In what seems a disappointing turn of events, it seems that Brutus Nogoth has returned from the dead to rebuild the embers of his dead empire of terror. Having been presumed dead for weeks, splinter offshoots of the defunct Galactic Liberation Front fought like dogs over pock-marked bones of what passed as GLF infrastructure wrecking small havok here and there proving to have more bark than bite.

The "resurrection" and subsequent kidnapping of twenty Imperial civilian families only reinforces the general belief that GLF's back has been shattered.

Still, the xenophobic nature of this fanatical leader cannot simply be ignored and so I had the good fortune of presenting a copy of Nogoth's latest boast to Grand Marshall Kaine and Grand Moff Zell for a few minutes in passing.


Their reaction immediate.


Zell: "Damn straight this fucker knows the quality of his enemy! Trading thousands of his pissant little bitches for twenty Imperial citizens, shit! I don't know if he's trying to scare us or insult us! I'd trade a billion of the little GLF fuckers if I had them for even 10 citizens!"

(pause)

"I wouldn't be surprised if our citizens haven't taken over their bloody Star Destroyer by now and are flying home! I'd throw a hero's welcome for the lot of them! To you boys out there on Corulag, keep your pride up, heads high and your anger sharp. I am proud of each and every one of you and I know your parents are. This Brutus asshole is trying to rain on your parade and steal what is, your day! He can't. He won't."

To the Grand Marshall: "Assuming Mr. Nogoth puts even half his network back together..?"

Kaine: "He seems to be hurting for members. What else would drive him to these insane tactics? The fact that he has his facts wrong shows terribly just how out struggling his people are."

To the Grand Marshall: "Such as..?"

Zell *grinning slyly*: "The fucker thinks we caught all his members on one fucking planet." *turns to Kaine* "Makes you think just what does he wants with Sluis Van?"

To both of them: "And if Nogoth rebuilds better than before.. If he solicits the aid of others.."

Zell: "Emperor's poxy tart, man!"

Kaine: "Let me make this perfectly clear. If we go to war again. If he pulls a fleet from thin air and we fight in earnest, with him or anyone, it will be to the end. With this war on terror, it will be either us or them. No half measures. We will take them apart and we will sow their ground with salt."

*smiling grimly*

"We never claimed to be benevolent and I know that I voice the same sentiments of those governments that have suffered the cowardly strikes from this .. this organization."

Zell: "Snakes like Brutus don't just wake up one morning and say, 'hey, let me fuck myself by blowing up the galaxy!' No, they are backed. They have a self serving agenda."

Kaine *nodding*: "The man is a tool."

Zell: "We need to find the asshole behind the fucker."

To both: "So what about this trade..?"

Kaine looked up: "I will be honest. The man is bankrupt. He knows it. We know it. He knows we know it. I do not want to offer false hopes to those graduating, to those relatives waiting.. wondering. It is not your fault. To those graduating, it's not your fault for attending school on Corulag. As much as Brutus would shout into space, it is not the Empire's fault. The fact that those people are held hostage is only the fault of the terrorist.

However, I can promise to try."

To Kaine: "Well hell, sir, we can't fault you for that. Everyone in the Empire will be rooting for you!"

Kaine: "I accept and agree to the trade of several thousands for the hostages. We will agree to the trade on a planet outside the Empire of Brutus'choosing apart from the space of those governments who have been his victims in the past.

As a show of solidarity in this peace-keeping arrangement being brokered by the Empire, we invite those former victims, the Coaltion, Anthos Republic to accompany our efforts to provide a united front against any future endangerments to our respective citizens."

To Kaine: "Do you think he will accept?"

Kaine: "He asked for the trade specifically. To back out now is to destroy the man completely. If he backs out, he should rightly expect no response from any of his holonet transmissions whatever they spout."

To Kaine: "Why?"

Zell: "Because the fucker is washed out. Used up."

Kaine: "He's bankrupt."



**


I must say that this confused me at first. But then, as I thought about it, I could see that this act was akin to the final act of a desperate man.

The words of the transmission coming back..






Fair Deal...



Fair Deal...



*The scene shifts to the burnt and heavily damaged lobby of the Aarguuan Bank, showing the destruction there, before changing to a scene on Geonosis, where a huge pile of rublle is being ecavated on by Tholatin personale. Next it shifted to footage of the twisted wreckage of the bridge over the chasam on N'zoth, followed by a scene of the charred frieghter on Honghor. A distant shot of smoke rising from the Imperial academy on Carida was breifly shown, with a final image being that of a catastrophically damaged Victory Star Destroyer, a gaping hole replacing what should have been the upper section of the craft, near the bridge. The whole sceen took only about 30-45 seconds.*


(voice over)


"By the time you reciev this message, the incidents I am going to refer to will have already happened. The first strikes will have been leveled, the first of many..."


*A scratchy holovid fills the screen...... obviously of lower quality than the professional newscast, but still well done, as if done by a knowledgable amatuer. The screen is filled with a man, tall and well built, black hair crisply conforming to his head. He is clothed from head to foot in a white uniform, reminicent of the Imperial Grand Admiral uniforms of old, though it is devoid of the usual trappings and trim that accompany such a title. The man is a great contrast to the room which he occupies. It appears empty, with ebony black walls that make it difficult to discern anything about the size, shape or relative location of the man, whose white suit seems emblazened upon the dark surface.*

*The man let a smile grace his face, showing perfectly white teeth to his audience.*

".... My name is Brutus Nogoth... I am leader of the Galactic Liberation Front.."




FAIR DEAL...



"This man, Brutus Nogoth, head of a terrorist organization known as the Galactic Liberation Front has sent out another holotape claiming responsibility for these hostage situations, as well as listing a series of demands.



FAIR DEAL...



*Brutus moved his hand to a highlighted spot, which changed the holo-projection to a much more detailed section of space- Courlag and the surrounding area.*

"The Galactic Empire, despite it's own propaganda to the contrary is the largest most opressive regime currently in power in our galaxy. Although some benefical steps have been taken by this government- its grevious offeneses easily overshadow what good it has wrought. Opression of non-humans, combined with a military dictatorship and a harsh military-industrial complex bent on expanding this Empire's opression all force the people in the Empire to spend their money, labor and even in some cases their lives to further the Imperial High Command's wishes. The constant warfare exposes Imperial civillians to unnessecary danger from enemy backlash and counter attack, and the Empire continues to suck the galaxies most precious resources from the people, to devote them to military conflict. The attack on Courlag was a dagger aimed at the first great offense of the Empire- it's military."


*The holomap switched to a another close up. This one of Muunilist and the surrounding worlds.*

"The attack on Muunilist was designed to injure the allies of the Empire who enable its opression, plus destabilize the machinizations of the moneylenders whose complex policies deprave the galactic population of what little financial resources they have."

*The camera shifted back to Brutus*


(OVERLAY)


*The man let a smile grace his face, showing perfectly white teeth to his audience.*
".... My name is Brutus Nogoth... I am leader of the Galactic Liberation Front.."



FAIR DEAL...



On the video, a group of black cloaked figures wearing masks of diffrent alien species. They stand in a triangle with the front, main one holding a datapad.
"Greetings Imperial dogs. I will make this short and sweet for you dim witted beings. Surrender 15 At-Ats and 20 At-Sts to us and leave them on the planet of Dantoonie. If you dont drop them off or if we detect any movement inside or around the walkers within 5 minutes of reaching the location, we will blow your buildings all the way back to the Sarlacc pit. You have 24 hours (12:00 PM Eastern Standard time). Nice doing buisiness."



FAIR DEAL...



"I know some of you may be shocked to see me, but despite the INS's reporting I am alive and kicking. I thought releasing 3 videos would confirm that, but there's always someone somewhere who seems to miss the message."

Brutus paused.

"This time it was the entire Anthos Republic."


*

Today at 13:24 Dorthal Central Time, the Global Dorthal Subway was bombed as a completely filled train was speeding through. Hundreds are confirmed as dead, and thousands more are wounded.

"...There's bodies everywhere ... so many dead..."



*


*The man let a smile grace his face, showing perfectly white teeth to his audience.*

".... My name is Brutus Nogoth... I am leader of the Galactic Liberation Front.."



FAIR DEAL...



*The camera changed quickly to a view of the Serif , the transport Brutus had recently captured, sitting in the docking bay of an ISD. Brutus continued as a voice over.*


"Greetings Imperial dogs. I will make this short and sweet for you dim witted beings. Surrender 15 At-Ats and 20 At-Sts to us and leave them on the planet of Dantoonie. If you dont drop them off or if we detect any movement inside or around the walkers within 5 minutes of reaching the location, we will blow your buildings all the way back to the Sarlacc pit. You have 24 hours (12:00 PM Eastern Standard time). Nice doing buisiness."


*The view changed to the inside of the Serif , showing large groups of people, sitting or standing, apparently unaware they were being seen on camera. Several armed figures could be made out around them.*


*

*The man let a smile grace his face, showing perfectly white teeth to his audience.*

".... My name is Brutus Nogoth... I am leader of the Galactic Liberation Front.."






After all that has happened, I find the Grand Marshall is right in describing Brutus and his ilk.

They are overdrawn in the account of credibility, their words and assurances turning to worthless, inflated ash.

Any more withdrawals and this terrorist, like so many others, will play the jester.


Only this time, the joke will be on him.