An approving murmur spread out among the councilors. When they quieted down, Mathilde stood up to speak. She bowed her head slightly, then addressed the room. The authority in her voice boomed, though it wasn’t quite as strong as the Matriarch’s. “Greetings fellow dukes and duchesses,” she began. “
The councilors erupted in a great amount of discussion once Mathilde had finished her arguments. Many agreed with her, of course. But some still had too many misgivings. Risking a sponsorship for a nation of a hundred thousand people was easier to make, simply because of their numbers. “As you note
“Most of you trade with currency,” she said. “Ducat or krohn or credit. I understand your apprehension to spend it. As I’d mentioned previously, I deal with something far more intangible, and equally as important. Influence. “The influence between houses, and the influence between galactic nations
The entire council chamber erupted into many discussions with each other the moment Mathilde closed rebuttals. Although most already knew where they had to vote, some kept trying to sway them away. They felt that the Ravens didn’t qualify for nation-state sponsorship, for a variety of reasons. T
“We believe we’ve figured out why the Federation and the Empire are the way they are. And it’s sadly the way some other Houses here in the Hegemony operate, too. We Ravens want to be the antithesis of those governments. “We want to be the kind that builds and grows the people around us, rather than
Not long after the vote and swearing-in ceremony, every member of the Corvus Republic was invited to celebrate at the Grand Ballroom located in the Palace itself. There, they found themselves in a vast entertainment hall filled with activity and reverie and joyful celebration. The entire middle had
The girl continued to rattle off more than a dozen charges, which caused Eva to become more and more irate. It was more proof of the Federation’s incompetence. But as she listened, it dawned on her that it all seemed a bit too much. Why a prosecution? Why not simply discharge her dishonorably? Au
One Week Later The sleek and powerful destroyer slowly flew up and away from St. Jakque’s star harbor towers. She was joined by three corvettes, a dozen mecha, and a half dozen fighters. Emblazoned on each and every single one of the ships was the seal of the Corvus Republic - a black silhouette o