The election polls came in from Hephastisus, or whatever it's name was, and showed the results for voters on that planet:

1%: Ioa: Very few people like Ioa on the planet of Hephastisus, mostly because she represented the much hated water tribe, and tried to get the attention of the youth.

2%: Kree: Some people gave this man pity for the attack he suffered. Pity is all that got him this far.

2.5%: Moro: Some people like the Earth, and liked his approach, so they wasted their votes on this nobody Azguard.

10%: Regrad: Many people wanted to see a Pro-Military Person in charge, and wanted a Azguard at that. Being a representative of the Lightsided faction helped give him his status here, although many didn't vote for him due to his recent string of defeats against TNO.

25%: Renzoukan: Many people want to see another military style person replace the widely thought incompetent Regrad, and bring grace once again to the beaten people of the Azguards.

4%: Hilter: Due to the recent disasters at the hands of TNO, there are many widows on Hephastisus, or single moms now, that support this man.

6%: Adrian: What can we say? At least he did better than Hilter.

Tied at 7%: Jyanus, and Barry: Both fought hard to win their campaigns, but both came up short.

35.5%: Kyric Zen: Many Azguards feel that a drastic change in leadership is needed, and one that isn't afriad to take whatever risks necessary in order to defend his people.

Hilter Afdol poured over the first electron results, and was not happy with his low poll ratings, and the claim's by political anyalists that he was soft. Still, the numbers from Hurok were encouraging. He would have to change his apporach- it appeared the azguardians were looking for someone who they felt could shepard them through difficult times. Regard, Kyric Zen and Janyus's success proved that. Hilter however, believed he could show the Azguardians he too had tough stands on issues, and was not just a laughable candidate.

His first strike after the initial poll results was a large speech to his supporters on Hurok- hoping to solidify his base and challenge for control of that planets votes.

".... I am here to today to tell you about the potential of the Azguardian people. I want the Azguards to grow, an propser- to reach there full potential, and solidify there place in the galaxy.

I'm not in th race as a stunt, or a joke. Barry Moleman seems to think that simply being a holonet star can get you somewhere- but what has he ever done in the real world? Has he ever interacted with galactic politicans, worked with corporate officals, done anything beside play himself on a Holonet prgram? I have worked for years as a crusader for the peoples of the galaxy who needed assitence. This election is erious, and the Azguard people deserve nothing less then excellence from their leader."

Hilter was striking out against all of the candidates, even if he didn't mention them by name.

"We need decisive, forceful leadership. We don't need a candidate who just wants to roll with the punches- if you can't prepare for whats coming, and dictate your own future, then you in for a grave, problem filled tomorrow.

Speaking of a problem filled tomorrow- why is Renzoukan assuming that the Azguardian military forces are insufficent? Any military strategists can tell you that without the Azguardian forces, the Battle of Corellia would have been a sluaghter, and the coalition would have collapsed. The bravery of the Azguardian soldiers, and the strengtt of their vessels is the only factor going well for the Coalition at that battle- ask any Imperial and they'll tell you they'd much rather fight a MC-90 than a Yunos Class Command Ship.

While we're talking about the Yunos- can anyone eplain to me why High Lord Regard is preparing to scrap the design for the Yunos? The mightest class of vessle the Azguardians ever built- a tribute to the strenght of the god, and your high commander of the millitary is preparing to end the use of one of the mightiest ships in the galaxy. It doesn't seem to make any sense- the ship that was so valiantly used over Corellia is now being scarped. Thats definatly a way to thank the military for all their service and sacrifice.

Now, what about the Battle fo the Corellia. The Galactic Coalition threw all its eggs into one basket, gambling everything on one attack. What kind of strategic planning is that? Now, I know the blame can't just fall on our high command- remember, it was Joren Arden and his people who lead the attack. The Azguardians didn their part- and look what happened! The failure of your 'allies' cost hundreds, thousands of Azguardian lives."

Raising the tone of his voice Hilter vehmently spkoe out.

"The Azguardian people deserve better than that! When Azguard lives are at risk, they need competant efficent allies to rely on! I promise that when I am elected I will ensure that the Azguard people are not entangled in alliances of inferority, but are rather involved in agreements of equality!"

A roar from the crowd showed their support. Hilter puased, then looked up at his the crowd.

"The Battle for Corellia, of course, was not the only conflict in which Azguard's sacrificed their lives. I specifically remeber Kessel, a world under Galactic Coalition Authority, which was attacked by Kyric Zen!!! How can you even vote for a man who attacked a world under your control only month's earlier? Don't let his kind mannerism fool you- he wants to take the Azguiards, suck them dry, and them leave them open to attack!!!

And since when our the Jedi, the one group of people dedicated to freedom and justice in the galaxy the enemy? Jaynus od the Underclan of normal humans seem to think so. I say that if the Jedi want to enforce justice and equality in the galaxy, then they should have the full support of the Azguards!!"

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Hilter continued on a whirlwind tour to drum up support, using tenets of the speech on Hurok, as well as hitting on other key issues. He claimed hard how as a bussines man he was the best candidate to assist the Azguardian economy, especially by diversifying it out from condiment production, and a military infustructure. He hit hard on his oppnents, and praised the Azguards intergrity by holding free and open elections while much of the rest of the galaxy sat under "the opressive fist of authoritarian regimes."

All the while, Hilter continued to pour money into campiang adds across Azguard space, many showing snippets of his speeches and touting his stand on the issues. Money isn;t neccessarily the best judge of a campaign, but it sure couldn't hurt. Even on Hurok, Hilter had no place to go but up.

As week two began, Regrad set about campaigning with avengeance.

It was time to talk about the issues, and in all issues he had the most knowledge. Off-worlder candidates had to wait for him, so they could figure out what was important to the people and what wasn't, and fellow Azguard Candidates all had fairly tribe-stereotypical stances.

The first issue he brought to the front was the military. During a press-conference outside the Relics of War museum, recently constructed to commemorate fallen heroes and to educate about the prevention of war, Regrad made his stance clear:

"There was a time where war was unknown. We didn't even have a military. But sadly, times have changed. We need to keep the military strong, and strengthen it, if we ever want to survive. Peace is, in my opinion, the most important goal, but not everyone in the galaxy is that reasonable. And I want it to be known that wether I win the election or not, I will continue to fight for Azguardia and the Coalition."

He proceeded to campaign hard throughout the planet Azguard, moving on to Hurok, but not Hephastus. As an allied world, Hephastus citizens cannot vote in an Azguardian Election, but in return maintain their own parliment. It was a shock to political analysts that Regrad couldn't beat Kyric on Hurok (represented by Gue), considering it was humans who destroyed the primarily-frozian populations' homeworld of Frozia, and also considering Regrad spear-headed an operation that saved their race from extinction. Regrad merely said that "People are entitled to their opinion, so I have to go there and find out what it is the people don't like about me, and do my best to fix that."

Regrad has almost total support from the military of Azguard, and as this is peace-time ex-soldiers who served under him are providing a vital grass-roots base.

One more shocker was the thought amongst Azguardians (represented by Kraken) that Regrad was incompetant. This group of the population consists mostly of those who take only a passive interest in politics, whereby one vicious commerical or attacking pamplet can form their entire political opinion

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Renzoukan, another fairly strong contendor, fought hard to keep her image clean and fiery this week, when it was revealed she avoided military service in both the First and Second Krakken Wars by joining a national guard unit.

However, she was able to recover quickly by pointing out her volunteering for the front-line post at the First Battle of Hurok. This was seen as a wise political move, but the delay cost her. She was stuck on Azguard for the week but continued a good, strong show of strength by attending many events and traveling as "fast as a wild-fire." She answered every question fired at her, especially on the issues.

"Meat-eating?" A hot topic on Azguard, after liberal activists released the shocking Red-Rum report, revealing extensive intelligence lobes found in every animal. "Well, just because our ancestors did it doesn't mean we have to. I think, in this time of miraculous technology, we could easily live without having to kill for food. A guilt-free dinner can still satisfy, we just need a little government funding for it to get synthetic meats going."

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After an unusual incident, covered in secrecy, wind candidate Kree dropped out of the race. When asked why she simply responded "I don't want to talk about it".

Having a heavily fluctuating power-base of voters means her removal will have little effects on the polls, however she will be sorely missed by the other Azguard candidates who described her as "An agreeable woman. She would do what was required of her always."

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Moro is quickly climbing the ladder, doing well by appointing members across every world and every city. Building a lot of momentum in his first week and going on to build yet-more now, he is seen as a mighty opponant.

The Galactinization issue is climbing fast, and Moro is wisely fanning the embers. He was quoted on the issue:

"When I was twelve, My Dad worked one job, my mom worked one job, none of my brothers had to work, and we were considered to be really well off. The same amount of work today will leave you struggling to make ends meet even in the lower-middle class braket. All these new taxes and tarrifs to maintain an army we need never use? Let's start breaking it down, and use the freed up money to hire more negotiators, more diplomats, and give the rest to the people. I think that could help things out a little, don't you?"

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Ioa continues his relaxed campaign approach by making an equal visit to each of the three voting worlds of the Azguard Sector. He continues to preach peace-through-relaxation, a political opinion that revolves around the economy and making friends with people.

A big issue to him is the Economy. With the Azguard economy now precariously balanced on the precipice of disaster from its' currently-lofty standpoint, he attacked Kyric and Regrad as "Play-Generals", using people, who trust them with control of their nations, to fuel their need to conquer and fight.

"It makes them feel like big men" he says to a tightly-packed auditorium "swaggering around, for all the world to see, like peacocks, showing off military victories and trophies like feathers. I won't stand for this sort of thing, and none of you should too. The people - you and me - don't care about how an Emperor a million light years away treated people forty years ago. We care about who's going to look after our kids."

He was sitting down to eat dinner at quite a fancy resturant on Azguard itself. Catiously looking over the menu, he saw a few deliciously sounding meat entrees, but he could not eat them. He would not. One of the keys was to appeal towards the people, the people were Vegetarians. So he would be too. He had ordered meat products off of all his ships in the system, subduing his men to join his ways.

Suddenly, in the drop of a fork, half a dozen popurattzi and reports swarmed around Kyric Zen and his table. Holo-cams and still-cams were flashing with lights, reporters blurted out question and question, not waiting for response. The Admiral knew this would happen. He hadn't made any sort of public campaign this week, namely to try to hone down his campaign platform.

"What's your policy on meat-eating?"

"Is child labor good?"

"Where are you from?"

"How many lovers have you had?"

"Hold on!" Zen finally boomed at them, "One at a time, starting from the left and I will answer all your questions."

"Pico Sun, Azguard Inquirer, How many lovers have you had?"

"Five."

"Female Humans?"

"Yes."

"Xenophobe?"

"No. Next."

"Your policy on meat-eating?"

"See any meat on my table?"

"No."

"Well there it is, next."

"Child labor laws?"

"Are great. Next."

"Interplanetary policies?"

"Well, a strong defense fleet, competant commanders across the board, a strong diplomatic corps obviously. Negotiations are always more beneficial than brute force. Next."

"Your take on the tomato shortage?"

"Tomato shortage? Where'd you concoct this story? Everyone knows there will always be plenty of tomatos."

(Voters? Helloooooooooo?)