Intergalactic Summit

You make the mistake of assigning hatred and revenge as the universal motivation. From a significant chunk of public communications - here on the IGS and elsewhere - and from personal meetings I think I can say with confidence that is hardly the case. Great portions of the people attacking the Empire do so motivated by the fairly enormous issue at the core of this conflict. The enslavement of a humongous portion of their population.

Remove that cause and you remove the effect.

As I said before, some would remain hostile and have a need for vengeance no different from the minorities present in all our nations and factions. You would however lose a generous portion of the attackers as they simply lose a reason to fight.

It's not an easy task to be sure, but it's very much doable. Abolish slavery entirely and offer them all citizenship, a paid job and giving them the responsibility to care for themselves. It's in the end cheaper, more efficient, increases incentive for doing a good job, takes away an enormous expense in defending against those who fight because of slavery, increases diplomatic and trade credibility and good will, increases freedom to move both laterally and vertically in social layers and jobs which allows for talents to shine and failures to be culled.

I'd continue but I tried reading that out loud and my medical implants started warning me of oxygen deprivation.

There are obviously consequences to such an action but the benefits would be immeasurable, especially over time. Imagine ending - for the most part - the greatest conflict New Eden has known with a single stroke. There'll always be something to fight for or against, but stubbornly resisting the most basic of progress and thus prolonging the conflict, war, suffering and death over generations more is just staggeringly stupid.

The Empire being slow to change is an excuse not much different than "it's tradition". It is meaningless other than to say that they're stuck in a rut and are too scared to peek over the edge to see where everyone else have gone.

No one was trying to convince you of the "righteousness" of the Elder Fleet. I'm saying there was a reason it happened. That reason never had to exist, and the Empire has had the option of rectifying the greatest crime New Eden has ever seen for hundreds of years now. They haven't. This has consequences.

I can't condone the calamities and atrocities every nation in New Eden has inflicted upon others, but in many cases - this one very much a prime example - I have no problems recognizing and understanding why it happened. More importantly, recognizing how it could have been entirely avoided.

The crimes of the Elder Fleet pales in comparison to the millennia of continuous crimes that culminated in that very event.

Ms. Otsito,
may I ask,
If you were raised from birth in a society where it is considered a sacred act to consume the flesh of your deceased kin so that you might properly honor their deeds in life, would you do so? I assure you, it tastes like chicken.

There is a school of thought which holds that where what is legal is in conflict with what is moral, morality wins.

The Law may upset reason a thousand times, but Reason may never upset the law.

Which is... well... not true except in that when individual sentiment is used as a reason to overturn a millennia of a society's collected wisdom, it never leads to good things.

I'm quite sure slavery is regarded as quite moral in the Empire as well.
CONCORD, albeit a failure through and through in theory exists to sort out culturological and political differences between the BIg Four.
As such, your school of thought might be right, but only if dragged out of context.

Damnit. Been doubleposting for some time now. Gotta run some comms diagnostics.

In Exile were kind enough to make me a very generous offer. Whilst Empire loyalists, they are a bit more understanding of my special problems than most Nationalistic Loyalist organisations. My skillset is very much best suited for small scale low-sec security engagements which, with the best will in the world, means flying for either the State or the Empire.

It's a mercenary contract, Ava.

Within the customary usages and observances of the law of arms, I hope?

Now, now, Lady Meiyi. I'm sure you know that there is legislation covering the recovery and treatment of Prisoners of War and engagement of acceptable targets within the War Zone.