Chancellor Office, Coruscant; 20 BBY
"Ah, Senators, right on time," Supreme Chancellor Palpatine said as he looked up from a number of scattered datapads on his desk.
Bail Prestor Organa, with all his dignity of a dozen years in office, bowed stiffly as he headed the Loyalist Committee's procession into the Chancellor's office. A career politician, Organa was an anomaly in the realm of politics in that he was genuinely respected for his devotion to his duties in office. Though he had taken office shortly after Palpatine's election, the Alderaanian royal quickly gained the ear of the newly elected Chancellor and found himself a central cog in the bureaucracy that he had so often chafed against for its stagnation.
He had been an ardent supporter of Palpatine in the early years, but now he wasn't so sure. There wasn't anything specifically to point to for his shift in feelings, but things seemed to be happening that made Bail uncomfortable about the whole situation. Things like the disappearance of Seti Ashgad mere weeks after his vocal opposition to the installation of cam droids in the Rotunda, but nothing had rattled his confidence in the Chancellor quite as much as his last encounter with Finis Valorum.
The disgraced former Chancellor had shown up at Cantham House, Organa's Coruscant residence one evening a few days before the Senate had passed the Enhanced Security and Enforcement Act. Monumental in scope, it was in response to a terrorist attack on Coruscant weeks previously and gave the executive branch the ability to conduct searches, seizures, and even place surveillance equipment without due process. Valorum had been outraged and decided to pay a visit to the lead opposition to the legislation.
Cantham House, Coruscant; 21 BBY
Valorum paced the plush ante-room, as Organa looked on uneasily. He'd seen Valorum before, but never so rattled, it was strange. Valorum had been a career politician, too, hailing for a family dynasty prestigious enough to have multiple members hold the office of Chancellor. Now, however, he was pale and gangly, thin hair having lost all vestiges of color that had held on through his own scandalous departure from politics. Turning abruptly, Valorum had a wild glint in his eye.
"The Senate barters away fundamental rights upon which the Republic was built!" Valorum spat, "You trust that tyrant you are creating will give them back to you when the crisis is over? Palpatine will give back nothing!"
Organa shifted slightly, "That's pretty incendiary talk, my friend. The Chancellor has always made public his intent to relinquish to powers vested to his office once the Separatist crisis is over."
"No one who seeks power the way he does ever surrenders it willingly . . . Palpatine will make sure that any individual or group that opposes him or is in his way is removed," Valorum said, his voice shrill, "Look what happened to King Veruna, look what happened to me!"
"Now Finis," Organa soothed, getting up and going to the carafe, "My predecessor thoroughly went through that case-"
"I know it was Palpatine that had me framed," Valorum cut him off, "I was forced to resign as Chancellor so that he could ascend to it."
"Along with Antilles and Teem? He hardly had great odds against the two of them. He would have needed to spearhead a conspiracy the likes of which would spawn holodramas to pull it off."
Valorum stared at the off-white floor for a few moments before making for the door. "I have no more proof of that than I do that he masterminded my fall," Valorum turned one last time back to Organa, "If I did have it, Palpatine would be in chains at this moment."
With that, the former Chancellor left Ograna's home, leaving Bail to wonder if he'd ever see the man again.
Chancellor's Office, Coruscant; 20 BBY
Incidentally, it would be the last time Organa would see him. Valorum would die in yet another terrorist days after the meeting. His ship, Star of Iskin, was attacked by Separatist assassins utilizing explosives, killing all aboard instantly. To make matters worse, the wreckage crashed into a heavily populated residential district, causing the carnage of thousands there. The fatal voyage resulted in two things: the immediate passage of the Enforcement Act and the construction of the Finis Valorum Memorial. The monument was erected on the Chancellery Walkway of the Jrade District. Palpatine dedicated the site, but only two-hundred people showed up for the unveiling.
Still, nothing about Palpatine personally had changed, though Organa suspected there was some confrontation between Valorum and Palpatine after his own meeting with the disgruntled former Chancellor. But nothing Palpatine did was illegal, nor did it even appear immoral. He was constantly trying to temper his authority by asking for council from the Jedi and the Loyalist Committee, as he was most likely doing today.
"Please be seated," Palpatine said as he rose from his desk and gestured to a recessed seating area in the middle of the room before joining them, "It's with a certain amount of sobriety that I'm forced to convene this august body so shortly after losing two of its prominent members, but the nature of the situation calls for decisive action."
The corpulent Orn Free Taa, always eager to please the Chancellor, was the first to respond, "I'm sure we all understand, Chancellor, the loss of Duro is a grave wound for all who love the Republic."
A slight grimace graced Palpatine's grandfatherly face, "As it so happens, the situation with Duro is precisely the matter that concerns Emergency Amendment 121B, my friends."
Lexi Dio, a slight human female from Uyter, frowned, "'Emergency Amendment 121B' . . . the Reflex Amendment?"
The Chancellor looked slightly stricken at the use of the more common moniker, mainly utilized by those in opposition to it, "I'm afraid so, my dear. I, myself, had been hesitant to put it forth given the scope, but I fear Duro has shown us that something needs to be done."
Padme, a fervent opponent of the bill, was shocked to hear Palpatine advocating for it, "Chancellor, you cannot be serious, that amendment would effectively bypass Senate oversight."
"It's an efficient streamlining of cumbersome bureaucracy," Palpatine corrected, "and, I fear, a necessary one."
Dio scowled, "To what end could you possibly mean, Chancellor? The Senate must have authority in the Republic."
"I'm not saying it won't, Senator, but there are times where there needs to be action."
"Unilateral action-"
"Decisive action, the kind that was prevented when the Separatists attacked Duro." Palpatine said firmly, "Look at the damage Senators Coorr and Farr did, if that Senate Subcommittee hadn't the ability to order ship movements, we very well may not have lost a Republic world."
Dio was clearly unmoved. Glancing to Mon Mothma and Fang Zar, both of whom supported her in spirit, if not in words, she continued. "While I do not mean to besmirch the efficacy of our military, I fail to see how three Star Destroyers could have turned the tide."
The Chancellor nodded judiciously, spreading his arms. "That may very well be the case, but what if a situation were to arise where it was? Moreover, what if next time it is not a simple case of corruption, but actual treason?"
Organa finally decided to intervene, it looked too much like the majority of the committee agreed with the Chancellor, and though Bail hadn't fully decided how he felt about Palpatine at this point, this was clearly the wrong path to take. "What of the Security Act? In cases of actual treason, wouldn't that enable us to head off a concerted effort to hamper our military?"
"I'm certain it would given time, but we don't always have the luxury to wait for our enemies to miscalculate," Palpatine gestured to Dio, "The Senator from Uyter brought up its alternate moniker, and it is perhaps more apt than she would believed. There are times when we must react to a situation. We try to anticipate all we can, but cannot rely on that alone."
Ister Paddie, a staunch Palpatine-loyalist, spoke up, "We cannot allow another crisis like Duro to occur under our watch when we could have prevented it."
"Yet our own intelligence indicates that this was merely a coincidence, that the corruption that deprived those Destroyers was an isolated case." Giddean Danu asked, "Should we legislate based on hypothetical situation? Can we?"
"Yet it could have happened," Palpatine said as he stood, "You said it was coincidence, but how do we know that? True, the Senators at fault were not working for the Separatists, but perhaps a staff member was. When the Senate does anything there is a considerable number of people who have access to those records, given the right security levels, who knows what they may reveal to our enemies?"
"That would be quite a conspiracy, Chancellor," Silya Shessaun, Senator from Thesme, said.
"I don't mean to imply that we have, amongst us here, someone who pretends to be someone they are not simply for the chance to spirit secrets away to the Separatists. That would be farfetched for our most base holodramas," Palpatine chuckled quietly before taking on a more somber tone. "We do, however, have a responsibility to our constituent planets to protect them. I cannot in good conscience fail to do all I can to protect them."
The Chancellor folded his arms behind his back and strode to the floor-to-ceiling transparasteel window that bathed the room in white light, casting him in a silhouette. The Senators took it as an indication to rise.
"Please consider the Amendment, it will be brought to the floor in three days," Palpatine said, still turned away from the Loyalist Committee.
Organa was just about to leave with the others as Lexi Dio spoke up. "I am sorry, Chancellor, but I need no time to consider legislation that will take us an authoritarian step away from democracy. We cannot lose that what makes us who we are in an attempt to save ourselves from hypothetical threats to us. If we pass this bill, the Separatists will not need to land a single droid on Coruscant to destroy our democracy, we will have done it ourselves in the name of stopping them."
Organa was genuinely curious as to how the Chancellor would respond, his was never a confrontational demeanor. Palpatine turned slowly to the Senators, seemingly frozen in place at Dio's outspoken speech, all but denouncing the Chancellor himself. A sad smile curved slightly at the corners of his mouth and his ice blue eyes seem iridescent with the rest of him so shadowed by the blinding silver of the Coruscant cityscape. For the first time since meeting the Chancellor, Organa felt a slight chill as he noticed the eyes seemed to have an almost electric glow to them, like sparkling sapphires at the bottom of an ancient well.
"We all must do what we feel is right, Senator Dio, and, for better or worse, we must accept the consequences for our decisions."
HoloNet News Broadcast Transcript; 20 BBY
Tragedy strikes Coruscant today at the sudden and unexpected death of Senator Lexi Dio of Uyter. Security Forces are reluctant to comment, but inside sources have hinted that Dio was assassinated by Separatist sleeper agents. She is survived by her husband and three children. Reports are unconfirmed, but Malé-Dee has been put forth as a potential replacement as Uyter's Senate position. He has, as of yet, been unable to be reached for comment.
In other news, the Senate is preparing to debate Emergency Amendment 121b, commonly known as the 'Reflex Amendment.' Analysts have predicted it will pass with a clear majority. When asked for comment, the Chancellor's Office released the following statement:
"The Chancellor is saddened by the apparent need of this kind of legislation, but understands the intent entailed. Publically, the Chancellor will neither endorse nor denounce this bill, but trusts that the Senate will do only what is in the best interests of the Republic. If it is their decision that this Amendment be passed, the Chancellor will, as always, seek the wisdom and council of the Jedi Order and Military High Command on the necessity of implementation, should a situation arise in which the powers delegated need to be utilized."
Opponents of the bill claim it will allow the Chancellor to interfere with local planetary and sector governments, but proponents counter that such interpretations are outlandish and unfounded.
End transmission.