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Eriadu Convention Center, Jobal, Palpatine Prime
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Captain Xendor Murp had never been close to combat, despite serving through the entirety of the Empire-Earth War and the years following that conflict. He'd been too young to have served in the Clone Wars, and had only graduated the Imperial Naval Academy on Anaxes three years before the 'big jump'. He'd been arrested by Seco's agents during the short-lived Seco Rebellion which had caused him to miss the career making Battle of the Four Navies which had rocketed so many junior officers into high command.
He instead had thrived inside FleetIntel under the wing of the late Grand Admiral Yutu. It had been one of his deepest regrets that he hadn't been at the Grand Admiral's side during his assassination in order to prevent it, which led to the United Protectorate slipping from the Empire's grasp. Intelligence was like a second skin to Captain Murp, as he loved being in the know of galactic happenings and witnessing the bigger pictures as they unfolded. He chafed when his path to higher command had put him in command of the Star Destroyer Quill. Even though the duty was relatively easy and relaxed since she was the Empress's own flagship and rarely traveled out of orbit of Palpatine Prime, he hated having his world shrunk down to the bridge of a single vessel. He had long resigned himself to not being cut out for FleetOps or FleetCom. When his duty assignment had ended it was with some luck that his old friend and comrade, Admiral Knebler, had resigned his post as head of FleetIntel and taken a new assignment as head of the Mars Squadron, leaving the post open. As one of Yutu's former protégés it hadn't been too difficult to pull the proper strings to secure the assignment. His battle station would always be behind a desk or holoprojector rifling through intelligence reports and he was stang wizard at it.
So it was not unfair to say that following Admiral Gentis into an unfolding terrorist attack was not something Captain Murp was eager to attempt, nor was especially cut out for. Yet, nobody could ever say Captain Murp was not a man who shirked from any duty. And there was no greater duty to a Naval Officer than defending the Empress, the very foundation their society was built upon. Phasma Yos was in danger and Murp did not hesitate to throw himself into the line of fire.
The blaster battle inside the convention center had been surreal. Murp had never needed to push a blasting stub as the Royal Guard and Death Troopers did most of the work in dispatching the terrorists. The enigmatic vigilante, the Mynockian, had made an appearance and cleared a barricade which had allowed the Royal Guard to reach the Empress in time. A part of Murp wanted to stick around and bring in RUSSO droids to investigate for clues to the Mynockian's identity, but that amazing appearance was almost the least interesting thing that had occurred since he had arrived at the Eriadu Convention Center.
The rapid pace of the light fight had been a blur of sound and fury. Much like his years under the Grand Admiral, Murp had yielded to Admiral Gentis's leadership during the fight. A great terror had seized him during the rush up the tower's stairs. He had already lived through one assassination of an Emperor. He didn't want to even contemplate surviving another. Whatever fear the intelligence officer might have felt, whether out of concern for the life of the crown or his own, had melted when they had breached the Empress's changing chamber and found her and two of her younglings safe with the last of the terrorists dead by her own hand.
While Admiral Gentis and the Royal Guard had assessed the Empress for injuries while urging her to vacate this location for a less compromised location, a move Captain Murp wholeheartedly agreed with, his secure comlink chimed. Excusing himself, he stepped aside to take the message. He pulled one of his two code cylinders from his rank insignia and inserted it into the end of his comlink. A message from FleetOps came in on the highest priority comm channel the Imperial Military used.
AIR RAID NAL KUAT. THIS IS NO DRILL
Murp barely had time to suck in an astonished breath. Half the heavy ships of the entire fleet were stationed at the ring driveyard of Nal Kuat. Another message flashed on the screen.
TORPEDO ATTACK LAUNCHED AGAINST SD ROW. SEVERAL SHIPS HAVE BEEN HIT. ABANDON SHIPS ORDERS ISSUED FROM SIX SHIPS. SECOND WAVE OF ATTACKERS CURRENTLY INBOUND.
Murp's lips were trembling when he turned back to the Empress and the Admiral. Their faces slowly drained of color as Murp informed them that the fleet at Nal Kuat had come under surprise attack and was apparently suffering heavy damage even as they spoke.
"This was a diversion." Empress Phasma looked around at the fallen terrorists around her.
"I disagree, Your Majesty. This was a decapitation." Gentis declared.
"That makes the most sense, Your Highness." Murp agreed with the Admiral. "Any force capable of launching an attack on Nal Kuat would need to be strong enough to back it up. Strength like that could only be meant for one thing; war. If they had managed to take you out, I don't know how the Empire could have continued long enough to strike back."
Murp actually had a good idea of what would have occurred if the Empress had been removed. Prime Chancellor Runnerz would have been hard pressed to keep his political rivals from launching an all-out civil war for control of the Senate. The various arms of the military would take sides backing whichever Moff promised them the most while the Royal Guard would do whatever they could to insure the survival of Phasma's three offspring which probably included assassinations up and down the Bloodstripe Run. Phasma was the glue which held the 2nd Galactic Empire together and without her the only thing that would remain would be . . . chaos.
But one thing was assured. With Phasma on the throne, the Empire was tougher than durasteel.
"Paladins, take me and the younglings to the palace. Have the Prince Consort and Princess Avena brought to the bunker there." Phasma told the Royal Guardsmen. They didn't quite lay their hands on the Empress but by the way they crowded in on her from behind they got her to start moving towards the doorway.
As they moved she turned back to the two Naval officers. "Admiral, return to the Ares. Order the rest of the fleet to rendezvous with your ship outside of any occupied system. I do not want your ships to draw attacks on any civilian population centers."
"Aye, aye, Your Highness." Gentis saluted. "At your leave."
"You have it. Now go. I'm sure the Rhombus will send you rendezvous coordinates within the hour or I will know why." Phasma dismissed Gentis who excused himself and ran ahead of the royal body guard.
Phasma looked around to her younglings which had both been picked up by a Guardsman who carried them down the stairs. Assured of their safety for the moment she leaned towards Murp following just outside her circle of guards. "Captain Murp, you will accompany me to the palace. I need someone who knows what the kriff is going on."
"Of course, Your Highness." Murp would have preferred returning to his station in the Command in Control center of the Rhombus located only a few kilometers away from the Yos Palace. FleetIntel, Com-Scan, FleetOps, Imperial Security Operations, and the Admiralty were all stationed there and would have access to information as it arrived from Nal Kuat. He punched in a command on his comlink for his subordinates to dispatch his encrypted lightpad to the palace immediately and that all intelligence reports were to go through him there before they were disseminated to the fleet.
Instead of a shuttle a heavily armored ITT hovered in front of the convention center. Royal Guardsmen piled into the transport and pointed their blasters out of the blasting slits. They surrounded the royal family. When Murp attempted to board the vehicle he was pushed back by a large Guardsman who pointed at two identical transports behind the Empress's. Murp nodded that he understood and boarded one of the other ITTs for the short journey to the palace.
The transports glided away from the convention center in a motorcade protected by Jobal Guard units in police cruisers and scout troopers who raced ahead to block traffic with their speederbikes. Speed limits and traffic signals were ignored as they raced through the capital.
A Stormtrooper in Murp's ITT was more amicable to allowing Murp to peek out of his blasting slit than a Royal Guardsman would have been. The Intelligence officer looked out at the city as it went past. It was largely the same metropolis it had been when it had woken up this morning. Blissfully unaware of the tragedy that was unfolding on the other side of the Empire.
Much of the populace were outside. Probably discussing the report and sound of the bomb that had exploded inside the convention center several minutes ago and the large volume of police and military activity that had followed. They watched in wide-eyed surprise at the armed convoy as it raced through the city, nearly ramming several vehicles that had accidentally drifted into their path.
They soon entered the great white walls of the Yos Palace atop Mount Home. Murp had only been here during a few official ceremonies, including his own promotion to Captain several years ago.
The Empress was immediately rushed inside the palace before her vehicle had even come to a complete stop. As Murp exited his own ITT, a Guardsman approached and waved a weapon scanner over him, demanding he turn over his sidearm before entering the Palace. Murp did so as he was in no mood to argue with one of the silent Guardsman. As he unstrapped his holster he glanced up to the sky. Four Royal Guard blue TIE Interceptors were flying patrol over the royal residence. Murp was positive they hadn't been there fifteen minutes ago.
Awaiting Murp atop the Palace's stairs was one of his bosses. The Admiralty consisted of three admirals and one marshal, each from a different service branch. They were a nasty bunch as far as Murp and the rest of the military were concerned. More concerned with their own power bases which they had quickly seized from the power vacuum left over from Yutu's assassination twenty years ago. Admiral-Commander Traal, of the Stormtrooper Corps, glared down at Captain Murp in a poor attempt to conceal his own concern. Whether that concern was for the Empire or his own career, Murp couldn't tell.
"Captain, what the hell happened? I heard there was an attack on the Empress. I'm sure you know about Nal Kuat." Traal growled.
"Aye, sir. You know as much about Nal Kuat as I do at the moment." Murp admitted. "There was an attack on the Empress. Admiral Gentis and I initially believed it was the work of terrorists, but now I am working under the hypothesis that they were a commando strike team from an unknown military force."
"How could the Confederacy even land troops here? As far as we know they haven't mapped the Bloodstripe Run past New Ryloth, and their starships are too pathetic to reach this far." Traal asked.
"We don't know that it was the Confederacy. Their equipment at the convention center doesn't match anything we know the Confederacy to possess, and their armor and blasters appeared more advanced than anything we have in our armories. They almost resembled that prototype armor we had to scrap after the war because of the economic collapse. The ones we had started to issue to the Home Legion while it was still on Mars."
"Is that so?" Traal rubbed his chin in confusion. Murp assumed the Admiral-Commander was just attempting to appear to be in contemplation rather than stupefaction. During the war his Legion had been one of the ones Seco had gotten stuck inside Las Vegas, Murp recalled.
"The Jobal Guard is there now. I'm ordering military forensic teams there immediately. The enemy agents bore specific unit tattoos on their skin. It might give us some clue to their identity."
"Yes. That sounds all right. Report to me anything you find out." Traal said.
"Sir, I'm sure the Empress will be calling in all of her advisors. Where is the rest of the Admiralty?" Murp inquired.
"Only Marshall Windrider is currently on Palpatine Prime. Ironically, Admiral Cabbal and Admiral Doza have both been with the fleet at Nal Kuat the past few days." Traal looked worried. If any of the Admiralty was at Nal Kuat during the raid, the security of the ring would have fallen into their hands.
"Follow me, Captain." Traal ordered and turned and entered the palace.
Inside they found the Empress in the embrace of the Prince Consort. Timus Roblin, TIE pilot turned luckiest man in the Empire, held his wife tightly. The young Princess Avena squirmed between them. The four-year old didn't like being squished in the middle of her parents.
Traal coughed. Phasma and Roblin broke apart. The Prince Consort stepped instinctively in front of his family. "Admiral-Commander, I hope the Admiralty has some idea of what is going on."
"We're working on putting together the bigger picture, Your Highness." Traal told the royal.
Murp had been reading secured comms on the trip over from the convention center. "FleetIntel has been working with the Jobal Guard and there have been no other attacks since the one at the Eriadu Convention Center. RescueOps are on scene and wounded are being taken to First Lightside Medical Center and Hadrian Memorial."
"Thank the Force." The Empress sighed. She placed her hand on Roblin's arm. "We will visit them as soon as we are able."
"An excellent suggestion, Your Highness." Traal said.
"What about the attackers? Do we have any idea who they are?" Phasma asked.
"My men at the scene just ran a blood test on some of the bodies." Murp read from his comlink. "They don't appear to have the potassium overload that Earthlings carry. Initial genome sampling matches Imperial human population. I'm sorry but there doesn't seem to have been any other species other than human among their numbers."
"So not the Confederacy. Who in the seven hells were these guys." Roblin demanded.
"Sweetheart, I am safe. The children are safe. I know you're upset but I need to talk with my troopers alone. See to the younglings and I will see to the Empire." Phasma calmed her visibly upset spouse.
Roblin unclenched a fist he had hidden behind his back and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You're correct. Time for you to go to work."
Roblin turned to both of the officers and clicked his heels together. "Gentlemen."
They both saluted. "Sir."
With that, the Prince Consort, with Princess Avena in tow, left the room.
"I will be conducting business of the state within the Map Room. Captain Murp, I need you to run interference with the military and screen all visitors to the Palace. I also need immediate updates as to the situation at Nal Kuat. You are ordered to interrupt anything I am doing or speaking to, to deliver those reports."
"Aye, aye. Your Highness." Murp avoided Traal's glare as he had just been ordered to report over the Admiralty's head.
Empress Phasma waved towards the map room. The officers fell in behind her. "You're one of the few I can trust right now, Captain. You were one of the few brave officers who rushed to my defense at the convention center."
"I serve the House of Yos, as I serve the Empire." Murp responded automatically. It was a sentiment he felt down to his bone marrow.
The Map Room was almost a monument to Phasma Yos's father, the late Emperor Yos. Nearly every square centimeter of the walls was occupied with pictures and paintings of various warships, including a large astral map of Denon, the royal family's home world back in the Home Galaxy. There were not enough bookcases to accommodate all of the Empress's holobooks, so volumes were jammed horizontally above rows on the shelves, or stacked on the floor or in corners. Outside the viewport, Palace droids were draping every viewport in heavy black curtains, which plunged the Map Room into a gloomy aspect. If the room had any unifying theme at all it was naval. There were perhaps two dozen Dashira Dobeq prints, depicting Republic warships of the Clone Wars, as well as large models of both the Quill and the Ares along one wall. Above the models was a large portrait of what Murp initially believed to be the Empress, but upon closer inspection he discovered was the Empress's mother Padma Nabarrie, former Queen of Naboo. It faced the other portrait in the room, which was unmistakably Grand Moff Tarkin.
The Empress sat behind the large desk in the room and activated the room's HoloNet connection. Traal took a seat in front of the desk while Murp stationed himself at the door so that he could monitor the approach of the Empress's soon to arrive advisors and the happenings inside the Map Room.
The HoloProjector was chiming as soon as the Empress called, signifying that the Palace switchboard already had callers waiting to speak with the Empress. With a wave of her hand the comm device activated to reveal the image of Admiral Cabbal, the TIE Corps Representative to the Admiralty.
"Admiral Cabbel, what is the situation there?" Empress Phasma demanded.
"Your Majesty. The second wave is over us right now. I can see several hundred TIEs above the Naval District. They just gave a pounding to Defense Hangar Six which is less than a klick from my position." Admiral Cabbel reported.
"Admiral, did you say TIEs were attacking you?" Phasma asked. She shot a confused look to the two Naval officers in the room. But both of them merely gestured that they had no clue to the identity of the TIEs.
"Yes. Maybe two thousand in two waves. They hit the ship berths right away. We've got a lot of damaged ships in the port. Echuta, you're never going to believe it but it looks like they cleaved the ring in half at one spot."
What kind of TIE carried that kind of firepower, Murp thought? He leaned into the room and asked. "Admiral, do they have any capital warships with them? Surely, those TIEs have some sort of carrier with them."
"A good point, Captain. Where are these attackers coming from, Admiral?"
"Hold on." Admiral Cabbel paused for several seconds and talked with someone outside of his holoimage before returning to his report. "Sensors are detecting nine large ships on the edge of the Almuhit Maelstrom. I'm sending the sighting report right now."
The nine ships appeared on the Empress's Holoprojector. They were Star Destroyers, big ones too, but they were unlike any make or model that had ever been seen by a member of Tarkin's Fist.
"That's impossible. The Almuhit is impassable." Traal declared.
"That's not exactly true." Murp said, which caused Traal to glare at him once more. "You could do it, if you had the patience. It might take a few weeks on sublight engines and your shields will take a beating, but it is possible."
Empress Phasma nodded to indicate that she agreed with Murp's assessment. "Admiral Cabbel, it's my understanding that Vice Admiral Doza is at Nal Kuat along with you."
"Yes, we both have permanent quarters here with the Fleet. I saw the Vice-Admiral last night at dinner before he returned to the Storm. That's his flagship." Admiral Cabbel gave the location of the Navy's representative to the Admiralty. "I don't know his current status, your Majesty, but several ships are burning along the ring. I'm afraid I have to go. I've got to get more fighters launched to beat this scum away."
"Of course, Admiral. And good luck. Be safe." The Empress switched to the next call which contained the frantic image of Lucious Farnmir.
"Moff Farnmir, are you alright. Can you fill us in on what is currently happening?"
The Moff of Nal Kuat was in tears. He was crouched down at a viewport watching what was happening to his colony. He ducked further down as another attack swept past his location. "My beloved Majesty, the ships, the ships, by the Force, and all that is sacred all of the ships in port are on fire."
"All of them?" Empress Phasma looked to be fighting back tears of her own.
"All of them. I can see the Vision and one of the Venators, the Senate I think, from here. Both have broken away from the ring and are falling towards Nal Kuat."
"My Lord, can you identify any of the TIEs attacking the ring." Murp asked. He happened to know the Kuati Moff had once worked for Sienar Fleet Systems before entering politics.
"They're TIEs alright, but they're not ours. They look a generation or two beyond anything we've got in the TIE Corps. It appears as if their fighters even have rear seat gunners." Farnmir reported, which confirmed Murp's own suspicions. He was surprised Admiral Cabbel hadn't noticed the differences in the TIE craft from the very ones in his own TIE Corps. This wasn't a repeat of Seco's Rebellion or a civil war, this was someone from outside of the Empire. Someone who was either trying to copy Imperial designs or had moved beyond them.
"Your Majesty, I need to do something immediately in case these sleemos start landing troopers. May I enact martial law here at Nal Kuat?" Moff Farnmir requested.
"Granted. Notify the whole Kuat System. I want Nal Kessel and New Thyfeeria on lock down as well."
"Thank you. I want you to know, your Majesty, Nal Kuat will not fall without a fight." Moff Farnmir saluted.
"May the Force be with you." Empress Phasma wished him well.
Throughout the morning and into the afternoon, updates poured into the Yos Palace. Eventually a dozen of Murp's best Intel officers arrived and set up a small command center next to the Empress's Map Room. They provided real time information to the Fleet's dispersal and the outcome of the raid on Nal Kuat. One of Murp's troopers took shorthand notes from calls with Marshall Windrider, who was holding things down at the Rhombus. With each new message. Empress Phasma shook her head grimly and tightened the expression of her mouth.
A steady stream of aides started entering the Map Room, and soon the din of loud noises made it impossible for the Empress to work. She moved out into the large hallway, and then retired to her chambers with her private speechwriter, the Blutopian, Oga Musters. While they wrote a speech her staff and aides looked over her shoulders. Not even the imposing Elomin handmaiden Monjai K'ra Indriummsegh could keep them all away.
The news continued to come in, each report more terrible than the last. Murp could hear the disbelief in Admiral Commander Traal's voice every time he reported to him. At first he was incredulous, that changed to angry acceptance as new messages supported and amplified the previous ones. Traal had little to say to the Empress and as the day went on he started to simply attach his name to any report Murp handed to Phasma.
Returning to the Map Room, Phasma sat behind her desk and remained calm and composed. She spent the afternoon on the HoloNet, attending to troop movements, dictating a release for the HoloNews, setting up new security procedures for space stations and strategic colonies, and ordering all Guard and ISB units onto the highest level of alert they had been on since the Ares Raid that had ended the Empire-Earth War. Dozens of Regal Orders were required. The military could bypass the Senate but only on the directive of the Empress. Phasma told her aides to execute the orders immediately, and bring them to her for signatures later.
One by one, the Empress's leading military and civilian policy advisors arrived in the Map Room and took a seat. A holoimage of the Nal Kuat ring driveyards rotated slowly in the center of the room. Marshal Windrider sat as far away from Traal as he could, perhaps sensing the falling levels of trust the Empress was having with the Admiralty Board. Prime Chancellor Runnerz sat with Moff Durant of Arde World and Moff Nur of Nal Moshen, colonies that were close enough to Palpatine Prime for their governors to have reached the capital since the attack.
DiploServe Minister Galleros Ratua Dil was on his own comlink. He had appeared earlier with Ambassador Birgaan from New Mandalore, who had been asked to return to his embassy after offering assurances that New Mandalore had nothing to do with the attack on Nal Kuat and vowed to declare war on whoever it was that had attacked the Empire. Ratua Dil then gave an ominous warning that the Confederacy has outright denied involvement with the attack, demanded the return of Mars in one rotation or else and then cut ties with the Imperial Embassy on Luna. Murp worried what that meant.
General Sodi, the Commander of the 41st Elite Legion, the Home Legion, stood silently at the back of the room alongside Captain Murp. Someone had told the Empress that the Jedi Grand Master would arrive this evening from Wadarae but had sent word not to wait for her.
The Empress asked her advisors hard questions. How could this attack have succeeded? How bad was the damage? Would these mysterious invaders attack again and where?
It was still not clear what was happening at Nal Kuat. The hyperwave HoloNet signal had been lost several times between the colony and the capital due to damage on the ring. One time for almost an hour. Were the raids continuing? Each new report suggested that the destruction was worse than previously believed. As night fell, a report came in that the body of Vice Admiral Doza had been found. He had been killed by an energy bomb that had struck the bridge of the ISD Storm during the first wave of attacks.
It was soon decided, on Prime Chancellor Runnerz suggestion, that the Empress would address a joint session of both houses of the Senate shortly before noon tomorrow morning.
1700 was HoloNet Prime Time and every viewscreen monitor in the palace was turned to the various news channels. News announcers had been breaking in across regular programming to report that the largest fleet anchorage in the Empire had been attacked and ravaged by unknown assailants and that a terrorist attack, believed to be connected with the Nal Kuat raid, had been aimed at the Empress. From the HoloNews, Murp learned that twenty-seven members of True Victory and two Jedi had died at the convention center along with eighteen alleged terrorists. Murp imagined the scene was the same all across the Empire as families congregated around their viewscreens and holoprojectors and watched and listened breathlessly to the first reports.
That night in Jobal, as the Cygnus Trio of suns set over the horizon, all major traffic intersections were blocked as gravtrucks and ITTs carrying Stormtroopers from the Home Legion entered the city. The comlink system was paralyzed by incoming calls from the colonies, as beings checked in on loved ones and sought any news of the attacks. E-WEB nests were hastily set up on the steps and roofs of major buildings. Home Legion troopers surrounded the palace and Jobal Guard troopers warned beings on the other side of the palace fences not to linger too long.
Murp finally found an excuse to get away from the small storm brewing inside the palace and escaped to the viewing balcony that over looked the front lawn of the royal residence. Once there he lit up a tabac cigarra and took a drag to settle his anxiety.
Blackout restrictions had not yet taken place. Flood lamps engulfed the Yos Palace and the two towering waterfalls on either side of it in brilliant white light. Landspeeder traffic outside the palace slowed to a crawl as gawkers stared, they seemed to crane their necks in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Empress through the palace viewports. Hundreds of spectators eventually gathered beyond the fence despite warnings from the Jobal Guard to keep moving. A few men carried younglings on their shoulders. Eventually the onlookers stood three or four deep. Some began to sing, "Glory to the Empire", "Our Empire's Army" and "The Eye of the Empire". Cam droids and reporters poked their lenses between bars in the fence.
In the darkness of the balcony, Murp suddenly realized he wasn't alone. He turned to see the Empress's speech writer, Oga Musters, leaning against the balcony's railing watching the civilians on the far side of the fence. He noticed Murp watching him and smiled through his facial tentacles. "Frakking crazy day, right, Captain."
Murp smirked at the writer. "You said it, pal."
"I don't envy you your job, sir. Trying to figure out who hit us so we can sock them one back. No way." Musters declared. "You got another one of those?"
Murp reached into his pocket and pulled out another cigarra and handed it to the Blutopian. A second later he ignited his lighter and held it out for the writer. "I don't envy you your job. I never was good at writing at the Academy. Most of the reports I write up these days are flat, boring missives I dictate to droids."
"I hear you." Oga took a long drag from his cigarra. "The speech I'm writing for tomorrow's address is going to be a whopper. Short and sweet so the Senate won't know what hit them."
"Kind of like our troops at Nal Kuat." Murp pointed out. He flicked some ash off the side of the darkened balcony.
Musters looked to the floor in shame for suggesting the comparison. "You're right. We really got gut punched out there. I wish I had a kicker for the speech. It starts off kind of dry."
"I assume that's not wizard. Every being in the Empire is going to be watching her on the HoloNews tomorrow." Murp said.
"Hey, can you do me a favor. Can you look over it really quick and give me any suggestions?" Musters asked.
"I don't know. Editing not really my thing."
"C'mon, Captain. It's pretty short. Won't take but a minute."
"Alright, let me see it. I'm not promising anything." Murp gave in.
"Sure, sure." Musters handed over his datapad. It had the speech already pulled up so Murp could peruse it.
The speech was a fine thing in and of itself. It did start off kind of dry as Musters had implied with remarks of the date of the attack. It went into the timing of the raid coinciding with the assassination attempt of the Empress leaving little doubt that it was a coordinated attack by an unknown enemy. It made vague connections with some of the recent threats by the Confederacy of Earth Nations but didn't directly name or link them to the attack. It ended with the assurances that no matter how long it took the 2nd Galactic Empire would achieve absolute victory.
"Can I make one suggestion?" Murp asked, handing Musters back his datapad.
"Yes, of course."
"I'd change the part about the date and living on in Galactic history."
"To what?"
"Infamy."