Rise of The Terran Alliance- Crosspost

Chapter 54- The Decision

Chapter 54– The Decision

(December 1, 1993)

President Bush sighs as he goes over the papers on his desk. The last couple of weeks have been hectic in the Clone Wars, given Fives' discoveries and the incident with the Banking Clan. And now, he's getting ready for a meeting that could potentially decide Earth's future. Security at the White House is the highest it has ever been since the building was first constructed, and two full squadrons of fighters are currently patrolling over DC, just in case.

There is a knock on the door. Bush says, "Come in." A moment later, Vice President Quayle walks in.

"Mister President, the guests have arrived and are assembled in the situation room," Quayle says.

Bush nods, taking up his papers and making his way out of the Oval Office. He makes his way down through the White House until he reaches the Situation Room. Before entering the room, he orders the guards to leave and take up positions further from the entrance to the room. He doesn't want anybody overhearing the events of the meeting.

Walking into the Situation Room, Bush sees the guests assembled for this meeting: General Colin Powell, the Chairman of the Terran Joint Command; Prime Minister John Major of Great Britain; President Francois Mitterrand of France; General Secretary Jiang Zemin of China; and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council had essentially taken the same role within the Terran Alliance military, and the UN Security Council, now the Terran Security Council, now makes executive decisions for the Terran Alliance in addition to their previous duties.

"Welcome, gentlemen. Please be seated," Bush says. All six men in the room take their seats.

Bush glances around, making sure that there is nobody else in the room and all recording devices have been removed from the room. Then, he begins to speak.

"Thank you all for coming for this meeting. As you all know, we are here to discuss a very grave matter. Over the course of our involvement in the Clone Wars, we have become increasingly suspicious of Sheev Palpatine, Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate of the Republic. At the onset of the Clone Wars, Chancellor Palpatine was voted emergency powers. These powers have not been held by any Supreme Chancellor for many, many centuries."

"While this is not particularly alarming, Chancellor Palpatine has acquired more power as the Clone Wars have gone on. He has also made a number of moves that have been particularly alarming. One particular action that caused to begin to worry about the Chancellor came in February, following the operation to rescue Jedi Master Evan Piell from the prison known as the Citadel. Following that particular rescue, the now-Admiral Tarkin refused to give his half of the information about the important hyperspace route called the Nexus Route, stating that Chancellor Palpatine had made him promise not to share it with anyone except him."

Bush pauses, then says, "After that, we began to take a more careful interest in Chancellor Palpatine. Another disconcerting action on the part of the Chancellor came when the former Sith Lord Darth Maul returned. Despite Darth Maul's actions, Chancellor Palpatine showed little interest in continuing to pursue him. In addition, when Darth Maul disappeared from Mandalore, one of our agents on Coruscant reported that Chancellor Palpatine was not on Coruscant at the time."

"However, what is of greater concern to us are events that have occurred in the last month. Some of you have heard the report of a clone trooper seemingly snapping and killing a Jedi general. One of the clone's comrades, who goes by the name of Fives, investigated the matter for himself, discovering inhibitor chips are planted in every clone during development. Despite the insistence of the Kaminoans otherwise, clone trooper Fives believes that these chips are the problem, and that they are part of a conspiracy against the Jedi. While this cannot be confirmed as of yet, clone trooper Fives reported that in a private meeting with Chancellor Palpatine, Palpatine admitted that he was involved, and apparently goaded clone trooper Fives into attacking him so that he could frame Fives and attempt to have him killed. Thankfully, we were able to capture Fives first and get his side of the story. While Chancellor Palpatine did not reveal very much information, he revealed enough for it to be very damning."