๐ก๏ธ This is the Way.
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โ โ๏ธ MANDALORIAN CONTRACT BOARD โ๏ธ โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฃ
โ Objective: Launch the story into hyperspace โ
โ Reward: Extra chapters for the crew โ
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โ Review Bounties: โ
โ โข โญโญโญโญโญ = +1 bonus chapter โ
โ โข โญโญโญโญ + โญโญโญโญ = +1 bonus chapter โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฃ
โ 2โ3 lines is enough: โ
โ โข "I loved ___ becauseโฆ" โ
โ โข "Best scene so far wasโฆ" โ
โ โข "My theory isโฆ" โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฃ
โ Thank you for backing Max Vizsla and the โ
โ rise of Mandalore. โ
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This is the Way.
That night battle in the spring of New Mandalorian Year 11 ultimately let every faction on Mandalore get what they wantedโeveryone walked away satisfied.
If you ignore the innocent dead, that is.
Death Watch deployed in force, setting fires and causing destruction all across Sundari's urban districts, successfully tying up the attention of the Sundari police. At the same time, Death Watch's elite elementsโShriek Hawk and the Nite Owlsโhit the MandalMotors shipyard, making off with a huge haul of stockpiled components for Fang-class and Kom'rk-class starfighters.
With that single raid, Death Watch's "fleet grounded for lack of parts" problem was likely to ease.
It was also worth noting that, during this incident, "ideological Death Watch" inside the New Mandalorian camp played a major role. They helped Death Watch slip in and out through the port, relayed Sundari police movements, and functioned like professional internal assets.
Even the news that, on Monday night, MandalMotors' entire senior leadership would be gathered in the banquet hall for a receptionโbecause a major client was visitingโcame from one such "ideological Death Watch" inside the company.
The Nite Owls' strike on the shipyard banquet hall forced almost all of the shipyard's security resources to rush toward that location. At the same time, with the entire leadership layer trapped, the shipyard was left headless and descended into chaos under the assault. The Shriek Hawk element took advantage of the confusion, cracked open MandalMotors' warehouses, and successfully stole vast quantities of stockpiled starfighter parts.
In Pre Vizsla's view, the operation was an outstanding success: Death Watch paid a price of only 1 dead, 7 severely wounded, and 13 lightly wounded, and in return seized components worth tens of millions of creditsโsolving a critical readiness issue for their starfighter forces.
โฆ
After learning that Concordian Crescent Technologies had been hit with massive fines for illegally producing and selling banned military hardwareโand that the responsible executives had nearly ended up behind barsโJames Rok began seriously considering disposing of his own military production lines.
He'd sealed those lines away in storage, hoping the New Mandalorian government might someday relax its demilitarization policies, letting the company return to the military market and make money again. But it now looked like the crackdown would continue, and any policy reversal was nowhere in sight.
In that environment, keeping the lines mothballed no longer made sense. Maintenance alone was a significant ongoing cost.
And thenโlike a pillow delivered to a man who'd just started to doze offโgood news arrived the moment James entertained the idea. His niece, Emily Rok, reported that Corellia's Fieg Consortium was interested in buying MandalMotors' stored military production lines. They hoped she could feel him out first and see whether he had any intent to sell.
He did. Absolutely he did. It was almost too perfect.
James expressed it with measured restraint: he was "reluctant," but it wasn't "impossible." Very quickly, the Fieg sideโthrough Emilyโconveyed a desire to conduct an on-site inspection and make an offer based on the stored lines' real condition.
"The inspection team lead is Mandalorian too," Emily added. "He's close with meโone of our own."
"Which clan?" James asked.
"Vizsla."
The Death Watch raid only hardened James's resolve to get rid of those military lines. Keeping them around was nothing but a liability.
The raid had killed over a dozen MandalMotors executives and caused the company substantial material losses. On the surface, James was heartbroken. Inside, he was quietly delighted.
Yes, it was a shame the lavishly renovated banquet hall had been leveledโbut government relief could cover that. As for the stolen starfighter partsโฆ under New Mandalorian rule, they couldn't be sold anyway. Seen that way, it wasn't such a tragedy.
More importantly, some of those disobedient executives had died beautifully. If a few hadn't survived, James might have applauded Death Watch with both hands. After the incident, his control over MandalMotors rose another notch.
โฆ
For Sundari's city government, Death Watch's raid was a loud slap in the face. Even so, MandalMotors' post-incident response left them quite pleased.
On the third business day after the raid, MandalMotors signed an export contract with Corellia's Fieg Consortium, selling off its stored starfighter production lines as a bundled package.
Selling contraband like that meant another big step toward "peaceful Sundari" and "peaceful Mandalore," didn't it? With those banned items gone, the extremist elements who came looking for them wouldn't come back in the futureโright?
The mayor was very satisfied. He personally visited the hospital to check on the wounded leader of the Fieg inspection team, and promised that the city government would do everything possible to coordinate transport capacity and ensure the export process was completed as fast as possible.
โฆ
For Max, this "homecoming" trip paid off handsomely. For under 300 million Republic creditsโbasically scrap-metal pricingโhe bought all of MandalMotors' starfighter production and maintenance equipment.
There was only one minor flaw: James would sell the hardware, but refused to provide experts, technicians, or any manpower support. Even throwing more money at it didn't change his mind.
So what now?
On the return ship, Max found himself scratching his head even during Force meditation. With freight, fees, and everything else, it was still over 300 millionโhe couldn't exactly haul it back and actually treat it like scrap.
Should he become a "traitor" for onceโlet Incom send people to dismantle and study the Fang and Kom'rk production lines, in exchange for their experts and technicians helping get the lines running?
No. That was a bad idea. If the exact parameters of frontline equipment leaked, and an enemy got hold of them, they could craft targeted countermeasuresโand battles would turn into disasters. Worse, it would also cripple any future plan to export Bespin-built fighters.
Then it hit him.
He could pay Corellian Engineering Corporation directly for technical support.
This wasn't his old world, where fighters and warships were completely separate realms. Here, starfighters and small spacecraft weren't fundamentally different. Engineers and technicians from Corellian Engineering should be capable of getting the acquired lines operational.
Corellian Engineering's current business didn't include producing or selling starfighters, so Bespin entering starfighter production wouldn't harm them.
And a low-endurance fighter like the Fang needed carrier support for deep-space missions. As Bespin's fighter wing expanded, demand for medium and large carrier ships would expand with itโmeaning more orders for Corellian Engineering anyway.
Yes. That could work.
Looks like he'd need Lord Fieg to flex that "connections" ability again, Max thought.
โฆ
PS: In the canon animated series Star Wars Rebels, Corellian Engineering produced a shuttle-converted auxiliary starfighterโthe VCX-series auxiliary starfighter (VCX-series auxiliary starfighter).