Noble Court

"The Court endures."

- Her Majesty

The Noble Court was a group of aristocratic families that ruled the Anoat sector since before the rise of the Galactic Republic and remained independent throughout the Republic's existance. When the Republic fell and was replaced by an authoritarian and humanocentric Galactic Empire, the Court was almost eradicated. The noble families, however, managed to survive the Empire's efforts to stomp them. They went into hiding, becoming a government in exile. Throughout the Galactic Civil War, the nobles actively worked to protect the citizens of the Anoat sector and to return to their former power. With the untimely death of Palpatine, sole ruler of the Empire, at the Battle of Endor, the sector was put on lockdown by Imperial Governor Adelhard. Thanks to the influence of a young smuggler from Burnin Konn, the Noble Court joined the Uprising, a resistance movement that tried to fight the Empire in the Anoat sector.

Description
The Noble Court was a group noble families headed by a king or queen. Among them was a fairly large contingent of Nothoiin, a species of gold-skinned humanoids that hailed from a world of the same name. Over time, the Court came to include members of other species, including humans. Aristocrats that ranked below the monarch held titles such as Duke and Earl.

In addition to the nobles themselves, the Court also included different types of personnels. The nobles notably employed secret agents who, despite not being assassins, were as deadly as any gun-for-hire. There were also archivists tasked with maintaining the court's extensive archives. Last but not least, there were also mysterious advisers who knew the way of the Force, a mystical energy field that bound the galaxy together.

Rulers of the Anoat sector
Before the rise of the Galactic Republic, a democratic union that governed many solar systems across the whole galaxy, the Anoat sector of the Outer Rim Territories was ruled by families of Nothoiin nobles collectively referred to as the Noble Court. Even after the Republic came into existence, the sector remained independant. However, despite the dominance of the Court over the entire sector, the Hutts were in control of the planet Mataou. At one point, the two groups gathered at Mataou's Shrine of Dynasties in order to discuss matters of peace and cooperation. Thanks to their advisers, the nobles and their monarchs managed to maintain their independance for many centuries.

Purges of the Empire
However, the Republic ended up being replaced by the Galactic Empire, a new tyrannical regime, after the end of the three-year-long Clone Wars. That Empire had little tolerance for the Court's desire of independance, and issued a number of kill orders on the nobles. Although the Empire claimed tho have wiped out the Anoat nobility, many members of the Court managed to survive and went in hiding. Thanks to their many retainers, agents and advisers, the nobles thrived in secret, although they did not have any real power in the sector anymore. Additionally, the aristocrats still lived under constant threat, and royals were forced to learn how to avoid assassination. As years went by, the nobles kept working to return to their former prestige.

Joining the Uprising
Twenty-three years after founding the Empire, the malevolent Emperor Palpatine was killed during the Battle of Endor. Adelhard, the Imperial governor in charge of the Anoat sector, immediately set up a blockade to try and suppress the knowledge of Palpatine's demise from spreading. However, a young smuggler from Burnin Konn discovered a holomessage from Princess Leia Organa, enemy of the Empire, explaining the events at Endor. The Noble Court of the time, led by the queen-in-exile only referred to as Her Majesty, eventually learned of that message when the Ivax Syndicate contacted them with an offer of alliance. Sir Corto Belrake, an agent to Her Majesty, engaged in negociation with the Burnin Konn smuggler, who served as a representative of the Syndicate. After the smuggler defeated Earl Alner on Her Majesty's behalf, the queen-in-exile agreed to the proposed alliance, whose aim was to capture Bragh, commander of the deadly Imperial Purge Troopers. Later on, the alliance came to include a third party, an order of assassins known as the Kouhun. That new, tripartie resistance movement came to be known as the Uprising.

While the nobles had difficulties working with assassins and criminals, all three groups had a common goal and were tied together by the unifying influence of the Burnin Konn smuggler. To confront Commander Bragh's Imperial-class Star Destroyer, Her Majesty provided several Throneships, which were fitted with weapons salvaged from the icy plains of Hoth.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Uprising