João Rebelo

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João Rebelo (799 UC (1 NIC / 490 IC / 3599 CE))
Gender:	Male
Affiliation:	Free Planets Alliance
Occupation:	High Council Chairman (former) Secretary of the Treasury (former)
Status:	Deceased (murder)
Died:	800 UC (2 NIC / 491 IC / 3600 CE)
Played by:	Kayumi Iemasa (deceased)

João Rebelo (Japanese: ジョアン・レベロ) was an Alliance politician who served as the final Supreme Chairman of the High Council, succeeding Job Trunicht after the defeat of the Alliance in Operation Ragnarök, before it was fully annexed six months into his administration. Unlike most of his peers, he had a reputation for being an honest and reasonable man for much of his career. However, when he took on the office of head of state in 799 UC (1 NIC / 490 IC / 3599 CE) as the leader of the pro-Imperial administration, the people's view of him changed. The final blow to his reputation and power was his attempt to have Fleet Admiral Yang Wen-li executed, which ended up causing a series of events that led to an intervention by the Empire and the annexation of the Alliance.

Contents 1 Early political career 2 Final Chairman of the Alliance 2.1 Breakdown 3 Legacy 4 Appendices 4.1 Appearances 4.2 Name variations 4.3 Memorable quotes 4.4 Background information

Early political career

By the summer of 796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE), João Rebelo served as the Secretary of the Treasury in the Free Planets Alliance High Council under Chairman Royal Sanford's administration. He had a reputation as being a "politician with a heart of gold" and was seen as one of the more honest and respectable members of the government. He was an ally of Human Resources Secretary Huang Rui, who had a similar reputation to Rebelo, and also had been a childhood friend of Fleet Admiral Sidney Sithole, the Joint Operations HQ chief. Rebelo was a critic of the increasingly corrupt and authoritarian nature of the Alliance government in the final years of the Alliance-Imperial War, which made him an ally of the more moderate voices like Sithole, Rui, and later the young officer Yang Wen-li. (LOGH: 'Invasion of the Imperial Territory', 'War Without Weapons', 'A Departure')

After the Alliance capture of Iserlohn Fortress by the admiral Yang Wen-li, he opposed further continuation or escalation of the war and wanted to negotiate a peace treaty with the Galactic Empire on terms favorable to the Alliance. He also opposed Royal Sanford's suggestion to expand the fiat money supply in order to fund the war due to the risk of triggering hyperinflation. He and Huang Rui were the only ones who argued against the invasion plan. But the plan that was proposed by some military officers was accepted in a majority vote by the Council anyway, with Rebelo, Huang Rui, and the opportunistic Defence Secretary Job Trunicht being the only ones to vote against. (LOGH: 'Invasion of the Imperial Territory')

The invasion of the Imperial Territory ended disastrously for the Alliance, as Rebelo had expected, and as a result the Sanford government fell. Job Trunicht, as the most influential of the trio that voted against the plan, succeeded him as Interim Chairman of the Council. Rebelo was able to maintain his career in public office as well, thanks in no small part to his having voted against the invasion. (LOGH: 'The Battle of Amritsar Starzone')

What happened to Rebelo during the Alliance Civil War that broke out shortly afterward in 797 UC (488 IC / 3597 CE) is unknown, but he survived and returned to government duty. This time he was serving as Secretary of the Treasury under the administration of Job Trunicht. Over the course of the next year until the start of Operation Ragnarök in late 798 UC (489 IC / 3598 CE), Rebelo was an ally of Admiral Yang and fleet supreme commander Admiral Alexandre Bewcock, and did not support Trunicht's corrupt conduct as the head of state. He personally worried that Yang may potentially be forced into a situation where he would be forced by the government to seize power and become a dictator himself, as Trunicht was increasing the pressure on Yang, perceiving him as a potential threat. When Yang was summoned to Heinessen in the spring of 798 for an inquiry into his conduct during last year's civil war, Rebelo informed them of the Edwards committee protest which implied that the state media was being controlled and tried to help Yang's associates to the degree that he could. (LOGH: 'War Without Weapons', 'A Departure')

Rebelo met with Yang at The White Hart after he had been released from the inquiry and explained the perception within the Alliance government that he could become a military dictator.

Final Chairman of the Alliance

After the Free Planets Alliance was defeated in Operation Ragnarök and the subsequent Treaty of Ba'alat was signed, making the Alliance an Imperial client state, Job Trunicht took the blame and resigned from the government. João Rebelo decided to take on the challenge of being the Chairman of the High Council. From the onset it was apparent to many, including Huang Rui, of those closest to Rebelo that his strategy of preserving the Free Planets Alliance at any and all costs would lead to his downfall, as well as his nation's. (LOGH: 'Long Live the Emperor!', 'After the Ceremony, the Curtain Rises Again...')

Breakdown

After the Treaty of Ba‘alat was signed, Fleet Admiral Yang, along with his subordinates that were not in hiding, were placed under non-stop surveillance by the newly appointed Imperial Consul, High Admiral Helmut Lennenkampf. Lennenkampf was convinced that Yang Wen-li was secretly plotting to defy the Treaty of Ba‘alat's terms and remove the Free Planets Alliance from the yoke of Imperial control. Upon conferring with Chairman Rebelo about Yang and his possible involvement in certain issues, notably the supposed death of High Admiral Willibald Joachim von Merkatz and the suspicious raids on Alliance battleships and carriers that were set to be decommissioned, Lennekampf "suggested" that the Alliance detain and question Yang to prevent whatever he was planning. Rebelo had little room to manoeuvre and in an attempt to show the Imperials that the Alliance was still in control of its own affairs he ordered the arrest of its greatest hero, with the intent to sacrifice his life to appease the Empire for his apparent violation of the treaty. (LOGH: 'After the Ceremony, the Curtain Rises Again...', 'Past, Present, and Future', 'The Magician Is Captured')

The events of 17 July 799 UC (1 NIC / 490 IC / 3599 CE), and the following week would prove to be some of the most critical in the history of the Alliance, and would set the government on a certain path to Imperial intervention and internal collapse. Merkatz, in command of the hidden elements of the Yang Fleet, raided and captured numerous battleships and carriers destined to be decommissioned under the Treaty of Ba'alat. Just after the raid Yang was imprisoned by the Alliance government and in response, the Rosen Ritter kidnapped Chairman Rebelo, ambushing his motorcade while he was traveling and taking him prisoner. They also forcefully freed Yang before capturing Commissioner Lennenkampf five days later to hold as a hostage during their eventual escape from Heinessen. Lennenkampf and Rebelo were briefly put in each others' presence, pushing Lennenkampf to commit suicide out of shame for his total failure. Rebelo too was taken aback at the sight of Lennenkampf, as his number one goal was to keep the Imperials out of internal Alliance affairs and the top ranking Imperial was now in the hands of rebels he could not subdue. Yang and his party left to join Merkatz soon after. (LOGH: 'The Magician Is Captured', 'Invitation to an Opera', 'Blood Running Down the Stairs: Cascade')

Once the events surrounding Yang's imprisonment and the subsequent rebellion and departure had concluded and Imperial intervention was all but assured, Rebelo became more erratic and delirious. Upon hearing Kaiser Reinhard's declaration that the Alliance had violated the Treaty of Ba'alat with acts of conspiracy, piracy, terrorism, kidnapping, and murder, Rebelo broke mentally as so many close to him had foreseen. Forced to make unbearable decisions to preserve his nation, even if only in name, his short time as the head of a broken and corrupt system took its irreparable toll. Barely speaking as he gave out his orders, he began ranting of past wrongs and how Yang and others like him weren't willing to sacrifice for democracy and were forming a military clique, and that he was left alone to bear the burden. Bordering on insanity for his remaining days in office, he was surprisingly like his former self, well-spoken and resolute, when the chief officers of the planet-side Star Fleet forces stormed in his office and executed him in the hopes of appeasing the Kaiser. Rebelo's Joint Operations HQ chief, Admiral Rockwell, led the clique of officers that murdered him. (LOGH: 'Against All Flags', 'Ragnarök Again', 'The Edict of the Winter Rose Garden')

Legacy

Ultimately João Rebelo was a well meaning and honest but ineffectual politician in the rampant corruption of the waning years of the Free Planets Alliance. He lacked enough influence and power to be more than a token voice of opposition to the poor decisions of the Sanford Administration and subsequent Trunicht Administration. With Alliance society exhausted from the long war, and tense suspicion between the civilian government and the military, João Rebelo had few options open to him when he finally became Supreme Chairman. In his desire to preserve the Alliance at all costs, even if only in name, he was willing to sell out and sacrifice the same people that had helped defend the Alliance in the past. His actions to do so would ironically precipitate the final demise of the Alliance and his own death.

Appendices

Appearances

Name variations

• João Rebelo (DVD subtitles)
• Joanne Lebello (LD subtitles)
• ジョアン・レベロ (LD/DVD subtitles — Japanese)

Memorable quotes

"Until Rudolph von Goldenbaum got his hands on power, even if he was rather self-righteous, perhaps he was no more than a reformer burning with ideals and conviction. That changed completely once he had authority. He travelled the road from simple self-affirmation to self-deification." (LOGH: 'War Without Weapons')

Background information

The name João is a common Portuguese given name which is equivalent to the Spanish Juan or English John; accordingly, it has a similar pronunciation (approximately zhu-WOWN). This is the source of the mistranslation Joanne. Rebelo is also of Portuguese origin (both names are common in Brazil as well.)