# In reply to Kummer Wolfe's:

The apartment building, a mix of New Etmar ruins refurbished with fresh mud bricks bolstered with scrap starship plating, was a solid three stories. Not so tall for many places, even in Port Etmar, but it provides an ample space above the growing crowd.

 

On the holovid, Nalarine Kanter, former Outlaw Tech and reluctant leader of the Freedworlds Republic, stood tall, staring out through the screen. She wasn’t holding a speech in her hands and by the look on her face; what she said wasn’t memorized. 

 

These were words from her own heart and mind. Raw. Unrefined. True.

 

A makeshift podium had been set up, but she ignored it. From the moment she started to speak, the Chancellor had stepped out from behind the podium toward the crowd where she was speaking. She stood on the small stage alone, unguarded, but there was a sense that right then, she was invulnerable.

 

In her eyes was a burning glint of steel. A light that perhaps had always been there but never had a reason to shine. To rise. But rise, it did. That strength echoed in her words like thunder.

 

The effect was electric. 

 

One by one, or in groups, people in Port Etmar stopped going about their lives. Work paused. Even on the ships in orbit, crews stopped their daily routine to listen. Ships on both sides of the conflict. Nalarine Kanter’s words reached out beyond Chalcedon to the small rag-tag flotilla in orbit, to the outer colonies such as at Monorick in the outer planets, and beyond.

 

People not only heard, they listened. Even the Force itself paid the diminutive woman, alone on that stage, its undivided attention.

 

Nalarine Kanter finished her speech and only the wind dared make any noise. The galaxy itself held its breath. 

 

The cheers that followed from the crowd were a wave of sound. A different sound from the crowd quickly eclipsed it. A chant. Three simple words.

 

“We are one!”

 

On the stage, Nalarine Kanter remained where she was. She was still alone, hands held down by her side, clenched into fists. But her tear-stained and determined glare was not on the crowd. 

 

It was aimed at the sky. As if daring the galaxy to take one step closer.

 

The galaxy declined the offer.

# In reply to 's:

Hicks raised his eyebrows. Talking wasn’t really his strong suit but this time, he literally had no words. Well, save for one, as he looked out over Port Etmar at the sea of people waving fists in the air and chanting.

 

“Haar’chak…”

 

He swallowed twice, despite a dry throat, before he was able to locate any other words to slap together.

 

“What… what just happened?”

# In reply to 's:

Davish shook his head slowly, watching the crowd. He had seen holovid recordings of moments like these but never experienced one. It took him a moment to recover.

 

“History,” he said then gestured toward the small figure of Chancellor Kanter in the distance. “Hicks, you ever heard that saying … ‘when the whole galaxy tells you to move”?

# In reply to 's:

Hicks looked out at the crowd then Nalarine Kanter before nodding to Davish.

 

“Yeah. When the whole galaxy decides that wrong is right and tells you to move, you stand your ground for what’s honorable and tell the galaxy, ‘No. You move.’”

# In reply to VN Ysadora's:

"Vance did good work with her," Vanya said in satisfaction. She paced a quick circle around the rooftop, looking at how the crowd's movement flexed.

"So much for nope duty," she told Davish and Hicks. "We've got wallflower duty instead. And draft personnel whenever you can. The protocol is simple: If you spot someone who looks left out, ask them to help you out on some small, measurable effort. Use your judgement for what kind of useful thing your target can do, something they'll be able to repeat without you along. Bring water refills to the hospital, sort the rubble from cleared buildings for reusable wiring, jolly happy drunks into a snack and a nap before their celebrating catches up with them, repair bug holes in shops. The goal is to let citizens convince themselves that they can do something tangible to improve each others' lives. They'll wake up tomorrow knowing they don't have to burn out."

"Like on New Dendarii?" Davish smiled. "If only I'd had a holocam. Big scary Crimson Banner enforcers changing nappies and keeping the younglings happy. Sure, they taught those kids how to pick locks, but they were too interested in the lessons to get cranky."

Vanya grinned back.

Hicks did not grin. He gave Vanya the hard stare of the undeceived.

"I'm going to go find the free canteen in New Etmar District and peel vegetables," Vanya waved an admonishing finger at Hicks. "This is your reminder that I am three entire years older than you, vod'ika. Security detail duty is no longer a reasonable occupation of your day. Meet up around a couple hours after sundown, back at the Night Sparrow?"