CHAPTER 56: MANDALORE - PART 2
POV: Kael Vorn
Dawn broke over Mandalore like blood spilled across metal, the planet's twin suns casting crimson light through smoke that still rose from the previous day's battles. Kael stood at the command post's observation window, his enhanced senses detecting disturbances in the Force that made his skin crawl with anticipation.
The Codex interface materialized in his vision without prompting, displaying warnings that turned his enhanced blood to ice:
ORDER 66 ACTIVATION: IMMINENT. ESTIMATED TIME: 24-48 HOURS. CONVERGENCE EVENT APPROACHING. PREPARE FOR TIMELINE CRITICAL MOMENT.
Not now. Not when we're so close.
Behind him, Ahsoka reviewed tactical displays with the focused intensity of someone who'd learned to make life-and-death decisions before her twentieth birthday. Her confidence had grown visibly overnight, command authority settling around her shoulders like armor that finally fit properly.
I have to tell her. But telling her might compromise her focus at the worst possible moment.
The dilemma tore at him like physical pain. Knowledge without the ability to act on it. Warning without the power to prevent. The curse that bound him to secrecy even when silence might doom everyone he cared about.
"Kael." Ahsoka's voice cut through his internal turmoil. "You've been standing there for ten minutes without moving. What's wrong?"
Everything. Order 66 is about to activate, Palpatine is about to reveal himself as a Sith Lord, and we're sitting at the epicenter of the convergence that will determine whether the galaxy falls to tyranny or finds another path.
"I have a bad feeling about today."
Understatement of the millennium.
"You've had bad feelings about every day since we started this operation." But Ahsoka's tone carried concern despite the attempted humor. "This feels different, doesn't it? More specific."
"Something's coming. Something that will change everything. We need to move fast—capture Maul, secure the palace, establish control before—"
Before Order 66 activated and turned every non-freed clone in the galaxy into an assassin programmed to murder Force-sensitive allies. Before the Republic became the Empire. Before the galaxy's last hope for democratic resistance died screaming in Senate chambers and Jedi temples.
"Before what?"
Kael's curse activated as he tried to explain, transforming urgent warnings into gibberish about "execution protocols for dancing toasters." Ahsoka's expression shifted from concern to alarm as she recognized the pattern of his affliction interfering with critical communication.
"Never mind the details," he said desperately. "Trust me—we're running out of time."
The proximity alarms chose that moment to begin shrieking, their urgent tones announcing incoming threats from multiple directions. Through the Force, Kael felt Maul's presence like acid poured on an open wound—rage and pain and dark purpose focused with laser intensity on destroying everything they'd built.
The counterattack had begun.
"All units, defensive positions!" Ahsoka's command voice carried across the communication channels as tactical displays lit up with hostile contacts. "Maul's forces are moving on all fronts!"
The assault was everything Kael had feared and more. Death Watch commandos emerged from hiding places they'd prepared during the night, striking at supply lines and communication nodes with surgical precision. Explosives detonated in civilian areas, forcing liberation forces to choose between tactical advantage and humanitarian obligations.
And through it all, Maul himself moved like a force of nature, his crimson lightsaber cutting through defensive lines while his mere presence shattered enemy morale.
"He's breaking our center!" Rex's voice crackled through comm static as blaster fire intensified around his position. "We need reinforcement or we'll lose everything we gained yesterday!"
No. We're losing because we're fighting his battle on his terms.
"Ahsoka," Kael grabbed her arm as she prepared to coordinate defensive responses. "Conventional siege tactics will take weeks. We don't have weeks. We need to end this now."
"How?"
"Strike team. Direct assault on the palace. Capture Maul personally while his forces are committed to the larger battle." Kael's mind raced through tactical possibilities, weighing risks against potential gains. "It's desperate. But desperation is all we have left."
Ahsoka studied the tactical displays, her strategic mind processing the implications rapidly. The plan was insane—a small team penetrating heavily defended positions to confront a Sith Lord on his home ground. But conventional warfare would grind on until Order 66 activated, leaving them trapped in a battle they couldn't win against enemies they couldn't escape.
"Elite team only. You, me, Ventress, Rex, Bo-Katan. Everyone else maintains the broader engagement." Her decision carried the weight of final authority. "If we fail, the entire liberation dies with us."
"If we don't try, it dies anyway."
Just more slowly and with more suffering.
But before they could implement the desperate gambit, Kael felt compelled to share the burden of knowledge that had been poisoning his thoughts since the warning appeared.
"Ahsoka, wait." He pulled her aside, away from the tactical displays and communication equipment where others might overhear. "There's something you need to know. Something terrible is about to happen."
"Define terrible."
The systematic murder of the Jedi Order. The transformation of the Republic into an Empire. The activation of inhibitor chips that will turn clone armies into assassins. The beginning of the dark age we've been trying to prevent.
His curse mangled the explanation into incomprehensible nonsense, but the desperation in his voice apparently communicated what words could not.
"Order 66," Ahsoka breathed, understanding flickering in her eyes. "You've been seeing visions of Order 66 activation."
How did she—never mind. Accept the miracle and move on.
"Soon. Maybe hours. When it happens, chaos will erupt across the galaxy. But Rex and his freed brothers will protect us. The chip extraction network will resist. We just need to be in position when the moment comes."
"Then we capture Maul now and evacuate before it triggers."
"No." Kael's response surprised them both with its certainty. "We can't leave. This is where we're meant to be when it happens. I've seen it in visions, felt it in Force currents. The convergence centers here, on this moment, with these people."
We're instruments of the Force itself, positioned precisely where we need to be to affect the outcome.
"The freed clones?"
"Briefed and ready. They'll resist the activation, protect Force-sensitives, maintain communication networks." Kael's enhanced perception allowed him to sense Rex's steady presence coordinating defensive responses. "When Order 66 comes, we'll be ready."
The knowledge hung between them like a blade—terrible certainty balanced against desperate hope. Everything they'd built, everyone they'd saved, every choice they'd made had led to this moment when galactic history would pivot based on decisions made in the next few hours.
"Then we end this." Ahsoka's determination crystallized into cold purpose. "Strike team moves in fifteen minutes. Maul dies today, one way or another."
As they prepared for the infiltration mission that would determine their fate, Kael felt the weight of convergence pressing against his consciousness like a physical force. The timeline fracture his arrival had created was finally reaching its critical point.
Order 66 was coming. But this time, they would be ready.
The strike team assembled in Sundari's maintenance tunnels, moving through passages that Bo-Katan's resistance had mapped during months of preparation. Above them, battle raged as Maul's forces pressed their coordinated assault. Below, five figures advanced toward a confrontation that would echo through galactic history.
Whatever happens next, we face it together.
The Force itself seemed to hold its breath, waiting to see whether balance could be restored or if darkness would finally complete its victory.
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