Grand Moff Kaine
Reaper, Executor-Class Star Dreadnought Action (@Sidheach):
Shipyards are to continue producing ships for combat.
A recruitment drive is to happen to replace lost soldiers. Those lost will be given a check for their loss (like what would happen should a real life soldier die)
Bilbringi Shipyards is to undergo repairs
Security at Bilbringi, Yaga Minor, Entralla, Bastion, Jaemus, and Mygeeto is to increase
Mygeeto mining operations will begin immediately under supervision
These are a few of the reports regarding Captain Armitage Hux's expedition.
Captain's Logs, Explorer, 4 ABY
The Grand Admiral has given the order to explore the unknown, and my crew and I intend to fulfill it.
We are setting course for an unmapped system that happens to be nearby.
It is good to be among the stars once more.
We have dropped out of hyperspace and are now running scans of the system. It has two blue stars at the center and five planets orbiting them, two of which are gas giants while the rest are rocky in nature.
Ah, it seems that there are objects of interest in that asteroid field between the fourth and fifth planets. We will go closer to study them further.
We have discovered abundant deposits of ore. These ones are useful in the manufacturing of durasteel and transparisteel. I will inform High Command immediately and recommend setting up a mining colony over here.
One down, many more to go.
We have discovered what seems to be radio signals. Although we sometimes call our transceivers radios, they don't use radio waves, relying on the faster subspace signals instead. Only a civilization that is much younger than ours would send radio signals through space. We have traced their origin and are now heading there via hyperspace.
The star system is fairly ordinary, but the planet where the signals originate from is something of interest.
It seems to be a relatively new spacefaring civilization, complete with what appears to be solar-powered satellites and space stations. We have detected foreign Cronau radiation, but in small amounts, meaning that they do have some hyperspace capability. We have hidden ourselves behind a nearby moon and are tapping into their transmissions. From there, our translators could translate their language for us and allow us to communicate with them.
We have revealed ourselves, saying that we come in peace. The only response for a while was laughter. When asked why, the reply was that fictional extraterrestrials would always say that.
...
They call themselves the Gnosh, and their red forest-like homeworld is referred to as Hsong. They are a walking contradiction. What they look like and how they act are simply not the same.
They are large, carnivorous, red in color, are armed with fangs, spikes and claws, and generally look intimidating. Pictures of their architecture follow that theme, looking like something out of stereotypical warrior culture. Yet they are actually more of peaceful artists than warriors. They have an appreciation for nature, and have melodious voices. They highly value song and sculpture. The Grand Admiral would certainly want samples of their art.
...Wow.
We have successfully made negotiations with them. Diplomatic and trade relations have begun, and they will in the meantime continue to explore the stars.
Those who say that humans are superior to everyone are missing out on a lot. The galaxy is full of variety, of wonders and terrors, and my crew and I are fortunate to have the opportunity to see them all, and learn from them.
Oh, and I was able to buy a sculpture for the Grand Admiral. I am sure he will appreciate it.
((This is my first time coming up with something like this. It's inspired by the quest "To Boldly Go..." by OneirosTheWriter, and I started writing this post just a few hours ago.))
To: Imperial High Command@Sidheach
From: Surface Marshal Varinius
We humbly request that additional personnel who excel in computer systems management and design be temporarily reassigned to the forces under Kol Huro's control to assist with an ongoing project. We feel that the results of this project will benefit the Empire as a whole, and plan to return the personnel to Coruscant for reassignment once it is complete unless otherwise ordered by yourselves.
To: Imperial High Command@Sidheach
From: Surface Marshal Varinius
We humbly request that additional personnel who excel in computer systems management and design be temporarily reassigned to the forces under Kol Huro's control to assist with an ongoing project. We feel that the results of this project will benefit the Empire as a whole, and plan to return the personnel to Coruscant for reassignment once it is complete unless otherwise ordered by yourselves.
From: Fleet Admiral Sloane Private
In processing your request for the transfer of techs it was noted your shipyards are lying dormant and the report has crossed my desk. Central will be making use of these facilities in the short term to supplement defensive fleets in the Core and Colonies until you have concluded your project.
-Kol Huro shipyards are reactivated to produce conventional ISD fleets, to be crewed with humans drawn from inner galaxy recruitment and academies.
From: Fleet Admiral Sloane Private
In processing your request for the transfer of techs it was noted your shipyards are lying dormant and the report has crossed my desk. Central will be making use of these facilities in the short term to supplement defensive fleets in the Core and Colonies until you have concluded your project.
From: Surface Marshal Varinius Private
Our apologies for the temporary lapse in production. This gap was caused by switching construction templates from ships used in the Kol Huran flet to those requisitioned by High Command for other theaters. Rest assured it was never our intention to simply leave them silent and unused.
Despite the fact that the ISD Exodus was not quite the treasure trove that it was initially thought to be, instead being more of a stockpile of cultural and religious artifacts acquired by the Emperor over the decades, what had been recovered was more than sufficient to justify the expense of chasing after the vessel. The locations of several other Vault Ships had been discovered along with a number of caches akin to the one discovered by Rogue Squadron at Wayland and on top of this valuable information, a number of artifacts that were quite literally process had been recovered as well. After returning to Eriadu, where the New Republic has begun constructing a slew of government buildings to house the various organs of state, the total tally would come up in the billions of credits with some of the haul being sold shortly thereafter, several artifacts being returned, and the rest being placed into museums or storage. Among those artifacts recovered that would attract attention, however, would be three datacubes believed by New Republic Intelligence to contain further information regarding Imperial blacksites and secret projects being conducted by the Empire that might prove useful to the New Republic if discovered.
This plan would nevertheless hit a hiccup when the datacubes proved...uncooperative. Despite the best efforts of the Ministry of Science to repair the first datacube, it would remain inactive and irreparably broken, and consequently be placed in a museum exhibit, whilst the other two datacubes were protected by advanced AI that refused to deal with the "unworthy" and "young whippersnappers". After consultation with experts in Pre-Imperial technology, a number of historians, and other experts in the field, it would be determined that these datacubes could only be opened by Jedi, as was the guess of Admiral Ackbar, and that the New Republic would therefore need to find someone able to pass as one to the AI. Taking the advice of Wedge Antilles under consideration, Wedge having been amongst those closest to the last known Jedi, Luke Skywalker, several pilots and soldiers who had displayed uncanny luck and ability would be assembled in the hopes that they might be able to active the datacubes. Only one of these candidates, Ghes Ordo, would succeed with the Mandalorian successfully activating the first datacube to the eternal dismay of everyone in the room with the datacube's Gatekeeper, who called himself Jolee Bindo, of no perceived relation to the Bindo for which the phrase "pulling a Bindo" was named, promptly divulging his contents after deeming Ghes worthy.
Over the next hour, Jolee Bindo would regale everyone with a string of anecdotes and half-remembered stories, how a datacube could only half-remember a story is unknown, that appeared to illustrate a set of ideals held by the datacube's creator. According to the New Republic's historians, these ideals appear to be different to those held by the Jedi, as far as they know, with the Gatekeeper going so far as to repeatedly criticise the Jedi Order whilst urging Ghes Ordo to instead live his life as he chooses whilst trying to do right by others and avoiding being trapped by his emotions. The second datacube, on the other hand, would prove a far different beast and would seemingly talk through Ghes Ordo entirely, instead addressing Leia Organa who was observing the affair from another room, as he outlined his own personal philosophy. According to this datacube, which spoke in terms of Sith and Jedi, true personal strength came not from overindulging in light or dark but embracing the fully spectrum of human emotion, that it was grief as well as joy, love as well as hate, that made a person powerful. As was the case with the other datacube, this one did not divulge any real secrets, no glimpses into the power of the Force nor of swordplay, but instead appeared to be one devoted to philosophy, to a way of living hence why it was no doubt located with the other artifacts on the Exodus.
Due to the fact that the New Republic believes that these artifacts respond only to the force-sensitive and with some in it's leadership, including Admiral Ackbar, believing that the presence of Jedi might aid in legitimising the New Republic, it would be decided to gift the two functioning datacubes to Ghes Ordo and Leia Organa respectively in the hopes that further observed contact with them might yield further secrets. For now, however, all that has been discovered is that there was once a cantankerous old man who lived in a forest who likes rambling and an ancient being who believes he holds the secret to true power, something that is hardly promising at the current moment.
Summary
Three holocrons recovered from the Exodus.
The first is broken and placed in a museum.
The second activates for Ghes Ordo who is slowly taught the meaning of pulling a Bindo.
The third activates for Leia Organa who is told to embrace her grief and all other emotions.
---
Near Miss on Coruscant
The Empress' Hand, Mara Jade
---
On Coruscant, the Empire continues to chug along under the leadership of the Regency Council which currently rules on behalf of the Empress, Ederlathh Pallopides. Still young and inexperienced in all matters Imperial, the Empress' life to date has revolved around near constant training broken up solely by the occasional acts of state which have taken the place of the fun and games once enjoyed back on Naboo. Naturally this has proven to be a boring and demanding existence for the Empress for whom perfection is not merely a demand but a requirement which has meant that any break to the usual monotony has prove a more than welcome relief for Ederlathh. The return of Mara Jade, once the Emperor's Hand and now the Empress', has proven to be such a relief with the young woman being attached to the Empress whilst the Regency Council found a use for her elsewhere in the Galaxy. Precisely who would prove to be the poor influence is unknown but it is known that once paired, Ederlathh and Mara would prove to be an eventful pair with Mara taking over portions of Ederlathh's instruction, primarily the more practical aspects such as shooting, whilst Ederalthh took advantage of Mara's loyalty to explore and get up to trouble. On at least three occasions, the Empress would compel her Hand to assist her in sneaking out to explore Coruscant, orders which Mara Jade could no disobey, the third such occasion ultimately ending with bloodshed.
Having decided she wished to see the Coruscant Underworld Cup, a major swoop race known to attract the best racers from across the Galaxy, Ederlathh and Mara Jade would slip out of the Imperial Palace and make their way to a viewing platform from which the race could be watched in anonymity. Although the event would initially proceed without issue, with the infamous Sheliak Itcendu in the lead, excitement would quickly vanish after a team of assassins attacked the Empress and her Hand. Official reports note that that the Empress' Hand effortlessly dispatched the assassins without allowing any harm to come to the Empress however those reports afforded to the Regency Council tell a slightly different tale with recovered holofeed tapes showing the Empress telekinetically crushing the armour of one assailant before slamming him into a wall multiple times. If nothing else, this has served to confirm the Empress' relation to the Emperor, as it is assumed by Imperial scientists that the abilities displayed by the Emperor are genetic and therefore certain to be passed on in the family though their knowledge is admittedly sparse, while also serving to raise concerns about security on Coruscant.
Summary
The Empress and her Hand become BFFs.
An attempt on the Empress' life is thwarted by the Empress' Hand.
Karkaris High Orbit Hammerhead-class Corvette Heaven's Fall
History is not kind to the losers. Nor, as a matter of fact, is it particularly kind to the winners. This is largely due to history being penned by utter bastards whose mothers were some significant percentage rancor. They sat in their clean, sterile little abbeys and libraries and archives, pursing their lips as they penned works. Announcing such and such as an angel of the highest order, a deacon of beauty and light and all things kind. Denouncing so and so as a demon of the deepest pit, a battlefield fiend steeped in blood and atrocity. Tailoring the narrative just so to advance an agenda, to suit the sensibilities of the time. The galaxy's memory was flexible. He'd seen it molded, sculpted and shaped by more clever, defter hands than his. But, in the end, even that didn't matter.
Because above all else history was a massive, implacable thing. With an edge as keen as any vibrosword. If you weren't careful you could get hacked to pieces.
Harro Tamson sat at the clear table. Rubbing his broad, scarred face with one slender hand. Webbing stretching between long, clawed fingers. Rough, blue-grey flesh creased and cracked with white scar tissue. One eye hidden behind a dull, dark metal eyepatch. He wasn't that old. Karkaradon could live for ages. But he felt it. He felt worn, ragged, tired. His fins flexed, fretful and uneasy. His teeth ached. His socket ached. His implant ports ached. Everything kriffing ached. He hadn't gone to seed, not yet, his long, lithe body still strung with thick cords of brawn but if he closed his eyes he could imagine himself falling apart. Coming undone bit by bit, piece by piece.
His men were no different. Commandos weren't an axe you couldn't just hammer them away at a position and hope to get results. They were a scalpel. They needed a steady hand, a gentle touch, and they blunted and broke easily.
But there wouldn't be any rest for any of them would there?
Gills fluttered, water cycling through his collar. Flowing through his half-mask. He'd have to get in the tank again, staying out so long was doing bad things to him. Below the dark blue waters of his homeworld churned and seethed. The atmosphere a shawl of titanic stormclouds.
Actions @Sidheach
-Corporate Expansion: recruiting centers, training facilities, and outposts established in Outer Rim territories near Mon Calamari (Munto Codru, Caluula, Dellat maybe? Whichever ones have populations that are interested and willing to fight for/cooperate with the New Republic). Small ships and transports, merchant raiders, welcome.
-Currying Favor: media package on Mon Calamari, promoting Endless Ocean. More diplomatic contact with officials, soothing tensions, remaining present. Karkaradon, Quarren, and Mon Calamar fought each other during the Clone Wars and under the pressure of Rebellion cooperation was possible, but now with tensions relaxing there is some danger of political relapse.
1. Continue to rebuild with imperial support
2. Continue constructing large desalination facilities to be used to sell bottles water across the Galaxy
3. Build up factories to produce luxury goods to provide jobs and build up the economy
4. Sit back and relax, maybe drink a cup of coffee while waiting for the imperials to give me some ships or give me a job.
5. Begin construction of some orbital defenses, with permission from the empress of course
Mass rallies were actually quite rare in the Empire, despite all the pomp and circumstance it was obsessed with. Parades, yes. Fleet demonstrations, of course. Almost every other display of military power one could dream of happened quite often, but just rallies of normal citizens coming forth express their enthusiastic support for their Empire and Emperor? A rarity.
Isard was never very satisfied with that sort of attitude--even coming from a family as prominent as her own, she found the sort of elitism that characterized high Imperial politics to be rather counterproductive. COMPNOR had clearly demonstrated what good a wider program of indoctrination could do for the Empire--the Sub-Adult Group was an outstanding success and funneled countless children into the military and civil service--and yet an expansion of such programs was still resisted thanks to others' unwillingness to dabble in this sort of mob politics.
Not any longer. After all, she was in charge now.
COMPNOR had worked to assemble a great crowd for this rally for several weeks now, offering the loyal citizens of the Empire a rare chance to catch a glimpse of their new Emperor. She'd arranged for a few speakers to go first to hype up the crowd--quite successfully, from what she could see--and now it was time for the main address. Walking forth from behind the curtains, she made her way to the podium at front of the massive square, packed with at least a good million people.
It was time to give an address that would define the future of the Galactic Empire.
The Empire Day Address:
"Citizens of the Galactic Empire, it has been twenty-four years since the foundation of our New Order. Twenty-four years of peace, twenty-four years of prosperity, and twenty-four years of unity. Under the watchful guidance of our beloved late Emperor Palpatine, we have expanded the rule of civilization to the edges of the known space! We have freed the galaxy of the anarchy and chaos sowed by the incompetence sowed by the corrupt and the robber barons who came before! We have secured a future for the children of humanity and her sister races!
Today, however, is not a day to rest on the laurels of the past, but to look towards the future of this great empire that our great father of the nation has created. Though it still pains me, and doubtlessly all of you as well, to remember, this is our first Empire Day that Emperor Palpatine has not blessed with his presence. With his passing, the responsibility now falls on us, the citizens of the Empire, to safeguard this noble legacy that he has created, to defend our Empire and raise her to ever new heights. This critical period now is not a mere transition, but a test--a test of our courage, a test of our resolve, and a test of our very worthiness of the confidence that our late Emperor placed in us, our worthiness to call ourselves citizens of the Empire! This is a test we cannot fail, a challenge in the face of which we cannot falter.
[...]
To maintain the prosperity that our Empire has brought us, the Regency Council, in collaboration with Grand Moff Zsinj, has decreed that the following programs shall be established to protect our industry and enrich our citizens:
First, COMPNOR shall establish the Coalition for Prosperity, an organ that shall use the bountiful wealth of our Empire to promote the livelihoods of our citizens, and their prosperity shall in turn enrich the Empire further. Through the Coalition for Prosperity, we shall promote business, trade, and gainful employment. We shall provide loans for those who wish to construct their own enterprises, we shall shall ensure that goods in the Empire are sold at an affordable price, we shall construct new infrastructure, we shall fully utilize the great cornucopia of natural resources at our disposal, and above all we shall ensure that all business conducted in the Empire is fair and trustworthy or all of our citizens.
Second, we shall promote the education of our children, recognizing that it is the youth who shall safeguard the future of our nation. To this end, in the name of our late Emperor Palpatine, the Coalition for Progress shall establish a new system of Palpatine Grants and student loans, which shall allow the brightest children of our Empire to gain a full education at our greatest universities no matter their personal wealth. It is these children who shall enrich the Empire for many decades to come, and such is the least we can do in exchange for their future service.
Third, we shall endeavor to see that basic health care, the basic right of life, is available to all the citizens of the Empire. The Coalition for Prosperity shall oversee this program, which shall be implemented in stages over the coming years.
Fourth, on his deathbed, Lord Vader, the Emperor's first servant, stated his dying wish to see all those brave and noble soldiers of our Empire who thought with him, who ever day devote their lives and their honor to the protection of all which we hold dear, be amply rewarded for their courageous service. In his memory, we shall establish the Lord Vader Memorial Fund, which shall ensure that all our soldiers shall receive a generous pension for their retirement, a free education at our universities, readily available loans for their housing and any business ventures they might wish to found, and comprehensive medical care for life. Our soldiers are our lifeblood and our stalwart defenders, and deserve to be treated only accordingly.
[...]
And now, citizens of the Empire, we grant to you our new, noble leader, who has made all of these developments possible! Her Imperial Majesty, Ederlathh I, Emperor of the Galactic Empire!"
Actions:
-Establishment of the Coalition for Prosperity, a broad economic regulation/coordination body that ensures fair commerce across the Empire, coordinates the development of natural resources and the activities of industries, and provides services like small business loans and rent controls
-Establishment of the Palpatine Grants, which seek out the most talented students in the Empire and provide them with grant money to further their education/research at top Imperial university, and a student loan system to make education more affordable
-Exploration into the prospect of basic universal healthcare
-Establishment of the Lord Vader Memorial Fund, a benefits package for honorably discharged veterans
To: The Clone-Masters of Kamino @GandalftheGrey
As the shipyards of Fondor continue to produce battleships and cruisers, its likely that trained crew will be in short supply, especially after any unfortunate losses occur in the line of duty. As such, Emerald Banner Command would like to order a complete line of starship combat trained clones: prime clones will be supplied from war heroes from each of the seven primary families of the Tapani sector.
Sincerely Yours,
Grand Admiral Octavian Grant, Lord of House Mecetti of Tapani, Supreme Marshal of the Tapani Home Defense Fleet (ret.), Hero of the Galactic Empire
Looking out the window of the Dreadnaught, Bel Iblis found his vision once again falling upon the Imperial-II Star Destroyer that hung nearby. It was operational now, perhaps not up to maximum efficiency that was possible but actually achieving that would be difficult given how crew intensive manning a Star Destroyer was. There was no way past it.
Still, it would be useful. His fleet needed more firepower beyond the few Dreadnaughts that he had and the cruisers that he had bought, which a Star Destroyer provided. It also provided a platform for his strike craft, increasing operational effectiveness of his fleet by doing so. In that way what happened to Corellia was a good thing, since it gave him more bodies to work with. Even if it was cynical to think so.
Otherwise though things were going alright. The Imperials were trying to put out a burning house, the New Republic had been declared, and he was ready to continue his own war towards the fall of the Empire. And the New Republic, if it came down to it. Now it was just a matter of making sure that he still got somewhere.
For now his men were practicing, drilling in ship operations, ground combat, and breaking in the new recruits. It wasn't pleasant, but they seemed more than willing to do it with what had happened to Corellia and all. With them up to the standards of the rest of his men they could better prosecute the war and the offensive against the Empire. One step at a time, that was all there was to it.
To: Talon Karrde @Theravis
From: Garm Bel Iblis
SECRET
Hello there. We're going to need some military supplies for ground troops. And explosives.
Looking out the window of the Dreadnaught, Bel Iblis found his vision once again falling upon the Imperial-II Star Destroyer that hung nearby. It was operational now, perhaps not up to maximum efficiency that was possible but actually achieving that would be difficult given how crew intensive manning a Star Destroyer was. There was no way past it.
Still, it would be useful. His fleet needed more firepower beyond the few Dreadnaughts that he had and the cruisers that he had bought, which a Star Destroyer provided. It also provided a platform for his strike craft, increasing operational effectiveness of his fleet by doing so. In that way what happened to Corellia was a good thing, since it gave him more bodies to work with. Even if it was cynical to think so.
Otherwise though things were going alright. The Imperials were trying to put out a burning house, the New Republic had been declared, and he was ready to continue his own war towards the fall of the Empire. And the New Republic, if it came down to it. Now it was just a matter of making sure that he still got somewhere.
For now his men were practicing, drilling in ship operations, ground combat, and breaking in the new recruits. It wasn't pleasant, but they seemed more than willing to do it with what had happened to Corellia and all. With them up to the standards of the rest of his men they could better prosecute the war and the offensive against the Empire. One step at a time, that was all there was to it.
To: Talon Karrde @Theravis
From: Garm Bel Iblis
SECRET
Hello there. We're going to need some military supplies for ground troops. And explosives.
The same stuff you've been sending me before. Rifles, remote explosives, this time in larger quantities than previously. I have more men to equip. As for payment, I have money.
The same stuff you've been sending me before. Rifles, remote explosives, this time in larger quantities than previously. I have more men to equip. As for payment, I have money.
The Kuari Princess, a high profile spaceliner known for it's high and mighty clientele, has been hijacked whilst on a tour of the Galaxy. As of the current moment, the hijackers are known only as the "Chainbreakers" and have reportedly murdered several members of the human crew and dumped the non-human passengers out in the middle of nowhere with some food, water, and a distress beacon. Several of the hostages taken by this extremist group are known to have connections with the Imperial leadership and as a result, the Regency Council has found itself swamped with calls to do something about the attack.
Demands have yet to be issued but are expected to be forthcoming.
You murder our children. You enslave them, you starve them, you use them however you please and you think yourselves safe and inviolate in your shining towers.
You are wrong.
We have in our possession 1800 prisoners of war, found guilty and sentenced to death. But unlike the slaver scum of Imperial Center, we are not without mercy.
You may purchase their lives back for *sum of credits large enough to buy a small fleet* and the release of our brothers and sisters of the Alien Combine, Free Ryloth, the Daughters of Montellian Serat, the Bothawui Counter Insurgency Front, the Red Tide, the Ashern, and the Nal Hutta Reform Party from custody.
Meet our terms, and the prisoners will see their loved ones again. Do not, and their blood will be on your hands.
If our terms are not met within twelve standard hours of this transmission, twenty prisoners will be chosen by lot and executed. This will be repeated for every twelve hours you choose to play games with their lives. If any vessel attempts to approach our flagship, every prisoner on board will lose their lives.
You have eleven hours, fifty nine minutes, and thirty seconds to save their lives. Work quickly.
To: Alliance Command @Ceslas
From: Naboo
Confidential
Using military force versus the Chainbreakers will make us a target of the same dissent that causes them, and other groups, to target the Empire.
We agree morally that we cannot support, tacitly or otherwise, using innocent civilian lives as bargaining chips. But before we resort to intervening in force, we suggest we try limited negotiation; via trade or threat, get them to release those prisoners that are not complicit in the Empire's crimes, keeping only the high ranking civil servants, the military officers and so on. Deploying the Rogue Squadron could easily end in a nightmare scenario where we kill the hostages.
Secret: Thank you for the clarification, and apologies for the delay in these negotiations. We were attempting to locate records of this previous deal in our archives, and have thussofar found nothing--it seems that whatever technology that our late Emperor received was kept in private by him, and upon his death has been lost.
We are, however, entirely well-disposed to renegotiating this deal so that both of our parties may benefit from it as previously intended. We would like to see the specifications of whatever technologies you sent to the Emperor once again given to us so that we may make use of it, and in return we are prepared to transfer Imperial-claimed planets in the south of what we call the "Unknown Regions" to your control. Most of these will not be actively habitable, but should possess a wealth of entirely unexplored resources. The habitable ones will also contain life-forms that should fulfill the other half of the previous bargain. Does this sound acceptable to you?
You murder our children. You enslave them, you starve them, you use them however you please and you think yourselves safe and inviolate in your shining towers.
You are wrong.
We have in our possession 1800 prisoners of war, found guilty and sentenced to death. But unlike the slaver scum of Imperial Center, we are not without mercy.
You may purchase their lives back for *sum of credits large enough to buy a small fleet* and the release of our brothers and sisters of the Alien Combine, Free Ryloth, the Daughters of Montellian Serat, the Bothawui Counter Insurgency Front, the Red Tide, the Ashern, and the Nal Hutta Reform Party from custody.
Meet our terms, and the prisoners will see their loved ones again. Do not, and their blood will be on your hands.
If our terms are not met within twelve standard hours of this transmission, twenty prisoners will be chosen by lot and executed. This will be repeated for every twelve hours you choose to play games with their lives. If any vessel attempts to approach our flagship, every prisoner on board will lose their lives.
You have eleven hours, fifty nine minutes, and thirty seconds to save their lives. Work quickly.
*Efforts are made to choke the terrorists through the ether using the Force. Said efforts fail however Mara Jade gives her two Death Stars out of five for the effort.*
"These Twi'lek succubi have taken human men and women hostage to use for their witchery! They are coming for our homes, for our lives, for our children! Stop them"
The response to a group of alien terrorists led by a Twi'lek taking important human beings hostage is... predictable on Coruscant, at least among the human population. Outrage is followed by fear of more terrorist attacks, which is in turn followed by hate crimes being directed against Coruscant's alien population. However, while normally such things generally led to no more than a few days of an increased frequency of hate crimes, the response to this particular terrorist attack proved to be... wider.
Milaus Zerthan was a community organizer for the Coalition for Progress, a relatively low-ranking job where his responsibilities were mostly to get his neighborhood's people excited for various cultural activities. In truth he was rather overqualified for the job--a Navy veteran with a golden voice and a great amount of charisma, he'd been passed up for promotion to a more fitting rank largely because of a conflict between him and his direct superior. This left the man rather resentful, and happy to take that anger out on resentment like so many other Imperials. It just so happened that his neighborhood of responsibility was just next to Little Ryloth, Coruscant's Twi'lek corner.
Organizing about a couple hundred human men and women from his neighborhood, largely consisting of military veterans or Sub-Adult Group members, Milaus responded to rumors that Twi'leks on Coruscant were supporting the Chainbreakers by leading his new mob to arm themselves with vibroblades and whatever blasters they could get their hands on and engulfing Little Ryloth in a massive pogrom. Coruscant Security did little to stop it--it just so happened that the local security chief's daughter was aboard the Princess for her honeymoon and, well, he was upset. Supposedly a good number of policemen even joined in once they heard the pogrom was happening.
Starting as just a couple hundred, by the third day Milaus' Defense Legion had ballooned to ten times that size as veterans and SAG members from nearby neighborhoods joined in, as did many of the military-trained wealthy on Coruscant who had friends or family on the Princess. The pogrom would consume Little Ryloth for a week and a half before Milaus, satisfied that he'd weeded out any "sympathizers" among the Twi'lek population got his mob to withdraw. Casualties numbered in the mid-hundreds.
In the aftermath of the Night of Vibroblades, in response to wide-ranging fear of terrorism among human populations, small chapters of this new "Imperial Defense Legion" paramilitary group modeled after Milaus' band, largely composed of human veterans, have started popping up on Core and Colonial planets. ISB's response has been, if anything, supportive--the Security Bureau has done little to contain these chapters, and has even informally worked with them. Some lower-level local members of the Coalition for Progress have even been more outright supportive, becoming Legionaries themselves and largely finding positions of leadership and direction in the new leagues.
And in the COMPNOR Archeology, news of these Legionaries soon crossed Director Isard's desk. She smiled
Secret: Thank you for the clarification, and apologies for the delay in these negotiations. We were attempting to locate records of this previous deal in our archives, and have thussofar found nothing--it seems that whatever technology that our late Emperor received was kept in private by him, and upon his death has been lost.
We are, however, entirely well-disposed to renegotiating this deal so that both of our parties may benefit from it as previously intended. We would like to see the specifications of whatever technologies you sent to the Emperor once again given to us so that we may make use of it, and in return we are prepared to transfer Imperial-claimed planets in the south of what we call the "Unknown Regions" to your control. Most of these will not be actively habitable, but should possess a wealth of entirely unexplored resources. The habitable ones will also contain life-forms that should fulfill the other half of the previous bargain. Does this sound acceptable to you?
