The Old Order

OOC Soundtrack: Old Time Religion

Tuesday
March 9th, 2954
12:02 PM local time
Planet Haven, New Providence


The convoy moved quickly through the city streets, Joseph sat in the back seat of his limousine relaxing, as he often did this part of his day was usually the slowest and one of the only times where he had some time to rest before the day to come. His job as the Council Head was a demanding one having to wrestle with not only maintaining the confederation but also having to debate and discuss with his fellow councilmen was tiring and wearing on a person. But this rest would soon end as the convoy finally reached its destination. Joseph stepped out of the limousine feeling a light breeze in the air as he began walking up a ramp and into the lobby of Confederation tower bodyguards trailing at his back. In the lobby, he greeted the receptionist Jen and proceeded into the elevator and up to his office on the top floor, the one hundred forty-fifth floor to be exact.

Entering the office he was greeted by his secretary Allison, who was in the process of writing up a memo. Noticing he was exiting the elevator she stood up and went to greet him.

"Blessed be the day, Mr. Miller." She said bowing her head, holding both of her hands in front of her.

"Blessed be the day, Allison." He said walking past her. "So what is on my list today?" He said stretching his arms out.

"Well later today at 1:15 you have a call with Minister Simmons, at two you have a Council meeting to attend and at five-thirty you have a game of golf with Councilman Labeau. And that seems to be about all for today." She said looking at her datapad.

"Thank You, Oh, and if you can, get me a detailed report on the recent events transpiring on Fernier. I have heard it has been getting to be something of real concern." He said with a slightly worried look.

"Of course Mr. Miller." She said bowing her head and returning to her desk.

Joeseph walked to his desk and stared out the large floor-to-ceiling window behind it. The city skyline was truly something to behold, hundreds of glimmering structures reaching into the sky looking as if they are racing to outer space. He walked around the desk and sat in his large leather chair and began to prepare for his call.

March 9th, 2954
1:14 PM local time

Joseph sat in silence for a while and waited for the phone to ring, shuffling some papers on his desk as he did. And then after a second or two, the phone began to ring and Joesph picked up.

"Blessed be the day, Mr. Miller." Said a voice on the other line, the voice was clear and calm, an older man's voice one that was touched by age but not impeded by it.

"Blessed be the day, Minister Simmons, it is good to hear from you after all this time." He said in a cheery tone.

"It is good to hear from you too, now how are Diane and Jason?" He said inquisitively.

"They are both doing well, Jason has been doing well in Primary and Religious school and Diane has joined the local women's organization." He said, a wide smile came across his face as he was proud of how his family had been doing.

"Good, good, now how are you doing my boy, I haven't seen you since last Solace Day back in October." He said reminding.

"I'm doing well! Things have been a bit slow recently but I've been doing good." He said his smile getting a little smaller

"Well that's great, but now I must get down to business, the reason why I called you other than to check in, was to ask you about what you thought of these recent incidents involving witches on Ferneir. It has not only me but also my fellow Ministers concerned for the safety of those inhabiting the planet." He said his tone getting more serious as he went on.

"Well at this current moment I don't have a full report on it but I will get back to you when I have it and we can work together to fix it. The situation from what I have heard is just as dangerous as you described so I pray to God we will be able to end this quickly. But now I have other things to attend to."

"I am looking forward to us talking more, and I hope to see you in the future." He said in an optimistic tone.

"I hope so as well, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

---

Tuesday
March 9th, 2954
3:15 PM local time
Planet Ferneir, Thorn Valley

Jessica walked into the church, her mother and sister trailed right behind her, the three women quietly made their way into the pew and sat down waiting for mass to begin. The Minister made his way to the altar, the holy book gripped tightly in his hands. He placed the holy object onto the table and began to speak.
Though much of it was just drowned out by the thoughts of young Jessica. The recent events that had transpired were just too hard to forget and the wounds it had inflicted on her psyche had already become scars that would stick with her till the day she passes. But although it makes her shudder she can still remember the days when the river turned red.

OOC: Warning this post contains themes of Anti-LGBT actions and rhetoric, read at your own discretion.

Accompaniment: Build a castle

Tuesday
March 10th, 2954
3:17 PM local time
Planet Ferneir, Thorn Valley

The minister's words broke Jessica's concentration, and his booming voice echoed throughout the church. "My congregation." He said pausing to take a breath.

"I know the past few weeks, have been difficult for all of us with the burning of Mrs. Harrison and the subsequent drowning of Miss Fischer, but do not weep for them brothers and sisters for their deeds not only harmed this congregation but harmed the very spirit of our faith!"

His eyes burned with passion, as he raised up the holy book in his right hand.

"This piece of divine scripture was given to us by the great prophets and not only did the two sinners break some of its most valued tenants but openly sought to destroy it."

He put the book back down.

"But."

He said looking out at his congregation.

"Thanks to the tireless efforts of not only our state Sheriff, Mr. Mathews but also individual congregants like Mrs. Jackson Frye and Mr. Jacob Harrison for both assisting in their capture, please both of you stand so we may thank you for your efforts."

The two stood proudly as the rest of the congregants clapped.

The Minister continued on. "Now I would like you all to please open your scriptures to chapter twenty-three, section fifteen." He began reading and Jessica sank back into deep thought. She had known both Mrs. Harrison and Miss Fischer, they had both been very close to one another. But it was only a week or so ago until they had found out how close they truly were, Mrs. Frye being her usual snooping self had always held suspicious about the two and would frequently document their movements together when Mr. Harrison was away on business.

And after a long period of observation, she eventually caught them in the act of kissing outside in Mr. Harrison's barn and immediately reported it to Mr. Harrison who after being informed had immediately contacted the State sheriff who after also investigating for a short period of time had both Mrs. Harrison and Miss Fischer arrested. The trial lasted a total of a day and they were both executed on the next with Mrs. Harrison being lit aflame on the pyre and Miss Fischer being thrown into the river tied down with large, heavy rocks.

Jessica had known the two women to be nothing but kind, but as her mother had told her the evil one below us may touch even the best of us and corrupt them to his will and so it was the duty of the devout to purge this evil from the galaxy... at all costs.

Sunday
June 27th, 2954
4:08 PM local time
Planet Haven, New Providence

It was Sunday, the Lord's day but along with being the holiest day to the faithful, it was also Pastor Simmons's most profitable day. A day where all who were faithful and followed him would tune into his sermons and donate as he gave his speeches to hear what they thought was the word and teachings of God.

Simmons had been the leading figure of the faith in the Confederation for over thirty-five years, he had started as a small-time missionary in the outer regions and slowly gathered a large enough following eventually coming to Haven and cementing his influence in the confederation and its government. As a personal friend of Confederal Council Chairmain Joesph Miller he had been granted large swathes of land to conduct faith duties, and as he collected donations from the faithful slowly racked himself up a pretty large fortune. But this did not concern the man, God had allowed him to get this far and had not taken anything away so why would he stop now.

Simmons had just finished having his make-up done, it had been long-standing doctrine for Vanity to be discouraged but Simmons never really cared about that. It was to further his image and he didn't see much of a problem with that. Standing up from out of his chair he made his way from the backstage area of the church and onto the main stage to the sound of much applause and cheering from his congregation. This had been after his first break from the beginning of the service a time for congregants to go to the restroom or get a meal to then sit and listen to the word of god with. Waving to the crowd Simmons began to speak to his congregants.

"My fellow brothers and sisters, we have returned from our break and are ready to continue with the sermon. So I hope you are all ready because the sermon begins in Five, four, three, two, and one." The large telescreen behind him suddenly lit up, and in bright golden letters displayed the word "Greed". Simmons being qued by one of the producers behind a camera began to speak.

"Greed." He said his voice being amplified by the microphone attached to his suit.

"It is one of Humanities most fatal and most corrupting vices and it has been displayed since the dawn of time and will most likely exist until the end of it. But as followers and believers in and of God we must make the conscious effort to say, NO to greed just as we say no to all other sins. In scripture it tells us that when confronted with the choice between God and profit, the prophet and his followers chose god while those who did not believe chose profit and for it those men were punished and sent to the depths of hell. To burn for all eternity." Simmons turned to another camera, making it look like he was speaking directly to the inhouse audience.

"That is why I need all of you, to overcome your greed." He now looked directly at the camera speaking directly to the audiences at home and inhouse.

"That does not just mean those here in person with me today but those at home as well so for that reason I shall be holding a five hour donation sermon where for the next five hours I shall speak and hopefully if the the will and faith of our audience today is strong enough reach a donation goal of fifteen million Confederal credits to help fund the church along with contribute to those who help run and maintain this show."

The crowd began to cheer. "So for those at home stay tuned, there is much more to come tonight including multiple guest appearances by my friend Conferderal Council Chairman Miller, Pastor Jacobs from Plant Fierneir here to talk about heresy and your favorites The Choral Boys!"

The congregation erupted into cheers and applause leading Simmons into the next segment of his show.

Excerpts from the Book of the New Prophet

"When the hand of god came down and touched the fabric of the firmament, with perfect fingers, he created the Earth in which man inhabited. In return, humanity thanked him with indifference and insolence. And so, when god touched the Earth for a second time, he unraveled the world, scattering its humanity across the stars. And from the pieces formed, a Nova Terra from which the almighty may be pleased."

---

"God ordered Zachariah. "Build a new temple so I may be worshipped rightly among the stars." And so, with all the money he had, Zachariah built a temple on Tellus for God. And from the heavens, God spoke to him again. "From this day on, you are my voice in this Universe but know, my son, you will soon find yourself swarmed by both the faithful and the heretical. The faithful will come to you with wishes, ignorant of my design, and the heretics ignorant of me. But you must teach them all, for you are my holy instrument."

Viewer Discretion Advised
Thursday
May 4th, 2957
1:47 PM local time
Planet Haven, New Providence
The Confederal Congress Building

"Assembled Congressmen!" Representative Lyle postured authoritatively at the podium, clutching its sides with an iron grip as he began his speech.

"Will we let, men of such weak stature, peddle this nonsense?" He gestured to the side of the opposition, a moderately sized bunch of men, who made up the "Radical" Party. An organization of progressives, hell-bent on destroying Lyle's noble republic from the inside out.

"These men stand before this honourable body, speaking of the "noble savages" that inhabit our space. The same savages that for years, slaughtered our forefathers, brutalized their wives and enslaved their children. And these so-called "Progressives" wish to let them into this noble body which has stood against Alien barbarism for the past eighty years."

Lyle slammed his fist on the wooden podium, "I will not have it! I will not be told I am some intolerant bigot, by some damned Xenolover when the things they propose are intolerable. This debate is a sham! A mockery of the sense and reason which built this chamber and I will not dignify it anymore with compromise or negotiation as I am not some filthy Kuvorian who lets a Xeno speak on his behalf in their elected chambers of government," He paused for a moment to catch his breath.

"The damned Xenos have their place! And that is beneath the superior human race. So I will not hear any more of this equivocation of the races, for it was ordained by God almighty to be this way in perpetuity. Until a new covenant was formed on our return to our sacred Earth."

"Therefore I implore you, to the wise and sensible men left in this chamber, to stand beside me and to stand against this despicable affront to our democratic system. I yield the rest of my time to the chair." Lyle withdrew himself calmly to the sound of raucous applause from his caucus in the Anti-Xeno League, a collection of some of the most virulent Human supremacists in the Confederation.

Up next, fumbling his way to the podium stepped up a smaller weasely-looking man. Representative Ross Hanlon from Valia, a "Radical" party member, and often soft-spoken man Hanlon had been known for his favourable stance towards the Xeno population on his world, doing his best to improve their living conditions with marginal support from the voting class, humans.

"Uh, Mr, Chairman, honourable members of this chamber. I stand before you today to stand for the weak-" He was cut off by a roar of boos by Representative Lyle and his caucus. Hanlon looked to the chairman for a call to order, the chairman stared back at him blankly as the men in the chamber jeered. Hanlon tried to continue.

"Gentlemen, I stand for fighting against the oppression of the weak. No matter the cost, I will not yield either on this bill it would be against everything I stand for." He was drowned out by the ruthless cries of the men.

"Go back to your shithole planet!" Shouted one.

"Your wife's a Grohl whore!" Screamed another.

Hanlon withered silently in rage and in shame, bowing his head and stepping down from the podium and back to his seat.

Lyle returned to the podium chuckling to himself. "You've all seen today the "prowess" of our honourable opposition, nothing but a bunch of cross-breeding cowards who barely keep themselves from pissing their damned pants from stage fright." His cronies burst out in uproarious laughter.

"But in all honesty, what our opposition truly lacks is a quality in intelligence, as their merry band of morons seemingly can't string more than two sentences together to their defence. A truly shocking display for some of the most," He scoffed. "Educated" men in all the Confederation, maybe if they'd actually read the Prophet's testament instead of just, cherry-picking the parts that suit their argument then only maybe would they have actually been able to claim any kind of sensible position." Lyle continued to rail against the "Radicals", and the bill finally came to a vote. Being handily defeated by the Anti-Xeno league and their efforts. Another failure on the part of the progressive radicals.

Thursday
May 4th, 2957
1:47 PM local time
Planet Haven, New Providence

"Expand or die!" Joseph bellowed, out to the audience below.

"So is the maxim of our people! Who for millennia have stood lost among the stars, wayward from our true home, cursed by God almighty to wander until we reach salvation! And out of desperation, we as a people have carved out a place for ourselves among these once foreign stars and made ourselves a new albeit temporary home." Joseph raised a finger.

"But there are those that would seek to threaten us, those that defame our sacred faith and call into question our humanity. These people of which I speak, are not unfamiliar to you, they are not some empire a million lightyears away, nor some mystic threat from ages long past come to destroy us. They are our neighbours.

The Kuvorian Republic once stood as faithful and respected members of our fellowship. But born out of their ignorance, came a deep hatred for us Nova Terrans and our identities as the faithful. So in an act of treachery so heinous, they stabbed their human brethren in the back. Selling their souls for the love of their Xeno enchanters who held sway over them... this I know is a punishment from God onto them, to make them pay for their blasphemy and suffer for the treacherous betrayal of their race."

"But this is history that you all know, a history which sits in every Nova Terran's memory. And as we as a people remove the knife that plunged into our backs, we stand reminded that the blade which so harmed us should be returned to its sender tenfold." Joseph paused for applause as the crowd unleashed a plethora of approving cheers.

"And you are probably wondering why I bring up this unsealed wound today." The audience held their breath as Joseph wound up for the punchline

"The Kuvorians must pay!" He roared, slamming his fist on the podium in front of him.

"And they will pay in blood so help me God, as long as I am President of the Confederal Council I will make damned sure they pay with every drop they have left within them is squeezed from their very essence! For the sake of our faith and for the sake of our race, we must prevail in the inevitable struggle destined by God to occur."

"There is no room for doubt in this matter, for to doubt this effort is to doubt the will of the Almighty. And those who do so will see their just reward, in the form of the fiery pits of hell alongside the rest of those that denied the will of God and his Prophet."

"Support me, as citizens of our nation, believers in the faith and as humans who stand for the virtues and promises on which this great Confederation was built. And let our cries ring out across the galaxy as we come upon the dawn of a century of steel and plasma."

The audience cried with shouts of joy and approval as Joseph stepped down from the Podium and allowed the next speaker to take the stage. Joseph had always excelled in his oratory abilities, since his days as a younger debater he always possessed an almost hypnotizing power over his audiences, able to whip them into feverish states of zealous patriotism and God. It always marked him as exceptional for his early political victories as a younger man and cemented his reputation as an exceptionally spellbinding speaker.

He wanted war, more than the audience could ever know behind even his most virulent rhetoric. He hated the Kuvorians with a passion, their xeno-loving ways and heresy always coming second to the real reason... the murder of his father.