The Rebel Faction

Marth Meer, Vice-Consul of the Onyxian Commonwealth and Solicitor-General of the Galactic Coalition stepped up to a podium bearing the seal of both the Galactic Coalition and the Onyxian Commonwealth. In front of him hundreds of reporters scurried to their seats as recorders clicked on and began to record and transmit the conference.

"Thank you for coming here today, I'm going to keep my prepared remarks short and then open the floor to questions." Marth paused for a second to collect himself before setting his jaw and staring resolutely ahead at the cameras. "Two weeks ago, there was a vicious and devestating biological attack on the planet of Glee Anselm. A Commonwealth vessel that was in the area received and responded to a distress call from the planetary president. The ship arrived at Glee Anselm to find the planet in chaos with billions dead. The ship began rescue attempts including rescuing one survivor who informed the captain of what had happened. Some time passed and then a Commonwealth military unit began to set up a base on the planet. Later upon the return of the refugees who had managed to escape the planet the unit surrendered the base and are currently being held hostage by the Empire."

As Marth paused to take a sip of water the assembled reporters jumped to their feet screaming questions. Frowning and shaking his head Marth waited until his aides had calmed the crowd before continuing.

"Today, under orders of the Coalition High Command a punative raid was launched, under the command of General Joren Logan. This raid was in response to a number of aggressive acts by the Empire of late including, the attack on the Contegorian Confederation, the unprovoked attack against Coalition forces at Bandomeer as well as the illegal occupation of Bandomeer, the illegal detainment and refusal to release Coalition citizens who are currently being held without charge and the unprovoked and illegal attack against the Bothan people. The Coalition had not reacted in response to all these unprovoked actions all of which were legitimate causes of war. However it was finally decided that the only thing that Daemon Hyfe and Simon Kaine understood was pure force. The Coalition has no intention to occupy Bilbiringi, we believe it is up to the people of Bilbiringi to determine, their own fate. We merely wish to hinder the ability of the Empire to continue their rampant campaign of destruction across the galaxy. There is currently no news on how the raid is faring. I now open the floor to questions."

<b>You mentioned the illegal detainment of Coalition citizens. To whom do you refer?</b>

Here I refer to the Coalition soldiers who as of yet have not been charged with any crime by any court. These are our citizens and they should be released into our care.

<b>A follow up, obviously the Empire will argue that there will be no punishment to any soldiers tha may deserve punishment. How do you respond to that?</b>

First off the Empire has no place in this process. Glee Anselm is an independent planet, they are capable of determining their own fate without the Empire. We propose that an investigative commission be formed comprising a representative of the people of Glee Anselm as well as a Galactic Coalition representative and a representative of a neutral third party, perhaps the Commonwealth. In the meantime any of the soldiers will remain under joint house arrest by the Coalition and Glee Anselm. If the commision determines any wrongdoing was done then there will be a tribunal set up by the same three parties. At the same time as the tri-party investigative force, the Onyxian Commonwealth will conduct a seperate public inquiry into the actions of its soldiers. Depending on the results of this inquiry there may be some court-martials involved. Next Question.

<b>So you're denying the Commonwealth had any involvement in the bio-attack on Glee Anselm?</b>

I know that this was not a sanctioned act by either the Onyxian Commonwealth or the Galactic Coalition. If the bio-attack involved Coalition citizens they are undoubtedly rogue elements. We hope that the commission will provide an answer concerning who fired the bio-weapon. If it turns out to be any Coalition citizen they will of course be offered up for the full justice brough against them by the people of Glee Anselm. Let me make this clear, this attack was a horrendous action, and we condemn it whole-heartedly.

<b>Simon Kaine stated that for the prisoners to be released the Coalition must, recognize the League of Nations, agree not to attack the Empire, have a public court-martial for those responsible for what occured and a condemnation of rogue elements found within the government. Does the Coalition intend to accept these conditions?</b>

We do not know that there are any rogue elements with the Coalition government, nor do we know if any of our soldiers committed an offence. In the Coalition we believe in "innocent until proven guilty" a sentiment I know the people of Glee Anselm share. We cannot in good conscience agree to court-martial people when we don't know if anybody deserves to be. The Coalition will agree that there will be no unprovoked attacks against the Empire. The Empire has done a very handy job in the past of inciting a war and blaming it on the Coalition. I can stand here and swear to you that the Coalition will not launch any unprovoked attacks against the Empire. As for recognizing the League of Nations, we recognize that there is an entity by that name, and that a number of worlds have signed a charter. That is binding only to those worlds and has no effect on the actions of the Coalition or any other neutral world.

<b>Do you forsee the Coalition joining the League anytime soon?</b>

To be honest no. We in the Coalition feel that the Empire has too strong of a hand in the direction fo the League of Nations. Also the League of Nations is an elitist group, designed the protect the interests of the Core Worlds. The Coalition feels that the time of all power in the galaxy being held in the Core Worlds is over. As you all know over the years I've been very involved concerning the Outer-Rim planets banding together, to protect their interests. The vast majority of the people in the galaxy don't live in the Core Worlds. We wish to protect the interests of all of our member planets not just an elite few. That being said I do see merit in an organization involving the Empire and the Coalition as equal partners, to help resolve disputes and to set certain standards of conduct by both parties. The League of Nations however is not that organization. Now I must be off, thank you for your attention. I would like to add that keeping with the Coalition principles of freedom of the press and freedom of speech, we have allowed all of Simon Kaine's, and Azrael Zell's press conferecenes to be viewed in the Coalition, without censorship, though one does hope that Zell will be kind enough to clean up his language for future broadcasts. We hope that the Empire will also follow the principles of freedom that it claims to espouse and allow this press conference to be broadcast throughout their space. Thank you.

It is interesting what it finally takes for them to finally address issues. Marth Meer, Solicitor-General of the Coalition (why the Coalition needs a solicitor is beyond me...especially since they feel people should automatically want to join them because of their...goodness..) tries to sell himself in an attempt to extricate the Coalition from a quagmire of it's own making.


It was a valliant effort but in reality, it would have been better if Mr. Meer had not spoken at all.


Mr. Meer attempted to confuse two separate issues by talking about both the attack on Glee Anselm and their own attack on Bilbringi. It is almost as if Mr. Meer is trying to confirm a connection to these events. A connection made by Supreme Commander Simon Kaine after his announcment revealing that Coalition forces had indeed been found on Glee Anselm. That connection being the fact that the Coalition would look for any excuse to distract the galaxy from their monumental screw up which brings us to Bilbringi. Mr. Meer, at the outset, admitted that they were not trying to take Bilbringi but that it simply was a punitive raid.


Punitive Raid?


Isn't that what the Empire has been doing this entire time?


Contegorian Confederation? Doesn't he mean the Kashan? Or has their organization changed again and we not be informed? An extreme augmentation of military power within a small region of space does not go unnoticed. Just like the Coalition supports punitive raids, so does the Empire and one was launched at Metalorn. What we got was a suprise that these once humble and innocuous alien species were being fully armed and supported, in secret, by the Coalition. The Empire would not have known of the Coalition/Kashan connection without this punative raid or would have found out much later to the distress of the Imperial people after further encroachment.

As for the Bothans, Zell answered that claim brilliantly in his response and it is a dead issue. The Bothans have brought their troubles upon themselves. Still, if the GC wants to support terrorist, then it does shed even more light on Glee Anselm's tragedy.

And if the Empire's occupation of Bandomeer is illegal, the occupation of Glee Anselm by the Coalition is also illegal, thus making the detaining of Coalition forces from the military base (notice how Meer mentioned nothing of the base or of it holding weapons of mass destruction) legal even according to Coalition standards.

If they claim their occupation was illegal, then they have nothing to say about Bandomeer and they lose that excuse for their attack on Bilbringi.

And after all this wavering, they finally admit that there may be rogue elements within Coalition society. But not before insulting the Anselmi and the League of Nations and debasing a cause they should be hailing as one of their own.

This has certainly been a public relations nightmare for the Coalition.

Taken from: On Bended Knee...




"Hello folks.

Groder Stu here of INS. Speaking with retired Grand Moff Zell, who is, despite claims from CCNS, not affiliated with INS.

I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule, sir.."


"Not at all, Mr. Stu. I love the limelight of the press. If I wasn't so good at destroying the Empire's enemies and keeping our great nation safe, I would have probably gone into acting."

Groder chuckled appreciatively. "No doubt the entertainment industry's loss is the High Command's gain."

The INS interviewer suddenly took on a more serious look, "Grand Moff Zell, what can you tell me about this CCNS response to your interview regarding the claims of Solicitor-General Marth Meer?

Moff Zell, shifting in his plush chair, shrugged, "That they don't know the ass-end from the pecker-end of their own government."


"Could you explain?"


"Certainly. You see, Groder, what they are doing is trying to sound smart in a Coalition of dumbfucks and so pick at minutia in an attempt to sound relevant. But I do not totally disagree with these Contegorians. In fact, their justification by quoting some philospher about those who love peace prepare for war is not just good sense, it's an evolutionary imperative of all
reasonably intelligent species. However, what is also common sense and should be a factor in the decision-making actions of reasonably intelligent species is the taking into account of one's environment and in this they fail miserably. It's like they are smart when dealing when their own planet but then, upon spreading out, they turn into idiots and we see this alot with
inexperienced creatures thinking they have a big dick and can play on the galactic field.

First of, as the Galactic Empire, we don't give a shit what people decide to do for their own world. It's when their peckers stiffen and they think they can play at galactic politics by spreading their influence over several star systems. Even that is well and good but if a region not only builds up militarily but expands that military over several systems, they will catch the
notice of the big boys, namely, us.

How do we know if we are expected to 'notice' their buildup or not? Our Ministry of Diplomacy waits for their ambassador, which ironically never comes.

Now, these Contegorian dipshits may say, 'Well, fuck. We were in secret talks with the GC! They didn't tell you?'

Well, we answer that by saying, 'No' and all this confusion leads to Metalorn.

If their idiot citizens seem to expect their government to expand without so much as a 'hey, we're growing here' to the largest fucking galactic civilization ever, then expect to be kicked in the fucking face for their fucking impudence.


Little whining bitches!


We say that we attacked Metalorn because of what amounts to a massive buildup (for them) with a hidden pact with the GC whom we are in a Cold War with. They say they passed Bill 3314 and we should have known about it! I honestly don't give a shit because Bill 3314 is not relevant. They were already arming, in secret talks with GC for supporting their military craft and spreading out without any sort of diplomatic overture before Bill 3314!

If they were going to answer our charge for Metalorn, why didn't they pull a Bill number out of their asses before Metalorn? Because they didn't have any because they thought no one was fucking watching their little shifty snake-oil plots! What fucking Bill number was that, you fact fuckers at CCNS? Forgot to tell us that one didn't you?"


Groder Stu chuckles, "What about this claim that they were making no secret of their affiliation with the Coalition?"


Zell shrugged, "Tell me Groder, on what day did their fucking diplomat arrive? Tell me, Groder. I mean, did I miss it? You can't! Because he/she/it hasn't arrived yet! We received no fucking diplomat from the Kashan when they first ventured beyond their system for political control over others and we received no fucking diplomat when they reoganized into this Contegorian fuckfest and we received no diplomat from the Coalition informing us that they were absorbing these Contegorians into their political structure!

From three fucking agencies! Kashan, Contegorian, Coalition! THREE! And not one word!"


"But..."


"These bastards all whine about potentially being attacked by the Empire. You'd think then, if they were so fucking fearful of this, they'd take measures to ensure that we know officially what is going on with their politics.


But now, they mock INS and Imperial Intelligence as not being on the ball because they failed to officially notify us. Just because a News Agency knows something or an Intelligence Agency knows something, this does not mean it's 'officially known'! That's why their operations are more clandestine in nature. If you do not officially inform us, then we have no option but to
conclude that you do not want us to know and therefore we should act accordingly. Which we did at Metalorn!"


Groder looked at his notes, "While they don't list a Bill prior to Metalorn.."


"..because there wasn't one.." Zell grumbled.


"..they do mention that their joining the Coalition was no secret and took place at Starwind Station."


Zell suddenly began to chuckle. "Tell me CCNS, what the fuck is a Starwind Station and where the fuck is it? I looked at our official galactic map and did not see it." He leaned back in his chair, "I'll even venture a guess as to why you couldn't find it on an official Imperial or official Coalition map!"


"Please.." extended Groder Stu.


"Because it probably is either a codeword or designation of a SECRET FUCKING LOCATION FOR A SECRET FUCKING MEETING!"



"Which has been the Empire's statement this entire time.." concluded the INS man.


"Which has been what we've been fucking saying this entire fucking time! Another one CCNS must have missed in their effort to be so thorough in minutia."


"I am amazed that CCNS took your interview to be INS," Groder admitted.


Zell shook his head, "I know. I was like, I don't even fucking work for INS. I was just being interviewed. 'We do not expound our beliefs'... my ass. Unlike these political novices, our clandestine organizations do not air their findings in public...

I mean, I am sure by reviewing holonet signals, INS or Intelligence may know what brand of underwear Corise Lucern wears, but unfortunately," Zell deadpanned, "I cannot officially acknowledge their existence and therefore an quite within my rights to say he doesn't wear any."

He grinned, "until, at least, such a time as I am officially notified.

Therefore, if the Coalition refuses to acknowledge officially Contegorian recognition and if Contegorians have refused to acknowledge Coalition recognition and if the Kashan have also kept their cocksuckers closed...AND THEY ARE STILL BUILDING UP AND SPREADING, we have no choice but to
act. And we did."


Groder Stu was looking over his notes. "Changing topics for a little bit here, it's interesting to mention that this little confederation was started on the basis of and against those, according to their Pro-Consul..where is it..ahh! And I quote, 'would attempt to banish freedom and oppress our sovereign rights as citizens of the galaxy.' What are your opinions here?"


"First of all, there is no such thing as a galactic citizen. Unless, of course, you are an Imperial citizen."


They both laughed.


"So, more correctly, and I am surprised CCNS didn't correct their Pro-Consul in their ever determined manner to maintain fucking correctness... what their Pro-Consul should have said as to the reason their confederation was started...to stand against those that 'would attempt to banish freedom and oppress our sovereign rights as citizens of the Contegorian Confederation'!

And this Pro-Consul? What was her first act in helping to maintain their freedom and sovereign rights? They bowed before the political government of the Coalition! They accepted the Coalition's money, their aid, their materials and their government. Now, they will also, BY DEFAULT, accept their inept leadership and accept the reprisals such leadership brings!


Since Contegorians, according to CCNS, are so big on free speech, 'where is their outrage for their Prime Minister's call for not only our civilians but the Dragon's civilians to revolt? Where is their fucking free speech about Coalition policy being dictated by religious zealots and Azguard gods? Where are their commentaries about the Dragon War? You know, for a fucking free
speech society, they are ironically quiet."


Groder chuckled a knowing laugh. "Perhaps they are trading political favors to keep quiet?"


"Wouldn't surprise me. Fucking democracy."



"I appreciate your time, Grand Moff. With the attacks on Bilbringi, I know your time is limited."


"My pleasure, Groder. Always nice to be interviewed by someone competent."


Groder turned to the screen.

"Some little advice for CCNS, before you attempt take the moral highroad by giving some pseudo-intellectual response against INS, please know the difference between an interview session and an INS article. That way you don't look like complete morons.


And to Ms. Toymia of Brandenburg, Genon:


You asked a question regarding the reason for a punitive raid. I will tell you:

Whether you officially tell the galaxy your intentions or secretly keep to yourself the decision to join a larger faction and adopt their politics, policies and galactic views, when that faction is the Coalition, you put yourself in a camp led by the alien religious zealots, the Azguards. Since this is a faction that touts to the galaxy that there can be no peace as long as the Galactic Empire reigns, you know there will be war (whether heated or cold) between our two factions. You have put yourself on the other side of the Empire and knowingly. So do not sound all indignant about Metalorn because it could have (and should have) been alot worse. Next time, it probably will be.

When your faction, and the Coalition is your faction, decide to make
our civilians military targets by enjoining them in their maniacle hatred of the Empire, your civilians also become targets. So don't talk to us about the galactic protocols for waging war if your faction also does not follow those same protocols. War is a brutal, ugly thing and it is also something that we excel at. So, please, do not insult yourself by feigning ignorance over Metalorn.

You chose your leaders and your leaders chose the Coalition.

Metalorn was not attacked until then and the attack has made your joining of the Coalition officially public on a galactic scale. This is the venue you play on now by joining galactic politics. You cannot simply sit back and expect the larger governments to care about what happens in your little hick, neck of the woods. You have to make them notice you and if you don't ensure that notice happens diplomatically, I assure you, it will happen militarily.


So while I am glad your astromech knows much about what the hell a Contegorian is, it is largely irrelevant in galactic politics because.. you are not the Contegorian Confederation to the Empire. You are, however, the Coalition. And that was by your choice!

The punitive strike on the Coalition at Metalorn started as a blockade. It was the fact that your convoy ignored our warning fire and tried to slip beyond the blockade like smugglers as well as the entrance of military units that escalated the situation from the peaceful blockade it was to conflict. If memory serves, only one transport convoy was affected and so if civilians on
Metalorn did indeed starve because of that, then it is not the Empire at fault but the faulty resource management of your local government. Cry to them or does your free speech only go in one direction? If so, is it really free?

Do know that Intergalactic traders know the drill when it comes to these types of situations. If they chose to ignore the warning shots then the Empire (or any government) is well within their rights to consider them smugglers and possible combatants.

And as for the Bothans, perhaps you are unaware but they joined an organization called the Diversity Alliance. A terrorist organization on the level of GLF, who, I might add your government and ours were tracking down and destroying. You act like the Bothans are innocent. These animals have persistently inserted themselves into our affairs and now, they too are
courted by your own government. Tell me, where is the ambassador and official notification here?

No. This is yet another attempt of a failing democracy to lower their self righteous stance and accept anyone in their membership who has a hatred for the Empire. It seems to be the only criteria nowadays. Who knows, maybe the GLF will become members of the Coalition along with the Bothans. I mean, it can't be terrorism if it's aimed at the Empire, right?

Hypocrites!

Since you're a novice on the galactic scene, allow me to ask you: where does it say that the Empire answers for the actions of all clones everywhere in the galaxy? Cloning is not exclusively the Empire's and has been in use in the New Alliance (whose leadership went to the Outer Rim Sovereignty (who incidentally were the puppet masters behind the ORS/GC war with the Empire and who now make up the leadership of the Onyxian Commonwealth), it has been in use in the former Jutraalian Empire, the Old and New Republics as well as the Coalition. So next time some clones decide to go on a rampage on some backwater planet, don't be so hasty to call them 'Imperial clones'. For all you know, they are New Republic clones. In any event, if they are rogue, what the hell are you blaming us for?

We aren't blaming the Coalition yet for the damages done at Bilbringi for we have already identified a leadership within the Onyxian Commonwealth that authorizes rogue acts carried out contrary to official Coalition policy. Remember Glee Anselm?


This is Groder Stu, signing off."