The Inaugural Address

PART II - ENTRY VII

THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF HRH, EMPRESS ALEXANDRIA SCORPIUS

DIVINE RULER OF THE ASTROLOGICAL COMMONWEALTH

My citizens,

Philip and Garrett were right to assume I would be interested in addressing the climate crisis we are currently living through. Unlike my predecessors, I will not turn a blind eye to any act or policy that damages our most fragile environment. I believe the aftermath of the War of Revelation should have been the final evidence necessary to always, before anything else, consider our impact on our planet.

I have already contacted the Aquarian Mountaineers Association and have approved several new budget initiatives to not only invest in our environment but also survey it to discover more regarding whether or not we are indeed the last civilization, and if there's any hope that we can reclaim the lands lost. Early indicators have shown that although we may be the last advanced civilization on the planet, we are not alone. Studies indicate thus far that there are rogue groups of nomadic populations detectable in some parts of the planet. I encourage everyone to look more into the findings of AMA as they publish their studies.

The last largely uninterrupted stop of Philip's tour of the territories came with his next stop at the historic Libran territory, where he met with reasonably upset defense lawyers who have between them hundreds of concerning court cases to say the least. Upon retrieval, their grievances were of a certain severity that warranted me to request explicit permission before sharing their interviews in this address. I, perhaps at little surprise to most, did not get permission to share these interviews but guarantee that all of their grievances are being reviewed by a committee independent of the House of Scorpius and the entire Scorpio territory.

Philip's letter written after these interviews, although admittedly impacted by them, do not go into any discernible detail about what the interviews address. Instead, the letter reflects on his journey thus far through the tour of the territories and previews, although prematurely, what the second leg of the tour may entail.

Please appreciate this letter, as it is one of Philip's last that isn't plagued with the stress and disarray of an increasingly dangerous situation, a situation that plagued his everyday life toward the end.

HRH, Empress Alexandria Scorpius

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February 21st, 2399

HRH Alexandria Scorpius,

As I hope you were able to read, my time in the Libran territory has been eventful to say the least. I'd be lying if I told you I was prepared for everything discussed in my Libran interviews; but I trust that, regardless, you will address the shortcomings described and make things right for the citizens impacted. There's much more to see and experience throughout the remainder of this tour, and so I must continue on.

I have attached again the copies of all signatures collected throughout my time in the Sagitarrian, Taurusan, Virgonian, Aquarian, and Libran territories. Together, these five territories have added just over 3200 signatures requesting that you address the contents of my letters and provide some type of assurance that you will indeed consider policy changes for the things we have brought to your attention.

Today is my last day in the wonderful city of New Plymouth, and I will now return home to prepare for the second leg through the South Island later this year. This leg will end as we cross back through Cook Strait into New Wellington, where I only hope you'll be awaiting my arrival with knowledge of my travels and plans to address everything we have put before you, as you know now so many of your constituents have asked you to do.

The next leg provides less promise of security as we have had several moments of considerable safety concerns, and we expect our struggles to only worsen throughout the later half of 2399. I wish you were able to call off the investigation your predecessor must have implemented against myself and the team Brock has mobilized to share with you the true issues impacting the Commonwealth, even if I knew from the start this journey wouldn't be easy.

However, I am extremely proud of how far we have come throughout the first leg of our tour of the territories. Five territories have handed to you invaluable feedback of your predecessor's administration, of which you can now utilize to help introduce your own administration in such a way that will greatly improve relations between the House of Scorpius and the hardworking citizens of the Commonwealth!

As the summer months fade into fall and we approach a break in the mission, I hope you take a moment to revisit the letters and lessons of the first five stops, as I know I will. I want to remind you that you may receive letters from Brock instead of me at times throughout the second leg, as it may become too dangerous to send letters addressed to you from some of the locations we plan to reach in the coming months. Do not disregard these letters, they will provide updates and transcripts as necessary in the event I myself cannot.

Furthermore, please do not trust any update or transcript sent to you from another writer. Brock and I are the only verified correspondents you should consider when understanding the progress and updates regarding the tour of the territories. I would hate for you to get the impression that the tour has ended prematurely from an unverified source, or worse yet, that I or Brock have been terminated by your predecessor's administration.

Enough stressing about what if's, I would like to thank you, Alexandria, for reading along throughout this journey, as I guess I can only hope you have. I would also like to remind you to not feel the need to assure us you are receiving these letters. Such correspondence is far too risky, as I have stated before, for our team to send back to me.

Anyway, I must get ready for the last train out of this law-obsessed territory, of which has me perplexed even after my interviews. Who would have guessed that those typically so indecisive could make such good lawyers, right? I guess such a trait makes it so that when they do argue a side, Librans tend to impress considerably well with hard evidence to back up whatever claim they are making.

I could go on forever, truly! I have to get ready. Till next time, my dear sister...

Philip Sangra

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