Imperial citizens, we are gathered here today to speak how the Galactic Empire will degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as the Rebel Alliance.
As Emperor, my highest priority is the security of the galaxy. Over the last several years, we have consistently taken the fight to terrorists who threaten our galaxy. Thanks to the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order, the Empire is safer.
Still, we continue to face a terrorist threat. We can’t erase every trace of evil from the galaxy, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm. And that’s why we must remain vigilant as threats emerge. And one of those groups are the Rebels – known as the “Rebel Alliance.”
Now let’s make two things clear: The Rebels are not an “Alliance.” No government condones the killing of innocents. And the vast majority of Rebels’ victims have been inhabitants who live on the Outer Rim Territories. And the Rebels is certainly not a planetary government. The Rebel Alliance was formerly a Jedi-created sympathizer organization in the Republic Senate and the planet Datooine, and has taken advantage of Separatist strife and Mandalorian’s civil war to gain planets on both sides of the galaxy. It is recognized by no Imperial government, nor by the people it subjugates. The Rebel Alliance is terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.
In a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality. They execute captured prisoners. They kill children. They enslave, rape, and force women into marriage. They threatened Force sensitives with genocide. And in acts of barbarism, they decapitated two HoloNet journalists.
So the Rebels pose a threat to the people of in the galaxy, and the broader galactic sectors – including Imperial citizens, personnel and facilities. If left unchecked, these terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region, including to the Galactic Empire. While we have not yet detected specific plotting against our homeworlds, Rebel leaders have threatened the Empire and our allies. Our Intelligence believes that thousands of traitors -– including Jedi and some clones from the Clone Wars –- have joined them with their criminal Hutt strongholds. Trained and battle-hardened, these fighters could try to return to their homeworlds and carry out deadly attacks.
I know many Imperial citizens are concerned about these threats. I want you to know that the Galactic Empire is meeting them with strength and resolve. I have ordered our military to take targeted action against the Rebels to stop its advances. Since then, we’ve conducted more than 150 successful planetary orbital bombardment strikes against Rebel installations. These strikes have protected Imperial military personnel and facilities, killed Rebel fighters, destroyed weapons, and given space for unaligned Imperial citizens and planetary forces to reclaim key planets. These strikes have also helped save the lives of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
But this is not our fight alone. Imperial power can make a decisive difference, but we cannot do for Outer Rim inhabitants what they must do for themselves, nor can we take the place of economic partners in securing their galactic regions. And that’s why I’ve insisted that additional Imperial action depended upon the Outer Rim planets forming an inclusive provisional government under the consent of the Empire, which they have now done in recent days. With a new provisional Imperial government in place, by the consent of the Empire, and following consultations with allies and the Imperial Senate on Coruscant, I can announce that the Empire will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat.
Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, the Rebel Alliance through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy.
First, we will conduct a systematic campaign of planetary orbital bombardment strikes against these terrorists. Working with the provisional Outer Rim government under the consent of the Empire, we will expand our efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions, so that we’re hitting Rebel targets. Moreover, I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten the Empire, wherever they are. That means I will not hesitate to take action against the Rebels in other sectors of the galaxy. This is a core principle of my Empire: If you threaten the Empire, you will find no safe haven.
Second, we will increase our support to forces fighting these terrorists on the ground. I deployed several hundred Imperial Stormtroopers to Lothal to assess how we can best support Lothalian security forces. Now that those teams have completed their work –- and Lothal has become a part of the provisional government under the consent of the Empire –- we will send an additional Imperial personnel and Stormtroopers to Lothal. As I have said before, these Imperial forces will not have a combat mission –- we will not get dragged into another ground war with the Rebels. But they are needed to support Lothalian forces with training, intelligence and equipment. We’ll also support Lothal’s efforts to stand up former Separatist Guard Units to help alien communities secure their own freedom from Rebels’ control.
On Mandalore, we have ramped up our military assistance to the Mandalorian opposition. Tonight, I call on Imperial Senate again to give us additional authorities and resources to train and equip these fighters. In the fight against Rebels, we cannot rely on a Death Watch regime that terrorizes its own people – a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost. Instead, we must strengthen the opposition as the best counterweight to extremists like Rebels, while pursuing the political solution necessary to solve Mandalorian’s crisis once and for all.
Third, we will continue to draw on our substantial counterterrorism capabilities to prevent the Rebel attacks. Working with our partners, we will redouble our efforts to cut off its funding; improve our intelligence; strengthen our defenses; counter its warped ideology; and stem the flow of Jedi traitors and sympathizers into and out of the Outer Rim. And in two weeks, I will meet with my top advisers to further mobilize the galactic community around this effort.
Fourth, we will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians who have been displaced by this terrorist organization. This includes Lothalians and Outer Rim inhabitants who are at grave risk, as well as tens of thousands of Mandalorians. We cannot allow these communities to be driven from their ancient homeworlds.
So this is our strategy. And in each of these four parts of our strategy, the Empire will lead by a broad coalition of partners. Already, allies are flying starships with us over Lothal; sending arms and assistance to Lothalian security forces and the Mandalorian opposition; sharing intelligence; and providing humanitarian aid. Darth Vader met with the new provisional government and forced their efforts to promote unity. And in the coming days he will travel across the galaxy to enlist more partners in this fight, especially Imperial planets who can help mobilize communities in Lothal and Mandalore, to drive these terrorists from their lands. This is Imperial leadership at its best: We stand with people who fight for their own freedom, and we rally on behalf of our common security and common humanity.
My administration has also secured support for this approach here at Coruscant. I have the authority to address the threat from the Rebels, but I believe we are strongest as an Empire when the Emperor and the Imperial Senate can work together. So I welcome Senatorial support for this effort in order to show the galaxy that the Empire are united in confronting this danger.
Now, it will take time to eradicate a cancer like the Rebels. And any time we take military action, there are risks involved –- especially to the Stormtroopers who carry out these missions. But I want the Galactic citizens to understand how this effort will be different from the Clone Wars. It will not involve Stormtroopers on unaligned galactic planets. This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out Rebels wherever they exist, using our galaxy power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued with the Jedi and Separatists planets for years. And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier: to use force against anyone who threatens the Empire’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order.
Imperial citizens, we live in a time of great change. Tomorrow marks 14 years since our Galactic center was attacked by Separatists. Next week marks 14 years since our society suffered the betrayal of the Jedi. Yet despite these shocks, through the pain we have felt and the grueling work required to bounce back, the Empire is better positioned to seize the future than any other in the galaxy.
Our technology companies and academies are unmatched. Our manufacturing and starship industries are thriving. Planetary energy independence is closer than it’s been in years. For all the work that remains, our businesses are in the longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in our history. Despite all the divisions and discord, I see the grit and determination and common goodness of the Imperial citizens –- and that makes me more confident than ever about our galaxy’s future.
Imperial leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world. It is the Empire that has the capacity and the will to mobilize the galaxy against terrorists. It is the Empire that has rallied the galaxy against Jedi aggression. It is the Empire –- our scientists, our doctors, our know-how –- that can help contain and cure the outbreak of Blue Harvest virus. It is the Empire that helped remove and destroy Mandalore’s declared superweapons so that they can’t pose a threat to the Imperial citizens or the galaxy again. And it is the Empire that is helping Outer Rim communities around the galaxy not just in the fight against terrorism, but in the fight for opportunity, and tolerance, and a more hopeful future.
The Empire, our endless blessings bestow an enduring burden. But as Imperials, we welcome our responsibility to lead. From Eriadu to Alderaan, from the far reaches of Tatooine to war-torn capitals of the former Confederacy of Independent Systems, we stand for freedom, for justice, for dignity. These are values that have guided our Galactic Empire since its founding.
I ask for your support in carrying that leadership forward. I do so as a Emperor who could not be prouder of our Imperials –- our pilots who bravely fly in the face of danger, and Stormtroopers who support our partners on the ground.
When we helped prevent the massacre of civilians trapped on a distant planet, here’s what one of them said: “We owe our Imperial friends our lives. Our children will always remember that there was someone who felt our struggle and made a long journey to protect innocent people.”
That is the difference we make in the galaxy. And our own safety, our own security, depends upon our willingness to do what it takes to defend this galaxy and uphold the values that we stand for –- timeless ideals that will endure long after those who offer only hate and destruction have been vanquished from the galaxy..
May the Force Serve You Well.