Saga A Free People [OCs] - What the Empire said after ANH - Replies 29/01

Title: A Free People
Author: Yours truly, JediNemesis

Genre: No idea. Missing scene?
Era: Directly (hours/days) after ANH
Characters: OCs.

Summary: What did the Empire say to the galaxy about the events at Yavin? What did it sound like?

A/N: People who've read other work of mine may remember I have a streak of sympathy for the Imperials in me. One day it hit me that explaining away Yavin would be pretty hard for the Empire, and promptly resolved to have a go . . .

---

[b]DISCLAIMER:[/b] Lucas owns the universe escept for the OCs, no money has changed hands, etc etc.

[hr]

[i][Scene: a vast hall. At one end is a stage, hung with dark blue curtains and with the Imperial wheel emblem at the curtains? centre. A podium stands at centre stage, equipped with lectern. At the back of the hall are spindly dollies and cranes supporting holocams and microphones, manned by squads of film and sound crew.

The hall is packed from wall to wall with people; they are sitting shoulder to shoulder on what seats there are, more are crammed into the aisles and on the balcony above, and more still are crushed together outside the double doors at the hall?s far end. They hush expectantly as an aide in dark Imperial uniform enters from stage right and takes the podium.][/i]

[b]Aide[/b]

To speak to and for every citizen of the Empire tonight comes a man known by all of you as a man who for twenty years of his life has helped build this Empire into what it is today.

[i][Aide looks to his left and extends a hand][/i]

Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the ex-Senator for, and now Governor of, Xatessa: Gerodo Suu!

[i][Suu enters stage left, to respectful applause. He is in his early fifties, stocky and greying, with a receding hairline and bushy eyebrows; he would be a comic figure if he did not look so grave. He is dressed in a sombre dark robe of office, the crimson collar the only mark of his status within the Empire; a black armband encircles his upper right arm. He shakes the aide?s hand; the aide bows and smiles and vacates the podium, waving Suu up onto it.

The ex-Senator mounts the steps, spreads the pages of his speech out on the lectern. He clears his throat and takes a sip of water from the glass provided. When he addresses the audience, it is in a thick Xatessan drawl, the vowels mangled and drawn-out in the manner characteristic of the Southwestern Rim world. Despite the accent, he is an articulate and powerful speaker.][/i]

[b]Gerodo Suu[/b]

My fellow citizens:

They say that the world will end not with screams and shouting but with awful silence. Yesterday night, for billions upon billions, the world came to a horrific end at the hand of the Rebel Alliance.

And in the end, there was only silence.

Sound cannot travel where there is nothing to travel through, and information cannot be sent when there is nothing to send it. For thirteen hours radio silence was the only evidence that the worst had happened at Yavin Four.

When the news was finally confirmed, earlier this morning, we met it with stunned and deadened silence. Nothing else seemed possible. There is no way of reacting to the death of a world. The scale of the horror is too much.

To be told of the deaths of not one world, but also a station large enough to generate its own appreciable gravity, large enough to eclipse a sun, is an experience that defies understanding.

For me, it took hours to understand; I can still only begin to grasp the enormity of what has passed. Alderaan is dead. The greatest space station ever built by the hand of man is dust.

But the words can only mask the true scale of the horror.

Four and a half billion living souls died with Alderaan. If you could say one name every second, and counted day and night without a pause, it would still take close on two centuries to name the dead.

Among them were those we have all heard of and respected, even loved: the head of state, Bail Organa, and his First Lady. The Organa family pr

 

Nem, I am stunned at how brilliant this was. What a piece of superb propaganda at its finest.

Loved how he turned the Empire's destruction of Alderaan into a rallying cry for revenge against the very people who were fighting against the Death Star. Loved how he dredged up sympathy to all the families of those on the Death Star. Loved the "alternate" use of said Death Star.

Bravo!

 

I love the spin!

Dirty Rebels!

 

Sign me up for a black band!

Your work always amazes me, Nem. The propoganda spin you put on every little detail was just brilliant. My favorite part of all was how Suu blamed the Rebels for the destruction of Alderaan. That was so evil. But he made it sound so true, and if you didn't know the Rebel side of the story, you'd totally buy into this one. I did, anyway.

 

Whoa. What a powerful piece. I loved the spin on the Rebels and what they supposedly did to Alderaan and to Leia.

*avoids comment about current political situation*

But it was very apt.

 

Hello people!

diane Nem, I am stunned at how brilliant this was. What a piece of superb propaganda at its finest. Thanks! This was partially driven by my thinking back to History GCSE and our work on the USSR under the Communists - Stalin in particular had a huge propaganda industry - and what my teacher said about no empire holding together without propaganda. Palpy's Empire had a heck of a lot to propagandise, as well . . . Loved how he turned the Empire's destruction of Alderaan into a rallying cry for revenge against the very people who were fighting against the Death Star. Glad you liked it - and hey, if the Rebels denied it it'd merely make them look like liars as well as genocides. Loved how he dredged up sympathy to all the families of those on the Death Star. Loved the "alternate" use of said Death Star. Well, I can't believe that they a) kept the DS's construction secret or, given that, b) admitted it was a battle station.

oqidaun I love the spin! . . Dirty Rebels! Two sides to everything, and c'mon - the plot of ANH is so unlikely I'd be readier to believe Governor Suu's version of events Thanks for reading

JadeSolo Sign me up for a black band! With pleasure Your work always amazes me, Nem. I'm blushing. The propoganda spin you put on every little detail was just brilliant. My favorite part of all was how Suu blamed the Rebels for the destruction of Alderaan. That was so evil. I think destroying a planet is one of those things the Empire couldn't take responsibility for & justify. Ergo, blame the Rebels - one sure-fire way to make sure that everyone who didn't hate them already now does. But he made it sound so true, and if you didn't know the Rebel side of the story, you'd totally buy into this one. I did, anyway. I guess that's a compliment. But seriously - we see one, very unrepresentative, viewpoint in ANH. The vast majority of Imperial citizens would've got the propaganda version and accepted it as fact.

raisedbywolves Whoa. What a powerful piece. I loved the spin on the Rebels and what they supposedly did to Alderaan and to Leia. Thank you kindly *avoids comment about current political situation* . . . But it was very apt. I really don't want to end up in a political debate - but yes, perhaps

Thanks everybody!

Nem

 

I can easily see where the Empire would put the blame for Alderaan on the Rebellion, and make themselves look innocent. Good job!

 

Wow, this was absolutely brilliant! If I didn't know better, I'd ask for a black band, too! Just goes to show, don't believe everything you hear! Propaganda is a wonderful tool, isn't it?

 

This is exactly why I hate politicians

Anyway I read this yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. It was briliant as many others have said. And who else would have thought of something like this; well, not me. It was so simple a concept, it's like why didn't I think of this before.

Dirty fiends...

 

Hello!

PonyTricks I can easily see where the Empire would put the blame for Alderaan on the Rebellion, and make themselves look innocent. It struck me as the kind of thing the Empire'd do. Good job! Thanks!

dm1 Wow, this was absolutely brilliant! Thanks muchly! If I didn't know better, I'd ask for a black band, too! Just goes to show, don't believe everything you hear! Hell yeah. It was quite a little revelation for me when I realised just how unrepresentative the view we get in the movies is - we're on the side of a tiny minority of militant reformers. Propaganda is a wonderful tool, isn't it? It held the old USSR together and it's not exactly uncommon today. 1984 has the absolute best fictional example of it IMO, but it's been an effective tool down the ages.

the_wandering_shadow Glad to see your wanderings have brought you back my way, friend. This is exactly why I hate politicians A lot of the time I think the politicians just say what the spin doctors tell them to . . . Anyway I read this yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. It was briliant as many others have said. Thanks And who else would have thought of something like this; well, not me. It was so simple a concept, it's like why didn't I think of this before. Can't really explain where I got it from - it just appeared, as they do. Dirty fiends... Filthy Rebel terrorists, yup

Thanks everyone!

Nem