A Lion's Duty Part 2: The Great Roar
(Michael POV)
All eyes are on you, Michael Marcenas...
You can feel the weight of existence crushing your being with each breath you take. You can feel the quakes of anxiety as you approached the podium but beaten it back with strides that betrayed a burning purpose.
You notice the baleful eyes of your enemy, the eyes of one who would see all of creation burn in the fires of war and oppression; and it haunts you to the core as you pass him by yet here you are...continuing on.
You notice the interested and equally curious gaze of the gathered crowd, men and woman who stand at the precipice of handing off their homes, their families, their very lives and identity to a monster. When you caught their gaze, you feel your heart beat like the very engines of your friend's motorcycle as you raced against time and fate to reach this moment. Yet you walked on.
You feel a faint shake pass through your hands but calmed it by gripping the podium with all your strength. You met their judging gaze with one filled with the fires of determination and righteous indignation against the injustice of existence. A sudden blaze was lit in your heart and soul. A fire that wishes to consume the bitter monster that is Gihren Zabi and his venomous rhetoric.
Your fears and anxieties slip away as you feel this fire slowly warm your very being. A fire that wished to light the torch of freedom and peace that your family...no, that your fucking country fought tooth and nail to achieve. A fire that wish to illuminate the darkness that threatens the very freedom and peace many here enjoy after achieving it through the fires of righteous struggle.
You are a Marcenas. Despite the alcohol, the adrenaline, the inexperience...you are a Marcenas by blood and by deed. You are a Lion, like your kin before you, and you will not stand for this farce Gihren calls peace. As a supernatural calm, you thought ruefully, settles your nerves...you began to speak.
"Peace. Humanity's greatest yet humblest wish. For eons humanity has searched for peace. From the four corners of Earth to the distant stars of the universe, humanity longed and craved for peace. We have fought, bled and sacrificed many things to attain this peace; and despite everything, every man woman and child has enjoyed even a sliver of that sought after peace today."
You paused and silently took a breath before continuing. Your voice, filled with passion and earnest emotion, echoing around the hall, "Now, we stand before a crossroad. A choice that must be made. A choice that will determine the future of this generation, the next generation and the generations yet to be born. The voice for Zeon has made his rhetoric known. He wishes for you to embrace their ideology and submit to the rule of Zeon in the pretense of peace through a utopia forged by their guidance."
Your grip on the podium tightened as you remembered the information you have seen. Information not
sanitized by the state media of Zeon, "I humbly come before you to reconsider that decision. Zeon claims to be a utopia, is it really true? That once you embrace this ideology, will this
utopia offer you prosperity? Will you retain your liberties and peace forever, under their aegis and influence? I and many others who have seen the truth will disagree. Truth! The unvarnished truth would show you that that utopia is built upon the blood and bodies of the innocent! What their state media has portrayed to the whole of the universe is but a mask to hide the horrid, bloody truth. Those that tried to expose this truth never see the light of day again; and yet many have tried despite it all and finally succeeded in bringing this truth to the light! You, people of the Jovian Republic, have the power to see beyond the mask that Zeon preaches as its utopia! Let your eyes be opened to the truth and not be blinded by propaganda and posturing. Zeon, for all its talks of being a utopia, is far from it. An authoritarian, fascist regime that would stop at nothing to achieve
control."
You stand up straighter than before, your voice as strong as conviction, "Prosperity will come, if you do join them; but this does not translate to
you achieving that prosperity! Zeon will bleed this solemn republic of all its worth just like it has been doing to Earth and many other places for some time. Your people, your families, your children and their children will never taste the fruits of prosperity under the iron fist of Zeon! Instead of infrastructure and social welfare, your income---the people's hard earned labor will be used to fund the war effort of Zeon! Instead of schools, hospitals and homes they will build warships, arms and armor! Instead of enriching society they will have you fund their vilest projects that would have you remain in chains---beaten and broken! All these things leave little to nothing for the battered citizens who toil endlessly in their factories only to be discarded if they cannot be useful enough. Is this the dream you wish for yourselves and your children? A life of suffering, hardship and pain with no rest or comfort amidst it all?!"
You cannot give a moment to stop, not now when the fires are hot and the iron hotter. Your face says it all, the burning passion to not let these people suffer under a lie that would end them all, "And let it not be said that they
fight the good fight. They claim to fight for the lowly, the beaten and the damned against the oppressors that wish to place you all under a yoke of servitude. But I ask you this, when the so called oppressors from Earth are beaten, who would be next? Who would they claim to be a threat to their so called
utopia? I tell you now, they will target all who fight for the right of every human being to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness! All who does not embrace their twisted, venomous ideology for being
different! All who love and care for human decency! All who value human logic grounded by human morality! They
will declare all as their enemy if one does not fall in line! They have done it before, in their own government, their own society and people by stamping out that honest desire for blind obedience and fear. People of the Jovian Republic, you can see it. Behind the pretty words of Zeon, behind their jingoistic rhetoric, you will see the faces and names of the now dead men and women...even children who wished for a better tomorrow. A tomorrow not ruled by fear and hate..."
Your voice was low now, near pain in fact as if the pain of such thought visibly injures you. You continue on, "People of the Jovian Republic---no, brothers and sisters of humanity, I ask you to weigh their fiction from the truth before you. You now have access to the means in acquiring that truth. From the leaders of this government to the most humble of its people, you all have the means and the power to see that all their talks of a utopia have been built on a mountain of blood and lies. That their so called
righteous crusade is nothing more than a madman's quest for dominance across the stars."
You sigh and paused. The weight from before has returned but despite its mewling cries for you to give up, you cannot. So you press on, "In these uncertain times we must stand against the abyss that festers within humanity's being lest the peace we all fought for be tarnished by the whims of tyrants and madmen. Peace was achieved through the sacrifice of honest men and women who believed in the goodness of the human spirit bled and died for the freedom of their fellows to experience that peace. To willingly give that up would be a great disservice to their sacrifice and to your fellow man."
You locked eyes with the people. Your gaze conveying this one last message. This one desperate plea to the many to think things through, " Let no tyrant darken your homes. Let no tyrant poison your principles. Let no tyrant take away your hard fought freedom and peace..."
You stand up straight. Straighter than ever as you made your declaration, "I am Michael Marcenas. Like many before me and from the generations to come, I stand for peace. And I hope you would too..."
The quiet and stunned faces of the Assembly looked on as this aide staffer who wasn't even supposed to be here gave a speech that rocked the stars and the heavens themselves.
He was honest, clear headed and knew the risks and dangers of what he was doing, to some this may have been a declaration of hostilities , and to Girhen they were.
But to Jupiter, it was a sign of hope...of a new beginning.
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You walked to the Balcony and looked at Girhen Zabi waiting sipping wine as you stood near him.
"An impressive speech." He said as you looked at him with disdain and disgust.
"Let this be a warning to you Zabi...you may plan to take Mankind into your false utopia, but there will be those who will resist you and bring the truth to light." You said.
"You seem so certain that Mankind wants to keep itself weak, to cling to the archaic ideals of the past, the sins and weaknesses of the AD Era, a time of the Barbarity and foolishness." He said.
"Without the dreams of fools, we wouldn't have a universal century now would we, and you wouldn't have a dream of conquest to consider...Should you endeavor to cause trouble here...we will stop you and your cursed family." You said calmly.
He nodded. "And in that mind I will burn your home to ash. As a warning to the rest."
"May the best man win then...if you intend on burning my home to ash, I can endeavor to save your home from the cancer of your families influence." You said.
That got a chuckle out of the cold hearted man. "Save...more like rebuild what is left, I'll make sure you have nothing left."
"There was always that risk, its life after all, May hell see you to its hottest pits Girhen Zabi, you and your damnable family." You said walking away.
"May I turn your world to ash before that happens. Child of Titan...I hope that your victory takes everything you ever love." He said. "Because that is what it will cost."
You walked away...never hoping to see that dark spectre of a man again.
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BEGONE ZEON!!:
1D100 => 100+50 (Excellent Speech)+10(Michael)=160 vs
1D100 => 70+60 (Girhen Zabi)=130
The Embassy to Zeon was torn down, its ambassador's expelled to whence they came, back to their home rejected by the people they sought to offer to join.
Zeon would find no safe Harbor here...they would leave and never return to Trouble Jupiter again.
Jupiter, at last, was free of the Earth's Corruption.
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Reward: Zeon's Influence in the Election has been eliminated.
Zeon is now aware of the Existence of the Republic of Orthys.
Zeon gains New Actions.
Jupiter National Spirit changes from The Age of the Republic to the Age of Salvation: You have been saved from the siren Call of Zeon by your benefactors and have seen part of the truth, they care about you and you would do anything for them. (Gain +10 to all rolls related to your alliance with Orthys)
Jupiter can now Join the AEUG.
Michael Marcenas feels the Call to Power.
The Zabi Family are PISSED!!!
AN: This was beautiful to write, and Michael is the second coming of his forefathers of Orthys. He might invent a better Federation...or better.
