Fourth Imperial Civil War/Letter to the Galactic Empire

For the Empire (On Recent Events)

From: Orphaea Imperium
To: All Imperials
Year 11 Day 291

To the men and women of the Empire,

Greetings.

Firstly, allow me to reassure you on recent events. While the Empire is not currently in possession of many of its planets and a significant number of other assets, it remains secure. These things have been removed for a purpose.

What is that purpose? Unfortunately, I must explain with a history lesson.

I have served the Empire for five years, starting when our current Emperor, Vodo Bonias, was already well into his reign. In that time, I have seen four heirs apparent.

The first was a fellow called Zerk. He clashed a lot with many of the other high ranking members of the Empire, but it was ultimately an uprising of enlisted and junior officers that saw him driven from the Empire (it was this save revolt that ultimately saw the creation of the New Imperial Order).

The second was Zee Wolf, the first 'Beard' of the Empire. At one staged, it looked fairly certain that he was to be the next Emperor. But, despite being second in command and heir apparent, he was never allowed any real authority, and ultimately went inactive.

The third was Arturus Goth, of whom many of you would know. At first, he was an excellent administrator and at one point could have been a fair Emperor. However, despite this being what was promised, he was constantly told to be a bit more patient, or given impossible tasks to complete before it would happen. Over time, he grew disillusioned and bitter, losing much of what would have made him a good Emperor and ultimately causing him to be expelled from the Empire.

Finally, we have our current Executor, Thomas Cherokee. A competent and likeable leader, it was revealed to Imperial High Command during discussions of reunification with the New Imperial Order that Cherokee would ultimately ascend the throne. Today, despite over a year having passed since reunification, Cherokee is perhaps further from being Emperor than ever.

As you can see, this has been a problem, particularly as the Emperor himself doesn't get involved in a great deal any more. Rarely, he might make an appearance on public channels. He will go weeks at a time without being active in the Empire's administration. We have officers - commanders and executive officers of our military and government apparatus - that can count the number of times they've seen him in the many years of their career on the fingers of one hand. If you think we of Imperial High Command speak with him, think again - he talks to us barely any more than he talks to you, and usually it's a request for someone to provide an opinion on an issue or informing us of some matter that someone else has raised with him - there is no direction.

I don't blame him. I've been in similar situations before - you know you're not active or interested enough any more to do the job, but you're so emotionally attached to the job that you can't give it up.

So, returning to the point of this discussion - what is the reason that the Empire is currently missing so much, what is the purpose of removing these things? The purpose is simple. I have made one - only one - demand:

In order for the Empire to be restored to its former position, Vodo Bonias must abdicate.

The Empire needs an Emperor. More to the point, it needs an active, visible one, one that can be admired by our supporters and feared by our enemies. If it were any other government, no one would care, but the Empire beyond any other government or organisation in the galaxy *needs* a strong leader. This is something it has lacked for several years now.

There's no issues with anyone else in Imperial High Command, or anyone else - everyone is doing great. It's only Vodo Bonias. And I don't think anyone would mind if he stayed around as a respected former Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith with a high advisory position - he's done a lot of good work in the past, and that should be remembered and honoured. But the Empire needs leadership, and according to history, it seems the only way to convince him of this is by force.

What's going to happen if he doesn't? I haven't thought about it a whole lot, but it would probably mean a bloody and expensive civil war lasting many years, and only one thing would be for certain - one day, we would all be crushed by the Galactic Alliance. The Empire, reduced of so much, couldn't hold out. If I formed an Empire with what I have taken, it wouldn't be able to hold out for long either. All that we could hope for is that when historians speak of the rise of the Galactic Alliance in a thousand years, it is said that the men and women of the Empire - both of them - died well.

I'm not doing this for money - I'm already rich. I'm not doing this for power - I was leader of a government once, if all I wanted was power because I wanted power, I could have stayed there - instead, I merged it into the Empire so that the Empire could expand and grow. The only thing this is about is making sure we have a strong Empire, led by a strong Emperor, that can face the many challenges that we are going to see in the future. And you may not believe me, but doing it this way, where I have to put the Empire at so much risk, makes me sick to my stomach. And, given the lessons of history above, this seems to be the only way to see someone new on the Throne.

I encourage you to discuss these things with each other. Discuss them with your commanders. Talk to members of Imperial High Command. Talk to the Emperor, if you can reach him. Talk to me. Know what is happening, understand why it is happening, and support the only path that can lead the Empire out from the darkness.

In the name of the Empire,

Grand Moff Orphaea Imperium