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Phase 9: Shattered union

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Part 1

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"The Black Hole"

Nar Shaddaa

"I hope this isn't a waste of time, brother." Darth Maul, the Dark Lord of the Sith barked at his brother.

The months after their reunion were frustrating. Maul's recovery thanks to that witch on Dathomir was still a sore spot for him. He owed the infernal woman more than he was willing to admit even to himself and that knowledge burned buried deep within him.

"She hasn't steered us wrong yet, brother." Savage Opress sat down across the table from Maul and shoved a mug of ale his way.

They could barely hear each other without screaming over the music coming from multiple hidden loudspeakers. The bar was drowning in shadows and choking in the smoke of enough illegal drugs to irritate even a Sith. The Black Hole had earned its name – it was one of the seediest, nastiest places Maul had the misfortune to visit and while he worked for Sidious he had seen some of the greatest hives of scum and villainy in the galaxy.

This place was much worse. That was why they were stuck in there waiting for someone who supposedly had a job offer – who would think a self-respecting Sith would be in the "Black Hole" without burning the place for fun?

Maul suspected that it might be a trap – they did successfully take a Banking Clan convoy a few weeks back. It was a good way to raise capital to finance his vengeance, however he expected that sooner or later some bounty hunters would come searching for them because of it. He was half convinced that this was it and the primary reason he came was the chance for some fun. Yet, he might be mistaken. That infernal witch was very smug when she met them just before leaving Dathomir to warn them they might find what they were looking for on this trip.

Witches... If they weren't so useful... If Mother Tanzyn wasn't one of them... Even she wasn't enough to keep him from wanting to show them their place. He was the Dark Lord of the Sith! What did they do? Kept hiding when they could do so much more? It was pathetic!

Two armoured figures made their way through the crowd – which consisted of half-drunk or high patrons trying to dance or simply stumbling between the tables.

"It looks like fun, brother." Maul nodded at the approaching figures.

"Mandalorians." Opress sneered. "Bounty Hunters?"

"What else?" Maul's right hand went for the hilt of his lightsaber.

The leader of the two – a man a bit taller than the woman who walked a step behind him – halted a couple of paces from the Sith table and examined them.

"I expected you to be taller." The man grumbled. "I have a job for you."

"What could a Mandalorian offer me?" Maul sneered. Such a clumsy trap. Did that fool think something like this could make him drop his guard?!

"Vengeance. An opportunity to prove yourself against another Sith." The man offered. "I want Veil and his whore dead. You want Kenobi."

"Why would someone like you turn against Mandalore?" It was Savage's turn to sneer at the ridiculous claim.

"He murdered my brother. I can't take him in honourable combat, yet I crave his blood." The Mandalorian offered.

Maul was about to laugh and attack, yet he stayed his hand. He could feel no deception from the man. Only anger and hatred. He did laugh at that. The Force was with him and he would have his vengeance!

"Speak. This better be good." Maul ordered.

=RK=

GAR Operations room

GAR HQ

Coruscant

"Yes. Prime Minister Holt, I promise you I will do everything in my power to rein Veil in. If he really went crazy Sith on us I will do my best to ensure he will face justice for his actions." Obi-Wan swore.

"We might have to do so even if he's legally in the clear." A CEO said. Where was he from again?! Even with the Force refreshing him Obi-Wan was getting exhausted.

"He won't allow himself to be thrown to the Krath Hounds to appease the crowd." Satine warned.

"What choice do we have? There are millions, billions even screaming for his head!"

"There are at least that many cheering his actions. I find that more disturbing." Mothma interjected.

"He is a head of independent state and that complicates things."

"You don't say. Veil's one of the few people left that the GAR universally respects. Removing him could backfire on us."

"Would it matter if you get the Clones under control?"

"Tell that to the Mandalorians and anyone in the Mid-Rim who might support him. It might matter to them."

"That's more or less academic at this point. Until he can fight his way to the Core or we can reconnect with that part of the Rim we have no way of influencing what he does or doesn't do. Shall we shelf this topic until it becomes relevant?"

"It is relevant! We have to explain to our people what we are going to do about that madman!"

"Tell them the truth – we're investigating and if he's found guilty of whatever he's accused of we'll act accordingly." Satine spoke.

"In other words – empty promises."

"What else is new?"

"The man is a war-criminal! He needs to answer for his deeds!"

"Mandalore hasn't been found guilty of anything. I know many of my people would argue he went after legitimate targets at Sullust. We know nothing but Separatist propaganda about Kamino. Do you think that those worlds in the Mid Rim, especially Naboo, would work with him unless he had a very good explanation?" Satine asked.

"The man saved them! They were attacked with plague by the Separatists. Would Naboo care?"

"Should we care then? You're right, my esteemed colleague." A new voice sneered. "The Separatists unleashed plague against us. They enslaved our people. Who should we care if Veil retaliates in kind? Would you stand up self-righteous in front of us if the same happened to Hok?!"

"We should care! There are laws civilized society operates under, but you would know nothing about it!"

"There are common laws of war that make what Veil did at Sullust legal reprisal for Naboo and Ryloth." Yularen countered.

"Unwritten laws!"

How in the name of the Force did I get myself in this mess?! Obi-Wan screamed internally. Personally he was unfamiliar with most of the people arguing over the holocom. They all had a few things in common – they were government leaders from all over the part of the Republic Coruscant could have secure communications with and they all had their agendas. It was primary the fear of the Separatists that united them. They were almost as bad as the Senate but not quite, which was the one ray of hope in the whole mess.

"We need to recall Veil as soon as practical so he could explain actions, I think we all can agree on that?" Prime Minister Holt asked.

To Obi-Wan's surprise they actually could.

"Kuat is in agreement. What else do we need to clear up before voting in the next Chancellor?"

"Ambassador Kenobi is Mandalorian. Not a Republic member."

"It doesn't really matter now, does it? It is for us to decide who the next Chancellor is going to be."

More arguing followed. More wasted time. Yet, there was a vote in the end. Satine won with a very minor majority.

"Congratulations." Obi-Wan smiled. Relief flooded him – this whole exercise wasn't a colossal waste of time. Now it was time to see if the Clones would listen to his wife or not.

=RK=

Historical Notes

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"The Second Betrayal. The Great Treason.

The day that Democracy died.

Who doesn't know of it?!

Various spineless traitors sold us all to the Mandalorians, Sith and Kuati for power and worthless so called security! Secessionists tore at our glorious civilization that gave us all a millennium of peace, prosperity and real security!"

from intercepted ARR* broadcast

ARR - Alliance to Restore the Republic

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"GAR's treason was the one blow that ultimately shattered the Galactic Republic.

Or did it really?

Nowadays people tend to forget that until that faithful day on Coruscant, the military followed lawful orders as they perceived them. Say what you will about the Clone Legions that made an overwhelming number of the armed forces at the time, however they backed the Galactic Republic until the foundation of the Empire. Certain Legions did it even after it happened...

When we look at the final years of the Galactic Republic, it becomes obvious that it had major structural problems. It was also clear that Chancellor Palpatine, the last man to lead a whole Republic, did his best to fix those issues. His assassination heralded the end of the Galactic Republic as the hegemony presiding over most of the known galaxy.

How did it happen? Why? What or who caused what some call the Fall of Civilization?

There are many answers that hold a grain of truth. Many more assumption or even outright lies. At the heart of it, the one issue that doomed the Galactic Republic was the different, often clashing interests of the member nations, especially those in the Core. The fall of Corellia heralded a new era. Suddenly, Kuat was the unchallenged industrial hegemon. That single system and the family of the same name that ruled it had unlimited power within reach and practically everyone in the Senate believed that they would grasp for it. This is perhaps the key issue that broke the Galactic Republic - the promise of practically unlimited power - economic, industrial, military, political and most importantly, personal...

The fall of the Galactic Republic came in hand with great tragedies, missed opportunities and mistrust that made it all but inevitable. The man often accused by the Empire as the one person who could have saved the Galactic Republic was the same one who was ready to step away from a position of absolute power if he was elected as Chancellor - Senator Danu of Kuat. He was Kuat's candidate for the post. That very fact served to unite friends and enemies alike in fear that he would become a legally empowered dictator with the military, economic and political strength to enforce his rule.

Danu's is a tragic tale. Too late people believed that he spoke the truth from the beginning and the last, the best hope of the Republic and Democracy slipped away as the Senate argued...

The Republic made its decision on who to blame from the beginning too. The Kenobis. One was the Commanding General of the GAR, arguably the most powerful man in the Republic after the murder of Chancellor Palpatine. His wife - Satine Kenobi, nee Kryze, the then ambassador of Mandalore. Republic Loyalists still argue who bears more of the blame. Is it the General who they claim betrayed his oaths and everything he professed to stand for? Or perhaps the foreign ambassador who bribed and threatened her way to power and got herself illegally elected as a Chancellor? To this day anyone would be hard pressed to find out a consensus among the Republic Loyalists. Yet, they are still united in hatred and their passion to restore Democracy and Freedom to the rest of the galaxy..."

"The Fall of Civilization: The fragmentation

of the Galactic Republic" by Mer Kilex

first published by Dorin Press Corporation

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"Can you believe this druk?!" Chancellor Irin Voleen snapped. She glared at her colleagues. "If any of this leaks to the media I'll know who to blame."

"No worries there, Iri."

"Don't Iri me, Aro." Irin levelled her glare at the Interior

Minister, Aro Quale.

The Zabrak frowned at her. "I don't like it any more than you do. We agreed, this was our best option."

A hollow laugh escaped Irin's lips.

"We have to support a damned monster. Because he's good at killing the right people." The Chancellor sneered.

"I can see where they're coming from." The Defence Minister raised both hands in a forestalling gesture. "I'm not saying that I agree, merely that I understand their reasoning."

"No wonder the Republic went to hell." Irin mumbled. "What's to understand? A Sith killing people because it's convenient?"

"It's not like the average citizen cares much what happens in the Outer Rim as long as it doesn't directly affect them. We've seen it again and again, all across the Core." Quale pointed out. "They have concerns closer to home. So should we."

Recording of Fornax's system government meeting

leaked to GNN by unknown party

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"This is Chancellor Satine Kenobi to all Republic forces. Contingency Order 66 is no longer in effect. All Republic forces in the Core are to follow GAR High Command orders. All Republic Forces cut off across the galaxy – you're to evade destruction if at all possible, regroup to previously designated staging areas and ensure the security of Republic worlds in you AO if practical... General Delkatar Veil, you are directed to report to Coruscant ASAP to answer questions over the conduct of your forces at Kamino and Sullust..."

record of Chancellor Satine Kryze giving her first official orders to GAR elements across the galaxy, minutes after her controversial election

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"I need more assets to keep that Sith from gaining access to all nearby sectors! If the enemy break through Triton's defences they will be in striking range of dozens of lightly defended worlds!" There was ire in TK-9953's electronic voice.

"Not happening. We're throwing everything we have at Eriadu and the Sith. We have to break the Republic there and at Naboo." A dull modulated voice responded.

"The Theocrat demands that we bring in additional defences to secure Triton. I'm receiving an increasing number of demands to garrison the nearby systems. I need more assets." The droid pressed.

"There are no more assets we can justify releasing to your region of space. Once Veil is neutralized it won't be an issue."

"If he isn't neutralized?"

"Then you are to hold Triton at all cost."

a recording found in declassified CIS archives