As Jack looked at a holo map of Mandalore on his throne, did look wounded to the point it reminded him of his last days on Reach.
From orbit, one could see that the planet was a scar of muted grays and fractured ochre. Vast glassed plains shimmered beneath thin cloud bands; their surfaces fused centuries ago under sustained orbital bombardment by the Jedi, the so-called peacekeepers. Storm systems crawled unnaturally across hemispheres, drawn by an atmospheric imbalance that had never fully healed. It was a crime scene of the highest order.
Behind him, holographic projections rotated in layers: atmospheric composition charts, magnetosphere flux models, hydrological void mapping, tectonic stability projections.
Cassandra's voice filled the chamber.
"Planetary surface composition remains 41% vitrified silicate. The biosphere collapse threshold exceeded 612 years ago. Current ecological status: artificially sustained within dome environments only."
Jack's gaze did not move.
"They didn't just defeat Mandalore," he said quietly. "They erased it."
There was anger in his tone and sadness for the incant life's that were taken.
Centuries earlier, during the height of the Mandalorian–Jedi Wars, the Jedi had chosen annihilation over attrition.
They had targeted foundries.
They had targeted fleet yards, had targeted military installations, and when those were not enough.
Finaly they had targeted the planet itself.
Orbital strikes turned oceans into vapor columns. Cities into molten basins. Agricultural belts into radioactive dunes.
Not soldiers, families, children, but civilians who had never held a blaster.
"They call themselves guardians of peace," Jack said.
Cassandra did not answer.
"They preach restraint," he continued. "They condemn decisive force."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"But when faced with an enemy they could not control, they glassed an entire world."
"In my world," he said, "we had a word for that."
He didn't say it, he didn't need to after all, Cassandra seen what the Covenant did
The throne chamber was silent when he entered.
Clan leaders stood in semicircular formation, armor polished, helmets tucked beneath arms or locked into place. Some bore ancient sigils scarred by time. Others wore newly forged beskar, unmarred and sharp-edged.
Behind the walls of the domes, Mandalore's wastelands stretched into infinity.
Jack did not sit.
"We are done surviving," he began.
The chamber remained still.
"For centuries, Mandalorians have hidden beneath domes. You have adapted to storms that should not exist. We have called devastation and war crimes done by so called peace keepers tradition."
A faint shift moved through the clans.
"It was not tradition," he said flatly. "It was an atrocious crime that was given no justice."
No one objected.
"Dxun will be dismantled," he continued. "Its industrial complexes relocated. Its fleet yards are integrated into Mandalore orbit. All primary military and economic infrastructure will be centralized here."
A murmur passed through the assembly.
"Dxun had been a fallback sanctuary, but remained so."
Now it would be emptied.
"Mandalore will no longer be a relic," Jack said. "It will be the core."
A plan was shown on a holoprojection; the room shifted in addition.
A ten-year simulation unfolded in accelerated time.
Orbital rings formed around Mandalore's space, massive UNSC-derived megastructures reinforced with Mandalorian alloy plating. Fusion cores ignited one by one, blue-white arcs stabilizing into a constant glow.
"These are planetary climate stabilization arrays," Jack said. "Magnetosphere reinforcement platforms. Atmospheric rebalancers."
The projection showed lightning storms breaking apart as electromagnetic harmonics stabilized the upper atmosphere.
"Phase One: Stabilization," Cassandra announced. "Estimated completion: two standard years."
The projection advanced.
Ice caps formed at the poles, seeded by orbital condensers. Ocean basins slowly refilled through controlled atmospheric precipitation cycles. Engineered microbial colonies spread across glassed deserts, breaking down vitrified silicates into viable soil substrates.
"Phase Two: Hydrological restoration," Jack said. "Three additional years."
Green began to creep across the hologram grasslands and forests.
Agricultural belts are expanding beyond the dome boundaries.
"Phase Three: Biosphere integration. Years five through eight, we will also use cloning technology to clone animals and other lifeforms that will be necessary for the plant's growth and food supplies."
By the final simulation stage, Mandalore glowed blue and green from orbit.
A surface habitation returned.
"Full planetary terraforming within ten years," Cassandra concluded.
By the year 22 BBY (Note: this would be around the Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones), Mandalore would be full of life on the planet.
A clan leader said.
"You rebuild what the Jedi destroyed," the warrior said. "But you do not speak of vengeance."
Jack's eyes hardened and pause to think.
His voice dropped slightly.
"I do not forgive them."
Silence thickened.
"They claim moral authority," he continued. "They speak of balance of light and peace."
His gaze swept across the chamber.
"Yet when faced with resistance, they chose planetary bombardment."
He let the words settle.
"They killed civilians to break soldiers."
"That is not peace," Jack said. "That is hypocrisy."
His tone never rose.
"They condemn overwhelming force when others use it," he added. "But when they did it, they called it necessary."
"I will not forget that."
The First Machines descended, and hours later, the sky changed.
Orbital construction platforms ignited thrusters and began descent protocols. Kilometer-tall atmospheric processors pierced through cloud layers like falling fortresses, retro-burning as they settled into glassed desert expanses.
Magnetic stabilization arrays pulsed in synchronized rhythm.
Storm systems shuddered above the plant surfs, and clouds thickened.
Pressure equalized.
Moisture condensed.
A single drop of rain struck the desert plains on the planet.
Then another group of warriors across the capital paused, even removed their helmets.
Rain fell steadily across a land that had known only dust and artificial climate control for centuries.
Jack stood alone on a high balcony, watching water strike the wastelands below.
Cassandra spoke softly behind him.
"Precipitation confirmed. Phase One atmospheric correction ahead of schedule."
Jack nodded once.
"The Jedi burned this world to end a war," he said.
"We will restore it to begin an empire."
and the slow, deliberate rebirth of Mandalore.