Republic Defense Coalition

For other uses, see Republic Defense Coalition.

The Republic Defense Coalition, also known as the Republic Defense Corps, (RDC) was a Galactic Republic organization for defense and crisis management through a series of treaties that gave central government control over planetary defense forces during emergencies, as the Republic did not maintain a standing military. These forces would remain under RDC control until the crisis was neutralized, after which they would be returned to their homeworlds and RDC activities would cease.

Organization

"The beard suits you, Admiral. Is it regulation?"
"Regulations in the Republic Defense Coalition are more like suggestions, Chancellor. We're not a proper military. Member planets send their own ships and their own crews, all with their own way of doing things. Contradictions in policy crop up all over the place. But even if there were a hard-and-fast rule… command has its privileges"

―Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh and Admiral Pevel Kronara^[6]

Members of the Republic Defense Coalition were identified as RDC crewmembers. Crewmembers were identified by ranks such as corporal, who, as per hierarchy, in turn fell under higher-ranking RDC officers. Corporal Elping Tsoo, despite his rank and position as a scientific officer, did not identify himself as an officer.^[7] A formation of troopers^[8] also existed under the RDC banner.^[4] For most of those troops lives, however, the Republic existed in a state of peace, thus meaning the Nihil conflict was their first taste of real battle.^[8] The senatorial committee for RDC actions oversaw the RDC's actions.^[3]

History

By the time of the Great Hyperspace Disaster in 232 BBY, the Republic did not require a standing military force,^[9] as both the expanding Hutts remained quiet and the Mandalorians had not caused trouble for some time. Instead, the RDC relied on its Emissary-class cruisers as well as smaller craft for support. However, should a serious threat emerge, the RDC could activate the treaties it had signed with Republic worlds such as Alderaan and Chandrila, asking for ships and personnel which would be returned once the emergency had passed.^[1]

In 232 BBY, the Hetzal system was threatened when a freighter ship called the Legacy Run was torn apart in hyperspace, causing anomalies^[9] to shoot towards the system's three inhabited bodies. Ships of the RDC had been present in the Outer Rim for a conclave between the Jedi Order and the Republic on the Starlight Beacon space station and, as such, the Third Horizon was sent to save the star system, with Jedi Master Avar Kriss in charge of the operation.^[1]

In 230 BBY,^[9] a fleet of RDC ships dispatched to the Outer Rim in the wake of the destruction of Starlight Beacon were destroyed during hyperspace transit by stormseeds when they attempted to enter sectors claimed by the Nihil.^[5] Following the Nihil conflict, Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh knew that the Republic's standing had taken a major blow and that, particularly to show it could still defend its citizens, the Republic needed to adapt. While she did not want to establish a formal military or abolish the RDC, she prepared to create several more Emissary-class Republic Cruisers as an expansion of Republic combat operations.^[6]