In the Supreme Chancellor's private office, Sheev Palpatine sat at his desk, hands clasped together, his expression dark and contemplative.
In the weeks since his confrontation with Ultron, he'd found himself in an increasingly unfamiliar state of tension and anxiety. He could not abide that insufferable droid's audacity—gloating before him, a Dark Lord of the Sith.
Darth Sidious, last of the Sith in a thousand years, survivor under Darth Bane's Rule of Two. He had orchestrated a millennium-long plan of revenge against the Jedi and the Republic. Now, all those carefully laid plans had been disrupted by this walking scrap heap.
The Avengers' existence was irritating and infuriating enough, but now they'd brought one of their enemies into his carefully controlled domain. This wasn't the "game" he'd mastered. Events were escalating in increasingly unpredictable directions. The Force offered him no comfort—only deepened the secret Sith Lord's rage.
Not long ago, he'd performed an ancient ritual with the spirit of Darth Bane to bend the will of the Force more firmly toward the dark side. They had succeeded. The downfall of the Jedi Order had seemed inevitable, the Force itself turning against them.
Yet now, it all threatened to unravel.
From the Avengers' arrival nearly a year ago, to the subsequent complications, and now Ultron... Sidious had never felt so uncertain. The fury within him threatened to erupt.
But he needed to maintain focus. To restore his plans to their proper trajectory and ensure all his efforts weren't sabotaged by some aberration from a backwater dimension, Palpatine had received word from his apprentice about a proposal he'd actually been planning for some time—one the Confederacy was about to execute. He simply hadn't expected it so soon. At least it meant progress within the coming months. Though given the drastic turn of events, many elements of his grand design required adjustment to an uncomfortable degree.
After extensive deliberation and coordination with Dooku regarding necessary actions, Palpatine invested considerable effort to ensure proper implementation. To that end, he made several calls and arranged multiple meetings.
Later that day, elsewhere on Coruscant, something entirely different occupied one of the Republic's Avengers.
While many team members remained busy addressing various problems or assisting others, one found herself watching over Mara Jade. Black Widow discovered this to be a welcome escape from the life she'd known for years. Playing with little Mara brought her unexpected joy, stirring something unfamiliar within her—something she wasn't certain she could easily relinquish.
At this moment, she lay comfortably in bed, contentedly watching Mara crawl into her lap, reaching for the toy she held just out of reach.
A sound from her belt suddenly interrupted this peaceful moment.
Black Widow glanced down to find her handheld holoprojector beeping insistently. She retrieved it from her belt, raised it, activated it, and checked the incoming transmission...
"Padmé?" Black Widow said uncertainly, freezing slightly when she saw the Senator from Naboo wearing an unusually firm and serious expression.
"Hello, Natasha," Padmé said, her stern demeanor softening somewhat as she offered her friend a small smile. "You'll probably hear about this soon enough, but I wanted to inform you directly."
"...Alright... what's happening?" Black Widow asked carefully.
"Do you remember those senators we discussed?" Amidala asked.
"You mean Mothma and Organa?" Black Widow said. When her friend nodded, she continued, "And the others as well?"
Black Widow frowned, processing the implications. She instinctively raised the holoprojector higher, away from Mara Jade's curious little hand reaching for the glowing device.
"You mean... regarding the clones? Their origins?"
Padmé nodded emphatically. "Apparently, this may become a significant opportunity for you and the others very soon."
Natasha took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Should I be involved?" she asked.
"I received intelligence a short time ago that Kamino is about to be attacked."
Years of training and experience allowed Natasha to filter most of the surprise from her expression. She nodded in understanding, though her curiosity intensified.
"Don't the Jedi typically receive advance notice before deploying? What about my team? And you?"
Padmé shook her head. "There's a reason I've been tracking everything... classified or otherwise. I want to stay informed about all the chaos engulfing the galaxy."
Black Widow couldn't suppress a slight grin. "So what you're saying is..." She leaned forward slightly. "This presents an opportunity to investigate the origins of this mysterious clone army?"
Amidala nodded again. "You're quite perceptive."
After a moment, Black Widow's expression shifted to something colder, more professional—the spy reasserting herself. "So Kamino," she confirmed. "The source of the Republic's entire military force?"
Amidala nodded once more in acknowledgment.
"It would appear highly suspicious if I were to access classified data in the middle of a battle," Black Widow observed, adding thoughtfully, "Steve probably wouldn't approve."
"I don't particularly like this approach either," Padmé admitted, clutching the fabric of her sleeve. "But we may not get another opportunity to access intelligence like this. There are so many questions and so few answers. We simply want to understand how this could have occurred without anyone's knowledge for so long."
Black Widow's expression softened reassuringly. "Don't worry, Padmé. This is indeed a rare opportunity, and I won't act recklessly." She paused. "Mara, that's not a toy."
Mara Jade let out a soft whimper of protest, still reaching for the holoprojector.
Padmé chuckled, the serious atmosphere between them momentarily dissipating.
"Are you saying you're too busy?" Padmé teased, watching as Natasha held the projector above Mara, who continued her determined attempts to grab it. "Perhaps we should work together—then you could delegate some of your babysitting responsibilities."
Black Widow smiled genuinely. "Trust me, this is far more rewarding than most of my previous assignments."