From: MLINDROOS@finabo.abo.fi (Marcus Lindroos INF)
Subject: Re: Why Endor? OR The Economy of Galaxy Farfaraway
Organization: Abo Akademi University, Finland
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1992 18:32:16 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.23

> 
> The Death Star was assembled at Endor, but I think it's reasonable to assume
> that the materials to build it didn't come from there.  We have no evidence
> that some gigantic mining operation exists on Endor, or anywhere within that
> star system.

Not necessarily. A couple of asteroids a few miles in diameter would be enough
for mining the metals and materials necessary to build a 160km space station.
Almost all star systems should have minor planetary bodies suitable for the
task, and they can be moved cheaply and easily within the system. All they 
need the planet for is as a place to hide the fleet and as a base for the 
force field generator protecting the DeathStar during assembly.
 
> As for the bulk of the Imperial fleet being at Endor, I seem to remember it
> being mentioned in the Rebel briefing that the bulk of the Imperial fleet was
> *not* at Endor.  The Rebels had purposely occupied the Empire elsewhere in the
> Galaxy so that less Imperial ships could remain at Endor.  If that was the
> case, then what we're seeing is just a small portion of the whole Imperial
> fleet.

That's what they BELIEVED, but it turned out to be a deception by the Emperor.
But I wouldn't say the entire fleet was there, rebel spies everywhere would
have noticed the disappearance of huge fleets of Star Destroyers *IF* the ships
hidden behind Endor represented a truly significant part of the Imperial fleet.
I'd say it was an "Operation Desert Storm" kind of thing, big fleet but by no
means everything the Imps have patrolling the galaxy. 
 
> >I have not seen any good argument against my second supporting argument 
> >(thousands of probe-droids). That figure is mentioned twice in TESB, in the
> >openning text, and in Admiral Weasel (sp?) rebuke: "We have THOUSAND of probe

Adm. Ozzel:-)

> >droids searching the FAR reaches of the Galaxy. I want proofs, not lead" (the
> >emphasis is mine, I may be SLIGHTLY misquoting). The Empire is clearly
> >conducting an exhausive search! (oh, and BTW, I don't think PDs have hyperspace
> >capabilities - the one we see does not use it, the Empire finds HS capability
> >too difficult even for tie-fighters, and the PDs are allready crammed with
> >functions within their small volume).
> 
> Well, first of all, the term "thousands" could signify any number from 1,000
> to 999,999.  If the actual number of probes sent is on the higher end of the
> scale, we have to assume that the Empire had a *lot* of planets to choose from;
> especially if, as the Admiral said, these probes were only searching the far
> reaches of the Galaxy.  Lord knows how many probes went to the interior regions.
> 
> If you want to speculate even further, you could say that perhaps the Admiral
> was only referring to the probes sent by that particular Star Destroyer.  "We"
> might refer to "me, you, and the crew of this SD" and not "the Empire in
> general."  In which case the number of probes launched by the Imperial
> fleet as a whole may number in the hundreds of thousands.

Indeed, the "Final 1000" probably represented the best candidates after an
exhaustive long-range search that rejected tens of thousands more planets as
not showing any signs of rebel activity. 
 
> Another argument: The events of the first film imply that the Imperials are
> fairly cavalier about blowing up planets.  Tarkin wipes out Alderan just for
> laughs.  In a Galaxy that only has a handful of inhabited worlds, it seems
> unlikely that the Empire would wipe out such worlds as casually as they do.

Hmmmm... How far is an aggressor willing to go? The US nuked Hiroshima just
before the end of WW II - completely destroying a city of more than 1 million
people. Suppose the Americans could have wiped Japan off the world map using
a hyperton atomic bomb - killing 140 million people in one stroke without any
side effects on the rest of the globe. Would they, or even Nazi Germany, have
used a weapon of that magnitude on any nation? I don't think so. The Imperials
might blast some inhabited planets, if there were as many Alderaans around as
there are major cities on Earth. 
 
> >3. Are the planets we visit on the fringes of the Galactic economy?
> >There seems to be a consensus that they are.
> 
> I think they're supposed to be.  There's no such evidence in the films, 
> though, but the various source materials imply that the Rebellion mostly
> takes place in the backwater regions of the Galaxy.
> 
Notice, also, that the entire Civil War seems to be a predominantly human
conflict. Only in ROTJ do we see any aliens fighting on either side, and then
only for the rebels. The Emperor is clearly human and his Navy is 100% human
too. It's strange...as if the other intelligent life forms were just bystanders
not directly affected by the war at all. Does this mean most alien worlds have
some sort of autonomy (=do not have/want to be in trouble with Vader & co), 
are too weak to fight against the Empire or both? Perhaps the leading rebels
come from the Core and only fight the Empire in the backwater regions because
the Rebellion wouldn't last long in the central regions of the Galaxy.
 
> 
>                                             --Steve Stelter
>                                               sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Learn you must the ways of the Force, Luke.  The Force cannot be seen nor
> heard, nor can it be tasted or felt.  It must be smoked."
> 
>                                                --Not Yoda
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