CNN Nightly Report: State of the Republic
Coruscant News Network
Broadcast from Coruscant
Date: 2921 AOK
Bail: “Good evening to all the citizens of the Galactic Republic. I am Bail Organa.”
Shalla, a redheaded human female: “And I am Shalla Dissek. We would like to start our nightly report with heartfelt well wishes to our colleague Sinya Lefe, whom is still being treated.”
Bail: “It was two years ago that poor Sinya suffered from complete mental break down. Two years ago, Sinya, led a small group of former employees as they seized our studio and control booth. They broadcasted a clever and imaginative yet completely untrue description of the events which led to the downfall of former Chancellor Syrdash. She falsely reported open conflicts across Coruscant.”
Shalla: “Conflicts that simply didn’t take place. In fact, the truth was, the transition of power on Coruscant was peaceful and orderly.”
Bail: “Despite it being widely reported by other media that there was a resistance across Coruscant, the truth was and still is, there was no resistance. The only casualties where suffered when the Vengeance exited hyperspace and collided with the Victory. The accident resulted in the destruction of both ships and the loss of their crews. Sadly, former Chancellor Syrdash was among those lost. Despite the official record being corrected, these false reports and the broadcast by Ms. Lefe still plague the Republic.”
Shalla: “These reports and the broadcast has caused a great deal of confusion across the Galactic Republic. The effects of those lies had cast ripples across the Core Worlds for days to come. It was only after the official diagnosis of Ms. Lefe that we realized the scope of her mental illness. There was a great struggle to correct the official record, but we cannot forget the suffering of our dear Ms. Lefe. Despite the horrible lies that she attempted to spread about Chancellor Valorum, it was Chancellor Valorum who showed overwhelming compassion as he commuted her life sentence. Instead of serving the rest of her life in a maximum security facility, she serve her life sentence at University of Coruscant.”
Bail: “It is at the University of Coruscant that Ms. Lefe is being treated for her mental breakdown which triggered a series of psychosis.” He paused for a moment. “While she will never be released from her medical ward, it is a great relief that she is being treated by some of the best medical personal the Republic has to offer. Her years of public service will not be forgotten.”
Shalla: “As we turn our attention to greater problems across the Galaxy, we will always look back to Ms. Lefe for her years of loyal service. We wish her the very best of health and speedy recover from her mental demons.”
Bail: “Jedi Civil War continues to rage in to its third year despite efforts by Chancellor Valorum to negotiate a peace between warring factions. While Chancellor Valorum had originally opted to throw the weight of the Republic in to the war, he has since changed his mind on such an action. Instead of allowing the Republic to be drawn in to a war that is largely unpopular, he has given aide to the Jedi Order against their opponents, the Olivan Jedi.”
Shalla: “This strategy has ensured that Republic worlds don’t suffer the horrors that have been suffered by so many Outer Rim Worlds. Though many across the Republic are starting to question if it is time for the Republic to step in to the war.”
Bail: “An answer that the Chancellor has started to reconsider. And I am sure that when he speak that answer, that the Chancellor has show his brilliance and mastery of military strategy once more. More than what we have seen from former appointees from former Chancellor Syrdash.”
Shalla: “Agreed. It was almost two years ago when Admiral Nogget, a Mon Calamari Naval Commander, in command of the Grand Navy of the Republic, who had been appointed by former Chancellor Syrdash, set in motion one of the most decisive military blunders the Republic has suffered since its founding.”
Bail: “The Battle of Kessel was a battle that should have never been fought. Admiral Nogget had planned a grand training mission near the Kessel Sector. The training mission consisted of one third of all Republic warships. Despite receiving countless warnings of OPA warships in the area, Admiral Nogget continued with the training mission. After the third day of training, near the Maw Nebula, the OPA attack the Republic forces.”
Shalla: “Despite the heroic and timely actions of Lord Starchaser, it was a slaughter. The OPA unleashed its super weapon, which rendered many of the Republic ships powerless. It was also the first official action against the Republic that OPA General Trysta Shiloh took. Leading her OPA fleet, she massacred hundreds of thousands of Republic servicemembers. Reports indicated that she ordered her ships to fire on helpless escape pods.”
Bail: “The Slaughter of Kessel showed everyone what the OPA is really made of. Gone are the illusions that the OPA are fair and just. The OPA showed themselves to be murderous monsters. It has later discovered that Admiral Nogget had actually communicated with his bother on Mon Calamari weeks before the battle. It is possible that Admiral Nogget had set up the Slaughter of Kessel.”
Shalla: “Yes, there are reports that suggest that Admiral Nogget started to work with the OPA shortly after Chancellor Syrdash was removed lawfully from office.”
Bail: “It only goes to show you that we can’t trust anyone that once supported former Chancellor Syrdash.”
Shalla: “It sure does. As our great Chancellor, Chancellor Valorum, said, ‘there are two kinds of people within the Republic. Those who stand behind him, to restore the Republic back to its vast and glorious state. Those who believe in the Republic, those who support and uphold the ideals of what the Republic stands for. AND those who stand to oppose the rest of us. Those who oppose everything that the Republic stands for.”
Bail: “Out of this tragedy there is a bright gold lining. After months of therapy and medical treatment Lord Starchaser…”
Shalla: “A true Republic hero….”
Bail: “Yes he is. And he will be resuming his role as commander of the 1st Army Group. In the shadow of the Slaughter of Kessel, the 1st Army Group stands on the largest Republic unit, with thousands of ships and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. His mission, from the Chancellor himself, is to protect Republic Worlds as the Jedi Civil War continues.”
Shalla: “In regards to the Jedi Civil War, the Jedi’s current losing streak continues. The OPA and their Olivan Jedi allies have claimed another system. The Ukio system fell to these murderous monsters last week when the Jedi Academy on the world of Ukio was over ran by Olivan Jedi.”
Bail: “The fall of the Ukio Academy was especially painful to the Jedi, as it was one of their more prominent Academies in the Outer Rim. It also housed some seventy younglings and unassigned Padawans. While the fall of Ukio was painful, it also foreshadowed a series of other attacks that had been just as painful to the Jedi.”
Shalla: “The fall of Ukio was the latest in a series of attacks targeted at Jedi Academies. An unknown group has been targeting Jedi Academies across the Mid Rim and Expansion Region. Eye witnesses have claimed that these attacks are being carried out by unknown black fighters. The method of the attacks was in the form of thermonuclear attacks on the structures themselves. The attacks happened so fast that the Academies never had a chance to defend themselves before the attackers were already speeding away.”
Bail: “As reported by a witness on Naboo, two months ago, ‘a pair of these all black fighters streaked down through the clouds. That was how we noticed them in the dark. You could see their form against the clouds, but we couldn’t hear anything. They moved towards the Academy like silent, um birds. The first one over flew the Academy firing some kind of energy weapon that caused the entire structure to glow with dancing lights. The second one dropped two things, um I guess bombs. I tried to follow where the two craft went. But the entire night sky lit up as two large balls of fire rose over where the Academy used to be.”
Shalla: “It is truly horrific. Some reports link these cowardly attacks directly back to the Olivan Jedi.” She paused, “in response to growing unrest in the Outer Rim and the most recent bombing of the Republic Senate by Outer Rim Terrorists, Chancellor Valorum has been granted Emergency Powers. We have a short excerpt of his speech after the near unanimous vote.
Quote:“The Prime Minister of the Outer Rim Planets Alliance has expressed his personal assurance that they were not responsible for the most recent bombing on Coruscant. His words were very skillful and tactical to rob us of those who are responsible for this horrible crime. Instead his words were designed to impose responsibility upon the Republic, and the very people who govern, for such cowardly and inhuman acts. Claiming that we breed warlike measures and suffering upon ourselves.”
“In view of these facts, I decided to summon the Republic Senate so that you, my fair Gentlemen and Gentleladies, might have an opportunity of hearing my answer first and of either confirming that answer or rejecting it. But in addition, I considered it desirable to keep to the method of procedure initiated by Prime Minister Smad Korr and, for my part, to inform the rest of the galaxy of my answer in our way. But I should like also to take this opportunity of giving expression to the feelings with which the tremendous historical happenings of the past years inspire me. I can give vent to my inmost feelings only in the form of humble thanks to providence which called upon me and vouchsafed to me, once an unknown soldier, to rise to be the leader of my people, to who is so dear to me.”
“Providence showed me the way to free our people from the depths of its misery without bloodshed and to lead it upward once again. Providence granted that I might fulfill my life's task-to raise my people out of the depths of defeat and to liberate it from the bonds of the most outrageous corruption of all times. This alone has been my aim. Since the day on which I entered politics I have been moved by no other idea than that of winning back the freedom of the Republic, restoring the power and strength of the Republic, which had been sapped by a usurper from the Outer Rim. An inhuman thief who robbed the Republic of millions of credits. Overcoming the internal corruption and allowing the Republic to focus on the real threat. Remedying Coruscant’s isolation from the rest of the Galaxy, and safeguarding the maintenance of its independent economic and political existence. Restoring the very heart of the Republic to a state of functioning rather than a disfunctioning state.”
“I have worked only to restore that which others once broke by force and through corruption. I have desired only to make good that which inhuman malice has destroyed or demolished. I have, therefore, taken no step which violated the rights of others, but have only restored that justice which was violated years ago. The present Greater Republic contains no territory which was not from the earliest times a part of this Great Republic, bound up with it or subject to its sovereignty. Long before there was an OPA, this Republic existed, not merely with its present boundaries, but with the addition of many regions and provinces which have since been lost. It is my personal mission to restore those lost provinces. A mission that I cannot complete without the support out our Great Republic and its great citizens.”
“With these powers that the Senate has entrusted with me, I shall not fail. The Republic will be protected from this ongoing Jedi Civil War. Those wayward worlds who have rejected our leadership will be brought back under Republic control. Those murderous Olivan Jedi will be brought to justice! Order shall be restored! And to achieve this, I am asking every Republic citizen to make certain sacrifices. Curfews will be imposed on all Outer and Mid Rim worlds, these terrorist that hate our way of life, our freedoms, our culture, will be found and dealt with!”
Bail: “Strong words from a man that only wishes to protect the Republic from Outer Rim threats.”
Shalla: “Oh I agree. Chancellor Valorum will make the Republic GREAT again!"
Chapter Three: The Brush Fire Wars
