500 Republica

As the Corellian Jedi stood quietly in the dressing room, focusing his mind and reviewing his planned remarks, Master Raganella's personal comlink buzzed, insistently. At first, he ignored it, but then he checked to see who was calling, and, reluctantly, accepted the call, holo image and all. It was Master Roma, and and a guest, Master Raddekh, on Corellia. He had a short but important conversation with them, which fit very much with the content of his planned speech, but his cue was coming, and he cut it short.

Ending the call, he typed a quick message, and sent it to Senator Koronov. Master Raddekh of Ossus wishes to discuss a proposal with you. He is on Corellia now.

And then it was showtime.

~

After the cheers for Senator Crom'nen had died down, and after a pleasant interlude from the band, the music died down once again, and the spotlights shone once more upon the podium. Kel'Al stepped from behind the curtain and made his way slowly to the podium, feeling an immeasurable calm fall upon him as his Jedi techniques took hold of his mind and emotions. He took a moment to let the polite applause to die down as he looked out over the crowd. The Corellian was dressed not in his Jedi robes, but in a three-piece dark grey suit, with a sharp green tie and a white shirt. His blue eyes twinkled in the spotlights, and he briefly touched the corner of the podium with his left index finger, before letting his hands fall to his sides.

Friends, when I was asked to speak to you tonight, I quickly realized that my most powerful message was not a Jedi message, or a Twi’lek message, or even a Republic message. It is much bigger than that, and so I am here not as Kel’Al Raganella, the Jedi, or even as Kel’Al Raganella, the retired politician, but as Kel’Al Raganella, a fellow citizen of our vast galaxy.

Many of you know that before I retired from politics, I was a servant of the United Federation of Free Worlds, and during those days, we laid the groundwork for the Galactic Coalition, which grew into one of the factions whose union re-established the Republic. I ultimately concluded that politics was no place for a Jedi, and that it distracted from my core mission as a servant of the Force, but along the way, I learned some important lessons about the value of worlds such as Ryloth to the survival and protection of every other world.

As Chief of State, I focused on every planet that we could bring into our federation, not because I desired power, but because I knew that a Jedi presence could bring vigilance, and a civilian military presence would offer preparation and protection that few planets could afford or achieve on their own. Our mutual cooperation was our greatest asset in those days, whether it was boots on the ground, or simply establishing communications channels to share intelligence.

If we saw an opening to wrest a planet from the control of the Sith or of other oppressors, we took that opportunity, no matter where the planet was located. We prioritized the liberty and safety of those civilian populations. If it was a strategic world, great, then it could help us defend other worlds. If it was not inherently strategic, then it held equal value as an outpost and a hiding place. We found a valuable military purpose for every world, but the true value was in knowing that another civilization had been made safe, and that with every planet, our strength of numbers was increased.

Ryloth was one of those worlds, and our approach was no different than anywhere else. We fought a series of wars for control of the planet, taking great losses along the way, including the flagship of our navy, the Pride of Corellia, and thousands of Corellians and Hapans and Naboo and many other races who bled and died alongside the Twi’leks. In the end we were victorious, and ushered in an era of peace for the Twi’leks that was rarely broken until this most recent calamity.

But as much history as I personally, and many in this room, have with Ryloth, this idea ultimately isn’t about Ryloth. This idea is about all of us, and all of our homes. Ryloth is but one world out of thousands, and the painful pictures that Crom’nen has so vividly painted for you are the same tragedies that could visit any of your worlds, if we are not vigilant, prepared, and cooperative in our mutual defenses. We are either working together to create a position of strength, or we are creating weaknesses by forming divisions that our enemies can and will use against us.

He let that sink in before continuing.

You may be wondering what’s in it for the powerful central planets like Corellia. Well, let me tell you a story. In the early days of the UFFW, before my time as Chief of State, our enemies gathered a great invasion army and navy in the Outer Rim, with the intentions of capturing Corellia. Moving with impressive speed, they were able to cut their way clear through to the Core and launch their invasion without any resistance until they exited hyperspace over Corellia. Suddenly our defense forces were utterly out-gunned. All we could hope to do was buy time for reinforcements to arrive.

And the CDF did it -- barely. They were down to its last two capital ships and its last squadron of starfighters when help reached us from the other worlds of the Corellian System and our nearby colonies. The Sith were landing troops in our streets, and the Jedi Academy was being bombarded from orbit.

But then a powerful thing happened. More and more allies flocked to our defense, even ones whom we had not directly called, heard the news, and they came to fight beside us. This was not limited to the worlds of the UFFW. Other forces came to our aid that day from beyond our borders. Mandalorians, and Alderaanians, and Grey Jedi, and numerous Jedi sects.

Kel’Al paused, glancing down at the podium as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

I will never forget the feeling of gratitude I felt toward our saviors when the Sith sounded their retreat.

He paused again, blinked, then looked up, emphasizing his next words carefully.

But we learned two important lessons that day: First, that our alliances made us powerful, but second, that we were blind. We needed to increase our vigilance in the Outer Rim, and along the less traveled hyperspace lanes, and among the lowest, most forgotten, least defended planets, whether close to home, or halfway across the galaxy.

It doesn’t matter whether you live on Coruscant or the Core Worlds, or whether you call the Outer Rim home. What happens to your world will eventually affect all of us.

We cannot undo what has happened on Ryloth, but we can let it serve as a warning to us all. We must not be complacent, or think that such misfortune is someone else’s problem. Next time, it might not be Ryloth. It might be Naboo, or Rendili, or my own Corellia, or even Coruscant herself.

We have an opportunity this evening to show the evil forces in this galaxy that we are strong, and that we will take care of our friends. Let us take back the headlines, and make sure that the story is not about how a tragedy befell the Twi’leks, but about how the Republic and her friends picked Ryloth back up again, and made her stronger than she ever was before.

Thank you. And he stepped back from the podium, his eyes almost immediately drifting to Senator Crom'nen.

It was a money line, or at least he hoped it would be. He may have held some private distrust of Crom'nen, but tonight they were all playing for the same team.

=Aylee'saresh=
"Excellent." Looking slightly surprised as the evening's most unusual guest dropped something into her hand, Aylee cupped her fingers around the object, and closed it tightly. It appeared to be some sort of crystal. She nodded, bowing slightly. "I will. Good evening." Then she turned, and re-entered the building, hurrying back to the main ball room of 500 Republica. At the entrance, she caught up with Knight Halcyon, and handed him Cass's gift. Leaving the Jedi with a bewildered look on his face and a lightsaber crystal in the palm of his hand, Senator Koronov's secretary found a new seat in the audience just as Master Raganella took the stage.

The retired politician and Jedi had always had a way with words, but tonight he exceeded all her expectations. Maybe it had just been so long since she last heard him speak, but he hit all the right notes, and wove in some subtle backstory, as a bonus. She was pleased, and peered at the charity donation collectors out of the corner of her eyes as the speech concluded. If Raganella had connected with his audience as skillfully as she believed he had, there was about to be a new rush of donations.

The pleasure is mine, Lady Lilith. Thank you for coming this evening.

Crom'nen smiled warmly. No, my Lady, not just the Republic. He began to gesture to individuals around the room. There is the new Emperor. There are a few Jedi. Near the food you see some of the powerful businessmen from unaffiliated worlds. Not to mention yourself. This is a room of the galaxy's leaders, bonding together to say that enough is enough. I am honored to be among such fine people as yourself, especially given the colorful nature of my recent history.

Hello there my lady.
Standash glides over to the new comer like she was on a cloud. Gown glistening as she moves.
I have just received a note a new comer was looking for me, I assume that to be you. It is great to meet you. I am Princess Standash Thul Senator of Alderaan. How can i be of service to you?

Of course! A party is not the time to talk business like this. Tell me how are you finding this capital? Unless I am mistaken, you just arrived. Did you not?

Of course, i feel that there will be much opportunity.