The Rebellion was now a far cry from the group of soldiers that had destroyed the Death Star, the Emperor's ultimate weapon of mass fear. Now, they were a ragtag, bare-bones group, being held together only by the various leaders of the rebel cells.
No one knew why General Hera Syndulla, Hero of the Battle of the Concourse, had called a mass assembly. But she did, and so the vast majority of the Rebel war effort was now standing on a large plateau on some gods-forsaken dust planet in the Outer Rim.
Mon Mothma examined the large hoard of soldiers. Some were depressed. Others, borderline suicidal. Some were considering desertion. Some looked vaguely hopeful. She took solace in that.
"Hera, I don't know what you're doing, but it better work," she said quietly.
Hera took the stage, wearing full combat gear. She called for everyone's attention.
"We come from all over the galaxy. Mid Rim, Inner Rim, Deep Core, Outer Rim, probably even Unknown Space. But we all have one thing in common- we karking hate the Empire. So much so, we made it our full-time job to bring them down.
"I won't lie- the Rebellion has fallen on hard times. We lost our biggest base on Hoth. We have been chased halfway across the galaxy. Some fleets are almost out of supply.
"But, while looking through old records to find something, anything, that might help us out, I found something. It's not a secret cache of supplies. It's not a hidden shipyard. It's not a glaring weakness in the Imperial leadership. It's seven words, but I think they sum up what I want to say here quite well.
"Soldiers of the Rebellion, I give you this quote- When going through hell, keep going, goddamnit."
A massive cheer arose after a few seconds. Hera continued. "And I can tell you, the Rebellion is going through hell right now, and I sure as hell am going to keep walking, because I am fed up with running! We know they're coming to stomp out our hope, but we still have something to fight for, goddamnit! So let's take the fight to them! Tear down their banners! Destroy their barracks! Burn down the Imperial Palace! Because I am done running, and I know you are too!"
Twelve days later, Imperial casualty rates had surged by thirty-three percent.