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“Dammit work you piece of-” Vlansk slammed his fist into the side of the holoprojector.
“It is wi- decided that our best optio- eave the Republic and forge-” The blue seethrough visage of Count Dooku faded in and out of the static.
“-Destiny.”
Vlansk finally looked up at the now consistent feed of the hologram.
The Count appeared in full on a small stage surrounded by various students of Raxus University. Some of these students donned the famed (or infamous depending on who you ask) cape of the Kaleesh bioguerillas in solidarity with their struggle against Republic imperialism.
“Many of our planets are struggling. Not only under the horrendous attacks from pirates and raiders, but also economically. When you have these groups disrupting trade at a near-constant rate our economies are put at risk of recessions or outright devastating depressions.” Dooku continued. “Some of these worlds simply cannot continue at this rate. And if the Republic is going to do nothing then we have no choice but to band together and establish our own defensive forces.”
Vlansk looked at his wrist chrono. “Only 6 more minutes until Palpatine’s response.”
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“It is with great sadness that the Senate has announced today their wish to break with democratic norms and extend my nearly complete term as Chancellor due to the moves Count Dooku has made pertaining to our Republic.”
The holofeed began at a wide shot of the whole Senate chamber and then zoomed in to see the worried face of Chancellor Palpatine at the center podium.
“The Chancellorship is not a game that can be played. It is not a glitch in programming you can utilize to boost your approval ratings. It is a real and serious political office. If Dooku decides he wants to take a serious role within the office of the Chancellorship I welcome him to genuinely run for the office.”
A few ‘boos’ and some cheers littered the rotunda for a brief moment.
Palpatine hesitated. “In fact, as controversial as it may be, let it be known that I wouldn’t even be against someone of Dooku’s political caliber taking the role if the Galaxy deems it as such. I happen to agree with many of Dooku’s points and I would love to work with him to see the Outer Rim properly taken care of. He of all people should know that Naboo stands in solidarity with the various struggles on the fringes of the galaxy as we had our own struggles nearly a decade ago.”
With that Palpatine eyed the Trade Federation’s pod and Nute Gunray gave a dismissive shake of his head.
“But this Republic which has stood for 1000 years and faced the great rebuilding efforts after the uprisings of the Sith and the Nihil threat of 200 years ago will not be threatened by another chaotic split.” Several Senators around the room clapped in approval.
Palpatine let out a sigh, took a sip of his water, and leaned back in a manner just bordering on unbecoming of his status and more akin to a tired old man.
“I truly don’t wish to stay Chancellor for any longer. No offense to my allies in this chamber nor to my detractors at NovaNetwork who love nothing more than to analyze and scrutinize every word, sneeze, and scratch of the nose that comes from this podium.” Several Senators and their aides chuckled and if you were to look closely a few, clearly the aforementioned detractors, gave unapproving frowns.
“But I cannot and will not sit idly by as this Republic crumbles away! I refuse to allow this august body to be led by a Chancellor who is a potential extremist who seeks to tear this beautiful democracy that we have fostered for millennia into pieces.”
Various claps and a few shouts of ‘yeah!’ could be heard. Others groaned and one particularly loud voice peaked over the noise and clearly said ‘oh shut up you fedejik!’
Mas Amedda stood up and banged his staff on the floor thrice.
“THERE WILL BE ORDER IN THE ROTUNDA UNTIL THE CHANCELLOR HAS SIGNALED ON HIS PODIUM CONSOLE THAT HE IS DONE WITH THE FLOOR.”
Palpatine gave a thankful nod to Amedda. “So with that I accept the powers that the Senate has decided are necessary for me to continue to wield. I accept this bill. And I must accept another term as Chancellor. Let it be known that when this term is up I am out! I do not wish to become a dictator like the rulers of the ancient Pius Dea or Kitel Phard Dynasties.”
Yet again Palpatine sighed and gave a brief look of disbelief into empty space as if he was in the midst of a nightmare rather than stark reality. The claps and cheers began at a slow pace then ramped up more and more.
“But in extreme times we must take extreme measures otherwise our Republic is at even greater risk than if we were to simply continue on. With that I cede the floor on a final statement: Dooku please visit Coruscant. Come to this hallowed room and discuss this one on one with me in front of the galaxy. Surely we can figure something, anything out that won’t see this Republic torn to pieces. Thank you gracious Senators I cede the floor.”
Palpatine finally sat down and looked down at his feet. Some will look at these close ups and see a man who is about to tear up. It is said in the future history holos that this moment truly broke his heart as Palpatine so loved the Republic that it was a truly difficult decision to take such a break with the standards of democracy.
Apparently it didn’t break the hearts of the Senate. Thousands of Senators all stand up, wave their arms, some jumping up and down and clapping.
“FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!”
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Vlansk pulled the plug and the holofeed stopped on a static image in between two frames of Palpatine’s somber face and the Senator from Corvanni with his 6 tendril arms high in the air in celebration.
“And there it is. There’s our enemy for the next 30 years. An entire generation will be born never knowing what it was like before-” Vlansk looked down at his chrono. “Taungsday, Mortikuo sixth 27,953. People’s entire lifetimes were just lost. To be wasted on a massive revolution that will span decades, potentially even for nothing. One day, if we're unlucky, he’ll die of old age in his comfortable bed in 500 Republica but the horrendous system he just planted the seeds for will surround his corpse. Many children born today will embrace it wholeheartedly because it’s all they know. But the few who refuse will be forced to hack away endlessly in the hopes that they’ll spend their retirement in a galaxy resembling something even somewhat close to the one we grew up in.”
Akex shook his head disapprovingly. “What does this have to do with me, man? I got the credits right here so are you gonna help me or should I just find someone else? Every moment we spend is one where my brother could be sold to slavers halfway across the galaxy, or get experimented on by some freak scientists testing new cybernetics, or maybe he's being eaten alive for the amusement of some Hutt, or-”
“Hey- hey! Easy now. I’m gonna help you. It’s just things have… changed. We have new options now. The Republic is hunting these pirates down right?”
Akex looked down exhaustedly and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah. They had a cruiser scouring the whole sector for them. But from what I heard they might get recalled near the Quelli sector to deal with-” He waved his hands around at the holo-image. “All this.”
“Yes, well. No time for holovids right now we got some thugs to hunt down.” Vlansk slammed his fist on the power button and the hologram powered down.
