HoloNet News The Empire Still Stands

Fuck. He was doing one of these again. He was tired of his own mug showing up on Holonet. However, people insisted that his face popping up would be a morale boost to the Empire. Altair used to shy away from media, but over the years he had grown numb to most things.

As it had years prior, his face popped up behind a podium as he made an address, “Citizens of the galaxy,” He began, his clipped and formal accent back in place for such a brief, “I am Altair Din, Grand Marshal of the Empire. I have returned to answer the call of duty in the wake of an Empire that has suffered countless aggressions.”

He paused before he continued, “I am here to remind the galaxy that we will not be erased so easily. We have been in the midst of wars on multiple fronts and so will take swift action to mitigate. First and foremost, we hereby declare a ceasefire with the Jedi. With the onslaught of abominations and other such aggressors in the galaxy for which the Jedi are best equipped, the Empire will not engage them on a second front.”


His eyes narrowed as he spoke next, “Secondly, we will stop any further aggression against the Sith. The Empire had removed both Darth Andruil and the entity known as Darth Raze. However, it is clear the galaxy has seen fit to keep us alienated and turn a blind eye to the suffering of our citizens,” Distastes poured into his tone, “We will not clean up the galaxy’s problems any further. Our war with the Sith is over.”

Altair plugged two Imperial bleeding wounds right then, “Through these trying times, let us remember that we stand as one. The Empire has withstood countless threats to its freedom, prosperity and identity. We will weather these storms just as we have during our wars with the Consortium. Just as we had through the schism with the Sith. We will rally and we will hold fast against any that threaten us.”

In the wake of Emperor Drast's death, the Hutts had slimed their way towards massive profits in the underworlds of the Imperial systems. Given a treaty with wide berth and absolute sovereignty in foreign territories, untold numbers of credits from the spice-addled, hopeless and helpless masses of the Empire flowed directly to the Cartel's hands. Gor'Jarr spent the money partying on Nal Hutta, parlaying bets on sports, and arming his trigger-happy Gamorreans to secure the flow of goods within the Empire.

Yet, crisis had not fractured the Empire, as he anticipated. An unexpected variable emerged onto a holo-screen: The Empire's retired Warmaster. Gor'Jarr had expected a break. Intstead, they had hardened under the pressure. The Empire was most powerful as a top-down organization. When they were without a leader, fighting a war on three fronts against Jedi, Sith, and Hutts, as they expanded into neutral space, the Hutts had extensive leverage to use truly bizarre monkeys as an armed force instead of committing their own troops, and negotiate deals to their favor. Now, a leader emerged again, to marshal their forces. Now, the monkeys were dead. Would they turn their sights on the Hutts soon, too?

In a single speech, he ended the wars with Sith and Jedi. His silence on the Hutts was perhaps the loudest statement he could speak: While the Jedi and Sith were the Empire's ideological enemies, it was the Hutts that the entire military apparatus of the Empire would now face. The Hutts had neither morale nor soldiers to fight defensively. Hutts ruled as oppressive, overbearing, foreign tyrants as a matter of principle - if the Empire ever made it into their borders, the populous would greet them as liberators. A terrifying thought.

From within the deep reaches of the endless parties in the pleasure palace of Nal Hutta, Gor'Jarr stewed over all of this as he chomped on his shisha. The loud room had quieted as the holoscreen showed Altair's A toydarian majordomo cackled and jeered at the words of Altair Din, flitting to face Gor'Jarr. "Do these insignificant fools in the Empire think that peace with the Jedi and Sith will stop us? My lord, the Concordant will never be broken!"

Gor'Jarr growled, withdrawing his blaster pistol to execute the sniveling insect to end his prattling. "Ja weemba sa oba. Oka doe bunko ateema." The Hutts needed to re-strategize. The time of slow-rolling was over.

@Sreeya

Alexi sat at the desk in his office in a towering skyscraper on Anaxes, above he could see the sprawling ship construction yards. A flash across the holo screen at the far side of the room caught his attention, he slid a finger along a console on the desk turning the volume up.

He listened as the seemingly now un-retired Grand Marshal began speaking. A smile touched the corner of his lips as he listened. Power was within the Grand Marshal's grasp, and yet he just refused to take it. Why was that? The concept seemed so foreign to him. The young CEO had all the credits he could ever want, power is what he craved now. They called themselves an Empire and yet couldn't find an Emperor among them.

His smile evened slightly as he mentioned hostilities ending with the Sith. One of those deranged lunatics had almost killed him, he would have rather seen every last one of them erased completely from the Galaxy.

In many ways, his horse was already tied to the Empire. Behind-the-scene deals had ensured that if the Empire fell entirely, his business would also fall. Perhaps it was time for an expansion, a gamble to cash in to gain actual influence.

He clicked the button, calling his secretary. He answered back a second later. "Yes sir, Mr Stravos?" the man asked. "Schedule a meeting with the Senator on Raxus." he said.