When most of the talk nowadays about the war. War, war, war… It’s good to see that the Empire has not lost its vision (amid tumultuous circumstances) as quintessential culture of the galaxy, defending itself on all fronts, in any forum.
I note a snippet of an article presented earlier (in part) by a colleague of mine, Mr. Kent Clark shed first light on a growing legal situation.
The Empire getting sued?!
Now, I’ve seen everything! Joren-who-gives-a-@#%$-what-his-name-is pales by comparison as the drama unfolded amid the ceremonial pomp and beautiful sights of the natural gardens from Chad Fearson’s regional capital, Jutraal.
At first, I could not believe it but, upon further investigation, I find a remarkable defense by the Imperial Legal Counsel attached to the Ministry of Law.
**
“Mr. Stone, are you going to apologize to the Mr. Regreenrich for the late hour at which the Empire chooses to suddenly send a representation.”
The rather tall and thin man, dressed in an immaculate business suit (as were all legal representatives) looked straight at the glowing red eyes of the person presiding over the proceedings and said, “There is a war on, your honor. The Empire assigns its assets as it sees fit at the times it sees fit too. I am here. That is enough for these proceedings.”
A slight mirth briefly flashed across the arbiter and he turned to the prosecutor, “Shall we proceed Mr. Regreenrich?”
“Of course, Your Honor.”
The week before, Mr. Regreenrich had filed for a continuation of the proceedings so as to effectively make his case and even amid the declaration of war, the Empire responded with it’s consent though it felt it was not necessary to send a representative at this junction.
Therefore, judge, jury, witnesses (those civil and off duty military that were interested), several local news agencies as well as the rare offworld media all watched Mr. Regreenrich lay down his devastating fire of accusations and displayed quite dramatically his incriminating evidence.
The beginning of the proceedings had Mr. Regreenrich bringing out his engineering and technical specialists to handle construction questions about the station that had been destroyed. Maximum orbit ranges, time to impact from the debris, the size of the debris, etc..
Toward the middle, having described the sizes of the debris from Imperial certified officials, the prosecution went on to describe the effects such debris would have on the forest moon. Again experts were brought in to describe the nuclear-esk devestation Endor would have experienced ranging from environmental specialists to Biological Professors from some of the Empire’s premier civilian universities. A holographic representation of the devastating effects was shown to the audience (on and off-world) as well actual camera shots of the world before the station was destroyed and the world after the station was destroyed. A marked difference.
The finishing blow was the personal account of several of the Ewoks in attendance as they and their families battles for survival in the harshening world.
The room was quiet.
And throughout all this time, the Empire was not allowed to cross examine or provide a rebuttal discrediting of those taking the stand due to its lack of presence.
It was as if the Empire didn’t care and Mr. Regreenrich played that angle as well.
The power was in the jury’s hands… let them show that they care! That the suffering of these poor creatures can end!
Let the jury’s hearts show how much they cared..
And it was at this moment that Mr. Stone appeared and Mr. Regreenrich called for a sidebar.
Mr. Stone saw the feral grin playing across his opponent’s lips but his eyes merely ignored the man. Both men approached the arbitor’s table and Mr. Regreenrich spoke first.
“I would like to afford my opponent the opportunity to bring any settlement submissions forward for my clients.” (he stressed the “s” in clients)
Mr. Stone looked bored. “No settlement.”
Mr. Regreenrich looked hard at Mr. Stone. “Are you sure because I will milk the Imperial funds..” (his voice trailed off threateningly).
Mr. Stone looked annoyed when Mr. Regreenrich purred, his voice suddenly taking an understanding tone, “If you are not authorized to speak of settlement on behalf of the Empire, please talk to who you would need.—“
“I have speak for the Empire in his case and am autonomous. No settlement.”
Mr. Regreenrich simply shrugged and began to walk walk away when Mr. Stone asked the Arbitor, “Your Honor. I understand that Jutraal has a custom that allows for the making of closing statements an open forum venue?”
The red eyes of the Arbitor widened in surprise. An ‘Open Forum’ was a virtual ‘free for all’. “That is true..” he said slowly, “but given that your statement is the only one missing, I would hardly recommend it.”
Mr. Stone smiled for the first time. “It’s all right, your honor. I’ll manage.” And turned to walk back to his table.
To the astonishment of everyone in the room, and to Mr. Regreenrich, the Arbitor announced that Mr. Stone’s closing statements were ‘Open Ended’.
And everyone sat a little closer to their holovids.
“I’ve seen the court transcripts of Mr. Regreenrich’s arguments. It has been stated that the Empire does not care for the plight of these stupid bear creatures,” he gestured to the Ewoks seated, “and I can honestly assure you, from the bottom of my heart, that it doesn’t.”
Pandemonium broke out as Mr. Regreenrich shouted, “HE ADMITS IT!!!” Everyone was talking among themselves and Mr. Stone waited for the noise to quiet. The forum being open ended was not subject to an Arbitor calling for order.. but it also ensured that Mr. Stone would have the floor until he finished.
“The facts that Mr. Regreenrich has been shouting this past week are entirely correct! The Empire did build a station at Endor. It’s destruction did present very large pieces of debris and the damage done to the forest moon cannot be ignored. Their planet’s ecosystem has been destroyed.”
“Mr. Stone makes my case!!” Mr. Regreenrich shouted again drawing the cameras to him. “How can the jury NOT show the galaxy that this unfeeling Empire must be taught a lesson?”
Mr. Stone’s answer was loud, sharp, and to the point, “BECAUSE WE DIDN’T BLOW THE BLOODY THING UP!!”
The room got quiet and Mr. Stone let loose.
“If you build a starship, someone steals it and runs it into a hotel, is it your fault for building it?”
“If you hadn’t built it there it wouldn’t have destroyed Endor!”
“No, the Rebels would have destroyed it over another planet destroying THAT world, and we’d be back here though instead of walking bears, it’d be trees or something.”
“Then you don’t build it!” someone shouted.
“AND GIVE IN TO THE TERRORISTS??” Mr. Stone shouted. “That’s rich! Surrender then!? That’s what you are saying? The Empire is being attacked now! We don’t know if Corellia is still flying the Imperial Flag and you want us to just ‘stop’ on the off chance that someone might get hurt?”
“I’ve family on Corellia..” someone murmured and suddenly others were grumbling.
Amid the nationalistic fervor that person so said 'not to build it' tried to make themselves smaller within the crowd.
“Did you at least ask their permission to build..”
“Mr. Regreenrich,” he gestured to the Ewoks seated, “they live in the fuckiing trees.”
Someone barked out laughter in the back.
“The Empire was building a top secret Ore Processing Station at Endor…”
“Yes, And it was THEN that the Empire assumed the responsibility of Endor’s inhabitants, no matter where they lived. And the Empire failed in that responsibility!”
Mr. Stone nodded. “I’ll say. The Empire lost the station, a legion of soldiers, the Imperial Fleet, a Dark Lord of the Sith and it’s own Emperor. The Empire failed on a quite large scale…”
Mr. Regreenrich smiled triumphantly.
Mr. Stone looked up, “…but it did not fail the inhabitants of Endor. Even the forces, in their dying breath gave of themselves to save the planet!”
“How can you say--?”
“The Empire knew the conditions of building the station. The environmental specialists’ data was known and because of that specific danger, the Empire took measures to protect the world.”
“HOW!??” Mr. Regreenrich demanded. This was news to him.
Mr. Stone inserted a chip into a nearby computer and the lights dimmed. An image of Endor floated in the center with the station represented near.
“In the case of a blast, of structural failure during contruction, a reactor failure or whatever emergency that might tear large enough pieces off from the station toward Endor, the need for containment was a certainty.
So the Empire encased the station with this…”
And a shield suddenly appeared around the station, originating from a particular location on the planet.
“That shield was designed to be the best…. To contain anything and prevent it from striking the planet.”
“But… but.. “ someone from the prosecution’s staff started, “it failed.”
“Yes it did.” And Mr. Stone inserted another datachip.
A grainy image of Imperial stormtroopers and several soldiers from the Mechanized Division were visible leading a group of surrendered rebels away from the shield generator rear exit.
“But we didn’t. We captured those that would have brought the shields down that was protecting Endor. And yet…”
The image suddenly showed strange sticks flying through the air.. arrows as scores of Ewoks suddenly appeared engaging the Imperial Forces. The Rebels acted quickly and suddenly began to carry the fight to the New Order when the grainy picture stopped.
“The destruction of the station did cause massive damages to the moon and subsequently the little primitive bear culture there. But don’t blame the Empire for the little @#%$ shooting themselves in the foot!”
Mr. Stone stared at the Ewoks.
“Why not sue your Rebel friends? In fact, where the hell ARE your rebel friends? I’ll bet you feasted up a party on that night of tragedy for the Empire. Thousands of Imperial soldiers died protecting a world that was bent on destroying itself and you were celebrating!”
An angry stir began to be felt in the audience.
“What happened to your ‘friends’?” Mr. Stone dripped the last word with scorn. “Happened to leave the next morning did they? Just before the debris hit did they?”
He leaned closer to one. “What a @#%$ shame.”
Mr. Regreenrich tried to rally, “So you don’t give a damn about their plight? Their children’s plight?” One Ewok hefted up a little one in plain view and Mr. Stone laughed.
“Give a damn? About them?” he gestured to the Ewoks seated. “Hell no!”
But before the audience could react with any revulsion, Mr. Stone tempered, “The Empire cares for those that remained on Endor. Those that ARE suffering!”
He walked up to the furry group. “What was your mission? To get help for the others?”
“Tell me, you little @#%$, what the hell are those dying on Endor going to do with the monetary damages you were hoping to collect?”
And the implications of what Mr. Stone said started to sink it. The Imperial Representative saw it in their eyes and smiled grimly.
“Tell me Mr. Regreenrich.. ..wow! That’s really a long name. I think I’ll shorten it. Tell me, Mr. RICH, what the hell are primitive, freezing little tree bears going to do with money?”
“Why buy supplies of course!” Mr. Regreenrich said.
“Supplies?” Mr. Stone laughed. “Mr. Rich, it’s taken these bears how long since Endor to even get to a public forum? No doubt you’ve been billing them this whole time for your efforts to file on their behalf… Tell me, will they get any money they do win after you subtract your fees and expenses since, no doubt, they have been living a comfortable lifestyle this entire time (years?) while their comrades freeze to death?”
Mr. Stone looked around.
“Is there anyone left alive on Endor now? Has anyone checked?”
And when Mr. Regreenrich’s shoulder’s sagged, Mr. Stone smiled harshly, “You didn’t even check did you?”
“What is the Empire willing to give?” the Arbitor spoke out.
“The Empire will investigate the feasibility of sending a reclamation project to Endor once the ..’war’ is finished. There are several work program incentives that could be initiated to raise the inhabitant’s level of technological awareness.
At this point, it’s a mess. But the Empire is committed to wiping any stain the rebellion has caused out of this galaxy forever. Of that you can rest assured.”
The vote was unanimous in turning the “Ewok Question” over to Imperial Reclamation Planners.
**
When I see alien corruption thwarted by the clear thinking of the Empire, I stand in awe.
It fills me with an even greater hope that the evils that this galaxy tries to put before us will not succeed on any front.
This is Groder Stu of INS signing off.
