[At the Imperial Senate chambers in Coruscant, Mon Mothma addresses the floor even when she knows the other senators will just holler at her or ignore her entirely]
Mon MothmaThe senator from Chandrila stands with those in opposition to the Emperor's new public safety legislation. Is there a more important issue facing this body right now than Imperial overreach? The Public Order Resentencing Directive is the next step on an all-too-predictable march toward complete unchallenged authority. Our first responsibility is to the citizens who have sent us here. Our second vow is to protect the power and independence of this remarkable chamber. I stand here today to speak with senators who've come with open minds, those of you who still believe that when we enter this building we are in a temple.
[Mon Mothma appeals to senators she can find to help her in a motion against the PORD]
Mon Mothma
All doubts aside, there is one glaring certainty. If we do not stand together, we will be crushed.
[Senior Senator Bail Organa has just invoked a Senate rule to allow a Senior Senator to give their time for a privilege speech to another Senior Senator - Mon Mothma]
Mon Mothma
Fellow Senators, friends, colleagues, allies, adversaries, I stand before you this morning with a heavy heart. I've spent my life in this chamber. I came here as a child, and as I look around me now, I realize I have almost no memories that predate my arrival, and few bonds of affection that cleave so tightly. Through these many years, I believe I have served my constituents honorably and upheld our code of conduct. This chamber is a cauldron of opinions, and we've certainly all had our patience and tempers tested in pursuit of our ideals. Disagree as we might, I am hopeful that those of you who know me will vouch for my credibility in the days to come.
I stand this morning with a difficult message. I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil! When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest.
This Chamber's hold on the truth was finally lost on the Ghorman Plaza! What took place yesterday, what happened yesterday on Ghorman, was unprovoked genocide! [the other Senators are incensed at her words] Yes, genocide! And that truth [points back referring to Oran's arrest] has been exiled from this Chamber! And the monster screaming the loudest, the monster we helped create, the monster who will come for us all soon enough, is Emperor Palpatine!!
[Mon Mothma talks to her cousin Vel while her daughter, Leida, takes up a Chandrilan spiritual chant class in another room]
Mon Mothma
I'm in so much trouble, Vel. Last year, I was pulling 100,000 credits every month from the family trust without a trace.
For Luthen? I had no idea it was that much.
Mothma
It was so easy. I did it myself. Set up a stream of accounts. It was like water running downhill. I'd empty the bottom, and it would just flow. No one the wiser. [sighs] A few months ago, I was contacted by one of the bankers back home, I was warned that Imperial inspectors might be taking a close look at Chandrilan accounts. He said they were contacting clients to make sure everything was in order. I did what I could. I pulled everything I could access up the hill into the main account. There was one empty ledger at the end of the line that was off-balance. But it was so obscure and I just didn't know what else to do. I was nervous. I went to Luthen. I told him that I needed help from the outside, that I knew the risk...
Mothma
Yes.
Mothma
Yes, I do. But then, Aldhani. Now, suddenly everything was frozen. I thought Tay could help me replace the credits and get me started again, but what he really did was discover just how much more trouble I was in. Here I am.
Mothma
Four hundred thousand.
And they're looking into this when?
Mothma
Soon. Very soon.
[just before the Sculdun-Mothma wedding, Mon Mothma has one last talk with her daughter Leida]
Mon Mothma
I need to tell you what my mother never told me. [Leida laughs] Look at me. Nothing on the other side of that door matters. Not the guests, not the gifts, not the... trouble that's gone into it, none of it matters. Money, embarrassment, pressure...
LMLeida Mothma
Wha... What are you saying?
Mon
We can walk out there right now, tell them all to have a lovely afternoon, but that it's not yet time for a marriage. We can put it off. [trembling breath] And it will be remembered as an act of great bravery, I promise you. You do not have to go through with this.
LLeida
I wish you were drunk.
[At a private showing of Davo Sculdun's artifacts collection]
IDISB Director Orson Krennic
We studied the Battle of Carmeen at the ISB Academy.
Mon Mothma
Well, it wasn't much of a battle, was it?
Uh, no. How right you are. Insurgencies have a long history of puffing up their failures.
Mothma
We were taught it was a systematic execution.
Well, that is exactly my point: criminals love to lie. After all, who wants to die for... lawless ineptitude?
Mothma
You seem fixated on defining people by their resistance to power.
Words do still have meaning. As I'm sure we can still agree on that.
Mothma
What's the word for the people like the Carmeen who simply wish to be left alone?
DSDavo Sculdun
"Vulnerable"?
What's the word for people who skin trespassers alive?
GGuest
Is that what they did?
PFPerrin Fertha
It was a very long time ago.
Mothma
When they had their own code of conduct.
Ah. "My Rebel is your terrorist", something like that? What a swell party this is...
Andor · 58 quotes
