From there, Mothma and Bail Organa met at the Organa residence to plot their next move against the Empire. Mothma wanted to start an outright war against the Emperor, while Bail Organa said that doing so would be to go against the government they were trying to presereve.
The first massacare occured on a small core world when that planet's govenor refused to bow to the Emperor. The people of the planet staged a peaceful protest against the Empire. A warship under the command of Captain (later to be Grand Moff)Tarkin landed on hundreds of protestors, instantly killing them. Now the people of the galaxy knew that the peace and democracy that had once existed was now dead.
Bail Organa was terrified at the report of the massacare and helped Mon Mothma fund and supply the newly formed resistance group. Rebel sympathizers also stole secret Imperial documents which allowed Imperial shipments to be raided, either destroying or capturing supplies and spacecraft.
These few resistance groups were no match for the Empire. They lacked equipment and used obsolete fighters and starships, and were quickly crushed by the Imperial navy. Any hope seemed to be lost.
Mothma was the prime target of the Imperial army, however, she managed to leave Imperial Center (or Coruscant) before anything could be done.
After leaving Imperial Center, Mothma organized the Alliance of Rebelling planets and approached Corellia. From there, Mothma formed the three resistance groups into one Rebel Alliance. The Coreillan Treaty became the cornerstone for the Rebel Alliance.
At the Corellian conference, the official Declaration of Rebellion was wrote:
You have disbanded the Senate, the voice of the people; You have instituted a policy of blatant racism and genocide against the non-human peoples of the galaxy; You have overthrown the chosen rulers of planets, replacing them with Moffs and Governors of your choice; You have raised taxes without the consent of those taxed; You have murdered and imprisoned millions without benefit of trial; You have unlawfully taken land and property; You have expanded the military far beyond what is necessary and prudent, for the sole purpose of oppresing your subjects. We, the Rebel Alliance, do therefore in the name - and by the authority - of the free beings of the galaxy, solemnly publish and declare our intentions: To fight and oppose you and your forces, by any and all means at our disposal; To refuse any Imperial law contrary to the rights of free beings; To bring about your destruction and the destruction of the Galactic Empire; To make forever free all beings in the galaxy. To these ends, we pledge our property, our honor, and our lives.
The Emperor was delighted at this and considered the declaration of rebellion humorous. He saw it as a way to show off his military might to the galaxy.
Pilots and officers, both Imperial and neutral either defected or enlisted with the Rebel Alliance. At this time the Alliance was based on the fourth Jungle moon of the gas giant Yavin. Princess Leia's R2 unit contained plans to the Empire's new ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR. Fortunately a weakness was found and Luke Skywalker destroyed the space station by firing two proton torpedoes into a reactor vent which started a chain reaction and detonated the station.
After the destruction of the Death Star, Imperial soldiers drove the Rebels off the jungle planet. From there they went into hiding on the uninhabited sixth ice-planet of the Hoth system to rebuild their forces. Morale was at an all-time low when an Imperial probe droid slipped through the Alliance's passive detection system and transmitted images of the primary power generators to the SSD Executor's command staff. A fleet of Star Destroyers attempted to destroy the base from orbit, but the Imperial Admiral Ozzel made a mistake which would cost him his life. He brought the fleet out of hyperspace right over the planet which sent Rebel senors screaming. A shield was charged and the Imperials had to launch a ground assualt.
From there the Alliance launched a major offensive against the Empire, massing their fleet in the Sullust system, the second DEATH STAR was destroyed after a joint ground-space battle. Several star destroyers made it to hyperspace before rebel forces could stop them, however they lacked the leadership of the SSD Executor's officers and therefore became a snake without a head. It took the New Republic nearly fifteen years to make peace with the Imperial Remnants. The Treaty of Bastion was signed by several leaders of the hiearchy of the New Republic and by Admiral Pellaeon of the Imperial Navy. Pellaeon was Grand Admiral Thrawn's protege' for several years, but when Thrawn was killed at the battle of Bil Bringi, Pellaeon forged a peace treaty. The treaty stated that the 200 systems under Imperial control would remain as so, and the systems under Republic control would also remain as so. Any system wishing to change sides would be allowed, and the recenty formed "Smuggler's Union" (formed out of the several neutral factions of smuggler organizations in the galaxy) would monitor the two. Unbiased reports would be used to settle disputes. So, after nearly 65 years of war, the galaxy finally rested in peace.
Still, the problem was the fighter fleet was intensively obsolete. Alliance high command managed to locate a large number of Z-95 snub fighters to maintain the Navy, but the TIE craft still had the edge.
Then, due to bad sales and no Imperial purches of their craft, Kuat Drive Yard's primary competeor Incom approached Rebel leaders and sold them a copy of the designs to their X-Wing starfighter. Mothma and Admiral Ackbar both agreed to order several of these state-of-the art fighters. The X-Wing became the mainstay fighter of the Rebel fleet.
The X-Wing is classified as a space superiority fighter. Stronger shields, greater manuverability and its quad laser cannons gave it a marginal lead over Imperial craft. Unlike the TIE series, it came equipped with a hyperdrive. Small squadrons of eight to ten fighters began running attacks against the Imperial fleet.
The next craft to be designated by the Alliance high command was the A-Wing. This was a small, agile and fast fighter falling into the interceptor class. It was designed by Alliance General Jan Dodonna and was built by the Blissex Fleet Systems shipyards. Armed with dual lasers and a large capacity concussion missle launcher as well as moderate shields made this the optimal choice for a Rebel interceptor.
The Y-Wing is an older-designed craft. Although it is slow and sluggish, they are rugged and can take a beating. Armed with dual lasers and dual ion cannons, it can disable enemy craft for capture. It also carries a flexible warhead launching system that can handle anything from magnetic pulses to space bombs.
The final craft to be added to the Rebel fleet before the break up of the Empire was the B-Wing. Designed by expert scientists from the Verpine colonies of Slayn and Korpyl, and by the then Commander Ackbar, this fighter was designed to replace the Y-Wing. Classified as a fighter-bomber, it carres an extremely powerful shield generator, heavy armor, tri-lasers,tri-ion cannons and a large capacity warhead system. Faster than the Y-wing and about as agile as the X-Wing, it became a dreaded craft of the Imperial Fleet.
Ten years after the breakup of the Empire, the Incom designers of the X-Wing built a fighter to span the gap between slower, heavy bombers and light, faster interceptors. The E-Wing did just that. Nearly as fast and manuverable as the A-Wing, however it also keeps thick armor plating and strong shields, nearly as much as a B-Wing. It is armed with fire-linked tri-laser cannons and a proton torpedo launcher system capable of holding as many as 32 torpedoes at once, it gave battle strategists a second option when B or Y-Wings are too slow.
The Alliance at first used several Corellian Corvettes for the capital ship fleet. The corvette is barely larger than a bulk freighter, and is poorly armed. It carries eight dual heavy laser cannons and two dual turbolaser turrets which are monuted on the top and bottom of a central firing point. While this may sound good, the ISD is armed with one-hundred dual turbolasers. The Corvettes are extremely fast and manuverable though, and are cheaper than some of the larger ships used by the empire.
Also used by the Alliance were the ancient Dreadnaughts. Once the mainstay capital ship of the Old Republic, the Alliance managed to acquire several of these aging ships after the breakup of the Old Republic. Alliance engineers fitted the old ships with new thruster banks, sublight and hyperspace engines, newer shield generators and weaponry, as well as new computers and sensor banks. Moderately armed, two or three of them would pose a threat to an ISD.
When the system of Mon Calamari joined the Alliance, they brought their expert ship building skills with them. Having conqured space travel early on in their history, these aquatic beings were capable of,with assistance from rebel commandos, repel the Imperial Occupational forces from their planet. The Mon Calamari brought their huge, organic-looking ships into the struggle with them. Merely combat-class warships that started as luxury liners and massive freighters which were adapted for use as combat ships. Alliance tech's used the Imperial shipyards that were put into place at the beginning of the occupation but were abandoned after the Imps. were driven from the ocean planet to modify the huge ships. Three shield generator pairs were added (most capital ships only carry one set), blister turbolaser turrets with four cannons (most turrets are angular and stick up off the hull of a ship, and only carry two barrels) and blister warhead launchers were added. The result was the incredable Mon Calamari Cruiser. At first, no two ships were identical, but when the Mon Calamari ran out of liner and freighter hulls to build on, they adapted to a new, all-identicle hull design. This was the MC-80 cruiser. A single MC-80 could bring an ISD down on its knees because of its incredably strong shields. Although definitly outgunned, the MCC's could soak up the turbolaser hits and keep dishing out its own damage. The MC-80's became the new backbone of the Alliance Navy, with the corvettes and Dreadnaughts moving into the reserve fleest.
A newer, more advanced version of the Mon Calamari cruiser, the MC-90, was designed two years after the Battle of Endor. It was made to be more user-friendly with beings of other species than Mon Calamari. One example of this was changing the holo-projection panels from a light-spectrum that made non-Mon Calamarians see the display as warped or out of focus to a more compatible view for other species. The MC-90 also holds more redundant systems such as 6 sets of shield generators coupled with flash-rechargers. These work by storing energy into a huge capacitor after the shield is drained, and when the charge is complete the shield suddenly flashes back into place at full charge. Also added were multiple target control systems so when one system is shot out, there are 2 or more to back it up. While this may sound like and advantage during combat, it can make repair time last up to four times longer when compared to other ships.
The escort Frigate is an Imperial built ship captured by rebel fighters. Designed to escort cargo shipments through space and drive off rebel raiders, they were captured just like the freight they were designed to protect. They carry 10 fighters and are moderatly armed. Several of the crews defected to the alliance when the civil war broke out, taking their ships with them. The Escort Frigate is the bottom-rung of the large capital class warships. Faster than Destroyers and more manuverable than Cruisers, these ships are the main pickett line in space combat, patroling the outer-boundaries of a fleet. Armed with twelve dual turbolasers and strong shields, a Frigate is indeed a ship to be reckoned with.