Open Emergency Session of the Republic Senate

[Caliban Drast]

Star Destroyer Independence, Coruscant Orbit​

An urgent missive had gone out to all members of the New Republic Senate, calling for an emergency session following the unexpected events on Tanaab. Caliban had already been en-route to an inspection of the Coruscant First Fleet in preparation of imminent deployment when the news had broken, and he did not have the time to head back planet-side. This had to happen, and it had to happen now.

Senators from around the core would be calling in via hologram, few present to attend the session in person from the Senate floor itself, but the matter was just that urgent. At the same time Caliban had sent soldiers to the detention facility where Xerses still had Senator Kalist held in custody, with orders to free her at once. The Chancellor might hold power over the Republic, but this was still Coruscant, and he held enough sway to make sure she was present for a meeting of this importance. To hell with consequences. (@Sreeya)

As the Senators would start trickling in, having already seen reports of the attack on Tanaab, they would know exactly what the session was about.

@Malon @LouJoVi @Olwin @Eccles @othersenators
OOC: Open to all NR Senators.

 

[Maryenne Vennen]

Since she succeeded her grandmother as Senator of Gatalenta, Maryenne never thought that she would see the Galaxy burn. First the Sith declared war on the ISC and now their Chancellor had the bright idea of bombarding Tanaab, in an obvious declaration of war to the Free Worlds Alliance. She wondered what drugs this man was using to pull this act out of his ass, without even discussing it with the Senate. Only the use of illegal substances would explain it.

It was by sheer luck that he was in Coruscant to participate in the Senate session called by Senator Drast. She only was at the planet because her brother was once again gambling his life out in some seedy cantina in one of the under levels of the Republic Capital. If it wasn’t for Xerxes’ drugged power trip in Taanab, she was sure that the scene of her dragging Joscelyn by his ear toward a speeder would have filled the tabloids.

“Don’t say anything.” she said to her brother, while they walked through the halls of the Senate building. She wasn’t in the mood to hear his excuses or his theories about the Chancellor being behind the assassination of their grandmother. Sometime ago, she would have said that Xerxes was too smart to do something so obvious. Now she thought that he was to dumb to make something like that.

Being a Kowakian monkey holding a blaster, Xerxes would have bombarded their grandmother’s apartment while recording it live in the Holonet.

After she took her place in the pod, Maryenne waited for the other Senators to arrive. Joscelyn was sitting next to her, trying to read the information about the secession in his Datapad. It was obvious that he was suffering from a terrible headache, after having got drunk yesterday and hearing the screams of his sister during the entire night.

The young man was wearing a pair of sunglasses to hide his red eyes, but his sister didn’t let him stay at her apartment. He was her chief aide, after all. Even with her loving him, Maryenne really regretted having agreed with her parents to have Joscelyn working with her. She ended being a Senator and a babysitter, becoming pure stress. The Gatalentan wondered if the drugs that Xerxes was using were good to make her relax or she would have the urge to burn a planet.

@Wit @Eccles @Malon @Sreeya @Olwin

 

[Jana Kang]

The Republic Senate chambers were not the same as the Galactic Senate ones, so when Jana rushed out of her office to have this emergency session she almost took the wrong turn and ended up at one of the pods for the Independent Systems Consortium. A few seconds later and a little bit more winded she did arrive at her designated pod in the Republic Senate chambers, quickly sat down to ensure her timely presence was noted and then directed her attention to her datapad.

The Republic Fifth Fleet had committed -was in the act of committing- a war crime by bombarding countless civilian targets on Tanaab, which was a world within the Free World's Alliance and thus a member world of the Galactic Senate. Already the alliance had invoked their mutual defense clause and with deploying not a planetary fleet, but the Republic Fifth, the chancellor had in all ways and technicalities except for a formal declaration, started an intergalactic war.

Already the Byblos planetary defense forces were put on high alert. Its government was in crisis mode with the president and the designated crisis team making their decisions from a bunker on a secret location below the planet's surface. Navy spaceships and personnel serving in the Republic military as liaison or within the construction of the formal partnership between the Byblos navy and the Republic Fleet, had been recalled back home to bolster the defenses.

 

[Trina Kalist]

Trina swept into the room after the others, looking a bit flustered. She was still settling in from having recently been liberated from jail. She gave Caliban an appreciative nod before she walked in to take a seat.

“We need to stop this bastard,” She said bluntly, having little patience for going around in circles, “I’m seeing pictures coming in from the Chancellor’s Office and I think we have a Joined situation. We need to isolate that fleet and take it out. I’ll send my reserves.”

She checked her chrono. Every second they wasted was another second to rile up the Alliance and invoke a war. On top of that, the Sith were attacking. They all needed to join against the Sith right now, they had no time to deal with whatever the Chancellor was doing.

“I’ve contacted Star Guardians and ISCRA to ask them to go to Tanaab to help the public,” It was a bandaid, but at least the Alliance would see the Republic Senators didn’t all back their lunatic Chancellor, “We need to strip him of power and clearance immediately.”

@Wit @Eccles @LouJoVi

 

[Caliban Drast]

They didn't have quorum, but they also didn't have time. Thankfully Senator Kalist arrived, finally giving them the headcount to get started. "Yes, I just hope we are not too late already. We need to figure out what the killiks got to him, and trace everything he had done since them." As chancellor Alexander could have already crippled their ability to react promptly, so the sooner they started, the better. On top of that, he had no idea who was and wasn't involved with the Chancellor. A sobering thought, but it was what it was. If that was the state of affairs then they would just have to deal with it. Off the holo-screen an aide was gesturing at her chronowatch, letting him know that the fleet was ready to jump. It was time to begin. Getting to his feet, he activated his mic, beginning the session.

"Members of the Senate, time is of the essence so I will cut straight to the chase. The fifth fleet's presence on Tanaab is no secret, but there is more that I must share with everyone present here. Some might already made the connection, but it is our belief that the Chancellor, his personal staff, and much of the Fifth Fleet has been turned by the Killiks. It is not the Chancellor that attacked Tanaab, but a joiner. The Chacellor's office is currently manned and defended by forces who are similarly joined. Coruscant military forces are surrounding the building to move in, but it will be a while before we can secure the building. But what we do know is this, Alexander Xerses is no longer the man we once knew, he might have been turned as early as the attack on Ruusan, which was ours, and his, first encounter with the Killiks."

He was quiet for a few moments, giving everyone the time to digest the information he had just shared. Some might already have deciphered as much from the on-goings at the Chancellor's office and at Tanaab, but for some it might be a shocking revelation. But there was only so much time he could spare.

"We must act, and fast. I hereby propose that we declare a state of emergency, and officially remove Alexander Xerses from office, removing any and all authority that he might wield in that position. We need an immediate audit of our forces, to try and identify who is and isn't under the influence of the Killiks. I also propose that we augment what remains of the Republic Fleet with elements of local defense fleets, so that we are not ill prepared in case of any action against us, from either the Sith or the Killiks. We should shore up defenses at key locations such as Kuat, Arkania, and Fondor. Given the information the Killiks are now privy to, I fear an attack against our most vulnerable targets is not off the table."

He stopped, taking a seat as his mic was switched off. He just hoped that today wasn't a day for politics, but for action.

@Sreeya @Malon @LouJoVi @Olwin @Eccles

 

[Alyrra Adasca]

Some days, Lyra wondered why Arkania remained in the Republic. The Chancellor's recent efforts to further align himself with the Sith was already weighing on her; but when the news reached her that he had taken a fleet and attacked Tanaab, she had found herself unable to move. And yet here she was, on the floor of the New Republic Senate, looking disheveled, her eyes glassy, her stare far away. It only came to focus again at the end of Senator Drast's speech.

"You have Arkania's support in removing the Chancellor from the levers of power," she said into her mic. "In his place we will need to appoint an interim Chancellor to oversee the Executive Office until we can hold a proper election." She had to pause to gather herself, already sensing the next day's headlines. The stock markets were already in turmoil over the closure of the Hydian Way. This would send them into free fall. "I've already sent word home to be on high alert. That we cannot predict the Chancellor's moves, but—"

How did she tell them that she was receiving increased calls by her constituents to withdraw from the Republic? It began after the Chancellor's previous antics. Now, their voices weren't just a chorus, but a storm. She would not be able to ignore them much longer, now. In truth, she agreed with them. The Republic was not a safe place any more. But then again, no where was truly safe.

"We also need to reassure our member worlds that they are safe by confirming this is an isolated matter," Lyra continued. "The economic instability caused by the war has already spooked our members, but so long as we were out of it, they were content to hold together. This incident has shattered any illusions of safety. It isn't enough to deal with the Joiners in the Fifth Fleet or the Chancellor's Office. We have to find a way to prevent this from ever happening again."

The sad thing way, a plan to stop all of this permanently would likely have to wait for a later session. And by then it could be too late. @Wit @Sreeya @LouJoVi @Olwin @Eccles

 

[Jana Kang]

Jana listened and watched as the session started and Senator Drast explained the situation. He proposed a state of emergency (1), to remove the Chancellor from office (2) and to augment the Republic Fleet with the planetary fleets of Republic member worlds (3).

It was the senator of Arkania that immediately diverted from this course of action and focused on regulations to avoid the same thing happening again. Jana was sure that everyone -including the senator of Arkania- knew that such regulations would only come after a special committee proposed them following an extended and thorough evaluation of how exactly this widespread Killik investation could've happened in the first place. What Jana didn't like was that amidst crisis, someone immediately had the nerve to openly challenge the idea of an intergalactic Republic. There was a time and place for that and neither criteria was met right now.

"Byblos supports declaring a state of emergency and the removal of the Chancellor." If Senator Drast's information was correct, however, none of it would matter for the planet of Tanaab. The Killiks didn't listen to an order to cease fire from the Republic Senate.

The third proposition troubled Jana. She wasn't keen to sacrifice the planetary defense fleets, splitting it up, and sending half of it to whoever was going to command the Republic Fleet during a state of emergency. However, she knew that Byblos needed the Republic if it was ever attacked by the Sith Empire again. She pondered it for a second longer than she had considered the first two propositions, but then made up her mind just the same. "Byblos will also support Senator Drast's proposition to augment the Republic Fleet with the fleet elements of member worlds."

Byblos had two medical ships with defensive corvette's that were supposed to either go into maintenance this month or was about to return to active duty. Jana was sure they could both be reassigned to support Republic Fleets. Whatever longer term solutions there could be to augment the Republic fleets was something for the Byblos government to think of, not their representative in the senate.

 

[Trina Kalist]

“I support stripping the Chancellor of power,” Trina paused regarding the second proposal, “To what end, Senator Drast?” She asked, “To once again fatten up our defenses and sit around waiting for an attack to happen first?” She turned to glare at the Senator of Arkania, the one that blabbed about how the Sith would never attack the ISC. Lo and behold..

“I’m going to commit my ships to stand with the Alliance (@SlagathorTheUnknown @Xorism @llamallove ) first against this rogue fleet, and then against the Sith,” She declared, “The Sith have never been hit harder, and they will never be weaker. To not capitalize on this is outright foolish and I won’t let anyone here lecture me on how there is nothing to worry about,” She didn’t get to where she was without being stubborn. Hell, it was why she was thrown in jail not too long ago. She had been very vocal in senate sessions about taking the fight to the Sith, and that was not going to change now that it was the perfect time to strike. The good thing was that she had the backing of her planet and several planets around her world since the media frenzy around her.

@Malon @Wit @LouJoVi @Eccles

 

[Maryenne Vennen]

“HÁ! I told you that there was something wrong with Xerxes!” Joscelyn screamed next to her, after hearing Drast say that the Chancellor was a Joiner. His voice was loud enough for anyone close to the Gatalentans to hear. The aide's triumphant smile died out when he saw his sister staring at him. He was certain that she could pierce even a star destroyer with it. “Sorry.” the young man muttered, before turning his attention back to the datapad.

Ignoring his brother, Maryenne turned to the other Senators. “Gatalenta supports Senator Drast’s proposal. Xerxes is no longer suited for the Chancellorship, he needs to be removed immediately.” she wondered if he even was suited for that to begin with. His defense of the peace with the Sith was probably the most foolish thing that she ever saw. Only someone gullible would believe that the Empire would maintain it.

“While I agree that we should augment the Republic Fleet, I think that Senator Kalist had a point. The Sith are vulnerable, probably for the first time in years. Their attack on the ISC proved that there is no guarantee that the Empire will comply with the peace threat. We should join the Consortium and strike them.” she stared at the politicians, studying their reaction. “This time we wouldn’t be doing it because of the Jedi, but as a preemptive act of defense. The Sith will never be trustworthy and we shouldn't fool ourselves believing that they will.”

@Wit @Eccles @Sreeya @Malon

 

[Alyrra Adasca]

Lyra recoiled as though she had been struck. War with the Sith? Were they insane? Sure, it was a prospect that looked better now that the Sith were weakened; but had these fools no sense of priority? She opened her mouth and closed it, a fish gulping for air, an oxygen starved brain looking for the right words that would incapsulate her confusion quickly turning to fury.

Her people were right. The Republic was lost.

"Do you hear yourselves?" she blurted into her mic. "Our Chancellor is Joined. The entire Fifth Fleet—Joined. We have no idea the extent of the breach, and more the point, we are without a leader. And you all want to take your ships and march into Sith Space?" She was leaning over her pod now, her face an uncharacteristic red. She wasn't used to feeling this angry. "The Sith are weakened. Not defenseless. We, on the other, don't even know where we stand. If you take your ships into Sith Space on some merry crusade and we find out even more of our military, or Force forbid our security forces, are Joined, then the entire Republic could fall while you lot are off playing hero."

She sucked in a breath. This display of emotion was not becoming of a senator and someone of former royal blood. When she had control of her senses, and the color had returned to her cheeks, she continued. "It has been clear to my constituents for some time that this Republic — that this body — is not only dysfunctional but inept. This was our moment to show solidarity with the Alliance and reassure the memberworlds of the Republic that their Congress has their best interests at heart by removing the Chancellor and appointing a new leader to lead us through this crisis. Instead, you all are more concerned with personal vendettas." Another deep inhalation. "Well, no more. I have resisted the chorus of calls from my constituents, hoping this body would get its act together and it has only gotten worse. Consider this Arkania's resignation from the Republic."

@Sreeya @Wit @LouJoVi @Eccles

 

[Aharon Staergin]

Aharon had been quiet up until now, his face deep and sullen. It was unusual for the usual cheery and bright eyed senator. Around him was his usual assortment of droids, his frame leaning into the communication droid beside him that spoke into his deafened tentacle. He absorbed information and waited, his heart pounding enough to be heard clearly over the ringing in his right auditory sensory organ. He was upset that just now they were taking action after all Xerxes did last session. His eyes glared over to Trina, but not with rage but respect, as he nodded slowly before standing up. He paused before he spoke, allowing the lights to shine down on him.

"I vote yes to the removal of the current Chancellor," Aharon softly spoke into his mic, the joy in his voice merely a hint while rage and annoyance at the fact it took them this long, "and agree that we need to establish a state of emergency. Unlike my constituents, I believe we need to elect a strong leader first and rid our ranks of the Joined menace before we establish any military growth." He paused a moment and let the camera capture his visage, his dark eyes staring deep through the lense. He wanted to ensure that the level of concern of his was shown.

"But, once we are at a satisfactory level, I believe we should ally ourselves with the Alliance and support them not just with ships, but officers, soldiers, vehicles, and armaments. Their military is not as advanced, nor as large, as ours. Many of their economies are not as developed as many of our own. We need to fully enhance their forces so we may drive a dagger deep in the heart of the weakened Sith. A war on two fronts is difficult, but a war on all fronts is impossible. That is, those attacks are fully under the control of those launching them. If not then they could be a major backfire." After he finished, he slowly turned his head around to see the rest of the senate before he spoke.

"We..." he paused for a moment, swallowing softly as it seemed he began to be choked up. He wiped a tear from his eye before he continued. "We could have stopped this. The horiffic loss of life, the imprisonment of one of our own, all of this. If we went through with this the first time none of this would have happened. To the Alliance, and to the galaxy, I apologize for the lack of action on my part. As long as I am in office, I shall act as a bulwark to inaction and tyranny as best I can. And I wish to apologize to you Trina. I am sorry we could not get you out earlier as a senate." He the slowly sat down and straightened out his suit as he sat, taking a handkerchief and dotting his eyes. It seems he got more emotional than he initially thought.

@Sreeya @Wit @LouJoVi @Eccles @Malon

 

[Jin Vaisra]

Jin rolled his eyes. So melodramatic, he thought.

This most recent assembly was riddled with tearful pledges, impassioned vows, and plenty of shared glowering. No one was happy with the situation. The Fifth Fleet was possessed by a dark force bent on the galaxy’s subjugation, and so was the Sith, who had finally shown their true colors to the surprise of literally no one with a brain larger than an almond. Despite everything, though, there was one thing worse than all of that combined.

It had cost Fondor ships.

Forget the fact that war was on their doorstep, or that the Chancellor had quite literally lost his mind—the majority of the Republic fleet, a fleet that Fondor had spent considerable cost and effort in rebuilding, was out of their hands. His investments in Xerxes’ political career had been wasted. Now, his rivals on Kuat were taking the opportunity to flex their strength and show the galaxy how charitable they could be.

And Jin couldn’t have that. Certainly not.

“I should apologize to Senator Kalist as well,” he said, even if a part of him rather wished she was still rotting in a cell, “I had put great faith in Chancellor Xerxes, which is a mistake I will never make again, and one I hope to rectify.”

His hologram flickered. Although he’d been attending much of the assembly in silence, he’d done so off-world, in the safety and comfort of his flagship, the Preserver. “Fondor will dedicate whatever ships it must to the war effort against the Sith. In fact, I will meet with the Princess Vernize tomorrow, to discuss plans of action.” Even out of view, he could hear Venka, his advisor, scrambling on her datapad to get something scheduled.

“As for the Fifth Fleet, I will also personally see to the hunting and elimination of their forces, before things spiral out of control.”

Call it a dick-measuring contest, but Jin figured it was also the best avenue to take. War meant increased profit and production, and more importantly, the chance to polish up his reputation, because to him, that was all that mattered.

@Sreeya @Wit @LouJoVi @Eccles @Malon @Olwin