Meeting the Threat of Aggression, by Ivan Romanov (2342) 

This speech was written during the Sunrise War and was to be delivered in full on 28 August 2242 following a public debate in New York City, Earth.  It addressed the fact that many factions of the Imperial Parliament of Planets were calling for a direct assault upon civilian targets within the Southern Alliance.  Romanov’s personal belief was that further murder served no military purpose and would achieve little more than a vendetta between the two governments.  Romanov was assassinated during the first recitation of the speech.

An age has arrived in which the great governments of the galaxy will more frequently bring force of arms to bear upon each other.  Colonies will soon rise against their masters and will be put down with haste at the expense of hapless millions.  Worlds will clash and their fleets will determine the course of history for countless souls whose interests lie not in the purposeless bloodshed set forth and carried out by their leaders.  Our great interstellar civilization, though met with threats both foreign and domestic, cannot stoop to such levels as have our enemies.

The opposing nation of Shrai’vak now stands ready to seize a world not unlike Earth, Tauria, or Tarnak.  They have sent fleets to accomplish this mission for the reason than that we have set direct provocation on their borders.  We are no less at fault than are they, yet great numbers of us have expressed outrage in their unwarranted attack.  However, it is also clear to many that our own government has expected such an attack for a time and thus placed a large portion of our military resources in those regions which are now occupied by the enemy.

The tragedy at Dawn is, by the grace of God, not a complete disaster.  Although many of our best soldiers, young people still basking in morning’s warm rays, have met their fate on the battlefields of this war, it is clear that their perseverance has prevented the complete fall of those distant territories.  They have preserved for us the opportunity to create a better society and they have fought for the ideals we hold in our hearts.  Think of our best young minds, lost forever in a storm of battle, pain and death.  Would any of you have us send soldiers to destroy recklessly as our enemies have done?  Would any of you prepare for direct attacks on their helpless citizens as a stroke of vengeance?

I beg of you to consider that it is always to maintain a strong defense against our enemies for which we must toil, and that there are yet loftier goals beyond that.  It is through the angels of peace and mutual respect that we have forged a new government based on diversity while avoiding the partisan conflicts which have destroyed similar nations in former times.  I remind you that a moment to reach out to our enemies in friendship is still at hand, and that only through sacrifice of pride can such divine goals be achieved.  The time has come to put away weapons of offense and hold only those of defense before opposition.  Let the branches of peace be lifted above the graves of those who have served their nation with such valiant effort and have paid the final price for our continued freedom.  Our greatest weapon towards aggression must be our refusal to destroy, to murder, and to hate.