No need for words.
The excitement you all had for the last chapter was enough.
So let's keep going.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.
Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 48: A New Front
"Invasion!"
Holo-images of multiple ships coming out of hyperspace were shown alongside the swarm of drones that were attacking the city planet itself.
"An unknown threat has tampered with countless droids out in the galaxy, causing them to attack any and all organic individuals."
The images flash to Clones and Jedi fighting valiantly against a seemingly endless swarm of drones. Every now and then, several individuals that had extraordinary powers were seen fighting alongside the Republic forces.
"Hysteria and pandemonium reign as multiple reports of this mysterious enemy was seen not only attacking the capital world of the Republic but also multiple planets belonging to both the Republic and the Separatists."
A moment later, videos of the Separatist alliance fighting off the sudden influx of ships and drones that decimated their armies.
"Blame is aimed and accused towards the Republic and Separatists respectively from each side. Others towards an unknown individual who could be the source of it all. Only theories remain standing. All the while, the Republic scrambles to regain its bearings and marshal their forces to counter this new adversary that has appeared on the-"
"Turn that crap off." Said a small rodent-like creature. "They've been playing the same shit over and over again."
"Exuberance: Oh please Master Rocket." Said a mechanical voice that held genuine joy in his tone. "The thought of knowing that the capital sinkhole of the galaxy had been attacked is music to my audio processors."
"Yeah, yeah, we already know that HK." Rocket Racoon said, tapping the assassin droid's head. "Now keep still. I gotta make sure I do this right."
"Query: Rocket, what exactly are you doing?"
"After seeing all that shit about some of those droids being possessed and all, I'm makin' sure this doesn't happen to you." Rocket replied, opening the back part of HK's head and beginning to work with the droids processor core. "Wouldn't want our trigger happy murderer turning his guns on us."
"Affronted statement: Master Rocket, I am part of a team that calls themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy that profit off of killing meatbags." HK declared. "There is no known force that would make me turn on all of you."
Rocket snorted aloud at that. "Yeah~ Ain't gonna take any chances."
As Rocket worked on HK within the Guardian's large ship of the quadrant, down in the lower levels were some of the other members of the team having a discussion about what had happened.
There was Quill, Gamora, Kraglin, Drax and an invited friend of theirs aboard their ship.
"Didn't you say that Hondo fella had these bots on him?" Kraglin asked Gamora and Peter, both of whom nodded.
"Makes ya wonder where they came from." Peter remarked, observing the holo-news of the attack on Coruscant.
Settled on a central table were a few of the droid pieces they had pilfered from their abrupt end of their last assignment.
They were finishing up a little escort job for some quick credits over in some neutral system when shit went down.
Not only did they have a bad reunion with those advanced droids from a while back, but also nearly every other droid went crazy and attacked any civilian within sight.
It was all hands on deck for the Guardians in not only fighting for their lives but also protecting their clients and the civilians.
It felt like hours, but the invasion was less than that. By the end of it all, the Guardians were quickly paid with a bonus before parting ways.
"Any ideas, Sugi?" Gamora asked, turning to the Zabrak bounty hunter who held up a head of one of the droids that had attacked them.
Whilst many of the droids there were similar for the most part, this one was distinctly different in its design.
The spacing of the mouth, the two antennas on the sides of its head and the way the eyes were angled to give off a more menacing appearance.
Sugi hummed aloud, inspecting the head closely.
"Didn't we encounter these droids before?" Sugi pointed out, tossing the head back into the pile.
"Yeah, on Felucia." Peter muttered.
Gamora hummed aloud. "We should probably track down Hondo and politely ask him where he got them in the first place."
"Why would you politely ask… ah."
"Yer getting it Drax." Peter said approvingly.
"But these bastards were found all over the galaxy." Kraglin stated. "What would Hondo know about this?"
"He had to get them from somewhere… or someone."
"Then where should we-"
"No." Gamora shook her head, cutting off Peter. "Not all over the galaxy."
"What do ya mean?" Peter asked, the group turning to the deadliest woman in the galaxy (Universe really).
"I've been looking over the map and newsreels of this attack." Gamora said, pressing on a button on the table.
Before them was now the display of the entire galaxy with several areas marked red.
"Look at where these attacks took place." Gamora said, pointing close to the center of the galaxy. "That there is Coruscant, right? The capital of this Republic that runs most of this place. And over here is Racus-"
"Raxus." Sugi corrected.
"Right, Raxus." Gamora nodded to her. "This is the capital of the Separatists. Here's where the largest bounty hunter guild operates and that's one of the main hubs of Hutt space. These were all coordinated and tactical assaults."
"How do you figure that?" Sugi asked, not doubting her but simply curious.
Gamora kept her eyes on the galaxy rather than facing the Zabrak.
"It's something I've seen my father do." she replied with a slightly darker tone.
Sugi blinked at this strange change in demeanor of the normally calm assassin.
The rest of the Guardians shifted about with Drax clenching his fists tightly and now glaring down at the table.
Sugi noticed the shift in the air, now looking at all the Guardians strangely.
As much as she'd like to question this, she filed it away for a later time.
Now was a whole nother situation which needed to be focused on.
"So… what're we gonna do?" Kraglin asked, primarily speaking to Peter who frowned in thought.
"Well… best bet is figuring out just what the hell happened." Peter remarked. "And since we don't know where these droids came from…"
"We speak to the next best thing." Sugi and Gamora said in unison.
"...Time to hunt down a pirate lord." Peter declared. "Wanna come along Sugi? Embo around?"
"They're not far off." Sugi said. "I'll get 'em. Curious about all this crap myself."
"Right." Peter nodded. "Say, where's Mantis and Groot? Haven't seen the two anywhere."
"They're back in Mantis' room." Kraglin answered.
In her own quarters, Mantis was currently sitting with Groot, who had gotten bored and was now just sitting in her room to play his game in peace.
The wide eyed girl was currently placing a small disk on the floor in front of her bed with her seating herself on her bed.
A moment later, a holo-transmission was activated and standing before her was the Mandalorian warrior, Fenn Shysa.
"Hi Fenn." Mantis said happily with a beaming smile as she bounced slightly on her bed.
The Mandalorian gave her a bashful smile in return. "Hey Mantis. How are you?"
"I am well." Mantis said, humming to herself. "I was wondering how you were. Have you heard of what has happened?"
Fenn snorted aloud. "Heard? I experienced it."
Mantis's expression fell slightly. "Oh no. What happened?"
"Ordo was attacked." Shysa revealed. "Mandalore heard news of the planet being suddenly assaulted by a small fleet of ships belonging to the Republic and Separatists before we got over there to drive them off. Turns out we weren't the only ones to be attacked. Concordia and several other planets got hit. One of them had Death Watch on it and the rest a few of our camps. Whole system is distressed."
"That sounds awful. Are you alright?" Mantis asked in clear concern.
"I'll live." Fenn waved off. "But what about you? Did you run into these weird droid bastards?"
"We did on our last job. Clients were heavily protected during the attack. Got a bonus because of it on top of recommendations for others to hire our service." Mantis said with bounce in her tone as she literally bounced slightly on her bed.
Fenn chortled at her action. "That's good, I suppose. At least you and your team will be busy for a while."
"And so will your Mandalorians." Mantis said.
"Right." Fenn nodded. "If anything happens Mantis, you're free to call me up for help. You've helped out me and my friends several times now. We owe you guys a bunch."
"That's great to hear! I'll be sure to let the others know."
Fenn nodded.
"Bye Fenn. I'll be waiting for our lunch together another time then."
The Mandalorian jolted slightly at being reminded of that throwaway comment he made last time he saw her. He didn't realize she would actually want that.
Feeling a bit warm under his armor, Fenn gave her one last smile and waved goodbye before shutting off the transmission between him and her, glad that the holo-image of himself didn't show his slightly red face now.
"Dammit Fenn." the Mandalorian said to himself with a fond smile. "Ya got yourself a good one."
As the Guardians prepped for departure from the planet of Nevarro, the rest of the galaxy was reeling and reacting in their own way after the sudden blitzkrieg of Ultron.
The Separatists called for a council from every high ranking individual involved with Dooku at the helm.
It was chaotic and in complete discord.
For the first time in a long while, Count Dooku was actually present to these meetings. Not through a holo-projection, but in person.
The Count watched the session of discussion with his mind ablaze in thought.
Many questions riddled his mind with no answers to relieve him of such headaches. This was not something that was planned nor anticipated.
His master Sidious would have told him of something like this happening.
Sadly, not even he knew the answers to this debacle.
Well… not entirely.
For now, all Dooku can do is settle the masses and hopefully figure out a solution to their latest problem all caused by this Ultron character.
That was the name that his master had given him.
It appears that no one else knew just who this Ultron was.
The parliament was in heated discussion, many of its members arguing back and forth about these attacks and what should be done.
"We need to strike back now!"
"How in the blazes can you say that?! We just got attacked as well."
"Exactly, a retaliatory strike against the Republic is what we need to tip the scales."
"What are you talking about?! The Republic? They weren't the ones that attacked us."
"Then how do you explain the Venators and Acclamators that were in the fleets that attacked Raxus?"
"How do you explain our own ships in the attack?!"
"Enough!" Dooku's voice boomed aloud, effectively silencing the entirety of the parliament.
"Members of parliament, please control yourselves." Dooku said more softly. "The last thing that we need is to argue amongst ourselves when we must stand united. Now more than ever."
"Dooku is right." Said a middle aged woman with brown hair.
"The parliament recognizes Mina Bonteri of Onderon." the secret Sith Lord said, gesturing his hand to the woman.
Many within the chamber turned their attention towards the present speaker.
"If we go about brazenly attacking the Republic after suffering such a devastating loss ourselves, it would only put us in a weaker state." Mina pointed out.
"Weaker state?" squawked a green skinned female alien with red eyes and spikes of some kinds on the sides of her head. "We may have gotten hit but we had managed to successfully repel this sudden and brazen attack. Our losses amounted to only a few dozen ships at most."
"Do you see what is happening here? Major systems have been attacked simultaneously. We do not know by whom, but they must clearly have an agenda for this assault. It does not matter if it was towards us or even the Republic. Whoever was behind this wanted all of us weakened." Mina refuted. "Attacking the Republic now and so suddenly will only lead to further chaos. Especially given the state that they are undoubtedly in."
"Senator Bonteri is correct in this regard." Count Dooku stated aloud. "If the Separatist Alliance were to attack now, it would lead to a greater degree of loss. The Republic, shocked as it may be as we are, will undoubtedly be on high alert after such a stunning attack."
"Dooku's words hold true." Said another human Senator. "We need to consolidate and recover ourselves."
"This will not stand." Voe Atell of the War faction of the CIS barked out. "We need to re-establish our foothold in this galaxy. What if the Republic is planning an attack on us as we speak?"
"Highly unlikely." Dooku chided. "They are in no better state than we all are. This would only lead to further chaos."
The Sith Lord's eyes then hardened on Voe. "I understand and admire your undying loyalty to the Separatist cause, Atell. But if you are to brashly throw away everything this alliance represents, then you are to be no better than the Republic we had broken away from."
That was enough for Voe to step back and step down from her overzealous comments.
As the Parliament began to exit the meeting hall, Dooku stood alone with his eyes gazing down at the ground. He would need to contact his master as soon as he was able to.
This was not supposed to happen.
This was not within the confines of the Sith's grand plan.
Whoever this Ultron was supposed to be and whoever he thought he was, he was playing a very dangerous game with the likes of the Sith.
This Ultron would pay for his hubris in full.
Of that, Darth Tyrannus swore to it by the Force.
-Scene Cut-
On the smuggler's moon of Nar Shaddaa, the criminal underworld was in equal uproar as multiple criminal organizations were also left reeling from the attack that had caught the entire galaxy flat footed.
Unfortunately, due to them not having the numbers nor resources at the time like the Separatists and Republic had during Ultron's invasion, they did not manage to fight off the AI menace.
Multiple resources, weapons, ships, you name it, were all taken from a litany of caches that were held either by the Black Suns, Pyke Syndicate and even the Hutt Cartel.
It was simply chaotic on the lawless planet with practically every denizen within the city world flipping out.
All but a few.
Within a dining establishment of sorts, one well equipped and heavily scarred man sat at his table and ate in relative peace compared to the less than subtle nervousness and tension in the entire restaurant.
Before him was someone of equal calm, if not jittery excitement, the man humming constantly.
"Look." The scarred man spoke up with a growl. "If you're gonna hum that shit, play it with the band and fuck off with it. I don't wanna hear what is love for the twentieth time again."
"If you know any better songs, be my guest."
"This ain't Earth." Rumlow said. "This place doesn't have Spotify unfortunately."
"I use Soundcloud."
"Whatever, same fucking difference."
The man in front of him sighed dramatically. "Wonder if the boys are keeping the band going without me."
"May or may not have to if they think you're dead. I mean, did you force them to cooperate?"
"God no." The man shook his head. "We may be black arms dealers but our love of music is real. If I would, I'd send you the Soundcloud link."
"Don't try to sell me your garbage music."
"Then what do you want, Brocko."
The man known as Brock Rumlow, or as his new bounty hunting motif; Crossbones, let out a small grunt.
"Well for your information, Klaue, it should actually be pretty fucking obvious why I'm here." Rumlow stated with the arms dealer in the literal and occupational sense humming aloud.
"Ultron." Klaue said knowingly.
"That shitstorm he brewed up is making everyone freak out like the end times are a few short hours away." Brock remarked. "Other than the Avengers, you're the only guy I know who dealt with him directly."
"Pretty sure everyone has by now."
"You know what I mean." Rumlow groused out.
Ulysses chuckled aloud, his robotic arm coming apart for a moment with a napkin coming out to wipe the smidges of food from the corners of his mouth.
"I do admit, seeing him again was not exactly a pleasant surprise." Klaue grumbled out. "When I saw those drones of his, I did kill a number of them for payback on what he did to my arm."
The arms-dealer then chuckled aloud. "Then again, this is a pretty sweet arm if I do say so myself. Look what I had installed straight away."
The arm then shifted apart near the wrist to reveal…
"Why?"
"I'm a connoisseur of music." Klaue said proudly, tapping on the small built in speakers. "I like to listen to my favorites when I'm working."
Rumlow rolled his eyes, slightly wondering how sane this man claimed to be.
"Hope you at least salvaged them." He asked with the manic grin on Klaue's face growing.
"I most certainly did, even if I did need to do a system purge so Ultron won't come back and take over his lost toys."
"Might need to do a better job with what I heard about him." Brock pointed out.
"That will take a lot of time."
"Which you most certainly have."
"No need to remind me." Klaue shot back.
A moment of silence befell the two.
"What are you even in the market for now?" Rumlow found himself asking.
"Huh?" Klaue blinked. "You do know there's a literal galactic war going on right now, right? Earth was fun but this is heaven sent."
"You know what I mean."
Klaue chuckled aloud. "War profiteering. Such a struggle for a naive starter. A stroll for an expert. A vacation resort for an utter professional." He took a swig of his drink soon after. "I've heard the Banking Clans, Techno Union and Trade Federation are in such practices since this prior to this war being commenced. If you get into the right field..."
Crossbones only gazed at him intently until Klaue sighed aloud dramatically.
"Fine."
Klaue reached into his pack that had been placed beside him in the booth and pulled out several canisters that contained distinct metals.
"Look at these Beauties." Klaue said in reverence.
Rumlow eyed them with interest. "What are they?"
"The best of the best in turns of metals and resources." Klaue said, patting them with pride. "I've come across a string of luck since coming here. Acquiring the properties heavily rich in these beauts."
Brock took one of the canisters and inspected the metal inside. It was a purplish glow of some kind.
"If you want a term of comparison, it's like Vibranium's watered down cousins." Klaue said. "But it's still related to it. So that means…"
"It's just as good as any other metal available." Rumlow surmised with Klaue nodding his head excitedly.
"Getting these hasn't been easy but with the right bribe, connections and kill, well, anything is available at your fingertips." Ulysses declared. "I think you'll like this one in particular."
Crossbones gazed down at the center canister that was pushed towards him.
"And what would this be?"
"Cortosis metal." Klaue revealed. "I heard about your run in with those laser sword wielding weirdos."
"The Jedi."
Klaue nodded. "Effective against them energy swords… for a time. Such a shame with how brittle the substance is. But I reckon if one could find the right concoction in making it last so much longer."
"What about that one?" Rumlow pointed to the purplish metal.
"Phrik." Klaue said. "Damn near indestructible. Good for weapons and such but hard to come by. Could make something out of it under the right circumstances."
"What about the small one here?"
"Ah~" Klaue took the small rectangular slab of metal out from its container and gave it a whiff of satisfaction. "Beskar. The absolute best that I have and the absolute hardest metal to come by."
"I take it this is the Vibranium of this galaxy."
"You would be right in that matter." Klaue confirmed, holding the metal out for Rumlow to examine personally.
"Where can it be found?"
"Where else do you think? Their home planet of Mandalore and apparently their moon of Concordia." Klaue stated. "Like the Wakandans, the Mandalorians prize this alloy quite well. Quite expensive on the cost alone, more so when trying to make one part from it."
"The hell you mean by that?"
"A large number of them consider 'em family treasures, passing them down generation to generation." Klaue elaborated. "Newer materials are made by them but the method in how it's done is kept generically secret amongst their kind. Only their metalsmiths and weapon makers know its properties best. Most I could do with what I have now is sell it for a high price."
Rumlow examined the one in his hand right now. "How much could this get you?"
"That being pure Beskar directly from Mandalore's capital… enough to get me a small fleet."
The mercenary's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this.
Klaue chuckled aloud. "Yeah, special little bastards, aren't they. Only thing that comes close to shooting past their price is this thing called a Kyber crystal. Trying to find it is a bit of a chore but I've got some leads. A pirate leader in the outer rim talked about it to me a few weeks ago."
Crossbones was more focused on the metal in his hand at the time.
"How much armor could this Beskar make?"
Klaue puffed out a bit of air as he held up the present sample. "This could make a shoulder pauldron or a small arm greave. If you want more, that'll cost you extra."
"How much do you have?"
"Enough." Klaue said enigmatically with Rumlow squinting in slight distrust towards the weapons dealer.
Whilst he was still unsure about all this, for now, he'd rather be more well prepared especially with what's happening right now.
"Send me the amount I owe you and you've got yourself a deal."
Klaue rose a brow for a brief moment. "You sure you can afford it all?"
"I've been busy, in case you weren't aware." Rumlow said. "Warlords are willing to pay top doll- credit for a plague to… convince populaces to recognize their rule."
"Wonder how long it'll be till said people would think the threats would be legitimate instead of utter foolhardiness."
"Everyone is a bit preoccupied at the moment. Besides, certain areas in this galaxy aren't the main focus." Crossbones said in an uncaringly dark tone. "By the time they will have noticed, a lot of people are gonna be long dead."
Klaue snorted aloud.
"And look at you, having your take of the war profiteering."
"I'll just have to see which end of the spectrum I'll land on."
"Supply and demand, even in these trying times." Klaue chortled with a sadistic glee ever present on his face. "Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which."
Rumlow gazed at the man. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Tony Stark told that to me once… and I heard it again from Ultron right before he cut off my arm just cause I said the bastard's name." Klaue found himself guffawing now. "You know what that metallic bastard said that it was gonna be ok that he cut my arm off."
The man then held up his new arm, waving it back and forth. "Can't deny, it did turn out ok."
Crossbones would have called the man crazy but if he were being honest with himself, that would be the pot calling the kettle black.
He didn't have much further time to dwell on this thought as he saw Klaue raise a glass to him.
"Here's to our new business arrangement."
Without missing a beat, Rumlow grabbed his own glass and raised it up to *clink* with Klaue's with the two finishing their meals shortly after.
-Scene Cut-
Within the flagship Venator of Obi-wan Kenobi's fleet The Negotiator, one Captain Rogers stood within the bridge with a slightly distraught appearance.
He was currently leaning against the holo table with his head hung low as his mind was ablaze with everything he and his friend Rhodey had just learned of.
This could not get any worse.
Ultron had made his return.
And it was in the biggest way possible.
When the two Avengers along with Aayla and Obi-wan were over the planet of Mandalore, their communications were lit up with multiple distress calls from dozens of star systems close by and across Republic and even Separatist controlled space.
What only Steve would describe to be some sort of Blitzkrieg, multiple ships had jumped out of hyperspace over key worlds and systems and launched sudden and devastating attacks that had left the entire galaxy rattled.
Utter confusion and panic was felt as the Republic forces stationed over Mandalore tried to make heads or tails as to what in the hell was going on.
After nearly half an hour of trying to discern what had happened, they had received shocking news.
Coruscant was under attack.
The entirety of the planet was fighting back against a mysterious new enemy that had caught the Republic flat footed in the sudden invasion.
Yet, a single transmission from Natasha stopped Rhodey and Steve dead in their tracks upon the reveal of just who it was that had led the attack on the capital of the Republic.
Now Steve was alone with his mind and emotions in a slight mess upon hearing just who it was.
He had feared the worst and hoped it was just some kind of hallucination or him mishearing something back on Geonosis.
But now, there was no doubt about it in his mind.
Ultron was alive.
And he had returned.
"Steve?" he felt a soft hand upon his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts.
The super soldier turned to see the friendly face of Aayla Secura now standing by his side.
"Are you alright?" the Twi'lek Jedi asked softly.
Steve gave her a strained smile as his answer, sighing aloud as he hung his head down.
"I'd be lying to you if I said I was alright." Steve said in a low voice. "But really… I don't really know how to explain it."
"Then could you give me anything close?" Aayla asked.
"Frightened quickly comes to mind." Steve said. "More so for others than myself."
Aayla frowned upon hearing this.
"What was it you called the individual responsible for all this?" Aayla inquired. "Ultron, correct?"
"Yeah." Steve sighed aloud. "Him."
The Twi'lek Jedi was having a hard time seeing Captain Rogers in such a state. The normally confident and practically indomitable super soldier hardly ever displayed much of what one may call a downer demeanor but here he was.
And it wasn't downer per say.
Aayla observed him for a few moments and it's more akin to disappointment.
More with himself it seems.
"Who is this Ultron then?" Aayla asked quietly. "It seems to me that you have some kind of history with him."
"That would be putting it mildly." Steve said, looking to the Jedi Knight. "We've faced off before. With too many close calls to say the least."
"And you were able to defeat him before, yes?"
"We did. It wasn't easy but we managed it last time." Steve said. "Problem is now that Thor, Tony and Vision ain't here to greatly turn the tide."
"Vision is still missing." Aayla said, making Steve nod.
"And so is Wanda." Steve said before he uncharacteristically struck the holo-table with his fist.
It wasn't a hard punch or anything. Just enough that it actually made Aayla jolt slightly.
She'd never seen such frustration on his face.
"We were never supposed to get roped into something like this." Steve said. "A war is the last thing that the Avengers should have ever gotten involved in. Especially on a galactic scale. Now we're dealing with an enemy we were supposed to have defeated nearly a year ago and he's back. I'm just… just a bit lost right now. Trying to figure out what to do now."
"Well… the Jedi know a bit of that feeling." Aayla said knowingly, earning a slight snort out of the good captain. "We don't blame you. Steve. If that's what you're wondering. This was outside of your control."
"Was it?" Steve asked rhetorically. "Was it really?"
Aayla was unsure as to how she could reply to that.
Being an astute and slightly more pragmatic Jedi, Aayla was aware that she hadn't been told the full story about this Ultron and something else was dwelling on Steve's mind.
It's as if something else was troubling him.
She didn't have time to ask him about it as Clone pilots began announcing they were about to exit hyperspace, arriving at Coruscant.
Soon after, the surrounding tunnel of Hyperspace was swapped out for the battle torn fleet over the planet of Coruscant.
All around them was the torn and shredded enemy fleet that attacked Coruscant just a day prior.
Upon their initial sight, for every enemy vessel destroyed, two or more Republic ones met the same fate.
Granted, the Republic fleet had overwhelming numbers against the one Ultron had brought in but the level of devastation was a troubling sight to see.
The fact that Ultron had come in in such a stunning and vicious attack made the super soldier grimace.
"Is there a relief effort already established?" Steve asked with Aayla frowning as her eyes lingered over the wreckage of the battle.
"Hard to say with how much of a mess this all is." she said with an unsure voice.
"But it's bound to be occurring with there being no further fighting at this time."
"One can never be too sure." Aayla refuted.
With the devastation around them now, the Jedi didn't even know if there were any survivors at all. A grim thought, yes, but it had to be a sad bitter truth to swallow.
Though it was faint and barely noticeable, there was an unusual feeling in the Force that she had detected.
And it was coming from Steve.
Looking to him, like always, she felt the void of the Force surrounding him that signaled his complete separate existence from the Force.
If she were to be honest with herself, it's not something she was entirely used to.
To have people utterly devoid of the one thing that surrounds all was startling to say the least.
Only Pietro and to a lesser extent, Peter, had any semblance of what she would describe as more of an affiliation to the Force compared to a connection.
But right now…
Though it was difficult to pick up on, Aayla felt what seemed to be an emotion rolling off of Steve.
The feeling was so strong that it actually cut through the void and affected her directly.
Without realizing it, she had already closed her eyes and reached out through the Force to connect to this feeling and nearly winced in doing so.
Guilt.
A raw feeling of guilt and remorse that resonated from the good Captain.
This was different.
Whilst the Force always amplified many aspects of the galaxy around them, Aayla had never felt this feeling of raw emotion in a long time.
"Pretending you could live without a war."
Aayla gasped aloud, a cold sweat running down the side of her head.
"Aayla?"
The Twi'lek felt a firm hand upon her shoulder and saw the worried face of Steve.
"Yes. Did you say something?"
"Say something?" Steve said in bewilderment. "I've just been trying to get your attention. Now you look like… well… did you feel something?"
"Wh-what?"
"The Force." Steve elaborated. "You suddenly gasped aloud and now you look a bit pale."
"I-I…" Aayla rubbed her head, wiping away the cold sweat. "I'm not sure."
Steve was slightly put off by this response and was about to ask what was wrong when Commander Bly had approached them.
"General, Captain." The Clone Commander said professionally. "We're about to… General? Are you alright?"
Aayla waved him off. "I'm fine Commander. What was it you wanted to say?"
Bly looked between her and Rogers with the Captain giving him a face that conveyed 'I have no idea myself what's wrong'.
Frowning a bit, Bly filed that away for now as there were more pressing matters to attend to.
"Gunships are ready to take us down planetside."
Secura nodded. "Thank you, Bly. Let's be off then."
The trio made their way down to the hangar bay and entered into a LAAT gunship with the clone troopers of Flash, Lucky and Cameron accompanying them.
The three clones each gave their nods of respect towards Steve with him doing it in return, giving a slightly amused smirk at the blatant markings and tattoos of the Avengers symbols that decorated the armors of the Clones.
It was still more than a bit flattering at the sight of the Clones blatantly showing off the symbols on their armor pieces of the Avengers. He recalled Cameron and Fives telling him that it was something that Clones had taken a liking to, marking themselves with the symbols of each Avenger they had at one point fought alongside.
Currently, the 212th, 501st and some of the 327th have the distinction of either having all or a majority of the symbols.
The 104th, 41st, 71st and several others have scattered results.
Those thoughts were soon banished from Steve's thoughts as the Gunships were now flying over the devastated cityscape of Coruscant.
Seeing the wrecked environment greatly reminded the war veteran much of his time back on Earth when he fought against HYDRA.
Steve hadn't realized that his grasp on the hanging grip within the Gunship had gotten so tight to the point that he inadvertently ripped the handle right off from the roof of the LAAT. Rogers blinked, staring at his hand as he had realized what he had done with the other Clones and Aayla gazing at him blankly.
"Er…" Lucky spoke up. "Everything alright, Captain?"
"More… or less, I think." Steve said, tossing the handle out.
The others didn't say much after that as they focused more on wanting to help the other Republic forces on the relief effort.
All across the city, they saw gunships and transport ships of all sizes moving debris out of the way, delivering medical and useful supplies over all to key areas and getting injured out of harm's way.
It was a sobering sight to see.
One Steve had hoped he would never see again.
But who was he kidding himself.
His mind was so preoccupied with the city below, he didn't notice the concerned gazes of Aayla and Bly with the two glancing at one another with a silent conversation between the two.
Eventually, the gunship arrived at their destination and they had stepped out with the Clone Troopers being ordered to assist the surrounding area whilst Steve, Bly and Aayla headed off to where they needed to be.
Close by, they saw a gunship with Obi-wan, Rhodey and Commander Cody land with that trio joining them in their walk towards the Senate Building.
-Scene Cut-
"Okay… don't know if I'll be needing earplugs now." Matt Murdock said, wincing at the commotion going on before him.
"What, cause of literally everyone yelling all at once?" Widow dryly stated.
"That's… putting it mildly." Matt said.
"Why are they even talking about all this?" Pietro asked, eyes shooting over to where Riyo Chuchi stood with her delegation.
"Just the way things are, Pietro." Sam said with a grunt, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Politics ain't never that simple."
"And given the recent invasion, it's probably going haywire with just about everyone demanding action." Natasha added on.
Currently, it was just the four of them on hand watching over this senate meeting whilst Hope and Scott were busy with helping the former heal up slightly after getting whacked into a building by a robot that was bigger than him.
Peter was helping out in the city overall but they soon got a notification from Tap that he was back at the temple now with that Prince guy that he and Matt had arrived with in this galaxy.
"Right now, our focus has to be on helping those on Coruscant and anywhere else that we were attacked." Padme Amidala spoke now, getting the attention of the four present Avengers. "The last thing we need is a military operation after something like this."
"This is the opportune moment for a military operation." The Kaminoan representative said heatedly.
"With what? In case you didn't realize, our forces were heavily decimated. It would take so much time and credits to rebuild our losses." Padme rebuked with equal passion. "Both of which we do not have."
"Senator Padme is right." In came Bail Organa of Alderaan. "Right now, the focus should be on helping the people of the Republic not gallivanting into battle when we have enough open fronts as is. More death is not the answer."
The Senate hall erupted into more arguing and shouting with every single perspective yelled out from all corners of the hall.
Matt was visibly cringing at all the noise and a moment later, had his helmet form around his head with his suit filtering out and controlling the sound.
"That's better." The Lawyer said with a sigh.
"Would you like to leave, Matthew?"
"No. No. I'll be fine for now."
"Order." Palpatine said aloud, cutting through the chatter. "We will have order in this hall. We do not need more division amongst ourselves as is."
"Yeah, good luck with that." Sam muttered under his breath.
"There you guys are."
The group turned to look behind them and saw Anakin Skywalker standing there.
"Sky guy." Widow said offhandedly making the Jedi scoff.
"If anyone fits that term it's bird person here." Anakin said, thumbing to Sam.
"Oi."
"What's up, Anakin?" Pietro inquired.
"Just got word that Obi-wan and Aayla are back with Steve and Rhodey." Anakin revealed.
"Bout time." Nat murmured. "Come on, got a lot to discuss."
The group left the senate hall just as more shouting had begun again, speedily walking through its long corridors to reunite with their two teammates.
All the while, on the opposite end of the Senate hall, two other enhanced individuals were speaking to one another as they were walking through the hallways of the building.
"So what was this Kashyyyk place like?" Peter asked with T'challa humming aloud in thought.
"A lot of jungle… a lot." The crown prince of Wakanda remarked. "And I thought home had a lot of trees."
"And those Wookiees?" Peter inquired. "What were they like?"
"Closest comparison I could think of are oversized teddy bears… with quite the short fuse towards their anger issues."
"How bad are we talking?"
"Supposedly one of them ripped the arms of an unlucky fool who beat them against this space chess game I heard of. He didn't take his loss quite well." T'challa remarked. "I am confident they would get along with the Jabari tribe."
"The what tribe?"
"Another time." T'challa waved off. "I take it you've been busy."
"That's… putting it lightly." Peter said with his shoulders sagging slightly.
"What was it that attacked this planet? Those robots?"
"This old AI that the Avengers fought before." Peter explained. "Ultron."
T'challa frowned in thought, thinking over the name. "Sokovia, correct? I recall my father speaking of a great deal of Vibranium being used to lift that city into the air."
"Yeah him." Peter shook his head. "Turns out he's alive. And he's somehow here. I don't know the full story on what led up to that fight, but you can ask the others about it soon enough."
"There's much either of us do not know." T'challa stated. "But still… coming here is a bit of a shock to say the least."
"Yeah, it's crazy ain't it." Peter said with a light laugh. "It's been a wild ride really. I knew after New York that aliens existed and all…"
"But never actually believing we would one day interact with them." Black Panther said, eyeing the variety of alien species within these halls. "Tell me, has there been any progress in finding a way back to Earth?"
Peter snorted aloud. "I wish. There hasn't been any luck. And how can there be? We don't even know how we got here. Or at least the scientific aspect of it. What do you remember?"
The Prince of Wakanda mulled it over in his head for several moments.
"You along with me and Matthew were going to take out Klaue and Brock Rumlow and that winged suited individual." T'challa said, the scene playing out in his mind. "And then there was that light and we woke up scattered in a galaxy at war."
"So… any ideas."
"I am not as well versed in technology as my sister is." T'challa stated. "But if I were to guess… it could have been a gate, tearing open in the fabric of space itself."
"Like what happened back in New York three years ago?"
The Prince nodded. "After that, the entire world changed overnight. Anything that many believed to be impossible would likely become reality."
"Poetic." Peter quipped making T'challa chuckle.
"In a manner of speaking." T'challa said before his mood became a bit more somber. "I just worry about my family, my people. Without me there, who will help protect them?"
Peter very much understood what the Prince was going through.
"I know buddy." Peter said sympathetically. "I got New York to look out for and my Aunt back home. And she's freaking out most likely every single day."
"It is not an easy thing to think about when worrying about family." T'challa said understandingly. "I've taken up the role of Black Panther once my father could no longer perform such duties. With me gone, I don't know if my sister could fulfill such a task."
"I take it that it's a family role, huh?"
"Most certainly."
"Then has Shuri…"
"She has been more focused on her projects, unfortunately."
"Gotcha."
Given the physical attributes and skill he saw T'Challa perform, Peter could only hope that Shuri could survive the training in order to become the acting Black Panther until their return. Or… she'll probably do it her own way.
Probably that.
Before the two could talk any further…
"Peter."
The duo rounded about to see none other than Captain America with War Machine, Obi-wan, Aayla, Bly and Cody coming up to them.
"Cap, Rhodey." Parker said with a smile. "You're all back. Aayla, Obi, Cody, Bly, good to see you guys are alright."
"I believe that's the sentiment we should be saying to you." Kenobi remarked. "You were all in the thick of it from what we've seen outside."
"Yeah, story of the century." Peter said. "Ultron."
"Yeah." Steve's expression was grim, something that was shared with Rhodey. "Ultron."
"Bastard did a number." The Colonel said with a shake of his head. "Can't believe we weren't here."
"There was nothing you could have done." T'challa said kindly. "This was beyond your control."
The newly arrived group momentarily stared at the Wakandan Prince until…
"Wait, you're that Prince guy Pete and Matt have been looking for, right?" Rhodey said, a metallic snap of his armor covered fingers.
"T'challa of Wakanda." The Prince said with a nod of his head. "It's an honor to meet the Avengers in person."
"Honors all ours, your highness." Steve said, offering his hand to shake which T'challa accepted shaking Rhodey's hand a moment later. "Glad to see you're alright. Peter and Matt have been trying to locate you for a while now."
"So I've heard." T'challa said.
"Well, I don't know if you want to join us or not." Steve said. "But right now, we're on our way to have a meeting with the Chancellor and a few senators after the meeting ends."
"The Chancellor you say?" T'challa said with intrigue, huffing to himself a moment later.
"Is something the matter?" Obi-wan inquired.
"Nothing of the sort." T'challa said. "Just something I believe my father would find amusing if he were here."
As the Prince got to know Steve, Rhodey and the rest of the group better, the senate meeting eventually came to an end.
The Senators dispersed for the time being with many still in heated discussion over the topic that had dominated the meeting from start to finish.
Said topic would be the focus of another meeting that was about to take place within the Chancellor's office within the next few minutes.
The group led by Cap and Obi-wan arrived at the Chancellor's office to find a fairly large group of individuals already there.
Practically the entire Jedi Council was there, either in person or over holo-transmission with several Senators present as well.
The rest of the Avengers were also now present here along with multiple high ranking Clone officials and admirals of the Republic.
"Any more people here and we might as well move this to a war room." Steve remarked.
Sam was the first one to see their arrival. "Steve. Rhodey. Obi, Aayla. Good to see you guys back."
"If only under better circumstances." Kenobi said grimly.
"You could say that again." Sam said, taking a moment to nod at Cody and Bly before turning over Peter, Matt and in particular…
"Cat man." Sam greeted the Wakandan Prince with T'challa snorting aloud.
"Bird man." the Prince said in kind with Sam smirking.
Steve and Rhodey regarded this interaction in confusion while Peter and Matt had small knowing looks.
The other day, when T'challa had at last met the current team of Avengers on the planet of Coruscant, Sam was the first to break the ice between them.
His opening line was a simple question.
"So you like Cats?"
So now, in that short amount of time, it had become a small inside joke between the duo.
But regardless of that, right now, a majority of Earth's enhanced were together now.
Only two were left to be found.
Steve Rogers took a moment to look over everyone who was physically here in the room.
Representing the Jedi were Master Yoda himself with Windu, Depa Billaba, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Mundi and the Successor to the fallen Master Eeth Koth, the newest Council Member Luminara Unduli.
Over Transmission was Shaak Ti from Kamino, Saesee Tinn, Oppo Rancisis, Adi Galla and Evan Piell all from various fleets or the Jedi Temple itself.
The other Jedi to be present were of course Anakin, Obi-wan, Aayla, Ahsoka and Barriss.
The Clone officers were Rex, Cody, Bly, Wolffe, Thire, Thorn, Ponds, Fordo, Grey, Fox, Bacara, Gree, Jet and Lock.
Of the present Senators, a majority of them were ones the Avengers were very familiar with.
Padme, Organa and Chuchi being the obvious three, same as Syndulla, to a lesser degree Mon Mothma and Jar Jar Binks. There were several other Senators and politicians that the Avengers weren't entirely familiar with and judging by the high ranking admirals present, it seems they had more introductions to be made.
"Wait…" Obi-wan Kenobi looked around. "Where is Admiral Yularen? Was he not present for the battle?"
Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano visibly sagged with Captain Rex gazing down at the ground in remorse and respect.
Jedi Council Member Saesee Tiin spoke up a moment later.
"He… He did not make it."
Obi-wan's eyes widened with his jaw slightly dropping in disbelief.
"Yularen… is dead?" Obi-wan was honestly finding himself more in shock then he had realized.
"Yes." Said a rather condescendingly superior tone off to the side. "The man went down with his ship as all good Captains have done in the past."
The newly arrived group looked over to a middle aged man in a crisp uniform of the Republic and a rather unusual hairstyle to say the least. This man's most defining features were his sharp cheekbones and equally sharp and cold eyes.
"I'm sorry, but who might you be?" Steve said respectfully.
The man regarded Captain Rogers momentarily, as if sizing him up until he nodded.
"Captain Wilhuff Tarkin." the man introduced himself. His tone was… rather curt but it appeared respectful. "You are the Avengers that I have heard so much about."
"That'd be us." Rhodey said, narrowing his eyes at the man who gazed back at the Colonel.
"Is something the matter?" Tarkin asked.
"Nothing." Rhodey coolly said. "You just remind me of something from back home."
"Truly? I hope it's not in a negative light."
"Wouldn't call it that." Sam spoke up.
"Yes." Tarkin said smoothly. "But regardless, I'd like to offer you my gratitude."
"For what?" Steve said in confusion.
"For your service towards the Republic." Tarkin stated plainly. "I have heard tall tales of your various endeavors and exploits across the galaxy in the war. Many have spoken of your abilities but it appears to have overshadowed the tactical advantage you have all brought yourselves. Your aid has resulted in more decisive military victories with far less casualties than previous campaigns. I take it the moniker of Captain Rogers is not one of a simple title?"
"No." Steve said steadily. "It's not."
"Then I hope we can work together one day." Tarkin said with what sounded like an honest tone. "It may be a refreshing change of pace than the usual high ranking individuals we officers have been forced into working with."
The subtle movement of the Captains eyes over to the Jedi were not lost on Steve and some of the other Avengers as the man stepped back just as Chancellor Palpatine had entered his office with his usual retinue in tow.
Though no one saw him do it, Matt Murdock picked up on Peter's sharp intake of breath with his hand going to his head.
"Are you alright, Peter?" Matt asked quietly.
The Queens native shook his head, rubbing his eyes for a moment as he winced again.
"I… I dunno." Peter said, visibly cringing now. "I just got this weird feeling."
Hearing this, Obi-wan looked over to his pseudo-student.
"Feeling?" Kenobi asked for clarification. "Is it your extra sense, Peter?"
"Something like that." Peter winced.
"Extra Sense?" T'challa asked in confusion.
"It's something connected to his abilities; a sixth sense if you will." Answered Obi-wan.
The Prince didn't have time to ask for further clarity as Chancellor Palpatine cleared his voice, calling for everyone's attention.
"I thank you all for coming on this meeting, ladies and gentlemen. This is quite the unfortunate time on what has befallen upon Coruscant- nay, the galaxy as we possibly know it given recent reports." Palpatine said, taking a seat at his desk.
Flanking the Chancellor's sides were two individuals constantly seen with him nearly at all times.
One was the male Chagrian known as Mas Amedda, Palpatine's right hand man since the Naboo Senator took office as Chancellor.
The other was…
Well she was a strange one to say the least in the eyes of the Avengers. Though they had seen a litany of species and humanoids since coming to this galaxy, this female standing by Palpatine's side, adjacent to Amedda.
She was a bald woman with pale white skin and equally pale white eyes. She appeared to be blind, but instead of the milky white appearance, there was a visible pupil with a faint line around the retina if one were to take a closer inspection. Asides from her physical description, she wore blue robes with an odd fur coat layer over it.
Though her appearance was one matter, the aura she gave off coupled with the damn near dementedly haunting gaze she gave off was something else entirely.
The way she surveyed the room with her white eyes was off putting if the Avengers were being polite.
And it appears they weren't the only ones.
Some of the Jedi, Clones and Senators at one point sent wary looks in her direction before turning away.
"Who is this?" Widow asked politely enough. "I don't think we ever had the chance to meet before."
Palpatine gave the former spy a cordial smile.
"This is Sly Moore, my Senior Administrative Aide." The Chancellor said, gesturing a hand in Moore's direction. "She had not been here for some time due to health concerns. But she is back again, which I'm grateful for… despite circumstances."
"Are you really feeling alright?" Steve Rogers asked politely. "It would seem better to be resting and recovering more with what's happened."
"I am well." Sly said politely. "My leave of absence did end rather abruptly with this recent attack. Thus I intend to be here to perform my duties for the Republic even despite my small decline of health."
Palpatine gave Sly a kind smile and nod, looking back to the large assemblage before him.
"Now then, onto the pressing matters we have right now." Palpatine's voice was incredibly grave. "This attack… who perpetrated it?"
"We would have assumed it to be the Separatists." Mace Windu said, arms crossed. "But they would not have been so foolishly and brazenly attacked the capital of the Republic."
"It would appear that you and I share similar assumptions, Master Jedi." Palpatine said a moment later. "I have recently received word from operatives across the galaxy that not only were Republic worlds targeted, but even Separatist and shockingly enough, Outer Rim worlds with a prevalent Underground crime syndicates."
"The Outer Rim?" Senator Chuchi spoke up. "What in the galaxy would they wish to do there?"
"These were tactical strikes from my observations." Captain Tarkin spoke now. "I had heard of these reports and reviewed them ahead of time. This advanced droid attacked planets and systems that are known to hold strategic and moral importance to many across the Galaxy. The Separatist Capital world and several believed to be foundries of the Droid army. There's also Tatooine and Nar Shaddaa, two worlds instrumental in the underground crime world such as the Hutt Clans and Pyke syndicate."
"To attack on such a scale…" Anakin held a disturbed look in his eyes.
"What are we dealing with?" Luminara murmured aloud with her expression conveying deep contemplation.
Not a second later did Captain Steve Rogers cough into his hand with all eyes turning to him now.
With a reluctant sigh…
"His name is Ultron and we have… history with him back home on Earth." Steve revealed to those present.
Now, several of the people present were aware by now that the Avengers knew who it was they were facing.
But to the rest…
"Begging your pardon, Captain Rogers." Palpatine said in confusion. "But the one who perpetrated this attack originated from your planet?"
Steve could only nod with the other Avengers doing the same.
Before he wanted to know more, Palpatine opted to look to the Jedi council for a moment.
"Master Yoda." Palpatine said. "Do you sense anything in the Force that may aid us in dealing with this new foe?
Yoda had his eyes closed with his head bowed down. "I do not, Chancellor. Outside the Force, this Ultron is. Detect him, we cannot. Find him, we cannot. Unsure of how to beat an enemy such as he is."
Nodding his head with a frown, the Chancellor looked back to the Avengers now.
"Captain Rogers." Palpatine interlaced his fingers, facing the super soldier entirely. "It is paramount that you and your friends tell us everything and anything we need to know about this… Ultron. He is a new enemy that has shown his hand to all that he is not afraid of any side of faction in this war."
"Where would you like to start?"
"The beginning would be most appropriate."
"Well then get a bit comfy in that chair." Natasha remarked. "This is gonna take a bit of time."
And thus what felt like hours, the Avengers who had originally taken part in battling against Ultron back on Earth began their tale.
From the start of a simple routine raid on a HYDRA facility. Meeting the Maximoff twins. The attack at the Avengers Tower in New York.
This then led to Pietro recounting how he and his sister first met the highly advanced synthetic being and being conscripted into helping him.
Hearing this was certainly a shocking development to some. Pietro was actually an enemy of the Avengers, willingly going along with Ultron's plans until realizing the mad AI he was with the planned extinction of their planet.
"Extinction?" Obi-wan said in bewilderment. "What in the Force would drive this Ultron into wanting to exterminate all life upon your planet?"
"Peace of our time." Steve said with a shake of his head. "A solution Tony Stark sought to have in a program of his, yet Ultron ended up taking the goal too far in his own way."
"That's one way of putting it." Captain Rex muttered under his breath.
"If he wants peace, why all this then?" Palpatine asked, his hand sweeping out towards the currently devastated sight of Coruscant. "This serves no purpose in peace."
"Ultron was always multifaceted with how he presented his crap." Widow stated. "Evolution, changing times to better reflect the current conditions necessary to reach a higher goal in life."
"He grew tired of so many conflicts happening so he decided to iron out everything for a clean slate." Steve stated.
"How could he have come to such a conclusion?" Ahsoka asked nervously.
"Internet." Peter, Sam and a few other of the Avengers said at once.
"What?" Was the collective response.
"Oh, right, you guys don't have that here." Peter said, taking a moment to think. "Holo-net in terms of comparison. A lot of data all at once that Ultron cycled through in seconds."
"Learned everything he needed to see and came to his conclusion a minute later." Rhodey remarked. "Seeing everything that humanity had caused on Earth and was still causing to this day, he figure full scale genocide was the appropriate response."
"But what could he have seen that made him do such a thing?" Mas Amedda asked impatiently.
"Take a look outside again and you'll see the answer." Sam said.
The group followed in Sam's instructions and stared out the window, the sight of multiple gunships, transports and medical ships whizzing about in the air to carry off patients, debris, resources and so on.
"Conflict, war, famine, death, suffering, inequality." Nat listed off. "All problems Ultron saw on our planet that's presently happening across the galaxy nearly all at once."
"He basically found an all you can eat buffet of the same problems on Earth and sees it in all sentient life that's not him." Rhodey tacked on.
"But how was he able to control such an army, let alone the droids that seemed relatively harmless?" Plo Koon asked.
"You guys clearly don't have proper protection against his unique programming." Nat stated.
"His programming?" Anakin asked.
"Ultron is an AI." Peter said. "I wasn't there when he was made but if he's anything like most AI, then he's based off of someone or a bunch of people mixed into one person. Their template is one of sentience not data or programming."
"Something incredibly unique and very dangerous was used in Ultron's unwitting creation." Steve said.
"What would that be?" Palpatine inquired.
"We don't know." Natasha said straight away. "This was something that we didn't understand or comprehend because we weren't there for it. Only two of our members were. One is back home on our planet and the other is… God knows where."
"I see… that is rather unfortunate." Palpatine said with a small scowl.
"Regardless, this Ultron must answer for his crimes." Mas Amedda declared.
"Good luck bringing him in." Rhodey said with a scoff. "You can't exactly expect him to come along willy nilly after what he just pulled off."
"Well we cannot under any circumstances simply sit around here waiting for his next move." Palpatine rebuked. "Every minute that passes by is a minute more that this ghastly droid has in planning for his next attack."
"Most of our fleets are on standby at a moment's notice." Mace Windu spoke up now.
"Yes, I have made additional notices and orders sent out to multiple Republic worlds of value that had not been attacked to be on standby for imminent assault." Wilhuff Tarkin stated professionally.
"Generals…" one of the Clone officers spoke up now, slightly unsure.
They turned to see that it was Captain Rex.
"Rex?" Anakin said, tone implying for him to speak what was on his mind.
Nodding, Rex removed his helmet and took a moment to think over his words.
"I believe there is something we haven't really discussed yet." Rex said.
"Being what exactly?"
"When… When he made his entrance at the Jedi Temple… he said some questionable things."
A number of questioning brows were raised as Rex soon continued.
"I don't know if what he said holds any significance, but…"
"Go on, Captain." Palpatine urged. "What did he say?"
Rex visibly frowned. "I… I've been thinking about it and I can't deny it's bothering me more and more when I think about it."
"Rex, don't leave us hanging here in suspense." Anakin said a bit impatiently now. "I was there too, remember? What did he say that bothered you?"
Rex's mood fell.
"Strings… and puppets… and us being deceived." The Captain said. "That the Republic will fall and that the Clones would betray it. Turning upon the Republic and our generals with a simple order."
The rest of the group was largely disgruntled by this thought but several individuals picked up on something else entirely.
Out of the corner of her eyes, though it was hardly noticeable to some, the way Natasha said Chancellor Palpatine seized up oh so barely with his eyes flashing with what looked like panic was something that she would definitely take note of.
And through Matt's enhanced hearing, he oddly picked up the faintest incline of heart beats.
The last of those who noticed something strange overall was Master Yoda and Peter.
The aged Jedi grunt slightly, feeling a sudden reverberation in the Force that emanated from… he couldn't pinpoint where it had come from. But he was able to confirm what side of the Force it was that let off this feeling.
The Dark Side of the Force.
It appeared that Ultron had not only made enemies out of the Republic.
And as for Peter, he now visibly cringed with a hand shooting up to his head as his sixth sense blared in warning.
"Peter?"
Blinking, Peter turned to see Barriss and behind her, Ahsoka, looking at him in concern.
Obi-wan had also noticed with Anakin, Matt and Steve turning to him momentarily.
"Are you alright?"
"I… I don't know. Just a splitting headache all of a sudden." Said the human teenager.
Palpatine tapped his hand on his desk to get everyone's attention once more.
"Much as I would like for us to discuss more on this matter, I believe it to be better that we disperse for now and go about our duties." Palpatine declared. "Captain Tarkin, in light of Yularen's passing, as much as I would like a ceremony to be made but I am hereby promoting you to vice-Admiral for the time being. Begin coordination of the restructuring of the defensive fleet over Coruscant."
The newly promoted vice-Admiral merely gave a firm nod to the Chancellor.
Palpatine then turned to the Jedi.
"Master Yoda…"
"Ready, we are." The Jedi Master said simply. "At a moment's notice, we will spring into action."
Palpatine gave him a satisfactory nod, before regarding the Avengers.
"I know that there is much that you have all already done for us and it seems that you have found another wayward comrade." the Chancellor said, nodding to Black Panther. "Much as I would like to get to know you-"
"Chancellor, this is our fight." Steve Roger cut him off. "Ultron was meant to be destroyed and gone but he's still here and he's here now. We will do everything in our power to help in taking him out permanently."
Palpatine leaned back in his chair and exhaled aloud. "Then you have given this old man some level of comfort knowing that all present here will do their part in defeating this new menace."
With that said and done, the group left the Chancellor's office and dispersed among themselves.
-Scene Cut-
The large group had split up into multiple smaller groups overall, each one going off in multiple directions.
A majority of the Jedi and their Clone officers had left to either the temple or their personal legions/battalions to await further orders.
The multitude of officers had done the same, going towards their designated ships whilst Tarkin began to give out orders.
Of the large group dynamics, so to speak, only the Avengers stayed together in their entirety with several Jedi, Clones and Senators they were friendly with sticking with them.
"We will have to prepare accordingly." Obi-wan said straight away. "Judging from what you've told us of Ultron, he's a devious one."
"He can't be taken out in the conventional way." Rhodey stated. "
"And how did you guys take him out the first time? You did leave that part out."
"A combined attack, more or less, from Tony, Vision and Thor. It was severely demolished before Wanda crushed his main body and later Vision destroyed the last straggler holding his, what was it Viz called it? His digitized presence? Yeah that." Pietro revealed. "But before that, Vision had to have him locked into his body."
"Apparently not well enough, I'm afraid." Obi-wan said gravely.
"Lock him into his body?" Anakin asked in bewilderment. "What's that mean?"
"He kept body hopping between any and all drones connected to him." Nat said. "Every time we destroyed one body; he simply transferred his consciousness into another body in an instant. No matter how many of them we destroyed, Ultron would just rebuild another one for himself."
"Great." Anakin dryly said. "Sounds like we're gonna have a lot of fun with him."
"But that's what I don't get." Scott spoke up for the first time since they had all been assembled. "Cap, Nat, didn't you guys say that Vision sealed him inside all his bodies and the drones were all destroyed?"
"Perhaps your fellow Avenger missed something." Luminara Unduli commented. "From what you're describing, Ultron seems to be rather powerful."
"No…" Steve shook his head. "That's not it. Vision's means of taking down Ultron was permanent, so to speak. He did something to his internal consciousness that prevented him from hopping over to new bodies."
"Then how is it that he came back?" Ahsoka asked.
The Avengers were momentarily silent until…
Scott gasped aloud. "HYDRA."
The others looked at him with Scott now putting up fingers to his temples as if massaging his brain into remembering.
"They gathered all of his pieces, remember? Making that giganto version of him. One of them must've had some remaining consciousness of him that was overlooked."
The others stared in utter shock and stunned realization.
"That's…. That's actually a possibility." Steve surmised.
"Wouldn't put it past HYDRA to work with something they have no understanding or control over." Nat remarked.
"Here, here." Pietro piped up, getting the two founding Avengers to snort aloud knowingly.
"Your guess is as good as mine unless anyone can think of something better."
With another group, another conversation took place.
"Sorry that we got brought back together like this, T'challa." Peter said sheepishly. "I was hoping Matt and I would find you under more…"
"Less stressful circumstances." Matt stated.
T'challa chuckled good naturedly. "I've heard it a good number of times, as redundant as it is by now."
Peter laughed with Matt smirking.
"So where'd ya end up?" the former of the two asked.
"This planet called Kashyyyk, home to the Wookiees." T'challa revealed. "A jungle-like world entirely. I have spent some time learning of their customs and cultures and have found myself rather enjoying the time I had there."
"Glad to know it wasn't too bad." Peter said. "Was it?"
"It was… as one would expect when finding yourself on an alien world." T'challa said airily.
"Confusing, bewildering and overwhelming?" Matt asked knowingly. "And getting roped into a conflict you didn't have any knowledge of."
"Precisely." T'challa said. "Still. I would have preferred it if Meow-Mix had Spider-cop and Devil-Officer by his side in this instance."
Peter gasped aloud, a wide beaming grin appearing as he began pointing to himself, then Matt, then T'challa and rinse and repeat.
"Matt, did you-can you-"
"Yes, Peter." Matt said in amusement. "I heard him quite clearly."
"Oh, if only Shuri heard that right now."
"That will never happen." T'challa said. "The last thing I need is for her to hold that over me for the rest of my days."
"What're you guys talking about?"
The trio turned to see Ahsoka and Barriss standing before them.
"Oh, T'challa." Peter said straight away. "These are two friends of mine that I made since we came here. Meet Ahsoka and Barriss. Girls, this is Prince T'challa."
"Are you truly the Prince of your nation back on Earth?" Barriss inquired with intrigue.
"Indeed I am." T'challa bowed slightly. "It is a pleasure to meet you both."
"Pleasures all ours." Ahsoka said graciously. "You showing up with the Wookiees helped us turn the tide when we needed it."
"Thank you, Prince T'challa." Barriss said with a more respectful bow.
"You don't need to do that." T'challa said kindly. "Just T'challa will do. And I do appreciate it along with the friends who helped me reach this planet."
"A Wookie on the battlefield is a terrifying thing I've heard." Ahsoka commented. "What we saw just confirmed it."
As the two Padawans got to know T'challa, the rest of the group were discussing a more serious matter.
"Ultron may be someone who uses a level of deceit in the things he does but…" Natasha crossed her arms. "I don't know what to make of what he said."
"It all sounded a bit too ominous, if you ask me." Anakin said. "Now that Rex mentioned it, I can't help but think about it now."
"You mentioned something about deception, correct Rex?" Obi-wan asked.
"Yes, all being deceived from something from the shadows and being pulled by strings."
The Jedi Master frowned, stroking his beard.
"Obi-wan?" Anakin asked knowingly.
"Hmmm?"
"I know you're thinking of something and it's that look when you wanna remember something." Anakin pointed out.
Rather than deny it, Kenobi's frown deepened slightly.
"It's… something I remember Dooku spoke to me about when I was held prisoner at Geonosis when the war commenced."
"About a Sith lord infiltrating the Senate?" Padme Amidala asked with Kenobi slowly nodding in confirmation.
She remembered this as something that she had heard from Obi-wan and her husband Anakin after the start of the war.
"He definitely knows something." Hope van Dyne stated. "Guys like him always do. It's what they're good at."
Kenobi hummed aloud, looking to three of the Avengers in particular.
"And if memory serves, didn't you three go through a similar experience back on Earth; with HYDRA infiltrating that military organization? What was it called again, SHIELD?"
This got some deepened frowns from Steve, Sam and Natasha on the mention of this.
"But still… Dooku saying such things…"
"Originally a means of possibly throwing us off our game. But what if it was actually a genuine warning."
"It might've fooled me." Obi-wan confessed. "He did such a confession in hopes of having me join him, a means of connecting us further due to our relation with my late master and his late apprentice, Qui-gon."
Anakin's shoulder sagged slightly at the mention of the Jedi master who had found him and freed him from slavery those many years ago.
"To hear this from another source, someone not from our galaxy is… troubling to say the least." Aayla couldn't help but comment.
"So then what do we do about it?" Anakin asked. "Feels like for every question we ask, instead of answer, we just get a thousand more."
A grumbling silent agreement befell the group when Natasha's eyes squinted, signifying something she had just remembered.
"Did you notice anything odd with the Chancellor?"
Many looked to her in confusion.
"What do ya mean?" Anakin asked.
"He seemed rather off when Rex was giving his accounts at the Jedi Temple." Nat pointed out.
"He was probably startled as did just about everyone else." Anakin said with a shrug.
"Not in the traditional sense." Nat stated.
"And how can you be so sure?" Anakin asked with a slightly accusatory look.
"I've been highly trained as an assassin and spy since I was just a little girl." Natasha bluntly admitted, causing a few of the Jedi and even Avengers to wince. Only the Clones appeared unbothered by this revelation.
"I needed to learn to pick up a lot of subtle clues one would make in terms of reactions." Nat said. "And from what I picked up on, Palpy was really bothered by all this."
"I'm pretty sure we all are by this point, Natasha." Padme said.
"We'll need more than your assumptions, Natasha." Obi-wan informed her.
"Weren't you guys paying attention?" Nat asked rhetorically. "I wasn't the only one to pick up on the Chancellor's reactions."
"What was he even reacting to?" Anakin bluntly asked.
Nat nodded her head at Skywalker's Second-in-Command. "It's what Rex said about Ultron when he came to the temple. I wasn't the only one to pick up a reaction after that."
"And who else would these individuals be?" Aayla inquired.
Nat simply thumbed behind her over to Peter with Matt, T'challa, Ahsoka and Barriss.
"Peter sure got a headache out of the blue." Nat said. "You saw him, Obi-wan. You even asked him about it."
The Jedi Master had no response to that, knowing that he had been assisting the young teen in understanding this sixth sense.
From what he had gathered after a dozen or so lessons, this sixth sense Peter had was similar to the subtle Force precognition Jedi's have when avoiding attacks or deflecting blaster bolts.
Only Peter's was far more different from what Kenobi and the boy himself had come to understand.
They were only still getting a grasp of this extra sense overall.
"With Matt, we can probably ask him what he picked up from the Chancellor."
"You mean with those head movements of his?" Sam asked, Nat nodding in confirmation. "What do you think he picked up?"
Before Natasha was able to say anything else, multiple alarms went off with everyone's communication link beeping rapidly.
"What's going on?" Scott asked worriedly.
No sooner did he ask did Obi-wan's holo transmitter attached to his belt go off.
Quickly holding it up, the small datapad was activated to reveal Mace Windu and Master Yoda standing together.
"What's the matter, Masters?"
"Ultron." Windu answered straight away, startling the group. "He was recently spotted and attacking as we speak."
"An attack so soon?" Padme asked in disbelief.
"We're mobilizing half a dozen fleets to counterattack him right now." Windu stated.
"Half a dozen?" Anakin said in awe. "That seems a bit excessive, don't ya think?"
"After what he had just done, not with him it isn't." Windu said. "Skywalker, Kenobi, Secura, the three of you will be spearheading this assault. I will be backing you with Master Fisto, Plo Koon and Adi Galla."
"Assemble everything we can. Stop Ultron, we must." Yoda said in a grave voice.
"Let's just hope he doesn't infiltrate and tamper with the Republic cruisers." Anakin murmured, remembering the AI's capabilities the Avengers just told him.
"I have an answer to that." Rhodey spoke up, tapping on his chest piece. "Tap?"
"Yes comrade?" The Avengers' Personal AI responded from within Rhodey's suit.
"I know Tony programmed you and probably that other AI in Peter's suit to combat something like this." Rhodey said. "It's time to work your magic."
"At once Comrade." Tap proclaimed. "An iron curtain shall descend upon Ultron."
With that, the large group ran off towards the ships with Scott asking one last question.
"Where is this attack even taking place?"
Anakin held up his wrist comm and took a moment to read out the flashing sequences of lights that conveyed the coordinates they were being sent to.
"Jabiim."
Alright, there we have it folks, the brief lull before the escalation of Ultron's campaign against the galaxy.
And if you are unaware of where they're going right now, well to those Star Wars fans in the know, I'm certain you guys are gonna love it.
To the unaware, let's just say that Umbara was the only thing close enough to match how dark and bleak things got during the Clone Wars for the Clones.
And this time, it's Ultron who's involved.
Jebest4781: Asides from this, I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well in this new year. And despite a few… hiccups quite recently this week, things are doing alright.
FMW: Yeah… yeah… still, loving the reviews and excitement you guys had from the last chapter. Everyone's overwhelming joy at seeing Ultron back, us doing the OG animated Clone Wars (All Jebests idea), bringing in Fordo, showing off Wanda, Vision and T'challa was something I am so happy we finally got to. And we're only getting started mind you. There are still more crazier twists to come in the next season.
Jeb: So be patient fellow readers and writers, we will get to the good stuff soon enough. Quite a lot has been planned and it'll take time to finally reach them.
FMW: A reviewer said it best. At this point, expect the unexpected. Season 3 is gonna be pure insanity from start to the end of season 5. This is one of the best stories I feel I've ever written and with Jebest it just got even better with the ideas we exchanged and created. Some of his are just one's I wish we could get to faster and makes me want a clone where we would just constantly write to churn out one chapter after another.
Jeb: Wouldn't that be grand to have…
FMW: One day in the future. They already have cloned sheep. But I digress.
Thanks again for reading.
Be sure to check out our other co-written works, I'm Nobody and A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts cause I'll never stop promoting those and until next time.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.