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Phase 16: Revenant

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Part 1

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Med Bay G-3

Republic cruiser Shinning Light

hyperspace

Admiral Hold arrived to a scene of an armed stand-off. The Med Bay holding Veil's crispy remains, which were somehow not entirely dead yet, had its security detail facing against Master Mundi. The tall Jedi glared defiantly at the Clones, who were all from the 501st – trained and armed to fight precisely this kind of opponent. Commander Rex had been paranoid enough to station a whole platoon in the area and now all of them pointed their weapons at Mundi.

As if the fleet wasn't in enough trouble already, now this.

"General Mundi, explain yourself!" Joanna growled at the Jedi.

"You know what he did!" Mundi jabbed a long finger at the Med Bay.

"Saved us all. Again." A Clone Sergeant spoke in a flat, cold tone. "You'll need to get through us first before we let you get any closer to the General." The NCO's voice became the temperature of liquid helium.

A muscle twitched on Joanna's face. To be honest with herself, she wasn't all right with what Veil did at Bothawui, even if many of those beasts deserved to burn for their betrayal. Yet, she was torn about it and not just because of her loyalty to the man. What Veil did, no matter how impossible, got the fleet from a death-trap without a single casualty, beside himself. That by itself earned him some grudging respect.

"Can we not do this right now?" Or like ever? "He'll have to answer for his actions when we're back in the Core." No matter that with the current people in charge it was unlikely he would receive more than a swap on the wrist and telling off to behave from now on. Hells, to be honest, if putting with Veil's insanity was the price to get Corellia liberated, Joanna would do it gladly – a sentiment she wouldn't have admitted to even herself before the war and all preconceptions and securities it shattered.

"How many more worlds need to die or worse before he is stopped?" Mundi demanded.

"How many worlds the Separatists decimated without seeing such a strong reaction from the Jedi I wonder?" Rex asked.

Joanna did her best not to betray her surprise – she never noticed his arrival, not to mention that how he came to stand beside her. The Commander wasn't alone – multiple Clones took positions around her subtly moving to place themselves between her and the threat. The Admiral nodded fractionally at Rex, glad for the gesture even if she doubted that Mundi would really go after her. He was here for Veil after all.

"What would you have us do, Commander?" Mundi pleaded. "Doing as you asked, what people wanted us to, that would lead us into becoming like your precious General or worse! It was a miracle he was so controlled for so long, however he finally showed his true colours! Did you feel it? Billions died screaming as he consumed them! This was no mere mass murder or war-crime what he did!"

"General, I know that you would have died fighting beside us. As a soldier, that much I can respect." Rex nodded sharply. "However, if you could have, would you have done the same to Bothawui or another world to protect the crews serving on board this fleet? Or would you have left us die fighting impossible odds to keep your hands clean?"

"It's not that simple, Commander Rex. Doing something like that, it would have made me a monster. I would have fallen to the Dark Side and become a greater threat than the Separatists we're fighting. Even contemplating such atrocity treads on dangerous ground."

"And that is why we stand by the General even if we don't always agree with his methods. He puts us first, General Mundi. Will you stand down?"

This was getting out of hand. Joanna struggled to find the right words to defuse the situation, when Mundi froze. His huge head turned towards the Med Bays so fast that his neck cracked audibly. The Jedi's eyes widened and he took a step back that almost got him shot.

Joanna wondered what the Hells was happening now before she felt it. A cold wind passed through her, chilling her blood and a heartbeat later a warm glow emanated from the Med Bay that made her feel as if she was sunning on a beach back home.

Rex nodded to the Sergeant beside the door, the same one who spoke earlier. The Clone nodded back, made a gesture to two of his men and they turned around and aimed their weapons at the entrance before hitting the electronic lock. The door slid open to reveal a couple of medics and Medical Droids busy over a bed that had a glowing figure on it.

"I have no bloody idea what's happening! These reading make no sense!"

The Droids beeped angrily and waved their spider-like appendages in clear agitation.

"I think he's healing."

"Let's hope he doesn't burn again."

At least the source of the warm glow was revealed now – it was the General's mangled body. The shimmering light covering his bed became brighter and brighter until it shinned so strong it was blinding. A wave of rejuvenating warmth exploded from the Med Bay and the strange light-show cut off abruptly.

"Fuck me, this wasn't a good idea." A weak voice rasped. "I don't remember it hurting this much."

"General, are you all right?" One of the medics exclaimed.

"Do I look all right?" Veil snapped back.

The Clone paused and looked the general all over, then consulted his hand-scanner. "Actually you do, which should be impossible. Congratulation, you did it again."

Veil snorted at that delivery. "Good enough. Did we get out of Bothawui clean?"

"We did, sir. You were the only casualty."

"Then it worked. Good, good." Veil muttered in a tired voice. "Is there something requiring my immediate attention or could I sleep for the next week or so?"

The medics looked at each other, then one of the droids pointed at the door behind them. They turned and saw the congregation outside.

"There is, sir." Rex announced loud enough to be heard in the Med Bay. "We have an unruly Jedi right here wanting to have his nasty way with you." The Commander spoke in a calm, matter of fact voice.

"Jedi?" For a moment there, the General sounded confused. He slowly got up into sitting position. "Which one?"

"Mundi. He's the only one we have left in the fleet." Rex answered.

"Oh? Did our forest friend die or make a runner?"

"Dead. Mundi saw to it and we had to put down the remaining knight after that."

"Well, that's one complication we don't need to worry about. So, General Mundi, I didn't figure you swung this way. You're a married man and all."

As a way to amuse the rest of the Clones and Veil, this stunt of Rex might work, on the other hand, it was pointlessly antagonizing the Jedi. That didn't make sense, unless the Commander actually wanted a confrontation, perhaps as an excuse to remove a potential treat. Joanna shoved her way through the Clones so she could get a good look at the revenant and implore him to try keep the peace. They were in enough trouble already.

The man looked all right, all things considered. The last time she saw him, shortly after they jumped out of Bothawui, he resembled a large chunk of burned and blackened meat with cooked bones visible in places. Even modern medical science should have been helpless to save him, besides, he should have died from the repeated trauma he subjected himself to. Instead, here he was – he looked as a man in his mid-fifties, his hair was gone and that was it. What did it took to put him down for good if he could recover from something like this by merely apparently ageing a decade or two?

"Do I dare ask how you recovered?" Mundi asked in a resigned tone.

"You most certainly don't." Veil deadpanned.

Joanna focused on his eyes and the look in them told her that he was telling the truth and wasn't addressing only the Jedi.

"Worried about me, my Jedi friend?"

"About what would you do next if you recovered. What will it be? Doing the same to Coruscant?" Mundi glared.

"Why would I?" Veil sounded genuinely surprised by the question.

"Why would you do this to Bothawui?"

"It sounded like the best option from a bunch of really sucking ones." Veil shrugged his shoulders and winced. "Not something I intent to repeat any time soon or ever if I have an acceptable alternative."

"What you find acceptable, most people won't contemplate even in their most horrible nightmares!"

"Then they should be glad for the sheltered nature of their lives. Are you going to try sticking me with your lightsaber now or can I catch some actual shut-eye? Coma doesn't count."

Everyone looked at Mundi and Joanna couldn't shake the feeling that her read on Rex and for that matter the other Clones was correct. Hells, they were eager for a showdown!

"Stand down, damn it! We aren't doing the Separatist's job for them!" Joanna shouted her order as loud as she could, making the Clones closest to her, jump.

She walked through their ranks until she was between the Mundi and the Med Bay. "Are you trying to prove to everyone that the Jedi can't be trusted, ever?" The Admiral jabbed a finger at Mundi. "And you," She whirled around to glare at Rex. "Looking up to bagging yourself a Jedi General aren't you?" She then glowered at Veil who looked innocently at her as if asking, 'What did I do this time?'. "Stop taunting the Jedi, lay down and let the doctors check you up thoroughly. The last I saw you, you looked better cooked than a piece of well done roast. Now, can we all act like adults for a change?"

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Part 2

=RK=

Med Bay G-3

Republic cruiser Shinning Light

hyperspace

I so didn't need to deal with this right now. My whole body was on fire, just like the last time I got good blasted good and long with Sith lighting as a punishment from Baras. I felt weak, exhausted.

All things considered, I was in a much better shape that I had any right to be. Yay for contingency planning and having a Force Ghost to sacrifice. I had to get one more of those just in case if an opportunity presented itself. I wondered for a moment if Sidious would do or having him stuck in my head could prove too dangerous. Time would tell anyway. I had more immediate concerns, again.

Like Mundi.

He was useful, both as a political figure and thanks to his skills. Those facts made him dangerous too, especially as weakened as I was right now. The Dark Side whispered that I should get rid myself of the Jedi. That would be indeed a prudent course of action. Yet, it would be such a waste. Attempting to use him was a double edged sword at best.

I smirked at Joanna as she told us all off. I hadn't been taken to task with such a gusto in a long time. If I didn't know that I had her unwavering loyalty, this would be harder and even more delicate. Rex and company were largely with me... at lest those of the 501st who were at Kamino. The new guys – they were relatively safe thanks to Satine becoming the Chancellor. That little stunt of hers and her husband would allow me to dodge some bullets, though inevitably their association with me would make their lives more difficult.

Perhaps giving him enough rope to hang himself would be for the best? He might even use it to climb out of the deep hole he just dug himself by coming here to take me out while I was in a coma. The Clone's helmets did have cameras after all and if Mundi was determined to die today, I might at least get something useful recorded of it.

"You're of course, correct, Admiral Holt." I nodded respectfully and had to bite my cheek to keep a moan of pain escaping my lips. The way that little motion helped stretch my spine sent fiery daggers right into my nerves. "Master Mundi, are you mad because what I did to Bothawui or the way I did it? Would you be here after my head if I had used some mundane super-weapon instead the Force?" It was a trick question and how the Jedi answered would be telling.

Mundi narrowed his eyes dangerously at me.

"You proved beyond a shadow of a doubt how deep you've fallen, Veil. Or should I call you Darth Vael?"

"Once upon a time, that tittle meant everything to me. It was my way out of Korriban and proof Baras won't kill me then and there for failing his impossible test. It was also a slight I had to acknowledge. Delkatar Veil, Darth Vael. They're names. Both mine." I refrained from shrugging again. "As for being fallen? I'm a Sith. The Dark Side serves me, not the other way around." I didn't mention that it still influenced me. I didn't consider myself fallen to it, however from the point of view of a Jedi, I was sure that wasn't the case and it was a moot point debating semantics.

"Does it? Are you the same man who joined the Grand Army all those months ago? Did you deceive us from the beginning?" Mundi accused me. "Were the conservatives on the Council right about you from the start?"

"I deceived no one, Master Jedi. What did you expect me to do, go out destroy worlds for the hell of it? What kind of man are you accusing me of being? At Sullust we went after a military targets – the various moons and all the industrial infrastructure over there. Bothawui?" I glared at the Jedi. "I had a choice – either see this fleet fight impossible odds, die and let them get away with treason or do something about it. A choice you could never contemplate, unless the enemy is Sith. Neither the Jedi nor the Old Republic had any qualms doing your best to exterminate my own people."

Mundi stared at me as if seeing me for the first time. All I told him was true, from a certain point of view at least.

"That is in the past." Joanna told me. "We fight for a different Republic, you have to know that or you would have never joined our side. I would like to say that the Jedi are different as well, however..." She trailed off and gave Mundi a pointed look.

What would it be, Master Jedi?

Mundi looked at the Admiral, then at the helmeted faces of the Clones.

"You all agree with him." He said in a resigned tone. "Military necessity. Does it make it better? Is it enough to explain the death of whole worlds?"

"To be frank, yes. Let me telly you a secret, General Mundi. As a Flag Officer of the Corellian Navy, our own contingencies do involve scorched earth approach in certain circumstances. In other words, burning whole worlds down if the situation becomes grave enough. The same is true for Kuat at least and I'm reasonably sure it's no different for the other major Core navies. In a case of a real general war, that has always been in the cards if our home systems were threatened sufficiently. However, it wasn't until the Separatist's offensive that somehow managed to take Corellia that the situation became that grave. Now? All bets are off."

"I've seen worlds burn before at the hands of the Separatists. Republic worlds. Returning the favour – perhaps it would make the bastards pause and rethink their tactics." Rex added.

Many of the Clones nodded in agreement.

"Do you see now, Master Jedi?" I asked almost gently. "What your kind fears to contemplate or risk falling to the Dark Side? That's something many people across the galaxy have to live with. Every capital ship captain has at their fingertips the power to vaporise anything, from a single person to the surface of a whole planet. That's tens of thousands of people who know that one day they will have to give such an order and if they're incapable of it, they aren't suited for that role. What you find unthinkable, that is a distinct possibility for the military mind."

"Then why all of this?"

"Before you get to blame the Sith for this war, do remember that Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatists was a former Jedi. So are their Old Republic friends and there is nothing former about them." I twisted the knife.

"I can speak about Corellia – we didn't choose this war. It was Separatist atrocities that made the choice for us. I won't presume to speak about the Clones, however, I don't believe that they would have started a war to avoid boredom."

Many of the soldiers nodded vigorously. They did a lot of the dying in this war.

"Don't look at me for explanation why this war began. I wasn't here then, nor during the time when the events making it inevitable occurred. What is going to be, Master Mundi? Will you prove the Jedi to be untrustworthy traitors, or will you along with Obi-Wan and the what other few loyalists are there help redeem your kind?"

Mundi straightened up and looked me in the eyes. He was visibly tense and what I could get from his through my emphatic sense, it was a mess of emotions. The Jedi knew that right now was perhaps his one best chance to take me out, though it would be a suicide mission. Frankly, I wasn't sure I could use enough of my power to protect myself if he could fight through the Clones and get to me before they shot him to pieces. He had to know that as well – the odds of finding me this vulnerable again were low.

However... I smiled. "Look at me. I'm weak, still recovering. You are a Jedi Master. I'm sure if you try it, you might be able to get to me before my soldiers take you out. Will you cut me down as I am right now, defenceless? Won't that mean letting your anger consume you and lead you right to the Dark Side? Wouldn't it mean becoming what you hate?"

"Would it matter if the Clones shoot me dead a moment later?" Mundi countered.

"Veil, enough! No more taunting the Jedi!" Joanna snapped.

"I'm merely explaining what a certain course of action will lead to." I smiled apologetically to my good Admiral.

"Just shut up, damn it!" She shot me a dirty look and turned back to the Jedi. "General Mundi, for a change he's right. If you attack him without an excellent reason..." She raised a hand. "What he did at Bothawui isn't enough I'm afraid. A Board of Inquiry and a Senate hearing should be in his future about what he did, however the fact is that the Bothans did betray the Republic and conspired with the Separatists to destroy this fleet. While destroying the whole world of Bothawui might be considered by some an out-of-bounds over-reaction and a war-crime as you earlier accused, it can also be argued that is was justified. That act did get us out of there in one piece. It's not for us to play judge, jury and executioner. At this time, the General Veil is still in command barring orders from his doctor that he is unfit after his ordeal. If you move against him, it will be treason, General Mundi and we will have to act accordingly."

"Is this fleet more important than the billions of Bothans and other people who he murdered?" Mundi asked.

"For me it was. I'll wager that many of the crew would agree. The Bothans on the other hand..." I didn't have to complete that sentence.

What was the level I needed to either turn him to my side or make him commit and get himself killed?