Oliver stood in front of the others, for a moment he surveyed every single member of the cell. "Look at us, forced underground to avoid being caught, forced to pretend to be like the masses. Every day, the Federation forces continually stamp down on our protests, on our efforts to bring back free speech and other public freedoms and to release every single inmate from our prison colonies. A few of us have managed to fight back over the decades, from Roj Blake and many others; we know some of their stories, they're the same; they raised a fuss only for the Federation to rip away their memories and brainwash them. In the case, of people like Blake, they now live the lives of fugitives; many of them have been forced to flee into the blackness of outer space, condemned to a life of anonymity because its too dangerous to continue trying to speak out, as the penalties can be severe. This fight has been going on for years now. But I refuse to let it go on forever."

There were spies in the crowd, Oliver and those whom he knew were loyal to their cause.

That was why he'd said he refused to let the Federation's tyranny go on much longer, so he could see the reactions from those in the crowd.

"It can't go on forever, despite the way the Federation says it will always be strong. But where does that strength come from? Through fighting wars and oppressing alien races, drugging citizens and brainwashing them into complying. How can the Federation survive like this?"

The crowd began muttering until the sound was like the angry buzzing of furious bees.

"Once, we were a democratic race, and then we began conquering and enslaving every portion of the galaxy we look at. It said Earth itself was once conquered by an alien race," Oliver paused so he could, once more, see and gauge the reactions of everyone in attendance; as he'd expected, the angry hum grew slightly louder, and he saw the looks of outrage on a few faces; some were more subtle than most, but they were there, and he spotted them with a little effort, "And after the invasion and the occupation were thrown off, we looked to the stars, not with wonder at the thought of new territories to explore, new worlds to discover and new races to meet and make peaceful contact with…but with greed, the necessity of want. The truth is, we're terrified. We look at the galaxy, waiting for the next knife to come and stab us in the back."

Oliver mimed stabbing himself in the back for emphasis.

"The strength that comes through oppression, lack of public speech, fear, drugs and brainwashing, conquest… it's all a facade, hiding a rusty blade. And it's high time it was stopped, and stopped now," Oliver delivered passionately. "We must stop the Federation from committing any more acts of violence. However," Oliver paused as he looked sadly around, "sacrifices must be made. As you know, I take a much more violent route compared to a peaceful one; there's a reason for that because passive resistance fails to work. The only thing the Federation understands is violence, it's that simple. That means we must strike back against the Federation the way they have against us for years."

At once, protests kicked up.

"We can't do it, Oliver!"

"We're not soldiers!"

"You expect us to kill our people!?"

Oliver whistled loudly to get everyone to shut up. "That's enough!" He called.

"No, Oliver, it's not enough!" A young woman called, and everyone turned their attention towards her to find out what she was going to say. She blushed a little under the scrutiny for a moment before she swallowed and held her head high, but her nerves showed, "Going after the Federation like this is madness! If we attack any of the infrastructure; a protein plant, a hydroponics farm, or a shipyard, the Federation is going to send an army to hunt us down, and they will kill us all."

Oliver nodded, "I know, but we must take that risk. We can't keep resisting like pacifists!"

"Oliver's right, we keep losing more and more of us every day," another young woman spoke, but her face was weathered like old leather, "my brother and I spoke out against the Federation, do you know what happened? We were separated and when I saw my brother again, three years on, he had become another brainwashed zombie. Violence is all they understand. Yeah, there's a risk in fighting them with violence, but if we can strike a major blow, it might be enough to inspire others into doing the same!"

There were some mutinous mutterings, but the young woman was not finished.

"And, if we're lucky, we can maybe do something about the Administration," she yelled.

The Administration were the authority. The government. They controlled the Earth, and the Federation controlled the other colonies, although the Administration were placed to govern and control the living, but rotting heart of the Terran Federation's capital world.

Some of the crowd were divided between cowering in fear, knowing what would happen to them if they suddenly acted against the Federation like that, but going after the Administration was suicide.

Oliver prayed he hadn't lost them, but he knew some of them had never gotten into a fight that didn't involve harsh words before ever in their lives. But he was more worried about the spies in their midst; he had deliberately told them of his plans so he could expose them, but they had largely stayed silent.

It happened so quickly. Federation security troopers swarmed in, firing their blaster rifles as they stayed in the entrance and exit ways of the hideout. To Oliver's horror, he caught sight of the young women who'd spoken in the crowd standing among the troopers, blasters in their hands as they opened fire into the crowd. They were spies, but he didn't have time to think anymore about it before he was shot and killed.