God Save the Queen Book 2: Chapter 17

This chapter was edited by J4Numbers and commissioned by Everdusk.
Please enjoy!

Chapter 17: A Mask of Iron and Bone

Bo’s glare could boil the Living Waters.

“You told my sister.”

“You told me to make a choice.” I tilted my head towards Satine.

The three of us, plus one anxious but increasingly fascinated metalogist, stood in a rarely used room in a rarely used wing of the Sundari Palace. The ‘old armory’ where the rulers of Mand’alor kept the tools for working with Beskar. Tools that Satine had seen fit to press into service after years lying quiescent.

“So I shared what we knew.” I shrugged. “It’s going well so far.”

“I didn’t tell you to share it with—” Bo bit back whatever lovely adjective she was going to use to describe her sister. She didn’t even know that Satine had originally wanted to destroy the mask, or that I’d agreed to let her.

Of course, that was because once she had a piece of history freely given to her, Satine wasn’t so willing to melt it down.

Satine, for her part, sent a quelling glance at Bo, and also at me. I’d been the one to insist that Bo-Katan join us for this analysis. She’d been the one to recover the second fragment. That didn’t make her less angry that our conspiracy had grown to include the very people she’d wanted me to usurp.

But I’d decided: I had enough crowns, and I did not want another.

There was more to be gained here through cooperation, and if I could expand a peaceful well-funded power bloc in the outer rim, I could ruin more of Palpatine’s plans to push the galaxy into civil war. So I just folded my arms, motioning for Satine to continue.

She cleared her throat. “Now that we are all listening, Doctor Mero-Vos. You said it was a definitive match?”

“Yes. It’s, well, I like to say it’s like splitting a fingerprint, you know the phrase.” The man cleared his throat, returning to the holoprojector. He’d taken several scans of the fragment—apparently there wasn’t much funding for metalogy on Satine’s Mandalore, so Mero-Vos had studied the science and how to operate the equipment both. Tapping his pad, he pulled up matching scans from the cheek fragment in the Sundari vaults.

“The crystalline lattice matches perfectly, down to the subatomic scale, including the damage to the nuclei that you’d expect to see from the sheering of a piece of Beskar like this.” He drew a finger along the edges, before fitting them together. At the macro level, they matched like “A split fingerprint,” Vos said. He zoomed in to show how the metal warped along the same pattern at the atomic level.

“Is there any doubt that these two fragments belong to the same helm?” Satine asked.

“Oh people will tell you there’s always doubt.” Vos waved a hand. “But here? No. You’d have to…to access to these scans for a one. Then you’d, essentially, fabricate a new mask and let it age for a similar period of time before cutting it with high powered lasers, and once you’ve reached that level of facsimile, ‘original’ loses all meaning.”

I nodded. “So, now that we know they match, does this new piece allow us to gain any more knowledge about the history of the mask?”

Satine looked at me, eyes tight.

I held back a sigh. What did she want? She certainly didn’t bring one of the last remaining experts on Beskar’gam out to the palace to avoid interrogating this find. Just like Bo, I took a second to master myself. “Apologies, Duchess.”

“No, no.” She sighed as well. “Please answer Lady Naberrie’s question.”

Mero-Vos might have been surprised to know he was dealing with the ruler of a foreign system. But a few ‘martially inclined’ Mando’ade showing up with the find of the century was much more within his remit.

“For the age, absolutely nothing!” He laughed. I sighed again. “Naturally there are no decay products left, if there were that’d be a sign that the newer piece was fabricated. But! We had the original, a fragment from the resk’a the cheek guards. You’ve brought part of the sur’vona, the visor, and of course when you have a visor—”

“You have a mark.” Satine almost gasped the words.

“Yes. Or, you would, but there’s no mark here.” Mero-Vos highlighted a region of the mask with a brush of his finger against the holo-projection. “The sur’vona is traditional, so only the oldest masks, or those made by the farthest flung clans, lack a forgemark.”

“More mysteries, then?” I asked. “More nano-voids, that we can’t know the history of?”

At that, Vos finally paused. He wet his lips, hand running through his short brown hair. “Well…for the most part yes. There’s a preponderance of anecdotal evidence that this is a very old find, but of course, we already knew that from the dating of the original resk’a fragment.”

“And for the least part?” Satine asked.

“There is, in the visor…” He switched to another scan, showing differing materials. Most of the mask was composed of Beskar, but there were a few regions that were not. “You see we have other incorporated materials.”

I frowned. “My original scan didn’t pick up anything particular.”

“Ah, well, you wouldn’t unless you had the correct equipment.” Vos swallowed. “This material, bonded in this way, shares many similarities with Beskar, or otherwise won’t normally show up at all. Because it’s bone.”

Satine and Bo both sucked in a breath.

“Yes!” Vos grinned at the sisters. “Fragments of mythosaur bone incorporated into the helm. There were some anomalous readings of the cheek guard, that I thought might be bone, but in such small amounts it was impossible to verify. But here.”

“Could it be anything else, Vos.” Satine pressed a hand to her chest. “Any other material that would show up this way?”

“Dozens.” He waved a hand. “We can verify with other equipment. But in a mask this old, which matches a find verified as extensively as one in our own vaults? It can only be mythosaur bone. Meaning this mask dates back to the settling of our planet.” He swallowed again, leaning towards the hologram. “This mask, Duchess, might be the first one of all.”

“The Mask of Mand’alor,” Bo breathed.

Satine seemed to sink into herself.

Vos only nodded, eyes rapt. “Mand’alor the Preserver recovered the mask before he reunited the clans, and incorporated it into his own armor. We still have holocasts of the armor worn by Canderous Ordo. The material…” he trailed off.

“So.” I turned to look at Satine. “What should we do with it?”

“Do with—!” But at last Dr. Mero-Vos seemed to come back to himself. He noticed the pained expression on Satine’s face. We waited in silence for almost a minute. Satine worried at her lip, fingers twisting over and over themselves.

“To start,” Bo said. “We should make sure no one else hears about the mask.”

That finally drew a response from Satine. She smoothed her fingers against her robes. “Must we, Bo?” she asked.

Bo snorted. “Don’t start with me. The Galaxy wouldn’t stand for the return of the Mand’alor.”

“They would not stand for a member of Death Watch declaring themself Mandalore,” Satine replied. “If, however, house Sundari had a fortuitous archaeological find, definitively dated to the days of the Old Republic…”

“Ah.” I nodded. “After all, who cares about an old mask.”

Mero-Vos made a scandalized noise. I ignored him.

“Really, most of the Galaxy doesn’t remember the Mand’alor,” I said. I certainly hadn’t heard this chapter of Republic history before I’d become Mando’ad. “If Duchess Satine is spearheading the search, anyone who opposes her will be viewed as an alarmist. At best, they’ll amplify the find, and give us more people searching for the rest of the fragments.”

Bo crossed her arms, glaring. “That would inspire more forgeries.”

“Yes, but according to our good Dr. Vos, any fake able to pass muster would, by definition, become the original.”

“Well, not entirely—”

I continued. “In any case, Bo. You told me to make a choice. This is my choice.”

She huffed again. “The Clans could be united once more.”

“Are they not?” I turned towards Satine.

She gazed at me, measured and calm. “It would be…most inhospitable to spur your candor and openness, Queen Amidala.”

Vos jolted in the corner of my eye. I continued to ignore him.

“My thanks, Duchess Satine.”

“I do not approve of your foreign policy,” she said.

“Then allow me to extend an invitation to discuss it.” I inclined my head. “You are invited to send an envoy along with the Outer Rim Unity Tour. I would also send word to the Naboo Parliament, asking for formal diplomatic cooperation between our two systems.”

Satine raised an eyebrow. “For what reason?”

“We share a vested interest.” I smiled. “In the wellbeing of the Mandalorian people, as well as all peoples of the Outer Rim.”

“While I have not been an outspoken opponent of you,” Satine replied, “such a shift in stance would doubtlessly tarnish my image among my own coalition.”

“True.” I nodded. “Do you care?”

Satine laughed, a short, almost surprised sound. “I shall consider your offers.”

My smile grew slightly. “Knight Kenobi would be most pleased by your inclusion.”

Satine was too politic to blush, but she did look away. “The thought will be likewise considered.” She turned to Mero-Vos. “Dr. Vos, We shall await a patronage request on this historic find, as well as a publication to be circulated to the wider community.”

Vos stood, hand over his heart. “Yes, your grace!”

“Very well. It appears matters are concluded for the moment. Satine turned from the holo display. “I shall have my custodians return your sample.”

“Keep it,” I said.

Satine paused at the door. Then, she said, “I expect we will be in contact in the future.”

She left with the hiss of the automatic door. I rocked on my heels once, before turning to look at Bo. I expected her to be apoplectic, but instead she had the most complicated expression on her face, eyes flicking from me to the door.

“Ah, Your Majesty.”

I paused, turning to look at Dr. Mero-Vos.

“Before you go, I was just wondering if you had a moment to discuss Naboo Mandalorian customs,” he said. “Also, regarding contemporary Beskar production…”

“You have some questions?”

“Definitely. It’s been…difficult, getting my data through traditional means. But since you’re already here, if I’m not overstepping, your majesty.”

“I—”

“We’ll forward you all of our data on the subject,” Bo-Katan said. “Now, unless I was mistake, my sister gave you a proposal to write?”

“Ahah, yes, of course.” Vos did an admirable job of covering his own disappointment as he gathered his data-pad and left the sample room.

I turned to Bo. “I wasn’t aware we had any data on those subjects.”

She shrugged. “A matter for your Ministry of Cultural Preservation.”

“It appears I have a proposal of my own to write,” I said.

“Two.” She turned, armored boots clinking against the stone floor. “Since apparently you wish to involve my sister in our alliance.”

“Mandalore is close to Serreno. Both are influential members of the Senate, as much as Outer-Rim worlds can be.” I smiled. “Besides, we’re all in this together.”

Bo gave me the strangest look, before snorting. She put her helmet on. “I’m heading back to my chambers.”

“Are you upset?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you once I figure it out,” she replied.

I waved for her to go. For my part, I left only a few moments later. My appointed guard-turned-liaison gladly led me back to the guest wing of the palace, but I ran into one more person on the way.

“There you are, Padme.” Obi-Wan had apparently been waiting down one of the less used corridors. “I’ve been looking for you all morning.”

“Have you?” I asked.

“Yes.” He glanced at the man at my shoulder.

“I’m sure we can find our way back to the apartments from here,” I said.

“It is my duty to ensure your safety.”

“Sir,” I replied. “I am with a member of the Jedi Order. I assure you I am most safe.”

The man looked at me for a moment more, but when it became clear I wasn’t going to budge, he bowed and walked back the direction we’d come.

“Deftly handled,” Obi-Wan said.

I nodded. “Lead the way back to our rooms?”

His mustache twitched. “Well, I could hardly do anything less!”

I fell in step beside the much taller Jedi. “What did you want to ask about?”

“I simply wished to know how things were proceeding, with Satine.”

“I think we’re getting along great.” I smiled. “But apparently you knew we would from the start.”