Chapter 3
Ashya walked the short distance from the Chancellor's office to the main meeting hall hurriedly. She passed a large window and glanced out. With some surprise and concern, she noticed that the Jedi Temple was still smoking. She had noticed the smoke on her way to work that morning, but being preoccupied with dropping her children off and getting to work on time, had pushed it out of her mind, assuming that it would be taken care of quickly.
/Was this what the Chancellor's reaction was to the Jedi rebellion/ She asked herself, her insides churning at the thought. /Just who have we put in power/ She quickly banished the thought, hoping that her cousin was alright. Though she didn't know him well, Ashya knew that she would not want anything to happen to him.
All too soon she reached the arena and began setting up her equipment. She watched the holorecorder count down the seconds until she was on the air.
Five…four…three…two…one…ON AIR.
"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you special events happening at the Senate arena. Chancellor Palpatine has called a special session of the Senate and is due to make a speech here shortly. According to the Chancellor, four Jedi Masters were in a plot to assassinate him and carried out their plan early last evening. The assassination attempt failed and thankfully the Chancellor is still with us."
Ashya resisted the urge to grimace on air as the words left her. They sounded vile coming from her lips and left a bad taste in her mouth.
"Jedi Councilor Mace Windu was among the four. According to several sources, the Master was found dead early this morning. We will continue to keep you posted as events occur We will have live coverage throughout the Chancellor's speech."
Palpatine appeared on his podium which he raised to be over the crowd. Ashya angled her recorder to keep him in the picture and she backed out of the way to sit down behind the equipment.
It had a sound filter on the recorder that would enable her to drown out background noise that she pushed. Now it would only record the Chancellor's speech and what she spoke directly into the com headset she was wearing. Such a handy feature.
"My fellow leaders of democracy," Palpatine began to speak. "A terrible tragedy has occurred right here at home. I was nearly assassinated early last evening by four Jedi Masters!"
The Senators howled with righteous anger, demanding justice for the assassins.
"These Jedi murderers left me scarred…left me deformed…but they could not scar my integrity! They could not deform my resolve! The remaining traitors will be hunted down, rooted out wherever they may hide and be brought to justice! All collaborators will suffer the same fate! Those who protect the enemies become the enemies themselves! Now is the time! We will strike back! We will not allow this to continue! Death to the enemies of democracy!"
The Senators roared their approval.
Ashya was numb with disbelief. /He sounds like a tyrant! I can't believe this. The Order has been around for over 1,000 years! Now because of a wrong act by four he seeks to crush all of them? What about the children? The young ones had nothing to do with this. Will Palpatine kill them too?./ Her mouth tightened into a thin line. She heard movement above her and glanced up, straining to hear what was going on.
"What kept you?" a feminine voice asked.
Ashya recognized the speaker as Senator Amidala.
"I was held up," a man's voice replied. "This is all a lie. You know that don't you?"
"I don't know what to believe anymore," Amidala returned.
Ashya smiled a bit sadly. She didn't either and she understood how the Senator felt. She tuned back into the Chancellor's speech and her job.
"The war is over," Palpatine was saying. "The Separatists have been defeated and the Republic is free!"
/General Kenobi must have killed General Grievous/ Ashya realized. /And Palpatine still thinks Jedi are traitors/
"The Jedi Rebellion was our final test. We have left behind the Darkness that overshadowed us for a millennium. A new day… a new morning has begun."
"We will never be divided again. We will act with a single voice, a single hand. We will no longer let petty differences consume us. We must become an empire in fact as well as in name! We are the first Galactic Empire!"
The Senators went wild.
Ashya watched the speech with horror, no longer able to believe what she was hearing. She heard movement above her again as Bail Organa stood up in outrage.
"Don't they realize what they are cheering for?" he asked his companion.
/Do they? I don't think they do… yet./ Ashya could not bring herself to clap. She knew she should support the government as she had been raised…but this?
"We are an Empire ruled by a majority! An Empire ruled by a new constitution! We will be ruled by a single sovereign, chosen for life, never again to be manipulated by politics as we were in our former days! We will be an empire of laws not politics! We will be devoted to the safekeeping of a just society. We will stand secure for 10,000 years. We will henceforth celebrate this day as… Empire Day! As the new Emperor, I declare this a national holiday for everyone to celebrate the safety and justice for our children!"
Ashya got back in front of her recorder, unable to watch any longer. She spoke into the comlink headset. "The Chan..Emperor has declared this a national holiday. Based on the response of the Senators to the declaration of the new nation, we can all expect security for a long time to come. This is Ashya Ramiras, Happy Empire Day." She said and turned off the recorder. She could barely swallow. The words sounded foul and tasted like she swallowed ash. /How appropriate…the ash of the Republic./ She thought morosely. It was then that she noticed there were tears pouring down her cheeks.
"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." She heard Senator Amidala say.
/I could not agree more, Senator./
The Senate recessed so that all could enjoy the day. Numbly Ashya gathered her equipment.
"Bail, where are you going?"
"To a meeting. It's apparent that the Delegation of Two Thousand has a very large job ahead of it."
"May the Force be with you, Bail."
Ashya hurried to catch up to the Senator. She desperately needed to talk to someone who understood the full impact of the Chancellor's speech. "Senator Organa!" She called as she raced into the corridor, her equipment in tow.
He turned wondering who had spoken, looking harried.
"May I have a word completely off the record?" she asked.
He hesitated, looking wary.
"Please," she asked softly, well aware of the tear stains that were on her face.
He studied her for a few minutes as if gauging her sincerity and honesty, then his expression softened. "I am late for a meeting now, but here is where you can contact me," he handed her a flimsiplast.
She looked at the flimsiplast gratefully. She saw three sets of numbers…one of which was his personal encrypted com code. "Thank you," she said and meant it. "May the Force be with you."
He smiled sadly. "May it be with all of us."