The Shot Heard Around the Galaxy

[Mandalore the Siren]

On the outskirts of the Coruscant system, a small fleet had arrived. Staying far away from being detected, they were neverthless ready to spring into action when the moment arrived. From the capital ship, several small cruisers launched, headed straight for the center of the Republic. On the center cruiser, Mandalore waited patiently in the cockpit. As they neared closer, he could feel the minds of the Jedi reaching out and scanning the area. With a simple twitch from his hand, Mandalore masked the presence of both his troops and that of himself. Soon enough, they were entering the atmosphere and heading towards the Senate Hall, where a vigorous debate was taking place. Without any troubles or questions, Mandalore and his crew were docked in various senate docking bays. Just as planned, he thought as he stepped down the ship's ramp.

[Mandalore the Siren]

Mandalore motioned to the men next to him and proceeded into the senate building. No trouble awaited him as he stepped in and the guards merely nodded at him. He had the luxury of parking right outside the Mandalore senate seat. He paused at the door a moment, then nodded at his guards and entered the senate hall. He stepped quickly into the senate pod, brushing past the duchess, and pressing the button to launch the pod.

Whatever discussion that had been going on hushed as the Chancellor shouted out, "The Senate does not recognize the chair from Mandalore."

"Strong words from such a weak man," Mandalore retorted, "And I would appreciate it if you remain silent while your superiors are talking." With that the Chancellor gulped quickly and shut right up. "Continuing on, my true name is not important, but you may refer to me as Mandalore the Siren. At this time I would like to announce to you that the reign of Duchess Katalina is at an end," Mandalore declared, drawing his blaster rifle. "Unfortunately, a secret tribunal of my Mandalorians has found her guilty of treason towards the Mandalore. The punishment for this is execution by blaster at point blank range in a senate pod," he continued. Looking left and right, he quipped, "Hmm, convenient, no?" before pulling the trigger of his rifle. The gun kicked back as a bolt of pure energy burst forth from the barrel and entered a trajectory that would bring it to a final conclusion with the Duchess' shocked face. A small singe mark appeared through her head as the bolt traveled through he head and out the back, her body crumpling to the ground.

Yet no one moved. Not a sound was made save for the Duchess hitting the ground. A moment passed and nothing stirred. Then Mandalore flipped the rifle in his hand and put it back on his belt. Turning back to face the shocked Senate, "Right, now that bloody business is over, I would like to appoint myself the Emperor of Mandalore. As my first official decision as Emperor, I would like to state that Mandalore is officially succeeding from the Republic and joining the newly formed Empire of the Black Siren."

"You can't do that!" protested the Chancellor, "You can't just waltz in here and declare new empires and shoot duchesses. Who the hell do you think-."

The rest of the Chancellor's sentence was cut off by grunts and moans of pain as he gripped his stomach. His stomach seemed to dissolve as a light hissing was heard. "MY STOMACH'S EATING ME ALIVE!" he shouted, as he bent over in pain, only to flip over the chancellor's box's edge and fall to his death.

There was a collective gasp from many of the loyal senators. Mandalore lowered his hand, then continued on with his speech, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I have formed a new empire and those who wish to join should leave now, and return to your home systems, where you should discuss with your fellow leaders." He turned his head from left to right, watching as a third of the senators filed out of the room.

Clearing his throat, he continued, "Now, I bet your wondering how I could have murdered two leaders without any resistance from the senate guards? Well, let me tell you, these fine gentlemen here today aren't you ordinary Senate guards. As would happen, they're highly trained Mandalorian commandos. That brings me to my next point. But excuse me for one second," he said, activating his comlink.

"Mengo? It's Mandalore. The Gundark is in the archives. I repeat, the Gundark is in the archives." With a beep, he deactivated his comlink and turned back to the Senators. "Right, sorry about that. Well, these fine men here? They're here to apprehend all of you and take you back to Mandalore. Gentlemen? The floor is yours," he concluded as doors all over the senate opened to senate guards with blasters drawn. Much shouting ensued, but a few blaster shots was enough to silence it.

Mandalore returned the pod to its dock and stepped out, headed for his shuttle. When he stepped out onto the docking bay, he was greeted by the familiar sight of Mandalorian shuttles, now being filled with Republic senators. He walked into the cockpit of his shuttle, and nodding to the pilot, was headed back to his capital ship. "Let's hope Mengo can come through on his part," he remarked.

[Mengo]

Mengo and his men waited in the hanger. How longs this gonna take? he thought. The com-link embedded in his helmet beeped. "Mengo? It's Mandalore. The Gundark is in the archives. I repeat, the Gundark is in the archives." Finally.

"That's our signal boys, lets get to it." His Basilisk came to life. "Try and keep the bomb from blowing up in the free fall, alright Brewn." The hatch opened, and they were sucked out. "Whoohoo," Mengo called out on his small groups frequency. Saz gave him self a boost so that he could get there and scout out their position before they arrived with the bomb.

They fell for a few more minutes when Mengo said,"Alright, ease her down, we're entering the atmosphere." His Basilisks thrusters thrummed to life and slowed his decent."

"Police everywhere," Saz said,"the city has taken the senate's capture hard. We'll just have to play by ear and arm the bomb right before we release." As he finished the temple came in sight.

Wow, isn't that just pretty, Mengo scoffed. It's going to be a nice piece of ruble when we're done with it. Suddenly two police speeders came from the side.

"We command you to stand down," someone called with a speaker. "You are under--" He didn't finish because Saz came flying in and totaled both speeders with a few shots.

"Arming bomb," Mengo said through his com-link. "And...release." The cables cut lose and he gunned it in the direction of space. There was a reassuring explosion as they escaped.

[Mandalore the Siren]

As Mengo's bomb dropped towards the temple, the casing broke open and the bomb became three bombs. The first bomb plummeted straight towards one the great statues in front of the temple. The explosion toppled the statue, collapsing onto the stairs and crushing any Jedi underneath it. The second bomb fell towards the library, crating a gaping hole in the ceiling and scattering several of the shelves. The third bomb, however, collided with the council tower, making a large, smoking hole in the lift tube. The tower stood for a moment or two, leaking smoke, before imploding downwards on itself.

On the outskirts of Coruscant, the last of the shuttles were arriving, along with Mengo's strike force. Mandalore stood on the bridge of his capital ship, staring out the view screen. He hailed all of the shuttles on his comlink, "Gentleman, congratulations. The operation was a complete success, Now, report to your holding positions and wait for further orders. Mandalore, out." He watched as the shuttles jumped to hyperspace, heading for their respective holding areas. After the last ship had made the jump, he turned back to the deck officer behind him, "Officer, plot a course for Mandalore. We've got some work to do." The officer nodded, adding a quick, "Yes, sir," as Mandalore headed back to his quarters. A lot of work indeed.