Star Wars Rogue Knight

Part 1

Bridge

MDF Cruiser "Conqueror"

High orbit above Concordia

Senior Captain Ariff Ven, was the man in command over the detachment from the Mandalorian Defense Fleet under Death Watch control. In fact, he was instrumental in persuading the crews of the ship in his battle group to shift allegiance from the weak New Mandalorian government to the only people who could restore the pride and glory of their people.

It took all Ven's charisma, everything he had learned in his forty years as a warrior to persuade his men and women to follow him in what some would call treason. It was his conviction that the Death Watch would bring a future worth fighting for that finally turned the tide.

Captain Ven used to be quite proud of his achievement – for two weeks or so. The Death Watch was in a three way negotiation with Satine Kryze's people and the Confederacy, which as far as he knew were going quite well.

Then the rumored Sith who had been making a name for himself in the last few months by handing the CIS their collective heads decide to come negotiate. On the Republic side.

That's when everything started going terribly wrong for the Death Watch and Ariff began having treacherous second thoughts. There were certain things that were simply not done – like trying to ȧssassinate someone who was having a drink in a bar instead of facing them in honorable combat.

At least the end of that debacle – which was caught by multiple cameras – proved beyond a doubt that the new Republic general was actually a Sith and not one of those Jedi peace loving fools.

Things continued to go downhill with Satine and company suddenly becoming somewhat competent and anyone with two working braincells to rub together knew who was to blame. And finally, it was tonight's event – Veil, the Sith, marrying one of the more famous Death Watch members with all that entailed – mind you, after facing the woman in a duel that showcased both their skills.

In just a week or so, the Death Watch had fallen from an almost guaranteed shoe in as the new government to being viewed as a bloody thugs who had no real respect for the traditions that made someone a Mandalorian.

It all made Ven question his choices in life. All he wanted was for his people to stop being gutless wonders and earn back their pride and restore their way of life. Was it too much to ask?!

=RK=

"So it comes to this." Commodore Ven snarled.

The Mandalorian was standing in front of the tactical display, close enough that its holographic light made him appear as a ghost standing in the center of the bridge.

"Sensors, I want to know what those fools are doing! Navigation, bring us after them." Ariff snapped, pointing at the string of icons representing the original CIS delegation. Those ships were burning straight towards Mandalore, while the Confederacy fleet that just arrived was already heading towards the loyalists battle group protecting the capital.

"Sir, we're being ordered to ȧssist Task Force 71 with neutralizing any planet-side resistance." The comm operator spat. "General Grievous claims control of all CIS and allied forces in system."

Ariff didn't need to look at the young lieutenant to know that the man was beyond furious by those orders.

"Do we have any word from Vizsla or Death Watch command?" The Captain asked.

"Just requests for our bases on Concordia to know what the kriff is happening up here."

"Navigation, plot me a hyperjump right behind the CIS ships heading for Mandalore. We'll intercept them as they engage the orbital defenses." Ven ordered. "Weapons, I want targeting solution on that command frigate the moment we revert to real space..."

He didn't really need to think about it. When all was said and done, he knew his duty as a Mandalorian warrior. Kriff the Confederacy and Vizsla too if the bastard believed it to be acceptable to let the tin cans "pacify" his home.

For a moment the bridge crew simply stared at their commander. The man that persuaded them to join Death Watch and by extension ally with the Confederacy had suddenly gone hundred and eighty degrees on all he had been preaching for months.

"What are you waiting for?!" Ven snapped. "Supposed allies or not, I'm not letting those machine bombard Mandalore. You have your orders! Move it people!" The Captain's voice echoed over the bridge.

That broke the spell and everyone snapped out of their short lived shock, then started executing their orders.

"Comm, contact the "Bladerunner" and "Warlord". All cruiser are to take out the command frigate. Gunship squadrons are to concentrate on a Munificent each. Once we engage the enemy, contact whoever is in charge planet-side and inform them that we'll be available to provide limited orbital support for the next few minutes..." Ven continued snapping orders.

Ariff's eyes never left the tactical display. He knew that no matter what he did right now it would be to late. He had kriffed up already – all his prepare contingencies, all the pre-calculated jump points were aimed against the Republic battle group and the loyalists. Ven should have done the same for his supposed allies. If he did, his task force would have been able to jump them before they entered orbit and started bombarding the planet.

As thing stood, he would be a minute or two too late – and that could be a long, long time when someone was about to bombard your home…

=RK=

CIC

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

Low orbit above Mandalore

"Avenger is to pull back behind us. Weapons, shift fire to Hostile four. Don't bother destroying the enemy – shift targets once they're damaged enough to fall out of formation." Pellaeon ordered.

His whole ships shuddered and shook as another well aimed salvo went home.

"Shields down to fifty percent. We have bleed-through over the armor. Guardian system is down to eighty percent." The commander overseeing damage control announced a moment later.

"Enemy fighters are breaking through. There's just too many of them!" That was the Guardian operator.

"TF One just lost a second cruiser. We're down another frigate too." Tactical added to the bad news.

That left a single operation Keldable in that battle group. Purchasing stripped out versions of the capital ships was biting the Mandalorians on the ȧss, though that wasn't of any real comfort for the Republic officer.

The only silver lining on the whole kriffed up situation was that the Death Watch squadron had switched sides moments after the CIS started bombarding Mandalore. A minute later, the last Mandalorian battle group finally came from behind the Confederacy fleet and struck them in the rear, putting them between two forces.

That in fact was the only reason why Pellaeon and the loyalists were still alive. Whoever was in charge on the CIS side was reasonably competent and went with a simple but brutally effective target – simply hit the enemy like a speeding freighter and overwhelm them.

Under different circumstances that tactic would have backfired. Pellaeon and the Mandalorians would have attempted to take apart the bigger Confederate fleet with hit and run strikes and might have very well won. However, somehow the enemy had succeeded in sabotaging not only the planetary shield, but the theater one protecting the capital. Worse – the smaller, yet potent defense field that should have kept the Royal palace intact was down too, thus pinning the defenders in place.

"Vultures are swarming the Resourceful! Captain Que requests immediate ȧssistance!"

"Shift as much Guardian fire as possible in their direction. Do we have any available fighters?" Pellaeon asked.

"Negative." The CAG answered immediately. "All fighters and bombers are engaged."

The Commodore stared at the plot. The escorts in range of the Resourceful were doing their best – pouring laser fire and missiles at the robot fighters taking apart the Venator. Yet the Vultures didn't care and continued to gut the cruiser while disregarding the incoming fire.

A few dots designating a Mandalorian fighter squadron broke from their station around one of the Keldables and pounced the swarm with suicidal determination. They managed to take out at least a wing of the machines before being erased from existence by the enemy.

"Shields down to thirty five percent! We lost a tubolaser bank! Guardian down to sixty five percent!"

Pellaeon glanced to the left, where a small hologram gave him an overview of his command.

The Avenger was hiding behind the Chimera with her shields down. The Resourceful had lost at least half its weapons and an engine and the rest would follow soon.

The Mandalorians were down to half their number, with most of the rest being damaged. The only reason Pellaeon's capital ships were in as good a shape as they were was that the CIS commander had shifted targeting priorities after the Death Watch squadron switched sides. Gilad doubted that he would still be around if the enemy had continued to concentrate all its firepower on his cruisers as it was the case in the start of the engagement.

"Hold position. Sensors, have you identified the enemy flagship?" Pellaeon asked.

"It's either CD One or Three. We'll have it nailed in a few."

"All capital ships, switch fire to CD One." Pellaeon ordered, throwing the dice. He simply didn't have any more time – in just handful of minutes, his ships might be unable to take out an enemy Dreadnought before the ship pulled back and Munificents moved in to block the firing lanes.

If Gilad had guessed right, if his ships could kill or at least cripple the target, then they might buy a few more minutes.

Yet, it wasn't like being lucky would change the outcome. The enemy was down about a third of its original size and all dreadnoughts were so far intact.

The same couldn't be said for the defenders.

Pellaeon glanced at the time. It was too soon. He knew Veil had reinforcements, though they weren't too close by necessity – all nearby systems and deep space were monitored by both sides to avoid someone prestaging units for a surprise attack. Unfortunately, that didn't stop one side or the other from making a long-range jump and the ships slotted for Purple contingency were at least five minutes away.

The Commodore grimaced. Even if the reinforcements arrived this minute, they might be too late to prevent the CIS from bombarding Sundari as they did with a lot of other cities and towns in range of their guns. The casualties ground side were already in the double digits millions and raising by the minute.

The next strike made the whole Chimera shake like a small fish boat during a storm.

"Shields are down to twenty percent. We have breeches in decks..."

The enemy formation was shifting and that made Pellaeon tune out the DC report. CD One was falling back under emergency thrusters, while at lest twenty frigates were hurrying to build a physical barrier between it and the defenders.

That was going to disrupt their carefully laid salvos and buy a bit of time.

"The Resourceful is down! It lost both weapons and propulsion. Enemy fighters are targeting the Avenger!"

Pellaeon could see it clearly, yet he couldn't do a thing. Every anti-fighter weapon in range was busy gunning down the Vultures, yet there were too damn many of them.

"Sir, two CD and their escorts are targeting us!" The sensor operator shouted in distress – his composure breaking.

"All hands abandon ship! I repeat, all hands abandon ship. Set up weapons at automatic fire and navigation to ram the closest CD, then get your ȧsses out of here!" Pellaeon ordered.

With the shields in tatters, the Chimera wouldn't survive more than a minute or two of concentrated fire. At best.

At least some of the crew might make it to the pods before his ship went down in flames.

=RK=

Part 2

Bridge

Corellian Cruiser "Freedom"

Hyperspace

When on the bridge of her ship, Commodore Joanna Holt often felt like a queen of old. As a commander of the Freedom, she had more power at her fingertips than most people could imagine and less could comprehend.

Her so called Corellian Cruiser was kilometers long behemoth shaped like a dagger, which had enough firepower to shatter continents and boil oceans. Her command had defenses to rival her offensive power – both shields and meters thick armor belt among other things.

The Freedom had a respectable sublight acceleration too, however if there was one area where Holt's baby was lacking it was her hyperdrive. First, it took a lot of fuel to propel something of that mass with any speed through hyperspace. Second, due to the Republic's laws, both range and speed for ships of this caliber were heavily regulated… even if in practice Freedom and her sisters were a bit faster and longer legged than was strictly legal.

All of that meant one thing – when the Commodore got the call that Mandalore was under heavy Confederate attack, she was some time away even at best speed. It took Holt mere moments to read through Pellaeon's message, see what the enemy had brought to the table and make a decision.

Simply detaching her faster escorts was out of the question – they wouldn't arrive fast enough to make enough of a difference. Not after everything her command had been through ever since the Battle for Geonosis. For weeks Holt's battle group had been raiding CIS positions – forward bases, mining operations and even a few small shipyards met their end under the guns of the Freedom and her escorts.

While the huge Corellian Cruiser braved through everything the enemy had to throw at her and emerged intact, the same couldn't be said about her escorts. Corvettes, frigates and even Venators were damaged or even destroyed on a dozen battlefields even if the enemy had to pay with multiple shattered ships for every Republic unit they took out.

After everything was said and done, the Freedom and her remaining escorts broke contact and made their way within range of Mandalore, though sneaking through the void between the stars in order to make it undetected wasn't exactly fun. Still, they made it even if the closest reasonably safe waiting position was farther than anyone would have liked.

Holt's battle group executed two jumps – a short one that placed them straight in the middle of the hyperlane leading from the core of Republic space towards Mandalore and the second – that led towards the battle for the heart of Mandalorian space.

For twenty minutes Joanna kept a calm exterior, while her command flew at best speed through hyperspace. Her Freedom, five lightly damaged Venators, ten light cruisers and fourteen frigates and corvettes – augmented by the battle groups depleted small craft compliment and the Guardian system that turned out to operate better than even its creators believed in their wildest dreams.

Joanna hoped that it would be enough to turn the tide, because she knew that every minute it took her ships to reach Mandalore meant less of the defenders would be still alive.

"Real space reversal in thirty seconds." Freedom's navigator announced.

"This is it, people. Look alive. Primary targets are Confed command ships. Fire plan Lambda – shoot the Munificents until they're disabled, we'll mop up later. I want all small craft launched the moment we're out of hyperspace." The Commodore ordered.

She looked over the bridge, where every station was maned by experienced officers in the orange and black uniform of the Corellian Defense Force. A small, pride filled smile appeared on Joanna's face. Just a few months ago, she and her people were inexperienced spacers who didn't really know what real war meant – all their training, wargames and anti-piracy operations meant nothing when compared with the hell that was Geonosis.

For Holt and her fellow Corellians, that first battle was a crucible that forged them. It proved to the galaxy as a whole and more importantly to themselves that Corellia was still a power not to be taken lightly. Then she led a campaign that put small but not insignificant dent in CIS operations across two whole sectors and now, when she was heartbeats from joining another major battle, Joanna felt only pride.

"Real-space reversal in five, four, three, two, one…" The Nav officer counted down aloud.

The familiar image of hyperspace was replaced by serrated ranks of Munificents as Holt's ships appeared above Sundari. While the Commodore had feared that she might place her ships out of position relative to the enemy by going straight for the capital, that turned out to be unfound. In fact, one of the first things she saw was a Munificent shattering by the armored prowl of the Freedom, which simply ran the frigate over while slowing down from hyperspace transition.

"All stations, fire at will." Joanna gave the redundant order for the record. She knew her people were already acquiring targets and would be shooting in seconds. "Comms, raise whoever's in charge and give me a sit rep. Tactical, what can you tell me?"

At that moment, the Freedom opened fire. Dozens of turbo laser emplacements spat emerald death at the heart of the CIS formation. Concussion missiles and proton torpedoes detached from their launch tubes seeking their designated targets.

The closest Munificents died before their droid crews could react in any meaningful way – their shields and armor were woefully lacking when set against even a fraction of Feedom's arsenal. Within seconds a semi-sphere of shattered hulks surrounded the Corellian Cruisers as she simply smashed aside the enemy frigates.

Then her escorts joined the fun, though all their significant firepower appeared woefully lacking in comparison.

However, the CIS units that found themselves under onslaught by the lighter Republic ships would disagree – if they lived much longer that is.

"We've acquired the closest CIS command ship. Firing now." The Commander overseeing all of Freedom's weapons announced.

In less than a minute, the Corellian behemoth had carved a way through the enemy fleet and simply shattered everything between in and the closest CIS Dreadnought. Freedom's main batteries stopped firing for a handful of seconds as they re-targeted and then unleashed more than enough firepower to kill a continent on a two kilometer long Providence.

The Dreadnought's shields popped up like a soap bubble, followed by the armor that boiled for a moment before vaporizing. A heartbeat later the whole ship shattered before it's reactor added its fury to the colossal energies killing the Providence.

Then the Dreadnought simply vanished in an expanding cloud of molten metal and high velocity debris.

"Well done. Find me the next Providence and kill it. Are there any friendlies still alive?" Holt asked as her battle group continued to cut the enemy fleet in two.

"We've got at least one active Venator the Avenger – and couple of Mandalorian Cruisers on the other side of the enemy fleet. A single capital ships plus a few escorts is on our right flank engaging the CIS. We're still trying to burn through enemy jamming. Permission to dump some of the reserve energy into EECM and comms?"

"Granted. Burnt through the interference. Locate primary CIS ECM platforms and silence them. What's Mandalore's status?"

"We're detecting signs of orbital bombardment but nothing conclusive, Ma'am. Working on it."

"Tactical, shift our escorts to the right flank. Once we've cut the enemy fleet in two, we'll take on the left group and the rest of the battle group will handle the other half."

=RK=

Part 3

Bridge

CIS Command ship "Death Bringer"

High orbit above Mandalore

Fury.

That was the only thing General Grievous could feel. He had practically won! Only a fraction of the enemy fleet was still operational and they were going to die shortly, when those damned Republic reinforcements showed. Not just a standard Venator battle group or a usual Republic fleet – that wouldn't have enraged him so.

Oh, no. The never sufficiently cursed enemy had to sent a kriffing Corellian cruiser – a ship built from the ground up to face and kill whole fleets.

Those kinds of units didn't simply appear from nowhere. There weren't many of them in the whole galaxy and any intelligence service worth their salt kept a track on their general location at the very least.

An eight kilometers long "cruiser" didn't just drop from nowhere in your moment of triumph! Not when Intelligence all but guaranteed that there were no significant Republic forces close to Mandalore!

Grievous balefully glared at the center of the bridge, where a tactical display hovered above a holotank. Two minutes and already almost half of his remaining fleet had been gutted, including two of the Dreadnoughts, which apparently deserved special attention from the kriffing Corellians.

The CIS commander did what he could – tried to reorient his fleet so their main guns could shoot at the newcomers, but it was simply useless. He didn't need to look at the sensor feed to see that the firepower his ships could bring to bear on the so called cruiser simply wasn't enough to break through its shields.

The Munificents simply died before they could put a second salvo in an enemy that had been designed and built to absorb such punishment and ignore it.

"All units are to cover us. Get us on escape vector and in hyperspace as soon as possible! Any ship that can, start shooting at Sundari too! I want that city reduced!" Grievous snarled.

Despite his blinding rage, despite his need to see Mandalore burning, he already knew the outcome of this battle. With his fleet caught so out of position, even attempting to ram that cruiser wouldn't work – his ships would be reduced to flotsam before they could gain enough speed to be of any real threat to the enemy. Hells, the Corellians wouldn't even notice if they ran over a Munificent or two. Grievous was pretty sure that they did it just after arriving.

The General slammed an armored fist into the closest console, demolishing a comm unit. He had to get out of here. Survive so he could rain his vengeance upon both the Republic and the Confederacy that so obviously betrayed him.

The Death Bringer spun under emergency trust and headed away from the huge Corellian behemoth. Fortunately, that ship decided to take on half the surviving fleet alone while its escorts dealt with the rest.

That was the first good news for Grievous since everything went to hell. Now he had more than an even chance of leaving this cursed system in one piece. He watched with satisfaction as ranks of Munificents placed themselves between the GAR reinforcements and his command ships.

The frigates were dying under the concentrated fire of five Venators and their escorts, but not fast enough. The navigational computer was already calculating an escape vector and all Grievous needed was a clear lane and a minute or two at worst.

"Uh-oh!" One of the useless B1's manning the bridge mȯȧnėd.

Grievous' eyes snapped from the tactical display and looked through the windows.

=RK=

Bridge

MDF Cruiser "Conqueror"

High orbit above Mandalore

"An enemy command ships is making a run for it!" The Tactical officer shouted.

A turbo-laser salvo slammed again into the side of the Keldable and dug deep into the abused armor belt. The sheer energy transfer made the whole ship shake as if a giant had picked it up and tried to pry everything lose.

Yet, the Conqueror survived and continued to fight even if half her weapons were little more than burned out pieces of twisted metal.

"No, they aren't!" Ven snapped. "Put us in front of them! I don't want the bastards jumping away!"

The under-equipped battleship changed vectors and accelerated as her engines went to full military thrust. Her remaining weapons spat defiance and scored another kill as a Munificent broke under her barrage.

Three CIS frigates changed course in an attempt to block the Conqueror and unleashed their arsenals upon the unshielded cruiser. Armor buckled, ablated and shattered, opening multiple decks to space. Ven could see unlucky crew being suċkėd into the void, with the more "fortunate" dying as they hit debris.

"Target's changing course. We may not be able to block it." Conqueror's pilot reported.

Ven looked at the plot. It was going to be very close – at best. He glared at the icon of the CIS Dreadnought making a break for hyperspace. The enemy commander, the same one who ordered Mandalore bombarded might very well be on that ship.

The Captain smiled. That bastard wasn't going away.

"Override reactor and engine safeties. Ramming speed."

It was a testament to his crew's dedication and discipline that no one flinched or asked for clarification.

"Aye, sir. Ramming speed." The pilot answered with grim determination.

A few seconds later, Conqueror buckled under their feet as the engines went beyond their safe limits and the acceleration pushed close to what the inertial dampeners could compensate for. If the later failed, everyone on board would be transformed into a fine paste under a few hundred gravities of acceleration.

On the other hand, very soon it wasn't going to matter.

Ven stopped looking at the tactical display and stared through the windows of the bridge. He could actually see the dot that was the enemy Dreadnought getting larger and larger.

"All non-essential personnel have permission to abandon ship." The Captain announced, though he doubted that many of those who could would run for the escape pods.

They all made a choice, because of him, that shredded any honor they ever had. For Ven and many Mandalorians, joining Death Watch had been the only viable way they saw in order to preserve their traditions. He and many of his colleagues in the MDF saw that the New Mandalorians weren't really interested in restoring Mandalore as it should have been. Instead, Satine and her government did their best to strangle the core of their culture. Of what meant to be a Mandalorian.

Mandalorians weren't a single race or even a species – it was an idea. A culture and a way of life.

A bitter chuckle escaped Ven's lips. All he had done for years was aimed at a single goal – to make his mother, the woman who took him after he was orphaned at shortly before the beginning of the Mandalorian Civil War, proud.

Instead, Ven's actions made him and all who followed him traitors. They were supposed to protect Mandalore, not ally themselves with those who would see their home burn.

There was only one way out of this dishonor…

The CIS Dreadnought was growing larger and larger. In moments, it would be all that could be seen from the bridge.

The closest enemy frigates poured everything they had in stopping the Conqueror. The Keldable was little more than a wreck by this point, yet its engines were still alive and the bridge intact.

A Munificent tried to physically intercept the Mandalorian ship, yet before it could reach it, the frigate died a fiery death under the guns of a Venator, which immediately targeted another enemy that was trying to stop them.

"May in death our honor be restored..." Ven whispered.

=RK=

Bridge

CIS Command ship "Death Bringer"

High orbit above Mandalore

"Damn you all!" Grievous roared.

The last remaining Mandalorian ship in this part of the battlefield, one supposed to belong to his allies no less, was doing its best to stop the general's flight. A whole division of Republic light cruisers jumped behind that Keldable and opened fire – doing their best to cut off Grievous' escape route.

The remaining GAR units were burning through the Munificents trying to protect Death Bringer and bomber squadrons were unleashing hell upon any CIS unit they could reach.

As if to prove him right, the deck below Grievous' feet shook.

"Multiple hits. We're under attack by enemy bombers. The hyperdrive is out." A dispassionate tactical droid announced.

"Damnation!" The general roared again and ran towards the nearest escape pods.

He used his claimed lightsabers to carve through the bridge's armored door when it didn't open fast enough, smashed an unlucky B1 and even cut in two a Super Battle droid that was between him and the way to relatively safety.

Grievous jumped into the first escape pod he saw and slammed his fist on the release buŧŧon. A door slid shut behind him and a second later he hit the back of the pod hard as it shout out of the Dreadnought.

It wasn't a moment too soon, because a two seconds later the burning wreck of the Conqueror slammed into the Death Bringer's belly. The Dreadnought snapped in two before both capital ships were disappeared within a colossal explosion.

The shock-wave was enough to knock Grievous out and let him tumble through the escape pod as it raced towards the planet below.

=RK=

Part 4

Command bunker

below the Royal Palace

Sundari

Mandalore

"That's orbital bombardment… and the shields aren't up." I summed up the situation while the ground shook for the fifth time. Considering we were at least a kilometer below the surface, that was saying many things about what was happening to the capital and none of them were good.

Feeling tens of thousands dying nearby and many more on the planet wasn't helping either, even if it was an old thing nowadays – just the price of being a trained Force Adept. Of course, the Dark Side had to make it enjoyable, empowering and distracting business if I let her – small wonder most Sith eventually went insane.

"We need the datalinks up yesterday!" Satine frowned at the technicians who were busy doing just that.

"Primary landline is cut at the top and our wireless equipment is being jammed. We're trying to compensate and burn through."Most of the secondaries are either down or jammed too. All we know for sure is that a large fleet jumped between us and Concordia before engaging out navy." The tech didn't elaborate on how well that was going on – we could feel it as another tremor shook the bunker.

"Damn the Confederacy!" Bo growled.

"If we make it out of here in one piece I'll be having a chat with our Intelligence services..." I grumbled quietly. I wasn't accustomed to feeling this helpless – it wasn't like I could do much while being stuck into this bunker and leaving it while Sundari was bombarded wasn't the best idea ever. "I'm a bloody idiot."

"So it's your fault then?" A trace of Obi-Wan's usual Kenobiness entered his voice. Apparently he was recovering quite well from our verbal confrontation.

"I should have a proper fleet in orbit and not relied on the shield, damn the political consequences." I lamented. I would have in the good old days while the planetary shield tech was just another super weapon cooked up by both sides of the cold war.

"That would have been unacceptable..." Satine said weakly.

"Is this acceptable then?" Bo snapped at her sister.

"Of course not!" The Duchess glared at my wife.

"Aren't you going to do something..." Obi-Wan nodded at the women looking temporarily lost.

"Do I look like an idiot? Given Pellaeon's usual competence, he should have gotten the word out shortly after this mess began."

"The closest Venator battle group is four hours away." Obi-Wan pointed out.

"You would think so, wouldn't you? I have heavy reinforcements about thirty minutes or so out. Let's hope they will make it in time."

"Why didn't I know about that?" Kenobi frowned at me.

"Need to know. I didn't want someone recalling that force and leaving us vulnerable." I shrugged. Given my current rank and GAR command structure, it was well within my rights to do so.

As far as most people were supposed to know, the Freedom and company were either in the last stages of their raiding campaign or in transit towards a friendly port of resupply and repairs.

"Satine, you might be the only government Mandalore has left once we get out of here. You'll need to take charge and have a plan for the immediate aftermath." I changed the topic.

"We have contingencies for either attack or another civil war..." The Duchess sighed. "At least a few should do the trick."

"After this, Vizsla and the Death Watch need to go away." Bo added and gingerly rubbed the exposed side where her armor had been melted.

"Will you still try becoming Mandalore?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Perhaps. We'll need to talk with the Clan Leaders who made it and make arrangements. Juggling being a Republic General and Mandalore will be an interesting experience." It would certainly eat up my time even if the potential long term gains might be significant.

That was the rub of it – was the war going to be over in the next couple of years or would it drag on? I knew what was supposed to happen in canon but those events were mostly derailed by now. Oh, Palpy's long term plans were the same – turn the Republic into his Empire, but reaching that stage and wrapping up the war was going to be quite interesting for everyone concerned…

I closed my eye and took a deep breath. I had to finally make a decision and soon – my plans were going on reasonably good given the overall situation, but if I was to go forward I had to make up my mind on how I wanted the galaxy to look like at the end of the wars.

After almost a year in this place, one of my initial plans – the one concerning a reformed Republic was looking more and more like a pipe dream or more likely – a recipe for another civil war.

That left either co-opting Sidious' plan or building up my own faction. My work with the Mandalorians could fit either if I became Mandalore.

First things first – sort out this mess and then figure out the long term plan I'll be going out with.

"We've partially burned through the jamming!" One tech exclaimed. "There's a second fleet in orbit engaging the first." Then he paused. "I'm reading most of our navy as lost. Only a single Keldable IFF in orbit above Sundari, a Venator and four frigates..."

"That's..." Satine trailed off horrified.

It was about thirty minutes or so since the unpleasantries started and the Mandalorian defense fleet was practically annihilated. The same went for my guard squadron – here's to hoping that Pellaeon make it out in one piece. At least I had the insight to keep the rest of my staff away from here – HK and Aria were supposed to be with the Forces vacating Geonosis along with Piett and Veers. Ahsoka was still recovering in safety and with the exception of Shaak Ti who was at Kamino, those were the people I really cared about who weren't in the bunker with me.

Not a big number, with a lot of them being more in the line of useful acquaintances than friends, but still – they might be enough to keep me from really going on in the deep end… if, when I persuaded them that my vision for the future of the galaxy was for the best.

"It would be worse on the ground." I concentrated on the issues at hand. "I felt a lot of people dying, not only in Sundari."

"If the shields were down across the planet, even limited bombardment could cripple us." Satine's shoulders sagged.

When all was said and done, today's Mandalore wasn't particularly populated world. What made it important for the Mandalorians as a whole was that most of their industry was concentrated in here, while the majority of the population was spread all through the sector with a few more millions playing mercs across the galaxy.

Without a ready access to ships and heavy equipment, the Mandalorians were quite good infantry and excellent special forces but only a shadow of what they could be if properly equipped. That's why Mandalore was important – deny it to the Mandalorians and they wouldn't be too big a problem for the next few years when you consider the scales on which both the Republic and CIS operated and the enemy might have succeeded in that.

If the industrial capabilities of this world were sufficiently degraded, Mandalore was going to be a net drain for resources for the time being.

Then there were the political consequences, though I probably had a few days before dealing with them at anything but the local level.

"Once we're reasonably sure no one is going to take us from orbit, we should make out way out and see how bad it is." I said.

"Yes. We should." Satine nodded numbly. "Try finding out whoever survived from my government as well as the Clan Leaders status. Once communications are restored, announce that the Death Watch are a terrorist organization that just helped enemy forces bombard Mandalore. They're to be considered traitors to our people and handled accordingly." The Duchess stood straighter and spoke in a furious and determined voice.

This was the first time I saw why Obi-Wan went after the woman.

"We may yet make a proper Mandalorian of you sister." Bo nodded and smiled at Satine.

"I don't feel any immediate danger." Obi-Wan announced.

"Me neither, though we should be careful." I said after checking through the Force.

I don't think that there was anyone left to bombard us. I owed Hold a case of the best Corellian brandy I could get my hands on.

"Let's go!" Bo ordered and went to the elevator's control panel. She examined it for a moment and frowned. "I don't think we'll be getting out that easily. The top levels have collapsed."

"There are additional exits, right?" I asked. It was merely common sense.

"Yes..." Satine looked at the guards.

"At least two we know of." The Lieutenant in charge nodded. "This way, Ma'am." He pointed at the far wall.

It was time to see how big a mess we had to clean up.

"Delkatar, you seem awfully detached..." Bo trailed off.

"This is far from the first time I've been stuck on a world under orbital bombardment." Or ordered such for that matter. As for the inevitable casualties I felt – after seeing it happen dozens of times on much grander scale you either get accustomed to it and find some way to deal with it or go insane.

By any reasonable standards, any high ranking navy and army officers in a galaxy spanning power had to be somewhat warped in order to carry out their duties, because the price of doing business in our line of work was the death of millions, often billions and seeing whole worlds burn as a matter of course.

=RK=

Part 5

Mandal Motors HQ

Sundari

Mandalore

It took us a few hours to make our way from the bunker to one of the few intact buildings in the capital – Mandal Motor's HQ, which had its own shield that protected it from the bombardment.

While Sundari wasn't hit too many times, the orbital strikes either outright breached the dome or shattered it raining burning and melted metal all over the city. There were sections where whole districts went up in fire but the worst damage was caused by the dome collapsing over large areas of the capital. The overall death toll was estimated to be relatively low so far, but there were an awful number of missing or trapped persons and most of them were unlikely to survive long enough to be dug out.

We had a front row seat of the devastation as we made our way to Mandal Motors, where we were received by Yomaget who bȧrėly made it to safety before everything went to hell.

Fortunately, the CEO was on board with using a part of his corporate HQ as a temporarily seat of government and even better – he was among the majority of Mandalorians who were fit to be tied after the Confederacy attack.

"I'll see them all burn for this..." Satine seethed.

The Duchess had been starring at the ruin that was most of the capital for the last fifteen minutes and all I could sense coming from her was unbound fury that would make a Sith proud.

Obi-Wan was hovering protectively near his wife, but he was obviously distressed by her emotions and kept quiet. Meanwhile, Bo was out visiting the nearest armory to pick up an armor that lacked a large hole in its side.

"I agree with the sentiment, but first we need to put our house in order." Horus nodded.

We were in his office and had a great view of the destruction. All emergency services were out in force, augmented by the MDF and civilian volunteers but it wasn't going to be enough for far too many people.

"Commodore Holt is doing her best to coordinate things in orbit and keep any more wrecks from hitting the surface." I informed the not really responsive Duchess who was for all intents and purposes the government…

"We've been unable to establish contact with any of the ministers." One of Yomaget's aides came near us and reported. "The one piece of good news we have is that local MDF commanders have taken charge of SAR efforts in all affected areas and we should have a complete picture shortly. We've got military units, supplies, equipment and volunteers streaming in from all over the planet."

"Status on the planetary shields?" I asked.

"Still down. The main control center took a direct hit and the secondary ones are in Death Watch hands. We've got MDF units as well as some of your Commando teams moving in." The same aide answered after glancing at the data pad in his hands.

"At least the generators are safe." I noted. They hadn't been struck from orbit and I had Commodore Holt drop a battalion of Corellian troopers – a third of Freedom's security detachment to secure the generators.

Once we got at least one control center under control and made sure that the power network was sufficiently intact, Mandalore would be somewhat secure. Right now the only combat capable friendlies in the system were the Freedom and her escorts. As powerful as that battle group was, it simply couldn't cover the whole planet against a smart opponent. Hopefully the CIS would lay low until some more reinforcements could reach the system. After all, the bastards did burn through a lot of their available reserve while trying to take us all out.

"Duchess Satine, right now our government might as well be gone. We need decisions on how to proceed." Yomaget changed the topic.

"Decisions? We're already doing all we can, not that's enough..." Satine whispered. "What's happening with the Death Watch?" She sighed and turned away from the window.

"Most of their newer members turned on them once Vizsla ordered an all out attack on the loyalist forces and the Confederacy began the orbital bombardment. There were firefights in dozens of locations all across Mandalore and Concordia. Once loyalist forces were mobilized, most Death Watch elements were overran. As far as we know, they still control only the shield network control centers and two bases in the desert on Mandalore. However, there are significant holdouts on Concordia." The aide read from his data pad.

"Not good enough. Can we strike at Concordia without compromising the rescue operations?"

"Not with what we have on the moon." Horus shook his head. "Concordia is their stronghold after all. At least we have secure landing sites to use once we have the troops to send."

"Vizsla?" Satine spat the name.

"Missing. He was supposed to be here in Sundari just before the attack, however his current status is unknown."

"Speaking about the enemy leadership, we've got confirmation that Grievous was in command of the CIS fleet that attacked us." I relayed what I learned from Holt's report after she had a few of the more intact Munificent boarded in order to secure Intel. "It's presumed that he made planet-fall during the last stages of the battle after the Conqueror rammed his flagship."

"I want him found!" Satine snapped. She turned around and looked at her husband. "Obi-Wan, please find him and bring him to justice."

Kenobi stared at his wife for a long moment and nodded. "I'll make sure he's dealt with."

Satine might actually be useful for knocking the more unpleasant Jedi traits from Obi-Wan. Good for him.

"You aren't going alone. Omega squad should be here shortly to act as our protection detail. Once they arrive, make sure they're resupplied and then you can go hunting." I made sure that Obi-Wan didn't go out half ċȯċked, because I doubted that right now he was in the right state of mind to simply crush Grievous using the Force.

"That leaves us with the issue of government or the lack of one." Horus looked at Satine. "Many will blame this mess on you along with Death Watch."

That earned him a glare by Obi-Wan, yet Satine simply nodded.

"If we had a better and larger fleet, this might have been avoided." The Duchess waved at the devastated city visible behind her. "It was my government that decided a naval refit and expansion would be a waste of money. I'm aware where a lot of the blame lies, Clan Leader Yomaget."

"We need to gather the remaining Clan Leaders and vote in a Mandalore. After today's events neither the New Mandalorians nor the Death Watch are viable candidates to run Mandalore." Horus looked at me. "Are you still willing to be our leader, general?"

I looked through the window at the devastated city. I've seen and ordered much worse, yet the few hours we slogged through the ruins affected me. This was Mandalore and even if I didn't really recognize this world any more, it was the one place I used to call home before I met Ashara.

Even if I had planned to burn it myself if the Death Watch actually won – which only made it worse – actually seeing Sundari wrecked… It changed something.

Perhaps it was the way I used to feel about this place. Perhaps it was the fact that tonight I married Bo-Katan and became a Mandalorian myself, which meant that this was my home now.

"You know, I used to fight for an Empire that wasn't mine. For a cause that I didn't really care for… I knew that the Empire needed to change in order to survive once the Old Republic was defeated. The Sith too – because it was only a matter of time before we tore each other apart."

A tall skyscraper that had been burning for hours ever since tons of molten metal rained upon it crumbled in the distance.

"I think it's a high time to start fighting for something that's worth it."

"What is Mandalore to you?" Yomaget asked.

"If you asked me yesterday, the honest answer would have been a means to an end." I answered truthfully.

"And today?" Bo asked. I didn't feel her entering as I was too busy staring at the burning city.

I turned around and looked at my wife, who now wore the standard armor of Mandal Motors guards.

"Today I watch my new home burn. I felt thousands upon thousands Mandalorians die. I can't bring back all the people who murdered by the enemy. I can't do much to help the countless trapped in the ruins. What I can do is promise that this -… "I pointed at the windows, "will be visited thousandfold upon the Confederacy and that I won't stop before our enemies are crushed never to rise again." My voice was even though, yet full with the fury I felt and bȧrėly kept at bay.

"He's… Veil's telling the truth." Obi-Wan added. He was giving me a wary look.

"Good." Satine nodded. "General Veil, you have Clan Kryze's complete support in becoming Mandalore and prosecuting the war against the Confederacy of Independent System until a complete military victory."

"I second that." Bo smiled grimly.

"General, you have Clan Yomaget's support as well." Horus gave me a solemn nod. "It's high time the galaxy remembers what happens when someone crosses our people."

=RK=

Part 6

Mandal Motors HQ

Sundari

Mandalore

"Veil, what did you do this time?" Valentra's holographic image scowled at me. "I swear you exist to make my life harder."

"I love you too. I juts did some contingency planning for when everything went straight to the deepest, darkest Corellian hell. I was stuck into a bunker with cut off comms for the duration of the battle." I added. It wasn't as if I usually planned getting myself in such messes. I blame the Force.

"The Senator from Onderon and his buddies had been raising hell ever since they heard rumors about a new Mandalore. I've got the Chancellor, Senate and even the Jedi on my back wanting answers. The Intel services are spinning 'interesting' tales about Mandalore. What is happening over there?!" Valentra exclaimed.

So that's the spokesman for everyone in the Senate who wants Mandalore done in permanently. I wondered if I could spin this mess so I could get out smelling like roses but I doubted it. Palpy had been playing this game for a long time and had too many connections within the Senate. He knew where most of the bodies were buried too, probably because he put a lot of them there himself.

That left me with trying to minimize the political fallout and getting as much out of a bad situation as I could.

"Politics is what happened. Long story short, both the New Mandalorians and Death Watch are compromised and can't be said to speak for the Mandalorians in general. There will be a Clan Leaders meeting shortly in order to elect a Mandalore, who will be able take charge of this whole mess. The only good news is that Pellaeon make it out of Chimera before his ship went up and he's recovering in medical."

"Good for him. He'll be getting a medal or two for holding as well as he did against overwhelming odds. When were you going to officially tell me you made a play for Mandalore yourself?" Valentra glared at me.

"Once I knew I would have enough support so not to make myself look like an idiot." I sighed. "You're aware that the only way we could trust united Mandalorians long term is if the new Mandalore is friendly, right?"

"If you're it, many Senators will cry fault. Conflict of interests and such for starters." My colleague pointed out.

"To be honest, this isn't my first choice. If I got more time, I would have handled the job to Obi-Wan, but we simply don't have the time to make him a viable candidate."

"How so? Does it have something to do with certain marriages I heard about this morning?" Valentra gave me an accusing look. "You know for people of our rank there's a proper way to handle such things."

"No time. If it was practical, you would have been on the top of my invite list." I shot back. "As for the Jedi, kindly inform them that Master Kenobi is in need for congratulations over his nuptials. He married Duchess Satine last night."

"So he's a proper Mandalorian now. Who did you marry or is it too horrible to contemplate?" Valentra sounded like he dreaded the answer.

"Bo-Katan Kryze, Satine's sister." I stated proudly.

"I've heard that name before, but don't recall where." Valentra suspiciously narrowed his eyes at me.

"She's kinda former Death Watch."

"Ah. I see. So I should brace myself for livid Senators screaming that you've married a terrorist."

"Please, compared to me, my wife is a little angel, yet the Senate didn't scream too loudly when I became commander in chief of the Republic's combat forces."

"You just gave a few freighter loads of ammunition to your detractors, you know that, right?" Valentra sighed.

"I'm aware I'll have to answer some pointed questions by the Senate when I'm back on Coruscant. The political ramifications of my actions aren't lost on me, trust me about that."

"Really? Veil, you know you're likely losing your current position over the mess at Mandalore, right?" Valentra ġrȯȧnėd.

"Who is on the short list to replace me?" I knew it was likely to happen the moment diplomatic support for my mission to Mandalore vanished in thin air.

"Yularen, myself, Yoda and Plo Coon."

"Just make sure that the Jedi don't get the position or we're kriffed."

"The thought has crossed my mind. Yularen is a likely shoe in after you left him in tactical command over Geonosis. That might very well be the deciding factor." Valentra said.

"Will my official endorsement help him or not?"

"That remains to be seen. It will depend on the fallout from Mandalore."

"I see. What about reinforcements? I'll probably be Mandalore by the end of the day and I'll want an official alliance with the Republic. As you know, yesterday the Mandalorian navy ceased to exist. We need this system fortified against further CIS incursions for strategic reasons that had nothing to do with who actually rules Mandalore. Losing this hyperlane will have nasty consequences."

"I'm pulling two battle groups from the reserve and sending them to reinforce Commodore Holt. She'll be instructed to protect the system for the foreseeable future."

"That should be enough." Once I had a few Silencer equipped ships operational, Mandalore would be reasonably secure and those forces would tide us up until then.

"On another note – the investigation of Skywalker's stunt is almost complete. All the agents need is to talk with yourself and the Skywalkers. When are you going to make them appear? I'm not really comfortable with you keeping a general under wraps for weeks, not to mention the Senator."

"Padme's still in coma, though the last I heard she's likely to recover soon. As for Anakin Skywalker – do you really want a loose cannon like him running through the galaxy without supervision? I'll collect and bring him to Coruscant once I've wrapped up things here." I ġrȯȧnėd.

When all was said and done, Anakin's screw up was going to be a massive pain in the ȧss to handle.

"You should have just dumped him to the Jedi." Valentra shook his head.

"And risk him falling to the Dark Side or even joining Dooku and company in a misguided attempt to save his wife? That whole mess was a textbook example on how to mess up with a Jedi's head and potentially turn them. Quite successful too."

"Damn. Is he salvageable? What is Skywalker likely to do if found guilty on all charges?"

"That depends on his state of mind, but I doubt that he'll quietly fall on his sword. The man has little loyalty to the Jedi Order or the Republic as a whole. Instead he believes in people, chief among them being his wife. Amidala might be the key to dealing with him, but that depends on her state of mind once she's awake."

"Skywalker's a ticking time-bomb then." Valentra ġrȯȧnėd.

"It's a distinct possibility."

"What are you going to do when you become Mandalore?" He asked the big question.

"Align the Mandalorians with the Republic, make sure this system is secure and sick them on the Confederacy. In the medium to long term – make them useful allies while keeping the Clan Leaders from getting any ideas about galactic domination. After all, we don't need a repeat of the Mandalorian Wars."

"You know, the Senate won't take it that way."

"Of course not. Many will see it as me building myself an Empire, the bloody idiots." They might very well be right, but that was another question.

"General Veil, the Clan Leaders are arriving as we speak. Your presence is required in conference room one." One of Yomaget's aides interrupted us.

"I'll be there momentarily." I dismissed the man and returned my attention to Valentra. "I be back ASAP and will do my best to give you some cover as far as the Senate is concerned. They'll be too busy dealing with my new status if things don't go ever more wrong over here. I have to go. May the Force be with you." I waved at the grumpy looking general and cut the connection.

It was time to face the music as they say. I needed to become Mandalore and finalize my plans before heading back. At least the Confederacy attack gave me a starting point for dealing with the Mandalorians. I was planning on using the inevitable outrage and fury to begin some creative nation building that would hopefully culminate into the creation of a stable power block under my command.

Yet, first things first. I had to be chosen as a Mandalore before I could go ahead.

=RK=

Part 7

Conference room one

Mandal Motors HQ

Sundari

Mandalore

If there ever was a huge neon sign announcing that I was living in a different era, this was it. We were here to decide who would be the new Mandalore – with all major Clan Leaders who survived the attack either present in person or via holocomm.

This hallowed location wasn't the bridge of a mighty warship proudly displaying the power of the Mandalorian people for everyone to see. We weren't in the command center of a large military base surrounded by enough warriors and equipment to take over couple of well developed worlds.

Instead, we were gathered in a lavishly decorated corporate conference room. I'm sure most former Mandalores would either find it funny or were too busy rolling in their graves.

At least the seats were comfortable…

I cut short my musings and returned my attention to the proceedings.

Clans Yomaget, Auwad, Skirata and Kryze were present in person. Many more – almost two dozen – chief among them Ordo, Bralor, Gedyc, Priest were here via the holocomm.

At least a third of them were former Death Watch sympathizers who turned on Vizsla and company once Grievous tried to burn Mandalore.

All of them agreed that whoever remained loyal to Death Watch needed to die and that Satine's New Mandalorians pacifistic policies were directly to blame for the Confederacy executing a successful attack.

That was it – in one stroke, Grievous managed to kriff up the only two groups which had a prayer of keeping Mandalore together and now no one could agree on what to do.

Well, almost no one…

"We're all aware that our current government is dysfunctional and won't be accepted as our leaders even if most of them didn't die yesterday." Horus was doing his best impression of snake oil salesman. "The less said about Vizsla and his goons the better..." He trailed off as even mentioning the Death Watch leader in this company led to loud grumble and a lot of quiet cursing Clan Vizsla to hell and back.

We were back at this – everyone knew it, it had been repeated again and again for hours, yet we weren't closer to making a decision. I had my supporters, enough to ensure that no one else could become Mandalore… which wasn't as good as it sounded considering that after Vizsla kriffed up any chances he had for the title, there simply wasn't another viable candidate.

However, that didn't meant I would be elected, which left us with a lot of accusations and power vacuum.

You see, a lot of the Clan Leaders were quite wary of choosing a Mandalore in the first place. Doing so was going to shake things up and would technically place them under his or her command. Oh, there were traditional ways of either avoiding or contesting commands given by Mandalore – most of them led to personal challenge and fair combat.

At least half of the Clan Leaders didn't appear fit enough to even slow me down if we had a go at each other if I wasn't using the Force. That left them with naming a champion but doing so would be opening another can of worms and hurt their standing.

Others were apprehensive of where I would lead Mandalore – especially those who were part of Satine's New Mandalorians.

"I've heard a lot of bemoaning our situation. A lot of accusations hurled at various parties." Yomaget continued. "What I haven't heard are plans on how to deal with our predicament."

"We know your idea – put the Sith in charge and all will be well." Merik Bralor said, sounding unconvinced. He was the leader of a now small and scattered yet still quite respected clan.

Back in the day his ancestors were allies more of ten than not, but that didn't mean much nowadays.

"Do you really expect me to wave my hand and solve all our problems? I can lie my ȧss off and promise you solutions that would make everyone here happy and we all would know that as the lie it is. We all know the galaxy doesn't work that way." I shrugged. "What I can offer you all is a shot at a better future for Mandalore as a whole and most of you in particular."

"Some of us have seen what General Veil has to offer and are quite pleased with it." Horus added.

Even before the immediate need of rebuilding the Mandalorian navy, the designs I provided were going to see Mandal Motors make a killing so Yomaget was in my corner for self interest among other things.

The same could be said for Thang Auwad – his wife and former Clan Leader didn't make it through the bombardment. The man was out for Confederate blood – something I would gladly offer along with lucrative contracts and designs for the consortium ran by his family.

Arguably, those two Clans were the most important as far as influence and resources go and they were firmly on board… which meant that made their enemies mine by extension with all that entailed.

There were more than a few Clans in opposition just because of who my most powerful supporters were.

Why did I want the this job again?

"Some of you want to relieve the old glories of the Mandalorian people." I pointed at a lot of Clan Leader, including every single Death Watch defector. "You earn for the time when the very mention of Mandalorian warriors made people take notice and tremble. You want to experience that glory, the honor and satisfaction of meeting worthy opponents and besting them."

Of course, if they did it as most Mandalorians in the past, everything would end in tears after significant chunks of the galaxy got burned again. At least Stephen had the right idea, but the war with the Republic put his plans on hold. It was too bad that the aftermath of the Empire's victory and subsequent disintegration in a civil war put a stop to his vision for the future.

"Others, want a stable future." I nodded at those representing the New Mandalorians. "You want to change how the galaxy see us and make no mistake – to the average person we're more often than not viewed as a scourge upon everything they hold dear."

Understandable too. It wasn't like Mandalorians hadn't burned, rȧpėd and generally wrecked the kriff of the surrounding sectors and beyond since the original Mandalorian Wars of Revan's era.

"Do I need to spell out why Clans Yomaget and Auwad support me?" I looked at the Clan Leaders. "I'm offering you a different path." I smiled and continued. "It's probably the one thing we could be thankful to the CIS about – they made most of the galaxy hate their guts and yesterday declared themselves our enemies."

"You intent to use the Confederacy." General Skirata took a guess.

"Indeed. While lacking any shred of honor, they're a powerful enemy – one we need to crush or see Mandalore burn again. Destroying them will offer us all the glory and combat a warrior could crave." My smile widened. "Doing so the right way will change how we're seen by the rest of the galaxy. I offer you a path that will earn us many honors and acclaim. Bringing the Confederacy down will ensure we will be seen as protector of justice – a path that will inevitably lead to many conflicts worth fighting."

It was true, even if I wasn't doing it from the good in my dark heart. Enlightened self interest was the name of the game and it worked.

"This is inspired by the Suppercommando Codex, isn't it?" Skirata asked.

"You should know, general. You're one of the survivors from the True Mandalorians after all. When all is said and done Jaster Mereel had the right idea. I'm merely expanding on it and making the best of the bad situation we all find ourselves in." I looked at the ȧssembled men and women. "Most of you crave for the restoration of Mandalorian honor, don't you? You won't find it in the overly savage and wasteful ways of the Death Watch or the brutes who inspired them."

"Ah. You see both the Death Watch and New Mandalorians as people who rejected the old codes." Surprisingly that came from Thang Auwad.

"They did – for the wrong reasons. Most people in Death Watch didn't know the meaning of honor. They paid it lip service while using our traditions as excuses for their criminal enterprises." I looked at the defectors from that faction. "The New Mandalorians overreacted after the Civil War and rejected the warrior codes all together – both the good and bad."

"There were good things?" An offended New Mandalorian sneered.

"One's Clan is their family. I see nothing wrong with being loyal to them in most cases. I see nothing wrong in approaching combat with honor and not going out of your way to cause slaughter for slaughter's sake." I stated.

Not to mention that it was ridiculous for a Sith to lecture people about how being too brutal and being murderous kriffing bastard for its own sake hurt your agenda much more than it helped.

"That's surprising coming from a Sith Lord." Kole Ordo spoke for the first time since the gathering began. "Though I shouldn't be surprised given who you are."

"Oh, I used to be one of those stereotypical murderous bastards a long time ago. For no good reason either – just because it was often expected as a Dark Council member's apprentice and I was too afraid of the consequences not to act as a psychotic killer." I shrugged.

What? I was far from perfect and used to be a coward. It turned out that killing and torturing copious amount of people could be surprisingly doable if the alternative was either suicide or to die screaming.

By the time I had enough personal power to stand up to the likes of Baras I had been quite warped. If it wasn't for Stephen, Mako, Vette and few other people, I would have easily fallen to the Dark Side as a way of escapism from the hell I found myself in.

My words made the Clan Leaders think.

"If it wasn't for a handful of people that helped me find a better way..." I trailed off. Kriff it, all my friends were dead for a long kriffing time. For a moment I was almost overwhelmed by a wave of fury aimed at my predicament and it took me a few seconds to put my emotions back under control.

"That's the core of what I'm proposing. Honor and glory earned in battle as soldiers instead of raiders and brigands. That's more than what the Death Watch under Vizsla ever was. By now you're all aware that prior to the CIS attack, Security forces and Republic Commandos raided couple of hundred targets all across Mandalore. All of those were Death Watch criminal enterprises. There is more than enough evidence in the cities and countryside away from the bombarded areas to back up my words."

"Some of Death Watch activities were admittedly less than legal." Vincent Gedyc admitted. He was one of Death Watch oldest and staunchest supporters, however he obviously drew the line at aiding a foreign power in bombarding Mandalore. He had the distinction of being the first one to turn his Clan against their former comrades and apparently wasn't afraid to own up to his kriff ups.

Even if this was our first meeting, the man was able to earn a bit of respect with his actions so far.

"Those who still wish to sell their services could do as honorable mercenaries instead as common thugs and guns for hire." I continued. "As for the New Mandalorians here today… Yesterday, we all saw where your pacifism led. It might sound good in theory, but the galaxy isn't a nice forgiving place. Without sufficient armed forces to ensure neutrality, the only thing pacifism makes you is easy targets."

It was time to throw the New Mandalorians a small bone.

"Still, I neither require or want to conscript those who won't volunteer to be soldiers ready to defend Mandalore and smite our enemies. A society can't exist if everyone is a warrior on the battlefield. It requires many, many people in positions that have little to do with combat. That doesn't make them worthless either."

"The basic idea does have its merits. How do you propose to actually pull it off?" Bralor asked. "If we make you Mandalore, all of us will sacrifice something, even if its just a bit of our freedom to act as we will without a higher authority. What are you putting on the line for Mandalorians as a whole? What are you going to sacrifice for our people?"

"In various ways. First and easiest – my personal resources, which as a few of you can attest aren't exactly insignificant."

Yomaget smiled at the thought of what I offered him and Mandal Motors.

I continued to outline the general plan I presented to Skirata and the rest of the Clone Army trainers, which had been further refined by their suggestion. Little things like consolidating the whole sector under Mandalorian aegis, using resources either loaned from the Republic or appropriated from the enemy to jump start an industrial buildup that would turn us into an economic powerhouse…

The fist small steps that would turn the Mandalorians into a real nation besides being only culture…

"It might work, though I don't think that the Senate would authorize a lot of help coming our way." Auwad noted.

"I'm not expecting them to. Let's be honest – as far as I know, about half of the Senate wants us as allies while the rest would love nothing more than see us gone once and for all. I'm banking on the strategic importance of this system and working through the GAR for both securing it and helping with our industry. Both the army and navy could use additional sources of spare parts and equipment closer to the front lines."

"Are you sure you could pull it off?" Skirata asked.

"Using my position? Probably not. General Valentra who oversees the logistic side of the conflict can be persuaded to help in that regard anyway." I nodded at Skirata. "That links with Clan Leader Baylor's other question. What I'm putting on the line for you all?" I looked at them. "Right now, as the commanding officer of all Republic combat forces, I'm one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. It is a position that barring a major kriff up I could conceivably hold at least until the war is over and further leverage it into either political office within the Republic or to practically continue controlling the GAR once the conflict is resolved."

"And?" Gedyc prompted me to continue.

"If you choose me as Mandalore, I'll be kissing that position goodbye at the very least. It could very well cost me the rank of a general as well. When all is said and done, it is a great sacrifice. Together we might be able to make Mandalore a power that would give both the Republic and Confederacy pause but that day is years away at best."

I looked at Bralor.

"I am a Sith Lord. We crave power – its almost everything to us and that's what I'm ready to sacrifice in order to lead you. Because yesterday I had an epiphany – you're my people and you are worth it."

Well, that gave them pause. Truth to be told, I wasn't entirely honest with them. While I had incredible power at my fingertips given my current rank, that position was quite precarious without solid political backing and that was something I lacked. With Amidala's poisoning and Skywalker going on the deep end, I lost any support Padme could provide on that front. Hopefully she would recover and might still be useful, yet her political backing was going to be worth quite less than before – at best.

That left me with only two feasible backers – one was Corellia but that would take a lot of work to come into fruition; just a single meeting with the planet's leadership was merely testing the waters after all.

My other choice was Mandalore. While I would have preferred for things to have gone differently here… Well there was nothing about it. I couldn't conjure a six or more months before this whole situation came to a head and thus engineer either Kenobi or Bo-Katan as viable Mandalore candidate as per my original plans.

In the end, I was left with rolling the dice and doing my best to take advantage of the situation I was maneuvered in by Palpy. All I had left was hoping that the fallout I would soon face would be worth the eventual gains.

At least I came ahead with a badass and beautiful wife I was fond of.

"We've been here for long enough." Yomaget slammed his fist on the wooden table dominating the room. "We've all heard what General Veil intents to do if he becomes Mandalore. What he offers and is prepared to sacrifice for us. Considering that we simply lack another candidate that might garner any reasonable amount of support, it's high time we vote."

Horus stood up and took a deep breath.

"Clan Yomaget nominates Delkatar Veil, Leader of Clan Veil for Mandalore. He has our complete support." Yomaget stood at attention and gave me a Mandalorian salute by thumping his ċhėst above the heart with his right fist.

"Clan Auwad..." Thang voiced his support followed by Satine and Skirata.

The die was cast.