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

[Elias Anden]

"Senator, the reports you reference are true in the sense that the Alliance Navy retains formations, ships, and manpower that have not been committed in full to the front. That much I will not deny. But it is not because we are holding back needlessly. It is because the circumstances of this war are defined by repeated losses that have fragmented our command structure and left us unable to wield those assets coherently. We are not at the stage where simply throwing more ships at the problem can turn the tide. Without coordination, they would be wasted."

A pause settled across the room.

"You asked why we suffered defeat at Arkania. The answer lies not solely with the Navy but with the failures of our intelligence community. We were blindsided because intelligence was not shared, sources were not vetted, and critical assessments were ignored. Some of our so-called assets were compromised, Arage Bao among them, feeding us poison information that distorted our picture of Imperial strength. By the time clarity arrived, it was too late."

He let the words hang, then continued with a measured voice.

"Arkania was only one disaster. The greater calamity was the destruction of the Ninth Sector Armada, stationed at Foerost. That force represented over one hundred capital ships, with their full Starfighter and support complements. It was encircled and annihilated wholesale. Not because our captains or crews fought poorly. They fought until their ships could not fight anymore. They were destroyed because the GADF had no unified command, no coherent strategy, and no reliable intelligence guiding them. The Empire cut them apart, and we remain weaker because of it."

Anden folded his hands, allowing the Senators a moment before resuming.

Senator Laer of Fondor leaned forward, speaking in his clipped, careful tone. Elias replied.

"Senator, the coordination of a galactic-scale military force is more difficult than anything we in this room have collectively done in our entire lifetimes. Redeployment is slow, not because our ships lack speed, but because the communication and logistical networks needed to move and sustain entire battle groups across our territory are stretched thin. To your second point, pulling units away from border patrols invites risk of raids and destabilization. We are forced to choose between defending the perimeter or reinforcing the center, and in too many cases we end up doing neither well."

He paused, glancing at Bancroft.

"I will agree with you, Senator Laer. It is not enough to field more. Strategic vision is required, and at present the Navy lacks it."

Senator Septimus of Niahelious was next.

"To your questions, Senator," Elias said, "yes, there were indicators of unusual movements and supply shifts prior to the offensive. But those indicators were lost in the noise, drowned out by poor analysis and compartmentalization across multiple agencies. This is not a one-off. It is systemic. Intelligence failures are rampant, because the Alliance has tolerated an environment where information is hoarded, rather than shared. We are blindfolding ourselves."

His voice lowered slightly.

"The Senate must take this seriously. In the short term, empower a unified intelligence structure with oversight that forces collaboration. In the medium term, purge compromised assets and establish rigorous vetting. In the long term, build a culture where analysts and officers speak across silos rather than protecting their own turf. That is the only way forward. If you do not, we will continue to lose armadas, sectors, and eventually the Alliance itself."

Alexandra Feanor | Dangal Olderem | Marek Bancroft | Matthew of Valendale | Cressida Tolliver | Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra | Kyric | Tiber Septimus​

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra remained quiet for most of the proceedings so far. While there was information that could be distributed she was careful to not speak unnecessarily given the current situation she found herself in. Even now being this far from her tree for this long was starting to wear her out. She would need to speak with Matsu and get the ship up and operational soon. Otherwise, these longer trips away from Alderaan were going to become more and more difficult.

That all in mind, she did not let those worries and the pain distract her from her duty. Instead when the conversation turned to the battlefield and the leadup to it, she would ensure that Matthew of Valendale , Marek Bancroft , Cressida Tolliver , and Elias Anden received a series of files, after action reports, and live feeds that had been taken from the battlefield. The reason she kept such from Kyric , Dangal Olderem and Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra was simply down to the fact that they had been there and had witnessed both the battle and the aftermath physically themselves.

For Cressida, this would be old information, documents and video she had both seen in the Senate that day but as well in the Defense Committee's brief after the fact. But for the others it showed the plans for the defense of Arkania, the choice of weaponry and ships brought to the defense, as well as a multi hour log tracking the radio traffic and major troop formations.

For Elias, it would be a familiar series of documents, each coming from a certain portion of the defense force and each keeping their own record of the minute by minute changes to the battlefield and the actions of the defense forces.

"What I have distributed is the brief as well as records of the battle that were able to be shared with the Defense Committee. There is certain chunks of information omitted, mostly the location of resources after the fact or where the resources had been pulled from to ensure that the Galactic Alliance's Military does not present an easily exploitable lack in forces that is intercepted or simply sent to the enemy by a sympathizer." She would offer, looking towards Senator Lear as she continued.

"There is a great deal of Senators who has fought in war, please remember this. Some of us are heroes of our planet's defense forces, or there are those that were once in a position where they could be considered an enemy. The Commander of the Defense Forces for example is currently under lock and key for his actions as described on page fourteen of the documents in which a power utilizing the darkside was unleashed." She had to pause, coughing for a few moments before breathing in and continuing.

"I share these both to inform the rest of this panel the current situation in terms of the enemy's technological standing, as well as where some of ours sits in comparison. Even with tested technology that was boosted to levels beyond normal human capabilities, we still suffered defeat. This was, arguably, one of our best chances as their quick advance left holes in the sensor network that has not been thoroughly purged by the imperials. As Vice Admiral Anden has pointed out, the Ninth was also lost not too long ago in its entirety and the Tenth could have faced a very similar fate at Arkania had we pushed to maintain hold against a force that pushed on through and seized the Fort eventually." She paused, looking towards Dangal, Dynas and Kyric for a moment before sighing.

"Speaking with more cold reason, sacrifice is the logical answer. Senator Bancroft is not wrong on that. I have spent my life first serving those who were the very evil we face, then creating mechanical beings and vessels that used cold hard numbers as their only basis for reason. Militarily, the best chance to survive what is coming is to consolidate our forces, to secure an area of holdings that can be more feasibly defended with more value. Bilbringi in the North, or the Corellia to Abregado Rae corridor to the galactic south are the logical options. It is a statement that abandons the very people I represent and the place I call home." She tapped her foot for a moment before closing her eyes.

"There is no easy answer. If we try to defend everything, we will lose. If we sacrifice those worlds while we secure a more viable region of the Galactic Stage, we lose in that we have turned the problem into simply a choice of numbers. Sacrificing Millions to save Billions. I dont pretend to have an answer for this Board, nor at this point to demand one of a singular Vice Admiral and three Jedi who gave their lives on Arkania as best they could to hold it. I do believe we have a better idea though of the issues before us, of the fate that the Alliance will have to choose." She frowned, coughing into her sleeve again, letting the information presented be looked over and considered.

 

[Matthew of Valendale]

Matthew's wings arched faintly as his cold gaze settled on Alexandra. His voice carried the tempered steel of one unbound by their chamber's political debts.

"Your courage is not in question. You have fought, and suffered, and endured where others might have broken. For that, I offer respect. But the course you propose with consolidation, and retreat, the very notion of sacrifice of entire worlds is no strategy. It is surrender dressed in numbers."

He stepped forward slightly, feathers catching the Senate's cold light.

"If the Alliance yields ground willingly, the enemy will not pause to thank you. They will seize it, fortify it, and wield it against you. Every world abandoned becomes a recruitment ground. Every life forsaken becomes a story of betrayal. You do not save billions by sacrificing millions. You lose them both, for people who feel discarded will not fight for you, they will not trust you, and they will not remain yours to save."

His tone hardened, fire flashing beneath the calm of restraint.

"Even your fortified corridors are not beyond the enemy's reach. To compress your strength is to make yourselves easier prey. You will become encircled. They will strangle what's left until it is extinguished. The galaxy has seen this before: proud fleets crushed in their redoubts because their leaders mistook retreat for prudence."

Matthew's wings unfurled a fraction wider, his voice rising so that none in the chamber could mistake his meaning.

"I come not from the Core, nor from your Allied Worlds, but from beyond, and even in the Unknown, one truth endures: those who abandon their people lose them forever. If the Alliance is to endure, it must stretch the enemy, harry their supply lines, make every conquest a pyrrhic victory. Above all, it must never be seen to abandon its own. Because once your citizens believe you will leave them behind... you will already have lost."

He looked directly to Alexandra Feanor , " Pragmatism has its place, but when it begins to sound like abandonment, or worse, like the counsel of darker reason, then we must all take pause. If you think survival means becoming the very thing we fight, then it is not a survival worth seeking.

War isn't easy, Senator. But neither is loyalty. Abandon your people once, and you will never have it again. A people's trust is not a resource to be spent and replenished at convenience; it is a covenant, forged in blood and sacrifice, that once broken, cannot be mended."


He let the chamber's hush weigh heavy for but a brief moment,

"I have seen kingdoms fall not from the strength of their foes, but from the rot of betrayal within. Armies may endure defeat. Worlds may endure conquest. But no nation, no order, no empire, survives the moment its people believe themselves forsaken. For then, the war is not fought on battlefields, but in the hearts of those who no longer care to resist.

Such actions would extinguish the spark of hope itself, and to such actions I will doggedly object. For it is hope, not fear, that rallies the broken to rise again. It is loyalty, not abandonment, that binds a people together when darkness presses close. If we trade away that trust for the illusion of safety, then we have already handed victory to our enemies."

His wings spread a fraction, feathers gleaming as he fixed his gaze upon the Senate.

"You speak so plainly of sacrifice as though it were a calculation, a ledger of millions to save billions. Yet such arithmetic is a fool's bargain. For what are billions worth, if they believe you would cast them aside when the scales tip unfavorably? You will not save them. You will only teach them despair. And despair is the truest ally of your enemy."

Matthew's tone sharpened, his words striking like a hammer against stone in his repetition as he really wanted to drive this point across.

"War is cruel, but its burden is not to make your people believe that no matter how dark the hour, you will not abandon them to the void. That their sacrifice is shared, not imposed. That you stand with them, to the very end. That is the only loyalty worth the name. Break it, and you will find that no fortress, no fleet, nor corridor of stars will be strong enough to shield you from the collapse that follows."

With that, the tall winged man turned, a heavy breath escaping him like the release of a long-drawn bowstring. He spoke but once more, his voice resonant with somber finality:

"Remember this, Senators: nations are not lost when armies fall, but when hope dies. Guard that flame well, for without it, there is nothing left worth saving."

Without waiting for reply, he gathered his wings tucking them close and strode from the chamber, long blood red cloak furling in his wake.

//Thread exit.

 

[Salocin Lear]

Salocin glanced down to his armrest as the pad blinked. He read some information, frowned, then promptly stood and bowed his head to the assembled.

"Apologies, I have some pressing business of an emergency nature that demands my personal attention."

It wasn't ideal, but he felt the committee was well enough in discussion to take care of finalizing thoughts and steps forward.

"I look forward to seeing the holo-recordings of the proceedings at a later time. Well wishes, fellows."

Salocin stepped down from the chair and walked to the closest exit, at a quick pace.

___________________________________________________________________

Exit.​

 

[Dangal Olderem]

Dangal listened.

Matthew of Valendale words crashed like a storm against the chamber's walls, wings spread wide as though to drive the senators before him. Alexandra Feanor reasoning was quieter but no less heavy, the cadence of a mind accustomed to hard numbers and colder truths. Between them lay a gulf, the weight of loyalty against the logic of survival.

Dangal's eyes lowered briefly. He had heard both tones before, though never in this hall, one upon battlefields where commanders demanded men hold the line, another in war rooms where maps turned lives into figures to be spent. Neither was false. Both carried cost. When Vice Admiral Elias Anden spoke of intelligence failures, Dangal's eyebrows lifted. He remembered the snow of Arkania turned black with fire, soldiers waiting for reinforcements that never came. He had felt the fracture of command not as theory but as blood in the ice. And now it was dressed in careful phrasing, another report for the archives.

Alexandra's cough broke his reverie. The senator's pain was visible, though she carried it with a soldier's poise. He nodded his head slightly toward her, not agreement, nor rebuke, but acknowledgment of the weight she bore. Matthew's exit that followed left only silence in its wake, feathers and flame retreating down the chamber's length. Dangal's hand brushed his side unconsciously, the ache of wounds that had not fully healed. The debate turned on sacrifice, on hope, on failure, on blame. He let the words settle over him like falling ash.

Inwardly, a single thought rose like a quiet tide, "If they cannot find trust here, no army in the stars will matter." But outwardly, he said nothing. Only his gaze remained still, steady, fixed upon the chamber as the Senate wrestled with itself. But some came to a end with the leave of some senators, this was his chance as well. Dangal rose, his movements steady though touched with the stiffness of unhealed wounds. Drawing his robe close, he lowered his head, not dismissively, but in a measured bow that honored both Senate and soldier alike.

"I must beg your leave" he said, tone even and respectful to the senate members still in attendance. Marek Bancroft Tiber Septimus Alexandra Feanor Fal Gore

Without another word, he turned and made his way to the doors with a nod to Kyric as he departed. Each step was unhurried, deliberate. When the chamber's great doors closed behind him, the silence he left in his wake lingered heavier than his presence. He took note of everything that was said and hopefully everyone else did to.

<Exit>​

​

 

[Tiber Septimus]

As Tiber listened to Elias Anden describe the systemic failures of the Alliance's intelligence apparatus, he felt many things:

Horror. 'How long had this gone on? Since the rise of the Dark Empire, at minimum?'

Shame. 'How did it take this for this to come to light?'

Rage. 'By the gods, heads will roll.'

And finally, optimism. Because when you knew better, you can do better. Already, ideas were whirling in his head. To reform the SIA. To make the Alliance intelligence a force. And to build something that would bring something the losses, the betrayal of the Jedi, had robbed of the Alliance.

Hope.

"Vice Admiral Anden, I thank you for your candid response. Please expect additional follow-up from my office, as well as the Intelligence Committee."

Then, he looked at the boy- Kyric Karis. One armed, but not broken, nor unbowed.

"Knight Karis. Allow me a moment of candidness. Your fellow Jedi have scattered to the wind, leaving us to bear the brunt of the Imperial war machine. You and your fellows are what we remains, to guard the realm- this shining city on a hill we call the Galactic Alliance. It is an unfair burden that has been thrusted upon your generation, but none-the-less, that is where we stand", Tiber said harshly, but not unkindly, before his eyes soften.

"My father fought on Tython, with a contingent of Nehali braves; the Chiss were our brothers in the stars, and the Maw had to pay back what wsa done to Csilla in blood. He talked of your father- of how the Sword of the Jedi who carved his way through hordes, who brought down the Dark One."

He paused, gathering his thing to leave the chamber. He had gotten exactly what he came for, sparing the Karis one last glance, and a comment:

"I believe the vacancy for 'Sword of the Jedi' is currently unfilled."

-FIN-

Tags: Alexandra Feanor | Dangal Olderem | Marek Bancroft | Matthew of Valendale | Elias Anden | Cressida Tolliver | Fal Gore | Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra

 

[Marek Bancroft]

Marek tapped his fingers rhythmically upon the table idly, his focus upon Vice Admiral Anden total and complete throughout the course of his briefing on the failings and misgivings of the Alliance's structure, along with his thoughts on the matter as well. A few more opinions followed, and and even more of the present gathering of Senator and Jedi alike began to announce their exit and take their leave.

He would ignore them for the time being other than a curtly nod upon each of their declarations. There were far more important proceedings to discuss, and while the topic of accountability was still on the table, the subpoena was in no way the prelude to a witch-hunt, despite what their critics would certainly tell the public when their meeting reached the press.

"I assure you, Vice Admiral, that the Senate..." His mind briefly went to the few of his colleagues who'd departed in disappointment. "We are taking this extremely seriously. Much like the Galactic Alliance's military and intelligence forces, it would appear as if the Senate too is undergoing a severe level of disarray and miscommunication as well... and that too has contributed to our precarious position within this war. Let me make this clear that we are not interested in a witch-hunt, nor to pass judgement upon any one individual or organization."

He would briefly shift his attention to any and all Jedi still present. "The Jedi who abandoned the Galactic Alliance, abandoned you as well. The fact that the few who chose to remain are still here, even those who clearly show dissatisfaction with presumptuously being summoned here today, have the gratitude of each and everyone of us who are seeking to find our path forwards in these trying times."

After a short pause, he swiveled his gaze back to Anden once more. "What I personally wish to seek is transparency, something that has been missing for so long it seems despite the general tone being that everything is fine where the conflict has not yet reached. Clearly everything is not fine, and with that in said, I am in agreement with the belief that we should clean our own house up of the compromised assets throughout the Galactic Alliance's bureaucratic and military organizations.

I feel we should also address the potential in consolidating our forces, and the establishment of an ongoing census to tally up our reserve personnel, vessels and war materiel for reassignment and deployment elsewhere. We face invasion from multiple axes of advance, which much like you've stated, Vice Admiral, has already begun to drive our force concentration thin along the frontlines. If we are unable to match the Imperialist threat in a war of attrition, then it would be foolish to consider throwing sentient lives into a meat-grinder that we simply can not afford to match.

Consolidation, no matter one's feelings on that matter, may very well be a valid path towards improving our situation. Otherwise we risk permanently being reactionary, and our inability to prosecute the war on our own terms will eventually lead to our defeat."

Elias Anden Cressida Tolliver Exum Jern Alexandra Feanor Tiber Septimus Kyric Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra Dangal Olderem Matthew of Valendale

 

[Exum Jern]

"I see no reason this should not be the witch-hunt you wish to avoid," began the Muun, long and spindly fingers intertwining. "The Jedi abandoned the Alliance in our time of desperate need and should be held accountable for the deaths now on their hands."

"It may be that the same losses would have been accrued with the Jedi present, beyond what meagre number remains, but we will never know. The fact is this: when the Alliance needed the Jedi most, they were nowhere to be found."

Marek Bancroft - Elias Anden - Cressida Tolliver - Alexandra Feanor - Kyric - Dynamis "Dynas" Ultra - Dangal Olderem

 

[Cressida Tolliver]

Cressida cleared her throat and activated her own microphone. "If my colleagues will indulge me, I'd like to ask some questions about the Defense Forces, because there seems to be a direct line here, wherein the powers that be in the Galactic Alliance -- often, but not always, members of this august body -- invite (or in this case, compel) the presence and opinions of other branches and upon confrontation with opinions they do not care for, retaliate."

She paused a moment and looked toward Elias Anden . "Talk to be about Revenant Squadron, please, Admiral. As I understand it, following some impolitic discussion regarding establishing diplomatic relations with the Mandalorian Empire, Captain Wedge Draav was discharged from his duties. An odd decision from my airspeeder seat, to invite commentary and then punish it, but I don't pretend to be within the decision-making hierarchy of the GADF and this, in my view, is not the appropriate venue to litigate it. However, as a member of the Defense Committee, I feel it is my duty to request further detail."

"First," she said, holding up a finger. "What contingencies were in place prior to Captain Draav's expulsion from the Defense Forces, in particular as to the readiness and leadership of Revenant Squadron? Second," she added a finger, "have these contingencies been executed? Third, and last for the time being, what is the current state of readiness of Revenant Squadron? Feel free to consult as necessary with your colleagues."