8 Palpatine and the Senators

Coruscant 20 BBY

Senate Executive building

"Well, these people certainly weren't what I wasn't expecting. Then again, I'm not sure what I was expecting, something like Mandalorians of old maybe?" Padmé said to her fellow senator as they walked through the Executive building following Palpatine.

"I know how you feel turns out the read-up on them wasn't helpful. Though perhaps that might actually be a blessing given the stories and history of them," Bail replied as they continued walking

27th June 2535

Senate Executive building

"I assume you noticed it too, Brisko?" Gabriel asked the fellow ONI operative as the UNSC personnel continued to follow the Chancellor and his party.

"Yes, I did, Captain. Something feels off about him. I can't quite place my finger on it, but something is definitely off about him. Brisko replied.

"What about the two senators. Do you think they're 'with' the Chancellor?" Gabriel asked in a hushed tone.

"I don't think so, but it's too early to tell. We're still bugging all of them, correct?" Brisko replied.

"Vitaly, your thoughts?" Gabriel asked the AI.

"Personally, I think something is going on with the Chancellor. But whether it's your standard politician affairs or something else, I'm not sure. But I do agree something does feel off about him," The AI replied in a stoic tone.

"Noted, I'm going to want additional resources put towards watching him. It wouldn't surprise me if he were involved with something other than your usual affair. We'll continue this later. We seem to be nearing a room. Gabriel replied as he saw the Senators and Palpatine turn into a room.

Coruscant 20 BBY

Chancellor's Office

Palpatine entered his office, the familiar sight of it greeting him, who he had wait here. Palpatine then proceeded to walk over to his desk and take a seat as the UNSC procession walked in.

"Gentlemen, before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to say that I'm deeply sorry about what had befallen your trooper when rescuing Padawan Tano. I sincerely hope that he is able to make a full recovery," Palpatine said as a sympathetic look appeared on his face.

"Unforentaly despite efforts of the teams aboard the Resolute and Bonaventure, Private Yeon was not able to survive his encounter and passed away late yesterday," Erwin stated.

If Palpatine looked hard enough, he swore he could see a look of remorse on his face. Scanning around, he saw that the Senators and Jedi all bore a look of sorrow on their faces upon hearing of the fate of Private Yeon.

"It is deeply regrettable the fate that Private Yeon suffered his loss must be hard on all of you, especially being so far from home. However, I hope that it'll be able to make it home for a proper funeral among friends and family," Palpatine replied, mimicking the sorrow that everyone else was feeling in his voice.

At least their medical technology isn't infallible. Palpatine thought to himself.

"About that," Charles said. "It seems that we're in entirely unknown space. Thanks to the map that Admiral Yularen gave, we were able to cross-reference it with our own Galaxy map, and nothing matches up or appears to match up. Even the spiral arms don't match up. If I had to take a guess, whatever happened to us transported us to an entirely new Galaxy." He said as he pulled out a hologram showing the Milky Way

"Wait, I thought you said were out on patrol when you encountered us, Rear Admiral?" Anakin asked, not quite picking up on things.

"Skywalker, was it? What we told you wasn't a lie, at least not entirely. What we told you was that we were on Patrol. While that was true, we didn't tell the whole story. When we transitioned to FTL, things went normally, at least for a while; however, a few hours into it, something went wrong, and we found ourselves inside the Felucia system, you know, the rest after that," Charles said.

Padmé was shocked at the explanation that the Rear Admiral gave as to why the two Galaxys looked different. Even at this distance, just looking at the hologram, Rear Admiral Nelles pulled out. She could tell he wasn't lying about them being extragalactics. It explains so much, she thought to herself. It explains why according to the Jedi, they had no presence in the force, why they used seemingly antiquated modes of transport and weapons, and why they used what appeared to be a different FTL method.

Upon hearing the Rear Admirals' explanation, Palpatine's anxiety settled partly. Knowing that they were effectively trapped here with no way to get home, that calmed him, knowing that they couldn't get help if he decided to move against them and understand that this Covenant wouldn't also be a potential threat to his plans. This made them much easier to counter though they were still a mystery to Palpatine. Mysteries that needed to be solved if the plan were to continue smoothly.

Ahsoka, while shocked about the revelation, wasn't taken as surprised by it like the others in the room. Interacting with the UNSC personal and Marcus told her a great deal about them. Their lack of knowledge about basic things in the Galaxy led her to believe that they genuinely weren't from around here. The only shocking there was the degree to how much they weren't from here.

"I'm genuinely sorry to hear that lost in the vastness that is space. If you don't mind me asking, what're your plans going forward." Palpatine asked with a sorrowful expression.

"Right now, establish relations, set up shop somewhere and figure out where we are in the universe and attempt to find a way home," Charles replied quickly.

'This could be an excellent opportunity to learn more about their capabilities,' Palpatine thought to himself. 'All I have to do is offer up a few things that they'll need, and I'll have a force to help deal with the increased piracy that has been going on, and in return, more Jedi can be sent to the front to die in the war hopefully.'

"I have a proposal. You help us with anti-piracy operations, and in return, we give you resources and attempt to help you find a way home," Palpatine asked in his normal grandfatherly tone.

"We'll need time to consider the proposal, Chancellor," Charles replied.

"Of course, of course, take all the time you need. Agreements like these are not to be taken lightly. With that said, would there be anything else, perhaps an embassy here on Coursant?" Palpatine asked.

"For now, I think we can at least agree to an embassy being established," Charles replied with a smile.

"Excellent. We should have a suite available for use as an embassy. Senators, I think you know the one I'm talking about. Would you mind taking our guests there?" Palpatine asked the three senators.

"Of course, Chancellor." Bail replied as he started

27th June 2535

Senate Executive building

"That went better than I expected," Charles stated as he followed the Republic senators.

"I agree, Rear Admiral. However, I suspect he isn't giving us the room out of the kindness of his heart. I suspect he wants to spy on us as much as we want to spy on him. It shall be interesting to see who plays the game better, Palpatine or me? I hope he'll be a challenge," Gaberial said with a gleeful smile. "Brisko, I want you and your men to start getting us set up here. It looks like some of your men shall be playing the role of ambassadors. Your men up to the task?" Gabriel asked with a sly smile.

"They're more than up for the task. Hell, this will be child's play compared to the Covenant," Brisko replied with a grin.

Seeing the Senators head into an office-looking suite, Charles said, "I take this is the room the Chancellor was talking about." He asked.

"If you need help with furnishing it feel free to contact any of us," Padmé said as she started to make her way to the door.

Coruscant 20 BBY

Senate Executive building

"They're certainly a people full of surprises, aren't they?" Mon Mothma asked her two colleagues.

"That they are. I assume you were also expecting them to be like Mandalorines of old. Proudly militaristic and not caring too much about diplomacy. While they were military men, I was surprised at how diplomatic they were," Bail replied. "To think that they're extragalactics too. It's still something that I have difficulty wrapping my mind around." Bail continued.

"I know, but they have a fair bit of evidence to support their claim and the report from Masters Plo, Skywalker and Padawan Tano, their lack of knowledge of things that are commonplace, and their different galaxy map all point to that conclusion," Padmé replied. No matter what decision the Chancellor says, I'm still going to try and see if there's a way to help them find a way home. Padmé continued as a smile formed.

"Are you sure that's the wisest idea, Padmé? If what the UNSC told is true, then they're dealing with a far more dangerous foe than the Separatists ever could be," Bail replied. I'm not saying that we shouldn't help them, but we should be cautious about doing so, especially if we're going behind the Chancellors back in doing so." He continued as he noticed a slightly defeated look in Padmé. There is something that disturbs me, though. It's how young their Rear Admiral looked. To me, he looked a little too young for his rank. If I had to guess, I'd say he's around thirty. Provided they don't have anything that could slow ageing down. If he is that young, then the war that they're fighting isn't going well." Bail finished.

"Yes, I noticed that too, and it is concerning if people his age are getting to such a high rank. Either he is highly skilled, or they need bodies to fill the ranks." Mon Mothma said

"All the more reason to be careful when helping them find their way home," Bai replied.

Chancellor's Office

Palpatine was quite pleased with how the initial meeting went. Though he didn't quite get what he wanted, he did learn a few things about his potential new adversary. 'I suppose them just having an embassy shall do for now,' He thought to himself.

"Strange beings they are. Yes?" Said the voice of Master Yoda.

"Indeed, they are Master Jedi. They are also quite worrisome. This war that they're engaged with this Covenant could be problematic if we help them get home as we could be dragged into it. I don't need to tell you that we can't deal with a two-front war. The war with the Separatists is already taxing enough on The Republic getting involved with the war the UNSC is in will break it." Palpatine replied.

"While I hate to agree with the Chancellor, he is right about this. We must be careful with the UNSC, or we could be dragged into their war," replied Mace Windu. Chancellor, if you'll excuse us. There is much for us to discuss at the temple. Mace continued.

"Of course, Master Jedi, I understand. These outsiders leave us a tremendous number of questions," Palpatine replied as the Jedi started to make their way out of his office.

'The UNSCs war with the Covenant provides an excellent opportunity to eliminate the Jedi if the Clone War isn't able to.' Palpatine thought to himself. Pressing a button on his desk, the hologram of his closest advisor Mas Amedda soon appeared.

"Yes, your excellency?" Mas asked.

"Mas, I'm going to need you to divert some resources to looking into and spying on the UNSC. They've already accepted my offer of establishing an embassy here on Coursant." Palpatine ordered.

"Of course, your excellency, I'll see what can be done," Mas replied before ending the call.

Getting up from his desk Palpatine walked over to his private office. He proceeded to dress into his cloak and approached a console; he typed in a few commands and waited till a hologram appeared.

A.N

Sorry for the wait for this chapter. I found this a little difficult to write and I think I was starting to feel a little burnt out. Now the UNSC has a foothold ONI can start having some fun. ONI Palpatine shadow war anyone?

review replies

Qrs-jg ONI/UNSC forces will look into retrofitting their ships with some star wars tech but whether or not that goes anywhere I can't say.

SilverExcell115 If I do use Rhinos they won't be the Plasma-based ones as they were extremely costly to use and at the time were sorta a dead end. Normal ballistic ones could be seen or I might use Kodiaks as they were war era vehicles.

Rember to leave a review as the feedback helps me