The Mask of Fear

You say I have a track record of errors. Perhaps that is true. Time and again I’ve been tested, along with all of us, and my victories have been few. But I have survived. I have come back from every failure.

Corruption flourished in the shadows. Unofficial hierarchies and centuries of accumulated rules and traditions made it impossible for newcomers to understand the esoteric rituals and power plays, let alone tackle galactic problems with any speed.

Hypocrites were easy to find in the Senate, but their flexible values meant they were also uncommonly willing to negotiate and compromise, so the systems of government never ground to a halt.

Is it not the truest act of democracy to trust the public will?

No one cares about the Jedi!” she snapped, and it was heartless but it was true, and Bail needed to understand. “If the documents are fake, if we can prove it—you’re talking about a series of revelations we’d need to showcase for the public in the most convincing possible manner, and for what?” “For justice, for truth, for the Republic, for democracy—” “There are better ways! People don’t change their minds in the face of evidence. People look for evidence that fits what they believe. And they’ve already made up their minds about the Jedi.

[…] The Jedi Council used force to try to stop him—it’s true. And he can try to spin that into something larger, act like that incriminates every Padawan, every six-year-old child in the Order—” “I understand your theory,” she said. She’d heard the reports of dead children at the Jedi Temple, yet the deaths of children had never ended any war in history. “What’s your proof?

Whether his advisors' policies had other merits, whether the bloody purge of the Jedi was somehow counterbalanced by the stabilization of interest rates in the Deep Core, and whether Palpatine himself believed in his promises of peace and the betterment of the galaxy, were irrelevant. The acquisition of power was the solid thing. All else was shadow.

Whether his advisor's policies had other merits, whether the bloody purge of the Jedi was somehow counterbalanced by the stabilization of interest rates in the Deep Core, and whether Palpatine himself believed in his promises of peace and the betterment of the galaxy, were irrelevant. The acquisition of power was the solid thing. All else was shadow.

To truly uphold democracy is an act of humility. Democracy is the choice to accept that one’s most cherished beliefs and foundational principles may not win the day. It is a willing abnegation where we bequeath power to those we may view as wrongheaded, unfit, or abominable. It is the paradox of holding true to ourselves, even as we accept when the vote goes against us and the desires of others prevail.

You’ve got a newborn at home? That right?” His smile softened the chilly air, and Haki was confident she’d made the right move. “Leia,” he said. “She’s our first. War orphan.” “First is a trip. Second is easier but never easy as you expect—you figure you’ve been through the worst, then the babe turns out to have their own personality. The third, though… the third is sheer joy.

He laughed bitterly to himself. You’re the only one who knows the truth, and even you’re starting to doubt it.

The history of the Republic was not a history of grand schemes and inspired leadership. No history was. Cultural change was unpredictable, composed of subtle shifts, of eddies turned to tidal waves that the brightest and most capable politicians could ride to their own ends.

She was hard-pressed, but she’d never been one to surrender when the odds were against her.

I am a ghost raised to haunt the living.