Outland Regions Security Force

History

Formation

The Republic's centralized military was dismantled by the Ruusan Reformations, which also imposed restrictions on the size of the Planetary Security Forces. As the Galactic Republic neared its end, much of the Outer Rim was essentially left to its own devices, resulting in lawlessness and instability. This breakdown of order resulted in the concentration of power within the most populous and prosperous systems of the region, with Eriadu in the Seswenna sector emerging as the most dominant. Controlled by the Quintad, a group of five influential families that included the Tarkins, Eriadu evolved into an industrial center and the base of operations for Quintad Orbital Manufacturing (QOM), a major corporation involved in military shipbuilding.

By 57 BBY, Ranulph Tarkin, a fifty-year-old veteran of the Seswenna Defense Forces who had successfully led a campaign against the Delmaasi pirates in 66 BBY prior to his business ventures, was at the helm of QOM. Disturbed by the deteriorating order throughout the Outer Rim, Tarkin relinquished his position at QOM to his cousin to resume his military career. Prompted by Tarkin, Seswenna's senator, Ulm Brashere, successfully persuaded the Supreme Chancellor to appoint him as Governor-General of the sector, placing him in charge of its defense forces.

Having achieved his ambition, General Tarkin began bolstering Seswenna's military strength by commissioning new warships from QOM's facilities. However, this endeavor soon ran afoul of the Ruusan Reformations' limitations on capital ship size and strength, drawing unwanted scrutiny from Judicial Forces inspectors. Undeterred, Tarkin sought out other shipbuilding companies with which QOM had established connections, arranging lend-lease agreements that placed numerous foreign-made corvettes, frigates, and cruisers under Eriadu's command. While such "demonstration fleets" were commonplace in the Core Worlds, Tarkin's ambitions in the Rim raised concerns among the Judicials. His subsequent actions did little to alleviate their fears: Tarkin forged mutual-defense pacts with neighboring sectors, exchanging economic aid for agreements to consolidate military forces in times of crisis, share navigational data among their Planetary Security Forces, and treat their sectors as a unified theater of operations known as the Greater Seswenna. Expanding his reach further, Tarkin sought agreements with other sectors to exchange navigational data and permit safe passage by mutual consent. In one swift move, Tarkin transformed a disunited collection of Planetary Security Forces into a regional military power, which he christened the Republic Outland Regions Security Force.

Controversy

The swift growth of the ORSF sparked fears of empire-building on Coruscant. Incensed by accusations of disloyalty, Tarkin stepped down as Governor-General, replaced by his cousin Garvedon, and was elected as Seswenna's senator in 54 BBY. As Seswenna's representative to Coruscant, Tarkin became an eloquent advocate for strengthening the Republic's military capabilities, citing the Outland Regions Security Force as a blueprint. His conflict with the Judicial Department persisted, despite the ORSF having numerous sympathizers within the Judicial Forces. Throughout, Tarkin maintained that he would relinquish control of the ORSF to the Republic government, provided that the force became part of a restored, centralized Republic Military.

Tarkin rose to become the leader of the Militarist faction within the Galactic Senate, but his detractors' suspicions only deepened. Senators like Finis Valorum pointed out the all-Human composition of the ORSF, which many considered discriminatory, and also accused Tarkin of essentially buying the allegiance of Eriadu's impoverished neighbors, perceiving ulterior motives in the ORSF's designation of its expanded area of operations as the Greater Seswenna. In response, Tarkin and members of the ORSF began referring to their fleet and ground forces as the "Republic Navy" and the "Republic Army," envisioning them as a model for a restored force.

The test of battle

The Stark Hyperspace War of 44 BBY served as a trial by fire for the Outland Regions Security Force. Iaco Stark, a pirate, had been attacking Trade Federation convoys, exacerbating a bacta shortage. Tarkin urged the Judicials to pursue and eliminate Stark, threatening that the ORSF would intervene if they failed to do so. However, the Senate, acting on Finis Valorum's advice, opted for a peace conference instead. Tarkin extracted the location of the peace conference, Troiken, from Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation. Deploying the ORSF to a planet on the opposite side of the galaxy from Eriadu would constitute a significant breach of defense fleet mobility regulations, but Tarkin gambled that a decisive victory over Stark's pirates would transform him into a hero, overriding any legal concerns.

Sympathetic Judicials provided the ORSF with several battalions of special forces assault troops to serve as a ground assault component. As the peace conference commenced, Gunray signaled the ORSF from his mechno-chair, but Tarkin was overly eager to analyze the navigational data. Suspecting treachery, Iaco Stark had secretly embedded a navcomputer virus known as a Tionese program within Gunray's transmission. By the time the ORSF mobilized, every navigation computer had been infected with the virus. Only a third of the force reached Troiken; another third emerged from hyperspace off-course, while the remaining third materialized in locations that resulted in their destruction, such as inside planets or near black holes and stars.

The ensuing First Battle of Qotile resulted in a resounding defeat for the fleet. The survivors retreated to the surface of Troiken, rescuing Valorum, Gunray, and their Jedi escorts and establishing a defensive position at Mount Avos. There, the Judicials' Special Tactics troopers engaged in several battles before the siege was lifted with the Stark Commercial Combine's defeat by the Trade Defense Force in the Fifth Battle of Qotile. Ranulph Tarkin perished in the fighting, thereby becoming a martyr for the Militarist cause.

Legacy

The Outland Regions Security Force persisted after the death of its founder. Following the Battle of Naboo, the ORSF received reinforcements in the form of impounded Trade Federation vessels, including cargo haulers, heavy munitions cruisers, C-9979 landing craft, B1-series battle droids, and Vulture droids.

In 29 BBY, Wilhuff Tarkin, Ranulph's nephew and former lieutenant governor of Eriadu, held the rank of Commander within the Outland Regions Security Force. In that year, the Security Force launched a failed attack on Zonama Sekot in an attempt to acquire a Sekotan starship.

The consequences of the ORSF's expansion under Ranulph Tarkin became evident a generation later during the Separatist Crisis. In 26 BBY, its response to a raid by Nocto pirates at Ochotl in the neighboring Airam sector was lackluster. Ochotl, an agriworld affiliated with the Corporate Alliance to better compete with the Eriadu-dominated agricultural businesses in the Pangarees, led many to believe that the ORSF was merely a tool for Eriadu's interests due to its inaction. Consequently, the entire Airam sector seceded from the Republic and joined the burgeoning Confederacy of Independent Systems. Similarly, Eriadu's militarism and Tarkin's ambition pushed its rival Sullust and the Rimward sectors of the Rimma Trade Route toward the CIS.

During the Clone Wars, Eriadu became a Republic stronghold besieged within Separatist territory. The Outland Regions Security Force fought alongside clone troopers as part of the Republic's Eighteenth Army under the command of Wilhuff Tarkin, now one of the first Moffs, and his younger brother Gideon. The Greater Seswenna was officially designated as the Eighteenth Army's theater of operations, and the ORSF participated in engagements along both the Hydian Way and the Rimma Trade Route during the final stages of the Outer Rim Sieges.

Organization

Ranulph Tarkin, adopting the title of General, grandiosely referred to his fleet as the Republic Navy and his ground troops as the Republic Army; despite the fact that both had been abolished by the Ruusan Reformation, his Militarist faction sought their restoration.

Tarkin's critics observed that the ORSF was almost exclusively composed of Humans, which many deemed speciesist. Tarkin maintained that this reflected a concern for unit morale and a desire for standardized systems and procedures. Whether by design or consequence, the majority of Tarkin's soldiers shared his Humanocentric ideals.

The Special Tactics troopers represented the ORSF's elite soldiers during the Stark Hyperspace War.

Personnel

Tarkin's soldiers, officers, vehicles, and vessels were drawn from the regional defense forces of planets sympathetic to his cause, including Rendili, Commenor, Eriadu, Barkhesh, and Carida. Notable soldiers within the force included Antidar Williams and Jace Dallin, the latter of whom served as Ranulph Tarkin's aide and bodyguard.

Maarisa Zsinj, the mother of future Imperial Grand Moff and Warlord Zsinj, held the rank of admiral within the Outland Regions Security Force, earning the moniker "Ace of the Spacelanes" for her exceptional skills.

Equipment

Tarkin's ships were reportedly surplus from the Judicial Forces, consisting of Corellian Star Shuttles, Consular-class space cruisers, and variants of _Consular_s constructed with wider hulls (presumably for transporting ground forces). The fleet's flagship, Invincible, was another modified Consular. The starfighter component of the fleet was composed of A-6 Interceptors. This composition reflected traditional military doctrine that emphasized the ability of fast and agile weapons platforms to overcome larger warships.

The A280 blaster rifle served as the primary weapon for Tarkin's ground forces.

Behind the scenes

Greg Bear conceived the Outland Regions Security Force, which made its debut in the novel Rogue Planet. The 2012 guidebook The Essential Guide to Warfare later retconned a Republic-affiliated paramilitary organization featured in the 2001 comic arc Star Wars: The Stark Hyperspace War as being the Outland Regions Security Force.