Byllurun
SULLUST
Of all the speeches President Jaius Sovv of the Sullustan Council had ever delivered in his lifetime, the contents of this one were the most unexpected. As he hobbled toward the podium and the provided stool for his species’ shorter frame, he marveled at how just a few short months ago he had been one of the last hopes for peace between these two galactic superpowers.
Strange days.
“Citizens of the Galactic Alliance,” he began, as the holofeeds focused in on a face withered by age and decades of service, “And to those sentients watching this broadcast from beyond our borders, I bid you greetings. There can be no question as to the reasons for which I speak to you now.
Yesterday, a day which will no doubt live in infamy, the Federation was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the armed forces of the First Order. Apparently not content with their warmongering on Mustafar and its surrounding systems, our Imperial neighbors to the southwest launched an all out assault on the sovereign world of Skor, threatening the wellbeing of the King and his people with an unprovoked and callous orbital bombardment.
But this is not an end to their list of crimes. Dark Side cultists were sighted within their ranks on the ground, and reports of the use of chemical weapons on one of the native Squibs' orbital platforms are just a few more on a long list of grievances the peoples of the Galactic Alliance now hold against the Moffs and Governors of the First Order.
In the wake of Atrisia, in the wake of Kaeshana, there are those throughout the galaxy who would paint us as imperialists, as aggressors, as crusaders. Well, perhaps we may well be guilty of the last,” A pause for polite laughter, “But in this hour there can be no doubt as to the true aggressors now. There is no moral ambiguity. We can no longer stand idly by and in so doing invite our own destruction. To those of you who know me, or know my name, you also know my record. I am the last to call for violence, and the first for peace. I would not be saying this to you now if I believed there were any other choice.
But I will not apologize for my ideals! I will not apologize for who we are, or our way of life! For defending our homes and our freedoms and our very right to exist! I will not apologize to an enemy who knows no mercy, pity, or tolerance. An enemy hellbent on our total annihilation. I will not apologize for justice!
A policy of appeasement is no longer tenable. And so, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you the Triumvirate Council has directed me to speak with you today to convey, that after long deliberations and at the order of the Supreme Commander himself, a state of war exists between the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and the First Order.”
President Sovv stepped away from the podium to an uproar of questions and whirring holostills, and knew there was no going back now. Within hours, elements throughout the Defense Force would be on high alert and waiting for orders from FLEETCOM. Within days, most of the senior Jedi of the Order would be recalled to Sullust for an emergency conclave.
And in the war torn Elrood sector, Federation forces seek to help the native populace begin to heal and rebuild, as the Galactic Alliance flag still flies over the planetary capital of Skor II...