Queen Celebrates New Year Fete with Orders of Merit

DATELINE SITH STAR

As citizens on every world celebrate the beginning of the seventy-first year of the Golden Empire, Queen Rin has brought in the new year by personally raising five beings to the Order of Merit.

Debrani Sost-Kurr, a Doloy businessman and finance magnate responsible for numerous investments in the rebuilding of Dolomir, was awarded the Fifth Class. Fourth Class was awarded to Loreskus educational pioneer Elyry Waysyalan, whose work in teaching Orhyo is doubtless familiar to regular readers. Retired ballerina and current sky ballet composer Netta Olee, a Vimesk from the ever-contentious world of Shel Du, received the Third Class for her controversial ballet The Wind of Unifying Change, which incorporates both Selff and Vimesk and for which she has received both critical acclaim and death threats at home.

Sost-Kurr and Olee are well-known on their respective systems and Waysyalan is widely respected in the Educational Expansion Corps, but most public interest and speculation has revolved around the beings awarded Second and First Class. Second Class was given to the Iscali chemist and xenobiologist Rastakan for his decades of research culminating in SlowEats, the so-called "miracle food" which allows the Athans of Bolera—a species known for their incredibly fast metabolism and their constant hunger—to eat a single glob of SlowEats and have it digested over several hours. Though critics have described SlowEats gelatin as "bland", "tasteless", and "an exercise in suppressing the gag reflex to get the whole blob down", Rastakan has nonetheless been hailed by most Athans for his revolutionary invention. The Order of Merit caps a whirlwind of prizes and awards since SlowEats hit the commercial market earlier this year. Reached for comment on Iscandar, Rastakan said, "I'm humbled by the Queen's acknowledgement of my work, but the credit also belongs to my testing and development team. We'll keep working to make sure SlowEats is exactly what the Athan community needs."

The Order of Merit, First Class, awarded for philanthropy, went to Jinyx Windrunner, the Lady Starfall. Lady Starfall has been the subject of repeated speculation among government analysts and Royal watchers over the years, and she is best known as the student and apprentice of Princess Breek Zagrev. Little is known about her personal life and history, though well-placed sources confirm she was originally born on Klesk, a world devastated decades ago by a biological weapon released by the planet's then-dictator. Windrunner, who is believed to be Klesk's only survivor, delivered her homeworld to the Empire as a new home for the Djinnosh of Geruett. It is this act of generosity that earned Windrunner the First Class.

Though Windrunner could not be reached for comment, the Tribune of Geruett (now the Tribune of Klesk) released a brief statement on the award, commenting, "The Djinnosh are united in support for Her Majesty's decision to honor Lady Starfall with the Order of Merit. No praise we can give her would be enough, but she has the thanks of a grateful species."

It has been four years since Queen Rin personally presented a decoration, leading to speculation about why she chose this group to honor in person. Though many pundits have suggested the Queen wished to honor her sister-in-law's apprentice and selected four others to fill out the group of five, a source inside the Royal government insists the Queen respects the work of each of the five recipients, and government, industrial, and scientific leaders on both Bolera and Iscandar have been particularly vocal in support of Rastakan's award.