Since it was asked for I here produce a list of the Ten best things that a band of heroes could possibly do for the Stellar Cloak Galaxy - purely subjective and please feel free to debate them by any means, but please reserve any heated arguments for a subject which deserves them, such as Morality, Politics and the Society of the World we actually live in (rather than the ones we're throwing up in our heads).
Now here's an uncomfortable truth: No good deed can change the World if it's an isolated event.
For one act to change the World FOREVER requires (a) groundwork to give that act significance (or just make it possible), (b) an individual inspired enough to perform that act and most important of all (c) reinforcement, to support the change and make sure that it endures.
To put things in perspective:- the destruction of the Death Star did not just happen; it required first that there be a resistance to the Empire, second that this resistance movement acquire intelligence of the Death Star then deliver that intelligence to where it was needed, third that this resistance put together a military force capable of examining this intelligence, then planning and launching an attack, fourth an individual capable of making the obscenely dangerous attack run then actually hit the target, fifth an engine of propaganda capable of exploiting this victory to make the continuation of this resistance movement possible, sixth the will to fight on to the very end no matter what retaliation followed this success and seventh a plan for what came AFTER victory, as well as the moral fortitude to follow through with it.
This is a somewhat abbreviated and perhaps confusing picture, but consider that the achievements of the Organa-Skywalker-Solo commando only form a very small part of the overall picture - however crucial they might have been, those achievements would have been hollow if they were not preceeded, supported and followed by the efforts of less famous (and in many cases less glamorous) individuals and decades of apparently-pedestrian efforts to make possible, as well as exploit their successes.
Or, in brief, if your Heroes SERIOUSLY want to change the 'Verse, you're going to need a lot of friends and you're going to need to WORK for it (and not always on the fun stuff).
The List (Explanations to Follow) #1: Kill bioroid slavery stone-dead, burn it's carcass, grind whatever is left to powder, then cast the remains to the winds to make sure it does not revive.
#2: Make sure that Gottedamgerung - in the form of another Interstellar War - does not occur by making sure to extinguish any spark that happens to flare up, then turn the hose on the powder trails before finally soaking the powder keg (aka turn Stellar Cloak into
Star Trek rather than
Star Wars).
#3: Break the vicious cycle bred by a cynicism which calls the death of an individual a tragedy, yet describes the death of WORLDS as a 'statistic' (aka the the life of an individual and the life of a planet is equally important, if only to the individual and the planet - point this out then make sure to drive that sucker home).
#4: The dead hand of species-based prejudice has been buried across the galaxy; now's the time to make sure that it's ghost is laid to rest so that sucker doesn't start twitching during the next storm (aka kick any supremacist movement while they're down in the opinion polls before they get an opportunity to stop emphasising the positive and start emphasising the negative with an underline writ in blood).
#5: Ensure that technology capable of changing the Universe winds up in the hands of EVERYONE before SOMEONE attempts to monopolise it, to the ruin of all (aka give Captain Jack an alibi they'll HAVE to believe).
#6: Bring science-rationalised persecution of religion to an end (aka persecution of heretics is NEVER logical, no matter how scientific it may seem - or 'prod even the most rational Faith long enough and breaking out the old warhammer, hellfire and brimstone will start to look too tempting an option to pass up').
#7: Make sure that the various interstellar factions live up to the best of their potential rather than the worst (aka make sure none of the idiots in power stays in power and make sure their wisest brethren take their place).
#8: Stabilise the Kashoot Exclusion Zone (aka give the Neutral Zone the power to STAY Neutral).
#9: Track down any and every organisation of drug smugglers,sociopathic thugs, pirates, psychopathic merc and sundry associated brigands, murderers and rapists you can find, then make sure to give them ABSOLUTE HELL (aka work out how to tell the freedom fighters from the terrorists, then reduce the latter to the natural state of a cowardly and superstitious lot, Repeat ad infinitum to your satisfaction and their despair).
#10: Remove the influence of the Overmind from The Hive (aka give the Hive a brainwave vis-a-vis 'one mind, one vote' and point out that doesn't mean that only a single opinion will ever carry weight, thereby making sure the Overmind DROWNS in the d*** wave).
You were expecting more individual villains? Well honestly, when you get to the Top Ten Greatest Achievements possible for Heroes, only an individual who also happens to effectively BE a species is big enough to register - and even then only at the bottom end of the pool. Quite frankly beating individual Villains must matter less in the long run or in theend than heading off the astro-political/social trends which give them their shot at the Big Time - or anything which might trigger the spark which blows an apocalypse-sized powder keg up in the faces of every soul in the Galaxy.
Did I mention that saving the Galaxy is a pretty big job? - because quite frankly I really, really should have and the efforts it requires are not for the faint hearted or attention deficient!
Founder of H.E.R.O.I.C, Complimenter-in-Chief, Co-Arch Henchman to the Grin, Servant of the Hoff!
Rule Brittania! Praise the Hoff and the Grin!
Warning!: May cause Thread Drift.
