400 years later
Year - 6213 BBY
Imperial Year - 775
Daimon - Age: 847
Total Population - ???? (Revealed in the Chapter)
Since the end of the war against the Abominor, a conflict that had once threatened to extinguish all life within the Veldari Imperium and potentially the galaxy, peace had reigned for centuries. The Imperium had entered a sort of Golden age of internal growth and development. The scares of war had been replaced with bustling cities, flourishing trade networks, and a sense of purpose that united the Imperium's citizens.
With no new systems being added, the resources obtained from the new planets were focused on the Imperium's development. This allowed new infrastructure across the new territories to be invested in and the building several economic sectors, agricultural sectors, industrial sectors, and urban sectors. Some planets have already developed into full-fledged Forge Worlds, Agri-Worlds, Fortress Worlds, and Research Worlds. Daimon recognized that expansion wasn't always about conquering new worlds but about nurturing what they already possessed, and currently the Imperium had a lot of space to develop.
The people living in the new territories used to be majority humans and some other minor species, but over the course of 400 years, the Gen'Dai had migrated and started to populate these worlds too, alongside several other species.
The total population for the Imperium itself had finally broken through a Trillion and was now standing at 14.3 trillion. This number of people shocked even Daimon as he monitored the growth over the centuries. With the Gen'Dai being basically immortal, plus the migration of several other species, it was expected that this would happen especially with it being an official policy of the Imperium to increase the population of the Gen'Dai.
Now, out of the 14.3 trillion population living within the Imperium, 12 trillion were Gen'Dai. The rest were a mix of various Human species, Twi'lek, Togruta, Mirialan, and a few others. The Mirialan in the Imperium had become avid followers of the Imperial Faith because of how it was based on the Force unlike their own primitive understanding of the Force. None of these species, however, ever approached the cultural importance embodied by the Gen'Dai and their imperial faith.
On the capital, Veldari, the planet had reached a population of a trillion people. This was due to the orbital ring which went around the entire planet. The orbital ring was a massive megastructure built to increase the number of people that could live on Veldari and offer several other benefits. This way, Veldari could maintain a sense of beauty and not become an Ecumenopolis like Coruscant.
At the center of the ring was the control center which monitored the life support and overall efficiency of the Ring. If something was wrong, they would send teams out to fix the problems immediately. This was a policy as any problem could develop into a situation where the life support failed, or that part of the station went dark. Because of this, maintenance droids and other personnel were constantly monitoring every part of the station for any system failures.
In addition to this, the security of the station was granted to the Veldari Armed Forces due to the ring's technology and other features. This was beneficial as the entire ring wasn't dedicated to housing civilians. Some parts of it were used by the military to conduct Orbital training exercises, Research teams to test other projects, and entertainment districts. Except for the military district, each district was easily accessible via the hover tram lanes that went around the station. These hover tram lanes provided quick transportation to each part of the Orbital ring, ranging from 30 minutes up to 2 hours, depending on where you were located.
Life in the ring was comparatively similar to life on the surface; the only difference was the environment. Artificial gravity was created to mimic that of Veldari's, offering the same experience and getting rid of the negative side effects that would come from having an imbalanced gravity system. Thanks to these improvements, the Orbital Ring was well received by the people and had quickly grown in population over a century. This added to the economy of Veldari making the capital become closer to Coruscant in terms of production.
The Orbital Ring didn't go without its problems. Several spies from surrounding empires tried to sneak in and figure out the schematics of how it was built. This was in all part due to the small cold war that had started between the Imperium, Republic, Theocratic Dominion of Kalyndra, Kingdom of Rylothis, Coalition of Free Stars, and the Varraxian Technocracy. After the Chancellor that Daimon mind controlled was voted out of office, the next Chancellor had also decided to oppose the Imperium and its increasing influence by focusing the republic on expansion and development.
This was widely accepted by the senators and people who were very receptive to these ideas. And once they started to show positive results, the support for them increased exponentially which saw the next Chancellors take somewhat of the same route. As such this saw the Republic initiate its great expansion into the Mid-rim and parts of the Outer-rim. Their expansion was slow as they didn't have the Quantum Hyperspace Mapping System that the Imperium had which allowed explorers to receive continuous, up-to-date information about stable hyperlanes, gravitational anomalies, and even potential threats in real-time.
The Republic's expansion, while slower than the Imperium's, was still effective. They established footholds in resource-rich systems, negotiated protectorate agreements with independent worlds, and slowly created networks of trade routes to completely overshadow the Imperium in every aspect. The strategy was clear: contain the Imperium through economic and diplomatic superiority.
But with the constant battle between internal corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency, the Republic was slowly decaying rather than flourishing. The Jedi Order, once the guardians of peace and justice, had become increasingly politicized, their moral authority eroded by centuries of compromise with Senate interests. And the little cold war between the Jedi Order and Balance Keepers didn't make things any better.
Daimon observed these developments with detached interests. He had learned long ago that the galaxy moved in cycles of expansion, consolidation, conflict, and renewal. The Republic's current trajectory would eventually lead to overextension, just as it had countless times before. The question was not if they would stumble, but when, and what form that stumbling would take.
In the meantime, the Imperium continued its internal development. The Balance Keepers had grown to over one hundred thousand members, with temples established on every major world and outposts on frontier planets. The Order had become the spiritual backbone of Imperial society, teaching not just Force techniques but philosophy, ethics, and the proper understanding of one's place within the cosmic order.
The newer generation saw an increase in the average midi-chlorians that one had. Daimon theorized this was due to the generations of exposure to Force-rich environments he had cultivated throughout Imperial space and the bloodlines that were established by families that were formed by thousands of Balance Keepers throughout Imperial history.
The Sith Empire since its founding has expanded to dozens of systems surrounding Korriban. Their technology had developed, and they were slowly becoming a regional power. The Sith Order, which prioritized balancing the individual ambitions of its members, managed to create a sense of self-correction. The Sith hierarchy became less like a single dagger aimed at the galaxy and more like a swarm of knives.
The Sith expansion has brought them closer and closer to coming in contact with the Mandalorians who were also expanding their empire. The Sith Empire, which was led by the Dark Lord of the Sith and the 9 Sith Lords under them, had managed to conquer several nearby worlds and species. Their population numbered in the billions with a large portion being enslaved species.
Most of the Sith Imperial Army was made up of monstrous creatures and slaves. The slaves contributed to the Sith's increasing power and were used to spread fear to the other species within the Sith Empire.
The Mandalorians, in contrast, had grown into something resembling a confederation of warrior clans. Their culture revolved around martial prowess, honor through combat, and the belief that strength defined one's place in the galaxy. Unlike the Sith, who ruled through fear and domination, the Mandalorians respected worthy opponents and integrated conquered peoples who proved themselves in battle.
Every species they encountered were tested through war before they were integrated. Those who surrendered without honor were enslaved or abandoned. This philosophy had created a diverse empire united not by species or ideology, but by a shared warrior culture.
Mandalore itself had become a fortress world, its surface dotted with training grounds, armories, and clan strongholds. The Mandalore, their supreme leader, was chosen through ritual combat, ensuring that only the strongest led. The current Mandalore had united the clans through a combination of tactical genius, raw martial skill, and was leading them to expand more into the galaxy.
Their military consisted of the most feared warriors in the region. Each Mandalorian was trained from childhood in combat, tactics, and survival. Their armor, forged from beskar, was nearly impenetrable and had become a symbol of their culture. Unlike conventional armies that relied on overwhelming numbers, the Mandalorians favored elite strike forces, guerrilla warfare, and swift, decisive engagements.
The inevitable collision between the Sith Empire and the Mandalorian clans was approaching. Both powers were expanding in overlapping vectors, and the buffer systems between them were getting smaller and smaller each century.
For Daimon, watching from his throne room on Veldari, these developments were interesting to see. He had watched the rise of both powers and wondered which war would happen first, the Sith Vs. Mandalorians or the Sith and the Republic. In Cannon, the Mandalorian war didn't happen until after the Great Sith War so to see a conflict between them two occur would be something special as both were relatively small compared to the Imperium and the Republic.
The Sith could overwhelm the Mandalorians through sheer brutality and dark side sorcery, or the Mandalorians could outmaneuver them through superior tactics and warrior discipline. Either way, the conflict would reshape galactic history and create new paths for the future that will make it harder to know what was going to happen.