were inclined to pay more attention to this conversation than the sunsail races wafting by overhead, they wouldn't be able to hear a word spoken by anyone within the pavilion.

Noise cancellation technology.

So no one suspected the critical role she played in preparing the galaxy for the return of meaningful authority through the government she and other like-minded people had already whispered about as the First Order. It was [her] who had searched for former Imperial officers and their sympathizers among the various subcultures where they might congregate, helping to create the contacts that connected them to the surviving ships of the Imperial fleet. [Her] who had encouraged them as they organized from mere malcontents into the burgeoning paramilitary force known as the Amaxine warriors. And it had been [her] who convinced the Centrist leaders in her faction to use the criminal front they'd already established through Rinnrivin Di to hide their funds in order to arm and train the Amaxine warriors. With weapons and training, they could, in time, serve as the shock troops in the initial battles of the great war to come.

Once the Amaxines had caused enough damage and confusion, the First Order itself could finally emerge from hiding to claim its rightful place, with the lost vessels of the Imperial fleet as its true fighting force.

The intended conspiracy for the glorious return of the First Order.

No biological samples marked either ANAKIN SKYWALKER or LORD VADER had ever turned up in the Imperial registries; no doubt Palpatine had made sure none could ever be collected, lest his dangerous apprentice be cloned.

Self-explanatory.

"Varish Vicly read out the entire constitutional passage declaring that no person should have to answer for the crimes of a parent."

Probably put in there given how many people in high offices would naturally have familial connections with the past.

"Yes, Your Highness. I believe such data is readily available, but now that we're talking, the core is proving rather chatty. It's had no one to speak with in ever so long."

Leia experienced the vaguely guilty sensation that surfaced every time she realized that droid personalities were more than programmed conversational quirks. A computer core could be lonely. C-3PO could take pity on it.

But that was a question for another day.

Is it, Leia? Or are you just not wanting to check your privilege and realize droids are people too, with their own proud culture and heritage that you try to erase every day!

The massive explosion was so bright that for a moment the ocean shone like the sun. Almost instantly, tsunamis rose up so high they nearly swamped the racer, spreading outward in a vast ripple effect that might circle the entire planet of Sibensko. A few lesser explosions lit up the depths for the instants it took the water to extinguish any fire.

Effects of a stockpile of explosives going off.

"Forgive me, Senator Ro-Kiintor," he interjected, "but the scale of the appropriations bill seems far in excess of what can possibly be required. The New Republic already maintains a sizeable military force for a government largely at peace."

Senator Ro-Kiintor folded his hands together, palm to palm, fingertip to fingertip. "The armies we have now are adequate to the concerns we have now. But we must prepare for future conflicts."

"With whom? The New Republic comprises the majority of worlds in our galaxy. Only small, disconnected sectors stand apart, and few of those represent any military threat whatsoever. None of them shows any sign of declaring war."

"The New Republic is made up of separate systems," Senator Ro-Kiintor replied. "Separate worlds. We haven't supported their individual planetary defenses nearly enough."

This old canard. With difficulty, Ransolm kept himself from groaning. The far-right wing of the Centrist faction never quit harping on this, in the apparent belief that the lowliest moon needed enough firepower to take out a Super Star Destroyer on its own. They managed to be even more annoying than the far-left wing, which pushed for government control of the smallest minutiae of personal and political interaction. Ransolm privately figured Senator Ro-Kiintor looked at the armaments bill primarily as a way to funnel government money to Centrist planets, for whom the largest share of funds was earmarked.

He said, "We can supply extra funds for planetary defense without it costing anything like the amounts you've set out here. This appropriations bill could only be justified if the New Republic were facing imminent, galaxy-wide war."

A brief silence, during which Ransolm wondered if he'd gone too far...

Current military situation in the galaxy, and the two wings of the Centrist party.

He had been hit directly in the chest, at close range, by a blaster set to kill. The deep wound where his heart used to be had been cauterized, leaving a blackened crater behind.

Cauterization of blaster wounds. Previous calcs usually show it takes at least a few megajoules to achieve these kinds of wounds.