Chapter 37

Invasion

Alright people you knew that this would happen, the events of Revenge of the Sith. I am going to give you a warning, from here on out this story gets a lot darker (maybe not in this chapter, but more around order 66) than it has been so far, and in the original. So be warned, don't expect a happy, magical, everything works out ending, but don't expect the ending to be completely sad either. Alright here we go.

Hanson let out a sigh as he rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" Hanson asked, looking at one of the Ensigns working at a terminal.

"0300 hours," said the Ensign, looking at the Admiral "So Councilor Vadam as been down there for a week."

Hanson groaned as he glanced into the cup of coffee on the right arm of his chair, it was empty. "Screw it," he muttered angrily "I'm going to bed, wake me up if anything interesting happens." Hanson yawed as he walked off of the bridge and to his private quarters. Thel had gone down to Coruscant with barely any Allied Species personal. He had gone with Vadmare, his Honor Guard and a couple hundred other soldiers that were acting as a convoy. While that was quite a few soldiers, the majority of the personal had remained on the seventeen ships. Despite the forces that he did have, the Allied Species Council was not convinced that he was secure enough, and was sending SPARTANs and more warships to reenforce his security. They were expected to arrive soon. Thel's convoy had arrived at the Jedi Temple seven days ago, and since then he had jumped back and forth between there and the Senate building, sneaking in a few hours of sleep here and there.

"This is why I'm not a politician ," Hanson muttered "Things move so god damn slow." Thel had been part of non stop negotiations for the last three days. In part he had been trying to convince the Republic of their innocence of the bombardment of Coruscant, which many still believed that were guilty of. As they had nothing besides the words of Allied Species personal, the five Jedi and Senator that had accompanied them, and Core as evidence, many Jedi and Senators had yet to be convinced that the Battle of Instillation 03 had even taken place, or that the Flood even existed.

Needless to say, this lack of progress had caused tempers to flare among the Allied Species, especially Core, who had nearly burned a hole in the Twi'lek Senator when he had suggested that the Forerunners were a fairy tale concocted by the Allied Species. It didn't help that both Obi-Wan and Anakin had been sent off on a mission to some place called Nelvaan to look for General Grievous. Still, the Allied Species had gained a handful of supporters, mainly among the Jedi Council, when they had handed over the drugged Ventress and her light sabers. They had yet to decide what to do with her, and she was being contained in a cell with a force inhibitor collar. The complexity of the situation made Hanson's head spin, and it was with great relief that he fell onto his soft bed, and fell asleep almost instantly.

"What are they going on about now?" Aaron asked in an exasperated voice, talking into his com unit. He was sitting in the passengers seat of one of six Warthogs that were parked outside of the Senate building, with Emily in the driver's seat and Amber on the turret.

"The same garbage they were talking about a hour ago if you believe it or not," Ahsoka replied. She, Aayla and Kit were all present in the Senate building, as they were testifying for the Allied Species innocent, as they had been among the Jedi present on Halo during the time of the battle. "I swear, Councilor 'Vadam has got to be the most reasonable and believable person I've ever met, and half of the Senate is refusing point blank to believe him. I swear I don't know how Padmé stands her job."

"To be honest," Padmé said, her own voice crackling across the Battle-Net "Sometimes I don't know how I stand my job either. Some time politicians are more concerned about what they want than what they need. Half of the Senate wants to go to war with the Allied Species to avenge those who died, but all that will do is cause more death, more pain, and more suffering. I don't know if we can win a war with the Allied Species, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not that interested in finding out either. The last thing that I want is Vadmare 'Katar leading a genocidal campaign of orbital bombardment across the Republic."

"That's one thing that I just don't get," Amber said frowning "You can see ground zero from here, why the Hell would you want to go to war with someone that can do that to you?"

"People don't think straight when they're angry," Emily replied "Anger can be like a parasite sometimes, it drives a person to fulfill it's needs until it is satisfied. You need to employ a massive amount of self control to ensure that anger doesn't use you as a weapon, and I know someone who did a good job of doing that," she said, the faintest bit of pride in her voice. It didn't take a genius to figure out who Emily was talking about.

"Emily..." Ahsoka said weakly "I...thanks."

"Why are you so dedicated to believing that we have the worst intentions for the Republic?" Thel asked calmly. He was standing in one of the many floating pods that filled Senate Chamber, an Honor Guard armed with an energy stave on either side of him. Aayla, Kit, Ahsoka and Vadmare stood in the same pod as him.

"It is simple really," a Togruta Senator replied "A fair portion of Coruscant and a percentage of it's inhabitance were completely destroyed by orbital bombardment, by ships that matched your designs."

"As I have explained time and time again," Thel replied, his voice still calm "That was the work of Jiralhanae Extremists. I imagine they struck this planet so that you would not lend us your support in hunting them down, which, jugging by the way you still act towards us, was very successful.

"Yes," the senator replied, the faintest of sneers present "And it is very convenient that you had to destroy everything there, so that you have no evidence to prove your innocence."

"Your being stubborn to the point that you are being ignorant," Aayla said to the senator, the tinniest hint of anger in her voice "I was there, I saw the Extremists, I saw Halo, and I saw the Flood. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died to eliminate them all, and yet you sit here debating on weather this is a fantasy or not. Don't insult the men and women who died that day, they gave their lives to save their galaxy, just like clones sacrifice their lives every single day to ensure that the CIS doesn't conquer the Republic. Despite this, you whine and complain about the most infuriating of things, and it could not have been plainer that you have never been to a battlefield and therefore you have no idea what you are talking about. Yes, people died that day, but people have been dying every last day since the war began, and now because it happened nearby you, you start you care? You don't want justice, you want revenge, you want to go to war with the Allied Species just to make yourself feel batter about what happened, and that is just plain pathetic."

The Togruta Senator looked like he had just been punched in the face as he sat down. On the podium in the center of the chamber, Palpatine cleared his throat as he stood up. "While I wouldn't quite put it that way, Master Secura makes a very good point," he said. "We all feel a great sense of loss, but hatred towards each other will only cause more loss and more problems. I believe that the Allied Species would not commit the genocide of unarmed civilians, as many believe. And so long as I still hold my emergency powers, however briefly that I hope it will be, no engagements will be conducted against the Allied Species."

"Where did that come from?" Ahsoka whispered to Aayla, shock clearly visible on her face.

"It's irritating that's all," Aayla said "You were there, you saw the Flood, you saw what horrible creatures that they were. These people are acting like it didn't happen at all, they're acting like all life in the galaxy didn't narrowly avoid being destroyed, or worse, infected. Are you saying that I should not have done what I did?"

"No," Ahsoka said slowly "It just seemed a little out of place for you that's all. I thought Jedi Masters were supposed to solve matters peacefully," she said, grinning slightly.

'You're one to talk,' Aayla thought 'You're not exactly the best at doing what Jedi are supposed to do.' "Well in a sense that was peaceful," Aayla said in a slightly amused voice "I just had to be stern with him. Since he refused to listen to reason I had to drive it in."

"Drive it in?" asked Vadmare, looking at Aayla, an amused look on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aayla said, folding her arms defensively.

Vadmare chuckled as he looking away. "Nothing, nothing," he said in an amused voice. "I'm just glad to see that you've expanded your horizons in finding a solution to a problem."

"Further more," Palpatine continued "We need to work together to defeat the CIS or else we will..." but he was cut off as a massive explosion shook the chamber.

"What the..." Ahsoka said as she put her hand to her earpiece "Aaron what's going on?"

"CIS!" Aaron shouted over the sound of gunfire "A shit load of CIS! It looks like a goddamn invasion fleet. Damn it, their drones are suicide bombing the buildings!" he swore.

"We need to get the Chancellor to his bunker," Aayla hissed to Kit and Ahsoka, who nodded. While the Senators were panicking and running to safety, Kit, Aayla and Ahsoka propelled themselves forward with the Force, landing on the Chancellor's podium. "Chancellor, you need to come with us, we'll take you to your bunker," Aayla said hastily. Palpatine, who was strangely calm, merely nodded.

Aayla was about to direct Palpatine to the base of the podium when she heard four loud thumps. Turning around, she saw that Vadmare, Thel and the Honor Guards had landed on the podium. "Allow us to accompany you," Vadmare said.

Aayla couldn't help but smile "Alright," she said "We need to get to the bottom of the podium first before we can get to the bunker." Aayla looked like she was going to continue talking, when an explosion tore a hole in the roof of the chamber. One of the Honor Guards pulled Palpatine out of the way, as a metallic object fell through the roof, slamming into the podium where Palpatine had just been.

"Grievous," Ahsoka said coldly, as the cyborg got to his feet, throwing his cloak to the side. His eye was still blackened and swollen from Johnson's cigar.

"Yes," the General said in a malicious voice "Now then, if you will just hand over the Chancellor, I will make sure that your deaths are quick."

"That will not be the case," Thel said as he walked forward, activating an energy sword. "Vadmare, take my Honor Guards and go with the Jedi. I will take care of this."

"You?" said Grievous, who let out a laugh What makes you think that you can defeat me?" As he said this, an arm came out of each of his regular arms. All four arms took a light saber from his belt and activated it. "What do you have that I do not?"

"You mean besides depth perception?" Thel asked. Grievous growled. "Not much, but as for why you think I can defeat you let me tell you. I am Thel 'Vadam, former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, the Kaidon of the 'Vadam clan, the twentieth Arbiter, and Councilor of the Allied Species. I have fought and trained for a century, fighting in countless wars, against and alongside demons. I led the revolution that brought the mighty Covenant to its knees. Compared to all that, defeating you should take little effort."

"You are lucky I am in a hurry," Grievous snarled "I am here for the Chancellor, and trust me I will take him..." Grievous trailed off as he realized that he and Thel were the only ones on the Podium. "WHERE IS HE?" Grievous roared.

"He and the others snuck off while I was giving my little speech," Thel said "I must say it was quite a useful diversionary tactic."

"YOU WILL PAY!" Grievous roared as he charged at Thel, swinging his light sabers madly.

Sorry it took so long, but I live on the north most part of the East Cost of the United States, and it is getting hot up here, making it hard for me to concentrate. Still I'll do what I can for my fans. As always, tell me what you think.