I can make this super simple.
The Empire is explosively expanding and has tons of dedicated mains. They are burning through dominions, and taking territory like crazy. They're lead by Ashin, who is the Empress after deposing Moridin. Hm... lots of territory. Lots of people. Interesting stuff.
Now for the Republic/Jedi! Alright, not as many dedicated mains. So maining here has serious upside. We are a little slower, and working some things out. The Jedi Council is getting in place and whatnot. We are about to have an election. We are not taking a lot of territory these days, but some of that is the lack of mains. Tons of alts artificially hold us up. And I'm not saying this to be down on the faction. I am just saying, despite its supposed 100 members to the 107 of the Empire, it is not as close as that looks. Which means!!!! We have tons of opportunities for you to really stand out. Plus, we go this really awesome group. We are called the Jedi Shadows, and they are lead by me and we are looking to grow. And given what I remember of Lucien, he would fit right in there and be able to excel off the get go.