Faction GA | Arkania Defeat Subpoena Hearing | GADF/Senators/NJO

[Fal Gore]

​

LOCATION

FONDOR

Objective: Interrogate/Intimidate The Military/Jedi/Intel Asking Why We Lost

Fal Gore sat at the Congressional Bench in the Fondor Senate House, an old archaic microphone in front of him. He was early, always early, and waiting for his colleagues and constituents to show up en masse. Sipping his jawa juice, the junior senator of Mechis III stared ahead as various publicities and news organizations began their early days setting up their recorders in the back of the room, and as the crowd began to form just outside the doors in the lobby.

His bright crimson eyes then drifted from the Galactic Alliance flags at the back, to the glimmering windows filled with morning light on the sides. Fingers tapped the metal desk, waiting for the military to answer his summons for why they were defeated at Arkania and what the Alliance will do to stave off these attacks.

​

 

[Cressida Tolliver]

"Good morning, Senator Gore," Cressida Tolliver said as she shuffled along the row of seats on the dais from which she and her colleagues would soon begin to hector the officers and analysts and Jedi that had once more come up short in their defense of key Alliance positions. She was a fan of oversight, though she knew that with Gore and the other, newer faces in the Senate jockeying for position before the galactic press, this was going to be less informative than it was performative.

Dragging people in front of the Senate panel for ritual humiliation seemed an odd way of addressing what was, admittedly, a compounded loss to what had already been catastrophic. But there were important matters to address, to wit, the debasing of the Senate in pursuit of political vainglory. Cressida was not inclined to participate in the political theater of it all, so she had come to stand as something of a bulwark, to use her allotted time questioning the witnesses in what she hoped would be a constructive manner.

She sat next to Gore and leaned forward to straighten her nameplate before setting out her portfolio. "Good of you to convene this session," she said conversationally as she set her coffee down carefully. "Has the schedule of appearances been made out yet?"

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Fal did not need to wait long, Alexandra herself a Junior Senator but one that had worked and been there the day Arkania had fallen. She and the others like Lander and Arsenio Tagge had stood before the Senate, spoke of the strength and devotion of those who would be fighting for the Alliance. Instead of success though, the planet did fall. The troops that had been there struggling against all hope to hold what they in the end could not. It was a shame and one she could not effect from the senate, especially with the state she was in now.

But it was for that reason she would move through the doors and into the room. Seeing that Fal Gore who she had become familiar with and Cressida Tolliver were also ready for this day. The individuals called for this subpoena was a rather lengthy list, a collection of organizations and individuals who would have to listen to those that demanded answers. It was in all truth something that would be more political circus than it was true fact finding.

After all, to require answers from groups that were thrown off their feet, or a group that was citizens by the order of the very Senate now demanding answers?

Alexandra had her own thoughts, but she shielded them deep within her mind as she approached her own seat. She would smile to Cressida before bowing her head to Fal Gore who she spoke to with a weakened and shaking voice. The damage to her soul still affecting her as her right hand remained the only one of the pair to show any movement or strength.

"Senator Gore, Tolliver, I hope that today's proceedings will grant us the answers that we are looking for."

 

[Marek Bancroft]

Marek entered the room from one of the discreet side-entrances behind the bench, his fit immaculate despite the deep bags resting beneath his eyes. His spirits were a bit up that day, perhaps as a result of the hearing in question being one that he was of deep interest in attending. The young Senator of Ord Mantell had expended a generous amount of political capital to ensure he had been afforded a seat, and he intended to use this opportunity to afford some much-needed questions to whatever Jedi had the courage to attend on behalf of their fallen Order.

He offered a nod to the three Senators who had previously entered beforehand. "Senators. It is a pleasure to be here with you all." Marek moved to his take his seat following that. "I believe my constituents, like many of your own, have plenty of questions and concerns about our war effort-- and the Jedi, more importantly, given their...let's call it their excursion from the Core." He chuckled, then turned to Fal Gore . "I almost was of the mind that this meeting wouldn't happen. You have my thanks for making this a reality, Senator Gore."


Cressida Tolliver Alexandra Feanor

 

[Kyric]

Among the Jedi to attend the meeting, Kyric Karis stood proudly before the Senate. The one-eyed, one-armed Jedi Knight bore a striking resemblance to his father, Ryv Karis, founder of the Order. Many years had passed since his father once held the title of Sword, but his son felt a sense of responsibility for the state of the Core. He suspected many Jedi to feel similarly given their Oaths sworn in preservation of Life, Liberty, and the Light.

Kyric eyed Alexandra as she engaged Gore and the others. The kiffar was unfamiliar with her history, but he heard enough rumors to know he stood beside a Master of the Force.

"Master Feanor," Kyric muttered beside her. "It's a pleasure to make yer acquaintance. Name's Kyric Karis. It don't carry much in the way o' weight, truth be told. But I'm hopin' to help shed some light on what happened on Arkania. I was caught between enemy lines fer most of the fightin'."

The Jedi Knight watched the gathered senators, even less familiar with them than the redheaded woman beside him.

"It seems to me like the Order has fallen onto hard times. Low numbers and the like," Kyric crossed his arms as he spoke, both of which were wrapped tight in bandages. He wanted to lay the blame solely on those who departed the Core some time ago, but he knew the Alliance had felt the sting of defeat under the New Jedi Order's protection time and time again in the last half decade. It wasn't a matter of numbers. It was an issue of competence, and he believed that could be solved.

Assuming things didn't go *** up here today.

---

Senate: Fal Gore | Cressida Tolliver | Marek Bancroft
Direct Tags: Alexandra Feanor

 

[Dangal Olderem]

The heavy doors of the chamber parted, and the summons became flesh. Jedi Knight Dangal Olderem entered beneath the vaulted dome, his brown robe trailing against polished stone. He had not come by choice, few Jedi would have. But the subpoena carried the weight of law, and so he stood before the Senate because duty demanded it.

His stride was steady, unhurried. Even with his shoulders slouched beneath the robe, his tall frame drew eyes. Reporters shifted their lenses, guards stiffened, and the chamber seemed to quiet a degree as he passed. White hair hung loosely across his face, casting shadows over dark, unblinking eyes that carried no anger, only calm resolve. When he reached the assigned seat, he paused briefly, letting his dark eyes sweep across the chamber before settling quietly.

Sliding into his seat, Dangal folded his hands within his robe and leaned back slightly. The chair bore him without complaint, yet the slope of his torso and the brief wince as he shifted betrayed the memory of pain, the searing line of a Sith's blade, the cold and blood of the battlefield, the struggle to rise through smoke and snow. Still, he did not speak. He did not need to. A subtle bow of the head here, a slow sweep of the eyes there, acknowledgment enough.

"Curious. The Alliance loses a battle and somehow the Jedi are always the first to answer for it."

He let the thought linger, a private remark in the quiet tension of the chamber. The sunlight through the high windows caught the edges of his robe, casting long shadows that seemed to stretch toward the senators like silent caution. Even seated, his presence felt larger than the chair beneath him calm, composed, and quietly unyielding, a still point amid the storm of politics and accusation that would soon descend.

​

 

[Tiber Septimus]

Tiberius "Tiber" Septimus III s tightened his mental shields as he made his way into the Senate chamber, making himself small; he was overflowing with annoyance, and he didn't want to project that out there, not right at this moment at least.

Mostly at his colleagues here to make a spectacle of themselves, showing their constituents they did more than enrich themselves and attend lavish investiture parties.

But if Tiber had to be honest, even if he didn't think much of the soon-to-ensue, political circus, he did want one scalp- the Strategic Intelligence Agency. Tiber had been appointed as a freshman Senator, at the eve of the Core Wars, and his question had been simple: The Dark Empire had arisen as an nightmarish amalgam of Imperials and Darksiders. They organized without detection, and struck without any warning from the SIA. How had the SIA been so thoroughly blindsided?

And a generation later, history repeats itself.

Tiber would see to it that the SIA's organizational shortcomings were addressed, even if heads had to roll.

Cressida Tolliver | Fal Gore | Dangal Olderem | Alexandra Feanor | Kyric | Marek Bancroft |

 

[Fal Gore]

​

LOCATION

Fondor

Objective: Talk. Subpoena.

"Good of you to convene this session," she said conversationally as she set her coffee down carefully. "Has the schedule of appearances been made out yet?"

"Morning, Cressida."

Fal's head turned to his holopad.

"I'm not sure what the docket is, to be honest. We'll see who arrives."

His head perked up as one of the Jedi subpoena'd entered the room.

"Senator Gore, Tolliver, I hope that today's proceedings will grant us the answers that we are looking for."

"Accountability.

It goes a long way for the people of this Alliance to hear the truth from their leaders. It is our job, our singular purpose. The will of the people of this great Alliance. We cannot defend freedom abroad if we abandon it at home - and now, more than ever, is it time for us to hear from our military, our Jedi, our people, on what exactly went wrong."

He offered a nod to the three Senators who had previously entered beforehand. "Senators. It is a pleasure to be here with you all." Marek moved to his take his seat following that. "I believe my constituents, like many of your own, have plenty of questions and concerns about our war effort-- and the Jedi, more importantly, given their...let's call it their excursion from the Core." He chuckled, then turned to Fal Gore Fal Gore . "I almost was of the mind that this meeting wouldn't happen. You have my thanks for making this a reality, Senator Gore."

"I serve the Alliance.

I have always served the Alliance.

And I will always serve the Alliance. Your thanks is appreciated, but not necessary, as one's solemn sworn duty is to uphold this great Republic."

His eyes lifted up from the holopad, typing some things to his assistant while eagerly awaiting to get started.

​

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra listened to the words from Fal Gore, raised a brow when he spoke to her of Accountability, something she would need to speak on herself.

"To that we agree, Senator Gore. But careful on pointing such accusations. I am certain many who will be here today suffered in their own ways, and have given much in defense of the Core both from the seats of the Senate, or treating the wounded, or killing when their oaths keep them from such hate and anger that pollutes a battlefield. There are those who have failed, but not all can be blanketedly blamed for this... or else we need look at our own senate members who until this most recent defeat have seemed rather silent." She coughed as she said this, defending those who had given their lives in the defense of the Core and Arkania, of those like Caltin who had died protecting innocents within the Temple on Coruscant.

She only then was able to settle into her seat. She was a Senator first today, and there were those who needed to answer. Those who had not fulfilled their duties but she in some way doubted those very people would show. No she knew that those like Kyric and Dangal Olderem who had put their lives on the line were not who should be the target of what could become a witch hunt.

She did hear Marek Bancroft 's words though, and her brow raised as she considered them carefully. Soon though she would give a smile to Kyric and Dangal, bowing her head to them and speaking to Kyric softly so that it did not interrupt any talk between her senatorial counterparts.

"It is a pleasure, I am saddened I do not know your name. But please, I am Senator Feanor now, my duties are to the Alliance first, not the Jedi Order." She would explain, seeing the two as separate entities... for now.

"Senator Bancroft does mention something that has caused me some concern. Perhaps it is time for the vote that has separated the Jedi from the Alliance to be reviewed and debated once more. I think it is time for the New Jedi Order to be given a chance to plead their return to working beside the Alliance directly and its Military without them needing to enlist. As of now after all, they are considered civilians should they not be enlisted, and while the militia act allows them to continue to act, it would be improper to leave them without official support from the GADF." She coughed as she finished again, covering her mouth to ensure none of the blood that came up stained anything other than her sleeve.

Dangal Olderem Kyric Cressida Tolliver Marek Bancroft Tiber Septimus Fal Gore

 

[Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra]

FONDOR​

---

A floating blue gemstone hovered atop a table, set within a simple circular stand. This was no ornament, but a Jedi Master himself. The Shard—Dynas. A translator device nearby converted his electromagnetic signals into speech.

The question posed was vital. One that demanded an answer, if they were to become something greater than they were now. Without it, they would remain fractured, doomed to more defeats like the one they had suffered on Arkania.

"Unity."

The word carried through the chamber, deep yet soothing as it emanated from the device.

"The end of centuries of meditation on Ilum have awakened me to a new variant of the Jedi Order—so similar to what I have always known, yet vastly different."

Dynas's voice trailed, thoughtful.

"I can weave threads through machines and circuitry, binding them to move as one, to think as one, to act as a singular whole. But machines alone cannot win the day. On Arkania, when I commanded the metal beneath a single mind, I saw no such cohesion among those of flesh and blood. We were disjointed, unorganized in our defense. We acted together only when it was convenient—rather than enduring the trials required to become a singular force of light."

He paused.

"I am sorry to say this—but I do not believe we can defeat any enemy if we continue along separate paths. Not until we stride together, step by step, toward one singular purpose."

Dangal Olderem Kyric Cressida Tolliver Marek Bancroft Tiber Septimus Fal Gore Alexandra Feanor
​

 

[Marek Bancroft]

"It seems to me like the Order has fallen onto hard times. Low numbers and the like,"

"With that said, Jedi Knight Kyric, would you agree that the Jedi's clear abandonment of the Core-- present company excluded -- " He made sure to look between the few Jedi that were present. "...has led to the deterioration of the Galactic Alliance's Defense Force's ability to counteract not just an Imperial threat, but the significant threat that its Dark Side combatants pose to the safety and security of the Core and its constituent member-worlds."

The question was presented rather matter-of-factly, as if the Senator had come to his own conclusion prior to grilling the Jedi for a comment in front of the audience present.

Dangal Olderem Kyric Cressida Tolliver Tiber Saal Fal Gore Alexandra Feanor

 

[Kyric]

"Curious. The Alliance loses a battle and somehow the Jedi are always the first to answer for it."

Kyric didn't voice his disagreement with such sentiments when Gore managed well enough with a single word.

Accountability.

Those with power had a responsibility to use it for the greater good, or so Kyric believed. And few in the galaxy could boast such powers to rival the Force.

"It is a pleasure, I am saddened I do not know your name. But please, I am Senator Feanor now, my duties are to the Alliance first, not the Jedi Order." She would explain, seeing the two as separate entities... for now.

The revelation didn't much matter for Kyric. Whether or not Alexandra considered herself a Jedi was a moot point to the young man at her side. Those who attained such mastery of the very life-giving powers of their universe deserved the title he offered, but the kiffar bit his tongue and turned his focus to the Shard and his wisdom. His presence felt familiar, though Kyric struggled at first to place it.

"I am sorry to say this—but I do not believe we can defeat any enemy if we continue along separate paths. Not until we stride together, step by step, toward one singular purpose."

"With that said, Jedi Knight Kyric, would you agree that the Jedi's clear abandonment of the Core-- present company excluded -- " He made sure to look between the few Jedi that were present. "...has led to the deterioration of the Galactic Alliance's Defense Force's ability to counteract not just an Imperial threat, but the significant threat that its Dark Side combatants pose to the safety and security of the Core Worlds and its constituent member-worlds."

To stand before the senate was one thing, but to speak on such matters was another entirely. Kyric struggled to imagine his father and his allies doing so years ago. The weight of the galaxy pressed down upon his shoulders, delivered unto him by Senator Bancroft's direct questioning.

"I believe it has lent to it, yes, Senator. But these most recent scraps ain't the first to have bloodied the New Jedi Order's nose, so to speak. I believe Master Dynas—is that right, sir?" Kyric asked of the Shard, then turned back to the senators. "—to be correct." He cleared his throat in an effort to keep his tone even.

"Whether or not you believe the Order is meant to serve alongside yer government, there is a sickness within that has weakened its strength. And that sickness is division." He waited long enough to earn the attention of the senate before continuing. "Much of the New Jedi Order has departed to fight this battle without any accountability to those they hope to protect. It'll bring distrust no differently than before the first generation of this Order reclaimed the Core. If we're to win, we need to unite not just this government and the Order, but with our neighbors and other allied forces takin' up the fight. Its quite existential, sirs and madams of the senate."

---

Tags: Fal Gore | Marek Bancroft | Alexandra Feanor | Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra | Cressida Tolliver | Tiber Septimus | Dangal Olderem

 

[Elias Anden]

He hated being here. The Fondor Senate House was a palace of words, and Elias Anden had little patience for words. He had spent his career in shadows, in steel corridors, in briefing rooms where silence spoke louder than rhetoric. Now he was walking beneath gilded archways toward a chamber filled with Senators who believed themselves masters of the war because they sat in judgment of it.

He expected the Senate to ask questions. That was their right. He did not expect them to drag him halfway across the quadrant to get them. A secure channel, a holotransmission, even a sealed courier would have sufficed. But no. Senator Fal Gore wanted a spectacle, wanted powerful people charged with the defense of the Alliance to stand before the cameras and lights and answer for decisions made in the dark. Unfortunately, Anden was one of those people.

Anden's boots struck the polished floor in steady rhythm as he entered the chamber. Murmurs rippled through the gallery. He knew what they saw: the sharp lines of his dress uniform, the unreadable mask of his expression, the reputation of a man who knew more secrets than the entire chamber combined. He gave them nothing.

The dais rose ahead, Gore and his committee seated in a semicircle of authority, their eyes fixed on the witnesses like judges awaiting confession. Anden reached the center of the floor, noticed the floating gemstone, and sat next to Kyric and waited for the Jedi to finish speaking.

"Good afternoon, Senators," he said at last, his voice even, deliberate. "My name is Vice Admiral Anden. I am the current Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, and I am reporting as ordered to represent Alliance High Command before this esteemed committee."

Fal Gore | Cressida Tolliver | Alexandra Feanor | Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra | Tiber Septimus | Dangal Olderem​

​

 

[Marek Bancroft]

"I am sorry to say this—but I do not believe we can defeat any enemy if we continue along separate paths. Not until we stride together, step by step, toward one singular purpose."

His fingers tapped against the table. The gesture was one born out of a habit to pass the time during committee sessions and senate meetings that dragged on past the hours allotted, and it stuck. The Jedi present were rather honest, which given the circumstances, Marek appreciated their candor greatly. There were still many of his peers who operated as if the Alliance still persisted with the strength of vigor of Chancellor Denko's leadership, or the perseverance that drove Chancellor Chandra to lead them through the Great Hyperspace War's most active era of the conflict. He was fully aware that the situation was grim at best, and an uphill fight against the tides at worst. What they needed now more than ever was transparency and honesty if they were to tread a path forwards out of the dark.

"Whether or not you believe the Order is meant to serve alongside yer government, there is a sickness within that has weakened its strength. And that sickness is division."

He leaned close to the microphone upon the Knight finishing his statement. "Thank you both. It is an understatement to say that your collective presence, despite the abandonment of your peers, displays a show of strength within the hearts of the individuals who gathered here today."

Marek came to a pause as the doors behind them opened up, preceding the sound of hard-worn boots marching across the floor beneath the visage of a military man who moved to the center of the floor.

"Good afternoon, Senators," he said at last, his voice even, deliberate. "My name is Vice Admiral Anden. I am the current Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, and I am reporting as ordered to represent Alliance High Command before this esteemed committee."

Marek gazed across to his fellows Senators for a moment before pivoting his eyes back towards the floor, settling upon the Vice Admiral alongside a polite yet subtle grin.

"I do have a question for you, Vice Admiral Anden, after which I shall open up the floor to the rest of my peers for questions, concerns and comments as well.

We've received numerous reports regarding the alleged presence of forces available to the Galactic Alliance Defense Force. Be it armed forces personnel, weapons or vessels capable of mass destruction, or fleet grouping that the Navy still has at its disposal for the war effort.

...My question is, if these reports are true--" Marek held up a datapad, presumably containing some of these reports. "Why is it that these men, materiel and combat formations were not committed to the war effort before the situation has devolved to this point? If we are not truly on the backfoot here, what are we doing with assets and personnel we have at our disposal?"

Marek sat the datapad down, lacing his fingers together on the table.

"I believe that the situation has deteriorated far worse than has been reported officially, Vice Admiral, and neither the Navy nor the Army have instilled confidence in myself, and I believe I speak truthfully in saying the same applies to many of our constituents as well.

So... that leaves me curious as to whether the Office of Naval Intelligence can shed some light on this for us. I'm doubly curious as well as to where your own personal thoughts stand on why we were so thoroughly defeated upon Arkania."


Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra Kyric Fal Gore Cressida Tolliver Alexandra Feanor Tiber Septimus Dangal Olderem Elias Anden

 

[Dangal Olderem]

Dangal had remained quiet through most of the exchanges, the folds of his brown robe draped around him as though he were carved into the seat itself. His head inclined once to Senator Alexandra Feanor when she bowed, she was there, she understands the effort we gave out there though it was in vain. For a time, it seemed he would let Kyric and Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra carry the weight of the answers. They were right in their arguments. Carrying the debate. They also were present in the defense of Arkania.

When the silence lingered, he stirred at last. One hand brushed across the desk before him, the faintest movement betraying the stiffness in his side. His voice, when it came, was calm and low, measured, almost casual yet sharp enough to cut through the chamber.

"With that said, Jedi Knight Kyric, would you agree that the Jedi's clear abandonment of the Core-- present company excluded -- " He made sure to look between the few Jedi that were present. "...has led to the deterioration of the Galactic Alliance's Defense Force's ability to counteract not just an Imperial threat, but the significant threat that its Dark Side combatants pose to the safety and security of the Core and its constituent member-worlds."

"Senator Marek Bancroft speaks of abandonment. Curious. I recall bleeding into the snow on Arkania with Alliance soldiers at my side. I don't remember abandoning them, only standing, and bleeding, together."

His gaze swept the chamber slowly, crimson light from Fondor's banners flickering against his face. The tension at his side was visible only to the most attentive.

"You subpoena us for answers. Very well. Knight Kyric is right, division has weakened the Jedi. And Master Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra is right as well, our mistakes cannot be ignored, nor our responsibilities forgotten. But pride has weakened this Senate just as surely. We speak of unity yet act as rivals. If the Alliance is to endure what hunts it, neither soldier nor senator can afford to trade blame like currency."

He leaned back, the robe's shadow folding over him once more, though the faint tightening at his side betrayed the lingering memory of battle.

"Hold us accountable, yes. But if accountability becomes scapegoating, then it will not be the Jedi who history remembers as failing the Alliance.
We lost because we prepared for a battle on paper, not a battle in reality." he said, voice calm but edged with something sharper. "Allies were positioned, ships in orbit, soldiers ready but readiness alone cannot stand against coordination that is fractured and trust that is fractured deeper."

With that, his eyes lowered, silence reclaiming him as though the words had never left his lips. The chamber felt colder for it. The Alliance was fraying in plain view, and if they could not find common ground soon, there would be little left to defend. Dangal settled back, the folds of his robe stilling around him, watching as Senator Marek Bancroft pressed Vice Admiral Elias Anden with questions that cut like blades. It was clear, the day would be long, and heavier still before it was through.

​