Inside the Senate Dome, hundreds of system politicians milled about and yelled panic at each other. Some watched the tiny vids at their stations to watch hints of the battle outside. It was impossible to tell which side was winning from scattered reports. All they knew was that the battle raged on, as much on the Coruscant surface as the local space beyond. They were all still trapped inside the building, but most realized this was probably the safest place on the planet and many returned to their assigned seats.
Safe, that is, until the Chancellor's Spire shot up through the central throat of the well, now with Darth Tovecus in command and two Red Guards holding Grand Moff Jakobi at bay behind him with stun staves.
(Some noticed that one Red Guard was significantly shorter than the other, but no one thought to wonder why.)
Conversation sputtered to a near silence as the helmeted Dark Lord looked around at them like he was seeing all these people for the first time. He seemed angry at their defiance. Newsnet seekers spun to capture this new development and angled closer for a better cap. The shorter Red Guard stepped up beside Darth Tovecus like an aide and switched on the open channel. The man's heavy breathing sprayed through every speaker in the room as he glared through his visor at them all.
He spoke haltingly, but loud and powerful. "My name . . . is Darth Tovecus!"
The words echoed through every speaker in the giant room. It repeated through every vid cap of every Newsnet. It echoed through every channel on the Imperial network. And it silenced all attack commands on every channel in the Alliance.
"And I . . . hereby . . . claim the throne . . . of Emperor!"
Jakobi tried to shout but he only gripped his throat in pain. Some politicians shouted from their stations, but their mikes were muted by the Chancellor's command console. Most sat stunned by a new fear of this development.
Throughout the battle, Moffs exchanged glances of alarm with Admirals. Generals exchanged looks of confusion with Captains. Mon Calamari began to grin at Wookiees. Stormtroopers paused for new orders. X-Wings stopped firing to listen.
Now standing in the giant circular lobby, surrounded with a political crew of Alliance ambassadors and a full complement of General Madine's top troops, Mon Mothma and Leia listened and waited.
Inside the Senate atop the spire, the Dark Lord seemed unsteady. His body waved like he was drunk, but his voice was powerful enough to take heed. "And . . . as your Emperor . . . I command . . . all troops. . . ." His voice began to die. "Cease fire."
A galactic pause. Did they hear him right?
Fumbling, Darth Tovecus raised his hands and took off his helmet. It was him! The one they tested! The one with royal Kenobi blood. His brown hair a mess from the helmet. His face contorted with surprise, or confusion, or from dizziness, but his angry order came back with strength. Nik's lips twitched. He shouted out as loud as his lungs could carry it. "Cease Fire!"
Nik's lungs were pretty damn loud already, but the short Red Guard beside him cranked up the volume of his open channel until they could almost hear her murmuring too, "again."
"Cease Fire!"
The voice carried through the airwaves and shot out through the speakers of every Imperial ship in the vicinity.
"Cease Fire!"
In the momentary pause of TIE pilots second-guessing the order, Alliance fighters locked on and blew them out of the sky.
"Cease Fire!"
Blast shots from troopers and ships alike dribbled to a stop, rippling out over space. Some ships continued to defend themselves, and others ignored the order entirely.
"Cease Fire!"
The order erupted from all comm-stations of Star Destroyers. Though Imperial Admirals and Captains knew it was subterfuge, they watched in stiff silence as the number one weakness of an autocracy stopped the Empire in its tracks.
One command from the Emperor. That's all it took. Most of the honor-bound, patriotic, and brainwashed Imperial Forces didn't blink to follow it, regardless of their lack of understanding of what was really happening. Localized shouts ordered the firing to commence but had no influence to override a command from the Emperor.
Admiral Ackbar turned his head and shouted the same into his own mike. "Cease fire!"
A-wings pulled away from targets.
Madine eyed the ground troops, paused in their shots, and shouted the same into his comm. "Cease fire!" As soon as they stopped, new shots fired back at them.
Alliance troops took the chance to rush ahead with silent rifles and disarmed stormtroopers one by one. In other places, stormtroopers did the same to the invading rebel scum.
Sikey echoed the command to spread throughout her cruiser. "Cease Fire!"
Star Destroyers listed silently in drift, staring dumbly down at Mon Calamari cruisers staring back at them.
The whole of Coruscant, civilians, Imperials, and Alliance alike, all paused for a breath of relief to realize they were no longer being shot at. Heads poked up to take advantage and knocked down opposing forces with non-fatal blows. Civilians peered around corners and tripped soldiers nearby on both sides of this mess. Skirmishes erupted where hand-to-hand combat launched into action, but most incidents were over as quickly as they began.
On thousands of vid screens, Wubak put her finger to listen in her ear, ensuring what she heard, and interrupted the other reporter, "Emperor Tovecus has called for a galaxy-wide Cease Fire."
In the breathless shock now silencing the hundreds inside the Senate Dome, Jakobi whispered harshly at the Red Guard towering him. "To replace the Empire with an Emperor of your own." He almost grinned. "Won't work."
"Wait until you see what our Emperor is going to do," Luke murmured back from inside the red helmet.
Darth Tovecus was already speaking again, the command and certainty in his voice growing stronger. "Command . . . and representatives . . . are hereby ordered . . . to report to the Senate Dome."
Nik blinked down and back up again. His consciousness was clearly strengthening in his mind, but he was confused. He looked to the short Red Guard by his side and his voice accidently carried the question across every speaker. "Which ones?"
The Red Guard took off her helmet with a growing smile. "All of them."
Nik didn't understand, but he followed the command with fervor. "All of them! All Representatives! All Command! Are hereby ordered to report to the Senate Dome!"
Carefully, and with guard up to protect themselves, the few remaining politicians reps slunk around the Senate chambers to return to their assigned seats. Forcibly, and with ready guns to fire back, three Alliance troop transports pushed forward through the battle line and aimed to land on the planet. Defiantly, but without shooting at anything, Star Destroyers angled back towards the planet and dropped transports filled with military command to fight this tactic in person. Timidly, and with big smiles, Luke and Kess shed their Red Guard helmets and robes, tossed away blasters, and ignited their lightsabers.
Murmurs of confusion and alarm rolled throughout to witness this.
Kess reached in front of Nik to the controls spoke into his mike for him. "Please remain in your seats." She unlocked the outer doors, advertised by the snapping of door lights throughout the room.
A hundred doors opened at once. The lungs of government began to inhale more politicians and military command.
Luke and Kess watched from behind Nik's padded shoulders as Alliance Senators began cautiously stepping into the chamber as well, taking up any circular Senate station not already occupied by another group. Blasters remained at the ready, but every time someone twitched to fire, Kess ordered in a murmur, and Nik ordered again.
"CEASE FIRE!"
It took a few minutes, and skirmishes spiked up from time to time, but Luke and Kess kept Nik standing in command to shout out those same orders again and again, as often as needed. Luke pulled Jakobi up by the arm to stand at the port side of the Chancellor's spire and wait there. Kess stepped back with guarding blade at the starboard side. The chambers quickly crowded with new people, many shouting through the air to be heard beyond their muted microphones.
Grand Moffs and Imperial Admirals stormed in. One pulled a blaster to shoot directly at Nik, but Luke sucked it out of the distant man's palm and let it drop into the well below them.
Nik hardly flinched at it. "Have a seat."
Soon, all the Senate seats were occupied, and crowds more cluttered standing-room-only in the walkways behind them. Several Imperial officers took command of a Senate seat of their own and prepared to shout out arguments the moment Nik lifted the mute command from it all. Mom Mothma, with Leia at her flank, marched in through a mid-level door and politely asked the nearest system group to allow them use of their own.
Gray-uniformed Imperials lifted blasters across the open space. Green-clad rebels lifted rifles in warning of firing back.
Nik didn't need to be ordered to shout it again. "Cease fire!"
Luke saw that they were ready, and turned to Jakobi. He yanked the voice-cap from the Grand Moff's throat and tossed the thing overboard.
Kess reached over and typed in the release of Mon Mothma's new Senate seat so the Chief Commander could fly her and her team across the air toward the spire. Imperials shouted at their muted mikes until Kess reached over to the console and released them too.
Surprised, the Imperials shut up. Angry, they flew across the space as if racing the other side from arriving at the spire first. But the two boats arrived almost at the same time, securing on either side of the spire to disembark on the Chancellor's stamen, face to face with one another.
Back to back with Kess, Luke held his green blade in warning at Jakobi and the Imperials. Kess kept her amber blade in symbolic warning at Mon Mothma and the Alliance team. Then Kess nudged Nik a step away from the console to unblock his body from the Chancellor's mike to allow all to watch and hear.
The Jedi were finally able to do what Jedi were supposed to do: facilitate safe mediation.
Mon Mothma took one slight step forward beside the opposite shoulder of the Jedi woman standing guard beside her, and faced Grand Moff Jakobi with a calm strength. Jakobi strolled a cocky step forward, eyeing Luke to ensure he wasn't about to be sliced as soon as he was within reach, and lifted his chin to stare back at Mon Mothma with distaste. Their voices carried everywhere as more and more distant channels switched over to watch and hear.
Jakobi demanded with strength. "The Empire has no intention of surrender!"
Mon Mothma's voice was normal. "No one asked you to surrender." She angled her head. "I would simply like to call a vote."
"A vote?" Jakobi grimaced with disgust. "We're at war!"
Mon Mothma lifted her chin. "I propose a vote to continue this Cease Fire. Allow all parties to tend safely to their wounded. And request all representatives return to these Chambers at Zero Eight Hundred tomorrow to commence non-violent negotiations."
In the pregnant pause, the Admiral's eyes flicked to the Emperor, now half-turned from the console to watch all this, and realized his puppet leader would be of no help.
Nik shattered the silence when he shot his hand into the air. "Aye."
The building erupted in noise. Representatives shot to their feet and shouted anew. Fists waved in the air. Muted by the Chancellor's console, the hundreds of people crowding the chambers cupped palms and fins and claws around their speaking mouths and found themselves hollering in a repeated chant.
"Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye!. . . .
Leia couldn't help to grin out at it all.
Kess glanced around with delighted surprise at the echoing chant.
An Imperial Admiral looked around the room and murmured. "This is ludicrous."
The Alliance Chief Commander lifted her hand across the space and offered handshake at Grand Moff Jakobi.
Luke lowered his guarding green blade and stepped out of the man's way.
The audience continued to chant, "Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye!. . . .
Kess moved her lightsaber further afar from the Alliance and stepped closer behind Nik's shoulder.
The Admiral gazed over the insurrection in the room, looked at Mon Mothma, and raised his hand to shake back. "Tomorrow," he threatened.
"Tomorrow," Mon Mothma agreed with a nod. They both turned away.
Every individual in the Senate Dome launched to their feet and began shouting demands and fears and victory and insults. The collection atop the Chancellor's spire to disembarked to their separate lifts and floated away farther, leaving only three people to remain at the Chancellor's command console.
More lucid now, Nik slapped down to mute his mike and murmured at his shoulder to Kess. His chin gestured to the departing Alliance crew. "Shouldn't we go with them?"
"No." Kess shook her head, still in awe of the empowered politicians around them. "We're neutral." She looked her brother in the eye. "The Jedi are neutral."
As soon as both hovercraft banked away, Luke reached over to the console, and initiated the spire to shrink back down into the well.
Throughout the galaxy, eyes glued to vid screens in open-mouthed shock of Wubak's live report, and even she was half-turned in her chair to watch the vidcap feed of the Chancellor's Spire as all this went down.
"This is an historic day. Grand Moff Jakobi and Chief Commander Mon Mothma have shaken hands to hold the cease fire. The Alliance and the Empire agreed to return tomorrow and begin peace talks in open forum."
Famous for her calm demeanor and leveled reporting, even the blue-faced news anchor smiled in awe as she turned to the camera with honest amazement. "Ladies and gentlemen, we may have just witness the first real step towards the end of this war."