Coronation

[Jalua Solast]

In the Royal Grand Palace, situated on the hilltop, the work had been completed and today was when the Imperial Coalition would crown it's new Empress. It had been in the planning since the surprise death of Emperor Iram Galor over a month ago, with an entire city being constructed within this time. Still some of the city was not near completion, but the upper parts of the city was now constructed and mostly occupied. This particular part of the Grand Palace consisted of a long hall which was lined with seats. The Royal Guard was already protecting the Palace with their long grey overcoats and rifles equipping bayonets. This was more so around the connecting corridors however, because the Guardians of the Crown were now guarding the hallway with their red ceremonial uniforms. People began to fill the rows of seats, being instructed by servants where the sit. These were long benches in two columns, with a gap along the middle. Once the seats were finally filled, and light chatter blotted the air, servants began to run a red carpet down the middle of the benches towards the raised marble altar where the coronation would take place. This gained some attention, since no coronation had gained much publicity and never one concerning the Imperial Coalition.

Finally, the Royal Guard could be heard in the distance saluting. Looking around, some of the guests were lucky enough to see the Lord of the City enter the hall, receiving another mass salute from the Guardians of the Crown. He walked along the red carpet towards the altar, before finally placing a book down upon a stand. Two more servants appeared, but had to walk along the edges of the hallway rather than the red carpet flowing through the middle of the stands.

In the streets leading to the palace, the remaining soldiers in the Guardians of the Crown now escorted the Princess. She was sat within a transport that had a semi-open roof so that her people could see her. Police lined the streets at the beginning but these soon changed into soldiers the further along the journey they went. It was a slow pace, letting everyone see their new leader while they had a chance to. Giant screens were televising this going through the streets towards the palace which towered above the city.

High above the city, a single squadron of starfighters cruised through the clouds. They were R-Wing Mk. II Prototypes, painted in red and carried the Royal Emblem on their wings. With expert pilots of the Royal Guard flying them, they descended in one swift move, plummeting towards the city streets. At the very last opportunity, they rose their starfighters and roared overhead, giving a tip of their wings in salute. The people could see all of this unfolding in their homes throughout the galaxy, broadcast over the holonet for all to see. Almost straight after the saluting of the wings, the camera angle changed towards a section of the countryside beyond the city. Barely visible were the outlines of a military base where giant flashes suddenly blinded the area. These were artillery, firing in salute. The shells roared overhead and let off red smoke in their wake in salute before disappearing into the distance. Once again, the camera switched to another angle, where a Chariot-class Star Cruiser began cruising towards the city. This had been decorated for the ceremony, painted in the Royal Colours with the Royal Emblem on it's belly. When it's shadow began to cast over the streets, it's huge turbolasers turned at a forty-five degree angle and all opened fire. Green flashes illuminated the sky with the lasers swooshing out from both sides of the ship. This too managed to do a small salute with it changing its orientation before raising upwards back into orbit. Once finally through the gates, soldiers began to fall into formation and march up to the walls in their regimental columns. There they stood, quietly, for the coronation where they would play a more public part.

[Dan Zorko]

Dan watched all of this with a twinge of awe. Geez, maybe I should become an Emperor..." he muttered as he watched the cruiser fire off its guns. He then dismissed that thought. Politics were never his thing, and he had no interest in controlling systems. He was fine right where he was. He settled down to watch the rest of the proceedings.

[John Hammond]

OOC: Mind if I give this a decorating touch?

IC: In his seat, John watched the ceremony continue. He was very impressed, pleasantly so, by the proceedings.

As Jalua neared the Imperial Embassy's place, the troops became more tense. As the Empress came near, and upon a signal from the officers, the Imperial ES gave a half turn. They held their rifles vertically in front of them for a short moment, then aimed upwards and fired. They fired once, reloaded, and fired twice more. As Jalua continued to file past them, they turned halfway once more, so that they looked to the front, where the crowning would take place.

Soon after this, a single Mk I Star Destroyer appeared in the sky, its menacing figure darkening the area around it. It fired its cannons into the sky, the green bolts piercing through the skies in celebration. Then it, too, was gone.

Finally, behind Jalua came a squadron of the Empire's best pilots, flying TIE Defender's appeared. As they roared through the sky, they dipped their wings in a double salute, cut abruptly to the side, and disapppeared.

[Dan Zorko]

OOC: Ohhhh... Didn't think we could do this... Figured it was Coalition jurisdiction...

IC: As the procession neared the newly constructed BM Embassy, (Congrats, you're the first planet to have one. And the only.) the Reapers that had been assembled gripped their rifles tighter. Then in similar fashion to the Imperials, they gave a smart salute with their rifles. A shadow then fell upon the crowd. People craned their necks to see the Venator-class Star Destroyer from the 6th Special Forces descending upon the city. It raised its guns and let off a defeaning volley. Then, from behind the engines, the 10 X-Wings assigned to the ship looped under and skimmed extremely close to the bottom of the ship. After passing the ship, the gave a waggle of their wings in salute, then both the capital ship and fighters were gone.

[Delona Baisk]

The sewers were a shadowy place. Turnings and corners made the few blades of light fade into the darkness. It was in these sewers that Delona Baisk walked, luckily for her, on a short platform to the side. She was not in her armour and almost wished she had brought it, although relatively new, this coronation had gave them a good trial. The stench assaulted her nostrils, but still she continued. The quicker she was out of here, the better, although she knew it was going to be a difficult journey. Up ahead, the tunnel got shorter the way she wanted to go. It was the smallest of four tunnels which were spreading even further up the mountain. It was starting to get so steep that her legs felt the tilt of the ground. But still she continued, she had a job to do.

If Delona could assassinate the Empress, it would cause the Imperial Coalition to fall apart, and soon the galaxy would be back to the normal kind of wars. This new faction was not welcomed nor wanted in a battleground which was played by the old. They wanted common enemies, not new threats. Several wars had put this galaxy through vehemence pressure, and it often seemed like it was falling apart. But still it continued, with the New Republic continuing onwards towards a brighter future, wherever that may be. Although this changed her mission and views completely, she was not aligned with the failing government. Radical changes were beginning to take place within the New Republic in response to it's former allies rallying against it's ideals.

She later found herself approaching a patrolling guard, wasn't a problem in itself. The guard was fed up and mostly thinking about his post, which was obviously not the most favoured. Hiding in the shadows of a small passageway to the side of the platform, Delona waited for her prey to walk directly in front of the platform. His pace was slow and his eyes didn't seem to be focused on any spot. With his foot seeking surface directly in front of him, Delona struck out her hand, grasping the leg firmly within her clutches. Knocking the guard off balance, he fell into the wall and then onto the platform almost instantly. It obviously stunned him, since all she heard was the air blowing out of his lungs. Grabbing her silenced blaster, she stood in front of the soldier, foot on his chest, and fired twice into his brain. She then continued upwards through the sewers.

[Jalua Solast]

The drums began to beat a steady pace, matching with the footsteps of the Princess. The choir began to sing and the guards stood at attention when she passed. Jalua walked slowly through the hall, savouring the moment in her mind. This was a day she would look back upon for years to come, and hopefully, would remember no inconveniences. Security was tight here, the chances that anyone could possibly smuggle something into the hall was very low, and anyone trying to enter the hall would no doubt face serious competition from the thousands of soldiers stationed at the Palace for this occasion. The music began to spiral into a more joyful tune, with a faster pace and less of the steady drum beats. This finally echoed into one note whilst Jalua knelled down in front of the altar. With the Lord of the City placing his hand on her right shoulder. When this was removed, Jalua stood and walked past the stand where the Lord was standing and approached the chair which would become the icon for the coronation. In front stood the Lord of the Empire, the person who represented the entire empire both internally and to foreign parties. Jalua knelled once again and had his hand upon her right shoulder. This was removed once again but Jalua remained knelled in front of the chair and between it and her, the Lord. The Captain of the Royal Guards approached with a small metal object and dipped his head with his hands outstretched. His knelled partly down and awaited the Lord of the Empire to take the object from his palms. He did so and the Captain walked backwards from then to the side and out of view.

"Do you, Princess Jalua Solast, agree to take oath and swear loyalty to our glorious empire?" The Lord of the Empire announced with his face looking down at the knelling Princess. "I do" Jalua responded after a second of breathing in deeply. The tension was building up inside her, and she was becoming out of breath already at the events unfolding around her. The Lord of the Empire then held the object in his left hand, then activating the item to reveal it's identity. It was a lightsaber, one which had been specially crafted by experts and contained a precious crystal. The blade itself glowed fiercely out to the hall, lighting the area even more. It was the perfect shade of Royal Purple, the new shade which would be incorporated into some of the Empire's logos and symbols. The Lord of the Empire lowered the blade, till it hovered above her right, and then her left shoulder. "Rise Princess Jalua Solast, Defender of the Force". Jalua stood slowly, accepting the lightsaber with both hands and holding directly in front of her chest, with the blade still shining in front of her face. After turning to the gathering, seated in the hall, she sharply pulled the lightsaber downwards with both hands, now aligned slightly to her right and switched off the blade, placing it neatly on her belt. She could sense that the crystal gave the lightsaber a lot more power and energy than her last. It also seemed to radiate importance, although how it came about would be unclear. Whoever had designed the lightsaber handle itself had paid careful attention and made some good investigations upon the usage of these symbols and weapons. It was perfectly balanced but not in the centre, instead, it gave weight when the lightsaber was tilted, but only towards the top of the handle, where the blade would shine out. This would give the user a feeling of depth, instead of being remote from the actual blade.

Jalua turned to the chair and sat down quietly. In came a group of people dressed in ceremonial robes or uniforms. Two she noticed were the head of the Navy and the Army of the Imperial Coalition. Others had appointments throughout the Empire, faces recognisable and some Jalua had already spoken to. She had no idea that they were involved in this however. The Lord of the Empire turned to them and asked them all the one question; "Does the people approve the crowning of our Empress?". One-by-one, each of these responded in the phrase "For" 'Constitution' "We do". This involved planets, star systems and parts of the Empire including the military. Then Jalua was surprised to see two friends stand at the altar, now replacing the others who had accepted the crowning. The Lord of the Empire addressed them both; "Does the Galactic Empire and the Black Moon Order recognise the crowning of our Empress?".

OOC: Thought I'd add you both into this, just need to reply with "For whatever, we do" or if you want to say something else, go ahead

[John Hammond]

John was standing. He was dressed in a huge battle armour. It was greyish blue, and bore the marks of battle. Upon it, he was wearing a cape that reached to his feet. Hammond had his arms closed, and his face was inscrutable: Serious, but not angry, his eyes smouldering and his mouth closed tightly.

He delayed his response for a moment, realizing that recognizing Jalua would mean that the Mandalorians, his allies, would become wary of him, maybe even betray him, that the Republic would make every effort to destroy the emerging Coalition, and that he would be forced to make many sacrifices for a woman he had come to admire and care for.

"The 4th Galactic Empire recognizes Jalua Solast for what she is, Empress of the Imperial Coalition." Hammond knelt, and held out an ancient handgun that dated from the times of the Old Republic, "You have my word, Empress, when you need me, I will come."

[Dan Zorko]

OOC: Ohhh... That limits my actions for now... Jalua will have to post before me.

[Jalua Solast]

Jalua awaited his words but this took longer than usual. Wondering what was wrong, she finally received his words. This, although welcome, disturbed her greatly. The hesitation, although maybe not noticed by anyone else, signalled something about her crowning was far more important. Dismissing the various ideas coming into her mind for after the crowning, she accepted the approval with a simple nod. The Lord of the Empire and herself then looked at Dan Zorko, awaiting his approval or maybe disapproval.

[Dan Zorko]

Dan wasn't dressed up with the bravado that the Empire leader had chosen. In all honesty, he didn't own a cape. Or battle armor. His strengths were with naval conflicts. When the Empress looked at him he started. "I have no big speech planned. I'm not a politician. So all I'm going to say is," Dan kneeled "For whatever comes along down the road the Black Moon Organization recognizes Jalua Solast as the Empress of the Imperial Coalition. We do." He reached down and grabbed his personal blaster pistol, flipped it around, and offered the grip to the Empress.

[Jalua Solast]

Jalua accepted the items from the two gentlemen and placed them within her utility belt for now. "Thank you" she whispered to the two gentlemen. The Lord of the Empire continued and turned to the Princess. A group of Lords brought the Armour, the Uniform and the Crown of the Imperial Coalition. "In the name of the Imperial Coalition..." The Lord then presented the uniform to the Empress. "...i pronounce you..." The Lord then the Armour to the Empress. "...Princess Jalua Solast..." He then finally placed the crown upon the head of the new ruler. "Empress of the Imperial Coalition". The soldiers saluted and the guests began to sing the national anthem. Outside, the millions of people all erupted into celebration. Jalua stood and returned salute, before heading under armed guard to the part of the palace dedicated to Royal Family, which at the present moment, was rather small.