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Phase 19: Storm front

=RK=

Part 3

=RK=

Observation lounge

Republic cruiser Shining Light

Tanaab

"That's the third time we've been politely asked to go visit the local commander in person." Joanna pointed out after I cut off the call with the local HQ.

"We aren't going until the Senate makes up their mind about us. Status of our combat capable ships?"

"Less than ideal. Most of the fleet has engineers crawling all over it, however our squadron is being fixed primary by the crew of the mobile dock we brought with us."

The remaining Daggers and Silencers were conveniently gathered in the same battle group serving with our escorts too. It wasn't paranoia on my part – everything I learned about the political situation in the Republic rang more and more alarms in my head. "Do we finally have a secure channel with general Valentra?"

"Last we heard he would get back to us at the first opportunity. Nothing since then."

That made me less than comfortable. Satine becoming a Chancellor, with Kenobi as the Supreme Commander of the GAR, should have put me at ease. Instead, I found myself very wary of what "my" people on Coruscant might be cooking up for me. If push came to shove, we would be fighting our way out of Tanaab. Between the special weapons in my squadron and Battle Meditation, we had good odds of making it out. After that? There would be no good options left. With both the Republic and the Confederacy after my hide, my only viable alternatives would be to go to ground, possibly permanently or do whatever, bide my time until the Vong arrived or another opportunity presented itself and do what I can to see my enemies burn out of spite if nothing else. The odd strategic assassination might help increase the chaos obviously gripping the Republic too, but those were worst case scenarios.

"Delkatar, do you really believe the Republic would turn on you?" Joanna asked.

"Well, the Jedi already did. As Mandalore, as a Sith, I am the living symbol of what many in the Republic fear and hate. I don't play the usual political games, which makes me a wild card… and my personal power and the possibility that I would not be content with merely being Mandalore is going to make a great deal of governments very nervous. Of course, there would be those who would want to see me brought down out of principle if nothing else too, those whose ambition I'm a threat to, everyone who has lost money and power due to my actions, not to mention those who lost friends and relatives at the worlds I ravaged."

"When you put it that way, I'm surprised that we haven't been fired upon yet." Joanna jested.

"In this war, all those things make me very useful weapon against the Separatists too and so far this hasn't been a war that the Republic is winning." I pointed out.

"There's that. Too useful to dispose of lightly? Is that what you've been aiming at all this time?"

"I came from the past. I had no support structure, no nation left, no allies to speak of. Unless I was willing to spend decades in the shadows, my best bet was to distinguish myself in this war. The time and place I arrived in this era more or less determined which side I would end up choosing in this conflict. The rest is history."

"That was the most dangerous course of action you could have chosen."

"It's been a very long time since I shied from danger." I shrugged.

My comm beeped. Valentra finally deigned to speak with me. His image appeared in the holo-tank and he gave me a flat look when he saw me.

"Veil, you just can't keep out of trouble, can you? Why do you have to always cause so many headaches for everyone?!" He glared accusingly at me.

"I merely did what I had to in order to get back mostly intact." I waved my artificial hand for him to see. "And I wasn't entirely successful at that. What the kriff has been happening back on Coruscant?"

Telar snorted. "Pure insanity. It seems everything that held the Republic together is gone and its every system, local government and corporation is out for themselves these days."

"Do I dare ask how Satine became the Chancellor?"

"Didn't she tell you?"

"She is apparently too busy to speak with me right now."

"Ah." Telar nodded. "From what I heard from Kenobi, she's up to her neck in krath hounds because of your return. Many of her allies want you prosecuted at the very least over Bothawui, others scream for your head and those are just the people in our corner."

"Not you I take it?"

"I don't know what I would have done in your position. If I had the capability to get my fleet out and the price was devastating Bothawui? I would have likely used it. The same is true for many of our high ranking officers. This war..." Telar grimaced. "What was once unthinkable is now very much on the table as viable tactics."

"What do you think would happen if enough Senators demand my head?"

"That would depend on the Chancellor. If she gives the order, a large number of our Clone troopers would follow it, though few would like it. I don't know when you figured it out, but it is clear that our Clone army was indoctrinated. That's why you wanted my backing to change the wording of Order 66, wasn't it?" Telar accused.

"Knew? No. Suspected? Most certainly. I know you were desperate and had no alternative but to accept the Clone army. However, it's convenient appearance was mightily suspicious. If I was the one to commission and create it, I would have built in certain commands just in case. Made sure that they would follow legitimate orders no matter what."

"That thought crossed my mind. We couldn't figure out nothing for sure and the war was kinda distracting. When our Intelligence services went rogue..." Telar shrugged.

My colleagues in the GAR had more immediate problems to worry about. At least I did something about it even if the truth could never see the light of day.

"Give it to me straight. What's our strategic situation?" I changed the topic.

"A bit better than it appears. While the Jedi Coup and Order 66 crippled us, there were a few unexpected boons from that debacle. Our strategic reserve was uncommitted during the Separatist offensive and while the mess that followed Chancellor Kenobi's ascension led to significant loses of men and material, we're in a decent position to launch an offensive in the Core."

"Corellia." I nodded and beside me, Joanna perked up.

"Corellia." Telar confirmed. "It's vital that we secure the system and push the enemy back from easy striking distance of Kuat. We will have a window of opportunity before the next Separatist major construction cycle is complete. Your actions in the Mid-Rim mean that they wouldn't be able to pull ships from there to reinforce the Core front and in fact might need to send some of their reserves there to keep an eye of this Mid-Rim alliance of yours. That was well done."

"The situation in the East?"

"A bloody stalemate. I know what you'll ask and unfortunately, there are not enough ships to go around. I'm pretty sure I wont' be able to find you a fleet to throw at Mandalore any time soon."

"I do have a few ideas that might change your mind."

"First we'll have to see what our political overlords would decide about you." Telar frowned. "I don't believe you will come in quietly if they order your arrest?"

"From where I'm standing that's equivalent to a death warrant so no. I will fight for the Republic, I bled for it, but that is because it was in my and Mandalorians best interests. I won't die or be imprisoned to soothe the sensibilities of the Senate."

"I thought that much. For what's worth, good luck. We all would need it."

Telar continued to fill me in on the sordid details of what happened on Coruscant and in the Core since I left. The more he told me, the more I regretted not offing Skywalker and Plo-Koon when I first arrived, grabbing Snips as my future apprentice and going to join the Confederacy. They after all were apparently the sane ones and I found it hard to believe that Dooku and Sidious could have caused me more problems than the bloody Republic and it's never sufficiently damned Senate!

=RK=

Senate Chamber

Senate Building

Coruscant

Satine faced the Senate from her personal platform and knew that whatever expected from it, the reality was going to be much worse. She was flanked by Bail Organa and the new Speaker, a Corellian diplomat chosen for political reasons – a declaration that the Corellian people weren't forgotten nor abandoned. Below them, the Senators were acting as bad as they did in the month before she became a Chancellor and Satine found it simply disgusting. This was the vaulted heart of the Republic? Those were the people meant to represent the best the galaxy had to offer?

On days like these, Satine could actually sympathize with those among the Separatists who genuinely didn't want to have anything with the Republic and that was the primary reason why they joined the Confederacy. She was the Chancellor and as often as not, more lately, she wanted to be anywhere but on Coruscant, doing her accursed job.

"Order! I will have order!" The Speaker's voice thundered. He had the lungs and bite of a drill instructor, which made him perfect for the job. With loudspeakers enhancing his angry shout, the Senate soon subdued to a mere riot.

"Thank you for your attention." Satine smiled pleasantly. She had a role to play after all. "First I have a declaration to make. The rumours you have heard are true. General Veil returned from the Rim and arrived at Tanaab after smashing the Separatist fleet holding Lantillies."

As expected, shouts of approval and outrage thundered across the chamber. "He will be present here today over the holonet to answer our concerns over his actions while fighting and decimating the Separatist in the Rim." Satine waved a hand and a holo-image materialized beside her. Veil was clad in the same Mandalorian styled armour he wore on his wedding, minus helmet and he had the gall to smile at the Senate.

"Chancellor Kenobi, let me offer a long overdue congratulations for being elected to this most auspicious position. I can only hope you'll continue to live up to the impossible standard put forth by your distinguished predecessor." His smile appeared genuine and tone most sincere. Of course they were! He was Mandalore and she was a Mandalorian. He had reasons to be gleeful by this turn of events or so he thought, the bastard!

Many of Satine's opponents in the chamber grumbled, some shouted in outrage at blatant the reminder who exactly was their Chancellor.

"You have questions about what happened in the Rim. By all means, ask them. I am at the Chancellor's disposal."

Not the Senates, that was something no one missed. Veil's apparel was another message, he just reinforced. He wasn't merely a Republic general serving at their pleasure. He was Mandalore, a head of an allied state in his own right and that complicated things tremendously.

"Bothawui. Explain yourself, general Veil." Bail Organa pre-empted the rising eruption from the Senate.

"It is simple really." Veil began and Satine knew that this would be an unmitigated disaster. He showed no hint of sorrow or remorse. "The Bothan government betrayed us all. They conspired with the Separatist and decided that my fleet and I would serve as a great gift to celebrate turning their colours. At Bothawui, I had a simple decision to make. I could fight a conventional battle that would have seen the people under my command, those I was responsible for die avoidable deaths. Or I could do something else. I used the powers that the Force gave me to an extent beyond what my body could handle and made an example of the Bothans, displaying for the galaxy to see the price of treason."

What struck Satine most was how reasonable Veil sounded as he explained for everyone to hear how he murdered a whole world. As if killing billions was no more complicated that squashing a bug… and she realized that for him, that very well might be the case.

"You could have surrendered!" Someone shouted, breaking the stunned silence that met Veil's delivery.

"Why would I do that? Why would I value the lives of traitors and those behind them more than the lives of loyal soldiers who had fought, bled and too often died for our cause? I deemed the continued existence of my fleet as a force to use against the Separatist more valuable than the combined lives of everyone on Bothawui. As the man in command at that time and place that was my duty both to the Republic as a general leading her soldiers and as Mandalore, who owed that and much more to my own people."

Satine found herself nodding in agreement before she knew it and froze at the very idea.

Predictably, the Senate erupted. Many demanded Veil be dragged in chains in front of a tribunal, others literally wanted his head mounted on a pole in front of the building and most striking, a disturbing amount of Senators screamed their approval of his justification.

Satine lowered her head. This was a moment that could either restore or irrevocably shatter the eroded foundations of the Republic… and the price was the future of the one man who could conceivably save her home from the Separatist's continued siege.

"I wonder," Veil's voice thundered, much louder and clearer than the comm unit allowing his presence should allow, "What would you say if there was a Separatist fleet in the sky above your homes? Would they think twice before unleashing something even nastier than the Blue Shadow or merely turning them into glass from orbit if I or someone like me will do the same to them in retaliation? Would another system decide to betray us for their own selfish ambitions when the price they might pay could be everything they hold dear?"

Satine closed her eyes wondering if Veil knew exactly what he was doing. He put her into a corner and his words, just a few accursed words, were enough to sunder the Republic and guarantee that now there would be no turning back no matter what happened today. Damn that man!