Essential Guide to Uniforms and Galactic Nations

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Though for much of Galactic history, the Republic was considered to be civilization itself. But in truth, there were always many miniature nations within, and full-fledged powers without. Individual planets and sectors raised their own defense forces, while after the Battle of Ruusan, the Judicial forces were intended to police the Republic as a whole. With the Clone Wars centralizing military command, and the Galactic Empire formally incorporating military units within their sphere of influence into the Imperial forces, the Galaxy finally came under rule from a single government.

However, the Alliance to Restore the Republic changed that. Original Alliance units were drawn from disaffected planetary security forces and volunteers; there was little standardization or coordination in equipment, tactics, or appearances. After Operation Domino, the surviving Alliance forces were bolstered by a large influx Alderaanian forces. These idealists and freedom fighters quickly formed the majority of Alliance forces before the Destruction of Alderaan, and brought with them the distinctive Alderaanian uniforms that still occupy the public image of what an Alliance soldier or officer should look like.

The Alderaanian Mundicide changed everything. The Mon Calamari filled the void left by Tarkin's atrocities, and the standard Alliance uniform changed once again. However, there were complaints after the Battle of Endor that the Calamari-style rank badges were too difficult for other species to differentiate, and that in Old Bothan Runic, the core sigil used for flag officers translated to a decidedly vulgar obscenity. The decision was made to return to the old-style dotted shoulder markers toward the end of 39, with the full overhaul completed by mid-41.

After Endor, the Empire's fragmented warlord states often toyed with individualized uniforms and insignia patterns to set apart one satrap's forces from the its rivals'. Most of these were stamped out, sometimes with extreme prejudice, as the Empire reclaimed its territory from the warlords, though a few ideas percolated into the main Imperial uniform regulations. Most notable is the issuing of rank insignia to enlisted personnel in the form of shoulder straps, with broad silver stripes denoting general seniority, and narrower bands subdividing the specific grades of enlisted, junior non-commissioned, senior non-commissioned, and warrant officers.

There are very few fully independent planetary or sectorial militaries extant in this day and age, though there is room for other star nations to form in the midst of the Alliance of Free Planets and the Galactic Empire. As the editorial staff at Fey'kel's Essential Guides receive information on these other groups, they will be added to our codex.

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Alliance of Free Planets
Alliance Army
Enlisted Personnel
Private


Private First Class


Lance Corporal


Non-Commissioned Officers
Corporal


Staff Corporal


Sergeant


Staff Sergeant


Master Sergeant


First Sergeant


Sergeant Major


Command Sergeant Major


Warrant Officer


Chief Warrant Officer


Master Warrant Officer



Officers
Second Lieutenant
Shoulder Plaque:
None worn.
Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



First Lieutenant
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Captain
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Major
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Lieutenant Colonel
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Colonel
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Brigadier General
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Major General
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Lieutenant General
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



General
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



High General
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Alliance Navy
Enlisted Personnel
Deckhand


Junior Crewman


Senior Crewman


Non-Commissioned Officers
Fleet Corporal


Fleet Sergeant


Junior Petty Officer


Senior Petty Officer


Chief Petty Officer


Senior Chief Petty Officer


Master Chief Petty Officer


Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer


Warrant Officer


Chief Warrant Officer


Master Warrant Officer


Officers
Ensign
Shoulder Plaque:
None worn.
Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Lieutenant
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Lieutenant Commander
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Commander
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Captain
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Commodore
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Rear Admiral
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Vice Admiral
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Admiral
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:



Fleet Admiral
Shoulder Plaque:

Field Jacket Breast Insignia:

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Galactic Empire
Enlisted personnel in the Galactic Empire typically wear duty overalls, either light gray or black. For more formal occasions, they may wear a single-breasted tunic, in black or olive-gray depending on arm of service and branch.
Enlisted Trainees

From left to right: Army, Navy, Stormtrooper

Enlisted Personnel
Imperial Army: Private


Imperial Navy: Junior Crewman



Imperial Army: Senior Private


Imperial Navy: Senior Crewman



Imperial Army: Lance Corporal


Imperial Navy: Fleet Corporal


Non-Commissioned Officers
Imperial Army: Sergeant


Imperial Navy: Fleet Sergeant



Imperial Army: Master Sergeant


Imperial Navy: Petty Officer



Imperial Army: Senior Master Sergeant


Imperial Navy: Chief Petty Officer



Imperial Army: Sergeant Major


Imperial Navy: Master Chief Petty Officer



Junior Warrant Officer (used by both branches)

Left to right: Army, Navy Gray, Navy Black

Senior Warrant Officer


Chief Warrant Officer


Master Warrant Officer


Officers
Imperial officers wear an olive-gray double-breasted tunic, belted at the waist, with matching trousers and tall black boots. Stormtrooper officers wear a similar uniform, but in all black. It is believed the Empire has recently heavily reorganized the Stormtrooper Corps, and the Essential Guides lack current information on the insignia used within that branch.

Army: Second Lieutenant
Navy: Ensign



Army: First Lieutenant
Navy: Sublieutenant



Army: Captain
Navy: Junior Lieutenant



Army: Commander
Navy: Senior Lieutenant



Army: Major
Navy: Lieutenant Commander



Army: Lieutenant Colonel
Navy: Commander



Army: Colonel
Navy: Captain



Army: Brigadier
Navy: Commodore



Army: Major General
Navy: Rear Admiral



Army: Lieutenant General
Navy: Vice Admiral



Army: General
Navy: Admiral


Army: High General
Navy: Fleet Admiral



Army: Surface Marshal
Navy: High Admiral


Army: Grand General
Navy: Grand Admiral

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The Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Galactic Empire, and the Galactic Civil War
After much editorial debate, it was decided to discuss the Galactic Empire first despite "Alliance to Restore the Republic" appearing first in any sensible aurebeshical ordering and despite concerns about appearances of political impropriety. The inescapable reasoning is that one cannot discuss the history of the Alliance's fight against tyranny and oppression in order to restore the Republic without going into why that fight is essential. And that means an exploration of the history of the Galactic Empire.

For a thousand generations, the Galactic Republic was civilization, and for a thousand years since the Ruusan Reformations, presided over a golden age of peace and prosperity. But cracks began to appear, showing the rot under the gilding. Megacorporations and guilds held sway over sectors, and became de facto political entities until they were recognized as functional constituencies and granted Senate seats. This increased the exploitation of worlds in their thrall, often under the guns of large mechanical armies. Pushback against these heavy-handed policies flared up into the Stark Hyperspace War, a grandiose title for a horrendously-handled anti-piracy expedition headed by Sesswenna Sector's senator, Ranulph Tarkin, cousin to the infamous Grand Moff and worldkiller. Senator Tarkin did not survive his efforts to establish a new Republic military, under his direct command, but was lauded with a sobriquet coined by his influential family: the "Hero of Troiken."

Stark's defeat did not bring peace. The Militarists, with their martyr, pushed several major military expansions through, such as the infamous Katana Fleet. However, their real boon came in the wake of the Trade Federation's failed conquest of Naboo. With the newly elected Palpatine installed as Chancellor on a wave of sympathy votes and general ire against the political power and influence of the megacorporations, sharp crackdowns on the power of the cartels came from the Senate as pent-up rage exploded on abused "client worlds." A thousand small scale Starks struck against the Trade Federation, the Intergalactic Banking Clan, Techno Union, the Commerce Guild, and others. Disillusioned with the Republic and with their schemes to deal with insurgents often thwarted by the Jedi and other Republic agents, the megacorps found a leaderin an unlikely place: a former Jedi - Dooku, Count of Serenno.

Reconstructed records suggest that Dooku had been an active part of the Jedi Order that protected the Republic until the bloody Battle of Galidraan. Afterward, he became withdrawn, and then outspokenly critical, condemning the Senate several times in the wake of the Battle of Naboo. Abruptly, he departed the Order without giving reasons in his public announcement. Jedi records of any private consultations on the matter are believed to be long lost. Dooku ostensibly retired to his hereditary estate on Serenno. He would publicly surface two years before the beginning of the Clone Wars, when Dooku gave a scathing, galaxy-wide speech about the deep corruption consuming the Republic and rotting its core. He demanded secession from the Republic, and entire sectors heeded his call. In response, the militarists demanded the creation of a formal military force, ultimately answering to Coruscant, to deal with the crisis. In mid 7GrS, the Military Creation Act was to be formally put to a vote, but the attempted assassination of the opposition leader resulted in tabling the motion. The Senator (Padme Amidala of Naboo) was placed under Jedi protection, but was discovered to be on the planet Geonosis in the Outer Rim... where Dooku was formally gathering his corporate allies to give his secession movement military strength in the form of their united droid armies. Amidala and her Jedi escort were charged with espionage and sentenced to death.

The Republic sent in the newly-acquired clone army, and the opening salvos of the Clone Wars began. A detailed dissertation of the Clone Wars can be found in other Fey'kel's Essential Guides. But the army was sent in by executive order, signed by Palpatine, after the Senate granted him emergency war powers. This trend would continue over the eight-year course of the war, as more and more executive and military control was ceded to the Chancellery.

In the closing month of the war, Palpatine was abducted in a week-long siege of Coruscant itself. Dooku was killed in this battle, and Palpatine was voted still more emergency powers after his rescue by Republic forces. Among these powers was direct oversight of the Jedi Order. Two days later, records presented in the final session of the Galactic Senate of the Republic suggested several Jedi attempted to detain and then assassinate the Chancellor. Palpatine himself bore severe wounds from these events. In the immediate aftermath, and before appearing to the Senate in the special session, the Chancellor activated an emergency contingency order, directing Republic troops to attack their Jedi officers. Palpatine declared the Jedi traitors, with orders for all military personnel to kill them on sight. And so the Order that had protected the Republic for a thousand generations, safeguarded the golden age of the last forty, and led thew Republic's forces for eight years of brutal pangalactic warfare was obliterated and declared enemies of the new state. And there was more.

In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire for a safe and secure society.

The democracy of the Republic was officially ended hours after the Jedi Order. But, in hindsight, it can be seen that this had occurred years before, with the Declaration of a New Order being merely a formality. The Galactic Republic had fallen, and the Galactic Empire rose from the rot.

The Empire began with popular acclaim. This is a fact some choose to ignore, but it is crucial to remember that the Senate overwhelmingly supported Palpatine's sweeping legislative agenda. It is known now that some collaborated out of fear, or to cover their attempts to reestablish democracy, but many, many others were genuine in their support... for a time. Those very few who openly defied the Empire in the early days faced vicious media campaigns, and within a year, many had disappeared. And it is in the Empire's second year that a great evil emerged onto the galactic scene: the Emperor's enforcer, Darth Vader.

Vader led the Empire's military as the Jedi generals had once led the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Outer Rim holdouts of the Confederacy were quickly vanquished to great acclaim.