Jin-Woo stayed silent. His eyes lowered slightly, unfocused—not on the table, not on anyone present. Calculation displaced certainty.
If one Monarch was damaged, the structure weakened. And if Morgan's state affected him—
Then his own anchor wasn't absolute. The silence stretched. It wasn't dramatic. It was analytical. That made it worse.
The participants around the table began to shift almost imperceptibly. Cortana's projection dimmed. Barghest's shoulders stiffened. Even Halsey stopped writing.
The Master Chief was the first to break it. "When someone at your caliber goes quiet, Shadow Monarch," he said evenly, "it usually means things aren't looking good."
Jin-Woo lifted his gaze. He didn't deny it. "I want to hear your thoughts," he said bluntly. "If tomorrow I die, what will you all do."
The question landed without ornament.
Lama Su inclined his head slightly, fingers tightening. "Sir Jin-Woo," he said carefully, "that is a question of significant weight—even for someone such as myself."
Jin-Woo nodded once. "I'm not the type to rule through tyranny," he said. "And I won't punish anyone for answers like betrayal, retreat, or saving your own skin."
His eyes moved across the table—Morgan, Barghest, Halsey, Chief, Cortana, Lama Su.
"I'm recalibrating," he continued. "My own problem. My blind spots. I need your first instinct, not your loyalty speech."
He leaned forward slightly. " I ask again : If I die tomorrow, what do you do next?"
The room felt smaller.
Jin-Woo's voice remained level. "I need to know," he said, "so I can move forward and ensure our victory is one hundred percent."
Lama Su cleared his throat softly. "I will be truthful," he said. "And I request that you do not destroy Kamino for what I am about to say."
No one interrupted him. "If you were to fall, we Kaminoans would seek another buyer. Another patron. Our primary objective has always been business continuity. Survival through commerce."
His long neck inclined slightly. "We bind ourselves to contracts."
Halsey gave a small, humorless huff. "That's betrayal," she said. "But I won't pretend I'm morally superior."
She leaned back. "I've worked with the Covenant under false pretenses just to study Halo. I pushed the Spartan program beyond ethical lines because I believed the results justified it." A glance at Chief. "We're not saints either."
Morgan's chair shifted slightly. "If it were me," she said quietly, "I would kill whoever caused your death, my husband."
Her eyes did not blink. "And I would not stop until they were ash. Every last one."
Cortana folded her arms, hologram flickering. "Well," she said lightly, "at least two people in this room have some functional self-preservation instincts. And your wife is lunatic-level loyal to the core."
She glanced at the Master Chief. "If it were me and Chief—"
Chief finished it for her. "At the very least," he said, "I'd finish the mission. Whatever it became."
His voice was steady. "Until it's solved. UNSC and Earth are safe. That's what we do."
Jin-Woo nodded once. "Good. That gives me a clear image."
He did not elaborate in dialogue after that. Instead, he laid out the future in precise, controlled terms.
The ancient Sith would not rush into another reckless confrontation. They would consolidate, adapt, and probe for weaknesses through intermediaries. They had already learned that direct clashes at Monarch-level carried unacceptable risk.
The Sith hiding behind the Republic would tighten his political web, allowing instability to fester. He would present himself not as a conqueror, but as the only viable solution once fear matured. Crisis would be manufactured carefully, never loudly.
The Jedi would continue as they always had—believing themselves stable, principled, necessary—while in truth sitting atop a ticking time bomb. The erosion beneath them would not be dramatic. It would be procedural. Legal. Gradual.
As for Abeloth, she would not attempt brute-force annihilation again. Her circumstances had changed. She had learned. She was now something far more dangerous—adaptive, fragmented, difficult to eradicate. Not a goddess descending in fury, but an infestation.
Jin-Woo made it clear he would explain the rest to Morgan later . Abeloth was no longer a creature to confront head-on. She was like a cockroach—immortal in persistence, capable of surviving catastrophic damage, and nearly impossible to kill outright.
Which meant the plan would be containment, starvation, and structural isolation.
When he finished, the room felt colder.
Lama Su inclined his long neck.
"That is a very risky gamble, sir," he said carefully. "You are asking us to indirectly support an enemy who may, in time, become a threat to Kamino as well. If you lose, the Republic will fall completely. An Empire will replace it. Kamino would be salvaged—stripped of value, or worse, destroyed to the ground."
Halsey gave a dry chuckle. "The business-minded clone director still has his logic," she said. "However, if I may offer a suggestion—why not eliminate the Sith hiding as Chancellor politically? Or otherwise."
Her eyes flicked briefly toward the Master Chief. "After all, Spartans have handled assassination assignments before."
Cortana's hologram brightened slightly. "My creator is bolder than I expected," she said with faint amusement. "Very surprising."
She turned toward Halsey. "But Doctor—if you remove the Chancellor, who exactly fills the void on the Republic's throne?"
Silence edged across the table.
Master Chief spoke without raising his voice. "Dr. Halsey," he said evenly, "if Lord Hood hears that suggestion, you'll be looking at more than house arrest."
Jin-Woo let the moment settle before he answered. "The most viable option is to keep every enemy faction alive."
He looked around the table, making sure the statement landed. "If even one of them dies prematurely, it becomes harder to predict the next move. The dark side of the Force is real. It compounds."
Halsey leaned forward slightly, interest replacing sarcasm. "You're saying the Sith—this distributed pipeline of dark side energy—if it gets reduced to fewer individuals, the concentration increases?" she asked. "Less spread, more density. More focused. More troublesome. Is that what you're implying, Jin-Woo?"
Jin-Woo nodded once. "Correct."
His voice remained even. "Right now, the active parties remain alive. The Naga Sadow faction. The Sidious faction. And, of course, our favorite Queen of the Stars—Abeloth herself, who nearly tore herself out of Yavin 4."
He folded his hands. "If one of those pillars collapses too early, the rest absorb the pressure."
His eyes sharpened slightly. "And when dark side concentration increases, it doesn't disappear. It crystallizes."
A brief silence. "So no," Jin-Woo said. "We don't remove them yet."
He glanced at Halsey. "We let them compete."
Then he looked back at the room. "If one of them dies at the wrong time, the others get stronger."
Jin-Woo turned his gaze to Morgan. "Now," he said, "we discuss the Abeloth problem. This one is more suited for you. And you clearly have a grudge."
Morgan's hand rose to her shoulder, fingers brushing near the stitched seam that still held her together. The gesture wasn't weakness. It was memory.
"If we are to discuss her," Morgan said evenly, "perhaps we should do so privately, Jin-Woo."
Her eyes flicked briefly toward the others at the table. "It may not be wise to speak openly while there are… matters we are keeping aside from Abeloth."
Jin-Woo shook his head. "It's better now," he said. "And it's better with no secrets."
He paused only briefly.
Revealing one controlled truth was better than letting suspicion grow in silence.
Cortana's hologram tilted her head. "That's usually what people say when they're trying to build trust," she remarked lightly. "Which, to be fair, is a solid strategy."
Jin-Woo ignored the comment. "On Abeloth's planet," he said calmly, "there is another problem."
The room tightened. "The Flood is active," he continued. "And a Gravemind is present."
Cortana's projection brightened immediately. "Wait," she said, almost childlike in her sharp curiosity. "Who wins, Jin-Woo?"
Halsey turned slowly toward her. "Is that seriously your first question?" she asked dryly. "Who wins? I need data. I need to understand scale, vectors, infection rate—"
Cortana had already manifested a floating holographic note, lines of text forming rapidly.
"Between an ancient extra-galactic entity and a galaxy-scale parasite that nearly wiped us out during the war," she muttered as she typed. "This is unprecedented."
She glanced up again. "For study, Doctor," Cortana said. "After all, this is a war between two extinction-level entities."
Master Chief noticed Lama Su's posture stiffen, the Kaminoan's composure thinning under the weight of yet another threat.
He spoke, steady as ever. "Cortana's being herself," he said. "But I'll correct the framing."
His visor turned slightly toward Lama Su. "It was a hard fight. We had to ally with the Covenant—led by the Arbiter. His true name is Thel 'Vadam."
A pause.
"It was brutal. We nearly lost more than once. The only reason we survived was because of Forerunner weapons stored on the Lesser Ark."
Morgan's eyes narrowed slightly. "And that weapon," she said evenly, "should have been in our possession."
Her tone carried no doubt. "If we had been present in that era, we would have exterminated the Flood ourselves."
Halsey ignored the boast entirely. Her focus had shifted.
She leaned forward, eyes fixed on Jin-Woo. "How did you control them?" she asked quietly. "None of us could. Not humanity. Not the Covenant. Not even the Forerunners at their peak."
Her gaze sharpened. "How did you manage what they couldn't?"
Jin-Woo answered without hesitation. "I didn't control them."
The room stilled.
"I introduced them to the concept of souls," he continued calmly. "The Flood assimilates biology and memory. But souls are not something they fully comprehend."
His eyes darkened slightly. "They are very easy to torture. And don't misunderstand me. I cannot command them. This is a galaxy-level threat—far beyond the Yuuzhan Vong I briefed you on."
Jin-woo looked toward Lama Su. "You may call them a beast parasite if you like. But they are hyper-intelligent. Their intellect compounds with every living being they infect."
intellect compounds with every living being they infect."
He shifted his gaze slightly, already anticipating the next line of questioning.
"I know what Dr. Halsey is about to ask," he continued. "Why not eliminate them entirely if I can't fully control them?"
His fingers rested lightly against the table. "The answer is simple. You don't always have to kill something. Sometimes, you make a path long enough for two monsters to kill each other."
Cortana's hologram tilted forward with interest.
Jin-Woo added "And to answer your playful question cortana , right now the Flood and Abeloth are at a stalemate."
The room absorbed that quietly.
"I don't want either of them at their peak," he continued. "That would be catastrophic."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"I weakened Abeloth by ripping her away from two powerful objects. And her heart is in my inventory."
Cortana's projection flickered at that.
"The Flood outbreak remains contained on Abeloth's planet," Jin-Woo went on. "But that containment only holds if the Flood fragment I have hidden continues to be… educated."
Halsey understood the implication. Lama Su did not.
Jin-Woo turned to Morgan. "Morgan," he said evenly, "I need you to destroy Abeloth every time she resurfaces from Yavin 4."
Morgan's posture straightened immediately.
"Each time she manifests," Jin-Woo continued, "her reach widens ."
Jin-woo voice hardened slightly. "But make sure she does not destroy the Flood I've hidden." "If that fragment is erased," he said, "the Flood on Abeloth's planet will be unrestrained. Abeloth would die."
A pause.
"And the Flood would inherit everything she possesses. Her Force connection. And Her metaphysical structure."
He let that sink in.
"In simpler terms," Jin-Woo said, "Abeloth has been swayed. She believed the Flood when they promised to free her."
Morgan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Jin-Woo," she said evenly, "may I torture the Flood fragment you educated—to worsen Abeloth's condition?"
There was no hesitation in her voice. Only calculation.
Jin-Woo nodded once. "The Flood functions as a single distributed body," he said. "If one fragment suffers, the others usually become aware."
His gaze remained steady. "With the soul imprint I implanted, they are already in a… hellish condition."
He did not soften the phrasing. "They feel pain."
A pause. "In fact, I encourage it," he added. "But do not destroy them completely."
His tone sharpened slightly. "Torture them. Sustain the pain. Push them until they beg for mercy."
Morgan absorbed that without flinching. "I never expected such a method to be necessary," she said. "It resembles how my fairies once disciplined traitors."
Her lips curved faintly. "Very well, Jin-Woo. I will be a good jailor."
Cortana folded her holographic arms. "I see," she said dryly. "I'm in a room with two tyrannical figures discussing how alien parasites are evil—and therefore acceptable to exploit."
A faint smirk flickered across her projection. "Quite the ethical summit."
Master Chief's visor shifted slightly toward Jin-Woo.
He had been silent long enough. "Jin-Woo," he said evenly, "why do you need to leave?"
A brief pause. "Your fight is here. And I have a feeling I know where this is going."
Jin-Woo didn't deny it. "Morgan's defeat signaled something," he said calmly. "It proved that we—outsiders to this galaxy—can be pushed back."
His eyes hardened slightly. "Even if we are immortal."
He leaned forward slightly. "That changes the board."
"The dark side will now commit fully," he continued. "They will attempt to remove us from this galaxy entirely."
A quiet tension settled over the room. "My plan," Jin-Woo said, "is to take the Muur Talisman. It functions as an anchor to the dark side itself."
He looked toward none of them in particular. "I will bring it to another galaxy."
"Not yours dr halsey ," Jin-Woo clarified calmly. "But far enough from this one."
Silence followed.
"When the anchor moves," he continued, "the dark side weakens here."
Jin-Woo's voice was measured. "The entire Sith faction destabilizes. Abeloth loses support."
He fell silent for a moment. The truth is my second anchor—the Muur Talisman—has weakened significantly since Morgan was damaged. As a Monarch, her instability affects the structure. I also used part of that anchor's power to stabilize her manifestation in this galaxy. It allowed her to remain here. Also when I leave it allowed me to repair fragments elsewhere. And the system quest inside my head hasn't triggered once since then. That silence likely means it, too, has been damaged.
His expression did not change.
"Let me clarify something," Jin-Woo said calmly. "I'm not leaving in the sense that I'm abandoning this battlefield."
His gaze moved across the room.
"It's more accurate to say that pieces of me will leave."
Morgan understood immediately.
"I won't be as active here as I usually am," he continued. "You'll still be able to interact with me. But my focus will be split. Anchored in another galaxy."
He leaned back slightly.
"Consider this a window," he said. "Years from now, I will return fully—with those pieces restored."
His eyes hardened. "And when I do, the enemies here will be in a state similar to waking from sleep. The dark side will surge back as the anchor returns."
A faint pause. "But we won't wait for them to prepare."
His voice remained calm. "When the time is right, we move first."
The room felt the shift in weight behind the words. "A coordinated strike," Jin-Woo said. "All enemy factions at once. Sith remnants. Abeloth. Any external actors that align against us. We eliminate them simultaneously."
The room absorbed the certainty in his tone.
Inside his mind, another voice moved—cold, structured, precise.
Offensive Bias:Supreme Executor, the plan as stated will not result in simultaneous termination. Probability models indicate less than one percent viability. It is functionally impossible to eliminate all targets at once.
Jin-Woo did not react outwardly.
His eyes remained steady on the table.
Right now, he replied through telepathy, what we need is cohesion.
A pause within the shared mental channel.
This isn't deception, Jin-Woo thought calmly.
The dark side has always been a structural problem in this galaxy. When I first arrived here, I drove the Muur Talisman into a significant portion of its core. That act created drag.
He allowed the internal calculations to settle.
When I leave with it, that drag leaves with me. The Sith and Abeloth will lose acceleration. They won't stop—but their pace will become measurable.
A brief, precise pause.
All I need is for them to move at a rate we can calculate.
The machine intelligence recalibrated.
Offensive Bias:Affirmative, Supreme Executor. Strategic framing acknowledged. Dark side deceleration models adjusted. I will meet your expectations.
Jin-Woo gave no visible response. He already knew the machine had begun restructuring its projections.
Across the table, the Master Chief shifted slightly.
"I volunteer," he said evenly. "To accompany the part of you that's leaving. If you're venturing beyond this galaxy—and beyond mine—I'll go."
Several eyes turned toward him.
Jin-Woo looked at him carefully. "You're not the type who seeks adventure, Chief," he said. "What's your angle?"
Chief didn't hesitate. "The pieces of you won't be as powerful as you are now," he said. "If I support you, your operational margin increases. Consider it repayment. For helping Cortana cure her rampancy."
Cortana's hologram dimmed slightly, then stabilized.
Jin-Woo studied him for a moment. "I'll consider it," he said. "But understand this—where I'm going, the battlefield won't resemble anything you're used to."
His tone remained calm. "That world is likely saturated with magic. The rules won't be physical in the way you prefer."
Cortana folded her arms. "We'll manage, Mr. Monarch," she said lightly. "Besides, we have something most people don't."
A faint smile. "Luck."
Lama Su, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke. "Luck does not play a role in scientific precision or combat doctrine," he said calmly.
A pause.
"However… if I am incorrect, then it would seem my experience is limited."
His long neck tilted slightly toward Cortana. "It is… surprising to hear a machine speak of luck as a variable."