"There are no secrets that time does not reveal"

🪐

Chapter Thirty-Two

🪐

Translations

Mando'a/Othanian

Haat, ijaa, cavlumne - truth, honor, swear/promise on my honor

K'oyacyi juhnukip - come back successfully

Mando'a

Jetti - Jedi

Mand'alor - One true leader

Adenn Cabur - Fearless Protector

Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad - I know your name as my child (adoption vows)

Jate'kara - Good luck

~*~

"Aq Vetina is currently being targeted by the Separatists, because there is currently no Republic presence on that planet they are attacking innocent villages."

"What's the closest contingent?"

"A clan from the Watch. Shall we disperse them?"

"Immediately, and send reinforcements as well. Bring any injured onboard the ships and send me a list of any orphaned children so I can organize their placements. Please emphasize that there should be no dueling over who can adopt what child until they come back to Mandalore and we can organize those fights."

"Understood, Mand'alor."

Sighing, you looked down at all the work in front of you. Clik was at the desk next to you, rapidly working his way through request approval forms for several bounty hunter and military operations. The Mandalorians were taking their fight to slavers like the Hutts and the Zygerrian remnants. It seemed like a perfect way to direct their aggression while also helping the galaxy at large. You had never seen a group happier to do their job.

In order to maintain control of Mand'alor without completely pulling your troops from the war, you had given control over to Drifter for the time being. He kept Sparrow, Burner, Screech, and Ink from the Kanez while you requested Paints, Clik, and Bonus to help assist you to delegate. All of them missed each other and you despised keeping them separated, which only furthered your resolve to stop the war soon.

"Mand'alor," Korkie burst into the room, a com-pad in his hand, "It's an urgent request from Arc Trooper Fives of the 501st legion."

Standing from your chair, you rushed over and took the pad from Korkie's hands, accepting the request, "Fives? What's wrong?"

"General, I'm sorry but you weren't answering your personal comm. We have a problem. Yesterday Tup killed a Jedi General, he wasn't himself when he did it- something was wrong. We've been ordered to transport him to Kamino for further observation. They're going to kill him, General. Tup just stopped being a shiny, he's one of the nicest troopers I've ever met. I-"

"I'm on my way now, Fives. Stay put and don't do anything I wouldn't do... actually just don't do anything at all."

Ending the call, you turned to Korkie and Clik, "Contact Jango and let him know I'll be leaving the planet for a couple of days and he needs to lead until I return."

"He's not going to be happy to hear that."

Rolling your eyes, you responded, "He can live with it. Call it penance for avoiding his duties for so long. Korkie, call ahead and have my ship prepared, please. I want Paints and Bonus to be on it by the time I get there as well."

"Right away," Korkie nodded and ran off. He requested to be given as much training as possible in self-defense and weapons, which was a bit of a shock to you, but he was a natural at it. He had already earned several pieces of armor and you had no doubt he would have a full set soon enough. He was a brilliant kid and you were more than happy to allow him to shine under your rule.

Clik was staring at you with concern in his gaze, body tense, "Something is wrong, General. No vode would ever dare to kill a jetti, even if we were to betray the Republic. We were made for them."

"I know, Clik. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Haat, ijaa, cavlumne."

"K'oyacyi juhnukip," Clik responded back before returning to his mounds of paperwork. You'd be sure to give him some help from Korkie before you left.

While all three factions weren't particularly happy with the way you communicated with the Vode, all of you were too far immersed in your own language to care that much. They already spoke a modified version of mando'a, and when you entered the picture and began teaching them Othanian, the two languages eventually combined until you were speaking a bastardized combination of both.

Security wise it was absolutely wonderful, as almost no one was able to understand more than half a sentence when you spoke that dialect. You were quite proud of creating it too, as aside from being the sole Gray Jedi of the galaxy, you were also a linguistics expert back at the Temple. Such a thing had come in handy as the Mand'alor as well. Having your own language was like a dream come true. Obi-Wan was already fluent, as he knew mando'a and Othanian. Anakin and Ahsoka were nearly fluent at this point, having spent so much time around the vode. Barriss was well on her way to learning it, and Korkie was showing an interest as well. You were quite proud of your family for that.

By the time you finished handing out roles for your time away, Paints and Bonus were waiting for you on the ship. During takeoff you explained what Fives had told you, leaving both of them confused and concerned.

"Fives is right, Tup was one of the nicest shinies I've ever met, even nicer than Paints," Bonus sighed, setting up the hyperspace jump.

"Awe, thanks," Paints smiled bashfully.

Sitting down, you looked out the viewport as the bright blue of hyperspace surrounded the ship. The way Fives described it was as if a switch had been flipped. Tup had been fine one moment and the next he was executing Jedi like he was made for their eradication. If anyone in the galaxy were to do it, the vode would be... they would be the Jedi's end. Their template was literally called The Jedi Killer! They were based off of a highly trained Mandalorian, and all their extra training was meant to cater directly to the Jedi. The vode knew the Jedi's tactics as well as the Jedi knew theirs.

Your brain was starting to hurt, an ache forming behind your eyes as you wandered down that train of thought. The story behind the vode's creation was a mystery the Jedi were desperately trying to solve, but it was extremely slow-going. The Kamiinoans were extremely secretive and even Shaak Ti and the Shadows were unable to break through their firewalls.

"What's on your mind, Mand'alor?" Paints asked, spinning around in his chair to give you a suspicious look as you ran your hand over your face.

"Dark things, Paints," was all you sighed, managing a tight smile when his gaze turned concerned. You wouldn't share your suspicions - your worries - until you got to Kamino and were able to look Tup over.

When your ship entered Kamino's atmosphere you ordered Bonus to send an announcement to the communications center, not bothering to wait for any sort of approval before you set the shop down at the nearest landing pad. There were Kaminoans waiting for you when you arrived, all of them exuding anxious energy. None of them were politically important or you would have known their names. It was a bit surprising, considering your reputation, but perhaps the Kaminoans were too busy to bother dealing with you. It was most definitely their loss and mistake.

"General-"

"I prefer Mand'alor now, actually," you quickly corrected, "I'm here to retrieve an injured member of my house, they were brought here from the battlefield. Can we get out of the rain?"

Walking inside the facility, you sent Paints and Bonus reassuring glances. They were almost as tense as the Kaminoans, although that was due to past trauma rather than nerves due to the situation. Those were internalized so the two of them could remain professional.

"If you are referring to CT-5385 the Jedi Order is allowing us to observe him to find where his actions originated from."

Pausing in the middle of the hallway, you looked out at the lab in front of you through the windows. There were thousands of embryos that you could see, and you were certain there were countless more back in private labs. These little lives were being created to die, and unless this war ended and you got to the bottom of what happened to Tup, their fate wouldn't change.

Clasping your hands behind your back, you rubbed your thumb over the clan symbol branded onto your gauntlets. It was truly just your family crest, adapted to fit a more Mandalorian style, but it was a reminder of those that were counting on you to get this right. Not just Fives and Tup, but the Force and galaxy as a whole as well.

"Very well. My companions hold information pertaining to a private cloning request from Mandalore. I must go speak with Shaak Ti, if you will allow them to meet with Lama Su."

"As you wish, Mand'alor. Shaak Ti is currently overseeing the training of the newest recruits, in Hall H."

Bowing your head, you bit back your distaste at having to do such a thing, "Thank you. Please explain our request thoroughly, Captain, Lieutenant."

Sharing identical looks, Paints and Bonus nodded and followed after the Kaminoans. Making your way toward Hall H, you waited until the Kaminoans were out of sight before you proceeded any further. The halls were full of clones that constantly stopped to bow respectfully or greet you in some way, and it made moving quietly difficult, but you had to act natural.

Tup would be kept in the medical halls, in one of the last rooms since he was a new recruit.

"Hide me, please," you ducked behind an Alpha trooper as Shaak Ti and Nala Se exited what must have been Tup's room, "Oh- Alpha?"

The clone you were currently hiding behind was Alpha-17, the man who had served as Obi-Wan's commander at the start of the war and who had been released from duty after he and Obi-Wan had been captured by Ventress.

"General, or Mand'alor now, I suppose," Alpha looked down at your much smaller form amusedly, stepping to the side when Shaak and Nala Se turned at the end of the hall, "What brings you so far from Mandalore?"

"I'm on a mission to protect a fellow vod," you motioned to the door across the hall, "I'm guessing you've heard about him by now? What happened?"

Nodding grimly, Alpha leaned down and said quietly, "The Alpha class has always known something was off with us, and our creation. The Mandalorian trainers couldn't hide it as well as the Kaminoans. What happened with that vod, it's the start of somethin' real bad. If you don't get to the bottom of it soon, it's gonna be the end of us all. Jate'kara."

With that Alpha reentered the flow of the hall, leaving you alone. Taking in a deep breath you walked up to the door and waved your hand in front of it. It slid open, and you stepped inside and quickly shut the door behind you. Tup laid on the bed, brows furrowed with sickness despite the fact that he was unconscious.

Lifting your wrist to your lips, you activated your comm, "I have him. Get back to the ship and prepare it to take him in- critical condition."

Releasing the lock on the cot, your gaze wandered around the room to take a look at all the tests that had been run. None of them showed any sort of sign as to what happened to Tup, psychological or otherwise. Perhaps the Kaminoans already knew what was going on but didn't want Shaak Ti to see...

Your eyes landed on a viewing window that must have connected to the room next door. The shade level was high, which would only occur if there was someone in there. Something told you that the person who brought you here in the first place was on the other side of that wall.

Turning the shade off, you were proven correct when Fives appeared on the other side. He jumped off the bed when he caught sight of you, "Mand'alor! You came!"

"Of course I did, I'm getting you and Tup out of here immediately. Hang on." Grabbing a tight hold of Tup's bed, you pushed it out of the room and stopped in front of Fives' door, "Let's go!"

Quickly darting out of the room - ignoring the cries of the medical droid inside - Fives was quickly by your side and keeping pace as you walked down the hallway, "What's the plan?"

"We get you and Tup onto my ship as soon as possible. I'll need to speak briefly with Shaak Ti before we go so she doesn't send the Council after me, I'll probably have to perform a couple of adoption ceremonies-"

"Adoption?"

Nodding, you narrowly avoided collision with a supply cart, moving the bed out of the way just in time and then quickly backtracking when you caught sight of a Kaminoan, "While the Vode are now considered Mandalorian citizens the fact remains that you are still technically owned by the Jedi Order. If I adopt you into my family that becomes void and the Order can't interfere which means-"

"The Kaminoans can't interfere," Tup concluded, peeking his head around the corner and waving you forward when the coast was clear, "Brilliant, but a bit crazy. Have you told anyone else?"

"Most of the time I tell them after. Some arguments but they can't tell me it's a bad idea," you replied breathlessly, yelping when a small body ran into your side. Expecting a little vodika, you were shocked to see a pale-haired female child, "Hello?"

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," her clothes and accent were Kaminoan, but her features were all Fett. What was a female clone doing so small, young, and dressed in such nice clothes? "You- you're the Adenn Cabur!"

"Hi, and you are?"

"General we really don't have time for this," Fives hissed urgently.

"Omega. I'm sorry again-"

"Wait, wait, Omega!" You called out, realizing you could make things much easier on yourself, "I need you to do me a huge favor. Please find Shaak Ti and tell her to go to Hangar Three right away. Can you do that for me?"

With stars in her eyes, Omega nodded eagerly, "Of course!"

Then she ran off and you continued your mad dash back to the ship. After a couple more turns, you broke through the exit door and pushed Tup straight onto the ship with little care or concern for the rain. Fives was right behind you, immediately joining Bonus and Paints as they hooked Tup up to all the medical equipment the ship had available.

"Get this ship off the ground immediately, I'll be right there," you ran back off the ship, catching sight of Shaak Ti in the shadow of the doorway, "Shaak Ti!"

"(Y/n), please tell me that you did not just steal two clones from Kamino itself. What were you thinking? The Council will have to act-"

Reaching out, you grabbed both of her hands and held them tightly, "You and I both know that they were hiding something from you, and they were going to kill Tup in order to keep it that you. You work at the heart of clone operations, haven't you noticed something already? Shaak, I know you're smart enough to pick up on the fact that something is seriously wrong here."

Sighing, Shaak squeezed your hands and looked up at your ship, which was ready to take off as soon as you were on it, "I've been trying to investigate the Kaminoans since the war started. The innocent lives I've had to sit by and watch fade away... I will tell the Council that you took them in order to protect them, but I cannot do much more than that. But (Y/n), you must get to the bottom of this. I suspect brainwashing, but that doesn't explain what the Kaminoans were trying to hide from me. I am putting my faith in you."

To have one of the greatest masters on the Council, one that you had looked up to since you were a child, tell you that her faith was placed in you? It was a large burden, but you were becoming rather used to that. Leading a planet, being the only one of your kind, trying to keep your family a somewhat secret, yeah this was just your life at this point.

"I will not let you down, Shaak."

Using the Force to push you up to the ship as you jumped, you closed the ramp behind you and let out a relieved breath. The ship jerked as it entered hyperdrive, already halfway back to Mandalore. Stopping at the back where Tup was being taken care of, you looked over the screens showing his vitals. They were a bit concerning, but he was much more stable than he had been earlier.

"I'd prefer for him to be awake when I did this but I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice," you sighed, running a gloved hand over his cheek, "Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Tup. Fives, we can find another way if you don't want to be adopted. We'll protect you no matter what."

"I think if anyone were to be my parent I'd choose you- with all due respect, Mand'alor," Fives stuttered out nervously, and you found it extremely endearing. You weren't sure how you went from using potential children as an excuse to marry Obi-Wan to adopting kids to keep them from being persecuted, but you couldn't say you were upset about it. Anakin and Ahsoka loved getting new siblings, and Obi-Wan was already a father to the clones as well.

"Very well then. Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Fives," you stated proudly, patting Fives on the pauldron, "Welcome to the family."

"We'd all kill to be you right now," Bonus said jokingly, although there was a serious glint in their eyes.

Humming in agreement, Paints added, "We've considered war crimes just so the general would adopt us before."

Laughing, you nudged both of their shoulders, "You don't need to go that far. You're all like my siblings-slash kids already, like Anakin."

"General Skywalker is just a man-baby," Fives deadpanned, "It feels nice to be able to say that now."

Scoffing, you replied, "As if you all didn't say that already."

When you arrived back to Mandalore you had Tup sent to Sundari's best medical facility, ordering a deep atomic brain-scan to hopefully get to the bottom of what happened. You gave a brief report to Jango and Korkie when they asked, and dismissed them both with promises to tell them more after you got some sleep.

Before you could do that, however, you had to go through the reports from the Aq Vetina mission. There were many civilian casualties, but they also saved many lives. Any orphans were brought back to Mandalore briefly so your people could search for any remaining relatives.

There was one child they were having particular trouble with. Not behaviorally, but apparently, his parents had hidden him away and he had seen their dead bodies while he had been carried away. He refused to remove his hood and shied away from contact. His name was Din Djarin.

Mand'alor the Reluctant, the Force whispered, brushing across you like a cool breeze.

Marking that file for further investigation in the future, you let out a loud groan when your comm pinged with an urgent request from the Chancellor. Why would he be calling you at such a late hour on Coruscant? Unless it was about Tup.

"Chancellor Palpatine," you greeted cordially.

"Mand'alor Pavond. I assume you know why I'm calling."

"The two clones, yes."

"Yes. The issue was being investigated, I'm unsure why you felt the need to adopt them and bring them to Mandalore of all things. I was hoping you could clear the air before I was forced to take some drastic actions in order to retrieve them."

It was a complete bluff, of course. The only people that would be able to take action were the Jedi, as it was a Jedi Tup killed and the clones were currently the property of the Jedi. But you pretended like the words affected you all the same.

There were several ways you could play this. The truth was completely out of the question, as you had doubts about the Chancellor from the start and this whole situation felt rotten, but perhaps you could take a small risk and...

"Fives and Tup are now under my complete control, Chancellor. When I was under the jurisdiction of the Jedi there were many honor codes I had to follow concerning how those under my command were treated, now I don't have to follow any such rules. Because of Tup's unstable condition and Fives' involvement, it seemed... easy to take them off the Jedi's hands."

"And now that you have control of them?"

Smirking, you leaned back in your chair and played yourself off as suave yet casual, "Well, Chancellor, I would like to see how broken Tup's mind is, and how much it will take for Fives' mind to break. I do hope that you will keep this under wraps from the Council, so they aren't distracted from the war effort."

Chancellor Palpatine steepled his hands and smiled, "Of course, Mand'alor Pavond, such actions must sometimes be taken during a war. It is unfortunate what happened with the Jedi, but I see now you might be better off without their stifling rules."

You felt sick, "Most certainly, Chancellor. Is that all? I'm afraid I have paperwork to get to after my short break."

"Yes, yes, that is all. Although I do hope we can speak again soon, as fellow leaders?"

"I would like that, Chancellor." Ending the call, you swallowed back your bile. It had been such a long journey, and you had no doubt it would get even harder from here.

Maybe the Chancellor was just sick, and the thought of the clones in pain was entertaining to him, but that on top of every other suspicion you had of him? It was impossible to ignore at this point. But you needed proof, and proof you would now have.

"The results are in! The results are in!" Korkie burst through the door, breathless from the long distance he must have run. Barriss was right behind him, less out of breath but twice as disturbed, "The scan found a small tumor in Tup's brain. When it was extracted it was actually a chip, corroded to the point that it must have glitched. Clik is looking it over right now but it's not good. It's got endless programs on it, commands."

Your worst fears were coming true, "And the one that set off Tup?"

"Order Sixty-Six," Barriss grit out, as if it hurt to say.

The words sent a sharp chill down your spine, and it felt as though you had been stabbed through the heart. Order 66. It had haunted your visions since the war had started, although you never knew what it meant.

The end of the Jedi Order.

Struggling to hide your swirling emotions, you asked quietly, "Is Tup okay?"

"He's alive, recovering right now. I can't help but feel like all of this is connected. Darth Maul, the war, what happened with Tup," Barriss told you, "Was I right about the darker forces behind the war?"

Creating the comm call, you said, "I'm beginning to think so. If you'll excuse me, I need to talk to your father and siblings."

Neither Korkie nor Barriss looked like they wanted to leave, but both of them walked out and closed the door behind them with no arguments. Cueing up the call, you waited for Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka to get on. Before you could speak, Obi-Wan shared his amusement.

"Are the rumors true? Do we have two more children?"

"Fives is never gonna let me live it down," Ahsoka complained, "He always said he was like a big brother but this is terrible."

"Technically we're gonna be related to all the clones now, and it's gonna be open season with the insults I know they've been saving up," Anakin crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, but that's not why I'm calling. I need you to listen to me very carefully before you talk to Rex and Cody about all of this so they can help. It's all going to sound crazy, but I hope it also makes sense. I knew the Kaminoans were going to kill Tup so I stepped in before that could happen..."