A Galactic Day of Infamy

How the Empire Could Yet Survive

For Imperial Use Only // ULTRASECRET//NODROIDS

SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM FOR All Officers of the Imperial Fleet and Ground Forces

1. As you all know, we recently suffered the loss of our second command and control battle station, colloquially named, “The Death Star.” In that same engagement with the now-victorious Rebel Alliance, we also lost our Emperor as well as his confidant and battlefield leader, Lord Darth Vader. The Rebels scattered our forces and retain local dominance in the Endor System. These are the facts as we know them now.
2. Some of you may be wondering where to go from here; after all, with the Imperial Fleet shattered, the high command all dead, and only junior officers left, how can there be any hope of the Empire returning to power?
3. To that we say this: what appears to be a tragedy is really an opportunity. For too long, we have been weighted down by a bloated bureaucracy of senior officers, micromanagement, out of control weapons spending, toxic leadership, and poor strategy. Rather than applying a unified pressure against the Rebels, we have frittered away local advantages in vain attempts to secure their leadership. We made no attempt to negotiate with the Rebels or to apply any other aspects of power to this fight. Which is why we find ourselves leaderless and adrift: the perfect place to start anew.
4. Several key changes have been made to leadership, task organization, and to our strategy, as outlined as follows.
5. Leadership: Changes have been made and the Imperial Council will be replaced with the Joint Imperial Staff, being composed of officers from the Fleet and Ground Forces. All foreign policy and strategic decisions will be made at this level and funneled down through the various divisions. Joint Doctrine will be published in the coming days.
6. Task Organization: Each system will be detailed its own Strike Group, tailored to meet that system’s climate, Rebel presence, and the composition of the local populace. Each Group will be a Joint operation, with both air and ground commanders working in conjunction with each other. Each Strike Group will maintain sufficient strength to maintain a limited blockade, conduct conventional warfare on both ground and air, and hold out under sustained Rebel pressure until reinforcements can arrive. Strike Groups will be formed around the platform of the Star Destroyers, which luckily managed to escape Endor System without too many losses. Three Strike Groups will be held in Galactic Reserve until such time as we are able to replace our losses. Review Enclosure 1 to this memo for your new assignments and report to that system immediately.
7. Strategy: From this time forward, all Imperial commanders are entrusted with the authority to engage Rebel forces within their battlespace, either with conventional means or through “soft power” diplomacy, ensuring that locals are not harmed in the process. We are no longer in a position to dictate policy to local governments; we must work with them to root out the Rebels and force them to concentrate their forces. We cannot win a war of attrition and we must not allow them to develop an insurgency.
8. At this time, the Rebels see us as defeated, as vanquished. Let us use this perception to our advantage. In ridding us of our leadership, they have opened the door to our victory. Agility, innovation, and adaptation are our watchwords in this era of Galactic conflict. Advance to Victory!

//Signed\\

Joint Imperial Staff

Angry Staff Officer is an officer in the Army National Guard and a member of the Military Writers Guild. He commissioned as an engineer officer after spending time as an enlisted infantryman. He has done one tour in Afghanistan as part of U.S. and Coalition retrograde operations. With a BA and an MA in history, he currently serves as a full-time Army Historian. The opinions expressed are his alone, and do not reflect those of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

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