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I been sort of working on this story idea and I'm wondering what would an imperial fortified governor's palace be like in your opinion, within these limits, the palace is more or less middle of large industrial city with the main entrence facing a square and a large open street with shops and restaurants and such on it with a ramp at end of the street leading down to the lower parts of the city.

You maybe specify a garrison but at this point the governor isn't allowed to deploy heavy armor so no AT-ATs, AT-ACT or similar is avaible as while some heavy vehicles are being built on the planet they're to be sent off-world to other imperial units and sector command would interpit any attempt to keep them on the planet longer then it's needed as rebel activity.

Lord Revan wrote:I been sort of working on this story idea and I'm wondering what would an imperial fortified governor's palace be like in your opinion, within these limits, the palace is more or less middle of large industrial city with the main entrence facing a square and a large open street with shops and restaurants and such on it with a ramp at end of the street leading down to the lower parts of the city.

You maybe specify a garrison but at this point the governor isn't allowed to deploy heavy armor so no AT-ATs, AT-ACT or similar is avaible as while some heavy vehicles are being built on the planet they're to be sent off-world to other imperial units and sector command would interpit any attempt to keep them on the planet longer then it's needed as rebel activity.

We see some facilities like this in Rebels, don't we? And probably elsewhere.

I'd guess probably an outer perimeter wall (for extra security, perhaps an open space between the perimeter and the rest of the city), with barracks, detention centre, hangers/landing pads, and offices. Probably some more luxurious accommodations for the governor and his staff in a governor's palace (as opposed to purely military barracks). Communications equipment. Possibly its own theatre shield and defensive batteries (the research facility Cassian attacked in Rogue One and its own defensive ground batteries as I recall).

I imagine it depends on the local area and the empire and the local political party's connection to the area, pluss the governor's own commitment.

I mean if you are on a place where the environment is very harsh and the natives are in active opposition, the party is hardline and the governor is an ideologue you probably get some austere impenetrable fortress.

If the environment is moderate, the natives amenable to Imperial rule, the party long ascendant and complacent/corrupt and the governor more or less enjoying all of that, it is probably more like bacchanalia

Yeah, I suppose.

The base on Lothal in Rebels is sort of a mix in terms of environment. Its on a planet that is of fairly high importance to the Empire, and in the early stages of rebellion, but the local garrison doesn't seem particularly on the ball (until Tarkin and Vader show up).

In Lords of the Sith, Moff Delian Mors has her command center based on Ryloth's moon, which is described as being "more akin to a noble’s villa on Naboo than an Imperial installation."

In Ryloth the Imperial occupation forces were HQed at the cushy estate of a former local military/anti-Seperatist/anti-Imperial hero leader.

It doesn't have to be some uber-badass technobase with solid neutronium spherical masses of iron barriers and moats made out of liquid thorium or molten salt and sharpened plutonium fuel rod punji pit traps or whatever.

Like... look at occupation forces IRL. Saddam's mansions etc.

I always thought Overlord Ghorin from the original X-wing PC game had the most practical dwelling.

Hey in all seriousness, a space lord with enough resources... could totally go for such a bitchin' crib. And it doesn't look that much more impractical than Krennic's base in... Eadu.

And that's an amazing sunset.

Lord Revan wrote:I been sort of working on this story idea and I'm wondering what would an imperial fortified governor's palace be like in your opinion, within these limits, the palace is more or less middle of large industrial city with the main entrence facing a square and a large open street with shops and restaurants and such on it with a ramp at end of the street leading down to the lower parts of the city.

Hm. Realistically?

Think about the White House in the United States. The building itself isn't obviously a fortress, but it's structurally tougher than it looks, and it has a LOT of relatively unobtrusive security measures. No one is allowed to fly aircraft anywhere within many kilometers of it.* A number of streets passing close to the building have been closed to vehicle traffic, or all traffic, for decades. This is done to make it difficult to get line of sight on the building at close range, or to somehow deliver a bomb in a vehicle heavy and fast enough to crash through the security measures.

There are guards in concealed and secret locations in, on, and around the building, at all hours of the day and night, monitoring the area on foot or in hideouts (e.g. on the roof). The guards are armed with a variety of weapons including sniper rifles and light surface to air missiles. While routine foot traffic near the building is very much a thing, the traffic is kept on the other side of a fence, and is presumably monitored by the aforesaid guards. The guards don't randomly attack just anyone who comes close or carries a sign, but they would definitely start acting rather harshly if anything actually looked like a threat to the security of the building.

So that's your benchmark. If the governor's residence fronts onto a large public square, expect the square to be closed to vehicle traffic. Expect a no-fly zone to be maintained around the building for a large radius, with only specially vetted traffic being allowed through. Expect guards, both visible and concealed, probably including guard positions in upper story windows and rooftops in the buildings surrounding the square.

All this is done in real life. In Star Wars, you can expect some additional measures, such as having emergency shield generators to protect the building from an unexpected attack with heavy weapons.
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*(in Star Wars this is a more significant inconvenience for the public than in real life, but is arguably necessary to stop someone from flying a hovercar full of antimatter pods or whatever over the place and going "oops.")

You maybe specify a garrison but at this point the governor isn't allowed to deploy heavy armor so no AT-ATs, AT-ACT or similar is avaible as while some heavy vehicles are being built on the planet they're to be sent off-world to other imperial units and sector command would interpit any attempt to keep them on the planet longer then it's needed as rebel activity.

Having those right around the governor's own residence would probably be counterproductive; they can't shoot at maximum firepower without blast effects damaging his home. Unless of course his home is heavily enough built and shielded that it's immune to the backblast... in which case it's also heavily enough built to withstand anything less than direct hits from vehicle-grade artillery weapons, which significantly affects its layout and security.

And... dome-shields that can englobe just the structure itself. A bit like what we saw in SW Rebels, in the SAW GERRERA episode.

Simon_Jester wrote:

You maybe specify a garrison but at this point the governor isn't allowed to deploy heavy armor so no AT-ATs, AT-ACT or similar is avaible as while some heavy vehicles are being built on the planet they're to be sent off-world to other imperial units and sector command would interpit any attempt to keep them on the planet longer then it's needed as rebel activity.

Having those right around the governor's own residence would probably be counterproductive; they can't shoot at maximum firepower without blast effects damaging his home. Unless of course his home is heavily enough built and shielded that it's immune to the backblast... in which case it's also heavily enough built to withstand anything less than direct hits from vehicle-grade artillery weapons, which significantly affects its layout and security.

To be honest I knew that already. That condition was more to prevent people going outright milwank with things like dozens AT-ATs or ISDs (or heaven forbid SSDs) hovering above the palace 24/7 in a planet that's suppose to be semi-peaceful.

OK.

Well, honestly, the only remaining question is, was the governor's residence built during the Imperial period? If so, what used to occupy that space? Or did the governor move into an existing building?

the way I envisioned this it would either expansion or a total rebuild of the old republic era governor's palace. So yes on the "built in imperial era" and as for what was on the spot another similar structure that was deemed to not be big enough.

Have the governor be like... allowed some degree of independence by his superiors and have the governor be some corrupt AF "new rich" person who proves that "quatloos can't buy class" so his new personal abode - even his new office - is tacky AF so there are huge statues or holos or holos of statues of him and great dioramas of his favorite things, like a scene of Vader chopping the hands of Rebel POWs, or the iconic Beginning of the Empire with Palpatine there all triumphant and Jar-Jar in a dramatic pose as he heroically makes the decisive vote that birthed their nation. Lots of fountains. High ceilings with paintings of all sorts of crap. Really terrible, gaudy, eyesore colors. Garish as hell. Protocol droids covered in super-expensive Rancor ivory. Krayt Dragon skeletons. A zoo with exotic creatures. Black market-acquired useless Jedi/Old Republic artifacts and forgeries - like he'll boast that the holocron's some forbidden space-mystic tome when in actuality it just contains holograms of Jedha landscapes or motivational sayings and nonsensical koans by Yoda (or like Yoda's best "crazed in a swamp world" portrayal) to help padawans meditate. Supposed Jedi robes in glass cases, robes that are actually something someone fished out of a Jawa rummage sale. A special mystical "Jedi relic-satchel" that they think was for carrying sorcerous items, that in reality (your Jedi PC would know) was actually the sack Yoda got on when he had padawans carry him for their physical training... Hutt massage lotions. A Nar Shadda Hutt-grade bath. Mummies. Wax figures. Terrible recreations of Rattakan ruins, more like those Las Vegas Sphinx/Pyramid/whatever things.

Are you denying that you would live in such a place?

Oh, I fucking would. I'd have the cathedral domes be shaped like Dash Rendar shoulderpads.

But...that would make them impenetrable.

BTW, here's a new avatar for you.

Shroom Man 777 wrote:Have the governor be like... allowed some degree of independence by his superiors and have the governor be some corrupt AF "new rich" person who proves that "quatloos can't buy class" so his new personal abode - even his new office - is tacky AF so there are huge statues or holos or holos of statues of him and great dioramas of his favorite things, like a scene of Vader chopping the hands of Rebel POWs, or the iconic Beginning of the Empire with Palpatine there all triumphant and Jar-Jar in a dramatic pose as he heroically makes the decisive vote that birthed their nation. Lots of fountains. High ceilings with paintings of all sorts of crap. Really terrible, gaudy, eyesore colors. Garish as hell. Protocol droids covered in super-expensive Rancor ivory. Krayt Dragon skeletons. A zoo with exotic creatures. Black market-acquired useless Jedi/Old Republic artifacts and forgeries - like he'll boast that the holocron's some forbidden space-mystic tome when in actuality it just contains holograms of Jedha landscapes or motivational sayings and nonsensical koans by Yoda (or like Yoda's best "crazed in a swamp world" portrayal) to help padawans meditate. Supposed Jedi robes in glass cases, robes that are actually something someone fished out of a Jawa rummage sale. A special mystical "Jedi relic-satchel" that they think was for carrying sorcerous items, that in reality (your Jedi PC would know) was actually the sack Yoda got on when he had padawans carry him for their physical training... Hutt massage lotions. A Nar Shadda Hutt-grade bath. Mummies. Wax figures. Terrible recreations of Rattakan ruins, more like those Las Vegas Sphinx/Pyramid/whatever things.

as over the top (though this isn't for an RPG so no PCs present) this is it kind of fits the idea a had for the governor as this corrupt pervert with more money then style (and no he's not based on the current US president at least not intentionally).