The Supreme Leader's diplomatic strategy continued to pay dividends. Through political maneuvering, the Final Order managed to get itself, the Assembly, and the Themlar to be named to the newly-formed Galactic. With one of the Council members subordinate to the Final Order, and the other an economic ally of it, they now had a powerful influence over the lesser star nations of the Galactic Community.
Around this time, the mysterious L-Cluster had been opened as well. There were reports of strange dragon-like creatures emerging from the L-Gates, but the Cluster itself remained largely a mystery to the Final Order, for it had no direct access to the L-Gates. Its scientists however, managed locate and tame one of the L-Drakes that had emerged from he cluster.
(This is actually the first time I have seen an AI open the L-Cluster; usually, I'm the one who opens it, or else it doesn't get opened at all.)
Just a year later, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren ascended to become something more than merely a Neo-Imperial. Now an ageless, immortal being, with unparalleled power in the Force, it was clear that he was one chosen to rule the galaxy.
Kylo, however, denied that he was a god, asserting that the title of 'Supreme Leader' spoke for itself. Nonetheless, many throughout the Final Order would take it upon themselves to worship the Supreme Leader as a living god in private.
(The Divine Sovereign event fired for me, but I declined, as it would have messed up my Civics).
While they were not the ones to open the L-Cluster, the Azanti were the first to lay effective claim to it, following the construction of their staircase in the Terminal Egress system. Recognizing the monopoly that this gaze the Aztani on transit through the L-Gate network, the Supreme Leader began making diplomatic overtures toward them, so that the Final Order could remained assured fo access to it.
The reconstruction of the Cybrex Central Nexus was proceeding smoothly. Meanwhile, Merould had'Marn, the first Lahtrepian to reach the rank of Admiral in the Final Order's navy, led the newly-constituted federal fleet to the Etamin System. He distinguished himself by vanquishing the Stellarite Devourer. When its remains were studied, Final Order scientists were able to rejuvenate the star, and with it reveal two lush planets, ripe for colonization.
At long last, the Final Order had built up the industrial and technological ability to construct its first Resurgent-class Star Destroyer in the new galaxy, which was named the
Finalizer. Almost twice as long as an
Imperial Star Destroyer, which would be considered a Battleship in the naval classification system used by most of the other nations of the galaxy, the Resurgent could only be considered a Dreadnought.
At the time of its construction, the Finalizer was the most powerful warship in the galaxy, outside of those owned by the fallen empires, and a symbol of pride for the Final Order. However, it would be only the first of many Resurgent-class Dreadnoughts.
Nevertheless, the Resurgent class would initially be few in numbers. At the time, a single Resurgent represented twenty-two months of industrial output across all Final Order worlds, over four times the cost of a an Imperial Star Destroyer. Resurgent-class Dreadnoughts also took almost three times longer to build than the Imperial-class.
However, increased onboard automation meant that Resurgents were far more efficient in terms of manpower, rated a '10' on standard galactic naval capacity scales, to the Imperial's '8'. The Resurgent also boasted an effective hull potential rated at 8,000 to the the Imperial's 3,000, with comparable shield and armor ratings, and far more large gun emplacements than the Imperial, along with four torpedo launchers and six hangar bays, giving it a much greater fleet power, and making it rather cost effective.
The hangars of the Resurgent would soon be filled with squadrons of TIE/fo space superiority fighters, and later, each would carry a squadron of TIE/vn fighters, known as the "TIE Vendetta" or "TIE Silencer". TIE/fo squadrons boasted approximately 40% greater firepower than the advanced strike craft of other nations, and could attack from a greater range, though they were slower, a fact that was vexing to Final Order admirals, who were used to TIEs being among the fastest fighters in the old galaxy.
The TIE/vn further traded speed and raw firepower for durability and range, and was exceptionally heavily shielded for a strike craft. Its main weapons were actually weaker on paper than those of advanced strike craft, with only 87.5% of the nominal damage output, but they could penetrate both shields and armor to deal direct damage to enemy hulls, not unlike disruptor technology. Moreover, the TIE/vn could engage the enemy from an effective range three times greater than the TIE/fo, making it truly deadly in combat. However, the cost of its construction meant that TIE/vns could only be fielded in limited numbers, with a typical squadron having half as many fighters as the TIE/fo, and they were reserved for the most elite pilots among the Final Order.
(The above is based on in-mod stats, and is not meant to be a reflection of the Resurgent nor the TIE/fo or TIE/vn's canonical capabilities).
(Also, as you may have noticed in the pictures above, my population growth appears to have frozen here... because it has. At this point, 2.8.1 went live, breaking pop growth with certain mods. I would eventually fix the issue, and when pops resumed growing normally, they would do so all at once, giving me the number of pops I should have had, though that would cause the whole galaxy to undergo some growing pains. I am surprised it took me as long as it did to notice the issue).
The Final Order continued to focus on ramping up its alloy production so that it would be able to field more Resurgent-class Dreadnoughts. However, it would continue production of Imperial-class Star Destroyers for two main reasons. As they could be constructed faster and in greater quantities, that meant that a fleet of Imperial-class Star Destroyers was able to respond to potential threats more quickly than a single Resurgent-class Dreadnought. Additionally, Galactic Law mandated that all nations maintain use of at least 50% of their naval capacity. If the Final Order built only Dreadnoughts, it would risk eventually being in breach of this law.