It is with heavy heart that I write about an account that will hail as the most tragic in this entire conflict between Empire and those dark factions who hide in shadows biting the carcass of fear with such fervor that their sanity is questioned.
The announcement made by Grand Marshall Kaine felt like a hammer blow against the heart of Empire as the dreams of a very noble people, trying to etch out a life for themselves in this galaxy riddled with strife, died.
And yet, amid the darkness these aliens bring, a light shines forth and I remember the look in the Grand Marshall’s eye as he spoke the last short phrase that would echo in my mind…
…13 Days…
The lights seem to brighten as a man dressed in a familiar black and gray uniform walked out in front of a podium almost heedless of the recorders, cameras and holovids. Grand Marshall Kaine’s relatively expressionless face stared out into the audience but before words escaped his lips, a small shade of regret flashed across his features.
“I have just received confirmation of the disturbing claims made by various elements of the Sovereignty military that they have indeed conquered Abregado-Rae. Thus ends the 13 day reign of Abregado-raen Pact.”
The room broke in a flurry of pandemonium as questions shot out at the veracity of the earlier claims.
A steadying hand came up and the room fell silent once more as Kaine’s face turned to stone. “The civilian militia answered the call of their Abregado-raen leaders admirably and put up the best fight they could have. Against horrifying odds, against orbital bombardments, against ORS regulars they displayed a dauntless spirit.
As a fellow warrior, I salute the Abregado-raen courage. The empire they would have eventually made would have been glorious indeed.”
He turned to his audience and his voice fell flat. “But we will never know.”
An eyebrow rose quietly, “Questions?”
”The Sovereignty article speaks of the conquest being very, and I quote, ‘lopsided’ and that it ‘ensures that the Outer Rim Sovereignty is still in this war’. How would you comment on this statement?”
”If the Sovereignty has declared war upon Abregado-rae, I missed that announcement. The attack upon Abregado-rae was not an attack upon the Empire. It was attack upon the people of Abregado-rae. The planet held a referendum vote to separate from the Coalition and declare their neutrality. Imperial forces were nominal and those there were scheduled to leave after four weeks.”
If the planet declared neutrality, why were they associated with the Empire?
The Sovereignty answered that in their own press conference. Their newly appointed Vice Minister commented that the Empire ‘did very little in the ways of assistance economically, politically, or industrially.’ Obviously, however foolish his remarks are, he does illustrate the dire straits the Abregado-raen people have been in, which actually would be attributed to the Coalition Occupation.
Why do you say that, Marshall?
Simon looked surprised at the question. ”Because while the Empire is good, we aren’t that good. An entire planet’s infrastructure cannot be rebuilt from the ground up in under two weeks. Our relief transports had yet to even cover the distance to Abregado-rae, within that time. I am flattered at the Vice Ministers expectations, but, they are, alas, unrealistic.
Our first aims were to form and organize the Abregado-raen civilians into their own self governing force, and their militia was quite large. The final estimates brought their numbers to around two hundred thousand, give or take.”
The new Vice Minister of Abregado-rae claims that the Empire stripped their defenses, placing a minimum defense.
The look that Simon Kaine gave was one of extreme patience as if trying to explain the actions of a bumbling child.
A damaged shield generator provides no defense. At least in any technical manual I know. there was a slight laugh. Captain Raine correctly ordered its inner workings dismantled and transported to an appropriate world for refitting. The shell of the structure was left as the residents felt it, if remodeled correctly, could be used to house a school. I don’t know what became of the construction crews.
And since Abregado-rae declared neutrality, it was not to us to arm their world. Especially in light of the butchering attacks upon us. It was thought that an augmentation of weaponry would only draw the attention of our attackers.
In this, we took a chance in believing the claims of our enemies. That they believe in the free will of others and that they tout high ideals left us reasonably comfortable in thinking the Abregado-raens safe. Apparently, it was all just lies. Abregado-rae was essentially devoid of any weapons that would in the slightest prove threatening to the Sovereignty.
And if they had bothered to check! Hell, if they had bothered to scan and hold off on the firing button just a few more minutes, they would have figured this out.”
Kaine’s eyes went dark.
”Or they already knew it.”
The newly Sovereignty Appointed Vice Minister, is also quioted as saying: when push came to shove they simply ran with their tails between their legs like whipped dogs. How do you feel about this?
Simon’s voice became ironic. ”Then, perhaps he should have been leading his people, if he felt victory were that easily within his grasp. Perhaps he should have struck a blow for his people’s neutrality.
Major Drevell, the commanding officer of the garrison was part of the I.C.C., the Imperial Construction Corps, attached to the Yaga Minor Protectorate. He did his best but he is an officer for a different sort of field and for a different sort of combat.”
A bitter smile appeared on Kaine’s face. ”In any event, I think the new Vice Minister is happy in the pocket of those who will satisfy his cravings.”
It is stated that this Sullustan, Dal Eguma, was removed from his political office when Abregado-Rae declared it’s neutrality.
“Was there a question in there?” and a slight laughter.
Can you confirm this?
“From what I know, Dal Eguma was indeed a minor politician attached to the Coalition Party that was voted against. But we did remove him from office.”
For his Pro-Sovereignty, Pro-Alien sentiments?
Simon Kaine gave a look of incredulity. “No, because he was a pedophile. The local authorities brought the evidence to us and we agreed with their conclusions.”
The Sovereignty was claiming several alien homes burnt due to ‘Anti-alien’ sentiments set forth by the Empire…
“The Empire has better things to do than burn civilian homes. Apparently, if those acts did occur, they were due to local biases that the Neutral Planetary Government would have had to deal with.”
What do you have to say regarding the civilian casualties?
“Regrettable. Apparently the Sovereignty is making distinctions with local militia (made up of citizens defending their home) but no one is fooled.”
The Sovereignty has explicitly claimed that their warships were not targeting civilian structures and that if the military installations were not situated within civilian boundaries, then the civilian casualties would not have occurred. What do you say to that?
An irritated look overcame the Grand Marshall. “I would say that whoever said that was an idiot.”
The audience began to stir.
“If you are going to protect a city from aircraft attacks, would you place an anti-aircraft installation 30 miles away in the middle of a desert? No, you would put it where it would do the most good.
For local Abregado-raens, would you order them to travel day in and day out an hour away from the nearest population center, from their homes, just to man a barracks on the off chance that a murdering Sovereignty Fleet might pop by and begin orbital bombardments?”
”The ORS called it ‘shielding’.”
“It obviously did not occur to the Sovereignty that the Empire did not have the time to complete any military construction projects. Whatever military installations that housed both the local armies and the minimal Imperial garrisons were put there by their Coalition allies. Joren Arden himself was residing on one such installation during his visit.
Both the Abregado-raens and the Empire used what was at hand when they were being bombarded with a thought to trying to save their lives."
The Sovereignty Officer claimed that their objectives were confirmed military targets.
And Kaine laughed out loud at this. It was a blatantly bitter laugh as if the task of cleaning excrement from his boots drew the odor of sweet flowers. He could not contain himself in the face of such pallid filth.
“Yes, people. In combat, it is generally a good thing to target military installations.” He felt he was teaching Battle School 101 for the School of Retarded Aliens.
“You cannot achieve a military goal if you do not remove the military obstacle. But it is the manner in which you remove the military obstacle that one discerns if you actually give a damn about the civilians, or not.
And if the Sovereignty wanted to minimize civilian casualties, they would not pretend their capital warships were sniper rifles. They would not have bombarded the planet form orbit. It’s that simple. Do you have any idea how much damage a high output, supercharged, heavy turbolaser blast can do? If you think that they do, then you bet correctly.
The Sovereignty could easily have landed their solders without incident given that they had air/space superiority.
But no. They had to do what caused the Empire, the Abregado-raens and themselves the most damage.”
The enemy described their action as ‘a very well coordinated military strike managing to cut off the head of the viper before it had a chance to strike..
”More like smashing the head of a viper with a Super Star Destroyer. But who they expected the Abregado-raen Pact to strike is beyond me.
The Sovereignty might claim there was no Abregado-raen Pact..
”Obviously, they would be forgetting how ‘politically’ unaided their Sullustan lackey described the people. Their bureaucracy would not move fast enough to suit the Sovereignty. However, in defense of the Sovereignty, I am sure they suffer no delays in the wishes of their leaders. In fact, I’ll bet President Griff gets all his trains to run on time.”
The Grand Marshall continued, “The destruction of the Abregado-raen Pact erodes whatever claim these butchers have to the mantle of righteousness.”
They will claim that the Empire had no intention of accepting the Abregado-raen Neutrality.
”Once brought back to a livable standard, the Empire would have left.” Then Kaine shrugged, “Besides, their militia outnumbered us by over one hundred thousand. What would we have done?”
He chuckled. “No. The evidence is there.
Then his eyes looked up sharply and into the cameras. “But I give the Sovereignty a chance to prove themselves better. The Empire holds out one more chance to the Abregado-Raen Pact.
We will give the Sovereignty the same amount of time they gave us…”
His eyes flashed.
“13 days.
You are charged to do all you can in 13 days and at the end of the thirteenth day, your forces will leave the world to its neutrality and you will not return.
Give the Abregado-raen’s the chance you are surely denying them with your presence.
Leave the system!
At that moment, a soldier came up to the Grand Marshall handing him a note. Kaine’s lips pursed, ”Or was it all lies? he hissed.
“My fellow citizens, it appears that more Sovereignty fighters are attacking the world of Fondor and have opened fire on the civilian shipyards there.”
And Simon Kaine, Grand Marshall of the Empire, stared out, the anger evident in his eyes.
“So, this is what you really are about?" he asked almost rhetorically.
With tightened lips, ”13 days!
Abregado-rae, the Empire, and the Galaxy are watching!
No deferring. No backtracking. No begging off. No reports of a ‘sudden occurrence’ of love for the Sovereignty. No!
They voted for independence. They voted for neutrality.
You didn’t honor it once.
Honor it now!
Or nothing that comes from the Sovereignty will be trusted again.
13 days…
The announcement made by Grand Marshall Kaine felt like a hammer blow against the heart of Empire as the dreams of a very noble people, trying to etch out a life for themselves in this galaxy riddled with strife, died.
And yet, amid the darkness these aliens bring, a light shines forth and I remember the look in the Grand Marshall’s eye as he spoke the last short phrase that would echo in my mind…
…13 Days…
The lights seem to brighten as a man dressed in a familiar black and gray uniform walked out in front of a podium almost heedless of the recorders, cameras and holovids. Grand Marshall Kaine’s relatively expressionless face stared out into the audience but before words escaped his lips, a small shade of regret flashed across his features.
“I have just received confirmation of the disturbing claims made by various elements of the Sovereignty military that they have indeed conquered Abregado-Rae. Thus ends the 13 day reign of Abregado-raen Pact.”
The room broke in a flurry of pandemonium as questions shot out at the veracity of the earlier claims.
A steadying hand came up and the room fell silent once more as Kaine’s face turned to stone. “The civilian militia answered the call of their Abregado-raen leaders admirably and put up the best fight they could have. Against horrifying odds, against orbital bombardments, against ORS regulars they displayed a dauntless spirit.
As a fellow warrior, I salute the Abregado-raen courage. The empire they would have eventually made would have been glorious indeed.”
He turned to his audience and his voice fell flat. “But we will never know.”
An eyebrow rose quietly, “Questions?”
”The Sovereignty article speaks of the conquest being very, and I quote, ‘lopsided’ and that it ‘ensures that the Outer Rim Sovereignty is still in this war’. How would you comment on this statement?”
”If the Sovereignty has declared war upon Abregado-rae, I missed that announcement. The attack upon Abregado-rae was not an attack upon the Empire. It was attack upon the people of Abregado-rae. The planet held a referendum vote to separate from the Coalition and declare their neutrality. Imperial forces were nominal and those there were scheduled to leave after four weeks.”
If the planet declared neutrality, why were they associated with the Empire?
The Sovereignty answered that in their own press conference. Their newly appointed Vice Minister commented that the Empire ‘did very little in the ways of assistance economically, politically, or industrially.’ Obviously, however foolish his remarks are, he does illustrate the dire straits the Abregado-raen people have been in, which actually would be attributed to the Coalition Occupation.
Why do you say that, Marshall?
Simon looked surprised at the question. ”Because while the Empire is good, we aren’t that good. An entire planet’s infrastructure cannot be rebuilt from the ground up in under two weeks. Our relief transports had yet to even cover the distance to Abregado-rae, within that time. I am flattered at the Vice Ministers expectations, but, they are, alas, unrealistic.
Our first aims were to form and organize the Abregado-raen civilians into their own self governing force, and their militia was quite large. The final estimates brought their numbers to around two hundred thousand, give or take.”
The new Vice Minister of Abregado-rae claims that the Empire stripped their defenses, placing a minimum defense.
The look that Simon Kaine gave was one of extreme patience as if trying to explain the actions of a bumbling child.
A damaged shield generator provides no defense. At least in any technical manual I know. there was a slight laugh. Captain Raine correctly ordered its inner workings dismantled and transported to an appropriate world for refitting. The shell of the structure was left as the residents felt it, if remodeled correctly, could be used to house a school. I don’t know what became of the construction crews.
And since Abregado-rae declared neutrality, it was not to us to arm their world. Especially in light of the butchering attacks upon us. It was thought that an augmentation of weaponry would only draw the attention of our attackers.
In this, we took a chance in believing the claims of our enemies. That they believe in the free will of others and that they tout high ideals left us reasonably comfortable in thinking the Abregado-raens safe. Apparently, it was all just lies. Abregado-rae was essentially devoid of any weapons that would in the slightest prove threatening to the Sovereignty.
And if they had bothered to check! Hell, if they had bothered to scan and hold off on the firing button just a few more minutes, they would have figured this out.”
Kaine’s eyes went dark.
”Or they already knew it.”
The newly Sovereignty Appointed Vice Minister, is also quioted as saying: when push came to shove they simply ran with their tails between their legs like whipped dogs. How do you feel about this?
Simon’s voice became ironic. ”Then, perhaps he should have been leading his people, if he felt victory were that easily within his grasp. Perhaps he should have struck a blow for his people’s neutrality.
Major Drevell, the commanding officer of the garrison was part of the I.C.C., the Imperial Construction Corps, attached to the Yaga Minor Protectorate. He did his best but he is an officer for a different sort of field and for a different sort of combat.”
A bitter smile appeared on Kaine’s face. ”In any event, I think the new Vice Minister is happy in the pocket of those who will satisfy his cravings.”
It is stated that this Sullustan, Dal Eguma, was removed from his political office when Abregado-Rae declared it’s neutrality.
“Was there a question in there?” and a slight laughter.
Can you confirm this?
“From what I know, Dal Eguma was indeed a minor politician attached to the Coalition Party that was voted against. But we did remove him from office.”
For his Pro-Sovereignty, Pro-Alien sentiments?
Simon Kaine gave a look of incredulity. “No, because he was a pedophile. The local authorities brought the evidence to us and we agreed with their conclusions.”
The Sovereignty was claiming several alien homes burnt due to ‘Anti-alien’ sentiments set forth by the Empire…
“The Empire has better things to do than burn civilian homes. Apparently, if those acts did occur, they were due to local biases that the Neutral Planetary Government would have had to deal with.”
What do you have to say regarding the civilian casualties?
“Regrettable. Apparently the Sovereignty is making distinctions with local militia (made up of citizens defending their home) but no one is fooled.”
The Sovereignty has explicitly claimed that their warships were not targeting civilian structures and that if the military installations were not situated within civilian boundaries, then the civilian casualties would not have occurred. What do you say to that?
An irritated look overcame the Grand Marshall. “I would say that whoever said that was an idiot.”
The audience began to stir.
“If you are going to protect a city from aircraft attacks, would you place an anti-aircraft installation 30 miles away in the middle of a desert? No, you would put it where it would do the most good.
For local Abregado-raens, would you order them to travel day in and day out an hour away from the nearest population center, from their homes, just to man a barracks on the off chance that a murdering Sovereignty Fleet might pop by and begin orbital bombardments?”
”The ORS called it ‘shielding’.”
“It obviously did not occur to the Sovereignty that the Empire did not have the time to complete any military construction projects. Whatever military installations that housed both the local armies and the minimal Imperial garrisons were put there by their Coalition allies. Joren Arden himself was residing on one such installation during his visit.
Both the Abregado-raens and the Empire used what was at hand when they were being bombarded with a thought to trying to save their lives."
The Sovereignty Officer claimed that their objectives were confirmed military targets.
And Kaine laughed out loud at this. It was a blatantly bitter laugh as if the task of cleaning excrement from his boots drew the odor of sweet flowers. He could not contain himself in the face of such pallid filth.
“Yes, people. In combat, it is generally a good thing to target military installations.” He felt he was teaching Battle School 101 for the School of Retarded Aliens.
“You cannot achieve a military goal if you do not remove the military obstacle. But it is the manner in which you remove the military obstacle that one discerns if you actually give a damn about the civilians, or not.
And if the Sovereignty wanted to minimize civilian casualties, they would not pretend their capital warships were sniper rifles. They would not have bombarded the planet form orbit. It’s that simple. Do you have any idea how much damage a high output, supercharged, heavy turbolaser blast can do? If you think that they do, then you bet correctly.
The Sovereignty could easily have landed their solders without incident given that they had air/space superiority.
But no. They had to do what caused the Empire, the Abregado-raens and themselves the most damage.”
The enemy described their action as ‘a very well coordinated military strike managing to cut off the head of the viper before it had a chance to strike..
”More like smashing the head of a viper with a Super Star Destroyer. But who they expected the Abregado-raen Pact to strike is beyond me.
The Sovereignty might claim there was no Abregado-raen Pact..
”Obviously, they would be forgetting how ‘politically’ unaided their Sullustan lackey described the people. Their bureaucracy would not move fast enough to suit the Sovereignty. However, in defense of the Sovereignty, I am sure they suffer no delays in the wishes of their leaders. In fact, I’ll bet President Griff gets all his trains to run on time.”
The Grand Marshall continued, “The destruction of the Abregado-raen Pact erodes whatever claim these butchers have to the mantle of righteousness.”
They will claim that the Empire had no intention of accepting the Abregado-raen Neutrality.
”Once brought back to a livable standard, the Empire would have left.” Then Kaine shrugged, “Besides, their militia outnumbered us by over one hundred thousand. What would we have done?”
He chuckled. “No. The evidence is there.
Then his eyes looked up sharply and into the cameras. “But I give the Sovereignty a chance to prove themselves better. The Empire holds out one more chance to the Abregado-Raen Pact.
We will give the Sovereignty the same amount of time they gave us…”
His eyes flashed.
“13 days.
You are charged to do all you can in 13 days and at the end of the thirteenth day, your forces will leave the world to its neutrality and you will not return.
Give the Abregado-raen’s the chance you are surely denying them with your presence.
Leave the system!
At that moment, a soldier came up to the Grand Marshall handing him a note. Kaine’s lips pursed, ”Or was it all lies? he hissed.
“My fellow citizens, it appears that more Sovereignty fighters are attacking the world of Fondor and have opened fire on the civilian shipyards there.”
And Simon Kaine, Grand Marshall of the Empire, stared out, the anger evident in his eyes.
“So, this is what you really are about?" he asked almost rhetorically.
With tightened lips, ”13 days!
Abregado-rae, the Empire, and the Galaxy are watching!
No deferring. No backtracking. No begging off. No reports of a ‘sudden occurrence’ of love for the Sovereignty. No!
They voted for independence. They voted for neutrality.
You didn’t honor it once.
Honor it now!
Or nothing that comes from the Sovereignty will be trusted again.
13 days…