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Description
//IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE SECTION II//
//CLASS 2 CLEARANCE REQUIRED//
//SUBVERSION -- INTRODUCTION//

Greetings, agent. Due to your exceptional skills, you have been selected to the Office of Foreign Subversion. You will be primarily tasked with subverting the most formidable of the Emperor's enemies: the United Galactic Federation. While this assignment may seem dull and uninteresting, it is of paramount importance.

You may have expected more direct means of opposing the Federation, such as via the theft of weapon designs or the destruction of orbital shipyards. These operations, while important, serve primarily to distract Federation intelligence and to cripple the Federation's capabilities on a tactical level. Subversion will cripple the Federation on a societal level. The primary goal of Section II activities within the United Galactic Federation is subversion.

You may be wondering what subversion is. Subversion is the corrosion of an enemy society, at such a fundamental level that it will destroy itself. It is the use of subtle means to empower and nurture a core of internal opposition within the target society. It accomplishes the ultimate goal of covert operations - the destruction of the enemy - by using the enemy's own assets against itself. It destroys the enemy under the guise of saving him from himself.

You may be wondering how a hundred thousand agents hope to bring down a nation of trillions. The truth of the matter is that neither you, nor your fellow agents, nor Imperial Intelligence as a whole, are responsible for bringing about the decay of Federal society. Section II has engaged in subversive activity for the past five hundred years, but we could not bring down the Federation if we had ten thousand years.

The very nature of Federal society is self-destructive. The Federation believes that it is an open, tolerant society. This is appallingly untrue. The Federation clamps down on any thoughts that contradict the state's Unity ideology. Thus, any attempt to question it from a dissenting perspective is quickly identified and stamped out as foreign subversion. This Office's early attempts to fund and support separatists and political organizations sympathetic to the Imperial cause and Imperial ideals were quickly demonized and destroyed by Federal authorities. We have correspondingly minimized our involvement with such organizations.

However, the Unity ideology is, by its nature, extremely self-critical. The Federation has inculcated a perverse form of morality which equates adherence to Unity ideology with inherent goodness. As with all ideological autocracies, adherence to state ideology is virtue, and deviance is vice. This is used to our advantage. It is human nature to desire societal approval, and to be viewed as a virtuous person. This creates an "race to the top" within a society, particularly among those insecure in their inherent self-worth. Within Imperial society, this manifests itself as displays of wealth, birth and status, as those of you who have associated with nobility are doubtless aware. However, within Federation society, this manifests itself in ideological purity.

Perfect adherence to the Unity ideology - indeed, any ideology - is impossible. Perfectly uniform adherence is likewise impossible throughout a society. Therefore, there will always be Federal figures who are perceived as being more ideologically devoted than others. There will always be competition within Federal society for societal approval, which stems from ideological adherence. In spite of their rhetoric, the Unity Party is particularly susceptible to this self-destructive competition. Even if Imperial Intelligence had no involvement within Federal society, this competition will perpetuate itself. The Office of Foreign Subversion does not sow the seeds of the Federation's destruction. That work has already been done for us. All we can do is direct and accelerate this decay. Like the navigational thrusters on a spacecraft, it manipulates the direction of the target while maintaining - indeed, accelerating - its momentum.

You may be wondering by what means this subversion is conducted. There are many particular avenues, of which you will become very familiar, but they predominantly involve encouraging self-criticism. The radicals within Federation society, who believe that its leadership and society do not go far enough in adhering to the ideals of Unity, are our primary targets. They are to be supplied with funding, both directly through front organizations and indirectly by buying supporters. They are to be supplied with arguments criticizing the Federation from the perspective of a Federal radical. The Federation does not do enough to promote the revolution among aliens; the Federation oppresses its poor; the Federation is blind to the suffering of one group or another. They are to be protected from Federal prosecution, by using the Federation's legal system. Their cause is to be promoted throughout the Unity Party. If these organizations and factions gain power, they are to be abandoned and opposed from a more radical position.

Subversion will inevitably lead to the decay of Federal power throughout the galaxy, and eventually major instability within the Federation itself. Radicals will eventually have their demands denied and call for violent revolt. We shall encourage the violent radicals to draw away Federal military assets and, hopefully, to instigate a full-blown civil war. It is at that moment that the Empire can intervene directly and restore rightful order to the galaxy. Once we have secured Federal territory, our efforts will then turn to eliminating the radicals and establishing the New Order.

Good luck, agent. Praise the Emperor.

Description
//IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE SECTION II//
//CLASS 2 CLEARANCE REQUIRED//
//SUBVERSION -- INTRODUCTION//

Greetings, agent. Due to your exceptional skills, you have been selected to the Office of Foreign Subversion. You will be primarily tasked with subverting the most formidable of the Emperor's enemies: the United Galactic Federation. While this assignment may seem dull and uninteresting, it is of paramount importance.

You may have expected more direct means of opposing the Federation, such as via the theft of weapon designs or the destruction of orbital shipyards. These operations, while important, serve primarily to distract Federation intelligence and to cripple the Federation's capabilities on a tactical level. Subversion will cripple the Federation on a societal level. The primary goal of Section II activities within the United Galactic Federation is subversion.

You may be wondering what subversion is. Subversion is the corrosion of an enemy society, at such a fundamental level that it will destroy itself. It is the use of subtle means to empower and nurture a core of internal opposition within the target society. It accomplishes the ultimate goal of covert operations - the destruction of the enemy - by using the enemy's own assets against itself. It destroys the enemy under the guise of saving him from himself.

You may be wondering how a hundred thousand agents hope to bring down a nation of trillions. The truth of the matter is that neither you, nor your fellow agents, nor Imperial Intelligence as a whole, are responsible for bringing about the decay of Federal society. Section II has engaged in subversive activity for the past five hundred years, but we could not bring down the Federation if we had ten thousand years.

The very nature of Federal society is self-destructive. The Federation believes that it is an open, tolerant society. This is appallingly untrue. The Federation clamps down on any thoughts that contradict the state's Unity ideology. Thus, any attempt to question it from a dissenting perspective is quickly identified and stamped out as foreign subversion. This Office's early attempts to fund and support separatists and political organizations sympathetic to the Imperial cause and Imperial ideals were quickly demonized and destroyed by Federal authorities. We have correspondingly minimized our involvement with such organizations.

However, the Unity ideology is, by its nature, extremely self-critical. The Federation has inculcated a perverse form of morality which equates adherence to Unity ideology with inherent goodness. As with all ideological autocracies, adherence to state ideology is virtue, and deviance is vice. This is used to our advantage. It is human nature to desire societal approval, and to be viewed as a virtuous person. This creates an "race to the top" within a society, particularly among those insecure in their inherent self-worth. Within Imperial society, this manifests itself as displays of wealth, birth and status, as those of you who have associated with nobility are doubtless aware. However, within Federation society, this manifests itself in ideological purity.

Perfect adherence to the Unity ideology - indeed, any ideology - is impossible. Perfectly uniform adherence is likewise impossible throughout a society. Therefore, there will always be Federal figures who are perceived as being more ideologically devoted than others. There will always be competition within Federal society for societal approval, which stems from ideological adherence. In spite of their rhetoric, the Unity Party is particularly susceptible to this self-destructive competition. Even if Imperial Intelligence had no involvement within Federal society, this competition will perpetuate itself. The Office of Foreign Subversion does not sow the seeds of the Federation's destruction. That work has already been done for us. All we can do is direct and accelerate this decay. Like the navigational thrusters on a spacecraft, it manipulates the direction of the target while maintaining - indeed, accelerating - its momentum.

You may be wondering by what means this subversion is conducted. There are many particular avenues, of which you will become very familiar, but they predominantly involve encouraging self-criticism. The radicals within Federation society, who believe that its leadership and society do not go far enough in adhering to the ideals of Unity, are our primary targets. They are to be supplied with funding, both directly through front organizations and indirectly by buying supporters. They are to be supplied with arguments criticizing the Federation from the perspective of a Federal radical. The Federation does not do enough to promote the revolution among aliens; the Federation oppresses its poor; the Federation is blind to the suffering of one group or another. They are to be protected from Federal prosecution, by using the Federation's legal system. Their cause is to be promoted throughout the Unity Party. If these organizations and factions gain power, they are to be abandoned and opposed from a more radical position.

Subversion will inevitably lead to the decay of Federal power throughout the galaxy, and eventually major instability within the Federation itself. Radicals will eventually have their demands denied and call for violent revolt. We shall encourage the violent radicals to draw away Federal military assets and, hopefully, to instigate a full-blown civil war. It is at that moment that the Empire can intervene directly and restore rightful order to the galaxy. Once we have secured Federal territory, our efforts will then turn to eliminating the radicals and establishing the New Order.

Good luck, agent. Praise the Emperor.