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I wanna point out a really cool thread at the TFN Lit forum. Member Lord Bane, a quite scholarly fellow, has theorized that the Vong invasion route is (deliberately?) mimicking that of Hannibal (the elephant guy) and the Carthaginians when they invaded Rome. I won't quote directly since the link is there, but basically, Hannibal's trek went like this (some possible spoilers below, highlight to read if necessary):
Any Roman invasion from Carthage was expected to come by sea, from the southwest. Instead, Hannibal circled around the northwest through Spain, and entered enemy territory from the scarcely-populated north (the Vong came in on the Tingel Arm in the Outer Rim). When the Romans heard of the approaching army, they scattered troops along the southern Rhone river, near the Mediterranean coast. Hannibal duped them by crossing the river much farther north, which meant he would have to lead his army through the unthinkable: the Alps (the Vong came in smack in between the Outer Rim and the Imperial Remnant). As they exited the Alps and proceeded south, Hannibal recruited numerous (but small) local groups of warriors that were unhappy with Roman leadership (the Vong have been working closely with smugglers and the Hutts). This is about where the NJO is now; the enemy beyond the more remote areas and moving near the seat of power. What did Hannibal do from there? As he progressed, he managed to avoid all-out confrontation with the Roman armies whenever possible, as they had far more men than he did. But whenever a large battle was unavoidable, he always had a trick up his sleeve to surprise the Romans. By now, Hannibal had a clear shot at Rome, but knew better then to confront it directly as of yet. He continued to circle Rome, taking over ports and industrial centers as he went, all the while cutting off the capital from its territory. Rome finally summoned up the courage to try and take Hannibal out once and for all. They gathered a force of about 70,000, an army over twice as large as Hannibal's, and charged south after him. Knowing there was no way to hide from the approaching army, Hannibal had almost all of his forces meet the Roman army in Cannae (spread out in a line to keep Hannibal from maneuvering his way out of a fight), at the dead center of their formation. The outward Romans then swept around to encircle Hannibal, and as they did so, Hannibal's secondary force (mostly those recruited during the trek, as opposed to the Carthaginians themselves) came from behind and surprised the now spread-out Romans, Hannibal's men did their best to wipe the army out, and only 10,000 or so Romans returned from the battle. Unfortunately, Roman unity did not crack as Hannibal had hoped. While their military had been routed, Rome was winning on the diplomatic side. They started using their armies to protect Roman settlements along the warfront, rather than making risky offensive moves. It appeared there was a stalemate; Hannibal was safe in southern Italy, but was unable to move against Rome; and Rome was anxious to take the fight to Carthage (Hannibal's home), but sending a force there would leave the capital open to attack. At one point, Hannibal even sent for his brother, Hasdrubal. Hasdrubal's force went around the long way as well, but was eliminated soon after entering Italy. Finally, the new Roman consul Scipio (a highly acclaimed leader from earlier wars) rallied a large force of volunteers, and headed across the Mediterranean to Carthage. Once there, he made very clear his intent to attack, if only to force Hannibal out into the open. After 2 years, however, Hannibal managed to get his army out of Italy without facing the Romans there. He replenished his army, and finally met Scipio's in Zama, 50 miles west of Carthage. This time, however, Hannibal was out-strategized. Taking a cue from his enemy's own actions at Cannae, Scipio managed to scatter Hannibal's forces, and dealt them a brutal defeat. So what does this mean for the future of the NJO? Well, IF the guys in charge really are doing this on purpose (and that's a hell of an "if") my take is this: The Vong will proceed as they are now, attacking key points to cut off the Core from the Expansion Region and the Mid Rim (Sluis Van, Bilbringi, Commenor, Bothawui, maybe even Kuat). Expecct a huge naval victory (Corellia? Hapes? Sullust?) for the Vong (Hardcover 3?), possibly followed by a feint at Coruscant (shortly after the battle of Cannae, Hannibal took his force right up to the outskirts of a now poorly-defended Rome and scared the bejeezes out of the Roman citizenry, just to show that he could). At this point, the NR will use its remaining forces to fortify the core as well as possible, leaving the Mid and Outer Rims to the Vong, but isolating them there at the same time. Not sure where to proceed from there, the Vong will send for the remainder of their fleet (led by Tsavong Lah?) to enter the galaxy and meet up with them, but the second wave is blocked off from the first by the NR, and summarily decimated (Hardcover 4?). The two forces are deadlocked for a time, and the war enters a somewhat slow period. Finally, the NR gov't wakes up (ditches Fey'lya?) and puts someone with brains in charge of the war (Pellaeon? Bel Iblis? Kre'fey?). Around this time, they (Luke? Leia? Han?) find a way to enter the Vong galaxy, and after a few paperbacks' worth of scouting missions, sends a huge fleet out to hit the Vong where it hurts. They succeed in drawing the Vong away from the GFFA, and confront them as a whole (Hardcover 5?), possibly with the surprise aid of the Chiss. The Vong are routed, their homeworld devastated by an attack from NR ground forces and the Jedi. Shimrra is captured alive, and, knowing how the Vong embrace death and physical torture, is sentenced to rot away on a prison world somewhere, rather than be executed. At the end, the whole ordeal does more to solidify the NR than anything since Endor. KEEP IN MIND that I'm doing some serious speculation here (definitely took some creative license toward the end there), and the NJO could end up containing any or none of these scenarios. But it's still a fun read for the time being, isn't it? =) |
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