Time went by as the three nonchalantly discussed any topic they could bring up. The limo finally stopped in front of the emperor's home and Zeos opened the door, not giving the chance for the chauffeur. Ahsoka and Anakin walked out behind him and their view of Zeos' house was almost as though they were on a new planet. His house was on top of a beautiful, green hill with red flowers growing down the hillside. They walked up the cobblestone stairs and saw his enormous, three story home; four stories if you count the two side towers. The front door was covered by a long, column archway. The rooms inside had to be huge; the side garage alone looked big enough to load an entire ARC-170 starfighter. They entered the house to see that the front room had shined white tile floors and ruby red walls. The front stairs also were white tiles and iron bars to the sides. "Darling!" yelled a woman at the top of the staircase.
"Jenna!" shouted Zeos. He opened his arms and Jenna, still at the top of the stairs, jumped right into his arms. Seeing that, Ahsoka jokingly thought, Is everyone here strong in the force? Jenna wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him with passion. Anakin thought it was a little too much passion and quickly covered Ahsoka's eyes. She immediately removed the censor and gave her master an I'm old enough! Look.
"J-Jenna," Zeos tried to say through his Fiancée's lips all over his mouth. "Jen-Jenna, we have company." She opened her eyes to see the two guests. Her eyes soon widened seeing them, obviously surprised to see Ahsoka. Jenna jumped off Zeos and began to straighten herself out. She was wearing tight black leather pants with a dark red silk belly shirt. Ahsoka looked at Zeos and Jenna; not only did they look like complete opposites, she looked over twenty!
"I'm…sorry," Jenna began, "I wasn't expecting guests. I'm Jenna."
Anakin shook her hand and responded. "I'm Anakin Skywalker. This is Ahsoka Tano." Jenna bowed to both of them. "Well, I hope you two are hungry. Dinner is all ready."
"What's on the menu?" Zeos asked.
"Roasted duck basted in white wine, caviar as a side, and Chardonnay."
"Sounds delicious-" Suddenly, a ring was heard throughout the room. Anakin and Ahsoka confusingly looked around for the source. Zeos pulled out a small electrical device from one of his pockets.
"Hello?" Zeos asked in the small device, "Alexander, good to hear from you. I'm sorry; I'm going to have to take this." It was then that Ahsoka and Anakin realized it was some sort of communication device.
Zeos walked into another room while his fiancée was left alone with the two strangers. Zeos continued his talk on the cell phone; "so, what's on your mind?"
"What's on my mind? We were just attacked by a spaceship and the board is demanding your appearance."
Zeos became more serious. "Last time I checked the board doesn't demand anything from me."
"This is serious, my Lord. We just shot down a spaceship, sent 50 of those survivors to a prison, and apparently you've found a red skinned alien girl."
"I see your point Alex, but I'm about to have dinner."
"D-Dinner? This could lead to war and you're talking about dinner?"
"It's not going to and I don't like your tone right now."
"Well excuse me for worrying about Eutopus while you lounge around and-"
"Shut your fucking trap, Alex! I am the God damn Emperor and you will show me more respect. I have been freaked out for two fucking days, NOT LOUNGING AROUND!"
Zeos heard Alexander taking a deep sigh. "Fine, fine; I'm sorry my lord. But it is clear that the board is worried and we should discuss this immediately."
Zeos took a moment to think. Whenever the board called him, it meant they were very worried. He had no choice but to leave now. "Very well then, I'll leave now." He hanged up the cell phone and made a 180 turn to his exit, unfortunately, Jenna, Ahsoka, and Anakin was right behind him. "You came in when I started yelling, didn't you?"
All three nodded their heads. "You have to leave so soon?" Jenna asked, wrapping her arms around Zeos' neck, "you just came home."
"I know; I'm sorry, Jenna. But this seems fair after 'they' arrived," he said, gesturing to the two jedi.
"I guess we're leaving again?" Ahsoka asked.
"Actually, you two can still stay here."
"What. Why?" Jenna questioned.
"Jenna, you should know by now that a world board meeting must only hold the secretaries as well as the Emperor. Besides, I couldn't bear the thought of you eating alone." Jenna hummed in delight and gave Zeos a thank you kiss. Ahsoka couldn't help but roll her eyes at the scene; this romance is coming from the same guy who I was afraid of? she asked herself.
Zeos wrapped one arm around his lady. "You guys are gonna be okay here, right? We have a guest room right next to ours with two beds."
"What about the rest of my men?" Anakin asked.
"Well Anakin, it's only been a few hours after I knew you were not hostile, but I'll make sure the other survivors will have a proper living facility."
"Thank you."
"Okay, anything else? Nope? Alright, see ya, babe." Zeos gave his wife one final kiss Zeos walked by the two Jedi, accidentally bumping into Ahsoka's arm. That one bump suddenly sent a surge of thoughts to her mind. All she could see was fire, Zeos stabbing a man, Zeos spinning around cutting two more men, and the glow of a black lightsaber off a scowl-faced Zeos. The thoughts rushed through her head in less than half a second.
"Sorry, Ahsoka," Zeos said as he walked out a hallway. Ahsoka looked back; she knew those were memories, dark memories from Zeos. She was having such an interesting time, she nearly forgot her dream. Her warm skin turned cold after seeing her dream become a reality.
"Is everything all right?" Jenna asked. Ahsoka realized she was staring down the same hallway even though Zeos just left. She turned to face Jenna. "Y-Yes, I was just...umm…"
"I understand," Jenna interrupted, "his skin's like ice. I don't know why."
"Right," Ahsoka said, agreeing to her statement.
"Well, let me show you to the dining room." The three began to walk out, but Ahsoka soon grabbed Anakin's arm. Anakin looked back, seeing a frightened youngling. The two quietly stayed in the room as Jenna continued to walk out.
"Is something wrong, Ahsoka," Anakin asked. Ahsoka immediately poured her thoughts out. "Master, I know this planet."
"You've been here before?"
"No, it was from my dream. The planet, the people, the creatures, everything. It was all from my dream, even Zeos I think. And just now, I just saw these visions after he bumped me. Dark visions of Zeos…killing." Fear could soon be heard from her voice, "Master, I don't know what to do. I feel nervous, afraid even-"
"Hey, hey Ahsoka, stay calm. Right now, we should keep this to ourselves. We'll contact the Jedi Temple after dinner."
"But what about-"
"It's all right. For now, they trust us, so there's no reason to be nervous." Ahsoka don't like it, but she nodded in agreement.
Zeos skimmed through the traffic on his street bike; there was a police escort, but they lost him the moment they were half a kilo away from his house. Zeos probably wasn't the fastest, but he always loved the adrenaline rushing speed on a bike. He tried to keep a level head, though; there was obviously going to be reporters right outside the tower and he needed calm mind. He was nearly there after he entered the underground tunnel. When the tunnel ended, there were dozens of vans right outside of the entrance. He let out a stressful sigh, "This is going to be a long night."
He noticed the police escort that he lost and parked next to them. After cracking a few jokes about Zeos being too fast for them, they walked through the news crews, getting bombarded by flashes and questions. Zeos made it to a podium and paused until the crowd calmed down.
The crowd stood quiet and Zeos spoke. "Thank you. At this time, I will gladly answer a few questions before the meeting." Hands immediately shot up. Zeos randomly picked one. "Yes, you."
"Emperor, is it true that our defense rings shot down something other than a meteor shower?"
"Yes, that is true. What was really shot down was an alien spacecraft." The crowd grew restless as more hands shot up.
"Okay, another one. You sir?"
"Were there any survivors?"
"Yes; over 50 cloned soldiers, a man that appears to have high rank and a young girl-"
"Emperor!" A woman in the back interjected, "is this the same girl that was seen on your motorcycle earlier today?"
"I'm afraid I can't answer that. You didn't raise your hand." The crowd started to chuckle and the same woman simply smiled and raised her hand.
Zeos had a big, cheesy smile as he asked, "Yes?"
She repeated her question and Zeos replied to it. "Yes, it is the same girl. All right ladies and gentlemen, one more question." Hands were immediately shot up as people shouted, "Emperor Zeos! Emperor Zeos!"
"Uh, you sir."
"What is it that these aliens want?"
"Truth be told… This first contact was an accident." The crowd turned restless again. "They want nothing from us. The true question is: what do we want from them? And that is precisely what we will discuss in this meeting. Thank you." Zeos walked to the front doors and the press began shouting their on answered questions.
Zeos was going up to his office (some consider it his throne room) via elevator, as usual. When the doors opened, he was greeted by the six governmental secretaries; six of his personal clones, each helping the Emperor keep control over Eutopus.
To the right of Zeos' throne were the secretaries of military, technology, and economy. Alexander was, as usual, in his military uniform, medals and all. Isaac was holding his touch-screen info pad and wearing his usual blue jumpsuit and white lab coat. Lastly, Ethan stood in his over-expensive suit and fancy haircut; Zeos never liked money in politics, especially his politics, but he had to keep a watchful eye on the economy somehow.
If the right was considered Zeos' least favorite, the left was definitely his most favorite. The secretary of population Fredrick, secretary of agriculture Diath, and the secretary of Culture Osyrith. Fredrick was dressed casually as usual. Diath looked ready to go back to work on the farms. Osyrith was by far dressed the most relaxed; his long hair and beard along with his dark grey robe and brown sandals. Each secretary was made so that Zeos was never overwhelmed.
As Zeos entered the room, all six clones stood from their seats and saluted.
"At ease," Zeos said to them. He took his seat in front. "Okay people, this is an emergency meeting so I'm gonna cut the details and get straight to business. We have made first contact with an alien species."
"And we need to know what the hell they want," Alexander said.
"Easy now, General," Osyrith inserted, "the Emperor said that this contact was an accident."
"Thank you, Osyrith. But there's more to it; their ship was a war vessel. It seems our planet is in a much larger galaxy, and it in the middle of a war." The room grew reckless and Zeos could sense everyone was nervous. It was Fredrick who finally broke the silence, "They want us to join them, don't they?"
"They want to know our diplomatic standpoint." Zeos rose from his seat; he constantly does this when he's anxious during a meeting. As he walked around, he spoke. "It seems any planet could join their Republic, oppose themand ally with the separatists, or claim neutrality."
"If I may interrupt, my Lord," Ethan said, "Did you just say, 'Republic?' As in a galactic government?"
"You're correct, Ethan."
"Then who are these separatists?" Alex asked.
"Apparently, they are known as the Confederacy for Independent Systems. They believe the Republic has become too corrupt to fix so they must start anew."
"So, what should we do?" Fredrick asked.
"I say join either side; war profiteering could benefit Eutopus."
"Normally I agree on war, but do we have enough firepower or even space capable ships?"
"That is not a problem. My personal science teams have plenty of space travel technology blueprints."
"I highly doubt our citizens will agree on military preparations. We should claim neutrality."
"I don't think that's wise. There are infinite possibilities out there; neutrality could keep us back in darkness."
"Well what do you think, Emperor?" The secretaries ended their debate and stared at Zeos, waiting for his answer. Zeos was leaning against a window, looking down to city while listening to the debate. As he stares, he responds. "Neutrality was out of the question the moment this meeting started. The biggest choice is Republic or Separatist, both sides we don't understand enough."
The room grew quiet; the only noise heard were Zeos' fingers drumming on the glass. Suddenly, an idea came to Alexander. "Emperor," he exclaimed. Zeos turned around and faced his secretary of military. "We know nothing of them, but they also know nothing of us."
Everyone grew wide-eyed, Zeos included; they all knew exactly what Alex meant. An ancient diplomatic movement that hasn't been used in millenniums. It was perfect for this situation. Zeos spoke its name, "The Assimilation Program."
Well, chapter 8 is finally done. Man I'm so happy; I got the new Dragon naturally speaking tool for Christmas. I've been writing a lot faster than I have before, so unfortunately my only excuse for this taking so long is simply because I was lazy. What? I'm the kid with a short attention span – OH LOOK, A BEE! But don't worry; I have a lot of plans for this fan fiction. I'm not quitting yet; matter-of-fact, I might never quit this so long as my readers keep reading and reviewing. I'd also like to add that the board meeting debate doesn't have the names of the people talking; this is for two reasons. 1) These are Zeos' clones so it's basically him talking to himself and 2) It was too much of a damn hassle. Also, many of you might start wondering when this takes place in the Star Wars universe. Honestly, I'm waiting until I see the season finale, or the series finale, of Star Wars the clone wars. Right now, I'm thinking it should start just before Ahsoka gets her costume changed. Well, that's it; don't forget to post a review, and please no insults or rude remarks about Jenna… On second thought, yeah go ahead talk shit about her :)