Report:Leia's Address - Jan27 16ABY

"Free Citizens of the Republic, inhabitants of the Galaxy at large, Ladies and Gentlemen. Yesterday, the 26th of Relona, the Galactic Empire's military has attacked the system of Mon Calamari and its inhabitants. In a craven and cowardly attempt to misguide us all, and under the banner of humanitarian aid, Imperial Star Destroyers, Lancer frigates, and Strike Cruisers - Imperial war vessels and their machines of death and destruction attempted to force their way onto the planet of Mon Calamari. The battle that ensued was the largest that has been seen for some time now, and in it, many brave New Republican defenders layed down their lives for the safety of us all. I would like to take a minute to honor their sacrifice and the bravery it took to ensure that the tyrannical Imperial war machine did not take one more world."

A minute passes, Leia stares unblinking into the camera somehow conveying both grief and muted perseverance at the same time.

"It is my duty to inform you that, a mere span of two months past, we received a false offer in the name of the Emperor. An offer that indicated that the Emperor himself and the Imperial war machine was willing to call a truce in the name of humanitarian aid. A false offer to which we responded, with all due care, having the sense the universe gave us to recognize a false offer for what it was. Merely an opportunity to haul their lies into the light and display them for what they are: falsehoods. We met their agent in good faith, listened to their offer, and defied expectations by challenging the Empire to make good on their offer. To prove that they aren't merely all hat and no herd. This one meeting led to nothing, which is proof and and of itself that the offer was not genuine. Ladies and gentlemen, free beings of the Republic, do we need more proof that the Empire is the guardian of lies and destruction?

"Thus far we have been successful in preventing the fall of yet another free world to the autocrats of the Empire, and the people of Dac can be united in sharing this joyous moment. Quarren, Mon Calamarians and all the sentients of the planet can be relieved that they are spared, at least for some time, the sight of Stormtroopers marching their streets and Imperial agents dragging of their loved ones and imprisoning them.

"It is my duty to inform you that the Empire was able to sneak war material and possibly even troops to the criminal element which holds hostage free citizens of Dac. And it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that the Quarren Survivalist Party will continue, for some time at least, to terrorize Quarren and Mon Calamarians alike. They will continue to butcher the innocent in the name of an Empire that supplies them, in the name of an evil galactic power which worries only about its power.

"The New Republic is not the Galactic Empire, it has never been, nor will it ever debase itself to the level the Empire willingly chooses to reside in, not even in this darkest of hours. We refuse to contemplate massive bombing runs on areas currently occupied by the QSP, we refuse to put at danger the lives of innocent civilians who are being kept against their will. And we refuse to complacently watch them go in hunger, watch them run out of medicine even while the QSP receives continuous resupply from its Imperial overlords.

"It is for that reason that we will continue to send aid shipments to the cities of Aquarius and Morjanssik and any other area currently under the illegal control of the QSP. We will send adequate foodstuffs and medicines to those areas and its civilians with the hope that the QSP and its Imperial masters will neither divert those supplies nor poison them or in any other matter tamper with them. We ask of the QSP to not attempt to harm their own brothers within the Quarren nor any other citizen of Mon Calamari in a despicable effort to hurt the New Republic.

"Furthermore, we will continue with our evacuation plans on areas near the conflict zone in particular Morjanssik. We ask the QSP and the Empire to not harm those civilians as they attempt to make their way to safety.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, citizens of Dac, we ask for your aid in this dark time. Once more, a world of the New Republic finds itself under concerted attack from the Galactic Empire and its war machine. The days ahead will be ones of strife, of loss and of sacrifice. It is my hope, however, that together we can resist this aggression, together we can stand before evil and repel it."