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717 FNM (21 BBY) Month 4

Coruscant, Senate Building

Tanya Kryze

Today had started off like any other day. After last nights charming conversation with my friends and a good night's sleep, I took Senator Merrik's place in a CNS meeting to prepare our response for the upcoming Senate debate. There really hadn't been much to discuss as this issue was caused by Mandalorians so I would do the majority of the talking. With time to spare, I spent it helping Vai plan her wedding. She's going to line up her wedding with the Republic's Life Day celebration two months from now, but it would also be when we are having the Mandalorian Exposition, so it would be the perfect time of year.

Everything was going so well. And then Aunt Satine or should I say mother now, arrived and burned it all to the ground.

Sure, the situation in the Mandalore sector has not been going great overall. Death Watch capturing a Republic Battlecruiser is not good. Death Watch actively recruiting the local Mandalorian population to their cause is even worse. But that attack happened outside the Mandalorian sector and with a bit of disavowing, we would make it clear that those who left to fight for Death Watch are not agents of the Mandalorian sector. As we had already done with the Mandalorian Protectors.

I have a good grasp on the Death Watch situation after Palpatine had leaked information of the attack to me, giving me time to get ahead of the story and reframe the entire event. I could reveal evidence that a rogue Jedi from a sister temple had taken command of the Maelstrom to the front lines of the war without orders from the Chancellor. The holonet had been abuzz with news of the apparent breach of the command structure and the implications of it. What's rather strange is how the Jedi Temple declined to comment even after the apparent proton strike against a planet that had somehow cascaded into over a billion deaths.

The continued silence from the Temple is absurd, but ultimately not my concern. My job is to make Mandalore look good. Thus, my main concern is dealing with the fallout of a resurgent Death Watch. The fact that this new Death Watch has a highly capable paramilitary and fleet is not all that surprising. The amount of weapons and other such war material scattered across thousands of clans and inside ancient hidden military bases in the greater Mandalorian sector meant that if this group did not have a lot of high grade equipment, it would be even more suspicious.

Of course, groups like the Mandalorian Protectors engaging in raids all across the Outer Rim Territories in the name of a free Mandalore are another major problem to our reputation, but it had easily been handled by simply saying we don't recognize them as a Mandalorian organization and that their goals did not represent our interests. The same could be done to Death Watch, easily enough. Hell, even easier since they did recognize Mandalorian neutrality, and they are trying to help Mandalorians outside the Mandalorian sector. Some of them are across the border in CIS held territory; they just happened to have been attacked by a Republic cruiser there.

Death Watch taking on a watchdog role in this war is not exactly ideal. If it prevents unnecessary deaths from overzealous military commanders going too far, well it would not be my official position, but I would leave them alone. As I had other, bigger fires, to deal with first.

But that's not what's upsetting me. Not even the fact that former Senator Merrik had apparently conspired with a Mandalorian organization to assassinate Duchess Satine had phased me, since it obviously failed. The silver lining to all this is that I just got promoted early when the now former senator Merrik was arrested. Now I have more authority to pursue my own projects that used to require senatorial approval like arranging trade deals with other planets.

The extra responsibility and workload is, of course, annoying. Unfortunately the only other available Mandalorian who could survive the position while being loyal to Satine would never take it. Aunt Bo might have the skills and had prepared me for this role, but she's a "No slave to foreign ideology" type, and her stance on Coruscant never shifted. She's more likely to punch some senator that annoyed her than actually finding a compromise.

No, what threw my mind into a whirlwind of confusion and dread was the reveal that I am not Duchess Satine's niece, but in fact her daughter.

Now, if I was a regular orphan, I would probably be breaking down into tears and all that mushy emotional stuff. But I'm not a regular orphan, I'm too old for that, on the inside anyway. And though I was surprised to learn that I am Satine's daughter, it wasn't that strange of a transition from niece to daughter. She had always filled the role of a mother figure to me; that's why I never had much issue with her acting as such. The only thing that changed is that it's official now.

If there is another attempt on Satine's life, because she is the Duchess of Mandalore it is bound to happen again eventually, I went from a close relative to direct lineage. This means I am also more likely to be targeted for assassination to tie up any loose ends. Good thing I already have Royal Guard protection detail, Mandalorian armor, and handmaidens in Mandalorian armor. Maybe I should add more layers of protection.

Politically, there is also a slight concern on the line of succession. Currently, the way a Duke or Duchess of Mandalore is elected is through playing the votes. Officially, Korkie is next in line to be elected into office after Satine retires. Even with his recent bout of stupidity, I was merely the granddaughter of the Duke of Kalevala, while Korkie was Satine's adopted son and heir to the Duke of Kalevala, so he ranked much higher in the succession.

Now though, some could think we are sort of on equal footing, however it's more complicated than that. Korkie's father was Satine's elder brother and the heir to the last Duke of Kalevala, Satine's father and my grandfather, so he is from the elder line and thus still has a higher standing than I do.

It could be argued that it should only matter for Kalevalan rulership, but Satine tied House Kryze to the rulership of the Mandalore sector and made the planet of Mandalore as much of a domain of House Kryze as Kalevala. This not only honors the original line of succession, but in the process makes it so that while she is the uncontested ruler of our House and Sector, she is technically ruling Clan Kryze as a life-time regent. This is reinforced by the fact that she adopted Korkie, making him her adopted son, thus her eldest child legally.

In summary, by most angles, Korkie is the heir over me. The Mandalore sector, with its numerous Houses and the Clans under them, is very similar to the Holy Roman Empire or Proto-Germany. I had to thank Degurechaff's Imperial Academy education because my original Japanese education glossed over most of world history not relevant to Japan. Anyway, with the crumbling of the New Mandalorians' one-party rule — due to Death Watch and the Silver Mandalorians' growing influence — along with Korkie's idiocy in befriending the communists, who will clearly offend the other Houses with their rhetoric, his position is no longer so certain.

That is a problem on many levels. I don't want to rule Mandalore. I am fine with my nice, comfortable position here on Coruscant. And if the clan's votes are a little too close, that could spark a civil war. It's the same thing that could happen with twins in a monarchy.

But those are concerns for after the current situation has been resolved, which is going to take some time. With my new responsibilities as Senator of the Greater Mandalorian Sector, I am swamped with even more work than usual. Not the least of which is going through my predecessor's old documentation and workload, made worse by the fact Merrik did not do a good job of organizing his paperwork or used a system that only he knew how to navigate. Thankfully I have handmaidens, Royal Guards, and X4 to delegate most of the work and summarize the flimsi-work for me. At least with my new position came new rights, privileges, and a juicy pay grade increase, right?

Ha! If only it's that simple.

It seemed my mother considered pay grades as more of a suggestion than a rule as I was bombarded with lots of petty titles, rights, and the like. I am now the proud owner of a dozen little cottages, fortresses, and apartments across Mandalorian space, and I am now the baroness of a sleepy little fishing village on Kalevala. But my actual pay grade had not increased and any rent from my new property, what little I could legally rent out anyway, gets eaten up by my new maintenance expenses for the land since it was all largely regulated as sector heritage property. It is a categorization that came with strict limits on what could be done with the land, so there is very little I could do to improve them, and all of them are generally not worth the investment. I guess I could convert the fortresses into inns or resorts depending on its size and surroundings, like what House Ordo is doing with their unused fortresses. But it doesn't change the fact that I am literally one of the worst-paid Senators of the entire Republic! How could Merrik even afford all his female escorts and expensive drinks with this shoestring pay? I would not be surprised if he has an illegal revenue stream somewhere.

Of course, I have alternative sources of income myself, but the entire situation reminded me of an awful lot of rather predatory practices in my first life. Wherein a competent worker is rewarded for good work with even more work and perhaps some title that did not have any real value. The more I came to understand the inner workings of the Mandalorian Government, the more it seemed to resemble a black company. Either Satine is seemingly capable of getting people to work for distressingly little pay or Mandalorians just value titles more than actual money.

Perhaps this is her secret to Mandalore's oversized importance compared to our admittedly pitiful economy.

At this very moment, the Senate is debating on whether the Republic should invade my home system to find and recover the Maelstrom. The fact that Death Watch is Mandalorian had apparently frightened numerous senators into a warmongering frenzy. They are, at this very moment, talking about how the CNS is a Separatist plot to break apart the Republic and that Satine is a secret warlord who had built up an army for an eventual invasion into Republic territory.

It would have been humorous if they weren't talking about glassing my homeworld. Again.

Apparently, the Maelstrom being in the hands of the Death Watch is terrifying the population and senators to an unnatural level. The other side repeatedly points to our history of multiple Crusades, causing all manner of death and destruction in its wake. It'd be like if Imperial Japan managed to steal a US Battleship while the Korean War was going on.

Perhaps the Republic should reconsider its decision to allow undisclosed military funding to build superweapons when no one's looking. I swear, the Republic claims to be very peaceful and that they do not have a military force. Yet, every time I look away, they've built some superweapon or hidden ace in the hole. Of course, this problem had been more historically relevant during the Mandalorian Civil War, but it's an old problem that apparently had never gone away if that Battle Cruiser that they're so terrified of is causing them this much fear.

The senator of Echani, Dani Zing, has her saucer hover in the center of the Senate Chamber. She is recounting how, during the Mandalorian Wars, her planet and many others had been severely ravaged by Mandalorian Crusaders and how this was all a secret plot to prepare for another Mandalorian Crusade to conquer the Republic.

I had to bite my tongue and not tell her to maybe crack open a history book...

Actually, am I biting my tongue? I'm not a representative anymore; I am a Senator now and her equal in standing. Time to go on the offensive.

"That's a very fine history lesson," I said as she finished her diatribe. "But sadly, it is three to four thousand years out of date." There was some shouting from the stands, but I continued on my attack.

"Mandalore does not wish to build an empire. There is simply no appetite for war in Mandalore. We don't even have the population to even annex a sector, let alone the Republic. The over fifteen thousand systems that have joined the Council of Neutral Systems simply do not want to be involved in this war if they could avoid it! Such a position is eminently reasonable and thus the foundation of our interest group within the Republic. Our collective interest is not remotely hostile or outlandish, considering the CIS has invaded a peaceful world meant to take in refugees from this conflict in our region, and the Republic destroyed that planet with a billion souls on it!" The dissenting voices in the stands reached a fever pitch, and with a wave of his hand, Chancellor Palpatine ordered his speaker to demand order and to let me continue.

"Not to mention, the fighting in the region Core-wards of Mandalore, the Dentari sector, has reached a fevered mass of deadly consequences. Mandalore has fought her wars and is done with them. We want peace! Everyone within the CNS does not want to be invaded and get gunned down by foreign invaders! Anyone can see that, and that is why you are forced to invent a justification for invasion using ancient history! The bloodlust displayed by senators here today is not only insulting but also disgraceful! Stop pretending it is the era of the Old Republic! You are four thousand years too late to fight that conflict! Mandalore has not conquered Taris; Taris have joined us in mutual friendship and protection from the insanity that the Republic has embraced! The CNS represents a rejection of this and every other senseless war!"

"You want us to believe that Mandalorians have changed, but you were at war with your neighbors just in the last few decades. So I highly doubt that." The Echani Senator retorted, "Two centuries ago, your people attacked the peaceful population of Ithullan and wiped them out from the galaxy. Seven centuries ago, you tried to create an empire out on the fringes of the Republic. Mandalore has been doing plenty of empire-building for the last few centuries, and they'll continue to do it unless we firmly put an end to your conquest."

I couldn't help myself. I laughed before saying, "If selling armor, weapons, and training to our allies so that they can defend themselves is considered conquest in the eyes of this Republic, then there shall be no end to the war and strife you will inflict upon the innocent."

"You impetuous child!" Senator Zing said, about to go into a rant when she was cut off.

"I would think you are mistaken in this case. This young senator is merely pointing out a rather reasonable point of view." Another floating platform lowered into the communication area belonging to the speaker, Ms. Serifa Altunen, not a Representative or a Senator of Arkania, but the Lord Protector of it. She had faced allegations of trying to recreate the Jedi Lords' system ever since she left the Jedi Order and returned to her homeworld. She'd been one of the major voices in pushing Arkania into the CNS with the corporations on Arkania backing her, viewing membership of the CNS as a way to sidestep some of the new wartime Republic regulations involving genetic modification and cloning.

I heard that pressure had been put on the Arkanians to hand over the few large cloning factories as well as any data they had on it to the representatives from Kamino. At the same time, they are not being allowed to engage in their own clone studies, despite the fact that cloning is used in practically every Arkanian industry, from medical care to food production. The Republic restrictions on all cloning had devastated Arkania's economy, with investors fleeing the world and predatory Core world moguls looting every Arkanian company's assets.

Arkanians responded to the astronomical economic shock as an existential threat, from the lowest worker to the wealthy corporate elite, and so the usually disorganized Arkanian Dominion was shockingly largesse in their contributions to the CNS project. They'd even purchased land across Mandalorian space to build laboratories that were not under direct Republic control, according to reports from X4. Many Arkanian research cooperatives and think tanks were forced out by the Kamino scientists; forced out of the land they owned by the Republic on Core worlds, largely without compensation.

Shaking her head, Lord Protector Altunen's white hair moving in a way that could only be described as graceful, said, "It is a shame the Republic jumps at shadows and fanciful stories rather than consider the freedom and rights that this institution slowly strips away from them. The Mandalorians do not want war, Senator. The Mandalorians have shown themselves to be a force for good in the galaxy now that they have embraced a more peaceful outlook. They've gone out of their way to show themselves to be reasonable members of the Republic and abide by the reasonable laws of our longstanding democracy. And how does the Republic treat such a friend? With an openly discussed invasion of the sector to hunt down dissidents that took away a favored toy after it was used to commit genocide."

"There is no evidence that the story we've heard about the ship being used in an ill-intentioned manner is true. It could all be fabricated evidence." Senator Zing protested. At that moment, footage started to play of the capital city of Kromus, buildings turned to ruins and the sky filled with smoke and ash.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Vai yawning, her elbow on the button that we had already prepped to play that video. "Oops." She said, making it seem like an accident. I held back a smile. Good timing, very good timing. Something to appreciate in an employee.

Seizing the opening, I countered. "You can deny evidence all you want, but at least we have supplied evidence to contend that Death Watch acted to stop a genocide. And given the evidence, I find that I can not find fault in their actions despite the outcome! They witnessed a monstrous act on what they considered friends of Mandalore and acted accordingly. Would you hold it against Death Watch if they saw the same thing against the CIS? What if the CIS had used this weapon, and it had been taken by Death Watch? Would you be demanding an invasion of my sector?"

"If Mandalorian terrorists are in possession of any super weapon or capital ship of the Maelstrom's capabilities, I would demand an invasion of your sector no matter whose ship it originally belonged to. What is stopping the Mandalorians from going on a Crusade and dragging your entire CNS with you into war? Duchess Kryze's reputation and a document? The Mandalorians are the only one with a fleet that can deter the CIS or the Republic. If the Mandalorians are removed from the alliance, your entire faction would dissolve and thousands of planets would become easy pickings for the CIS without Mandalore to defend them." Senator Zing stated, giving the de facto lord of the Arkanians a glare.

"I have faith that our Mandalorians friends will not do that." Serifa Altunen said confidently, "I've seen the treaties that have been created between the member states of the CNS. They are ironclad in their rules of engagement, Mandalore cannot just simply declare war and drag the CNS into it. For the worry that if the Mandalorians declared a war we would be forced to remove them from the CNS and become defenseless, that is not true. We have our own Self Defense Forces and fleets already in creation thanks to the help of the Mandalorians. But those Self Defense Forces are only reliant on the Mandorians for training with a few material needs, as our Self Defenses forces are filled with able-bodied volunteers from our own local population. Soon we will have our own forces capable of defending ourselves and if the Mandalorians are to go on some Crusade, they would not be needed for the defense of the entire CNS and could be dropped from the CNS without issue."

"The second article of the Council of Neutral Systems Defense pact is unequivocal. No member of the CNS may declare an offensive war without ejection from the CNS. This was agreed by every member and ratified with unanimous agreement. Our common defensive pact has no ambition for war, and our only sanctioned operations outside of our borders are for Ithorian Worldships to tend to the many people of the Galaxy in need. Just as our Arkanian friends have declared, our only military ambition is self-defense. To that end, Mandalore does not desire to stand alone in the CNS, and we are eagerly empowering our allies so that they might have the means to defend themselves. Ships, equipment, and training shall be offered to CNS member states freely in the effort that every member system can stand as equals and friends. Dedicated to a more peaceful and prosperous galaxy." I clarified for Serifa.

"We all know why the Arkanians are supporting the CNS. After all, real laws that have been sorely needed have finally been implemented to prevent their experimentations. And how do they respond? Form an alliance with Mandalore, so they can ignore the oversights that we have implemented on their experiments. I wonder what monstrosity they are going to create next? Maybe give the Mandalorians mounts that they can ride on as war beasts." The Echani provocateur blurted out, utterly ignoring what we had just said in favor for finding a different angle of attack.

My eye twitched on that one, and I couldn't deny that I hadn't thought up a similar idea to solve the MSDF's manpower issue when I learned what the Arkanians were capable of. But I deemed that idea as unnecessary and unreliable even before they donated their conscripts. War beasts might be useful for some situations, but sentient soldiers are just all around much more useful to a modern military because soldiers know how to use blasters and vehicles while war beasts do not.

The Arkanians are a known problem child of the galaxy. Probably one of the reasons they wanted to work with us was that we had similar but different problems with the Republic. In particular, practically every species in the region around their home world had been genetically mucked with in one way or another, including the Echani. Supposedly, in the very distant past, they were once entirely baseline human. Now they aren't because of the Arkanian's genetic and cloning experiments on their species, which would explain their similarities to them. I have my own personal issues with them, from the fact they still used slaves to having their entire economy to rely on one industry. But so long as they are useful to me, I can ignore my grievances.

Before I could voice my counterargument, there was a series of loud clacking bangs from the central podium as Vice Chancellor Mas Amedda called for order and spoke up. "We have just received important news from the Mandalorian sector that must be discussed before any decision can be made today."

I heard Satine gasp from behind me as the hologram, which had been showing the destruction of Kromus, was replaced with an image of Deputy Minister Jerec.

"This is Deputy Minister Jerec. Kalevala is under occupation by Death Watch forces. The Maelstrom is operating as their main attack vehicle. Forces of the Mandalorian Self-Defense Force have joined Death Watch and are already laying siege to Sundari. Republic intervention is needed now."

The message ended, and I'm left there confused as the room erupted into chaos.

Everyone else around me was in shock. There's yelling and all kinds of words of confusion. I could hear my aunt, correction, mom make the sound of 'what' in disbelief. But something didn't sit right. I've met Jerec once or twice, and the way he spoke was very distinctive. And the way that call came in is distinctively artificial, like he was reading from a script.

Pressing a button to up my volume, I asked, "Has this been confirmed to be directly from Deputy Minister Jerec? Can we get him on the line to get actual evidence of this?"

Chancellor Palpatine spoke up, saying, "I put a call in myself to verify. Unfortunately, someone has damaged the subspace buoys connecting the Mandalore sector to the rest of the network. We were able to hear from Minister Jerec's aide that he died in a bombing attack just before communications were fully cut."

"See, Mandalore has already fallen. As we speak, the barbarians will soon join the CIS against us. We need to strike now before they can organize their malicious militia and unleash it on the rest of the peaceful Republic." Senator Zing said, taking advantage of the chaos.

"If you do, it would mean declaring war on the CNS." Came a surprising voice as Jakker-Sun, the senator from Ithor, spoke up. "In which case, we will order all captains currently terraforming planets in Republic space to stop their activities and recall them home. Mandalore has our full support in defending itself from any aggression."

That put a big damper on half of the warhawks in the Senate. The Ithorians supported colonization and terraforming of worlds across the Galaxy. The Ithorians had already stopped their efforts in the Outer Rim Regions controlled by the CIS because of the recent genocides and general atrocities that had been unleashed by the corporations there. To have the same done to the Republic would be a lot more damaging than it had been for the CIS, due to the fact that the Ithorians have more than a hundred ongoing terraforming projects for the Republic with a very packed waiting list. This would result in the Republic losing Billions of credits in delays, as well as worsen the food crisis as there will be less fertile worlds to grow food. Not to mention, when one of the more peaceful races in the Galaxy just declared that they would support a war, that would worry a lot of people.

"If the Republic declares war on Mandalore, they declare war on us too!" The senators from Taris and Thissplass joined the fray. "We will stand by our allies against this injustice!"

"Yes, a war against Mandalore is a war against all parties to the CNS." Serifa proclaimed, raising her unlit lightsaber in a hand, causing the entire room to fall quiet. "Arkania stands with Mandalore." she proclaimed to stunned silence. Raising a lightsaber in the senate, even if it was unlit, was extraordinarily taboo. It was honestly a terrible move politically, as it would only inflame accusations that Serifa was a self-styled Jedi Lord.

With this moment of quiet, I spoke up, saying, "I would like a full examination of that recording by the Senatorial Guard and my own sources, as well as a ship sent to Mandalore to confirm this report."

"Buying time, so your Mandalorian friends can fully establish military control over the sector?" Senator Zing prodded.

"Need I remind you that I am a daughter of House Kryze, Princess of the Mandalorian sector? I have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, which will be lost if Death Watch gained control of the Mandalore sector. I am doing what is necessary to prevent you from making a mockery of the Republic and glassing my home, again." I responded. "The CNS wants peace, but it is prepared to fight if you push this too far."

Senator Zing scoffed, about to say something idiotic by the look on her face, but Palpatine cut her off.

"Although we are all shocked by this news out of the Mandalorian sector and concerned about this Maelstrom, as well as the possibility of the Mandalorian Self-Defense Force turning on its people, we must remember that we do have a bit of a time delay from what happens here in the Core and what happens out on the Outer Rim. It will take a week to get the communication relay back up and functioning. We do not know what will happen in that week. It may very well be possible that an invasion will be launched from the Mandalorian sector long before then, or while it is down, that the Confederacy will move in to support these rebels that have taken over the sector."

"As much as I would like to give you that week for the communication relay to be fixed, I'm afraid you cannot have it. We will not hold the vote today because this is a shocking revelation. Tomorrow, when we have better reasonable minds, we will vote on our next move. This Senate meeting is adjourned."

With that, he banged the end of the day's session, and our repulsor pods started to auto-navigate back into the wall

Taris system, NSSDF Joint Fleet, Sundari-class Carrier "Sundari"

Supreme Commander Ikud Ordo

"Get communications back up now!" I ordered from the command throne of the Sundari, her captain marched over to the communications console and hunched over the trio of fresh-faced officers frantically pinging the communications relay to get into contact with Mandalorian space. Direct communication via courier ship would take days both ways, but it might be something that we had to use if we can't get communications up anytime soon.

"The network's not responding. Whatever this is, it's from the Republic's end. They must have done this. They have not even finished the vote and they are cutting our communication. That can only mean that there's an invasion coming." The Captain Orrae Ryc's voice grew hard at the end. The old man, much older than me — probably even older than my adopted father — was brought out of retirement to establish the MSDF Navy. Thank the gods that he has because his experience has proven to be invaluable in designing our naval doctrine. He's someone who has a much greater right to be Supreme Commander of the MSDF than I am.

"What about our Shadow Relay?" I asked.

"Damn thing was delayed. Order from the Duchess herself to make sure the relays are clean. She could never have expected that the Republic would cut us off from our own network like this. The sector must be in chaos, with communications suddenly being cut across the entire network."

Something is off about all of this. First we get reports that the Senate is voting on a potential invasion of Mandalorian space in response to Death Watch taking a Republic Battlecrusier after said Battlecruiser had murdered over a billion people, and then communications goes down across the entire Mandalorian sector?

When I had taken this job, I never would have imagined that I would have to preside over a war against the Republic at my age. A war I am reasonably sure we would lose unless we joined the CIS. There's no hiding the fact that I had gotten this position right out of the Academy because of the politicking of my father. The man was impossible to refuse and had been so proud of me in my new uniform. I had to do a good job, even in an impossible situation like this.

"We don't know that yet, deploy couriers to Mandalore with an update on the situation. I want every MSDF detachment on high alert. They are to call in all the reserves for potential combat." One of the officers gave a salute and began to order the deployment of a squadron of Kom'rk fighters. They have hyperdrives and would be able to spread my orders to the sector.

"Ships jumping in!" came the call from the chief sensors officer. "Republic I-dent. It's a warfleet." A moment later, at the edge of our engagement range, six ships exited hyperspace in battle formation. Five corvettes, or small Cruisers, shielding a Venator Star Destroyer.

"Looks like an invasion alright." Captain Ryc commented, sounding rather tired. "A bit small for an invasion actually or they're just plain overconfident. Usually, Republic capital ships are deployed in task forces of threes, so that's likely just a vanguard."

"Reform the fleet. Crusaders, behind the Sundari." I ordered, and the order was relayed, causing a flurry of activity among our Mandalorian warships in orbit of Taris. We were here on a shakedown mission, a simple operation to test out the systems on the new Sundari-class carrier design and to build cohesion with the Tarisian navy.

We were not here to actually fight. We are, however, fully equipped to do so. I tapped at the console at my side to open a holo-display of the area of operation and suppressed a wince. One Sundari-class carrier, two Lictor-class heavy cruisers — I refuse to call them "dungeon ships", and eight of the new Crusader-class corvettes fitted to be anti-fighter screening craft. In the Sundari we had three wings of the brand-new Fang fighters and sixty new Kom'rk class fighters, which could also serve as transports. Twelve short of a full wing, since I sent them off to communicate my orders to the rest of Mandalorian space. It gave us four wings of fighter craft, even if one of the wings is not at full strength.

Against a Venator with more guns than the Sundari, with five wings of fighters supported by five Arquitens light cruiser escorts, it's going to be a messy fight for either side if it comes to a brawl. In terms of firepower, we have an advantage. In terms of fighter complement, they have more of them and the advantage of a full extra wing meant that should an engagement occur, each of our four wings would be matched with one of the Republic wings and the extra Republic wing would simply support one of their wings for a 2v1.

I glanced over to the console and looked at what the Tarisian's had. One Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser with gods knows how many years on her, and two newly purchased Carrack-class light cruisers. They also had a wing of fighters, but they are probably older than I am, if I understood correctly.

With the Tarisian fleet, the fighter advantage is closed somewhat, but the Republic still has more modern fighters. However, the guns on the Dreadnaught would give us a firm edge in firepower. Still not great odds. It would be a slugging match that would beat the shit out of both sides.

With local fighter superiority, the Republic would win the engagement and roll up our entire fighter formation in turn. The only viable course of action is to have our fighters stick close to the Crusaders so that their anti-fighter screen can be used to support our fighters. This would negate the Republic's fighter advantage and prevent any bombers from getting close enough to do damage to our capital ships. In that case, capital ship combat will decide the victor and we have the advantage in that department.

"The fleet's in formation. The Tarisians are hanging back near their starport. Looks like they are waiting to see how the wind blows." The Captain said as he settled into his command throne besides mine.

"Hail the Republic fleet. I want to know what they're even doing here?" I called out, earning an 'aye' from a communications officer. "Let's hope the Republic is not stupid enough to start a war out here."

"If we are hoping for the Republic to be reasonable, then Manda help us." The Captain bemoaned. A sentiment that I was beginning to come around to.

Taris system, Venator-class Star Destroyer "Dauntless"

Captain Kendal Ozzel

"What the hell is a Mandalorian Fleet doing here?" I muttered as our fleet exited Hyperspace. I glanced over at the Mon Calamari 'Admiral' Arikakon Baraka as the overgrown fish looked over a tactical readout of the situation, likely getting his bearings on the unexpected forces arrayed against us.

"This is strange, our intelligence placed the Sundari in the Ordo system still undergoing a communication system refit." Admiral Baraka said. "Besides that, how did the Mandalorians know we were coming here to secure the Hydian way?"

"Obviously, they are using this location as their staging ground for an invasion of the Republic. From Taris they can advance along the Hydian way to strike our fleets engaged in the Belsmuth campaign in the rear. Our entire front line along the Belsmuth front would collapse, and the CIS could advance thousands of light years. Pushing across the Galactic north." I pointed out the obvious.

I glanced about the bridge as the Admiral let out a gurgling sound that was his species' version of a hum. There are just two clone bridge crews on the bridge, both of whom are junior naval officers that had served with me since the start of the war. The rest of my normal bridge crew clone complement had been shuffled out by the Admiral because of his open disdain for the clones. The fish considered clones a debasement of the Naval traditions of the Republic. There are also rumors that he mistreated or neglect clones on other fronts, however there is nothing I could find to verify that for a fact.

"We don't know if the Mandalorians have any cause with the Confederacy, Captain Ozzel. Besides, our orders are merely to deploy our fleet in the Taris system and pacify any threats to the Hydian Way and the Belsmuth offensive." I scoffed at Arikakon's careful words and jabbed a finger at the Mandalorian fleet in front of us.

"THERE! Right there! Can't you see that! The damn Mandalorians are a threat to the Hydian Way and the Belsmuth offensive!" One of the bridge officers quickly leaned over to inform me of movements on the field. "Look." I quickly drew the Admiral's attention. "They are reforming their forces and deploying their fighters. We need to engage them before they have a cohesive formation and all of their fighter wings deployed."

"No." The overgrown fish quickly answered. "No, we are inside the range of the guns on the Sundari, and they have not opened fire on us yet. We don't have orders to engage Mandalorian forces. We won't fire until we are fired upon. Deploy our fighters, but do not engage." I stared at the fish for a moment before turning to the bridge officers who were watching us.

"Deploy all of our fighters to screen our formation. It looks like our admiral wants the Mandalorians to take measure of us." The Admiral fixed me with a glare as the bridge crew moved to follow out my orders. I watched helplessly as the Mandalorians entered a simple formation. They had a wing of fighters at the front, with two on the flanks. Followed by their Star Destroyer, the Sundari class, a relative unknown in terms of capabilities, then their corvettes held position behind the Sundari. On each flank they had a heavy cruiser with a corvette supporting them. On our right flank, the Tarisians were also forming up against us, the traitors. They had one old Dreadnaught heavy cruiser behind a pair of light corvettes, and their own wing of fighters was quickly deployed at the front of their formation.

"Send a message to High Command asking for clarification in our orders. Inform them of the presence of the Mandalorian fleet." Admiral Baraka said. "I don't like this. We should have two more Venators with us." He was right about that. The standard formation for a Venator task force is to be deployed in groups of three or five. But our normal sister ships had been sent to reinforce the Belsmuth front and would likely stay there until we achieved void superiority, which would likely take days. Command had attached five light cruisers as an escort for the Dauntless, but our formation simply did not have the teeth she needed to deal with this sort of situation. Especially now that the Mandalorians and Tarisians had gotten into formation and are staring us down.

"We have five fighter wings to their four. We will outnumber them at any engagement they choose, and then we can strike at them at our leisure with our bombers." I pointed out.

"If they push their corvettes up, they will cut our fighter wings to ribbons." The Admiral countered.

"We destroy their corvettes with our light cruisers." I replied.

"We try that, and they take out our light cruisers with their heavy cruisers. We need the guns on the Dauntless for the Sundari if we want to win this. She will hammer us if we try to support an advance with the Dauntless." I had to concede that point.

"Then we can't do a damn thing." I snapped.

"We wait for clarification of our orders." The Admiral resolved. "As far as I am concerned, so long as the Mandalorians are not shooting at us, we have accomplished our mission."

"And if the vote for invasion passes?" I asked.

"Then our job gets a lot more difficult." Admiral Baraka laughed, I honestly had no idea what he found so damn funny.

Coruscant, Mandalore Tower

Vai Viktis Vizla

The ride back from the Senate had been quiet, as all of us had been in our own minds. But now that we were all in the Mandalorian Tower, I had a question that had been bugging me for the last few years, and it was about time to finally poke at it.

"So, you were Tanya's mom this whole time. Why exactly did you keep that hidden?" I asked as X4 leaned in to supply a drink for Tanya as they sat next to each other.

"It was Almec's suggestion." Satine said with a shake of her head. "I was seventeen when Tanya was born, and he figured out that the father had to be my Jedi bodyguard right away. I had to stay out of the public eye for a few months, but he knew what was going on. Being that Mandalorian relations with the Republic and the Jedi are tense at the time, he suggested the safest course of action is to hide the fact that Tanya is my daughter, otherwise I would look like a puppet of Jedi and Republic."

She shook her head before saying, "He's probably not wrong, but it's starting to make me wonder if he worries too much about minor political details."

"So, what changed your mind on revealing this?" I asked, wondering why Tanya was not bothering to ask these questions, and giving her a look that indicated that she should be the one doing it. She did not return that look, instead staying mostly focused on the flimsi-work in front of her.

"I don't know. Spending too much time around Ben just reminded me of the old days." Satine said with a sigh, sipping her drink before just chugging the entire glass, and said, "Plus, he admitted something I didn't expect him to admit in a tense situation. I had no idea that he would have actually left the Order for me if I had asked."

"Huh, and how long has, uh, Ben known? I kind of figured he must have known since he was the first person to show up." I said.

"He learned it when Merrik held me at gunpoint on the trip here. Wait, how did you know that Tanya is my daughter?" Satine asked.

"I guessed." I shrugged before I continued, "Her natural hair color not being blond and that she kind of looks like you are pretty big hints. It was suspicious, and Kenobi's Padawan kind of agrees with me on that matter. Tanya and Kenobi share physical tells too; they both do that thing with their hands." I indicated towards Tanya with a gesture.

"What thing?" Tanya asked absentmindedly whilst scratching at her chin with her thumb as she read a document.

"That. What you are doing right now. Like, is that genetic?" I said.

Tanya just stared at her hand, confused. A long moment passed, before replying, "I don't think that's how genetics work." She didn't seem confident, it sounded more like she doubted her own explanation.

"Maybe the Force? I don't know, I'm not a space wizard." I said with a shrug.

Satine furrowed her brows, "I'm not sure how that would even work. It's likely just a coincidence."

"Damn, I'm glad I didn't bet on that." I said with a shake of my head.

"Yes, well, this is all very new and shocking, and I'm going to have to get used to calling you mother and all." Tanya's voice was flatter than usual. "But we need to get ready for the vote tomorrow. See if we can get more people voting for 'No' on the invasion until we have more data on what's going on in the Mandalorian sector."

"What is going on in the Mandalore sector?" Satine said, shaking her head. "I left, and everything was fine, and now we've been invaded?"

"I doubt that." Tanya said matter-of-factly. "Something about that message seemed cut up. We need to get access to the original before it was presented and find out who was responsible for cutting it up. Most likely, this is an effort to push the Mandalore sector to choose a side, either as part of the Republic or the CIS. And that would break apart the CNS right away if one of its core contributors is at war."

"So what do we do?" I asked, which got a shrug from Tanya.

"The thing is, we need to get senators to suspect foul play, and we need to wait for more evidence or find more evidence to do that. I don't know how to do the second, though, but the first, the first I can probably work on."

"I might have an option on the second." Satine said, getting all eyes on her before saying, "I'm afraid it'll take a little bit of work, though, and using Almec's agents here on Coruscant."

I blinked. "Almec has agents here?"

"He really wants to protect the security of Mandalore, and he's very good at that." Satine said with a shrug. "Perhaps a little too effective sometimes, but that's what he needs to do to protect it. He will do it."

"Hmm, well, I can send some Royal Guard to keep you company." I said with a smile.

Satine shook her head, "This will have to be off the books, but we'll worry about that after the meeting for now." Satine walked over and hugged Tanya tightly from behind her seat. "You have no idea how much I wanted to do that."

Tanya's voice came out stressing, "Y-you do it quite often, already."

"Not as your mother." Satine said, squeezing tighter, giving me a chuckle as I watched Tanya going wide eyed, looking at me as if to signal for rescue. I shook my head as this is for her benefit. I doubt my mom would hug me like that, so I'll let the two of them have this. Since Dad is divorced, maybe I should help him find a partner? He deserves to be with someone who actually cared about us instead of the family name.

Taris System, Sundari-class Carrier "Sundari"

Supreme Commander Ikud Ordo

In the dark void of space, a silver beast shimmered as it moved. Dancing in a great rolling gait across space. In the distance, tens of thousands of kilometers away, another great beast danced. Mirroring the first in that curious, rolling and deliberate way.

No, perhaps not a great beast, but a massed flock of birds, or perhaps a school of fish. Yes, that was closer to what the twin formations resembled. The disgorged fighter wings of the Dauntless and the Sundari. Though no battle had been declared, no laser discharged in anger, the dance continued as a matter of life and death.

It was not a display, mostly. But a constantly shifting balance between the many squadrons deployed. There was rarely a time when both sides of a battle would neatly line up and present themselves to the other before the shooting started, and thus the game had started in the fighter formation. Once the order's given, once the invasion began, once the curse of war came to be, the two formations would dart forwards and begin to maul each other to determine the victor. They might be tens of thousands of kilometers apart now, but that distance would be swallowed in vanishingly little time.

With so many wings deployed without any surprise, the only hope for survival came not from individual skill but in the positioning and posture of the formation. Thus, the shimmering mirror dance continued. Ever-changing, ever shifting, tiring and difficult maneuvers that at any moment could explode into wonton death and destruction.

Beholding the fighter deployment dance were the great sharks of the void. Capital ships, corvettes, cruisers. Arrayed against each other and slowly, ever so slowly, crawling towards the other. It did occur to me that this game could be pointless, that the Republic could have called for an invasion and by delaying this battle I am dooming the sector when more reinforcements arrive. But I did not trust in the iron nerve of the Republic that much. The commander of that fleet had not opened fire because he did not have orders to, I was sure of it.

Perhaps the orders would come, at any rate I would not be the one to plunge the sector into more conflict. Appearances matter, if the Republic intended to murder us, then they would have to fire the first blast. I would not abide them making themselves out to be the wounded party.

"Comms through. Line's open on my mark." An officer declared at last. Even Republic warships seemed to go through a committee before you could talk to their commanders. "Mark."

"This is Supreme Commander Ikud Ordo of the Mandalorian Self-Defense Force and acting Grand Admiral of the Unified Neutral Systems Space Command." I began. "Your Republic warfleet has trespassed into registered neutral space outside of the legal bounds of the Hydian Way supply corridor. You will explain your presence here and submit to the local customs enforcement of the Tarisian High Orbit Economic Zone." I looked at the blurry hologram of the pair of Republic trespassers before one spoke. I recognized him as a Mon Calamari, people renowned for their naval accomplishments and a sycophantic loyalty to the Republic.

"This is Admiral Arikakon Baraka of the Dauntless task force. This is a routine and sanctioned operation to secure the flanks of the Belsmouth warfront from hostile elements. I will not submit to customs enforcement, as I am afraid I have not organized for my men to have shore leave." Admiral Baraka said in a relaxed tone. "I apologize for turning up unannounced, Supreme Commander. I do hope that this is merely a formality." I stopped myself from fidgeting in my command throne as I picked my next words very carefully.

"It is difficult to trust in your better nature, Admiral. As much as I would like to. You can imagine that with the current vote going on in your Senate that my men are somewhat on edge." The Mon-Calamari nodded.

"That is understandable, but it is not our place to play politics, I am sure you agree? So long as the vote is undecided, I would suggest that the vote has little bearing on our current duties as Naval Officers." That is valuable information, he had given away that the vote had not gone one way or the other, and thus engaging my forces now would make him an outlaw. He's saying that he would not take any action on the little showdown we are engaged in that will alter the vote. Something that will keep the peace until it doesn't.

"It is a sad thing indeed that so many lives lie in the hands of senators, it is a cutthroat and black occupation." I offered.

"Our duty is to do, not to reason why." Baraka said with a sad sigh. "It has been an honor to make your acquaintance, Supreme Commander Ikud Ordo. Your measured resolve is an inspiration to our profession, and should we test each other upon this day I shall not shame my name with dishonorable conduct, no matter the state of the field." He expected a polite war, then?

"The honor is mine, Admiral Arikakon Baraka. But I would ask of you this, we both know what will come of that immoral farce they call a Senate vote. I have not come to you. I have not come uninvited to a place you are honor bound to defend with your life." He seemed to contemplate my words for a moment.

"This is the place in which we find ourselves. Our obligations bind us, as Mon Calamari and as Mandalorian." Arikakon replied, looking away from me as I lent forward.

"Should you do battle here, I will kill you." I said. "And you shall kill me. I do not believe you are ignorant of that. You have eyes, you have a mind, you have a spirit that rages against the absurdity of all of this. Reconsider, the lives of our men depend on it. Withdraw, Admiral, because I shall not." He met my eyes then. An alien form shimmering in faint translucent blue.

"Regardless... that is something I cannot do." He said at last.

"Why not?"

"Because I still have my orders, and you have yours." With his final words the communication was cut and I once more beheld the dance of the fighters. Unceasing, tireless. Tens of thousands of men in all the warships in the system waited with bated breath for war, for some far off decision to be made that would decide the fate of billions.

Because, for all my power as Supreme Commander, for all his authority as Admiral. It was not us that decided when the killing would start, if at all.

Coruscant, Jedi Temple

Obi-Wan Kenobi

I sat cross-legged in my room, trying to center myself with the Force to put my mind at peace and puzzle through the recent revelations in my life.

Rekindling something with Satine had not been in my plans when I had taken up the duties of being the go-to Jedi who dealt in Mandalorian matters. I thought we only just have good relations and that was it after our falling out all those years ago. It is only recently that I learned, there is still something more there, an attachment that is concerning.

Jedi are not supposed to have attachments. At least, that's what people believe. We do have some attachments, but we needed to be willing to let them go, and I thought I had done so with Satine. In fact, I think I had done it, yet my reunion with her had rekindled the attachment. So what did that mean for me? Did I break the code by rekindling this attachment, or had I simply kept to the code? After all, there wasn't exactly anything wrong with what had happened between Satine and I with how it ended.

But what does that mean for my future? That was also another question. I had learned that I have a child, who isn't a child anymore, in Tanya, a senator in the Republic. Oddly enough, that brought me a bit of pride and a chuckle. I couldn't stand the political class, and here my daughter is a member of the political class. Which made a degree of sense since she had been raised and taught by Satine.

There are several options and outcomes from this situation, but what would be the one I would choose, is what I had to determine. I couldtheoretically keep things as they are. Being the Jedi who have good relations with the Mandalorian sector due to connections with the Royal family isn't exactly the most outlandish thing to happen. Them having attachments with me while I still maintain my strict Jedi code would be difficult yet still possible. It's the safer outcome, but sooner or later, I would need to reveal this to the Council and that's where things got concerning.

Part of me worries that the Council may overreact. Master Windu and Ki-Adi-Mundi had been rather more strict on any Jedi who were not falling in with the Code to the tee. They are concerned that those that did would fall to the Dark Side and Count Dooku's machinations. Would they overreact to this? Probably not, but it is possible. They may even suggest that I leave the Order since I am now a potential risk.

What should I do then if I am forced out? I guess I could ask Satine if I could stay with her, but I'm probably fretting too much. I need to trust in the Force and the Force would provide. That's what I need to do.

Taking a deep breath, I was going to try and calm my mind when I heard a knock on my door. Releasing my breath with a sigh, I got up and brushed myself off. I walked to the door and pressed a button to open it to reveal Anakin standing on the other side.

"Master, may I come in and talk?" he asked with a cheery tone.

I raised an eyebrow before stepping back and gesturing for him to come in. After closing the door, he came to lean against the wall inside my room while I returned to meditating on the floor in the center of my room. "Is there a reason you've come by, Anakin?"

"Well, you've been feeling off ever since the Coronet, so I thought I'd come by and see if I could be an ear to hear whatever's got you riled up."

I shook my head. It made sense that he would pick that up. We've been around each other for a while. I was probably putting out a bit of worry into the Force.

Taking a breath, I finally said, "Duchess Satine revealed to me that she has feelings for me. That she's had feelings for me since we met all those years ago."

The smirk on Anakin's face was annoying, but I continued. "And I revealed that if she had asked, all those years ago, I would have left the Jedi Order to be with her."

His smirk faltered a bit as surprise replaced his expression.

"And then she revealed that Tanya was my daughter this entire time."

"Wait, you didn't know?" Anakin said, and in confusion, I looked up at him.

"What do you mean, Anakin?"

"I mean, you were the first person she met on Coruscant and Satine basically told her to trust you. I've been kind of operating under the assumption that you've known she was your daughter this whole time. She even has your hair color."

I opened my mouth, before not even realizing that, Yes, there were some flags there I had missed. Sighing I said. "Apparently, you're better at spotting such things than I am, my former Padawan. I missed those signs completely."

"Oh, I was, huh?" Anakin said, which got me to look at him confused.

He cleared his throat, saying, "I've kind of been under the impression that you've known this entire time. That you kind of brought me along to show that it's possible to be a Jedi while still having some attachments outside the Order, so long as you kept a good distance away and did not become too attached."

I chuckled at that before saying, "Well, Anakin, that wasn't my intention, but it is good that you learned a lesson even if it was accidental. Why is that a shock, though?"

"...Because I believed that it was possible to have an attachment as long as you are not too connected. Based on what I had seen with you and Tanya and Satine, I decided maybe it would be okay for me to have an attachment." Anakin elaborated

I raised an eyebrow at that before he said with a very heavy sigh, "I married Padme."

"Anakin." I said, putting my hand on my face. There was just a moment of silence before I finally took a breath and said, "Well, you are correct in your assumptions. If you take a measured distance from your attachments, it is possible to be a Jedi and married. But the fact that you did this secretly, since I highly doubt you told Master Yoda, does not bode well for you keeping your attachment at the right distance."

"To be fair, I thought you were keeping your attachments secret as well." Anakin said, annoying me. But he made a good point. He got the wrong lesson because he thought there was a lesson to learn, and now we had to deal with this.

Taking a moment, I breathed in and out before saying, "I'm concerned I'm not going to be a proper Jedi due to my attachment with Satine and Tanya. I would like to think that I could maintain the distance that would enable me to be a Jedi while still being in their life. But I acknowledge deep down that there's a possibility that I may need to step away from the Order."

Anakin blinked before saying, "So you'd leave the Order for them?"

I stayed silent as I seriously considered my feelings. "If I cannot perform my duties as a Jedi to the best of my abilities due to my attachments, I should. But I believe I can maintain my distance, so I'm not going to leave the Order anytime soon. All in all, I am probably going to postpone answering this question until after the war is over. I'm not going to step away from you and all the other Jedi in their time of need. After the war, I will need more time to think deeply on this matter and make a decision. Perhaps you should do the same, Anakin."

"What?" Anakin said as he looked at me. "Isn't the Chosen One supposed to defeat the Sith and bring balance to the Force?"

I nodded before saying, "Perhaps you defeat the Sith and then leave the Order to have a normal life. Only the Force knows what the future holds. There's a reason that most Jedi disregard prophecies, and it's because we do not know what they really mean. There are numerous cases where, in trying to prevent the vision from happening, actually fulfills the prophecy. But perhaps you should consider what happens after the prophecy. What do you want once you've accomplished that? Not just think about fulfilling it."

Anakin looked confused as he asked, "So what do we do now?"

I took a breath before saying, "I'm going to have to tell the Jedi Council at some point about Tanya being my daughter. I will keep your secret about Padme for now, as it's yours to tell. Just be prepared to face the consequences when that happens."

Our talk was cut short when my communicator beeped. Picking up, I said, "Kenobi here."

"Master Kenobi." A voice of some Padawan working in a clerical position greeted, "The Duchess of Mandalore has just been put on a wanted poster. Apparently, she was involved in a murder. Grandmaster Yoda is concerned that something's moving in the shadows and wants you to find her before things get out of hand."

Confused and worried, I said, "I'm on my way." Taking a breath, I pressed the button on the door, saying, "We'll continue this conversation another time, Anakin."

Anakin nodded as I ran outside.

Taris system, Republic and MSDF Fleet Stalemate, "Dauntless"

Admiral Arikakon Baraka

The standoff continued unabated, a few hours ago the Mandalorians pulled back one of the fighter wings to their ship and several of the officers in the task force had almost had a fit over how this was the perfect moment to strike. I had of course seen exactly what this was. Pilots could not remain at peak combat capabilities while under the stress of the current situation and had to be rotated out, given time to rest. Thus, I had taken the opportunity to remove one of my own wings from the fight and ordered the pilots to sleep.

If the shooting started, they would be fresh and ready to join the fight. As the fighters rotated out, the current flock of fighters out between the fleets had calmed down its movements. Small groups had fallen into large scattered clouds on the upper and lower flanks. It's a curious formation and one I would take note of to study later. The natural state where two forces are in perfect readiness against each other is nearly unheard of. Truly, this is a curious battle, I could think of no other example where both sides had so long to prepare and take measure of the other without coming to blows. I had officers pouring over images of the Sundari, trying to glean more information than what our intelligence had gathered.

One curious thing of note is that most of the guns on the Sundari are not heavy turbolasers, but heavy ion cannons instead. It was a significant breach of common shipbuilding precedent, but then I thought back to the Malevolence and the fear and death its ion superweapon caused. Perhaps this many ion cannons are not a limitation to her capabilities, but rather is a feature of how she is meant to be deployed.

"Admiral," The bridge communications officer called out, "reply from High Command, sending it to your console now." It had taken a worryingly long time for my request for clarification of my orders to come, though, but here it is. I felt an odd sense of dread as I looked through the encrypted data packet.

Task force is to eliminate all hostile Mandalorian forces in the Taris System and maintain a presence in-system. Supplementary, absolute confirmation of Maelstrom Presence close to Taris' greater environs.

"Well, there you have it." Captain Ozzel said, looking at his own console and our orders. "Prepare to engage the Mandalorians."

"The orders are very specific." I countered. "We are to eliminate all hostile Mandalorians, these Mandalorians have not started shooting, so they are not hostile."

"You can't be serious!" Captain Ozzel sputtered. "Their so-called 'Supreme Commander' threatened to kill you!"

"She did no such thing!" I snapped. "She merely stated a fact that would come to pass if we did engage them. I would attempt to kill her, and she would attempt to kill me. It's our job, I hardly consider that a threat." I dismissed his inappropriate disparagement of the character of my counterpart in the Mandalorian fleet. Honestly now, when did things get so uncivilized? We are Naval officers, some respect must be given to our peers, even if we have to kill them.

"The Maelstrom is in this area, if that ship joins up with the Mandalorian fleet they will kill us all." Ozzel protested.

"If the Maelstrom arrives in the system and attacks us, then we will follow our orders and attempt to defeat the hostile Mandalorian presence or retreat from our position. That is the honorable thing to do in this situation, Captain." I explained slowly and carefully, as well as stressing his rank.

"I did not want to do this, but you left me no choice." Ozzel muttered, I turned to the man to chastise him for arguing with me in the presence of our subordinates, only to find myself staring down the barrel of a blaster. "Admiral Arikakon Baraka, you are hereby relieved of your command of the fleet."

I stared, shocked and outraged in equal measure at the mutiny. I glanced about as several officers stood up to protest Ozzel only for each of them to have blasters directed at them too from various human officers seemingly prepared for this mutiny. In a moment it was done, the mutineers had the measure of the bridge and I found myself pushed into the ready room with the rest of my 'loyalists' while Ozzel took command of the fleet where he would likely blunder into a war.

I noted, darkly, that all of my loyalists are non-human. That thought struck me with such magnitude as to seem painful.

When did that happen? What had caused such a fissure in the ranks of the Republic Navy? Our place is to serve with dignity and honor, regardless of species. When had that... stopped?

Taris System, Sundari-class Carrier

Supreme Commander Ikud Ordo

"Communication from Coruscant." Captain Ryc said. "Looks like the vote is in recess. It's going to be a while longer before we find out if we are at war."

"I hate democracy." I grossed, earning a chuckle from around the bridge. "Well, if the Republic is stupid enough to start a war with us over their own evil and incompetence, I have prepared our strategy. We have time, so make sure to look it over and suggest improvements." Captain Ryc nodded and looked through the data packet, something that the other captains of the fleet in the holocall are currently doing.

The plan is to perform a feint, drawing the fighters forward as if to strike at the Republic formation, before pulling the fighters back behind the Sundari as she advances upon the Dauntless. The corvettes are to fall into a tight formation around the Sundari as she approaches, to keep us safe from the Republic fighter formation. But the Sundari is a tough young lady, one that has an oversized complement of point defense systems, a pinch of beskar in her hull, as well as her ion cannons that would prevent the Dauntless from being able to hammer the Sundari too hard.

When the Sundari gets close enough to the Dauntless, she would deploy all of her Kom'rk fighters. The fighter transports that I had kept back from being deployed. An asset that the Republic had no way of knowing I had. The Kom'rk would be loaded with our Rapid Reaction Force, who would then board the Dauntless and capture her. Silencing her guns and allowing us to mop up the rest of the Republic forces around Taris.

While the Sundari keeps the Dauntless busy, the Crusaders and Lictors will focus on the Republic escorts. The Crusaders clear the void of Republic fighters while the Lictors engage the Arquitens with some fighter support.

I had no idea what I was going to do about the war that would follow, of course. Staying in the Taris system is a lost cause, so I would likely focus on evacuating the Taris High Command and any military assets I could to Mandalore to reorganize the forces at my disposal. I had no illusion that I would be able to defeat a full sized Republic fleet, but I could at the very least make the Republic pay dearly for every system they took from us.

"Ah, I see, you want to Maelstrom them." Captain Ryc said with an amused tone cutting my train of thought.

"What?" I said, genuinely baffled at the man.

"The plan, you intend to Maelstrom the Dauntless. Honestly I think it is an inspired choice Commander, I am sure the rest of the fleet will agree. 'Maelstrom-ing' the Republic dogs is our best option here." Captain Ryc said with a smile that I see all the time from my older siblings when they are teasing me.

"Please don't call it 'Maelstrom-ing'." I groaned. My suffering was interrupted by a ping on my console, a message from the Tarisian fleet commander. Support for my proposed tactics and a comment that it reminded him of the Maelstrom attack did not help the chuckle that came out of the captain. I merely looked at what advantages I have and designed the plan around them. I did not plan to one-up anyone.

If the Republic did engage us here, it seemed I would forever be associated with the term 'Maelstrom-ing', a worse hell I couldn't scarcely imagine. Just another reason to pray to the Manda that the Republic saw sense and... voted correctly.

Oh, we're all doomed.