The last second

August Palpatine looked at the palace with interested eyes as he walked through its corridors. The structure of the palace was bland, uninteresting. Both showing functionality, austerity and great pride. It was a building not made to be functional per se but to show the Galaxy what the Empire is. A building to represent a system, an ideology, a set of ideas that wanted to become traditions.

He was… ignorant. He knew that, and he didn't understand why but it hurt him to be so ignorant. Almost as if he had to know more about the situation, as if he had to investigate further because something didn't make sense.

How could the Empire have been controlling the galaxy six years ago yet now be reduced to the Core, with some remnants in the Mid-Rim and Outer-Rim. And of course the South supersector if you thought that Degurechaff was a loyalist instead of another warlord.

He knew, or thought he knew, that it was the reason why everyone in his inner council had pushed him into forcing her to an ultimatum. To know if the Empire was alone in the Core or had an ally in the south. Yet, Degurechaff hadn't answered so far, this was putting a lot of pressure on the Emperor's Council, who feared that she might show her true face as another warlord instead of someone loyal to the Empire.

They poked the monster of the south to see if the monster was their ally or enemy, yet now they feared that it could turn out to be their enemy. The first thing the inner council had forced him to do was, they now feared, a mistake. It was… so irrational, yet it made sense.

If, in the end, the fears became true and Degurechaff showed her true face it would put the Empire in a very bad position… Maybe they had the biggest fleet in the galaxy and an army to be considered. The most shipyards and the greatest industry in the galaxy. But, without Outer Rim and Mid Rim, there were no resources for the industries. According to the economic advisor, if they didn't gain access to the most basic raw resources in one month the entire economy would collapse even further.

He understood economics, politics, and warfare. But he didn't remember learning it. It was almost as if it was his instinct that knew about these things. Knowledge that appeared out of nowhere and without context.

He was trapped in this paradox of having knowledge about things he hadn't learnt yet not understanding the realities around him that he should have understood.

He tried to remember how he had been so clueless about the situation of the galaxy when he lived in Naboo, but nothing came to his mind, it just did not happen.

Yet now he was Emperor.

He sighed as he changed his path to the meeting room of the Royal Palace, arriving at it after some minutes of walking. He had been thinking all the time since he had come to Coruscant. A constant need to rationalize everything. He rationalized why he was now Emperor if before he was a no-one and it did make sense – for monarchies were not based on representative or competence but on lineage. It didn't matter that he wasn't fit for the role, only the blood he had in his veins.

Yet, somehow he had the knowledge a Emperor should have. Or so he had come to conclude.

"Hail the Emperor," said all present in the room. August answered by raising his hand, showing them that he didn't want anything of this. The whole situation was already confusing for him, he didn't want to be disturbed even more by the loyalty shown to him by a council of people he had never seen in his life.

He walked to the chair designated for the Emperor, showing its status in how big it was, yet, it remained undecorated, as was the room and the rest of the chairs.

He sat, and immediately a hologram of the Galaxy appeared in the center, announcing the start of the meeting.

To his left he had Bertoff Hissa as Supreme Commander of the Empire, head of all the armed forces and everything related to military operations. Many didn't trust him for his failed Moff Council, yet, the Emperor understood, rationalized his actions. Betroff Hissa acted the best way possible in a situation where there was no good answer. For if a Moff declared itself superior ruler it would rapidly cause the collapse of the Empire. Instead, he created the Moff Council, one where the moffs that were powerful felt represented. Yet, while this system had worked to avoid the dissolvement of the Empire for many months it was a weak chain that in the moment one of the small parts of the chain left, meant that the entire chain broke down.

The Moff Council delayed the inevitable, for it was realistically impossible to stop the decline to warlordism of the Empire. So, for that, even if many asked him to take Hissa out, he kept him. Bertoff Hissa was competent and made the best decisions possible in his situation.

He didn't understand how he could understand that. Neither could he rationalize well. Yet, it was a gift he would use.

Right next to Bertoff Hissa sat the head of the COMPNOR, Martin Torman, secretary of the party and it seemed, for now, the only heir capable to replace the Grand Admiral II-Raz that died after killing himself by throwing his personal spaceship to a black hole. Il-Raz was an incompetent military leader but a competent politician and loyal to the end – for that reason he was granted the title of Grand Admiral back in the time.

The Grand Admirals weren't a military rank per se, they were created as an inner circle for the Emperor, loyal and competent in different aspects; they were to be the hand of the Emperor where the Emperor couldn't act directly. Originally, twelve had existed, the 'Circle of Twelve'. One had disappeared in the unknown regions, seven were already dead, two killing themselves the other five killed by the New Republic. From the four left only two remained loyal to the Empire. The first loyal Grand Admiral was planning the defense of the Core in case someone attacked it, the other one was fighting in the mid core the other two Grand Admirals that have betrayed the Empire (one by declaring himself Emperor and enacting a military campaign that threatened to take over the Core and the other one that had changed side in the war, positioning himself with the New Republic).

In total, though, thirteen people had received the title of Grand Admiral. The thirteenth Grand Admiral, Belisarius Draneir, was not given that rank by the Emperor, but by a Grand Moff. It was impossible for him to imagine why a Grand Moff would put one of his loyal servants in a rank theoretically superior to hers. But he couldn't directly talk to her to discover the truth behind those actions. So he could only theorize.

The first theory was that she felt entitled to be Empress, as she was of Lord Vader's dynasty and, in monarchies, in the absence of an heir of the same dynasty as the last Emperor, the most powerful dynasties would fight for access to the Throne.

The second theory was that she wanted to create an Empire separate from the Central Government; being a warlord but at the same time keeping loyalties to the idea of the Empire. Which would mean that she is either a traitor or a loyalist depending on how the Central Government wanted to accept her autonomy. The idea of the ultimatum to her was for her to first declare her loyalty and then they could negotiate her status within the Empire. But first, she had to kneel. It was the most important part, for her to kneel and accept his authority, in that moment everything would start to go well.

This Grand Admiral… Belisarius Draneir… he had defeated the Hutts in battle or so he read in his report, a massive battle between equivalent forces. He was competent or so it seemed.

To his right he had another two members of the Inner Council. The Grand Vizier Sate Pestage, highest civilian authority directly under the Emperor and head of the Regency Council once the Emperor died. His attempt to create a government and achieve stability failed as the Moff Council had rapidly gained authority over the military and soon the other branches of the Empire followed. Yet he had great influence. Political and bureaucratic experts followed Sate Pestage. Without him the Empire would become impossible, for no government can run without bureaucracy.

Sitting right next to him was Li-An, the head of the treasury; expert economist, head of the galactic economy for ten years. He'd had half his body covered in cybernetics implants, including brain augmentations. He was a living computer and that allowed him to predict the economic results of actions in real time when someone proposes something. The Imperial Treasury had received little to no attention these six months but August knew that if he had to be a good Emperor he had to take the economy into account. Why did he know it? He didn't know, he just knew that he knew. So he gave Li-An a seat on the council.

Then, the last two members of the inner council. Ysanne Isard, head of Imperial Intelligence. A competent woman and a schemer who killed her own father – the past head of Imperial Intelligence. He had never met her in his life but he felt a deja vu sensation by seeing her face.

To the right of Ysanne Isard there was the head of the ISB, Drich, without a surname. Just Drich. He was also competent in his job, or so he had read in reports handed to him from everyone in the council.

It was an experiment he did the moment the council was created, he asked each member to write their thoughts on each other. When a trait was repetitive between many people he could understand that it was true or at least that was the perception most had of him.

It helped him to understand his inner circle better.

"Third meeting of the Emperor Council," intoned August to the hologram recording everything. All sessions were recorded because he wanted to see them after they ended. Also, it would help in the future for people to know what was happening in the Empire the moment he took power.

History was important, and if he ended up failing in his task his only rational thought was that he had to ensure that his successor learned from his mistakes. The Empire wasn't meant to die here, and he would put all his effort in ensuring the survival of the Empire. Why?

Why? Why did he have to ensure the survival of the Empire? Because he was Emperor?

No, he didn't have an answer, so for now it would be a task without meaning.

"Reason for the meeting; the matter of Tanya Degurechaff's response to the Ultimatum, convened by Ysanne Isard."

He finished, accommodated himself in the chair and with a sign of his hand made clear to Ysanne that he wanted to hear what she had to say. She made a small look of displeasure that no one noticed.

"As we speak now, collaborators in the South Supersector had confirmed to me the treason of Tanya Degurechaff, supposed daughter of Lord Vader."

"I hope you have something else to say than just that," interjected Bertoff Hissa as he put his hands on the table. His different aspect to everyone else in the room had brought the rumors that he had some non-human ancestors. The Emperor also didn't know why but he didn't like non-humans. He felt humans were just superior.

Did it make sense? Well, in the end each intelligent race will seek for their own race benefit, no? It is normal humans had this sensation of superiority and unity when most aliens in the galaxy were so ugly and accomplished so little. For, if they were truly equal or superior to the humans, why didn't they populate most of the galaxy? Why didn't they have greater Territories than the Humans? Even the proud mandalorians, a race of aliens, in the end became populated mostly by humans.

Humanity was the peak of adaptability and will. Why, if that wasn't true, wasn't the Rebellion led by non-humans? Who was the head of the New Republic now – Mon Mothma?

Although, in this last part of the argument, he understood that it had some mistakes, for there were truly great non-human individuals. A good example would be Ackbar, one of the greatest admirals in galactic history of that he was sure.

More time would need to pass for him to evolve his pre-established ideas.

Wait, pre-established ideas? That was a new thought, a thought that made him for a moment believe that he had ideas put in his head by force when he came into existence… No, that would be stupid.

The Emperor ignored his own thoughts and put attention on both Hissa and Isard.

"If you go to the third page of your datapads you will see the information collected, its meaning and the analysis of Imperial Intelligence."

Everyone in the room took the datapads in their hands and began to read except for Li-An who had integrated a datapad computer in his own cybernetics, making him able to analyze the entirety of the information that Yssane Isard had given in a matter of seconds.

Four minutes of silence passed as everyone finished the third page.

"From what I see here," said first Hissa as he put both his hands up, "this is normal behavior. She is just preparing for a possible war while she is thinking of her possibilities. Isn't it, in the end, we who forced her with an ultimatum? I tried once to make her submit to my authority but when she threatened me with a civil war I stopped all attempts for I knew it wouldn't be possible and it would break the Empire apart. Now that the Empire is broken she and we have to play all our cards before deciding our decisions"

"What are you talking about?" Asked Drich as he pushed his finger constantly on the datapad. "This DEFCON 1 bullshit she invented is a clear sign that she plans on waging war on us"

"How unfamiliar are you with military and political maneuvers, Drich?" Asked Hissa with a tone of superiority. "We have also mobilized our forces, but that doesn't mean there will be war, we are just measuring each other's power, seeing who is more powerful. In the animal world being seen as big is very important in everyday survival, that's why small animals often have measures to appear far bigger than they are. That is Degurechaff – a small animal that is showing all her teeth and making herself look bigger than she is in order to be in a better position at the negotiation table."

The Emperor noticed something in the voice of Hissa… it was, admiration?

"It seems you respect her, I find it strange considering you sent her there to die and you had tried to force her to submit to your authority when you ruled over the Moff Council."

Hissa's smile was barely noticeable, being removed from his political duties had taken so much pressure off his shoulders that for the first time in months he felt rested, being able to rationalize his actions, to be able to have free will instead of being pushed around by the political needs of the moment.

"What I did to her was for political expediency. Since I saw how she recovered from an impossible situation with almost no resources I respected her. Sadly my personal desire and opinions were never in line with the political needs of the moment. When the Emperor died she was a political enemy that could cause more damage than benefit, and seeing how the situation is right now I believe that analysis was correct. Yet, as we exiled her with a mission to die while fighting until the last moment, she not only survived but counterattacked. She became an even bigger problem for she had the power to ruin the Empire from within. That's why I tried to make her submit, yet she didn't kneel and I couldn't push it further without starting a civil war. My actions were rational but in that rationality I always held respect for her. How many moffs and grand moffs I would have sacrificed for her to be on my side, but sadly the moment I realized that things would have gone better with her on my side she was already apathetic to the central government. It was too late to create a cooperation of trust and then it became a race to see who would win over the Imperial people… which ended up with the collapse of the moff council after the betrayal of Zsinj and with Degurechaff gaining supporters throughout the Galaxy…"

He sounded depressed, his smile disappearing as he was explaining more and more his own actions, he had never wanted things to go the way they did, yet he always had acted rationally.

For the Emperor, it was funny, genuinely funny, to see rationally being the wrong answer and marking the collapse of the Moff Council. It indicated to him something he had to be wary of.

He had, these days, always thought of how rational he was. He had to be careful to not destroy the Empire in his rationality.

"Sweet words from someone that failed the Empire," responded Martin Torman. Hissa tried to object but the Emperor raised his hand, stopping the discussion before it even began.

"I will not tolerate insults and accusations in this room. I personally believe that Bertoff Hissa did everything he realistically could have done, if not more. The fact that he avoided the collapse of the Empire for six months doesn't mean he failed, but that the Empire as it was in the moment he took command was doomed to fail despite how competent his actions were. My father had everything under control in his own hands, but he never thought about his own death. His system worked, but could no longer work without him. For that reason, we need to see this moment of despair and weakness as our greatest moment, as the moment were we will create a system, a system not only to work under a specific Emperor but that will continue to work one thousand years in the future with the necessary adjustments, once we deal with the Degurechaff situation I believe we should start a reform of the Empire, but not as the reformist of the CIR propose it, but as the True Imperials of the COMPNOR say. Humancentrism, authority, centralization and militarization. But we need to add more things in that mix of ideals. Humanitarianism, paternalism, meritocracy and moderate rationalism. But, this is not the meeting to discuss this. So, if you don't mind Isard, might you expand the report we have just read? For I did understand that she had put DEFCON 1 into action and what it is. But I do not understand what it means."

Everyone in the room was more or less amazed by the Emperor, he had a natural gift for speech it seemed. It was a good trait for leaders to have, and he also seemed to know about state matters. Something most of them did not expect when they first met him days ago.

It was almost as if he had always meant to be Emperor, as if he had been crafted to take the role of the Emperor.

Not only in the way he acted he seemed fit for the role, but the way he looked, young but not enough for people to believe he was completely inexperienced in life, his hair showed discipline and gave him a handsome look, his face was masculine yet sympathetic, as if he was father of the galaxy, his nose fit perfectly in his face and his golden eyes exuded authority.

"It means treason," answered Isard.

"I am more inclined to believe Hissa's theory that she just wants to come to the negotiation table with more power than she initially had. I want to know what this truly means, economically, politically, socially. What is happening in her territory?"

This question didn't take Isard by surprise. She just looked at her datapad and then again to the Emperor.

"Economically all trade has been effectively stopped, all the cargoes are being used to mobilize the armed forces, socially, conscript centers are filled with young men that desire to fight in her name, several planets have protests both in her favor and in your favor. For as much as they loved Degurechaff she always was meant to fight for an Emperor, now, with a Emperor, there is no excuse to refuse. The Imperial population wants to return to the Empire."

"Why?" Asked the Emperor, "The Empire is in its worst moment, we have failed the Galaxy, why would they want to return to the central government?"

That question took by surprise everyone including Isard.

"She is dying of success" Answered Li-An, his cybernetic eyes looking to the Emperor, analyzing data as he spoke, his brain and droid brain thinking of thousands of possibilities.

"Elaborate further" Questioned the Emperor.

"Her success had made the people trust in the Imperial system a lot, that together with her saying that she is loyal to the first Emperor had set the false idea that all the Empire is just like Degurechaff and all the problems were because of the Moff Council, the New Republic and also the Hutts. She had put the blame of everything wrong with the Empire on others while saying that what she did is what the Emperor originally planned. She had created a image of the Emperor as a living God and her as his faithful servant… which meant that when a new Emperor appeared many believed she would submit. In fact, I have read page sixty of the report that confirms my theory; most protests aren't actual protests, they are movements in favor of the Emperor. They are celebrating the ascension of an Emperor and asking Degurechaff to kneel as fast as she could. Most problems come when those radicals that believe that she should be the Empress form counter movements, ending up in fights. These protests aren't against Degurechaff, they are in favor of Degurechaff and you, and her radicals cannot support such a thing."

"Dying of success… is such a strange phrase, it shouldn't make sense, but as you have described the situation, it does make sense…"

The Emperor enjoyed these little things of life, these incongruences. Maybe because he was one too.

"The more I hear about her, the more I believe that we shouldn't have handed her the ultimatum, we should have come with honest negotiations. But as an Emperor that would have destroyed my authority and as I can see I am the only reason that what is left of the Empire can be united. My authority needs to be undisputed… Hissa, your words held a big truth of this world. What we should do and what we want to do will most of the time not match. I want to offer her a seat in this council yet I know that it is impossible as she is a reformist. I want to negotiate as equals with her for I know that would bring us the best results but if I did that people would start to doubt my authority… this paradox of what we should do and what we do is so… funny."

"Funny?" Asked Martin Torman

"Yes," The Emperor laughed a little bit, "for our situation forces us to always make choices based on the needs of our position, not on the most efficient result. Our entire reality is based on the perception of rationalism yet that rationalism forces us to make irrational decisions knowing that there are other ways to handle the situation. For me, that is funny, as if we, rational species, were enslaved by a cruel destiny most of the time to not be able to reach the best result possible."

No one understood him, honestly, only he understood himself. But it didn't matter, for everyone remained silent as the Emperor stood up.

"This meeting is over, we have confirmed the actions of Degurechaff and I decide that for now we will continue as we had acted, waiting for her to contact us. I hope all of you have a good day."

Everyone stood from their chairs and walked off, yet Isard was a little bit frustrated, but as she had always been with a bad face, no one noticed it, except for Pestage, who had remained silent throughout the meeting, looking at Isard. For he didn't trust her.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bertoff Hissa entered the office of the Emperor, it was big, decorated with archeological things he didn't understand and didn't care to understand. He advanced until he reached the desk with the Emperor behind it, sitting in the chair and reading reports of the last ten years. He was trying to learn, to know better what happened, where it failed, why it failed.

Hissa suspected at first that this out of nowhere Emperor would be a puppet of Isard, but so far he had shown to be competent and intelligent, something that puppets usually weren't.

"Hail the Emperor," he greeted, doing a military salute and then sitting in the chair.

"Hail me, I guess," replied the Emperor with a little smirk as he put his attention on Hissa, who laughed a little bit with the comment. "You don't like that salute?" He asked as his laugh finished.

"I don't feel I deserve such a salute. Tell me, why are you here?"

"Only one day remains until the Ultimatum's deadline. I have been working to analyze what the cost of war would be if that was the outcome."

The Emperor raised his eyebrows, showing that he was very interested in what Hissa had to say.

"So, first of all, you need a little bit of context. According to our doctrine we estimate that in fighting local militias the value of our soldiers is three in attack and the value of enemy soldiers in defense is one. This is to show the realities of air superiority, better equipment and training. So, for example, if we were to attack a planet where our military analysis shows the enemy has thirty thousand soldiers, we need a minimum of ten thousand soldiers to earn an acceptable victory. Of course, historically battles have been won with much fewer soldiers and lost with many more soldiers. But we do not take that in account in our analysis, they are barely noticeable outliers."

"Yet they exist, why not take them into account?"

"Because they are so small that it doesn't mean anything, really."

"Maybe that's the problem of the Empire – that it doesn't take into account the small variables and possibilities. Please, continue on."

"Right, so, we also have an analysis for professional armies at planetary level; there we consider two of our soldiers per enemy soldier to be a good ratio. The problem comes when we fight our own. With warlords arising, our analysts have been constantly analyzing the small amount of data we have of imperial vs imperial confrontation; doctrines, technology, etc. The result is for every defender we need five soldiers. We have almost fifteen billion soldiers, a very big number to be considered. Degurechaff has one hundred billion."

The pure numbers of Degurechaff's army took the Emperor by surprise, if the scale was five to every defender… they should need five hundred billion soldiers? That's…

The Emperor stopped thinking for a moment, it didn't make sense to think that way, they are not going to invade all the planets at the same time. Degurechaff's pure strength in numbers means that they will not be able to conquer her territory fastly and in a matter of months. They would have to probably conquer around twenty planets at the same time, which considering the amount of planets Degurechaff has… it would mean decades of war. So the only real option would be to conquer the key planets of her territory, her capital and the ones that produce for her the weapons, ammunition and fuel. If they cannot defeat their army they can make it run out of resources.

It would be a difficult victory but it would be archivable.

"Victory can be achieved" Answered the Emperor as he looked at the reaction of Hissa, who did not answer anything, just keeping discipline. "But we will not go to war, Degurechaff is just playing time. I trust that she is a loyalist that want to have a better position and not another warlord"

The possibilities of Degurechaff being just another warlord were so low that the sole idea was laughable, she made her people trust her because she was the direct and faithful servant of the Empire and the Emperor. In the moment she made herself a warlord she would lose everything.

Is for that reason, that even as the time to the Ultimatum to be over was becoming dangerously close he still trusted that she would come to negotiate. It would be irrational to do just another thing different from that.

"Understood, I just came here to explain this to you for it is my job"

August nodded. "Good, would you like to say something more?" He asked.

Bertoff Hissa looked worried, he was the type of person that just by his facial characteristics looked evil, his not-human parts didn't help that. Yet, as much as always he looked like evil, he looked human in showing his worries.

"I am thankful for your mercy Emperor, I know many have tried to take me down and you have defended me. I will serve you with loyalty for what you did for me"

"Doesn't my rank just grant me your eternal loyalty?" Asked the Emperor with a smile, showing that he wasn't serious about that statement.

"If I have learned something in the time I have been leader of the Moff Council, loyalty is both earned and granted. For you being the Emperor I serve you, for what you did for me I will always be loyal to you"

The Emperor nodded and without answering he put his head again in the reports, learning the history of the Empire before he took power, his job wasn't finished and time was precious in these dire times.

Bertoff Hissa saluted again to the Emperor and left his office.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One hour before the ultimatum timeline finally reached its end.

Everyone was nervous in the Empire, no one knew what to expect and Degurechaff hadn't declared her position. What first everyone in the Core believed to be an impossible reality started to seem true. Tanya Degurechaff was another warlord, another of the many people that have betrayed the Empire.

The armed forces on the Core side were ready to jump into hyperspace as soon as the three hours passed while Degurechaff navy was ready to use hit and run tactics to delay the enemy operations.

Tensions were at its highest.

In that mess of a situation billions of calls were happening, between familiars and friends who didn't know what to expect or what was happening. But in these millions of calls through the holo-net only one was really relevant.

Cassio Tagge accepted a call and saw in front of him Bertoff Hissa. In the same room of Tagge there was also Rano Resuci who looked at the figure of Hissa with interest. They didn't know what to expect of this call, yet, they knew war was almost unstoppable, it would happen no matter what. After the destruction of Thyferra by the Core there was no way the flames of war could be extinguished.

"I swear, Resuci, that I didn't expect this call," stated Tagge, knowing how bad it looked to be called by the enemy hours after he had tried to kill Degurechaff. Resuci just raised his shoulders without commenting anything.

"I have come to find out why Degurechaff hasn't yet given an official answer to the Ultimatum, if the deadline is reached then there will be a civil war. And I don't know what games is your leader playing but make her see reason, war has to be avoided"

Neither Resuci or Tagge knew what Hissa was talking about, and it could be seen in their eyes that showed disconcert.

"Did you really Delta Zero a planet in Degurechaff's territory and expect for peace to still be an option?" Asked Resuci with genuine surprise, for how idiotic could his counterpart be, because you had to be an idiot to blow up a planet and expect peace.

Now it was the turn for Hissa to show surprise.

"Delta Zero? What are you talking about? We haven't enacted Delta Zero on any planet in years and as I have been head of the Armed Forces I have not authorized any, what are you talking about?"

A mix of surprise and distrust began to spread among the three members of this conversation.

Resuci believed him for a moment, that he didn't know about this, but then he realized, they were confusing them, they wanted to cover their backs and claim that Degurechaff had done a false flag attack. This was a political maneuver. He wouldn't allow it, so he answered:

"The planet Thyferra has been Delta Zero two days after your Puppet Emperor's ultimatum, it was clearly a attack to force us to submission, but you have failed, instead you will have war, and you will suffer so much from this war that the moment you earn victory your Puppet Emperor will look of what is left of his realm and see an Empire of ashes that will be blown away by the winds created by the New Republic".

Hissa pressed the bridge of his nose as his head began to hurt, he didn't understand anything but they were accusing the Emperor of destroying a planet, yet, it was the first time he had heard it. Was it maybe that they were lying? Planning to do a false flag on a planet on their territory if it wasn't already done and blame it on the Emperor…

Or maybe, everything was a misunderstanding. As the Emperor has said several times, everything is about perspectives… Yet, how he could convince them that they haven't blown up a planet…

Wait, they have not, right? No, it should be impossible, the only spaceship capable of that is the Eclipse and right now is finishing its construction, he didn't have access to planet destroying guns except for that spaceship. So, even if his subordinates acted without his orders, it should have been impossible. For he had checked the Eclipse construction every day.

"The only weapon capable of destroying a planet in our possession is right now finishing its construction in Kuat. What you say we have done is impossible, because even if we had used it on the planet it would have been left like Aldeeran instead of Delta Zero. If what you say is true, then I believe there not only has been a miscommunication but someone in the shadows has forced a situation where both sides would seek to go to war. Thank goodness I decided to make this call. Cassio Tagge, if you believe that peace is still an option, as a fellow officer of the army I ask you to link this call with Degurechaff and I will link my call with the Emperor. They have to talk and settle this with the knowledge that if what you say is true some one has destroyed Thyferra with the single idea of the Empire breaking down in a civil war!"

Cassio Tagge made a small movement with his hand, showing Resuci that he was about to make the link, acting fast he took up a pistol he had hidden in his coat, pointing at Tagge.

"Sorry, I just had to stop you right there." He said with a worried tone of voice, he didn't want to resort to that type of action, but a weapon would stop Tagge where a word might have not worked. "Think Tagge, you know where she is. If you link the call so will they, and they would also be able to do a cyber-attack on her that could doom everything. Are you willing to trust in a man that had thrown away Degurechaff, the reformist and us in the south with the hope that we died? How are we supposed to trust someone that never gave us a reason to trust in him? How are we supposed to trust the True Imperials that have tried to destroy Degurechaff before. How can we know that they are telling the truth and not this being a way to kill our leader before the war even starts?"

Tagge couldn't even answer before Hissa in a clear show of anger started to shout.

"Someone has forced this civil war! Why would we destroy the only planet that produces Bacta?! We aren't fucking idiots, that would have affected us. Think! Think for a moment who benefits from the destruction of Thyferra, us? you? The New Republic? The Hutts?"

"No one!" Answered back Rano Resuci, "No one unless that someone has discovered how to produce bacta by themselves. And if I have to believe someone had the possibility of doing that it would be the Core! For I had been once part of the Emperor special projects! I had seen his projects and one of them was to replicate bacta, and if anyone has access to the results of such a project it is the Core. You have access to your own production of Bacta, by destroying Thyferra you have ensured that no one else has access to it. I have been fighting the Imperial Intelligence for too long to smell the rot from systems away and this smells like it. I will not allow you to contact Degurchaff!"

"Are you a war-hungry fool? Don't you fear that our war will cause the destruction of the Empire and civilization as we know it?"

"I fear more the death of Degurechaff than the destruction of the Empire, for without her the Empire will be lost forever. She is the only beacon of hope in this rotten galaxy!"

As they argued, Tagge remembered the only reason for which he was willing to die, for the peace inside of the Empire.

He used all his strength and turned the table upside down, throwing away all the things that were on top of it including the holo projector, the table falling on Resuci and making him fall to the floor crushed by the weight of it. Looking around he saw the door to the Security Bunker, a place that existed to protect the most important members of the command structure in case of attack. Once locked no one could open it except from inside. He didn't think twice, taking the holo projector with him, entering the Security Bunker, closing it and putting the code in it.

"What is happening?" Asked Bertoff Hissa as from his side he only heard weird sounds.

"Tell me, on the honor of the Imperial Army, that you are telling the truth and this is an attempt to have peace in the Empire," answered Tagge, as his chest went up and down for the effort he had put in and the adrenaline rushing inside his body.

"For the honor of the Imperial Army and my loyalty to the Empire. I promise you that neither I nor the Emperor had been part of this destruction of the planet, and if our forces had done it it was without our knowledge and permission. And that the link of the calls is only meant to have peace in the Empire!"

Tagge wished there was a God that could tell him what it was the right decision. But Gods didn't exist, and without a supreme law, the only thing left was his ethics. And his ethics said that his life didn't matter as long as there was a chance for peace.

No matter how much Resuci screamed at him from the other side of the door, Tagge linked his call, sending it to Degurechaff, Hissa did the same. Both hoped that both the Emperor and Degurechaff could reach a common ground.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thirty minutes before the Ultimatum reaches the deadline.

Tanya looked at the call she was receiving from Tagge, she didn't know what it could be but if he was calling her then it was definitely important. She accepted the call, expecting to see his loyal Head of the Imperial Army, she was very surprised to see the Emperor appearing in the form of a hologram. She didn't know what was happening but her body didn't show her true feelings of disconcert – the armor she was wearing helped a lot in that.

"Grand Moff Tanya Degurechaff of the Vader dynasty," greeted the Emperor with a fatherly voice that didn't match with his age (younger than Tanya) yet somehow worked, showing his authority and paternalist attitude.

"August Palpatine," replied Degurechaff with a confrontational tone of voice, "Of the Palpatine dynasty in theory, and I suppose also that of the Emperor."

The bridge staff looked with surprise how Degurechaff could be cold as ice in front of the Emperor, even having the ability to mock him. For the rest of the bridge there was a sensation of oppression just by looking at his golden eyes through the hologram.

"I see you have made your decision already, I am here to change that decision, for I have been informed of a misunderstanding that could ruin this Galaxy forever."

Degurechaff crossed her hands and put her body in a comfortable position, showing disrespect to the authority of the Emperor.

"What misunderstanding?"

"Don't you think it is suspicious that as the Core and the South have reorganized themselves to become incredible foes and protect the galaxy together, as I sent you the ultimatum so we could reunite again under the same leadership and banner. The planet Thyferra has been subject to Delta Zero? A planet in your territory that was under your protection? The misunderstanding is clear. You didn't trust the Moff Council and now you don't trust me. For that reason you believe we have done it. Yet we haven't, I have just discovered this happened not because anyone reported it to me but because Bertoff Hissa explained it to me seconds before you accepted this call. What would we gain from a Delta Zero planet? I ask you not to trust me, for I know you have no reason for, I ask you to be rational."

Tanya laughed, a simple laugh that didn't stop for an entire minute, her body moving backwards as she couldn't contain her own laugh, the Emperor looked at her directly without showing any emotion, just waiting for an answer.

"Rational? You ask me to be the rational one in an irrational galaxy? I am tired of being rational when everyone around me act like fucking idiots without head. Could I trust that rationally it doesn't make sense that you blew up Thyferra? Yes I could, but then I start to think. Was it rational for the dead Emperor to destroy Aldeeran? No! It wasn't! And he did it. I cannot trust you, in that part you have spoken the truth."

The Emperor frowned a little bit, the person in front of him was broken, or to that conclusion he had reached. Surviving the things and plots she did, he could understand that she ended up like this. But no matter what, for the peace of the Empire, he had to convince her somehow.

"If you decide to bring civil war to the Empire, trillions will die. In your actions it is clearly visible that you love the population of the Empire, that you want the best for it, if you kneel right now, before the deadline happens, their lives can be saved. I ask you to kneel for that is what is expected of me as an Emperor, but I can promise you that in the negotiation table I will grant you a great deal of autonomy as long as you accept my authority."

"Why would I kneel before a true imperial? Those that follow the ideology that justify genocide for reasons like race and have destroyed planets before. Even in the remote situation that you haven't given the order to destroy Thyferra, to submit to you would mean the end of a dream of a bright future, to replace it with the oppression and irrationality of the True Imperials. Your ideology seeks human supremacy as if we were the only race that had the right to exist, your ideology seeks constant vigilance over the population and making them live miserable lives so they can never start an uprising. Yet, here we stand, the True Imperials cornered in the Core and the Reformists controlling the entire South of the Galaxy. Your ideology breeds failure and if I kneel, I will be sunk in your ideology failure. That is if you don't simply use your authority to make me disappear from this galaxy after I kneel, which honestly seems what you are aiming for."

"There is a misunderstanding, again, sadly it seems it will be common in our conversation to just assume the position of the other one without really knowing if it is truth. I am not a true imperial. I recognize their ideology and their role in the Empire. But as an Emperor I will never choose a ideology. For in my role I should be the absolute neutral, a pragmatist not an ideologist. So, if you kneel to me, you are not forced to accept the True Imperial's authority, just mine"

For a single moment, for a microsecond, Tanya felt that her decision to go to war might have been wrong. If she had the political and military autonomy to not be influenced by the True Imperials. If the Emperor was as he called himself the absolute neutral, maybe, just maybe, peace was an option.

But Thyferra lay destroyed in the map of the galaxy and she couldn't trust his words. In any moment, if she accepted his authority, she could die in a sudden 'accident'. Her spaceship being sabotaged before hyperspace jump one day, her personal starfighter exploding in the air, her food being poisoned.

At this point, it was a question of faith.

She looked at the chronometer on the other side of the bridge – there was ten minutes left before the ultimatum reached its endline.

"What would happen if I didn't kneel in time?"

"As stupid as it sounds, we both would be forced to a war, for if I accepted you kneeling after the ultimatum I would lose my authority. And an Emperor without authority would end up with the idea of an Empire destroyed under the ruthless realities of the galaxy we live in."

Every second literally brought the Empire closer to being destroyed forever, unless of course either side could achieve a decisive victory without losing everything in the process.

"August," she said with a dangerous tone of voice that even scared the Emperor himself. "You are asking me to make a jump of faith, not knowing if in the end of that jump there will be salvation or damnation. You are asking me to trust you when I have no reason for it and you have given me nothing else than spoken promises that can be forgotten as soon as I have kneeled."

"I am asking you to trust me and cooperate with me to make a better future for this galaxy, to destroy the New Republic, the Hutts, the traitors. Crucify them as you did in Eriadu, bring this galaxy the order they deserve, the prosperity they have long wished for."

"The people also wish for freedom, I grant it to them, would you grant it to the galaxy?"

The Emperor smiled, she was now more open to the possibility of cooperation, he was so close to avoid this civil war, for she wasn't a warlord, she didn't want power for herself. A loyalist almost turned traitor and he was so close to avoiding it.

"Freedom is a desire of those that have order, freedom will arrive with time as long as the situation allows it. But first order has to be restored. You also understand it, no? For in the end even you have your own secret police."

Degurechaff wasn't satisfied with his answer, for it was a political answer, words that didn't mean anything.

The seconds advanced rapidly, so fast that it looked as if time itself wanted a civil war.

Tanya thought for a moment and answered:

"Law and Freedom without Violence is anarchy and that is the New Republic. Law and Violence without Freedom is Despotism and that is the Core under the True Imperials ideology. Violence without Freedom and Law is barbarism and that is the Hutts and the warlords. Violence with Freedom and Law is the South Supersector. I have created a beacon of hope for the Galaxy without anyone helping me. I have raised armies where before there was nothing but garrisons, I have raised the economy to levels not seen since before the destruction of the First Death Star, I have ended injustice on my side of the Galaxy. You are asking me to risk that, to put all this with me and jump to a dark hole of promises of someone that I believe has destroyed a planet, of someone that could be right now lying to me, seducing me with promises of peace and autonomy only to end up dead. Do you understand that nothing that you say matters because you are waiting on me taking either the rational decision of not kneeling for the danger you suppose to my territory or the irrational decision of trusting someone I don't trust?"

One minute was left, one minute to decide the fate of this galaxy.

"Will you kneel, or will you destroy this galaxy?" Asked the Emperor, knowing that he had done all he could, that now all depended on how much he had convinced her, of how convincing his arguments and promises were. Knowing that whatever decision Degurechaff makes it would be rational.

Degurechaff took off her helmet, showing her beautiful yet hardened face. Showing that she is a veteran. Her strong and unforgivable eyes turned gold as the adrenaline was rushing, thirty seconds were left and she had to make a decision.

Either option could be the good or bad one. And she knew that whatever decision she took, there would be no turning back. She would be condemning trillions of lives.

Her body tensed, as she had her answer.

1: "I cannot trust you, Puppet Emperor, for you are just that, a tool of the elites of the Core to keep control of the Galaxy. I bring hope to my territory where you will bring despair in your actions controlled by the elites. For that reason, my only answer is this one: Death to the Puppet Emperor!"

2: She kneeled, but instead of putting her head down in submission she looked at his eyes directly. "This kneeling has no value until we negotiate my autonomy and rights. but, for now. There shall be peace in the Empire. For both of us are representatives and defenders of the Empire. With this kneeling, my desire for peace is shown, but you need to understand that this is not a show of weakness. For, I am Tanya Degurechaff, daughter of Lord Vader, and I have never been defeated."

So, you might be confused, but this is a votation. Right now Tanya choosing the option 1 or 2 is completly possible, but I will not take the decision of wich option she take. You will! You will have the path of history in your own hands in this votation so I hope you vote what you really want.

Also, please give likes, I have worked so hard for this story and I am sad to see how slowly less and less people are reading it.