Epilogue...
Razor Coast Starport, Jabiim
Showers of rain poured down as they had for millenium. Not that Estevo Xoán, councilor of Jabiim, really noticed. This was the very nature of Jabiim, after all. The husky man dragged his son's hand forward, neatly sidestepping a puddle in one of the many that puckered the ground of the ruined star port. Following in his wake, several dozen Nimbus commandos and Confederation officials followed suit. The Nimbus commandos merely hovered over the ground on their characteristic repulsor skates, but the offworlders were not quite as well-equipped. Estevo suppressed a grin watching an aging official from Metalorn jump like a child over a particular large puddle, and nearly falling flat on his face as his reward for avoiding the obstacle. His son tugged at his hand.
“Why do you they call it a starport daddy? Star don't dock here, do they?”
“No,” admitted the olive-skinned man, “they don't. Things called starships do.”
“Then they should call it a starship port, shouldn't they?”
“Maybe son.”
“You should make them do that; make them smarter then.”
“Ok son, I'll get working on that,” lied the councilor, his wood-grained brown eyes scanned the horizon, noting several hundred people trickling in among the ruins of the desolate star port.
His Nimbus guards fanned out to further secure the area. Councilor Harding of Audacia stepped up from behind the man and reassuredly slapped Estrevo on the back. The Audacian handed the councilor a portable mike, rigged up to several speakers the Confederation's diplomatic corps had hastily set around the edges of the old observation deck. He stepped up to its railing, looking down to see several hundred Jabiimi looking up at him curiously. He felt a tinge of regret creep into his heart. I have been away too long. He flicked the mike on and let his eyes scan across the crowd.
“Citizens of Jabiim, honored guests, and fellow Confederates, we stand on hallowed ground.
Not two weeks ago, our planet faced its greatest crisis in over a decade. We knew they would come when the news of the Reavers spread like wildfire throughout our comm channels. Yes we knew, we knew we would hold fast and stay the course, fighting the good fight against such savagery that has always plagued our planet for millenia.
Living on Jabiim has never been easy.
The rains we have here are a great symbol of that.
Chaotic evils will always come and go, as it has for millenia.
But this occurence is different. We were not abandoned, not like the Republic did us before, or taken advantage of by the Empire. No, our government stood with us, going beyond the call of duty to eliminate a plague which would deformed our world and way of life into a lifeless byword for ruin. It was not without cost that the Reavers were driven back, and hundreds of our fellow Confederates will never return to their homeworlds alive. The Confederation has stood with us, as it has promised to us from the start. I think it only fitting that we acknowledge their many sacrifices to honor their obligations tomorrow by following in an example set by our neighbors at Handooine, by acknowledging the Confederation's worth to our people with a treaty of thanksgiving and reaffirment. I know there are, and will continue always continue to be, naysayers who would remind us that the Confederation will not last forever.
They will remind us of the Republic, the Separatists, and the Empire before.
They will note that those governments have all fallen.
They say that the Confederation too will fall.
But I say this, the Confederation will only fall if its people turn their backs on it like those aforementioned governments did on us.
We shall affirm the Confederation and all the ideals that it stands for.
In doing so, we affirm not only countless allies that have so loyally served us, but we affirm ourselves, and what we are capable as a people to do for our fellow allies.
I want to leave you all with one thought before I leave.
Those same naysayers of our involvement in the Confederation say that their lack of commitment somehow makes them cleaner, as if by staying away from it makes them more purely committed to Jabiim. It does not. No, by not participating in the Confederation's political process does something else: it makes you derelict in duty to Jabiim itself. Those that would seek to lie and pander to us to abuse Jabiim and its people for themselves would have a much harder time if we were all involved in the processes affecting our world, to include our participation in the Confederation. I implore you, when you go back home tonight, to think about how we can not only secure and better our world, but those in the worlds around us. Let us throw off the blinders of isolation and put on the lenses of friendship in a reconciliation with our allies among us.
My friends, my comrades, my confederates, good night.”
Razor Coast Starport, Jabiim
Showers of rain poured down as they had for millenium. Not that Estevo Xoán, councilor of Jabiim, really noticed. This was the very nature of Jabiim, after all. The husky man dragged his son's hand forward, neatly sidestepping a puddle in one of the many that puckered the ground of the ruined star port. Following in his wake, several dozen Nimbus commandos and Confederation officials followed suit. The Nimbus commandos merely hovered over the ground on their characteristic repulsor skates, but the offworlders were not quite as well-equipped. Estevo suppressed a grin watching an aging official from Metalorn jump like a child over a particular large puddle, and nearly falling flat on his face as his reward for avoiding the obstacle. His son tugged at his hand.
“Why do you they call it a starport daddy? Star don't dock here, do they?”
“No,” admitted the olive-skinned man, “they don't. Things called starships do.”
“Then they should call it a starship port, shouldn't they?”
“Maybe son.”
“You should make them do that; make them smarter then.”
“Ok son, I'll get working on that,” lied the councilor, his wood-grained brown eyes scanned the horizon, noting several hundred people trickling in among the ruins of the desolate star port.
His Nimbus guards fanned out to further secure the area. Councilor Harding of Audacia stepped up from behind the man and reassuredly slapped Estrevo on the back. The Audacian handed the councilor a portable mike, rigged up to several speakers the Confederation's diplomatic corps had hastily set around the edges of the old observation deck. He stepped up to its railing, looking down to see several hundred Jabiimi looking up at him curiously. He felt a tinge of regret creep into his heart. I have been away too long. He flicked the mike on and let his eyes scan across the crowd.
“Citizens of Jabiim, honored guests, and fellow Confederates, we stand on hallowed ground.
Not two weeks ago, our planet faced its greatest crisis in over a decade. We knew they would come when the news of the Reavers spread like wildfire throughout our comm channels. Yes we knew, we knew we would hold fast and stay the course, fighting the good fight against such savagery that has always plagued our planet for millenia.
Living on Jabiim has never been easy.
The rains we have here are a great symbol of that.
Chaotic evils will always come and go, as it has for millenia.
But this occurence is different. We were not abandoned, not like the Republic did us before, or taken advantage of by the Empire. No, our government stood with us, going beyond the call of duty to eliminate a plague which would deformed our world and way of life into a lifeless byword for ruin. It was not without cost that the Reavers were driven back, and hundreds of our fellow Confederates will never return to their homeworlds alive. The Confederation has stood with us, as it has promised to us from the start. I think it only fitting that we acknowledge their many sacrifices to honor their obligations tomorrow by following in an example set by our neighbors at Handooine, by acknowledging the Confederation's worth to our people with a treaty of thanksgiving and reaffirment. I know there are, and will continue always continue to be, naysayers who would remind us that the Confederation will not last forever.
They will remind us of the Republic, the Separatists, and the Empire before.
They will note that those governments have all fallen.
They say that the Confederation too will fall.
But I say this, the Confederation will only fall if its people turn their backs on it like those aforementioned governments did on us.
We shall affirm the Confederation and all the ideals that it stands for.
In doing so, we affirm not only countless allies that have so loyally served us, but we affirm ourselves, and what we are capable as a people to do for our fellow allies.
I want to leave you all with one thought before I leave.
Those same naysayers of our involvement in the Confederation say that their lack of commitment somehow makes them cleaner, as if by staying away from it makes them more purely committed to Jabiim. It does not. No, by not participating in the Confederation's political process does something else: it makes you derelict in duty to Jabiim itself. Those that would seek to lie and pander to us to abuse Jabiim and its people for themselves would have a much harder time if we were all involved in the processes affecting our world, to include our participation in the Confederation. I implore you, when you go back home tonight, to think about how we can not only secure and better our world, but those in the worlds around us. Let us throw off the blinders of isolation and put on the lenses of friendship in a reconciliation with our allies among us.
My friends, my comrades, my confederates, good night.”