Patriotic Lies

Transmission Status : Public Access Broadcast
Point of Origin : Hangar 61 Refugee Center, Derelik, Ammatar Mandate
Speaker : Curry Kior, CEO Si Chou Zhi Lu

* Audio and Video Feed Begins

* The speaker stands before refugees, freed slaves and station crew. The air is informal, a village square in a bleak metal surrounding.

Patriotism lies. Throughout my education I was taught how grand The Republic is, how much we have accomplished in so short a time. How better the condition of the Matari people is today. Look at all we have done for you!

Yet time and experience peels away the cloak of patriotic fever revealing the true state of affairs. It is with great remorse that I accept this truth as I have seen, and take action necessary as I must now take it.

The times have changed and not for the better.

Once, I was a young student, graduation certificate hanging in a new bunk of modest means, displayed with pride. Today I jettisoned it into the sun like trash. Once, I defended Midular, and trusted her direction as what is best for all Matari people everywhere. Today I transport slaves to safe haven and arm the refugees. Once, I negotiated for peaceful exchange of the enslaved with sympathetic Ammatar and Amarr. Today the sympathetic are fewer and farther between and the negotiations start with an enemy ambush.

Once the slave trade was confined to the regions of the despicable. Today, it infuriates me to open the Republic markets and see my cousins treated like cattle. I read that it is SCC who allows this outrage, and the Republic leadership that turns the blind eye.

Once Delictum 23216 represented a glimmer of hope within the Mandate. A hope for a tenuous detente that could lead to peace, that could even divide the Amarr Empire and weaken the enemy our People. Today, DELEO is laughable, falling under the control of Amarr overlords with the outstretched arms by their representatives, spokesmen and leadership, reduced now to sacrificial pawns and meatshield status.

Once I strode proudly through Republic stations, faction attired. Minor medals from missions pinned to my jacket. Today, I force myself to dock, I bite my tongue before my agents, I stare at fleet issue equipment numbly, I shred the news before the ink is dry, I spit out the names of the Appeasers in Parliament and the Corrupt in Council. And I dare wonder, have I too been corrupted this past year by the luxuries I was offered? By the relative safety we enjoy? By the even the simple luxuries of the food and clean water our Republic stations possess?

People of the Minmatar Republic, it is not the Empire that we have divided, it is the Matari that have been divided. We remain a conquerred people while a single cousin, a single brother, a single sister, a single father, a single mother remains a slave, a prisoner, a refugee. That is to say, remains within the greater Amarr Empire. We have been divided into two classes, the oppressed and the appeased!

I have seen first hand the condition of the slaves at the hands of the Amarr and their puppets. I have seen refugees stream off of transports rescued from the depths of despair. I have seen through the eyes of the freed and I can not forget what I see. I can not sit in a comfortable chair and sip chilled Gulfonodi vintage and 'recover' from a 'hard day' of police work.

I must rise. Now.

I look forward now, today, into the future. And I am compelled to act where others do not, to act where the Republic leadership has ignored, where the oppressed rise in spite of laws, rules, traditions. Once I did the work that CONCORD would not do. Today I do the work that the Republic will not do. My resources, and the resources of my corporation are dedicated to the freedom struggle of all Matari throughout New Eden. We fight on the front lines, we fight the slavers and their sympathizers. We live in our ships, sleep when cousins are free. We are Si Chou Zhi Lu and we rise!

There are those who have fought this battle, this front line for years. The unsung heroes, the freer of slaves, the battlers of oppression. They Rise and wage war for our lands and for our people. I speak of the Ushra'Khan, those on the fringe, those that I have admired and now join. Against the slavers Ushra'Khan stands where the Republic will not. Against th...

* The crowd stands and begins cheering at the mention of Ushra'Khan, drowning out the audio momentarily.

Join us now in this struggle! People of the Republic! This is your battle. This is your front line!

We are Ushra'Khan and we come for our people!

* The remaining words from the speaker are lost as the refugees and freed slaves begin chanting "We are Ushra'Khan", red fists raised high "We are Ushra'Khan!".

* Transmission Status: Complete