On wartorn Alderaan, the Empire speaks through Moff Sarek who coordinates the efforts of House Thul. Until recently, House Thul has been weak and inefficient. Now, thanks to an unidentified Imperial individual, House Thul stands strong against House Organa and the Republic!

The road was not easy. Beset on all sides, the individual, codenamed Feral Thranta, fought not only House Organa, but one of Lord Jorad Thul's vassals, a Lord Cedarik Killesa. Feral Thranta defeated Killesa who surrendered his House unto House Thul.

Feral Thranta moved across Alderaan, combating Killiks and their joiners, Rist assassins and Ulgo usurpers. Taking steps to rescue House Panteer survivors from Ulgo assassins, their support added a legitimacy to House Thul's bid on the throne. Eventually, Feral Thranta struck at Bouris Ulgo himself, removing the usurper after a massive, earth-shattering battle.

Though the battle for Alderaan is far from over, House Thul is bolstered by the efforts of this mysterious Imperial. The Empire is a step closer to claiming Alderaan as its own.

Voduss Sarkin
INN Exclusive Report

Hate it, love it, or mildly distrust it, the Galactic Republic has a few things undeniably right. Equal rights to all species, free travel in Republic hyperspace lanes, and the support of its citizens and soldiers are all paramount ideals which the Republic and its leaders try to hold dear in these trying times of the Empire's bristling coat and showing of teeth.

Freedom of speech has always been something of a "hot topic" in Republic space, as planets like Alderaan believe in full freedom, never giving way in one's voice to placate the elected government. A world like Onderon, however, would be firmly rooted in respecting the monarchy, those who speak out against the leadership becoming imprisoned or covertly killed much like any world in the Sith Empire.

While one could dwell for years on the difference in politics throughout the galaxy, the best opinion on the topic is not of an author or an educated specialist in xenopolitics and anthropology from some hoighty-toighty university. The opinion that matters is from the citizen. Of any world and any background.

The opinion that matters is yours! Let's see what the HoloNet had to say!

Alderaan has always been a world of pacifists. Artisans, philosophers, medical professionals, and some of the most lucrative inventors and politicians of the past several thousand years have come from the soul of the Republic. We of older stock are able to remember Alderaan in her pre-war prime. Beautiful and angelic with its soft curvatures and its desires for ecological and societal harmony; it worked for the longest of times...until the Sith Empire invaded.

Now in recovery, Alderaan is embroiled in a brutal civil war which takes more civilian lives than it does soldiers of any House. Suicide bombings, violent political riots, as well as full-on assaults from one minor House on another's estate riddle the landscape, dotting the idyllic landscape with blotches of blood. Blood perpetrated by the Empire.

While the mad Bouris Ulgo attempts to claim the crown as his own, House Organa pines for peace, yet the bloodthirsty Imperials and their heavy-handed grasp on House Thul's Duke will not allow a united Alderaan even if ninety-eight percent of the population yearns for the days before the assassinations; the days of being the Republic's guiding soul through level-headed calm, peace, and the ideals of being excellent to one another.

Weighing up to 4,000 kilograms, the lumbering Bantha is a staple of cheap and quick farming. Able to survive weeks on stored fat and water in both the smoldering heat of lifeless deserts and graze in a skin-biting blizzard, it has become a favorite for colonists and Outer Rim settlers. While its meat is rougher and its milk clumpier than Alderaan's Nerf, it is still a popular animal with a booming trade for its meat amongst quick-meal gurus such as producers of frozen Bantha Nuggets and the popular Swokes Swokes treat known in Basic as the Meat Popsicle.

Also animals of burden, the Bantha have been used for both non-mechanical travel and—popularized by serials such as Rich Dirgo and the Krayt Dragon Pearl—used by war mounts by various species, including Tatooine's aggressive Sand People. In current society they are more romanticized as adaptable creatures for the frontiersman rather then an economic rung for meat barons.

The bull and cow of the Bantha were not as varied as the Nerf but still distinct enough for their behavior to be documented. Purely matriarchal, the Bantha herds have always been led by the oldest and strongest female. The larger bulls of the species had a larger rack of horns, growing by a full knob each year, most males reaching two spirals before their deaths whereas females barely reached one spiral.

The severely under appreciated Nerf of Alderaan receives not nearly as much praise as it deserves for being the most adaptable and delicious animal in the galaxy. According to recent surveys conducted by the Republic Census Bureau, the Nerf is the most profitable meat in the galaxy. Over nine thousand companies are solely dedicated to processing Nerf meat, with several mega-corporations like Czerka branching into the lucrative business, finding it more stable and more profitable then arming a fledgling government gearing up for war.

A Nerf's grace does not lie in its appearance and temperament. Indeed, they are unpleasant creatures to handle. The males are aggressive, often leading them to trample their own younglings and the females of their species, leading any smart herder to keep the males in separate pens. Their stench is only rivaled by the unkempt appearance of their fur and the build-up of dried spittle which accumulates around their mouth areas as they graze and chew cud. The pitch colored saliva is acidic in nature and almost impossible to remove once dried, leaving most Nerf herders with minor burns around their hands and forearms mostly due to the fact that it only removes itself from clothing after it slowly burns through the material.

It would be foolish to classify the Nerf as a stupid animal, however. With its adaptability comes several subspecies, including the leaner, mottled-fur Forest Nerf which has become a favorite pet for farmers from the Core to the Outer Rim for their docile appearance and expressive nature. In environments that even a Bantha cannot survive because of it's lumbering nature and minimal intelligence, a Nerf will thrive, albeit with a slightly rebellious, unruly streak which it will exhibit during seasonal shedding to it's keeper.