Tibus Heth Obtains Nationwide Broadcast Feed, Addresses Nation
The full transcript follows:
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A young man died in my arms today...bright, capable, brave...everything that we should be, he was: A true Caldari patriot. He was killed by a single bullet, fired from the barrel of a mega-corporation's rifle-a bullet...that was intended for me.
The mega-corporations want me to tell you that his death was necessary; that he was guilty of committing a crime. They can go to hell, for I will not be compelled by anyone to insult that hero's memory. He spoke no last words, made no final request, cried no plea for mercy, nor whispered a prayer for forgiveness. His wound left him without the voice to speak in the final moments of his life. But I knew him well enough to know this:
That man gave his life so that I could live. And I swear to you that I'm going to do my best to live up to his example, by any means necessary.
His death serves as a warning to all those who are Caldari: The evil which took his life has killed many times before; it is piercing Caldari flesh and blood right this moment; and it will kill tomorrow and every day thereafter-unless you listen well to what I say now.
As of 1600 hours today, I became the Chief Executive Officer and majority shareholder of Caldari Constructions. The entire executive team of the previous regime has been removed from power. The men and women standing behind me have already been designated to fulfill the roles of those who have departed.
We have each sworn, on our very lives, to uphold the responsibility we have to the Caldari State. I don't give a damn about shareholders, because it's apparent that they don't give a damn about the workers who slave to put the fat into their bellies. In return for the life of luxury afforded to them by the proletariat armies of this State, they have returned the effort with this:
Look at it. All of you, put yourself into that armor, if you dare. What happened to us? Our wounds are self-inflicted. Have our leaders destroyed the Caldari soul, the Caldari conscience, the Caldari power that once was-and may yet still become?
It's true that I led a coup against the masters of this corporation. I led this coup not expecting to survive, but my intent was never to kill my brothers. We spared the life of every guard and worker in the Armor Forge-you can ask them yourself. And I swear...that Caldari man did not have to die! It was the greed of mega-corporations that killed him; the greed of sinister men that was killing Caldari Constructions. How could our leadership allow this to happen? What was it that subverted them, that turned them towards this path? Think of it: all of those gifted, talented individuals, the so-called elite, whom we charged with guiding us? From where-or from whom-did they learn this path?
It was learned from the same enemy they were supposed to protect us from. It was learned from the Gallenteans.
The Caldari people are the strongest souls of New Eden; no other nation has done so much with so little. An objective look back upon our history demonstrates that the Gallenteans, from the moment they contacted us, have been the bane of our existence. They and their righteousness, they and their criticism of our way of life, they and their insistence that their values are appropriate for us all...and still...still! This goes on today, just as it did a thousand years ago!
Is it not insulting that they can just dismiss the culture we've held dear to us for generations; to blatantly dismiss the values which have kept us alive in this cruel universe? Their self-indulgence in moral proclamations is, make no mistake about it, a superiority complex, a hateful arrogance that blinds them to the vulnerability of our human selves.
Every ambition we have that lies beyond our borders is an act of war. Every Gallentean ambition beyond their borders is 'the spread of ideals' and the 'initiative for peace'. We ask to shelter the livelihood of our workers by begging them for restraint in their trade policies. They accuse us of protectionism, of being enemies of free trade and free thinking. Nothing we do is acceptable to their standards, and no discourse or discussion is acceptable to their tastes.
I will not stand for this hypocrisy any longer! To the Federation, I say this: The notion that a man can be free does not exempt him from his obligations to his fellow man...the obligation to be decent, to be respectful of traditions that differ from your own, to acknowledge the possibility that your ideas can cause more harm than good.
You use the rhetoric of emancipation as a guise to veil your malicious intent to seize advantage for yourself, always at the expense of other races. The very freedoms that you proclaim are exactly what divides a nation, and what has divided the cultural brotherhood of our own race.
My promise, my solemn swear, is to adhere with the values that made us who we are, and not to the corruption of those whom I have replaced. My responsibility is to rid the scourge of Gallentean ideals from the ranks of our corporate leaders, and I will demand accountability for the failure of our State. I am you, Caldari, born among these masses, and a soldier, one of millions in your ranks, and now I am accepting my responsibility to right the course of Caldari Constructions. May its example inspire the courageous Caldari spirit, and illuminate the path for all those who dare to take action in the name of saving our race.
Effective immediately, the assets of mid-grade employees and up will be frozen and repossessed. This company will no longer reward failure. The days of entitlement strictly for caste and class merits are over. These men and women will have to earn what they've taken from this corporation. Here, talent means nothing unless you have the willpower to exploit it to its full potential. My measure of compensation will be based on work output, in whatever role you serve, and not the unproven potential of genetic competence.
Personally, I will not draw one single credit from the coffers of this corporation until I've earned the right to be called its CEO.
To those who call yourselves clients of Caldari Constructions: it is business as usual. Obligations will be met, orders will be filled, and debts will be collected. You will notice vast improvements in the production efficiency of this corporation. Understand that I am a fair man. Any attempts to subvert, deceive, or manipulate the operations of this company will be taken as a personal attack on those whom I am charged with protecting. Do not ever cross me. You will regret it.
To the rest of my fellow compatriots, you should demand nothing less of your own leaders, who are nothing without you and undeserving of your allegiance until they prove otherwise. They have failed to deliver us from the humiliation of Gallentean influence. They have made us inferior to a lesser race, ignoring the threat as if the illusion of wealth and prestige somehow shelters them from the reality of national failure.
According to the laws of the mega corporations, I have committed crimes here today. But none...none...are greater than those committed by the elite, who still dare to call themselves Caldari.
My name is Tibus Heth, and I am a Caldari patriot. The restoration of our State's dignity begins now.
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