The Clone Wars were not going well for the Republic.
Despite initial victories, the Separatist fleets faster, more adaptive, and equipped with Cassian's early designs out maneuverer clone forces at every turn. The losses at Bothawui and Saleucami had demoralized Republic High Command. Even Jedi morale faltered.
In his private chambers in the Senate Building, Chancellor Palpatine sat in silence, hands folded, watching as red markers on a holographic map spread like infection.
Beside him, Mas Amedda whispered gravely, "Your Excellency… the shipyards at Corellia are stretched thin. Cassian controls the flow of components. We are at his mercy."
Palpatine's eyes narrowed.
"Then it's time to invoke the Kuat Pact."
The Kuat Accord
Long ago, before war loomed over the Republic, Palpatine had brokered a discreet agreement with Kuat Drive Yards the largest and most traditional shipbuilder in the Core Worlds. In exchange for favorable tax legislation and the suppression of independent yard growth in the Outer Rim, Kuat had agreed to a future production monopoly… if activated by the Chancellor himself.
That day had come.
From the tower-spire of Kuat City, Lady Sila Kuat, matriarch of the family, activated dormant foundries and planetary-scale forges. Within weeks, entire construction arms lit up with production.
"Begin the Venator-class Star Destroyer program," she ordered. "And prep the Acclamator troop ships. We'll show the Republic what real engineering looks like."
The contract was public, but its implications were not.
Palpatine now had a counterweight.
Cassian Reacts
In the command core of the modified Star Forge, Cassian reviewed the Senate announcement.
The words "exclusive military production rights granted to Kuat Drive Yards" flickered in front of him.
He didn't speak for a long moment.
EVA appeared beside him, projected in blue light. "Palpatine is consolidating. You're being boxed."
Cassian nodded slowly.
"He's smart. Can't let one man own the war."
But EVA continued: "He's still using your AI targeting protocols. Your stealth drive patents. The Republic runs on your inventions—even if Kuat builds the shell."
Cassian turned away.
"Then it's time we refine the ones that can't be replicated."
He gave orders for Project Phantom Sun—a new class of capital ship that would use hybrid Rakatan and Forerunner tech. Not even Kuat could mimic what he had buried in the Forge.
The Jedi Investigate
The Jedi Council had begun watching Cassian more closely.
Master Mace Windu reviewed intelligence reports personally. Missing Jedi. Altered droid transmissions. Untraceable vessels sighted near Kamino and Mustafar.
And most recently, a captured Separatist freighter carrying experimental weapon components—stamped with Zereth Prime Lab codes.
Yoda, seated in meditation, spoke softly.
"Truth in shadow lies. Light must seek what darkness hides."
"You suspect Cassian is playing both sides?" Windu asked.
"Not yet proof. But dangerous, he has become."
The Council dispatched a pair of Jedi Knights to quietly investigate Cassian's Corellian shipyards. Only one would return.
The Senate's Divide
Back in the Senate, arguments flared.
Mon Mothma and Bail Organa protested the sudden war escalation and the monopolization of the ship industry.
"We are trading democracy for dependency," Mon Mothma warned. "One man now controls Kamino. Another, Kuat. And neither answers to us."
Padmé Amidala agreed. She had already seen the militarization of Corellia firsthand. Cassian's expansion, Palpatine's centralization—neither sat right.
But her protests were drowned out by systems demanding defense, more troops, and more firepower.
Palpatine, calm and commanding, assured them.
"This war will not be won with hesitation. Let Kuat build the fleet. Let Corellia maintain the edge. Balance, dear Senators… is the key."
But in the shadows, he moved pieces only he could see.
Count Dooku's Counterplay
On Felucia, Count Dooku stood before a massive Separatist shipyard—Droid Control World IV, a towering structure now fully operational thanks to Cassian's blueprint leaks.
Requam, his personal war commander, joined him.
"Kuat Drive Yards is arming the Republic."
"Expected," Dooku said, unmoved. "But Cassian is predictable. Give him a puzzle and he will outmatch even the gods to solve it."
He sent a message directly to Zereth Prime.
"The time has come. Begin prototype deployment. I want cloaked fleets. Adaptive droid battalions. The Jedi must never see us coming."
Cassian read the encrypted message and smirked.
"Let's give him a ghost fleet."
The Jedi's Missing Knight
In a hidden facility orbiting a dead moon, Jedi Knight Taro Valin lay bound within a stasis field. His mind fractured, his spirit weakened—but his whispers had grown coherent.
Cassian watched him with cold curiosity.
"There are cracks… between the worlds," Taro murmured. "And the Force… is not alone in its voice."
EVA recorded everything.
Cassian nodded, understanding more with each session.
"Your suffering… reveals truths the Jedi ignore."
Behind him, HK-47 stepped forward. "Shall I dismember the subject for further insight?"
"No," Cassian replied. "Not yet."
War Without End
The galaxy spiraled into deeper conflict.
Kuat's fleet grew. Corellia's black sites expanded. Jedi died. Clone casualties mounted. And the people began to accept that peace was a lie.
Palpatine stood before the Senate once again.
"We are building a new future. One forged in the fires of war, but destined for order."
And in his private vault, beneath the Senate Rotunda, he whispered to the ghost of his master:
"Everything is proceeding… exactly as I have foreseen."