In the blink of an eye, a reign has ended. Surely, this was the boldest assassination in the history of the four empires. The Empress was in a Titan, in high security space, in a system with a very high security rating. Nevertheless, she was ambushed and volleyed off of the field, then her corpse was taken from its pod, and—here the details become muddy—it seems that she was alive for a few days before her life was taken from her. Unless she has managed the same trick twice, she is truly departed, her status as a capsuleer notwithstanding.
I had no great loyalty to her. My sense of her was as complicated as my relationship to her Empire is complicated. Yes, my family freed itself from slavery, many years before I was born. But the Ni-Kunni still do not have the favor that the Amarr enjoy. Not for a lack of effort, certainly. It was with great joy that I was born into this new life, away from the Holder and his prurient interests and his favoritism. Were I allowed, I could buy his holding twice over. I understand that any ruler of this vast Empire must address the desires of its powerful. The Empress herself came from that power, as all must, so it would come easily to her. But has she ever heard the clamor of the bazaars? Has she ever elbowed her way to a stall and bartered a merchant down so that her family would have enough food for the week? Has she ever seen the suspicion that haunts every Amarr face that sees ours? The very thought is absurd! She was better than many, but I could not call her an ally. Not in good conscience. Not until she was taken from us.
Now I see what fills the vacuum left by her absence. It is fear. The next head of state must make a priority of preserving entrenched power at all costs. This is the natural reaction of any state under threat: It will reinforce what it sees as its bulwarks and defend what it sees as its foundations. I fear for the least, for my kindred who cannot escape to the stars, for the Minmatar who, however stiff-necked they may be, cannot deserve what will surely come to them.
I have heard whispers that the Empress was insane, that she spoke in tongues. She is a powerful woman and, within the realm of the possible, a reformer. She had clearly made enemies, more than we knew, greater than we knew. Of course they would attempt to discredit her, to take away the power of her words. Now they have killed her. We will shortly discover what they would have preferred in her place.
For the first time in many long years, I pray for the Empire.
