I must most emphatically and strongly object to your unwarranted and unpatriotic attack upon His Majesty's Governor of Deralia, a world in my Sector. That as it may be, I am minded to answer you in a civil matter and answer your concerns.

The Governor has issued several decrees on Deralia, and has implemented a system which requires families which cannot support themselves (and have shown an inability to do so for over half a year) to enter a work program in order that they may:

A. Gain skills and workplace knowledge.
B. Have the self respect of knowing that they have worked for their bread, and that they are not a burden to the state.
C. May work for the good of their world, and for the glory of the Empire.

There has been no widespread objection to this project, and no objection has been raised by the Deralian Government, Monarch or other official despite an official notification having been dispatched some two weeks ago. It should be noted that the Royal Government has not actually acted in any capacity for at least two weeks now. Until such a time as Mr Aurelius is disposed to retake his authority, the Imperial Governor will work in concert with Local Government to assure the day to day running of the State continues despite absence at the top.

My good Governor appointed to oversee the modernization of this world may have acted unilaterally, however, he has acted for the public interest and has attempted to assure that someone is Governing Deralia in the "petite interregnum" as the media have branded it. Furthermore, he has issued relatively few major proclamations (less than five I am told in his months of tenure). Should this lack of any activity from the King continue for more than another month we will be forced to consult the Senate itself in order to help find a satisfactory resolution to the situation (in terms of installing an interim local administration and the future of Deralia's Monarchy).

I have spoken to Governor Augustus and he has agreed to take a joint approach to his future modernisation work (by formal consultation requests), between him and the Deralian State (so far as we are able to consult with it while its Monarch is apparently absent).

As for drafting Labour, this has been adequately explained, this is due to the need to help modernize all areas of the planet's economy and bring it out of the dark ages. Gentlemen, this is a world where, until recently, men and women still lived in simple rock huts and been forced from birth to train to be warriors by monks who have already been widely accused of sexual misconduct.. Dramatic change is needed on this world, modernization, progression to a brighter future.

As for the specific issue, yes we require women to work, women seek equality and we give it to them, they are considered equal in the eyes of the labour corps system and give their labour according to their ability (as determined by physical and mental exams). Children who are part of the labour program do contribute an amount of labour (usually simple work like fitting nuts and bolts together for delivery to the worksites etc), this labour totals out at less than 60 minutes light exercise per child per day in completely safe industry standard conditions..

I believe all the doctors recommend 60 minutes daily exercise for children to prevent childhood obesity, surely if this good exercise can be put to the service of the state then all to the good? When not performing simple and light labour, children are either in the class room, in education, or if too young are in a creche. This amounts to the state providing free childcare for all parents participating in the labour program.. the market value of this is several hundred if not thousand credits a month to each family or single parent.

Equally, the Labour Corps provides work for even the mentally or physically disabled, we provide them with free accommodation, transport, food and training. We are happy to do this, and require from them only what they can give, and in exchange give them what they need. Previously many of these individuals were homeless beggars, reduced to undignified begging or other shameful ways of living. We give them a smart uniform, a job, a sense of pride, a place to live and a place in a hierarchy, we give them self respect and a sense of belonging.

As for non Labour Corps work, yes we do require one week's state service per year from every adult. Many hundreds if not thousands of worlds require every citizen to have this amount (or more) of military training or other national service per year, as do we. In practice not every individual is called up for service. Those who are called up are usually called up to simply do a variant of their normal job. The work is productive for all and allows the average person to see first hand the modernization of their world, allows them to be involved with it and to come together as a modern Imperial Society. I do not see why it is believed to be objectionable on any level.

We value every Deralian Citizen involved, every one is a hero of their world and is helping, by one way or another, to modernize. As for work elsewhere in the Sector, our modernization is not confined to Deralia, and the Sector as a whole will be modernized. We are researching on if it would be efficient to introduce a similar system of mandatory labour for the long term unemployed elsewhere in order to find sufficient Labour for this project.

As for the deposition of waste, this is done so in accordance with all Imperial rules on waste consignment, over 90% of the waste is recycled. The remainder of the waste is sealed in a thick layer of ice by the perpetually sub zero conditions. There it will be safely contained for time immemorial. The permit for the deposition was approved by the Sector Waste Management Bureau after an investigation into proposed conditions ruled it "very safe".

Shola may appear to be a world which would suitable for the deposition of waste, however, the Sector Archaeological Board report has cited "significant remains" as being present on the world from some previous civilization. I believe funding is being sought in order to finance a full archaeological dig on the world in order to discern the origin and provenance of these remains in order to help contribute knowledge of the past for us all. As such I have frozen requests to dump on Shola until such a time as a full Archaeological Survey and dig is made. Then when I have it confirmed that no archaeology may be damaged by dumping, I will be happy to endorse dumping.

Mr Ribaldequin is a highly recommended graduate of the Imperial School of Governance, its youngest ever. He is no relative of mine, and I am unsure where this erroneous and fallacious information comes from, but is (arguably) a very distant relative of some very ancient Deralian Monarch. I have had my archivist do some research and have found that he is descended from a "Emperor" Arterius I of Deralia.. Arterius ruled over 1000 years ago.. Are you telling me a conflict of interest can be declared on the basis of a relation being involved with a world 1000 years ago? Mr Arterius should statistically have 2.25179981 × 10 to the 15 ancestors by now... many billions... is every one of those excluded?

No this is just an ad-hominem attack on an excellent official. A man cannot help his background, his family have not resided on Deralia for hundreds of years, he is a Coruscanti by birth and upbringing, despite having some Deralian blood. There is certainly no conflict of interest on the basis of his distant Ancestor. Statistically I am likely related to one of you by an ancestor 1000 years ago.. I do not think such a distant blood tie has any meaning at all, not can you judge a man by his distant ancestors. Mr Augustus has been acutely sensitive to this accusation and gave the Deralian King his assurance (in person) that he had no desire to be anything other than a loyal Governor to the Empire.

Mr Augustus is a skilled and wise official who has graduated many years ahead of schedule from the best school of Governance in the Galaxy. It would not be surprise me if a man of his talents was not a Sector Governor within a decade. I cannot imagine why a man with such a bright future ahead of him would settle for the trivial "glory" of seeking to become "King" on a world so distant from the Imperial Throne and the Bright core of this Galaxy.

Deralia has the potential to be a fine world. It will not be an easy transition, there will be many mountains to climb. I personally believe that Deralia has the potential to be one of the most productive and modern worlds in the Outer Rim, with a high standard of living for its people. But for this drastic changes are needed, and as it stands I have full confidence in the ability of Mr Ribaldequin Augustus to Govern as a just and wise Governor, to bring Deralia into the Imperial Era. I do not dispute that Deralia is a loyal world, and it may be a bitter pill that it must do more than be loyal, it must work to improve itself.

Deralia is akin to a man starving to death but whom is loyal to the Empire and lies in his mud hut with a picture of the Emperor hung on the wall but no food in the house, no crops in the field and real future. While the man may be a good patriot, starving to death (economically, physically or intellectually) he cannot be a good citizen. He must plant crops, eat, exercise and produce in order to be a good citizen.

On Deralia, we seek to be the teacher to this Loyal and ancient world, the trainer and yes, the helper at times. We have faith that the good people of Deralia will work hard during this time of change and will help build for themselves a shining new world, a brave new tomorrow. On Deralia we can do something the Empire has always striven towards, we can bring a world forward thousands of years in less than a decade, we can bring it into the future.

Yours Sincerely,

Simon Levi