- A few hours later -

"Heroism on Coruscant!" the newscaster said. "In a breathtaking display of action, the Avengers now known as Quicksilver, Falcon, and Spider-Man were seen today on the cityscape of Coruscant, assisting the planet's police and guards in apprehending a large group of marauding criminals who were seen harassing the people of Coruscant. Using their amazing skills and powers, the three Avengers quickly helped keep the planet safe and stopped these violent criminals from further imposing their will on the innocent populace."

"This newscast is brought to you by Squidward Fran—"

"You boys must be busy," Natasha said, crossing her arms and looking expectantly at the headlines on the Coruscant HoloNet news. Currently, the six Avengers stood in the private room the Jedi had given them.

"These two did most of the work in my impression. Thumbs up to Falcon and Spider-Man.

"Well, at least you're being...productive," Matt said, making Cap snort in amusement.

"How long did it take you?" Steve asked Sam, as his wingman made a perfunctory gesture.

“It was a bit of a chore to catch up to them but once we did it didn’t take long,” Sam said. “Then Pietro showed up and it was a clean house in seconds.

"Glad to hear that." Steve nodded.

"What do you do?" asked Quicksilver.

The expressions on Matt, Natasha, and Steve's faces were enough.

"Boy...return flight..." Natasha began.

"So bad, isn't it?" Sam said expectantly.

"Oh, you know, an assassination attempt on a major political figure. Robots attacking our transport," Natasha pointed out.

"Anything else?" Peter asked.

"Derthorn is there."

"...Are you serious?

Natasha pulled her left sleeve up, but that was enough to reveal half of her scarred armor.

"That was a lucky blow that didn't break my arm and body." Black Widow said with a wry smile, rolling up her sleeves.

"God," Falcon muttered.

"Well, as we do for now, think about our Jedi allies and our newest…friends who might be busy over the next few days. Matt said flatly, looking down at Natasha.

Black Widow soon felt something small brushing against her leg. Looking down, she saw a young, baby-like Yoda looking up at her.

"It's still weird to see him sneak up on me."

"He does this to everyone," Quicksilver said.

She picked up the child and carried him back to her room. As she did so, she did not notice that the child closed his eyes and placed his small hand on the bruised area of ​​her left arm.

"What's wrong, little one?"

The baby simply grunted and tilted its head forward while its tiny clawed hands pressed themselves against her scarred arms.

"Hey." She was about to remove his hand, and a moment later, the bruise slowly disappeared, as if it had never formed in the first place.

Black Widow marveled, quickly adjusting the child and carefully pulling up her sleeves as far as she could.

She opened her eyes briefly and saw the bruise disappear.

"Natasha?" Steve saw that she was holding the child motionless in her arms, and now the child seemed to be completely knocked out. "What's wrong-"

"It's gone."

"what?"

"It's gone."

"What's missing?"

The Black Widow showed off her flawless skin where bruises once were. "The little guy; he put his hand on my arm and the bruises just went away.

"Hmm... Well, that's... something. Must be another one of those Force abilities. Steve mused. "I remember Peter and Rhodes saying that Barriss has the ability to use the Force to help heal injuries and speed up the process. It's said to be a rare talent among Jedi Knights.

She looked down and rubbed the sleeping green child's head. "Thanks little one."

……

It had been a day since the Duchess of Mandalore arrived on Coruscant. The once sunny day was now dark, with thick clouds hanging overhead. One might have thought this was rather foreboding, as if something was stirring on the horizon.

Inside the Senate building, a meeting was currently underway with many Senators and Representatives in attendance. The large circular room with the repulsor pods was filled with several thousand representatives from all corners of known galactic space.

In the center of all these senators and representatives, the lone platform rose for the Supreme Chancellor to address thousands of politicians on the latest developments of the Mandalorian people.

"It pains me to say it, but Death Watch is now a significant, lethal threat. Palpatine said as he brought it to the attention of the Senate.

As soon as he finished his opening remarks, Sadin's repulsion pod floated up and approached the center.

“Mandalorian has made great progress in finding the leaders of this terrorist movement,” Duchess Mandalore said. “They are not powerful enough to destabilize our government. We will resolve this issue without conflict. If the Republic intervenes in our affairs, it will only lead to further violence. Therefore, I will reaffirm our neutrality.”

"An idealist," said Mas Almeda, the Chagrian.

“No, these are the words of pacifists and those who choose non-violent action.

"That may be so, Duchess. However, this information was relayed to my staff just this morning," Palpatine said, motioning for his vice chairman to insert the disk into the console. "I think you will find it most illuminating."

A moment later, holographic images were projected onto every hover station in the conference room. Sadin recognized someone from her reaction.

The man spoke in a calm but obviously concerned tone as the message was played before the Senate.

“The actions of our government have put us in a period of civil war. To admit that is to invite panic in the streets.

When they reached Satine's platform, Padmé said to her, "Duchess, do you know this man?"

"Yes, Deputy Minister Jerek. He is a good friend of mine." Satine said in an incredulous tone.

“So we hid the truth from the people. Finally, this government knows this is not just a possibility, not just a possibility. It’s here.

"Shut up!" Satine yelled, causing Amedda to pause the holographic message. "Deputy Minister Jerek is an honorable man. He would never put a lie like that on record. The Mandalorian government holds no secrets from its people.

"If only that were the case," Palpatine said with a look of regret, asking his vice chairman to continue playing the message.

"The Death Watch is far more powerful than we once imagined. If we are to fight them effectively, we must receive the aid of the Republic. Instead, this government is acting out of pride by refusing the Jedi's help.

"This is not true. This is not true!" Satine fought back fiercely with her fists clenched in angry resistance.

"The Duchess of Sardinia will ultimately lead to our downfall. Make no mistake. The intervention of the Republic is absolutely necessary.

As the message came to an end, Sardin looked directly at the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. "This is not right. Something is wrong here. I want to talk to Jerek immediately." The Duchess muttered loudly.

If that wasn't bad enough, what was said next made Sardinia's request for neutrality even more difficult.

“Sadly, Deputy Minister Jerek was killed this morning in the Death Watch explosion in Kalevala.”

Duchess felt her chest tighten at Palpatine's words, as her short breaths became quite difficult.

"No." It was the only word she could utter out of her extreme fear.

"Let us make sure his death was not in vain. Let us use our military might to defend the Mandalorians. Palpatine said.

Sardin quickly shook off her fear and mustered up the courage to blurt out, "Defend? You mean occupy our home. You'll trample on our right to self-determination.

"We mean to save your people."

"You will turn our planet into a military target, which will bring war upon us. Mandalore must remain neutral.

“To some extent, I agree with our Reverend Duchess.

The entire crowd of the Senate fell into a deathly silence as a new projection appeared before them. Projections of three men wearing the classic Mandalorian armor, known across the galaxy. Mando's trio all possessed a similar set of armor, but each had a unique design or set to stand out and distinguish one from the other. The man in the center had a small cape draped over his right shoulder and arm, and the symbol of the Mythosaur dragon engraved on his chest armor. To his left was a man wearing standard armor, though his shoulders and gauntlets looked like they had been recently cleaned. The Mandalorian to the right of center had a more plain setup, but both of his shoulders supported separate curved tusks from the Mythosaur skull.

They faced a crowd of politicians, their helmets hiding their faces from everyone.

"Who is this? How did you get into our systems? Palpatine was obviously surprised by the intrusion.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the Republic. The middle Mandalorian said, his condescending voice sounding very familiar to those who knew it. Yet, it was different at the same time. “Hope you don’t mind interrupting. I would like to introduce myself to you all as a true Mandalorian. A true follower and representative of our people. Not one of those crazy death cults, nor these weak fools who portray themselves as pacifists.”

Sardin's eyes widened, and many people in the Senate were mumbling to themselves. The clone troopers stationed in and around the many entrances to the Senate Hall began to look at each other in confusion.

That voice... Impossible...

"For millennia, we Mandalorians have been followers of our ancient warrior traditions. These traditions have brought the Republic to its knees many times, and are seen as the vanguard preventing certain destruction. We have been both an enemy and an ally of the Republic. That much is indisputable.

The air around them grew tense and dangerous, and the senators could not deny that they felt it.

"And yet," he let out a roar that echoed off the walls. "You would do well to remember who blew Mandalore to the dust it is today. We remember. We sing the songs of the great destruction wrought upon our ancient home world by your wretched Republic. You, Duchess, you have the audacity to call yourself a friend of the Republic. You spit on the ancient ways of our people. We are not men of men, but individuals who can rise from nothing and become leaders of our people. Our Mandalore!

Silence reigned as the senators continued to watch the transmission.

"Know this. We, the true Mandalorians, will fight the Death Watch in due time. We will lead our people back to their former glory. But if you come to us, we will fight you back. Not even your clone-bred slaves, nor your Republic Jedi, can take us away. So, wait and see.

The Mandalorian trio stood there for a moment, letting the information sink in, then blinked.

As the transmission ended, an uproar broke out across the Senate. So many representatives called for the Mandalorian threat to be eliminated, just as many representatives did not want to be drawn into the conflict.

Seeing the chaos around him, Palpatine didn't know whether to savor it or feel threatened by the new Mandalorian faction. Things had gone further than he had originally planned. All he could do now was to maintain his appearance and keep things moving forward.

“The voting will start in the next session. The order of the Supreme Speaker was issued amid the continuous clamor in the Senate.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like