π‘οΈ This is the Way.
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
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β βοΈ MANDALORIAN CONTRACT BOARD βοΈ β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ£
β Objective: Launch the story into hyperspace β
β Reward: Extra chapters for the crew β
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β Review Bounties: β
β β’ βββββ = +1 bonus chapter β
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β β’ "I loved ___ becauseβ¦" β
β β’ "Best scene so far wasβ¦" β
β β’ "My theory isβ¦" β
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β Thank you for backing Max Vizsla and the β
β rise of Mandalore. β
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
This is the Way.
"Dear crew brothers and sisters, you don't need to abandon ship. We'll soonβ"
"Ah! Why?! Why, Lord Vizsla, why?! Didn't we agree that once the autopilot was set, we'd abandon ship?! Why do you have toβ"
"We're not blowing up the ship! We're not blowing up the ship! We're not blowing up the ship!" Max shouted himself hoarse. "We're not blowing it up. I'm sorry, my dear crew brothers and sistersβI made you misunderstand. That's on me for not explaining clearly. The shipβwe're not blowing it up. And youβyou've been hired by me! I'm boarding right now to check on everyone!"
"Waaahβ¦"
In his headset came unmistakable sobbingβsobbling from a whole crowd of people.
"Lord Vizslaβ(a loud sniff)βwe will serve you with all our hearts!"
β¦
"Uhβ¦" On the LH-3210 bridge, Max froze. "Brothersβuncles and auntiesβ¦ you're not H'kig followers?"
"Of course not! We're employees of Galand Yutong Company. We were carrying out a passenger transport job when we were kidnapped by those damned heretics and held here ever since. Lord Vizslaβthank you so much! Thank you for saving everyone! Thirty-plus yearsβwe can finally go home!"
The whispering voice rose again.
("Kill them. Kill them allβno loose ends. If you let them go home, you'll have to return the starships to the owner, and your battleships are gone. If they go home, your little stuntβtaking the Governor's money and not deliveringβgets exposed.")
"Hmβ¦ haβ¦" After one deep breath, Max made his decision. "Uncles and aunties, I promise you this: I will do everything I can to reunite you with your families."
"That's wonderful!" "Long live!" "Waaahβ¦"
"But," Max raised his hand and emphasized loudly, "just as I mistook you for H'kig followers, the Governor's Office may also mistake you for H'kig followers. The Galand Governor's Office has always treated the H'kig sect with one policy: extermination. To avoid any misunderstanding, until your identities are clarified, I ask you to endure for a while longer and not rush to go home."
"Lord Vizsla!" a crewman shouted. "Can you help us contact our families? The hyperwave comms on these two ships seem brokenβwe can't reach Galand. Before we clear our identities and go home, can we at least talk to our familiesβsee them?"
The hyperwave comms on these two LH-3210 freighters might be broken, or they might not. But either way, right now they were almost certainly unusableβbecause the Vast Silence's communications jamming suite was running at full power, suppressing every hyperwave band in the surrounding airspace. At the moment, none of the First Fleet's units could use hyperwave comms either.
"That uncle over there," Max said, nodding respectfully to every crew member he made eye contact with. "All you uncles and auntiesβtwo things."
"First: about these two LH-3210 freightersβ¦"
"This one's the Golden Dragon. The other one's called Full Fortune," a crewman added.
"The Golden Dragon and the Full Fortune's hyperwave comms might be broken, or might notβthere's also the chance it's simply a time-desync between ship time and the holo-communications network time."
"While you were kidnapped and held by the heretics, the galaxy changed a lot. Four years ago, the Galactic Republic carried out a 'Great Synchronization,' recalibrating and standardizing timekeeping across the Republic. The Golden Dragon and the Full Fortune were in the heretics' hands at the time, so there's a very high chance they never underwent the calibration."
"Right now, Beskar Steel Security's comms specialists are inspecting and repairing both ships. We'll have the hyperwave comms back online shortly."
"That's great!" "Thank you, Lord Vizsla!"
"Second," Max raised his hand again, "from this moment on, all outbound communications from the Golden Dragon and the Full Fortune will be fully taken over by Beskar Steel Security. Any external transmission must receive our company's approval first."
"Whyβ¦"
"Listen." Max cut off the question and continued. "Same line as before: until your identities are clarified, please endure for a while. Before that clarification, every hyperwave call home could bring danger to you, to all crew members, and to all your families. It would also bring danger to Beskar Steel Securityβand that's something I will not accept."
"Thisβ¦"
"Contacting your families, reuniting with your familiesβI promise I will do my best to help make it happen. But this isn't something that can be done in an hour, or a day, so please endure for a while." Before the Golden Dragon's bridge could erupt into louder buzzing discussion, Max swept his hand and pivoted the topic. "Today, I'm here to check on you."
"Beskar Steel Security has brought you supplies. Right now, the shuttle is transferring produce, meat, sodaβ¦"
"There's soda? Reallyβthere's soda?" a crewman asked, practically vibrating.
"Yes. Soda. Fruit-flavored soda brewed on the Vast Silence."
"Wowβamazing!" "Long live!" "Long live soda!"
A roar like a tidal wave. Half an hour later, on the Full Fortune, soda triggered the same tidal-wave cheering all over again.
H'kig doctrine demanded simple food and simple clothing, opposing the abuse of technology. For the past thirty-three years, these Galand Yutong Company crew members had been forced to live like H'kig asceticsβeating what they grew, wearing what they spun. The taste of soda had gone blurry even in memory and dreams.
The bubbles burst across tongue and throat, shattering thirty years of nightmares for the Golden Dragon and Full Fortune crews. The life they'd lost, and the life they might yet haveβat this moment, both finally became real again.
β¦
"Chief, this is the latest intel on Galand Yutong Company."
After the EW department seized comms control of the Golden Dragon and the Full Fortune, shut down both ships' hyperwave systems, and installed hyperwave jamming/shielding modules onboard, Tracy Reeves ordered the Vast Silence to lift fleetwide jamming and restore hyperwave communications for all First Fleet elements.
Once hyperwave comms were restored, the intelligence department quickly gathered the latest public information on Galand Yutong Company and compiled a summary.
"Put it on the projector." Max took a bottle of Meiloorun fruitβflavored soda, sat down, and spoke as he popped the cap. "Everyone take a look. Let's analyze together."
β¦
"This isβ¦ awful." Christopher Rayne looked pained. "Those crew membersβwhat a brutal life."
"Yeah." Max nodded. "It's awful."
Awful? Noβthis was perfect. Seeing the intel in the holographic projection, Max nearly laughed out loud.
Back in 28 Brs, Galand Yutong Company had already gone bankrupt. Suspected of participating in the H'kig rebellion and aiding H'kig insurgents in fleeing, the company's top leadership had been collectively imprisoned, hit with massive fines, and it didn't take long before the company declared bankruptcy.
The Golden Dragon and Full Fortune's 998 crew members (now 911 remaining) had been designated H'kig insurgents by Galand authorities. A small portion of their families had also been designated insurgents and executed. Most of the rest had been labeled "insurgent relatives" and thrown into concentration camps.
"Send this information to the Golden Dragon and the Full Fortune. Ask everyone to grieve and accept the loss. Tell them Beskar Steel Security will not abandon themβwe will do everything we can to reunite them with their families."
"Yes, Chief."
"Tss." Max cracked open his soda. "Any results from Falcon Squadron's search? And where are the Second Fleet's crews now?"
β¦
PS: Meiloorun fruit first appeared in the novel X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble, and was later brought into the new canon via Rebels. It's one of the best-known fruits in Star Wars.
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