The Royal Starship descended through Naboo's atmosphere, flanked by sleek Jedi-modified fighters ships Cassian had designed. Inside, Queen Amidala stood beside Jedi Masters Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, her face resolute.
Cassian Voss did not join the planetary assault.
He watched from orbit aboard the Dawnwright, the flagship tethered in stealth mode above the battle theater, with EVA running observational AI routines.
"All units in position," EVA reported. "Palace breach in progress. Gungan forces engaged at swamp front. Droid control ship unshielded."
Cassian nodded, fingers steepled. "And the Skywalker boy?"
"Aboard a starfighter. Unsupervised."
Cassian's mouth twitched. "Let's see what the Chosen One does when he's unsupervised."
Surface: The Battle of Naboo
Amidala, her double Sabe, and the Jedi led their strike team through Theed's underbelly, launching their palace assault while Gungans fought a brutal battle at the plains. Booma cannons flared. Droid battalions advanced.
Inside the palace hangar, Darth Maul appeared like a phantom double-bladed saber ignited in crimson arcs. His duel with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan raged through vaulted corridors, sparks dancing with each furious clash.
Cassian watched it all from above. "Maul… the apprentice. Palpatine's beginning to show his hand."
Orbit: The Skies Above Naboo
Anakin's stolen starfighter spiraled through the blockade, guided more by instinct than skill.
"I can't find the trigger!" he shouted until blaster fire discharged.
The ship spun into the droid control vessel's hangar. Explosions ignited in the core. A chain reaction— ccidental, but devastating.
Cassian let out a breath as the control signals ceased.
"EVA. Confirm: droid shutdown?"
"Confirmed. Network collapse from central signal core. Droid army disabled planetwide."
"Then it begins."
Below: The Death of a Master
Maul impaled Qui-Gon Jinn.
Obi-Wan, in a blaze of fury and precision, bisected the Sith and sent his body tumbling into the abyss.
Cassian turned away from the feed.
"That wasn't a victory," he muttered. "It was an opening move."
Later: The Celebration
The Naboo and Gungans celebrated. The Queen honored her allies. The Jedi mourned their loss. The Senate, meanwhile, was already shifting.
Sheev Palpatine, senator from Naboo, stood triumphant in the Galactic Rotunda. With Valorum removed, he rose to office with graceful menace.
"The new Supreme Chancellor," EVA noted.
Cassian sipped dark Corellian tea aboard the Dawnwright. "Everything he wanted… gifted by war."
But he had not been idle.
Zereth Prime: The Heart of Innovation
Beneath the void of uncharted space, the Starforge floated like a forgotten god.
Cassian's original version had been vast a self-repairing manufacturing hub, cloaked from reality, mining stellar energy.
But now, it evolved.
With Halo nanofabrication, and Covenant energy lattice theories merged, the new Starforge became a sentient station alive with adaptive intelligence and built to phase through dimensions.
"Begin expansion phase," Cassian ordered.
Massive construction arms unfurled. Hyperlane generators hummed. Dozens of dockyards activated, building entire fleets autonomously: stealth frigates, phantom bombers, energy siphon cruisers.
At its center, Cassian embedded a shard of his merged AI—EVA—as the command nexus.
"Cloak protocol active. Repositioning to shadow orbit behind the Outer Rim. No known galactic charts will detect us."
Cassian watched the process, utterly composed.
"How long before it can replicate planetary bodies?"
"With Forerunner extrapolation, and the Genesis framework from Halo... 18 months."
Cassian smiled. "Then we'll have a second Zereth."
Coruscant: The Game Deepens
Back on Coruscant, Cassian met with his father, Darian Voss, in their upper-level office aboard the newly founded Cassian Star Yards—a direct competitor to Kuat Drive Yards, with exclusive Republic contracts pouring in due to his new Jedi ships.
"Palpatine has full Senate control," Darian said. "This is a dangerous time."
Cassian nodded. "Dangerous for others. Profitable for us."
On his desk lay plans for new high-speed transports, anti-fleet dreadnoughts, and even atmospheric stealth bombers for planetary raids.
"You want to build the Republic's future?" his father asked.
"No," Cassian replied. "I want to outlive it."
A silent pause.
"Then make sure you never give the same ship to both sides. Only the appearance of balance."
Cassian raised a brow. "Only fools give true balance."