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There were some things that needed to be told to the general public not because they were easy but because it was difficult. Because it was the least he could do to try and publically honour a Captain of the Rangers, a man who had laid down his life in defense of the people and their interests. Douglas Hudson was not a man who believed that dying for a cause made someone a hero; no, it was what the person had done during their life that made them a hero.
And Roland had been a hero.
“Today, we mark the passing of Ranger Captain Roland Rook. Captain Rook took his duties seriously and pushed himself hard; on this occasion he was pursuing leads in an area of space known for violent Sith activity.” He announced to the holonet projector with an expression firmly set into a stern, if slightly sad, frown, “To the end, he took the fight to those who would call us enemy, those who would stand between people and their freedoms.”
He shifted ever so slightly in place.
“To anyone who knew Captain Rook, his decision to continue to investigate and combat Sith aggression should come as no surprise; he fought in the attack on Coruscant prison, he answered the call to arms on Dathomir and he stood with his people on Mandalore.”
On the holo-display being broadcast through the Core and Inner Rim territories, stills of Roland were shown. Images of him assisting civilians and in action against criminals - always resplendent in his armor like a resolute guardian.
“Roland Rook was a hero and his passing will not be forgotten, it will not be forgiven and it will not discourage us from continuing to do our duty.”
The feed changed back to the Ranger Chief, sat at his desk with his face set. Chief Hudson wasn’t the kind of man to allow himself to fly off the handle. Internally he was grieving at the loss of a friend and a valued Ranger but he would not allow himself to show that to the public. He would grieve on his own time and he would assure the Galaxy and his Rangers with every second of time he had to make the broadcast.
“Our enemies in the criminal underworld and the Sith-held territories wish to break us but I say to you now that they have broken nothing. A great man has been lost, it is true, but the only way for them to truly succeed is for us to abandon what he stood for; the pursuit of justice and the defense of the innocent.” his folded hands tightened their grip on each other almost noticeably, “So I say to those who stand against law and order within our Galaxy; Roland Rook may be gone but what he stood for will never die.”
Chief Hudson began to wind down the announcement, closing with something he could see himself repeating time and time again in the coming weeks and months.
“We will remember Roland Rook and we shall not let him down.”