Dunames Lopez
Megalomaniac CEO of Star Tours
The district adjacent to the Field of Ruins, the government district
Name: Lesrekta
Image Source: [X]
Classification: Metropolis (and planetary capital)
Location: Jiroch-Reslia
Affiliation: First Order
Population: 5.3 million
Demographics: 77% Tunroth, 23% Humans
Points of Interest:
- Field of Ruins:
Image source: [X]
The Field of Ruins is an area covering roughly 70 acres that has been declared off-limits by the Tunroth government as a painful reminder of the consequences of war. Before 835 ABY, the centerpiece of the Field of Ruins used to be a library complex, the largest of its kind ever maintained by the species, where the Tunroth kept records on literature, history, scientific advances as well as other culturally significant written works. Permission to enter the Field of Ruins is a tedious process that requires many months as well as several essays from the people requesting permission to visit the Field of Ruins, and even then it can only be granted for research purposes. Otherwise anyone with a clean security record could submit an application. On the outer border of the Field of Ruins lie weapons and military hardware belonging to all manner of factions that once claimed Jiroch-Reslia as their property, including but not limited to the Lortan Fanatics, the Galactic Empire and the First Order, symbolizing the implements used by a galaxy at war to cause tons of collateral damage.
- Lesrekta Galactic Cemetery
The main entrance to the catacombs
Image source: Arlington National Cemetery
The largest cemetery in the galaxy, the ever-expanding Lesrekta Galactic Cemetery houses upwards of a billion bodies over many, many levels of catacombs stretching for miles in every direction since the Cemetery covers an area of over 3,000 square kilometers. Decorations of the sprawling cemetery include worn-down (and often inoperative) military hardware from the various factions that once controlled the planet in its history in various conditions of preservation, ranging from the well-preserved (mostly First Order) to the nearly completely derelict clone trooper equipment and battle droids from the Clone Wars. The main entrance to the catacombs was built ca. 750 ABY in a rather ancient style by the natives and was spared destruction by the First Order.
- The military base
Originally built in 10 BBY, the military base still serves to this day as a military base by the latest faction to own the planet, the First Order. It has sufficient hangar space to house 6 standard squadrons, for a total of 72 fighters, as well as enough housing space to house the full strength of a stormtrooper legion, that is, 9,700 men. Also it was capable of housing a squadron of 6 AT-ATs as well as two squadrons of 12 AT-STs each. Until the Imperial Remnant factions lost control of Jiroch-Reslia, it was home to the 291st Legion Dalisor. Today the military base is known to the civilian residents of Lesrekta as the "Old City" and also another painful reminder to its residents not to take security for granted, especially in a galaxy constantly at war.
- The Great Mortuary
The Great Mortuary at night
Image source: [X]
Capable of hosting over 5,000 funerals at once, the Great Mortuary is the largest funeral home in the galaxy. It also doubles as a crematorium containing as many as 200 crematory units. It was constructed based on a rejected design for One Sith government buildings, circa 137 ABY, and also features cutting-edge forensic facilities, among the best in the galaxy. At the time of its construction, it was criticized by many, especially off-world, for turning the funeral rites into an industrial enterprise, allowing the Tunroth to turn funeral rites into a mass-production item and the Great Mortuary into a paean to death, but the Great Mortuary was nevertheless a major success from the Tunroth's standpoint. At the entrance of the Great Mortuary, one copy of helmets belonging to fallen soldiers from various eras is held in the grand portico.
Description: The capital city of Jiroch-Reslia, Lesrekta is also the largest city on the planet. Lesrekta was founded in 10 BBY by the Galactic Empire in the wake of the invasion of Jiroch-reslia by the Lortan Fanatics. As the Tunroth intensified technological exchanges and, as a result, its population quickly recovered, so did Lesrekta. Today Lesrekta covers approximately 5,000 square kilometers, the majority of which is taken up by a gigantic cemetery, with its primary industries being funerals, timber industry and meat processing from the nearby countryside. Today Lesrekta is known as the galactic capital of funerals, which is also the only city in the galaxy to claim to celebrate more funeral rites a year than residents, celebrating nearly 10 million funerals a year, thanks to off-worlders coming to taking advantage of free burial grounds, and the largest per capita concentration of funeral homes in the galaxy.
History: When the Galactic Empire invaded Jiroch-Reslia in 10 BBY, in an attempt to stop the Reslian Purge, it also left a lasting impression on the Tunroth, saving the species from utter annihilation at the hands of the Lortan Fanatics. As a result Jiroch-Reslia, and Lesrekta with it, was loyal to the Galactic Empire until the Imperial remnant factions present in the region after the Battle of Endor were defeated. Also, in the battle for Jiroch-Reslia, the Lortan reduced the population of Jirosh-Reslia to a mere four million. Soon thereafter, the Empire established a base large enough to house both the 291st Legion and the 37th Imperial Fighter Wing, which was larger than any settlement (at the time the native Tunroth lived in communal villages, with no centralized authority) and served as a de facto capital for the planet as far as the Galactic Empire was concerned.
Over the years, as with the planet, Lesrekta remained largely unscathed by the Yuuzhan Vong, where an influx of Tunroth refugees from all corners of the galaxy allowed Lesrekta rapid growth and the growth of several industries along with it. Due to the relative dearth of natural resources other than forestry and wildlife, meat processing was the order of the day as well as the timber industry. For a while, until about 150 ABY, Lesrekta was one of the major cities in the galaxy for forestry but mismanagement of the forests by the native Tunroth caused the inhabitants to move further and further away, causing Lesrekta's decline in the timber industry. The economic vacuum caused by the decline of the forestry industry and also the Tunroth's policy to supply free funeral space in perpetuity has caused the remaining space to be taken up by many in the galaxy that desire to hide their deceased from the eyes of the deceased' loved ones, especially due to the fears of warfare-induced damage, as well as funeral homes.
During the Gulag, since the planet was closed off to off-worlders, Lesrekta went through hard times, no longer capable to offer funeral rites as exports to the extent it was able to. Within 10 years of the beginning of the Gulag epidemic, the number of funerals being celebrated within the city limits was only 5% of its pre-Gulag funeral volume, its economy depressed and, for the next three centuries or so, struggled to get by as the plague took its toll on all three of its main exports. Most of the residents have gone back to more traditional hunting ways and, as a result, fled the city. During the Gulag era, Lesrekta was mainly a ghost city as it was de-populated, with the people of Jiroch-Reslia only coming to the city for their funeral rites. Few buildings, including but not limited to, the Great Mortuary, were still maintained.
By 750 ABY, when the planet re-opened its borders to the greater galaxy, a massive reconstruction campaign emerged after nearly three centuries of urban blight took its toll on the city, where many of the lesser funeral homes, as well as other buildings, were left to abandon and to ruin. But the reconstruction project would always be plagued by the interruptions of war. Many different factions, most of which are minor factions whose names are at best footnotes in history books, fought in the city for decades, sometimes with the backing of major factions, including the Omega Protectorate, and later the First Order. As a result of decades of intermittent warfare, many longtime residents still are awaken by night by auditive hallucinations of blaster fire or of explosions. These hallucinations serve as a painful reminder that, even if the city may be at peace today, elsewhere in the galaxy, war rages and many are caught in the crossfire.
In 835 ABY, Lesrekta came under attack when its main library was attacked in a terrorist suicide attack by an entity as-of-yet unknown but suspected to have had the backing of major factions, especially dark-sided. In the destruction wrought in the event, the Field of Ruins was declared off-limits in perpetuity by the government in place at the time, and tourists could only visit the areas immediately surrounding the Field of Ruins itself. A few years later, in 844 ABY, the First Order came to the planet, attacking the city in a lightning strike, which caused much death and destruction along the way the First Order took to reach Lanteeb. However, the current, First Order-friendly Tunroth government decided that the affected areas of the city would be rebuilt, unlike the 835 ABY attack.
Intent: To provide Jiroch-Reslia with a capital (canon didn't specify one), as well as provide the First Order with a necropolis; to develop Jiroch-Reslia on beyond what's provided in canon
Development thread: Moonlight Monument (Star Tours launch their Moonlight Monument service to Jiroch-Reslia)
Links: Jiroch-Reslia on Wookiepedia
Lortan Fanatics on Wookiepedia
Tunroth on Wookiepedia
