Memorable Words

One problem with the very long lifespans of the eldrae and, thus, the equally long institutional memory of the Empire, is that while it has preserved for posterity many of the great examples of rhetoric, like Alphas’s first Speech from the Throne, Olbria Amanyr’s fiery Senatorial style, or the elder Corith’s opening address to the Conclave of Galactic Polities, it has also preserved a great many speeches upon which the polishing effect of fading historical memory would only have been a mercy. Take, for example, the too-often-quoted address of Petrae Sargas to the Seventh Legion before the Second Battle of the Iselen Vale:

“Well, my lads and lasses, looks like the Amynmahar have caught us with our asses hanging out right and proper. But there’s only twelve thousand of them up in the vale, and there’s three thousand of us, and one by-the-Contract Imperial can whip any five kórasan’s lackeys under sun or stars, so we’ve still got ’em outnumbered. Now let’s get out there and kill the bastards, and I’m buying the beer when we get back.”

– A History of Imperial Rhetoric