A born leader
Alyssa Jamali was late. She had fallen asleep to her chemistry exercises last night and now found herself dictating her Poly-Science homework as she made her way to the audience. Field Marshal Messer had made a speech during the ceremony for the victims of the Cestulus bombing and Mr. Kent wanted a one-page summary of the speech.
Start of recording:
- Alyssa Jamali
- Poly-Science/Kent/45Bcf
- Homework: Messer's speech
The systems are falling one after the other. Since the Great War of the West ended, a new threat has arisen which cannot be fought on a battlefield or between two battleships. This war is fought in secrecy through blackmail and sabotage.
That was the message eight months earlier. The six terrorist attacks of the past year have robbed everyone of the idea that a conclusion of war with the Tevarin would bring peace. The people wanted answers but above all that justice regain control. There was neither.
The police never got hold of the perpetrators. They only knew that the bombs were made from original Xi'An material. During this time, the legal authorities were debating on the procedure to follow, to end up doing nothing.
So the systems collapsed one by one. Justice had failed. Humanity needed a leader. The solution ? Create a new position, First Citizen, to be the single voice, the one that would have the decisive vote in an overwhelmed government.
Citizens of all systems began their campaign for this new post. Each week, a new candidate with the same promises as the previous one appeared. It went on for months. The election was fast approaching when Marshal Messer announced his candidacy. He made a speech last night at the commemoration ceremony for the victims of the fourth terrorist attack.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens. I stand before you today as a believer. I believe in the greatness of our ardent history. I am convinced that there is still a lot of wonderful things to discover. I believe in Humanity.
But we have enemies who want our annihilation, who refuse our evolution, who want to throw us out of the stars. These vicious attacks on our systems are just the beginning. As a soldier who may have witnessed the horrors of war, I do not say this lightly. We must protect ourselves, protect our families, protect our possessions and our heritage.
I don't want another war. Too many sons and daughters, husbands and wives have already given their lives on barren planets. But I would say this to you: I would surround every system and every jump point with shields and a network of barbed wire thousands of miles thick if that could mean we were losing no one.
I have always been a defender of Humanity. Give me this chance to protect you, to keep away the threats and violence of species that are not as evolved as we are, so that we can take our rightful place in the galaxy.
Believe in me, as I believe in you. Believe in Humanity!
The crowd loved it. Now listening to this speech. Marshal Messer spoke with unfailing conviction.
To sum up, I think he is right. There is a recurring problem with dividing power into three parts. Although it is preferable to speak in times of peace, we are living in a time of crisis. Some decisions need to be made quickly and efficiently. I know this sounds like the first step towards totalitarian rule, but the old system will stay in place. The Secretary General, the Marshal, the Principal Advocate as well as the Senate will always remain in place with the method suggested, but they will act as advisers to the First Citizen who will then make the final decision.
As High General Messer specified after introducing the First Citizen's motion: “Every ship needs a captain”.
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