But really, in all seriousness, were the stormtroopers that bad? Maybe they just saw working for the Dark Side as an easy-to-enter career with many benefits or something.
They were considered soldiers for the empire. Most of them were just average folks. Even Luke Skywalker wanted to be a stormtrooper before the events of Episode IV. Stormtroopers can be likened to the military. Just average joes who signed up often out of convenience, or as a way to see the world (galaxy). The emperor and vader being evil did not make them evil - though they should have started to catch on as they were forced to commit numerous atrocities, and ya know, when the empire blew up an entire planet of innocent people. That being said, I'm sure the Empire propaganda department played down the destruction of Alderaan and played up the destruction of the Death Star.
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· 9 years ago
Also the rate at which promoted officers kept getting killed by Vader should've been a tip off.
"Hey, didja hear that Grett over in the shipping & turbolasers department got a surprise promotion to Vice Admiral?" "Uh, yeah, didn't he just get married? ....we should probably shoot him a memo saying to decline the position..."
3Reply
deleted
· 9 years ago
Don't forget the janitors and food service workers. There had to be someone to feed them and clean up after them.
its estimated to have had to been somewhere around 10 million people in civilian contract work to keep such a large station working. The rebels were terrorists. An old man convincing a young teenager about the evils of the government and telling him to go blow stuff up and kill people without remorse for it is in the name of "the force."
Contract workers, if experienced, would know what they were in for. There was a huge war going on only a few decades prior, and clones were used as disposable shock-and-awe resources... this is why they are dressed in generic light biohazard armor and called Stormtroopers. In the years following "the old stories" only the ignorant and over-privileged had the luxury of forgetting about "lazer swords" and "old damn fool wizards."
most Stormtroopers at the time were enlisted not cloned as the cloning facilities were shut down. Also as far as the general public knew the jedi had actually betrayed the republic. When the empire came into existence there was no longer corrupt officials. The common people prospered. Anyone that had no knowledge of the fact that the emperor was a sith was very happy with the goings of the empire except for those rebel scum that were show as something that would destabilize the entire galaxy. Remember that Luke wanted to be a stormtrooper before Ben told him that the empire killed his father. The contract workers would have thought they were helping to protect their families. Protect their galaxy.
Common HUMAN people of average or better wealth & status prospered, other humans and ALL aliens suffered. The Empire under Palpatine's rule had very strict anti-nonhuman policies that were enforced by Stormtroopers, whether they were clones or not, conscripts or enlisted. Signing up to serve the "common good", putting on a uniform and just following orders to feed your family is also what WW2-era Nazi's did, which the mid-era Stormtroopers and Galactic Empire are clearly meant to symbolize on a lot of levels. If you took a job from a contractor right now and went over to a middle Eastern warzone (to protect your family?) and were killed in a bomb blast, who would your family blame? Not to mention that the Empire imposed severe trade tariffs and demanded tribute from almost all the inner core systems, while summarily ignoring most of the lawlessness it was supposed to be fighting in the outer rim, and openly endorsing illicit bounty hunting and slavery.
Scout: "Captain we just got a message from our scouts from Yavin 4, its... gone"
Captain: "What the fuck is with the bull shit scout, how many rebel ships made it out, im sure we can track them to the next planet for the Death Star"
Scout: "No sir... its gone"
Captain: "No no, Jim was on that ship theres no way its gone... NO FUCKING WAY"
Scout: "Sir"
Captain: "The 4th company cant die, i trained with them, they're INVINCIBLE"
Scout: "SIR"
Captain: "Our old janitor got promoted to head of sanitary, i sent him a message just a few days ago"
*Other deck officers start to notice their captain*
Scout: "Please sir, what do we do"
Captain: "What do we do??..."
Crew member: "Si-"
Captain: *holding head in hands and leaning against the console* "WHAT DO WE FUCKING DO?!?!?!? WE DO NOTHING SCOUT, THE DEATH STAR IS STILL FULLY OPERATIONAL, MY FRIENDS ARE ALL STILL ALIVE, THE REBELS HAVEN'T WON, EVERYTHING IS OVER"
Crew member: "Captain, please let us-"
Captain: "DO NOTHING! WERE GOING HOME, ITS FINALY OVER, EVERYONE I LOVE WILL STILL BE THERE, FERNANDENT WILL STILL MEET ME AT THE BAR AND WE CAN ENJOY A DEATH STICK TOGETHER"
Scout: *walks up and puts hand on captains shoulder*
Captain: *Wheeling around* "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF ME"
something something something HELVETICA BOLD.
Captain: "What the fuck is with the bull shit scout, how many rebel ships made it out, im sure we can track them to the next planet for the Death Star"
Scout: "No sir... its gone"
Captain: "No no, Jim was on that ship theres no way its gone... NO FUCKING WAY"
Scout: "Sir"
Captain: "The 4th company cant die, i trained with them, they're INVINCIBLE"
Scout: "SIR"
Captain: "Our old janitor got promoted to head of sanitary, i sent him a message just a few days ago"
*Other deck officers start to notice their captain*
Scout: "Please sir, what do we do"
Captain: "What do we do??..."
Crew member: "Si-"
Captain: *holding head in hands and leaning against the console* "WHAT DO WE FUCKING DO?!?!?!? WE DO NOTHING SCOUT, THE DEATH STAR IS STILL FULLY OPERATIONAL, MY FRIENDS ARE ALL STILL ALIVE, THE REBELS HAVEN'T WON, EVERYTHING IS OVER"
Crew member: "Captain, please let us-"
Scout: *walks up and puts hand on captains shoulder*
Captain: *Wheeling around* "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF ME"