"Now that we're off-world, maybe you can tell me why the fuck you thought it'd be a good idea to - one, steal someone's pod. Two, trick a Jedi Padawan into breaking you out of a brig aboard a ship crawling with Mandalorians that want you dead, and three: cross me?" I growled at the restrained kid across the table, a force restraining collar cinched around his neck. It was one of the few items I made sure to keep a hold of instead of selling to the greater galaxy, one never knew when one may have to deal with a rogue Jedi or restrain a Sith… 'Really had to get to work on duplicating them but how?' I thought as the kid looked up at me, still as infuriating as ever.

"I wanted to! I thought since I had my freedom I could get mom free to," I blinked at that. Huh… The kid can do something moral after all.

"You realize that you are far from free, right?" I said to the kid, coldly but not as harshly as I had been with him so far, "you've been isolated in the brig for a week since you destroyed our life support systems so badly that it took a team of Mandalore's finest engineers a week to fix it? How you managed that, I'll never know."

"That wouldn't have happened if you had let me finish!" The kid snapped, "I made my own droid, a starship is easy!" I could only blink at the audacity of that comment.

"Kid, you're eig-"

"I'm nine!" he spat. I slammed my fist onto the durasteel table, leaving a fist imprint in it as I stood up.

"You're a worthless sandrat that I'd happily dump on Malachor V just to prove a fucking point," I snapped. The kid looked at the table and gulped before he looked back up at me as I carried on even more callously, "Or maybe I'll drop your worthless ass at the South Pole here, see how long a sand rat can actually live on this hellhole." The kid's eyes bulged as I said that.

"No! That would kill me faster than Jabba would!" He said pathetically, he actually was starting to cry. I snorted in disgust and turned from the makeshift interrogation room, the door hissed open and I stepped out - right beside LT and Golem.

"Unbelievable," Golem muttered as the door slid shut. "He's an arrogant little shit, isn't he? Especially for a slave."

"That's what worries me, he says he was a slave but I think he just spent his life as a prisoner. His Mother is the real victim here..." Ayla muttered. "And what the hell did he mean when he said he built his own droid?"

"Exactly that," the big guy said gruffly. I turned to face him and he went on, "I went with Shmi to get a few things from their hut - clothes, pictures, those kinds of things - well, I went into the shit's room," he growled and I smirked at the newest nickname for the Fist's most hated resident, "and apparently the kid actually is a pretty good engineer. He either found most of or built an entire protocol droid from scratch - one his mother definitely couldn't afford, by the way. He more than likely stole it from Watto, if the Toydarian had found out about it - or worse actually found it? Well… Let's just say death would have been kinder for Shmi and whatever the Hutts would do to the little Shit doesn't bring me any pleasure. So, I brought it back! The Shit technically is yours and anything belonging to him is your property. I gave the droid to our engineers since I let Tara borrow Cee-Five, sorry about that again." He said while rubbing the back of his helmet. "I knew you liked that droid and an R unit could never really replace him."

"Are you kidding?" I scoffed, "that R series is far and away the best astromech I've ever owned. I liked Cee-Five but he was just a standard C series - still don't quite know how she managed to get him to commit Ancestors condemned suicide."

"She's tricky like that," Ayla said smugly, Golem nearly tripped midstride. I just chuckled darkly.

"Yeah, you can say that again." I grinned as we walked on to the command bridge. It took a few minutes but we didn't run into any major interruptions, just picking up the last of the Strikers as we made our way to the bridge. Together, the seven of us marched into the command deck to see the normal hustle and bustle the Fist always ran going smoothly as ever.

"Helmsman? How long to Coruscant?" I called as the rest of the Strikers dispersed out around the bridge.

"Four days, Ad'alor. We'll be just in time for the Galactic Senate to convene, but we'll have to be fast. Our scouts are reporting that the Federation has taken the entirety of Naboo hostage. People have been put in labor camps and the death toll is rising, albeit slowly… Current indications are that the Federation is responsible for two-hundred thousand deaths world wide."

"Not good…" I muttered as I looked out the fore viewscreen. "What are the predictions for the toll in a week's time?"

"Double current numbers at minimum," the helmsman said darkly. I sighed but nodded.

"Thank you, Jason. Back to your post," the helmsman hesitated for a second and opened his mouth one more time.

"Before you leave, sir, you should be aware that we spotted three scouter droids examining the ship briefly before we took off. No scanners or trackers were placed and we are certain that we aren't being tracked," the helmsman said. I frowned as I thought about it but shrugged it off.

"Thank you, back to your station," the man nodded and snapped off a salute as he returned to making his rounds.

"Trident," a soft voice from behind me called, I lifted my eyebrow under my helm but turned around to see who had called me. To my surprise, Padme was standing in the middle of the bridge in her handsmaiden disguise as she looked at me. "The Queen has requested your presence. I will escort you to her if you so please," she said as demurely as any real handmaiden with the normal fire I've come to expect from her blazing in her brown eyes.

"Of course, Handmaiden Sabe," I said with a grin that no one could see. I felt a hand brush against my hip and was only slightly surprised to see that LT had practically appeared at my side.

"Be careful, Percy," she said quietly, "we don't know what she wants. But… If she offers? Break her," she said and I could hear the smirk in her voice. I smirked too but stepped up beside the queen and took her arm in mine.

"What did she say?" Padme asked quietly.

"Giving me an update," I said in a similar tone.

"On?"

"The padawan," I snarled just thinking about the damned jetti as we exited the bridge and turned toward the cabins - it also effectively diverted the conversation from what Ayla actually said.

"Oh? And how is the Padawan?" she asked seriously, stopping in the middle of the corridor and facing me.

"Not here," I said quietly. "Now, we can go to wherever it was you were taking me before or we can go to my cabin. It's the most secure location onboard."

"Are you actually inviting me to your chambers, Trident?" she asked hotly but I could see the light playing in her eyes.

"Maybe, or I could escort you to yours?" I asked as I held my arm out again, smiling broadly under my helmet. The queen snorted and took my arm.

"Yours," she whispered almost inaudibly.

"As her majesty wishes," I said just as quietly. She just glanced at me with a small smile on her lips. Together, we walked through the corridors of the ship until we arrived at my cabin. I pressed my hand to the bio-scanner and waited until it opened without another sound. The door was rather simple but the idea behind it was genius. My helmet took a retinal scan while it read my palm print, using my natural electricity to send the retinal scan up my arm and into the scanner. No one could get in without a positive retinal scan and a handprint that was already on file in the system. Without it, I would get an alert that someone was trying to access my room and clamp it down like nothing else on the ship - also handy for when I really wanted privacy. The door sunk into the floor and ceiling and I gestured for the Queen to lead the way. She took a step into the room and raised an eyebrow at the rather spartan cabin, the only things I had on display was an armor rack and a few of my more treasured lightsabers on the wall.

"Where did you get these?" The Queen asked in awe, obviously forgetting about the Padawan as she reached up and almost touched Revan's blade. I managed to find that gem on Malachor the one and only time I visited that Hades forsaken world and kept it in my cabin just because I could, even the Pit would have been better than that. I felt my focus shift slightly as I felt the memories that most certainly weren't mine wash over me for a beat but I didn't let it completely distract me.

"Here and there," was what I said as I pulled my helmet off and hung it on the rack, using the Force to strip down my armor, sighing in relief as it slipped off, leaving me in my baffleweave jumpsuit. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Padme?" I turned and looked at her. She already had her hood pulled down but was standing with her arms over her chest, shuffling on her feet just slightly.

"I… I'm going to need your help when we get to Coruscant," she said quietly. I frowned but nodded.

"How so?" I asked, gently guiding her to one of the few seats I had and sat opposite of her.

"I need you to stand with me in the Senate Chamber, with Mandalore and Naboo united the Senate will have to listen to us," she said but still looked slightly unsure. I couldn't help but smile slightly as I took her hand.

"I'll try, I promise. But if I can't, dad - Pre - will stand with you. We'll make sure that Naboo's plea is heard."

"Why?" She asked as she looked at me, her eyes suddenly blazing. Any uncertainty burned away, "why would you help Naboo? I understand wanting to help me, personally, but not my planet," she snapped.

"One," I said calmly, "is because I think the Trade Federation is a ridiculous concept that needs to be disbanded. Two, the people of Naboo don't deserve to suffer for corporate greed. Three," I said as I took her hands in mine, making her eyes widen slightly, "is because you convinced me that you're a good Queen the minute you wanted to make sure your people were taken care of above your very life, and I respect that immensely. So, yes, I will stand with you before the Galactic Senate as long as the Jedi don't hold Trident too long in their blasted circle of bureaucracy," I growled without any real heat. Padme squeezed my hands gently.

"Thank you," she whispered as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "I'm not sure I'm fit to be queen." She muttered as she looked down into her lap. "I was elected too young, I don't think I was ready."

"You're fit to be queen," I said with utter confidence, she looked up in surprise as I kept on, "I imagine you'll continue to be a hell of a good one too. But you were raised on a peaceful planet, you've never seen war. You don't know violence. I can help you there," I said slowly. This is what dad and I had discussed all those weeks ago, let's see if it pans out.

"How so?" the queen asked with a lifted brow and slight scowl.

"You're aware of the docket we had prepared for negotiations, they started at… What was it? A pound of beskar ore for twenty million gallons of water?"

"Four to twenty was what your Duchess said the negotiations would start at," Padme said with a casual grace reserved for any skilled and practiced negotiator. But I felt my jaw drop at the number.

"She agreed to one pound of beskar for five million gallons of water?!" I barked, making the Queen's eyebrow climb higher. I stood up and ran my fingers through my hair trying to figure out what to say.

"Indeed, is this an issue?" She asked, I turned back to see that she had stood up but was looking at her perfectly manicured fingernails in an attempt to look disinterested but I could tell she was all in to these discussions.

"Yeah, just a bit," I growled. "One to twenty is about the lowest we can feasibly go. Beskar, while not uncommon on Concordia, is still a rare ore. We can make a breastplate with four pounds of the ore but I'm not sure why you need it," I said as I turned to fully face the queen again. "Your starships are coated in Chromium and your guards wear leathers instead of armor… Consider me curious." Padme looked surprised before she sighed and nodded.

"We were looking to use the ore to make sure our starfighters were more durable if they needed to see combat," she said quietly, but that just didn't make sense.

"There's not much Beskar could do for your ships without weighing them down significantly. Chromium is strong enough to protect your ships while still being remarkably light, Beskar is heavy and hard to work… Here's my offer." I said but still hesitated slightly.

"I'm listening," the Queen said, her attention fully on what I was about to say.

"We give you seven to fifty, one suit of armor worth of beskar for fifty million gallons. And I'll offer you a platoon of my Heavies for thirty million gallons a head, a total of thirty of Mandalore's finest soldiers," Padme's eyes widened and she opened her mouth, closed it, touched her chin, and nodded slowly.

"These Heavies," she asked deliberately, "would they be loyal to me or to you?"

"To me," I said with a slightly chagrined smirk, "but they would be there more to train a few of your guards - maybe a hundred of them - to be the best guards you can have on your payroll. You won't have to worry about another incursion because these troops' first priority will be to fight like hell and take out enemy commanders and defend your person - though it's still no match for a true army." She nodded slowly but her eyes were far away.

"I do not accept your offer as is, Percy," she said quietly, finally looking over at me. I felt something catch in my throat at the look in her eyes. "Not unless you are part of that Platoon."

"I… I'm not sure I can do that, Padme," I managed to wrench out as she stepped closer to me, taking my hands in hers.

"Do you know what your Duchess' real objective was in sending you, Percy?" Padme asked quietly, "do you know why I was surprised that you weren't with your father in that throne room?"

"I do not," I muttered, meeting her brown eyes.

"Satine sent me a personal message on the holo, one that was off record. She said that there was a better way to forge the greatest alliance the galaxy had ever seen and that she was sending the most noble and strong hearted man she knew of. A man named Perseus of House and Clan Vizsla, the son of Concordia's governor. I scoffed at her, you know," she said wearily. "I told her that what she was suggesting was insulting but I requested you come on this mission anyway, to prove to myself that you weren't the man the Duchess said you were… Imagine my surprise when your father walked through that throne room door without you at his side, the noble saviour that the Duchess promised you would be and you were absent. I thought I was going to be tortured by the Federation as they led me, my retinue, and your father out of the throne room. Then men and women in armor out of my worst nightmares swooped in and saved me, with you in command. I recognized your voice the second you introduced yourself," really need to add a fully fledged vocomodulator to this thing instead of just the amplifier at some point... "And I still thought you were nothing more than a bounty hunter, someone looking out for himself over everyone else… And then you proved me right by taking us to Tatooine and insulting that slave, but then that same slave stranded us in the desert, delaying our flight to Coruscant and yet you managed to encourage your engineers to repair the irreparable all because you believed in them. Your strikers follow you because they want to follow you, your men follow you like no one I've ever seen…" the queen shook her head and I raised an eyebrow as she looked at me again. "You're more of a leader than I could have ever hoped to be and you don't even try." She said, shaking her head slowly, "I need that support, I need people who can make sure Naboo will be strong. You were right when you said that Water hates to be restrained, Naboo has been restrained by her people, by their pacifism. I need your help if I'm to help lead Naboo to an even greater era of peace." I nodded slowly as I scrutinized her, trying to figure out if there was a game here.

"What are you offering, Queen Amidala?" I asked carefully.

"I would have you on Naboo, commander of my Palace Guard and, Waters Willing, help me lead my people to a brighter future," she said quietly.

"Lead your people?" I asked, trying to organize my thoughts and figure out where the hell this conversation was going.

"Yes, maybe not as a King but perhaps an advisor. I need both Trident and Percy at my side if this is going to work," she said and I felt my eyes widen.

"The warrior and the diplomat," I chuckled. "You have fire, Padme. I'll give you that, we could make a Mandalorian out of you yet."

"Let us not get hasty," Padme said with a smirk. "But… Perhaps we could make a Nubian out of you."

I felt my jaw slacken as the girl looked up at me, her face a beskar mask but her eyes were wavering as if she had made a mistake. The sheer audacity of this girl, no, this woman was astounding. For a beat all I could hear was: I could never forget you. If this mission is what I think it is… Go with the Manda, Percy... And I knew what Bo Katan was thinking that day.

'Bo… Forgive me…' I thought as I met the Queen's eyes and sucked in a sharp breath.

"Maybe we will. Mandalore is with you, Queen Amidala," I said with a grin. Instantly, the young Queen's face broke into a broad smile as she almost blurred forward as she rushed me. She impacted into my chest before looking up at me, our faces less than inches away. Time seemed to stop as she leaned up and took my lips in hers. I placed my hand on her back and waved my hand at the door, activating the secondary layers of security and disabling anything that could interrupt us. After all, I had a Queen to break.

XXX

Coruscant

I never knew how much a matter of weeks could change a man's life like the weeks it had been since I left Mandalore… But the past four days had changed nearly everything. I had to announce to basically the entire ship who I actually was, much to dad's displeasure and Qui Gon's amusement… The Jedi bastard had already figured it out days ago. But thanks to that, it was easy to concoct a story that I had been rescued by a band of Mandalorian Mercenaries before they saved Dad and Padme. That had been the other thing, Padme had announced our arrangement to her handmaidens and the news spread like wildfire but I was a bit too busy with other matters.

I shook my head at the memory as I walked down the Nighthawk's gangplank. The Nighthawk was my personal freighter or landing shuttle if there was no good place to land the Fist in its entirety - Coruscant was the definition of that. There was only room for a few people on board the VCX-100 but it was necessary to have a small(er) ship to fit on the Fist's belly. It wouldn't fit in the hanger but it could be recessed into the belly with a few design changes to the Marauder class Corvette - which I allowed in a blink. So, here I was on Coruscant in full armor with a copy of myself without armor walking at my side.

The day before we found ourselves on Coruscant, Padme and I let dad know what the Duchess had intended and that we were going to go through with it, but just not as Satine intended. He didn't like the idea of me being at the head of the cohort but couldn't really argue as the Strikers would still be under me and it would be an even better use of the Beskar instead of wasting it by sending it in its raw form. He wasn't happy about it but he accepted the fact that we had to do this for the alliance.

Anyway. So, I was said to have been in the medbay for those not in the know - aka, Padawan Prick and Slave Sandrat - while a PROXY droid wore my face for the Senate until I could actually make it to the Senate building and was free from the Jedi. I would usually use HK for something like this but right now he was still on Mustafar. So, until I could get in contact with the blasted droid, I had to use one of the untested prototypes I got in the Colonies. I managed to get it off a black market dealer who was trying to get rid of it as fast as possible and I got it for cheap. Usually the droid sat in the hold, completely unused except with a databank full of my life and how I would usually respond to questions in my Civilian guise - hence the fact that there were two of me on the landing pad.

"Trident," Qui Gon said as he faced me, his Padawan and the Slave each between a pair of Heavies who had them chained and shackled until they could speak to the council, "we are ready to depart."

"Excellent," I said in return as I moved toward the speeder he indicated, glancing at Padme in her handmaiden disguise but she wasn't paying me, or the rest of the world, much mind, at the moment as she watched the Supreme Chancellor walk up to Sabe.

"To the Jedi Temple, if you would," the Master said to the driver as the rest of our small party loaded onto the speeder. The driver looked back nervously as the rest of the Strikers fanned out behind him with their jetpacks already fired up.

"Y-yes, Master Jinn," the poor man whimpered. I nodded to him and launched into the air, lightening the load on the speeder and joining my team in the air to provide a bit of security for the speeder while a squad of Heavies were to do the same for the Queen and Governor. What we weren't expecting was to be met by the Supreme Chancellor and the Nubian Senator.

"Belay that order," I said as I landed on the pad beside the speeder, wanting to see how this was going to play out with the Senator. I couldn't explain it but something about him felt… off. Familiar but not in a good way and that was putting me on edge. "'Alor," I said into my comms, knowing dad would hear it, "beware the Senator, he's more than he appears. Unknown factor, he seems to be an anomaly in the Force," I said in Mandoa as I felt his presence, searching for the force in him but was almost stonewalled by something. I didn't try again, if he was a Force user he would feel if I tried to tear through those shields but just touching them would be like a feather falling on it.

"It is a great gift to see you alive, Your Majesty," the Senator said pompously for all to hear. "With the communications breakdown, we've become very concerned. I'm anxious to hear your report on the situation. May I present Supreme Chancellor Valorum."

"Welcome, Your Highness. It's an honor to finally meet you in person, though I am afraid I do not know you," the chancellor said as he examined dad critically.

"Pre Vizsla, Governor of Concordia and her grace Satine, the Duchess of Mandalore's personal representative in the matter. I speak with Mandalore's voice in the Senate at this time," Dad said evenly, but confidently. I could have sworn I saw Velorum's shoulders sag slightly in relief as Palapatine seemed to let off a flare of anger into the Force. I almost took a step back at the sheer intensity of it and narrowed my eyes under my helmet.

"Phantom," I muttered as I took to the skies, waving for the Jedi to go, "keep an eye on the Senator. Potential hostile, initiate protocol Darksaber, Beskar. If he is Sith, make us aware of it immediately. If he's just a creepy, old bureaucrat, I want to know that too. Keep eyes on him at all times, I want to know when he sleeps, shits, or shows himself to the public. Watch him."

As usual, there was no response as Phantom winked out of existence when the Speeder took to the air - bolting toward the Jedi temple. I felt my lips curl in a small, feral grin as I leapt off the platform and poured on the speed, it's been too long since I was just able to cut loose and fly.

"Master!" HK's voice rang through my comms as I dodged and weaved through speeders from my position at point, guarding the speeder carrying the old jedi, the padawan, and the sand rat.

"HK?" I asked as a speeder whizzed underneath me, cursing and shouting as if they didn't recognize just what a Mandalorian Commando was - or what kind of danger they posed.

"Reply: Yes Master. Report: Mission on Mustafar was a resounding success. The Federation is unaware that their main base of operations is completely sabotaged as minimal casualties were inflicted. Excited recapitulation: The Trade Federation is in league to start something known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Master. They thought their files and blueprints for their future droid designs would be safe there, I proved that hypothesis incorrect. I have transferred these codes to the Fist of Mandalore, there is a code to deactivate the battle droids over Naboo. Here is the quagmire you now face master. Impressed Statement: These codes cannot be sent remotely, they must be sent from the Lucrehulk command station orbiting the planet."

"Outstanding," I muttered darkly, "we could get a ship in but Phantom would have to be the one to infiltrate."

"Agreement: Indeed master. Concession: Perhaps a well trained pilot with a fast ship could slip through the ship and destroy the lucrehulk itself?"

"Impossible," I said with a quiet snort. "Well… maybe a Force Sensitive could do it but I wouldn't want to be the pilot, Ancestors protect the dumb bastard who decided he wanted to try the odds..."

"Statement: There we are agreed, master. Nervous reflection: I do not wish to be made into a scrap pile… Consideration: though perhaps it would be better than being transformed into a protocol droid…"

"I bet it would. Get back to Concordia with those codes HK, I don't care if they've been transmitted to the Fist. I won't believe they're real until I see a hard drive with those codes on them."

"Query: Would it not then be best for me to vector for Coruscant, master?"

"We're planning to leave Coruscant tonight - but you know how that'll go as well as I do, HK - and I plan to be on Naboo in a few days," I said through my comms, rolling to avoid another rogue speeder.

"Resignated statement: Master, I can be on Naboo and infiltrate the Lucrehulk battle station before you even exit the deep core… Amused observation: Maybe I will even infiltrate before you escape Coruscant. Exasperated query: What are your commands now?"

I bit my cheek gently as I thought about the droid's offer before finally deciding.

"Do it."

"Yes, Master."

XXX

Thankfully, the rest of the flight to the Jedi Temple was much more… Well, peaceful wasn't quite the right word on fucking Coruscant but less hectic would be a bit more accurate. Also? Why the hell do the Jedi need a temple you could comfortably house most of Sundari city's residents in?

There are what? Ten thousand of them Galaxy wide? What were the rumors again? That they had a room with a thousand fountains? For meditation?! Ancestors, the water could be diverted to better things than just fucking using it as a decoration. I shook my head as I glanced down at the speeder knowing that this was going to be an interesting meeting as Qui Gon straight up ignored his Padawan's pleas while the Sand Rat actually sat in silence - granted that may be because of the hustle and bustle of the City World was something he had just never seen before. It's times like this I remember that the little shit's just a kid… A thief, cocksure, and annoying as hell, but still a kid.

As one, the remaining six Strikers fell out of the sky and landed on the landing platform in a semicircle. The Heavies were still positioned around the Padawan and the little Shit but that was expected, these were four of my best guards. Two of them were the ones who had taken the little Shit to the brig when he destroyed the life support systems.

"Welcome," Qui Gon said with a small smirk as he stepped up next to me, "to the Jedi Temple. We will need to see the Council with all haste, it is not everyday one sees bound men enter the Temple… Would it be possible to unbind them?" he asked quietly. I glanced back to see the Padawan had a very uncomfortable look on his face but the Little Shit just looked awed.

"Tri," LT growled in a 'don't you fucking do it!' tone. I glanced at her and shook my head. I saw her shoulders fall slightly but I looked to the guard commander and nodded. He returned it but didn't immediately unchain them, instead he reached around his back and took out a pair of familiar collars out from behind his back, tossing one to the Heavy holding the Padawan's left. He snagged the collar out of midair and clamped it around his throat before a word could be said. The Padawan immediately turned white and almost fell to his knees but the heavies held him upright.

"Wha-What did you do?" he asked weakly as Anakin was fitted with the other collar again.

"Kept you from making a nuisance of yourself," I growled. "I'm sure you noticed your connection to the force is almost nonexistent? Yes? Good. The collar's working - oh, and don't even try to take it off by yourself. It won't work. Only your guards, my Strikers, or I myself can remove it without doing your connection to the Force serious damage."

"How… Uncivilized," Qui Gon muttered, obviously not a fan of the collar cinched around his Padawan's neck.

"But necessary," I said with a shrug, "they weren't easy to find either."

"And where did you find them?" Qui Gon asked as we started walking between the pillars, Obi-Wan and Anakin unchained but still guarded by the Heavies.

"Somewhere rather uncivilized," I threw the Master's words right back in his face and (wonder upon wonders) he even cracked a smile. It took us an hour, a bloody hour, to climb all the stairs, get through the right areas, take the turbolifts, and avoided all the looks we were getting from having ten fully armored Mandalorians in the temple for the first time since we reclaimed the Darksaber.

"Trident," Qui Gon muttered as we finally approached the Council chamber, "do not enter the chamber until I send for you, do you understand?"

"You want to present your case and explain things, I get it. But your Padawan is the only one going with you," I growled. The leonine jedi nodded as the doors swung open to my left.

"Then we will speak again soon," he said as his blue eyes met my visor. I held out my hand and he took my arm with a nod before turning back to the chamber. I almost hated having to bug him but it was necessary. Just like the radio I gave Padme so she could contact me on a dime if necessary, I tapped a button on my wrist, still leaving Padme's and Phantom's channels at full volume but increasing the strength connecting me to the bug as I turned the video feed I had on to watch the proceedings.

"Master Jinn," a small, strange looking, green alien said, "much to explain you will. Why Mandalorians you brought into the Temple, a mystery in itself, it is."

"Our mission to Naboo became much more complicated than previously expected. The negotiations with the Federation were short," Qui Gon said. "Though it seems their military capabilities are… Less than shining. The Federation has set a blockade around the world of Naboo, but it seems that planet Mandalore had already sent a representative for trade." I felt my lips quirk at the rest of the Council's stunned expressions.

"And Mandalore," a dark skinned man beside the little green alien started as he leaned forward in his seat, "has armed itself once again? This council was under the impression that Mandalore was a peaceful planet under their Duchess?" I couldn't help but smirk as I glanced over at Ayla who I could already tell was exasperated at me just by what she knew I was about to do. I turned on my heel and strolled into the Council chambers like it was home. Qui Gon glowered at me, Obi-Wan cowered from me, and the rest of the Council stared at me like I was the devil himself.

"We have no species or bloodline," I said as I stood beside Qui Gon with my arms folded over my chest as I scanned the Council chambers for potential threats. But, when in a room chock full of Jedi, everyone's a threat. "We're more than just a people or an army, aruetii. We're a culture. We're an idea. And you can't kill ideas—but we certainly can kill you," I finished the Destroyer's quote easily as I could breath.

"Violence begets violence," a white haired Cerean growled as he edged forward in his seat.

"Peace, Master," I said, loving the way I was able to tell a fucking Jedi to be calm. "I did not come here to start a fight. Me and my crew were taking a shadow guard over Governor Vizsla, knowing the Duchess we knew that the Pacifistic Bitch wouldn't even send paper to guard the Governor."

"Yet a guard consists of ten Mandalorian shock troopers?" the first man asked.

"No, a guard requires two," I said with a smirk under my helmet, "but my team are the best of the best, nothing less, master…?" I trailed off.

"Mace Windu, Master of the Jedi Order," the man said as he sat further forward in his chair. "And you seem to carry a Jedi's weapon." My smirk immediately fell.

"No, I carry a lightsaber. One I built myself."

"Impossible!" a Tholothian female cried from behind me. I didn't even turn around as I looked at the unknown alien, the Cerean, and the human in front of me. "Only Jedi can create lightsabers!"

"Considering I am not, nor ever will be, part of your order, I believe that information is false. Though," I tapped my visor slowly as I tried to make it look like I was deep in thought, "wasn't it the Sith who actually made the first lightsabers?" the Council chamber grew deathly silent as I made that proclamation.

"Told you this information, who did?" the little green man asked as seriously as I think he could be.

"An old friend," I snarked, "now, if you'll excuse me, I still have a governor to protect. But we did bring a kid with us, should I take him back to the brig and back to his home planet?"

"Take him as a ward, the Council will," the little green alien said. "If strong in the Force, he is, a youngling he will become. The Council agreed, we are?"

"Aye," eleven voices said in unison.

"Settled, it is," the little Jedi said with a smirk. I was tempted to shake my head but the doors were thrown open to reveal the Heavies escorting the little Shit himself.

"Congrats kid," I said toward him as I joined my Heavies, stepping behind the Padawan and taking off his collar as the lead heavy uncollared Anakin, "you're one of them now." Obi-Wan gasped and fell to his knees as his connection to the Force nearly overwhelmed him by it's sheer intensity. That usually happened with these things, guess Anakin was an anomaly.

"What will happen to my mother?" Anakin asked quietly.

"She'll stay aboard the Fist," I said. "The Governor has taken a liking to her, he has offered her a position on his staff doing what she loves."

"Good," Anakin said quietly.

"Well, I for one would like to know what that was you had around his and Padawan Kenobi's necks and why it made Padawan Kenobi drop like a sack of Alderaanian Potatoes?" The Master of the Order snapped as he glared at me, I clipped the collars to my belt and folded my arms over my chest as the Heavies took a half step to stand in front of me.

"Something I found on Lwhekk," I said, almost half grinning under my helmet knowing damn well that the Council was going to send an expeditionary force out to see if they could find more. I originally found one of the collars on Korriban and stumbled on another - quite by accident - on Dagobah buried in a swamp. They're incredibly rare, so much so that the few Sith Holocrons I have just looked at them and said "what the hell are those?" but chalked it up to one of two people: Darth Muun or Exar Kun.

"Turn them over as property of the Jedi, you will," the little green man snapped. I just grinned darkly, I could tell that Qui Gon was getting nervous over where this was potentially headed but Obi-Wan was quivering with excitement.

"And what will you do if I don't?" I asked sarcastically.

"Hold you in contempt of the council, we will."

"No, you won't." I snapped. "I plan on walking out of here as easily as I walked in. Oh, and I won't die as easily as the last Mandalorian that fell to the Shadows," I said offhandedly but watched as the Grandmaster and Master of the Order turned sheet white (which was a rather impressive feat for both of them), obviously knowing what I meant.

"Qui Gon," I said, turning to face him, "if you ever decide to leave this hellhole, the Nighthawk will be in the same place until Nightfall. We'll stay there long enough to make sure you're coming aboard. Be well." The Master nodded back and held up his hand, I clasped his arm squeezed, palming the microphone that I now knew that he knew about. "Move out," I said to the Heavies, "oh, and someone might want to open a window in the hall." I threw over my shoulder. I heard a beep and knew one of the two high masters had hit a button. The three of us stepped into the hallway only for me to catch three consecutive punches to the shoulder from Hotshot, Cap, and LT.

"What were you thinking!?" LT hissed as I stepped to the precipice of the open window.

"They could have killed you!" Cap snapped.

"I just wanted to punch you," Hotshot admitted and I could sense her shiteating grin under her helmet.

"I had it under control. Come on, we have a governor to protect," I said as I stepped off the ledge and activated my bootjets to simply hover on the outside of the ledge, "Coming?"

The three women shook their heads as the men stayed mercifully silent. The three took the lead as Oak and Golem flew beside me, the Heavies covering our backs as we engaged Jetpacks and Bootjets to make our way to the Senate building.

"Do you have a fucking Death Wish," Golem muttered as we wove in between traffic.

"They wouldn't have killed me," I said confidently as I watched the small monitor I had for Phantom's read out and was startled to see Sabe - in her Queen's disguise - talking to the Chancellor but I couldn't hear a word being said. I dialed up the intensity of the feed and caught just a little of the conversation before it suddenly focused with crystal clarity. 'Ancestors bless you, Julius,' I thought as I finally heard the Senator speak.

"...the Republic is not what it once was," he said, almost sadly but kept up. "The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good. I must be frank, Your Majesty, there is little chance the Senate will act on the invasion."

"Chancellor Valorum seems to think there is hope." Sabe replied almost disinterested in what Palpatine was saying.

"If I may say so, Your Majesty, the Chancellor has little real power... he is mired by baseless accusations of corruption. The bureaucrats are in charge now," the Senator said and I almost fell out of the sky at the ridiculous claim considering he was one of those so called bureaucrats.

"What options have we?" Sabe asked.

"Good girl," I whispered as I rolled under a Speeder and shot forward even faster.

"Our best choice would be to push for the election of a stronger Supreme Chancellor. One who will take control of the bureaucrats, and give us justice. You could call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum," I felt myself growl at the simple suggestion.

"Padme, if you can hear me, tap your thigh three times," I saw her eyebrow raise slightly but she did as I asked. "Good. Don't listen to Palpatine, a vote of no Confidence in Valorum will do you no good. A transition of power between Senators would take at least two weeks, we have a strong position to take out the Federation in three days. That's only because the trip to Naboo will take three days, Palpatine is trying to use you to become Chancellor." I saw her eyes widen and realized I had missed part of Sabe's conversation.

"... longer to decide things than the Senate. Our people are dying, Senator... We must do something quickly to stop the Federation." Sabe said confidently.

"To be realistic, Your Majesty, I think we're going to have to accept Federation control for the time being," the old bastard said like any sympathetic old man but he was a career politician, and there was the fact I wasn't unconvinced he was a Sith.

"That is something I cannot do," Sabe said heatedly as she turned and left the Senator's office. The next part was most interesting though. Palpatine stood up and smiled radiantly.

"Yes… Everything is coming together," he muttered before he too left the room.

"What the hell was that about?" Oak said through the comms.

"It appears that the dear Senator is more than he appears," Hotshot replied.

"But is the senile politician an act or not? If it is then what could he be playing at?" Golem asked the group, "of course, you all know my position on Politicians so if I get to kill him I'm happy."

"Sith or Senator, chuck 'em in the grater," I said dryly. "We all know, Golem."

"Come on! It's a good quote!" He said as we closed in on the Nubian Embassy.

XXX

With Qui Gon…

Jedi Temple…

"Padawan Kenobi," Master Yoda said quietly after I finished my report. "Most disappointing, this news is. Stronger than your flesh, we expected you to be… Though made a connection with this woman, a boon it may be." I felt my stomach twist slightly. Obi-Wan, advanced as he may be, isn't ready for the trials yet. He proved that on Naboo.

"You want him to face the Trials, Master Yoda?" Master Windu asked calmly as he could be as he sat back in his chair, still visibly on edge.

"The trial of Skill, on Mandalore he passed. Saving the Duchess from Warriors of such caliber, a small feat it is not."

"The trial of Spirit, he has also passed," Master Ti said quietly. "Being separated from the force so violently… It is not a fate I would wish on my worst enemy."

"Then we are agreed that to pass his trials, Padawan Kenobi needs only pass the Trial of Insight, Courage, and Flesh?" Mace asked the room to a chorus of ayes and one nay. "The vote is ten to one, the vote passes." He said, eyeing Master Koon - the only one not in favor of the idea.

"I protest this, the boy should pass the trials as they have been done for a thousand years and ten thousand before," Master Koon snapped and I was in full agreement.

"Times are changing, Master Koon…" Master Windu growled. "A Mandalorian in the Jedi Temple, nay… A Mandalorian warrior in the High Council's chambers?" he asked incredulously. "And under terms of peace? That has never happened, my fellow masters. We need as many knights who know them if we are to be ready if there are more than ten of these Shocktroopers. It is troubling to me that there are Mandalorians who still follow the old ways, though we should have known that ten thousand years of tradition does not fall easily. Padawan Kenobi knows the new Mandalore, intimately I might add." I didn't have to look at my Padawan to know his face was flushing furiously while Anakin looked incredibly confused. "And the code does not forbid a different interpretation of the Trials. The vote has already been taken, Padawan Kenobi will be allowed to go forward in the trials by this method."

"Information on this… Trident, we need… To Mandalore, you will go. Face the Duchess once again, you shall. On this information, the very Jedi Order may depend," Yoda said and I couldn't believe my ears as I stared at the old master dumbfoundedly.

"Masters, surely you cannot be suggest-"

"We suggest that Padawan Kenobi uses this opportunity as his Trial of the Flesh," Master Windu said, cutting me off mid sentence. "If he passes, he will be one step closer to becoming a Jedi Knight."

"And what of the boy?" I asked quietly, disgusted at what he just suggested but unable to go against the will of the Council.

"As a youngling, he shall be taken. Trained until of Padawan age, he shall be. Of your concern? It is not. Off with you," Yoda said waving his hand, "much to decide we have. Your padawan and the youngling, stay they will. To Mandalore, Kenobi will go. Alone. It is decided."

I ground my teeth but nodded and bowed anyway. "Yes, Master Yoda. I will be in my apartments. Good day." I snapped off as I turned around and headed for the Turbolifts. As always, my path took me past both the Order's Meditation chambers and the Room of a Thousand Fountains - ridiculous wastes of resources they might have been but they were as old as the temple itself.

"My old Padawan," a voice called from behind me. I didn't even have to turn around.

"Master," I said as I turned around to face him, "it has been quite some time."

"Indeed, Padawan. You are troubled." Dooku, the Count of Serenno said with a frown on his lips. "What has happened?"

"My own Padawan and the Council, Master," I said gravely, turning to the meditation room.

"Kenobi? I thought he was a smart lad, a bit headstrong - aye - but a good choice. What has he done?" I glanced up at my old master.

"He has lain with a woman,'' I said. The old man raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed? But has he broken the code?"

"He is twenty-five, master, and a Jedi to boot. He has fallen to his feelings, I could sense it when the truth of the matter was revealed," I said sadly. "The council is sending him to Mandalore to gather information, they have declared that this shall be his Test of the Flesh and that his Trials of Skill and Spirit have already been completed. I had no say in the matter, Master."

"This is troubling… Though I have heard whispers that you had brought Mandalorian crusaders into this temple, which is quite out of character for you - my old padawan."

"They saved the Queen's life and I have come to respect Trident, their leader, on a professional level at the very least," I said thoughtfully. "Indeed, he has even offered me a position aboard his ship should I want it."

"Do you?"