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Simon Kaine took the podium, his gloved hands grasping the sides as he stared out into the cameras. His look was one of sad determination.


"To all Imperials, to all our soldiers at home and abroad.... my friends. I come to you today with dire tidings. I come to you today with an admission that is painful for me to utter and yet, to be true to you, I must.

For I have failed.

For two years I have come under fire from all sides regarding my stance to the conclusion to the last war.

We had our enemies on their knees with throats bared.

We have all seen the holovids. Our forces arrayed against the attacking forces of the Coalition...

Lupercus Darksword holding the line, the men and women under his command giving their last breath to halt the battering advance of this unknown and unprovoked alien species.

Of Commodore Trachta's flanking maneuver to buy the defenders that one last minute that could make all the difference in the world.

Of General Ming's seige of Mon Calamari, a desperate bid to bring a conclusion to the enemy advances.

Of Grand Moff Drayson's defense of our northern frontier which was a key in shattering the enemy's resolve.

Of Theren Gevel's march to rip the heart out of the Outer Rim Sovereignty and bring a swift end to the war.


All these heroic acts of courage, determination and will!



Only to be laid low by me.



For it was I who stayed our blade from total conquest.


If I had not turned to negotiation, then our forces would have surely occupied the Coalition worlds and we would not have these holonet speeches inciting civil rebellion within our sovereign nation. We would not be living in fear of another 'first strike' attack from these war-like aliens.

And for that failure..

...failure to provide our people, our citizens with the peace of mind they so deserve, failure to eliminated a clear and present danger to our society and way of life,


I apologize.


To my soldiers, my comrades, my friends in the armed services, in my defense, I can only say this: Your lives are precious to me! And I did not wish to lose one more life than necessary to the protection of our great Empire.

And a long, protracted occupation of these.." Kaine's voice groped for an appropriate word, "..insane aliens would have cost us dearly."


Kaine paused as if gripped by a powerful emotion.

"I wanted peace. I wanted order. I wanted..." his voice trailed to a whisper.

"So I began a grand experiment. Rather than destroy the species that instigated a war that cost lives, I gambled that they could see reason. I took a chance on mercy and gave them back their lives. Gave them back their nation. I gave them a second chance.

In this experiment, we removed their war-making capabilities. We took their invisible first strike vessels away and left them with only enough to defend themselves. All the while using those industrial aquisitions to double our output making us invincible!"


He paused, the momentary flaring of anger subsiding.

"Friends, the Grand Experiment has failed. If there was any doubt, the recent Coalition broadcast has dispelled it."


He sighed.


"The Coalition broadcast by their Prime Minister was, for all intents and purposes, a declaration of war. By his blatant attempt to incite civil rebellion among the populations of factions they consider their enemies, there can be no other explanation."

"In the Coalition broadcast, they make plays on words to indicate to which galactic neighbor this aggression is directed at. However, their lack of specifics indicates to a critical observer a much wider and much more aggressive posture to anything 'not Coalition'.

And because of that danger, now THIS becomes a galactic issue. In naming the Coalition as 'THE only hope', they discount the various multitudes of individual sovereign governments and peoples that inhabit this galaxy. In indicates an intent to absorb these factions into their fold for, according to them, peace cannot be achieved unless a faction is a part of this Coalition.

They try to simplify galactic politics into black and white. One is either a part of the Coalition and 'good' or they are not, and therefore 'evil'."

Kaine's eyebrow rose in an expression one could call ironic, "And who is not a part of the Coalition but the rest of the galaxy?"


Kaine's voice became hard.


"In any event, it no longer matters, for the question we face is: Do we finish the job militarily what couldn't be accomplished diplomatically? And we could do it. We have the logistical support as well as the necessary war materials to accomplish this. All I have to do is sign the order and our fleets will cross the borders striking into the corrupt heart of this Coalition and ripping it out once and for all! Never will we have to worry about these war-like aliens making threats over holonet. Never will our citizens have to worry if today will bring a surprise alien attack. Already their blatant attempts to incite insurrection has caused deaths among our citizens!

And this will stop!


So. Do we go to war?


That is the question laid before us. It would mean throwing our sons, our daughters, fathers and mothers into harm's way. I would require a resolve to see this conflict out to it's rightful conclusion. Leave no planet of the Coalition untouched, leave no stone overturned, leave no way they would be able to threaten us again. It will mean perhaps a violent and bloody occupation before their brainwashing wears off. It will mean thousands of dead for us and perhaps millions of our enemy (if their insanity is any indication)."


Kaine paused, "I have failed and all moderate ideas are fading quickly within the Empire. We are on the precipice of galactic disaster!"


The audience was deadly silent.


"My fellow Imperials feel that there is no negotiating with the Coalition. That the Coalition has tipped their hand with their Prime Minister's speech. You could clearly see that the hatred of us that spurred their war is still as strong as ever.

But, before we .. unchain our feral side and let loose the dogs of war, I still insist on giving peace one last chance. This is not going to be a war started by mistakes or miscommunication. This is going to be a very clear and unmistakeable message:

The galaxy will no longer tolerate the war speeches of the Coalition!

The galaxy will no longer tolerate their hate of the Empire or of humanity!

The galaxy will no longer tolerate their efforts to instigate war among their galactic neighbors!


To be a galactic power, one must adhere to certain responsibilities or forfeit their right to be a galactic power. Those responsibilities extend to one's neighbors.


And to these responsibilities, the Coalition has failed miserably.


Item 1. Imperial shipping has come under attack from pirate activities across the Coalition border. Despite our respect for that border, our citizens continued to be harrassed and so, Grand Admiral Telan Desaria took a small squadron of ships into Coalition space. The education of the Coalition leadership was costly!

But you can be certain that the Coalition brought their fleet back to the border!

Our citizens have remained unharrassed since!

Assignments considered impossible are the missions our Grand Admirals live for and Telan Desaria impressed upon the Coalition the severity of their neglect. Hopefully, it is a lesson they will not soon forget.


But that begs the question, why was the fleet absent in the first place?


Item 2. Following up intelligence gathered of a Coalition buildup of arms, Grand Moff Bhindi Drayson gathered proof of the existence of First Strike Stealth Craft on Bimissari. The same first strike stealth craft denied to them after the war!


Item 3. The Coalition is targeting weapon manufacturing worlds for their inclusion into their sphere of influence.


Couple all of this with the confirmation that Azguardian hatred is still alive and well within the Coalition leads us to believe that our neighbor is planning a devestating attack perhaps even going so far as to hoard weapons of mass destruction.


Notice, I say, 'perhaps'. But in light of their speech can the galaxy take the gamble with Azguard levelheadedness?

What has been their track record so far?


Therefore, to make sure no one confuses the Azguardian speech nor Imperial intent, I am calling to Coruscant all sovereign governments for a meeting. My friends, I invite you to the first Imperial Peace Initiative to discuss the issue of Coalition aggression and to talk about clear and specific methods of ensuring not only the safety of our citizens but even the peoples neglected by the Coalition government in favor of arms hoarding.


We will discuss inspection measures to ensure there are no weapons of mass destruction on Coalition worlds.

We will discuss the disarmament and dismantling of all offensive capabilities with our heated neighbor.

We will discuss ways to help the Coalition manage their resources to the betterment of their citizens rather than on war profiting.


It is my firm belief that a League of Nations intent on bringing peace and order to the galaxy can be of benefit to all citizens of the galaxy, no matter your society.


I ask all galactic nations to take my offer and let us meet to protect our Coalition neighbors from themselves. For the alternative is simply too terrible to contemplate.

I implore the Coalition leadership to bury their hate. I implore the Coalition leaders to humble themselves and grasp the hand of peace!"


And Simon Kaine's face became one of resolve. "For I have failed once. I will not fail again."


And as he left the podium, a stunned audience sat quietly until the clapping started. It would not end for a few minutes and by then, it would be thunderous.


The 'Imperial Peace Initiative' had been born.