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Chapter 16

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Part 1

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Chancellor's temporarily residence

Republica 500

Coruscant

If it wasn't one crisis, impending disaster or at least a headache-inducing mess Satine had to deal with, then it was something else, usually particularly vexing that ate up all her time these days. Tonight it was no exception. Why people clamored for and actually wanted her never sufficiently damned job, she would never know… The Empress snorted at that thought. Of course, she knew! It was either the allure of power, misguided patriotism or the fools didn't know of the workload that came with the job.

Tonight was no exception – she was looking forward to a handful of peaceful hours spent with her daughter before going to bed, hopefully without the problems of the galaxy knocking on her doorstep again, when Zash of all people darkened her doorstep and the Sith Lord wasn't something you could ignore. Satine hugged her daughter, kissed the little girl's forehead, and handled her to the nanny droid, who was also one of their bodyguards.

"Be good Princess, I'll be along soon." The Empress whispered to her daughter, while the pink humanoid machine picked Fay, who looked disappointed and carried her away, signing quietly. "This better be important, Zash."

The Sith walked in as if she owned the place, then with a skill born from long experience, marched to the most comfortable free seat in the room and made herself comfortable.

"Knowing that you're a Mandalorian first, your Imperial Majesty," The Sith Lord spoke with the tiniest hint of mockery at the titles, "I felt compelled to inform you in person about the newest developments concerning your homeworld, especially their implications."

Zash's eyes sparkled in mischief – never a good thing in Satine's experience.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" The Empress groaned. "Give it to me straight."

"Well, on the bright side, it's not all bad!" Zash gleefully announced. "I see a lot of utility in these so-called "Parahumans", especially once we figure out the source of their power and make it work for us. This is especially true for their 'tinkers'. The one we have to play with is finally clean of all the drugs she has been drinking, sniffing and injecting, not to mention swallowing, and more or less in her right mind, which in turn allowed us to properly test her abilities and knowledge." The Sith floated a data-pad in front of Satine who picked it up and started dealing with its security systems.

"To summarize what you'll see, the asset, Code-named Trash-Collector," Zash continued, raising an eyebrow at the moniker chosen, "Don't look at me, Your Majesty, our people with any technical degree aren't amused by the concept of tinkers." Zash shrugged. "As I was saying, Trash-Collector has no technical knowledge about maintaining or modifying vehicles herself besides changing a very limited set of modules made user friendly by the locals on her home-world. On the other hand, when she has access to her power, Trash-Collector can significantly modify all kinds of vehicles in pseudo-tanks, APCs and IFVs with armor, weapons and particularly interesting devices that the locals are unable to build or replicate themselves."

"I guess there's no difference between her work and that of other tinkers? It shouldn't work and it doesn't away from the portal because critical components are missing, which are needed to make the advanced technology operate?" Satine inquired. That was the one unifying thing binding every piece of so-called tinker-tech they could get their hands on and test.

"Correct. As of last night, we have a fudged together railgun, which can't charge and with rails ready that can't survive more than five shots working beyond what it should be able to survive as long as it is close to the portal, a stealth field, which lacks the critical components to produce its effects and what is supposed to be a teleportation device, which isn't working either near the portal or away from it. Further interrogation suggests that as fat as Trash-Collector is concerned, the device should work, however naturally she can't explain how or why, for obvious reasons."

"Because she doesn't know, and her power is the source of both the knowledge on how to build these things and compensates for the lack of components." Satine nodded with a frown. "That by itself is concerning. Whoever is doing this has access to certain technologies we lack and is currently right beside my home."

"That's why I'm here." Zash pointed out. "Don't think just about the danger, think about what attaining these technologies could get us! We can get as many engineers and mechanics as we need, without spending years on training and even longer for those people to attain experience! I can turn the few people I find not insufferable into proper lab assistants!"

Which was probably the primary reason why Zash was so interested in tinkers…

"Teleportation, different methods of stealth, advancements in medical science, if that child's, Panacea's abilities are anything to go by…" Satine listed out the more notable technologies they hoped to gain from Earth Bet.

"Correct, Your Majesty! To continue our investigation on the Parahumans and their powers, we need more subjects to test, more tinkertech to examine, and most importantly, a way to trace the way to whatever of whoever is giving them their powers."

"You didn't come just to tell me this, a memo would have sufficed. What do you want, Zash?"

"At the moment, the leading theory is that whoever is doing it, acts from a different dimension. We'll need more resources to work on the Dimension Breach Generators on Mandalore, their effects, and most importantly, developing the proper instruments to study the portal, and detect others like it. In the same regard, it might be useful to study the one active portal on Earth Bet we know of, once we have the relevant sensors. The same goes for closely observing Parahumans using their powers both near the portal on our side and Earth Bet."

"You require a heavier involvement with Earth Bet and not just from the Freehold," Satine noted. "Doing so could provoke whoever is interfering over there."

"Perhaps. However, they didn't react on an Assault Ship conducting an orbital drop, then landing on the surface." Zash pointed out.

"That we know of. For all we're aware, they're mobilizing to either cut us off or strike directly at Mandalore, which is one of the reasons why Veil has a significant part of the navy concentrated either in the system or close by."

"With the celebrations so close by, security will be significantly raised anyway. Besides, the potential gains warrant a lot of risks."

"Risks? Sure. A war with an opponent of unknown capabilities and with technologies we currently lack? That's not something I'm looking forward to. Nor should you." Satine glared at the Sith.

"War is merely a means to an end and said end determines if the war was worth it. This problem is right on Mandalore's doorsteps, it's not something we can ignore and if our suspicions are true, merely shutting down the portal will not diminish the dangers, merely make us blind to the actions of our elusive foe."

"You don't subscribe to the theory that whoever provides powers to the Parahumans is benevolent?" Satine asked.

"Unless they're totally incompetent in their attempt to improve the situation on Earth Bet, incompetent enough that they're actively making it much worse? Whatever the goal is, it is not benevolent. Speaking about powers, we need more assets in place to investigate this Cauldron. While so far it's just one, we do have a recovered asset who believes he bought his power in a vial."

"Do you think they're an extension of the people who are responsible for Parahumans in the first place or lucked out on a tinker able to recreate the effects?" Satine wondered.

"Hopefully, its the later, in which case gaining the same sort of capability should be safer. On the other hand, discovering who we're dealing with on Earth Bet would have its benefits."

"I'll talk with Obi-Wan and Veil, then we'll decide on a unified strategy about Earth Bet as a whole. We'll need it in place if we're to increase the scope of our operations there."

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Part 2

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15 January 2011

Brockton Bay

Richard really should have known that everything would go to hell in both predictable and unpredictable fashion. Events up north in Canada were something no one really saw coming and were now biting everyone in the ass. That's why he was currently strapped into a Black Hawk flying above Brockton Bay, listening to it's familiar soothing droning and wondering how much of a cock-up tonight would be.

Marcinko wasn't alone at that – the helicopter was chock full with Seals – everyone who had participated in the cut short training with the new equipment, which they all wore anyway. The same was true for the other Black Hawks circling the city, they all carried makeshift squads build on two criteria – people who had worked together before and a local PRT or SWAT trooper to act as a guide, because the great majority of them weren't particularly familiar with Brockton Bay as one might expect.

Tonight was born of improvisation, caused by Washington panicking after the Mandalorians dropped an honest to God Star Destroyer on Dragon's compound after the Dragon Slayers somehow compromised and took it. After that everyone had nightmares to the same thing happening to American cities, well everyone in America anyway. Marcinco was sure that the same was happening in every more or less functioning place across the world. That of course was the reason for the current exercise – an operation which was still in the planning stages had to be launched and properly executed yesterday, because no one wanted to see that ship take a trip to Brockton Bay after some of the local villain element actually pissed off the Mandalorians. Richard was sure that there was more than a little element of politicians wanting to be seen as doing something, because over the past twelve hours there were two things true for almost all cities in the country; they were either gripped by protest demanding actions to ensure no alien invasion, calls to resist the obviously imminent alien invasion, or the more reasonable action – people racing out of the cities as fast as they could, often with no idea beyond getting out of the 'obvious' targets.

In that regard, Brockton Bay was no different. There were two ongoing protests – a march down the Boardwalk, which might be turning into a good old fashioned riot, and another, this time so far peaceful one in front of City Hall. The primary difference there might have been the presence of the local Wards and New Wave, along with the Mayor being out and trying to calm people down, while the underfunded and stretched thin BPD was making a mess of handling the other protest, or so the local news channel claimed. That a number of tablets showing local news were one of their best sources of intelligence right now was saying a lot about the unfolding cluster-fuck and most of it wasn't good.

Drones and news cameras showed the perimeter at the Docks, where Mandalorians openly patrolled their claimed slice of the city, all in armors much more advanced compared to what Marcinko and his people had available. Heavier weapons too, he obviously. The saving grace there was the lack of protests in the vicinity. The only civilians in the area were the news crews and Star Wars groupies risking everything to get a glimpse of the Mandalorians, who were held in check by a significant number of riot police, who might have been more useful at the Boardwalk.

The National Guard was deploying too, if slowly due to a steady exodus of people who saw the writing on the wall and raced to leave Brockton Bay before it could become a real battlefield. Needless to say, the local gangs were aware that the hammer would be coming down on them and they were by all accounts busy digging in, which would ensure that the unfolding operation would be a particularly ugly one when they got the go from the brass. Yes, this was a cock-up in the making, one straight for the history books and Richard was sure he'll be blamed for everything that went wrong.

In the end, he could live with that, as long as the aliens didn't feel compelled to secure the city themselves, because that would be a fuck up the likes of which the world hasn't seen yet and hopefully would be avoided in the future…

"Strike Elements, House Actual, we're a go. Ground elements departing HQ now. Good luck and God's speed." Director Piggot's voice cracked over the communication network.

"Here we go again…" Richard muttered. He picked up his helmet and put it on, carefully ensuring that it would seal just right. A soft click and a hiss, followed by HUD indicator lighting up green demonstrated he did it right.

Armor integrity, shield active and charging, encrypted squad and command network symbols, weapon targeting integration, showing that currently the blaster was properly unloaded and secured… not to mention environmental controls, something he wished he had back in 'Nam, complete with sealed armor to keep all kind of crawling and biting bastards away from using him as lunch. Arguably more useful, it was the IFF and status indicator for his makeshift squad. It might have been even better if he had had the time to train on the more intricate system of the command variant of the armor he wore, though perhaps not. Even if he knew better, the temptation to micromanage to potentially disastrous effects might have been too much otherwise.

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Mandalorian Knights FOB

Brockton Bay

Loud slurping noises distracted Aria from paying attention to multiple screens and holograms showing events across the continent, the base's perimeter and a stream of reports coming from Dragon's Compound and the nearby city, where the Vendetta's crew was busy both recovering everything of use and providing some disaster relief. The Sith glanced at her current legal adviser. Nalia was neatly curled on herself like an enormous snake, her huge eyes watched intently a live feed from the US Congress debating the Mandalorian's actions late in the night, all the while she held a huge bucket with ice-cream and rapidly devoured it.

At least someone was happy about the current mess, if the Hutt's expression was anything to go by. At any rate, if the locals didn't manage to retake control of the situation, they might not be a useful island of relative stability on the planet for much longer. It was obvious that the local politicians were scrambling to do something, both due to increasing pressure and the realities on the ground – practically all the cities were busy emptying in the middle of winter, without a good plan or enough infrastructure in place to handle the surge of people seeking the dubious safety of the countryside.

"What options are we looking at if the security situation deteriorates further?" Captain Terrin looked at Aria.

He wasn't asking as merely the highest ranked representative of the Mandalorian Knights on the ground, obviously.

"We hold our current position and if required call on the Vendetta for assistance. Broadly speaking, for the time being there are no official concrete plans for occupation and pacification if the local government loses control and the United States becomes a failed state, something our analysts claim is unlikely in the short term." Aria repeated the party line. As far as she knew, her Master would prefer that there was no need for further intervention at least until the celebrations were over, even if she suspected that there was a much larger quick reaction force awaiting on the other side of the portal just in case.

Someone snorted while watching a screen showing columns of ground vehicles trying to leave a large city by local standards. All they've managed for their efforts was apparently getting stuck in a traffic jam.

"It's the end days if you can believe the local news."

"At least no one is protesting outside our perimeter, though those groupies over there are as bad if not worse…" The Captain crossed his arms in front of his chest. "While I know Mandalore will do what he believes best, what exactly is our legal status if we have to intervene? The Mandalorian Knights I mean, not Freehold soldiers in general. We do have a dependent unaccounted for and the legal fiction notwithstanding, your protegees and you, ma'am are working directly for Mandalore."

"At this time there are no treaties binding any organization on Earth Bet and the Mandalorian Freehold as a whole. They aren't signatories of any recognized galactic treaties." Nalia explained. "Thus our status is legally gray. While our presence and actions might violate local laws and customs, reality being what it is when interactions between states are concerned, we are in the clean as long as we operate under lawful orders from Mandalore, the Freehold Government or follow guidelines Freehold Law recognizes when operating strictly in our capacity as Mandal Motors or Mandalorian Knights affiliates."

"Which means as long as we use reasonable amount of force to achieve our objectives and protect our people, we're going to be in the clean." Aria confirmed.

"According to the locals, what we're using is anything but normal." Terrin reasonably pointed out.

"We're not beholden to them, neither are we operating under their rules of engagement." Nalia said after devouring a large spoon-full of ice-cream. "That said, when practical, a certain amount of discretion is called for, that much should be obvious. If more heavy handed tactics are called for we should clear them with our respective superiors, legally speaking." The Hutt shrugged. "That said, I'm well aware that in the real world, that is not always practical to do in timely fashion. That's why you all have various guidelines and conditional rules of engagement. Like no calling orbital strikes unless really necessary."

"The locals are on the move. Their communication nets are lighting up." A technician reported.

"My people are already on high alert, shield is up and running as well, even though we have no indication that they'll be moving against us." Terrin confirmed he had things in hand.

"Contact Captain Fel and inform our navy friends that we would appreciate if the Vendetta is on standby to offer assistance if the situation here deteriorates." Aria ordered. "Contact Specialist Laborn and apprise him of the situation. It might be prudent that he goes to ground while local security forces are conducting operations in Brockton Bay. If not, he is to keep his communicator switched on, and needless to say, I want his status continuously monitored."

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