Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Firemane.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Aftermath, Heroes of Purity.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Organization Name: Firetruth.
Classification: News and Media Organisation.
Affiliation: Siobhan, House Kerrigan-Alcori, Firemane Industries, The Inner Circle, Board of Control.
Organization Symbol: One sees the words Firetruth on a black background in big, bold letters, along with a firebird.
Description: Firetruth is one of Firemane's agencies. It answers to the Director of Communications, who has a seat on the Board of Control, Firemane's ruling group. It produces public service announcements and is responsible for advertising Firemane products, communicating its policies to employees, vassals and clients and fostering a positive impression of Firemane and its leadership, particularly House Kerrigan-Alcori. Firetruth keeps the populace informed about Firemane policies and operations. Firetruth journalists may be embedded into Firemane military units involved in armed conflicts. It also runs polls to solicit public opinion on Firemane policies and operations.
The department puts a positive spin on Firemane activities. It produces public service announcements, holodocumentaries, propaganda posters and movies. Its work can raise awareness of important issues, such as supporting the abolitionist movement by detailing the horrors of slavery. It has also detailed the plight of refugees displaced by war and natural disasters. However, at the same time it seeks to spread propaganda that makes Firemane and House Kerrigan-Alcori look good. This has involved whitewashing more morally questionable actions. Firetruth is anti-Jedi, anti-Sith and quite jingoistic.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Headquarters: Arx Aeternae.
Domain: Firetruth does not control any territory. It is a branch of Firemane, responsible for advertising Firemane products, informing both employees and the general public about Firemane policies and recruitment opportunities as well as fostering a positive view of Firemane. Thus it is an integral part of Firemane's operations, due does not rule anyone.
Notable Assets: N/A.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Hierarchy: Firetruth is run by a Director-General and a steering board. The organisation is divided into various departments, such as news, audio and music, film, sports, finances and personnel. The Office of Communications is the Firemane department responsible for supervising the group. It also has liaison officers to represent Firetruth to other Firemane organisations and communicate with them. Ultimately the organisation answers to Siobhan Kerrigan, who is the supreme authority in Firemane. Vivian reports directly to her or, in Siobhan's absence, to Firemane Vice President Kaylah Danton.
Membership: Firetruth is part of Firemane and thus individuals who want to work there apply for a job at the corporation in the media sector. Firetruth advertises vacant positions and a list of requirements. Prospective candidates deemed promising are invited for an interview, and the one considered the most appropriate is picked.
Firetruth gets plenty of applications, which makes competition steep. Firetruth has its own site that provides more information about career opportunities, and the selection process. Depending on the role a candidate is applying for, they may be asked to complete a short holonet assignment. Journalists will have usually received a university-level education and attended a journalism school.
Climate: Professional, but highly competitive business environment. Firetruth strives to present an image of sophistication and modernity. One of their mottos is 'we tell it as it is'. Another is 'let the truth win out'. It is said that opportunities are endless and that Firetruth is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in everything it does. Working here gives people a chance to learn all about the media sector. Like every big organisation, it is not free of office politics and manoeuvring among the senior management.
One undeniable fact is that employees often work with people from very diverse backgrounds, planets and species. This means they get to learn a lot about foreign cultures. The same applies to the type of work an employee does, though this obviously depends on their function. One may have to conduct research and develop ideas for programmes; find guests for interviews; write stories; produce news bulletins; edit audio and so on. News are at the heart of Firetruth's work, but they are not limited to it. One of its popular programmes is a morning show. "Breakfast with FT TV, illuminating your day with the flames of truth." Sometimes Siobhan does call ins.
Deadlines are tight and working at Firetruth can be very stressful. Employees need to be quick and focused. The job is very fast paced and requires employees to think ahead. Willingness to travel and be away from home for an extended duration are practically prerequisites. The programmes are intense and the hours are long. as in any bureaucracy, staffers form tight cliques. Moreover, the group has also been accused of sexism in its hiring practices and workplace culture. Firetruth has many departments, which means there are a lot of opportunities to build different skills.
Vivian is a powerful head, and is a highly capable manager who does a lot of work. However, while respected, she is not liked by most subordinates. She is a very hands-on manager. It is pertinent to note that Firetruth has a clear message it espouses. It is part of Firemane and thus puts a positive spin on Firemane activities. This is accompanied by a heavy dose of populism and anti-elite rhetoric.
There is a strong element of irony, since Firemane is a megacorp and its boss Siobhan is a billionnaire. However, Firetruth makes much of the fact that Tegaea and Siobhan came from the gutter and pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. It depicts Firemane as a group led by self-made women with a social conscience, where anyone, including former slaves from primitive, pre-spaceflight worlds, can rise to the top. This is not untrue, but just one side of the coin, and the organisation is clearly partisan. Corruption, malpractice and so on in Firemane will be criticised. However, they are treated as singular excesses and deviations rather than as something that inevitably happens in a large organisation that lacks external oversight.
Siobhan is not above using Firetruth as a means to drum up support when she wants to implement a project or programme but has run into institutional resistance from vested interests she cannot just override. An example would be her programme of Tygaran integration, which was supposed to give advancement opportunities equal to that of humans. Not all Firemane bigwigs shared these egalitarian views. So in this instance Firetruth played a progressive role. However, at the same time it has been used to legitimise and popularise Siobhan's autocratic management style. Siobhan is very sensitive about her image and takes a keen interest in how she is presented to the public. Critics call it a cheering squad, while employees have denied bias.
Professional attire is standard, though there are some deviations from it. Journalists who are out in the field will wear what is practical for the situation. For instance, embedded journalists who are accompanying soldiers into the field will commonly have some sort of light combat suit. Male anchors tend to wear tight pants and shirts with short sleeves, while female often wear tight dresses and high heels. The group has been accused of sexualising its anchors.
The GRU is responsible for vetting applicants for positions in Firetruth. This is supposed to weed out subversives, enemy agents and so on. Executives hold meetings with the heads of the security services to exchange information. Firetruth has picked up a number of employees who used to work for HNN's Battle for Democracy, the fair and balanced news alternative and debate hour. Indeed, Firetruth has a programme that strongly apes Battle for Democracy in presentation and style.
Reputation: Seen as a jingoistic, propaganda mouthpiece by enemies or critics of Firemane. Even a good number of Firemane employees are cynical about it. Firetruth has - sometimes grudgingly - been commended for its reporting on issues such as the galactic refugee crisis and the plight of slaves. Overall, outside perception is determined by what the individual's opinion of Firemane is.
Curios: None really, except a membership card that serves as a security pass.
Rules: Similar to the rules in any corporate environment. Employees must obey the law, be loyal to the organisation and by extension Firemane, and fulfill their duties diligently. Officially Firetruth is committed to the truth and nothing but the truth. They claim that the tell it as it is and let the viewer decide. This is, of course, fanciful, as any media outlet will have a bias that influences the way it presents the 'truth', and what topics it pursues in the first place. This applies even more to any media outlet associated with a government, corporation, non-governmental organisation or any form of institution. Firetruth is no stranger to 'streamlining' or 'massaging' the truth in a manner that puts Firemane and House Kerrigan-Alcori in a good light.
Goals: Provide news and information to make people understand and engage with the galaxy around them. To support learning for people regardless of their origins. Provide high quality, creative service. To communicate the goals, policies and operations of Firemane to people within and without. To make House Kerrigan-Alcori look good.
MEMBERS
Vivian: Her original name is Eloquence, as she is from Dahomey. However, she has chosen Vivian as a 'galaxy' name. Vivian is in charge of public relations and head of Firetruth. Her position puts Vivian in the limelight and means she works closely with Siobhan, who is quite sensitive about her image. This makes it vital for Vivian to have a good relationship with her boss. Unsurprisingly, she is an excellent source of gossip. Because a lot of her job is about making the military look good, Vivian has a working relationship with the top brass, even though not all top officers like her.
Vivian is from Dahomey, a planet Firemane's founders have history with. The Dahomians have a curious way of naming their children, since around their tenth birthday they choose a descriptive name that embodies their personality and is different from their birth name. Of course, some name choices end up being awfully ironic. Her Dahomian name is Eloquence, but she uses Vivian on most official business. The Dahomian clique disapproves of her not using her Dahomian name. Attractive and well-dressed, she is very poised and a smooth talker. Vivian is a hard worker with an almost frenzied, managerial drive. Her perfectionist mentality means she will see a task through and, indeed, sees difficulties as challenges to be overcome. However, she quickly gets impatient with minions who cannot keep up with her or whom she perceives as slacking. She is not particularly concerned with ruffled feathers though and is rather merciless in firing employees she considers lazy.
Vivian has something of a 'working relationship' with the truth. Before being hired by Firemane, she did work for the Omega Protectorate and later the Galactic Alliance. She was an embedded journalist during the Republic-One Sith War. Accompanying soldiers in war zones exposed her to her fair share of personal peril. Vivian gained respect from soldiers for not quitting in the face of combat, but what she experienced was probably the catalyst for her flexible relationship with the truth. Vivian covered the Battle of Kaeshana, but grew dissatisfied with the Galactic Alliance, as she considered it indecisive. She started working for Firemane from then on. Siobhan took a liking to her and her work, including a documentary on Eldorai refugees and a propaganda movie to attract recruits to the Firemane Auxiliary Corps, and promoted her.
Cliaf Zsi: Cliaf is a journalist who has accompanied Firemane and allied troops on many tours of duty, acting as an embedded journalist. Most unusually, she is a Rodian. She embedded with Firemane troops several times, such as on Ruusan and Tephrike. She has never been shy about rushing into danger in order to get her story. This approach has many critics, but her practice of voluntarily accompanying soldiers into danger also gained her respect.
Cliaf used to work at a law firm, but left law practice to become a full-time correspondent. On Tephrike, she voluntarily accompanied soldiers into a combat zone. She was seriously injured by a land mine and sustained shrapnel wounds. She had to be put into a medically induced coma for treatment, but survived. Cliaf later visited the soldiers she had accompanied on the battlefield. The Rodian is privately more than a little cynical about her employers and does not like Vivian much, but has stuck with the group.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Firetruth has its roots in the humble press department that was charged with producing company bulletins and communicating Firemane's goals and policies to the public and employees and advertise its products. This department was created shortly after Firemane's foundation and was quite small. This was appropriate at the time, since Firemane was a minor company that was largely limited to Kaeshana, Vandelhelm and Dahomey. The company was under the Omega Protectorate's umbrella and was limited in scale. The department was attached to the CEO's personal office. Fittingly, many of its employees had worked for Siobhan or Tegaea in the Protectorate. However, as Firemane grew in scale and swelled in influence, it became clear that something more formalised was needed.
Siobhan's own relations with the press have always been variable. This has included punching journalists when she had enough of their disingenuous assertions. However, as she embraced the life of an aristocrat and corporate executive, she began to take an interest in her image. Though she has become a powerful woman, both in the Force and in terms of resources, Siobhan has something of an insecurity, which she hides by cloaking herself in pomp and majesty.
Moreover, Firemane has assumed many duties normally associated with a state government. It established colonies, provides healthcare, maintains troops and wages war on its own fiat. Firemane began to establish the practice of embedding journalists in military units so that they could report live from the frontlines. The organisation really came into its known during the Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana. Firemane provided most of the ships of the exodus fleet that evacuated most of the Eldorai's population from their doomed homeworld. Firetruth covered the exodus, as well as Firemane's campaigns on Tygara and Arkas.
Firetruth in its modern form came into being after the Battle of Kaeshana. Vivian, a young, dynamic public relations specialist from Dahomey. When she was making her first tentative steps into the world of journalism, Vivian worked as an intern for HNN's Battle for Democracy, the fair and balanced news alternative and debate hour. The show was co-hosted by former Omega Protectorate Foreign Minister Linna Beorht and Eldorai exile Maerys Cadalthor. The show championed the militarism of the Halcyon-era Galactic Republic.
Doubtless her time there taught her many valuable lessons. Later she worked for the Protectorate and then the Galactic Alliance, before finding employment with Firemane. Detractors saw her as too slippery and ready to spin a lie when it was expedient, but Siobhan took a liking to her. The Dahomian was the kind of can-do manager she could work with.
Firetruth produced documentaries on Eldorai refugees who had been evacuated from Kaeshana after the battle went ill, as well as a propaganda movie to boost recruitment for the Firemane Qadiri Auxiliary Corps. In one of its broadcasts, Firetruth hinted that the defeat on Kaeshana was to blame on 'saboteurs' and 'pacifists' within the Alliance. Needless to say this invited a lot of criticism. However, it reflected Siobhan's personal views. Vivian established a working relationship with the boss and a Chiss called Royal, who took over management of Siobhan's personal household and secretarial staff. Siobhan also used Firetruth to build up support for a law that would enable Tygarans to work for Firemane on terms equal to that of humans and other space people. This was a way for her to overcome institutional resistance from vested interests who did not share her progressive views. However, it also championed Siobhan's increasingly autocratic leadership style.
Firetruth was also responsible for producing a holodrama series called Phoenix Force. In it, the titular Phoenix Force, a Firemane special forces team, battles various evils in the Galaxy, such as Imperials, Sith and fundamentalist Jedi. The team is multi-species, featuring a mix of aliens and humans. It is a band of misfits that must pull together against daunting odds, as they travel to strange worlds in their cool starship, help the downtrodden and fight arch-villains. The special effects are cool because the showrunners have been able to use actual Force-Users instead of CGI, weapons' handling and military tactics are pretty realistic for an action show. The crew also get to blow up actual military vehicles.
Of course, it is meant for entertainment. For one, the Phoenix Force sees a lot more action than an actual special forces unit would. While many missions of the team are based on actual Firemane operations, they have been overdramatised. The series is sponsored by Firemane, so it puts a positive spin on the organisation. Actual veterans are somewhat bemused by it. Still, it is very loosely based on the actual work of the Special Service Group, Firemane's special forces. They have far fewer dramatic fight scenes and duels with arch-villains than their fictional counterparts though.
When the Scarlet Destiny, the flagship of Firemane's exploration corps, embarked on its maiden voyage, it discoverd an isolated world called Tephrike. This planet had experienced a profound social, political and economic collapse during the Four Hundred Year Darkness. Here, the Dark Age had never ended. The Dominion of Light, a totalitarian Jedi theocracy, vied for power with the Disciples of the Vader, a cult of human supremacist Sith who worshipped Darth Vader as a dark god, and the Republican Guard, a rebel movement inspired by the ancient Rebel Alliance that reviled Force-Users and sought to place power in the hands of the common people.
After initial skirmishes with Firemane, the Dominion sought accommodation. Firemane dispatched a delegation to its capital to initiate negotiations. However, an extremist faction in the Dominion's regime regarded this as heresy. Firemane's delegation came under attack. Elpsis, one of its members and the adoptive daughter of Firemane's ruling couple, was captured by the Jedi Inquisition. She would be subjected to physical and torture in a Dominion black site.
In response, Firemane declared war. It proceeded to enter an alliance of convenience with the Republican Guard. A short, but intense campaign followed. After heavy fighting, the allied forces were able to seize a major Dominion fortress. Meanwhile, Elpsis was able to overcome her brainwashing and defeat her captors with the aid of rebellious prisoners and a Firemane rescue force. The Dominion had been humbled, but was not beaten. Instead the Mad Grandmaster was assassinated by the Council and a junta of hardliners and pragmatists took power.
Unwilling to get bogged down in a conflict far from home and with allies it distrusted, Firemane decided to be satisfied with measured gains. The Dominion had been given a bloody nose, so it withdrew its troops. Before the pullout took place, the corporation did its allies a favour by razing the headquarters of the Vaderites, killing their Dark Lord and several members of the Dark Council. Firetruth had some embedded journalists on Scarlet Destiny, but they had expected a peaceful exploration mission, not a bloody conflict. However, the journalists adjusted and covered the battle quite extensively. Elpsis had to give an interview after she had sufficiently recovered from her ordeal. This was not sufficient for Siobhan. Thus she instructed Firetruth to commission a movie about the campaign. Depending on one's point of view, it was either damage control or a cynical attempt to exploit her daughter's ordeal. It was probably a bit of both.
The resulting movie was called Heroes of Purity. Its depiction of events was broadly accurate, but had been heavily altered to make Firemane's victory seem more glorious than it actually had been and whitewash events. Elpsis was rather unhappy about her depiction. Needless to say the movie left out that she had succumbed to brainwashing, before being able to free herself. However, she had to endorse the movie. The movie emphasised Elpsis' heroic side and further villainised the Dominion. Because the movie was backed by Firemane, the filmmakers were able to hire actual Force-users, especially elementalists, get some fancy equipment, advisors and so on. A force of Firemane grunts were able to earn some additional credits by appearing as extras. Of course, this also meant that a Firemane officer kept an eagle eye on the script and production phases.
When a group of Tephriki refugees, many of whom were clones, raided the laboratory of a cloning company called Genetech, the corporation's director complained to Siobhan. The cloners had been producing a clone army for a Jedi sect. After learning that the clones were essentially brainwashed slave-soldiers who were denied free will, Siobhan angrily had the director and her Jedi bodyguard thrown out. One of her bodyguards had recorded the conversation, so Siobhan leaked its contents to Firetruth so that they could make a special broadcast about it.
Last edited:
