Sometimes events occur between great powers or great individuals that do not shake the foundations of history. Sometimes, there are conversations that go unrecorded or unheard, meetings that produced no scandal nor shock. The exchange of a few words or a brief encounter can fade to the background of history, and leave no lasting trace.

Even for those who believe in fate, destiny, or purpose, they are a reminder that great heroes and villains can still be stripped down to normal beings. They stand as evidence that not every meeting is preordained, not every clash is decisive, and not every move is with purpose - sometimes simple chance plays a hand in the grand affairs of the world. Sometimes a cigar really is just a cigar.

Even in such times as these, whether events are driven by destiny or by the natural evolutionary cycle of thought, there is still the occasional wrinkle, the unexpected bump on the otherwise planned journey. This is one of those times.

Regrad had journeyed far to get to Ilum - the far side of the galaxy offered much in the way of secrecy and safety to hold a grand council. On the way back, however, he travelled relatively alone, for his friends and allies had gone their separate ways to attend to new tasks and assignments. The journey home offered much time to plan, think, and occasionally dream.

He lay still on the sheets, in the darkness, but inside visions danced and faded. It was an experience he had felt before, but always the images were new - he saw a world, more spectacular than any in the Coalition, with spires and towers that dwarfed everything he had ever seen. The sky was awash in ships and airspeeders, the city alive. Flickering images presented green, before coalescing into a park, situated in some public quarter. There, the vision lead him along old benches shaded by drooping branches, before stopping at an old table, rooted in place.

There were two chairs around the old table - one sat empty, and the other held a man he had met really only once in life, and yet every night hunted in his dreams. A solider, a politician, a being that Regrad both loathed and grudgingly respected. Simon Kaine.

Regrad awoke with a start, knocking stacks of paper and datapads from his bedside table and choking back his surprise. "Strange visions..." he muttered, before rising from his bed. "But what do they mean?"

He held his head with one hand, going over them again. The images were clear and crisp, a sure sign that this was no normal dream. Regrad was one to take great caution with signs and portents, but then again, perhaps the stress of the last few days was simply affecting him? For a moment, he struggled in thought as to what to do, before saying "There's only one way to find out..."

Quickly he dressed, and went to the cockpit of his shuttle. Therin two Azguard pilots looked up at his arrival and nodded with respect "We are still far away, sir, there is no need for you to be up."

"I need us to change coordinates, can we do that?" asked Regrad.

"Yes sir, where would you like to go?"

"Zero, zero, zero, if you would be so kind." he said, and waited. The two pilots looked at each other, then looked back at him "Whenever you're ready."

"Uh... sir? Those are the coordinates for Coruscant."

"I know. It is there I must go. I sense there is something of important to be had there." he didn't add that by 'sensing' it, he had in fact just had a dream that he guessed may or may not have been some sort of portent from a higher power. The pilots were Azguards, but even they have their limits.

"Um... well, okay sir. We'll get right on it."



With every step, Regrad grew more confident. If it were not a vision, then he possessed the luck of the gods - one or the other, either way he was in no danger. To think, an Azguard walking on Coruscant? Surely there were those who would have shot him on sight, were he easily recognized, but Corsucant was home to a plethoria of aliens, even during the Empire's rule. All he really had to do was replace his robes of state with his rarely-worn civilian garb, and he was just another strange being on a planet with no short supply of them.

The shuttle had been fortunate and allowed to land, mistaken for some other vessel that had not come. The small customs office outside the tiny landing pad hadn't looked up from his paperwork and hadn't bothered with more than asking for any suspiscious fruits or vegetables. Indeed, with every step Regrad felt this dream was truly to tell him of a preordained meeting.

And there it was, the table.

This region of Coruscant was in its' morning, giving the park a quiet, peaceful feel that Regrad hadn't felt in a long time. Now that he could see it clearly, Regrad also saw that the table had a grid of square arranged eight by eight, and a box attatched underneath suggested pieces. Regrad chuckled at the irony that a vision which lead him to a meeting with a man like Simon should take place at a table of strategy.

With calm and confidence, Regrad took a seat. No one yet sat in the other chair, and though he saw the possibility that his dream was mere imagination - or perhaps worse, an insidious trap laid by Imperial Force users - there was a certain confidence in him. He had yet to be led astray by any vision granted to him. So, in the heart of a hostile world, surrounded on all sides by the very essence of what he fought and what fought him, the Prime Minister of a nation sat waiting.

"I want these aliens skinned alive Supreme Commander!" the visceral voice of a one Daemon Hyfe cut through the silence of mere minutes before. And if there was one man in the galaxy who could make "Supreme Commander" sound like a curse, it was Daemon Hyfe.

Simon Kaine had barely entered the room when the order had issued forth and not for the first time, Kaine was reminded that his Emperor was a force users.

And not long ago a slave to the spirit of Palpatine... or something close to it.

"Still not over the call for our civilians to revolt?" Kaine casually asked the only other soul in the room, a Grand Moff Azrael Zell.

"Fuck no." Zell muttered.

"Kaine! You allowed these aliens to surrender rather than have me take my revenge out of their pitiful hides!"

"Somehow, I do not think you pity them.." the Supreme Commander said dryly taking the liberty of pouring himself a drink that Zell already had in hand.

The Grand Moff chuckled at that. "Still, it doesn't say much of your strategy to simply wait for them to rearm and simply attack us all over again. Especially when we could have finished them once and for all just like the Sovereignty. And word on the streets is that those old Sovereignty is up to something.."

"They are part of the Coalition now.." Kaine corrected and Zell snorted.

"I don't give a shit if they call themselves the Peace Brigade. The point is the Coalition let all the old Sovereignty cronies have their same jobs and titles they might as well have a faction within a faction!"

"What?" Kaine asked putting a stopper back in the liquor bottle. "Afraid that the Coalition or Sovereignty will come back to destroy us?"

"Don't be absurd!" Zell snapped and Hyfe scowled.

"We have enough ships to hold a war on six different fronts and supply them for extended operations. Why don't we use them?"

Now it was Kaine's turn to chuckled. "Do you believe in the Coalition ideology?"

"What?" Hyfe nearly yelled. "Of course not!"

"So, then. Given time, their own government will collapse on itself. We all know this. It happened with the New Republic and it will happen sooner or later with the Coalition. Democracies do not last! They corrupt themselves and end up becoming a version of that which they hate the most."

"Us?" Zell quipped.

"My Lord?" a comm channel intruded and Hyfe's scowl turned to the unit.

"Speak!" he ordered.

"I thought you would like to know that Imperial Intelligence has intercepted a Coalition signal. They have declared war on the Dragon Imperium."

Now it was Hyfe's turn to raise his eyebrows and he turned to Zell who glanced suspiciously at Kaine.

"You knew?"

A grin tugged at Kaine's lips. "I didn't know... But if you poke a scared animal long enough, it will lash out."

"And these aliens are fucking animals!" Zell pointed out.

"An attack on Heir Raktus and his precious Imperium." Hyfe mused. "These aliens are insane."

"I keep telling you that, Hyfe!" Zell growled out. "The physiological data on those prisoners alone.. Two fucking brains and they can't ..."

Simon Kaine sighed and left the other two alone to continue their ramblings about galactic conquests amid alien proliferation.

He began to wander and found himself outside the Imperial Sector and Palatial Grounds.

He wasn't sure how long he moved about but he simply took a civilian aircar and let the driver pick a direction, all the while looking out over the Coruscant skyline as he passed various districts.

Imperial Center!

The cradle of civilization itself.

And yet no matter how far he planned and acted on those plans, there were always those who sought to tear down all that he's built.

Tear down the walls of civilization itself in favor of anarchy.


He suddenly remembered about an area with a spectacular view and so he directed his driver.

And soon he found himself staring into the room of a small slender tower. A room with walls and a ceiling of plexiglass, it's lighting fixtures subtly displayed to illuminate rather than shine.

And in the middle of the room was a game board and seated to one side was a sight he never, in all his experience, would have expected to be seated there.

And for a minute, Kaine stood leaning against a door frame contemplating this turn of events.

"I take it you are not here to ask for asylum." he commented dryly, his arms crossed as he leaned in the doorway.

Regrad of the Azguards. The one creature in all the galaxy who could stir up so much trouble and yet walk around as if he had not a care in the world.

Some would call that insane.

Others might call it courage.

Knowing the Azguard, he might simply call it providence from the gods..

The immediate reaction from a very, very small part of Regrad's brain was the desire to leap up and tear out Simon's throat. He didn't doubt that he could, if it were only the two of them standing together in this little room, but consciously Regrad knew better. He'd never make it off Coruscant alive, and besides, killing Simon was not the reason they had been brought here.

Though he hated to admit it, Simon was his best friend and his worst enemy. So long as Simon lived, he knew the true genius behind his greatest enemy would keep them in check. Without Simon, there would be very little to keep the Empire from simply rolling over on to the Coalition. Of course, he wanted to reverse most everything Simon had done, destroy his Empire, and dispell the harsh ideologies that he gave rise to, but there was no other being in the galaxy he could fight and yet still respect.

With a polite nod, Regrad began to take the pieces from the box attatched to the table, and set up sixteen figures for each side. "It's been a while." he replied "I thought it would be good to catch up on things." He gestured for Simon to sit opposite. "I take it such a man as you knows this game? I am no expert, but I'd be honored to play a round with you."

As he arranged the last pieces, he said "A classic, overshadowed in the modern days by newer incarnations such as Dejarik, or simpler card games like Pazaak. Two sides, as different as black and white, night and day, yet they still have the same sixteen pieces each that act the same way and are arranged equally. The only difference besides their shade is the man commanding them." he smiled to the man in the doorway. "Please, take a seat. It's been too long since we last had a chance to talk and play a little game."

He moved a pawn forwards, and leaned back, waiting casually for Simon to speak.

The movement was subtle but the slight extending and retracting of the claws told Simon all he needed to know about the emotional makeup of his adversary behind him. He could slit my throat if he wanted...

..at the risk of everything the Azguard believed in?

..at the risk of everything they considered good in this galaxy?


"Strike me down and your journey to the darkside will be complete.." he murmured rather good-naturedly echoing the old madman Palpatine's dialogue to Luke Skywalker.


No, he knew Regrad would stand by his principles and shake his fist to the air even as his house burned down around him. In a way, even though Simon viewed the Azguard/New Republic hybrid ideology with contempt, he could not help but admire how Regrad stood for what he believed in and remained as unshakable as a rock jutting out of the ocean. It was a stubborn quality that would slow the advancing fall of his democracy and make Kaine's work that much harder. A quality that could be admired in and of itself.

Simon could only stare with calm incredulity as the Azguard went about setting up the game board that was before them. While each of respective government offices sought to bring down the other here they were: seated in the same room about to play a game! A game!


If there was something more surreal, Simon couldn't fathom it.


The Azguard was speaking: "A classic, overshadowed in the modern days by newer incarnations such as Dejarik, or simpler card games like Pazaak. Two sides, as different as black and white, night and day, yet they still have the same sixteen pieces each that act the same way and are arranged equally. The only difference besides their shade is the man commanding them." he smiled to the man in the doorway. "Please, take a seat. It's been too long since we last had a chance to talk and play a little game."


Simon walked over leaving his right hand away from the personal comm on his left arm, curiosity and professional courtesy taking over.


And so Simon sat down finding the chair surprisingly comfortable. As the board was being set up, the Imperial Commander did activate his comm unit then and connect to a local eating establishment that would deliver to their location.

He didn't think Regrad would come all this way only to let himself lose to Simon in a game of strategy so he figured, if they were going to be there a while, why not make the most of it?

"Refreshments and a Catering Crew will be over at some point." he murmured looking at the standing pieces.


A slow grin spread across his face and a feeling he hadn't shared since the Academy overcame him. "I see you left me black." An eyebrow rose.


Black. The identifier of evil for most holonet dramas.

White. The quintessential good.


As he settled in his chair, his eyes regarded the Azguard with curiosity. "You know, Prime Minister, that is an interesting choice you made for your side. White. Most so-called noble democracies have white in their flag. The 'good guy' connection, or, in your case, the 'light side' connection.

But if you were to invest in this ideological inference, take another look at the fundamentals of this game:

My side (evil) cannot act until your side (good) moves. And if I cannot act until you move, it makes one wonder: Can evil move and exist at all without action from your side?

And so you move. Prudence demands then that I move to counter. But you call me evil and call down hate upon my moves irregardless of what motivated those moves."


As he talked, a hand moved across the width of the board poised over the row of pawns as if wondering which one to call to action. As with all things, as with all strategies great and small, they are set in motion by the simplest of acts.

He picked a pawn on the edge of the board and drew it forward.

"Another odd observation: strip away those same ideological nuances to the game, strip away the labels of black and white... and ever piece, yours and mine, are exactly the same.

And so, if deep down, we are all the same, and wars are started because of ideology, why then are you moving? Why take the move if you know our ideologies will trap us into conflict?"


Regrad's large luminous eyes regarding the Imperial as another soft grin lit his features.

"It is because it is in the rules. Perhaps you act to precipitate war because it is a written rule within your DNA?"


Simon chuckled lightly at the allusion drawn from such a simple game of combat strategy.

"Well, if we're going to talk about who strikes first, maybe you should be playing white." said Regrad. "Whatever natural impulses force these two sets of pieces against each other seems to be playing out once more, and I am curious as to why you chose to make your first move." He might as well launch the direct questions now. As Regrad scanned the board, he said "When we last met... I recall some vague assurances on both our parts to avoid further conflicts - which I admit now is somewhat of a pipe dream. I heard Telan reacted rather poorly after his defeat at Tynna, and I've heard very little out of Drayson after the test-run failed over Bimmisari."

Simon was a difficult one to judge - risen from the ranks, mysterious past, unassuming appearance, shifting rhetoric, quiet demeanor. Regrad wondered what would happen if he were pushed? On a national level, pushing Simon meant he pushed back, and with overwhelming force. But then, how much did he believe? How much did he know? How much was a show for his Empire, and how much did he hide? Curiosity gnawed at his thoughts.

Seemingly satisfied with a course of action, Regrad moved one of his Knights forward, passing beyond the safety of the wall of pawns. "The situation has, of course, escalated rapidly from there. At this point, there may well be no turning back - not for the pawns, at least. They can only ever go forwards." he chuckled, and sighed.

"I've heard the party line, of course. Tynna was in response to us allowing pirates through our space, and Bimmisari was to prove we had violated the treaty and built stealth ships. I can see why both missions would require, say, a fully armed warfleet."

As Regrad watched Simon's next move, he said "What game are you playing at?" Wether he was reffering to the chess game or not was left open.

"Well, if we're going to talk about who strikes first, maybe you should be playing white." said Regrad.

Simon smiled at the testiness of the alien seated across from him and spread his arms wide, "Ahh.. my Azguard friend. You never gave me the choice.."

"Whatever natural impulses force these two sets of pieces against each other seems to be playing out once more, and I am curious as to why you chose to make your first move."


"Oh come now Regrad. We both know that you've hurled your pieces towards my line. I cannot stop that. I cannot change that. At best, I can only meet it and if I have the choice, I will meet it as far away from my lines as I can. Hence, my movement."

"When we last met... I recall some vague assurances on both our parts to avoid further conflicts - which I admit now is somewhat of a pipe dream. I heard Telan reacted rather poorly after his defeat at Tynna, and I've heard very little out of Drayson after the test-run failed over Bimmisari."


Simon's grin almost became laughter.

Yes, his Azguard friend was testy indeed!

"Peace is never a pipe dream, Regrad. But you have to admit, at the time, we were coming out of a most devestating war. We both would have promised our first born to stop it at the time. And besides, it's not as if we both do not have our respective spies in each other's camp nowadays."


And enlightenment fell upon Kaine as he realized the true source of Regrad's angst. Not that the angst the alien showed this time was any different from his regular display of angst.

Tynna and Bimmisari were the culprits! The old puss is sour about those!


As the alien studied the board for a while, a look of satisfaction crossed over and he moved one of his Knights forward, as if unsatisfied with the progress of the pawn and wanting to move something..anything.. to the fore immediately.


When Regrad was in angst he became impatient. And when he became impatient his moves became more impetuous.

And impetuous people make mistakes.


"The situation has, of course, escalated rapidly from there. At this point, there may well be no turning back - not for the pawns, at least. They can only ever go forwards." he chuckled, and sighed.

"I've heard the party line, of course. Tynna was in response to us allowing pirates through our space, and Bimmisari was to prove we had violated the treaty and built stealth ships. I can see why both missions would require, say, a fully armed warfleet."


Simon's expression became serious, knowing Regrad was still smarting over the incidents. "I am glad you can see why both missions would require fully armed warfleets. I truly am." he replied, knowing he was deliberately misinterpreting Regrad's comments.

"The galaxy is a dangerious place. Imagine how much worse the damage would have been inflicted on Desaria had he not had the ships he did?"

He chuckled a little at the look Regrad handed him. His gloved hand waved away the expression, "Do not give me 'party line' references. We both know that it is a prickly sort of honor Desaria wears on his sleeve. If I had gone public acknowledging a defeat, he would have fallen on his sword or attacked Tynna again to salvage his reputation."

Kaine quirked an eyebrow at the Coalition Prime Minister. "I do not think you would have liked that. And I would prefer he not disembowel himself at the Imperial High Command Tower. So, yes. I came up with a party line that salvaged his honor and kept Tynna safe from reprisals."

"Besides, you are all about racial equality. Desaria's fleet is the most integrated of all our forces and he commands their loyalty. To destroy Desaria is to move away from fleet racial integration, not a move I am sure you would support. So I will take his life and his service and use them, mistakes and all, for the greater glory of the Empire."

Simon began to scan the board giving the impression that he was talking absentmindedly.

"And as for Drayson? The New Republic really gave us a boon with their bumbling with Drayson. She saw an opportunity and took it. As it turns out, it didn't pan out but not for lack of trying."

At Regrad's expression, Kaine's eyes narrowed. "These incidents were at the behest of the individual military commanders and small scale in comparison to all out war. It should indicate to your military intelligence, if the Coalition had any, that the Empire was not desiring a war but working to promote their advantage. The fact that you want to go to war over this only makes you look petty."

Before Regrad could explode, Kaine calming ticked off his fingers.

"Are you going to tell me, Mr. Prime Minister, that the Coalition does not have
military leaders who go out and act on their own. Actions that may cost the lives of those you ideologically consider your enemy? Or actions that you might consider a mistake or just plain stupid?


Quite frankly, I am surprised Jan Dodonna hasn't been shot by you. I am even more surprised he still holds a high rank despite his inept fumbling."

Simon's expression turned somewhat jovial, "But then again, democracies are all about whose fingers are greased and who you know to help you keep power."

Kaine's mind went back to a report of the destruction of a hidden prison facility and the loss of an Imperial Star Destroyer. He could not prove it but his inner sense told him the unblinking alien friend across from him had been behind it.

He felt a grudging respect deep within and he spoke quietly, "In any event, you take your own secret military action against us that cost us lives but you do not hear us shouting over the holonet for war." His grin showed teeth, "We know you do not desire war but were only looking to increase your advantage."

He held up his hand, "Fine. No more party lines." and his eyes returned to the board.

So he's moving his larger pieces..

"What game are you playing at?"


As he moved another pawn up in support of the first creating a diagonal line of mutual support, he glanced back into the questioning eyes of his adversary. The question was loaded even if innocently offered.


"I believe that your way of life will eventually dissolve (with or without our help). I believe your way of life gives people false hope for a better future but then charges them with the task of creating that future. Altruism is not it's own reward, Mr. Prime Minister, and the ship of democracy is sinking. Has been since the days of the Old Republic. All you are doing is bailing out water and it is my job to make sure your sinking ship does not run into us pulling us down with you. The longer it takes to sink, the more pain your people will needlessly suffer and the more damage we all incur.

So a doomed species? How do they react? Glumly go down with the ship? Fruitlessly but no less intensely fight to prevent the inevitable? Or strike out to take as many down with you as possible?

The Old Republic has failed. The New Republic has failed. The Sovereignty and New Alliance have failed. And now, this Coalition of yours?

What has been your track record so far?

And you ask me what game am I playing?"

As the game continued, Regrad advanced another pawn, and said "Tell me, Simon - have you lived in a true democracy before? Have you ever been 'free'? Lived in a free society? Let's not argue semantics, I ask, have you ever experienced that which you decry? You'll find that people are much the same, live similar lives, and so forth. We do not, on the whole, do a lot of sinking. A society can be destroyed because some other nation is better at waging war, but that does not mean the entire societal concept must be flawed."

The board was becoming a battlefield. The once neat, equal lines had advanced and become distinct as pieces crossed along the board. With his hand on a knight, he said "What you said has some truth, however. The attack on Teth has resulted in war with the Black Dragon Empire. Unlike you, they offered no excuse whatsoever, making war inevitable - nay, necessary. So perhaps there is some truth to your explinations, although I will say that it might have been a damn sight easier for us all if they hadn't attacked in the first place."

After Simon went, he moved the knight towards the edge of the board. "In a place with no cameras I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on this turn of events, with the Dragons. Approve? Disapprove? Have you taken interest in a side, or are you just hoping for mutual destruction?"

Regrad tilted his head for a moment as he appraised Simon "No, the simple solution wouldn't be the sort you'd take. I imagine you've chosen which of us you wish to see win, and why."

That was one of the things Regrad knew for certain - whatever his plan, it was something he couldn't possibly fathom, and seemed to involve a great deal of pawns. Then again, so does mine.

"I should think you'd think well of them - do they not follow your vision of the authorative Empire as the superior form of government? I can attest that they take nothing from any of my philosophies of government."

"Tell me, Simon - have you lived in a true democracy before? Have you ever been 'free'? Lived in a free society? Let's not argue semantics, I ask, have you ever experienced that which you decry? You'll find that people are much the same, live similar lives, and so forth. We do not, on the whole, do a lot of sinking. A society can be destroyed because some other nation is better at waging war, but that does not mean the entire societal concept must be flawed."

Simon Kaine's eyes never left the board but his mind was searching his memory and he found that he had never lived in a democracy. Freedom however?


Freedom was a concept.

"I would say that I have freedom here." he said spreading his arms.

"You know, it's ironic. As much as I decry democracy, even more you decry our Empire. But you seem to forget it was democracy that voted in the Empire. It was democracy that put Palpatine on the throne. I've seen the holos of cheering masses and throngs, shouting their support all over the Senate Chambers.

So when you decry my Empire, you also decry the democracy that gave life to the Empire.

Those political fools of your great democracy gave away their government!"


Simon looked straight at Regrad as the board movement was made.

"And the Coalition was fully prepard to do it again! Remember when your government put the call out for anyone and everyone to run for office to head up your great nation!" Kaine's words sounded bitter. "As I recall, Kyric Zen made quite a great many inroads and your polls showed many in your population agreed with him. It is funny that you should bring up this impending war. For you are warring against he whom you would have have set up as leader of your great miserable democracy.

Democracy is the shield that stupidity hides behind.

Democracy put a madman on the Imperial throne.

Democracy would have put your current enemy on your throne.

And now that you are at war, what are the people who voted for this Farfaleen leader supposed to think and believe? Your democracy has created divisions and inroads by an opinionated people that are not smart enough to lead themselves."

The heat left Simon's face and he sighed to himself.

"So, yes. Your ship is sinking. You just don't know it or turn a blind eye to it and it's not because the other person is better armed. It is because it doesn't work!"


While Regrad was moving some smaller pieces, he seemed to favor the Knight as his clawed hand picked the piece.

"What you said has some truth, however. The attack on Teth has resulted in war with the Black Dragon Empire. Unlike you, they offered no excuse whatsoever, making war inevitable - nay, necessary. So perhaps there is some truth to your explinations, although I will say that it might have been a damn sight easier for us all if they hadn't attacked in the first place."

Kaine chuckled. "Really, Regrad. The great diverse democracy could not figure out that your call over the holonet to the Dragons to forsake their religion would be met with hostility? I am amazed you mentioned them at all in your discourse. They closed their borders and were content to rot behind them for all we cared! But you had to stir up their religious fervor and now there is war. If anyone should have suspected an extreme reaction from a bunch of religious fanatics, I would think it would have been you! Don't you always talk of racial and cultural insight and enlightenment? Did you not know how a species whose thinking is as alien to you as yours is to me would react? The war was a result of Teth. Teth was a result of your great disparaging of the Dragon religion."


And it was Kaine's turn to sound confused. "Frankly, Regrad, I do not understand you religionists. What do I care if the Dragons choose to worship the former President of ID Tech, a notorious sex toy maker, and his idiot wife, Jade Doment?"

His eyes hardened. "And what do I care if, for all your talk of freedom and democracy's glory, you choose to give up your free will to follow some energy being? Take a look at our game board, Regrad. All the pieces look alike but for color!

When it comes down to it, the Coalition is not a democracy. If given a choice to follow the will of your god or the will of the people, whose will you choose?"

He said grimly, "I am sure we both know the answer to that."

Then softly, "..and that makes us more alike that you realize."


Looking at the board, he saw that he had two diagonal lines jutting from the middle to the edges of the board. Protected flanks of pawns. While Regrad's side seemed a mish-mash of pawns he saw the Azguard's claw flicker over his Knight once more.


"Still," Kaine commented, "Religion does have it's uses." Thinking back to the creation of the Citadel, the Empire's official state religion, he nodded toward his Bishop slightly.

The Knight had succeeded in penetrating the line of pawns, taking advantage of the gap between the 'power pieces' and the rear pawn line.

In a few moves, the Emperor would be threatened. Kaine mused. Not a bad thing if it were real.


"You are always trying to get inside of the Empire, Regrad." Kaine's lips compressed as he thought, "You could always petition an audience with the Emperor instead of sneaking around, you know."


The Knight was behind the lines but it was not a threat to the leadership. At least not now. But it would. And, if left unchecked, it would destroy his own Knight or other power pieces.


"In a place with no cameras I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on this turn of events, with the Dragons. Approve? Disapprove? Have you taken interest in a side, or are you just hoping for mutual destruction? No, the simple solution wouldn't be the sort you'd take. I imagine you've chosen which of us you wish to see win, and why."


Simon tore his gaze from the board and looked into Regrad's questioning face. At least what passed for a questioning face on an Azguard.


But there was something else there too. Faint. Vague.


"Were there something more at stake than Dragon and Coalition honor, I might look to a side. But there is no gain here for us other than the mutual destruction both of you will inflict.

Don't mistake sophisticated planning for sophisticated motive. My motives need not be complicated.

I want what you want. I want order. I want peace.. I want to one day, retire and settle somewhere peaceful without the advent of some enemy fleet coming into orbit blowing us to hell and gone."

I would destroy you as you would destroy me. But... I wouldn't like it.

His eyes lowered to the Knight.

It was unsupported. The bane of the Coalition strategy.


"You put too much confidence in your meddling White Knights.." Kaine said in measured tones, moving his religious piece, a Bishop, over to remove the offending white presence.


"I should think you'd think well of them - do they not follow your vision of the authorative Empire as the superior form of government? I can attest that they take nothing from any of my philosophies of government."


Kaine's eyes narrowed in anger. "Then it goes to show that you still do not understand us. And how can a person make policy against those he doesn't understand?"


And isn't that the framework for all my strategies? Understanding your enemy.


His eyes sharpened and he allowed a feral grin to show. "I'll make a deal with you, Regrad. You launch your Jedi contingent against the Dragons heedless of the risk to them... remove the need for us to have our own force uses and I will remove them from the board.

Then you and I will not be bound by any distinctions of 'lightside or darkside' and we will be rid of this insipid religion once and for all!

What do you say?"

The smile Regrad returned was a far softer one than the one sported by his fellow player. With deliberate slowness, he lifted his queen and cut through his supposedly random line of pawns, and safely removed the bishop from the game.

"I'd say that I agree with your previous statement - religion has its' uses, moreso when it is alive." So, he'll show a little anger when provoked? Perhaps he is more mortal than he would let on. "As for the Empire, I find it is always sampled best from the shadows than the higher circles of diplomacy, for we find so much more compelling sights there." The smile went a little sharp at the end, before he dropped it, examining the board for any flaw in strategy.

"Your strategy is, as always, rock solid. A reliable foundation, I see, immune to frontal attack. I wonder, however, if there is not a weakness you haven't conisdered. What of succession?"

Another pawn made a move towards the solid walls Simon had built. "Democracy has its' flaws, but at least I have confidence that were I struck down here, or on the way home, or anywhere else, the people could choose my replacement quickly - even in a state of war, the Coalition is made to hold together without its' head. As I understand it, there are a half-dozen presumed heirs to the Empire, including Zell, Lupercus, Drayson, and most notably yourself.

"The Empire is as solid as a rock when built around the will of one man, true, but without that one man an Empire burns faster than any democracy." Regrad moved his other knight out, his lines in stark contrast to the neat order of Simon. "The two Empires of the galaxy were both rumoured to be wielders of the dark side of the Force, as well - so tell me, just what is it that makes you so different from the combined theology and tyranny of the Black Dragons?"

Provocation. A crude tactic, but Regrad wondered if he'd ever actually made Simon mad? He seemed one quick to condemn fanatic, the devout, or believers, yet he didn't see his following of the Empire could be just an extension of the same?

The more Simon spoke, the more Regrad wondered by what poor fate the two were enemies - a sane, rational man simply flying in the opposite direction to him. A memory flickered up at the devastation he had witnessed at the battle of Corellia, and a slightly more grim expression set in to Regrads' face. Unfortunate or not, it was reality, and he was better not to forget it.

"I'd say that I agree with your previous statement - religion has its' uses, moreso when it is alive."

"As long as it has served it's purpose during it's lifetime, what do I care the length of that life? Something else will take it's place soon enough."


And that is what you do not realize about the Empire. There is always something to replace its tools.


Simon watched the movement of the queen as it removed his bishop and his mind ventured back to a few years past. "Just what does this queen signify?"

He looked up to Regrad, his angry countenance of before fleeting. "One wonders if women have any rights in your vaunted democracy, Mr. Prime Minister. The Empire has changed in that regard realizing the exceptional ability of the women found in the Empire. Admirals and Grand Moff's they are. But where are your high ranking women?"

His lips pursed in a smirk, openingly teasing his opponent, "Or are they at home tending Azguard babies, content to pop out more soldiers for the Coalition meat grinder and wars?"

He moved his own knight, representing shadowy organizations such as ISB, Imperial Intelligence and the minions of Isard, COMPNOR or other agency designed to strike from areas least expected. The dark guards of a shadow world of intrigue and espionage.

The queen's life was short.

And in removing the queen, his mind thought back to those women he'd used and those who hated him.

Jenice Arliss, whom he used on more than one occassion to do his bidding opposite other corporate moguls like Seth Vinda and organizations like Cryonics Industries. She was his trump card in curtailing the ambitions of her father, Seamus Arliss.

The Lady Tabriss that Imperial Intelligence had interviewed to push the self proclaimed Emperor Chaddwick Fearsons to the point of rash action. The man had become unglued and had, in a fit of rage, declared war.

Thinking of the Jutraalian moved his mind to remember his encounter with the woman of the lost soldier after his attack on Togoria. An attack that cut off the Jutraalian fleet from reinforcing the Jutraalian Death Star under attack from TNO and allied forces of the time. He remembered her son playing with toy figures of Jutraalian and Imperial soldiers and the look in the woman's eyes as if Kaine were to blame for all the evils that they experienced.

Thinking back to the strategy that was enacted to take the Jutraalians by surprise and smash their empire once and for all, perhaps, in a sense, she was right.

How many other women of lost soldiers look at me with such hatred?

And yet, how many on the Imperial side, mothers, daughters ... look to their enemies, these coalitions of alien races, for exactly the same reason?

Queens indeed.

"Democracy has its' flaws, but at least I have confidence that were I struck down here, or on the way home, or anywhere else, the people could choose my replacement quickly..


"Sure," Simon readily agreed. "They'd probably vote for Kyric Zen. Or perhaps Jan Dodonna may replace you at which point, how long till he trades worlds for political security? Yes, your democracy is in excellent hands should you die."

He wondered if the sarcasm was lost on the Azguard. They did tend to be earnest about such things.

"Myself, Lupercus, Drayson and Zell..and perhaps others are persons of differing abilities. And you are correct in commenting about the way the Empire used to be designed. Around one man. We saw in Palpatine the danger in that and so now the Empire has redundancy behind redundancy built into its political and power structure to ensure that should the head be cut off, the body continues living."

"Don't you remember our last talk, Prime Minister? Rather than around a person we set up the power of Imperial Institutions around Imperial Law. Remove the head and there is still Law to govern and dictate our next move. The bureacracy will not falter and when protected by a skilled military, it will not totter."

Simon saw Regrad go for his other Knight.

"And as for this 'darkside', I've already told you. I do not care for force users but as long as you employ them as the New Republic once did, I am compelled to match their power with force users of my own. They are a necessary evil I must contend with. But the Sith are kept in check by our Jedi Corps.

And as for what makes us different from the tyranny and theology of the Dragon Imperium? We aren't a tyranny. Just like you, we have leaders that simply do the best they can in less than ideal circumstances. Will they make mistakes? Sure. Our government is not perfect. But then, neither is yours. We can only do the best we can with what we have. We deal with outside pressures and internal problems the same as you. We allocate monies and institute order no different than you.

The only difference between the Empire and Coalition (that is of any significance) is that a drunk on your street can determine your faction's leadership whereas ours is determined by he who wields the most ability and promise. Yours is dependent on who scavanges the most money for their election coffers while ours is based on who efficiently and successfully deals with the many issues that come up within our society. To you, people should be free to slit their own throats whereas we feel they should be free to live without being hindered by their own stupidity.

If that makes us evil in your eyes, I am sorry."

Kaine's eyes went to the board and as he picked up a peace to reinforce his line of pawns, he murmured, "I've seen too much in my life to believe in the 'goodness' of man. Sentient beings are a selfish thing and they look to their own interests before any other. Driven by evolutionary imperatives we all realize it is 'survival of the fittest' and, quite frankly, it is one I plan to win. I've seen all too often how trust in another species, if left unprotected, can turn around to stab you in the back. I've seen the destructive power of man's ambition, of man's creative genius to hurt. To kill.

And it is frightening."

Simon's voice became distant. "There was a time when I almost put up my sword. When I turned to trust others to govern while I simply lived. I learned to forget the lessons of hardship and pain that my childhood taught.

I let my guard down."

There was a certain cold calmness that descended over the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Armed Forces.

"It cost me everything." he whispered.

He sat there staring at the board, pushing the memories of the past to the far recesses of his mind and focused once more on the board.

"So I will take the shell of this powerful government. The greatest and strongest government ever created and harness man's creative and destructive energies. I will contain his powerful ambitions and his genius by giving him something to fear.

And I do want them to fear. To fear the price of failure. To fear the price of anarchy. To fear the cost of rebellion and the cost of uncontrolled ambitions.

Your democracy threatens to remove the fear of failure from people. Your democracy would break the chains of accountability and call it freedom. You would put a gun in their hands and 'trust' them to do right by it."


Simon's voice was quiet.

"And unchained, uncontrolled, unprotected from themselves and without any accountability they will act. Only they will act in their own self interest.

And when you have that many people pulling in so many different directions for their own selfish gain, democracy becomes immobilized and will fail. And anarchy will set in to bring about the final collapse.


That is our difference, Regrad. You will put the trust of everything in some unspecified, so-called 'goodness of being'.

I deal with the hard realities of life and dare not take that chance.

Not with so much at stake."