The Servais Sector: An OverviewThe Servais Sector is located on the far side of the Iderian Nebula Cluster, a very large grouping of nebulae along the edge of Wild Space, in the heart of a modestly sized star-cluster. The sector was settled close to one hundred years ago, and its population began to rise until the Republic's mutation into the Galactic Empire. There are only three stable HyperSpace (HS) routes into the cluster through the nebulae, and all are guarded by the Empire. Also, the Empire maintains a complete information blackout to and from the rest of the galaxy. This is accomplished mainly through the interference provided by the various nebulae which obstructs most forms of communications to and from the remainder of the galaxy. What transmissions are recieved are usually intercepted first by Imperial Intelligence, and carefully censored before being rebroadcast by the various Imperial controlled media groups. This information blackout has been in effect for the past five years: for this reason, the people of the sector believe the Emperor is still alive, and are unaware of a popular Rebellion spreading through the Empire. Anyone who comes into the cluster spouting such "lies" is typically considered a lunatic, and is either arrested by the local or Imperial authorities, or run out of town. The presence of the many large gas clouds and nebulae which comprise the Iderian Nebula Cluster prevents a quick entry into the sector and its surrounding star systems/free space, and access to the cluster is allowed through a very few cleared Hyperspace lanes, all of which are monitored and guarded by Imperial deep-space stations. All vessels entering the cluster are stopped at one of these stations along the HS route, and are inspected thoroughly. The ship and crew are also given thorough background checks, and the ship's BOSS registration is verified before the ship is allowed access to the cluster. Before the ship is allowed to head into the cluster, all holovids, newspapers, magazines (any information bearing materials) which contain information about the Galactic Civil War are confiscated. This allows the Sector Imperials to maintain their information blackout, and prevents would-be insurgents from inspiring a popular rebellion (they remove their evidence that it is happening in the rest of the galaxy, and thereby remove their credibility). Still, as thorough as the Imperials may be, they cannot stop everything from going through. However, they consider the one or two lucky individuals who do slip by to be an inconvenience, incapable of gathering enough support to cause any trouble. The only major problem the cluster has is the presence of several pirate groups. These pirates have been in the cluster as long as, if not longer than, the presence of the Republic and Empire. Due to their secretive nature, and their natural desire to not be found, the pirates have explored and discovered, and even settled, systems in the cluster and sector which continue to elude Imperial patrols. In their eternal struggle to stamp out the thorn of piracy in the cluster's side, a sizable portion of the sector's fleet resources have been devoted to finding and destroying the pirate menace. Patrols constantly scour the vast regions of the cluster in an attempt to drive the pirates out or to destroy them. More patrols guard the cluster and sector trade routes to ferret out possible ambushes, and all major shipping convoys are guarded by Imperial forces, both for their sake and for the Imperials who rely on civilian contracting to provide them with raw materials and supplies. In order to maintain a watchful eye over the cluster's inhabitants and their activities, as well as to always be able to collect taxes from the populace, the Empire has restricted all exploration of the surrounding uncharted systems and space. All professional scouts must register with the Imperial Scouting Services, from which they receive any future exploration assignments. In addition to their registration, all professional scouts must also purchase several permits from the Empire which certify that they are licensed scouts, at the total cost of 15,000 credits. Professional scouts are not permitted to explore independently of the Empire, and may be arrested for such an attempt. If a private party wishes to have a scout conduct some exploratory surveys for them, the scout and party must first clear it with the Empire. If the operation is endorsed by the Empire, the entire scouting expedition must be accompanied by an Imperial agent(s). All planetary discoveries must then be registered with the Imperial Sector Authority, who must then decide whether or not to issue the party a system grant, allowing them to settle and develop the system. If this is allowed, the party could be required to pay several thousand credits for the permits required to develop the system. If evidence of sentient life is found on the planet, the Imperial government immediately intercedes and occupies the world, disallowing a private system grant. The Sector economy is also integral to Imperial rule of the cluster. Most of the major corporations in the sector work in conjunction with the Empire, or retain the Empire as their best/largest/major client. The Empire has its hands in almost every major industry in the cluster, and is always eager to provide these industries with business and capital. In fact, the Empire often has more business than some of the larger Sector corps can handle. In order to keep Imperial business, these corps will often employ smaller independent companies to aid them. In this system, competition is fierce, and the large, well developed companies in the sector have a tendency to win out. Some smaller, independent operations can often succeed and do well for a time, but in the end, the big companies will always win out. The success of the big corps in the sector allows them to provide jobs for the populace, as well as products which are in demand from the public. All of these factors continue to keep the sector in check. Although some of the populace feels that the exploratory restrictions are oppressive, their discontent is usually allayed by frequent media coverage of Imperial engagements with pirate or alien forces beyond the charted regions of the sector. More often than not, this helps gain support for the Empire in the cluster. Most of the public is also unaware of the current status of the Empire beyond the Nebulae Cluster or the current information blackout. If they did, it is uncertain what their reaction would be to the information. The current Sector Moff, Moff Sexton, is very wise in the ways of economics, and under his guide the sector economy has done well. In the event that information of the Galactic Civil War spreads into the sector/cluster, it is reasonable to assume that the major corps in the sector/cluster will side with the Empire due to their current success in their dealings with the Empire. Even though exploration is restricted, it is still a possibility for anyone with the right connections. This notion of hope and unknown possibilities are still common among people in the cluster who still believe that they can strike it rich somewhere in the unexplored regions of the cluster. The Empire, in these ways, is able to maintain its grip on the sector and its inhabitants.
By Thomas Hill Copyright ©
1997 - 1999 Chris
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