"Senator, we have an incoming transmission," the young aide chirped.
"I can do without it. The senator of an entire planet, one that has done its damned best to remain unmolested by the Empire for years, no less, has more pressing things to deal with than some trifling transmission."
"But, sir," the aide replied, attempting to maintain tact. "The transmission is from Coruscant."
"Bah, Coruscant. Home of those who are half-men and half-politician. As a senator, I would know."
"From the Imperial Palace."
The senator froze. "Surely, you don't mean to say that…"
"Indeed, sir. It is the Emperor himself."
A look of disbelief marred the senator's boyishly handsome face as the transmission came on.
"Ah, Your Highness. I was certainly not expecting a transmission from you. How may I help?" The senator's voice did not betray fear or disgust at the Emperor's disfigured and grotesque face, marred by an attempt on his life by the power-hungry Jedi. Or so the story went.
The Jedi were a curious sort, the senator decided. Always so committed to traditions and benevolence. But brave and noble. He sobered himself from his reverie.
"You may dispense with your attitudes, senator," the Emperor snarled, his yellowed teeth glinting.
"As the Emperor of the First Galactic Empire, I am ordering you, Senator, to stand down. Your stand against the Empire in the Galactic Senate is heroic, but it is more stupid than it is heroic or brave. It ends now. Submit to the Empire now, or face a fate more brutal than one's cruelest dreams."
Without sparing any expense, the senator snapped. "Never! You are a traitor to whatever principles you claimed to uphold as Supreme Chancellor! The people saw you as a magnanimous figure, but then you turned right back around and subjugated them! Let me remind you that it is I who worked tirelessly to save the galaxy from civil war, only to fall victim to your intransigence! Our people can fight, and they most certainly will once again, if it means preserving our freedom!"
The Emperor gave a thin grin. "Then you will suffer, and so will your people."
The transmission ended. "Prepare our militias for an invasion. We will fight," the senator said to the frightened aide, as he shook his fist. "If it's a fight that the Empire wants, we will most certainly give one to them."