AN: Feedback please. I rewrote this update a few times but I still don't really like it. I'll probably edit it later, after a few hours of sleep, work and your input.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with commercial aim. I make no money from it.

Phase 14

=RK=

Part 3

=RK=

CIC

Republic cruiser Katana

Kothlis

It was a strange battle they fought at Kothlis. Delkatar didn't use his Battle Meditation there. He didn't need to. Nevertheless, the Republic forces outmanoeuvred the enemy again and again as if the General knew what the Separatists would do before they thought of it... But that was surely impossible.

Yet, how else could Admiral Holt explain what happened again and again?

Currently a large CIS force hid on the other side of a small asteroid field. Three times the enemy attacked and every time Veil knew exactly when and where they would come from, despite the fact that pockets of radiation within the asteroids and fierce jamming made the field a blind spot for the sensors.

That was just the latest example. The opening attack of the battle was flawless – as if coordinated by hidden scouts, yet even if there were such left, they would have been useless. The attack came moments after the Separatist forces made supposedly random hyperspace jumps to avoid precisely what happened to them very soon after transitioning back to real space. There had been no time for a message to reach the two Republic fleets, much less for a hyperspace jump to be calculated... yet the General somehow knew where the enemy would be before they got there! It was infuriating.

What got to Joanna most was the uncharacteristic serene voice that Delkatar used. His tone, his whole bearing – it was maddeningly out of character. It wouldn't be until fifteen hours after the battle's conclusion that she would figure out what was wrong and by then, it would be far too late. However, it wasn't as if she had much time to ponder her commander's odd behaviour – not when there was enemy to fight and his commands were devastatingly effective.

"Accelerate to flank speed in twenty seconds. Rotate the fleet sixty-three degrees starboard relatively to the flag." Veil ordered and was instantly obeyed. A minute later, he spoke again. "Fire at coordinates..."

Again no one asked questions. No matter how strange or seemingly random his orders were today, they somehow worked.

They did this time too. A constant turbolaser barrage lit up the darkness of space flying close enough to the outer edge of the asteroid field to touch the tumbling pieces of rock and the moment it would have flown into the deep dark, it slammed into the leading elements of the Separatist task force they were currently engaging. Frigate accelerated right into the heart of the Republic fire-power and simply disintegrated. The following battleships and dreadnoughts fared little better. Some attempted to decelerate and keep the asteroids between themselves and the Republic ships as a shield. Others came faster in a desperate attempt to get to grips with the enemy. The Separatist formation tore itself apart and only those who ran into hyperspace escaped defeat in detail.

Half the enemy fleet was already gone with most of the rest heavily engaged with the force from Bothawui. Once the General's fleet got into position, they were going to deliver a deadly blow to the remaining Separatist units.

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Observation Lounge

Republic Cruiser Shining Light

Kothlis

A stunning victory – one that should have reassured Jedi Master Mundi. They would soon head for Bothawui, where the fleet could rest, repair and recover. He might be able to get away from Veil there or at least share his suspicions with the Bothans.

It didn't felt like it. Despite the Dark Side throwing a veil, sometimes literally, over the galaxy, the Jedi could still occasionally get glimpses of the future. They were distorted, much harder to interpret than ever before. Those insights had only one thing in common – an overwhelming sense of danger. Going to Bothawui it was anything but a good idea.

Because of that grim premonition, Adi-Mundi decided to seek Veil. He found the Sith standing in front of the windows, looking at the darkness of space. Veil felt off in the Force. He certainly wasn't any lighter so to speak, however there was a sense of peace or perhaps acceptance clinging to his whole being.

"You've felt it then." Delkatar said.

Mundi walked to stand beside the Sith and nodded. "There's something wrong at Bothawui. We shouldn't go there. If we do..."

"I will die." Veil interrupted him.

Those three words startled Mundi. He wasn't sure what he expected from this meeting. This certainly wasn't it.

"Then I should perhaps politely ask you to go."

"We're all going."

What!? Mundi whipped his large head to the right to stare at the Sith so fast that he nearly overbalanced.

"The Bothans made a deal with the Separatists. If left unchecked, their betrayal will be fatal for the Republic." Veil sighed. "For my wife too. When we go there, I will die. My wife will live and your precious Republic will receive a chance it doesn't deserve."

The Jedi's eyes widened at those words. So it was indeed acceptance that he sensed coming from Veil. Of all possible choices... this wasn't one a Sith would do. They were selfish creatures. Monsters.

"I see." Mundi eventually said. Were he so blind along with the rest of the Jedi? Did they really misjudge Veil this badly?

Or perhaps he made this choice just now. The same one he would have done in his shoes.

"If you survive what's to come, which I believe you will, you'll need to deal with Madorin and the other fallen Jedi who still lives." Veil continued.

"I didn't expect you chose a lighter path in the end." Mundi muttered.

"I haven't. This is the logical course of action. Without me to keep them in line, those two will be lose cannons and you'll be too busy to babysit them."

"Would they listen if I tried?"

"Unlikely. Get on Madorin's ship before we leave. There's a shuttle waiting for you along with a contingent of Rex's men."

"What do you expect us to do after Bothawui?"

"I'll give you the official orders once we get there. Eh. What the hell. Go to Mandalore, break the siege and then go win this bloody war. You'll need to get your hands on whatever holocrons are left in the Temple and unless your kind has been foolish enough to actually destroy ancient knowledge – go deep in what they can teach you. You'll need that information and the power it brings if you want to stand against Perrion. We're leaving soon. Your shuttle awaits." The Sith dismissed him.

"Veil, may the Force be with you." Mundi said and headed for the exit.

"She'll serve me well one last time, that much I don't doubt."

After a mere few hours to replenish supplies and execute emergency repairs, the Republic fleet jumped towards Bothawui.

=RK=

Observation Lounge

Republic cruiser Shining Light

Bothawui

Two thirds of the Republic fleet that left the previous day returned and exited hyperspace just outside the range of Bothawui's orbital defences. I could see thousands of sparkling light above the planet. Warships, Golan stations, weapon platforms and countless civilian vessels minding their own business. Everything proceeded just as I foresaw.

"Contact the Bothan Council. They have a message for us." I ordered over an open channel to the CIC.

They knew when we left and thus roughly when we would reach their world. The Eighteen traitors guiding the Bothan species waited for us in the seat of their power, protected by planetary and theatre shields as well as the bulk of their fleet that waited above their heads. They could have answered the moment the local military detected our arrival, however they were stalling. The Bothans were aware we suspected something – we did come out in a battle formation, with our shields raised and our weapons hot... and as far as the bastards were concerned, it wouldn't matter. Their navy outnumbered what we had left at least two to one and their ships were intact. They had the fixed defences too...

It wouldn't be long now. It would take the Separatists a few more minutes to get here and that suited me just right. The Force shook around me. The Dark Side flowed freely through my veins; it saturated my body with more energy than it could handle, though that no longer mattered. In fact I needed it that way.

"Sir, the Chief of the Bothan Council is on the line for you."

"Patch him through and broadcast the conversation to the whole fleet."

This right here – the moment the Bothans would reveal their betrayal for the whole galaxy to see. They were going to make a show of it – turn the destruction of this fleet and my death into a spectacle. In the same time, the Bothan Spy Net would use the ensuring chaos to cause havoc upon the republic – revealing secrets, stroking hatreds, committing sabotage and acts of espionage.

"General Veil." The old Bothan glared at me. "It is my sworn duty to inform you that you are under arrest for war-crimes too numerous to list here and now. The Bothan people could no longer be part of a Republic that stands for the murder of innocents and the destruction of whole worlds! Please surrender and spare the soldiers under your command. This doesn't need to end in bloodshed."

This was the reason why I couldn't run. My presence at Bothawui was a precious opportunity for the Bothans to spin their betrayal in a good light. A PR coup that if played right could hurt the Republic as much as anything else that the Bothan Spynet did.

They expected my fury. To lash at them, demonstrate to the whole galaxy that I was a mad dog and thus not only justify their betrayal but let me hammer a nail in the coffin of the Republic with my words and actions. I smiled. I was about to oblige them, just not in the way they expected.

"Yet another treason by your people. You do live up to the stereotype." I smiled, listed the names of all Eighteen of the bastards and the deals they made with Sidious – deals that meant they betrayed the Republic and were ready to turn it into a Sith Empire. The only lie I uttered was to blame it all on Dooku...

I was stalling for time too. What I was about to do, took preparation.

My smile became vicious when the Bothans' orders to cut off the broadcast of our conversation fell to deaf ears. Everyone was going to see and hear what would happen tonight. The people controlling the powerful holonet transmitter able to reach most of the galaxy from Bothawui were unable to respond. I already crushed their minds leaving them as drooling wrecks. It was relatively simple to locate them – all I had to do was stretch my Battle Meditation for a short while and fuel it with more raw power than I ever dared to use with that technique.

"I'm flattered. You didn't think your fleet is potent enough to face this Republic force so at the moment of your betrayal you ran to beg the Separatists for help."

I didn't need to give a verbal order – from one of my ships a tight-beam transmission containing real time sensor logs went to the holonet station, where I used one of the meat-puppets there to add it to the broadcast. The Council Chief opened his mouth to order the Bothan fleet to engage and his ground forces to stop the transmission, however I didn't allow him to utter a word.

This was my show now. My last performance and I wouldn't be denied.

"You betray us and expect that we will lay down our throats so you can cut them more easy. We will not. This trap – it won't hold us!" My body felt on fire due to all the energy it contained and channelled. If it wasn't for Shaak Ti acting as a buffer, I would be really burning right now. "Bothans, you believe that today you chose the winning side. Your leaders deceived you. This war – its only beginning. The Republic and its allies won't bow so easily. This war was not of our choosing. Yet we will see it to its bitter end. We will sacrifice, we will bleed, we will exhaust ourselves, we will die, yet we will fight you still, traitors! Because our cause is worth any sacrifice! We fight for our very future! We fight for our people, our husbands and wives, for our brothers and sisters, for our children! To protect them, no sacrifice is too great, no act too monstrous to contemplate if it brings us closer to victory."

The power within me finally reached a crescendo.

"Have you ever wondered what could happen if you back a Sith into a corner? You have my fleet trapped here, at Bothawui. Do you expect me to run and abandon my soldiers? To betray my people and allies as you did? Or perhaps you want me to make a doomed last stand? Fools. Tonight we fight. Tonight, we burn together. Tonight I may die, however my people will live!"

I let the Battle Meditation go, thus shielding my fleet from what I was about to unleash. I heard Ti scream as her ghostly form got ravaged by the power I forced her to channel and used the regret I felt for what was not meat to be to further fuel the Dark Side, then summoned her to me.

"I am The Dark Lord of the Sith. I am the Dark Side made manifest and tonight, no traitor shall touch my people!"

There was no finesse in what I did and it was a good thing that such was not needed. My body caught fire, my flesh began to melt and finally I was ready. I screamed my pain and fury through the living Force that bound every single living thing in the galaxy. Then I unleashed the full might of the Dark Side upon that connection. Her laugher echoed throughout the whole galaxy and we fed upon the very essence of life upon Bothawui, the ships and stations surrounding it. My flesh flash boiled, then healed only to be seared from my bones again and again. All I knew was agony beyond description, an all encompassing thirst and the laughter of the Dark Side as we fed. Men, women, children, animals – from the largest mammal to the smallest bacteria, we consumed them all and only dust remained.

We fed upon a whole world and we all burned together.

Forever.

=RK=

CIC

Republic cruiser Katana

Bothawui

"Joanna, get the fleet out of here. Fly right through the Bothans – they are in no state to fight. Relieve Mandalore, this is my last order." Veil's voice echoed in Holt's head.

At that moment she understood his strange mood. He knew about this trap, yet brought the fleet here anyway. Why did he do it? What madness was this?

More importantly, why wasn't the enemy attacking?

"Flank speed, straight ahead! Get us right through the Bothans, above the planetary shields and calculate hyperspace escape route. We're jumping the moment we clear Bothawui's gravity well!" The Admiral snapped.

To Joanna's utter astonishment, not a single shot came their way – neither from the Bothans nor from the Separatists. It wasn't until the whole Republic fleet passed through the traitors outer perimeter that the CIS forces on the flanks began to move. They were too late, out of position too. By the time they could get to grips with Joanna's fleet, the Republic ships would have already jumped into hyperspace.

"Get me General Veil ASAP!"

"Admiral, we just got a message from the flag. You have command, Ma'am. The General can't be contacted."

"Damn you, Veil!" Joanna spat.

AN2: No matter if Delkatar lives or dies here, the story is far from over. Just so you know.