[b]Brace yourself. Long post is long due to GM stuff occurring.[/b] The fury of the flame burned in the senate chamber. Palpatine merely stood, while he initially had thought to corrupt the power and use it for himself that plan had soon fallen short when the Ori had changed him. The mind that once plotted the downfall of the Jedi now had strings attached as they orchestrated every move. While he still retained his personality and his thought patterns he knew that he would never be able to oppose them even when he had the power he sought. He looked around the senate chamber as the fires burned, several people screamed from the pain trying to run only to walk into the closed bulkheads or fall from their platforms onto the ones below. He could faintly see Mon Mothma burn, his long term political enemy he should relish at the image however only a small part of him did not. Others in the room changed, he could see it. As their skin too became pale in complexion and markings. The last words he would ever utter without the control of the Ori escaped his lips. In a moment of clarity that he had not had in many many years since the Dark Side first touched him. [i]"What have I done?[/i] Palpatine, the one who would have brought the Galaxy under one ruler for the first time since the Rakatan Empire of old. Whom possessed military might capable of destroying anyone who might oppose him. Ceased too be as the Ori altered his mind even more than it already was. He was now the Doci. --- [b]Shuttle Absolution - On approach to EDFS Andromeda[/b] The wings of the shuttle folded up as the landing struts extended and the vessel touched down in the hanger. The two V-wings that had been escorting it veered off and returned back to the local Venator. The drives powered down and the ramp hissed and lowered down to the ground. Clone Troopers in white armour with grey markings on their shoulder pads came out shoulder to shoulder down the ramp taking formation at either side of the ramp. Numbering ten, an officer in an Imperial Uniform walked down the ramp. Several more troopers followed him down the ramp as did a protocol droid, so far they had been speaking English but there was no telling what else they might try to say in foreign tongues. It was always good to know what your foreign counterparts were saying. He stood halfway down the lines of troopers, searching for the officer in charge and then looking at him. "As a representative of the Galactic Empire I am here to inspect your vessel for war criminals and offer aid as necessary. After this point a diplomatic missionary will be sent aboard to welcome you to the Empire." --- [b]Shuttle Exodus - Approaching Prospero[/b] It was more or less the exact same routine, however this time it was not a mere Officer who moved down the ramp but the former Jedi turned Sith Apprentice Anakin Skywalker who descended the ramp, troopers of the 501st standing at either side and behind him. His black cape following him as he did so. He had not yet been turned, and his anger radiated out of him. He should have been on his way to Mustafar to kill the Separatist leaders by this point and instead he was dealing with these ships that had appeared out of nowhere. Now he needed to act with the whole, pomp and ceremony thing. "In the name of the Emperor I would speak with your commander." --- [b]Shuttle Tempest - Approaching UNSC Icarus[/b] Once more the shuttle approached, while they had been ordered not to approach Venators had established an orbit around it in order to get a good line of fire if necessary without actually having to move in close. Once again the shuttle approached, once more it landed and once more troops walked out. Again it was an Imperial Officer who walked forth flanked by troopers. He surveyed his surroundings and the soldiers who wore full body armour much like their own. "In the name of the Emperor I have been tasked to search your ship for enemies of the state. We will render medical and technical aid if necessary and once the search is complete we will be willing to send over a diplomatic envoy to welcome you to the Empire." --- [b]Harbringer - Bridge[/b] One of the Blades, Swift, entered the bridge. He had been tasked on keeping the Queen informed on what was going on. "Commander, the Queen is still afflicted from whatever means of travel brought us here. She has told you to act as you will however she expects us to kull in the next week.""Understood." He felt the irritation from the hive as another mind tried to merge with its, however before Quicksilver got a chance to react to it the Hive itself had kicked out the intruder. He sent a mental message to the hive [i]Find him[/i] before bringing himself back to the bridge. "Recall the darts. Have Ember greet the diplomatic envoy, tell him to use stun sticks and to take them to holding cells." He mentally shuddered at the next thought though keeping it hidden from the telepathic link. The Hive however directly connected sent a brief thought, that if it had been a Wraith or human would have looked like a puzzled face. There may be coming the time when they would have to associate themselves with non-wraith. One of these vessels would eventually contact them as they would have the same report he did on front of him that these ships had a strange unique radiation signature on their hull as did his. Until then they had other things to do, to get ready and find the source of the would be infiltrator. The Hive prodded him towards the sensor screen and he accepted it, one of the ships highlighted and he pulled it up on one of the correlating screens on the bridge. "Open communications with this ship. We may have to associate ourselves with some of these beings until we have time to grow hives to destroy them. The Queen will not align with this Empire." He waited until he had conformation, whether they could see the [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/dasNdanger/JeanLuc.jpg]bald wraith[/url] was not his concern. "I speak on behalf of my Queen and her Hive-" While he had cared for it since he had been moved from one of its cruisers and had been charged with awakening it it was still technically hers. "-I warn you the Hive will not tolerate intrusions into its mind and nor will I. We do not wish to fight-" He avoided saying peace. "-Our hull like yours is emitting a strange radiation indicating you are in the same position. However be warned, if you attempt to blend with this vessel again. I will personally crush its mind." --- [b]Harbringer - Hanger[/b] Ember stood there, he didn't like not being in his battle gear however he was supposed to look [i]diplomatic[/i] currently as the vessel landing in the middle of the walkway, obviously thinking it was in fact a berth. He waited until the soldiers walked down out of the ship, followed by a human who declared they would search the ship. He walked up, in the most non-threatening way a Wraith could manage and let two yellow poles slip out of his sleeves. He brought them up before him and joined them, a pulse wave moved out for several metres before collapsing. He sent a message over the link to the Drones behind the door, and they then came into the room. Disarming the men and dragging them away. He turned. "Make sure to remove their armour when you arrive at a cell." Whatever armour they had was ineffective anyway, it obviously did not protect them against electrical currents which was most interesting. [hider=OOC] Clone/Stormtrooper armour in fact does sweet FA against stun attacks. No idea why from what I've read it is basically an advanced Kevlar variant. Unlike say Spartan or ODST armour it has no countermeasures against my stun weapons. I presume W40k could withstand it for a bit due to the thickness of their armour.[/hider]