Hello once again and welcome back, I did leave the last chapter at a bit of a cliffhanger with lots of questions (What happened to Fives and Jack, where is the rest of resolute, the fate of Mandalore, etc.) well most of them will be answered in this chapter. I am trying to shorten my chapter update time to less than 5 weeks but I can't promise that especially now that it is May and my Course is nearing its end which means final projects and work assignments.
Either way, hope you enjoy the chapter and leave your thoughts or any noticed mistakes/errors in the review section and as always I'll respond to them in the next chapter. Also just note that while writing this chapter I had three endings in mind, I hope I chose the right one and I'll leave the other two in the ending note. Second Also, sorry if this one is a little bit late, as well as College I have been busy trying to get Oculus to replace my Rift after they sent me a faulty one and are now trying to weasel out of it by any means possible. But enough with my ranting for now...here are the review replies.
Replies to last chapter -
Abraxas01 - AHHHH! Half the reason I did the rewrite on the first two was because of the number of reviews commenting on my use of the word laser and the functionality of star wars weapons. Can we all agree just to leave it, I can do UNSC weapons better than Star Wars because at least they are more realistic and I can do my real research behind them also yes I am aware of the "range" of a MAC gun being technically endless due to Newton's second law of motion but I have to introduce at least some limitations otherwise the UNSC could just enter a battle at great distance destroy the enemy and leave, not great story material.
Guest DCDGojira - Thanks once again
JCtherebel - Cheers, glad you liked it
Tony Miguel - Thank you a bunch and I hadn't thought about that, I know it is looked at heavily in star wars and somewhat in Halo but I don't quite know where I would fit it in, I could consider doing a mini-chapter like 4-5k word count but I'll have to think about it.
Wolves567 - Thanks, Even if it was the head of the CIS himself, the UNSC still wouldn't have the grounds to legally and officially invade a neutral system, when the Republic did do it as seen in clone wars, it was a political nightmare.
Robertmusical12 - I did know that, one of the main points in the Halo universe. Did I say otherwise somewhere because if I did I am not sure in what context.
Scarease - Absolutely true, considering how the last first contact for humanity went they have a right to keep as much of their technology secret as possible and yes the combination of long-range weapons (Mass accelerators) and a history of planetary genocide has meant the UNSC has kind of perfected the art of protecting key locations. Also, Krells actions didn't border on war crime because he did things "by the book" and unfortunately having no imagination for tactics is not a crime, even if he did know what he was doing.
Guest - Again as I said in reviews, I take criticism and poor reviews well enough but comments like this are just inappropriate and just unintelligent (You know which one this is directed at)
L - Cheers and yep Mandalore was gonna happen sooner or later, and it still is after this chapter. While I can't give away spoilers I think a few people are going to be a little upset very soon and yes Satine's death was an incredibly sad moment and considering I watched it several times to update myself of this arc really sucked. Yes, the similarities between Reach and Kamino are clear, except of course for their fates. I would pity the Republic if it was the other way around considering the roughly half a billion human casualties at Reach.
L - In a way, I suppose you are right since Oppress lacks proper discipline and has a brutish fighting style, depending on the Spartan, battling him could prove to be a challenge. Except for 117 of course, I mean nothing can kill him.
PM - Ahsoka is easily one of my favourite Jedi, I didn't think much of her at first but now, I can not even comprehend a Star Wars universe without her.
PM - I can't tell you if/what clones will die because well obviously spoilers but also because even if I did it might actually allow people to figure out what happens ahead and before the chapters are fully released, so sorry.
Chapter Seventeen: Mandalore Falls
June 22, 2565 (Military Calander)
Andromeda Galaxy , Mandalore
Sundari, Royal Prison
Faintly and slowly, Captain Jack groaned as he tried to open his eyes. His mouth tasted like copper and his mussels still felt like they had been pulled a mile a put back in his body. He felt himself laying against a flat surface and quickly went to pull himself up, quickly finding the support of somebody else's hand behind him. He managed to rub his eyes and see clearly.
"Fives," he said after recognising the person in front of him.
"Careful Captain, you've been out for hours" Fives responded.
Jack grunted as he stood up and walked towards the glass wall in front of him, "Status report" He ordered as Fives condition told him he had woken much sooner than he had.
"Going by the surroundings, we're in the Royal Prison Sir, Death Watch guards threw us in hereafter Viszla took over the throne room". Fives explained.
"Do we have a location on the rest of Resolute?" He asked
"Negative Sir, our systems are up again but this building must be built to block outgoing or incoming signals, I don't have a fix on their location and all communication attempts have failed," Fives told him as Jack started to fully regain himself.
"At least they didn't manage to take our armour, okay first things first, we need to get out of here and find Dutchess Satine, from there we find our gear then we can get her out of here and into UNSC or even Republic political asylum if need be," Captain Jack said as he walked a single pace back from the wall and as heavily as he could, launched his closed armoured fist at the wall. He expected it to shatter on impact but instead, it stood strong where it was.
"You won't have much luck with that I'm afraid" he heard from a familiar voice.
Captain Jack looked to his right against the glass, "Satine?" He asked
"Yes Captain" She confirmed
He lowered himself against the glass, "My apologies Dutchess, we failed" Jack said conscience-stricken.
"It is not your job to protect Mandalore, mine is and so I am the one who has failed," She said equally
"Ah, so these are the mysterious Spartans of your UEG friends you decided to help all those years ago," a new voice said from slightly further away.
"Who's that?" Fives asked
"Former Prime Minister Almec" He responded.
"Another one of Viszla and Maul's prisoners then," Jack said
"No, I imprisoned him after he created the black market network and caused the death of children," Satine said before Almec could speak.
"Hmm, lucky then" Jack replied
"I'm sorry, I saved Mandalore from starving and was imprisoned for it so please tell me how lucky I am," Almec said
"Because you did here and not on one of our worlds, my people don't take well to those that harm the innocent, especially children". Captain Jack said stoickly
Following on for several minutes, Jack paced around the cell to look for any possible weaknesses he could use to escape. It looked near to impossible, there were no consols or electrical panels to try and trip the door controls and the floors and ceilings were just as strong as the glass walls holding them in to make matters worse half of his suits systems were offline from the overloading shock he had received.
While in thought regarding their escape he heard a loud crash and the unmistakable sound of glass exploding outwards, Immediately Fives and Jack leapt to the front of their cell to see what was going on as they heard secondary explosions soon afterwards. Looking to their right they soon saw the cause of the commotion walking around the corner. Maul and Oppress.
"Maul," Captain Jack said deeply as his apprentice walked past him, stopping in front of Satine's cell as Maul looked towards the two imprisoned soldiers.
"Hmm, I have heard of you and your people Captain, though I haven't any use for you right now," He said as he turned to continue walking.
Maul casually walked past them several paces before stopping again in front of the cell right next to them. "You are the now-former Dutches Satine are you not?" He asked
Satine stood up "What do want you monster?" she said calmly as Maul continued to walk around the front of her cell.
"Nothing yet but I will l have a use for you in time, where are the other leaders of your people?" He asked
From their cell Fives and Jack listened in trying to piece together what Maul was after. "You should know already, they've either sided with Vizsla or have been killed," Satine said solemnly "there's nobody left now but Almec and I but he is as vile and corrupt as you," She said
"Really, thank you for being so cooperative," Maul said with newfound interest as he left Satines cell to move on to the next where Almac was.
From where he was Fives and Jack struggled to hear their conversation, they could hear Satine argue back against the sith until a blaster shot went off, a patrolling guard had attempted to open fire on the escaped sith's but missed and didn't get the chance to open fire again before Oppress lifted him up form the ground with the force, cutting off his airway before crushing it entirely and dropping him. The two soldiers heard more conversation between the two before Maul left Almecs cell with him following closely behind.
His path led him in front of the two's cell once more, "We have questions for you Maul" Jack said frowning
Maul looked to them with an amused look on his face, "Oh I'm sure, but as you can see right now I am quite busy" He said.
Continuing on their Path, Maul and Oppress followed by Almec left the floor.
For nearly an hour both Jack and Fives planned their escape whilst trying anything to boost the signal strength on their comms to try and get a message out to the rest of the team. "Captain, is it possible that they might have left the system or…" Fives trailed
"Spartans never die Fives and by now I am fairly convinced none of you do either, I have every confidence in my team," Jack said with a high degree of certainty.
A guard walking up to them in the new red Mandalorian armour looked as though he was about to say something as he opened their cell door but immediately grasped his neck as something small and then wrapped around it, in a quick tug his struggling stopped and he fell to the ground as the source of his death soon became clear. From the walkway above him, several soldiers descended as well as more from below them. Some of them were unknowns but Captain Jack immediately recognised his team members armour.
"Jun," He said as he greeted the fellow Spartan
"Captain, here," He said as he chucked a large silver bag at the captain, he opened it revealing their weapons and gear.
"Appreciated, who's this?" he asked as he looked around him seeing two unknowns, one of which opened Satines cell.
"Bo-Katan," the unknown said as she removed her helmet
"Death Watch," Jack said bitterly
"Mandalore resistance, Maul killed Viszla and the Death Watch follows him now," She said
"And we're just supposed to trust you" He questioned
"Trust me or not, that is up to you, I'm only here to get the Dutchess out, your just lucky your friends and mine encountered each other on our way in here". She said
Jack shrugged her off before approaching the Dutchess, the young man next to him extended his unarmed hand whichJack very briefly shook, "Korkie, Korkie Kryze" He said.
"Kryze?" Jack asked, aware of the last name
"He's my nephew," Satine said
Jack turned from Korkie to Satine "Your highness, we can get you out of here, we'll get you back to UNSC protected space and you can make your case to the UEG Senate" He explained
"What about the Republic or the Jedi Council?" she asked
"I wouldn't put too much faith in the Republic right now," Jack said as he donned his helmet and the group moved towards the exit.
With luck on their side, they made it through the complex without encountering any resistance or guards on their way. Upon making it to the elevator they pilled in with Captain Jack and Korkie covering the rear as they backed in quickly. It was a quick ride downwards to the exit platform where several others were waiting, some in blue Mandalorian armour. Jesse and Kix were among them.
"Korkie, hand me your comlink," Satine said as he passed it over but her frustration showed when no signal could get out.
"We need to get outside the city walls," Rookie said as Bo-Katan called a speeder in waiting.
As it arrived alongside the landing zone Satine boarded it followed by Bo-Katan and Korkie, "Fives, Rookie we're going solo, rest of you get on the speeder and cover the Dutchess" He ordered as they boarded the speeder while the three of them followed the other Mandalorians in launching themselves from the platform and flying alongside the speeder with their Jetpacks.
"Captain, does this seem a little too easy to you?" Fives said
Before Jack could respond he noticed multiple unknown contacts appear on his visors HUD, he turned to look but was met with hails of incoming blaster fire.
"You had to say that Fives," Rookie said as he drew his sidearms to return fire.
Right as Captain Jack was about to give the order for the three of them to break off and engage the two Mandalorian warriors on the speeder jumped off the rear and almost instantly collide with two of the three hostels firing at them. The remaining one again opened fire on the speeder, landing multiple small hits on the vehicle before Bo-Katan managed to land a shot on him with her wrist cable. Using the moment of the soldier stuck in position Captain Jack killed his Jetpack while above the trooper and flared his energy sword, slashing the rear of his Jetpack causing it to spark and overload sending the fighter skywards before blowing up entirely.
Before they could even check to see if they were clear, another half-dozen Death Watch soldier reinforcements arrived simultaneously firing on the speeder and defenders. Again the stationary defenders on the speeder took to the rear and the sides to open fire at the incoming flyers. Despite the jagged ride, Jun had managed to set up his rifle on the edge of the speeders seat head and fired two shots in rapid succession, gaining an expert headshot one while managing to strike the concussion missile of the second's Jetpack causing it to detonate and take the warrior with it.
Equipped with his sword and sidearm Jack made a wide arc turn to his right, bursting around the wall of a nearby building followed closely by both his two allies and Bo-Katan to flank the hostels and fire on them from behind. Getting in behind them the four of them released a barrage of weapons fire, with the enemy's attention, divided two ways another two were gunned down with the remaining two attempting to fall back while still firing on the speeder. Before they got away, several shots had managed to strike the right engine of the speeder, it started to lose power as the single remaining engine struggled to keep it in the air.
Luck was with the pilot as the platform in front of the docks entrance war right ahead. Pulling on the flight stick as hard as possible the pilot managed to control a crash landing on the platform as it hit the ground it skidded across. Coming to a complete stop the Dutchess and Korkie followed by the half of Resolute bailed from the totalled vehicle and ran towards the docks. Still under fire by yet more enemy Mandalorians.
The four friendly flyers followed them closely behind, going straight over the heads of the Death Watch. Opening fire below them the red armoured hostels landed several shots from the close range. Taking one too many shots, Jacks shields failed right as they made it through the short tunnel to the docks and his Jetpack shorted out and he went falling towards the ground. He managed to land stable enough using his shoulder and backs armour plate to take the brunt of the force.
With a hand from Fives, he managed to get back up quickly but immediately got moving again as at least a dozen enemy soldiers were now after them. Racing to the edge of the platform they regrouped looking for a way out.
"Captain, over there," Cadmon said, pointing out over to the next docking structure across from them. It was the Condor.
"Okay go" Jack ordered as one by one they flew over with most of Resolute carrying the flightless fighters and Dutchess Satine. As Fives was about to follow suit and jump from the edge he noticed the Captain turn his back and pull out his hardlight rifle.
"Captain, come on!" Fives shouted as the enemy drew closer, taking potshots at them as they closed the gap.
"My Jetpack is fired Fives, I won't make the jump I'll cover your escape now go!" He ordered
"What? Sir, we're not just going to lea-" Fives was cut off as a Mandalorian leapt from one of the containers above them. Jack sidestepped just in time to muss the attack and bash the soldier in the head with his rifle stock, looking back towards Fives.
"I gave you an order soldier, get the Dutchess out NOW!" Jack ordered again.
Fives looked to the Captain "Yes Sir" he said defeatedly and turned around to run up to the edge and boost over to the Condor's platform.
Captain Jack watched briefly as Fives followed the others and made it across the gap. He turned to face the incoming onslaught of enemies, Almost immediately the Death Watch soldiers opened fire on him before more arrived and their focus became split between it and the ship across the dock which was rapidly starting up and gaining altitude. With his shields recharged Jack charged into the frey, firing bolts of hardlight energy as fast as he could pull the trigger, managing to take down 7 Mandalorians in the 10 seconds it took him to run from the edge of the walkway to the cluster of enemies.
He used his final round of ammo when he was less than a metre away from the still strong enemy force, to take some of the fire from the Condor he primed a plasma grenade in one hand while pulling out his energy sword in the other. Using all of his strength he threw the grenade to the very back of the docks where the second group of Death Watch was opening fire on the Condor and less than three seconds away from launching their back-mounted concussion missiles. The grenade landed home and detonated before any of them tried to run from it.
Not looking back to check the Condor Jack pushed on and pulled out his SPMA coupled with his sword. He could still count a dozen hostels at least with more speeders arriving any second. Moving from cover to cover Jack fired off several shots to cover his advance. He was now practically in the middle of the fight, to make it worse he could see the movement of the enemy start to surround him. Throwing out two M9 frag grenades and a single smoke grenade he waited for them to detonate before making the run-up and using his suits micro thrusters to launch himself into the air.
Landing in the middle of the smoke a half-second after the grenades exploded he managed to shot dead two delirious soldiers and impale another with his sword before pulling it out of his corpse to slash at another charging Mandalorian. Looking at his sensors, he could tell he wouldn't last much longer. A loud book behind him caught his head as he turned just in time to see the Condor gain a sudden burst of speed and left the system.
"Mantle Guide you Resolute," He said in a near whisper as his breath started to shorten, despite the relief, he didn't let his guard down and continued fighting until the smoke started to die down and he saw just how many troops he was up against.
Even with reinforcements arriving, Captain Jack kept up the fight for nearly an entire hour before really feeling the straight and running down to his last few rounds of ammunition.
Diving for cover and slashing another on his way he tried to formulate a plan when he heard the near-endless blaster fire start to slow and then stop altogether. He looked up from his cover, at least a dozen were still there, weapons pointed at him but they had stopped firing, from behind them Maul and Oppress arrived.
Captain Jack stepped out "Your too late Maul, Staines gone and soon she'll be under UNSC protection," Jack said, expecting him to order the Death Watch troopers to gun him down where he stood.
"A considerable loss but not a jeopardizing one, she has already contacted the Jedi council and soon Kenobi will come running," Maul said menacingly.
"Kenobi, you did all of this for Kenobi!?" Jack asked confused and angry not letting his sword drop.
"He will share the same pain that he has caused me, murdering his beloved would have been a start but I suppose a public execution of the one that saved her will have to do," Maul said as he drew his lightsaber and ignited his dark crimson blade and directing his apprentice to stay behind.
Jack took up his stance, both hands on his sword as he prepared himself for Mauls attack. As he did Maul charged with fury, their blades immediately clashed with the sith starting with the upper hand until Jack pulled away, directing Maul's strength forward and away from him. Jack slashed his blade as his enemy went forward but was deflected as Maul swung his lightsabre to block the incoming attack.
Turning back around to face him, Maul slashed at the Spartan with rapid speed in an attempt to break his defensive stance, each clash against Jacks blade left him more depleted but struck back when one of Mauls attacks resulted in his lightsaber getting trapped in the twin blade points of Jacks sword. Twisting his blade he managed to pull Maul's arm downwards and as he tried to pull his blade free the Spartan slid across his back and kicked his already partially down enemy to the floor.
Maul was quick to get up, his form became more aggressive as pulled out a second hilt from behind him, he ignited it revealing a pure black blade. Advancing with both his lightsaber and conquered dark sabre Maul violently attacked Jack using his anger to fuel his strength. Struggling to defend himself against the fury of the duel wielding Dathomirian Captain Jack started to stammer backwards, even when he battled Krell his fighting style was disciplined whereas Maul's was destructive.
Pushing himself backwards with his thrusters he fired his wrist-mounted grapple and managed to catch his arm in the cable but before he could try and use his strength and thrusters to pull him down Maul beat him to it and used his wrapped arm to brutally pull the Spartan towards him. Pulled down to the ground Jack immediately made an attempt to get back up and fight but was pushed by an invisible force several metres back into a pile of containers, denting them and pushing them back several inches.
Maul was already on him by the time he had gotten back up, in a defensive attempt, he raised his energy sword but was cut short as Maul smashed his Darksabre against it and cut right through the curved hilt sending the Spartan back down to the ground as the two halves of his destroyed energy sword hit the floor. At the edge of two lightsabers and over a dozen weapon sights Jack knew he had lost.
"Take him back to the prisons," He said as he shut off and put away his sabres.
A defeated and overcome Captain Jack put up no fight when the Death Watch soldiers forced him onto the speeder after they forcefully put him in a pair of durasteel binders. They picked up his weapons and once on board with half a dozen of the soldiers not taking their weapons off him they set off. Leaving the dozens of Mandalorian Death Watch troopers he had fought off, dead at the docks.
As they passed back through the gateway and tunnel from the docks to the outer city
Jack looked around for anything he could use to escape before they made it back to the prison. It looked slim though, as well as the blasters pointed at him in the speeder he noticed the remaining ones above and around him as they flew alongside the speeder with the eyes focus on flying and their prisoner.
Eventually, they reached an impasse where the flyers and the speeder carrying Maul and Oppress turned right, in the direction of the palace while the one carrying the Spartan Captain went left towards the Sundari Prison. His opportunities looked better but he still tried to formulate a plan.
His time was running out as they finally approached the lower prison entrance of which they had broken out through so soon. Getting out of the speeder Jack saw a glimmer of hope ahead when they walked towards the turbo-lift which he knew would only be big enough to hold himself and four Mandalorians maximum, four to one odds he thought, for a Spartan that seemed fair.
One of the Mandalorians called the lift and it arrived seconds later with another already there, "Come on move, we got to get this prisoner back up" He said to the soldier occupying the space.
He took a step forward out of the lift but put one of his hands behind his back, before the soldier could what he thought he was doing the silent red armoured figure pulled out a small circular cylinder. Jack immediately recognised it and his instincts told him to duck. As he did the soldier ignited the cylinder as a bright blue lightsaber materialised. In a flash of speed, they slashed through the tips of the Mandalorians weapons and kicked both of them off the edge of the platform.
The second the Spartan saw the blue blade and ducked he turned around before the enemy behind him could blink and shoulder bashed one to the floor while ducking a punch from the other and using his cuffs as a Garrote as the two other remaining soldiers fired on him, killing one of their own in the process as Jack pulled the soldier in front of him when he saw their weapons. The firing only lasted for a fraction of a second as from above them more blaster fire rained down but not on the Spartan and lightsaber wielder.
Mandalorians clad in their dark blue and black armour descended, easily taking care of the two hostels. When they did Jacks attention was turned behind him as the solider with the light sabre who had taken off his helmet and thrown it aside, "Master Kenobi" Jack said
"Where is Satine?" Kenobi asked concerningly
"She's safe General, we managed to get her out but you shouldn't be here though" Jack warned
"Maul is after me, I know, as soon as I received the message from her I borrowed a ship from Anakin but if Satine is safe then we need to leave". Kenobi said
"You do, come on, there's a ship at the docks waiting". Bo-Katan said as she quickly approached the two of them.
"I thought I told you to go," He said with annoyance as he assumed she was on the Condor with Resolute and Satine.
"I don't take orders from you, get your gear and move, oh and here, try not to break this one," She said as she handed him a Mandalorian Jetpack.
Quickly hooking it up and syncing it to his HUD, Jack got ready to make the flight back for the last time to the docks. Once Bo-Katan confirmed the all clear with her scouts the three of them fired up their packs and ran for it towards the edge. Only several seconds into their flight and Bo-Katan was on the comm. "Incoming, look out!" she warned
Jacks proximity sensors flared up as something was coming at him fast, he made a rapid left turn, killing his right engine to make the bank even faster, as he did a small missile screamed past him and into the wall dead ahead, exploding and sending debris in all directions. Continuing their flight, Captain Jack turned backside down to get a clear shot while moving. He was down to his sidearm though, his right eye checked his ammo counter, six rounds.
Using each one sparingly he aimed at the closest fighters and fired when they were at their most stable, picking his targets he fired two round within each passing second. The first target was hit by both rounds to the chest and neck, next to him another was struck in the lower chest and went down. The third target saw the pattern the Spartan was firing in and ducked as he was fired at and managed to dodge the hardlight rounds by a hairs edge. Turning back around and holstering his now empty weapon, Captain Jack focused on manoeuvring and staying ahead of the fire as did Kenobi next to him.
It wasn't long before he could see the now all to familiar sight of the large doored tunnel to the docks and escape from the domed city. The fire on them though became heavier as the primary target outlined by Maul had been identified, with luck they made it to the docks first entrance in one piece. Rushing ahead to open the secondary doors Kenobi and Jack were covered by Bo-Katan and several other resistance fighters but they wouldn't last long and started taking casualties quickly.
Pulling back after managing to knock a blow against the incoming forces, Bo-Katan reached them right as the outer doors opened. Before they could run to the ship thought they were met with a hectic chaos ensuing battle between countless dozens of Mandalorian Death Watch and Resistance fighters. "Maul must really want you dead" Bo-Katan commented as she caught up and witnessed the massive conflict.
"You have no idea," He said as he readied himself to make a run for their escape.
Jack sighed as they started to run to the ship, "Guess I'll have to get Maul another time" He said.
Fortunately, most of the hostiles ahead of them were too busy dealing with the resistance to notice Kenobi and Spartan Jack make it up the ramp, "Go, tell your Republic what has happened!" Bo-Katan said as she fired off several rounds
"That would likely lead to a Republic invasion of Mandalore" He warned as he deflected numerous incoming blaster bolts.
"Yes and Maul will die but Mandalore will survive, we always survive and you," She said looking at Jack "Your people better protect Satine," She said
"You care for Satine very much," Jack said
"Yeah well, family does that to you, now go!" She said
Both Kenobi and Jack looked at each other as they both knew what she meant, "Your Satine's sister" Kenobi said
"We'll keep her safe Ma'am," Jack said as he and Kenobi left and rushed to the cockpit where the Mandalorian pilots immediately closed the ramp and pivoted the ship away from the docks and built up its speed as it broke through the clouds and away from the night sky of Mandalore. Soon the ship made it out of the planet's atmosphere. Kenobi walked back through to the fuselage of the ship to where Captain Jack was in his attempt to contact his team.
"The Pilots are under order to take us wherever we need," Kenobi said
"Good, I'll have a location for them soon," Jack said as he touched up on some of the controls to his suit. "Alright let's see if this works," He said as he opened a communication on the centre console on the ship.
"Captain Jack contacting Resolute, do you copy? Over" He said, no response
Their hope started to dwindle until the hologram came to life with a large gathering of people. "Captain this is Admiral Lasky Fireteam Resolute are onboard the Infinity with the HVI's you got off of Mandalore, where are you, What's your status?" Lasky asked with fireteam Resolute and the Dutchess Satine next to him.
"I'm with General Kenobi and we'll be on route to the nearest UNSC or Republic outpost soon," Jack said.
"Obi-Wan?" Satine asked as she came closer into view.
"Satine, I am relieved to hear you are safe," He said truthfully
"You got my message, I am sorry to have drawn you into this" She apologised.
"Don't be my dear, your safe and the Captain has my thanks" Kenobi said
"I'll be fine Obi-Wan, Admiral Lasky has informed me he'll be talking to their leaders soon regarding a Provisional Government, I wish re-taking Mandalore could be done without violence but even a pacifist like me can see where the line is drawn," Satine said.
Captain Jack resumed his conversation with the Admiral "Sir, I can confirm that Maul and the Death Watch are in control of Mandalore, I underestimated his strength and I don't think we'll be able to obtain him for questioning without a takeover of Mandalore" Jack said
"This is troublesome news and I am afraid to say I have more, shortly after you departed for your mission we experienced a communications blackout with Coruscant," Lasky said as he turned to Fives and Jun at the front of Resolute.
"Sir, a bomb was detonated at the Jedi Temple," Fives said
Kenobi's look of dismay was clear as he looked downwards "Casualties?" He asked
Lasky pulled up a datapad, "8 clone troopers, 12 crew workers, and 6 Jedi as well as four members of the UEG science institute" Lasky said.
News of the bombing struck Kenobi hard before he regained himself, "Captain, get what rest you can and head for the Temple, fireteam Resolute will meet up with you there and General Kenobi, I'll inform the Jedi Council you are on your way as well" Lasky said
"Thank you, Captain," Kenobi said mournfully
"We'll find who did it, Sir," Jack said, a hand on Kenobi's shoulder
"I'll read your mission report when you get back for now though good luck on your mission and may the mantle guide you, both of you," Lasky said
"See you soon Captain," Fives said as the communication was shut off.
Captain Jack stared for a brief second before moving to the front of the ship, "I'll tell the pilot to plot a course to Coruscant, Who of all people would bomb a Jedi Temple" He said as he thought to himself, he would have to find out soon.
Next Chapter - The Wrong Traitor
Well so end another chapter, this one was a lot shorter than the others but this is a two-parter with the previous chapter which I considered doing in a single chapter but I would rather have two that are short than one which is obscenely long, and yes next up is the dreaded Bombing of the hanger at the Coruscant Jedi Temple, wonder how that's going to go down with Captain Jack and fireteam Resolute.
As I said up top I had two other endings planned, one was the usual where Satine was killed in front of Kenobi but with Captain Jack there as well only restrained just as Kenobi. The second was going to be the same but with one of the members of Resolute, likely Cadmon, throw themselves in front of the blade that killed Satine. So how are those endings compared to the actual one I did. Better or worse, let me know in the reviews.
Also yes as a few people have pointed out, Order 66 or the event of it draws closer, how do you guys think it will go, will the Jedi order still fall or will the dedicated actions of the Jedi and UNSC prevail.
