Emperor Denies Imperial Spy Ring Existence

Spies? Within the Empire? Ludicrous, you may say...but maybe not so ridiculous after all...

Recent rumblings from our informants on the Rebel side of the Galactic conflict seem to indicate that the Rebellion is currently undergoing a case of extreme paranoia, and is searching for spies in their midst, while accusing the Emperor of planting spies. INN went straight to the Emperor to ask if these rumours were true...

INN: Greetings, Emperor.

Emperor: Good evening.

INN: The first thing is the question on many of the Rebel's minds these days...do we have any spies in the Rebel Alliance?

E: Not to my knowledge, we do not. All of our information on Rebel activities comes from the capable offices of Imperial Intelligence. Now, that being said, even if we did have spies, what then? This is war - spying is a traditional and accepted practice.

INN: Well, there is some fear at home that such spying might be used within the Empire itself, to violate the privacy of its citizens.

E: Not at all. Even if there was an Imperial "spy ring", as you so melodramatically call it, why would I bother using it upon my own citizens? I know that my citizens value their privacy, and so I do not intrude into their lives any more than I have to. Any citizens who have a problem with Imperial policy or regulations are more than welcome to send a holotrans to their local Moff or Grand Moff, who will then see to it that they are dealt with.

INN: So, just to close this out, as I know you're very busy with running the Empire, there is no Imperial Spy Ring?

E: That is correct.

INN: Thank you very much for your time, Emperor.

E: The pleasure was all mine.

Well, there you have it - straight from the Emperor himself. Citizens can breathe easy still - their rights and privacy is being protected by the might of the Galactic Empire.