The office was quiet. Daegon leaned back in a chair which was unfamiliar, it was not his, and yet it was. He should have been on Thyferra, but it had become painstakingly obvious to him the best way to serve the people of Thyferra was by doing so from Naboo. The Presidium was not ideal, not for the demon or his angel. His silver speech and forked tongue had brought the businessman and politician to an office he had been seeking for some time. Only recently had the events of the galaxy provided him the opportunity to make his move.
Anti-Sith sentiment had filled the lips of many, even those who did not know what they meant by it. For all the publicity and propaganda the New Imperial Order and Galactic Alliance created around the evils of the Sith Empire, they could not have imagined the ways it would be used for those opportunistic enough to use the narrative of the day for their own good. This was the danger of taking up a cause, there would always be those who would latch onto it, and perhaps even pervert it.
Daegon Corvinus had never allowed an opportunity to go to waste, and he was not about to start now. The wave of public opinion had been the force he needed to catapult himself to the highest office the Confederacy could offer. Now began the work of reigning it in.
The acting Vicelord took a few seconds to collect his thoughts. Seraphina Corvinus would be watching, likely able to quote every word of the speech he was about to give. His bride had always been involved in his work, and Daegon did not see a reason for that to change now. Their house and home had long been the living example of what the Confederacy of Independent Systems stood for. It was a world where light and dark could co-exist, a message and torch Deagon would now echo through the Southern System as a rallying cry for all those who would answer it.
Neutrality.
Life did not exist in the extremes of light and dark, it was caught in the war for the control those extremes waged against each other. As Daegon rose from his desk and made his way to where the podium had been staged, he was resolute. The Epicathix knew what needed to be said, and he would do so with abundant clarity.
“Fellow citizens,” he began. “Today I stand before you no different than I have before, a citizen, a patriot, a husband. All of us have felt no small measure of uncertainty these past few days, even weeks, as the news of our own beloved Vicelord broke. I was devastated, as many of you were, to hear of the things which remained hidden. Yet, as he has always done, Isley Verd chose to put the great people of this Confederacy first. His resignation is not an act of shame, but one of courage, one which should be commended.”
“I cannot pretend that the uncertainty all of us feel will go away when we wake up tomorrow, but what I can promise you is that what has made the Confederacy of Independent Systems the great nation that it is will not change. At the core of who we are as a people we have always stood for two great principles.”
“Individual Freedom.”
“Planetary Sovereignty.”
“Long before the other great nations of this galaxy rose boasting these principles, we lived them. Slavery has long been outlawed on our worlds, and planets which have come under our great banner have continued to enjoy the right to govern themselves, electing representation to our great legislative body to ensure their voices are heard in the laws we form. Our story is an old one, one which has stood against the test of time as a true beacon of hope when war wages on around us.”
“This does not mean that conflict, division, and even war itself, have not found us. Many of us remember all too well the devastation which came at the hands of the Agents of Chaos and those who would support their form of terrorism. Our galaxy faces a different conflict, one which has found its way to our borders. It is one of ideology, a conflict which seeks to paint one side as evil and another as righteous. Our Vicelord is a direct casualty of this conflict, one which I am here to denounce.”
“As a child I watched as not once, but twice, my homeworld of Thyferra was burned and ravaged in the wars between the Sith and the Galactic Alliance. I watched as these wars saw many other worlds which now find safe haven under our banner suffer the same evils. These wars came to worlds which reached to the core as far as Coruscant itself. The battle between light and dark, one portraying the other as evil while claiming to be good, is a story which is older than any nation which exists now. It is a flawed story which refuses to acknowledge the atrocities and evils which both sides have committed.”
“It is a story which will have no place in this Confederacy.”
“The Confederacy of Independent Systems must remain the example. Within our borders light and dark have always coexisted. They must continue to do so. We must be willing to face evil in whatever form it takes. Even if it finds itself within our borders. This is the way forward. The same guiding principles which created this great nation will be the same guiding principles which carry us into the future.”
“Long Live the Confederacy. Long Live her People!”
Anti-Sith sentiment had filled the lips of many, even those who did not know what they meant by it. For all the publicity and propaganda the New Imperial Order and Galactic Alliance created around the evils of the Sith Empire, they could not have imagined the ways it would be used for those opportunistic enough to use the narrative of the day for their own good. This was the danger of taking up a cause, there would always be those who would latch onto it, and perhaps even pervert it.
Daegon Corvinus had never allowed an opportunity to go to waste, and he was not about to start now. The wave of public opinion had been the force he needed to catapult himself to the highest office the Confederacy could offer. Now began the work of reigning it in.
The acting Vicelord took a few seconds to collect his thoughts. Seraphina Corvinus would be watching, likely able to quote every word of the speech he was about to give. His bride had always been involved in his work, and Daegon did not see a reason for that to change now. Their house and home had long been the living example of what the Confederacy of Independent Systems stood for. It was a world where light and dark could co-exist, a message and torch Deagon would now echo through the Southern System as a rallying cry for all those who would answer it.
Neutrality.
Life did not exist in the extremes of light and dark, it was caught in the war for the control those extremes waged against each other. As Daegon rose from his desk and made his way to where the podium had been staged, he was resolute. The Epicathix knew what needed to be said, and he would do so with abundant clarity.
“Fellow citizens,” he began. “Today I stand before you no different than I have before, a citizen, a patriot, a husband. All of us have felt no small measure of uncertainty these past few days, even weeks, as the news of our own beloved Vicelord broke. I was devastated, as many of you were, to hear of the things which remained hidden. Yet, as he has always done, Isley Verd chose to put the great people of this Confederacy first. His resignation is not an act of shame, but one of courage, one which should be commended.”
“I cannot pretend that the uncertainty all of us feel will go away when we wake up tomorrow, but what I can promise you is that what has made the Confederacy of Independent Systems the great nation that it is will not change. At the core of who we are as a people we have always stood for two great principles.”
“Individual Freedom.”
“Planetary Sovereignty.”
“Long before the other great nations of this galaxy rose boasting these principles, we lived them. Slavery has long been outlawed on our worlds, and planets which have come under our great banner have continued to enjoy the right to govern themselves, electing representation to our great legislative body to ensure their voices are heard in the laws we form. Our story is an old one, one which has stood against the test of time as a true beacon of hope when war wages on around us.”
“This does not mean that conflict, division, and even war itself, have not found us. Many of us remember all too well the devastation which came at the hands of the Agents of Chaos and those who would support their form of terrorism. Our galaxy faces a different conflict, one which has found its way to our borders. It is one of ideology, a conflict which seeks to paint one side as evil and another as righteous. Our Vicelord is a direct casualty of this conflict, one which I am here to denounce.”
“As a child I watched as not once, but twice, my homeworld of Thyferra was burned and ravaged in the wars between the Sith and the Galactic Alliance. I watched as these wars saw many other worlds which now find safe haven under our banner suffer the same evils. These wars came to worlds which reached to the core as far as Coruscant itself. The battle between light and dark, one portraying the other as evil while claiming to be good, is a story which is older than any nation which exists now. It is a flawed story which refuses to acknowledge the atrocities and evils which both sides have committed.”
“It is a story which will have no place in this Confederacy.”
“The Confederacy of Independent Systems must remain the example. Within our borders light and dark have always coexisted. They must continue to do so. We must be willing to face evil in whatever form it takes. Even if it finds itself within our borders. This is the way forward. The same guiding principles which created this great nation will be the same guiding principles which carry us into the future.”
“Long Live the Confederacy. Long Live her People!”
