A Candidate Shall Rise

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

Q'arnn sat at the elaborately carved coral chair that matched his intricately carved coral desk, both made from coral reefs found on Dac, browsing over the files on his desk. He scratched at the tentacles on his chin nervously, and gave his files another quick once over and raised his head to look at his bodyguard. Q'arnn gave him a curt nod, and rose to his feet, leaving his office and headed down the Senate hallway. Tioshh'kk followed closely behind, as the Quarren senator weaved in and out of the pedestrian traffic in the senate building, heading for the Grand Convocation Center.

Q'arnn went over the speech in his head over and over again. He had decided last night that he would give it in Basic, it would impress the other Senators more, and would make sure most were listening. He had been waiting for this day for a long time, and he wasn't about to see it ruined by a bunch of inattentive senators tuning out his native language.

"Q'arrn!" a Trandoshan senator shouted excitedly upon spotting Q'arnn walking. He ran up next to Q'arnn and slowed to a walk when he had caught up with him saying, "Today is the big day, you ready?"

"Born ready Toshk," Q'arnn said with an air of confidence.

The Trandoshan cracked a smile and said, "That's my boy! Now don't forget to put in the part about the enemies spying us from the shadows. That will put some fear in those senator's hearts, and that will play in our favour. No one else is going to take such a strong stance on defense, and if you can sell the need for strong defense you're a shoo-in."

Q'arnn chuckled, "I don't know if this is going to come down to a shoo-in, but it will definitely help our chances. I've got to run, but I'll see you in the Chamber Toshk."

"Of course senator. Happy Hunting."

---

In the chamber, Q'arnn sat on the pod designated for the planet of Dac, along with his Mon Calimarian aide whose name he could never remember, awaiting the arrival of the Supreme Chancellor, which would signify the commencement of the Senate meeting. Q'arnn could feel the energy in the room, and he excitedly fed off it, eager for the meeting to start.

Finally, at long wait, the spire in the middle of the room began to rise, carrying the Chancellor from his holding room and thrusting him slowly into the middle of the Grand Chamber. Chancellor Tarnas Valorum looked around the room, and after the Vice Chair announced the Senate in session, said into his microphone, "We call this session of the Republic Senate into order, for the purpose of naming the candidates who will compete to be named my replacement. I ask for those parties interested to send their pods forward to the floor now, and we will allow two minutes time for the candidates to give a speech to announce their candidacy and the platform they are running on."

Q'arnn hit the controls on his pod, sending the Dac pod floating upwards, along with the pods of about six other candidates also naming their candidacy. Q'arnn tried to give a quick survey of his competition, but could not really make out any of the faces, so he decided to wait until the Chancellor recognized them to figure out who each one was.

"Very well," Chancellor Valorum said, "The chair recognizes the Senator from Dac. Senator Del-Qota, the floor is yours. Do you wish to announce your candidacy for Chancellorship?"

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

Q'arnn Del-Qota stood on his platform in the Grand Convocation Center, surrounded by his thousands of peers. He cleared his throat and began to speak into his microphone.

"For too long the Republic has ignored the signs of threats to its very existence looming in the dark corners of space," Q'arrn said in Galactic Basic, a rare feat for his species. "Tales tell of mysterious disappearances of spacers on Outer-Rim runs, and the Hutts have grown more aggressive with each passing day. All around us are signs of earthquakes threatening to rock the solid foundation on which this Republic is built, and under this Chancellorship nothing has been done to prevent it. It is time we invest in our future and invest in defending our democratic society by investing in a leader who has the courage and the knowledge to do what it takes to assure the safety of the Republic. I even have sources in the Jedi Temple that tell me they feel darkness looming, and that the time to arm ourselves may be drawing dangerously near, and it is time for a war-time chancellor. I pray you all realize it before it is too late. So for the good of the Republic, I throw my hat in the ring and announce my candidacy for Supreme Chancellor, in hopes that a strong effort will be made to safeguard the values we hold dear: Freedom, Justice, and Equality. Thank you," he said, acknowledging the cheers from the crowd and returned to his senate float's seat.

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

Q'arnn listened for abit while the other senators in the hall cheered and chanted and Q'arnn couldn't help but feel good about his chances after hearing the positive reaction to his speech. He would still have a long way to go of course, but it was good to know that he was starting from a good position. It would make the work in the weeks to come much easier.

He sat for a while longer, as the Supreme Chancellor had to ask a few times to get someone willing to follow up Q'arnn's speech; he eventually got one and Q'arnn listened to a little of the man's speech with mild intrigue. After a few minutes however he got inexplicably restless, and after leaning in to his assistant on Dak's chair and requesting that he take se notes on his opponent's speech for him, he arose from his seat and turned and left the Convocation Center.

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

As he re-entered the hallway outside of the Convocation Center he was met by his bodyguard who had been waiting there for him while he was giving his speech.

When he saw Q'arnn he called out to him and said, "Sounded like it went pretty good," in his trademark fake-sounding enthusiasm, that only trained ears like Q'arnn's could recognize as authentic.

"Yeah it's off to a pretty good start, they ate up the bit about protecting the principles we hold dear. Are you hungry?" he asked holding his stomach as if trying to figure out if that was what was bothering him. "I'm really antsy for some reason and I think some greasy food from Dex's Diner might be just what I need."

His bodyguard considered it for a moment and then replied, "Yeah I could go for some Dex's. Tell you what? I'm buying, my way of congradulating you!"

Q'arnn smiled and held out a hand to suggest they head out. On their way out of the Senate building Q'arnn notice some strange looking shuttles landing on one of the exterior landing pads. Q'arnn squinted in the bright light of the Coruscant morning, light reflecting off of practically everything on the planet, as he tried to speculate what business such a large group would have in the Senate building. His stomach grumbled and he shrugged it off for now. I'll inquire about it when I get back, he thought, returning his mind to the greasy, satisfying plate of food he was about to enjoy.

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

About a half an hour later Q'arnn and Tioshh'kk had eaten their full at the Coco Town Diner, and the two of them were walking back through the bustling streets of Coruscant on their way back towards the Senate Building. From the very first day he had taken office as Mon Calimari's senator he had been going to Coco Town's as frequently as his arteries could afford, and it somehow never failed to please. The owner was even beginning to be able to recognize Q'arnn and usually would stop by his booth to say hello whenever he came in; he had done so today, cheerfully asking Q'arnn how the speech had gone. The uneasy feeling Q'arnn had felt earlier had completely dissipated, and was instead replaced with a warm feeling of simple bliss.

That feeling would not last long. As the two men got within a minute's walk from the Senate Hall, the appearance of something being wrong became more and more imminent. Smoke was rising from somewhere in the distant cityscape, and the faint smell of something burning filled the air. People were chaotically darting through the streets, tumbling over each other in a desperate attempt to return home to their loved ones. Concerned, Q'arnn began to pick up the pace, starting to jog and weave his way through the panicking commoners.

When he came up to the Senate building, two Coruscant Security Force lieutenants blocked the entrance. The CSF officers were fully equipped with riot-armor, light-repeating blasters, and what looked like stun-gas grenades on their belts. When Q'arnn and Tioshh'kk tried to enter the building they held their arms out to block them, and the senior-looking lieutenant (whose nametag read Perkins) said in a gruff tone, "Senate Building is on lock-down! There's been a catastrophe!"

Q'arnn's eyes widened in shock, he had just been in the building thirty minutes prior and everything had been fine! He wondered what could have possibly changed that in the short half hour he'd been gone. Clearing his throat, he said, "Please sir, I need to get in there! I'm a Republic Senator, I need to know what's going on!"

Now Lt. Perkins' eyes began to widen in shock and disbelief, and he exclaimed with mild excitement in his tone, "You're a Senator!?!"

"Yes, I am Senator Q'arnn Del-Qota! From Dac!" he exclaimed in desperation.

The CSF officer's facial expression quickly changed from shock to one of conviction, and he beckoned his hand towards the door and said, "Quickly then, you must come with me!" Lt. Perkins turned and opened the door into the Senate Hall, and with the other officer stepping aside Perkins began to lead Q'arnn and Tioshh'kk down the curiously deserted halls of the Senate Building. The only people Q'arnn could see in the building were uniformed CSF officers and a few Republic soldiers.

Q'arnn tried to imagine what could have possibly happened that would require his specific presence so urgently. Yes he was an imminent candidate for the Chancellorship, but the elections for that weren't for another couple of months, so it was unlikely that this had anything to do with that. Q'arnn was also the Chairman of the Senate Military Oversight Committee, but that wasn't the sort of group that would ever require his immediate attention with any degree of urgency. Any time the Senate Military Oversight Committee did anything it was debated about for hours beforehand, and usually polite memos were sent to each member's office giving them a week or so heads up for each meeting and/or action requiring their attention; it was a very slow process.

The only thing that Q'arnn could think would require his attention so urgently would be a critical issue on his home planet of Dac, but even that scenario didn't fit all the circumstances, as such a local issue would not keep the hundreds of other senators from their everyday duties, and an emergency on Dac would not cause the Chancellor to post two armored CSF guards outside of each doorway leading into the building. Q'arnn had to admit, he was stumped.

Q'arnn grew even more confused when he realized where Lt. Perkins was leading him towards, as Q'arnn slowly began to recognize the hallways and doorways leading up to the Supreme Chancellor's office. Q'arnn couldn't help but feel like a youngling being sent to the dean's office, and he shot a concerned glance back at Tioshh'kk who shrugged back at him in response. Whatever was going on here, Q'arnn sincerely hoped he wasn't about to be blamed for it; he didn't need legal issues like this ruining the good start in the campaign his speech had earned him.

Curiously enough however, when Perkins reached the door to the Chancellor's office and punched in the Security Override Key into the keypad by the door, allowing the door to whoosh open, Q'arnn was led into an office that was devoid of a Chancellor.

That is not to say it was empty however, as about fifty other souls crammed into the small office, and all of them eagerly, hopefully, looked toward Q'arnn as he entered the room. Q'arnn nodded, acknowledging their presence, before taking a seat on the floor and looking up to Lt. Perkins.

Perkins barked in that gruff tone of his, "Stay here, I'll be back to brief you all as soon as we've completed our sweep of the building." And then he was gone, the door shut and locked behind him.

[Lt Gallistra "Gale" Persianati]

Continued from Happy Birthday Lobo!!!

As Gale had blown through the Coruscant skylanes towards the Republic Fleet's space port, she'd had several near misses. Near being the key word, as she insisted. Commander Dubracy had hooked his comlink into the zephyr's speakers in order to allow them all to be briefed on the situation. Within a relatively short amount of time, they'd all gotten to the hangar and launched their repulsor equipped Z-95 Head Hunters out the bay doors. The rest of the Novas would be in the air momentarily.

"Alright Novas, this is Lobo." The commander spoke up. "We'll be covering a few jobs this evening. Securing Republic air space, looking for survivors at the temple, and Combusting fuel cells. Falling Stars, I want you to run fly overs on the Jedi Temple. Provide support and aerial recon to all recovery efforts, and make sure no Deep Core Dunderheads get the idea to go sightseeing over the place. Comets go and secure the main space port. It's probably over, but we want to stop any more trouble before it happens." There were a couple of crisp acknowledgments from the Comet, and Falling Star divisions of the Nova squadron.

"That leaves us, Sunbursts. Gale, Glamor, pick a spot and set your repulsors to steady. Guard the Senate building. The rest of us will fly patrol nearby."

Gale had other things in mind. Here she sat in one of the best craft ever made, and they were going to order her to hover on her repulsors? "Aww, Commander... Vhy can't I fly patrol?"

"Because it's funny to watch you try and sit still. Besides, if some nut job is going to rob me of a birthday celebration, I need something in compensation."

"But-"

"Remember, no fidgeting."

"...Yes Sir... Moving out." You could here the disappointment in her voice. This was going to be so boring. Sitting up in the air, guarding some building that looked like a giant mushroom. She hated mushrooms.

With resignation, she set up position just outside one of the windows of an upper floor. THE upper floor, actually. It was the chancellor's. Floating a ship didn't take any attention, so her mind was left to rove over the recent events. A bomb striking the jedi temple, A raid on the Senate. She wondered what kind of results it ended in. Word still hadn't filtered out on just exactly what had happened, but it sounded bad.

"Don't be so glum, Gallista. Sitting still ought to do ya some good." It was Glamor Boy speaking over the ship's comm, to her. "Besides, this gives us a chance to plan how we can get the Commander even better next time."

"I heard that, Boy. Cut the chatter. These Freqs are being used for official business. "

"Hmm... Yes Sir."

Gale didn't bother responding. There were times when Lobo demanded strict discipline, but frequently he let them goof off on the comms, as long as they stayed alert to their tasks. She did turn her ship slightly though to get a glance into the chancellor's office. There was a fair sized crowd inside, though she was floating too far out to make out any real details. She waved lazily at them, before turning her fighter back around again, and looking back at it's radar scopes.

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

Q'arnn was waiting for what seemed like forever and it seemed like everyone was staring at him the whole time; he even thought he saw a starfighter fly by and hover by the window to stare into the room. What is going on here,/ he thought frustrated, something really bad must have happened here. He couldn't help but wonder what that burning smell outside had been, had some sort of bomb gone off? His questions were all answered a moment later, when the door reopened and Lt. Perkins reopened the door and followed by two other uniformed CSF guards crossed the room over to where Q'arnn was sitting.

"You're the senator right?" he asked pointing to Q'arnn.

Q'arnn nodded in acknowledgment.

Perkins grunted, "Okay then. Here's the story. About thirty minutes ago a terrorist entered the Senate Convocation Center and shot the Mandalorian senator at point blank range. When he protested, the Supreme Chancellor was killed with what is presumed to have been Force-related powers, his body was found at the floor of the Senate Room."

"Wait, the Supreme Chancellor is-"

"Dead yes," Perkins said, interrupting Q'arnn's outburst of disbelief. "Then the terrorist proceeded to instruct the senators that he was seceding Mandalore from the Republic to create an Empire, and that any Senator who wished to spare his planet from destruction was to return home and inform their citizens of their defection."

"But of course no one left right," Q'arnn said, disgusted that anyone would even consider bargaining with a terrorist.

"Actually about a third of the senators left," Perkins corrected.

"A THIRD?" Q'arnn exclaimed.

"Yes a third, we have a CSF officer analyzing the security feed from today to determine which senators left and what systems they are from."

"Chuba, what happened to the rest of the senators?"

"Well anyone who didn't do as he instructed was rounded up by the traitorous Senate Guards that were with him and boarded onto the frigates that they arrived in."

Q'arnn's eyes widened, "So let me get this straight. Are you telling me that two thirds of the senate has been captured, and the other third defected to join this...empire?"

Perkins grimly nodded, "Yes sir, that exactly what I'm telling you. When the alarm was sounded at CSF station, we arrived on the scene and did everything we could, and we managed to secure the fifty Associate Planetary Representatives you share this room with, and kept them safe while we made sure the Senate Building was clean. We thought they were all that was left, until you showed up."

Q'arnn shook his head, trying to absorb everything that was being told to him. "Well we'll have to create an interim senate, to be able to run the Republic until we manage to rescue the Senators from their captors."

A Rodian Representative that was seated next to him nodded, he had been staring at him for a while now, and he started to say, "Yes, that's what we've all agreed on. But since you're the only official senator left you're the only one with the authority to do so."

Q'arnn now realized why he'd been stared at the whole time he was in the room. These Representatives were more like substitutes and assistants, filling in for their senators when they were otherwise occupied. Q'arnn being the only senator meant he would know what to do, and that they would all look to him for answers.

"Very well then," Q'arnn said standing up. "If officially hereby decree that every Representative in this room is granted henceforth the ranking of Interim Senator, until such a time that the Senators for your system are returned safely to the Republic. Now we can record your names and systems later, but the first order of business must be to nominate and elect a new Supreme Chancellor, at least an interim one. We will need leadership and the ability to-"

Q'arnn was interrupted by the Rodian next to him who stood up and said, "I, Navik Tan, interim senator of Rodia, hereby nominate Senator Q'arnn Del-Qota for the position of interim Supreme Chancellor."

Q'arnn was about to respond when a Twi'lek across the room stood up and said, "I, Dialla Von Happe, interim senator from Ryloth, hereby second the notion to nominate Q'arnn Del-Qota as interim Supreme Chancellor."

Q'arnn shocked at such an immediate decision, scanned the room to see fifty eager eyes staring him down. "Very well then, let us raise it to a vote. All in favor of nominating me the interim Supreme Chancellor," before he could even finish his statement, every person in the room raised their hands. "Very well then, it is unanimous. Thank you all, I promise you I will not let you down. Now, let's go about getting all your names down," he said walking over behind the Chancellor's desk, my desk he had to remind himself, and waving a gesture towards the interim senate signaling them to come to his desk and give them their names.

[Lt Gallistra "Gale" Persianati]

Gallistra's temporary devotion to her duties didn't last long. Frequently, she would sway the fighter craft just a bit further than it needed to go, in order to get a quick glance at what was going on inside the office. Who was that, sitting in the Chancellor's Chair. It sure wasn't the chancellor. He didn't look like a fish.

"Lobo, something odd's going on in the Office." She said over the comm.

"Sithspawn... Gallistra, get your eyes back on your scopes, where they belong."

"Commander, someone is sitting in the Chancellor's chair."

Lobo wanted to roll his eyes at this, but thought it over a minute longer. If someone was sitting in the chair, and it wasn't the chancellor.... Was the Chancellor incapacitated, or worse? That was big news. "... Cut the comms.... I'll get to the bottom of this after we've stabilized the situation." He was worried now. Just how bad had this raid been. All the Novas had been told was that their was a terrorist attack on the senate, and then kicked into the air. That hadn't settled well with him. The Jedi Temple's predicament is terrible enough. Why do we have to suffer this too. He thought to himself.

"Gallistra... stay on task, and keep your eyes peeled." The Commander's voice was hard. He hated being in the dark about things. He just hoped that the CSF had their end of things under control.

"...Yes Sir." Gallistra replied. She noticed the absence of the admonition to watch her scopes. He was indirectly telling her to go ahead and watch what was going on in the office. What were the events surrounding all this?

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

About ten minutes later Q'arnn had entered the names of all fifty-one senators entered into a document file saved to the Chancellor's desk computer. Q'arnn was finding it hard to believe that the Senate had been reduced from hundreds of senators to just the handful in the room before him. He had to keep reminding himself this was war, the first shots had been fired by the enemy and now the Republic had to do whatever was necessary to return life to normal. He had been expecting something like this, just not so soon.

Q'arnn cleared his throat and raised his hand, to signal to the interim senators that he wished to address them. The light chatter that had filled the room a second ago suddenly dissipated, and Q'arnn said, "Thank you. Now as my first act as Supreme Chancellor I name Navik Tan, representative from Rodia as my nomination for Vice Chair. The body will now vote to ratify this nomination," he said pausing to allow the senators to vote on his decision. Once again, every hand in the room rose ratifying Navik in a unanimous decision. Q'arnn had to admit, having fewer senators would come in handy in certain situations, it meant much faster decisions which is something he needed right now.

"Very good. Navik Tan, congratulations you are now the Vice Chair of the Galactic Senate," he extended a hand towards the Rodian and offered him a friendly handshake. "Right then, next order of business. Lt. Perkins!"

"Yes Your Excellency?" the CSF lieutenant said.

"I need two favors from you. First I need a holonet news feed in here, I would like to make a speech to the citizenry."

Perkins nodded and activated his comlink, "Adams, come in. This is Lieutenant Perkins."

Over the comlink there was a second of buzzing before, from the other end the man Adams replied, "This is Adams, go ahead Lieutenant."

"An Interim Supreme Chancellor was just elected a moment ago and he would like to make a speech over the holonet. Can you get a camera droid sent up to the Chancellor's officer please?"

"Absolutely, right away sir," Adams said before cutting the line dead.

Perkins nodded and looked back up to Q'arnn and said, "Adams should have that camera droid up here in a minute. What else did you need from me Your Excellency?"

Q'arnn responded by pointing at the Z-95 Headhunter that was floating outside the office window. "The fighters who have been flying aftershock patrol, what squadron do they belong to?"

Perkins eyes squinted as his eyes battled the sun to look at the fighter that Q'arnn was pointing to. "Well when the alarm was raised we called an emergency scrambling of Nova Squadron. If I remember correctly they are divided into three tactical groups, Comets, Sunbursts, and something else, I can't remember the third one. Judging from the markings on that particular HeadHunter I'd venture to guess that that particular one is a Sunburst, but that's just a guess."

Q'arnn nodded and said, "Very well, Lt. Perkins I would like an audience with Nova Squadron if you wouldn't mind. I have something I would like them to do for me."

"Right away Your Excellency," Perkins said, and turned to leave the office and go about summoning the squadron of fighters.

[Lt Gallistra "Gale" Persianati]

Gallistra sat in her fighter, still glancing back in the room occasionally. They were just sitting there. Why didn't they get up and do something important!? And why was the fish person in the Chancellor's chair?

Gallistra liked fish. Whenever she was around Delkar, or Lawman, as the squad called him, she felt... happy, and pleased, calm and excited all at once. Of course he had a nice personality anyway. Definitely the most polite of the Sunbursts, anyway. I should get him to take me to dinner sometime. Dinner, and peaceful company. Unlike other people like the Commander, or Glamor Boy, who always seemed to tease her... Of course, she teased them too. Quite mercilessly in fact. Maybe she could find a way to trick those two at the same time. Maybe she could-

Her musings were cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

"Nova Leader? This is CSF's Air Guard. Do you read me? Over."

There was a pause before Gale heard Lobo's voice answering. "I read you Air Guard. What's up?"

"We've been instructed to take over your duties, and direct you to land your squadron in Senate Hanger Bay 49. Lieutenant Adams will direct will direct you from there."

The comm static chattered, but there was a pause before She heard Lobo's voice "... Confirmed. Any idea what's going on, Air Guard?"

"Lieutenant Adams will tell you, Nova Leader."

"Hmm....Well, you heard Sunbursts. Let's go. Comets, Stars, Head on back and follow my flight feed. Docking Bay Oh-four-niner. Good luck, Air Guard."

Now they were getting somewhere. Gale allowed the CSF ships to take her place as she slipped away, and soon, there were twenty-four ships parked in the Senate bay, and twenty-four pilots gathered up around their Commander.

"What's going on up there? First we're scrambled on a moments noticed, next we're grounded. I wish they'd make up their dang minds." Glamor said irritably.

"Quiet Novas. Here comes the Lieutenant." It was Gale who said this. Commander Dubracy glanced over, curiously. Persianati was normally one of the loudest, and last to be silent. Something must have really caught her attention about all this to get such an attentive reaction.

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

Tioshh'kk went with Lt. Adams to meet with the fighter squadron, he had wanted to meet firsthand the group that had cleared the skies after the attack, and the group he would be flying with later...

There were twenty-four of them dressed in Republic flightsuits, some still carrying their helmets under their arms. They looked scrappy and Tioshh'kk had to chuckle at the obvious irritation that was present amongst them; they clearly would much rather be chasing the raiders all the way back to their home planet. That was good, the chancellor would need that kind of enthusiasm and it would certainly make Tioshh'kk's job much easier.

Lt. Adams cleared his throat and said to the pilots, "Nova Squadron I am Lt. Adams with Coruscant Security Forces. The Supreme Chancellor has requested an audience with you."

The pilots seemed taken aback by this, and before they could respond Tioshh'kk said in his best basic, "Chancellor has ssspecial missssion in mind for you. Methinksssss it will be to your liking." And having said that he turned around and he and Adams led the group down the hallways toward the Chancellor's office.

---

Q'arnn was still waiting on the camera droid to make it up to his office, passing the time by preparing for the task at hand. He had Commandant Gerrin (the commanding officer of the CSF) on a secure comlink, and the two of them were trying to figure out where to make their first move.

"So you're telling me that you've received a report of Mando shuttles in the Coreillian sector?" Q'arnn clarified over the comlink.

"Precisely. According to the reports, it's not the full brunt of the fleet we encountered earlier this afternoon. But there were anywhere from two to four shuttles there, and if we act quickly we might be able to catch them there."

Q'arnn scratched the tentacles on his chin with piqued interest. "Well it's not quite the full-recovery effort I was looking for, but it is certainly a respectable start. You're sure this intel comes from reliable sources?" he asked.

"Absolutely. This comes from some of my most reliable contacts in the-"

Q'arnn interjected as he heard the door to his office whoosh open, saying, "I'm going to have to get back to you Commandant. If you wouldn't mind, please continue your report with Vice Chair Navik Tan and I will contact you at my next convenience."

"Of course Your Excellency," Garrin replied respectfully, and cut the com-line dead. Q'arnn then looked up and found the Nova Squadron being led into his office by Tioshh'kk and Lt. Adams. He rose from his desk, and extending his arms in a welcoming gesture, he donned the closest thing his species got to a smile.

"Ah, perfect timing! You are the pilots of Nova Squadron are you not? Excellent to meet you, I am the interim Supreme Chancellor Q'arnn Del-Qota. I have a special mission that requires pilots of your skill sets. Please sit down," he said gesturing to the numerous seats in the office that Q'arnn hoped would be enough for the lot of them.

[Lt Gallistra "Gale" Persianati]

Gallistra watched as the CSF lieutentant and a Trandoshan soldier approached. They addressed the group, saying that the Chancellor wanted to meet with them. Yes! They are finally ready to really do something. I am glad they called us.

"Well, looks like we're finally going to get some answers." She heard the Commander mutter, before raising his voice. "Fall in, Novas... and switch on your manners."

Their was a small chorus of HUAs before they started following the LT and the Trandoshan. A mission, Gale thought to herself, For the Supreme Chancellor! She was certainly excited about that, but she still wondered about what had caused all of this. She was sure that Lobo shared her feelings.

As they entered the Chancellor's room, she walked alongside, Delkar, probably a little closer than the Selkath would prefer. She couldn't help it. For some, unexplained reason she liked Lawman, as the rest of the squad called him.

She could see Commander Dubracy, could practically read the wheels turning in his mind Ah... An Interim, so that means... "That's us Chancellor. I'm Commander Karl Dubracy. Would you mind telling us what's going on?" Dubracy's common sarcasm, and easygoing nature had turned to all business now. Was this how he acted whenever he met with his superiors?

They all began taking seats, as invited. Delkar indicated a seat for her, and she smirked up at him as she took it, but she was a bit miffed when he moved down the row, sitting on the other side of Lt. Barker (Glamor) from her. Putting aside her annoyance, and ignoring Glamor Boy altogether, she turned her attention fully to the front. Only one chair separated her from the Comander, and it was occupied by Nova 2, head of the Falling Stars. Vait! They set me UP. They put me here, in front, just so I'd look fidgety in front of these bigvigs. She determined that she wasn't going to fidget. Nope, not even a little. It was the law of the jungle in this duracrete wilderness. Adapt or DIE!

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

Q'arnn waited for everyone to get seated before starting. "Thank you all for coming. As you may or may not be aware, earlier this morning the Senate Building was attacked by a Mandalorian terrorist group. We're not sure who they are yet, but the Mandalorian senator and the Supreme Chancellor were both assassinated during a meeting of the Senate. The terrorist group then proceeded to proclaim a new empire, and captured all the Senators who refused to join their new splinter group."

Q'arnn allowed the group of fighter pilots to absorb this information before moving on, "About an hour ago, the Senate utilized its emergency powers to create an interim Senate to fill the void while we attempt to rescue the captured senators. This interim Senate appointed me Interim Supreme Chancellor by a unanimous margin."

Q'arnn cleared his throat and began to pace the front line of seats, his eyes coming to rest on a feisty-looking Cathar pilot. Nodding his head he scanned the group with an eager look of anticipation, and then clenched his hand into a fist and said, "As my first move as Supreme Chancellor, I want to send a strong message to this group that we will not tolerate being intimidated. Just a moment ago the Commanding Officer of Coruscant Security Forces passed along to me reports of several transport vessels spotted in the Coreilla Sector."

He held his arms out to the group in earnest, "Your mission will be to disable these transports then board them and recover the Senators, and once the Senators are safely aboard your ships, send those sons of schuttas back to the fiery depths of hell where they belong!"

[Lt Gallistra "Gale" Persianati]

There were gasps of chock, and oohs and awws at appropriate intervals throughout the Chancellor's address. The news of the death of the senator, and particularly, the former Supreme Chancellor set some of the pilots to whispers, but they always quieted quickly, listening for more.

Gale made sure to seem particularly attentive to details. (She was stuck in the front this time, after all). Wonder of wonders, she actually caught most of the information. Maybe she'd have to try this "attention-to-details stuff" more often. She found herself growling in her throat at the thought of the mandalorians attacking the senate, and quieted herself. Her people did not have a good history with the mandalorian culture. After this traitorous act, she wanted to go out, reach into that armor of theirs, and claw out some throats (unlike in wookiee, and selkath cultures, the cathar had no inhibitions about useing their claws in battle.).

Commander Dubracy approved of the fast reaction. They had a target, and there was no squad that he'd pick over the Novas for this task. Novas were good at everything they did, particularly when it meant giving a slap in the face of an enemy like he expected these mandos to be. "No argument here. Supreme Chancellor, we're ready as soon as you give the word. I'm going to need to know what class of transports we're going up against and what resources I have available to plan accordingly."

The number of transports they were attacking would partially determine how many transports they would need for the rescue. Starfighters certainly wouldn't carry out those captives. Would they have to pilot the transports themselves? Were the taget trasports light or heavy? Some heavys could be truly massive, and that would slow down any progress they could make towards securing the senators.... All the while, the Commander was trying to puzzle something else out... Why Correllia? And why let themselves be seen? Is this genuine, or a trap?

Vhy Correllia? Gallistra was also thinking to herself. It was true that Correllia was one of the more secured places, with their own skilled security forces, but that would mean that the Mandos ought to have stayed away.

Regardless of their other thoughts, the quarren leader had impressed the majority of the squadron. Quick decisions were something that they'd not expected from a politician.

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

Q'arnn was pleased with the enthusiastic response from the fighter pilots and he knew he had chosen his pilots well. They were well revered around Coruscant for performing their duties with exceptional skill and the Quarren knew that they were some of the only pilots talented enough for the missions that would lie ahead.

"From the intel reports we've received, the fleet in Coreillia consists of eight heavy cruisers of Mandalorian design escorted by at least six Basilisk wardroids. We will be providing you with six Hammerhead class frigates, as well as a few other toys that I think you will enjoy. You will be escorting several members of the Senate Guard and a battalion of Republic SpecOps commandos. The Commanding Officer of the marines will be Commander Tioshh'kk and he will escort you to the briefing room where he will go over the specific logistical details of this mission. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a speech to prepare for," he said, returning to his seat behind the desk, and as he returned to his documents, Tioshh'kk got to his feet and beckoned to the pilots to follow him.

As the group was leaving his office, Q'arnn briefly looked up from his work to say, "Good hunting out there Novas."

[Q'arnn Del-Qota]

The Nova's involvement in this thread is now moved to the thread entitled "Aggressive Negotiations, which can be found in the Elsewhere in the Galaxy board.

Q'arnn sat at his desk, shuffling through his notes while he waited for the camera droid to finally make it up to his office. He was pleased with the apparent "all-business" attitudes of the Novas, and he was excited to see how Tioshh'kk's rescue plan would play out. He was anxious to get this address out of the way, the first speech from a wartime leader was extremely important. He would have to simultaneously enrage the populace enough to inspire them to fight their enemies, calm them enough to make them feel safe and secure, and inform them enough to make them feel they knew everything that was going on without actually telling them everything that was going on. It was a delicate balance.

Q'arnn would only have to wait another couple of minutes before the door opened and the HoloNet camera droid he had requested rolled into his office. The droid scanned the office and turned to face him and said in its feminine robotic voice, "Which section of the HoloNet would you like to broadcast to?"

Q'arnn cleared his throat eagerly and said, "This is breaking news, I would like to broadcast to all sections and all frequencies. This is an urgent message from the Supreme Chancellor."

"Very well then," the droid chirped back. "Prepare yourself, the broadcast feed goes live in 5...4...3...2...1..."