The Last Days of the Jedi

[Halomek]

Tangrene – 19 BBY

It was a risk coming to Tangrene, and by doing so, striking deep within Separatist territory, but it was also a calculated move. Vice Admiral Reng Kasr was certainly not adverse to taking risks to accomplish his goals if he felt the rewards to be gained were worth it. It was in fact a standing point of contention between him and the Jedi General who was technically in charge of the Vanguard Fleet. He and Hisani Sane had participated in numerous arguments over their differing viewpoints on the correct path to take during their years fighting together in the Clone Wars...

Kasr felt that sacrifices were an inevitable part of battle and that such sacrifices could potentially bring about an end to a battle far sooner than more conventional warfare. Hisani, on the other hand; she wanted to do everything within her power to protect the lives of the troops under their command. It took many battles together, but eventually the two had found a sort of middle ground. Kasr had come to appreciate the challenge of devising tactics to bring as many soldiers back alive as possible and Hisani had come to accept that sometimes loss was inevitable, even at times necessary, to achieve victory.

However, in the decision to strike deep behind enemy lines at Tangrene, the two were in complete agreement that the risk had to be taken, no matter what the cost. Word of a Separatist superweapon that was decimating Republic forces had been brought to their attention thanks to Republic Intelligence. Chancellor Palpatine himself had tasked Vanguard Fleet with locating this weapon and destroying it before it could cause further harm. After a series of undercover missions undertaken by Hisani, it had finally come to light that the superweapon always returned to Tangrene after its battles were over.

Very little except raw tactical data could be recovered from the Republic's encounters with this superweapon since every encounter had resulted in a Separatist victory and the complete annihilation of Republic forces. In some cases, this included any Jedi that had been unfortunate enough to be in the battle. One might therefore assume it to be some kind of weapon of mass destruction, but that didn't mesh with the state of the battlefield afterwards; people and machines looked to have been literally torn apart without any signs of carbon scoring that would have been left by more conventional weapons.

Kasr had his theories, but none of them seemed believable to him.

All of this was in the back of his mind as he spoke with the Separatist commander over the viewscreen. “Your fleet in orbit has been destroyed, we're jamming all of your outgoing transmissions, and you can't match our ground forces. I'm offering you a chance to surrender now, General Dasmana.”

Beside him, Hisani spoke up: “We know of your war record, General. You're a shrewd commander who can recognize when a battle is over. If you surrender to us, the Republic would be more than happy to compensate you for your knowledge and experience. Our only goal here is to remove the Separatist superweapon from the war. This is an opportunity you could profit from.”

General Dasmana, a Koorivar with a large horn on his head indicative of his species, didn't appear cowed at all. “You consider the battle over, do you? I may not be able to contact reinforcements, but I can certainly outlast your little blockade. You don't have the firepower to overwhelm our shields from orbit and you can't starve out an army of droids. If you want the superweapon, you're more than welcome to come down here and try to take it. All I need to do is wait for the Confederacy to investigate why they've stopped receiving transmissions from Tangrene and then you're finished.”

With that, Dasmana cut the transmission, leaving Kasr with an unpleasant feeling in his gut. “He certainly seems confident,” he mused quietly to Hisani. “I hate to admit it, but he has a point too. We have maybe 24 standard hours before the Separatists start investigating. We might be able to ward off the initial wave, but this deep in their territory, we won't be able to hold out for long. The only thing in our favor is that Tangrene doesn't get a lot of outside traffic.”

“Then we have no choice,” Hisani concluded. “The success of the Republic's war effort depends on us destroying that superweapon. I'll lead the ground assault immediately.”

Kasr nodded. “Of course, but there's a few things I'd like to discuss with you in my briefing room first.”

Hisani nodded. “After you.”

The two left the bridge and entered Kasr's private office. As soon as the door closed, Hisani's usual stoic Jedi demeanor evaporated into one of concern. “You hide it well as always, but I can sense how worried you are, Reng. I've never seen you like this.”

Kasr looked over at Hisani. She was a Pantoran, with light blue skin and long flowing dark blue hair. Although strikingly beautiful from a humanoid standpoint, Kasr had come to recognize her as a formidable warrior in spite of her more restrained attitude in preserving the lives of her soldiers. War had done much to temper her skills.

He moved in close to her. They had come far since their first meeting. Initially Kasr could barely tolerate her presence, and she had seen him as reckless and arrogant, but their years in battle had created respect and eventually so much more. He placed his strong hands on her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her. Their relationship was a closely guarded secret, known only to them. Such things were forbidden by the Jedi Order after all.

Hisani returned the kiss in equal measure, in clear defiance of Jedi strictures, but continued to show concern once it was over. She wanted an answer out of him.

“I'm worried for you, Hisani,” he finally admitted. “I know you can handle yourself in battle better than practically anyone else in this fleet, but you've seen the aftermath of this superweapon too. You know what it's done to your fellow Jedi, to say nothing of the Republic forces. And Dasmana is confident that it can hold out against our vastly superior numbers. Nothing in his profile has indicated him to be arrogant or deluded with his power.”

She leaned against him. “I don't like it any more than you do, but you know as well as I that we've come too far to turn back now. We need to at least try to destroy this weapon. We've accomplished the impossible before. We can do it again.”

Kasr forced a small smile for her benefit. “Is that what the Force is telling you?”

She shook her head. “No. Experience tells me that. Our relationship didn't happen by accident, Reng.” Hisani turned and placed her fingers between his, interlocking them. “Our strengths and faults balance each other out, creating something much stronger than their individual parts. If I fail, I know you'll find a way to turn it around, and I, likewise, will do the same for you. Today is no different.”

He kissed her again and found that, quite despite himself, he did feel reassured. “There might be something to this Jedi wisdom after all. I never thought I'd be the one lacking confidence.”

“I promise I won't tell anyone,” Hisani said with a teasing smile as she broke contact. “Now, the troops are waiting for me and we don't have a lot of time to spare...”

Kasr nodded. “Of course. Good luck out there.”

“And may the Force be with you,” she replied as she headed for the door.

***

The battle on the ground was not complicated. Tangrene was a fairly barren and rocky world with few settlements and little native life. It's main strategic focus was how out of the way it was, allowing secret projects to be worked on out of the galactic eye. Towards that end, the Confederacy of Independent Systems had built a factory on the planet for experimental droid designs that could be mass produced elsewhere if such designs proved useful. It's garrison forces were plentiful enough to dissuade most attacks, but it's main defense was it's shield generator, which was strong enough to deflect concentrated bombardment.

General Sui Dasmana watched the unfolding battle with dismay as his troops were systematically wiped out by the advancing Republic forces. Intelligence files indicated that the Jedi General in charge was one Hisani Sane of the Vanguard Fleet. She and her subordinate, Reng Kasr, were nearly as infamous as that accursed duo: Skywalker and Kenobi, of the Open Circle Fleet. Seeing her and her troops in action, he had to admit that she lived up to her reputation.

Dasmana turned to the person next to him, an enormous elephantine being that hailed from a species that called themselves Cragmoloids. “The Republic forces are well within our jamming field now. I believe it's time for you to turn this around.”

The Cragmoloid brushed a giant finger against one of his tusks thoughtfully as he watched the live footage of the Jedi fighting. The tusks had been carved with some kind of runes in a language Dasmana didn't recognize. “I was expecting more from someone of Sane's reputation,” the Cragmoloid rumbled to himself. “To be frank, I'm disappointed that we still haven't drawn out Skywalker or Windu, but I suppose they don't feel their presence is necessary yet.”

“The less the enemy knows about you, the greater our chances of success,” Dasmana pointed out. “Need I remind you that the Confederacy has been very generous in compensating you for your services, Mr. Crix? As long as you work for us, you will abide by my orders and my strategies.”

Crix looked over at Dasmana and made a fist while cracking his knuckles at the same time. “I'll say this for you, it takes a lot of courage to say something like that to me. If I thought for one moment that it was born out of disrespect, you'd be nothing more than a smear on the wall.”

“Then it's good that we understand each other.”

Crix slammed his fist into an open palm, creating a small burst of wind, before he turned to leave. “Quite.”

[Halomek]

The battle was going exceedingly well. Kasr insisted that all the troops in the Vanguard Fleet undergo rigorous combat drills based on regimens of his own design. Although it was harsh, the extra training showed through on the battlefield. Hisani would have no qualms about pitting the skills of the Vanguard troops up against the finest in the Republic. The life expectancy of a clone was brutally short, but thanks to her insistence on saving lives and Kasr's training and tactics, there were several troopers in the fleet that were old campaigners, having been with Vanguard since the fleet's first mission. That experience was showing through today.

It did worry Hisani that the supposed superweapon had not yet been deployed, but as they got closer to the factory, she started to hope that it was because it couldn't be deployed. Perhaps it was brought back to Tangrene for repairs and they had simply caught the Separatists by surprise while it was still in pieces. Maybe, just maybe, they could win this one quickly with a minimum loss of life...

Her hopes were dashed, however, by the sudden unexpected sight of an AT-PT flying overhead, one of it's legs bent at a strange angle. With thoughts of trying to save the trooper inside, not to mention the soldiers it might hit on the impact, Hisani tried to grab the large machine with the Force, but the momentum was too much to compensate for. Despite her best efforts, the war machine crashed down and exploded some distance away into a squad of advancing clones.

Hisani barely had a chance to mourn their deaths before the sounds of explosions and the dying screams of troopers echoed from the front. The battle had managed to kick up a lot of dust and debris from the barren landscape, so Hisani wasn't able to actually see what was causing the destruction. She reached out with the Force to try and detect what was happening instead. What came back to her chilled her to the core.

Hisani sensed a being using the Dark Side. That in itself was nothing new. The Separatists were well known to use Darksiders on occasion, to say nothing of Count Dooku being a Sith Lord. She and Kasr had even faced one or two Darksiders during the war, but the being she sensed now was nothing like them. This new Darksider was raw, animalistic, and filled with such an overwhelming amount of rage that Hisani actually gasped at the depth of it.

Unfortunately, just as she sensed him, he also sensed her. She could feel the change in his intentions as the Darksider headed straight towards her at a frightening pace. Hisani barely had a chance to adopt a Soresu defensive stance before she spotted an armored elephantine creature, as tall as the AT-PT had been, emerge from the haze of the dust cloud in the air.

Hisani attempted to halt his charge by pushing with the Force, but she might as well have tried to move a boulder by blowing on it for all the good it did her. Whatever impact the power might have had on him was seemingly shunted aside as soon as it hit him. Hisani didn't have a chance to try something else before the frightful beast smashed through her Soresu stance by simply batting aside her lightsaber blade with a wave of his fist. It was only by reflexive action honed from years on the battlefield that Hisani was able to avoid his followthrough attack by leaping backwards.

Everything had happened so fast that it took Hisani a moment to realize that she was in fact staring at the Separatist superweapon. It was no machine, like everyone had surmised, but rather a living weapon unlike any she had ever seen or heard about.

Then the Darksider smiled. “Your life is at an end, Hisani Sane,” he said as he advanced towards her. “If you want my advice, you should submit and allow me to end it quickly. There's no sense in delaying the inevitable.”

Hisani's mind was racing as she fought to think of some way to overcome this unexpected challenge. She was too experienced to feel fear, but if she was being honest with herself, she was started to feel panic start to claw at her psyche. Her mind was still reeling a bit at seeing this Darksider swat aside a lightsaber blade with noting but his bare hand.

There was perhaps one chance, something her former master, Oppo Rancisis, had taught her. She didn't like using it, but right now she didn't see any other alternative open to her. Using the Force, Hisani reached out and began to affect the creature's equilibrium to induce a severe sense of nausea. Unfortunately, she was not nearly as skilled in Malacia as Master Rancisis had been and she began to feel a twinge nauseous herself. It was why she avoided using the technique, she had never quite managed to induce the feeling without at least some of the sensation bleeding back to her.

At least she had the satisfaction of seeing the Darksider's eyes widen in surprise as he fell to one knee. “What are you doing?!” he demanded before clutching his sides with a grimace.

“I'm stopping you,” Hisani declared as she kept a hand outstretched to keep sending waves of nausea at her enormous opponent before recalling her lightsaber with her other hand. “Surrender now and I'll release my hold on you.”

In an enormous show of willpower, the giant managed to get back on two feet – if a little unsteadily. “The moment you stop is the moment you die. I won't surrender.”

Hisani hated to admit that the Darksider had a point. Unless they could find a more permanent way to restrain him, there was nothing stopping him from pulverizing her once she could no longer sustain the Malacia. However she did have a counterargument: “That may be, but without you, your Separatist benefactors can't win this battle. I simply need to hold you here long enough for my forces to take the factory and then your reason for fighting will be gone.”

“You can destroy the factory and kill Dasmana for all I care. My reason for fighting has nothing to do with the Separatists,” he said through gritted teeth. “They are merely a means to an end. What I seek is an end to the Jedi Order and all they stand for.”

“Why do you hate the Jedi so much, um...” Hisani hesitated as she stopped herself just short from calling the being in front of her 'monster'. The last thing she needed to do was make him even angrier.

He must have picked up on her hesitation, because the Darksider answered her unspoken query first. “The name is Crix,” he told her as he managed to take a step towards her. “And as for why I hate Jedi, that's not something you need to concern yourself with. You won't be alive long enough to worry about it.”

Hisani increased the potency of the Malacia and felt the bile rise in her throat as her knees threatened to give out on her, however the effect on Crix was far more severe. With a groan he collapsed to the ground, barely managing to stay up with one hand while the other remained clutched at his side. All he could do was glare daggers at Hisani as he struggled to fight the sensations of his own body. It seemed as though Crix's defenses were all about stopping damage to himself, but he had nothing to use to counter against Malacia since it didn't actually cause damage to the body.

Hisani would have breathed a sigh of relief if she didn't feel so sick. It was only a small consolation to her that whatever she was feeling, Crix was feeling far more potently. Fortunately a group of clone troopers had arrived to surround her and Crix. She signaled to the nearest commander: “Status on the battle?”

The clone trooper saluted. “Ma'am! We've broken through their lines and are currently in the process of securing the factory. General Dasmana has surrendered to us and dropped their jamming field. We're able to contact the fleet again.”

She smiled. “Excellent work. Contact Vice Admiral Kasr immediately. I need to update him on our current predicament.”

***

Kasr mused over Hisani's words thoughtfully. The Darksider as she described him would never be held by conventional means. Even some of the methods he had devised over the course of the war to hold rogue Darksiders likely wouldn't be much good against someone like Crix. The odds were good that his enormous strength would simply overcome them.

He did have a flash of inspiration though. He quickly pulled up a report of the factory they had captured and smiled when he saw that it had what he needed. He motioned to his second-in-command, a clone officer that Kasr had dubbed “Keffi” after the prized and intelligent riding beasts used by Anaxsi nobles.

He began quickly inputting data into a datapad before handing it to Keffi. “Get some engineers down to the carbonite freezing facilities in that factory right away and modify their largest pit to these specifications.”

Keffi looked over the specifications and seemed to immediately grasp what Kasr had in mind. He was definitely bright for a clone – one of the reasons Kasr had chosen the officer's particular nickname. “You're going to put this Crix in to carbon freeze? The chances of a living being surviving carbon freeze without using the proper facilities for such a procedure-”

“He'll survive,” Kasr assured Keffi. “And even if he doesn't for some unforeseen reason, I'm fine with that outcome as well. The fact is that General Sane won't be able to hold him much longer, so it's this or nothing. Now send my orders. I'll be departing for the surface with help to keep Crix restrained. You're in charge of the fleet until we return.”

Keffi saluted. “Yes, sir!”

[Halomek]

In the end, they were able to keep Crix constrained through another bit of technological improvisation from Kasr. Industrial strength tractor beam projectors were mounted on grav sleds and used to hold Crix in midair while he was transported through the factory to the carbonite chamber. It wasn't any kind of long term solution, the power draw to keep the beams at maximum power – Kasr wouldn't chance anything less with someone like Crix – had the portable generators just shy of the redlines.

Hisani was looking weak from having to keep Crix under an extended bout of Malacia, but was still doing her best to put up a strong front. She wanted to see this through to the end as much as Kasr did. Kasr also didn't want to admit it, but if Crix did somehow break free, all the soldiers they had with them probably wouldn't amount to much. Hisani was still the best countermeasure they had to be able to subdue him again.

As the Vanguard troops got the chamber ready and Crix into position, Kasr opted for a quiet aside to Hisani: “How are you doing?”

“Well enough,” she replied back with an equally low tone. “I just thank the Force that Master Rancisis was so insistent about teaching his students that technique.”

“Don't sell yourself short,” Kasr said with a meaningful look. “Plenty of Jedi before you fell to this thing. They should put you on the Jedi Council for this.”

Hisani chuckled sadly. “Hardly. I just wish Master Rancisis was still alive to see this. No one ever quite mastered Malacia like he did, but I think it would have made him proud to see how well I was able to use it today.”

“Indeed,” Kasr agreed. “Without you a lot of lives would have been lost.” He then turned to face Crix, who was being lowered into the carbonite chamber with the tractor beams. “Were it up to me, monster, I would have you executed on the spot. Personally, I believe you're far too dangerous to keep locked up, but that decision is out my hands. Your fate will be decided by the Jedi Council.”

Crix laughed at this. “How terrifying. What will they do? Exile me? Try to reform me? Releasing me from this carbonite prison to face their judgment is the last mistake any of them will ever make.”

“What happened in your life to give you so much rage?” Hisani asked, almost pleading. “With your power and abilities, you could-”

“Save it,” Crix cut her off. “I'd rather be put into carbon-freeze than listen to what you're about to say. Your subordinate has the right idea, but the Jedi would never kill a defenseless opponent, no matter how dangerous they are. That's what makes them weak and I'll have no part of that.”

Hisani bowed her head sadly. “Very well. Begin the procedure.”

Although it still rankled him a bit to be referred to as a subordinate, Kasr kept his cool and nodded to the technicians on standby to activate the chamber. From what he had read about the process of freezing living beings, it was relatively quick, but could also be painful during those brief moments before they were put into carbon-freeze. As much as a part of Kasr wished that Crix would feel a little bit of pain for nearly killing Hisani, he was not surprised at all when the new carbonite slab was removed to see that the large creature had taken the freezing process without apparent discomfort.

Once the slab was attached to portable hover units, another technician rushed over to check Crix's vitals. “He's alive and in perfect hibernation.”

Only then did Hisani breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank the Force. I was not looking forward to facing off against him again if he broke out. The way you found to keep him contained was inspired, Admiral.”

Kasr smiled to himself as he walked over to examine Crix's carbonite slab for himself. “As my old teacher, Ptolemy Alexander, once said: any problem can be solved with the right combination of technology and innovation. I can't take all the credit though, I was not the first person to figure out how to safely freeze a living being in carbonite.” He glanced back at Hisani. “Still, I must admit, without your skills in the Force, we likely would have lost the entire contingent before I would have been able to formulate a solution.”

Kasr looked back at Crix again one last time, thoughtfully. “It really is kind of frightening what the Force can do in the wrong hands...”

***

With Crix contained and Dasmana taken as a prisoner of war, it didn't take long to wrap things up on Tangrene. The factory and the remaining battle droids were scuttled and all pertinent data that could still be recovered from the factory computers was downloaded for further analysis. Before long the Anaxes and the rest of the Vanguard Fleet had departed the planet and was headed for Coruscant to transfer possession of Dasmana and Crix to the appropriate authorities.

After such a successful mission, Kasr should have been relaxing or celebrating, but instead he was troubled. He ended up in one of the sparring rooms onboard the Anaxes and was practicing martial arts with training droids as he tried to clear his mind.

It didn't take Hisani long to find him. She entered the room and observed his movements for a few moments before speaking up. “The droids don't appear to be giving you much of a challenge.”

Kasr hit several special pressure plates on the droid in front of him, meant to represent typical weak points on a humanoid body, which caused the droid to shut down and fall to the ground. He walked away from it in disappointment. “Droids rarely do.”

Hisani smiled before shedding herself of her usual Jedi robes, revealing that she was wearing workout clothes of her own underneath them. She walked over to meet him halfway. “How would you like a real workout then?”

Kasr paused for a moment. It wasn't often that he saw Hisani walking around without her bulky Jedi robes, so the visual was always a treat for the eyes. He smiled at her. “Judging by that outfit, I'd say you already know my answer. Have I become so predictable? I thought I had learned to shield my mind better than that.”

Hisani smiled back at him before stretching a bit to warm up. “Reng, one thing you aren't is predictable, but I know you better than anyone else in the fleet. I didn't need to read your mind to see that you were troubled by our battle today.”

He sighed before nodding. “You're right, of course.” He adopted a combat stance. It was slightly reminiscent of Teräs Käsi but it wasn't anything standard to the usual martial arts taught within the Grand Army of the Republic. He challenged her with a beckoning gesture with one of his hands. “If you want to know more though, you'll have to earn it the hard way.”

Hisani was momentarily taken aback by the odd stance before she took a more standard Tae-Jitsu pose to counter him. “Something new?” she teased him. “I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Reng Kasr is developing his own martial art.”

“It's a work in progress,” he confirmed for her, “but I needed to do something. I'd like to win a match against you one of these days.”

Hisani tensed her body as she readied herself to strike. “Don't count on it.”

Kasr remained calm, his ice blue gaze taking everything in. “Don't hold back.”

Hisani ended their brief stand off by striking first. Kasr could tell she was holding back despite him telling her not to. She always did. The Force gave her a significant advantage in speed and anticipating her opponent's moves, so she did this so as not to overwhelm him. It was a kindness he knew was meant with the best of intentions, but it was misplaced.

Sparring against her over the years had made him into a truly formidable fighter, but he had never quite been able to overcome her abilities. Every time he came close, she upped her game to another level, but after so many years of this he was sure he was close to seeing Hisani fight him at her absolute best. It just needed an extra push...

They went back and forth for a bit. Kasr used his powers of observation and working knowledge of the way Hisani fought to anticipate and counter her enhanced speed. Hisani, as always, had the Force as her ally. Kasr patiently waited for an opening to surprise her with the new technique he had been developing, but kept his intentions carefully shielded so as not to give away anything before he was ready.

Finally he saw it. One of her strikes was slightly off, which would leave her briefly unguarded – not to any normal attack of course, but perhaps it would to something unexpected. Kasr seized upon the opportunity and harnessed the adrenaline in his body to briefly increase his speed as he retaliated.

His gambit worked as his punch suddenly came much faster than Hisani expected. Try as she might, she couldn't mount a defense in time and stumbled backwards in a vain attempt to dodge it. She would have failed if not for Kasr stopping his punch a mere inch from her face.

They stood still for just a moment, frozen in time, surprise on Hisani's face and triumph on Kasr's. Then they both started laughing at the absurdity of it all. Kasr lowered his fist to wipe a tear of mirth from his eye, but instantly regretted it as he felt his body seize up and cramp as the adrenaline rush faded.

Hisani was instantly concerned. “What's wrong?”

Kasr tried not to grimace as he felt his body angrily send waves of pain at him for the incredible stresses he had just put on it. “A side-effect of the technique I tried. I didn't think it would be this bad. My whole upper body is knotted up.”

Hisani gave him a stern look. “Okay. Get that shirt off and lay down on the floor.”

Kasr tried to wave it off. “I'll be fine.”

Hisani wasn't having it though. “That's an order, Admiral.”

They both knew it wasn't, but Kasr wasn't about to argue. He braced himself for the pain and managed to get his shirt off before gingerly taking a position on the floor, chest to the ground.

Hisani knelt down next to him and began to firmly massage his aching muscles. Everywhere she touched seemed to instantly feel better. “What was that back there?” she asked him as she continued to work his back. “I didn't think you could move that fast.”

“I used my body's natural adrenaline to give me a boost,” he told her. “It's something I've been working on to fight Force-users.”

Hisani briefly paused in her ministrations. “Why would you need something like that? Does the thought of losing to me really bother you that much?”

“No... Yes...” Kasr sighed as he struggled with his own internal conflict. “It's not you, Hisani. It's the general idea that those of us without access to the Force need to be helpless against those that can use it. What happened on Tangrene is a perfect example. Everyone just takes it for granted that the Jedi will always be around to protect the galaxy from those that use the Dark Side. That's dangerous thinking.”

Hisani continued her massage, but slower this time. “The Jedi have been around for a thousand generations and they've always stood against evil. What makes you think that will ever change?”

“Dooku is a former Jedi Master and he's the whole reason we're at war in the first place,” Kasr replied as he clenched his fists a bit. “The Force is the most dangerous weapon in the galaxy. You should know better than anyone what can happen when a Jedi goes bad.”

Hisani turned him around so that Kasr was on his back. The look of pain on her face caused him to feel a pang of regret at his words. Of course she knew. Her master had been slain by a former pupil who had turned to the Dark Side. The idea that Jedi were free from emotion was a misconception and Kasr realized that his words had stung more than he had ever intended.

He propped himself up on his elbows. Even after such a brief massage, his body felt remarkably better. “I'm sorry, Hisani. It wasn't my intent to bring up bad memories. It's just that I've never been so close to losing you as I was today. Crix could have easily killed you and everyone else down there and there would have been nothing I could have done about it. Fear and helplessness are not emotions I'm used to dealing with. It really just brought everything into focus about how dependent the galaxy is on the Jedi.”

Hisani nodded before straddling him about the waist. She then leaned down to kiss him. “Reng Kasr, you're the most terrifying man I've ever met. I've never seen a limit you couldn't surpass or odds you couldn't beat. I never know what to expect from you, but I thank the Force every day that you're on our side.” She kissed him again. “It's not just any man who can cause me to break the Jedi strictures on intimacy.”

Kasr smiled back before abruptly grabbing her and reversing their positions. Hisani yelped in surprise and delight before he leaned down to give her a kiss of his own. “And you, Hisani Sane, are the most unnerving woman I've ever met. You're always forcing me to see this galaxy in ways I never imagined before. I wouldn't be half the man I am today if not for you.”

Hisani grabbed Kasr by the head and pulled him back towards her. They met in another kiss that quickly turned into a much deeper intimacy as the Anaxes and the rest of the Vanguard Fleet steadily made its way to Coruscant...

[Halomek]

Coruscant

The return to Coruscant was a happy occasion for Kasr. It had been nearly half a standard year since he had seen the capital planet. Coordinating the Vanguard Fleet during the Outer Rim Sieges had required his near constant attention, leaving little time or opportunity for him to be anywhere else unless it was on official Republic business. If he was being honest with himself, he didn't much mind being stuck in the Outer Rim. Fighting a war was a challenge he relished and his subsequent relationship with Hisani had given him even less reason to want to go anywhere.

However, he enjoyed speaking with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine on the occasions when he was called back to Coruscant. To Kasr, Palpatine seemed like one of the last hopes the Galactic Republic had in staving off the corruption that plagued it. He very much doubted that the Republic would have fared as well as it had during the war if not for the actions Palpatine had taken.

As Kasr entered the office, Palpatine smiled and rose from his desk to greet him. “Ah, Vice Admiral Kasr. I'm so glad you could make it. Please take a seat.”

Kasr smiled back as he did so. “Thank you, your excellency,” he replied formally. “It's a pleasure, as always.”

Palpatine nodded back. “The pleasure is mine. It's commanders like you that are helping us to win the war against the Separatists. Your latest victory was most impressive.”

“General Sane deserves the credit for Tangrene,” Kasr replied as he subtly corrected the chancellor. “After reviewing the data on the ground battle, I don't believe anything we had on the surface would have stood a chance against Crix if not for her.”

Palpatine raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. “You do yourself too little credit, Admiral. It was not Master Sane who so effectively routed and destroyed the enemy fleet in orbit. You were also the one who thought of the idea of freezing that brute in carbonite.” He smiled warmly. “Frankly, it surprises me to hear you speak so highly of Master Sane. I seem to recall that you were not pleased to have a Jedi commanding you.”

Kasr struggled briefly to think of what to say. He hesitated to mention his relationship with Hisani, even to a man he trusted, like Palpatine. “In many respects, I still don't like it. The idea that the Jedi make better commanders than experienced military officers is something I will never understand, but I've been able to find common ground with General Sane. After a lot of trial and effort, we've gelled into an excellent team.”

Palpatine made a thoughtful noise as he placed the tips of his fingers together. “It seems as though that's more than most officers in your position can say. Please don't misunderstand me, the Jedi Order will always be invaluable to the safety and security of the Republic, but I sometimes wonder if they have the best interests of our government at heart.”

“What do you mean?”

A look of concern crossed the older man's face. “Surely you've noticed it as well? The tendency of the Jedi to abandon their posts to address threats more specific to the Jedi Order? As much as I admire and respect the Jedi, it has become clear to me that they heed callings from the Force before those of their government. And yet, despite all of the free reign they are afforded, they're still no closer to locating this supposed Sith Lord pulling Dooku's strings than they were at the start of the war.”

Kasr nodded in understanding. Even Hisani wasn't immune to this. There had been a few times during the war in which the Jedi Council had tasked a mission to her, necessitating her temporary departure from the fleet. Kasr had enjoyed her absences at first, since it meant he was indisputably in charge of the fleet, but now that they were together, that was no longer the case. “It is troubling,” he agreed.

Palpatine leaned back in his seat. “It's been hampering the war effort. I've come to learn, however, that new legislation is being drafted to add an amendment to the Security Act which would remove Jedi and Senatorial oversight over the military. I would have direct control over all military appointments if it passes – purely for the purposes of ending this war all the sooner, of course.”

Although he was normally not one for politics, the ramifications of such a thing did not escape Kasr. “That would mean that the Jedi would no longer automatically be in charge of our forces.” He frowned. “Honestly, I like the idea, but I don't see how it would pass. The Senate has afforded you a lot of power already, but this would be an enormous sacrifice on their part.”

“Indeed,” Palpatine agreed. “I expect it to fail unless something catastrophic happens soon to change hearts and minds. For too many senators this war is looked at more as a distraction than a real threat. They don't think the war can truly touch them here on Coruscant.” He smiled sadly. “It's actually a relief as I doubt the Jedi would handle the removal of their authority all that well.”

Kasr tried to think of how Hisani would take such news. Would she agree with the actions taken or would she take issue with it? He realized with a start that he had no idea what she would do. It was a troubling revelation. “You might be right...”

Palpatine gave Kasr a knowing look. “The Jedi haven't had a true challenge to their power and influence since the Ruusan Reformation nearly 1,000 years ago. They will object to losing their hold over the workings of the Republic. The only question is how strongly.”

***

Hisani Sane waited in the middle of the Jedi Council chamber, feeling a little nervous despite her outward Jedi calm. She was surrounded on all sides by the best in the Jedi Order. Most were represented through holograms, but a few, like Master Yoda, were there in person. When she had received the summons to appear before the council, Hisani had assumed that it was to get her opinion on Crix's fate, but now she wasn't so sure. She could sense that there was something more they had in mind.

Mace Windu was the first to speak. He was one of the few to be in the chamber in person and the sight of one of the Order's most powerful warriors gave her pause. “Do you know why we have summoned you here, Master Sane?”

She shook her head. “I do not, but I am, as always, here to serve. What does the council wish of me?”

Yoda was also there in person. Even though Yoda was even more powerful than Mace Windu, Hisani did not feel intimidated by him. How could she? Like so many other younglings, Master Yoda had always been there to give her guidance and help her grow in the Force for as long as she could remember.

“To be congratulated, you are,” Yoda said to her. “Stopping Crix, no small feat it was. Proud of you Master Rancisis would be. Know this, I do. A great friend he was.”

Hisani smiled sadly. “Thank you, Master. That means a lot coming from you.”

The hologram of Obi-Wan Kenobi spoke next. “Of course that's not the only reason you were summoned here. Defeating Crix was just the latest in a long line of impressive accomplishments you've done since you joined the war effort. It's high time we acknowledged your contributions.”

“I'm afraid I don't understand,” Hisani replied with a frown. “I seek no accolades for my efforts. Besides, I didn't do it alone. Everything I've done, I've done with the support of the people of Vanguard Fleet. They made our victories possible just as much as I.”

Kit Fisto, also represented by hologram, laughed before flashing that famous smile of his. “Your humbleness will put us all to shame, Master Sane. Please tell us more about those you work with, particularly Vice Admiral Reng Kasr.”

Hisani's heart skipped a beat at the unexpected mention of Kasr, a fact which wasn't lost on the members of the Jedi Council in attendance in the room with her. In that instant Hisani realized her mistake and that any attempt to hide her romance with Kasr now would be pointless.

“Your feelings for him are strong, Master Sane,” Yoda observed. “How strong are they? Attachment, forbidden it is for a Jedi! A path to the Dark Side it can be. Seen it before, many times I have.”

Hisani marshaled her resolve and looked around the council. “With respect, Master Yoda, I know our teachings well. I'm no wide-eyed Padawan. My relationship with Reng was not a spur of the moment thing. He's proven many times over to be one of the most remarkable individuals I've ever met. Together we are greater than we are apart.”

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. “No one is blaming or condemning you for your relationship with him, Master Sane. Even the best of us can succumb to these feelings during times of conflict, but take it from someone who has experienced love and loss before: it can bring out darker parts of yourself that you didn't even know were there.”

“I'm afraid I still don't understand the purpose of this meeting,” Hisani said to them. “Are you forbidding me to see him anymore?”

Mace shook his head. “That is a choice you'll have to make for yourself, Master Sane. In every other way you have been a model Jedi, so perhaps we can overlook it. However, it will disqualify you from being nominated to the Jedi Council if you continue to see him.”

The importance of Mace Windu's words took a second or two to register with Hisani. “You... you want to nominate me to be part of the Jedi Council? Masters, I'm not worthy of such an honor!”

“There she goes, being humble again,” Kit Fisto said with a chuckle. “Nothing has been decided yet. The purpose of this meeting was to bring all of this to your attention. If you're not careful, Skywalker might snatch the spot instead.”

Obi-Wan groaned. “Please keep your voice down, Master Fisto. Anakin doesn't need anymore encouragement in that regard.”

Ki-Adi-Mundi, yet another hologram, spoke up for the first time. His tone was reserved. “You don't have to answer us right away, Master Sane. We'll give you time to reflect on our meeting today. However, I would advise caution when it comes to Reng Kasr. We've noticed that his loyalties tend to be more towards the Supreme Chancellor than to the Republic itself.”

Hisani looked around again. “Aren't they one and the same?”

Yoda shook his head. “Remains to be seen, it does.”

“The Supreme Chancellor has managed to gather an enormous amount of power since the war began,” Mace explained to her. “We're watching him very carefully now.”

Hisani took a calming breath. It was a lot to handle all at once and she wasn't sure yet just what to think of it all. She bowed respectfully. “If you'll excuse me, Masters, I'll leave to consider everything we've discussed.”

After she departed the Jedi Temple, Hisani discovered that her hands were shaking. What worried her was that she didn't know if it was due to excitement or fear.

[Halomek]

After his talk with Palpatine, Kasr received orders that the Vanguard Fleet was to head to Kashyyyk to reinforce the Republic forces already stationed there. The Separatists had begun a series of probing attacks and it was felt that the planet would erupt into full-scale war very soon. He had already been informed by Keffi that Hisani had sent the majority of the fleet there already. As the Jedi General, she had undoubtedly been given their new orders before him.

He was surprised to learn, however, that “maintenance issues” was delaying the departure of the Anaxes itself. That in itself didn't appear to be so unusual, except that Kasr was steadfastly insistent on running a tight ship. The idea that his flagship would be suffering from some routine mechanical problem, while seemingly a legit issue to an outsider, would be patently ridiculous to anyone who served in Vanguard Fleet.

It didn't take a lot of deductive reasoning to see that Hisani clearly didn't want them to leave yet, so she had ordered Keffi to give Naval Command that excuse. The question was why.

When they met in person in the Central District, he asked her that very question.

Hisani appeared distracted. “We need to talk, Reng.”

He raised an eyebrow. “We are talking.”

She shook her head. “Not here. Somewhere more private.”

Kasr had never seen Hisani look so worried or unsure of herself. He gripped her shoulder in concern, forcing Hisani to look at him. “Of course, but at least tell me what this is all about first. What happened to you?”

“The Jedi Council knows about us,” she told him. “They know everything.”

Kasr felt a weight drop around his shoulders. This day had been bound to happen, of course. Kasr didn't even need to ask how they knew. It was the Jedi Council, they were going to find out about it eventually. Judging by Hisani's reaction, the council had been predictably negative about the idea of their relationship too.

He took a steadying breath before coming to a decision. “We'll figure this out, okay? I'll make us reservations at the Manarai Range for tonight. We can talk there.”

She blinked in surprise. “I know that place. It's one of those upscale restaurants that float around the mountains. That's not exactly private.”

“It's private enough,” he argued. “It's also one the last places someone would expect to see a Jedi. Trust me, Hisani, once you change out of those Jedi robes, they'll barely recognize you.”

“I don't know...”

“The fact is I want to do this for you,” Kasr insisted. “The war has constantly been in the background of our relationship since it began. I want to treat you to one night where we can forget all of that. Tonight the only thing that matters is just the two of us.”

Hisani thought about it for a moment before giving him a smile. “That actually sounds really nice. Okay, the Manarai Range it is then.”

He smiled back before departing. “I'll see you there in three standard hours. It's formal wear only, so you'll want to choose something nice.”

***

Kasr arrived at the restaurant first. He had chosen a black formal suit that was closely tailored to resemble his military uniform – only more stylish and with less ornamentation. In fact he had come about 30 standard minutes before the reservation time he had given Hisani so that he could make sure everything was up to his standards before she arrived.

Hisani was punctual, as usual, and by the time she arrived, Kasr was seated at their table – a secluded spot in front of a window overlooking the Manarai Mountains. He was sampling an Alderaanian wine when the concierge showed her to their table. Were Kasr a more excitable man, he might have choked on his drink at the sight of her. As it was he hurriedly finished the sip he was taking before getting up to greet her.

She was, in Kasr's mind, stunning. There was no other word as apt to describe it. Hisani had taken the idea of wearing a formal dress to heart and had come to the restaurant wearing a backless formal dress. It was light blue but gradated to a darker blue further down, ending near her thighs. Small gemstones and been inlaid into the fabric to resemble a starfield.

“I feel ridiculous,” she said under her breath as Kasr seated her.

“You look amazing,” he assured her before sitting back down.

She smiled back at him. “You don't look so bad yourself.” Hisani reached for her own glass of wine before looking around. “How did you manage all of this in so short a time? This doesn't seem like the kind of place where you just show up and grab a table.”

“It's not,” he agreed. “I know some people and a few of them owed me favors. I make it my business to know as much about my associates as possible.”

Hisani took an experimental sip of her wine before a look of mild surprise crossed her face. “I've never tried wine before. That's better than I thought it would be.”

“I should hope so. I had them bring us the best vintage.”

She laughed. “So you're a wine connoisseur now too? Since when?”

Kasr took another sip. “I made a point of learning about it, as well as several other topics regarding high society, before I ever left Anaxes. There's just not a lot of call for that knowledge when fighting a war in the Outer Rim.”

Hisani leaned forward and rested her chin wistfully in one hand. “Now that I think about it, it occurs to me that while you reference Anaxes a lot, I've never heard you speak about your time growing up there. Everything I know about you prior to our first meeting comes from your military record.”

Kasr set his glass down slowly and looked out the window. It was an amazing view as the sun slowly began setting behind the mountains, but he barely saw it. “Anaxes is a beautiful planet, but... I'm not fond of my childhood. I don't like to talk about it.”

Hisani reached out and touched his hand, causing him to look back at her. “Please,” she asked. “For me? Every Jedi basically has the same childhood growing up. I'd like to hear about yours.”

Kasr was conflicted at the idea of sharing something he had spent the better part of his life trying to forget, but Hisani was not just anyone. Finally he nodded. “Very well. This doesn't go past this table though. Are we clear on that? The only other person I've told any of this to is Jer Roviditian.”

“You have my word,” she promised and Kasr could tell she realized how serious he was. Hisani had met Jer a few times during the war. She knew how much of a father figure the older man was to him.

Kasr took another sip of his wine. This was not a topic of discussion he thought they would end up talking about, but it was too late to go back now. “Hundreds of years ago on Anaxes there was a powerful and influential noble family known as the House of Kasr. It eventually fell into ruin for many reasons and has been all but forgotten in modern times; the bloodline long scattered.”

“I plan to resurrect it,” he stated so matter-of-factly that it would be impossible to argue that the outcome would be any different. “The problem is that the most cherished and prized Anaxsi traditions all revolve around naval service. My claims to resurrecting the House of Kasr will fall on deaf ears if I don't have the military clout to back it up.”

Hisani nodded, but they both knew Kasr was still dodging the question and was avoiding speaking about his actual childhood. He could tell she was about to try and prod some more, but a waiter arrived with their first course.

Kasr then seized upon the opportunity and changed the subject after the waiter left. “We can talk more about my childhood later. Let's talk about you. Tell me more about what the Jedi Council said to you. That is partly why we're having dinner here in the first place.”

She looked downcast. “Reng, you've made this such a nice night. I don't want to ruin it by talking about it now.”

“Nonsense,” he insisted. “If there's a problem, I want to know about it. It brings us that much closer to solving it.”

Hisani took a bite of her salad before answering him, as if trying to put it off as long as possible. “They offered me a seat on the Jedi Council. The only condition is that I end our relationship.”

“I see,” Kasr said to her neutrally. Inside he was seething. “This all goes back to their restrictions on intimacy. They'll deny you their highest honor, in spite of all you've done in their name, simply because they're afraid of their own emotions. I expected this, but to see it fulfilled disgusts me. The cowards.”

“Reng,” she replied calmly, trying to soothe him. “It's not that simple and you know it. You said it yourself: the Force is incredibly powerful. If I lost control of my emotions because something happened to you, the damage I could do... It's not something I want to think about it.”

“You're better than that, Hisani,” Kasr said to her. “You're better than all of them. Don't start doubting yourself because of what they said. I'm starting to think that the galaxy would be better off if we never learned about the Force.”

“I'm not going to accept their offer.”

Kasr was about to rant some more, but Hisani's statement cut through his anger immediately like an ointment to a burn. He looked at her in surprise.

She nodded. “I wasn't sure before, but I am now. They can keep their position. I won't sacrifice what we have for that. The price is too high.”

“You shouldn't have to do that,” Kasr said to her, calmer now. “You deserve that seat. Don't think I haven't noticed the look in your eyes whenever you talk about the Jedi Council. You've wanted this for a long time. Don't deny it.”

“I could do a lot of good as a member of the Jedi Council, it's true,” she agreed, “but I can do a lot of good right here too.” Hisani smiled at him. “I dare you to say I'm wrong.”

“That would be a lie if I did,” he admitted as he smiled back. “I'm not quite ready to give up on getting you the recognition you deserve, but for now let's just enjoy the night.”

Hisani held her drink up for a toast. “I can get behind that.”

Kasr raised his own to comply, but as soon as the two glasses touched, an alarm suddenly sounded throughout the restaurant. They both looked around in surprise before the ambient music was replaced by a male voice: “Attention patrons. We've just received a report that the Separatists have launched an attack on the capital. Please remain calm and proceed to the nearest courtesy shuttle. We'll be flying you to a nearby shelter until the danger passes.”

Kasr and Hisani looked at each in disbelief before Kasr pulled out his comlink to try and reach Keffi. All he got back was static. “Communications are being jammed,” he confirmed.

Hisani nodded. “I can sense signs of battle off in the distance. I need to get down there to help.”

Kasr stood. “Go. I'll find a way up to the Anaxes and see what I can do from there.”

“It was a nice night while it lasted, thank you.” Hisani then reached over to kiss him before dashing towards one of the shuttles.

Kasr watched her go for a moment. He reached one hand into a pocket and fingered a small box thoughtfully, before he sighed with regret and set his mind to the task of somehow getting into space. It had been a nice night, but now he had work to do...

[Halomek]

Getting to a spaceport was a task that was easier said than done for Kasr. The attack on Coruscant had taken everyone completely by surprise. Once the emergency shuttle set him down at the shelter he looked up as he heard the distinct engine noise of tri-fighters flying overheard. He tracked the enemy fighters visually before he saw them fire on the Manarai Range.

The restaurant, which was built to look nice and nothing else, crumpled under the fire of the military machines and began to list out of control as its repulsors failed it. Other restaurant patrons around him were crying out in shock or dismay, but Kasr simply stood and watched the building crash into the ground before it exploded.

What could be the point of blowing up a civilian restaurant? There was none and droids wouldn't just randomly attack non-strategic points unless... His eyes widened as the answer came to him. This battle wasn't about trying to take Coruscant. It was a distraction from their true objective. The Separatists wanted something on the planet, but what?

With a feeling of dread slowly clawing at him, Kasr fled from the shelter on foot as he searched for some kind of vehicle he could commandeer and vainly wished he could use the Force to make himself faster. He eventually ran across a shot up speeder that had been abandoned in the middle of a road. Kasr looked it over with an expert eye. It wasn't pretty, but it looked liked it could move and that was what he needed more than anything else. After quickly hotwiring the starter, he sped off towards the nearest military base.

***

By the time he arrived at the military base the speeder was stuttering and belching black smoke, but Kasr was able to limp it to the entrance. The base looked to be in okay shape. Anti-aircraft weapons were firing at the enemy starfighters, but it looked as though the Separatist ground troops hadn't advanced this far yet.

Two clone troopers guarding the gate trained their weapons on him, but Kasr pulled out his military ID, causing them to suddenly salute instead.

“Give me a sitrep, trooper,” he ordered. “What's going on?”

“Sir!” one of the troopers answered. “The fighting is mainly centered around Galactic City and the Senate District. We're still working on breaking through their interference, but there are scattered reports that General Grievous has been spotted on the surface and is making an attempt on Chancellor Palpatine.”

“Oh no,” Kasr thought to himself as the feeling of dread intensified. That explained why the droids were creating as much of a distraction as possible. There was no way he'd be able to find Palpatine in the heat of battle, but perhaps he could still do something up in space and prevent Grievous from making an escape. If they could capture or kill the general, this war would be that much closer to being over.

“Do you have any fighters still docked that are capable of getting into space?”

The clone trooper nodded. “There are some spare V-wings in the hangar, but you'll need to get permission from the base commander.”

“Tell the commander that Vice Admiral Reng Kasr has just authorized it,” Kasr ordered before he dashed past them towards the hangar. He just hoped he wasn't too late...

[Pryde]

Elsewhere Hisani was coming to the same conclusion. Down below her the forces of the Separatist appeared to be attacking random targets. Targets of little or no strategic value. She didn't have Kasr's military experience or his brilliant mind but even she could deduce that there were better places to attack rather than the middle of Galactic City. Like the Jedi Temple or the Senate Building, for instance. So far the bulk of the Separatist forces seemed to be concentrated elsewhere. But why? It doesn't make any sense, unless... Her eyes widened at the thought. The attack was just a distraction and if the Separatists weren't here to capture Coruscant then their only objective could have been the Chancellor.

She pulled out her comm device and tried to contact the Jedi Temple to no avail. Communications were still blocked by Separatist jamming. Looking down into the streets, though, she could see other Jedi fighting back against the Separatists. She didn't have any time to stop and warn them of the danger, however, by now the Separatist attack was well underway and if the enemy truly was making a play for Chancellor Palpitine then she would need every second she could get to stop it.

"Take me to the Senate plaza," she told the driver of the transport she'd been riding it. It took a good deal of convincing to get the man to drive her into a warzone but again she didn't have time to flag down a military transport.

The driver nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. The senate plaza was outside of the combat zone. So far all reports had indicated the Separatists had yet to attack the Senate Building or threaten the government in any way. Still, if the Separatists were brazen enough to attack the heart of the Republic then they would have sent their best general. That meant that General Grievous would be down there somewhere on the battlefield and if Grievous was here then it stood to reason that he would be the one leading the attack on the Chancellor. Hisani had only encountered him once or twice during the course of the war and both times she narrowly escaped. She just hoped that by now she had improved enough in her skills to prepare herself for a rematch...

[Halomek]

Although he was trained and accredited to fly all of the starfighters in use by the Galactic Republic, Kasr didn't consider himself to be anything more than an adequate pilot. He was of far more use overseeing the battlefield than being in it. His hand-to-hand skills notwithstanding, Kasr knew his strengths were all about tactics and strategy.

Kasr omitted the usual routine of dressing in a flight suit before entering the V-wing. It was a risky gamble since the starfighter had no life support systems, but he was relatively confident that the air in the cockpit would last him long enough to make it to the Anaxes. Not freezing to death once the starfighter entered the cold vacuum of space was what worried him more, but it was another risk he was willing to take. He figured that his formal clothes should keep enough of his body heat inside long enough for it to be survivable.

Time was everything right now. If Palpatine was lost, so was this war.

Once the V-wing was safely away from the military base, Kasr engaged the sublight drive at the maximum speed to join the battle in space. The g-forces on his body were only partially compensated for by the inertial dampeners, but Kasr resisted it. If his body couldn't handle this, then all of his physical training would have been for nothing anyway.

Once he entered the upper atmosphere and into space, the temperature drop was immediately noticeable. It was biting enough to make Kasr think he might have made a serious mistake by not suiting up after all, but it was too late for regrets. He had more important things to do as he quickly consulted the tactical map to see the state of the battle. He needed to see two things: one, where the Anaxes was, and two, what Grievous was up to.

He didn't like either answer.

The Anaxes was on the outskirts of the battlefield since it looked as though Skywalker's Open Circle Fleet had arrived to engage the Separatist forces. That made tactical sense considering that all the other ships in the Vanguard Fleet had already been sent off to Kashyyyk, but it also meant he was going to be in this cockpit longer than he anticipated.

And second, although the Open Circle Fleet was doing a good job of keeping the Separatists engaged, it didn't look as though they realized what Grievous was really after.

Kasr tried to open communications, but the V-wing's limited communications gear couldn't break through the jamming signals – and since Kasr had taken the starfighter without any prior notice, it hadn't been updated with the newest Republic code frequencies. He was effectively flying silent until he reached the Anaxes.

As much as he wanted to try and cut through the fighting in the center in order to reach the Anaxes faster, Kasr decided to skirt around on the outside. It meant longer in a rapidly cooling cockpit and more time for Grievous to try and abduct Palpatine, but if he was blown up getting there, he couldn't help anybody.

By the time he reached the Anaxes, Kasr's hands and face were numb from the cold, but he still had enough control to land the starfighter. It hit the hangar floor with a thud, so it wasn't his most glamorous landing, but the ship was still in one piece. He wasted no time popping the cockpit and jumping out, nearly stumbling into an undignified heap as he did so thanks to muscles sluggish from the freezing temperatures he had endured.

Kasr forced himself to rush towards the bridge, taking a short detour to grab a hot cup of caf to warm his body, before he reached his destination. He wasted no time issuing orders as soon as he entered the bridge. “Get me a line of communication with General Skywalker now!”

The bridge crew were well-trained, as to be expected of anyone serving under him, and got to work without questioning his unexpected appearance or the sudden interruption to everything that was going on. They knew that an order from Kasr was to be followed. The only people who had any standing to question them were Keffi and Hisani.

However the man that appeared on the screen was definitely not Anakin Skywalker. Kasr recognized the face immediately and saluted Admiral Wullf Yularen. In Kasr's opinion, Wullf Yularen was one of the finest officers serving the Republic, and in fact Kasr had found that much of his career had some eerie parallels to Yularen's. The man was a living legend.

“Vice Admiral Kasr,” Yularen greeted him back with a perfunctory salute of his own. “I'm surprised to see that you're still on Coruscant. I would have thought that you would be with the rest of your fleet at Kashyyyk, regardless of the state of your flagship.” He paused for a second and eyed him. “Why are you out of uniform?”

Kasr hesitated only briefly. “It's a long story, Admiral. I have urgent information for General Skywalker or General Kenobi.”

Yularen kept his face impassive except for a slight downturn of his lips. “The Jedi Generals are leading our starfighter assault on the Separatist forces.”

“Both of them?!” Kasr exclaimed in surprise. “That's-” He stopped himself and regained his composure. “I don't see the strategic logic in sending both fleet commanders into the heart of battle. Did they give a reason?”

“They are Jedi,” Yularen replied back dryly. “Military protocol is not something they tend to follow.”

Yularen was doing a good job of keeping his expression neutral, but Kasr could recognize the resentment in the admiral's eyes. No doubt this wasn't the first time Yularen had questioned the point of putting Jedi in charge of major military operations. Kasr recognized it because they were the same thoughts he had. Even after coming to an understanding (and more) with Hisani, Kasr still couldn't see the decision as anything more than a hindrance to the war effort. Not every commander had the kind of understanding with their Jedi General that Kasr had managed to forge with Hisani.

Kasr sighed angrily. After all the trouble he had gone through to make it back to the Anaxes, neither Skywalker or Kenobi were around to hear his intel... “Admiral, I have reason to believe that General Grievous isn't trying to take Coruscant. He's attempting to either kidnap or assassinate Chancellor Palpatine. The capital ship formation, the attack pattern of the starfighters, they all point towards-”

“I know,” Yularen interrupted him. “That is my thought as well. I'm afraid my hands are tied. Until I hear back from the Jedi, my orders to keep our current formation stand. I'm sure they know what they're doing.”

Yularen's face made it clear that while he didn't like the situation, arguing with him about it would get Kasr nowhere. If there was one difference between Yularen and himself it was that Yularen was much more by the book than Kasr had ever been. Yularen would follow any orders given to him by a superior, even bad ones. Kasr would, up to a point, and that point had been crossed.

“I understand, Admiral,” he replied. “Fortunately for both of us, those aren't my orders.”

Yularen nodded. “The less I know, the better. Good luck, Vice Admiral Kasr.”

Once Yularen had signed off, Kasr turned to Keffi. “Plot a course. We're going to make sure the Invisible Hand stays right where it is.”

[Halomek]

Jedi Temple

When the alarms sounded about the attack on Coruscant, the Heliost Jedi Initiate Clan were busy studying in the Jedi Archives. The younglings in the Heliost Clan were usually selected for their keen insights and studious natures. Even at such young ages, panic was not their first response to the alarms. Instead, they quickly and quietly gathered around their master, Syln Provada, in order to be herded to a safer and more secure location until the danger was over.

All except one.

“Ret'jovis!” Syln muttered to herself in frustration. “I might have known that boy would hide himself away somewhere.” The old Duros Jedi extended her senses to try and locate the errant youngling, but for her it was an exercise in futility. Ret'jovis had a natural talent for hiding, even from seasoned Jedi. With all of the commotion of the battle on top of everything else, it made trying to find him near impossible. She was not as adept at this kind of thing as someone like Master Yoda.

Syln's frustration did not go unnoticed. Master Jocasta Nu walked over to her with a patient smile. “Ret'jovis again?”

Syln shook her head wearily. “I'm starting to wonder if I'm failing him, Master Nu. Try as I might, he remains largely antisocial. He might be only twelve standard years old, but that's practically the cusp of adulthood for his species. I suspect he could easily pass the Initiate Trials and find a master if he were a little more accommodating.”

Jocasta nodded sagely. “Young Ret'jovis is quite gifted. On occasion I've tried testing his knowledge of the archives and the boy has always provided the correct answer. If only every Jedi were as studious as him.” Jocasta sighed tiredly before smiling. “If he does fail his initiation rites, I believe he could find a prominent position in the Jedi Service Corps as an archivist here.”

Syln nodded back. “I wish I had more time to discuss his future, but I need to make sure he has one first! We're under attack and I still have a youngling unaccounted for!”

“Try room Shen-6 in the Study Hall,” Jocasta suggested calmly. “I suspect your errant charge has sequestered himself away there with an ample amount of reading material.”

Syln glared at Jocasta, but more through annoyance than true anger. “You knew he was there the whole time, didn't you?”

“Nothing happens here that I don't know about,” Jocasta boasted. “Now go. I'll keep an eye on the rest of the Heliost Clan for you while you retrieve him.”

“I'm in your debt, Master Nu,” Syln said with a brief nod of respect before she dashed towards the Study Hall...

***

Ret'jovis was indeed sequestered in Shen-6. He had already finished the material he had brought to read and was now toying with a new hobby he had recently picked up: slicing. He already had a knack for understanding how electronic data was stored, and what he had read about slicing seemed relatively straightforward to him. His lack of experience in the field was supplemented by listening to the Force and letting it guide his fingers.

He had tried something simple at first: the door lock on his room in the Study Hall. It turned out to be easier than he thought to alter the door's programmed passwords and change them to something only he knew. It had been a fun little challenge and quite instructive, but ultimately unfulfilling when it came to Ret'jovis's desire to truly test his skills, so he had set his sights on more secure systems. Malice played no part in his actions, it was instead simply unfettered curiosity to see what he was capable of.

When the alarms started blaring, Ret'jovis had been annoyed at the interruption, but quickly raised the sound dampeners in the room to drown out the noise outside. The dampeners were meant to help people study and would ordinarily be disabled in the event of an emergency, but he had found out how to disable that function with another bit of slicing.

Ret'jovis had pulled up multiple news networks covering the surprise attack. The information they provided was broad and sometimes conflicting, but the overall picture was clear enough. The battle seemed to center on an area away from the Jedi Temple, so there was no need to panic and hide. If things got truly dangerous, he was sure the Force would provide him with ample warning.

In an effort to learn more about what was going on and to give his slicing skills more of a challenge, Ret'jovis soon found himself deep in encrypted Republic messages about the state of the battle. A lot of it bored him, but then he ran across one with an odd data signature. Something about it felt wrong to him. Decrypting the message took longer than usual and when he finally managed to open it, he was startled after it deleted itself after a brief minute's time.

Apparently the message had been altered to remove itself from the system after it had been viewed. Ret'jovis had been making copies of the messages he was decrypting to help avoid detection and spare himself a reprimand from higher authorities, so the original messages still made it to their sources. He was just practicing after all. He had no desire to actually interfere in Republic business.

The fact that the message had been programmed to destroy itself was an intriguing addition, however what really caught his attention had been the content of the message itself. The transport carrying Crix to a secure holding facility was being rerouted to a new destination deep somewhere in the Works.

“Crix?” he thought to himself in surprise. The Jedi Council hadn't been forthcoming about the fate of the mysterious Separatist living weapon, but his name and reputation had managed to trickle down even to the youngling clans. The other younglings his age were fearful of Crix – or at least as fearful as Jedi younglings got – but Ret'jovis had found him to be fascinating. Moving someone that dangerous to the Works, which was mostly just abandoned industrial buildings, made no sense. There was nothing there that could hold someone like Crix.

Or... was there?

Ret'jovis came to a startling and fearful realization that he had just stumbled upon something he really shouldn't have seen. There was a lot more happening than his young mind had ever considered before. He quickly closed down all his work and removed all traces from the datapads that he could. He even reset the door controls before he left the room.

He was barely out of the room before he heard Master Provada shout to him over the sound of the alarms. “There you are! You're in serious trouble, youngling!”

Ret'jovis nearly jumped at the sound of her voice as he turned to face her. He must have looked more frightened than even he realized, because her angry expression softened to one of concern almost immediately as she hurried over to him. “Is everything okay? You're safe now, Ret. I'm here.”

He wanted to tell Master Provada what he had found, but he felt himself gripped by a sudden bout of paranoia. The Jedi Council had decided Crix's fate, hadn't they? Had they changed their mind? Or had someone else changed the orders without their knowledge? If that last one was indeed the case, then who would dare to countermand the Jedi Order like that? Who even could? What if it was another Jedi? Or a group of them? For that matter, Master Provada had found him awfully quickly after he had discovered the Crix message and she was usually terrible at locating him. How did she do that? Maybe she was in on all of this too...

“It's... the battle,” Ret'jovis said to her as he decided to keep what he knew to himself for the time being. “It's awfully close.” It wasn't exactly a lie. What he said was factually accurate. It would be up to Master Provada to make the assumption that he was answering her question directly, instead of just stating what was going on, and fill in the rest herself. A direct lie didn't stand much chance against a Jedi's scrutiny, but answering in this way just might work.

Master Provada didn't seem to notice his vocal sleight of hand and instead placed a comforting palm on his shoulder. “You'll be safe as long as you're with me. Let's get to safety.”

Ret'jovis nodded cautiously as he followed her. He had much to consider...

[Halomek]

The Anaxes

The bridge of the Anaxes shook as the ship took a sustained barrage from two Munificent-class star frigates that thought they smelled blood in the water. Kasr stood on the bridge stoically, arms behind his back, as he let the enemy ships pound away at this flagship. All available power was being fed into the shields, but that wouldn’t last for long if his plan failed.

It was, of course, a ruse. Kasr had set up a trap and the Anaxes was almost in position to spring it. The tactical droids onboard the enemy star frigates were trying to maneuver their vessels so they could unleash their heavy turbolaser cannons to destroy the Anaxes. Right now, the only weapons they could fire were their light turbolasers, which were doing damage, but not enough to quickly chew away at the notoriously tough shields of a Venator.

Munificents, however, were more maneuverable than a Venator, so it would only be a matter of time until they managed to get into an advantageous position to unleash their heavier weapons. What the tactical droids seemed to fail to realize was that Kasr had them exactly where he wanted them. The timing would be close, but the enemy ships would cross into his trap mere seconds before they achieved their desired firing positions.

The bridge was tense as the tactical computer faithfully plotted out the positions of the combatants. If Kasr’s calculations were wrong, if he had forgotten to account for the gravitational pull of Coruscant, if the enemy tactical droids suddenly tried a less efficient attack vector, if the crew of the Anaxes were not some of the most skilled officers and clones in the fleet... then things could very well fall into ruin. Everything hinged on Kasr’s tactical abilities now.

The bridge was tense, Kasr was not.

“Enemy heavy weapons will be in range in ten seconds,” Keffi reported stiffly as the countdown clock on the tactical display turned an angry red. He then started counting down the seconds for the benefit of the bridge crew that couldn’t turn their attention away from their stations to look at it.

When Keffi reached three seconds, that’s when the trap was sprung. From seemingly nowhere multiple small explosions erupted against the shields of the two star frigates, before piercing the energy barriers and blowing holes into their hulls. The bridge crew cheered as the faith in their commander was rewarded.

“Redistribute power back to the main weapons and open fire,” Kasr commanded calmly. “Finish them off.”

The Anaxes ceased its retreat and unleashed a barrage with every available weapon it could upon the enemy. The Munificents, already heavily damaged, stood no chance and were quickly dispatched, as secondary explosions from within the vessels gutted whatever threat they could still hold. They were quickly turned into nothing more than dead hulks; two more casualties in battle.

What mattered more to Kasr was where they died. That had been the entire point of his trap.

He quickly consulted the tactical map and smiled to himself. He had just successfully blocked off the primary escape vector for the Invisible Hand. If Dooku and Grievous wanted to flee with Palpatine now, they would have to try a less advantageous vector, which would hopefully give Kenobi and Skywalker enough time to attempt a rescue.

“Absolutely brilliant, sir!” Keffi said to him. “Using our starfighters to dead launch warheads to create a minefield that would read as debris. They never saw it coming!”

Kasr looked over at the clone officer. “Fooling tactical droids is hardly worthy of praise. They tend to think in linear patterns. Once I knew what the true objective of this battle was, manipulating the enemy wasn’t too hard. We have General Sane to thank for confirming my suspicions about their objective to kidnap Palpatine. My only regret is that we weren’t in a position to do something about it sooner.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll remember that.”

Kasr nodded at him. “Good. Then have our starfighters regroup on us. Let’s see if we can’t close off a few more escape vectors for the Invisible Hand. If we’re lucky, maybe the Jedi will finally end this war for us if we can manage to stymie the enemy long enough.”

“We can only hope so, sir.”

[Halomek]

The conclusion of the Battle of Coruscant was...

“...damn sloppy!” Kasr summed up angrily. “It’s a wonder that Palpatine wasn’t killed during what I can only charitably call a rescue attempt. The reality is that those two barged onto the Invisible Hand and just hoped things would go their way. I spent all that time trying to keep Grievous trapped and not only does he get away, but they crashed his flagship into the planet!”

Lying in bed next to him was Hisani. They were in Kasr’s quarters aboard the Anaxes. Even though the ship was undergoing repairs from the Battle of Coruscant, his living quarters were far from any battle damage and it was a lot more private than where either of them lived on Coruscant. Since the surface of the planet was still in shambles after the battle, and the Anaxes was mostly functional, it had been a simple matter for them to stay aboard the ship while it stayed in drydock.

They had celebrated the Republic’s victory as thoroughly as possible, but pillow talk had invariably morphed into a reflection of the day’s events. “Anakin did kill Dooku,” Hisani pointed out. “That’s a major blow to the Separatists. It’ll likely make taking back the worlds in the Outer Rim Sieges easier. The crash also happened in an abandoned industrial zone.”

Kasr sighed as he leaned against the backboard of the bed frame. “You're trying to justify how it went because Skywalker and Kenobi are so revered, but you don’t fool me. You’re not any happier with how that went than I am. You would have preferred to take Dooku alive and I would have preferred to either take the Hand in one piece for the intel or blow it up in orbit.”

“And nowhere on Coruscant is truly abandoned,” Hisani admitted with downcast eyes. “There would have been plenty of vagrants in that zone. Noncombatants.”

“Precisely,” Kasr agreed. “No one is going to bother counting their bodies. Not with everything else that happened. We’ll never know how many people that crash killed, but it’s almost a certainty that they were Republic citizens. Frankly I’m shocked at such a callous disregard of life from such esteemed Jedi.”

“When we first met, you had sacrificed most of your task force to achieve a victory in a skirmish so little remembered that it’s barely a footnote in this war,” Hisani reminded him.

Kasr nodded. “Indeed I did. However, those were all soldiers and naval officers. All of them either signed up to fight or were clones bred to fight. I’ve never sacrificed innocent lives to achieve my goals.” He glanced over at Hisani and gave her a smile. “Besides, you challenged me to do better. At the time I bristled at being told heavy casualties were unacceptable to win battles, but I met your challenge and I became a better tactician because of it.”

Hisani sat up and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. “Yes, you did. You went beyond my expectations.”

“If we’d had the opportunity, our rescue attempt would have been so much better,” Kasr said to her as he found her nearest hand and grabbed it lovingly. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

She hesitated with her answer, but eventually broke the silence: “I can’t.”

He met her eyes. “This war has changed the Jedi, Hisani. I see it every day. The reckless actions of that rescue attempt are just the latest example. The power and authority that the Jedi have been granted is not something that should have ever been placed in their hands.”

Hisani squeezed his hand. “If that’s true, then shouldn’t you believe the same of me? Maybe love has blinded even the great Reng Kasr.”

Kasr shook his head. “We both know better than that. I wouldn’t be in a relationship with you if you displayed the same kind of arrogance as so many of the other Jedi Generals. You see beyond the dogma of your order. You’re not afraid to question what you’ve been taught. It’s what first attracted me too you.”

Hisani sighed. “I just hope Dooku’s death means we’re near the end of this war and the Jedi can go back to being peacekeepers instead of Generals. It feels like we’ve been having this same discussion a lot lately.”

Kasr rested his head against hers. “Indeed. My main concern is that when the war ends, the Jedi give up their power willingly.”

“You think they’d try to hold on to it?”

“I don’t know, Hisani,” he admitted. “Power, once granted, is not easily taken back or relinquished. History is full of examples of people failing that test – including Jedi.”

[Halomek]

10 Standard Days Later – Kashyyyk

By the time the Anaxes was finished with repairs at Coruscant and was able to rejoin the rest of the Vanguard Fleet at Kashyyyk, the Separatists had taken their initial probing attacks into a full-blown assault across several cities, with the fiercest fighting taking place in Kachirho. Several Jedi, including High General Yoda, were already on the ground leading the Republic defense against the droid army. Under Yoda’s orders, the Vanguard Fleet had been tasked to liberate the nearby city of Maarwraawroo and its manufacturing facility.

That had been two days ago.

Kasr had found a weakness in the enemy blockade that the Vanguard Fleet had been able to exploit long enough to send down troops and other war machines. Hisani, of course, had insisted on being part of the assault force on the surface. That was how they best operated. Kasr handled the planning and operations and Hisani would lead their troops into battle.

Significant reinforcements had made it down to reinforce the Wookiee freedom fighters at Maarwraawroo before the Separatist fleet had been able to regroup and force Kasr to call a tactical retreat. Since then communications with their ground forces had been spotty but, in her typical fashion, Hisani had managed to gain the trust of the Wookiees, and what little intel came back spoke of slowly taking the city back with their help.

In the present, Yoda was determined to finally liberate Kashyyyk and had called for an all-out push by all forces to hopefully break the Separatist lines for good. The battle was being coordinated by the 9th Assault Corps, a division of the fleet run by Jedi General Luminara Unduli. The 9th had a reputation as excellent soldiers, however Kasr felt himself bristling in resentment at the situation.

Unduli was on the surface, in the thick of the fighting at Kachirho, which left her decidedly subpar clone commander in charge of the space battle. He was competent enough, but his tactics left much to be desired. Kasr technically had the rank to take command of the space forces, but trying to do that in the midst of battle – for no reason other than not liking how the battle was currently being run – would ultimately cause confusion and dissent among the Republic ranks. Unless the clone commander was killed in battle, there wasn’t much Kasr could do but acknowledge his orders.

Instead Kasr tried to make the best of it. He followed his orders to the letter, but not the spirit. If he was to hold this section of space, then he would destroy as many Separatists ships as he could while he did so. Which was what he had done. Each time the Separatists had tried to retake their position, they had paid dearly for it before being sent into retreat.

“Incoming message from General Sane!” Keffi reported as he listened to the broadcast. “She’s done it! Maarwraawroo is back under Republic control. The manufacturing facility was also captured intact.”

Kasr smiled triumphantly. “You sound as if you had doubts, Commander. Maintain our holding action. Without reinforcements, there isn’t much the Separatists can do at the moment to force us away from our position. In the meantime, please direct General Sane’s transmission to my datapad.”

“Yes, sir,” Keffi confirmed before giving the signal to the communications officer to do just that.

Kasr sat down in his command chair and brought up Hisani’s transmission. She was dirty and scuffed up, but otherwise seemed to be in one piece. “Congratulations, General,” he said to her. “I’m reviewing your embedded data now. Very few casualties as usual. Quite impressive. Sounds like you had a solid plan.”

Hisani smiled back at him. “Pat yourself on the back later, Admiral. If I’m being honest, the Wookiees are a big part of why we were able to retake the city so quickly.”

“I know,” Kasr replied, unable to suppress a satisfied smile. “I was counting on their abilities to make it work, so I’m pleased to see it paid off. You could consider this a trial run of a much larger project I’m currently researching.”

Hisani shook her head with a bit of bemused annoyance. “Only you would give me an untested battle plan in the middle of a vital campaign.”

“I knew you would be able to handle things if my plan didn’t work as intended,” Kasr assured her. “Now, on to the next order of business: I’m sending down more troops to reinforce your position. Once they’re in place, I’d like you to take the following squads to help with the fighting at Kachirho.” He then transmitted a new battle plan to Hisani.

A beep on her end told Hisani that Kasr’s new plan had been received. She took a moment to review it, before looking back up and giving him a knowing look. “This plan seems rather advanced for the clone commander of the 9th. Seems he was so busy that he forgot to attach his authorization to it too.”

Kasr cleared his throat. “Yes, well, communications can be rather spotty during battle. He’ll see it eventually, I’m sure.”

“Reng...”

Kasr knew that tone from Hisani. She always preferred to do things through proper channels, even when it was inefficient. “The longer we wait, the more people die,” Kasr said to her. “It’s your choice, General. Either we strike quickly, or we let the bodies pile up while we sit around and do nothing.”

“Ooh, I hate when you use my own code against me,” Hisani fumed.

“It’s what good tacticians do,” Kasr replied with a chuckle. “What’s your decision?”

“Fine, let’s end this war!” Hisani relented. “I’ll get started on...” She abruptly trailed off as she looked offscreen. “That’s odd. I can see Rampart outside of this building. It looks like he’s speaking with Palpatine. I wasn’t informed of any other incoming transmissions.”

Kasr raised an eyebrow at the curious statement. Rampart was Hisani’s clone commander. She relied on him to coordinate battles in the field much like Kasr relied on Keffi to disseminate his orders to the rest of Vanguard Fleet. He looked up from his datapad to see his clone crew all listening to some kind of transmission that he hadn’t been informed about.

His mind raced as it put together the disparate puzzle pieces he was witnessing before suddenly solving it. Palpatine talking to clones over a private channel... Not sharing the transmission with any non-clones... It could only be one thing! Palpatine was activating one of the contingency orders that were hardwired into all clones through an inhibitor biochip. There weren't many who knew about the chips, but Kasr had uncovered them thanks to a past incident. Although there were over 150 contingency orders, the fact that Palpatine was the one issuing an order meant Kasr could narrow things down to just a small handful of possibilities.

None of them were good. The contingency orders were only meant to be activated in extreme emergencies and usually involved extreme solutions.

There was no time! Without knowing exactly what was being ordered, Kasr came to snap decision.

“Hisani, get out of there!” he suddenly shouted, coming as close to true panic as he could ever remember feeling. “Your clones are compromised! They all are! Use the Wookiees and escape into the jungle! Now!”

She looked at him in confusion. “What are you-”

And then her transmission suddenly ended in static.

Kasr nearly snapped his datapad in half in response, but he was stopped cold by the sight of Keffi walking over to him with blaster drawn. “Admiral, you are in violation of Contingency Order 66. Hisani Sane and the rest of the Jedi Order have been declared enemies of the Republic. All Jedi Masters, such as her, must be executed immediately. You were caught trying to aid her escape. Please surrender or you will share her sentence.”

[Halomek]

Kasr regarded the blaster trained on him for a moment, before he calmly stood up and faced the clone commander. Keffi had not been the first clone commander of the Vanguard Fleet. Before him had been another clone, known as Sly, who had shown exceptional tactical skills to the point that Kasr had started mentoring him.

Sly became a problem when he suffered a head injury thanks to an exploding console. Sly recovered, but ended up as mentally unstable to the point of even trying to start a mutiny onboard the Anaxes. Sly’s scheme was stopped thanks to Kasr’s extensive knowledge of the Anaxes and Hisani’s capabilities in the Force, but it raised a lot of questions.

Sly took his own life despite Hisani’s best efforts to save him. Sly’s autopsy had revealed the existence of a biochip implanted in his brain that had been damaged by the head injury. Before Kasr could investigate further, he was summoned to Coruscant into a top secret meeting with Palpatine himself. The story he was told was that Sly had been part of a special batch of clones implanted with biochips to improve their efficiency.

That was what ended up in Kasr’s official report.

That was the story he had told Hisani.

That was all he pretended to know.

In reality, Kasr continued to investigate in secret and it didn't take him long to discover that every clone had a biochip in their brain. A lot of digging eventually uncovered a list of 150 contingency orders meant for the clones. The document was official, but it had been all but buried under all kinds of other paperwork. From there it didn’t take long to connect the biochip with the contingency orders.

Kasr didn’t necessarily object to the contingency orders, but the idea of not having full control over his clones bothered him.

He knew that removing the chips from his clones would draw the ire of Palpatine and his cronies, so he made a lateral move instead. Kasr devised an addition to the biochip, disguised as a vitamin supplement given to every clone in Vanguard Fleet during one of their many physicals. He couldn’t change the orders in the biochip, but he could add an addendum to them...

“I’m sorry about this, Keffi,” Kasr said to him. “You were a fine officer, and you didn’t deserve this, but now that Palpatine has activated his contingency plan – you're of no further use to me.”

Keffi looked confused. “Sir, whatever you’re thinking, don’t try it. I’m sure your years of service will be taken into consideration for your court martial. You can’t possibly fight an entire ship.”

“I’m not going to lift a finger,” Kasr assured him. “Contingency order override: Kasr, Aurek, Zerek.”

Keffi suddenly dropped his blaster and held his arms at his sides. “What are my new orders?”

Kasr smiled and placed his own hands behind his back in his usual customary pose. Up until now he wasn’t sure if his override on the biochip would work or not. Unfortunately it wouldn’t stop Order 66, the clones would still regard Hisani as an enemy, but they could no longer disregard his orders.

“Broadcast my override command to the rest of Vanguard Fleet,” Kasr ordered. “I will be departing the Anaxes and I don’t wish to be disturbed. Once my shuttle has left, take the entire fleet and engage the Separatists at point blank range. Fight to the last man. If any of our ships survive the battle, they are to self-destruct or ram into the enemy. Is that clear?”

Keffi gave him a crisp salute. “Yes, sir!”

Kasr nodded and then proceeded to depart from the bridge.

Although still outwardly calm, inside Kasr’s emotions were roiling. He was terrified and anxious about what might have happened to Hisani, but also filled with rage at having control of his forces taken away from him without any warning. Keffi and the others really weren’t to blame, none of them truly deserved to be sent to their deaths, but the simple fact was that they were all compromised now. He couldn’t trust any of them, so they had to be destroyed.

No doubt Palpatine had his reasons for what he did, but if there wasn’t a good cause for the Supreme Chancellor's actions then there was going to be hell to pay.

Once Kasr had acquired a shuttle and departed the Anaxes, he watched long enough to make sure the Vanguard Fleet followed his last order to them. Indeed, the entire fleet began moving towards a cluster of Separatist ships. The total decimation of his fleet wouldn’t look good, but that was an issue Kasr would worry about later. Right now he had more urgent business...

Hisani...

Kasr keyed up a com frequency known only to him and Hisani. That had used it to speak privately sometimes to help preserve the secrecy of their relationship.

“Hisani, can you hear me? It’s Reng. Please respond.”

Nothing but silence in return.

Kasr pushed down his growing sense of fear and dread. “Hisani... I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want to hurt you. Please respond!”

Still nothing.

“I’m going to find you, Hisani. I promise. Please... stay safe until then...”

Kasr shut off the mic, feeling defeated. It wasn’t a feeling he liked experiencing.

Perhaps he would have better luck once he reached the surface...

[Halomek]

The Jedi Temple on Coruscant was filled with fire and death.

At the first sign of danger, Ret'jovis had fled to his sanctuary: the Jedi Archives. Master Jocasta Nu had not been happy to see him separated from the rest of the younglings in Heliost Clan, but it was already too late to try and send the young Defel back to Master Provada. Whoever was attacking the temple was making quick work of everyone inside.

Instead Master Nu sent him to hide in room Shen-6 – the room he usually liked to study in – and gave him strict instructions not to let anyone else in until she returned. As soon as she was gone, Ret'jovis locked the door thanks to the setup his previous tampering had put in place with the locks. He didn’t intend to leave the safety of the room, but he was still very curious about what was happening.

It didn’t take him long to slice into temple security and access the cameras. What he saw turned his stomach. Clone troopers were marching through the temple and killing everyone in sight! To make matters even more confusing, they were being led by a cloaked Jedi. It was hard to get a good read on his features with the hood obscuring his face, but cycling through the feeds eventually got Ret'jovis a clear look at the mystery Jedi.

It was... Anakin Skywalker!?

He didn’t believe his eyes. It had to be some kind of trick! Skywalker was one of the heroes of the Republic. Why would he be attacking his own kind?

Ret'jovis racked his brain to try and make sense of it all. If it was a disguise, it was the best he had ever seen. No detail had been overlooked. The same went for the clone troopers that flanked him.

Everything looked very legitimate so nothing made any sense.

He then felt a chill go down his spine when he saw that Skywalker was deliberately heading towards the archives.

Ret'jovis was almost certain that he would be killed if Skywalker or the clone troopers found him. It was such an insane thought that he almost laughed out loud at how absurd the statement was. Instead he looked around frantically for anywhere in the room to hide. He didn’t see much that was promising. There was an air vent that he could probably fit through, but there was no way he would be able to remove the cover before his room was searched.

Instead Ret'jovis did the only thing he could think of that might save him. He quickly removed all his clothes and folded them neatly before placing them next to the door. He then sliced into the power grid and triggered a small power surge for the lights in Shen-6 only. The surge worked as intended and overloaded the lights, causing them to short out.

The room was instantly flooded in darkness.

Ret'jovis then crawled under the study desk and focused on withdrawing his presence in the Force, trying to hide it and obscure it as much as possible. He knew he had a gift for avoiding the senses of his Master, but now came the real test. He had to hide from someone as powerful as Master Skywalker.

Ret'jovis didn’t know how long he hid in Shen-6 before he heard noises outside of the door, but it felt like years. He had turned off the room’s sound dampeners to try and listen to what was happening outside of the room.

He heard the voices of clone troopers as one of them tried to open the door. “This one is jammed, sir.”

A shot of blaster fire followed, melting the lock and allowing the troopers to force the door open. Ret'jovis didn’t dare try to look at them for fear that they might spot his eyes in the darkness. Instead he listened as one of them tried the manual switch for the lights.

“It looks like there’s something wrong with the lights,” one of them reported.

“Probably why the door was locked,” another speculated.

Ret'jovis heard the click of a glowrod before a trooper walked inside. The young Defel did his best to remain calm, trusting his body’s natural ability to absorb light as the trooper searched the room. He almost jumped when the trooper spoke up: “What’s this?”

“What did you find?”

“There’s a pile of clothes by the door. Looks like Youngling clothing.”

“One of the brats probably had an accident. I presume there’s no sign of the Youngling now?”

The other trooper took a moment to respond as he looked around the room again. “Nothing. Whoever was in here is long gone.”

“Right. Mark it as clear on the map and head to the next one.”

“Yes, sir.”

Even though he heard the clatter of boots walk away from him, Ret'jovis remained in his hidden position. The departure of the troopers was just a false security. The one he really had to deceive was-

And that’s when Ret'jovis felt it, like an inky black glove made of sorrow, pain, and anger that started to wash over him and then paused on his location. Was this Anakin Skywalker? He felt completely different from the last time Ret'jovis had sensed his presence. Whoever it was, he could tell that the person behind it was trying to discern if they had missed something, but eventually the presence completely passed over him.

And still Ret'jovis didn’t dare move. He remained in hiding until the sounds of battle outside of his room faded. Only then did he dare to turn around peek out from under the desk. The door had been forced open, so he could see out into the rest of the study hall.

There were sounds of activity, but it wasn’t battle and it sure wasn’t the muted noises of research and study. He cautiously poked his head out beyond the room and saw clone troopers in the distance ransacking the stacks! All that accumulated knowledge would either be lost or locked away.

Ret'jovis felt anxious. He knew he had to escape, but he really didn’t want to leave behind so much precious knowledge. Thinking quickly, he plugged his datapad back into the system and dimmed the pad’s backlight as much as possible so it hopefully wouldn’t draw the attention of any troopers. He then tried to fill up the device’s memory with as much archival knowledge as he could. Everything from the most viewed subjects to practical Force techniques and lightsaber construction down to some of the more esoteric reading material regarding a lot of Jedi myths and legends.

While the datapad was making copies of all of that, Ret'jovis set it face down so it wouldn’t give off any light and then focused on trying to very quietly undo the screws that secured the cover on the air vent. Since he had no tools, he had to rely on the Force to get the job done. Using it for such delicate work while at the same time trying to maintain his stealthed presence was a struggle, but he was patient.

Eventually Ret'jovis was able to get the cover off the vent. His datapad had finished downloading everything it could a while ago, so there was no reason for him to stay.

Except...

He risked pulling out the datapad again and used it to slice back into the Republic network with one of the backdoors he had added from a previous intrusion. He pulled up the status on Syln Provada and the rest of the Heliost Clan. All of them were marked as deceased except for him. His current status was labeled as “UNKNOWN” on the list.

The chances of anyone hunting him down because he might have survived the attack on the temple seemed slim, but he wasn’t going to chance it. He very quickly changed his status to “DECEASCED” and updated the list. It seemed very unlikely that anyone would bother trying to find the corpse of a young Defel in all this mess to try and confirm it.

Satisfied that he had done all he could, Ret'jovis slipped into the air vent and carefully reattached the cover to the vent with the Force to make it appear as if it had never been tampered with. He then started the long crawl to try and locate an exit.

As he quietly moved through the vent, a sudden thought struck him. He hadn’t felt the slightest bit sad when he learned about the deaths of his friends in the Heliost Clan or Master Provada, who had practically raised him since the day the Jedi had taken him from his homeworld. He paused to search his feelings on the matter.

Nothing.

Their weakness had gotten them killed. He had been smarter, so he had survived.

Ret’jovis felt a small grin cross his face.

There was logic in that. It felt right.

[Halomek]

Juoi

The sun had already set when the door chime sounded at the Leidias house. Tulsar and his wife, Falanis, had been in the middle of eating dinner when they heard it. “It’s Sulimurr,” Falanis said to him. “She seems distressed about something.”

Tulsar nodded as he stood up. “I’ll see what she wants.”

“I’m still more than capable of answering the door,” Falanis chided him with a grin as she also stood up. “The baby will be fine if dinner gets a bit cold.”

Tulsar glanced down at his wife’s growing belly before meeting her eyes. “I know... of course I know... but getting a visit this late at night by the JSI is never a good sign.”

She moved over to him and placed a loving hand on his face before giving him a kiss. “Sulimurr is a friend. You worry too much.”

“It’s my job to worry.”

Falanis put an arm around him. “C’mon let’s not keep Sulimurr waiting too long.”

Tulsar nodded as the two walked to the front door. True to Falanis’ senses, Sulimurr was waiting outside. She was an orange and white furred Trianii, a feline race normally seen in Wild Space. Like most of her race, Sulimurr was naturally tall and was at least a head taller than Tulsar. She wore the green and gold uniform of Juoi Security & Inquiry. Two more JSI guards stood in the driveway next to Sulimurr’s landspeeder.

“Chief Sulimurr,” Tulsar greeted her neutrally. “What can we do for you at this hour?”

Sulimurr bowed her head in apology. “Hello, Tulsar, Falanis... I know it’s late, but I wanted to talk with everyone in light of what’s happened. May I come in?”

Falanis spoke up before Tulsar could say anything. “Of course! Come in! We were just finishing up dinner. Can I get you anything?”

Tulsar held back a sigh as Sulimurr took Falanis up on her invitation and stepped inside. He closed the door after her.

“No, thank you,” Sulimurr responded with a smile. “It’s been a while since we spoke, Falanis. Have you chosen a name for the baby yet?”

Falanis chuckled. “Well, of course it’ll be Kalja if it’s a girl, but if it’s a boy, we were thinking of Sysen.”

“Oh?” Sulimurr replied as her ears perked up. “Is Sysen another family name?”

“No, we just thought it had a nice ring to it,” Falanis said to her. “Now, as much as I enjoy the small talk, Suli, you didn’t come all the way from Chiarm to chat. What brought you out to us?”

“Of course, I’ll get to the point. I assume you’ve seen the news from Coruscant?”

Tulsar raised an eyebrow. “No... we’ve been out all day. What are you talking about?”

The Trianii folded her ears back. It was a rare show of vulnerability from the head of the JSI. “Oh... I don’t even know where to start. So much has happened today...”

Tulsar folded his arms across his chest. “Start with what compelled you to pay us a visit.”

Sulimurr sighed in exasperation. “It’s hard to pick one item without going into detail about everything else, but Palpatine announced that the Jedi Order attacked him and tried to take over the government. As near as my sources can tell, the Jedi are now considered criminals. Several have already been killed, including nearly the entire Jedi Council.”

“And so the last stone falls,” Tulsar grumbled. “It’s not the way I would have wanted it to turn out, but they lost their way a long time ago. That would explain why my father felt ill earlier today.”

“Is Halsor okay?”

Tulsar nodded. “He’s recovering.”

“That brings us to the reason for my visit,” Sulimurr said to them. “We’re about to enter a very dangerous time for people like you. Even if the Leidias family hasn’t been associated with the Jedi Order for over 1,000 years, there are some who might make a connection. I wanted to assure you that Director Mirlak and I are both in agreement about doing everything we can to make sure your family stays safe.”

Tulsar eyed the JSI leader cautiously. “What does keeping us ‘safe’ entail exactly?”

The Trianii held up her hands to try and put him at ease. “Nothing objectionable, I assure you. Deputy Xorpex is currently going through all of our records and expunging any mention of the word ‘Leidias’ from every database he can access. You’ll be an open secret to us starting from this day onward. It’s the best I can do to try and keep you safe without putting you in a bunker somewhere. I wanted to tell you all of this personally.”

Falanis put her hands on her belly protectively. “This is... well... it’s certainly a change...”

Sulimurr nodded. “You’ll still have all the freedoms every other citizen has, but as far as our records will be concerned, there is no Leidias family on Juoi.”

Tulsar rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Will this require changing our names?”

“It shouldn’t be necessary at this time, but I would ask that you be discreet about using the Force in public from the point onward. This means everyone. Keep a low profile and we’ll do the rest to keep you safe,” she answered him. “Does this sound agreeable to you?”

Tulsar glanced at Falanis and he could already tell what her answer was. He then shifted his gaze to Sulimurr before nodding. He uncrossed his arms and held one out for the JSI Chief. “I think that sounds like a good compromise. Thank you for being on top of this.”

Sulimurr grabbed his hand in a strong grip. “With everything your family has done for us, it was the least I could do in return.”

After that exchange, Sulimurr departed with her guards, leaving Tulsar and Falanis alone again. The two cuddled together on the couch as each of them tried to reconcile the change in their lives. Falanis rested her head on his shoulder.

“What a time to bring a baby into the galaxy, huh?”

He looked at his wife and smiled. “This changes nothing. The Leidias family will continue to persevere as we always do. I won’t let anyone or anything threaten what we’ve built here.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

***

Coruscant

After crawling for hours through all kinds of ductwork, being very careful not to alert any of the troopers left behind to loot the temple, Ret’jovis emerged from one of the lower exhaust ports that led deeper into the underground of the city planet. Naked and alone, he scuttled from shadow to shadow, until finally settling on an abandoned building to rest and think.

Anakin Skywalker killing all those Jedi? Why did he do it? How could he do it?

It made no sense!

Unless...

Unless there was a lesson here he wasn’t seeing... If one Jedi could go bad and kill the rest of the Jedi Order, then they must not have been very strong in the first place. And if the Jedi Order could be wiped out so easily, then that had to mean everything they had been teaching him was worthless.

The Light Side was weak.

The Jedi were weak.

And if that was true, then the opposite also had to be true.

If he wanted to be strong, he had to embrace the Dark Side.

The purge at the temple wasn’t a tragedy! It was an opportunity! A rebirth!

Ret’jovis had been a weakling... naive about the reality of the Force. He deserved to die back at the Jedi Temple. He needed a new name to mark his awakening. The Defel considered the idea. What would be appropriate?

Mentally, he reviewed his name and made some changes. He removed the “j” and the “o” to signify his removal from the Jedi Order. And, logically, if Ret’jovis had been his name as a follower of the Light Side, then the reverse had to be true as he embraced the Dark Side.

He tried it out in his mind... Siv’ter. It almost worked. Perhaps if he removed the comma to signify his lack of internal conflict?

He tried it out again: Sivter.

The name echoed through his head. It felt right.

His mouth twitched in amusement before Sivter let loose with a harsh, raspy cackle.

[Halomek]

Kashyyyk

Kasr didn’t know how long he searched the forests of Kashyyyk to try and find Hisani. It wasn’t like him to lose track of time. Usually it was just one of many small calculations he kept inside his head at all times, but now all he could seem to think about was Hisani. To make matters worse, he could feel a sense of desperation slowing clawing at his mind and disrupting his usual logical mindset.

It had been a long time since he had felt so helpless. He didn’t like it.

As Kasr scoured the areas where Hisani would have been assigned to help with the battle, he did his best to ignore how impossible the task was. He couldn’t rely on the clone forces on the ground to form search parties because they’d probably try to kill Hisani on sight. Hisani likely wouldn’t trust any clones that came near her anyway.

There was also a much grimmer possibility that Hisani had already been killed. If that was the case, he might never find her body. Either the clones would cremate it along with the rest of their dead or one of Kashyyyk’s many predators might grab it for a meal. Although the battles likely would have scared away much of the wildlife in the area, nature could be resilient. Hisani... she had helped him to see that...

Kasr only stopped his search once the sun started to set. He still had enough presence of mind to know that trying to find Hisani in the dark woods would be foolish. He didn’t have the Force and Kashyyyk’s wilds had a well-earned reputation for being especially dangerous at night. By the time he had found shelter in the hollow of an old Wroshyr tree and started a fire, the sky above him had become fully dark. Kasr could just barely make out a few stars through some breaks in the canopy.

He forced himself to eat even though he didn’t much feel like it. He barely registered the bland taste of the ration bar as he contemplated his next move. Just how long would he continue searching for Hisani? Another day? A week? The rest of his life?

As it turned out, he got an answer sooner than he expected.

From out of the darkness he heard a voice softly call to him: “Reng?”

Kasr recognized it immediately. “Hisani!” he replied in surprise. His voice was hoarse from trying to reach her on the comlink all day. He stood up and tried to peer into the darkness to find her.

“Is it safe?” she asked him, still hidden. “Give me your word that this isn’t a trap.”

“I’m alone,” he promised her. “I just want to know if you’re okay. I swear it.”

As if stepping out of a dream, Hisani emerged from the darkness. Even in the dim light of the fire, Kasr could tell she was battered and bruised, but otherwise she looked intact. The relief he felt almost overwhelmed him.

They stared at each for but a moment before they rushed into each other’s arms. Kasr allowed himself to indulge in the feeling of her body against his. He felt his eyes start to water and almost dropped his self-control, but he kept them at bay. Even if no one but Hisani saw him cry, he still wouldn’t allow it. He had vowed long ago to never cry again. But in this instance it was a tough promise to keep to himself...

Finally they broke the hug. Unlike him, Hisani did have tears in her eyes. He could tell they were tears of happiness and relief. She was always much more expressive in her emotions.

“What happened?” Hisani asked him as she wiped the moisture from her eyes and tried to reassert her Jedi self-control. “My clones just attacked me without any warning. Even Rampart turned against me! I only managed to escape because I ran into a Separatist contingent during my escape. The clones were forced to fight them and I got away.”

“Order 66,” Kasr said to her as his face turned grim. “It’s a contingency order hardwired into every clone through an inhibitor chip. Simply put, it’s an emergency order in case the Jedi ever turn against the Republic. It compels the clones to kill any Jedi on sight. I saw Supreme Chancellor Palpatine issue the order to the clones on the Anaxes. No doubt it was broadcast galaxy-wide.”

“The Jedi would never...” she started to say before trailing off as the full impact of the information struck her. “It can’t be. Master Yoda... the rest of the council... The younglings... We have to warn them!”

Kasr shook his head. “Hisani... the Jedi tried to assassinate Palpatine! He convened an emergency session of the Senate to speak about it. Palpatine barely survived their attempt on his life. I was able to record the transmission on a datapad while I was looking for you. Here, see for yourself...”

He then reached into the survival pack he had brought with him and handed it to her.

Hisani gingerly took the datapad and turned it on with a fair amount of trepidation on her face. It didn’t take her long to find Palpatine’s speech. The longer she watched it, the more dour her expression became. Finally, once Palpatine announced the formation of the Galactic Empire, she had to turn it off and look away.

“This is a nightmare,” she declared as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I feel sick. I can’t believe any of this!”

“It was only a matter of time,” Kasr agreed. “The Jedi knew their influence was slipping, so they got desperate and tried to take back their power by force.”

Hisani looked at him in alarm. “What!? No! I can’t believe anything Palpatine is saying! How could I? How could you!? He just ended the Republic and set up an autocracy. Of course the Jedi would try and stop something like that. It’s pure evil!”

For the first time since finding the love of his life, Kasr began to feel a sense of unease. He had known that the news of the destruction of her order would come as a shock to Hisani, but he was surprised that she wasn’t seeing the positives that the newly formed Galactic Empire would provide. He had thought they were of a like mind about the rot infesting the Republic.

“Hisani... you know as well as I do that the Republic was being choked to death by greedy bureaucrats and special interest groups. It stopped serving the people long ago,” he pointed out. “Now that Palpatine is an Emperor, he can do away with the corruption that was sucking the lifeblood out of our government. We can right the wrongs of the Republic.” He reached out a hand to her. “Come back with me to Coruscant. I’ll vouch for your loyalty myself. You’ll see how much better things are now.”

She looked at his hand for a long moment before dropping the datapad and turning away from him. “Reng... I can’t... Nothing about this seems right. Even if what you say about the Republic is true, the Jedi didn’t deserve extermination. I’m not going back.”

Kasr’s sense of unease turned to dread. He could hardly believe how badly things were going. Finding Hisani alive was supposed to be a happy occasion, but things were going seriously wrong. “I agree Order 66 was an extreme measure, but the alternative would have been another war – this time with the Jedi. You know how much destruction a single Jedi can cause. Palpatine had to do it to secure the peace or we’d likely be facing another Great Sith War.”

She still refused to look at him.

“Hisani... please...” He tried again, starting to feel desperate. “I love you. We were going to spend our life together after the war. I was... I was even going to propose...”

She finally looked back at him, this time her tears were decidedly not ones of joy. She looked devastated. “Reng... I... I don’t think you’re the man I thought you were. I loved you too, but maybe I was wrong.”

Kasr swore he could feel his heart tear in half from her words. It took him a moment to find his voice. “If you run now, you’ll be branded a traitor to the Empire. You’ll be hunted down and destroyed. I don’t want that for you. We can still be together! You just need to see reason! Don’t do this!”

Hisani seemed to recoil from his presence as she stepped back towards the darkness of the forest. “I hope that one day you’ll see the truth, Reng. I really do. This is goodbye. Don’t try to find me.”

And in an instant she vanished from his sight, swallowed by the trees and the inky night.

Kasr remained where he was, paralyzed by shock and indecision for perhaps the first time in his life as the woman he had come to care for like no other slipped from his grasp. All of the possible futures he had imagined spending with Hisani suddenly crumbled into dust in his mind. His usual logical and ordered mind was in chaos.

In the end all he could do was sink to his knees and yell out in rage as his self-control finally failed him.

He fell to his hands as he ran out of breath and then dropped fully to the ground as weariness overcame him. His last thought before he drifted out of consciousness was simple yet profound: Hisani was no different than any other Force-user.

None of them could be trusted.

Ever.