VOLUME is what you should be thinking of, however, not raw numbers. There are more than twelve million stars in the galactic core, but the Empire spreads out well beyond into the outer rim.
Think of it this way: The United States encompasses a large area, but not every square foot (or every square mile, for that matter) has a permanent resident. The BORDERS of the Empire encompass (or, rather, encompassed, before it collapsed) the vast bulk of the galaxy, with only a few small areas in the outer rim that they either hadn’t gotten around to conquering, were in the process of conquering, or hadn’t bothered to conquer.
MEBuckner…
In Attack of the Clones, there’s a graphic display of “The Galaxy” (whatever their galaxy is called) that shows two smaller satellite galaxies nearby, similar to the Magellanic clouds. It’s unknown, however, whether those are just artistic interpretations, and if so, how much does “artistic license” affect the image, or if they really appear that close.
Achernar…
He also told Anakin that “midichlorians” tell people about the Force. I’m ready to dismiss his comments as analogous to telling children about the stork.
I think it’s a matter of calculating navigation coordinates. Jumping into hyperdrive means having to find a trajectory or course that eventually realigns with 3d space again. Imagine trying to solve a 4-dimensional Rubik’s cube with 48 colors and hundreds of possible moves at any turn; and having one particular configuration (which you have to reach in the fewest possible moves!) correspond to arriving at your desired destination.
My W.A.G. would be that even with advanced computers for calculation, ships in Star Wars have to rely on rough approximations (like assuming the galaxy is a homogenous disk of a certain size and mass) that break down if you try to go too far out. I would presume that the rebel fleet in TESB went as far out of the galaxy as they dared, to hide in the extragalactic void.
Nu-uh, no way, no how. It’s your stupid universe, you’re stuck with it, midichlorians and all. That one was from a MOVIE, for cryin out loud, no way you can dismiss that from the canon.
