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Phase 11: The long way home

=RK=

Part 12

=RK=

"Royal" cells

Royal Palace

Theed

Naboo

If you told him a year and a half ago that he would find himself in such a situation, Adi-Mundi wouldn't have believed it. He might have politely suggested that whoever did so seek medical assistance on at least stop taking the obviously potent psychotropic substances they were high on. That was before Veil was unleashed upon the galaxy from whatever dark hole the Force stashed him for the last few thousand years.

The Jedi Master still didn't know what to make of the ancient man. The Sith was vexing – nothing like his kind was supposed to be. Veil was usually reasonable, cultured... he made sense, sometimes more than certain members of the Jedi Council did...

Veil's actions were highly dividing ever since that fateful day on Coruscant when the rode to save the day during the Separatists assault upon the Jedi Temple. Many, especially the younger ones, saw him as a hero. He offered a way free from the rules of the Order guiding their lives; more importantly, the Sith was a living, breathing example that you didn't really have to keep your emotions in check all the time or fall to the Dark Side, or so many claimed. After all the man didn't act as the Jedi were taught a Dark Sider should – as far as too many were concerned, Veil's very existence proved that the Jedi Order's teachings were flawed. It didn't help that too many saw Mace Windu confront their saviour just after the battle was over.

It all went downhill from there. The Order grew more and more divided; its members – more radical and entrenched in their positions. Jedi began seeing a Sith Lord as the future, while to others, his very existence was enough to shatter the Order.

From where he sat right now, Mundi could say that both sides were equally right... and wrong. He didn't know what exactly happened on Coruscant. None of his friends deigned to inform him about the coup and he had a lot of time lately to wonder if he was sent to the Rim because he was among the Jedi Masters willing to consider that the changes Veil's existence heralded might be for the better.

It didn't help that he was sympathetic with Obi-Wan Kenobi's plight. He was a married man himself and despite the fact it was heavily frowned upon, he did love his wives. He knew what the Order expected of him – to merely do his duty to his species, father children and not form attachment to them nor to their mothers.

He failed that decades ago and never really regretted it... yet he did consider himself a good Jedi and his record did support that notion so it wasn't mere arrogance as he had been accused of at least a few times in the past.

Mundi ceased his musings for a bit and re-focused his attention to the Sith sitting in front of him. Veil had the Dark Side under control and it was an impassive shadow to the Jedi's senses. He wondered if his slip earlier was genuine or a mere performance.

That was the problem with the vexing man – no one knew what to make of him. While Mundi did believe that when he arrived to this time, Veil didn't want to see the Order destroyed as his kind was supposed to, what about now? He didn't know if it was true that Mace did wound the man's wife during the coup. Even if that happened, what about the circumstances... did they even matter? As a Jedi, if something like that happened to one of his wives, Mundi wanted to believe that he would investigate and figure out who was at fault, what were the circumstances, before he took any action – unless of course someone was assaulting one of his wives in front of him. Veil on the other hand – the man was a Sith and wasn't bound by the Jedi Master's own morality. Worse, the man already lost one wife to the Jedi in the past. For all Mundi knew, the only reason why he was still alive was because the Sith needed him.

Ultimately, Veil's earlier words rang true, though probably not in the way he intended them. It was all about trust, true. However, could the Jedi ever trust him? Mundi, along with the other Council Members spoke with Mace at length about why he confronted the Sith in the Temple. They had to admit that his concerns were reasonable. None of them, with the possible exception of Yoda could really tell what the man planned for the future. While Veil apparently didn't want to see the Jedi exterminated...

He sighed. If you looked at Veil's actions from one angle, what he did was what one would expect from a Republic General. From another – they could easily fit the mould of a self-interested mercenary. Yet another point of view spoke of more sinister purpose. Veil's meteoritic rise in the ranks of the GAR – perhaps that was simply inevitable if he was given the opportunity. After all, he was a battle tested commander with decades of experience in a real war or preparing for one as some claimed. Others saw quite differently. Veil got close to the Jedi he ran into all those months ago – Skywalker, Tano and even Kenobi. He wormed his way into the highest ranks of the military and suddenly he was for all intents and purposes the GAR's Supreme Commander... Why did the man fight for the Republic? It certainly wasn't of the goodness of his heart, yet there were many officers who saw opportunity in the war, didn't really fight inspired by desire to protect the Republic yet as far as their actions went, they did good work. Even that by itself didn't say much. People were complicated. Most weren't the paragons of virtue that the Jedi were supposed to be, they could be driven by raw ambition yet sometimes their actions were still ultimately positive, especially if they were supervised.

Could a Sith be held to the same standard ordinary people were? Could the Jedi judge Veil just by his actions and not his nature? Could they afford to?

Mundi didn't really want to think about the débâcle that was Veil's interaction with Master Ti and while that was influential, the events at Geonosis and Mandalore would bring that issue in the spotlight in a dramatic fashion.

When Geonosis happened, the answer of a large faction was a resounding no. A lot of that same group ultimately blamed Skywalker's actions on Veil's influence. The actions of the Sith on that world – his ruthless tactics, they were something that Obi-Wan himself protested. While it wasn't quite undiscriminating bombardment, the orbital strikes authorized by Veil led to hundreds of millions dying with billions as collateral damage when the full effects of hitting infrastructure hit the civilian population. Yet, too many people in the GAR argued that those strikes were necessary not only to make Republic military casualties on the ground acceptable but to ruin Geonosis industrial potential and ability to rapidly shift troops and resources.

As a Jedi, Mundi was horrified. As far as he and many of his peers were concerned, at Geonosis, the Republic military under Veil's command committed an atrocity as efficient and grave as anything Grievous did. Yet, GAR High Command, at least the non-Jedi there closed ranks and claimed as one that while the loss of life was regrettable, every target struck by Republic orbital fire was a legitimate one. Worse, according to them, such atrocities were inevitable when you fought a modern war against a peer opponent if you wanted to break heir ability to wage war. The only question was how you would achieve the result – through supplying enough orbital fire-power or through even more bloody and protracted ground invasion that would ultimately kill more people when you took into account your own casualties... It was another question that the Republic simply lacked the numbers to do the necessary ground invasions again and again and would need to deal with most planetary industrial targets from orbit once planetary and theatre shields were neutralized the hard way.

Those events further divided the Order. A few Jedi agreed that the military did have a point, from their limited perspective at least, even if their conclusions were unacceptable. Such tactics, the atrocities that GAR claimed were necessary to win the war – that wasn't something the Jedi could condone. There were those who dismissed High Command's conclusions as born of the Sith corrupting them.

Mandalore happened then and that poured more fuel to the fires. Veil came back married and as Mandalore no less. The same was true for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The fallout sundered the Order to a point Mundi didn't believe could ever be repaired. Veil's detractors saw him finally showing his true colours openly. He had corrupted yet another Jedi. First Skywalker, the Chosen One no less. Then he attempted to do the same to Shaak Ti and almost succeeded. As if that wasn't enough, he actually did succeed with Kenobi and when they returned from Mandalore, Mundi's fellow Jedi Master returned not only married, but as a Mandalorian!

The fallout... Jedi Masters confronting Veil in the Senate, the outrage of so many Senators, the protests in support or against the Sith...

How could Mundi did not doubt Veil's intentions? Was the man who and what he tried to present himself as? Was he merely an opportunistic general? Or was he a Sith who steadily but surely corrupt the Jedi, military and Republic government alike?

Did it matter any-more what Veil was before the coup?

Mundi's comrades assassinated the Chancellor and who knew who else on Coruscant. Then, the dying Palpatine called Order 66 and thousands of Jedi died within the next few hours. What was left of the Order was either on the run – hunted by the whole Republic or like him, in custody, awaiting judgement.

That was not all of course! If that was the case, things would have been too simple and straightforward! Kamino had to happen. Veil's explanation was tentatively plausible. It could be true. Or the man could have lost it and wiped out that world under the influence of the Dark Side – though how and why the soldiers under his command would obey such an order was beyond Mundi... unless somehow the Sith had corrupted them, which actually wasn't out of the question. Just a few short centuries before Veil's own time, Darth Revan did it when he fell to the Dark Side as he prepared to turn on the Republic and Jedi alike.

Sullust followed – another atrocity that people defended as striking legitimate military targets... Mundi didn't know if something was wrong with those people or if it was that as a Jedi he was simply incapable of wrapping his head around the necessity of doing something so monstrous in order to win the war against the Separatists... That very doubt troubled him greatly.

Just to top it all, Veil just admitted that he had a fellow Jedi Master and a few Knights fallen to the Dark Side who were working for him.

How could he trust a man responsible for the death of billions in this war alone? Even now, sitting face to face with the Sith, Mundi wasn't sure what to make of that man! Was Veil simply a man lost in time kriffing up in a kriffed up world? Was the Sith a victim of circumstances and the Dark Side's manipulation of events? Or perhaps he was the instigator of the chaos engulfing the Republic. Perhaps Veil really did his best to corrupt the likes of Skywalker, Ti and Kenobi... and completely succeeded with Master Madorin.

There was only one thing Mundi knew for sure – if he made a choice Veil didn't like, only one of them would leave this gilded cell alive and he didn't particularly like his chances if Masters Ti and Rancisis really fought the Sith on Kamino and he was here unscratched.

How could he even think about working with a man who had killed at least two of his colleagues, one of whom was a friend? In the same time, if he played along he might live long enough to find out what really happened on Coruscant, what led to the coup and find an opportunity to stop Veil if the man was as rotten as he suspected he might be. Yet, walking such a path risked him falling under the Sith's sway. While Mundi was an old and experienced Jedi, Obi-Wan was one of the best the Order had, yet he knew what happened with the man. What about Madorin? Was anything he could achieve working with Veil worth the risk of falling to the Dark Side? Was it worth risking being twisted enough to turn upon his comrades and not only them but his wives and children? However, how could he not take such a risk? If he died in these cells, then for all he knew, his family might end up at the mercy of a Sith Lord who had none...

Mundi looked at Veil and despite all his years of experience and the calm presence of the Force, he fought a losing battle against his bubbling emotions.

=RK=

Part 13

=RK=

"Royal" cells

Royal Palace

Theed

Naboo

In the end, Mundi's peaceful façade cracked and that came as a surprise to me. My previous interactions with the man – admittedly few and far between, didn't lead me to think that could happen without putting a significantly more pressure upon him. Perhaps there was something I didn't take into account or it was just that the Jedi Coup and its consequences for the Order had rattled him worse than it initially appeared. It wasn't like I actually attempted to force my way through his mental shields and check his mental state behind the façade he showed me.

What I got from the Jedi was curious – while there was a bit of fear, I sensed no anger and a lot of worry. I found it highly unlikely that Mundi was afraid of dying here. What did that leave? Perhaps he thought I was lying my ass off and intended to turn him to the Dark Side – not an unreasonable worry after I did with Madorin.

Jedi. They were so bloody lucky that Palpy only wanted to turn his future apprentice and only when he was about to end the game that was the Clone Wars he envisioned. If Sidious had taken a more conventional Sith approach, he could have wrecked the Order much earlier. The Jedi of this era, with them suppressing their emotions so much and avoiding knowledge of the Dark Side, were such a fertile ground for corruption if you knew what you were doing that it wasn't even funny. Yet, it was as if this whole conflict had been engineered to avoid that – the use of droids as the cannon fodder enemy for the Jedi, the Clones, who while a nice tool to turn against the Jedi made the impact of losing men lesser than it could have been. It was much easier to send your soldiers to die when you either didn't care about how that would impact their families back home or you didn't care about that – there was no such an issue with the bulk of the GAR the Jedi had to interact with.

Was that intentional? The Banites didn't want more Sith or Dark Jedi running around than absolutely necessary, yet there was that little group of Dooku fan-boys and girls I had to dispatch since I came to the future.

Interesting thoughts but largely inconsequential with Sidious dead and Dooku kicked out of the CIS.

I returned my full attention upon Mundi. His emotions spiked, then went down to almost nothing before rising up again. The vaunted Jedi stoicism was failing the man. What did concern him so much? Figuring that out would be important in determining if I could actually put him to some use or if I would be arranging an "accident". I already had a bunch of Dark Jedi I had to look after – the last thing I needed was another. In the same vein, I wasn't going to keep Mundi around if he couldn't convince me that there was a reasonable chance he wasn't going to stab me in the back the moment it became convenient; facing the fallout of "executing him for treason" would be less of a trouble than having to look behind my back for whatever shenanigans he might be up to. Nevertheless, I needed the bloody Jedi, damn him!

"Let's speak terms, Veil. What can convince you I'll follow your lead without sticking my lightsaber in your back?" Mundi's emotions broke under a wave of steel determination. He apparently made up his mind about something and suddenly calmed down.

"The consequences for your person obviously won't stay your hand if you decide removing me would be for the best..." I trailed off.

"Correct." Was his serene response. "I'm aware of the possibility that the GAR personnel in the area will do their best to tear me apart and likely succeed if I prove myself traitor in their eyes."

Which him trying to kill me would be. That brought us back to an impasse. We couldn't really trust each other – for various good reasons. That by itself meant little – I've had to work under those conditions back in the Empire all the time, however... What really did make my current situation any different? Was the fact that Mundi was a Jedi? It was their kind who murdered Ashara and it was Windu, one of Mundi's comrades who almost did the same to Bo.

Mundi likely trying to kill me wasn't the real issue. It was that I had a lot to hide lately – what happened at Kamino, the group of Jedi I turned at Eriadu, what I might do to any other Jedi we found in a position similar to Mundi's as we headed for the Core... With him being around, my hands will be kinda tied as far as dispatching any Jedi who refused to play ball – doing so without proof they had anything to do with the coup will force me to remove Mundi then and there making keeping him alive now a pointless gesture. That was it in the end – I still had to at least keep the appearance that I still operated in a way that the Republic might find acceptable and lawful. With Mundi around, I would actually have to make that a reality, not a polite fiction like what I did with Madorin and his friends...

Decisions, decisions... Was keeping him around worth the headache and possibly an increasing number of particularly troublesome Jedi running around? While I did need them...

No.

I didn't need Jedi per see. I needed a proper counter to Perrion's people and that meant trained Force Adepts. I needed weapons, however reliable ones so that more or less disqualified a bunch of turned to the Dark Side brutes. As long as I had to operate under Republic rules that would be problematic, or would it? Jedi, even those who didn't take part in their coup going on the deep end publically... could actually be useful.

"Master Mundi..." My lips twitched as I drew the power of the Dark Side within me. "You know, you were among the few Jedi of this era that I actually liked. Open minded, sensible. What had you so distressed?" The temperature around is plummeted and shadows swallowed the bright lights shining from the ceiling.

"I can't say the same for you any longer." Mundi spoke calmly. "Is this to be my execution?"

"Perhaps. We do have a trust issues. I can't really be sure if you had part in the treason on Coruscant. In the same time, you can't be certain if your fears about me are founded or not." I spoke for any cameras and listening devices in the room, then surrounded us with the Force making sure we would no longer be overheard. "Do you want the truth, Master Jedi?" I smiled.

Mundi merely inclined his head a bit – a gesture with a lot of gravitases despite that in no small part because of his huge head, though the serenity he radiated in the face of the Dark Side's presence around us did help.

"It wasn't until I became Mandalore and your people did your best to be a thorn in my side before I cared enough about you Jedi to begin plotting your downfall." I admitted. "It was at the same time, when the Senate became too much of a bother that decided that I had no more use of your precious Republic. Until then I was content to leave you play your little games, win your war and live my life once the Sith of this era were disposed of."

"I can't detect a deception in your words." Mundi admitted. "Yet, nor can I believe any of those claims at face value."

"I have the same problem about you or any other Jedi with very few notable exception." I chuckled ruefully. "Do you think that's how the ancient Je'daai and the ancestors of my kind came to clash in the first place? No way to trust each other? Too much bad blood?"

"It sounds plausible." Mundi allowed.

I let the brief levity evaporate. "Now answer my question, please."

"What's the point? I can't really trust you, Veil. Right now you're proving why that is."

"I am, aren't I?" My smile died. "I'm tired of playing games, Master Mundi. I'm tired of entertaining the pale shadows that pass for Jedi in this era. The same goes for your Republic." That admission was as much to Mundi as to myself. "I was ready to let the past go, to live and let live, yet you just couldn't could you?"

"Me? If I could be sure you're telling the truth... Or were at any rate, back before the coup..." Mundi sighed. "Then I would have been glad to. Now? Who am I talking with right now? The same man who came to our aid when the Temple was attacked? The man who turned a large part of Sullust into a graveyard? A Sith who lost himself to the Dark Side? Was it all a great lie to corrupt us all, Veil? Or did you just tell the truth? I can't tell. Nor can the other Jedi."

I chuckled and thought back at everything I did since finding myself in the future. How did it look from an outsider's perspective? As far as I was concerned, I did my best to advance my position and make myself less vulnerable to Palpy's machinations while trying to win this war for the Republic... Yet, even before I decided that the Jedi and the Republic had to go... I laughed bitterly. How would I view another Sith going for the same shenanigans I did?

That answer was very simple.

"I can see where you're coming from." I admitted. "However, that changes nothing." I've been thinking that a lot today. Did it really matter how we got to this point?

"No." Mundi grimaced. "It does not."

Was I simply wasting my time here? Was there a way to get Mundi on my side? I racked my brain for a solution, yet it continued to elude me. The Jedi just staring serenely at me didn't help matters.

Why didn't I just kill him? Why did I hesitate?